Tiri idly watched the horizon as the morning sun broke over the water. Citrus colored clouds drifted by in the distance, but she barely registered their beauty. Her mind was miles away and yet very near. The scent of pancakes, bacon, and sweet fruits drifted past her nose, but she could not relish them. Her stomach didn't even rumble in contemplation. Instead, she thought of the blonde man standing over the stove, his sleeves rolled back and a cigarette clenched between his teeth. Shaking her head irritably, she straightened from her slouched position at the railing, lightly hopping to dangle slender legs over the side. Cold sea spray sprinkled over the leanly muscled limbs, but she welcomed it, anything to hurry the sluggish, dark mood away from her.
What the bloody hell had she been thinking? There were two other women on board, whose bodies surely held more interest for him than hers. Had she really expected him to just take her, only her? Two weeks after making those tarts, they had returned to their routine of light flirting and casual companionship, as if nothing had even happened between them at all. Tiri let out an exasperated breath, cupping her chin in both hands as her elbows balanced on the backs of her thighs.
She was the biggest fool on the Line.
What had made her think that she was special? That anything had truly changed between them? More importantly, why in the name of Gol D. did it bother her so much? For all his talk of love and chivalry, he certainly was quick to back away when there was a possibility expect where Nami and Robin were concerned-
Her eyes widened and she swiftly shook the thought clear from her mind. Where was this jealousy coming from? The other women of the crew had been nothing but kind to her, she was hardly repaying them with her misplaced malcontent. And then the cycle began again, with her wondering just what had her disgruntled in the first place. Was it his lack of special attention to her? That was selfish, to say the least, and perhaps closer to the truth than she would have liked.
Her eyes roved across the vast expanse of ocean, searching for an answer that the sea could not provide. But then, a small black dot emerged in the distance. She squinted, its presence finally registering and let out a sharp yelp before clambering back onto the deck.
"Shit, how'd-" she cut herself off, leaping to her feet.
She looked back towards the galley, debating, and then she shook her head, mumbling to herself before striding towards Luffy's quarters. She swung open the door and let the sunlight stream into the darkened room, a tiny part of her taking a certain degree of sadistic pleasure in inherent evilness of the gesture.
"Oi, Luffy, wake up! We've got company."
"Whassat? Oh, ok," he muttered, cracking open an eye before stretching his limbs and shifting to get out of his bunk.
Tiri nodded and didn't wait, returning to her original position on deck and shading her eyes. Her captain joined her a moment later, crouching on the wood beside her.
"What'd they want?" he asked, cracking his knuckles.
"I'm not sure," she replied, "But I recognize that ship and I'll know the man at the helm, I feel certain. Luffy, I can handle this, but…" she trailed off and he looked over at her with his head tilted.
He really reminded her of a puppy at times.
"I thought, as captain, you needed to know that these guys were coming, and that it was probably for me."
His face took on a serious expression before breaking into a huge grin.
"Ah, we'll pummel 'em before they even get close."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like permission to board their vessel."
"Eh? What for?"
She retrieved a packet from her thigh pack, holding it up in the brightening sunshine.
"I suppose I ought to give these back, though they actually belong to me."
"Huh?" he scratched his head and she sighed with a smile, shaking her head and sending her lavender curls bouncing around her shoulders.
"Basically," she said, pointing out towards the water, "The guy who's on that ship stole something from my family that I stole back and now I'm going to give it back to him."
"Why?"
She shrugged, thumbing through the slender stack.
"I don't need a house when I live on a ship," she grinned and he returned it.
"That makes sense. Oh, are you going to fly over there?" he bounced on his legs with a laugh and she chuckled.
"Sorta. Do me a favor and keep the others clear till I get back? It's something I have to take care of…by myself."
"Eh, if you want."
"Thanks," she said, tipping his hat over his eyes with a thumb before stepping lightly over the railing and melting into petals.
