A/N: This is the REVISED version of chapter two.
Chapter Two: Of Nakama and Pirate Songs
Kaia smiled softly as she watched her captain and her new nakama eat from where she was sitting at a nearby table, a small stack of empty plates beside her. She had been worried when the swordsman collapsed promptly after the small battle, but she supposed onigiri could really only provide so much energy to someone as starved as he was. Smoothly standing from the table, she carried her empty plates up to the bar, picking up a few fresh dishes and made her way over to her boys' table. Her timing was impeccable, sliding a fresh plate of curry in front of Zoro as he added his latest empty dish to the growing stack beside him, as well as a fresh platter of meat in front of Luffy, then lifted Luffy's stack of plates and brought them up to the bar. As she turned back towards their table, Zoro sat back in his chair, a big satisfied grin on his face, and Kaia found herself thinking that he should smile like that more often.
"Aaahh, I'm stuffed! I was definitely at my rope's end, having not eaten in three weeks!" He exclaimed, rubbing his stomach gratefully to the amusement of the barmaid's young daughter. "Oh, Kaia, I almost forgot. Thanks for the onigiri and water earlier." He said, shifting slightly to look at her as she approached their table. She couldn't help but be amused by how much more amiable he was now that he had been freed from his imprisonment and fed to satisfaction. Before now, he had been intimidating and belligerent, snarling at anyone who dared come close. She liked his actions to that of an abused animal. Kaia mildly wondered if it was because of those previously mentioned reasons, freedom and food, or because he had agreed to be their nakama that had him acting like he was now.
"No thanks are needed, Zoro-kun. You're nakama now. We take care of each other." She replied softly, cheeks warming at his gratitude. She had only done what any decent person would do.
"Huh? You're finished already?" Luffy asked, cheeks stuffed with food and still shoveling more in, making Kaia giggle at the picture he made. He looked like a chipmunk with his cheeks all puffed out like that.
"How the heck can you have a bigger appetite than me?" Zoro asked, sitting up, and Kaia chuckled knowingly, shaking her head. Luffy had always had a monstrous appetite, even when they were children, and it had only gotten worse with age. Picking up Zoro's stack of plates, she made her way back to the bar to hand them to the barmaid.
"It tastes good! Right, Coby?" the rubber man replied, turning to look at the small pink haired boy. Said pink haired boy only turned to thank the barmaid, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, to which the barmaid replied that it was no trouble at all.
"You're really awesome!" The little girl gushed to Luffy, and he grinned widely at her.
"Yep, I sure am! And I'm gonna be even more awesome, 'cause I'm gonna be King of the Pirates! I even have a crew!" He exclaimed happily, stuffing another bite in his mouth.
"So, how many others have you gathered besides me and Kaia?" Zoro asked him as he stuffed another bite into his mouth, sitting up slightly.
"You said you were in the middle of gathering a crew. To be King of the Pirates, you must have a good number gathered."
"Just you two." Luffy stated matter-of-factly, popping another meat chunk into his mouth. Zoro's eyes went wide as he reared back in shock, a reaction that had Kaia giggling quietly.
"Huh?! Then…" he trailed off, motioning to Luffy, Kaia and himself incredulously.
"Yep! Just us three!" Luffy said cheerfully.
"We're gonna call only three people a pirate crew?!" Zoro exclaimed, flabbergasted.
"What's wrong with that? We are strong, after all!" Luffy replied, slightly confused as to why it was such a big deal.
"What about a ship? Where's your pirate ship?" Zoro demanded, leaning forward. When Luffy pointed out the window to their dinky little boat docked at the pier, his expression deadpanned and Kaia giggled quietly. "That?"
"To be fair, that's an improvement. Luffy was traveling in a barrel prior to obtaining that. Our previous vessel had met an untimely end." Kaia couldn't help but inform the surprised swordsman, giggling quietly to herself at his continued look of incredulousness.
Sure they had started in a fisherman's boat, but a storm had swept that away. However, as long as Luffy had something to float in, the two of them didn't find a reason complain. She could swim effortlessly, after all. So for a while, it was Kaia pulling along a barrel as Luffy slept inside. Not for too long in reality, but a day or so before he had been taken aboard that ship, mistaken for water or wine or something, causing her to lose sight of him temporarily. The redhead hadn't been too concerned because it was Luffy. Kaia doubted much anything could physically harm him outside her, his brother, and his grandfather.
"We'll have a much bigger ship soon! And more nakama!" Luffy waved off Zoro's concern cheerfully, grinning widely as he imagined himself standing at the bow of a huge ship, Jolly Roger flapping behind him. "So cool!"
"I made this guy my captain?" Zoro muttered to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. Either this could end up being the best thing to happen to him or the worst thing that could of ever happened to him. He was leaning towards worst at the moment with how simple minded his new captain seemed to be. He should have asked this information earlier, but then again, he hadn't had a lot of options at the time. It was either join them or get killed by Marines before he could accomplish his dream.
"Dihihihi…Don't worry so much, Zoro-kun. Everything will fall into place." Kaia chuckled and told him as he plopped back into his chair. As she spoke, Coby asked Luffy where they would go next, and his reaction when her captain declared that they would head to the Grand Line had her laughing so hard she toppled off her chair sideways. Not that it stopped her laughter. "Dahahahahahahahahaha!"
It took her several minutes to calm herself down, mostly because Coby was quite dramatically going on about the dangers they would face with juice trailing out of his nose and down his face. Finally, still chuckling slightly, she hauled herself back into her chair and tuned back in to the conversation just in time to hear footsteps approaching outside. The cheerful atmosphere of the restaurant turned somber as the civilians gazed towards the front of the building and out the windows. Her long elfin ears twitched slightly in the direction of the door at the sound, and as she turned in her chair just as the door opened to admit three Marines. Looks of fear and discomfort filling up the room as everyone other than her crew seemed to hold their breath in anxious anticipation.
