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

-Chapter Seventy-Three-

"I'm beat, do we have to run?" Usopp groaned as he sluggishly followed along with the rest.

"Hey, wait! It's further than you think!" Zoro called after the group as I smiled before slowing down until I started to fall behind. Taking a quick glance back at Baxter, I saw that he had already fallen asleep by the fire. "Hey, you're falling behind."

"Huh?" I questioned, turning my head as Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah...I'm just worried about leaving Baxter here all by himself is all" I confessed.

"Baxter?" he questioned with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, that's the name I chose for the little guy over there" I smiled, pointing back at the sleeping goat as I started to walk side by side with Zoro. "Cute name, right?" I giggled.

"You named one of the goats?" he frowned. "You shouldn't get too attached, we can't bring him with us when we leave—the cook would only end up using him as food" he lightly scolded.

"I know" I heaved a sigh, nodding in understanding because I knew he was right. "But…he's just so cute, don't you agree?" I asked, eyes sparkling as I peered up at him with an expectant look as if waiting for him to agree.

"You weren't kidding when you said you had a weak spot for cute animals..." he sweat dropped.

-Later-

"It wasn't that far" Luffy remarked once we reached the ship and began examining it up close. I couldn't help but giggle at the dejected expression on Zoro's face as his shoulders slumped downwards.

"Don't worry" I cooed, soothing rubbing his back. "Because of you, I didn't know the ship was this close either" I teased, laughing and jumping away as he swatted at me with an irritated snap.

"It seems kind of creepy if you ask me" Sanji noted.

"Yes, like sighting a ghost ship on a dark night" Robin agreed.

"Perhaps we'll spot some ghosts tonight, certainly looks like a place a bunch of spirits would be resting" I chuckled as a shiver rack down Usopp's spine.

"Robin, Skylar, don't say stuff like that" he whimpered.

"Why? You scared?" I teasingly asked. "Don't worry, I'm sure the ghosts will be merciful and make our deaths quick when they show up" I grinned the second he nodded.

"Skylar!" he cried, causing me to laugh.

"Whoa! What are those?" Luffy excitedly asked, staring in awe at the fireflies that suddenly took flight—their lights blinking in and out of existence as they lazily flew around us. Usopp flinched, jumping behind Luffy as he started to visibly shake before screaming.

"Vengeful spirits from the dead! What do you think?!" he cried out.

"They're fireflies" Nami corrected as she climbed aboard the ship with the rest of us soon following in her lead. Leaning back against the railing, I watched as everyone else started to explore the ship.

"He used lumber made from the local trees" Robin noted.

"It looks like he stopped building halfway through" Usopp pointed out.

"The old guy did all this by himself?" Sanji asked.

"Seems so, unless we're being lied to and there were once other people on this island before him" I shrugged, tapping the tip of my shoe against the ship's deck and listening to the hard knock it produced.

"Well, it doesn't look like it's here" Nami dejectedly sighed in defeat as she walked back out onto the deck.

"What's not here, Nami?" Luffy inquired.

"The treasure" she answered.

"What treasure?" we questioned.

"The one the old man has" Nami explained as she crossed her arms. "He's not just some hermit, I'm sure of it—if I'm right, he's a former pirate" she huffed.

"A pirate? Him?" we inquired with raised eyebrows and skeptical looks of disbelief.

"Come on, Nami, you're speaking crazy talk like Skylar was earlier" Usopp said.

"I wasn't even being serious with what I was suggesting earlier" I deadpanned.

"I mean look at it like this, his ship was probably smashed to pieces by those reefs we saw and he was the only survivor—he's been building the ship to get off the island, but since he's alone, it has taken years to complete it" Nami explained.

"Hey, wait" Usopp frowned. "If he really is a pirate then why does he dislike them so much? That doesn't make any sense" he pointed out, quick to find a flaw in the ginger's reasoning.

"Yes, because pirates sure are known for loving one another" I sarcastically responded.

"It does make sense if he's only acting like that to keep us from finding the treasure he's hidden somewhere" Nami butted in, actually being serious with her answer as she explained away the contradiction the sharpshooter had pointed out. "I knew there was something shady about that old guy right from the start" she proudly admitted. "What confirmed it for me was the furniture I saw back in his hut, he had some pretty valuable things for a poor hermit."

"You're beautiful and astute" Sanji swooned.

"Doesn't surprise me you would notice something like that" I nodded.

