Chapter 10: A Toast (pt. 2)
Dori's head snapped up to look at her, "Th-THANK YOU!" she shouted in happily as tears of joy continued to stream down her face. "You don't know how much this means to me! I've been wearing the same clothes for such a long, long time now!" she confessed as she launched herself into the bemused woman's arms.
"Hehe! I'm glad that you guys like your present! I'll have to adjust the length of some of the clothes… so I'll need you guys to try them on. You guys too! Okay?" Makino instructed them as she looked up at Ace and Sabo who were hiding behind the door frame looking at Dori and Luffy jealously.
"Ah!" both boys made noises in exclamation over being caught by the green haired woman, Sabo blushed sheepishly at the woman before walking over happily.
Ace looked away with a red face before looking at Sabo in surprise, "Oi, hey!" he exclaimed looking somewhat betrayed by his blonde companion.
Luffy was already marveling at his new star t-shirt and Sabo looked excitedly at the light indigo tank top Makino was showing him. Dori looked dubiously at the red checkered dress that Makino had handed her, don't get her wrong Dori loved dresses, but she knew that the poor dress wouldn't last long on Mt. Corvo. Shrugging she shrugged off her overalls and pulled on the cotton dress, it reached up to her knees and was nice and flowy, she wore white leggings underneath the dress so she wouldn't give anyone a pantie shot when she would begin to run around and play. She twirled around slightly and smiled childishly, the outfit matched her boots and bandanna.
"Wow, nee-chan! You look like a girl!" Luffy chirped surprised at her lack of overalls.
"Silly Lu~ I've always been a girl. Remember?" she teased.
"Luff's right, you look pretty." Sabo said embarrassed.
Dori smiled softly at the blond; her cheeks were quickly turning into a rosy color dues to the all the compliments she was getting, "Thank you, Nii-chan!" she told him lovingly causing said older brother to go red as she planted a sweet kiss on his cheek.
"N-No prob-problem, Dori!" he stuttered out before the three of them looked up to see Makino calling Ace to come over.
"You, too." Makino said kindly to Ace.
Ace looked at her startled before he turned away blushing before slowly making his way to where she was distributing clothes, "Che!"
Ace had taken off his red tank top and stood stiffly as Makino held up a green t-shirt, "I heard that Ace-kun was mischievous but you seem like a good boy." She told the tense ten year old sweetly as she tried to get him to relax.
"No-No, I'm not..." He denied blushing before looking at his three siblings all crouched together laughing at his embarrassed expression.
"He's so shy!" Sabo teased as Dori and Luffy kept laughing under their breaths.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about Ace… she's just our very pretty, pretty Nee-chan~" Dori sing-songed as she tried to muffle her snickers with her hand.
"You're blushing, Ace!" Luffy stated amused at his red faced brother as he pointed at him factually.
Ace clenched his teeth, both out of anger at their teasing and out of embarrassment because of the beautiful green haired woman in front of him, "You JERKS!" he shouted, frazzled, raising his fist in the air threateningly.
"Oh, hey! You can't move!" Makino chided him softly, Ace immediately stilled and glared at his siblings.
"I'll show you three later not to make of me…" he murmured angrily.
"Oh! Ace! What was that? Was… that a love confession to Makino?" Dori asked, gasping, in a mock innocent tone. She slapped her hand over her mouth comically, "How cute~"
"Y-You!" Ace choked angrily and red-faced as the three of them fell onto the ground laughing hysterically at the freckled faced boy, who was trying to look anywhere but at the bemused Makino.
After Makino had finished fitting all four of the kids with their new sets of clothes, in which Dori-thankfully-received two new pairs of overalls that looked identical to her old ones as well as three new t-shirts and another dress that was a hazel green-color that matched her eyes, Makino proceeded to make a feast for an early dinner. Dori had stayed by the woman's side the entire time, as she had missed having female company, and helped her cook the delicious banquet that was now spread across the long short-legged table.
"I hope you like it!" Makino said chirpily as she clasped her hands together.
