Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or One Piece.

My memory on the specifics of the Jaya Arc is a little foggy, so this chapter is going to be a litte vague, so what I don't remember I'll either skip over, or fill in with my imagination.


Lucy and Robin were having an enjoyable conversation about this world's history while Nami checked the log pose, Sanji fawned over the women, Luffy played with Usopp, Chopper, and Plue, and Zoro was training. After a bit, when Luffy and Usopp were thinking of another game they could play, Luffy began talking about how wished it would snow, causing Nami to yell at him as she didn't want it to snow. Sighing, she checked the log pose again to make sure they hadn't gone off course while she had been yelling at Luffy.

Several small things fell from the sky, making Usopp look up as he wondered aloud if it was raining. Once he saw what was actually falling, he shrieked, causing everyone else to look up and they started screaming as well. No one could blame them though, there was a giant ship falling from the sky. After the ship narrowly missed smashing theirs to bits and some mayhem with a skeleton, or the skull of one at least, things started calming down.

Once everyone had calmed down, Robin suggested that they scavenge the ship for any clues as to why it fell from the sky. Luffy even asked Lucy if it came from her world, to which she gave a negative answer. At this current time, they had found out that the ship, called the Saint Briss, had set sail from the South Blue about 200 years ago and they found a map of a place called Skypiea, an island in the sky. A couple crew members put on some diving gear and went down to salvage the ship further.

While they were down there, a ship captained by some ape-looking individuals, that reminded Lucy a little too much of Vulcans, and they learned that the people in question were ship scavengers. Everyone tried to hide the fact that there were already a couple members of the crew down there so they didn't get into a fight with these guys.

As the other Straw Hats tried to distract them from finding out about their crewmates that were down below, Lucy contemplated what Mavis had told her. She had said there were very powerful people in this world and that Lucy would have to get a lot stronger in order to face future challenges. Lucy realized that Mavis was right, she had to get stronger. She couldn't just keep relying on her spirits, and she hated being a burden on her friends.

From what she understood, Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy were the strongest fighters on the ship; so she decided to ask Luffy and Zoro to help train her. She had contemplated asking Sanji to train her as well, but figured he wouldn't be able to concentrate on actually training her. As far as she could figure, Luffy was a hand-to-hand fighter, given that he had no weapons to speak of, so she was going to ask him to teach her hand-to-hand combat. Zoro was obviously a swordsman, but she thought maybe he could help her in fighting against someone with weapons and maybe increase her proficiency with her whip.

Nami told the other crew about how their log pose was pointing up and they agreed to take them to the nearby island of Jaya. The two crews parted ways once the island was in sight, the Straw Hats going to dock at Mock Town, and the other crew headed back to the sinking ship to finish salvaging it. Nami, Zoro, and Luffy went into town to see if they could get any information about this "Sky Island." Robin went into town to do the same but separately.

After they left, Lucy summoned Capricorn so she could make a contract with him and so she could ask him how she could strengthen her powers. Once she had made the contract, she sat in a meditative position just as Capricorn had told her. Following his instruction, Lucy began releasing her magical energy, catching the attention of Chopper, Sanji, and Usopp.

The training didn't last long as she had soon grew tired and fell back onto the deck, panting. It had been a lot harder than she had expected it to be. Capricorn then told her that this was the way that her own mother had trained, a thought that warmed her heart. It was at this time that Nami and the beaten Luffy and Zoro returned, causing Chopper to nearly have a heart attack. Capricorn returned to the Celestial Realm upon their arrival.

"Why are you two so beaten up?!" Lucy exclaimed.

Zoro and Luffy exchanged looks. "We promised Nami that we wouldn't fight anybody." said Luffy, grinning in a way that reminded her of Natsu.

Nami's brow twitched angrily as she grumbled something that sounded like, "I told you to fight back you morons!" as Chopper began to treat their injuries.

"Did you at least manage to find out anything about Sky Island?" Chopper asked.

The poor reindeer nearly had a heart attack for the second time in five minutes when he saw Nami's expression. "Sky Island? I don't want to hear about that place ever again, just mentioning that place got us laughed at!"

"Well if you still want to find out about it," said Robin, reappearing from her trip into town. "There's a man who lives on the other side of the island. The locals think he's a quack, but he firmly believes in the existence of Sky Island. It may be beneficial to us to find out what he knows."

This got everyone's spirits up again and they sailed around the island to find the man's hut/fake castle. They found several gold objects in the house, including a gold statue of a strange bird. They went outside just as its owner returned, jumping out of the sea like a fish, and attacked them. The fight didn't last very long before the man collapsed. According to Chopper, his body was weak because he was spending too long underwater without giving his body time to repair and recover before diving again.

