.: First of all, I just want to apologize for the many page breaks in this chapter. They're all necessary, but it felt like I was overdoing it. Also, I have never played any of the Red Dead games, but since the second Redemption game came out a few years ago, and it was very popular and Western themed, I thought it would be nice to pay homage to it since I'm doing the same thing to all kinds of Western media and historical figures. I'm interested to see if anyone can match all the references to their sources. :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 33:

Little House on The Prairie

Aurilee was starting to realize something about herself, but she did not want to admit it. She wanted to blame it on her pregnancy because she never felt like this or thought like this before. While Sanji paraded through the general store, she sat in a chair trying not to make it obvious that she was watching him. His disguise was by far her favorite out of them all. Those jeans looked too good on him. He should wear jeans more often. They worked with his tight figure perfectly.

She shook her head to try dispelling such thoughts. What the heck was her inner monologue going on about? Everyone wore jeans on this island. That did not make Sanji special. She glanced back over to see he had squatted to look at something on a lower shelf.

Ass! her horny mind screamed.

Jerking her head away, she had to suppress a whimper. This was torture, and it did not help that her body was responding involuntarily. Her bra was not the only piece of underwear that was soaked now. Suddenly, something liquid dripped on her lip. Her fingers wiped it to see it was blood. Seriously?! She was having a nosebleed?! She was so glad Chopper was not here because he probably could pick up on her pheromones.

Sanji came to the counter with the deadliest brand of cigarettes he could find and a rose gold lighter that would hopefully last him the rest of the year. But he looked back at Aurilee to see her brushing her hands back and forth against her chaps. Where could they go next? A part of him wanted to purposely lollygag just so he could be alone with her longer.

That was when he noticed the candy rack next to him. Nothing made a pregnant lady happier than food, but sweets were even better. He wanted to make her smile.

A minute later, she was approached. "Look what I got you," he excitedly announced.

At first, she did not want to look. She was afraid of admiring his front side like she did his backside. But he held out a chocolate bar for her to take from him. It was better than she imagined. "Chocolate?" she gasped while looking up into his face.

He laughed at how easily she lit up. It was so precious. "All yours," he confirmed, placing it in her hand.

She took it gratefully and then took his hand so she could stand back up. Except she did not let go once she was stabilized. "Nothing for yourself?"

The lollypop sticking out from his lips was plucked to show. She did not even realize it was not a cigarette. "I needed something to suck on."

She stopped herself from laughing but gave him a cheesy response. "That's what she said."

He immediately turned away from her to lead her out of the store, wanting to hide his flabbergasted reaction. "Really?"

"I can't help it!" she laughed, locking their fingers again so he would not get away from her. "Here, I'll share with you as an apology."

"No, the chocolate's yours." He lifted their hands. "But I do like this as an apology."

She smiled and felt herself blush. It may have been obvious, but hearing it felt so good. Reciprocating the sentiment made her nervous. "Me, too," she softly replied.

His ear caught wind of it. The visible eye he had turned back into an elated pink heart. Who knew that the simplest of interactions with one of his favorite people in the whole world could make him feel this happy.

That was it. The others could handle the stress of searching for the Chupacabra. Sanji was going to get Aurilee's mind off it while he could. While she enjoyed her chocolate bar, he noticed a small theater and took her inside. He did not care what was on stage as long as she was content.

There were once days when Sheriff Garrett of Lone Star Island could take a whole beating and still kick tail. The fact that he fell after a single hit was a reminder that those days were far behind him. He woke up after registering he was leaning up against something and hearing people talk.

"Hey, old man," Luffy said when he noticed his eyes were open. "You're okay, right?"

"Luffy," Usopp warned, trying to get his face to not be so close to him. Plus, there was a piece of evidence that told him that sticking around was probably a bad idea. That blue sheriff badge on his vest was the shape of the Naval crest. They were dealing with a military officer, but that did not deter the captain from helping him after the cheap shot.

"Nothing's broken," Chopper shared, pulling away an ice pack away from his face. "There'll probably be a bruise tomorrow, though."

