Chapter 64
Taming Attempt : Humor
Frantic scratching sounds could be heard from the Merry's bow where the crew's chronicler was. The pain in her hand seemed to have entirely vanished as she used her devilish speed to eagerly draw one of the most amazing sights she had ever seen. Her jade eyes so very wide open, as if to catch all of its magnificence, could barely leave the magical scenery; fluffy, pure and white, with light strokes of greenery, the Sky Island looked liked a dream.
The race aboard the 'speedy shrimp' did not last more than a few minutes and, as soon as the Merry reached the white-white sea, the dream Island was in sight. The ship's navigator estimated it would take about an hour to reach it, and most of the pirates were beyond restless, longing to touch this heaven's soil with their bare feet.
"Hey south bird-"
"It's Southy," Eli corrected, making Ace sigh deeply from behind the girl.
"Hey Southy," the pirate started once again, "Is she still angry ?"
Apparently the young man was resorting to childish stratagems to seek the chroniclers' favor, and apparently, it was quite effective since Eli couldn't manage to force down the smile that was shining on the face.
"Aw... so she is," Ace said, a hint of fake deception in his voice. "You have any idea how I could redeem myself, flashy buddy ?"
Her bird chirped rapidly as if to answer the young man.
"Excuse myself ?" Ace asked loudly. "But- Again ? I mean, yeah, of course you're right, Southy."
With difficulty, Eli managed to swallow her smile and, with an exaggerated sigh, she rolled her head upward; his forearms resting on the guardrail, Ace was standing above her, a large grin appearing on his freckled face as his dark eyes met with green ones. The chronicler, however, did not share his happiness upon seeing that the flame user was still shirtless. Somehow, it even made her rather angry.
On the spot, Eli leaned forward to grab the shirt Ace had given her a few hours ago, and threw it over her head. The red piece of clothing surprisingly landed on top of the flame user's head; unfortunate that the girl wasn't looking at him to notice how her slinging had reached its target, for once.
"Just... wear this already..." Eli sighed and slammed her logbook to a close on her lap, very aware that she wouldn't be able to write or draw anything more as long as Ace was dawdling around.
"Are you kidding ?" Ace jumped next to her, his red shirt still hanging from his hand. "I wouldn't miss your blushing face for anything in the world."
With his childish laugh, Eli frowned while her angry eyes focused on the jolly roger carved in the leather cover of her logbook. Why did he have to be such a jerk after being so sweet..? Apparently, Ace wouldn't let that go, and why would he ? If the girl had such an ascendancy of him, she wouldn't miss a chance to annoy the hell out of him, without respite, day in and day out.
In the corner of her eye, the red shirt was moving tauntingly, its flutters accompanying the flame user's convulsive laughs, and that was how Eli recalled what got the chesty young man shirtless in the first place.
A little smirk sneaked up to her lips and the girl dropped her head to conceal her devious scheme from the deliciously ignorant standing above her. This was going to be fun, yet she had to be extremely focused for her act to be perfect, because if she was to make the slightest mistake, the repercussions could wind up disastrous for her.
Swallowing back her smirk along with a large quantity of air, Eli stood up as the flame user's laughing fit finally died out. She let a deep, deep sigh flow from her lips and walked over to the railing. A hand in her windswept hair, she gazed at the sea with a lazy glimmer in her half lidded eyes.
"Twig ?" Ace called out as he walked over to the girl.
"It's so hot here..." she said in a breath.
"Uh..." Ace uttered stupidly, before leaning over her with a very lewd smirk on his freckled face. "Are you talking about me ?"
It was so easy to get him to rise to the bait that Eli had to bite her tongue to prevent any laughs or even a smile on her face.
"Maybe I could take a dive..." She said quietly as she shifted her gaze right below her. "The bottom doesn't seem so far."
"I don't think that's a good idea..."
Eli sighed wearily and slowly rolled her head around to look at Ace. "I don't have a swimsuit but it's okay... right ?"
His eyes were quite wide as Ace stared speechlessly at the girl's act. "You wouldn't dare..." he muttered.
"But I'm so hot..." she said in a lascivious tone of voice. "And sweaty..."
