I thought I would update yesterday… but then I ended up watching La La Land with me, myself and I (just kidding, it was a family night). So yeah.
Anyway, thank you to those who decided the first two chapters were worth a fav/follow! I kept checking every few hours to see if the numbers went up or not... (I was excited ok?)
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, so anything that you see in this fic and that you can recognise as belonging to One Piece is not mine. If I did own it, I wouldn't have to write fanfiction. Duh.
Part One - Dive|rgence
TWO
I thought I was dead, but
it is worse than that.
Like living somebody else's life.
Except that you see me,
and so I at least know I exist-
(Even if I don't quite feel alive)
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
Quietly, Elynna releases the breath she was unconsciouly holding. She passed out at some point during the storm, after an abrupt tumble sent her head knocking into the barrel (the way her heart stopped when water started filtering into it and then ran fast enough to make her vision blurry and her breath struggle to catch up probably played a role, too), and was only woken up a few minutes ago by the sound of footsteps, confirming that the stability she feels under her body is actually the ground.
The weakness in her limbs probably attests to how little faith she still has in the dubious protection plot armour grants her as a crewmate of the main character.
(It's a good thing she was unconscious for most of the tempest.
Something painful like drowning is not the way she wants to go.
Sleeping, on the other hand, sounds rather nice.)
She doesn't know who was shuffling around her barrel a moment ago, but they seem to have left, at least for now.
This is her best chance. (And if she doesn't get out of here now, she feels like her bone structure will be stuck that way forever, not to mention the potential for claustrophobia.)
She lurches on the side, grunting when she lands on the ground with a muffled sound. Not the softest landing ever, but right about now she only feels able to crawl out of her safe place.
She throws her fist at the lid, eyelids going white and making her thankful that she thought about closing her eyes before. Groping around blindly, feeling the sand under her hands, she starts moving with a low moan, because fuck, it feels like she's trying to move with a body halfway transformed into stone, and it hurts. Her muscles seize, her bones groan and pop and is this what it feels like when werewolves morph?
She blames the question on the current, frankly fucked up state of her brain, and settles on her back, sprawled out on the beach in the middle of goddamn nowhere.
(-takes a moment to let her brain think.
She's nauseous, sore all over and -she checks her skin by lifting an arm that barely holds in the air for a second before falling back limply at her side- yep, bruised all over too, to the point that she tries to lighten her breathing, except at some point it's not enough anymore so she bursts into a coughing fit, which makes everything throb until she sees black-
Note to self: never do that again.
But it all means that she's still alive, against all odds. Which is a good thing.
...
Probably.
And the state of her body matches that of her mind, which is… not a good thing, actually.
As expected, positive thinking is really not her thing.)
She probably got some sea water in her eyes so it burns like a bitch when she eventually tries to open her eyes, but she forces herself to blink repeatedly until it's bearable, because there's no guarantee that they're safe so they have to move quickl-
She sits up suddenly, cursing under her breath at the stabbing pain radiating from her midsection.
Her Captain is not here.
She scrambles clumsily to her feet for a larger field of vision, but she can't see the second barrel anywhere and the rope tying it to hers is cut and-
Wait.
She blocks her breathing (until the rising haze of panic that seized her by her throat and whose tendrils are invading her mind retreats, replaced by calm, pristine waters and the ruthless grip of her logic).
Then she limps closer to the rope, frowning.
She's no Sherlock Holmes, but she's pretty sure this cut is too clean to have been done by anything other than a sharp object -like a blade.
Which means…
She shifts her gaze around, until it finally settles on the large track in the sand, and the traces of footsteps inside it.
Like someone walking while rolling a barrel in front of them.
Her shoulders loosen, relieved.
(She won't even try to pretend to herself that she cares for his well-being out of anything other than selfishness, just like her reasons to follow him are entirely for herself. She's a selfish bitch -a scared child, and she knows it.)
Now that her most pressing worry is assuaged, she throws herself into a series of stretches, until the soreness subsides to a level she can ignore and she's satisfied with her range of mobility.
(Because living this kind of life will mean fighting and running away on a daily basis, both of which she's already useless enough at, so she'll be damned if she lets herself go stiff of all things.)
Then she reaches for her rucksack inside the barrel.
That's when the explosion rumbles through the ground, startling her. Heart beating wildly, her eyes flit around until they find a cloud of smoke, the kind that she's ready to bet probably results from a collapsing building, and more importantly from her Captain's tendency to get into Trouble.
Well.
At least he's easy to find.
And on that note she heads for the forest, because this all means that other people are here. In the case that they turn out to be not-so-friendly, she decides it's better to choose the path that is not an open field.
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
Eventually, she happens upon what probably used to be a storage house but is now mostly a pile of wood, with a smaller shed beside it, still standing. There doesn't seem to be anyone else here. After a last visual check of her surroundings, she hurries to the shed, leaving the door slightly open to bring a sliver of daylight into the dark room without making it too obvious that someone is inside.
