Chapter 71
Treasure Hunters

During the breakfast, Eli kept a curious eye on Sanji. If the cook was aware of his two crewmates' loving relationship, then it was very obvious that he wasn't acknowledging it, far from that; the heavy glares, the harsh tone of his voice, and even the insults, it seemed that the blond put all the blame on the freckled young man. His behavior might have been amusing from an external point of view, but to Eli's green eyes, it was rather painful.

The girl loved the chivalrous pirate, he was a great teammate, a wonderful cook with legendary skills, and an understanding friend. Almost as soon as she had met him at the Baratie, Eli held Sanji dearly. Once she got used to his flirty behavior, the young man had shown that he was more than just a womanizer. He was so much more. His boundless kindness, his strength, and the childish glimmer flickering in his eyes when he talked about his dream of All Blue; Eli trusted him and she loved him. Therefore, seeing his blue eyes burning with hatred whenever they set on Ace only caused her heart to squeeze painfully.

It was childish, it was stupid, and this anger was definitely unfounded, therefore Eli decided that she had to put an end to it, even if she died of embarrassment in the process.

"I'll help you with the dishes," she offered, handing Sanji her bowl.

"Thanks but it's okay, Elisabeth," he said. "I don't want those beautiful hands to get dirty."

At the comment, Eli rolled her eyes and followed the cook to a nearby stream of fresh and cloudy water.

"We have to talk, Sanji," she said gravely, crouching by his side. "It's about... Ace and-"

A brutal cracking sound got the girl's attention to the cook's hands; he had just crushed a bowl with his bare hands. Stiffly, he turned his head and beamed at her. "Whaaaat ?"

Eli cleared her throat and set her gaze upward as she found herself rather uncomfortable under his crazy eyes. "It's about Ace and I-"

Another bowl broke and Eli felt the speed of her heartbeats increasing on the spot while she kept her face averted. Gathering her courage, the girl took a deep intake of air as she sat down on the ground. With a slow breath, she set her green gaze on the blonde's.

"I-" Eli cut herself short, seeing the young man burning up with rage.

Apparently, with every last of her words, she only aroused his ire, yet, she had to talk to him. With a hard gulp, Eli swallowed back her fears, the words, however, had yet to reach to her laden mouth. What could she say ? That he was stupid ? That it was none of this business ? Even though that was all very true, it wasn't serving her purpose. What Eli wanted was for her friend to accept the situation and, even though it was probably a bit selfish, she wanted him to be happy for her because nothing had ever made her so happy as being with Ace.

"I love him." The words finally flew from her lips, easily.

There was a silence then, a pure and calm silence, light and clear for it was the first time Eli had mouthed her feelings for Ace. If her face was previously clouded with many emotions, now it illuminated as the girl felt the smile on her face. She felt the warmth gently fluttering inside of her. She felt her regular heartbeats and with every pounding, she felt that it was right.

I love him, she repeated inwardly with a clearness that was very rare of her.

Sanji was speechless, but no more bowls were crushed. The anger in his dark blue orbs had extinguished, and with his mouth slightly agape, the cook stared deeply into the green of her eyes.

"I really do," Eli said, wallowing in the warm and brilliant sensation swelling inside of her. "And I've never been so happy."

Wordlessly, Sanji's gaze trailed up to the sky. He brought a cigarette to his mouth and lit it. Eli watched his face turn upward as the blond inhaled deeply before slowly blowing out the smoke. As the fume dissipated gradually in the air, the young man set his eyes on hers again.

"Are you sure of this ?" Sanji asked, his seriousness showing how much he cared.

"I am." Eli nodded, beaming at his friend.

Sanji peered at her smile, and slowly, faintly, the corners of his mouth curled up. "Alright then."

Happy as can be. Eli lifted herself up and laid a soft kiss on his forehead. "Thank you," she said warmly.

His face was flushed as Sanji blabbered incoherently, his stupid behavior making the girl chuckle. After giving him a pat on the head, Eli stood up and walked to the rest of her crewmates, very eager to see the man she loved again.

"Elisabeth."

With a little questioning sound, the girl spun on her heel and looked at Sanji's back as the young man had resumed washing the dishes.

"If he hurts you, I will turn his life into hell."

"I hope you will, Sanji." Eli smiled.

After packing the pirates' belongings, Eli went in search of the rest of the group with Sanji. A ruckus arising from the Merry, they climbed on the little ship, and found it completely repaired. Looking around, the chronicler saw that her crewmates were as amazed as she was, causing the girl to wonder who did this and how he managed to repair the ship in such a small amount of time.

"Usopp." Eli walked up to the teenager. "Was it you who repaired the Merry ?" she asked hesitantly.

