Valentine's Personal Log 23: So Close and Yet So Far

There are four islands in the general vicinity that my family likes to visit. One is so close that I can taste the dumplings in the marketplace. Then there's Sabaody, San Faldo, and Valcour Island far to the North. I doubt Pierce would be at San Faldo though. Baldwin has an estate there and if Father has had no dealings with him since the night I left as Mr. 6 in Alabasta and the black market broker in Water 7 reported then it's pretty safe to cross it off the list. That leaves the archipelago, home, and Galaval Island on the other side of the Red Line if he's not on the one I'm about to ask to search. Home, I write. There's nothing Homey about Valcour Island. I'd like to think that I have a home with Kuma, but if he spends any more time with Vegapunk... I'm not even going to entertain that thought.

Despite my excitement over getting closer to Pierce, my anxiety has grown as well. It's been two years. Two very, very long years with a man who delights in torture. I told myself that I was saving up for travel and working on building my strength and skills, but part of me thinks I was scared to go back. That was when I was alone though. My crew gives me strength. I just hope Pierce doesn't resent me for my cowardice. I always planned on going back for him, but I left him there for far too long. Don't hate me, dear. I'll be there as soon as I can.

Usopp and Robin look down the long table at their crew. Nami sits in the first chair, counting gold coins and jewels. Luffy sits beside her, eating meat. Zoro sits on his other side, drinking a mug of beer. Brook sits beyond him with a tall glass of milk. Karmen sits at the end of the table, mixing a spoonful of poisons into her tea. Chopper sits on the far side of the table across from Brook, eating candy. Franky sits next to him, drinking cola. Sanji sits near the two empty seats, ogling Nami. The sniper turns to the archaeologist. "We need a thing." She waves a book at him and sits next to Sanji. Usopp sits at the other end of the table with a sigh. "I need a thing." He turns his attention to the sea chart Karmen is unrolling. Several cups are instantly set on the edges to keep it flat to the table. Nami frowns in protest.

"As Chopper said, I found out for sure on Thriller Bark that Pierce is alive. I'm 90% sure he's on my family's property just on the other side of the Red Line, but there's an island nearby that I'd like to check. My mother loved to shop there and several nobles visit the island. I know you want to go to Fishman Island as soon as possible, but if I don't look and make sure…" She points just off the map. "The island is here. I know how to get there from our current location. It takes two weeks for the pose to reset, so if we only stay for a day or two we should be ok. There shouldn't be anyone there that would give us problems this time of year, but I went ahead and came up with a few cover stories for if I get recognized. Even if it turns up as a wash, we can get some good shopping in. So, permission to go ashore, Captain?"

Luffy swallows the big bite of meat in his mouth and laughs. "Let's go! They've got to have great food if nobles shop there, right? I can't wait! And to look for your friend."

"I'm glad your priorities are in place," Nami mumbles. She steps around the table and examines the sea chart. Karmen shows her the direction they need to travel and tells her about the tricky currents between the magnetic lines.

Karmen stands on the bow of the ship while Nami has Franky adjust the course. Brook walks up beside her with two cups of tea. She gladly accepts the second and watches the horizon. "I haven't been here long enough to know who this Pierce is, but he seems important to you."

"He's more than important. He's family. We're not related by blood, but he is very precious to me."

"You look so anxious when you speak of him. What's the situation?"

She explains everything from her father's violent nature to the recent events with bounty hunters and government agents under her mother's influence. "I can't leave him there all alone any longer."

Brook sips his tea. "I'm sure when you rescue him, he'll be just as happy to be alive as I am right now."

"That's how true family is supposed to make you feel."

As the ship cuts through the waters, Karmen's anxiety has risen to a new high. She's destroyed the sandbag's course in the store room twice, cleaned the already spotless ship, written four pages in her personal log, and scanned the waters for fish big enough to ride. The crew tries to help, and succeed with distracting her for a few hours, but by sunset she's ready to get away. When Sanji finally turns his back, she reverses her observation Haki as far as she can go and slips out onto the deck. No one notices her as she carefully climbs the foremast and sneaks into the crow's nest. Zoro is there lifting weights, perfectly distracted. She thinks to chide him for going against Chopper's orders, then remembers how he had helped her when she was injured in Water 7 and decides he can do whatever he very well pleases. She slips to the open cabinet and removes the ankle weights, hanging them over her shoulders. She peeks through the telescope for a few seconds and sighs when she finds nothing on the horizon.