Quickly, she assesses the resources present, and gets to work.
First, clothes. Because she sure as hell is not going back to civilisation in a bikini.
On one shelf, there is a pile of what are probably uniforms, with a symbol that looks like some kind of bird on the back. She puts on the dark blue pants and the white shirt at the bottom of the pile, whose symbol is almost faded. They're a bit too big, so she ties a rope around her waist for the pants, before taking another, since their mooring rope is no longer… able to fulfill its original function.
Then she stuffs two boxes of dried meat in her bag, followed by a wad of cash she finds hidden between stacks of maps. She doesn't know how much it's worth, but having money can always prove useful.
On the doorstep, she stops.
Hesits.
Balks.
And turns around, going straight to another shelf, where her hand hovers above an object.
(When she finally takes it, the knife is heavy
like the knowledge that if she ever uses it, it may be to hurt -to kill even.
She has never been confronted to violence in her life before. Has only seen it inked harshly on a page by words or blaring at her through images and screens.
She is probably more likely to run at the first hint of danger than fight, but she has no idea how she will actually react, and in any case it's better to have it and not use it than the other way around, so she slips the blade between the fabric of her pants and the rope, its weight cold against the bone of her hip.
-most of all though, she's scared that violence will make her feel nothing-)
When she comes out, the weight of the sun on her shoulders makes her feel like she's a ghost that has just become substantial again, after a long, long time spent in some dark, cold place.
She brings a hand up to shade her eyes, and looks down at the forest sprawling at her feet.
Her lips twist in a pout.
Time to find the idiot she calls Captain.
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
"Ow! Why did you hit me?! Well, it's not like I'm not used to it." Coby laughs weakly, the throbbing on his skull nothing compared to how his heart sinks under the weight of the self-deprecating thought.
"Just because." Luffy shrugs, before taking off the straw hat on his head to stare at it, with something akin to promise and feral thirst in the intensity of his eyes and the baring of teeth in his smile. "Besides, it's not about it being possible or impossible. It's my dream, I can't give it anything less than my all. And if I die, that's that."
"Please tell me that you're not going to make a habit of hitting your crew, because otherwise I'm changing my mind."
When the sound of feet crushing leaves reaches his ears, Coby is staring in amazed awe at the other boy.
(-who looks so naive, and yet the way he speaks sounds like his words tell the truth of the world, or maybe like the world will follow his words, willingly or not, and Coby is already being dragged into their trail-)
He jumps to his feet, ready to run at the feminine voice, because the only feminine voice here is that of-
He blinks.
"You're… Not Alvida-sama."
The girl blinks back, and quirks a brow.
"I'm pretty sure I'm not. And I sure as hell hope so, if she's the reason you were about to run away."
"Ann! Man, I'm so glad you found us, I had no idea where you we- Wait! What's this about leaving?! I refuse!"
"It was a-"
"I refuse!"
"Don't be stupid. I'm not leaving." She rolls her eyes at the obstinate set of his chin and, seeing that he is still staring at her, rummages in her bag before throwing him a box of dried meat.
His face changes so quickly, and his smile is so large, it's almost comical.
Weakness n°1: Food.
"Thanks Ann! You're the best!"
"Whatever. Where did that name come from anyway? You could at least try to remember the names of your crewmates."
"It's too long! Ann is better."
Elynna rolls her eyes. Again.
… She should probably be careful if she's gonna hang around him for the foreseeable future. Her eyes might just stay stuck this way at some point.
"Hm… Ann…-san?"
She winces internally as she finds herself forced to direct her attention to the unknown boy by Luffy's side.
(Her Captain is one of those people she finds easy to talk to, even when she doesn't like them.
One of those people with enough confidence, ego or passion to take hold of the conversation. One of those people with whom she doesn't have to make an effort, with whom she just has to listen, ask a few questions here and there, and basically just exist enough to be a polite audience.
And then there are people, either shy or disinterested, with whom she finds herself cringing and cowering, shoulders curling under the weight of a painfully uncomfortable silence. With whom she has to force herself, ripping her lips apart into a smile that doesn't mean anything, clawing into her mind for a subject that is going to be interesting enough without being controversial, or an excuse to leave that will be convincing enough-)
She offers a polite nod and a vague smile.
(-but it's meaningless, worthless-)
"Elynna. Hello."
The boy perks up a bit, raising his face until she can see the eyes that were hidden under pink bangs.
"Ah- hello! I'm Coby!"
"Nice to meet you."
"Y-yes! So, um… Are you with Luffy-san?"
His eyes bounce nervously between her and the other boy, round and open. Alight with something like awe and fire.
Inspired.