Garrett glanced around without moving his head side to side. The one who just spoke almost did not look human; he was so hairy that it looked like fur, but he still had fingers and ears. That blue nose was quite odd, too, he had to admit. Other than him, there was someone with a long nose and bushy black hair flowing from a large hat. The one who caught his attention the most was the one wearing the straw hat. There was no mistaking it. He had been sent his notorious wanted poster from Navy headquarters. A rookie with a contagious smile that portrayed harmlessness was quickly deemed inaccurate when that impressive bounty was read.

"Straw Hat Luffy," he murmured.

Usopp squealed. "We need to get out of here!" he panicked.

He ignored his sniper. "Yeah, that's me," he confirmed. "My crew is trying to help a friend get home. Could you show us where the mayor lives?"

Garrett pushed off from the post to rub the side of his jaw. "You're lookin' at him," he reluctantly answered. "What's a pirate like you doing in a place like this?"

"I don't think this is a good idea, Luffy," Usopp tried deferring.

"I don't care if he's a Marine," Luffy finally told Usopp, looking at him without a hint of joking around. "If he can help us, that's all that matters."

Garrett breathily wheezed to laugh. He had not heard much about Luffy, but he was already quite entertaining and straightforward. Whatever he wanted, he was bound and determined to get it. That was the attitude of all criminals. It was his way of going about it that defined him from the rest. "No need to be alarmed, kid," he replied. "Even if I alerted the Marines that you were here, they wouldn't come. Distress calls from here are at the bottom of their list."

Surprised, Usopp looked down at Garrett. "Why's that?"

"I'd bore you to death with the story." He shifted to a kneel and stood up. After brushing dirt off himself, he tipped his hat to the three of them. "Thanks for the help. Stay out of trouble and I'll stay out of your hair." With that, he turned around to stalk back to his little jailhouse. It was fine to amicably mind their business. He could look past the rivaling labels of pirates and Marines as a thank you.

The three of them all glanced at each other. That was it? Did he not hear that they needed his help? They started following him.

Garrett pulled out a cigar from his pocket and stuck it between his teeth. The extra sets of footsteps were not illusive to him; he chose to ignore them. At the same time, he mentally thought of a plan to detain them if they decided to strike while his back was turned. The easiest course of action was to get them in the jailhouse and get them in a cell. The bars were made of Sea-Prism Stone. Luffy's intelligence level was the only thing that would decide how it all played out.

The front door did not need a key so that anyone could come in for his assistance. He purposely did not close it behind him when he entered. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper all peered around to have a look. Maybe the old man brought them here to talk away from the distractions. There was a desk covered in wanted posters and other clutter. To the left of it was a hallway appeared longer than it actually was due to the burnt-out lights darkening it. The walls had chunks missing from gunshots or blunt force, and the floors were teetering on the brink of pure dirt. The bounties of the most infamous criminals who resided on the island were plastered behind him.

When Garrett sat at his desk, he exhaled tiredly. He saw the pirates not attempting to follow him yet. "Well?" he said.

Usopp stepped out into the threshold, cleared his throat, and held his hands behind his back. "My crew was hoping to find the mayor so we could get directions."

"Directions to where?" He breathed out a plume of smoke and started sifting through wanted posters that had no association with his island. Luffy's was around here somewhere. He just did not know where he stashed it out of the way.

Luffy stood next to Usopp to explain. "We have this friend who's needing to get home before she has her babies, and her father is some cool hairy monster. Apparently you guys call him the Chupacabra. You know where we could find him?"

"Uh-huh…" he trailed, unsure what kind of nonsense he was spewing. Yeah, he knew about the Chupacabra, but Luffy's idea of what it was was not very accurate. He finally pulled out the wanted poster and held it up to compare its picture to the kid standing in front of him. Definitely the same kid. He was pretty young, which impressed him, he had to admit. "You sure you're looking for the right monster?"

"We've been following a lot of monsters to get here. Are you about to tell us to go ask around on another island?"

Chopper stood waist-level to the other two. It would really suck if they were directed back to Appalachia or some other place they never heard of. He wished for Aurilee's sake that this was the second to last destination for their wild goose chase.

