Lying on her back on the patch of grass under one of Nami's Mikan trees, Jiru stared up at the blue sky; the one filled with cute fluffy white clouds. It had been little over a month since the Mugiwaras had left the horribleislandofThriller Barkbehind. Thirty mind-numbingly boring days; sitting and unable to do a fraction of her normal duties. She had been put off her regular duties by her captain due to her first major battle injury. Luffy was overly worried about her re-breaking her left foot, but no argument of hers could convince the captain she was just as capable of doing her regular duties as she was before.
However, the slow days weren't completely empty or void of fun. As the rule on the Grand Line, odd and weird things are bound to happen:
Such as the encounter with storm clouds that produced candy and sweets. THAT was insane, since Luffy was un-restrained to eat all the sugar he could get into his mouth. Most of the crew was split between keeping out of their captain's way, and trying to enjoy the edible rain also. It was a very long night for the Mugiwaras; since pairing Luffy with sugar ended up being a very bad idea. Franky had to make small repairs on hundreds of dents, teeth-marks and broken boards the next day.
There was the day they ran into a pack of Sea Raccoons. Sanji, Zoro and Franky all had to rescue their captain, the musician and treasure hunter as Luffy had dove in to save Jiru. The treasure hunter had been floating alongside the ship because she could (mostly to escape the boring tedium of just sitting there waiting for her left ankle to heal) when the Sea Racoons had leapt out of the sea and snatched the woman out of the air. Luffy, without rhyme or thought, jumped in to save her; Brooke, still in awe at Luffy's awesomeness, jumped in to save Luffy. Both pirates did not get along with sea water; so Luffy and Brooke sank as Jiru was still held captive by wily Sea-coons. The punishment given to the trio – captain, musician and hunter – left the trio sour for the rest of the day.
Then there was the day of the shaped rainbows. The Mugiwaras were driven bat-crazy as Usoppu, Luffy, Brooke, Jiru and Chopper all reacted differently to the odd weather patterns. The Golden Thief loved it, and kept on trying to capture the oval and spiral rainbows in bottles; Luffy wanted to try and eat the square/(meat) and circular/(meat) rainbows. Chopper found the triangular rainbows thrilling and Usoppu urged Brooke to play his violin for the squiggly heart-shaped rainbows. The sanity of the remaining crew was strained for the days after. The craft paper and crayons were used up as the more care-free pirates kept drawing the oddly-shaped rainbows again and again. (Luffy, Usoppu, Jiru and Chopper)
Another day held a rough ride as serpent currents appeared; giving the Navigator a workout. The mikan-loving woman was frantic as Luffy told her to just ride the currents. It took another three days to navigate out of the 'serpent's-nest' and by then, poor Nami was wrung out.
Their most recent Grand-Line oddity was their encounter with the golden Sea-Water. Both Nami and Jiru nearly came to fisticuffs in their attempts to be the first to 'steal' the gold ocean water. They both ended up with equal shares of the liquid-gold by the end of the day, having acquired most of the golden patch of water. Franky played his part, by allowing the women to use one of his pumps in sucking up the precious water.
Sanji, also, had fallen victim to the feminine wiles of the two thieves, as they conned the cook out of nearly every empty bottle and container he had. Franky – the ever present shipwright – ended up having to partition off a section of the fish tank in order to contain the gold sea water. It was entertaining to watch how the two females ended up joining together and combining their clever ideas in stealing the golden sea water.
To Robin, it was all very amusing, but to the rest of the crew, it was very confusing. Just what the two gold-loving females were going to do with thirteen gallons of salty, liquid-gold; nobody knew. Luffy was upset that it wasn't edible and promptly forgot about it. However, the fool was entranced every time he walked by the golden section of the fish tank, the novelty of sparkling golden water new each time.
Zoro just didn't care, and Usoppu found the water to be a bit scary. He stayed far away from the shimmering gold liquid just in case. Chopper was glued to the gold-side of the fish tank, his nose pressed against the panel as he watched the golden water.
It was quickly discovered that certain types of fish could live in the gold water. THAT was something that rocked the core of Sanji, Nami, Luffy, Jiru and Usoppu's worlds. The possibilities of new recipes/worth/food/fun/inventions dawned in each of their minds. It seemed that the Golden Sea Water was worth something after all. Usoppu was no longer afraid of the water, but of Nami; she would charge him for every ounce of water he wanted – he could only get three ounces for 300,000 Beri before going broke.
XXX
That adventure was two days ago and today, the happy-go-lucky pirate captain was currently off somewhere on the large ship, goofing around with Usoppu, Chopper and their newest crewmate, Dead Bones Brooke.