(Like people looking at others they admire, at their role model, at those who represent their goal and the accomplishment of their dream.
She's never had one of those.)
"Yep! She's my First Mate! Well, she's the only member of my crew for now, but we're gonna look for the others! A dozen or so sounds good."
"I-Is that so? But, um, Elynna-san… Why are you wearing a Marine's uniform?"
She looks down at herself, and remembers the bird-like symbol on the back of the shirts.
Ah.
So that's why it was familiar. She has glimpsed enough of the Straw Hats' battles against Marines on the screen of her family's TV to know about the seagull on their flag, after all.
"Is that what it is?" She shrugs. "I just needed clothes, so I stole some."
Luffy laughs openly, looking proud of himself for some reason.
"See? You'll make a great pirate!"
…
She... cannot even say anything to that.
That little shit.
"Yeah, yeah. So what are we doing now?"
Luffy jumps down from the barrel on which he was sitting, one hand on his hat so that it doesn't fly off. His laughter stops as he straightens up, but the megawatt smile is still there.
"Coby told me that he was the prisoner of a pirate crew, and they have a big ship on the other side of the island, so there probably are some row boats there. I hope they'll be nice enough to lend us one if we ask!"
The pink-haired boy's face whips around so fast that Elynna winces. His jaw promptly hits the ground as he realises that Luffy is serious, eyes blown out and mouth opening and closing soundlessly like a fish out of water.
Clearly, he is rather convinced that this is a Very Bad Idea.
Suicidal, it-was-great-knowing-you-man-amen level of Bad.
"Considering that they have a child prisoner" (she glances at the harsh red on his fingers and the bruise peeking out of his sleeve, remembers his unsure voice and it's not like I'm not used to it) "that they drive like a slave, I don't think they're on the nice side of the spectrum, but I guess it doesn't hurt to try."
(She knows what Coby is living through. Her brain recognises it for what it is.
There's a vague, nauseous feeling in her stomach and she thinks she feels her chest clench.
But everything else feels… numb.
She doesn't know if it is because she feels too many things, or nothing at all.
None- None of this... feels real, even though she knows it happens in her own world.)
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
As they walk through the forest, Luffy skips around, oh-ing and ah-ing with a running commentary on how this animal looks great and hey, let's try to ride that one, it looks fun!
Coby watches him, caught between admiring his absolute fearlessness at the situation, or how easily he makes his way through the dense forest, and fearing for his life because one day, he was sure that the pirate would try and ride a giant snake for shits and giggles.
(Elynna can almost see the thought flying around in his mind.
Bless his ignorant soul, unaware that this particular incident has already happened.
Several times.
... What he doesn't know won't hurt him, as they say.)
He also watches Luffy's First Mate, trudging along silently after him, far from looking as comfortable as he does. She doesn't trip more than a few times though, and she doesn't complain.
He thinks that neither of them really look like the pirates he has always wanted to arrest (those who steal gold, lives and happiness alike, leaving towns and islands painted red like blood and black like ashes, the air and soil permeated with the smell of tears).
He also thinks that they don't really look like Captain and First Mate, that in fact they don't really look like they belong together.
(that the boy is too loud, too bright for the girl to keep up, or that the girl is too muted for the boy to keep her by his side)
But then Luffy launches himself at some kind of green mushrooms with the clear intention of eating them, and she catches him by the back of his shirt, his momentum sending them sprawling backwards on top of each other as she tugs him to her.
Elynna blows a strand of hair away from her face, and looks down at the already giggling dark-haired boy lying on top of her.
"Look, Captain. You can stuff anything into your mouth after we have found a doctor, or a necromancer who can bring you back from the dead because you stupidly poisoned yourself. In the meantime, behave."
His neck twists unnaturally until he can more or less look at her in the eyes. She scrunches her nose at the frankly disturbing sight.
"What's a necronam- necorn- nero-"
She flicks him in the forehead.
"Get up. I can't answer you if I can't breathe."
And then they are on their feet, Elynna nonchalantly explaining what a necromancer is and how believe me, Captain, if I knew a necromancer, my goldfish wouldn't have died that soon. In fact, he would've broken all the longevity records of goldfishes and I would definitely have gotten money for it and Luffy isn't looking at the mushrooms anymore.
Coby understands a little bit better, and thinks that maybe they might just fit after all.
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
They're standing on the upper deck of the (very kitsch) ship, and Elynna thinks that everything is too calm.
Luffy told her what happened on his end on the way here, and so she's reasonably sure that the crew of pirates present on the island knows of their presence. Well. His, at least.
But there doesn't seem to be anyone on the ship. A ship that, Coby told her, has been cleaned thoroughly that very morning, as the Captain decided to go on an expedition.
She deduces there are people on this ship, and that she is royally screwed, because now they know that she's with the boy who already annoyed them.