Everyone made noises in appreciation as they began to try the food Makino and Dori had prepared. Dori quickly helped a star-struck Luffy serve himself a plate full of delicious food before serving her own plate in a similar fashion. She glanced at Ace who was sitting at her other side and pointed out which food she thought he would like best before doing the same for Sabo who was sitting on Ace's other side.
"Yummy!" Luffy cheered next to her as he stuffed his face happily with food.
"Meals should be this good on the ship." Sabo stated contently with his mouth full of food, "I'm gonna get the best cook first thing when I go out to sea!"
"I'm gonna become a pirate before you do so just forget it!" Ace teased Sabo seriously as he took a bite from his stack of meat.
"Ehh, really? Who's the oldest?" she teased good naturedly, as both boys stubbornly refused to admit their birthday's so that they could discover who was actually older.
Luffy leaned over her and grabbed Ace's shoulders, "That's not fair! I'm gonna become a pirate first!" he said confidently standing up while pointing at himself resolutely.
Dori smiled at their enthusiasm before her good mood dropped completely when Dadan and the bandits sitting in front of them suddenly spit out their drinks in fear. The four kids looked at the bandits confused at their reaction to their dream… after all Dadan and Co. had already known that it was their dream to become notorious and infamous pirates. Dori, Ace and Luffy paled dramatically in unison as they heard a familiar gruff "Eh-hem" come from behind them. Slowly the three of them all turned their heads toward the old man they just knew was going to give them a so called 'Fist-Of-Love' for wanting to be pirates instead of marines.
"So," he growled menacingly as his eyes glinted dangerously, "You're still saying crap like that?"
Ace and Luffy spit out the food they had been eating in fear, which would have been comical in any other situation if Dori wasn't too busy being terrified out of her mind as she curled into herself and mentally began preparing herself for a blow.
"Can't you both understand that you must become navy soldiers!?" he shouted at Ace and Luffy while hitting them both at the same time on top of their heads, causing them to fall backwards onto the floor in pain, before turning to Dori and gently patting her head, "Dori! You're my only granddaughter! You're going to be a good marine's wife! Strong and caring!" he proclaimed, much to her surprise before calling out, "Dadan!"
"Yes, Garp-san…." She said as she frantically made her way over to the irate man… only to be hit on top of her head like the two boys writhing in pain on the floor. "Why should I get hit too?" she cried pitifully.
"You're not educating the brats well!" Jii-chan groused.
Dori looked pleadingly at Makino, who's hands were shakily pressed against her mouth at Jii-chan's surprise arrival, and at the now extremely pale Sabo who was in shock, "He's Garp? He's Ace, Luffy and Dori's Jii-chan?" he asked disbelievingly as he stared at the giant of a man.
"Squirt, you mentioned something about going out to sea, too…" Garp asked dangerously looking at the small blond boy from the corner of his eyes.
Luffy got up and shielded Sabo form Jii-chan's view, "He's not a 'squirt!' He's Sabo! We exchanged a cup of sake and pledged to become pirates!" he told Jii-chan passionately.
'That idiot!' Dori thought worriedly as Garp's mood seemed to sour even greater degree.
"He has such a big mouth…" Ace whispered disdainfully at the floor as Dori helped the older boy onto his feet.
"Oh, that means there are now three fools who want me to give them a real work out." Jii-chan said angrily as he glared at the three boys, "How dare you try to corrupt my granddaughter into becoming a pirate!" he growled as he began cracking his knuckles. Dori paled, while she realized by now that it seemed that Garp wasn't going to hit her, she didn't want him to kill her brothers. Nervously she glanced at the door before she abruptly grabbed Ace and Luffy's arms, as they were the closest to her and began running out of the house with Sabo at their heels.
"You can't get away!" Jii-chan screamed angrily.
The four of them ran side by side before Jii-chan launched himself at Luffy and missed punching the ground, causing the earth to splinter and break apart. "Take this!" he shouted before aiming at Ace, "Chest!" he screamed aiming for Ace's chest only for it narrowly miss him as he jumped over the arm, it shattered the tree that was behind him.
'OhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGodOhGod! He's going to accidentally kill us!' Dori thought frantically as she leaped out of the way of the falling tree.
Garp Jii-chan grabbed Sabo and spun him in the air as if he was a top, "Here, here, here!" he exclaimed happily. Jii-chan continued to chase them around for a while longer before he brushed off his hands and began walking away, "That's it for today! I'm gonna give you a much harsher punishment tomorrow! You can't drop dead yet" he called out to them with a wave.
"Ace? Ace wake up!" Dori shouted panicked by the large bruise on the older boy's forehead, next to her Luffy was moaning in pain as he sat up Sabo was on all fours mumbling "That didn't happen! That didn't happen!" over and over again in denial, while Ace was out cold.
Honest to God, Dori had no idea as to how she was able to drag all three of the boys back to the Mountain bandits' house that evening, but she did. Thankfully Ace had woken up just as the house came into view and instantly complained about being given a piggyback ride by a younger girl, as Sabo and Luffy were too injured to do anything but moan and walk (ie. be dragged), so she knew that he would be fine. After all, Ace was strong. The four of them were currently hiding inside of the supply closet as they watched Jii-chan and the mountain bandits drink themselves into and oblivion, it was only after the adults had all fallen asleep that the four kids deemed it safe to start speaking.
"If nothing is done, that shitty Jiji will kill us tomorrow." Ace whispered gravely.
"Even if we survive, he'll keep doing it until we give up our dreams!" Sabo stated seriously, after all being free was the most important thing in the world for them… barring each other of course.
Luffy grabbed his hair in despair and wailed quietly, "I don't want to die
Dori nodded tiredly, "Jii-chan might not hit me directly but… just the shockwaves of those throws can kill a normal person… I-I don't want to be a marine's wife." She whispered.
"We only have one choice." Ace said seriously.
"Huh?" The three younger kids looked at him curiously.
Ace grinned determinedly as his eyebrows scrunched up, "It's time to make up our minds brothers!" he exclaimed while conveniently forgetting Dori's real gender once more, "We have to leave this place. We already know how to survive in the jungle and the mountain… all we really need is to make a base."
Sabo and Luffy exchanged excited glances while Dori looked at the boy curiously, "We'll have to leave soon if we don't want Jii-chan catching us, huh?" she asked Ace.
Said freckled faced boy nodded, "I know we can do it. So, what do you say?" he asked them.
Sabo looked at Ace determinedly, "Osu, let's do it!"
"Shishishi… we're running away!" Luffy giggled softly.
Dori nodded, "I don't want any of you to die so we'll have to leave…. A home base, huh? This is going to be cool!"
"Alright, than let's go!" Ace said impatiently.
"Wait!" Dori stopped him, "Makino gave us all a bunch of new clothes… we should probably put away all of our new stuff so they don't break so fast and wear our old stuff until we've built our home base…. in the mean time we'll have to hide all of our stuff somewhere else."
"That's a good idea Dori!" Sabo praised her.
Dori blushed in the darkness before the four of them set off to acquire all of their belongings.
"Hey guys should we leave them a note?" Sabo asked once they all met up in the front of the house.
"No way, it's not like they care where we go anyway." Ace scoffed.
"Yea!" Luffy agreed.
Dori frowned at the two boys, "Ace, Lu… Dadan might not be the greatest person in the world but she's still our foster mom, and besides she's probably going to get punished by Jii-chan instead of us since we're leaving. So we should at least leave a note." she chided.
"Hmm, you're right…" Ace finally amended grabbing a piece of paper and pencil from inside the house, the note read: "We will stand on our own feet. A. S. L. D."
"Is that good enough, Sabo? Dori?" he asked.
"Yea, it's fine." Sabo said exasperated at the lack of quality the letter had.
"At least they'll know it's from us." Dori sighed as they began to run away into the forest.
The sun was already shining brightly in the sky when the four kids took their first break, they hadn't slept at all the previous night and despite their brave faces they were all exhausted.
