AHHHHHH I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG! LIFE IS A NECESSARY DISTRACTION! I want to thank all of my followers, favorites, reviewers, and viewers because I find much energy and motivation when I see you appreciate my hard work. ;w; Thank you so much! We're almost to 50 followers and I'm so excited!~~
Again, sorry this chapter took so long, life is hectic what with my BIRTHDAY coming up next week! :D
No, I'm not turning 9 you trolls.
Anyways! Please enjoy the chapter, read, review, repeat!
(Evan's P.O.V.)
"OH MY GOAT WHO LEFT THE TOASTER ON SILENT?!" I shot up in place, the blankets falling off of me and to the floor as the ship went silent.
…
…
"Were you here the whole time?"
"No, I just came to get you since no one could wake you up." Sanji replied, a little startled by my sudden outburst.
I was in a guest room on the Baratie, from what I could tell from the sparse decor. I was on the ground, tucked into a bedroll someone had set up with a familiar white hoodie next to me.
"Er, how long have I been out?" I asked, a sheepish grin on my face as I felt a light blush warm my cheeks. I pulled my hoodie on stiffly, some of the bandages on my body restraining my movements slightly. I felt a bandage on the back of my calf, two on my left arm, and one on my right elbow from where I must have banged it when running.
Sanji relaxed again, hands in his pockets as he leaned against the doorframe. "A few hours, some cooks found you passed out on the upper balcony with a few cuts on you. How are you feeling? Can you walk alright?"
I grinned at his concern, the blush long forgotten as I leapt to my feet like a kid on a sugar high. Or a Luffy on a meat binge. "I'm fine thanks. Erm...Where'd my bandana run off to? And my Captain's probably running around somewhere.."
Sanji led the way out, shaking his head at my energy. "Luffy's with that other guy on a ship waiting for us out front. I don't know about your bandana though, sorry."
I shrugged it off, walking next to him as we headed downstairs. "Other guy?" I questioned, blowing my bangs out of my face in annoyance with a huff.
Sanji smirked, talking around his cigarette. "Yeah a guy crashed through a wall while in the mouth of a panda shark and smacked right into me."
"Yosaku." I said, deadpanning.
Who the heck gets eaten by a fish? And a panda no less.
I have a cousin who's a panda.~
Oh really? You'll have to tell me about him later. He sounds...Pandastic.
Ooh boo!~
Hah!
Sanji raised an eyebrow at the name. "How do you figure?"
"Uh, hello?" I smirked up at him, tapping my temple with a finger. "Psychic? I can see the future?"
We rounded the corner and the front doors were in sight. "Oh right, I didn't really believe in psychics to be honest." A thought seemed to strike him and he turned to me slightly. "Hey wait, if you can see the future, then why did you ask who I was talking about?"
The awkward silence stretched between us, only broken by the sound of our casual footsteps.
"So...That bag you're carrying...You've finally caved eh?" I smirked up at him, amusement clear in my face.
Sanji mumbled something incoherent before he chuckled. "Yeah, guess we're crewmates now, huh?" He stopped as we reached the open doors, looking at the chefs gathered on the patchwork fin outside.
I grinned, nudging Sanji with my elbow as I walked past. "Y'gotta say 'bye first, hentai-shefu-san.~"
He whipped his head around to glare at me as I skipped away, waving at Luffy excitedly as I approached. "Cap-tain-san~! Yosaku-yowamushi-chin~! Don't freaking leave without me you jerks!"
"Ah, they're here." Yosaku said, a grin on his face as if he hadn't heard my new nickname for him. Darn.
"Evan! You're awake! That's great! Shishishishishishi~!" Luffy laughed, grinning as I high-fived him, climbing onto Sanji's boat.
"Yosh!" Things quieted as Sanji stepped out, his bag slung over a shoulder casually as he stared straight ahead, eyes pinned casually to the boat.
He's very casual today.
Hwahahahahaeeee~!
Indeed. HWAHAHAHAHAHAEEEE~! *Insert amused giggle here.*
Suddenly, Patty and Carne were behind Sanji, mid-swing with their respective giant cutlery. "This is payback for all those years!" Patty grit out, eyes bloodshot.
"Die, Sanji!" Carne crowed.
Sanji didn't even flinch.
"Told ya you couldn't beat him." A chef commented, crouching next to the beaten bodies of Patty and Carne as Sanji proceeded as if nothing had happened. I stifled my chuckles by biting into my fist.
