One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter Thirty-Eight-
"You all, Luffy was right—I've made up my mind now" Vivi sniffed, wiping away her tears as she started to pick herself back up. "Change of plans, we're going to go find Crocodile" she huffed.
"Yeah!" Luffy nodded with a cheer.
"That does seem the quickest way of stopping the fighting from happening" Nami remarked, quick to agree with the princess' change in plans.
"I guess it does—take down the boss and the cronies won't know what to do or might not even have a reason to continue with the plan" I nodded.
"And we can quit wandering around the desert too, it was beginning to get old" Zoro said.
"Agreed..." I muttered, ready to be done with the vast wastelands around us.
"So where is he anyway, this damn Crocodile guy?" Sanji asked.
"Let's see" Vivi hummed as she laid the map of the land out before us, motioning for us all to huddle close. "This is the capital city, Alubarna, where my father rules...and the Rebel Army is camped here, getting ready to invade Alubarna..." she explained, pointing at the capital before moving her finger along the map and towards the city where the Rebel Army's base was now located.
"So we just need to get to Crocodile before the Rebels can get to Alubarna" Sanji summarized for her.
"This is where Crocodile is, over here—Rainbase" Vivi nodded as she pointed elsewhere on the map.
"Rainbase?" Usopp questioned.
"It's a city, a bit north of us—about a day's journey from here" she explained.
-Later-
"Okay, did I or did I not tell the two of you to quit with the pathetic moaning all the time?" Nami irritably asked, causing Usopp and Luffy to angrily snap at her.
"Shut up! This arguing isn't helping any of us with this bothersome heat!" I snapped right back which only caused them to turn their anger towards me. "I don't really care!" I shouted, not caring to hear about how fair it was that Nami got to ride atop Eyelash's back and they didn't or how annoying the desert sun was.
"Hey, Chopper, you managed to make it all day without complaining" Zoro pointed out, quick to note how the reindeer hadn't once asked to be pulled today.
"He's right" I nodded, unable to keep the worry out of my face the moment I looked down at the reindeer and saw how exhausted he look even as he pushed himself to walk alongside us. "Don't push yourself, okay—I understand not wanting to feel like a bother, but you should know better than all of us to prioritize your health."
"Yeah, I'm trying hard not to and I won't" Chopper panted. "Vivi, does this Rainbase city have a water supply?" he wearily asked.
"Oh, yeah—no shortages there" Vivi nodded, causing the reindeer to sigh in relief upon knowing that there was actually water finally waiting for us in the next city. "It's a gambling town, almost completely isolated from all the fighting" she explained, instantly catching Nami's attention.
"Ah! Gambling!" the navigator happily clapped, her eyes as bright as beli signs as she visibly started to get excited.
"You do realize that you're more likely to lose more money when gambling than gaining some, right?" I asked with a raised brow. "Like those games are absolutely rigged in the house's favor" I point out, not understanding why she was getting all excited by the thought of gambling.
"Not if you're good at it, then you can get lots of money" she happily hummed, practically ignoring me.
"No way, Nami, we're not going there to gamble" Zoro glared.
"I guess people need someplace to relax, even here in Alabasta" Sanji remarked.
"Relax?" I questioned, not seeing how the possibility of going into massive piles of debt due to a horrible gambling addiction could be seen as relaxing...then again, they probably had good food and drinks.
"Gum Gum...no way!" Luffy suddenly shouted, his arms stretching as far out as he wanted them to go as he now held the canteen of water that was given to him out and away from Usopp. "No!" he repeated shouted, dodging the sharpshooter's attempts to steal the canteen.
"Come on, give me some!" Usopp begged.
"Gum Gum...leave me alone!" the captain angrily demanded.
"Come on, Luffy, just give me one sip of it!" Usopp whined. "Please! Isn't that why he gave it to us?" he irritably asked, temper now starting to rise the longer he fought to grab hold of the canteen.
"The old guy from the sandstorm place gave it to me—he had to dig all night just to get this much of it!" Luffy argued. "We can't just go drinking it like it's regular water or something, so no way!" he huffed, puffing out his cheeks in annoyance.
"Wow, you can restrain yourself sometimes" Nami whistled in amazement as I nodded.
"Well yeah, of course I can, Nami" Luffy said, nearly skidding to a halt. "That's a rude thing to say, you know" he frowned, quick to get into the ginger's face as Usopp finally caved in and flopped right over. His tongue now lulling out in exhaustion as he silently accepted his defeat.
"Oh no, he's dead" I deadpanned, only stopping for a split second to peer down at the fallen sharpshooter. "Oh well" I shrugged as I continued to walk.
"You could at least act like you care!" Usopp snapped from the ground.
"So, how long 'til we reach Rainbase, Vivi?" Luffy asked.
"Hey, Luffy" Vivi said, causing him to hum in response as he tilted his head. "Thanks a lot, I never would have been able to make this decision on my own" she smiled.
"Okay, then give me food" Luffy nodded.
"Huh?" she questioned, taken aback by his sudden demand.
"After I beat up Crocodile, give me food—I'll eat 'til I explode" he firmly repeated.
"I promise, I will" Vivi smiled.
-Later-
"There!" Vivi pointed ahead the second the city came into sight off in the distance.