"We actually got away!" Luffy cheered panting slightly as their jog came to a stop.
"They're not coming- Dadan and the others." Sabo said relieved.
Ace looked back at the direction they had just run from with a peculiar expression on his face before he smiled, "I can tell that she feels happy now, because her troubles have gone away! Oh…" Ace looked up at the sky as cool droplets of water began to cascade down on them.
"Damn… I hate the rain." Dori mumbled looking up at the now grey skies.
Ace and Sabo exchanged worried glances, Luffy had told the boys after they declared themselves brothers that Dori hated the rain… he never explained why she did, just that every time it started raining Dori would get lost in her own mind. Up until then it hadn't poured like it was raining now, only slight drizzles that would end after about ten or so minutes.
"We have to get out of the rain." Ace stated snapping Dori out of her thoughts, he grabbed her hand and started running for shelter, the two other boys were hot on their tails as Ace led them to the base of a huge-giant-tree where there was a hallow part in which all four of them fit comfortably and, most importantly, out of the rain. "Let's stay here and hide from the rain." He told them as he set down his small pack.
"Shishishi! This is exciting!" Luffy giggled excitedly from where he was sitting between the two older boys, Dori looked at the seven year old amusedly from where she was sitting next to Ace and smiled at him crookedly… at least one of them was enjoying themselves.
Sabo yawned loudly as he stretched his arms up above him languidly, "Ah, I'm so tired…" he mumbled.
Ace looked at the blond before scoffing, "Of course you are, we all are… except maybe Luffy." He amended, slightly annoyed, as he looked at the younger boy who was smiling widely at the rain. Dori giggled at Ace's expression causing the cranky-because he was still a sleep deprived ten year old boy-to look at her questioningly.
"Don't worry Ace, Luffy's gonna crash any minute now… this is the longest he's gone without sleep for a while now." Dori soothed him while rubbing the agitated boy on the arm.
"Che!" Ace grunted looking away from her embarrassed.
"Nee, nee… Ace? Why's your face red, are you sick?" Luffy asked innocently.
Dori bit her tongue to keep herself from laughing as Ace denied vehemently that he wasn't blushing as Sabo laughed quietly from the side lines as Ace attempted to choke the confused-and slightly terrified-younger boy, it wasn't until Ace accidentally hit Sabo that the blond decided to interfere.
"Alright! Ace that's enough!" Sabo shouted as he and Dori separated the two boys, "We're all tired so we might as well sleep while it's raining since we'll have to start finding the right place as well as building our new home once it stops okay?"
Dori nodded in agreement, "I agree with Sabo… jeez! You two need to stop bickering about everything!" she admonished them while putting her hands on her hips.
Luffy lowered his head, "I'm sorry nee-chan."
Dori relaxed her posture and smiled at all three of them lovingly, "It's fine Lu…. To be honest I wouldn't want to change you guys in any way." She confessed, Sabo and Ace blushed before they looked away in embarrassment-much to her amusement-while Luffy smiled softly back at her before he furrowed his brow.
"But nee-chan… I'm not tired! I don't want to go to sleep!" he whined.
Sabo groaned, "Luffy, I beg you… we haven't slept all night, and the night before that we didn't sleep very well either…. Please just got to sleep." He begged as tried to get comfortable, leaning on the tree as pushed the rim of his hat forward so it shield his face.
Ace nodded in agreement, mimicking Sabo's actions as he tried to find a comfortable position to take a nap, "Luffy, sleep." He commanded.
Luffy pouted looking at Dori as if she was his last hope in the entire world, "Lu… how about if I sing you a rainy lullaby? Will you sleep then?" she asked him as she cuddled into Ace's side when a cool breeze of air entered their temporary shelter. The harsh pitter-patter of rain hitting the surface cocooned them; Dori hated it and coveted it at the same time. It was comforting in its repetitive beat and rhythm, but at the same time it reminded her of one of the worse night in her entire life, subconsciously Dori rubbed her thigh as phantom pains of when Demon Eye carved the word 'whore' tingled the flesh of her inner right thigh.
