Calm Cluster

Robin opened her eyes. The sky above her was dark grey. Lightning streaked across it before thunder rumbled and rain fell down on her. Just as she was about to sit up, a green umbrella appeared in her sight.

"Are you all right, miss?" An old man appeared in her vision next. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I'm not sure." Robin said up. She looked around to find herself lying in a field. She pressed her fingers to her temple.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Nico Robin," Robin said.

"My name is Clem," the man said. "And this is my field you are in. How did you get here?"

"I don't know," Robin said. "I can't seem to remember anything but for my name."

"Poor thing. You must have hit your head," Clem said. "Come with me. My house is close by. Let's get you out of the rain." He offered her his hand. "Once we get you dried off I'll give you a quick exam."

"Exam?" Robin took his hand and stood up.

"I use to be a doctor," Clem said leading her away from that spot. "Occasionally, I still practice, but most of the time I like taking care of my animals."

"I see," Robin said. "I must be fortunate to have landed here in the presence of a doctor then."

"Indeed." Their walk took five minutes. Soon two buildings came into view. One was small while the other was three times as big.

Robin looked at the largest building. Two large doors were open, showing her several creatures were gathered inside to get away from the rain.

"This way," Clem said.

Robin walked to the old man. She entered into the small house. The bottom floor was open, holding a living room and a small kitchen. A set of stairs was on the back wall, leading up to the next floor. "This is very nice."

"It's not much, but it's home." Clem folded his umbrella and placed it against the wall. "The wash room is upstairs. The room at the end of the hall has a few clothes inside. They use to belong to the kids. Help yourself to whatever you need. I shall brew us something to drink."

"Thank you." Robin headed to the stairs. The second floor was just as small and nice as the first floor. She headed for the back room first. Looking through the small closet she found a dress that would fit her well enough. Then she went to the bathroom to clean herself up. But the time she got back down stairs lemon and cinnamon was floating in the air. "Something smells good."

"It's a drink my wife use to make," Clem said moving a tray with a pot and two cups to the table. He sat down and gestured for Robin to do the same.

Robin sat down and took the cup from him when he offered it. "Thank you."

"Drink that up then I'll get to giving you your exam," Clem said.

Robin nodded. The drink was bitter but had a sweet after taste. It didn't take them long to finish their drinks. She sat patiently as Clem looked her head and eyes over.

"Hm, well, you don't have any head injuries here," Clem said. "So my guess is you must have gone through something traumatic. It's going to take you a while to get your memories back."

"I see," Robin said.

"You're more than welcome to stay here," Clem said putting up his exam tools.

"I couldn't impose," Robin said.

"I don't mind at all," Clem said. "Besides you need a place to stay. If you want, you can even work for me by helping around the place and at the library."

"Library?" Robin asked, something about the word struck her as familiar.

"My wife build a library here several years ago," Clem said. "It's for all the kids on this part of the cluster who can't go into the bigger towns to read books."

"I see," Robin said. "Well, I guess I must accept your offer. It's not like I have anywhere else to go."

"It's settled then." Clem nodded.

…

Sanji sat staring out at the water before him then looked up at the sky. "That's odd. Why is the sea so dark? And why is the sky oddly colored?" He dropped his eyes back down to see someone else was lying on the beach. "Who's that?"

Standing up he walked over to the body. With his foot he rolled the person over and took in the person's large shoulders and arms. "This guy's just as weird as the sky and sea. I wonder who he is."

The guy opened his eyes.

"So you're awake," Sanji said.

"With a super big headache." The guy sat up and rubbed his head. "Where the heck am I?"

"I had that same thought," Sanji said. "As well as who you were."

"I'm Franky," Franky said.

"I'm Sanji," Sanji said. "And that looks like all I can remember."

"Funny. I can't remember anything but for my name too," Franky said. "I wonder why."

"Beats me," Sanji said before his stomach grumbled. "But I've apparently haven't eaten in a while."

"I could go for something to eat," Franky said.

"Might as well look around then," Sanji said. The two men left the beach. Just over the hill from it they found a town. "Looks like we're in luck."

The two men walked down the hill and followed the dirt path into the town.

Sanji scanned his eyes around the shops until his eyes landed on a help wanted sign in one of the restaurants. He plucked the sign out of the window before sitting down with Franky. It took several minutes before an old man rushed over to them.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "We're swamped. One of our cooks and one of our servers quite recently. What can I get for you?"
"We might be able to help you out," Sanji said flashing the sign. "We need food but we're apparently out of money. How about we work here for a while since you're in need of help?"

"I think we might be able to work a deal out. My name's Cass," the man said.

"Sanji."

