Chapter 3

The waves sloshed lazily against the side of the ship. Honestly, she wasn't sure what to expect on her way back to the ship. The Thousand Sunny was a pleasant surprise though. The entire atmosphere of the ship reminded her of Luffy, making it instantly comforting.

From her position now, she could barely see the island they had been on a few hours ago. The island that until a few hours ago was serving as her temporary home. It would take some getting used to - actually having a home. The last place she had really called home was Dawn Island all those years ago. Even that had not lasted long after Sabo…

Huffing quietly, she blew her bangs out of her eyes. Pushing up on her elbows that were resting on the railing, she put herself in a standing position. Wincing at the slight pain in her back that came from slouching for the past however long she had been watching the scenery, she glanced around the deck.

The only other sound that could be heard was the humming of Brooke who had been playing the violin when they had set sail but now was calmly rocking back and forth on the swing. From the bits she could make out, it sounded like Bink's Sake. The song adding another layer of comfort as it instantly reminded her of Luffy or even being back on her father's ship with Yasopp.

Movement across the deck caught her attention. She could make out Usopp in his dark overalls walking towards the main mast. His arms full with what looked like some snacks and art supplies. If she had to guess, he was making his way to the crow's nest for watch tonight.

"A bit early still," she thought to herself. The sky had yet to finish shifting from the reds and oranges to the purples and dark blues. She watched as he made it to the bottom of the mast and seemed to realize that he had to actually climb with his arms full of materials. In a split second decision, she completely pushed away from the railing and cleared her throat.

"Do you, uh, need any help?" Usopp started, before looking to either side of himself, as if looking to who Storm was talking to. Realizing no one else was close by, and she was indeed talking to him, he answered back.

"Oh, like, carrying stuff or with watch?" Shrugging, Storm nervously pushed some of her hair behind her ear.

"I was thinking maybe both? If that's okay?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah! I don't mind!" Usopp seemed just as anxious as her but nevertheless welcoming.

"Here, you can carry some of the snacks. I managed to convince Sanji to give me some tonight. But… If he knew you were going to be out here with me, he would definitely give me more…" He dumped some of the snacks in Storm's arms. Not waiting to see if she was actually ready for them and put his head in his now free hand as he trailed off in thought. Luckily, her reflexes were well oiled so she was able to catch the pile of snacks the sniper had let loose.

"I think there's enough snacks here" She couldn't help the small laugh in her voice.

"For me maybe. But if you're anything like your brother, then these snacks don't stand a chance."

"I can't even be insulted because, honestly, yeah. Good news is I have some semblance of control so you don't need to worry about your snacks."

"Oh thank god…" Usopp sounded way too relieved about his snacks being saved from Luffy's bottomless pit of a stomach.

Nodding in the direction off the mast, she let Usopp head up ahead of her. A small smile graced her face as he continued to mumble to himself and shimmy up the mast, all while trying to balance the remaining snacks he was carrying. After giving him a chance to get a decent head start, Storm started off up the mast towards the crows nest as well.

The getting in the crows nest was the easy part, the hard part came in the flow of conversation between the two pirates. Once the snacks were safely in place and both were comfortable, an awkward silence filled the air. Usopp was a fidgety mess, pulling small parts out of his satchel to tinker with. Storm on the other hand bit her lip and tried to find something to talk about. Finally, she just said 'to hell with it' and said the first thing that came to mind.

"You know, you really remind me of my godfather."

"Huh?" Usopp looked up sharply at the girl's words.

"My godfather. You really remind me of him. Funny, smart, caring, and awkward to boot." Usopp's face flushed and a smile began to creep onto his face.

"Really? That's strange, I've always just heard that I remind people of my dad." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Your dad, huh? I've heard that I look like mine almost my whole life." Storm said, almost bitterly.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"For me? Definitely." Storm told the confused Usopp in a tone as serious as she could muster.

"Huh."

"What?"

"It's just that your relationship with Luffy made us, or at least me, think that you must have a pretty good relationship with the rest of your family."

"Oh?" She started to laugh, making Usopp look even more confused. She must of seemed like a mad woman to him but she couldn't help it. Leave it to Luffy not to tell his crew a damn thing.

"Luffy and I, we aren't actually related. Kind of like us and Ace. None of us are related actually, well except for Gramps and Lu." Storm explained, hands gesturing wildly as she spoke. Usopp seemed to be following along pretty well until she mentioned Ace.

"You mean that Ace and Luffy aren't really related?! But they look alike and everything!"

"Shocking, I know. If you saw the way Ace eats then you would be really surprised. I like how you didn't seem surprised about Luffy and I, though."

"It's just you two seem so different." He seemed sheepish to voice his thoughts.

"It's okay, I understand. But even if we aren't blood related we're still siblings." Storm finished softly, glancing out the window. Usopp followed suit, looking out the window before coming to a conclusion and turning back to face Storm fully.

Do you want to hear a story?"

"What kind of story?" Usopp didn't seem to have expected her to take the bait for one of his stories but quickly recovered.

"An awesome one. With dinosaurs. And wizards. And dinosaur riding wizards."

Sure!" She said with a laugh but gestured for the boy in front of her to start his 'awesome' story.

As he began to weave his tale, she let her eyes roam his face, taking in all the minor details. She'd have to be blind to miss the way Usopp resembled his father. Hell, she bet Luffy even recognized him on sight. Despite neither of them ever meeting him before setting sail.

In a way it was comforting, to have her god-brother sitting right beside her, with his uncanny resemblance to his father. On the other hand it hurt. A deep ache in her chest, right where her heart was. She missed Yasopp more than she could put into words.

With thoughts of her godfather and Usopp's voice, which was still narrating his epic tale, filling her ears, she felt herself begin to drift off. She just let her forehead rest against the glass window of the crows nest and took a deep breath, reminding herself she was safe here with Luffy's crew. Her crew now. Slowly, her shoulders relaxed and her eyes drifted. She felt relaxed for the first time in months and quickly fell asleep.

Usopp looked up from where he wildly flailed his arms to provide emphasis to his story only to find his audience asleep. He should have felt annoyed. After all, who falls asleep during one of Captain Usopp's great stories?! But something about Storm seems so content and relaxed in a way he hadn't seen from her yet. Up until now, he thought she was relaxed. Hell, she laughed and chatted right along with everyone on the crew. But comparing her body language then and now, it's easy to see that she had been on guard.

He couldn't pretend to understand her background or her life. He didn't even really know her. But, she was Luffy's sister and that was more than enough for him. That meant she was practically his sister. So, he would do his best to make her comfortable here.

Nodding to himself, he sat back in the seat and glanced out the window. The moon shone bright against the ocean waves as they sloshed against the ship. Before he knew it, those sloshing waves lulled him right to sleep as well. /span/p