"Nee-chan?" Luffy asked her in concern snapping her out of her dark thoughts.
"Sorry Lu, ju-just thinking…." She admitted, Dori could feel Ace shift slightly and despite the fact that his eyes were closed she knew he wasn't asleep…. Sabo probably wasn't either
"Oh." Luffy looked at Dori guiltily as he placed his straw hat on his head to cover up his ashamed expression, he had temporarily forgotten about his nee-chan's aversion to rain and how she seemed to particularly remember the bad things she and Dylan-nii (as Dori told Luffy to call him as she was positive her twin brother would have loved Luffy as much as she did if he was with them) went through when it rained. "Nee-chan?" he waited for her to refocus her eyes on him before he continued to ask her what he wanted, "Could you sing the rainy lullaby… I've never heard that one before…" he trailed off as he burrowed himself into Sabo.
Dori smiled lovingly at the seven year old, "Sure, I've been saving it up for a rainy day like today…" she trailed off before clearing her voice and beginning to sing.
"Little child, be not afraid
The rain pounds harsh against the glass
Like an unwanted stranger
There is no danger
I am here tonight
Little child
Be not afraid
Though thunder explodes
And lightning flash
Illuminates your tearstained face
I am here tonight
And someday you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forests and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning
Little child
Be not afraid
The storm clouds mask your beloved moon
And its candlelight beams
Still keep pleasant dreams
I am here tonight
Little child
Be not afraid
The wind makes creatures of our trees
And the branches to hands
They're not real, understand
And I am here tonight
And someday you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forest and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning
For you know, once even I
Was a little child
And I was afraid
But a gentle someone always came
To dry all my tears
Trade sweet sleep for fears
And to give a kiss goodnight
Well, now I am grown
And these days have shown
Rain's a part of how life goes
But it's dark and it's late
So I'll hold you and wait
'til your frightened eyes do close
And I hope that you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forests and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning
Everything's fine in the morning
The rain will be gone in the morning
But I'll still be here in the morning…."
Dori trailed off at the last word of the lullaby as the trunk of the tree was filled by the comforting sound of the boys snoring peacefully in their sleep before she too closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Dori… Dori- Wake up!" Sabo gently shook her awake.
Dori groaned pitifully as she tightened her arms around her comfortable pillow and burrowed her face into it, "Go 'way.." she mumbled.
"Shishishishi… Nee-chan's really tired, huh Sabo? She's hugging Ace super tight!" Luffy whispered loudly. "Shishishi, Ace's face is super red again." He teased.
Dori's muddled mind tried to go over what the younger boy said…. 'She's hugging Ace super tight? I'm- I'm hugging my pillow…' she denied, that is until said pillow moved and his voice rumbled in embarrassment.
"Shut up Luffy!" Ace hissed uncomfortably as he tried not to disturb the small nine year old clinging to him as if her life depended on it.
Dori shot up and almost hit Sabo in the face when he had crouched down again to try and wake her up. Dori looked at ace in embarrassment from where she sat on the ground, as she had moved insanely fast away from him so that they weren't touching at all, "So-Sorry Ace.." she stuttered as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
Ace's red complexion receded at her apology and he nodded, "It's fine. Why did ya wake us up anyway Sabo?" he asked the blond as he stood up.
Sabo grinned widely and led them outside into the sun, he pulled out a piece of paper with a diagram of what looked to be a bunch of organized squiggles, "Look at this!" he said proudly as the three of them crouched down to stare at the paper.
"What is it?" Luffy asked curiously.
"I designed our hideout. We can't sleep outdoors forever, right?" Sabo replied. "So we gotta build a clubhouse right here!" he said pointing to the giant tree we had found shelter in.
"So it's a treehouse, huh?" Dori asked.
"Yup!" Sabo chirped.
"A treehouse hideout… That's cool!" Luffy exclaimed.
"What about materials?" Ace asked Sabo seriously.
Sabo scoffed, "We got tons at-you-know-where."
Dori nodded in agreement, "Unn, we could find everything we need in the Terminal."