"So is that the city?" Chopper asked over the sounds of Luffy and Usopp's moans and groans which had started back up once again.
"We're here, so you can knock it off with all the moaning and groaning now" I deadpanned.
"Oh! Are we here?" Luffy perked up. "Yeah, time to kick Crocodile's ass!" he cheered, throwing his arms up into the air. "That's Rainbase, huh?" he hummed, taking a moment to really observe the bright and almost luxurious-looking city we were starting to approach.
"So, after all that's happened, are we going to operate under the assumption that Baroque Works knows that we're here on the island with them?" Zoro asked.
"It seems likely, we did run into Mr. Two" Nami nodded. "So I think it's safe to assume that they at least have some idea that we were heading to Alabasta" she hummed.
"I mean, I'd be surprised if they didn't" I said.
"Who cares!" Luffy huffed as he crossed his arms, unbothered that we were about to enter what was essentially enemy territory without any element of surprise whatsoever to back us up.
"They know exactly what we look like, so we won't be able to do much of anything while we're in Rainbase—just lay low" Usopp anxiously pointed out.
"And why's that?" Luffy practically shouted, either unaware or just not caring about how loud he was starting to be.
"Because if we get spotted before we can find Crocodile, then I'm sure he can probably come up with all sorts of nasty ways in taking care of us!" Usopp snippily snapped, causing the swordsman beside me to lowly growl as his grip on my hand suddenly grew tight the second he became lost in thought.
"Assassination is kind of the area of their expertise" he stated, his grip continuing to tighten as he began to scowl as if displeased by this reminder.
"Laying low, but we're coming Crocodile!" Luffy screamed.
"You weren't even listening, were you?!" Usopp snapped as I started to desperately claw at Zoro's hand. Trying my hardest to simply laugh through the immense amount of pain that I was now starting to feel as my hand started to get crushed.
"No matter what happens, I will take it upon myself to protect Nami, Vivi, and Skylar from any harm" Sanji smiled, head held high as he puffed his chest out in pride. "I'm always happy to play prince charming for the ladies" he dreamingly sighed.
"Yeah...I think Zoro's already got Skylar covered on that front" Nami remarked the second she spotted the pained look on my face as I continued to claw at Zoro's hand.
"Help, I don't think it's natural for the bones in my hand to sound like they're cracking" I wheezed, still trying my hardest to laugh through the pain as I started to tug at my arm in an attempt to free my hand—is he doing this on purpose or does he not realize his own strength? "Don't laugh!" I cried out the moment I heard the navigator start to chuckle at my demise.
"Smooth one" Zoro rolled his eyes, paying little mind to Nami and me as he looked at the daydreaming blond.
"Smoother than you, Zoro" Sanji retorted as he was snapped out of his dreamland and brought back down to reality upon hearing the swordsman's voice.
"You're going to break my hand if you don't let go soon..." I whined, shoulders now shaking as I didn't know what else to do about this pain other than try and laugh through it because I knew if I didn't, I'd probably start to cry.
"Zoro, I think you really should let go of her hand now—there's no danger, so you don't have to worry" Vivi said, finally coming to my rescue.
"Huh?" Zoro blinked, finally looking down at our intertwined hands and seeing the way that my fingers now straightened out as they started to turn red and white due to the restricted blood flow they were getting. "Oops, sorry" he apologized as he finally loosened his grip back to normal.
"Sorry?! That's all you have to say for almost breaking my hand!" I cried out, practically ripping my hand free from his own the minute he loosed his grip so I could rub some feeling back into my fingers.
"I said I was sorry, what else do you want?" he asked.
"Break your hand so we can be even!" I suddenly demanded.
"What?!" he balked.
"Skylar! That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Vivi frowned as if I was being unreasonable with my demands.
"He almost broke my hand!" I defended, causing Luffy to burst out into a fit of laughter.
"I need water!" Usopp and Chopper suddenly wailed.
"There is none, let it go!" Zoro and I snapped back at the two.
"I'm going!" Luffy suddenly shouted, rushing on straight ahead without any warning.
"Hold on, Luffy!" Usopp cried out, quickly chasing after the rubber man.
"Wait! You may want to take some money along!" Nami quickly called after the two.
-Later-
"Quit that" I quietly scolded the second Zoro started to sway at Eyelash's nose with a stick he had happened to find close by. "He hasn't done anything to you, so stop bothering him" I huffed.
"Make me" he grinned.
"I would, but I fear you'll break my hand if I even attempt to touch yours" I deadpanned
"I said I was sorry, how long are you going to hold that over my head?" he grumbled with a low huff.
"I don't know, for as long as I feel like it" I shrugged. "At most, another minute or two—give or take, depends on how I feel."
"How generous of you" he deadpanned.
"I know" I smiled.
"I'm going to the little boy's room" Chopper suddenly informed before walking away and leaving the group.
"Okay, be careful and try not to get lost" I called after him.
"Do you really think we can count on them to stay out of trouble?" Sanji asked, huddled close next to the others as they peered around the short wall we were resting behind in an attempt to stay out of sight.
"I doubt it" I said before squealing with a sudden jolt the second I felt a rather sharp pinch on my bottom. "You!" I whirled my head, face flush as I twisted my body to face the culprit.
"Me?" Zoro innocently asked, grinning the second he saw the silent glare that I gave him.
A/N: Enjoy
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