One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter Eighteen-
"Yeah, just like any other day" Zoro agreed.
"Cool! I can't wait to see the desert!" Chopper chirped in excitement as Carue quaked in agreement.
"Agreed" I hummed. "I'm curious to see all the different animals that inhabit the island..." I eagerly muttered in excitement, eyes shining bright at such a prospect.
"Okay, you guys, are you all ready to head out for Yuba?" Usopp asked.
"Yeah!" we cheered.
"Thanks" Vivi smiled, tears of happiness and relief already pooling around the corners of her eyes and she happily clasped her hands together.
"Wait...are we missing someone?" Usopp suddenly asked after a moment of silence as if the gears in everyone's brains needed a second to turn.
"I don't know, are we?" I asked right back, now peering around at all of us in search to see if anyone was missing.
"I mean it feels like we are" he responded, causing those gears to turn even more as everyone now sat in thought
"Luffy!" we loudly concluded in unison.
"That idiot!" Nami growled in frustration upon realizing that our captain was still nowhere to be seen.
-Later-
"Hm? Where did Chopper and Usopp go?" I curiously asked, looking around the busy streets of Nanohana after realizing that I didn't see either of the two nearby anymore. It didn't take long to spot them though. "Ah..." I sweat dropped upon spying them crowded around a stand not that far behind and listening to a man who was proudly boasting about the "golden" apple he was holding—talking it up like it was something unique. Just as the two were close to buying the "golden" apple from the man, Nami harshly butted in and smacked the two right upside the head.
"Idiots! Really, what are you thinking?" she sneered.
"Probably nothing" I mused aloud as Zoro and I wandered over towards them, the swordsman seemingly taking interest in the large curtain strung up right beside the man's stand.
"If I were you, I wouldn't take his word for it" Zoro said, motioning toward the "golden" apple the man held before pulling the curtain back to reveal another man who was to be busy painting a bunch of red apples yellow. Nami huffed at this, snatching both Usopp and Chopper's ears as she walked away—dragging the two right behind her.
"Hey! Let go, Nami!" Usopp whined, wincing as he began to struggle. "What are you doing? Put us down this instant—this is harassment!" he babbled which only further irritated the already annoyed navigator.
"You two need to quit wasting time and help look for Luffy with the rest of us!" she grounded out. "We're done shopping here, so as soon as we find the idiot, we can leave" she lectured, ignoring the still babbling sharpshooter.
"Okay, where would Luffy be?" Zoro asked. "He's got to be around here somewhere..." he muttered as he looked around the crowded streets and various stalls for any signs of our captain.
"If I had to gander where he was, I would guess it'd be somewhere that has lots and lots of food" I suggested. "So food stands and restaurants are our best bet at the moment."
"Sounds like a reasonable guess" he nodded in agreement.
"Shut up, you two!" Nami snapped, causing my head to snap in her direction.
"Ow..." I winced, cringing back at the way she ruthlessly beat on the two pirates she had been dragging before leaving them sprawled across the ground in agony. Heavily did her shoulders rise and lower in rhythm with her agitated breathing as she sneered down at the two—almost threatening them to continue complaining. Tilting my head, I looked at Zoro, ready to make a comment before stopping once I noticed that his attention was drawn elsewhere.
"Was that…" he muttered, eyebrows furrowed in thought before gasping in sudden surprise.
"Eh? Is something a matter?" I asked, letting my gaze travel until they locked onto the exposed back of the young man that the swordsman currently seemed to be staring down. At a glance, there was nothing overly unique about this man saved for his lack of a shirt and the gigantic tattoo that covered the entire expanse of his back. Well, that's not true, the fact that he was currently holding up and asking about our captain's wanted poster was pretty unique in a way.
"Who's that?" Chopper curiously asked. "He sure looks like he'd be really strong" he innocently remarked.
"Yeah, he does..." I agreed as I flickered my gaze along the entire length of the man's body, really zeroing in on the massive tattoo he had inked across his entire back...the more I stared, the more familiar he became as my mind struggled to put a name to the face. Not in the sense that I had ever met him personally before in my life, but more in the sense that I might have seen a picture or two of him once before.
"A-and why do you think he's asking for Luffy?" Usopp nervously asked, already growing anxious at the prospect that this man might be a potential threat.
"Maybe he's a fan" I jokingly suggested.
"Be serious, he's most likely a bounty hunter" Nami lightly scolded.
"He's not, I'm sure of it" Zoro butted in. "The mark on his back..."
"Huh?" everyone questioned.
"Yeah, what about it?" I asked.
"I used to hunt pirates, there's no way I wouldn't recognize it" he admitted as if he was confirming something to himself.
