#i want them to travel all of the blues with nami so she can finish her map of the whole world

[legend-had-it]

when one piece ends i want all of them to have a permanent home on the all blue

like they can come and go as they please but they usually stay on sanjis restaurant on the all blue going on adventures together for the rest of their lives

[mssonepiece]

Pirate Rubber Ducks

Proof read and edited

Monkey D. Luffy x Reader smut

You may love everything about Luffy, but the rest of the crew certainly has their complaints about the captain.. Especially Nami. She has to beg you to make Luffy take a bath when he just doesn’t feel like doing it for a while(which happens to be weeks or even months at a time).

18+ under the cut.

Day 1

Getting Luffy to shower or bathe was pretty hard, but he’s just finished his last weekly shower of this month. Sanji had to sacrifice his usual afternoon activities with cooking an unusually large feast for when Luffy was done his shower. Of course I had to stay in the bathroom with him and guide him through the steps of cleaning himself, like every other time. But it was worth it for him to be clean after. Now I can sleep peacefully for a while without worrying about complaints from the more hygienic crew mates.

Day 7

Its been a boring week on the ship, theres been no island sightings yet, this can be a good an bad thing. When the crew is off the ship on an island we use less water, when everyones on the ship for so long the water filter slows down. Luckily Franky always gets it working again within the day. But this does lead to less showers being taken when we are traveling at sea since everyone must switch off days.

Day 10

I took a shower this morning and usually I like for Luffy to shower with me so we are both clean, but he's been running around the ship all day avoiding me since I woke up this morning and told him I was going to get ready for a shower. So I got the idea on the last island in some shop that maybe Luffy would like some toys for bath time and maybe that would make him want to bathe more. He’s never really been fond of showers, just comparing it to the rain and saying he doesn’t need to shower since he did in the rain.. Nami does not like when I relay this back to her.

So when we were on that island I went to the shop and it had the perfect bath toys, I took the time to look around carefully for items I knew Luffy would think were cool and entertaining. I found a yellow rubber duck with an eye patch to make it look like a pirate. It was perfect for him. I also found some bubbles and a few other colored ducks, one red and one blue. I haven’t shown him yet but I’ve been sure all day that Nami would come to ask me to get Luffy in the bath. I sigh in response and stand from where I was seated on the deck to look around for Luffy.

He was in the mens bunk room with Ussop and Chopper. “Hey Luffy,” Luffy turns his head at the sound of my voice behind him. “sorry to bother your guys game like usual but Luffy.. I got something for you” I would love to join their card game but hopefully they’ll still be playing when me and Luffy come back.

“What is it?” He hasn’t got up yet, still choosing to sit on the ground and look up at me. Ussop and Chopper already know that it’s time for Luffy to get clean and start to ushering Luffy to go with me. “Alright.” He says with a laugh as he finally stands up and follows behind me out of the mens bunk room. “what’s up” He hugs me from behind, I got a feeling he already knows what's up and wants to distract me.

“I got you a little friend for the bath.” I move my feet forward, half to try to get him to let go and half to just get him to move with me.

“is it you?” he laughs in my ear.

“no,” I join him but I’m not gonna let him charm his way out of this. “its not me. come see, I already got it all ready for you baby.” maybe some baby treatment will make him want to listen to me… I mean I did buy him a bunch of bath toy in order for him to take interest in getting clean. He might as well be a big baby sometimes.

“I think I’d rather take a bath with you babe.” He squeezes me a little tighter as I start to make some leeway.

"Yeah? I think you'll like this too Lu, just come." I put my arms on top his trying to pull them away. Luffy groans and slides back, keeping his hands on my hips.

"What is it?" He pulls my back against his chest and looks at me over my shoulder. I smile back at him and he returns the favor as always. "huh"

"Come." He finally lets me pull his arms and bring him to the bathroom. On the way he's sulking trying to make me change my mind but once we enter the room and he sees the bubbles and the rubber ducks floating around he's much happier.

"Are those rubber duckies?!" He shouts excitedly so I guess I've finally found a way to get him in the bath. "So cool! There's so many bubbles y/n" I can't help but laugh at his cute face getting all excited by a few bath toys and bubbles. "come on, take your clothes off.." Funny enough it's like every time Luffy acts like a cute child it's followed by acts of lust. He gives out very wholesome love I guess. So wholesome that sometimes I can't even tell when he's in the mood.

"what?"

"You heard me y/n." He's already removed his shirt and working on his shorts and boxers. I didn't really plan on joining him because I already took a shower this morning and he knows that but obviously he doesn't care. I must have been standing really still because Luffy came up to me and started pulling on my shirt after he was fully undressed. "Why aren't you moving."

"I don't know. Why don't you get in the bath?" He laughs at me but takes my hand and pulls me towards the bath, trying to get me in with my clothes still on. "WAIT! LUFFY NO!" He stops pulling and laughs so hard he has to grab onto me for support. Thank god he didn't pull me in the tub. He just slowly starts lifting my shirt from the back with a smile. "I already showered this morning. You were supposed to come with me and this would have already been done if you just listened Luffy."

"Soo?" Luffy pulls my shirt fully off now and moves to my pants. He leans into my neck and starts leaving rough kisses as he tries to pull my pants down for me. "you'll be extra clean." He bites my neck making me press my body into him then he laughs, knelling in order to remove all clothes from my bottom half. He's smiling as he stands back up of course and picks me up, dropping me in the tub. Luckily it's a pretty deep tub but my knees still hit the bottom of it hard.

"OW! Luffy.." He climbs in next to me and pulls me right on top of his lap facing away from him.

"Sorry.." He laughs and hugs my waist tight, leaving a kiss on my shoulder now he's got me so close again.

"Sure." I roll my eyes and wrap my arms over his. It would be nice to just sit like this for a while but I don't like being in the bath when it's cold so I'd like to get Luffy clean and get this over with.

The ducks start floating around us and Luffy clearly took notice, grabbing the pirate duck and bringing it close to us. "Heh, did you get this for me? Cause I'm gonna be-"

"King of the pirates." We smile at each other as I finish the sentence for him. "Yeah. I saw it at the last island and it reminded me of you."

"Oh heh. I just need an eye patch." He drops the duck and sinks his hand down into the water to crawl up my leg. I tilt my head onto his shoulder trying to get a look at his handsome face, he's looking down at, I'm assuming, the bubbles. He's dragging his hand up and down my left thigh. Inching closer to where I think he wants to be... I think the only way he's gonna get clean today is if I'm the one cleaning him. So I reach my hand over to grab the shampoo and squirt some in my hand, turning my body slightly to the left so I can put it in Luffy hair. I scrub it in and he's smiling with his eyes closed. He's moved his hand to rest on my right leg pulling both of them toward him, still dragging it back and forth slowly.

"Keep your eyes closed." I tell him as I grab the water cup, fill it, and pour it over Luffy's head. He smiles up at me when I'm done and quickly pounces at my lips. Of course I kiss back and wrap my hands around his face. Luffy brings that hand back between my legs rubbing up my thigh, getting closer and closer to.. "Luffy.. stop it I gotta get you clean baby." He groans in response and starts rubbing my clit. This shuts me up and honestly he's got my focus good now, I'm not too worried about giving him his a bath much anymore. "Lu.." He kisses me again and keeps working under the water.

"Babe.. I don't want to get clean. Can we play first?" He brings his fingers down and puts two fingers inside. I guess I have no choice. He gets the chance to stick his tongue in my mouth and does not miss it. Luffy's not one to usually take things slow but right now he's too distracted with fitting his tongue down my throat to move his fingers any faster. I'm hoping he'll still take baths with the toys without me in the future but I'm perfectly fine with this for now. He curls his fingers and I let a moan out into his mouth, he eats its up. He tries to kiss deeper but by now both our lips are hella swollen and possibly bruised from the biting. Luffy tries not to bite hard but always makes my lips bleed, I've grown to love it since it's a reminder of what me and him do together.

Finally Luffy pulls back to take a look at my face probably to see how I'll look at him with so little time to react. He smiles and speeds up his fingers with this knew found focus. "nnnh.. Lu-ffy." He's watching closely now, appreciating the work he did on my lips which draws him back in, kissing me so deeply again I have to grab his arm for support. "don't stop..."

"Baby.." He drags out the 'y' and smiles tauntingly. "Don't stop?" He chuckles to himself. "I thought you said 'Luffy stop it'" He's mocking me but I'm to invested in his fingers to care for his mouth right now. Though Luffy doesn't miss the tightening around his fingers at his words. "so should I stop?" with a pauses "or no?" and he starts again, clearly toying with me. He really is so childish. His other hand behind my back comes up into my hair and pushes me back onto his lips for another passionate kiss. I can barely kiss back at this point with how hard he's pushing our heads together, and with how he's moving his two fingers inside of me. "Hm?" Luffy pulls back for me to give an answer.

"no.." My mouth has been open this whole time, not able to keep it closed long enough to care anymore. He smiles brightly like he always does and his hand that's in my hair brings me back to him.

If I had to guess then I'd say that one thing Luffy can't stop himself from doing is fingering me during anytime of the day. To be honest I'm not to sure why, but it works for me. He's truly a great boyfriend. Who else could bend and stretch their fingers like Luffy can? No one of course, so I'm happy he choose to be with me, and is choosing to speed up his pace as he bends those long fingers in my pussy right now.

"Luf- ah baby please." I moan into his mouth and he can't help but smile against my lips, taking them in between his teeth and pulling back. I hope he thinks I'm cute, but it's quite obvious he does with how he looking at me. "I'm goin..to cum Luffy."

I love how he doesn't change his pace, honestly I think one reason he fingers me so much is because.. well I ask him so much. It's just not the same when I touch myself and there's really no need. He knows exactly what to do now with all the practice we've had.

He tries to play with my clit too but he's not doing too great a job, but luckily his other fingers are too deep and moving too swiftly for me to be affected by his clumsiness. I can feel already that I really am about to cum, he’s a magic worker with his devil fruit powers. Luffy leans over to kiss and bite the other side of the my neck he didn't get to cover yet. "baby"

"You're so cute." He whispers against my neck, going back to kissing it right after. He scissors his fingers quickly after feeling my cum coat his fingers, soon washed away by the water in the tub. He pecks my lips and smiles. Why does he have to be so cute? "Do I still have to take a bath?" Of course he asks.

"Luffy," I laugh at him. "we're almost done. I already washed your hair I just have to wash your body."

"Oh okay. Well get to it baby." He puts his hands on his hips and I quickly wrap my arms around his neck to hold me up.

"Okay." I laugh and grab the red loofa I know that's his and the body wash from the side of the tub. Luffy's watching intently again. I squirt the soap onto the loofa and rub it in, turing back to Luffy and starting with his scarred chest. "Do you like the ducks?"

He smiles and pulls me close by my waist. "Heh, yup."

Day 15

I'm peacefully sleeping in bed when Luffy throws himself on top of me, laughing already about some nonsense right in my ear. He pulls the comforter back, making me groan, and wraps his arms around my waist a few times to help bring back some of the warmth he took. Finally getting up close to my ear again to whisper

"Bath time baby.."