"Oi, Luffy, where's the witch headed off to?" the swordsman had walked up as she disappeared over the side.
"Hmm? She said knew that ship over there and went to give the captain of it back something she took that he took from her," Luffy answered, obviously proud he remembered the order, then added, "And she said she wanted to go alone."
"Idiot, that has trap written all over it," he muttered before putting a booted foot on the railing, clearly intending to swim after her but Luffy grabbed his shoulder.
"She asked me to keep everyone away. If something bad happens, she'll come back, she can fly!"
Zoro stared at him blankly for a minute, then raised a brow.
"And if they have any seastone?"
"Oi, I didn't think of that…we'd better go get the Mini Merry."
Luffy turned, but Zoro held up a hand, still staring out over the water.
"I have a better idea, actually. Go get the ero-cook, I'll meet you below deck."
Tiri landed on the poop deck, careful to keep her back to the sea. Straightaway she was surrounded by armed guards, one with a mustache that she recognized. She placed her hands on her hips with a grin.
"Heh, I don't know whether to be impressed or surprised that you idiots found me in the middle of the ocean," she snarked and was pleased that the man's lips tightened in irritation, but otherwise he showed no reaction.
"You will surrender now to await trial on Equitina Island, Tiri Vallene, or we will be forced to subdue you."
Before she could reply, she saw a rotund, bejeweled middle-age man waddle up the stairs, huffing and puffing like a smoke stack. He was clearly a nobleman of some kind, his clothing of fine make and cut. His bulbous head was the smallest aspect of his body, and she thought, rather humorously, that he looked somewhat like a snowman. His hair had been styled into a ridiculously high pompadour, the brown strands glistening oily in the morning sunlight.
"She *wheeze* is going to have *wheeze* to be subdued with *wheeze* deadly force. She resisted *hack*."
"I haven't resisted anything on this ship," she snarled, whipping out the packet of papers and tossing it to the mustached guard that was clearly in charge.
"Sergeant Hasan, wasn't it? This is the deed I stole. You are welcome to it and the property it conveys ownership of. I have no desire for either," she stated with no small amount of disdain.
The guardsman opened the small packet with some suspicion, then turned to the shorter man.
"These are the originals, sir, they bear the seal of the World Government."
But the older man just stared at him, before sniffing unpleasantly. He crossed his arms, reminding Tiri strongly of a petulant child. His pig-like eyes glittered in a malicious manner, resembling a snake in their coldness.
"I don't care. I say she obviously resisted, made an attempt on my life and that's why you were forced to shoot her. Don't you remember, Hasan?" he asked the question with a smirk, one that Tiri itched to take off.
The man was odious, she thought, lifting a brow as Hansan looked between the two of them, his morals obviously at war with his sense of duty.
"You've seen what I can do, Sergeant. How are you going to shoot what you can't catch?" she asked, bursting into petals with a grin.
Something felt wrong.
She was being wretched back together, her body solidifying even as she struggled to resist. Tiri stumbled as she was forced back down to the deck, guards immediately falling on her before she could recover and she felt her arms were jerked behind her back roughly, something heavy scraping across her wrists coarsely. Her body felt like lead. Her mercurial eyes darted around as the circle of men around her shifted and she saw the little man holding a single lilac petal between his plump fingers with a wide smile.
"That's all it takes to bring you to your knees, you little cunt," he crowed, spittle flying from his lips as he laughed, "Your father wasn't much smarter."
She immediately shut down the emotional half of her brain; it was going to get her killed. Instead, the corner of her lips curved in a mocking smile, reflecting a bravado she didn't feel at that moment. But, her body was remembering months of training, muscles tensing in anticipation.
"Is that supposed to mean something to me, oh great Toady one? You need to work on your imperious attitude; it's obviously not up to par."
She was instantly backhanded across her cheek by a guard standing nearby, hard enough that it almost turned her head, almost. She looked up at her striker with a chuckle, noting the knobbed brass knuckles he wore.
