Entry 5
Liberation (Part 1: Desert Rains)
Kingdom of Alabasta
Road to Alabarna
That heat was getting to them, it was unbearable. After visiting Yuba Vivi had gone quiet, hardly speaking a word to the rest of the crew, there was something off about her. Nami tried her best to appeal to the young royal, engaging her in idle chatter but the had failed to get the other girl's attention much to the dismay of the Navigator. Luffy stopped walking looking towards the princess with a blank stare; he didn't like what he was seeing and feeling. The rest of the crew paused their trek looking towards their captain, Zoro sensed the rising tension and so did Nami. Luffy sat under a tree with his hands behind his head.
Said princess looks at the captain quizzically, "Luffy what's wrong?
"I quit." The cardigan clad teen states.
Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper were agap, but Zoro and Nami share a look. They've been worried about the Princess as well, and knew that Luffy would something to snap her out of her thoughts.
Vivi stared flabbergasted by his declaration, "What? You quit…"
"What's really your Plan? You've been awfully quiet since we've left Yuba." He points out giving her a sharp look.
Vivi glare at him, "We have to stop the rebels in Katorea! I cannot let this country go into bloodshed."
"How are we going to stop the rebels? We're pirates I highly doubt they'll listen to us. Stopping the rebels isn't going to stop Crocodile" Luffy points out.
It was Sanji who said, "For an idiot he does make a good point."
"That's Luffy." Usopp odds.
Vivi looks at the captain defiantly, "But…"
"You think you can stop the rebels without anyone getting killed. That none of us are going to die? We are against one of the Seven Warlords of the Seas, a lot of people are itching to fight and you are expecting everyone to live?" Luffy explains.
"SHUT UP LUFFY! IF YOU ARE IMPLYING THAT SHE DOESN'T CARE FOR HER PEOPLE…" The peeved chef was stopped by a hit from Zoro.
Nami nods in agreement, "Luffy is right though. It is asking for a miracle asking for people not to die in a civil war."
"It is nieve." This was bluntly stated.
Vivi looks affronted by this, "What's wrong with that? What's so wrong about not wanting people to die?"
"People die." Another bluntly stated statement.
BAM! – The impact was great as was Vivi's anger at the straw hat captain's apparent disregard towards her country's freedom from Lord Crocodile.
Vivi speaks her desperation clearly heard, "SHUT UP! Don't say things like that! Say that again and you'll be sorry. I'm trying to prevent bloodshed."
Luffy slowly gets up rubbing his cheek slightly, her punch hurt a little. But compared to Nami's this one felt like a tap.
Vivi continues to speak, "I'm trying to save the rebels! And the Royal Army! No one in this kingdom is to blame. Why must any of my people die. It is all Crocodile's fault!"
WACK! – This time it was Luffy who landed the punch.
"Yet, you are risking your own life!" Luffy yells his own frustration getting to him.
Usopp tries to pull Luffy back, "LUFFY! STOP!"
"WHY YOU…" Sanji says about to kick Luffy's ass.
Vivi pushes Luffy to the ground and proceeds to punch and slap his face. With tears of frustration running down her face, she continued her onslaught on the boy
"Even with on look at this Kingdom I can already tell what has to be done here!" Luffy declares boldly.
Vivi's glare turned darker as she punches and slaps him, "Tell What?"
"As if putting your single life on the line is enough!" He exclaims not halting her blows on his face.
"I don't…" She pauses as tears come into her eyes.
Luffy sees the opportunity to stop her blows upon him by holding her arms up.
"I don't have anything else to put on the line…" She continues finally looking down.
He growls angrily at her proclamation, after all this time she still thinks that they weren't there with all the way to the end. The rest of the crew felt his frustration; most of all, the swordsman and the navigator who sensed this was the admission Luffy was trying to get out of the desperate young princess. They have seen Alabasta and all of the things Crocodile had done to destroy all stability within the once flourishing nation, using his sand-sand fruit to completely dry out the place. Even Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper put up affronted looks as they heard Vivi's statement – haven't they proven to her their willingness to help her through this entire ordeal!
