Reunited

Shachi & Luffy

Shachi huffed as he watched Luffy chase after the lizard. He had no idea how the rubber captain still had so much energy. He also had no idea how the Straw Hats could put up with such a man. He felt like he was babysitting a child that refused to listen to a word he said.

He lifted his eyes to the ceiling of the world they were currently in. They were in a cave under the desert. There were so many pathways here. It was a maze. All of the paths were connected. And they have been chasing the lizard for days.

Shachi thought back to that first day there were in the desert. They had almost died because of Luffy's carelessness. Luckily a caravan came by and found them laying in the desert…

"Are you wake?" A woman asked. Shachi looked up into the face of a beautiful dark skinned, dark haired woman with deep green eyes.

"I was right. I did die," Shachi blushed. "I'm in heaven because of that stupid Straw Hat."

The woman laughed. "I think you are all right."

"Where are we?" Shachi asked as he sat up. He was in a hospital gown with an IV stuck in his wrist.

"You're in Papina Hospice," The woman smiled. "I'm Sela. Can you tell me why you were out in the desert without the proper gear? You and your friend almost died."

"Is he all right?" Shachi asked while looked at the bed next to him.

"Yes, you both will be fine," Sela replied. "Now, what were you two doing out there?"

"We kinda lost something. It was taken by a large lizard," Shachi said.

"I see," She nodded. "Well, it's best for you to let it go. Those creatures are impossible to catch."

"No!" Shachi shouted and tried to get up. "I can't! I have to get that back!

"Calm down," Sela placed her hands on his shoulder. "You need to rest."

"No, you don't understand! I have to get that thing back!" Shachi pushed against her hold.

"Please, sir, you need to calm down. If you don't I'll have to sedate you," Sela looked over at a male companion in the room. He nodded and reached into a draw, pulling out a needle.

"No, no! I'll calm down," Shachi laid back down.

"Good," Sela nodded. "You need your rest."

"I'll rest for now, but I have to find that thing. I have to get it fo-" Shachi's voice cut off when his and Luffy's monkey jumped upon the bed. "Look, it's something very important to me. A friend of mine's life might depend upon it. Please, you have to tell me how to catch that thing."

"Someone's life is in danger?" Sela asked.

"Possibly," Shachi nodded. "It's very, very important that I find that lizard."

"I'm sorry. But no one has ever been successful in capturing one of those creatures when they have taken something," Sela said softly. "Many people have died trying to retrieve stolen property."

"Please!" Shachi begged. "You don't understand how important it is! We have to find it!"

"I think you are stupid for going after them, but those creatures live under the desert. They have an entire cave system down there. If you can manage to find one of their holes, which is buried underneath the sand, you just might have a chance at retrieving what you have lost," Sela said. "It's a very small chance. As I've said, no one has ever caught one of them."

"How far underneath the sand are these holes?" Shachi asked.

"I'm not sure," Sela replied. "Some have said the lizards make the holes only a couple feet below the sand while others have said they're several feet below the sand. Several people have see these lizards sunbathing on a rock formation not very far from where you two were found. Its possible that there are some holes there."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Shachi smiled.

"My father owns a store. I can get you the necessary equipment to help you on your mission. Now, get some rest," Sela said as she started to walk away.

"Thank you. Oh, by the way," Shachi jerked his thumb towards Luffy. "He's going to have a huge appetite when he wakes up. You better alert your dinning hall to be prepared."

…

Shachi sighed. It was easy for him to keep their actual mission a secret, but when Luffy woke up that became almost impossible. It took several days before Sela would release them. She said she was holding them for such a long time to make sure they were healthy. Shachi got the impression that she was actually holding them longer than needed because she didn't want them to go after the lizard again. They eventually got away from the hospice.

Decked out in the necessary supplies and a better idea of what they were up against, the two pirates finally returned to the desert. It took them a couple days before they were finally able to find one of the holes Sela told them about. Once they found it, it was a quick trip to the bottom of the cave. The hole turned out to be like a slide for them. It was a bumpy hard one, but it got them where they needed to be.

They expected to be in complete darkness, minus the lanterns they brought with them. But when they picked themselves up from the brutal slide ride, they found that the walls and ceiling of the cave were lit up with some kind of glowing rocks. They quickly set up their campsite, making sure to keep their food with them all the time. There were several lizards all over the place. Some didn't even acknowledge the strangers in their home. They were the older ones. The younger ones took interest in the new comers and tried to steal some of their stuff.

They ended up taking turns watching over their campsite while the other one chased after the same old lizard who refused to give up the shard. Luffy and the lizard ran passed Shachi for what had to be the fortieth time that day. While guarding their campsite, Shachi studied the map the monkey had for them. At first it looked like the lizard was just taking random pathways to confuse them. But then he started to noticed the lizard was actually only take certain paths.