[peronasghosts]

I would LOVE to hear the zoro lecture

zoro lecture!! not three hours long bc i value my time & sanity but it is unplanned 👍 like all of the posts here at transdykezoro

actual ramble is under the readmore. bc it got LONG.

ok so zoro is fascinating as a character to me bc he’s got three main factors directing his behavior: his grief and subsequent extreme loneliness, his refusal to ever be the weakest person in any given place, and his pattern of being incredibly devoted. take into consideration i am only just finishing skypeia

his grief and loneliness are fairly easy to spot. it’s the root of his dream, and why he follows luffy in the first place. however!! it also shows up in other places.

the first example that i can think of is when nami went back to arlong park. luffy is certain that she’ll come back with them, that she wants to be with them.

zoro isn’t.

zoro consistently casts doubt on luffy’s confidence, and switches from liking and being friendly with nami to acting like he hates her.

you might be asking how this connects to his grief and loneliness. it does, albeit in a roundabout way.

don’t take this next section as fact, because i’m a teenager and not a psychologist. but judging from how zoro was a kid when kuina died (and he was already an orphan), and a young teenager when he started bounty hunting, he’s definitely traumatized. and his particular trauma is caused by his grief.

grief, especially when the death happens when you’re a kid, changes the way you see the world and how you see other people. based on his past, i’d say that zoro probably made that huge switch with nami partially because of her betrayal (sadness can appear like anger, but he still didn’t trust her as much after as far as i remember) and partially because he has a history of losing people. at least subconsciously, her betrayal made more sense than her coming back.

the next instance in which his grief shows up is when robin first joins the crew. nobody really trusts her (for good reason imo) but zoro is the one who goes on record multiple times (in the manga) in saying that he’s keeping an eye on her and will fight her if she tries to betray them.

but he trusted luffy instantly! so what’s the difference here?

the one that i see is that while robin made her first impression as a mysterious, cunning enemy, luffy’s first impression was him being dumb, annoying, and brave as hell. and also - luffy found zoro at a moment where zoro was unimaginably lonely. he’s not with johnny and yosaku, and seemingly hasn’t been for a while. he’s been traveling around east blue for a while mostly on his own, following the traumatic deaths of three people close to him.

yes, luffy technically blackmailed him, but zoro was kind of in a place where he’d take any chance that still allowed him to follow his dream. luffy understood that, and accommodated that. because he’s luffy

robin came in as an enemy and an ally to someone who mocked and almost killed luffy. and, importantly, she came in when zoro was experiencing something he hadn’t in a while - a stable, committed friend/family group

trauma also makes people hypervigilant. hyperviligance is when you’re basically always in some level of survivor mode. zoro’s in the grand line, a place he can’t survive in without his crew, and his emotional survival depends on his crew’s (mainly luffy’s) survival. robin is a threat to that. of course zoro trusts her the least

going onto the second motivation. it actually stems from the first one in that it’s rooted in his promise to kuina, but that’s normal for zoro.

zoro needs to be the strongest, or on par with the strongest, in any given situation he’s in. this changes a bit with luffy’s protagonist-ness but i think that zoro perceives himself as only a slightly worse fighter than luffy. and he’s fine with that bc it’s luffy.

in my opinion, it’s because zoro thinks that if he can’t win against someone who’s not a swordsman, how versatile is he? and if he loses to a swordsman, then he’s not on track to being the best, and then he’s not keeping his promise to kuina, which is i think his way of keeping her in his life

this factor in his behavior doesn’t stop when he’s not fighting, it’s spread to other parts of his life. i think that’s because zoro’s had a very unstable life so far, and so he controls what he can to make it more stable for him.

a side effect of all of this is that zoro seems incredibly masculine (in the traditional sense that i grew up with. i’m a white usamerican btw). this has inspired admiration and envy of some male fans. but also a not small amount of lesbians love zoro, and relate their experiences to him (like me) (from what i can tell).

i think you can kind of compare zoro to sanji and find out why. sanji’s masculinity, to me, seems incredibly performative. he’s in love with every girl he sees, he’s the one that’ll protect them, he wears a full suit on a tiny ship, but that’s not who he is when no one’s watching imo. sanji’s masculinity seems externally motivated.

zoro’s masculinity is rooted in his promise to a female friend he had when he was young. it’s incidental. his hair is short because it’s economical and easier and he’s muscular because he needs to be strong and likes being strong. it’s an internally motivated behavior, and seems like he’s just being himself. i think that that idea is very relatable to a lot of queer people and aspirational to a lot of cis guys (although maybe i’m giving some of them too much credit)

the third and final driving factor of zoro’s behavior is his loyalty. he’s perpetually loyal to kuina, and has been for about a decade. he changed his life for her when he was a preteen. that’s loyalty.

but now, he’s also intensely loyal to luffy. his loyalty to luffy and his loyalty to kuina sometimes come into conflict, but that hasn’t had a big impact yet, but i am excited for that possibility

[frobin]

Hi! Ok, I know it isn't very related to Frobin (except if you decide to mention them in the answer), but I am curious about your opionion on this thing. If the end of One Piece have someone of the Straw Hat crew that can die, who can be? OBVIOUSLY I hope nobody, that this thing doesn't happen, but never say never. There're people who say Luffy to recreate Roger's connection. Someone else Usop (but I miss the reason). Or Jinbe, who has also some problems and enemies from previous experiences?

Hey there anon!

No worries about asking questions. This is a FRobin blog but it's also a One Piece blog so it's fine to ask all kind of questions about One Piece. Even though I wouldn't consider myself much of an *expert* so everything I write is very much influenced by my own impressions.

But you're asking for my opinion anyway so that disclaimer is not necessary in this case. XD

---

Okay, first of all: I'm no fan of death flags. I never see them and when I read about them I feel like people pull them out of nowhere.

So I don't think any of the Strawhats will die before or even while the big end fight. Also it's not like they will reach their goal and then just drop dead (don't forget the dream are very different too but more about that later). Like what kind of life would that be?

Also we can't forget that Oda still believes he is writing this story for 14 year old boys. So, even though death is and will be a theme I don't think he will kill off the main crew.

That would not be very clever story wise and is not how to tell a story about adventure and fulfilling dreams for young boys.

Right now it's very "fashionable" to let characters die for shock value. But the more it's done the more annoying it becomes and less of a shock and Oda won't stoop so low to use this kind of element. Why do I think that?

So far we had three deaths in OP and they all shocked us a lot. But they were also used as motivator for other characters. Whitebeards death was a motivator for a whole new Generation of pirates, as well as his crew to try to save Ace and his little brother. Ace's death was a launch of character development for Luffy, Sabo, Garp and even Sengoku and probably more. Pedros death was a motivator for Carrot and other Minks. (Even the fake death of Pell was a huge motivator for Vivi. Interestingly compared to other deaths his sacrifice did not stop the war, which would have been an adequate impact. So him coming back alive actually makes sense.)

But look how few and far between they are. Of course there was more death but the important ones are kept as those.

Why am I talking about that? Who would benefit from a Strawhats death?

Literally no one. They are all already motivated to go until the end for each other. It's more likely that a death would cause Luffy to just give up, him becoming catatonic again.

Who would Luffy fight for if he even loses one of his crew mates? Or maybe two?

If I were a Marine I would try to make Luffy think that his friends are dead and then catch him but that is beside the point.

But for One Piece, a Strawhat death it would not move the story further. There is no additional motivator needed and that would be the only reason to kill one of the crew.

Killing a Strawhat makes no sense in my opinion.

A death would only make sense after they reached their goal.

So it is possible that we see the Strawhats die but long after the story came to an end, them reaching Laugh Tale (if that is the end). And yes, I think all of them will die of natural causes and/or sickness. Most of them at an old age. I think Luffy, Zoro or Usopp being the firsts because of the trauma their bodies had endured would make most sense.

I hope that answered your question anon... and anyone who does not want to read even more about my nonsense can stop here.

But let me break down why I think that all Strawhats have plot armor against death flags, behind the read-more.

-> It is very important that I think the huge clash with the Blackbeard Pirates, which will be the end fight, will happen right before Laugh Tale. And Laugh Tale is the end-goal and the end of the main story. (I MIGHT BE WRONG!!!)<-

Everyones own story can only end after they reached their goal so let's look why I think that these dreams give the Strawhats Plot Armor.

Luffy: Become the king of the pirates. That means he has to reach Laugh Tale. I often hear that Luffy will die early because of the parallel to Roger. That does not mean he won't reach his 40s or 50s. Even after reaching Laugh Tale Roger lived a bit longer and even had time to "make a child" so, killing off Luffy in the end fight makes no sense. So maybe dying after the fight, on Laugh Tale? That could happen and would be the earliest death of any Strawhat imo.

Zoro: Become the strongest sword fighter. That means he still has to kill Mihawk. I don't think Mihawk will go and look for Zoro. So, Zoro has to survive and then return to Mihawk and have his duel. No sense in killing off Zoro. I am 100% sure that he will survive until then.

Nami: Drawing a world map. For that Nami has to travel the world many times more. After they reached Laugh Tale, Nami has only finished part of her dream. She has to visit all of the Blues, travel the Grand Line and the New world multiple times. Drawing a Map of the world will take a lifetime. Her dream will take the longest to be fulfilled.

Usopp: Become the great warrior of the sea. Now here we have a dream that is not really tangible. Usopp will be a great warrior as soon as he realises that he is one. In my opinion he already managed to become a great warrior. Time and time again he has shown how amazing he is but this is all about his own self image and so hard to grasp. This actually makes Usopp the most likely to have a death flag BUT we can't forget that he still has to return home and tell his stories to Kaya and the Usopp pirates. It's part of a promise that is only secondary but for me it's enough to think Usopp too is safe until he did that.

Sanji: To find the All Blue. Sanji thinks that the All Blue is something physical. We can't know that and if it is physical we can consider that it's maybe a part of the New World near the Red Line where all seas somehow come together. So again, until Sanji found that place he hasn't fulfilled his dream. And since I think that would be BEHIND Laugh Tale, again I think Sanji is safe. Alternatively the All Blue is just a metaphor for something completely different but I can't hink about what.

Chopper: To cure all illness. Here too, this is something that takes time. Chopper is still only at the beginning of his career of being a doctor. Finding a magical cure for every illness that exists is not something that just happens. Logically he would need to talk with many other medical experts and together they might be able to find it. When and how and if that happens is impossible to say but again that would be something that would fit best in the time after reaching Laugh Tale.

Robin: To find the truth of the void century. Right now we figure that she will find that at the end of their travel, on Laugh Tale. Maybe it will happen earlier in case the Strawhats storm the World Government. Either way she will learn the truth. But that will not be the end to her. After learning the truth it's up to Robin to bring it to the world, to write it down, to teach, to make people understand that they can't erase history and that they have to learn from it. Again, that is something that takes time and so, truly fulfilling her dream.

Franky: To travel the world in the ship of his dreams. Again that is a vague dream. But it would mean to at least return to Water Seven, so that Sunny has traveled the world once. But even then it's only been a small part of the world and traveling the world would mean to visit at least every of the seas. So far, Sunny had been in two to four, depending on how much you take the movies into account. But to fulfill Franky's dream he needs to survive a bit longer and so does Sunny.

Brook: To meet Laboon again. This is simple. But for that Brook has to reach the end of the New World and then get over the Red Line again. What he will do after that is hard to tell. But again, the Red Line is behind Laugh Tale and so I'm sure Brook too, has to survive... even though he is already dead YOHOHO!

Jinbe: Equality between merfolk and humans. Again this is something that is no easy feat and will probably take more than one generation. Also it is not only up to him and more to Shirahoshi and the World Government. This dream is about teamwork too, but who could be a better ambassador for the merfolk than him? Losing Jinbe would be a huge backfire for the cause. Jinbe too is safe in my opinion. If you have reached the end of the post, let me tell you again my headcanon about FRobin: After the main adventure Franky and Robin return to Water Seven where Franky helps to turn W7 into a boat and after that is done, they travel to the island where Ohara used to be and there they rebuild the island. More people return and it again becomes a hub for scholars and history.