It wasn't the first time Eli pulled a seductive act. She had done it multiple times to mock Sanji's lechery, but never had she dared to play this card with Ace before. Witty remarks was all she could do. And so, as she looked at the young man's face, his wide bewildered eyes, his jaw that had gone slack, the tease seemed to be taken aback. She would have expected him to talk or at least grumble, frown, maybe even laugh, but Ace looked seriously shaken by her teasing behavior.
He knew she was playing, right ? So why didn't he join the fun like he always did ?
With a long, exaggerated moan, Eli stretched her shoulders upward which caused a strap of her tank top to slide down on her arm. "I wanna get wet..." she whispered teasingly, so teasingly, in fact, that she had assumed Ace would finally laugh at her.
But Ace didn't laugh, at all. His face drooped, he briskly grabbed the girl's shoulders and quickly put the loose strap back where it should be. Looking at their feet, the young man was voiceless...
Things were still for a moment, until a brilliant sensation washed over her... Oh happiness ! It overflowed her from the inside and, as Eli saw a light blush making its way to the freckled cheeks of her arrogant love interest, she burst in laughter.
"You lost !" The tease jumped away, Ace's arms falling loosely to his sides. "Sucker !" she said loudly while making a little victory dance under the flame user's dull face.
"You..." Ace muttered, although never managed to finish his sentence. The young man rubbed his face vigorously.
"One point for the Twig," Eli said proudly. "Now if you'll excuse me, dear challenger, I have to change."
With a joyous gait, she walked past him and came to a stop right behind the young man.
"Gonna get naked~" she murmured from behind him.
Ace swirled around, his dark eyes burning with rage, it seemed that the girl had took her revenge a bit too far. With a gasp, the young man tried to grab the girl who dashed away while chuckling childishly.
"Come back !" he yelled from afar; Eli couldn't help the grin on her face until she closed the door of the storage room behind her.
The grin that had been plastered to her face instantly vanished and Eli brought a hand to her chest where her heart pounded furiously. It had never occurred to the skinny girl that Ace would actually desire her; not with this body, not with this face, not with her obvious lack of experience. Although she should have known, it had never really ticked in her mind and, in the midst of the pleasurable and very obvious discovery, something akin to fear lingered... anxiety.
Eli had no idea how to deal with that.
A deep sigh escaped the tensed chest and Eli crouched to open the girl's dorms' hatch. Nami's angry mutters reached her ears and the girl startled. Stealthily, she took a peek through the stairs' guardrail to see what was causing the redhead anger this time. Her green eyes widened as they traveled around the bedroom; books and clothes among other various items all over, the girl recalled that she had broken the chest of drawers a little while ago. Ever since that 'accident', the Merry had been shaken in every direction, and so the girl's clothing ended up scattered all around.
With a large intake of air, Eli gathered her courage, stood up, and walked down the stairs, her palm warming with friction as her clenched hand slide down the wood of the guardrail.
"What happened there !" she said bewilderingly, as she planted her feet on the floor.
"Apparently our chest of drawers had broken during our flight," Robin said calmly, her arms folded, one of her hand made a light circling motion.
"My clothes, my beauties..." Nami whimpered, causing Eli to bite her bottom lip guiltily.
It was her fault, or Luffy's, maybe Ace's...but more likely hers, yet, the girl wasn't ready to jump in the lion jaws and confess to the redhead. She cared too much for her life. However, if she couldn't admit her fault, she could, at least, lessen the damages. On the spot, the girl, accelerated her whole self and dashed around the room at an amazing speed that caused the women's hair to flutter violently. Efficiently, the paramecia picked all the pieces of clothing; from the ones hanging on the ceiling's light to the ones laying on the floor and made three stacks: one for her, one for Nami, and one for Robin. It took her less than ten seconds and the redhead's joy brightened her pretty face again, lessening the weight of her guilt on the chronicler's heart.
The three pirate girls changed their outfits, choosing ones more fitted for a relaxing vacation on the heavenly beach. Nami wore a bikini top that would certainly please the ship's cook, and long shorts. Robin preferred a flowery patterned tank top and low waisted jeans. As for Eli, she put on a strapless two piece swimsuit and short dungarees.