"Franky."

…

Neo flushed as Law tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Are they always like this?" Zoro asked while watching the two lovebirds sitting together on the deck.

"They weren't at first," Nami said. "But they seem to be warming up to each other more. It shouldn't be surprising since they are married."

"I never knew people could be so sickeningly sweet," Zoro said.

"How would you know? You can't remember anything but for your name," Hoshi said with a smirk.

"Shut up!" Zoro snapped. "You're really annoying. Do you know that?"

"I was stating the obvious fact," Hoshi said. "What's so annoying about that?"

"Keep it up and I'll skin you alive," Zoro said.

Kailen looked up from the chest game he and Topaz was playing. He glanced over at Neo and Law.

"Something wrong, Kailen?" Topaz asked.

"No," Kailen said. "It's just weird how our instincts are still in tact despite our memories being lost. I'm ready to have my memories back."

"Me too. Checkmate," Topaz said.

"Huh?" Kailen started down at the board.

"Maybe you'll play better once you get them back," Topaz said.

Kailen sighed. "Or maybe I'll be worse and just quit."

"This is so boring," Luffy said, hanging upside down from the mast. "Can't we have some fun?"

"You can play a game with me," Topaz said. "You can't be worse than Kailen."

"Boring," Luffy said.

"We're not on this trip to have fun," Nami said.

"We should," Luffy said.

"How much longer are we going to be sailing anyway?" Zoro asked. "It's been four days since we left that last cluster."

"We should be about there" Nami pulled out the compass and put it on. "They're trails are getting thicker. I think we should get there in a few more hours."

"Great! I hope there something fun to do on this island," Luffy said.

"We don't have time for fun, Luffy," Nami said with a sigh. "We have to get our memories back as soon as we can."

"Aw." Luffy dropped to the deck. "Can't we have a little fun?"

"No," Nami said.

"Hey! Neo!" Luffy ran over to the blue haired, distracted, girl. "Neo? Neo?!"

"What?" Neo pulled her attention away from Law.

"I want to have some fun! Play with me!" Luffy said. "You can use your crystals and fly me around!"

"Leave her alone, Straw Hat," Law said. "She's not your slave."

"Of course she's not," Luffy said. "I just want to have some fun."

Law frowned.

"Here." Neo summoned her earth crystal. Weaving around some vines and leaves; she created Luffy a small playground. "Will this help?"

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. Grabbing onto a vine, he climbed up it and started swinging around.

"He's such a child," Law said.

"I wonder if ours will be like that," Neo said.

"I won't let them," Law said.

"Sure you won't." Neo smirked at him. "You're a softy. You'll let our child get away with more than you let on. I can tell."

Law smiled and shrugged.

"Huh?" Neo perked up.

"What is it?" Law asked.

"There's some kind of creature heading for us. An entire pod of them," Neo said. "And they're very angry."

"Why would some creature-" Before Zoro could finished something slammed against the ship, rocking them hard.

Everyone was thrown off balance.

Law wrapped his arms around Neo, doing his best to keep her from being tossed around too much.

"Ah! What's going on?!" Luffy asked, still swinging above them. The ship was hit again. He lost his grip and fell to the deck.

"Who's attacking us?" Nami asked doing her best not to slide over the wood floor.

Neo grabbed the railing of the ship and pulled herself up. Looking over she saw a pod of dolphins that looked to have some form of armor over their bodies. "What are those things?"

"Shell dolphins," Hoshi said jumping upon the railing. He dug his claws into the wood when a couple more hit their ship. "Usually they're not aggressive. The only time they are is when they have babies. We must have wondered into their nesting grounds."

"Well, I'm not going to go down without a fight," Zoro said pulling out a sword.

"It's not a good idea to fight them. They're numbers are dwindling," Hoshi said. "They're protected."

"Then what do we do?" Nami asked. Five more hits. "If they keep this up the ship won't last much longer!"

"Neo, you have to fly us," Hoshi said.

"Okay." Neo summoned her wind crystals and wrapped the wind around the ship. She lifted them high into the air, but not quick enough. Several more shell dolphins attacked the base of the ship, cracking the wood.

"That can't be good," Luffy said watching a few pieces of their ship fall to the sea.

"Will you be able to fly us to the next cluster?" Nami asked.

"Yes," Neo said. She looked at Law when she felt his anger rise. "I'll be fine. It's not like we have another choice."

Law closed his eyes and took a breath. He looked at her. "Fine. But if you get tired at all set us down immediately."

Neo nodded. "I'll be fine. I can move us fast anyway."

"Just don't over do it," Nami said.

"I won't," Neo said with a smile. "I'm feeling really good right now."

