Silmeria - Thanks for being patient everyone. Enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer - I claim no rights to One Piece or Sentinel.

Chapter Thirteen - The Guide of the Eternal Pose - Part One of Three

"How does it feel?" Zoro stood next to him, always an imposing figure as he grinned down at Luffy, who had taken to holding his hat down thanks to the fierce winds they had come across during the last two days of their journey. With the Gecko Islands behind them, and a random island ahead, Zoro felt a shiver of excitement at what lay ahead for the three of them. Since meeting Luffy, not a dull moment passed for Zoro and for that, he was internally grateful. His days as a bounty hunter were still ahead of him after Ace and Luffy settled, but in the meanwhile, the Sentinel would enjoy the long days at the Guide's side as a friend and First Mate.

"It's windy and salty." Luffy grumbled, but his lips were pulled into a bright, adventurous smile that settled into his eyes. "And my hat won't stay on."

"Seems like you're having a good day." Zoro chuckled, nudging his shoulder against Luffy before turning somber and eyeing Usopp who was leaning against the railing on the opposite side with most likely a bored expression. "What are we going to do about him?"

"I thought we already discussed this, Zoro?" Luffy murmured, making sure to keep his voice low against the wind, knowing that his companion would hear it fine. "We're going to put him to work and make him a fine sniper and fighter. I have the utmost confidence in you when concerning his training."

"And why do I have to train him?" Zoro complained half-hearted. "You have skills too. I've seen you fight."

"True, but my skills are mainly for self-defense." Luffy titled his head, the brim of his hat obscuring his eyes. "I need him to be ruthless, understand? A Sentinel who can't protect his Guide properly is about as useless as a starfish or a newborn kitten. When he finally returns to the Gecko Islands, I want him to be confident in himself, his island and his Guide."

Zoro snorted, the sound full of disbelief and amusement. "Do you honestly think that little string bean is going to become an Alpha Sentinel of Gecko Islands? He can barely walk on his own two legs straight, let alone defend his Guide and Syrup Village."

"Ye have so little faith." Luffy protest with a chuckle. "No, he'll carve a path just like his father before him and you get to take credit, right? I mean, you did train him. Who is he going to look back on when someone asks who trained him? Who molded him into the powerful Sentinel that he is, today?" Luffy pointed to Zoro's chest with a mild grin that failed to reach his eyes. "You have to belief in your teammates, Zoro-your nakama."

Zoro huffed, folding his arms and falling against the railing before turning his full attention back to the wheel. Without the appropriate number of crew, the journey had been slow at best, but Luffy didn't mind. It gave him a chance to rest and enjoy the waves and think on a destination.

"Ah." Luffy murmured, turning back to his First Mate with a mild frown. "Are we going in the right direction?" Luffy pulled the map from one of his pants pockets and unrolled it, making sure to keep a steady hand on it. "Conomi Islands, right?"

Zoro hummed an assent underneath his breath, his grip on the wheel tight as he narrowed his eyes on the path ahead. "Yeah, we should be arriving in about a day or two." Zoro turned his head to see Usopp still staring at the sea behind him, a slump to his shoulders and the sight made him agitated.

"Hey!" Zoro barked, smirking when Usopp jumped and whirled around to give Zoro a irritated glare. "Make yourself useful, eh? Mop the deck? Cook us some food? Clean up? I don't know, do something."

"What's to clean up?" Usopp mocked, approaching them with a mild frown and slouched shoulders. "This is a brand new ship-"

"We've been at sea for days and we've gone through a little bit of our stores." Luffy began, interrupting the tirade that he knew was coming. "It would be good for us to start keeping track with what we need and how much we have." Luffy raised an eyebrow when Usopp opened his mouth to protest. "Didn't you promise to be useful when you joined us? We don't have an adequate number of people to take care of certain duties and until we do, we all need to take on additional jobs." Luffy nodded his head in the direction of the lower decks where the rooms, kitchens and stockrooms were located. "In the meantime, I would like you take inventory until we get a treasurer and also, get an accurate number of medical supplies, alright? I would like to start searching for a doctor as soon as possible."

"R-right." Usopp nodded, turning on his heel and disappearing to the decks below. Once the door was closed, Luffy blew out a tight sigh and turned back to Zoro who was looking ahead with a tight smirk.

"What?"

"Nothing." Zoro chuckled, his shoulders shaking. "I honestly thought that it would take a while for you to fit into the whole captain role, but I see I have nothing to worry about. You have no problem bossing people around."

Luffy's cheeks burned at the teasing tone. "What are you on about, Zoro? I didn't boss him around."

Zoro shot him an amused, pitying look. "Oh, darling, you did and it was glorious. Do you know how long it would've taken for me to get that kid going? He would have fought me tooth and nail to mop the damn floor. Which is why I think you should train him."

"He's a Sentinel." Luffy stated, as if that was all that needed to be said about the matter. "As progressive as our ideals are, the fact remains that a Sentinel doesn't want to be trained by a Guide-an Omega Guide-no less, Zoro."

Zoro snorted, shooting his captain a withering look. "If that's the case then you shouldn't be a captain, right? You're not the type to let your status get in the way of your goals. So, let's cut the bullshit and tell me the real reason?"

"Originally, I had no intention of allowing Usopp to join us." Luffy whispered, the confession lost on the wind if it hadn't been for Zoro's sharp hearing. "I don't want to be responsible for no one's path but my own, but here I am, responsible for two more other than myself."

"Luffy." Zoro's brows furrowed at the confession. "This isn't meant to be a burden on you."