[mystical-flute]

Uncharted Waters 50: Welcome to the New Age

AO3 || Ko-Fi

Ace and Luffy turned murderous, their eyes sparking with haki as they stared at the phone in Reika’s hand.

“Then we’re leaving. We gotta save Sabo,” Luffy said, already turning to run back the way they’d come.

“Luffy, wait!” Nami shouted after him, grabbing what treasure she was able to. The others were doing the same with the books, and Reika knew Robin had likely filled the Sunny’s library with the old tomes. “It took us almost four days to get here! We’ll never make it in time!”

“You can,” Aiko’s voice piped up from the phone. “Just use the Veil. I can input the coordinates of Mary Geoise to Reika’s device no problem.”

“Aiko, we’ve never tried to send a shp through the Veil!”

“The worlds are reconnected, Reika. They had to have traveled through them somehow. Just trust me, okay? Get on your dragon and set up the coordinates I send.”

She sighed, watching as everyone made it back onto the ship and started preparing to leave. “Alright, alright. Give us a few minutes. Jinbei, if you could turn the ship around and start sailing back the way we came, that’d be great.”

It was hard to believe they had to leave Laugh Tale so soon. She imagined they would have had a feast to celebrate Luffy’s finally becoming King of the Pirates, to finally celebrate what she had been working for with the I.D.R.A.

But, if Sabo was in danger, of course they were going to go after him. And if that meant taking down the World Government in the process, well, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

“We need to make a pit stop first, Aiko,” Ace suddenly said. “Law and I have our crews waiting for us back at Lodestar.”

“You’re lucky I already wanted to help tear down the Celestial Dragons, Portgas,” Law grumbled.

“Fine, sure. Just stay safe, Ace.”

Ace blinked, frowning in confusion. “Are you not going to be there, Aiko?”

Aiko let out an annoyed grunt. “No. Dad hasn’t cleared me medically yet. Joey and I are here keeping watch on everything, which is why I was able to call Reika. Yamato, you’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid, right?”

Yamato looked a little baffled by the phone, but still, he nodded in agreement. “Yeah! I mean - I can’t see the rest of the world if Ace dies, right?”

“I’m not gonna die!” Ace protested.

“No, no, you just started a trend of you brothers getting captured and scheduled for execution,” Yamato snickered. “Don’t worry, Aiko. We’re all gonna get out of there alive.”

“I’ll be cheering all of you on. Reika, I sent the coordinates to your device. There was a change of plans - Dragon wants you to rendezvous at an island closer to the Red Port.”

Luffy didn’t seem to understand the implications of Aiko’s words. Instead, he puffed out his chest and let out a shout of “Hurry up!”

And of course, the obliged. Reika summoned Blizzard Dragon, soaring to the height of the Sunny and taking a deep breath as she stared down at the device in her hand. “Alright Veil… let’s see if you really can open for a ship,” she whispered, typing the coordinates in and pressing the button.

The bright blue portal surged to life, just tall enough for the Sunny to pass through. On the deck, she saw the shocked looks from those who had never passed through one before.

“Jinbei! You have to get the ship through first! I’ll follow!” she shouted. “It’s safe, I promise!”

Jinbei didn’t look convinced, even as he did as she said and guided Sunny through the Veil, back to Lodestar. As promised, she followed just as the stern finished passing through.

“That was so cool!” she heard Carrot squeal. “And now we’re right back at Lodestar! It’s so convenient!”

“Law! Ace!” she called, watching as they moved back toward their own ships. “Give me a signal when you guys are ready to go through!”

She didn’t wait long - not with the gravity of the situation.

Minutes later, she soared through the Veil to the island Dragon was waiting on. She dismissed her Blizzard Dragon and dropped to the deck of the ship as Jinbei pulled into port, Revolutionary Army members milling around and watching them closely.

“Wow… these guys seem more intense than I thought,” Usopp said, eyeing the revolutionaries warily. “I thought Dad’s crew was intense but… this is on another level.”

“You guys! You’re finally here!” Koala cried, rushing forward as they disembarked. “Actually, you made great timing considering how far you were… and you brought backup! Good. Good. Dragon’s inside, he wants to talk to you.”

“I didn’t think we’d ever get the chance to meet Luffy’s dad,” Nami whispered as they moved through the throng of revolutionaries to the massive tent on the other side of the island. “To think we’re fighting with them”

“After everything Zeff told me about them, it’s hard to imagine I’d ever be working with them to bring down the government,” Sanji agreed.

A wave of haki washed over them, but despite its strength, none of them succumbed to its power.

“Heh. Good. That’s just what I would expect from your crew,” Dragon’s voice rumbled from the head of a long table, littered with maps and charts. He turned slowly in his chair to face the crew. “I’m glad to finally see you again, my son.”

Unease was high in the room, but Luffy was unfazed and simply tilted his head. “‘Again’? What do you mean? I’ve never met you before!”

Dragon let out what Reika could only describe as a pseudo-chuckle as he rose to his feet. “That’s because the last time you saw me, you were just a baby drooling into my cloak.”

Luffy let out an indignant noise. “Let’s get one thing straight here. I don’t drool! And who are you, anyway?”

“Be that as it may,” Dragon said smoothly, an arm sweeping open in greeting. “I am Monkey D. Dragon - your father. And I am the leader of the Revolutionary Army. I hope we can work together in order to save Sabo.”

Luffy brightened at that. “Oh! Yeah! Sabo works for you! So what are we doing to get him back?”

“Come take a seat. You brought others to help, yes? And your Fleet?”

“You know about them?” Luffy questioned as the crew sat down around the table.

“Yes, I do. They showed up here last night after the news broke about Sabo. Koala and Hack verified their identities for me. They have their orders. It wasn’t smart to have all of them on this island at once, along with you. The government is sniffing around here. Come. Let’s discuss our plan. Betty, show the other captains in.”

Belo Betty, one of the commanders, nodded and disappeared from the tent. When she returned, Ace and Law were with her, and Nami was dragging Sanji and Brook back to their seats so they wouldn’t say or do anything stupid.

Dragon cleared his throat. “I’ve been keeping an eye on your exploits Luffy, and I’ve come up with a winning strategy to get Sabo back and make those who took him pay for what they’ve done. Luffy, you and Ace will be the leading force into Marie Geoise. My commander, Morley, will be able to get you through the Red Line.”

Ace blinked. “Through the - ”

“Captain Law, you will be with my group. We'll sneak our way through the Red Port and up to Marie Geoise. Sabo is being held in Castle Pangaea - the seat of power for the government,” Dragon continued, ignoring Ace’s question. “A pincer maneuver.”

“Okay. Let’s say this plan works and we defeat the Celestial Dragons. What happens after that?” Zoro asked. “Not that I’ve been a fan of rules or government or anything, but… overthrowing one of the three powers of the world could lead to a lot of innocent people getting hurt.”

Dragon smirked. “I assure you, our plan is not to destroy the government as a whole - anarchy and chaos would not end well, especially with Eturn and Earth reunited. All we want to do is free people from the tyrannical rule of the Celestial Dragons, abolish slavery, reveal the true history of the world… The Marines are always going to be needed in order to combat criminals and people will still need rulers,” Dragon’s eyes slid over to Vivi before he continued. “We do not intend to overthrow any king or queen who is a fair and just ruler. Should you wish it, Princess Vivi, you are free to return to Alabasta after the war. Earth has agents stationed there to keep it out of government hands.”

Vivi nodded. “Thank you. I’m glad to know Alabasta is in safe hands.”

Dragon rose to his feet, pointing at the map on the table. “Mary Geoise is a large and dangerous place. There will be Cipher Pol Agents and Marines waiting. The area we’re targeting is Pangaea Castle - that is where Sabo is being held, and where they plan to execute him.”

“Then that’s where we go!” Luffy declared, also standing. “Let’s hurry up!”

“Yes, I quite agree,” Dragon said, gesturing to the giant waiting outside the tent. “Follow Morley. She’ll take you to her ship.”

“Why can’t we use ours?”

“Morley’s is inconspicuous and has had one of her men posing as a fisherman for months in order for us to gain entry to the Red Line. Trust me, you’ll be safer there.”

Luffy wrinkled his nose. “Fine.”

Morley was all too happy to guide them to her ship after Ace’s crew caught up with them. The ship was brown and unassuming, with a merchant’s flag on it instead of one of the grand Revolutionary flags.

“It wouldn’t be good to have one of those while doing reconnaissance, would it?” Morley shrugged as the ship rocked and the Red Line came into view. “Just a few more minutes, Luffy. Then we’ll be inside.”

They ducked away from windows, hidden away from prying eyes, until a knock on the door had Morley moving onto the deck. They followed, staring as Morley quite literally started pulling and pushing at the Red Line like it was made of clay. “Ah, here it is.”

“Here what is?” Sanji questioned.

“The pathway I built into the Red Line,” Morley replied, pulling apart the bedrock like it was nothing. “Come on, another ship will be by soon. Just follow the pathway until I get inside. Then I’ll show you all the way.”

A sense of unease crossed them, but, with no other option, the Straw Hats, Spade Pirates, and Morley’s men jumped through the opening.

“You know… this cavern almost reminds me of the one that leads to Newkama Land in Impel Down,” Bentham mused as they followed Morley through the tunnel.

“Oh, did someone find my hiding spot in that terrible place?” Morley suddenly asked, a blush growing on her cheeks as she glanced back at them. “And it’s called Newkama Land? How flattering!”

Bentham stopped short and bumped into Usopp. “Wait, Morley, you created Newkama Land?”

Morley shrugged. “I didn’t call it Newkama Land, but yes, I did manage to escape my cell and create a little hideaway for myself. Figured out a way to get news from the outside world… and a few months later I made my grand escape! Makes me a little sad that no one seemed to notice I was gone, though. However I did hear all about your exploits, young Luffy. You should tell me a story!”

“Not until we get Sabo back!” Luffy snapped, charging ahead of the group, Ace on his heels.

“Sorry, Morley, he gets this way when someone he loves is in trouble!” Reika called as the crews followed their captains.

“Just like Sabo,” Morley sighed, running along behind them. “I suppose that’s why they’re brothers. It’s endearing, in an annoying sort of way.”

They rushed through the tunnel, up a gentle incline, and when they finally reached the end of the road, Morley grinned. “Step back everyone, it’s time to make our grand entrance!” With a flourish of her trident, Morley stabbed the bedrock above them, pushing it apart like it was nothing.

Luffy and Ace didn’t wait for an explanation, or a list of what to do next. No, instead they exploded out of the ground, knocking down whoever was up top waiting for them.

A few guns and swords dropped into the hole in Luffy and Ace’s wake.

The crew didn’t hesitate in following their captains up to the surface.

Marines surrounded them on all sides. She could see her mother, Tashigi, and Smoker among them, only they weren’t fighting Revolutionaries, but Cipher Pol agents and their own men.

SWORD must have been in play too.

“Luffy! Ace! The castle is this way!” Vivi called, slicing down some enemies with her new and improved peacock slashers. “Follow me!”

“We have to create a path for them!” Sanji shouted. “We can’t let any of these damn Marines or Cipher Pol agents follow them into the castle!”

“Sorry to say, but you’re not getting anywhere near that castle.” Kizaru appeared before them in a flash of light, an apathetic look in his eye. “I have to say though, it is touching how far you’d go for a family member… it’s just too bad you’re all criminals and I have to kill you.”

