One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter Thirty-Nine-
"I mean, they can handle little errands okay...right?" Nami warily asked, obviously forgetting who exactly she was referring to.
"Once again, I doubt it" I responded, huffing as I shifted back around and watched as her shoulders drooped.
"You're right...who am I kidding..." she muttered to herself.
"Yes?" I questioned, gaze shifting away from the sulking navigator and towards the swordsman beside me the moment I felt him suddenly start to play with my hair. "May I help you?" I asked with a raised brow.
"Hm" he hummed, mindlessly twisting a strand of hair around his finger before watching as it twirled right back into place. "I got to agree with Skylar on this one, I bet those two already managed to screw something up" he said, directing his words straight toward the others. "It is Usopp and Luffy—I'd start getting ready to run if I were you" he said, releasing my hair as if he was now bored with it as he once more started to swat at Eyelash's snout. Loudly did the camel snort, irritably snapping his teeth at the stick every time he felt it bop against his flaring nostrils.
"I said stop that, you're being mean to him" I huffed, lightly shoving the side of his head which caused him to blink as he slowly turned his head back toward me. I leaned back the second he leaned forward until eventually, our noses were touching.
"And I said make me..." he breathlessly breathed out, laughing the moment I shoved my hand in his face and pushed him away.
"You're too close!" I embarrassingly snapped, ignoring the way Nami and Vivi started to giggle as they prevented a fuming Sanji from saying or doing anything that would really cause a scene.
"You win, looks like the Marines are chasing them..." the blond eventually grumbled as he reluctantly went back to looking out for our missing crewmates only to spot the Marines chasing them instead.
"No way, why are those idiots running this way?!" Nami squealed in a panic the second she poked her head around the corner and spotted the two as well.
"Hey, Tony hasn't made his way back here, yet" Vivi worriedly frowned.
"He'll be fine, Chopper can manage on his own" Zoro assured her as we all scrambled to our feet and took off, not wasting another second.
"Hey, guys, I think the Marines are here!" Luffy shouted the moment he spotted us as he and Usopp quickly caught up.
"You think we haven't noticed that, Luffy?!" Zoro snapped.
"It's...uh...kind of obvious, considering the outfits and all that" I sweat dropped. "But good observation there."
"Get them! We can't lose them this time men!" a Marine shouted not that far behind us as he and the rest now started gaining on us which caused Usopp to scream in fear and for Luffy to start panicking.
"Why are they holding barrels?" I questioned, finally taking note of the big barrels the two were currently carrying over their shoulders. "Why not just throw them back at the Marines to slow them down?" I asked.
"Who knows, maybe it's water?" Zoro guessed as I slowly nodded. If it was indeed water they were carrying in those barrels then I can understand not wanting to senselessly toss them away even if it would possibly gain us some distance.
"Baroque Works will see us if we keep running through the city!" Usopp nervously pointed out.
"I think it's a little too late for that, Usopp" Zoro said as he took notice of the few Baroque Works members that were already watching us from the crowds of people we ran by.
"Then it's decided—let's go!" Luffy shouted.
"Huh?" Vivi questioned.
"Wherever Crocodile is, how about it? Ready?" he asked as she gave a firm nod.
"Do you see that building up ahead with the alligator on its roof?" Vivi asked. "That's the casino Crocodile runs" she said, pointing towards a pyramid-like building that seemed to just tower over all the other buildings in the city. "It's called Rain Dinners."
"Didn't think a Warlord would be big on owning a casino, but I guess it's sort of a living" I remarked.
"I see it, so that's where Crocodile is?" Luffy asked.
"It would be better if we all split up now" Sanji suggested, realizing just how difficult things were starting to become the longer we stuck together. It wouldn't be long before both the Marines and Billons attempted to corner us, so it was probably in our best options to split up and minimize the chances of getting caught.
"Yeah, it's looking that way" Zoro agreed.
"Right, see you later!" Luffy grinned.
"Right!" we nodded as he split apart from one another into small groups. I followed after Zoro and Vivi as we took a right up a set of stairs the moment we reached the split in the road.
"Don't die!" Luffy shouted, his final words of advice for us all as we went our separate ways.
-Later-
"Dammit!" Zoro cursed, glaring at the Billions that now blocked our way.
"Oh no, look over there!" Vivi gasped as even more men appeared.
"There too" I pointed as we quickly became surrounded.
"It's them alright, no doubt—kill them!" one of the men barked, examining a set of photos in his hands.
"It looks like the Baroque Works Billions..." Vivi muttered.
"Well, it looks like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh?" Zoro hummed in displeasure, annoyed by the current situation. "You and Skylar go on without me" he suddenly ordered.
"What? No!" I frowned. "You'll just get lost without us!" I argued.
"Wha—shut up and just go!" he snapped, cheeks flaring up in embarrassment as I now stood my ground.
"Skylar, come on, he'll be fine" Vivi assured me as she grabbed hold of my arm and started to tug, trying her best to coax me into following.
"Vivi, you know I'm right—he'll just get lost and we don't exactly need that at this moment" I explained. "I promise we'll be okay, so go on ahead" I assured her with a gentle smile.
"But..." she hesitated for a second, looking as if she wanted to argue before eventually heaving a sigh. "Alright, but be careful you two..." she murmured before taking off on ahead of us.
"What are you doing? I told you to go with Vivi—you'll be safer with her!" Zoro scolded once he saw that I hadn't left with the princess, but I instead stayed and drew my swords.
"And I told you that you'll get lost if one of us didn't stay back to help guide you to Rain Dinners!" I argued, causing him to blush as he started to scowl. "Besides, I can handle myself, thank you very much—I know how to fight just as much as you do, I'm not a defenseless child!" I frowned.