"No, no. I just feel like your perspective of the Chupacabra is very inaccurate compared to the real deal," Garrett explained.

"So it's real?" Luffy excitedly questioned. Finally, a break!

"Farmers have claimed to find their animals dead with blood sucked out of them. It kind of circulated only a few years ago."

"How do they know it was the Chupacabra?" Chopper inquired.

"There were sightings of a dog-like creature in the same areas, supposedly."

Usopp's face lit up at the description. This sounded close! "Where's the island this is happening at?"

Garrett almost did not understand the question because he thought the answer was obvious. "The one we're on," he answered, turning in his chair to try finding a local newspaper article about it.

Both Chopper and Usopp paused. That was…almost as bad of an answer. They were not looking for a monster here. It was supposed to be somewhere else.

"Oh, looks like we were beaten to punch," Robin suddenly commented behind them.

They all turned to see Miss All Sunday standing in the doorway with hands on her hips. At first, Garrett was struck by her cunning attractiveness. Her tan made her blue eyes appear very piercing.

"Hey, Robin," Luffy greeted happily. "Good news. The Chupacabra is very real."

Robin? Garrett dove back into his wanted posters. Now that he thought about it, he swore to have seen that face before. It could not have been, could it?

"That's good. How do we get to it?" she responded, coming inside with Nami following.

"Yeah, how do we get to it, sheriff guy?" Luffy asked him, looking back toward him.

Garrett was holding up another wanted poster that blocked Luffy from his field of vision. She was twenty years older, but it was definitely her! Nico Robin. Seventy-nine million berries. There were a hundred-seventy-nine million berries standing in his jailhouse right now! That stomped the majority of the bandits and outlaws in Lone Star Island! "Uh…" he trailed, quickly hiding the wanted poster and trading it for a little article. "I can tell you where it is, but you won't know where I'm talking about."

Nami pushed past Robin. "Try me."

Garrett pulled from his memory of Naval training on the open seas to infer what she meant. "You may be a navigator, but traveling by foot will only get you lost."

"How?"

"You'll get attacked the whole way. It's not a lawless land for nothing."

Usopp laughed very satirically. He was about to blow this guy's mind. "You really think a few stick-ups and robberies will stop us? You're looking at the man who took out Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords! I, Captain Usopp, did it with a thousand men under my command–"

"You didn't take out Crocodile! I did! With my bare hands!" Luffy interrupted.

"Pretty sure it was me," Usopp refuted.

"Quit lying!"

Chopper came closer to the desk, causing Garrett to nearly lose sight of his face. "Ignore them. But we could really use your help if it'll be that hard. Our friend needs to at least know the truth."

His plea was no lie, but he worried about how disappointed Aurilee would be. The Chupacabra was not her father. Simply telling her would not do her justice. She needed to see it with her own eyes to accept it. Then maybe they could sail on and keep looking instead of wasting what little time she had left.

The bartender was not a useful source of information. He had heard of the Chupacabra but had nothing to share about it. So, Zoro kept drinking and eavesdropping on the Wild Westerners. Maybe the monster would come up in conversation.

What he did not know was that he was also being watched. One of the cowboys was eyeing him and how his swords hung. Sure, people pulled knives, but swords? Something told Rip that this guy was a foreigner. Not that all foreigners were bad, but locals needed to stay on their toes.

"I wanna see the trick again," one of the bar's patrons enthusiastically told the married couple.

"Oh, alright," Oakley replied, grabbing her rifle, and loading it with another bullet.

Butler took that as his cue to throw a glass ball across the room, which she promptly shot. Zoro did not flinch as it sounded like it exploded with little shards littering the floor and entertained praises were given to her. The only odd aspect he picked up was how they did not seem to run out of glasses to break. Surely the barkeep would have told them to cut it out by now since that would have cost money to replace.

The entrance doors were pushed open with a little squeak of the hinges. "Oh, there you are, Zoro," Luffy said. "Let's go rent cattle. We got a place to be."

He quickly downed the last of his liquor bottle and dropped berries on the bar top so he could leave. Rip witnessed him adjust his scabbards by keeping a hand on the ends of the hilts. Whoever that swordsman was – Zoro – he studied his face profile and the clothes he wore. Him walking out of the building did not faze him in the slightest.

