Everyone agreed to take a break for a week to calm down from all the fiasco that has happened recently and adjust to their new crewmate by staying on a spring island. On the first day of the break, while everyone was relaxing. Chara came up to Zoro while he was training by swinging his sword.
"Hey!" Said Chara
"Huh?" Said Zoro
"You look pretty strong! Fight me!" Said Chara
Everyone paused whatever they were doing to look at the two. Zoro was quiet for a moment until he nodded his head.
"Okay. Time to see what you are capable of. You better put up a good fight." Said Zoro with a smirk on his face
"Haha~ I'll try my best." Said Chara
Everyone crowded around with Usopp making the field for the two to battle in. Zoro and Chara stood on opposite ends of the area.
"Stupid Marimo! If you hurt Chara-san, I will kill you! Chara-san~ Please be safe and call your knight Sanji if you need help!" Said Sanji
"Don't Worry! But you don't need to call me Chara-san. Just call me Chara!" Replied Chara
"Hmph, dumbass cook." Said Zoro
"Okay! Here are the rules. The match ends when someone gets hit out of bounds, I call the match over, or one of you guys gives up. Are you guys ready?" Asked Usopp looking at Zoro and Chara
"Yup!" Said Chara
"Let's start already." Said Zoro
"Ready…. Begin!" Said Usopp
As soon as Usopp said to begin, there was a sound of metal clanging immediately. Unfortunately, Usopp has not left the field yet and was crawling away from the scene.
"Kyaaa! Let me leave first, you monster!" Said Usopp, running away.
"Wow, You have a fast reaction speed!" Said Chara ignoring Usopp
"Not bad yourself!" Said Zoro
There were sounds of clanging as Zoro's sword and Chara's knife were meeting each other. Zoro slashed at Chara, but she dodged it with ease to the side and immediately jumped in again. Chara was just as nimble as Frisk, but her attacks were being blocked continuously by Zoro. However, there was an intensity that Chara emitted as she attacked Zoro. It was as if she was a feral animal that only knew to attack. She was dodging all of Zoro's attacks as if it would never hit her instead of blocking. Zoro's sword was dangerously close to Chara every time, but it never touched her. While Zoro clearly had the upper hand in strength, Chara had the advantage in speed.
"You're quite skilled! It's hard to cut you down!" Said Chara with a smile
"Hmph. You're alright." Said Zoro
"Shall we bring it up a notch?" Asked Chara
"I would've been disappointed if this was all you got." Said Zoro
The air around Chara changed. Some sort of intense energy was emitting around her. It was the same Frisk cast back at Alabasta with the conversation with Vivi. The power was suffocating and intense.
"Looks like I'll have to get a little serious!" Said Zoro putting a sword on his mouth
"Let's keep the fun up!" Said Chara in a stance, ready to pounce like a cat.
Both of them were still without any movement looking at the moment to strike. In an instant, the fight resumed with another clash. This time, neither side moved from the spot. They were inches away from each other, avoiding and parrying attacks without moving. At this point, it was not a spar anymore; either of them could get seriously hurt with one little mistake. The fight was becoming more and more intense, with neither side giving up their ground. However, Zoro was eventually able to push Chara away with sheer brute force multiple meters away across the field. Chara gracefully landed and was about to jump back immediately, however...
"That's enough!" Yelled Usopp
Chara stopped the jumping motion and looked at Usopp. Usopp pointed Chara to the field she was outside of.
"You're out of bounds!" Said Usopp
Chara's will to fight diminished just as quickly as her will to fight.
"Ehhh~ I guess I lost! Haha. Wow! That was so much fun! I've never fought anyone like you!" Said Chara with a broad smile
"You would be a decent sparring partner." Said Zoro with a smirk
"Liar! You were holding back, though!" Said Chara
"And so were you." Said Zoro with a bored tone
"Huh? That was holding back?" Said Nami
Everyone was looking at Chara, and she was silent for a moment.
"You caught me~ A girl's got to have some secret, though! Maybe if we were going all out with a fight to the death, you might have seen it. Maybe next time!" Said Chara with a wink.
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On the second day of the break, Chara hung out with Nami in the girl's room. Nami and Chara were chatting with Chara being surprisingly sociable.
"And that's what she decided to do! Copy him by flexing!" Said Chara
"Haha! So that's where Frisk learned to flex!" Giggled Nami
The two were having a good time talking about the silly stuff Frisk would do. Nami, suddenly realizing that they might not have the money, asked Chara.
"So Chara, are you able to access the money Frisk used to take care of for us?" Said Nami
"Yeah, I'm able to access most of her abilities."
"Oh good! I was worried if the money was inaccessible for now. What do you mean most, though?"
"Well, everything except death. I can't come back like Frisk because I'm a ghost and all that you know, haha~."
"... Chara… That's not funny," Said Nami frowning slightly.
"... Where I used to live, we laughed as a coping mechanism." Replied Chara
Both were silent for a while. Nami eventually spoke up.
"Chara... Do you miss being alive?" Asked Nami
"..."
Chara was silent.
"I'm sorry for ask…"
"I don't know." Said Chara cutting Nami off.
Nami waited for Chara to continue.
"Most of my life was painful with nothing redeeming. Even when I had a family, it quickly disappeared due to stupid humans. Even if I was alive, the damage has already been done to the past, and me being alive just would have brought more pain that I don't like. However… When I look at Frisk... Despite the constant obstacles thrown at her, that is unfair no matter how you look. She faces the obstacles with a smile and overcomes them like it wasn't even a problem. I get jealous looking at Frisk and wonder if things could have and would have been different for me if I had her attitude."
"..."
"She's so stupid. She trusts people still, even if they backstab her constantly. Thinking that everyone deserves a chance. Even me and Asriel…"
"... I think that forgiving someone and trusting them is a much braver and harder thing to do." Said Nami patting Chara on her head.
"Heh, Don't think that I'll be like Frisk and hug you. But… Thanks for listening." Said Chara with a genuine smile that no one has seen yet.