"And you need to lift some weights, twerp. Honestly, hitting a little woman like me with those huge things? Compensating for something, aren't we?" she scoffed, the man twice her size.
He raised his hand to attack her again, but a plump, meaty hand stopped him. He lowered his eyes in deference to his superior and backed away with his head bowed. Tiri had to fight the urge to gnash her teeth in a display that would have at least made the fat little bastard pause. Instead, her features were carefully blank as his soft fingertips caressed her cheek.
"You, my dear, are going to learn to enjoy me, I think," he murmured, the stink of his breath testing her control over her gag reflex.
She didn't reply, merely rose her eyebrows with a snicker. It always amazed her just how little it took to provoke people, the sting of the slap to her cheek hardly enough to for her to notice.
"You will learn your place eventually, that I assure you," he hissed at her, before waddling back towards the stairwell that led to the lower deck.
Cigarette smoke wafted past her and she felt her smile reach her eyes.
"Her place is with her nakama," a low voice stated somewhere behind her, "who consider her too precious to lose to the likes of you shitty bastards."
Just as she was turning her head to look, a black blur flew past her, men soaring off the side of the ship to splash into the waiting sea. The weight on her wrists was removed and she caught a sharp, metallic smell. Grinning, she twisted to see the grumpy expression of the swordsman.
"Are we always going to have to save you, witch?"
"Nope, just pull me out of the proverbial viper pit every once and a while," she grinned, immediately straightening and vanishing with barely a whisper of sound.
Guns exploded around her, but she darted past them, spinning into a lethal whirlwind of thorns and petals. She solidified and buried her knee into a nearby chest, hearing bones crunch at the impact, before sending her arm out, flinging tiny plant spikes into another man's eyes. He screamed in agony, clutching at his face, driving the small briars deeper unintentionally. She paid them little heed, her silvery eyes fixating on the portly little coward who was retreating to a door she suspected led below deck.
She pulled on her power, a tendril breaking through the wooden deck to fling itself across the door just as the round man placed his hand on the handle. He let a shriek that had her smiling as he clutched his hand to his flabby chest, tears welling in his eyes.
"Idiot, that's barely a scratch. Here, let me give you something to cry over," she snarled before melting into petals, their razor sharp edges slicing through the flaccid flesh.
He screamed in pain and she materialized just behind him, spinning and planting her foot squarely where his neck met the base of his skull. There was a wet snap as she felt his vertebrae give under the impact, her lips pulled back in a feral snarl. He collapsed in a heap as she leapt back, grimly satisfied to see the thin trickle of blood leaking between the flabby lips. It wasn't lethal, but he would never come after her again.
Tiri turned then, spotting her captain and the swordsman leaning against the upper deck railing, watching something almost lazily. She looked over where their gazes were focused and she saw Sanji amidst an inferno.
"You'd better not have been rough with her," he bellowed, his leg a red haze, punctuating each word as he battered at the group of men surrounding him, his eyes flames.
He caught sight of her on the lower deck and she waved up at him, then saw the beginnings of bruises on her wrists and immediately hid them behind her back.
Too late.
His eyes narrowed to slits as he whirled on the guards still standing, well, more frozen in fear and shock.
"I will not forgive any of you for this," he hissed between clenched teeth.
She shuddered to think what he may have done if there had been blood.
Her preoccupation with the man in front of her kept her from noticing the one that had crept up behind her. With a savage swing of the butt of his rifle, he smashed into her upper back and neck. She staggered with a strangled noise, her vision blurring, drawing the attention of her nakama. Before Zoro or Luffy could get out a curse, Sanji had leapt down, the rage on his face enough for the man to retreat as fast as possible backwards.
Fire seemed to explode around him as he raced across the length of the deck, the sole of his shoe smashing down into the guard's face, sending the unfortunate fool rocketing through the deck, the lower deck, till he burst through the hull. It all happened so quickly, that he was able to catch the falling woman in his arms.