Tensing herself, she reached back to wrap her hand around the handle of her hammer, but the Marines did not attack. Instead they told them to leave the island immediately. While their eyes willfully stayed upon Luffy's and Zoro's countenance, she could sense their nervousness was aimed more towards her. Since she was the enigma in the room, her presence alone was putting them more on edge than the destructive rubberman and the monstrous ex-pirate hunter. Shrugging her shoulders, Kaia decided to ease the tension within the military men by making her way back to the little boat they had claimed as their own, not bothering to wait for her boys. Once there, she stowed the small pack of food that the barmaid had prepared for them, and readied to boat to set sail.
She had just finished prepping the boat, humming softly to herself as she worked, when her boys arrived and soon the three of them were sailing away, a full company salute behind them. She smiled as she noticed that Coby stood among the Marines. Apparently he had found it within him to ask the men if he could join them. Good. The Marines could use more sweet, honest people like the pink haired boy within their ranks.
The three of them stayed somewhat busy, as the ship sailed further away from the small island, but soon enough there was little else that needed to be done on the small ship and the three were lounging within its confines. It was a few minutes afterwards that Zoro decided the best way to ward off the impending boredom of traveling by sea in such a cramped space was to converse with his new found nakama.
"So, Kaia. I know Luffy's dream, and you both know mine, so what's yours? Why are you traveling with Luffy?" Zoro asked, relaxing against the side of the boat.
"Me? I'm a singer. But as for my dream, I'm not a really sure yet. I hope to continue to collect songs to sing, perhaps write a few myself, but other than that, I'm still searching for a dream of my own." She said softly, smiling at the green haired man. "I decided to travel with Luffy mostly because we grew up together. We're as thick as thieves. Besides, we promised my dad when we were kids that we would grow strong and fulfill our dreams. Though, now that I think about it, I guess it never occurred to me to not go along with Luffy, since he's always been declaring that I was his nakama since the day we met. Besides, he can't swim for shit. Someone's got to be around to drag his ass out of the ocean when he falls in."
The green haired swordsman nodded at her confession. He believed it a reasonable answer to why she would jump onto this strange bandwagon. Luffy sat near the bow of the ship, grinning as he too nodded his head. He had wanted her on his crew from the moment he had seen her clinging to her father's pant leg. The fact that she could easily swim after him was just a bonus (one he hadn't even considered until five seconds ago when she had mentioned it).
"So you're a singer, huh? You any good?" Zoro looked over at her, mildly curious. He'd never heard of a pirate known for her singing.
"She's great!" Luffy vouched for her with great vigor. "Sing something, sing something, Kaia-chan! Pleeeeaaaaassee?" He exclaimed excitedly, throwing his arms out exuberantly before poking at her insistently.
"Fine, fine!" she huffed, swatting away his poking fingers with an irritated look on her face. "Quit poking me! What do you want me to sing?"
"Ooh! Ooh! Something piratey! Like Shanks and his crew used to sing!" Luffy practically shouted, his face stretching into a wide grin.
"Alright, then. An old favorite. Ready?" Sitting up, she scooted over to lean against the mast, taking a deep breath to center herself. Humming softly to begin the tune, she closed her eyes and moistened her lips before softly beginning to sing, her voice smooth and slightly husky.
"The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed,
and bound her in her bones.
The seas be ours, and by the powers;
where we will, we'll roam.
Yo ho, all hands,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars;
never shall we die.
Now some have died and some are alive;
and others sail the sea.
With the keys to the cage
and the devil to pay,
we lay to fiddler's green.
Yo ho haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars;
never shall we die.
The bell has been raised
from its watery grave,
hear its sepulchral tone.
A call to all; pay heed the squall,
and turn your sails to home.
Yo ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars;
never shall we die.
Yo ho, all together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars;
never shall we die."
Luffy cheered as she finished the song, while Zoro clapped his approval in a steady pace, staring at her rather impressed upon her performance. He had to admit, she was talented. Kaia gave a dramatic bow as she grinned at their praise, laughing when Luffy begged her to sing another song. She sang a few more old favorites that she remembered her her father's crew singing off-key when she was just a young little waif of a child bouncing on her daddy's knee as he bellowed out the words. Often enough, their drunken singing echoed through the bar at night into the upstairs rooms, where she and Makino slept, and wafted her off sleep.
Upon her last song, she smiled softly as her voice trailed off. Kaia's eyes fluttered open to the sight of the sun slipping below the horizon, and she blinked. She hadn't realized it had gotten so late. Yawning slightly, she looked around at her boys, and smiled at what she found. At the rear of the boat, Luffy lay sprawled out and snoring softly, a smile still stretching his face. At the front, Zoro was sitting against the side of the boat, his head tilted back against the side and his eyes closed, his three swords leaning against his shoulder. It looked like those old songs still had the power to lull the younger folk off to sleep.
Yawning again, she decided she might as well join them in sleep, so she gently lay her hammer along the floor of the small vessel, careful not to bump either of her nakama, and curled up on her side, pillowing her head on her arm. Breathing in deeply, she released a soft, contented sigh as her eyes slipped closed, the gentle rocking of the boat and the quiet lap of the waves against its sides lulling her into a deep sleep. Thanks to the growing darkness, she failed to notice the barely-open eyes on her as she slipped into slumber. Smirking into the darkness, the green-haired swordsman shifted slightly to get more comfortable, and closed his own eyes