He started formulating a plan in his head. But that plan would require both of them. And he wasn't sure that was such a good idea. It would mean leaving their campsite unprotected. If this plan failed then they would loose everything they had with them. And he wasn't sure they would be able to climb back out of this place to go get more supplies with how deep that slide was. If this plan failed, they would die down here.

"I can't run anymore," Luffy panted. He dropped down onto his back. "It would be so much easier if my Haki worked on that thing. Ugh! When we finally catch that thing I'm going to grill it up! So hungry! Why don't you chase after that jerk for a while?"

"We're going to have to go after it together," Shachi said.

"Huh? You said we weren't supposed to leave our campsite unprotected," Luffy turned his head to look at him.

"We don't have much choice," Shachi replied. "We can't keep running in circles like this. We're not getting anywhere. I think we have a better chance of succeeding if we do this together."

"If you say so," Luffy said. "What are we doing?"

While Luffy rest and caught his breath Shachi revealed to him that the lizard's movements weren't random. He showed Luffy one corner of a tunnel that had a blind spot. He wanted Luffy to wait there while he chased after the lizard. Once the lizard was in sight Luffy was to knock it's lights out. Luffy nodded rapidly while Shachi explained the plan. "You got it?"

"Got it!" Luffy nodded.

"All right. Wait until me and the lizard are out of sight, then run to the corner," Shachi said as he stood up. Luffy nodded again as Shachi headed after the lizard. Once they were out of sight, Luffy grabbed the monkey and headed off.

Several minutes later, Luffy could here them coming. He stood ready and waited for him moment to strike. When the lizard came in view, Luffy threw his hardest punch at it, punching it into the wall. The shard fell out of the lizard's mouth on contact.

"You got him!" Shachi cried as he came upon the down lizard and the broken cave wall. "We can get out of here now!"

"Do we have too?" Luffy cracked his knuckles. "I said I was going to grill this sucker up."

Shachi sighed at the one track mind of the Straw Hat captain. The monkey picked up the shard and teleported them away. Luffy blinked and looked around at his and Shachi's new surroundings. "Hey! Where's the lizard?! I'm hungry!"

"Where are we?" Shachi asked.

"A house! They must have food!" Luffy cried dashing towards it.

"Seriously?!" Shachi screeched, following after him. "Is that all you think about?"

"I want food!" Luffy shouted with his fists raised once he had entered the house.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Sanji hissed, striking Luffy over the head. "Neo is sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Shachi asked, rushing over to Neo, who was laying on the couch cocooned in a blanket. He kneeled down and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Is she sick?"

"No," Sanji's voice drawled out the word. "She's not sick. What's that smell?"

"What smell?" Luffy asked.

"It's you!" Sanji pointed at Luffy once he got a whiff of his captain. "When's the last time you've bathed?"

"I dunno. The last time we were on the Sunny, I guess," Luffy replied.

"Sorry about the stink. We've been underground chasing after a lizard," Shachi reported.

"Was that Luffy?" Chopper asked as he came down the stairs. "Hey! You two made it!" "Hey, where the monkey go?" Luffy asked as he looked around. "And why do you have a little orange bug clinging to your cheek?"

"Sanji cutie!" Celeste cooed still with hearts in her eyes.

"It can talk?" Luffy got closer to Sanji.

"Don't stand so close! You smell terrible! Go take a shower! Please!" Sanji shoved Luffy away with his foot. "All the bedrooms upstairs has showers and clothes."

"But I'm hungry!" Luffy shouted.

"Keep it down," Sanji punched Luffy. "You'll wake Neo. Get a shower. Then I'll cook you something."

"Aw," Luffy pouted as he head to the stairs. "Fine."

Shachi pulled himself away from Neo and followed Luffy upstairs. A little while later Neo began to wake up just as Shachi and Luffy were coming back downstairs. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes then noticed the new comers. "Shachi!"

"Hey, princess," Shachi greeted as they rushed to each other. He engulfed her in a hug as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. What about you?" Neo said, scanning her eyes over him. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, just a bit tired," Shachi replied. Neo nodded and summoned her solar crystal. She engulfed Shachi and Luffy in its glow.

"Can we eat now?" Luffy whined.

"Fine," Sanji nodded and headed for the kitchen. The others followed.

Neo hung back when Elian and Velocity landed on her shoulders. Chopper too hung back when he heard Elian's question to her. "Are you going to tell them, Princess?"

"I don't know," Neo replied quietly. "I really need to talk to Law."

"That's okay," Velocity said. "You can wait for him. We'll keep it quiet for now. I'll tell Sanji and Celeste about this."

"Are you sure, Neo?" Chopper asked. She nodded. The small group then entered into the kitchen. Neo sat down beside Shachi as he and Luffy told everyone what they had been doing. Once they were done the others told them their stories.