"I kept you waiting, Tiri-chan," he said softly, looking down at her bruised face with a tight smile, "Your knight is here."
"Idiot," she whispered, her head throbbing, "I heard the story behind that line from Franky already. Loses its charm when you know it was said for another woman."
She laughed weakly as he stood, cradling her to his chest as if she was the most precious thing in this world. Water gushed around them, streaming up from the latest hole Sanji had made in the ship. Then they were moving and she felt her stomach drop as he easily jumped over the side of the ship and into the constricted space of the Shark Submersible, the hatch slamming behind him.
"I see," he finally replied, his fingers brushing away the curls that clung to her face, uncertainty clouding his features, "but…I meant it."
She gave him a crooked grin.
"I know."
He leaned down so that his lips grazed her ear, his words making her eyes widen even as a warm bubble popped in her chest.
"If I cannot be your knight, then I will be your shield. That I promise to you."
They quickly docked in the Sunny Go and Luffy stretched his arm down and wrapped it around Tiri's waist, gently lifting her to the grassy deck so she wouldn't have to climb. As soon as she was set down, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, but she ignored it. She could see smoke rising in the distance as the ship let out a loud crack and began to slowly sink below the water. They had lifeboats, she had seen them. That was probably a good thing, since the expressions on her nakama's faces were not merciful.
"Tiri, let me see those bruises," she heard near her right knee and she obediently sat down for the young doctor's inspection.
He dabbed them with a funny smelling solution, the cotton ball cold against her skin. Chopper leaned closer to her face, holding it between his hooves. He placed one to her forehead and let out a small yelp.
"Tiri, you're burning up!"
He was a tiny brown blur, circling her, searching for a reason for her fever, but Tiri really couldn't be much help. She felt dizzy, light-headed, and chills were starting to chase up and down her spine. He put his head to her chest, listening before shaking his head with a worried expression.
"Those sand things didn't make me feel this bad," she muttered, closing her eyes to keep the spinning ship from making her sick.
"They injected you with a neurotoxin that was meant to paralyze prey. Whatever these men poisoned you with, it seems to be slowing your heart beat. How are you feeling?" he asked as he lifted the back of her shirt to scrutinize the skin carefully.
She recited her symptoms and he murmured to her soothingly. The others had gathered around her and she swayed, pitching forward. Her hands managed to brace against the grassy deck and she shivered again. Chopper came around to look into her face and his little eyes widened.
'What happened here?" he queried sharply, turning to Sanji and Zoro when Tiri seemed incapable of answering.
Sanji just growled as he lit a cigarette.
"Idiot hit her across the face with some brass knuckles, I think. Tch," the swordsman sneered, "he hit her hard enough to make a Sea King wince, but she's tougher than she looks."
If she had the strength, she'd have made a crack about the backhanded compliment, but as it was, she was completely focused on just staying upright.
"Sanji, take Tiri to her room, I have to run to my office to make an antidote. And keep her warm, anything you can do to keep her blood circulating," Chopper shouted over his shoulder, transforming into Walk Point and darting across the deck.
Tiri felt herself being lifted, and then an arm was around her waist. She saw blonde hair
and heard a quiet voice encouraging her to put one foot in front of the other. Slowly, with
Sanji's aid, she wobbled across the deck, her ankles rolling even under the slight weight
Sanji allowed her to place on them. Crashing against the cook's lean chest, Tiri cursed
under her breath and closed her eyes, refusing to tolerate the swirling of the Sunny any
longer.
"Neptune's great flaming balls, make it stop," she groaned quietly, lifting a heavy free hand to her forehead as they slowly weaved towards her room.
"Did you have to invoke such a disgusting image?" Sanji groused at her, the scent of cigarettes fanning past as he parted his lips to speak.
"It's what I feel like, dammit," she protested half-heartedly, barely retaining the energy to shuffle across the wooden floor.
"You have no luck, do you?" he teased her.