Ba-kas~
The silence ensued again as Sanji finally reached the end of the fin, and the boat. "Let's go." He said, unslinging the pack from his shoulder.
A look of confusion flashed across Luffy's face. "Just like that? What about saying good-byes?"
"It's fine." Was all Sanji said, before Zeff said something from his position on the upper deck.
"Hey Sanji." The blonde froze, eyes wide as he started to sweat laboriously. "Don't catch a cold." The mask broke and Sanji's tears fell.
"OWNER ZEFF!" He exclaimed, falling to his knees and bowing his head as he face him. "I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL OF YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF ME FOR SO DANG LONG! I SHALL NEVER FORGET FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, THE DEBT I OWE YOU!" He sobbed, emotion thick in the air.
Zeff shed a few rare tears of pride, Carne and Patty shouting in joyful unison. "YOU JERK!" Tears cascaded from their faces as well. "DANG IT WE'RE GOING TO BE LONELY WITHOUT YA! REAL LONELY YOU HEAR?! I'LL MISS YOU!"
The other cooks were sobbing messes now, having watched Sanji grow up over the years as well. "YOU'RE MAKING US CRY DANG IT!"
Everyone (myself and Luffy not included,) were sobbing messes. Zeff was crying quietly, a hand over his eyes as he grinned. "Idiots...Men should say their goodbyes silently." He chuckled wryly.
Sanji was deeply moved as the tears continued to flow. "LET'S MEET AGAIN SOMEDAY! YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING JERKS!" He shouted, smiling through his sorrow.
Luffy was beaming a grin the whole time. He spread both arms into the air and drew breath. "ALRIGHT! LET'S SET SAIL!"
"Aye Captain!" I chirped, untying the mooring line.
I may know more than the average fourteen year old about ships, but right now I only understand that we're tied to the ship.
Hahaha~ You're happy today.
Something wrong with that?
I'm just trying to figure out your personality.
Pfft, good luck with that!
We waved farewell as our little boat drifted farther and farther away from Sanji's home. Towards the horizon, and an island filled with walking fishsticks.
Mmmmm...Someone better bring the tartar sauce, because I'm about to open up a can of butt-whup on them fishies!
(Evan's P.O.V.)
I was currently sitting against a barrel a few feet away from Sanji, Luffy, and Yosaku as I kept an ear on the conversation for anything of importance. I was trying to not remember the conversation Lee and I had, fearing that my brain would be overwhelmed again and I would be no help whatsoever if that happened.
I listened with a lazy expression and my arms crossed over my chest as Yosaku fruitlessly tried to explain the Shichibukai to Luffy. I snorted as Luffy tried to draw a fishman, first one horizontally and then one vertically.
"Here Luffy, let me see the paper and marker if you would." I earned a few confused looks, but he complied as the others eyed me with mild surprise before picking up the conversation where Yosaku left off, Arlong's "terrifying" strength.
I listened as I carefully maneuvered the marker on the pad of paper, my tongue slightly sticking out in concentration and my brows furrowing every time I made a mistake. I was drawing Hachi as best I could, because I loved his personality and the fact he helps Keimi later on. The others were heading inside to eat so I decided to follow them, not wanting to be left to my thoughts.
As Sanji prepared Luffy's meat and Yosaku's stir-fried bean sprouts at the small stove the ship had, he glanced at me from the corner of his eye as we sat around the small table. "What would you like to eat, Evan?" He asked, returning his attention to the stir-fry. I put the finishing touches on Hachi, before signing it with an "EV~" at the bottom right corner of the page.
"I'm fine thanks, not hungry at all."
Luffy toppled over in his seat before jumping right back up. "Sanji! Quick! Get Evan some meat! I think something's wrong with him!" He panicked, popping up around me as my tick mark steadily grew.
"Luffy, personal space." I said, putting a hand out and pushing his face out of mine.
Sanji gave Luffy and Yosaku their food before letting out a stream of smoke from his lips. "I don't think he's hungry Luffy."
I winced as I realized he was smoking inside and I started coughing erratically, my face turning red from the effort of trying to breath. "S-S.." I couldn't get a word out as I coughed.
Sorry, I shouldn't be coughing. It's rude of me.
Luffy looked concerned as he shook my shoulder.
"Oi, Evan? You okay?" He asked worriedly, I could only shake my head and cough into the crook of my arm, my other hand clutching my chest.
"I'll be..F-Fine I'm going to go get some air." I managed, stumbling out the door and leaning against the railing in relief, taking in huge gulps of air.
...I hate smoke so much..