It was a magic show. Maybe three other seats were filled other than the two Sanji and Aurilee occupied. But they did not care. It felt more personal that way.

The two "expectant parents" shared an armrest as they sat together. Neither of them chose to break the hand holding. Even with their palms sweating, they were not dissuaded. Sanji kept looking at their union while she kept her focus on the stage. At any moment, she might decide she was done and pull away. When she did, he would let her go. He wanted to be careful not to accidentally trigger a bad memory for her.

But knowing someone she trusted was close by like this gave her the most comfort. If something in the performance happened to startle her, she could hold him tighter. What helped her the most was knowing he would not protest or be the first to let go. Sanji was a safe space. Not even her trauma could convince her otherwise.

While the magician made it appear that he was breathing fire, Aurilee felt squirming in her womb. Someone was having a dream and reacting to it, or that was what she imagined was going on. Either way, the movements were pressing against the surface of her skin. There was not much thought behind it when she pulled Sanji's arm toward her.

His first reaction was to release his hold, but she held on. She rotated his arm so he could rest his palm against her overalls. Could he feel it? She did not want to invite him for no reason.

It was subtle with the denim acting as the barrier, but he could indeed feel it. Sharing the moment with her made him smile, especially when she indicated at wanting him to stay. She hugged his arm and rested her other hand on top of his. The gesture filled his heart. Almost a month ago, Aurilee lashed out when she was touched. Now she desired it as long as it was the right people. Knowing he was one of a select few made him grateful, but it also got him all giddy with his face contorted. The cook could never get enough of this. It was too cute.

Meanwhile, the curtains had closed with some off-stage piano playing a fun little tune. When it reopened, a singular man stood in the center of the stage with his female assistant off to the side. There was some long speech about how no man can cheat death, especially from a bullet. Sanji kind of tuned him out after that since Luffy was the definition of cheating death. That rubber bastard could withstand most physical attacks. Plus, it was clear this performer was unaware of the barrage of bullets he took a couple hours ago.

To prove the gun and ammo was real, the performer handed the gun to the assistant and had her shoot a glass bottle off his head. Aurilee held Sanji tighter as she waited for something to go terribly wrong, but the bottle was shattered effortlessly. Apparently, the next part of his performance was him going to catch a bullet with his teeth. The gun was fired a second time, forcing Aurilee to squeeze her eyes shut and bury her face in his arm. Sanji expelled hot air from his nose in response to the attention.

The performer's head recoiled, and he took a moment to compose himself, but he victoriously held the bullet between his fingers. The sight made Sanji chuckle and lean close to Aurilee's ear. "He's not getting shot. The assistant is obviously avoiding him and he's pulling a spare bullet from his sleeve," he explained, watching her lift off to see for herself.

"I call bullshit!" an audience member exclaimed.

The performer straightened from his bow. "Then I grant you the opportunity to use your own gun, dear friend," he responded confidently.

The challenger stood from his seat to stand in the middle aisle. The spotlight shone against his back as he pulled a gun from his hip and aimed with a drumroll trying to hype it all up. Aurilee dared to watch. Even Sanji tensed up despite wondering if this guy was planted to further push the illusion.

"Fire," the performer indicated with arms extended.

The gun was shot, and the bullet hit his leg. Aurilee jumped and averted her gaze as soon as the mishap was identifiable. The other audience members cracked up when the performer stumbled to the floor and his assistant ran over to him worriedly.

"Looks like you ain't so magic, huh?!" the challenger jeered.

"You were supposed to shoot me in my head!" the performer cried out.

"I think the show's over," Aurilee nervously observed, scared to move until the curtains were pulled.

Sanji sat frozen as his visible eye, now widened with shock, blinked twice. The magician was a liar but that was just messed up to witness. "Yeah, let's get out here," he replied, helping her up and escorting her out.

Being back outside in the bright sunshine made them both squint and remember how hot the temperature was. "Well, that was fun," she commented. "More trauma to add to my list."

"Oh, no."

She laughed.