When the man woke up, he introduced himself as Montblanc Cricket. Then the ship scavengers from before showed up and they found out that they were actually friends with the man. Cricket told them how he was the descendant of Noland the Liar and told them the whole story of his ancestor after they read the book version of it he had in his house. Lucy's heart went out to the deceased Noland and to Cricket for facing the ridicule of having been his descendant. Her eyes were watery by the time he had finished.

He told them that the only way they would be able to get to Sky Island was by using the massive geyser of water known as the Knock Up Stream, which, conveniently enough, would be erupting the next morning. The Knock Up Stream was directly south of the island. When Nami asked Cricket how they would find the geyser, despite the fact that compasses don't work in the Grand Line, he told her that they would have to find and capture a species of bird, native to the island, that was used in ancient times for navigation. The Southbird was called such because they always faced south.

And so it was that Zoro and Lucy were walking through the forest, trying to find one of the birds while Cricket and his two friends worked on the Going Merry to increase their chances of successfully making it up the Knock Up Stream. So far they had encountered several extremely large bugs, which Lucy wasn't too happy about to say the least, but Zoro always took care of them quickly.

They were having a moment of reprieve from being attack by giant bugs when Lucy figured that now was as good as any to ask him if he would train her. "Hey Zoro?"

She received a questioning grunt in response, and so continued. "Could you . . . help me with my training?" When he gave her a confused look, she elaborated further. "I know I'm not a swordswoman or anything like that but I thought maybe you could teach me how to fight without relying on my spirits all the time? I know I'm not very strong, so I don't want to be a burden on the crew."

Zoro hummed thoughtfully as he looked her over, trying to decide whether or not he should agree as she stood there nervously, waiting for his answer. "Alright, I'll train you. But if you whine about it I won't train you anymore. Got it?"

Lucy beamed at him and nodded. "Got it." she said in confirmation.

The moment was ruined though as a giant beetle fell from the trees and right at Lucy. Zoro pushed her behind him with one hand while the other drew Wadou Ichimonji and slashed it away from them. He briefly registered that his hand was touching something soft before he experienced, first hand, what it was like to receive a "Lucy Kick" to the chest.

"Pervert!" Lucy screamed as she kicked him, sending him into a nearby tree.

'W-what the hell?! I thought she said she was weak! Wait a minute . . . did she just call me a . . . ' he thought as he stared in shock at Lucy, who was currently blushing profusely with her arms covering her chest. "Why the hell am I a pervert?!" Zoro exclaimed.

"You touched my breast!" Lucy shouted at him.

Zoro was so shocked that his mouth failed to work for a few moments. "No I didn't!" he exclaimed when he finally did get his mouth working again.

They probably would have kept arguing for some time if they hadn't heard the sound of a strange bird. Instantly, they both stopped yelling at each other and shared a look that silently asked the same question. Again they heard the strange bird call. With a nod, they ran towards the sound. It didn't take them long to find the Southbird, sitting in a tree. The bird cawed at them and took off, flying away, but Lucy had other ideas.

She grabbed the cylinder at her belt and shouted, "Fleuve d'etoiles!"

From the cylinder erupted a bright, sparkling blue stream wrapped in a ribbon of golden energy. Lucy flicked the whip deftly and it stretched, wrapping around the Southbird, making it let out a surprised squawk as it started falling. Zoro caught the bird before it hit the ground.

"Thanks." Lucy said, going over to him and tying the Southbird up with her normal whip. The other whip had returned to just being a cylinder.

"Nice work with that whip." said Zoro as she tied the bird up.

Lucy smiled at him. "Thanks. C'mon, let's get back to the others. Here, carry the bird."

"Hah? Why do I have to carry the bird?" asked Zoro.

"Because I did all the work." said Lucy.

Grumbling, Zoro picked up the Southbird and followed Lucy as she walked back to Cricket's hut.

• • •

After they reunited with the rest of the crew, and received compliments for catching the elusive bird, they returned to Cricket's hut only to find him and his two friends injured and bloody. As it turned out, the people who had beaten up Zoro and Luffy had attacked them and taken Cricket's gold while the crew had been out looking to the Southbird. Chopper tended to their wounds while Luffy walked towards Mock Town.

When Nami tried to stop him, Zoro stopped her and shook his head no, telling her that she should leave him be. Lucy had to agree with Zoro, having seen Luffy's expression for herself. Again, she was reminded of Natsu when he got really serious, though Luffy's expression had seemed much more . . . dangerous. She hadn't even thought he was capable of making such an expression.

By the time they almost had to leave, the Going Merry looked more like a chicken than a ram. Luffy made it back just in time for them to set sail, with Cricket's gold in tow. After thanking Luffy, they were led to where the Knock Up Stream would be erupting. There, they were confronted by some people on a raft but before a fight broke out, the Knock Up Stream erupted, shooting the Straw Hats into the air, screaming for their lives as they shot upwards towards Skypiea.


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