The four of them exchanged excited glances before they all set out to work. They were able to find a good wooden cart at the beginning of their search for materials in the Gray Terminal and the loaded it up with planks of wood, rope, nails, hammers, a saw, barrels, spare metal and anything they thought would be useful in building their hideout… Luffy even found a ship's old wooden turning wheel and added it to the pile of things they were bringing.
When they arrived back to their designated tree the quartet got to work, they chose the thickest and sturdiest branch to hold the majority of the weight of their tree house and started building the structure. They all worked hard and together, Luffy's rubber abilities came in handy when they needed to transfer materials up into the trees canopies the older boys' brute strength gave them the ability to complete the hardest of the labor task and Dori's wit helped her instruct the boys over where everything went and where as well as how they should hammer things down.
At night when they weren't building the hideout they would sit in front of their tree and eat their meals over a small fire pit and tell each other stories they had heard, the boys in particular became extremely fond of the adventurous tales of Captain Jack Sparrow.
They shaped the tree house to mimic a pirates ship, they had even incorporated the wheel Luffy found so that the main part of the tree house looked like the deck of a ship and on the highest-sturdiest-branch they had even constructed a crows nest and put up a pole where they hanged up their giant black pirate flag 'ASLD' it had cross bones in the background and each letter was colored in every one's favorite colors: Ace's was red, Sabo's was blue, Luffy's was yellow (since it was his second favorite color and Ace, who was older than him had claimed the color red), and Dori's was green (because it reminded her of life, red was her second favorite color though since it reminded her of Shanks, Luffy and Ace… blue was a close third since it was not only Sabo's favorite color but Dylan's as well).
When they had finally finished constructing it after two weeks of nonstop building they were all on the ground observing their masterpiece.
"Awesome! It looks exactly like the design!" Luffy bounced on his feet as he looked up at the tree house proudly.
Sabo smiled brightly, "Great work if I say so myself!" he agreed before he looked at Ace in concern. The freckled faced boy had a serious expression on his face and had his right hand on his chin as he stared t the tree house critically. "What's wrong Ace?"
"This is a hideout, so we gotta set some traps!" he said smiling a mischievous grin.
Dori gave him a crooked half-smile, "That's a good idea!" she agreed, "That way no one will ever get to the base without us knowing about it! Maybe… we could leave some silent trigger warnings so that if an enemy is close by we'll know about it but they won't." she suggested.
"Okay, I'll think about it!" Sabo agreed with a smile, "But first… let's enjoy the hideout."
Dori smiled widely as she and Luffy raced each other up the tree into the crows nest, "Yay! We have a view of the Gray Terminal, Fooshia Village and the waters of the East Blue!" Luffy shouted when they reached the top, so that the older boys in the main part of the hideout could hear them.
"It's not that uncommon, is it?" Sabo asked dubiously at Luffy's enthusiasm.
"It's beautiful!" Dori shouted back as she hung onto the flag pole, looking at their surroundings in awe.
"Unn, it's nice to see them from up here!" Luffy exclaimed holding the railings tightly as he stared at the sea.
Sabo and Ace quickly climbed up the ladder and joined the two of them in the nest to see what they were talking about. Smiles filled with awe and wonder painted their faces as soon as they saw the incredible view before them. A gentle breeze ruffled their hair as the suns warm golden rays kissed their skin, the puffy white clouds lazily moved across the sky in their lethargic fashion looked simply gorgeous from their vantage point as they 'sunk' into the sea.
"You're right! It's different!" Ace said in awe, it felt like the freedom the four of them desperately craved, before he turned to them playfully and shouted. "Luffy, there's a tailwind! Set the sails!"
"Okay!" Luffy saluted as he shimmied down the tree turned mast to free the 'sails.'
Sabo was on the main deck standing in front of the 'ship' excitedly as he pointed across the vast 'sea' before them, "Haha! Advance to the treasure!" he commanded.