'He used to hunt pirates?' I owlishly blinked as I slowly absorbed this new bit of information...then again, I guess everyone's got to make a living somehow. But it now makes me wonder how he went from hunting pirates to becoming one. It also made me wonder if I had ever overlooked his name in the papers...maybe, I'm aware that some reporters just love to use nicknames and flashy titles when talking about pirates and bounty hunters in the like to the point that my eyes would always glaze over whenever I'd look at the morning paper.
"Huh? Oh no!" he breathed out in startlement, his attention no longer on the strange man, but now directed elsewhere entirely. Curiously following his gaze, I froze the moment I spotted the young woman who was currently busy negotiating with a stand owner about something. Staring at her I couldn't help but think about the fact that she looked so much like...
Kuina.
Memories flooded me as I quietly began to recount what little interactions I could remember having with the older girl back then...I didn't hate Kuina. No. Despite how closed off I could be toward her the few times that we talked, I could never fully bring myself to actively dislike her—though she could sometimes be brash, she had a good heart for someone who clearly had a lot on their mind. Instead, I was...jealous...of her. It was an embarrassing thing to admit even after all these years seeing how she and Zoro never had any sort of chemistry outside of their desire to outdo one another.
But...
The way that he would sometimes just talk about her—complain about her when it was meant to be our time together always frustrated me despite how silly it sounded.
"Is that her?" Zoro nervously asked, anxiously watching as the woman began to angrily yell at the stand owner for something they had said. "Damn! Yeah, it's her—I can't believe it, what's that woman doing here?!" he groaned, roughly pushing me aside and quickly hiding behind some crates the second the woman turned around. Ignoring the glasses, the woman did indeed look like an exact replica of who Zoro considered his childhood rival—there were some differences to be found, but they were rather scarce.
"Hey, Zoro, what are you doing?" Nami asked, snapping me out of my thoughts as my gaze hesitantly drifted away from the strange lookalike and towards the ginger that was clearly baffled by the swordsman's behavior.
"Why are you hiding over there?" Usopp joined in.
"Is it...is it because of that woman?" I hesitantly asked, already feeling rather silly over the prospect of getting jealous over some lookalike. Before I had a chance to really dwell on it, I was startled by the sudden appearance of Marine Captain Smoker. He was a well-praised man that was highly talked about not only in the papers but also by the young men in the village who couldn't help but admire and respect the man's strength and dedication. In an instance, the others jolt, all quick to take shelter behind the crates alongside Zoro the moment they spotted the Captain...
Now, this made far more sense than Zoro just hiding because of some woman.
"That's Captain Smoker, he's the Marine that caused us a lot of trouble in Loguetown" Nami anxiously whispered as I silently watched how the white-haired man approached and began to calmly speak with the woman from earlier...was she also a part of the Marines? Perhaps she was a friend? I didn't ponder too much over the two's supposed relationship with one another as my mind soon began to wander...
What exactly made Smoker different from the other Marine Officers? I couldn't help but ask, even Cloud held the man in high regard to the point that he felt encouraged to continue his studies to be a Marine as if he seriously had any real plans in joining. It was an impossible dream that could never be accomplished for many reasons, yet one fueled by nothing more than utter spite and hatred as if wanting to prove a point the longer I thought about it.
"You mean...you think he and his Marines followed us all the way from Loguetown?" Usopp asked, quickly lowering his voice the moment he realized how loud he was being.
"Damn, what did you guys do to piss him off that badly?" I joked, trying my best to ignore the bitter taste in my mouth at the humiliating and uncomfortable realization that I was possibly feeling jealous over someone who hasn't been alive for years now.
"Seems to be the case—with him and that mystery man, things could start to get pretty ugly around here" Zoro frowned. "Come on, Luffy, show up..." he impatiently muttered before tensing.
"Skylar! What are you doing?!" Nami frantically cried.
"Yeah, get over here before he sees you!" Usopp quietly shouted, tears of panic already springing to his eyes at the thought of being caught.
"Why?" I asked, tilting my head as I watched how they nervously began to sweat.
"Why? What do you mean why?!" Nami hissed, growing more and more anxious by the minute. "If he sees you, he's going to give chase!"
"And why would he do that?" I asked, one eyebrow raised in amusement even though I knew I was still playing a dangerous game in standing out in the open. "I wasn't a part of your guys' crew when you were in Loguetown, so he doesn't even know who I am" I pointed out...though I didn't know just how true that was—he clearly wouldn't be aware of my existence within the Straw Hat crew, but there was also the possibility that he knew of my existence another way...
Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case.
-Later-
When we returned to our makeshift and temporary hideout, Sanji, Vivi, and Carue were there to greet us. All three had decided to stay behind to simply keep watch and see if Luffy happened to run through the area while we were out looking for him elsewhere.