"No." Thoughtfully, the long-nosed pirate observed the mast, putting a hand on the metal plates nailed along the wood. "None of us did this..." he said quietly as he turned his head to look at the puzzled girl. "I saw someone here last night Eli... Someone who was repairing Merry."

Blinking a few times, Eli's gaze traveled on the deck. The pirates were all trying to find an explanation for the mysterious phenomenon. A Skypiean ? A ghost ? And the strangest thing of it all was that the Merry had found its original form. The broken wings had been removed, as well as the comb and the wattle that Ace had equipped to the sheep's figurehead. It was as if the one who did this knew the Merry before its arrival on the sky Island.

"Hey Merry." Eli's eyes set on Usopp as he thoughtfully gazed at the figurehead. "Who fixed you last night ?" he asked in a whisper.

As she gazed at Usopp's face, Eli felt that it was one of the first times she saw the long-nosed pirate so serious. Even if she knew that this was because he deeply cared for the little ship, the girl decided that she preferred seeing the marksman mocking, jesting, and lying, rather than with a frown darkening his childish face. Putting a smile on her lips, she patted his back.

"It's nice, isn't it ?" Eli asked. "The one who did this was really nice."

Usopp turned his face to look at Eli, a grin brightening his previously grave face. "Yes, you're right."

Pushing this mystery away, and accepting the offering with a smile, the pirates focused on their respective missions. The group was divided in two; Chopper, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp were the ones who would stir the Merry outside of the Upper Yard while Luffy, Ace, Eli, Robin, and Zoro would search for the lost city of gold.

Gan Fall who was still weak and Pierre, his trusty bird, went with the Merry group as well, Chopper insisting that he wouldn't push himself too hard as long as his wounds hadn't healed.

Filled with excitement and enthusiasm, the pirates split up, setting their rendez-vous point at the north coast of the Upper Yard.

To numerous occasions, Eli had been exploring through Mont Corvo with Luffy back when she lived in Fuschia, therefore she wasn't surprised to see the rubber teen running, yelling, and singing during the hike, despite the dangerous creatures lurking in the darkness of the sky forest. Robin, however, stared questioningly at the ecstatic captain as he and Zoro started arguing about the direction; of course, the both of them pointed the wrong way.

"Don't worry Robin," Eli said with a smile. "They will find their way... Eventually." The girl stuck the tip of the tongue out as she heard the archaeologist chuckle lightly.

And so, ignoring their careless captain, Ace and Eli walked straight south, leaving the noisy group behind.

"What will you do when we get our hands on that money ?" Eli asked.

Ace made a low thinking sound while he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The Merry would need reparations, I think."

"Sure ! But it's a whole city of gold, I'm sure we can do more than repair it," Eli said. As she climbed up a pile of rotten trunks , Ace held out his hand to help her. "Maybe we could ask for improvements. Sanji would need a bigger kitchen for example... What ?" the girl asked as she heard some low mumblings resonating from Ace's throat.

"We could ask for our own room !" he said cheerfully, his smile turning a bit devious as a blush made its way to Eli's cheeks.

Our own room, eh... Eli averted the young man's lewd gaze as the images of what they would be doing in that room formed in her mind.

It was when her eyes looked away that they fell on something that caught the chronicler's attention. Turning around completely, she observed a huge sort of trunk questioningly.

"What is that ?" she asked.

Upon hearing no answer from her partner, Eli glanced at Ace, instantly slapping her forehead as she saw the young man asleep on the jungle floor. Her arms crossed, the pirate girl tapped her bicep a few times while gazing at the sleeping flame user. Pondering if she should patiently wait for him or go investigate alone, the girl found herself leaving the snoring young man behind while she walked in the direction of the mysterious 'trunk'.

It was a few meters tall, and the chronicler couldn't see how long it was because of the thick greenery. Its surface seemed rather smooth, but the strangest thing was the pattern that seemed like imprinted on it. It was of a nice turquoise blue overlaid with regular dark blue bands.

Eli startled when she saw the 'trunk' gliding on the ground. Her head snapping around, the head of colossal snake appeared in her field of vision. Its mouth was wide-open spread over two dozen meters, and its tongue, its giant, forked tongue was hovering over Ace. The chronicler remembered then that snakes were supposed to do that in order to 'smell' their prey.

Prey... Eli's eyes widened while her expression morphed into a disgusted wince seeing the humongous snake licking the flame user's sleeping figure with the tip of his pointy tongue. Eww !

Facing her disgust, the girl dashed over to her partner. Her heart racing in her chest, she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away from the snake. But Ace, and a sleeping Ace at that, was still very heavy for the featherweight. Her feet kicked the soil rapidly, a large cloud of dust forming around the two pirates.