As her eyes travelled from one of her crewmate to the other, Eli's face went blah. They were so breasty and she was so... flat. Flat and dull, dull and plain, plain and skinny... The chronicler's face drooped and Eli's empty eyes fell on the pearl attached to her wrist. Wryly, she smiled while wondering what Ace could find attractive in her. As she looked at the cold and white orb, the little teasing act she had performed a few minutes ago now seemed extremely stupid, stupid and meaningless, meaningless and ridiculous, ridiculous and embarrassing...
"Where is it...? Damn !"
Eli rose her face listlessly and watched Nami walking around in the bedroom, she was pushing and throwing every object that stood in her way, a frown appearing, and furrowing quickly on her face. A single shoe in her hand, the chronicler guessed that the redhead was looking for its pair. With a sigh, the depressed bean-pole let herself fall on her stomach and investigated under her bed. An impossible mess prevailing under the mattress, the girl pulled books, clothes, a bag, several pens, more clothes and, at last, she saw a shoe. A smile on her face, she stretched her long arms to reach it, sticking the tip of her tongue out the corner of her lips as her fingertips brushed against its leather.
"A tattoo...?"
The voice came from above her, and as Eli slowly raised her face, Nami and Robin leaned toward her, appeared in her field of vision.
"Mmh ?" Eli returned their questioning stares and gave Nami the missing shoe.
"Thanks." The redhead crouched to put her shoes on. "I had no idea you had a tattoo here, it's so small."
"Ah !" Eli rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Yeah..." To her surprise, she found herself rather embarrassed.
"A six pointed black star," Robin said quietly, her deep eyes piercing through those of the girl. "That's... unusual."
"Erm, yeah..." There was nothing to be embarrassed with, even if the only persons who had seen her tattoo before were the two men she fell in love with... Eli cleared her throat along with her mind and let her hands fall on her tights, her fingers caressing her skin nervously. "Each point represent a power of a martial art originated from my mother country."
The archeologist's face froze for a second, with wide eyes she stared at the girl. "Are you from Suta ?"
This name... this cursed name and the penetrating gaze of the raven haired woman clawed fiercely on Eli's guts. Suta... No one was supposed to speak that name ! Frozen, the girl felt herself being drawn to a dark, bottomless pit. It had been years since she had heard that name, it had been years since she had formed that name in her mind.
The chronicler clenched her fists, nails digging in her burn, the sharp pain managed to drag the dazed girl out of the sharp coldness swelling in her head. It cleared her thoughts, and upon regaining control of her mind, Eli stared at the archaeologist, despair lingering with a question in her heated mind. Did she know something ?
"How do you know this name ?" Eli's fingers splayed and clutched on her bedding while her heart pounded with force in her chest.
"I did some researches, that's how I leaned about the..." Robin cut herself short and turned her head around to look at Nami.
Embarrassed, the redhead was trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. Slowly, she made motion to excuse herself and tiptoed in direction of the staircases.
"You can talk," Eli said, the serious tone of her voice washing Nami's awkward expression away.
"That's how I learned about the massacre."
Massacre... The dreadful word echoed in Eli's mind and voices arose. The voices of her people, the voices of her family, the voice of a whole country that was only surviving in the mind of the last of their children... A quick flicker of loathsome images caused her stomach to tighten, a slight sensation of nausea taking over the girl with the recollection of the worst stench she had ever smelled; hundreds of putrefied bodies scattered all over the soil of her motherland.
All the things she owned seemed so eager to slip from her grasp then; her life, her reason, her dreams, her friends... her friends. Eli wasn't alone anymore, she had people who cared for her, and she cared for them even more than her own life. They were the light that shone on her path, they were the signs that pointed the way.
"I thought all of the star-children were dead," Robin said, her voice showing no sign of emotion.
"I am the only one left."
The reply had came naturally, almost carelessly, and the two women were looking at each other deeply. Upon that revelation, Eli saw something in Robin's eyes. It wasn't shock, not even pity, it was something warm and deep, something sad and understanding... And as she dove into her dark blue orbs, the last of the star-children felt that the mysterious woman knew how it felt to be the last remain of a nation that had died.
