One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.

-Chapter Twenty-Nine-

"Every living thing in this desert has it the same way—you know, long ago, I used to feel like the desert belonged to everybody" Barbarossa confessed. "But when I think about it nowadays, I begin to think that that was somewhat conceived. When I look at the desert now, I wonder if perhaps it doesn't really belong to anybody at all" he pondered. "That's why we can live here freely, it belongs to no one, so it's free itself."

"Like the ocean?" Nami inquired.

"That's a good question, I suspect that's something you'll have to find out by yourselves" he smiled.

"Hey" I piped up, catching both of their attention. "I see Luffy and them" I pointed.

"You're right, they finally made it back" Nami sighed in relief the moment she spotted the four returning.

-The Next Day-

"Ahead is a village called Ido, you should be able to get water there without much difficulty" Barbarossa informed us as he anchored the ship.

"Does that mean you're not coming with us?" Luffy asked.

"We sand pirates cannot travel beyond the desert realm" Barbarossa explained. "You see, this land belongs to my people—brave souls that live and died here for so many generations."

"Oh yeah" Luffy smiled.

"Nothing much actually, we survived freely on the ocean of sand and that's exactly what we plan to keep doing" Barbarossa smiled right back.

"Wow! You sound just like my crew!" Luffy laughed.

"Well then, we're kindred spirits!" happily did the two burst out into shared laughter.

"See ya around, umbrella guy! Bye!" Luffy waved once the sand pirates set sail.

"Here" I said, climbing aboard Eyelash's back and settling behind Nami before helping Vivi who gave a grateful smile at my offering hand.

"They were great" Luffy hummed.

"Yeah" Usopp agreed.

"By the way, where did your brother go?" Sanji suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I turned my head, letting my gaze wander over our little group as I did so. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen Ace this entire time" I said, realizing that the blond was right and the older male was nowhere to be seen.

"You're right, you think he's alright?" Vivi worriedly asked.

"I don't know where he went, but there's nothing to worry about—he'll show up sooner or later" Luffy said, brushing away everyone's concerns.

"Another bold claim you can't prove—why do you do that?" Nami frowned.

"I don't know, let's get to this Udo village as fast as we can" Luffy shrugged with a smile.

"It's Ido" Nami corrected.

"Ido?" Luffy repeated.

"Yeah" she nodded.

-Later-

"Hey, hey!" Ace waved as he came riding toward us on the back of what appeared to be another overgrown lizard, though this one was considerably smaller compared to the Sandora Dragon.

"It's Ace!" Luffy smiled as he quickly rushed toward his brother, wasting no time in closing the distance.

"So that's where he was" Nami said.

"He was off making himself a new friend it seems" I chuckled.

"Haha! What's this thing?" Luffy laughed, poking at the lizard his brother had brought back.

"So, you're the sand pirates those flakes feared?" Ace asked, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Luffy asked. "We left the sand pirates a little while ago" he said, jabbing back with his thumb in the direction that we had left the sand pirates.

"Yeah? Well, whatever, it's no biggie" Ace smiled with a shrug. "I got great news though—you want food and water? Because I brought you guys plenty of both" he grinned, motioning toward the supplies he had been dragging behind him.

"Oh, that's most appreciated" Sanji gratefully smiled. "This should be enough to last us for a while" he remarked as Nami and I hopped down from Eyelash to get a better look at the supplies the pirate had brought back.

"Ace is one incredible man" Usopp complimented.

"Sure is, kind and thoughtful by fault—unlike someone we know" Nami nodded, shooting a pointed look at Luffy in the process.

"That's true" I agreed. "Although...I do wonder how he got all this stuff" I pondered.

"Who cares?! At least now we don't have to worry about starving or dying of thirst!" Usopp dismissively waved, not the least bit concerned about how exactly the pirate had come across such supplies all the way out here in the desert.

"Thank you, I was so thirsty" Chopper panted, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Then drink up" Ace smiled.

"Me too!" Luffy shouted.