Robin gasped. “Kizaru. This isn’t good.”

“If he’s here… the others must be too,” Jinbei said with a frown. “We need to be on our guar -”

But Luffy was already gone, running ahead of the crew with only Sabo on his mind. Ace was right behind him.

“Oh my, they’re speedy when they want to be,” Kizaru sighed. “But not as fast as m -”

“I don’t think so, you bastard. You’re not going after them, you’re going to be fighting me,” Sanji snarled. “If you beat me, then you can go after my captain… if you can get through the rest of the crew.”

Kizaru shrugged. “That’s fine, providing your crew can get through the others…”

Trying to separate them so they couldn’t all raid the castle at once. It was clever, Reika would give them that.

No other words needed to be spoken as Sanji’s fight began. One by one, the crews became separated as Vice Admirals and Admirals crawled out of the woodwork itching for a fight. Jinbei and Yamato were tag-teaming Ryokugyo, and Zoro had taken up a fight with Fujitora.

Kizaru, Ryokugyu, Fujitora. That only left one.

Sakazuki.

As if on cue, Sakazuki erupted from the building just before the castle, looming over Ace and Luffy.

Dammit. If Ace got killed by Akainu when they were so close to freeing Sabo, she was going to bring him back to life and kill him again.

They couldn’t lose anyone. Not today.

“Young lady! It doesn’t bode well for a fight if you’re lost in thought!” Vice Admiral T-Bone chastised, his sword coming down to collide with her batons. “Honestly, I was hoping to have a more exciting spar with someone like you.”

He had always been particularly polite, for any person, let alone a Marine. An honorable man. To see him fighting her, fighting to protect the people that wanted to suppress information and keep slavery around. To keep oppression thriving…

“I just don’t get it,” she said, shaking her head as she looked at him. “Why are you fighting to defend them?”

T-Bone paused in his attack, frowning at her. “What are you talking about?”

“The Celestial Dragons. Why are you fighting for them? With how much pain they’ve caused people?”

“How much pain have you caused people, pirate? How many people have suffered because you decided to go and invade their territory?” He lifted his sword, swinging it at her, and she blocked it, batons sparking with electricity.

“There’s a difference between us and the Celestial Dragons is that pirates don’t have the government in their back pocket. When we do things that cause people pain, we’re rightfully punished for it, but if the government, say… decides to usurp a king and murder him, sending his daughter on the run, well, they have an army at their beck and call. But if a pirate does the same thing, they’re branded as criminals. Rightfully so, of course, but it doesn’t seem fair that the government can do these awful things and we can’t, does it? But those guys there?” she paused and gestured to the Revolutionaries that were inching their way toward the castle, led by Lindbergh, “those guys want to make things more equal for everyone. To free everyone.”

T-Bone’s sword shook as he lowered it. “You… sound remarkably like Vice Admiral Miaka. She was saying some of the same things as you. About freedom and equality, and helping the innocent… but why would a criminal want that?”

She shrugged. “Because having the freedom we do is fun and everyone should get that chance. And besides…” she glanced up at the sky, T-Bone following her gaze as the Veil fluttered in the atmosphere. “It’s about time everyone learns about the world beyond the Veil, isn’t it?”

T-Bone looked even more pale than he normally did, eyes frightened as he glanced back at her. “The Veil…? What’s that?”

“You can learn all about it if you help us beat the Celestial Dragons.T-Bone, I might not have any honor, but Vice Admiral Miaka does, right? Would she be saying the same things I am if she was evil?”

T-Bone looked like the entire world crumbled before him. “No… she wouldn’t. She is one of the most honorable Marines we have… and Vice Admiral Garp wouldn’t have taken her under his wing if he couldn’t vouch for her.” He paused and glanced up at the sky again, his crown turning to horror. “What in the world…?”

She followed his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“How are there storm clouds up there? Mary Geoise never gets rain! We’re too high in the air for that to happen!”

The clouds thickened, causing a strange green tint to the world as they circled and coiled around a particular section of the castle. 

And then one of the upper walls exploded, obscuring the castle even further.

So the Revolutionaries have made it this far. This is the most entertainment I’ve had in centuries…

The voice was smooth, ethereal, and cut through her head like a knife. A quick glance told her others felt it too - pirates and Marines holding each other up.

Even Sakazuki, beaten down and near unconsciousness, had a palm on his forehead in confusion.

It’s quite astounding that you’ve managed to get this far, and interfere with my perfect world, the voice continued. No matter what I threw at you. No matter how many agents died for the cause of eliminating you. You survived, and you seek to kill me.

“Who the hell are you?” Luffy shouted, voice ringing above anyone else that questioned it.

The voice just laughed, high pitched and cold as the smoke cleared. Standing on one of the balconies was a figure cloaked in black, wearing a tall crown. It was humanoid - well, sort of. It was standing on two legs, had two arms, one pair of eyes, lips, and one nose… but otherwise it looked nothing like a human with its paper-white skin and golden and black eyes. In a way, they resembled Mihawk’s, if Mihawk was a skeleton.

I am Imu. I am the king of this world.

“There’s no king of this world!” Kuzan shouted. “Where are the Five Elders?!”

Oh. Them? A flourish of the cape revealed the five bodies strewn behind him, the faces still paralyzed with fear. They were nothing more than a sacrifice for the greater good. But they had grown weak thanks to the fighting. Luckily, I have a more powerful sacrifice waiting for me… Another flourish of its hand, and Sabo floated ominously in the air. You’re all lucky to witness -

But Luffy, of course, didn’t miss a beat, stretching his arm toward the balcony. He managed to grab it, but with a wave of its hand, Imu slammed Luffy back to the ground.

Pathetic! And you are supposed to be the new JoyBoy? You are not fit to tie the old one’s shoes! But it matters not, when I’m done with this one here, I’ll drain -

And all at once, Imu stopped, a lightning bolt lodged straight through its mouth, where it had been draining Sabo’s… life energy or whatever.

Imu collapsed to the ground, unmoving as Dragon finally stepped out from the shadows, his dark green cloak billowing in the wind. Lindbergh was right behind him, seastone in his grasp. He quickly bound Imu in the chains and dragged it away as Karasu, the final Revolutionary commander, helped Sabo to his feet.

Dragon looked out at the gathered crowd, then at the news coo that were flying overhead.

“It is over,” he said, not yelling, but his voice carried over the battlefield all the same. “This world is free from the evil of the Celestial Dragons, and will now be able to heal. And we will do that with the help of our neighbors from Earth.”

To her surprise, Kenji stepped onto the balcony next, and began to speak. The Marines and Cipher Pol agents moved closer, and the Straw Hats moved back, gathered together in a quiet celebration as Chopper treated their wounds.

“Reika…”

Reika looked up and smiled with relief when she heard her mother’s voice. “Mom, Takeshi!” She managed to stand up, ignoring the dull ache that had caught up to her now that the adrenaline was beginning to wear off, and rush into her arms. “You’re okay! But - but where’s Dad?”

“He’s in Domino. As soon as we returned to Marineford, he evacuated Rei there. We weren’t sure if Sakazuki was going to try anything since we survived Blackbeard’s wrath,” Miaka explained. “They’re safe. Don’t worry.”

“We should call them, let them know the battle is over.”

Reika nodded and pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, quickly dialing Yugi for a video call.

“Reika!”

In a second, the screen was filled with anxious family members. Seto stood behind the couch, his brow twisted in worry. “Reika, are you -?”

“It’s over, Seto. It’s over. We won.”

Dawn, at last, had come to Eturn.

[durotoswrites]

For the writing meme thingy: 🍄how do you get yourself in the mood to write? 🍑 do you/would you write smut? 📒 any fics planned?

🍄 How do you get yourself in the mood to write?

Getting in the mood to write and actually wanting to sit down and start writing are two very different things, but they're connected, so I'll explain both.

To set into “creative mode” it helps me to do these things:

Listen to music that makes me think of a character/situation in my story/stories. I've got playlists separated by character and pairing. Sometimes I also just work on curating those playlists for fun and get my brain going.

Bounce overall ideas off of my friends and husband/editor (but he's my best friend, too 💗)

Reread old chapters or recent ones and future snippets based on what I want to do.

Once I actually want to put words down, I get a little more strict with myself. I get distracted verrrry easily sometimes and I have to fight the urge to open a million more tabs when researching a small detail.

I move to instrumental music (I have playlists for different moods like “emotional”, “soft”, “sad”, etc. I usually listen to “soft” as a general soothing background sound, as I can get pretty dang emotional when I write, especially with the stuff I've been churning out lately.

So, yeah, I need tissues within reach if I get upset. (Wow, I'm not making this sound fun at all, lmao)

After sound has been established, I like to eat a snack (something with protein) because I can be under for hours, lol. Eat it and finish it. Otherwise, I get distracted.

I also like to have drinks available. I always have a bottle of water, but I also like having a hot cup of tea. I think it's the time of year for me to switch to cold barley tea.

I write while seated on a recliner with my feet up. I have my laptop on a lap desk and it's a pretty cozy setup.

I basically try to remove any excuse I have to get up once I start writing, because I am the worst procrastinator I know.

🍑Do you/would you write smut?

Heheh... heck yeah, I do. Waaaaay more than most people realize. Stuff I've actually posted? It's pretty limited. I posted a couple pieces (Let Me Love You and You're Like the Sunshine) a few years ago, but I've been practicing ever since. One of my planned stories literally has what I refer to as a “smut dump” in the draft where I've been experimenting with writing different moods. I like the intimate scenes to play a role in the overall plot or have it be a bonding experience.

Despite that, I do have a shameless Gray x Mary story I should just get out there that has zero plot, just two cuties in love. In my mind it's so naughty and kinky and I get flustered thinking about it (Mary is hot, okay?), but it's probably hella vanilla, lmao. I really am grateful that people have been really supportive about my writing smut despite what I usually write, and they've been so encouraging, too! I honestly feel like the smut I've posted is really stilted because I was so self-conscious about it. I don't feel like they are terrible for first attempts, but I have definitely grown more comfortable writing it.

Will The Shy Newcomer become explicit? I kinda really want it to, but I might separate the chapters for those who don't care for that content. Overall, I'd like to write more and post more, and I want to write more than just male x female smut as well. I have some of those in my planned pieces (more about them later).

📒 Any Fics Planned?

Firstly, I'm super tickled more than one person was interested in this. I copied the answer I wrote earlier.

Short answer: Yes. I also plan to bring more of my stories over from ffn to Ao3.

Long answer under the cut, heheh. I rambled quite a bit.

Ask me about my writing processes and stories!

I have so many WIPs that haven’t been touched in years that I’d like to finish, so new planned fics aren’t posted yet. Some of them have more adult themes than most of the stuff I’ve been writing, so I get flustered sharing them. I’ve been at a crossroads, as I feel that you can’t have growth without changing things up. On the other hand, I feel like a lot of my readers associate my works with a specific “wholesome” feel-good mood. It’s kinda nice to be known for something, although that might just be my ego talking, thinking that people recognize my work as a “type”.

Regardless, in the end, I feel growth is necessary.

I don’t want to leave a lot of unfinished WIPs waiting because they stress me out and I have too many of them already, so I’d like to have a bulk of my new stories with a good chunk written before I decide to post them.