Why? It's just smoke, it's not like you're the one who is smoking, and you can't even smell!
It hurts my lungs alright? I'm sensitive!
Ahahaha~ Boss-san is sensitive!~ Hahaha!~
...You done?
Yes.
I sighed, my breathing finally evening as I enjoyed the salty sea air. I heard the door open and close behind me, and footsteps joined me by the rail.
"...Sorry about that..I didn't know smoke would bother you so much." Sanji said, grinding his cigarette on the rail.
"What? No, no it's not your fault, it's okay!" I said, waving my hands awkwardly. Sanji just raised an eyebrow, before pulling something out of his pocket and holding it out for me.
"Here, you left the sketchbook in there. What exactly did you draw? It looks like an octopus-man."
I took the sketchbook from him with a small smile. "It's an octopus fishman, he's gonna fight Zoro."
Sanji raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really? Am I going to fight anyone?"
Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oi! I can't spoil the entire adventure for you! That'd suck all the fun outta it for me!"
He chuckled and shrugged, turning to go back inside. "Fair enough."
I smiled, tucking the book into my pocket as I pulled my hair behind my ear. Then I realized I lost my bandana and a feeling of loneliness enveloped me as I slumped over with a depressing aura.
We've been through so much together and now Orangie's gooooooooonnnnnneeeeee~
Uh, "Orangie?"
Yeah, his name was Orangie! YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!
No, I mean Orangie! As in, HE'S ON MOO-MOO!
My head snapped up as the ship rumbled with Moo-Moo's movement next to the ship as he glared down at me.
I sighed.
"LUFFY! I FOUND MEAT!"
"I can see Arlong Park!" Luffy shouted in excitement, the giant cowfish (manatee?) pulling our boat along quickly. The poor thing was sweating so hard I almost felt bad for it.
"Hey! Don't get tired now you hippo!" Sanji scolded it once it had started to slow. "Hey! You're swimming the wrong way! Turn to the left!" Moomoo had veered to the right, towards Cocoyashi village.
Cheeky critter ain't he?
"We're going to crash into the island!" Yosaku screeched, crying.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
I just threw my hands up in the air and cheered. "IT'S LIKE A ROLLERCOASTER!"
A rollercoaster without seatbelts.~
…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"
One terrifying trip through the sky later...
"Ohohoho why meeee~" I moaned, shoving Luffy off of me. "Why couldn't I land on the rubber instead?!"
"Shishihihihi My bad Evan!" Luffy chuckled, dusting himself off as he stood. The others got up as well while Zoro grew shark teeth.
"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" He roared, bleeding slightly from his head.
How the heck is he still conscious?! He just got hit by a ship!
Pfft, physics indeed.
"What do you mean?" Luffy asked, dumbly. "We've obviously come to get Nami back. Haven't you found her yet? Where's Usopp and Johnny?"
"Usopp? Oh crap!" Zoro jolted and got to his feet, hurriedly wiping the blood off his head with his arm. "Now's not the time to be wasting time!"
"Hm? What's wrong?" Luffy asked again.
Zoro halted mid-step to answer hurriedly. "That idiot got himself caught by Arlong! If we don't hurry up, he'll be k-"
"HE WAS ALREADY KILLED!" Johnny's voice suddenly interrupted him. I looked around for a second before spotting him just a ways away from Zoro with a crestfallen expression. "It's too late…"
"...Johnny?" Zoro said, silently asking for him to elaborate.
Johnny lost his composure and wailed. "BROTHER USOPP WAS MURDERED BY SISTER NAMI!" He sobbed, breathing heavily from him running hastily to deliver the news.
Luffy ran up to Johnny and held him by his shirt in his rage. "Say it one more time, and I swear I'll kick your ass!"
"Luffy, stop! It's not as if Johnny's the one at fault here!" Yosaku tried to reason, tugging at the back of Luffy's vest in vain.
"WELL HE'S LYING! THERE'S NO WAY THAT NAMI WOULD KILL USOPP! WE'RE CREWMATES!"
I shifted uncomfortably on the wreckage I was sitting on, a mild frown on my face as I watched Luffy and the others.
Do you think it'd be alright if I got them off his back by "predicting" what happened?
I don't know Boss! You're the one in charge here, you decide!
SOME HELP YOU ARE!
Bleh~!
"Don't you stick your tongue out at me I will come in there and give you the beat down of your life!"
…
I just said that out loud didn't I?
Pfft..BWAHAHAHAHA~!
SHUT UP!
