Chapter 44
Observation Log
"What are you drawing ?" Ace asked as he joined Eli in the crow's nest.
Listlessly, she raised her face from her book to look at him with red, puffy eyes. The young man had traded his Alabastan outfit for his usual black shorts and white open shirt, and for Eli it only meant one thing: their adventure in the desert kingdom of Alabasta was over, irrevocably over. She shifted her eyes to her log book, sighed sadly, and held it out for him to see.
"Vivi..." she replied quietly. "Wasn't she just beautiful..." The chronicler sighed again, gazing deeply more at her portrait of the lovely princess wearing her royal outfit.
"She sure was." Ace leaned against the side of the crow's nest, resting his elbows on its rim, and smiled at the whimpering girl.
"And now I'm stuck with Nami..." Eli looked up at the flame user desperately. "You know, she's gonna make me tidy my stuff, do my laundry, and more..."
"Bummer," Ace said, apparently holding back a laugh.
Eli sniffled and rubbed her puffy eyes slowly. She would miss the blue-haired princess, her maturity, her strength, and, above all, her kindness. The chronicler had never had any girl friends before Nami, and the redhead was a great friend, she wouldn't deny that, but she was often harsh, and Eli had easily gotten used to Vivi's tolerance and tenderness.
"I should move to the male quarters..." Eli said sadly, resuming to her drawing.
"Not sure that's a good idea." Ace looked upwards, a little smile on his face.
A general, long and very mopish sigh resonated throughout the Merry, making it sound like the little ship was sighing along with the depressed pirates.
"We're so lonely..." Eli heard her friends whine in unison from below the crow's nest.
Standing up to watch how they were doing, she saw that they were in the same emotional state as her: slumping on the floor their heads and arms hanging from the inner railing, whining and sighing wearily. Apparently, Zoro and Ace were the only ones not to be affected by the sweet princess's absence, at least not visibly.
"Don't cry anymore, jeez !" Zoro said harshly, glaring at the depressed bunch. "I knew I should have dragged her aboard."
"Waaah, you're a barbarian..." Chopper said, looking at the swordsman with wide eyes.
"Despicable..." Nami gritted her teeth in hatred.
"Heartless..." Eli added from above.
"Devil..." Sanji muttered, his cigarette hanging sadly from his pouting lips.
"Three swords..." Luffy glared at Zoro.
"Wait Luffy, 'three swords' is not an insult !" Usopp noted.
"Four Swords..." Luffy rectified ineffectively. Apparently, the boy wasn't really skilled in coming up with a good insult.
Zoro huffed disdainfully. Manifestly extremely annoyed, the heartless swordsman watched the wailing pirates from the corner of his eye and walked away as he couldn't bear their whining anymore. Eli looked at him as he got distant, his heavy footsteps resonating on the wooden floor, and shifted her eyes to Ace. The young man was staring into space, a feeble smile on his freckled face. While looking at him, Eli was sure that he was only keeping his sorrow inside for the sake of the crew, and so she took a step closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, seeking solace within his gentle warmth.
"At last we're out to sea..." a strangely familiar feminine voice said. "Good work."
"MISS ALL SUNDAY !" the pirates screamed, bewildered at the sight of their enemy walking casually on their ship.
Ace and Eli dashed down on the spot and joined their friends surrounding the mysterious woman belligerently. Muscles tensed, hands on their weapons, they were ready to deal with her if she was here to take her revenge... yet she seemed pretty relaxed. Annoyingly relaxed.
"When did you board our ship ?" Nami yelled angrily.
"I was here the whole time in the cabin, reading a book and taking a bath," she replied casually. Pretending that there was nothing wrong, she took a folding chair and sat down.
"Make yourself comfortable, won't you, Miss !" Ace said wryly, folding his arms while frowning at the black-haired woman.
Being completely oblivious of having an enemy aboard the Merry during those few hours caused the pirates' anger to grow tremendously. Their eyes burning with fury, they stared persistently at her face, trying to decrypt her unreadable expression... Well, except for Usopp, who was hiding ineffectively behind the mast of the ship, yelling out his anxiousness on top of his lungs, and Sanji, who was already in love with the gorgeous woman.