Among those include:

A longfic featuring Pete’s farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley (A blend of HMDS with the FoMT plugin and AWL). It takes place in the same universe as The Shy Newcomer (Claire in Mineral Town) and there are a few overlapping moments, although Pete’s story starts first. Pete’s personality is verrry different from Claire’s, and his story was kind of supposed to be the yang to TSN’s yin. Pete’s best friends in his story are Ruby (not sure if I’m adding Tim yet), Nami, and Rock. Readers will be treated to a poorly-socialized pre-Mineral Town Cliff (if you think he was bad at the beginning of TSN, well… heh… he’s a wreck here).

Another planned unpublished story is a crossover of Harvest Moon and the movie “In This Corner of the World”, based on a manga of the same name by Fumiyo Kouno. It was written as a gift for a friend. I have the entire outline figured out and have slowly been filling it in. My friend asked for an AU where Claire and Cliff have an arranged marriage and live with his family in Akiyama, the hometown I had created for Cliff in The Shy Newcomer. I took the opportunity to expand the characters in his family. I have it written during the same time period and society as “In This Corner of the World”, but had decided to write a spreading disease as an allegory for war, but then COVID happened and some parts of it just got really hard to write. There are also a lot of sexually explicit content as Claire slowly grows and learns from her spouse that it’s okay to express what she wants despite sex being a taboo issue. If there’s enough interest in the story, I’ll post it, but I worry it’s a little too niche for there to be many people into it.

Pastor Carter and Doctor Trent are one of my favorite rare pair ships. I’ve had a partial draft for a story about them for a few years now, especially focusing on Trent growing up and acknowledging that he has an unhealthy addiction for things that he knows he can’t have. There are some more adult/sexual themes in this piece, too, including the main character lusting after a married woman (who also happens to be his patient) and some lemons. (Does anyone call it that anymore or is it just referred to as “smut” nowadays? Haha) I always feel so bad for neglecting the folks at the clinic in-game and wanted to write a piece that focused more on them, Trent specifically. It’s a multi-chap fic, but I don’t think I’m going to let it get as long as some of my other pieces.

I also really want to write a short romantic oneshot for every marriage candidate in Mineral Town, around 1,000 words each. So far, I have one for Cliff and one for Gray. I want to write Claire with everyone, because I think it would be fun to explore all the different personalities.

I have more installments planned for A Single Day, including a day in the life of the following characters, all with drafts in varying degrees of progress:

Anna

Doug

Nora (yes, I’m writing from the point of view of the cat living at the inn)

More to come – I think Lillia and Thomas would be especially interesting to explore

I do still have that Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask piece I’ve been pondering where Link befriends the soul of the deku scrub child while possessed by the mask. I don’t have much written about it, but I really love the world of Majora’s Mask. Such a fun game.

I also think about the lead carpenter’s son in Ocarina of Time and that weird side quest involving the blue chicken and the son being lost to the forest. Then that unique-looking kokiri girl explaining that all who get taken in the lost woods become stalfos. Like, did the guy die? Was he sick? Did he want to die? There’s just so much going on there that would be fun to explore.

I also have played OMORI recently and have like… A LOT of feelings about it. I don’t know what I’d write, but I’m still damn impressed at how well the characters are developed in such a short game.

Other games I’ve had vague ideas about writing for include the following:

The Flame in the Flood: I’m thinking a survivalist/action story fleshing out Scout’s backstory a bit more and her thoughts as she’s traveling. I feel like she’s a very lonely person, but isn’t given the chance to really dwell on it.

Night In the Woods: I’d love to write more about Mae’s dreams and what they mean to her. She doesn’t really talk to anyone about them openly, so it’s really hard to tell her feelings about them in some regards. We know that she’s distressed about them, but I’d like to dive a little deeper. Do the nightmares end after the games does? What about Bea’s new nightmares?

Hades (Supergiant Games): I think it would be fun to write more about the events that take place before the game starts, like Zagreus’s duties in the house of Hades, and expand on the strained relationship with his father.

[yukipri]

On the Baratie, Part 5 Epilogue - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Here’s the final part of the Baratie series!

Includes my personal headcanons for Thatch’s backstory in this AU (and possibly canon, as I doubt we’ll learn much more about him sigh).

WARNINGS (actual warnings this time):

＊Trigger warnings for non-graphic violence, gore, unwilling self-harm, mention of thoughts of suicide, and body horror. Canon-typical dark backstory.

Slight ship warnings for: minor Sanji x Luffy, Thatch x Luffy, hint of bg Sabo x Luffy, but not ship-focused.

Continues off of past parts!

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 1

👒🐟On the Baratie, Prologue

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 2

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 3

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 4

~~

They've been traveling together for a while now. With more additions to the crew, Sanji's no longer the newest member. They leave East Blue, crossing over to the Grand Line. Their voyage continues onward.

Fitting into his role as the second cook of the ASL Pirates was easier than Sanji could have ever hoped, and he knows it's largely due to Thatch. Thatch, who, for all his incredible skill and titles and history, turns out to be...a remarkably normal person. It takes less than an hour for Sanji's awe over Thatch being his childhood idol to turn into pure indignation when the other cook professes his love for Luffy, and now their daily proposals to Luffy with food are just part of routine on the Merry.

(Sanji still knows his cooking is amateur in comparison to Thatch's, but none of their crew seems to realize, and Luffy eats all their food with equal gusto. Even Thatch himself only ever compliments Sanji, often with ridiculous faux outrage that Sanji's cooking looks better, which is absolutely false, Sanji would know. But even so, the man sounds so genuinely offended that Sanji can't help but appreciate the lengths the older man will go to in order to keep Sanji from feeling inferior.)

It's during a rare moment of calm, when the skies are clear and Deuce and Nami seem relaxed about their progress, when Sanji decides there's never going to be a better time to ask. He finishes washing the last of the pastry plates from the desserts the crew had just finished devouring (his hands momentarily pause on a plate that Ace had to pull out of Luffy's throat when she swallowed it whole along with the pastry, and Sanji allows himself a moment of imagining that the plate with her slobber is somewhat like an indirect kiss...), before he exits the kitchen to go to his locker.

From the locker, buried beneath gravure magazines of buxom ladies whose beauty will never compare to Luffy's, he pulls out a magazine far more valuable to him, the only one of its kind that he'd brought with him from the Baratie.

Back up on the main deck, Sanji finds Thatch sitting by the mast while watching Luffy and Usopp play with some new contraption the latter made. He looks up when he senses Sanji's approach, grimacing when the movement makes the wind blow his now loose hair into his mouth.

"I need a hair tie if Marco's not going to send me my damn hair wax," Thatch complains, even as he pats the ground next to him for Sanji to sit.

"You could always ask our lovely navigator," Sanji grunts as he drops down, careful not to fold the magazine, which Thatch has yet to notice.

"Ah, beautiful Miss Nami might have one, but her hair's pretty short...honestly more likely Deuce'll have one." Thatch sulks, because he'd really rather get a hair tie from a pretty lady, but as it is, Thatch probably has the longest hair on the crew at the moment, followed by their first mate. "If only our ladies had longer hair...ah, my darling Seastar with long hair..."

Sanji lets himself get drawn into imagining their most dazzling Lady Captain leaning against the rail of the Merry, sunlight sparkling off the waves in the background paling in comparison to her radiance. Her face is shadowed by her trademark straw hat, before she raises her head, causing long, silky strands to ripple around her like dark angel wings, glittering threads of black diamond dancing across her cheeks before she tucks them behind her ear with a small smile--

Both cooks sigh dreamily in perfect unison.

"Hey Luffy, they're thinking somethin' pervy about you again!" Usopp shouts in the background.

Both cooks ignore him, likewise in perfect synch.

Thatch regretfully pulls out of his Luffy Vision first. "So, you got something to talk to me about?" He knows it can't be about dinner, because they'd already started prepping for that.

Sanji blinks, and oh, there's Luffy, with her short hair, still just as lovely, probably doing something incredibly stupid and dangerous, but that's okay because Sabo's stepping in, and the Revolutionary may be batshit crazy but he won't let Luffy hurt herself--and right, he wanted to talk to Thatch.

He carefully brings the magazine out in front of him, and Thatch leans over curiously. The pages easily fall open to the column, remembering the page Sanji poured over countless times. Sanji hears Thatch's breath hitch.

"This you?" Sanji asks, looking at the faded photo of the smiling boy, before his eyes flick to Thatch.

The older man's eyes are wide, glued to the page. Sanji wordlessly offers him the magazine, and Thatch slowly takes it, his hands handling the paper carefully as though worried it'll crack.

"Yeah, that's me alright," Thatch murmurs, eyes scanning the column before his lips twist into a wry smile. "How the hell did you get your hands on this fossil?"

"Found it while we were looking for stuff for the Baratie's collection, some old second hand shop," Sanji says, and it's not a lie, but it's not like he can admit he was obsessed with them and actually hunted for them after obtaining the first ones.

Thatch makes a low sound of understanding, before he starts flipping through the rest of the magazine, pages that Sanji honestly doesn't even remember. "I wonder if this magazine's still even going..."

"It is," Sanji informs him. "It's changed a lot, but we still get it delivered."

Thatch laughs then, shaking his head as he closes the magazine and hands it back to Sanji with the same care. "I'm sure it has changed, after what happened, oh man..."

Sanji frowns. So something did happen.

"So how did the kid in this end up a Whitebeard pirate?" he asks, but he means, How did the boy's adventure end?

"Mm, you sure you wanna know? It's not a particularly nice story, though I suppose it has a happy end." Thatch leans back heavily against the mast, his hand subconsciously reaching up to brush hair away from his face, lingering on the deep, if old scar around his left eye. Sanji wonders if it's related.

"If it's something you don't mind sharing. I'm sure I can handle it."

They're interrupted by a crash, and look up to see Sabo heaving Luffy up back over the rail by the end of her tail. She'd clearly almost fallen overboard, again, but is laughing as carefree as ever, even as Usopp wrings his hands apologetically behind them. Sabo doesn't look mad though, and is stroking Luffy's hair now that she's safely back on deck and in his arms, his face disgustingly besotted.

Deuce and Nami come out of the cabin at the noise, and Ace and Zoro startle awake from their respective naps as well. Deuce takes one look at what's going on, and launches into a full blown scolding session for all three of the members involved, clearly dissatisfied with the way Sabo handled it. It had only taken the first mate a few days in his company before Deuce had determined that no matter how sensible Sabo may seem at times, he's still Another Stupid Brother, and therefore gets the same treatment.

The rest of the crew listening in winces when Deuce hurls a, "Luffy being stupid is one thing, but you're WAY too lenient with her, you foolish Revolutionary!" Nami and Koala cheer him on in the background.

("Told you," Ace mouths, before hastily looking away when Deuce's gaze snaps to him.)

Usopp looks thoroughly chastised and sincerely sorry, Sabo looks weirdly pleased as though being told he's lenient is a compliment, and Luffy looks bored and is searching for an escape when her gaze lands on the two cooks.

"Thatch! Story time?!" is all the warning they get, before Luffy's arms grab onto the mast behind them and the mermaid torpedoes head-first into Thatch's chest. It's a testament to the Whitebeard Commander's sturdiness that all he does is grunt at the considerable impact, even as Sanji winces in sympathy. That'll definitely bruise.

"Alright, yeah story time, if anyone wants to hear my boring old past," Thatch agrees, and Luffy cheers, turning herself sideways and flopping down on Thatch's crossed legs to look up at him with eyes sparkling with expectation. Sanji isn't even jealous, because in her new position, Luffy's thrown her tail across Sanji's lap, and he begins reverently rubbing circles into her soft scales, heat creeping up his cheeks when her flukes flick with pleasure.