"Get real, guys, there's no way that old dude could be a pirate—come on, he fainted" Usopp argued.

"I didn't say he was a pirate now, I said I bet he was a long time ago" Nami defended. "Why else would he build this ship?" she asked, gesturing all around us.

"There's a dense forest ahead with no pads" Robin suddenly pointed out. "Plus there's a steep cliff to the rear—if he's going to build a boat to escape, why do it all the way up here in the mountains?" she asked.

"Yeah, how come, Nami?" we looked toward the navigator for an answer as she nervously started to sweat.

"Um…well…I don't know" she sheepishly admitted.

-Later-

"I think we should get off this island right now" Usopp suggested the second we returned to camp and took a seat around the fireplace

"Why's that?" I hummed while walking around, trying to find where Baxter had wandered off to before heaving a sigh as I finally plopped down onto the ground in front of Zoro and leaned back against his legs.

"Because working us to death was bad enough, but that weird ship is the last straw" Usopp frowned.

"Because of the ghosts?" I asked, grinning as he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm staying here" Luffy suddenly and firmly stated, his hat lowered and casting a shadow over his eyes.

"Why?" the sharpshooter asked.

"Because I'm hungry! That stuff Zoro and Skylar brought back barely filled me up, duh" Luffy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before falling backward and sprawling himself out on the ground.

"What?! No!" Nami and Zoro shouted in distress the minute they noticed that the captain had eaten all the food.

"You…you know how long it took us to find that stuff, you pig!" Zoro snapped, grabbing the front of Luffy's shirt as he started to shake him.

"The frustration of trying to lead Zoro was not worth it if you ate all the food..." I grumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Until we know what's going on, let's sleep on the Merry" Sanji sighed, already standing and getting ready to leave before stopping when he spotted Chopper coming back from checking up on the old man. His head lowered.

"Oh, Chopper, we're heading back to the ship" Nami told him.

"What's wrong? You look down" I worriedly noted.

"I'm staying here by the old man's side—I'm a doctor, I can't just abandon my patients" Chopper said, shaking his head as he turned down the offer to go back to the ship with us.

"But he's gotten better, right?" Usopp asked, tilting his head. "If you keep helping him, there'll be no end to it" he slightly chastised.

"Actually, the end will be soon" Chopper sadly revealed.

"What do you mean, Chopper?" Zoro asked.

"You don't mean..." I furrowed my brows as the reindeer quietly nodded.

"It's his heart...we thought it stopped because Zoro had scared him, but that's not the case at all—it stopped because he's sick..." Chopper quietly explained.

"So when you say, "end," you mean…" Nami mumbled, unable to finish her sentence as the atmosphere grew sullen.

"No doubt about it, my guess is that he only has three days left" Chopper nodded.

"What!" we shouted.

"Just three days?" Zoro questioned, causing the reindeer to sadly nod once again.

-The Next Morning-

"Morning—what's that smell?" the old man yawned as he stepped out of his hut.

"Sanji made breakfast" Nami chirped.

"Just a small one, bon appetit" Sanji grinned as he gestured to all the food he had prepared and laid out on a blanket.

"Small? You made a feast!" the old man gaped in shock as if he had never seen that much food before in his life.

"Yeah, and Sanji's a really good cook—dig in!" Luffy grinned as I perked up to the sound of a bleat as Baxter wandered over and plopped down beside me. Now comfortably resting his head on my lap.

"Well morning there, sleepyhead" I smiled as I gently started to scratch the top of his head, causing him to close his eyes and softly huff.

"The goats showed us the way to find the freshest fruits on the island and the best fishing spots too, didn't you guys?" Chopper smiled as the goats gave a chorus of bleats in confirmation.

"Well, come on, eat" Nami motioned, encouraging the old man to sit down and start eating. Instead, he pulled out his abacus.

"No, I can't afford it" he shook his head. "Like I said, I don't have any money" he frowned after doing the math and putting his abacus down.

"Don't worry about it, it's on us—come on" Nami urged as she dragged the man to sit down beside her.

"We may be pirates, but we're not going to charge you over something like this" I said.

"There isn't any poison in this, is there?" he warily asked after taking a glance around as if unnerved by our behavior.

"That's just rude" Nami scolded.

"It's just us young whippersnappers trying to do something nice for our elders" Usopp assured.

"Yep, but if you don't want it, I'll eat it" Luffy drooled, stretching his arm toward the pile of food only to have the old man grab his wrist and halt it in its tracks.

A/N: Enjoy

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