"Monkey D. Luffy," Miss All Sunday called out seriously. "Did you forget what you did to me ?"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT !" Sanji grabbed the boy's collar and shook him frantically. "What did you do to this beautiful lady !"
"Hey ! Don't lie !" Luffy yelled angrily. "I didn't do anything to you !"
"I clearly remember..." Miss All Sunday said. "You better take responsibility." She rested her chin in the palm of her hand and smiled. "Let me join your crew."
Join our crew...
That was quite unexpected, and so the Straw Hats yelled their surprise all in unison. Watching her beautiful face, Eli couldn't help but notice that while her little smile was warm, her deep blue eyes seemed a bit sad.
"You made me live when I wanted to die..." she said. "And now I have nowhere else to go, so let me stay on this ship."
The woman was so troubling; she was speaking about giving up on her life so easily that the pirates just remained speechless, watching Luffy and her.
"Oh, if it's like that then there's nothing I can do," Luffy said. "It's okay, you can join."
The pirates gasped loudly at the captain's quick acceptance of the former enemy within the crew. After all, they knew nothing about her, and she gave off a disquieting aura... her beauty, her warm smile, and something else. Eli couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something extremely wrong with her. Something about her was endangering the girl, she felt it in her guts, and while she gave the woman a searching look, she soon found what her guts feared deeply.
"Don't worry !" Luffy grinned. "She's not as bad as you all think."
"Oi oi Luffy !" Eli said, frowning at the woman. "Miss... stand up please !" she ordered sharply.
To that harsh order Miss All Sunday complied obediently, still sporting a little and ever-so-charming smile on her lips. Eli walked over to her and straightened up, her back against hers.
"Who's the tallest ?" Eli asked gravely, making a good portion of the crew slap their foreheads while the other part rolled their eyes at the chronicler's odd priorities.
"Come on, tell me..." Eli's frown furrowed as she needed her doubt to be eased as soon as possible.
"Well..." Ace looked carefully at the top of the tall females' heads. "I'm not sure..." he said quietly.
Instantly, Eli's green eyes widened in fear; she wouldn't be able to accept this woman in the crew if she dared out-heighting her. It was a matter of pride, and pride was even more precious than life to a pirate such as her.
"Wait." Miss All Sunday crouched and took off her shoes, baring her feet just like Eli. "There, it'll be more fair," she said in an amused tone of voice.
In the corner of her eyes, Eli watched Ace's face anxiously while praying to the skies to be victorious. Her height has always been her pride and joy, and she felt that if she happened to lose that particularity, she would also lose her strength. She wasn't the prettiest, she wasn't the smartest, nor the strongest, yet she was the tallest, she had always been the tallest...
"Ah, we got a winner." Ace smirked. "You're the tallest, Twig."
Eli whooped happily raising her arms in the air, in both the naming and, more importantly, the winning.
"She can stay," the beanpole said with a cheerful smile, to which Miss All Sunday chuckled.
Relieved, Eli forgot about the previous suspicions and decided to draw a portrait of the new crew member in her log book. Sketching attentively her graceful features, the chronicler awed silently at her mysterious beauty. However, even if Luffy and Eli had already accepted Miss All Sunday's presence, the rest of the crew had yet to be convinced. Therefore, Usopp grilled her, as his lying ability was supposedly a big help for the job.
That was how the pirates learned that Miss All Sunday's name was Nico Robin. She became an archaeologist at the age of eight and it was at that young age that she got a bounty on her head. Therefore, she was had been chased relentlessly by the government for the past twenty years. Obviously, as a child, she couldn't survive at sea alone, and that was why she joined various crews to protect herself. The woman told proudly that she had real good stealth abilities.
Obviously, the interrogatory didn't ease Usopp's fears, quite the opposite, in fact. In his defense, the woman could be quite scary.
On the other hand, Chopper and Luffy were completely thrilled at Robin's devil fruit powers. The woman could 'bloom' her limbs wherever she wanted, and apparently as much as she wanted. She used her ability to tickle the two boys from a distance while chuckling charmingly.
"You can fool Luffy, but you won't fool me," Nami said coolly. "I still remember you used to be the vice president of an evil organization, and if I see anything suspicious, I'll get rid of you !"