"E-Er...Carry on.." I waved my hand awkwardly, "bidding" them to proceed. I noticed a bit of orange on the ground from the corner of my eye and I reached over to pick up my bandana happily. I dusted off my bandana with a few good thwacks and put it in its rightful place on my head. Having avoided a nude-headed crisis, I returned my attention to what the heck was going on.
"...-And 'crewmates'? Don't make me laugh. It was nothing but a stupid little cooperation." Nami said coldly, her eyes icy as she spoke emotionlessly.
Sanji was either too dense to care about what was going on, or way too lost in the "hurricane of love" to save. He was blushing like a perverted moron as he waved enthusiastically to her.
"Na…! Nami! It's me! Do you remember me? Let's set sail together~!" He beamed, about to get in one of the first of many fights he would have with Zoro.
"Shut up! Can't you see you're making things more complicated by butting in?!" Zoro scowled, veins bulging in his head.
Sanji returned the glare with a dark one of his own. "What was that? Don't you know that love is always a hurricane?"
I felt rising annoyance bubble in my gut as the morons squabbled while Nami was going through so much pain…! I felt I would snap soon if someone set one more toe out of line.
And as fate would have it, idiocy was at it's prime today.
"I TOLD YOU SO! SHE'S A WITCH!" Johnny shouted, pointing at her in anger. My fists started shaking and I bit my lip as I jerkily stood. "She's a cold-blooded witch through and through! You've all been deceived from the start, and I swear I saw her stabbing Usopp!"
"...So what?" Nami said, arms crossed and a cold smile on her face. "Would you like to try and avenge him? Let me tell you one thing. After the idiotic stunt that Zoro pulled, Arlong wants Roronoa Zoro and all his companions dead." Nami's eyes flashed darkly for half a second before the coldness returned. "No matter how monstrously strong you may all be, you're no match at all for the real monster."
Zoro swatted away her words. "I couldn't care less about that. Where's Usopp?" A smirk twitched into existence onto my face and I put my hands in my pockets as I spoke at the same time as Nami.
"At the bottom of the ocean."
"-On his way here.~"
Shock flashed in Nami's eyes as everyone turned to me, with curious expressions.
I tilted my head to the side in a scheming manner, lazily lifting a hand to point at Nami's gloved one. "Nice glove Nacchan, is it normal to only wear one? I wonder…" I mused, cockily walking over to her rigid form. "Did you perhaps...Fake Usopp's death?"
Johnny was speechless while Zoro and Sanji's eyes flickered with hope. Luffy was emotionless as he always believed in Nami.
My eyes softened and I put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically. "Luffy wouldn't have left no matter how hard you yelled at him Nami-san, I'm just trying to lighten your burden. You're his naka-" I whispered softly, not bothered when she suddenly jerked back and shouted at us.
"FINE! DO WHATEVER THE HECK YOU WANT! YOU CAN DIE FOR ALL I CARE!" She lied, running off towards Cocoyashi village.
True to form, Luffy was laying on his back in the middle of the road as I slouched against a tree. Zoro and Sanji took their own resting positions before Johnny and Yosaku bid us crazy people farewell. I guess I was more exhausted than I had thought, for before I had even realized it was happening, I dozed off.
A/N:
Awwwww Pooooorrrrrr NAAAAMMMIIIII D': I felt so bad for her when I wrote this. Almost as bad as how bad I felt for keeping my readers waiting so long!
I love you~ ;w; Sorry cookies? (::) (::) AND NO THEY DO NOT LOOK LIKE BOOBS! -.- (You know who you are, yeaaaahhh you, right there. I see you hiding!)
Acknowledgements!: Thank you for following and/or favoriting!: delmelio, cruelistnightmare, c4talys7-29, bsdurler, Noctis D. Crow (Love your name, it's so cool!), Manami Uchiha (Say hi to Sasuke for me!), MidnightStar64, Futuyaro son (Cough cough, wink wink, YO~!) Manic Archmage, PokemonNarutoLover, hinata-ni, pokemondemon013 (Sorry if I didn't mention you earlier! Sorry!) and lastly, but not least!..ly, wolfzero7!
Thank you all so much! And you guest reviewers! I haven't forgotten about you! You exist! *whispers* I love youuuuuuu...~ owo
Haha! Anyways! Thanks for reading and I hope you all lead good lives! Until next time then!~ (And if you think you've seen the last of my evil cliffies, well, mwahahahahahahahaha!...)
futu! I'm glad you're enjoying it, I am too! :D