His response was resolute as he refuted her statement, "At least put all of our lives on the line! Aren't we friends?"
She gasps bringing her hand to her mouth as the let go the tears she held in. She looks down crying.
"Aren't we friends?" He asks again finally looking at her with his a slight smile on his face.
Nami approached them kneeling and offering a hug to the Princess who leaned onto her. The navigator offered Luffy a smile, she had expected this as she watched her captain pick up his hat.
He spoke his voice lighter this time, "Oh, you can cry those kinds of tears."
The tension lifted as the crew shared smiles at his statement; Chopper being the recent addition was awed by Luffy's way of handling the situation. The young reindeer had yet to learn the many oddities of his captain's ways of handling tough situations, while the three other boys having witnessed it just shook their heads and smiled at each other. The orange haired navigator was reminded of the events prior to the fall the Arlong Park in which Luffy had done something nearly similar in letting her admit her true thoughts before finally succumbing to her frustration and inner turmoil and asking the boy for help.
Vivi continued to shed her tears while being comforted by Nami.
Luffy dusting the sand off of his says, "I know you actually hate this and want to beat him up the most."
"But you've got a bigger responsibility to your country Princess." Zoro says rolling his shoulders.
Sanji exhales a puff of smoke, "But we would not leave one of our friends to face their problems alone. Luffy has this uncanny ability to let you admit how you really feel in certain situations as you can see. This was not the first time a situation like this happen."
"You saw what he did back in Drum Kingdom." Chopper adds smiling as he recalls how Luffy's acceptance of him as he was made him realize that there was people who didn't mind him for being a monster.
Nami chuckles shaking her head, "You never can really hide anything from him. I've tried to do the same thing you just did and that was before I officially joined the crew. But despite my initial denial for his help, he still pushed until I finally asked him for it. And I am all the better for it now."
"My Gramps used to say that it is a trait that people in our clan have. The D clan has an uncanny ability to read people and know just know what they're feeling." Luffy explains shrugging his shoulders.
They shook their heads, knowing that their Captain will continue with his surprises.
"So we go as planned. Lets go hunt down Crocodile." Luffy says dusting down his knee length shorts.
The crew stands behind him ready for a battle that might be their toughest one yet. But as long as they were doing it for a friend they would give it their all, after all they've grown to care for the young Princess as if she was a part of their own little family. And though they knew that their time with her was at an end, they would fulfill this promise and spend this short time with her they had left.
They walked to Rainbase to infiltrate the Warlord's main headquarters…
Scene Shit
Alabarna
Town Sequare
The Square was filled with the noise of Civil War. Royal soldiers and rebels alike traded blows, the unrest escalating ever so slowly as both sides struck the other relentlessly. The Straw Hats were knocking out people from both sides no killing any of them, while they were still healing from their recent bouts with the top executive of Baroque Works, while Luffy headed for his second battle with Crocodile (Mr. 0). He had just saved Vivi from falling off of the Palace, with help of Pell on of the King's guards. The man who ate the Falcon Zoen fruit then carried the bomb, which was in the clock tower up the sky flying to his death.
"Listen to me!" Vivi screamed from above the clock tower in tears.
Nami looked up worriedly, "They aren't listening to her!"
"Its all this sand! It is like her voice is deliberately muffled by it. Damn that Crocodile!" Says a passionate Sanji who felt his anger bubble over.
Chopper kept pushing a group of rebels and soldiers apart, "I wonder if Luffy's alright."
"Don't worry Chopper. He is giving it all his all and bearing that guy down best he could." Zoro says comforting their new crewmate.
Usopp nodded with faith in the boy, "He'll win."
The battle was raging losses on both sides were growing. Koza had been shot much to Vivi's horror.
CRACK!
The ground near the place exploded with a body popping out of the hole. The body was of one Sir. Crocodile's, as the body landed the sand let up and as if a mist had been cleared people began to looking up at their Princess who's voice reverberated through the Capital.