Maybe that's why she doesn't listen when Coby starts exposing his dream to her Captain, too busy with slowly backing off until her back is pressed to the railing of the ship, in an effort to widen her field of vision and make sure that no one can attack her from behind.
It's also probably why she only jumps two feet in the air -but doesn't scream- when a group of men emerges from the lower decks and gathers around them, and the Captain makes a rather… sensational entrance.
As in there is now a big hole in her ship's upper deck that looks like a mace crashed through it… which is actually what happened.
Elynna slaps a hand over her mouth, catching the whimper rising up to her lips and stuffing it back down her throat in an attempt to make her presence as small as she can (-until it disappears,
she wants to disappear.
She wants to go home.
She didn't think about this.
-pushed it down and away with everything else that made her throat close up and her stomach churn and twist and burn like acid
and now it's exploding in her face, because she's a fucking coward who can't face her problems head on-
how people's capabilities are so beyond that of her world's, so absurd, and how it is only matched by the scale of violence-
she's not some kind of badass superhero, she doesn't even have any training, or any kind of pain resilience,
she's normalweakscared
tErRiFiEd-
how is she supposed to deal with this?)
"Did you think you could escape from me?"
She blinks hard, feels the cold sweat sticking her shirt to her back, presses her trembling (shaking, why are they shaking?) hand harder against her mouth to silence the harshness of her breathing and chase away the nausea that is making her dizzy.
Fixes her eyes on the tall, imposing pirate and the mace in her hands until all other thoughts fizzle out.
Scraps the skin off her lips with her teeth until her vision is clear, until the sound of her breathing (loud, too loud, makeitstop-) fades in the background and the taste of blood tethers her back to reality.
She doesn't have the time for this.
"So that's who you hired to get rid of me?" The woman smirks, beady eyes smugly staring at Luffy's face -she doesn't seem very impressed with what she sees. "He doesn't look like Roronoa Zoro. Now, before you die, tell me, Coby. What's the most beautiful thing in the sea?"
The answer she's waiting for seems rather obvious.
Coby somehow manages to stiffen and shake like a leaf at the same time.
Elynna's hands stop trembling because damn, I know that beauty is subjective, but that's one hell of an ego. How did that idea even get into her head?
"Who's this fat old hag?"
There's a hushed silence.
A bird squawks.
A pirate's grip on his weapon loosens, and the blade sinks into his foot.
For a man, his scream is rather high-pitched, she thinks mildly.
Karma is a bitch.
It's fortunate that she still has a hand over her lips, because this time around it's her incredulous giggle that she must keep from spilling out (the noise in the background of her mind dies down, and she thinks that she may just have found another benefit to having joined that nutcase of a Captain).
She should probably teach him some manners so that he doesn't go spewing that to some random person, though -especially if the person in question can offer help.
The straw-hatted boy's words seem to have the opposite effect on Coby, however, as he grabs him by the shoulders and starts shaking him frantically, as if he's trying to make Luffy's stupid mouth fly out of him.
She thinks he should probably try to shove a filter between his brain and his mouth instead.
Besides, she's pretty sure that her Captain is not entirely stupid… depending on the angle… maybe.
"Luffy-san! Repeat after me! Quick! In all the seas, this woman is the… the… the ruddest damn bitch!"
Oh man, is that a bee that she can hear back in the forest?
She can't quite hide her snort this time.
(It's a bit bitter because, well,
she thought he was someone she could relate to, in all his cowardice,
so why did he have to go and be all brave like this?
She comforts herself knowing that in this case, the line between brave and stupid is kind of blurred, and her not being that kind of stupid is precisely the reason why Luffy took her in.)
It's probably a good thing that she already knows what to expect of a rubber man in action, because otherwise she just might be too busy staring at the way the woman's blow does absolutely nothing to Luffy to notice that a few men are already heading her way.
She instinctively takes a step away, only for her back to bump into the railing of the ship, and her heart pounds.
It's like her brain is trapped in something sluggish and sticky, slowing it downdowndown,
her vision like instant shots, telling her that they're getting closer, but her body just can't move-
Thirty feet.
Their weapons shine silver in the sunlight. She thinks it's terrifyingly pretty, and that these two words have nothing to do so close to each other.
(-and if she can't use her brain, the one thing that might prove slightly useful in here, then what the fuck is she good for?)
Fifteen feet.
Their eyes gleam, and she knows that they know that she cannot move-
(Don't just stand there, you useless little bitch!
Move!
Move move move movemovemovemovemovemOvE-)
Six fee-
She doesn't really think.
Her hands are griping the railing shakingly, so hard that she doesn't even notice it because they have gone numb.