Dori still clung to the flag pole and made a cupping form with her hands to signify a spy glass before she gasped in concern, "Captain Ace! Look!" she pointed as handed over the 'spy glass' to the older boy.
"An enemy of the bow and starboard side!" he warned the other two boys as he looked at the incoming enemy ship, "It's Bluejam's ship! Prepare for action!"
"Hai!" Dori snapped, as jumped onto the deck and grabbed her 'sword'-pipe- and held it in a defensive position in front of Sabo.
"They've started shooting! Take evasive action!" Ace commanded from his perch. Sabo crossed his arms and instructed the boy at the wheel, "Luffy, hard aport!"
"Yeah! I got it!" the smallest captain shouted as he stood his ground at the wheel.
"No! You have to say 'steady' at times at times like this!" Sabo chastised Luffy while rubbing his head, causing Dori to giggle into her hand.
"Oh, that's right." Luffy stated nonchalantly, as if he had known all along.
Sabo nodded and got in his stance once more with Dori following his lead, "Luffy, hard aport!" he repeated.
"Hard aport! Steady!" Luffy shouted determinedly before spinning the wheel furiously.
"Let's fight hand-to-hand! Prepare to be boarded!" Ace shouted from above waving his 'sword' in the air as he swung to the deck where he landed beside an excited Dori. "Wait for them to come aboard!" he instructed, "Sabo, Dori!" he snapped as they got into loose fighting stances, Dori's grip on her 'sword' tightened from her position and Sabo's 'gun' clicked as he got ready to shoot.
"We got it!" Dori and Sabo confirmed in unison to Ace's unspoken command.
Ace ran up to Luffy who was holding his fists up, ready to punch the living daylights out of the Bluejam pirates, "Don't cry, Luffy!" he commanded.
Luffy looked at the 'enemies' seriously, "Hai!" he shouted as they were boarded. There was a flurry of movement all over the deck as they fought off the Bluejam pirates until Ace gave their nemesis pirate captain a fatal blow.
"We won!" he cheered victoriously pointing his sword towards the sky.
"Yatta!" Luffy screamed throwing his arms in the air.
"That'll teach you!" Sabo shouted to their 'defeated enemies.'
"Ha! Together we're unbeatable!" Dori exclaimed in joy before the quartet let themselves fall backwards onto the deck in a circle with all of their arms spread wide.
"This is nice." Ace sighed out contently.
"Yea it's great." Sabo agreed.
"Shishishsi! This is OUR hideout!" Luffy cheered causing Dori to smile brightly.
"Unn! This is our home!" she shouted.
Ace and Sabo laughed before agreeing, "Yup!"
Author's Note:
Hey, hey, hey~ I'm still alive! How are you guys? Anyway remember I had to split this chapter into two since it was immense! I know- I know, I'm splitting chapters again… trust me, I almost cried when I realized I had to do this again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lullaby for a Stormy Night by Vienna Tang, you can watch it on YouTube through this link: ( watch?v=mlmhMS_luX8)
Anyway (I'm going to advertise these every single time I update since this is the story that has the most fav's and follows) if any of you have seen bio or read my new story "Across the Sea we Found It" and "The Spare" (it's an OHSHC and Naruto fanfic respectively… no I'm not using this fic as a way to advertise my other one… alright, alright… maybe a little bit), you would know that I've decided that it's easier for me to update monthly since I'm busy with reality breathing down my neck…
Anyway, I wanted to know if you guys want me to do a side story portraying Dylan's POV. It would go from his death up until he meets up with his sister again… remember he would be falling into the Naruto Universe. In this fic I'm making the Naruto Universe an island in the New World, I'll also probably make the hidden One Piece hidden somewhere in the Elemental Countries….. Yup! So tell me what you think, I'd be willing to hear suggestions as to what part of the Time line Dylan lands in and what kind of ninja he'd end up being… (though him being a part of Konoha is something I won't change, he could come from another village but he needs to end up at Konoha)….
This Chapter is Dedicated to:
Everyone who has stuck by this story even if I haven't updated in like a year!
5,322 Words
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Love, Mara-Chan (o l l o)