"Oh..." Robin smiled. "In that case, I'll keep these jewels for myself," she said, playing with a pouch apparently containing a large amount of jewels.
How she managed to find the redhead's Achilles' heel so fast was a mystery, yet that smart manœuvre earned her the unconditional love of the greedy girl.
With her charms, Sanji was of course one of the first to accept the woman among them, declaiming his flame amorously while serving her delicious snacks. His flirty behavior effectively earned him glares from the three remaining untrusty pirates.
Zoro, Ace, and Usopp looked at the charmed crew scornfully while assigning themselves as the pillars who shouldn't falter before the mysterious woman. Unfortunately for the two young men, the pillar Usopp collapsed quite easily, bursting into laughter seeing Luffy imitating Chopper thanks to Robin's hands as the little reindeer's horns.
Robin stood up and walked slowly over to Ace and Zoro who were standing with their arms folded firmly, frowns on their faces.
"This is not bad," she said softly. "Are they always this cheerful ?"
"Yeah, they're always like that."
The two young men exchanged a suspicious glance. Apparently, they weren't going to let the woman off the hook so easily...
Observation of Nico Robin Day 1
While I observe Nico Robin, I can't help but awe at her natural grace and charms.
Sanji is so completely under her mysterious spell that it's almost scary...
Evil Dark Lord (laughing evilly) : MWAHAHAHA~
Nami (crying) : Someone, anyone... HELP US !
Ace (sleeping) : ZzzzZZzzz
Usopp (holding his face) : Oh my god, we are doomed !
Luffy (clenching his fists) : I'm going to kick your ass Evil Dark Lord.
Zoro & Sanji (frowning at E.D.L.) : Let's do it captain !
E.D.L. (blasting Luffy, Zoro and Sanji away with an invisible force) : You have absolutely no chance of survival pitiful humans, this planet will be mine, MIIIIIINE~
Robin (her arms folded) : Well, when death is upon us there's nothing we can do.
Chopper (whining and hugging Eli) : Please do something Eli...
Eli ( her chest stuck out proudly) : Evil Dark Lord ! You like games right ?
E.D.L. (scratching the side of his head) : Well... yeah...
Eli (pointing E.D.L. scornfully) : I'll challenge you then ! A Rock-Paper-Scissors game deciding the fate of this planet !
Straw Hats (looking at Eli with sparkling admiration) : Waaaaaaaah !
E.D.L. : HAHAHA you're a cheeky one missy ! I accept your challenge.
Eli : Paper !
E.D.L. : Rock... DAMN !
Eli (grinning proudly, while the Straw Hats hug her tightly) : Hehehe.
E.D.L. (shaking Eli's hand) : Well, I'll leave this planet then... I shall never forget you, courageous human girl !
Eli (pointing at Usopp) : You can take the long-nosed one.
Usopp (crying while being taken away) : NOOOOOOOOOooooooohhhhh...
"Really...?" Usopp said in disbelief as he just finished reading Eli's comic, 'Eli Saving the World'.
The chronicler nodded wisely.
"Hey, why am I sleeping the whole time ?" Ace frowned, pointing at all the panels where he appeared asleep... well, all the panels where he appeared, period.
"Because you do sleep a lot, Freckles," Eli replied and stuck out the tip of her tongue playfully.
Usopp looked around rapidly, apparently searching for something, or someone, and smiled mischievously at Eli. "And you-"
Coming out of nowhere, Sanji jumped next to the marksman and kicked him swiftly, glaring threateningly before the stare of a quite puzzled Eli.
"But I didn't say a thing," Usopp whined, pouting at the angry cook.
Sanji huffed. "And you'd better keep it that way."
Observation of Nico Robin Day 2
Robin seems to be the last one to go to bed, and the first to wake up.
Well that's a supposition since I was never able to witness it, but for all I know it is completely possible that she doesn't sleep at all...
When Luffy and Usopp proposed that Eli join them in testing a new weapon using Nami's bra as a double slingshot to shoot cannonballs, the girl declined in fear of the redhead's reaction. However, she was curious, and so she climbed up to her beloved crow's nest in order to watch the dangerous experiment from afar.
"Nami is not gonna like that." Ace laughed childishly next to Eli while looking at the two reckless boys.
"That's an understatement." The chronicler chuckled.