And then she's toppling over backwards, spine rolling on the edge of the rail-
There's a streak of fire just above her knees and her thighs close viciously around something-
(The edge of a sword almost slices off her nose and she vaguely figures out that a pirate thrusted the blade forward and somehow his arm ended up between her legs-)
She pushes harder on her hands
-so hard that her head goes smacking against the hull,
but she's rewarded by the scream of the pirate whose arm she tugged on until he went overboard with her.
She follows him, letting herself fall into the sea.
It's like entering a soundproof room when there's a hard metal live concert outside.
She closes her eyes, and everything slides back into place, easy like the flow of water, breathing slow and deep, thoughts calm and there.
Carefully, she looks around, but doesn't see the other man, so she swims over to the shadow casted by the pier linking the ship to the island, and slowly surfaces.
Just long enough to see that the other men who ran at her are apparently not waiting for her anymore, and that the one from earlier went to call some friends.
They are here, in the distance, running towards the ship.
Her eyes flit upwards, and she bites at her lips, tasting the salt of the sea.
If she's going to do this, she has to do it now. And fast.
With a deep breath, she stuffs her long hair into her shirt and swims swiftly back to the island.
She barely crawls out of the water before, noticing that the incoming group is hidden behind the last bend of path, she gets on her feet and runs to the pier and across it, crawling up the last portion of it and stopping at the top to lay down so that no one would see her.
And then she waits.
Waits until the group from the island enters her field of vision again.
Waits until they start running on the pier and the first one of the line locks eyes with her.
She rolls herself onto the deck, and with a heave, throws the pier away from the ship.
Loud laughter covers their collective screams, and her body staggers, trapped between fear of a sound hinting at someone's presence in her back, when she's in the middle of a fear-induced adrenaline shot (-never, ever let your guard down, you worthless, clueless fool-), and relief at the familiarity of it.
When she turns around, her Captain is standing there, surrounded with the whole bunch of ruffians, looking duly freaked out and much more subdued.
"Good job, Ann! That was cool!"
The words are slow in working their way up her throat (for a moment, she doesn't quite remember how anything else than an inarticulate scream of terror is supposed to come out).
"... Looks like you had fun, Captain."
He laughs again, and this time the relief clearly wins over.
"Yup! And I got us a new boat!"
"I hope it's not as kitsch as the ship, otherwise I'm swimming to the next island. I've got a reputation to uphold, you know."
(She doesn't. Because here, she has nothing, has no one, is nothing. So how can she be sure that she exists?
But then he laughs, again, even louder, like a wordless answer.
And each time she hears the sound, it sounds a bit more real.)
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
She's laying across the rowboat, at one end of it, the soles of her feet skimming over the surface of the sea on one side and hair soaking in it on the other.
Between the sand, the wind and the seawater, it's going to be hell to take care of this mess of thick curls.
(but she doesn't have the energy to be anything else than tiredly annoyed at the change in her hair texture, not with everything else that she los-)
But since it's ruined anyway, she might as well do what she wants with it.
The feeling of this weight being dragged along languidly with the boat makes her shiver in appreciation, and she rolls her neck backwards against the hull.
Opening her eyes slightly, she winces at the vibrant blue of the sky, harshly lit by the sunlight and its reflection on the oily surface below. She brings a hand up to shield herself-
And stops.
Her hand…
Is trembling, tremors running through it in spasms.
When she tries closing it into a fist, she finds that there is no strength in her grip.
She looks at her hand going limp, gaze heavy and inert, its light snuffed out as her mind turns inwards.
(To the memory of how she survived tumbling through a tempest in a wooden barrel, and the few stretching exercises that were enough to bring her mobility back to its usual level afterwards.
To the way she managed to flip a fully-grown man overboard without much strain -even if she used her momentum, and the way she was able to shift a long, large wooden plank with a dozen of people on it like it was nothing -even if the plank was already unstable.
To the fact that the shallow, burning line drawn above her knee has already stopped crying crimson tears.
To how her hands are still shaking.)
Her arm suddenly feels heavy, so she lets it fall back at her side, and then closes her eyes.
Somehow, it feels like doing anything more than the basic body functions is taking more energy out of her than she can gather.
Feels like this body is less and less hers, and is letting her know it.
(She's not that physically strong. Has never been.
It probably will never change, what with her cowardness. She's barely brave enough to force herself to leave her home for college, has never managed to push herself into doing anything in her life besides studying -let alone something like getting into a fight.
She's somewhat relieved that this body seems to have the healing rate and physical capabilities of a manga character, though.
And that she's not desensitised enough to violence to not get scared when attacked and tremble in shock after that.
She's not sure that, if it were the case, the thought that closing her eyes and letting everything fade away might not be so bad would be as fleeting as usual.
But she hates that she wasn't able to to reign the fear in, hates that she couldn't control it, hates that her mind was too overwhelmed, too weak, too slow to use her fear to heighten her senses rather than let it dull them into white noise
-hates how useless it was, how useless she was-)
She breathes out, until her throat coughs silently around the lack of air and her lungs feel like they're gasping.