"Heyyy!" someone called out to them.

They looked to see Luffy walking as he waved with Zoro trailing him.

"We're heading out!"

A wave of excitement came over her. She grabbed Sanji's hand again to meet up with them. "That was fast!"

He released a blissful wail from the physical contact initiated upon him and let her take the lead. When he got a hold of himself, he wanted to get more information about the next step. "Heading where exactly?"

"I dunno actually," Luffy answered. "We found a guy who said he could take us to a Chupacabra sighting. But first, we gotta rent cattle for the trip."

"Cattle," Zoro repeated as they all started following Luffy again to the rendezvous point. "Guess you can't be a cowboy without your trusty 'steed.'"

Their little group took a passageway behind all the buildings in Boom Town. They could see more of the land in the surrounding area. It was a very sudden transition in the soil between desert and grassland. The rolling hills were not tall, and there was no fencing to be seen. A large herd of horses were grazing off in the distance with a single person strolling the perimeter.

Usopp, Robin, Chopper, and Nami were getting a lesson in saddling when their group arrived. The biggest cow they had ever seen had stood just as tall as Robin did, and its oversized horns somehow did not weigh down its head. Garrett showed Usopp how to buckle the saddle under the belly, but when they stood back up straight, they saw the new faces. "Alright," Garrett said. "Now show your friends how it's done."

Aside from the huge longhorn, there were three other cows standing nearby. Nami opted to save some money by having Chopper act as a steed and the rest of the crew pair up for a ride. After the rest were saddled, Garrett helped get Chopper ready. Even though Aurilee had ridden him without anything cushioning her seat, this was going to be a longer ride.

When he was finished, Garrett stepped back. He knew Aurilee was there, but he had not seen her directly. When she thanked him, he paused before replying. Familiarity hit his psyche. Straw Hat had implied that one of his crewmates was pregnant, but he did not expect her to have the specific ethnicity she was born with. The first thought he had was how out of place Aurilee was. She did not notice his silent discernment about her physical attributes, though. She just pressed her foot into the stirrup and grabbed the saddle to hoist herself up. Knowing she did not need assistance in mounting pleased her.

"Did that hurt, Chopper? I'm sorry," she said, reaching forward to brush his fur.

"No, it didn't hurt," he answered.

"Shotgun!" Luffy called out, jumping onto his back behind Aurilee without warning.

The sudden increase in weight made Chopper's joints buckle momentarily, but he caught himself with a groan. If this trip was going to be done in high temperatures, he might have to kick Luffy off for his own sanity. Garrett was quick to walk away after that.

Sanji watched from a few feet away. He had a finger raised and looked like he was about to say something, but his opportunity was stolen. Nami and Usopp mounted the black cow. Robin mounted the brown cow. When Zoro mounted the white one, that was when Sanji realized something was terribly wrong and spoke up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What do you think you're doing?"

"What?" Zoro replied as he picked up the reins.

"You can't ride by yourself!"

"Why not?"

"Seriously? I have to explain it to you?"

"How about you hop on with Robin and shut up for once, you damn waiter."

Waiter?!

"You'll slow us down by wandering off, you moron."

Garrett mounted his longhorn while the two of them bickered like siblings. While he tied a black mask around his eyes to protect against the sun glare, Robin directed her cow to step next to him. "Ready when you are, Sheriff."

He looked down at her before nodding and holding up his reins. "Let's ride, Bessie," he said, gently tapping his heels against the sides of the massive longhorn.

Bessie mooed in response and started to lead the way. Usopp and Nami were behind him, and all they saw was the contradiction in Bessie's name. Nami leaned back against Usopp and spoke low enough so Garrett could not overhear her. "He named it Bessie? But look at the size of those things!"

Usopp snickered at how grossed out she was. "It's been a while since I've seen some that big."

"I don't wanna know."

He snickered again.

Sanji and Zoro were still bickering as their cow instinctively followed the line without their guidance. Trying to force Zoro to sit behind him so he could steer was impossible. So, he was stuck sitting directly behind the one crewmate he could not stand the most.