Deuce sighs, giving up on his scolding as everyone gathers around the cooks. But he doesn't seem too disappointed, and pulls out his notebook as he joins them, as though he intends on recording whatever Thatch's going to say. Ace plops himself down on Thatch's other side, ruffling Luffy's hair distractedly and hiding his curiosity poorly. Sanji gets the feeling that despite knowing him for much longer, Ace hasn't heard much about Thatch's past either.

"Well, so..."

~~

Thatch was born to a middle class family in a relatively active port town on the Grand Line. His parents ran a modest diner, certainly nothing high class, but popular enough among the locals to almost always have full seats.

Thatch was what they called a "child prodigy." He'd started helping in the kitchen simply because he wanted to do the same things as his parents, but by the time he was seven, he'd already surpassed both of them in skill. His parents decided to leave the kitchen to him, while they focussed on management.

With Thatch behind the menu, the restaurant's popularity grew, drawing more traffic. Among their visitors were occasional food critics, who spread their business's reputation and made it something of a cult tourist spot.

When Thatch was nine, his father came up with the idea that it might be good publicity, for people to know that a literal child was behind their now famous restaurant's food. And in the name of said publicity, he also decided to have the restaurant officially under Thatch's name, although is parents still managed it.

"Child prodigy chef owns his own restaurant," was definitely a headline that journalists latched onto. The berries were rolling in.

Thatch himself, he didn't really care about that. He rarely ever left the kitchen now, constantly cooking, constantly coming up with new menu items, constantly training new chefs as their once small family diner expanded into a chain. He didn't really mind it, he loved cooking after all, but he often wished he still had time to talk to patrons, or explore town. While there weren't any child labor laws in their country, he couldn't go to school or make friends or do anything a normal child might otherwise enjoy.

So when the largest, most prominent cooking magazine sent a representative to talk about a potential column centered around him, Thatch was hopeful. He'd always dreamed of leaving the island, and it'd never seemed like an achievable dream. He wanted to exposure to new things to expand his cooking repertoire, and he wanted to be able to challenge himself as a cook--but more than anything, he also just wanted go and see what might be out there, outside of his diner's kitchen.

His parents reluctantly agreed. At this point, Thatch had trained enough experienced cooks, and their reputation was established enough that Thatch's temporary absence wouldn't damage them. And Thatch knew his parents were drawn by the potential for greater publicity from the column, and Thatch (and their restaurant) possibly becoming a household name not just on the Grand Line, but across the world.

(Thatch never thought his parents were bad people, or even bad parents. He hadn't wanted for anything, and they let him pursue and nurture his passion. That they were business-minded, and had also come to see Thatch as an asset and publicity tool was something he understood. They still loved him, in their own way.)

His parents' only condition was that Thatch return in a few years, before he was fifteen. A "child prodigy" becomes less interesting with age, and eventually becomes "a normal adult." They wanted Thatch back before that, to reestablish his connection to their diner, before he inevitably faded out of public interest, or had to re-establish his identity as an adult cook.

And so at eleven years old, what seemed like the entire town saw off Thatch, who set sail on a small ship manned by experienced sailors, and chaperoned by the journalist who would be documenting his voyage.

For the first two years, the journey was everything Thatch had ever wanted. They would go to new islands, information provided to him by the journalist, and then he would be given free reign to do whatever he wanted, so long as it included food and cooking, which is what Thatch would have been drawn to do anyway. That there were always a handful of adults a few paces behind him, documenting everything he did and forcing him to voice his thoughts out loud, all eventually faded into the background. Thatch got used to voicing his inner thoughts for their benefit. It was hardly a chore, and Thatch was having the time of his life.

But all things eventually change. Due to the success of the column, Thatch's journalist was given a promotion, and the last stretch of his journey before Thatch was to return to his home island was assigned to a new journalist. Thatch had always known that their relationship was strictly professional, and was used to changing traveling companions at this point. It felt a bit lonely that the first journalist, the only person who had remained a constant, was leaving...but he understood.

It's just business, after all.

The new journalist replaced the old one, and their journey continued--or at least, it was supposed to.

Child!Thatch, adult Thatch would later think, was remarkably naive and sheltered for all that he was a veteran cook. He was used to having things being laid out in front of him on a neat platter, for the adults in his life to control all aspects of his life, conveniently convincing himself that it's what he wanted anyway. He was used to the adults taking care of all the details, because all Thatch had to do to make everyone happy was cook. He not once doubted those responsible for his life, and blindly trusted that they would keep everything smooth and safe for him.

Because when one day, thirteen-year old Thatch woke up to see red staining the walls of the cabin, and then looked around to find the corpses of everyone else on the ship strewn around him, it took a remarkably long time for him to process that this definitely wasn't what was supposed to happen.

He was disoriented, too numb to even feel panic or put up a fight when the new journalist came in and tied him up to pass him to the pirates who had decimated the crew.

Pirates. It wasn't the Golden Age of Piracy yet, and although the Roger Pirates and other famous names were often whispered about, most sailors didn't expect to personally run into pirates. Thatch had been warned of their existence, but hadn't really thought much on them, as they had seemed irrelevant to his own peaceful civilian adventures.

The pirates and the journalist had a deal, he gathered. The pirates had wanted to get their hands on the famous child prodigy cook, and were willing to pay good money. The journalist had agreed, and had summoned the pirates to their location. Everyone but Thatch and the journalist had been killed to erase witnesses.

Before handing Thatch off to them, the journalist demanded payment first. Thatch remembers wondering why the journalist hadn't demanded anything before agreeing to the deal--it seemed a bad business tactic.

Thatch was standing right next to the journalist when the pirate captain drew his sword. Thatch wasn't scared, because he knew he wouldn't be hurt. He was an asset. And he probably knew what would happen before the journalist did.

He still remembers feeling the whoosh of air as the sword came, the sound of it hitting flesh, the dull thunk, the loosening of the arms gripping the rope that held Thatch bound.

Thatch thought ah, so human heads can be severed just as easily as fish heads.

Thatch didn't put up a fuss, going with the pirates. It was clear he couldn't have stayed on the ransacked ship, because even if he did, he had no way of manning the ship alone, even if he even knew how. And so he wordlessly followed, and continued to do what he'd done his whole life: obey adults.

And at first it wasn't bad. A kitchen was a kitchen, no matter how dirty, and Thatch knew how to please people with food. The pirates seemed overjoyed with Thatch's skill.

But some part of Thatch really wondered if that's all they wanted from him, and that bad feeling manifested itself as reality soon.

Hey brat, the captain said one day, and dumped a sack of ingredients Thatch had never used before into the kitchen. Turn this into something good. We need to get rid of an entire rival crew, and they're gluttons.

Thatch may never have used them before, but he recognized the things in the bag. They were all things he knew to avoid.

The pirate captain was asking him to make poison.

Thatch was a cook. No matter the reasons why people wanted him to cook, no matter who benefited and what money was passed around, and no matter how terrible the conditions--Thatch was alright so long as he could cook. Thatch cooked so that he could make delicious things that would in the end, contribute to nourishing people. He polished his skills to make that experience better, to make his patrons happier, to make himself feel more accomplished as a result.

Poison...that wasn't something that a cook could make.

Thatch, for the first time, spoke back to an adult. He felt that numb feeling again, over any fear.

I'm a cook, I can't make anything that can harm people. Please let me start preparing dinner. Thatch stated it as fact, and to him, it was.

The pirate struck Thatch. It was the first time he'd ever been hit, because as a child prodigy, as an asset, he'd always been too valuable to damage. But now...

You'll make it, or we have no need for you.

Bars were added to the kitchen, making it Thatch's cell. All edible ingredients were confiscated. And every day, the pirates came in with more ingredients, more demands.

Make an aphrodisiac. Make a date rape drug. Make something that'll make someone lose feeling in their limbs. Make something that'll cause loss of senses. Make something that'll cause crazy hallucinations. Make something deadly, but undetectable in water. Make something that can dissolve guts from the inside out. Make something that won't kill, but cause excruciating pain. Make something that WILL kill, but only after several days.

The pirates didn't want a cook. They wanted a master poisons brewer. Which, Thatch was not.

Every time Thatch refused, they beat him. They threatened to cut off his legs, because why would he need them, when all he needed were his hands? They threatened to carve out his eyes, and the captain stabbed a knife close to his left eye to show how serious he was. They left Thatch with running water, but didn't give him anything to eat, other than the deadly, horrible ingredients they'd left inside the kitchen for him to turn into even worse poisons.

Thatch sorted the ingredients by those least harmful, and kept himself alive by reluctantly eating those first, but knew that the longer this continued, the more permanent and fatal the damage those ingredients would cause.

(He tried to come up with ways to use what he had to nullify effects, but he was just a kid, and it was his first time trying to make actual medicine. His experiments were risky, and often failed.)

Thatch didn't know how long he was in there, his sense of time and self muddled as he survived off of numbing agents and aphrodisiacs and hallucinogens. They barely kept him alive, and made him feel horrible. He tried to remember why it was so important he kept eating them, and rationing them like they were valuable.

In the corner of the kitchen was an ever growing pile of bright, beautiful fruits that he knew would cause immediate agonizing death...but they looked so lusciously juicy and ripe, and it was getting harder to remember why he couldn't eat them.

Perhaps it was the hallucinogens, perhaps it was everything wrong with his body that Thatch had unwillingly caused himself by eating, but one day, Thatch realized he was going through the movements of peeling those fruits, chopping them, squeezing the juices and watching with fascination as they sizzled into the bubbling pot he was brewing. He was too entranced by the concoction to even notice that his hands were burning and blistering, or perhaps they were just too numb.

He added spices, adjusted heat, and hummed. It had been too long, since he had cooked.

Except he wasn't cooking, because this wasn't food.

It smelled quite delicious, Thatch thought, mildly impressed with himself. Something tropical and fruity, mellowed by mushrooms and a great many other herbs. And it looked aesthetically pleasing, with its dancing, hypnotic colors. If he hadn't known what had gone into it, he'd consider it presentable to critics as his next seasonal special.

But now that it was done, and ready to be served, Thatch had no clue what to do with it.

He hadn't thought that far (he wasn't thinking at all), and didn't know how to think about the thing he made, when it wasn't edible.

He supposed he could possibly see if it could melt through the bars of his cell, though he wasn't sure where he'd even go if he could escape. The cell didn't have any windows, and Thatch wasn't even sure they were at an island, they could still be on open water. Thatch might be able to throw it on a pirate, as a weapon. But there were dozens of pirates on board, and not nearly enough for all of them.

He could drink it himself. It would be an escape of sorts, he supposed.

It never crossed Thatch's mind to offer the concoction to the pirates, as a creation to be used.

He stood in the kitchen for hours, aimlessly stirring the pot, watching the brew get darker and darker, its magical colors turning into murky brown. Eventually, it became a thick, black tar-like substance that reflected no light, that looked like a void as Thatch stared into it.

A thin gray haze gradually began filling the room, and Thatch was well aware of it. He was already starting to feel noticeably worse than before. He supposed that was one way of giving himself a time limit: he'd either decide what to do with the brew, or succumb to the fumes first.

He distantly heard muted sounds overhead, and he realized the pirates may be fighting someone. It happened once in a while. But it was usually with other pirates, and he doubted it was the marines, and no civilian vessel would dare get close to such an obvious pirate ship. And well, if it was pirates...that's just more of the same, wasn't it?

Thatch eventually heard footsteps approaching the room, and someone coughing as they inhaled the fumes, now dense enough to be a dark smog that made it hard to see his own hands (or maybe that was the effect of the poison in him).