"I know you're not, but…" he gave a frustrated sigh, seemingly unable to find the words of what exactly he was wanting to say as we pressed our backs together the moment the men started to advance. All of them now looking for an open as they started to draw their own weapons.
"But what?" I asked with a raised brow. "What? Trying to be my knight in shining armor?" I couldn't help but tease, causing his scowl to deepen and his blush to worsen.
"S-shut up!" he angrily barked.
"I'll be fine," I softly chuckled, "but...now's not exactly the best time for this kind of conversation..." I confessed. He only grumbled in response, nodding in agreement as we prepared for the fight ahead of us.
-Later-
"Is that all, really?" Zoro frowned as we finished off the last of the Billions that had cornered us. "Pathetic" he scoffed, not bothering to hide his disappointment in the lackluster fight the men had given us.
"You would think for a Warlord, he would have picked better minions" I hummed, lightly kicking one of the now passed-out men. "Uh-oh, looks like we got company" I tensed, jolting the second I spotted the approaching group of Marines being led by the woman with the familiar-looking face.
"Roronoa Zoro, I knew we'd meet again" the woman frowned.
"That voice..." Zoro clenched his jaw as he tensed up upon hearing her voice.
"I've been looking for you—what do you think you're doing carelessly cutting down civilians like that?" she asked, a look of disgust crossing her features as she examined the passed-out bodies scattered all around us. "That's low, even for you" she scowled before her gaze flickered between him and me. I watched as her eyes narrowed even more the moment she spotted me as if she was trying to determine if I was an accomplice or just a stranger that happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time...though there was something else in her gaze as she intently looked me up and down.
"Look, I have my own reasons for doing it, alright!" Zoro frowned, causing her gaze to flicker back towards him. "Besides, I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to fight you again—we settled our dispute fine in Loguetown!" he snapped, putting away his swords as he suddenly stepped in front of me—ushering me back behind him in the process as he narrowed his eyes. He looked as if he didn't like the way she was staring at me with that same look of suspicion and accusation that she was currently giving him.
"We did not! We're not through—I haven't even dealt a single blow!" she angrily argued, already drawing her sword as if she wanted a fight.
"Argh...she looks too much like her" Zoro quietly groaned as he recoiled back and away from the woman. "And put that damn face of yours away, will you!" he suddenly snapped, covering his eyes as if to avoid really looking at her.
"Real smooth" I snorted as I crossed my arms. It felt ridiculous to say that I was getting jealous over how worked up he was getting over this random lookalike...and yet, I couldn't ignore the sour taste that now settled its way into the back of my mouth as I watched the way he started to fidget.
"What did you say?" the woman glared. "You're insulting me? That's a really pathetic tactic—I'll make you pay!" she venomously hissed.
"Uh-uh, she's the one person I can't handle!" Zoro harshly shook his head and before I knew it, he was shoving his way right past me as he took off running. It was almost automatic the way he turned tail and ran, not thinking about anything else other than getting away from this lookalike.
"Huh? Wha...you asshole!" I shouted the second I processed what had happened. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, you coward?!" I snapped, quickly turning on my heel and preparing to take off after him.
"You're a part of the Straw Hats, are you not?" the woman suddenly asked, causing me to stop and look back at her. "Although I don't recall you being with them back in Loguetown" she confessed, eyes now squinted as she started to really examine this time. There was something about the look in her eye that made me tense as she stared me down, now looking like someone who was desperately trying to remember something really important they had forgotten.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not" I casually shrugged, causing her to frown at my lack of a proper answer as I forced myself to relax. "All that matters right now is that I got a marimo to chase down, so I bid you adieu" I mocked bow, taking off before she or either of her men could say anything more.
-Everybody's P.O.V-
"It's Zoro!" Usopp cheered as the swordsman saved him and Nami from the Billions that had been blocking their way toward the diner.
"Hold on, I thought Vivi and Skylar were supposed to be with you?" Nami frowned, instantly taking note of the absences of the two women that had run off with the swordsman earlier when the group had split up. "You didn't lose them both, did you?" she frowned.
"Vivi was, but you're saying that she's not here?" Zoro questioned, the gears in his head now turning before a look of realization suddenly dawned on his face. "What do you mean where's Skylar? She's right…here…" he trailed off as he found nothing but empty air beside him. Looking left and right, he now searched for the brunette before vaguely remembering that he had unintentionally pushed her aside in his haste to get away from Tashigi. "Shit...," he cursed, "she's going to be pissed for sure with me..." he muttered, dread now filling his insides as he quickly realized his mistake.
"Vivi isn't here yet, but maybe she already went inside" Usopp suggested, not dismissing the idea that the princess was already inside the casino and waiting for them.
"Yeah, let's go in, I'm sure Skylar will be alright" Nami nodded. "Besides she can chew you out when we're safely inside the casino and not out in the open like this" she dismissively waved. "Can't believe you were cruel enough to just leave her behind like that though" she teasingly scolded.
"I didn't mean to!" Zoro argued, quick to become defensive as if not liking the implications of the ginger's words. "If you must know, I—"
"Zoro!" the three flinched at the sudden shout as the swordsman's body was tackled straight onto the ground by a familiar blur.
"Well, that was quick" Nami and Usopp sweat dropped once they realized that the person who had tackled the swordsman was the young woman they had just been talking about.
-Skylar's P.O.V-
"I can't believe you just left me back there with all those Marines, you jerk!" I angrily snapped, harshly smashing my fists against his chest as I straddled his waist.
"You left her all alone with the Marines?!" Usopp shouted.
"How could you do something so cruel like that to your sweetheart, Zoro?" Nami asked, giggling at the flushed faces and harsh glares Zoro and I gave her.
"Argh!" I groaned, shaking my head as I continued to pound my fist against the swordsman's chest.
A/N: Enjoy
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