"STOP THE FIGHTING! PLEASE STOP!" Vivi screamed her voice raw as her tears ran down her face,
And just like her tears rain fell from the sky. Further clearing the sandy mist, it was like all the sand was floating off the ground slowly washing the cursed sand away from the capital, and more so the entire country. Rebels and soldiers alike dropped their weapons heeding the calls of their Princess.
Nami exhaled smiling, "Finally."
"They can hear her!" Chopper yells happily.
Zoro shared a rare grin with Sanji and said, "Well done Captain."
Later on the Crew stood out of a random building hiding from the people as they thought that the public wouldn't be too fond of them as they were Pirates. After a short discussion with Vivi and her father, King Cobra and putting up a brave face - despite their battle worn bodies – they finally let go of their act and fell due to their exhaustion.
It was three days later that the Crew got back on their feet and said a very emotional goodbye to their honorary crewmate, Princess Nefertari Vivi.
Three days later
The crew came back to the place where they hid the ship which was bravely guarded by the Kung Fu Dugong, who had became a disciple of Luffy's after getting a beating from the boy. They were saddened by the idea of leaving their friend, but knew that they had to as she had her own responsibilities to sort out. Seeing the cost of Alabasta slowly fading away they heard her from the distance.
"You Guys!" Vivi called as she saw the ship leaving with her ever loyal duck Karoo who squawked
Luffy who was sat with sagged shoulders stood to see the view of the area they had just left, "I knew she would come!"
"Vivi.." Nami murmurs with a wide smile happy to see her first ever-female best friend.
With a grin Usopp said, "Turn the ship!"
"The Navy is on our tail." Says Nami who really badly wanted to turn the ship.
Zoro smiles while saying, "We should listen to what she had to say. As badly as we want her to join us she does have a responsibility to her country."
So they listened.
"I'd like to continue my adventures but when it comes down to it…" There was a pause to her speech, "I can't go with you! Thank you for everything."
"What did she just say?" Sanji says looking like his heart broke with Vivi's rejection to their invite.
Luffy frowns shaking his head, "We were hoping for it to be the opposite, but knew it was inevitable."
"What's she saying?" Chopper says sadly.
The broadcast continued.
"Thank you for everything! I love this Kingdom… so I can't go." She says with tears in her eyes.
Luffy smiles softly accepting the decision, "I see…"
"But if we ever see each other again…" She trails off her tears running through her face, "Will you call me your NAKAMA?!"
As much as they wanted to answer, they knew the dangers of proclaiming their friendship with Princess aloud wouldn't be a good thing for the Kingdom. Alabasta had been an adventure worth going through, and helping Vivi save her country from a tyrant. As they sailed away said princess looked at the ship with a saddened look and was about to leave when Karoo pulled at her dress signaling her to turn back. As she turned back to the departing ship she gasped.
For there they were standing on the bow with their backs towards her, their arms lifted showing the Xs drawn near their wrists. Vivi smiled through her tears while also raising her arm in reply.
"A sign of our friendship…" She voiced nostalgically as she replayed the moment in which this sign came to be.
And so the crew sailed away from the desert kingdom, saying a silent goodbye to their friend and honorary crewmate. Both sides wishing for their future reunion to happen sooner then later.
Budum! That is a wrap on this chapter! I am happy to see that this story is getting so much support from all of you. I am working on multiple stories at the moment, and my visions for these stories are getting mixed up here and there. There are a few things to go through with this chapter so let's do this!
First in foremost, yes, I did quote a few lines from both the One Piece manga and anime on this chapter. I love the dialogues from most of the scenes from this arc, and I think keeping to the original version while adding minor differences on them would still keep the original spirit of the source material while also adding my own twist to the scenes. First was the scene of the fight between Luffy and Vivi, which I loved as it showed a little be of character growth on Luffy's part while also showing us how far the crew would go to for their friend. And the end of the Alabasta arc was an iconic scene which I just had to keep.
And secondly, Alabasta is on my top five favorite arcs in the entire series. And I loved this growth for the crew's skills and their dynamic as well.
As always, if you have any suggestions please don't be afraid to post them on the comments or DM them to me right on FFN or over on Wattpad!
Signing off,
WL_17