A creak--the cell doors were opening.

Thatch could barely think anymore, but made a split second decision. He didn't know what the consequences would be, but had a hunch he wouldn't survive long enough to find out anyway, so what did it matter.

He picked up the pot, and hurled all of its contents at the approaching figure.

There was a FUCK! and then--

Thatch won't ever forget what happened when that brew hit a human body.

But as he fell, the last of his strength gone, wondering if he should feel horrible or proud that he killed someone on his way out, Thatch saw the room light up, the black haze vanishing into searing, brilliant turquoise flames.

~~

"And so that's how I met Marco!" Thatch says, voice surprisingly chipper, even though Sanji feels like retching.

"You melted him," Ace says flatly, voice a mix of horror and awe.

"Sure did, if he had been anyone else they probably woulda been a puddle of human goo, and even he got halfway there," Thatch agrees, his hands stroking Luffy's hair harder, as they'd been doing all throughout his story telling. "Though lucky me, to have thrown poison at possibly one of the only people in the world with instant self-regeneration and possibly immortality."

"Was he mad? Pineapple bird-man. Melting doesn't sound very fun," Luffy frowns. She'd admittedly fallen asleep for most of the story, but woke up again when Thatch's hands in her hair got more tense, more urgent. She contentedly nuzzles into his thigh, more interested in making sure that Thatch's alright than in his answer, and she purrs when he crooks his fingers to scritch her reassuringly.

"Oh sure, he was mad for a little bit, but he's a nice guy and was a worry-wort even back then, so he brought me to Pops. And well, it took a while, but we're best buddies now and have been for years! Fancy that."

Deuce was shaking his head. "I still can't believe that stupid crew wanted to take down Pops with poison of all things, and were stupid enough to enter his territory without it even being ready."

"Well, it's not like they could have won in direct combat, and to be fair, back then the Four Emperors weren't that established, and territories in the New World were a lot looser than they are now." Thatch shrugged. "If nothing else, it was a creative angle, if a poorly thought out one, unlike some people's way of challenging Pops." Ace fidgets uncomfortably here, and Deuce snorts.

"You..." Sanji's finally recovering from his queasiness, because fuck Thatch's tale really wasn't pretty, especially from a cook's perspective. "You don't mind fighting, and killing people now?" He glances at the swords strapped to Thatch's belt, and thinks about his own insistence to never use his hands in combat.

"Well, I'd prefer not to do it, same as anyone else. But I don't mind fighting in general, and once Pops adopted me, I wanted to be able to defend myself." Thatch laughs here, and it sounds bitter, making Luffy look up. "Haruta actually suggested I use poison, if I knew how to make one that could almost take down the Phoenix, and, well...that's a no. May have thrown him overboard for that, but he deserved it. I told them I was good with knives, and Vista helped me develop my own style."

The conversation moves on then, the other crew members chipping in with questions, but Sanji sort of tunes it all out. He thought he was over his queasiness, but it's back again. Being forced to brew poison, and being offered nothing but harmful things to eat...fuck. Even Judge hadn't done that...

He feels something wrap around him then, and Sanji looks down, and realizes that Luffy's looped her tail so that her flukes curl behind his back, securely holding him, even as she continues to nuzzle Thatch's leg for attention.

How weak he must be, Sanji thinks, to need his captain's comfort now. But it helps, and he gradually relaxes.

Eventually the others realize that the story's over, and disperse back to their usual tasks, leaving Thatch and Sanji and a snoozing Luffy curled around both of their laps.

"Well, I guess that explains how the boy prodigy's journey ended," Sanji says, reaching over to Thatch's side to run his hand through Luffy's hair, smiling when she hums happily.

Thatch makes a soft sound, that sounds like possibly disagreement. "Well, sure, I ended up joining the Whitebeard pirates, and never ended up going back to my hometown. Everyone thought I was dead anyway, and being on the Moby was better than any restaurant for me, because I got to feed my brothers and travel, at least wherever the Moby goes, and that's still a fine adventure in its own way. But I guess you're right in that with a territory and a literal army backing me up...it's not quite the same kind of adventure, without the trill of the unknown."

Thatch looks up then, and when his eyes sweep across their little ship, and the small crew strewn about it, he looks fond. "But I guess in a way, that's what I'm doing now, isn't it? I may no longer be a 'boy prodigy,' but me traveling with you guys, going back up the Grand Line...it's sorta like that journey again."

Sanji blinks.

"The end of that journey...maybe you're on it with me, right now." Thatch winks.

Sanji snorts. "That's so cheesy," he says, but he doesn't meant it, not really, because he can't deny the giddiness that begins welling up in him at the thought.

Because what adult doesn't still have a child inside them, buried underneath layers of years, still craving those wishful dreams from long ago?

There's a moment of silence, before both cooks break out into laughter, carefree and boyish.

And so their journey continues onward.

~~

~~

Aaand that's a wrap! For this lil story series within this ever growing AU at least!

It may be a cheesy ending, but it still feels like an ending of sorts? which, is something I usually never actually manage to write to, everything I write is usually either short or abandoned....so I Feel Accomplished ^ ^;;

If you managed to get through it all, thanks so much for reading and sticking with this!!!! ;A; I’m definitely extremely curious to know if you have any thoughts regarding my take on Thatch's past, or anything else, because as always any comments are HUGELY appreciated!

Thanks again!

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[lo-55]

Lightning In A Bottle Ch. 3

Ace had been in Alabasta for all of a week, looking for his brother. Luffy should be arriving anytime now, if he didn’t get sidetracked when he was in Drum Kingdom. 

...okay, so maybe Ace would have to wait around for a couple extra days. It was possible he should have just stayed in Drum and waited for Luffy there, in the cold and the snow, but he knew that he made the locals uncomfortable. They hadn’t realized he was a pirate, but the snow had melted off of his skin and coat and rolled off of him like rain. It made them weary. They knew there was something unnatural about this stranger that had come to them, asking so many questions about a man who had nearly destroyed their kingdom. 

Teach left a trail of destruction in his wake, and Ace did his best to follow it, but it seemed like that was all he was able to do. Follow the trail.  

And now he had to stop following Teach for a hot minute to wait on a perpetually tardy brother. There were a couple of leads about Teach and his slowly growing crew in Alabasta, but none of them were near enough to the port for Ace to investigate and get back in time to meet up with Luffy. 

So he was stuck in town, cooling his heels. 

That was fine, Ace had started to learn patience. He could hang out in town, look for leads, and wait for Luffy to show up. He hadn’t seen him in almost three years now, after all. A lot had changed. Luffy was a captain of an up-and-coming crew, Ace had joined the Whitebeards, and hundreds of smaller things that they needed to share with each other. 

Ace wanted to tell Luffy that he’d finally met Shanks (and just how the hell had Luffy gotten the hat of an emperor? Honestly), and he wanted to tell him about his adventures in Paradise and the New World, and all about his crew. He just knew Luffy would get a kick out of Deus. In all actuality Ace had a whole laundry list of things he wanted to tell Luffy, everything from getting stranded and eating a devil fruit to being forcefully adopted by Whitebeard. And wasn’t that just the most ironic thing? Luffy, and to a lesser extend Sabo, had basically forced Ace to accept their friendship and later their brotherhood, and Whitebeard had literally kidnapped Ace and swatted every attempt on his life away until Ace finally gave in and let himself be adopted. 

In retrospect, Ace should have recognized the stubborn streak in his captain. It was exactly like Luffy’s. 

So he was content to wait, and when Smoker showed up he thought he would get a good fight to keep himself entertained for a while, even if he would rather finish his lunch. 

He gave Smoker the chance to turn and walk away, but Marine’s were damn stubborn. Ace was halfway out of his seat, heat simmering under his skin. 

Then something slammed him through a half a dozen walls and his fight with Smoker was forgotten. 

Ace actually blacked out for a minute before he picked upself up out of the rubble, a headache starting to throb behind his eyes. All he wanted to do was find his little brother before he went back to hunting that damned traitor. Was that too much to ask? Did touble have to shadow him every minute of every day? 

Of course it did. 

“Just who in the goddamn- Sorry, enjoy your dinner,” he bowed quickly to a family in one house while he picked his way through the rubble. “Who in the goddamn Blue’s is picking fights!” 

Ace finally climbed back through the first hole he’d made with his head. 

“Hey!” he shouted into the restaurant. 

A familiar face blinked at him from the spot at the counter he’d held himself only a few minutes before. Ace’s anger evaporated instantly. 

“Lu-ouch!” 

He was slammed face first into the ground by a gloved hand while Smoker leapfrogged over him. 

“Strawhat!” 

Ace glared at the broken stucco wall under his face. He could feel his eye twitching in annoyance. Just who did Smoker think he was, ignoring Ace for his brother! And how did they know each other? 

“I've been looking for you, Strawhat. So you did come to alabasta. Quit eating!”

Ace could have told him that was a futile thing to say. Luffy would stop eating the day he died. 

Ace slowly picked himself out of the rubble and resecurred his hat. He looked up in time to see Luffy shovel the entire table’s worth of food into his mouth and grab the hand of a girl sitting next to him that Ace didn’t recognize. Her red hair was a wild mane around her head and she looked bruised and scuffed up. 

“Run!” Luffy shouted around his food, and bolted for the door. The girl yelped and threw something at the chef that clinked like a bag of coins. 

Oh good. That meant Ace didn’t have to pay. Which he was totally gonna do, honest . 

...Eh, he was a pirate. 

 “Luffy! Wait! It’s me!” Ace scrambled to his feet and went after them quickly. 

Luffy dragged the girl through the streets of Nanohana, with Smoker on their tail and Ace right behind them. There was something a little too familiar about sprinting after Luffy after he’d managed to get himself in trouble while Ace wasn’t looking. 

Luffy had to let go of his companion when a girl came at them with a sword so he could jump onto a rooftop out of the way. Ace was almost mad, Luffy was immune to bullets and fists but he could still be cut! But, of course, the little Marine wielding the sword didn’t come even close to Lu. 

 To her credit, Luffy’s girl drew a short sword from her side and blocked the attack easily. She held her weapon with the comfortable grip of someone who knew their way around a fight. Ace hadn’t noticed it before but her haki was a small step above most people’s he’d seen in Paradise. She must had had some training with it. 

 Good. Then he didn’t need to rescue Luffy’s swordwoman. 

 Ace landed next to the two. 

 “Excuse me, ladies,” he said politely, startling both of them into looking away from their crossed blades to Ace instead. He tipped his hat towards them, then the building that Luffy had jumped up onto. He was blocked from it by their swords. “I have to catch up with my brother now.”  

“Uh, sure,” said the marine girl. They pulled their blades away to make a path for him. It was amazing how people responded to polite requests. . 

“Why are you telling us this…?” the redhead countered, looking confused. Ace noted that her eyes were as red as her hair. She faltered when she got a good look at his face. “Hey, hold on-!”  

“Sorry, I can’t,” Ace waved to them and shot over the rooftops, after his brother and Smoker.

He was pretty sure that girl recognized him. He wasn’t surprised, his face had been plastered all over every inn and tavern in the Grandline for a while, and he was pretty well known as the Second Division Commander.   

If she was with Luffy, he’d no doubt see her again later. 

Idly, Ace wondered if Luffy’s crew knew what they’d signed on for when they agreed to sail with him. Or if Luffy had even given them a choice. 

Ace laughed to himself and picked up the pace. They’d figure it out.

