Now that the crew has caught up to Alley and Vivi and Luffy has seen what happens, can he ever forgive her?

Chapter 9

"Okay. Easy guys. Zoro, you get over there. Usopp, you get over there. Sanji, take the head. Luffy you...Luffy?" Chopper said as he turned to look at where the captain was standing.

Luffy was staring at the spot where I had dissapeared.

"Luffy!" Chopper said trying to snap him out of it.

"H...huh?" Luffy stuttered as he came back to reality.

"Help us!" the reindeer cried.

"Allow me Mr.Doctor." Robin said. She made a trail of hands form. She lifted Vivi's limp body and slowly moved it down the line toward the ship.

"Thanks Robin! You're a life saver!" Chopper cried.

Everyone else started to head back to the ship, following Robin's trail of hands.

"Hey Luffy. Are you coming?" Sanji asked.

"Umm...I'll be there in a little while. I've got something to take care of." Luffy said.

Sanji blinked. Why wasn't he coming to help Vivi? "This isn't like him." Sanji said to no one in particular.

Zoro smirked.

"What is it crap swordsman?" Sanji asked.

"Oh nothing." Zoro replied.

"What do you know that you aren't telling me?" Sanji asked.

"Luffy. He's in love." Zoro said.

Sanji looked surprised. "Oh really. Who?" He couldn't hide his curiosity.

"That girl. He was talking to me about it the other day." Zoro replied.

"The one that ran into the forest? She hurt my Vivi-San!!!!" Sanji cried.

"Down lover boy." Zoro said.

"Lover boy?! What's that supposed to mean?!!!" Sanji yelled.

"Calm down. Sheesh." Zoro said.

"Hmph. Marimo head." Sanji muttered.

"What was that dart-board eyebrow?!!!" Zoro asked.

"Nothing." Sanji replied.

"Do you want to start something?!!" Zoro cried.

"Both of you shut it!!!!" Nami yelled as she hit them on the head.

"As you command Nami-Swan!!!" Sanji said with hearts in his eyes.

"Oi." Zoro muttered and walked faster to catch up with the crew.

Meanwhile

I once again found myself at the base of the mountain. And once again, I was crying when I got there. This time though, I took the time to climb up to the ledge I had sat on when I first found the mountain. I sat there. I was still crying, but not as hard. I had stopped long enough to wash the blood off of me though. I was feeling miserable. How could I? That was what I kept saying to myself.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed the edge of the ledge. A second later, Luffy was rocketing up and then standing on the ledge in front of me. He walked over and sat down beside me.

I looked away, trying to dry my tears up. "What do you want?" I asked coldly.

"I came because...because..." Luffy stuttered. He suddenly realized he had no idea why he had come. He just tought he needed to. "Are you okay?" he finally asked.

I turned to him and gave him a faint smile. "I'm fine." I replied.

"You looked pretty upset." he said.

"How could I?!!" I suddenly burst out. I started crying again. "How could I do that to her?! She didn't deserve that?!!! How could I?!!" I cried.

"So, you really did do that." he said quietly.

I looked at the ground. "Yes." I said with a sigh.

It was silent for a moment. Luffy finally spoke. "Why?"

At first, I wasn't sure if I should tell him. Then I decided that this was as good a time as any. "I was jealous of her." I replied simply.

"Jealous?" Luffy asked. He looked confused. "But why were you..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"I thought...I thought that...I thought that you liked her." I finally said.

"Huh? Me?" Luffy asked.

"I saw you two together at your beach party. You put your arm around her and she hugged you and then...you hugged her back. I guess I just thought...I thought that you forgot about me. About the promise you made me. Luffy I...never mind." I said.

"You thought that...no. No! You know I would never break a promise." Luffy said.

"I know that now." I replied quietly.

He put his arm around me. I was surprised at first, but then I relaxed. It felt nice.

"I missed you." I said as I leaned my head against his chest.

"I missed you too." he replied.

We sat like that for awhile. I finally broke the silence. "So what do I do now?" I asked.

He reluctantly let go. "Come back to the ship with me." he replied.

I gave him a look of pure shock. "How...I mean after...no!!!" I cried.

"You want to make things right don't you?" Luffy asked.

I sighed. "Yes. But how can I face them after what I've done?" I asked.

"You say I'm sorry." he said.