"We're going to have to find us another ship," Zoro said. "Or get this one fixed. Does anyone have any money?"
"We have some, but I doubt it's enough to buy us another ship," Nami said. "We're just going to have to steal one when we get to the next cluster."

"We're going to need a bigger one anyway," Hoshi said. "This ship is nice but it's too small. Once we find the rest of your friends you're going to need more space until we can get to the capital."

"If we're luck the next cluster is a big one that will have more than enough ships to take," Nami said.

"All you think about is stealing," Hoshi said.

"Don't start that again! We don't have a choice! You do want to find your precious princess, right?!" Nami said.

"Of course," Hoshi said. "I guess she'll just have to make a formal apology to everyone once this is over."

"Then shut up about it!" Nami said.

"Not going to happen. It's not my nature to keep quiet," Hoshi said.

"It will when I cut out your tongue!" Nami said.

"It'll be fine," Neo said. "Like we've already said, we don't have much of a choice. Apologizes can come later."

The hours passed.

"Hey, we're coming up on a cluster," Nami said.

"Good," Neo said. "I'm not sure if I could have flown us any longer."

"We're close enough. I'll warp us the rest of the way," Law said. He lifted his hand. Forming his Room, he warped them to the cluster. "Set us down now."

Neo nodded. She lowered them to the cluster, careful to place the front of the ship on the beach so they wouldn't sink.

"Yahoo!" Luffy jumped from the ship, landing on the beach. "We finally made it!"

"This place looks really…quiet," Nami said scanning her eyes around the cluster. Only a few houses could be seen. The rest of the space was fields with different types of creatures roClemg about them. Some she had seen before on the cluster she was first on.

"That means no fun," Luffy said.

"We've already told you this isn't a pleasure trip," Zoro said.

"He's just crazy," Kailen said.

"So where to first?" Neo asked, slipping her hand snuggly in Law's.

"Our three friends are at different locations. One's closer to us while the other two are farther away," Nami said scanning the cluster. "Although, one of them looks like they're heading towards the other one. Those two are farther away from us."

"Maybe they're together like Kailen and I were," Topaz said.

"Obvious we're going to get the one that's closer first," Kailen said.

"They would be just over that hill," Nami said before leading the way over to the hill. They crossed the sand before getting to the bright grass.

Neo turned her eyes to the creatures in the distance. Some of them only looked up at her while others headed in her direction. It didn't take long for the creatures to reach her. A few looked like combinations of zebras and giraffes while others looked like hairy horses. She giggled as they sniffed and nudged her and the other two elementals out of curiosity.

Hoshi's fur stood on ends. He scoffed. "I don't like them taking your attention from me. I should scare them off."

"Behave." Neo patted his head. "You're riding on my shoulders. Something they can't do."

"So true." Hoshi rubbed against her cheek.

"Animals really love you three," Luffy said.

"They're cute," Topaz said scratching one of the hairy horses.

"I wish we could take them with us," Neo squealed.

"We don't even have a ship anymore," Luffy said. He looked around. "I don't see any either."

"There's probably a port on another side of the cluster," Nami said. "Or I hope there is. I don't want to get stuck here."

"Obviously there are," Hoshi said. "These people don't just sit here all of the time. If they don't then others will be by at some point in time."

"Some point in time," Nami said. "Not raising my hopes." They walled up the hill. Down below it was a small town. "One of them is in that town."

"Let's get going then," Law said.

They walked down the hill.

"You all should stay here," Neo said to the creatures. They reluctantly obeyed her and stayed behind.

Entering into the small town the people barely took notice of the new comers as they went on about their business.

"In there." Nami pointed to a building. A sign hung over the door that had a carved book on it.

"A bookstore?" Neo asked.

"Guess we'll see." Nami walked over to the door. Opening it a small bell jingled above them. The place was small, but the shelves were pact with books. Two kids sat off in the corner, the older one reading to the smaller one.

"Is that her?" Kailen pointed to a long back haired girl.

"It's Robin," Neo said looking at the picture again.

"That was easy," Kailen said.

"Hey! Robin!" Luffy called before running over to the tall woman.

"Huh?" Robin paused in the middle of putting a book back on the shelf. "How do you know my name? Have we met before?"

"Of course we have!" Luffy grinned. "We're friends!"

Robin blinked.

"You'll have to forgive him," Nami said. "He doesn't think before he speaks. Can we talk to you for a minute? Luffy's ramblings actually make a lot of sense. Neo?"

"Uh, here." Neo passed the picture over while Nami told Robin what was going on.

"Interesting," Robin said.

"Robin, is everything okay?" a man asked.