"Obviously not," she muttered, wanting nothing more at that moment than to lie down on her soft bed and sleep.
"Oh, no, Chopper said to keep you moving, so," he hoisted her higher against his side as she started to slide down to the floor, "up we go."
"I know somewhere something can go up," she growled in a vicious voice and he grunted.
"I'm going to blame that foul mouth of yours on the poison," he replied with an easy smile, apparently refusing to be baited by her.
"Why? Nothing like a good argument to get the blood pumping," she said with a shrug, or rather, a bare motion of her shoulder that she hoped he understood as a shrug.
He stilled as they passed by her bunk for the third time and looked down at her with an impassive expression before grunting with a glint in his eye.
"I can think of better ways."
Heat flamed into her cheeks as she caught his meaning and scowled at him, since she didn't have the vigor to cuff him for being a pervert.
"Zoro's right, you are an ero-cook," she grumbled as they resumed their slow pacing.
Her eyelids felt heavy and she started to stumble against him, her breathing becoming deeper, but more labored.
"Oi, oi, oi, Tiri-chan, talk to me! Stay awake!"
Tiri felt her body being shaken and, with a tremendous effort, she lifted her head.
"I want to be as strong as you guys, Sanji-kun," she murmured groggily, leaning her cheek against his shoulder and nuzzling against the soft fabric of his jacket.
"Why is that, Tiri-chan?"
"I don't want you to have to save me all the time anymore," she said with a mighty yawn, one arm sliding off his shoulders while the other raised and both wrapped around his middle, "I don't want to be the one that keeps you all from accomplishing your dreams."
"You beautiful idiot," he chuckled, his words making her stomach erupt into butterflies, "That's what all of us have trained for. Except for the marimo, he just has nothing better to do," he added with another chuckle.
"That's not fair, Sanji-kun, I think he trains to protect all of his nakama," she protested, her eyes completely closed now and missing the strange expression that crossed the tall man's features.
"You-you think a lot of him, don't you…Tiri-chan?" he murmured as they slowly moved back and forth from her room to the library.
"Of course, he's taught me a great many things," she said in a husky voice, unable to speak any louder, but fought to open her eyes when he made a choked noise close to her ear.
"Eh? What is it, Sanji-kun?" she queried, raising her head to look over at him tiredly.
"N-nothing, Tiri-chan. C'mon, let's get you moving a bit quicker, Chopper will be here soon with the antidote."
"I hope so, I can barely keep my eyes open," she muttered as they passed the large sofa in the library.
"Why didn't you say anything, Tiri-chan?" he asked, hastily lowering her to the couch to inspect her face closely.
"I've been chattering nonstop to stay awake," she giggled sleepily, before tilting her head as he bent down to her eye level, his gaze searching her face worriedly.
Even though her hand felt heavy, she lifted it to brush the blonde strands from his face and he locked his eyes with hers. Her hand slid down to his cheek and she gently tugged him forward until their noses were almost touching.
"Did you know that you are a handsome man, Sanji-kun?" she asked with wide eyes, her expression amusing him that he laughed quietly.
"You think so?"
She nodded, feeling parts of her brain beginning to shut down from lack of blood.
"You know what else?" her eyes were bright and dancing with a silly kind of mischief.
"What's that Tiri-chan?" he asked as his lips twitched with suppressed mirth.
She lifted up her other hand to cup his face and brought his lips to hers, kissing him slowly and sweetly. He responded, their lips melding softly before she pulled back with a certain amount of effort.
"I really, really like kissing you," she whispered with a crooked smile, before giggling again.
"I like kissing you too," he chuckled then gently tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
Her eyes got round as saucers.
"Really?" she asked, her hands finding their way to his shoulders.
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Really," he said with a straight face and she beamed up at him happily.