"You're right I guess. But what if they hate me?" I said.

"They won't. Come on!" Luffy said. He stood up.

I looked at him. "Okay. I trust you." I stood up. Luffy started to climb down. "Luffy! Wait!" I called.

"What?" he asked as he turned around.

"I...I lo...never mind." I said. The words I love you just wouldn't come.

With that, we began our climb down.

At the Ship:In the Sick Bay

"Is she going to be all right?" Nami asked. She was sitting beside the bed that Vivi was laying on.

"I think so. She may be out for a couple of days but she'll be fine in about a week. I don't know what caused the damage though. It was weird. She wasn't touched on the outside except for a small bullet like hole. But, on the inside, her internal organs where a mess. It took a lot of work, but she's alive. It's hard to believe, really." Chopper said.

"Do you really think that girl could have caused that much damage?" Nami asked.

"It's possible. But there's really only one way I know of to do that." Chopper replied.

"How?" Nami asked.

"I've only seen it once before. When I treated Luffy after his fight with Lucci at Enies Lobby. I don't know much about the attack or even how you do it, but I'd say that's what happened." Chopper said.

"I remember that." Nami said. "He was in really bad shape. You don't think that's what happened to Vivi, do you? I mean, aren't those teqniques supposed to be really hard to learn. I saw some of them myslef when I fought Kalifa. Is it really possible that girl learned those techniques?" Nami asked.

"It's the only explination I've got. She would have to be a master to do that much damage. Lucci was supposed to be the only one able to do that special teqnique, whatever it is. If that girl really did learn those teqniques, then she must be a better fighter then she looks." Chopper explained.

Nami looked at Vivi. She was covered with a blanket. She looked peaceful but Nami knew she was in pain. She just hoped that Vivi didn't wake up until the pain had lessened.

"We'll take turn watching her over the next few days. She's alive but still in critical condition." Chopper said. "I'll take the first watch. You can go get some rest."

"Okay." Nami said. She got up to leave. When she reached the door, she turned and looked at Vivi one last time. "Could that girl really have done that much damage?" she thought to herself and then left.

In the Forest

"I have a question." Luffy said as we were walking toward his ship.

"What is it?" I asked.

"How did you...I mean...how did you get a crew?" he asked.

"Oh. It's a long story. I don't really talk about my past much." I replied.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine." he said. He sounded diassapointed.

"Okay. I'll tell you. I'm not sure why you want to know though." I said.

"I..ummm..." he said looking embarrased.

"It's okay." I said. "Well, let's see, when I was young, I met a couple of girls. I was only four or five. We got along pretty well. But then, they found somebody else. They thought I was weird because of the whole pirate thing. I found somebody else too. I thought they liked me. That is, until I found out they were just using me. I always let them borrow money if I had it. When the money was gone, so where they. Then I tried to make friends with this girl that moved in next door. It was pretty much the same story. I never could make friends so I eventually just gave up. I was a loner. I didn't trust anyone anymore. Then, when I was nine, I met someone who turned my life around. Her name was Sandra. She welcomed me into her group. All of them welcomed me. They told me all there secrets and stories. I had finally found somewhere I belonged. I was happy. We've been friends ever since. We decided not to live a normal life. Everybody made fun of us for it, but in the end, it was worth it. Now we live like everybody wants to. We're free. And I trust them with my life." I said.

"Hmm." Luffy thought for a minute. "So, they saved you?"

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"They were you friends when no body else cared." he replied. He was silent for a minute. "So, what about your friends anyway? I mean, where did they come from?"

"I...I don't really know much about them." I admitted. "I never asked. I thought it was better that way. I never told them my past and they never asked, so I didn't bother asking them. What does it matter anyway? I know that they are my friends. I don't care what happened to them in the past."

Luffy nodded like he understood. "What are they like?" he asked.

"They're...I've got an idea. Why don't you just come and meet them?" I said.

He smiled. "Yeah! That's a great idea!!!" he cried.

I smiled at his entusiasm.

"Hey look!!! We're here!!!" he said as we suddenly arrived at the beach. "Hey guys!!! I'm back!!! And I brought a friend!!!" he calledas he ran toward the ship.

I gulped. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure about this. I reluctantly followed. I mean, what esle could I do?

Oh boy! What will Alley do now? Can she find enough courage to face the crew?