Chapter 6

"Captain!" Mellony called from the crows nest. "It looks like Luffy's ship! Do you want us to dock?!"

I put my hand up to sheild my eyes from the sun and squinted at the horizon. I could just make out an island in the distance. I couldn't see a boat though, so I climbed up in the crows nest next to Mellony.

"Right over there." she said as if she had read my mind.

I looked in the direction she was pointing and could just make out the boat. "Don't dock just yet. Turn the ship. Make a full circle around the island and dock in the back." I instructed. I could tell from her face that she was confused so I explained. "I don't want him to know I'm here yet. I want to surprise him."

"Oh. That makes more since." she said. She climbed out of the crows nest and began shouting orders to the rest of the crew.

I sat there. Since no one else was up here, I figured I better stay and keep watch. I was about to burst with excitement. We had finally found Luffy! I could hardly wait, but I knew we wouldn't be ready to dock for another four or five hours.

I looked around the crows nest for something, anything, to do. What I found was Mellony's binoculars that she had left up there. I picked them up and decided to see if I could see Luffy. I scanned the horizon and to my surprise, saw another boat. It was considerably smaller then either mine or Luffy's. It appeared to have one room. I could see someone standing on the deck. Actually, I could see two people on the deck and they were stearing the boat in the direction of Luffy's ship. But I didn't have time to wander about it long because at that moment, Mellony came back up to the crows nest.

"Okay, where are they?" she asked.

"Where are what?" I asked innocently. I was hoping to keep the binoculars and figure out who was in the other boat.

"You know what I'm talking about." she said dangerously.

"No. No I don't think I do." I replied.

"Hand. Them. Over." she said. Her face was very close to mine and I knew that if I didn't hand them over, I would probably be thrown out of the crows nest.

"Here." I said as I reluctantly handed over the binoculars.

"Thank you." she said sweetly. Then suddenly she grabbed my neck and started screaming, "IFYOU EVER TRY TO LIE TO ME AGAIN, I'LL THROUGH YOU UNDER THE BOAT!!!!!!!"

"I promise I won't do it again!" I managed to choke out.

"Good!" she said as she let go of my neck and climbed out of the crows nest.

I rubbed my neck and sighed softly. "Same old Mellony."

Mid-Afternoon

I climbed out of the crows nest and joined the rest of the crew on deck. We were approaching the back of the island. I was about to help Aaron and Sandra drop the anchor. While we waited I walked over to Mellony. "So, anything important we need to know about this island?" I asked.

"It's on my maps but it's pretty small and has no name. It's a summer island. That's the only thing that's really known about it." she replied.

"Good! We could use a beach vaction!" I said excitedly.

It was time to drop anchor. I walked over and helped Aaron and Sandra lift it and drop it overboard. It dragged along the bottom and finally caught on a rock.

"Well, I'm going to the other side of the island. You guys enjoy yourself for a little while. I'll be back in a few hours." I announced to the crew. "Sandra, as my first mate, you're in charge."

"Aye captain!" she said.

With that taken care of, I climbed off the boat and into the knee deep water. I found a river and followed it into the jungle. It appeared to be heading in the direction where Luffy's ship was.

After I had walked for about half an hour, I came up on a mountain. This is the part of the island I had seen from the boat when Miranda had first told me about it. I stared up at it. I was fairly sure that you could see the whole island from up there. That gave me an idea. I decided to climb it.

When I reached a ledge about half way up, I stopped and sat down. When I looked around, I let out a gasp. The view was amazing. I could see the whole island from up here. The river seemed to flow from on end of the island to the other, splitting the island in half. I could see Luffy's ship from here as well as my own. I could see a clearing a little to my left. Besides the river, the clearing, and the beach, the rest of the island seemed to be a tropical island.

I decided to climb down and continue my journey. When I reached the bottom, I had to stop following the river because it suddenly veered to the left and headed toward the valley and away from Luffy.

I walked along for another hour before I could hear voices in the distance. I quickened my pace. The voices beloged to the Strawhats! It sounded like they were having some kind of party. I couldn't wait to join them and see Luffy!

As I got closer to the beach, I was able to make out what they were saying. I stopped and listended.

"Hey! More grog!" Zoro yelled.

"Isn't this beautiful?" I heard Nami say.

"Very, Miss Navigator." Robin replied.

"This food is delicious!" Chopper said.

"Thank you Chopper." I heard Sanji reply.

"This is SUPER!!!" Franky yelled.

"You got that right!" Usopp replied.

"Here's to our newest crewmember!" I heard Luffy shout.

Confused, I crept closer. I got close enough to see what was going on and crouched down in a bush. What I saw when I looked made me wish I hadn't.

I quickly figured out the person Luffy was refering to. Vivi. And what made things worse was that she was sitting beside him. He had one arm around her and was holding what appeared to be grog in the other. He also looked a little drunk. Vivi was smiling and laughing. Luffy looked at her and smiled. Then she leaned over and huggeed him and he hugged her back. They were all in bathing suits or swimming trunks. It looked like they were having a great beach party.

I looked at him one more time and then turned and walked away. "No wonder they're celebrating. Luffy has a girlfriend." I thought out loud. I was close to tears. I hadn't seen him for two years and now I found that he's forgotten me. I stopped when I reached the mountain. I sat at it's base and wept as the sun slowly set.

So, now things are starting to get interesting. What will Alley do?