Luffy was holding the bra while Usopp put the two large cannonballs into the cups.
"And they fit..." Eli sighed sadly making Ace pat her on the back sympathetically.
The marksman stretched the extensible bra backwards, targeting a rocky formation in the distance.
"A bit more..." Usopp said, focused on his target until...
'Craaak...'
Oops ! Eli slammed her hand on her mouth as the sight of the torn lacy bra made her burst into laughter.
"WHAT THE HELL !" Nami yelled, glaring at the two boys looking sheepishly at the piece of underwear.
Of course, they tried to hide the accusative evidence, even though they had just been caught red-handed... The angry navigator punished them on the spot, hitting them on the head with strength that seemed out of this world, before sobbing while looking at the poor ripped bra.
"Barbarians..." Nami muttered.
"There are times like this when I'm actually grateful to be this flat," Eli said, looking at the sad redhead.
Observation of Nico Robin Day 3
It seems that the woman likes coffee a lot... which causes the ship's cook to serve her all day with heart-shaped eyes.
Robin also seems to love books. Maybe that's one thing we actually have in common.
Eli noticed that she had been asleep only upon languidly parting her heavy eyelids. It was, again, one of those lazy, uneventful days that made the chronicler, and a part of the crew, nap practically all day through. As the sleep haze faded out with every lazy blink of her eyelids, a soft smile made its way to Eli's cheeks seeing Ace's sleeping face appearing next to hers.
It seemed that the time passing by had considerably brought the two pirates closer. Eli wasn't really able to draw the line of their friendship anymore, and there she was, lying against him in the secluded crow's nest, her head resting on his broad shoulder, her arm and leg wrapped around him, while he held her waist loosely.
Eli didn't really remember how it happened, and did that even matter ? Lying against the warm flame user was so comfortable and ever so pleasant... Against him, she felt protected as if nothing could ever happen to her. The sunlight lovingly caressing his freckled face, Eli mewed contently nuzzling her cheek on the fabric of his shirt with soft rustles.
Yet upon noticing that her fingers were curled up in his shaggy hair, Eli felt her heartbeat increase slightly.
Maybe that was too much after all... maybe the invisible line was there... in his dark and lusciously warm hair...
Sitting up on her feet, Eli withdrew her hand slowly, absently letting her fingertips brush against the skin of his muscular chest partially bared by his open-front shirt... The girl felt a swift shiver running all over her skin as she reluctantly left the warm embrace, yet that was for the best... probably. After rubbing her puffy eyes, Eli blinked questioningly seeing Ace sitting up as well; was he awake all this time ?
"Stay," Ace said softly, his dark half-lidded eyes diving into hers, deeply.
"What- erm... I..." Eli stammered quietly as she didn't know how to reply to this exquisite request of his.
"Stay..." Ace wrapped gently his arms around her, and lay down again slowly, taking the girl with him.
Feeling him tenderly caressing the skin of her arm, Eli closed her eyes as she soaked in his delicious and familiar warmth gradually. It was so capturing and irresistible... The soft heat even reached her insides, causing a soft sigh of content to escape her mouth.
After all, what was wrong about two friends having a nap together ? Nothing, surely. Yes, nothing was wrong there, Eli convinced herself, completely ignoring the fact that she wouldn't be doing this with any of her other friends...
to be continued
Betaed by Iwin Ulose.
In case you missed it in my Twig 9's note (really short chapter, you'll read what Ace told Eli right after the bomb's explosion) :
I received an other gift. YAY ! From xXMewMikageXx. Thank you thank you !
And since it was my birthday the 16th my dear friend Anne made me TWO gifts.
One of them is actually an illustration of one of the many day naps Ace and Eli spend together in the crow's-nest :)
Go see them in my profile ! :D
Also I'll be gone for almost three weeks. I'll miss you guys, and I kinda hope you'll miss me too (or at least Eli).
If my updates have been less frequent this past weeks it is because I wanted my last chapter to be this one :) Sweet end isn't it ?
I promise some real changes in Ace and Eli's relationship when I'll come back.
Be prepared ! Hotness and emotional roller-coasters are to be expected.
I hope I'll see you all then, and maybe some new readers ? :)
See ya~ ^^/