Then she frowned, her brows furrowing together as a thought crossed her dimming mental faculties. But, to her it was serious and she looked up at him as he crouched on his haunches in order to remain eye level with her without having to bend his body in half. Her fingers moved to stroke the soul patch on his chin in an almost absent fashion while he swiftly lit a cigarette, turning his head to blow a stream of smoke past his lips towards the door. His face also had adopted a concerned, troubled expression. If she had full control over her mind-to-mouth filter, she would never have asked. As her slowing processes finally made its way through her muddled brain, however, she did ask the burning question.
"Do you kiss other people too, Sanji-kun?"
He nearly lost his balance, and his cigarette, as his jaw slackened in shock, his eye wide. His mouth opened and closed a few times and he only made a couple of strangled noises as she tilted her head, patiently waiting for her answer.
"Wh-wh-what?" he stuttered and she scowled at him, obviously displeased with his slowness.
"Do you kiss other people like you kiss me, Sanji-kun? Do you want to?"
A poisoned Tiri was becoming the exact mirror of a drunken Tiri; blunt, short attention span, and just a tiny bit scary in that her mind could still function enough to slash right through any bullshit.
"Eh-uh, that is-I, uh-um…no?" he finished lamely with a hand behind his head, his cheeks a bright red.
"No to which one?" she inquired with a small smile, mercurial eyes sparkling. Perhaps she knew what she was saying better than she let on.
"To bo- Ah, Chopper, you have the antidote?" Sanji leapt to his feet, hastily making room for the small doctor, his face still pink.
"I think so. Here, Tiri, drink this, it'll make you feel better, but you'll need to rest for the day," he said, handing here a small cup, which she took with some exertion.
Sanji stepped forward and wrapped his warm, larger hand around hers, helping her lift the cup to her lips. She swallowed it with a grimace and the cook gently took the empty container from her hand, giving it to the tiny reindeer. Without another word, he scooped her up off the couch and carried her bridal style to her bunk, tucking her beneath sun-warmed covers.
"I'll stay with her for a bit to watch for any changes, Chopper. You can relieve me when it's time to prepare dinner."
The little deer was busily checking his patient's vitals, muttering to himself.
"Heart rate is coming up, blood pressure is closer to normal. Hmmm, fever is a bit lower, but it isn't there yet. Tsk, tsk, she really needs to slow down; her body won't be able to handle another shock like that. Well…perhaps she'll gain immunity like Luffy's, but I worry that-Did you say something, Sanji?"
The cook repeated himself and Chopper started to protest, but Tiri gently caught his hoof. Her mind was starting to function again, despite her fatigue.
"I'm fine, Chopper-san, really. You're a wonderful doctor and I'll follow your instructions to the letter. And if I don't, I feel sure that you'll come find me to ensure that I do," she whispered with a wry smile.
"But you're still not completely better, idiot," he said, his little body wriggling with pleasure at her compliment.
"I will be. Now, both of you, out. I need to sleep."
Chopper nodded, taking his bag with a snap. He tugged on Sanji's sleeve as he passed, but the cook stood in the doorway with an expression that clearly conveyed his doubt.
She met his gaze with a steady one of her own.
"When I'm better, you can scold me till the trumpets sound. Deal?"
Sanji closed his eyes as he lifted a hand to remove his cigarette, blowing out smoke as he did so. Clearly, he was not convinced that she would rest. With a roll of her eyes, she scooted over in her bunk until her back met the wall.
"Here, you can lie right there until you're certain that I won't do anything else stupid."
Her words were harsher than she intended, but she was exhausted, and in no mood to be argued with. Instead, she rolled over onto her stomach, facing away from him and firmly shut her eyes. After several heartbeats, she felt the mattress give, the aroma of smoke drifting past her as he settled in next to her. Tiri felt a hesitant hand come to rest on the back of her hand, fingers stroking gently through the mass of curls. The motion was soothing and she moved a bit closer to him, murmuring drowsily, like a happy kitten purring in sunshine.
Sleep claimed her then and with a deep, content breath, she accepted its embrace.