Then she breathes in, slowly. Until she can somewhat feel her mind settling back under the skin of her body (this body?).
There's a hollowness beneath her ribcage, slowly expanding, prowling and creeping outwards, but she can't quite find, can't quite connect to the will to do something about it. She wonders if the thing is eating away at that part of her too (that part that can want and act on it), or if she was just fucked up from the beginning (when?). It might just be the latter -she's never been very willful after all.
Something flicks her in the forehead.
She suddenly remembers where she is, and that there are other people with her.
Another flick.
"Annnnnnnnnn. Stop sleeping, it's not night yet!"
She opens half-lidded eyes that vaguely stare at the brown ones of her Captain.
"Not sleeping. 'm thinking."
Not that I would expect you to know what the latter means.
"Well you should stop. You looked like you were having a nightmare."
Oh, I'm not. If it was a nightmare, I'd be able to wake up.
"Weren't you the one to offer me a place so that there would be someone to think for you? This is your fault."
Luffy pouts, eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.
"I don't care! I'm not letting you go!"
"Get your finger out of my face before I bite it off… Captain."
She snaps her teeth together lazily for good measure, and watches with vague amusement as he cradles said finger to his chest with an indignant squawk, eyeing her warily.
"Anyway. Did you need me for something?"
"Yes!"
She turns her head a bit so that she can look at Coby properly, and he squirms under the weight of the duo's attention.
"Um, Luffy-san wants to take Roronoa Zoro on his crew!"
Ah.
She knows that name.
Remembers three katanas and green hair.
And-
She slides her tongue against her upper teeth and gums to distract herself from the uncomfortable twist in her stomach, gaze seeking that of the dark-haired boy.
He smiles that abnormally wide smile, and flops backwards until he's lying on her, head propped on his crossed arms that are cushioned by her stomach.
She stares at him, half-ready to shift away from his weight, because it's the first time that someone is this casual in touching her.
(And oh, she wants, she craves this kind of relationship -romantic or not,
where she wouldn't need to always think, always doubt, always question herself before reaching out,
where she wouldn't need to add another large sweatshirt over her layers of clothes for warmth, because there would be someone just there,
where she wouldn't feel like an intruder, because she would know that the other party likes it, wants it just as much as she does,
where she wouldn't be left to wonder if there is something wrong with her, something that traces this line around her, that people don't try to cross and that she is too afraid to break-)
In the end, she stays still, muscles unclenching as he keeps smiling that stupidly adorable smile at her.
(His skin is warm on her bare stomach, and his weight is so amazingly real she could laugh -or cry.)
"Yep! If he's a good guy, I think I'll ask him to join us!"
"You can't do that! Luffy-san, I'm sure you can find much less dangerous crewmates than this demon! Elynna-san, please tell him!"
"… Nah."
"Wh- Why?!"
"Cause I don't know anything about him, and even if I did, I've never met him. I wouldn't know if he's a 'good guy' or not. 'Sides, I don't wanna waste my breath telling him things that he won't pay attention to."
"But-"
She closes her eyes, leaning her head back to let more hair soak in the sea.
"Chill, Coby-san. Captain said he would meet him and then decide, not that he would march through the town and kidnap him without any prior conversation."
There's a nervous but resigned sigh.
"I guess… you're right."
"You bet I am."
"Shishishishi! You're such a weirdo, Ann."
"Course I am. It's a goddamn criteria to be in your crew."
He laughs again, without any sign of shame or disagreement.
Until she pokes blindly at his head, unworried at the possibility of hitting him in the eye considering his immunity against blunt force.
He still protests for the fun of it, though.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
She ignores him, and ignores his poking at her cheek in retaliation, too.
"If Alvida was right, this Roronoa Zoro is a bounty hunter, right?"
A meek confirmation comes from her left.
"They call him the Pirate Hunter, since he specialises in… well, pirates' bounties."
"Hmm… Captain."
"What?"
"If he does turn out to be a good guy, convincing a pirate hunter to become a pirate will probably be tricky. Better start thinking about it."
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
When the sky bleeds into darkness and the two boys' eyelids start closing more often than not, she asks Coby to tell her in which direction to take the boat -they can't afford to get lost when they have no food, after all.
It leads to him lamenting the fact that her and Luffy chose to be pirates with their abysmal knowledge -or lack thereof- in navigation, to Luffy laughing at her, and to her fingers pinching Luffy's nose in retaliation (she thinks she should probably worry if she starts hitting everyone around her like shōnen characters tend to do).
Once they are asleep, she waits for a few more minutes before taking her shirt and pants off and slipping into the ocean, careful to not rock the boat too much.