"And it's not." Luffy continued gently, turning to his First Mate with a small smile. "Far from it, in fact. I've come to adore you in the last weeks, Zoro, and I would have no other as my First Mate and I am sure that I will feel the same way about Usopp once we know him more. However." Luffy stopped, looking up into Zoro's inquisitive eyes. "I'm frightened."

"Of what?"

"Of the responsibility." Luffy confessed again. "I have you and Usopp and I know deep in my heart this small crew we have is going to grow and I'm-" Luffy turned away. "I'm going to love them all deeply but all of this wasn't and isn't meant to last forever. Joining a crew is similar to gaining a family-a nakama-and I can't stand the thought of leaving them once Ace is found. He left the shores of Dawn Island to find his own place in this world and eventually I know he's going to want me to join him." Luffy swallowed against the lump in his throat. "I can't gather a crew and leave as if they mean nothing. I can't-" Luffy shook his head. "I can't train Usopp knowing that I'm going to leave him one day. I see his potential-his drive and his love-and I can't touch that light. I refuse."

"Idiot." Zoro sounded fond and just a touch exasperated. "You're supposed to touch his light. You're supposed to do all those things you mentioned. You're his captain and he's following you. What fun would a journey be if you didn't change or grow stronger? A journey like this would have no meaning if we didn't let it shape us into different people." Zoro nudged Luffy's shoulder. "Don't be afraid. Being afraid is the one thing that stops people from being better and the last thing I want to see that happen to is you, Luffy."

"He has a long way to go, doesn't he?" Luffy murmured, watching underneath the brim of his hat as Usopp emerged looking rather disgruntled at the paper in his hands as if he didn't know what he was going to do with it.

"That he does." Zoro sighed as a burst of wind suddenly overtook them and he watched, resigned, as the papers most likely holding the numbers to the supplies flew out of Usopp's hands and into the seas where they would never be recovered. "That he does."

The last leg of their journey began and ended with a simple "Land Ho!" from an enthusiastic Usopp who had gained a tan in the following ten days since their departure from the Gecko Islands. He would say that he looked good, but Luffy didn't want to push his luck and the headache he suffered due to Zoro and Usopp arguing was just fading and it wasn't welcomed back.

"Land?" Zoro called out, leaning against the wheel wearing a simple shirt and pants with bare feet and an bored expression. "Where? I don't see no stinking land." Zoro rose, turned to Usopp with a sour expression. "You better not be lying again, brat."

"I'm not." Usopp rushed towards them, jumping over Luffy's chair and pointed west, where, indeed, there was a small patch of islands that was in view. "We've reached our-where we going again?"

Luffy sighed, looking down at the worn map. "Conomi Islands." he murmured, raising an eyebrow at the confused hum he received in reply. "It's a small, unknown island, but they are known for their tangerines. It's a good pit-stop and I'm willing to try and get some information-if it isn't occupied by pirates that is."

"And if it is?" Usopp sounded wary at the thought and Luffy didn't blame him. The last thing he wanted to do was run into pirates again-especially after the Kuro scandal. What a mess.

"We'll try our best to avoid them, but if push comes to shove, we'll stomp them out and move on." Luffy rose from the chair, walking barefoot to the railing to look at the island. It was small and seemed harmless, but so did Gecko Islands and he ended up earning a crew-member out of the whole mess. He wasn't hoping for a repeat, but with his luck, he wasn't pressing it.

"Let's dock." Luffy commanded, walking back to the chair and slipping back into his boots and grabbing his hat and slipping it on and dusting off his clothing. First impressions and all. "The middle island-Cocoyasi Village."

"Sure?" Zoro grunted out, spinning the wheel with a sharp left. "That island looks pretty small, you know? I'm sure it's just a small village with nothing going on."

"Exactly." Luffy murmured, wanting nothing more than to get his feet dry in a nice, small village with a hot meal. "We look for the information, stock up and leave for our next destination. How good does that sound?"

"It sounds good." Zoro murmured. "But, you know we're a bunch of trouble makers, right? This isn't going to be peaceful considering our luck."

Luffy snorted at the thought, but let it slide. "Don't jinx it."

As it turned out, Zoro was right, Cocoyasi Village was indeed small with a few white buildings and fewer people-who weren't above to outright staring. But, what took Luffy off guard as the massive building that shadowed the small village. It looked beautiful even from the distance, but it felt as if it didn't belong-as if it was imposed and forced upon the small, but humble village.

"That place seems pretty decent." Usopp muttered, and Luffy winced, feeling the greed pressing against his shields. "Let's go check it out."

"No." Luffy murmured, turning his head again and ignoring Usopp's quiet protests. "Let's go find-" Luffy huffed, startled to be bumped into all of a sudden and his nose twitched at the scent of tangerines. "Oh, I'm sorry." he looked down to see a red-headed woman smiling up at him with mischievous eyes. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"It's alright." she replied lightly, stepping away and continuing down the dirt path that led down to the tall, well-made structure. "Welcome to the Cocoyasi Village."

"Thanks..." Luffy muttered, turning his attention away when Zoro huffed in loud exasperation and started digging into Luffy's pockets. "Zoro! What are you-"

"As I thought." Zoro muttered, turning his head to watch the woman taking off running, as if she realized the gig was up. "Dammit, Luffy! She stole your pouch, idiot!"

"What...? I-" Luffy patted himself down, let out a small curse when he realize that yes, his pouch was gone. "Great. Just great." Luffy sighed at the thought of running through the village after the girl but he took off with Zoro and Usopp behind him and couldn't help but feel a small grin tug at his lips.

Seems like Zoro was right, they were a bunch of troublemakers after all.