Karmen leaves the workout room and climbs the main mast, sitting on the platform under the flag pole and strapping on the weights. She focuses her reverse Haki on her feet and begins tap dancing. She practices making the sound unnoticeable, as if there were air under her feet and no sound was being produced at all. The wind buffets her, making it hard to keep her balance. She pushes her feet faster. She's so focused on training her Haki that she doesn't notice the window across from her open and Zoro jumping the 50 ft. gap. Surprised by his landing, she spirals around to the other side of the flag and conceals herself. Zoro is breathing hard. He wobbles and nearly falls, but she grabs his shirt at the last second and leans him against the mast.

"That's you, right Karmen? I can barely focus on you. What are you doing?"

She tones it down. "Sorry. You startled me is all." She steps back around, observing the sweat drenching him. "Kuma really did a number on you, didn't he?" He is about to stoically say nothing and stare out at the ocean when he notices her ankles. He looks at the weights confused. "I, uh, borrowed them. Sorry again."

"When did you…?"

"About an hour ago."

"I was in the workout room all evening and I didn't see you."

"What do you know about Haki?"

"Isn't it like willpower used as a weapon or something?" he asks.

"You use Haki and that's all you know about it?"

"I don't."

"How do you think you can cut steel and shoot those phoenix cannons of yours?"

"Strength and skill," he says flatly.

She sighs and shakes her head. "Anyway, there are variations to the two main types: Armor and Observation. Most people where I'm from can use Haki. I use observation Haki and reverse the polarity to make myself hard to notice." She fades slowly so that he can observe the changes. She watches the vein in his forehead pop up as he struggles to keep his focus on her.

"Stop that. If you keep it up you really will disappear." She goes back to normal and he relaxes some. "I mean all the way."

She sits next to him and releases her Haki a little more. "Sorry. After being in hiding for two years, it's kind of become second nature. My uncle says I still need a lot of work on it, but I've been practicing."

"So it muffles sound too? I couldn't hear you earlier."

"Kind of. I was trying to make it so that the person hearing the sound didn't think they heard the sound."

"So it's a type of hypnosis?"

"In a way." She takes off the weights and sets them beside her. "I can also pair reversed and regular observation Haki to stay in an opponent's blind spot. When I use regular O.H. I can predict the opponent's movements, like those guys on Skypia. If I push it a little further, I can match the speed of an opponent. If I work on it a little more, I'll be able to choose who can see me and who can't." While she talks, she lets go of her cloak completely. Part of her feels naked without it. "Better?"

"Much." She watches him watching her with slight amusement. "How did you learn that anyway?"

She hugs her knees to keep from fading again. "When I was a kid father would always look for me before he started torturing a slave. If he found me, he would sit me in a chair and make me watch and if I reacted at all he would draw it out or use a more painful method. When you spend most of your life wishing you had a way to disappear it comes naturally. Having father constantly looking for a way to hurt me when I was young and then having disgusting men leer at me at his parties I almost had to develop it. Being on the run just meant I had to put it to better use." Zoro doesn't say anything. Her hand brushes the lump in her breast pocket and she sits up a little straighter. "I almost forgot. I have something for you." She pulls out his handkerchief with the dial necklace. "I made these with Usopp's and Nami's help. That's a liquid dial filled with top shelf sake. I thought you could save it for a pick-me-up during a battle, like Luffy and his meat. I left the bottle under the bench in the workout room so you can refill it as needed. I was a little upset when I filled it and almost drank the rest, but I decided to go with scorpion venom instead."

He examines the shell for a moment before he puts the necklace on. It's darker than his hair, but still has the same mossy undertones. She looks at where it hangs just under the collar bones, feeling it has a nice contrast. He then unfolds the handkerchief and rubs his thumb over the needlework, angling each image so he can see better in the moonlight. "These are very thoughtful. Thank you." He leans close and scowls at her. "You're freaking out, aren't you?"

Karmen flinches. "Whatever gives you that idea?"

"You're making everyone presents, you embroidered both skirts on your dress, and you're up here training your legs off."

"Says the guy lifting thousand kilo weights in your condition," she mutters. "I guess neither of us feel strong enough." She lets one foot dangle off the platform and leans against the other knee. They look out at the glittering waves as Brook's violin carries up from the deck below. "Thanks for not dying. I always feel safer with you around."