After hours of napping in the sunlight with little wind and clothes stiffened by salty water, the coolness of the sea feels deliciously sleek on her skin. She allows herself a few, slow laps around the boat to reinvigorate her limbs, and then comes beside the boat so that she doesn't have to turn her head too much to check its direction.
Her ears are covered by the water, and she's deaf to the world and her own breath (but she feels it, just there, inside her, feels the air flowing in the throat, beneath the collarbone and within the lungs that feel like hers-). Time slips through her as she stares vacantly at the moon and the stars, eyes flitting quickly to the helm every few seconds.
A lone wave washes over her, and instinctively her breath stops and she lets herself sink a bit lower beneath the surface, eyes closed to ward off the burning of the salt and-
there was a boat. Floating aimlessly. With a presence -something old. Powerful. The sea sloshed eagerly.
(Time for you to go to sea again, is it?
There was a silence, answered by a chuckle.
You don't seem quite awake yet. Well, it's alright. There's still time.)
"Thank you!"
She groaned as her little sister lunged at her form, burrowed under her blanket.
"What for?"
"For the Zoro figurine! It's so great! I'm so gonna brag to Sam about it!"
"Yes, well, you could wait until I'm up to tell me that." She grumbled half-heartedly.
"Stop trying to sleep in, you never manage to anyway. Besides, look! Isn't he so cool?! I mean, no one else can use the Three Swords Style in One Piece, he's so great! Plus he fits Luffy so well, he's, like, the perfect First Mate for him! And he's a samurai!"
In spite of the constant nudging of her sister, she didn't open her eyes, eyelids heavy despite the fact that she knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.
"Whatever. Just make sure your fangirling doesn't end up being a full-on crush. Fantasising about a 2D character doesn't provide very realistic material for masturbation, even if you buy a life-sized figurine."
There was a thumping noise from beside her bed, and suddenly the weight on her body was gone.
"Oh my god! I'm ashamed to be your sister! How can you keep a straight face when saying that kind of thing?! I'm leaving!"
Satisfied that her plan worked, she burrowed herself back under the weight of her blanket.
A garbled sound reaches her ears, and she lets out a mouthful of bubbles (how long has she been under?).
Her first thought when she emerges is to check the helm, but either it hasn't strayed off their path or she just didn't understand anything of what Coby explained to her.
She blinks, lethargic and vaguely confused.
What was that?
The second memory is somewhat normal, considering they are heading to the place where Zoro is (but even though she didn't see her sister's face, even though they weren't particularly close, she feels her heart rising in her throat, obstructing her airpath and twistingtearingshattering.
She feels like she will cough up bloody shards and tears thick with the hoarseness of her screams, and so she presses her lips together.
She was about to leave for college. She knew she wouldn't be able to see her family for long periods of time.
But she thought she would be able to keep in touch through texts and video calls, that she would come back for the holidays.
Not that daydreaming and washed-out memories would be the only things left of them.
not that her sister's voice would already be heartwrenchingly blurry and that she would find herself choking on the burning guilt of not being able to remember precisely how her laughter sounded-)
"Ann?"
But the first memory- Well, it isn't a memory, for one.
She's sure of it.
So what is it? Where does it come from? Is it intentional that she saw it? What is it supposed to show? Is she supposed to understand it? How-
"Ann."
This time her brain processes the sound of her Captain's voice, and she lets out a shuddering sigh, turning around to swim closer to him.
This is making her too emotional right now, anyway. She might as well let everything sink in the back of her mind and focus on something else in the time being -and he is a perfect source of distraction.
"I'm here, Captain."
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
"I'm here, Captain."
It doesn't look like it.
But for once Luffy doesn't voice his thoughts outloud, and instead watches as she comes up to him and crosses her arms over the rail, stopping the rowboat, legs moving lazily to keep herself afloat.
Half of her body meshed with the darkened surface of the sea, the white of her skin looking nearly transluscent under the moonlight and wet strands of dark hair sticking like black veins over the skin of her round, full face and neck, she looks like some kind of cursed ghost, doomed to wander eternally in the sea.
She looks a bit like how he first saw her -when she saved him.
Her eyes gaze up at him, dark and waiting.
(She doesn't seem afraid like she did when he first talked to her, just... tired.)
He reaches out, finger digging in the soft flesh of her cheek, and smiles when he sees that it doesn't go through her.
"I thought you'd left."
"I wouldn't leave without my clothes when I even resorted to stealing from pirates to get them."
He pouts at her in displeasure, and she relents.
"Stop worrying so much. I might not be as stubborn as you, but it would take something big for me to leave you after accepting to join your crew. It's important."
His smile is back, pleased by what he hears.
Not as good as a promise to never leave him, but good enough for now. It's not like he plans to let her go, so he'll just have to make it so she won't ever want to leave.