"Um...excuse me, Ace? I assume you used something other than money to get this" Vivi nervously piped up as she climbed down from Eyelash, worriedly twiddling her fingers as she approached the pirates. "Whatever you did, please don't tell me you stole all the supplies" she pleaded, the possible thought of him having stolen such goods causing her great distress the longer she thought about it.

"That's not my style, the Rebel Army gave it to me" Ace answered, quick to try and quell the princess' worry.

"The Rebel Army?!" she shouted in shock.

"Well, perhaps fake Rebel soldiers would be a more precise description" he quickly clarified.

"Fake? What do you mean by that?" Nami questioned.

"You mean like they're just pretending to be a part of the Rebel Army?" I asked, raising a questioning brow.

"Exactly, they pass themselves off as Rebel soldiers to get hired by the village and the villagers were so grateful for their protection that they accepted these hooligans with open arms" Ace nodded.

"I get that they're desperate for help, but wouldn't they eventually figure out that they've been tricked?" I asked.

"Yeah" Nami agreed. "Those guys would eventually slip up and get discovered, right?" she frowned.

"Not necessarily, the villagers know that the mere mention of the Rebel Army is enough to send most bandits running—it's ingenious really" Ace responded. "A confident swagger with little misdirection and the money and prestige comes rolling in."

"I guess that makes sense..." I muttered.

"Well, Rebel soldiers aren't hooligans nor is their title meant to serve as some sort of decoration" Vivi scowled.

"Vivi, I'm sure we'd all be happy to teach these guys a lesson" Sanji offered once he noticed just how upset the princess was by this news.

"Yeah, well if your plan for restitution involves duping the villagers, might I point out that that's exactly how they were treating the hooligans" Ace said. "At least the way things stand now, the villagers live in peace with their fake protectors—is this necessary?" he asked.

"I understand what you're saying, but you got to consider this from Vivi's perspective—surely you'd like to see those jerks pay?" Sanji argued.

"Vivi can do what she wants, I was only sharing my thoughts on the subject" Ace defended.

"There's no reason you should stick up for those bastards!"

"I'm not sticking up for them, I just know you guys are in a hurry to get going, that's all."

"I got to take Ace's side on this, Sanji" I butted in. "If the villagers really are content with how things are like Ace says, is it really our place to interfere? I agree it isn't right that these men are essentially taking advantage of their fear, but that doesn't change the fact that their presence clearly brings these people a sense of security" I said.

"Fine" Vivi suddenly spoke up. "My kingdom's no longer able to protect everyone, so I find nothing wrong with villages attempting to uphold public safety on their own whenever possible" she confessed, not shying away from the cold truth that her kingdom was no longer capable of keeping everyone within it safe like it used to.

"Done?" Nami asked.

"No, first I need to put these bandits to the test" Vivi shook her head.

"A test?" Nami questioned.

"Yes, and if these impostors are protecting them—even if that protection is nothing more than a byproduct of their ruse—then I really don't care what they pass themselves as" Vivi nodded.

"You want us to find out if these hooligans have hearts of gold?" Ace asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry, but this involves everyone's cooperation if we are to pull it off" she nodded. "Skylar" I jolted at hearing my name.

"Yeah?" I hummed.

"I must ask you, but did you happen to bring that bandana of yours by any chance?" she asked.

"Uh..." holding a finger up in thought, I opened my robe to reveal the dancer outfit I was still in—too lazy to have switched out of it before we had left the ship. Ignoring the loud swooning of a certain blond, I slipped my arm free of my robe and pulled free the bandana tied around my upper arm. "Here" I said, slipping my arm back into my robe and closing it back up in the process.

"You actually brought it? Why?" Usopp asked with a raised brow.

"In case my hair became too much of a bother in this heat" I answered, running my fingers through the thick strands of my hair. "Anyway, the real question is why you wanted to know if I had it or not, Vivi? Do you need it for something?" I asked, watching as she nodded before delving straight into telling us her plan.

A/N: Enjoy

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