The group turned to the voice. It was an old man. His back hunched over and his hair was streaked with grey.

"Clem," Robin said.

"I see," Clem said after the story was once again told. "That is rather interesting. I take it you'll be leaving now?"

"I'm sorry," Robin said.

"No need to apologize," Clem said. "I knew this would happen. We both did."

"But I can't just leave you," Robin said.

"It'll be all right," Clem said. "I have plenty of friends here. You go on. You need to get your memories back."

"Thank you for everything." Robin hugged the old man before following the others outside. "So what now?"

"We get our other two friends that are on this cluster," Nami said putting the compass back on her eye. "Neo, feel like flying us? Otherwise I think it's going to be a long walk."

"I can," Neo said. Summoning a wind crystal she lifted them into the air. "Though I'm going to need something to eat soon. I'm getting hungry. And so is baby."

"Yeah! Food!" Luffy cheered.

"Fish sounds really good," Neo said.

"Too bad we can't grow that with our crystals," Kailen said.

Neo nodded. A few minutes later they followed Nami's instructions and found themselves landing in a bigger town on the opposite side of the cluster.

"They're in that building," Nami said as she pointed to a restaurant near by.

"Let's eat!" Luffy ran for the building.

The others followed them at a slow pace. They entered, finding only a few people sitting around the room. They sat down with Luffy.

"Food!" Luffy cried.

"Like screaming like that is going to get them to come quicker," Zoro said.

"Food! Food!" Luffy banged his fists on the table.

"Yeah, yeah," a voice said. "I hear ya. I'm coming."

A man with blue hair and large shoulders and arms stepped out of the back door.

"Hey! It's Franky!" Luffy said.

"Huh? You know me?" Franky asked.

"We sure do!" Luffy said. "We're looking for you and another friend of ours."

"Friend, huh?" Franky said eyeing the group before him. "I hate to tell ya this but I don't remember you all."

"That's fine. We don't remember either," Zoro said before the story was told again.

"Ow! That's crazy!" Franky said.

"So which of our other friends is with you?" Luffy asked.

"That would be Sanji," Franky said. "He's in the kitchen. We've been working here ever since we arrived on this cluster."

"Then we should get him and go," Law said.

"No! Food first! I'm starving!" Luffy said.

"We are hungry," Neo said with a flutter of her eyelashes.

Law flushed. "Fine. Let's eat something then figure out how we're going to get out of here."

"Franky's our shipwright. So let him fix the ship," Luffy said.

"He doesn't remember how," Nami said.

"Oh, right. I forgot," Luffy said. "Bring me meat!"

"Do you have a fish dish here?" Neo asked looking at the menu.

Franky took down their orders before going to tell Sanji about them.

"Wow! So many beauties at one table!"

The group turned to find Sanji spinning around with hearts in his eyes.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Luffy asked as Franky sat their meals, which he was expertly balancing on his arms, on the table.

"He's just like that," Franky said. "Been that way since we woke up here. By the way, didn't I hear you before talking about needing to get off this cluster?"

"We sure did," Topaz said. "Our ship got damaged by a pod of shell dolphins."

"Well, don't worry about that," Franky said. "The owner of this place use to be a shipwright."

"Talk about luck," Kailen said.

"While you guys are finishing up your meals I'll go talk to him. I'm sure he'll be glad to help," Franky said.

"Great. Thanks a lot," Kailen said.

…

The old man whistled. His hands were behind his back as he stared up at the ship from under his cap. "Nice ship."

"Think you can fix it for us?" Nami asked.

"I should be able to just fine," Cass said running a hand through his grey hair. "That is if we can get it up off the ground."

"I can handle that," Kailen said. Summoning a couple earth crystals, he lifted the ship up with some thick vines. He then turned to the beach his friends were sitting on and created them some beds out of large flowers. "That should do it."

"Very impressive." The old man nodded before picking up his tool belt and got to work.

"So soft!" Luffy said rubbing his face into the yellow flower petal of his bed.

"And there," Topaz said as she lit a fire for the night. "Now we'll be nice and warm."

"How long is this going to take?" Franky asked.

"Don't worry," Cass said. "It'll be finished by tomorrow."

"Mind if I help?" Franky asked.

"Sure thing," Cass said.

Neo stretched out before lying back on her flowerbed.

"Tired?" Law asked.

"A bit," Neo said.

Law laid down with her. They all relaxed to the sound of Cass fixing the ship.

By the time they had ate breakfast the next day Cass had the ship fix. He even put a few more rooms on the ship so it would accommodate their entire crew when they found the rest of their friends. After saying their thanks the headed off to finish their journey.