Her gaze has turned faintly annoyed, now, but she doesn't make any move to swat his hand away as he starts fiddling with her long strands of hair, picking out seaweed here and there.
Luffy likes that about her. How she stays patient and goes along with his antics.
He knows that if she ever does get angry, it will be important.
His gaze turns downwards, catching movement in her peripheral vision, and he sees her hand moving up slightly, and then freezing.
Before it can fall back, though, he grabs it with his free one.
(Again, she reminds him of Ace, of how long he spent chasing his brother and throwing his affection at him before the older boy began to reach back, even if only to ruffle his hair.
Of how long it took for his dumb big brother to understand that it's okay to reach for him, to touch him -that he won't hate it or slap his hand away.
But he has high hopes that it won't take that long with her.
She seems a bit smarter than Ace.)
Her hand is cold in his, so numb that it doesn't even feel like a hand. Just a block of ice.
Cold and lifeless.
But then she adjusts her grip and his fingers land just above her pulse point, slow and steady, and when he looks back at her eyes she tilts her head pensively.
His frown fades away.
"Captain."
He hums.
"I don't know much about pirates… But a First Mate is important, right?"
"Hmm… Yeah! You're my right-hand man- uh, woman? Anyway, Shanks' First Mate is soooooo cool! He has a weird way of using his rifle, though."
"I see." Her cold fingers tap over his wrist and he tries not to squeal in laughter at the tickling feeling, sensing that she's going to talk about something serious.
(-he fits Luffy so well, he's, like, the perfect First Mate for him!)
"Don't you think you should wait before appointing me as First Mate? It's a lot of power, and responsibility. Considering how weak and inexperienced I am, as a pirate, a sailor, and a fighter, I might end up undermining your legitimacy as Captain."
She stares at their clasped hands as she talks, but there's no shyness or self-doubt in her voice, just a factual analysis of her capabilities.
He squeezes her hand in a silent demand for her to look him in the eyes, and she does.
"Are you gonna stay weak?"
His voice isn't upbeat at all anymore, because this is important. He likes her, but he can't take people on his crew whose strength of will will always lose to their lack of confidence. Not when they're going to go up against the strongest people. He needs people he can trust to watch his back and not falter.
Her plush lips twist into a faintly offended pout.
"I'm not that dumb, you know. I accepted your offer, so that makes me a pirate. I know it means going against the law and its enforcers, and I know I'm too weak for that as of now. I might be scared easily by big changes and risks, but when I commit myself to something, I hate not living up to my and others' expectations. Besides, while I am no genius, I can work hard."
He… laughs.
"Why're you saying it with so many complicated words, dummy? You can just say no!"
He laughs louder as she looks away, lips twisting further in embarassment.
(Now she reminds him of Sabo, of his long sentences and his weird words that Luffy never heard before, of how he looked like he turned everything in his mind a hundred times over in the time it took Ace and him to even understand what was going on.)
"Hey hey, call me Captain again?"
She raises a brow.
Is it his kink or something?
"... Guys?"
They turn to see Coby, half-sitting up and rubbing the last remnants of sleep out of his eyes.
"Ah, sorry Coby."
"It's fine, Luffy-san." He yawns, and turns his gaze to the helm. "Hmm, it doesn't seem like we've veered off the path. Good job, Elynna-san."
"Take that Captain."
"You can be my navigator!" Luffy exclaims, not upset in the least.
Elynna heaves herself carefully onto the boat, grabbing her clothes as Coby turns away abruptly, cheeks reddening at the realisation that she's only wearing a swimming suit.
"Hell no. Being better than you is not the same as having somewhat acceptable navigating skills."
"You're so mean, Ann!"
"Try saying it without laughing and I might consider feeling bad. Why did you say that Shanks' right-hand man has a weird way of handling his rifle anyway?"
He likes that about her, too. How she seems to pay attention to everything that comes out of his mouth, no matter how off-hand it is.
〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭
#FTSFact2: When reaching the middle of an episode of the anime, you can see wanted posters flying, carried by the evening's wind. One of them shows a girl, cheek squished against her arms, that seem to be crossed over a ship's railing. She's sleeping, face half-drowned in her hair that has flown everywhere with the wind.
(You have to take a picture of her when she's sleeping or not aware of it, anyway, because she hates posing for pictures even more than she hates pictures themselves.
And yes, if she's in a bad mood, she would absolutely try to guilt-trip you into getting rid of the picture by saying that it's a very creepy, stalker-ish way of getting someone's picture… Even if she allowed you to do it in the first place.
If she didn't allow you, she'll guilt-trip you whether she's in a bad mood or not, and she'll feel justified in doing it.)
This was actually the middle of a chapter, but then when I finished it it was like 15K+ words, so I thought yeah, let's just make two chapters.
I hope you all stay safe and happy, and I'd be very glad if anyone wants to talk about this chapter!
Till next time!