Chopper picked up the rear. Since he was just as aware as any human and could logically reason, he did not require reins for Aurilee to use. She just sat with a straightened back and held onto the knob. Luffy rested his chin on her shoulder. "We're close," he told her. "You just wait and see."

The whole taking down a Warlord thing confused Garrett at first. After being confronted by a couple of gangs, suddenly he did not question its validity. The first instance, he knew it was coming. A small group of men approached. He instructed the Straw Hats to keep looking forward and not say anything. That was not enough, though. They got guns drawn on them, but only for a moment. Nico Robin quickly sprouted arms to restrain them, and then she bent them backwards to clutch them off their cows.

That was it. The attempted robbery was thwarted. Garrett glanced at the archaeologist with astoundment. What a devil fruit power.

The second instance, Luffy did not even give them a chance to try. He threw a stretched punch off-target purposely just to clothesline them by the necks when his fist came veering back. They also hit the ground and were subsequently passed by. That was probably the weirdest way Garrett had ever seen criminals be taken out. But it worked and got the job done!

While Garrett enjoyed the idea of having a peaceful ride for the first time in his life, Robin trotted next to him once more. "I'm curious. How did Luffy convince a Lone Star Ranger to help a group of pirates?"

He chuckled since he was wondering the same thing. "Well, he did help me out. Wasn't my finest moment."

"How do we know you're not leading us into a trap to be captured?"

"With all due respect, ma'am, even if I did set up a trap, I would be the only one in on it. And after seein' how easily you fought off those gangs, I don't see myself getting' that far in capturin' you and cashin' in your bounties."

She tittered at how far ahead he thought out the terrible idea. "If you can't beat them, join them," she described.

"I might as well," he admitted. "I don't remember the last time I received an order, but I also get paid regularly. So, either the Navy forgot I exist or don't care enough to move me. Kind of hard to imagine myself anywhere else, though."

"How long ago were you stationed here?"

"Let's see…a little over forty years ago?"

"Wow. You might be one of the only Marines who's never experienced the Great Pirate Era directly."

"I take it the world's changed quite a bit since I was a cadet."

"Very, but this place is quite the never-ending rollercoaster. I would assume your life is anything but boring."

"Borin'? No. Am I desensitized to it? Yes. It used to be full of adventure. Then I got old. Now I'm just tryna keep the streets clean and myself busy."

"Keeping as close to your roots as you can, I see."

He smirked and glanced at her for a brief moment. This young lady was the eldest of the crew she associated herself with; she made it obvious. Keeping a conversation with her was easy.

"The last of the Lone Star Rangers. The Lone Ranger," she dialogued to herself.

Those words plucked at his heartstrings. He visibly softened in posture. "I haven't been called that in a long time."

"Who coined the name?"

"An old friend…A really old friend. Name was Tonto. Haven't seen him in decades."

"Was he adventurous with you?"

"Oh yeah. We were joined at the hip for about five years. I helped his people, he helped me. It was a good ride."

She listened while reading between the lines. The archaeologist in her could not be restrained. "Who are his people?"

"They're the natives of this land known as the Lun'aecho. When gold was discovered, people searchin' for it forced them further inland. The World Government tried helpin' in exchange for them givin' the military soldiers to train. They refused and opted to drive back the raiders themselves. Since the whole country was in disarray, the World Government still tried to insert its jurisdiction by force. I was part of the last group to try getting' things under control.

"We were ambushed one day by a gang. The only reason I survived was because Tonto found me and nursed me back to health. Since I owed him my life, I helped the Lun'aecho get some of their land back. After that he just kind of stuck around like I had given his life direction. We defended the helpless and roamed around until the gold stopped attractin' trouble."

"Sounds to me like you could visit the Lun'aecho whenever you want."

"I could, yes, but they prefer to be left alone. So, I'll respect that." He glanced over his shoulder to see the crew was mostly content. Nami and Usopp walked next to Zoro and Sanji. Zoro and Sanji had finally stopped bickering, but probably because Sanji hopped off the saddle to face the rear instead. He was talking to Aurilee while simultaneously ignoring Luffy's pleas for food. Garrett kept his gaze locked on that girl longer than he should have. "Say, tell me about that friend of yours," he said to Robin.