One meter was covered when Eli looked over her shoulder. Coughing and blinking as the dust got in her lungs and eyes, she gasped seeing the large mouth threateningly closing on the two of them, darkness covering them on the spot.

"DAMN IT ! ACE !" Eli yelled angrily.

The faint light grew quickly thinner as the jaws came to a close despite the girl's struggle. Once they were sealed in, the snake's head snapped upward, its forked tongue whipping the two pirates down his throat.

While one of her hands tightened on Ace's arm, Eli tried to take a grip on the snake's throat. Her fingers digging on the slippery surface, she growled from behind her gritted teeth as she and Ace kept on slipping deeper, as if they were in a giant and dark slide.

As they finally reached what Eli imaged as the snake's stomach, the girl was fairly surprised to feel how solid the ground felt under her. Blindly, she studied the matter with her fingertips, perplexedly concluding that she was sitting on a floor made of large stone blocks.

The sounds of some quiet grunts had her attention shifting to Ace. Groping around, her hands grazed the flame user's warm skin.

"Uhhh... Was I-"

"YES !" Eli said loudly, her angry cry resonating throughout the snake's stomach. "Yes, you were asleep Ace !"

"Jeez, calm down Twig." As he turned a finger into fire, the little flame cast its light on the two pirates' faces. "Why is it so dark...? And where are we ?"

With a grumble, Eli sat more comfortably on her feet. "You wouldn't believe me..." she muttered, while trying to distinguish something in the darkness.

As Ace set his whole arm ablaze, Eli backed briskly with a gasp.

"Well..." The flame user moved his 'torch' forward, lighting the two pirates surroundings. "It smells like when I was swallowed by this giant toad in Alabasta..."

"Almost..." she replied absently.

Looking around, Eli saw that she and Ace were in what looked like large cave, and all around them, some kind of ruins. Stone walls, doors and windows with vines trailing all over, she wondered a moment if she hadn't been dreaming the giant snake. But with the slight stench titillating her nostrils, the skulls and bones scattered here and there, as well as the slimy walls, she quickly gained enough proofs to remind her that they were, indeed, inside of the snake.

"We're in a giant snake." Eli said as she stood up, letting a sigh fly from her mouth while looking around for the entrance. "And that's all thanks to you..."

Ace stood up as well and placed his large hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." As Ace leaned in her direction, Eli pouted while turning her face away. "Don't be mad," he said, amused, and lay a soft kiss on the girl's cheek.

With a little grunt, Eli made sure that the flame user was aware that she was very annoyed with him, but Ace only seemed amused by her skulking behavior. As he got a little closer, his warmth caressed on her skin, making her tension fade along with her resentment.

Silently, Ace's mouth crept on Eli's cold neck, leaving a soft and warm trail on its path. Another grunt, weaker, resonated from her throat where the young man lavished her skin sluggishly.

"Ace..." she quietly called out, looking absently at the lights and shadows dancing on the ruins cast by the flames of his hand.

"Mmh ?" Ace raised his face from her neck to peer at the girl.

"... We're not making out inside of a snake," she said, staring unwaveringly forward.

From the corner of her eye, Eli distinguished a little smirk on his shaded face. Slowly turning around, she saw the flames reflecting in his obsidian orbs, and underneath, the want. Looking at his eyes, the girl could feel it too, it was warming slightly inside of her, and hotter as Ace resumed kissing her neck.

What the hell...? Feeling excitation shooting up inside of her so easily, the pirate girl's annoyance burst in her mind. They were in one of the most disgusting places she had ever set foot, the stomach of a reptile, and this was all because of him. She was angry at him, and now, at herself too. They were on a mission; they had lost their crewmates... And all she wanted was to lie down and let Ace play with her needy body.

He was sly, his kisses, and his touch; he was playing with her and she was powerless.

"We're so not doing anything here, Ace..." Eli said wearily.

His mouth creeping up her neck, Ace sucked on her lobe, eliciting an almost inaudible moan from the girl. Guiltily, Eli bit her bottom lip while her conviction waned upon the delightful heat waves beckoned by the fame user luscious touch.

"Really ?" Ace asked in a hoarse whisper, his hot breath blowing in her ear causing shivers to race on her skin. "I think we are..."

to be continued

In the previous chapter, Eli's dream was only a dream. She didn't know young Robin. Also Robin is eight years older than Eli, so it would be quite impossible that she met the archaeologist when she was a child. Her mind weaved a dream because of her past, Robin's, and the sight of her bounty poster.

I'm sorry this chapter is rather short and uneventful but I wanted to end it here :]

See you on Thursday for a little trip in Ace's mind with a new chapter of 'Twig'.