"Eli..." Nami called out, sadness shining in her faint voice. "I had no idea... I'm sorry."
"Don't worry Nami, we all have our secrets," she said gazing intensely at Robin. "And it's not me anymore." With a sigh, Eli stood up. "Luffy and Ace... They gave me another life."
A soft smile made its way to the redhead's lips upon those words. "I know what you mean."
Silently, Robin, walked over to the staircases.
"Robin... They don't know..." Eli said, somehow, pleadingly.
The woman came to a stop, her back facing her two crewmates. "Don't worry, I wont tell them."
The archeologist climbed up the stairs and Eli gazed at the woman's feline gait. If she had lived through the same hell as she had, the green-eyed girl hoped that she had the chance to find someone half as wonderful as the two black-haired brothers to help her. But, somehow, the chronicler already knew the answer. The desire for death, the loneliness in her eyes... She had seen the same in the green eyes of a stargazer.
"You want me to stay ?" Nami offered warmly, making the chronicler shift her gaze to the redhead.
During a little moment of silence, Eli found herself rather uncomfortable under her friends gentle gaze. It wasn't the Nami she knew, it wasn't the Nami she loved. Worry didn't suit her big auburn eyes.
"No that's okay, you can go," she said, forcing a little smile on her lips.
"And Eli," The navigator took a few steps before turning around. "You're very pretty."
"And you're smoking hot, Nami."
A bright grin on her face, the redhead nodded and walked out of the bedroom.
As the metallic sound of the hatch's latch reached her ears, Eli felt weariness overcome her strong act. The girl let her body fall on her mattress along with the tears that had been so eager to spill as soon as the loathsome memory touched her mind with its cold fingertips.
Eli squeezed her eyes shut, tears still forming on her eyelashes before falling on her white sheets.
Why did she have to remember ? Couldn't she just live her life freely ? The Sutan girl had long chose to leave her past behind, she had renounced her birth and started her life anew. Her memories, however, never entirely vanished. They were biding their time, patiently, until an opening appeared for them to leek inside of the girl's mind.
Why did it have to be so painful ? It had all happened more than six years ago now. Wasn't that long enough ? And as the girl rubbed her eyes with force, she wondered how much longer she would have to bear the weight of her past on her frail shoulders...
Slowly, she opened her eyes and her bag appeared in her blurry field of vision. Eli sniffled and grabbed its strap. A sharp sensation arose from her chest, and the girl found herself frenzied as she searched the bottom for a secret pocket. She roughly threw away all of her belongings and, at last, the pain dissolved as she found it. Her fingertips came in contact with a little cotton pouch hidden for so long that the Sutan girl had almost forgotten its presence so near to her.
Nothingness spread over her as she held the pouch in her hand. Eli slid its small string, and, with a delicateness that was very unfamiliar, she let it's content fall into the palm of her hand.
Two silver badges, and in their metal, names were carved.
Eli's fingertip caressed the cold letters absently. The name of her father, his rank and, with this faint touch all of his pride, his love, his force glowed in the jade of her eyes that she shared with the man who raised her. The other badge, however, tainted the feeble warmth with sorrow.
Etowaru...
Time had passed, months and years. Like the regular motion of the waves crashing on the sand relentlessly, the memories of her love had been gradually washed away within those years. The young man would remain eternal, but Eli had changed. He was now shining in the midst of the bright lights twinkling in the black and endless canopy of the sky, while the girl kept walking her way among the living. Long and tortuous was the path she walked upon, but she wasn't alone.
Her love for the Sutan soldier had dissolved, and Eli fell in love again.
Eli put her father's badge in the pouch and kept Etowaru's in the palm of her hand, the cold metal slowly warming in the confines of her hold. She knew she had to tell Ace. Like he did, she had to reveal the tale of the last children of Suta to the man she loved.
to be continued
Betaed by Fox MC.
I knew it ! You got your long awaited kiss and now you're leaving me T.T
Oh and just a little note; Ace doesn't really try to tame Eli. He is pretty natural with her (maybe too much). But I liked the title, and somehow, when he's being nice, Eli's wild nature is tamed by his charms. Too bad (for him) he's acting like a jerk in the end.
Next update on Monday.