Sanji, like always, was in the galley, creating some awesomely tongue-numbingly sweet fru-fru drink or mid-afternoon snack. He often did this for the three females – her, Nami and Robin – and the treasure hunter found that to be quite endearing; even from the beginning.
Nami was discussing something with Robin back in the woman's dorm; and Brooke was on the upper part of the deck, playing his violin for the dancing Luffy and Usoppu. It was soothing to hear the musician's violin every evening before sleep. The walking skeleton was actually amazingly talented, offering a wide variety of songs and notes on a single violin.
Zoro most certainly was in the crow's nest working out or sleeping. She had avoided talking to the macho-minded swordsman since the Panty-thief incident, thirteen days ago. The swordsman had serious been upset at her for trapping the panty-stealing captain in a big box. She had argued that it had done no real harm, since the rubbery captain had only been trapped for ten minutes – and she would have let him go had Luffy really seriously asked her. With that annoying problem put out of her mind, the Golden Thief was currently enjoying the warm weather and sunshine.
It was after lunch when the posted look-out, Franky, had spotted land. The land would be the Red Line; the second, dividing half of the Grand Line. After the excitement of the crew, it was said that the E.T.A would be an hour. Luffy wanted Jiru to go out and inspect the huge mountainous feature, but everyone voted against it, opting to wait until they came closer.
So now it was a waiting game. Jiru had opted to lie underneath the Mikan trees while she waited to scout the Red Line for a way over. To her left, sat her storage bag; some of its contents spilled out over the grass. Two tiny vials of her golden water sat in a sunspot, glittering in the light. Her drawing book laid open on her right, the half-sketched image of Sunny-Gou on the page.
Centimeters from her fingertips was the gift Luffy had given her, the unicorn horn he had the Shadow-Victim Pirates had hunted for at Luffy's request. Just how his mind processed in getting the horn as a gift for her was completely beyond any of the Mugiwara's minds. Jiru had thanked her captain profusely and managed to spend the next two weeks prank-free.
"ichworminchworm…" Came Luffy's voice minutes later,
Jiru, her trip down memory lane interrupted, opened her lagoon-hazel eyes and looked to her right. Luffy was currently pulling himself towards her, with his chin. He was acting like a caterpillar, scrunching his body together, before dragging himself ahead with his face.
"Luffy, whhaaat are you doing?" Jiru rolled over to face the goofy captain.
"I'm an inchworm, Jiru, I'm traveling around without the use of my legs or arms." He chuckled as he moved slowly towards her.
"I see that." She smirked. "Like me, eh, waiting until we get to the Red Line."
"Yup." He answered. "If you want to move like this too, you can."
"You are aware that inchworms won't last that long after they cross the Redline."
"Then I'll have to be a strong inchworm."
"Yea, I guess you'll have to be." Jiru laughed openly as the look of fierce determination lit Luffy's face. "Inchworms change into butterflies, I think."
"I'll promise to protect you." Luffy was another foot closer, speaking seriously to her. "I won't even let paper cut you!"
"That's awfully brave and noble of you, Luffy." The treasure hunter blushed. "I'll become stronger too! That way you won't worry about me that much."
"But, Jiruuuuuuu…" Luffy whined. "I don't want you to fight and get hurt. You're no good at fist-fights."
"Then I'll be the best got-your-back fighter ever. You'll never have to worry about watching your butt in a fight."
"SHISHISHISHISHISHI! Jiru, you said butt!" Luffy laughed.
"Yea, like the words you used in my journal?" Jiru looked meaningfully at her captain. "It took me days to find my journal, you stinker."
"I know, I hid it well!" Luffy answered. "Did you like what I wrote?"
"Yea, you idiot. I read it all. I had to get Robin's help with the words you used."
"I'm so smart!" Luffy's chin was now touching her elbow.
"Sure, Luffy, sure."
The pirate captain was in the process of inchworming his way over Jiru's stomach when the shadow fell over the Sunny-Gou. They had made it to the Red Line.
Luffy, springing off of his treasure hunter using his hands and feet - placed on either side of her – and hollered in excitement. Running to the front of the ship, he landed himself on Sunny's leonine head and laughed.
"Look everybody! It's the Red-Line!" Luffy's voice rang out on the deck.
The pirates, having paused at their tasks, congregated at the ship's stern to get a better view. As the Sunny-Gou drew closer and closer to the iron-red land feature, the group all gasped in awe. There, right in front of them…was the Red-Line.
Indeed, it was. After hardships and adventures galore, the Mugiwaras had made it to the half-way point of their voyage. At last, they made it!