"Which one?"

"The one trying to get home."

She looked behind, too, to see what the expectant mother was up to. She seemed pretty content despite this trip turning into a four-hour expedition. No hint at her back hurting or nothing. Luffy even had his hands on the sides of her belly and was giving her light pats, and she did not appear bothered. "Aurilee was kidnapped by pirates when she was a child. We rescued her. Now we're hoping to get her home before she's tied down with triplets." She waited a moment before asking: "What interests you about her?"

He reflected on memories since they were bittersweet. "She looks like she belongs to them."

There was no verbal response to be had. The Lun'aecho?

"Is that it?" Nami asked, pointing at a house coming up the dirt trail. It was one of the only buildings they had seen since leaving Boom Town.

"Hopefully," Usopp replied. "My butt is numb."

The group pulled up to the property, seeing a little girl wearing a bonnet sitting in the grass. Garrett brought Bessie to a halt and slid off while being cautious to not scare her off. "Hey, little lady," he kindly greeted, kneeling a few feet away. "Are your parents home?"

She nodded.

"Can you go get them? I wanna talk to 'em."

She rolled onto her knees and got up to go run into the house. The Straw Hats dismounted from their cows to wait.

"Is this it?" Aurilee softly asked as she stood next to Chopper. "Someone can finally show us where the island is?"

He hesitated.

The mother came out of the house, lifting her skirt to traverse the uneven terrain and untamed grass of the prairie they resided on. "Is that Sheriff Garrett?" she asked with her eyes squinting against the sun.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, removing the black mask from his face. "I have some folks here interested in your Chupacabra incident."

Her expression changed from curious to put off. "Oh." When she turned, she saw her husband had come around from the back. "Is that thang still around?" she asked him.

"What thang?"

"You know. The goat sucker."

He grew surprised and saw the group of people who was present. "Uh, yeah, I think I know where it's at. Y'all wanna see it?"

"Please!" Luffy conveyed.

He waved them over to follow him.

Aurilee was not the first to start walking. See it? Like, it was here? Her fervor was suddenly in limbo. But she found herself joining the others in what was supposed to be the turning point in her life.

They were taken far into the property, up an incline for most of it. When it started leveling off, they saw a shed where farm tools were held. The man approached its entrance and peered inside to see if the obstacle keeping him from doing his work had moved on yet. But he pointed toward the back of the shaded structure. "There. Definitely a Chupacabra."

Confused, the Straw Hats came closer to see for themselves. There was a dog-looking animal against the wall. It noticed the bodies and started growling while getting to its feet. Chopper noticed how sickly its grayish skin looked and the hairlessness. "It's a dog with mange disease," he disappointedly diagnosed.

A wave of polluted optimism came over them all. Just a dog? Oh, no…

"Wow. Your dad's a lot smaller than I thought he'd be," Luffy senselessly commented.

They all looked back at Aurilee, who stood silently while staring at the fraud. All those stories of menacing beasts led to nothing more than a diseased canine? Whatever it was, that most definitely was not her father. They waited for the waterworks to happen. This was the biggest letdown after being confident in the trail they stumbled upon.

She took a breath and smiled before saying anything. "That's okay."

They all expressed shock without replying directly, so she continued.

"At least we know the truth. Was kind of a longshot, anyway." She turned away to start heading back down to the cows. "Come on. We should get back to Boom Town before sunset."

Nobody followed at first. She was supposed to be devastated. The charade was not fooling any of them. Sanji hurried after her as his heart broke for her. "Aurilee." When she did not stop, he cut her off. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine–"

He hugged her. "No, it's not."

She stood still in his embrace, internally pushing away her feelings to protect herself from the pain. The truth was that she felt as if her heart fell out of her chest. How many more times was the world going to punish her for existing? Wondering that got her melting into him, but she quickly pulled away. Sanji was left watching her, and he noticed how she wiped her face. The others passed him, inducing him to join. The only ones who did not right away were Luffy and Chopper.

"So…that's not her dad?" Luffy confusingly asked.

Chopper sighed and started walking. "No, Luffy."