"This doesn't look good—we could be in serious trouble if we don't get out of here soon" Usopp whimpered.
"Skylar?" I hummed the moment Nami placed a hand on my shoulder. "Is something a matter? You seem rather...distracted" she worriedly frowned.
"No, everything's fine—thanks for asking though" I gave her my best smile all while forceable shoving aside the bitter thoughts that now crept along the edges of my mind and silently started to taunt me. Slowly nodding, I watched as she eyed me for another minute or two before hesitantly letting her attention drift elsewhere. Silently sighing, I tiredly tilted my head back and let my gaze drift over toward Zoro...only to jolt when I found him already looking this way. I hated the way my stomach started to churn upon noticing the way his brows furrowed in concern...
I didn't deserve his or anyone's concern.
I'm the only one to blame for how I'm feeling right now—I'm the dumbass that's gone and gotten themselves all worked up over nothing...
Sure, it hurts knowing that he still clearly remembered Kuina just fine. Sure, it hurts that he can clearly remember the promise they made, yet seemingly can't be bothered to throw me a bone. It sounds so ridiculous and childish...and yet, that voice—that annoying little voice that seems to just feed off of my misery won't shut up. Instead, it just keeps getting louder and louder and louder and louder and louder and—
"Trouble? Why's that?" Sanji questioned, his voice thankfully snapping me back into reality as my gaze darted forward and away from the ever-growing look of concern on Zoro's face.
"Cause the Marines are here" Nami answered.
"Hey" I jumped, startled by Zoro's sudden appearance right beside me as he quietly leaned in and whispered close to my ear as if wanting to avoid having the others hear. "You okay?"
"Yes" I answered before frowning. "No—I mean...I don't know..." I shook my head, not really knowing what to say as I bounced back and forth between wanting to lie and wanting to be honest...yet the idea of being honest only made the queasy feeling in my stomach worse. "It's stupid..." I eventually settled on saying.
"Says who?" he asked, brushing his hand against my own.
"Says me..." I muttered, cheeks puffing outwards in slight annoyance...yet I couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at the corner of my lips the moment I felt him intertwine our pinkies together.
"That so?" he hummed, swaying our hands just the slightest bit as he leaned in closer until our shoulders were touching. "Well, what if I say it's not stupid?" he asked.
"Then I'd tell you to take it up with management—be warned though, she can be rather difficult" my smile grew upon hearing his soft laughter as a sense of familiarity almost seemed to wash right over me. There was something oddly nostalgic about the exchange as I couldn't help but inch my hand further into his own until our fingers were fully intertwined.
"Marines?" Vivi echoed, surprised by the Navy's sudden appearance on the island.
"And also some mystery man" Chopper added.
"Let's just find Luffy as fast as possible and get out of town as soon as we can" Nami said.
"Hey, hide!" Zoro suddenly ordered, hurriedly ushering everyone behind the deteriorating wall—his grip on my hand tightening as he pulled me along until my back was flush against his chest as he pressed his own against what remained of the collapsed wall.
"Hey! What for?" Nami asked, startled by how rough the swordsman had been in shoving everyone out of sight.
"What was that?" Chopper worriedly asked.
"Did you see something?" I inquired, watching as he carefully leaned over and peered around the broken wall.
"It's the Marines" he finally answered.
"Yeah, and it seems they're excited about something" Usopp agreed, taking note of the rushing footsteps and aggressive shouting of the men that ran by.
"I'm sure it's nothing" Sanji dismissively waved. "They're probably just chasing some idiot pirate who's running crazy around town" he concluded as he leaned up against the wall. Brief was the silence that followed as only one person came to mind.
"Some idiot pirate?!" we shouted, sweat dropping upon hearing the familiar shout of our dear captain close by as if to confirm our thoughts. "It's Luffy!"
"Oh, hey, Zoro!" Luffy grinned the second he spotted Zoro peeking out from behind the broken-down wall. Zoro tensed upon being spotted, his grip around me tightening as he hastily held up a hand as if silently motioning for the captain to stop before he gave away our location. "Oh, so that's where you guys have been" the rubber man said, blatantly ignoring the first mate's silent attempts to stay away and instead come running straight for us despite the Marines still being hot on his heels.
"No, you moron! Get rid of them first!" the swordsman shouted.
"Well, they're coming—what do we do now?" Usopp asked.
"Not stay here that's for certain" I answered.
"She's right, we need to get going" Nami agreed.
"To the ship!" Vivi ordered.
"Don't just stand there—we got to go!" Luffy shouted as he came barreling right past us.
A/N: Enjoy
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