Ace wanted to spend more time with Luffy. He wanted to spend at least a night with him, and drink and talk about everything that had happened in the last three years. He wanted to grab him and check him for injuries, wanted to tell him about his own mistakes and help him prevent making the same ones as Captain. 

But. 

But, he had to go. With Teach still on the loose and his blood debt unpaid, Ace coudln’t stay with his little brother any longer than he had, not without the excuse of waiting for him. He didn’t know all the details about what they were doing in the kingdom of Alabasta, nevermind why they had the princess of that same kingdom travelling with them these days, but it was just going to have to be, in Luffy’s words, a mystery. 

At least, that’s what he thought. 

While the crew set up to leave the Going Merry at the mouth of the river Ace excused himself to make a call. 

He sat in the seat of Striker, with his shell-phone in hand. It only took a few rings for a familiar voice to pick up on the otherside. 

“Whitebeard pirates, this is Izou speaking.” 

“Izou, hey, it’s Ace. Is Pops around?” 

“Ace! Let me get him, hold on.”

The sound of footsteps and muffled shouting followed, and in a minute Izou was replaced. 

“Ace, my son, how are you?” 

“I’m good,” Ace felt himself start to smile. “I haven’t caught up to Teach yet, but I’m getting close. I’m with my brother’s crew right now.” 

“Ah ha, the infamous Luffy.” 

Ace’s smile grew. He’d been rabid when it came to showing everyone Luffy’s first bounty. He’d gone to Blenheim and asked him for all the information they could get a hold of when it came to Luffy’s new crew. So he knew about Nami, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji. Nami had a reputation among East Blue pirates, Usopp was fucking Yasopp’s son, Zoro was a bounty hunter with a decent name for himself, and as it happened Pop’s was old friends with Sanji’s father, Zeff. 

“Yeah. He looks good. He’s just as goofy as he’s ever been, and he picked up a couple of extra crew mates. He’s a doctor, thank the Blues. Tony Tony Chopper. I think he’d a raccoon zoan, or maybe a Mink. I didn’t ask. It seemed rude. And a swordswoman he picked up here in Alabasta. Roche Nao. She’s pretty quick on her feet.” 

“Wait.” 

Ace paused. “Yeah?” He’d never heard that tone in Pops’ voice before. 

“You said Roche Nao. Does she have red hair? And eyes?” 

Ace cocked his head. The snail reflected the hard set of Pops’ jaw and the wildness in his eyes. 

“She does. Do you know her?” 

“... Listen to me now Son. I need you to stay with the Strawhat’s. Teach can wait, you have to keep an eye on Nao. We’ll meet you on Sabaody when your brother’s crew arrives. Do you understand?” 

“Wait, what?! But Teach-” 

“I understand how you feel about Teach,” Pops’ voice gentled for Ace. “But this is something I have to ask of you. If the government get’s ahold of that girl, what awaits her is a fate far worse than death.” 

“She’s like you, son.” 

Ace sucked in through his teeth. Like him? How? 

“Can I count on you to guard her from the navy?” 

“I’ll bring more attention to them,” Ace warned. The idea of shelving his hunt for Teach was bitter on his tongue, but if Pops said he needed Ace to guard this girl, he would. “How do you know her, anyhow?” 

“It isn’t a story for a den den. When we meet again, I’ll tell you everything, if Nao hasn’t done it herself. Just promise me, Ace.” 

Ace swallowed his irritation about Teach. This was something Pops was asking of him. Something important to him on a personal level beyond what even Teach had done. 

“I promise. I’ll do everything I can to keep her from getting arrested.” 

The Den Den relaxed. 

“Thank you. I’ll see you soon, son.” 

“Yeah. I’ll see you then Pops.” 

Now Ace just had to find an excuse to stay with the Strawhats. He’d heard a very vague rumor about someone pretending to be Blackbeard in Yuba. He could start with that, and then find another reason to stay later on. He doubted that Nao would appreciate him puppy guarding her. 

She’d said it herself. She was her own captain. 

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Kiss It Better - Gyro Zeppeli

 The Steel Ball Run...So many stages, so many problems, so many difficulties...And so many people that had to drop out of the race because of the harsh weather and environmental conditions. Not to mention the fact that some participants may or may not attack others voluntarily, despite it being against the rules and risking elimination.

Not that they care, per say, as long as there’s less competition and they have a higher chance to get one of the money prizes, even if it’s not the big grand.

Anyhow, Y/N was fine on her own and did everything she could to make sure she was as far away from people as possible, but despite that, she encountered the infamous Diego Brando, who wasn’t as bad as he appeared, and spent the night camping together, before going on different paths.

The same happened with another woman called Hot Pants, whose ability meant using a flesh spray, which shocked Y/N, but she was incredibly pleasantly surprised nonetheless.

They were on amiable terms now, but that didn’t mean they would travel together for the rest of the race.

Somewhere around the last quarter of the race, on one cold night, Y/N decided to make camp somewhere soon, but her surprise was huge when she saw ahead of her a fire, 2 horses and 2 people, which indicated an obvious camp.

What was odd, however, was that one of the men wasn’t moving at all, while the other seemed to be freaking out quite a lot.

She nudged her black horse, Dahlia, and sprinted in front of them, where she looked down at the blond man dressed in baby blue.

“What happened? Is he injured?” the girl asked, concern plastered on her face, seeing sweat drip down the boy’s face. “Yes, he’s been gravely injured. Can you help?” he asked, his blue eyes wide and pleading. “Of course.” she nodded and quickly jumped off her horse, taking the big medical kit bag and kneeling in front of the other man who seemed to be awake, but just barely conscious. “That’s a lot of blood he’s losing from so many places...Can you help me take off his upper body garments? I need to see the injuries, disinfect them and stitch them as quick as possible.” she explained to the boy, who only gulped and helped her out. “We were attacked just a few ago. He got shot in the torso and was cut on his arm, leg and chin.” the boy informed immediately. “I see...Very well, I have to make a mixture of plants to prevent festering and any more potential internal or external bleeding...But before that, I have to get some alcohol on a gauze and clean his wounds.” saying that, she took out the rubbing alcohol and poured it on the gauze, leaning in to apply it on the wounds, but the injured man’s hand suddenly gripped her wrist pretty tightly. “Poison...” he muttered, glaring at the girl weakly. “I promise it’s not poison. Here, you can smell it, it’s just the basic medicinal rubbing alcohol used in hospitals.” she smiled softly as she got the bottle close to his nose, which made him scrunch it and turn his head to the side.

She gingerly cleaned away all the wounds on his torso, chin, arms and leg. After she finished, she helped him in a sitting position so he won’t lean on the wooden log anymore, to inspect his back. As she thought, the bullet didn’t pass through, so she had to take it out.

“Sorry, but, uhm...The bullet is still inside you. I have to take it out before it gets infected or something.” she explained, looking with pity at the green eyed man. “Urgh...Do what you have to do...” he groaned, looking away from her.

Sighing, she took out her Stand, Nami, and placed her hand on his chest, using the man’s blood to locate the bullets, and thankfully, they weren’t too deep.

“H-Hey, you’re a Stand user too?!” the other boy gasped, looking confused and shocked at the girl, who could only blink in return. “You can see Nami...?” she whispered in surprise, looking at the blue eyed boy. “Y-Yeah. I have a Stand too, and Gyro has a technique, using his Steel Balls. There are others like us too out there. But what are you doing with your Stand?!” the boy’s eyes were shifting rapidly between the two people in front of him. “My Stand’s ability is called November Rain. She can use water to increase the mitotic regeneration of cells...Basically, she heals wounds, but not only that. In addition, I just used the water in Gyro’s blood to locate the two bullets, and now, I’m going to extract them. Nami, my Stand, can only turn the fatal wounds into non-fatal wounds...I’m not sure if it’s because I haven’t managed yet to get the full potential out of her, or if that’s her drawback, but that’s just the situation at hand, so I have to do everything else by myself. I...Uh...Hope you don’t mind.” she scratched the back of her head, looking at him with an unsure look. “Will Gyro be okay?” he asked in a quiet voice. “Of course he will. Ever since I’ve learnt to use my Stand, no patient ever died. I am a physician after all.” she shrugged simply, focusing on the injury and carefully extracting the lead bits. “Thank goodness they didn’t break. It wouldn’t have been too nice.” she threw the bullets in the fire. “Thank you for helping Gyro. What’s your name?” the boy asked as the girl took out a sewing kit. “My name is Y/N, it’s nice to meet you two. And what’s your name?” she asked with a soft smile on her face. “Johnny. Sorry for yelling at you to save him, I was panicking and I was skeptical. There have been many enemies around lately.” the boy explained, seemingly more at ease. “Don’t worry, Johnny, I understand. I’ve also encountered many...Interesting people, to call them mildly. Anyway, Gyro, I have to sew your wounds now. I have no actual anaesthesia with me, but uhm...I can make a little plant mix to numb the pain by...About 20%, if it helps in any way. Or I can give you some vodka, if you think it will help.” Y/N explained with a sympathetic look. “Ain’t drinkin’.” the man grumbled softly.

Nodding, she looked around in her plant bag and using Nami’s water, she created a quick mix which she dabbed on all his wounds.

“This will take a few minutes to react. Are you feeling any better, Gyro?” she asked, brushing the hair from his face. “Yeah...I’m better. Not heavenly, but better. Thanks, Y/N, I owe you one.” he let smirked weakly at her. “No, no, no, don’t worry about that! I just happened to pass by, it’s no big deal!” she shook her head, alarmed at what she just heard. “Heh...You’re pretty cute. Apparently I was right, Luck truly is a nice lady.” he grinned, showing off his golden teeth, making the girl’s eyes widen slightly at the shock. “Gyro...Zeppeli. I feel like I’ve heard it before somewhere.” she blinked, looking away to rake her brain. “Of course you heard of me! I ranked 1st in one of the stages before!” he boasted, making the girl chuckle. “I suppose that’s why. Congratulations!” she smiled softly at him, taking the  needle and poking slightly away from the wound. “Does it hurt too much?” she asked gently. “Don’t coddle me too much, just do what you have to do and let’s get it over with.” Gyro sighed, getting in a more comfortable position. “If you’re sure...” she mumbled, taking his wrist and guiding his hand to her ankle. “I can’t give you my hand, obviously, but you can grip as much as you need on my leg, I don’t mind.” she explained simply, making the man look down at her with mixed emotions pooling in his eyes.

Apologising more than she did in her entire life, she kept getting the needle in and out of his skin, forming X shapes with the tread and easily closing the open wound on his chest. She did the same with the wound on his abdomen, leg, arm, forearm...But then, it was just under the chin.

“Are you okay, Gyro? Do you need a break? Some water? Anything?” she asked worriedly, seeing him pant for air slightly. “No...I’m fine. Go on, don’t stop, adrenaline is covering some of that pain now, don’t let it wash away.” he warned her as he let his head back. “I didn’t realise you knew medical stuff. I’m impressed.” she hummed lightly, working on the wound, as he only grunted in pain, squeezing the girl’s ankle and gritting his teeth so he won’t slap her hand away or something irrational. “There, all done. Now to put the gauze on the wound...And that’s it.” she smiled tenderly, patting his head. “Thanks, Y/N. Let’s hope I won’t have to go through that again.” he snorted in amusement. “Hold on.” she took our a lime green handkerchief and cupping his face, she dabbed at his eyes, wiping away the stray tears. “All better now.” “Nyohoho, you’re even cuter than I imagined, missy.” he grinned brightly now that there was no more pain from the procedures left. “No, no, nothing of the sort.” she shook her head in amusement. “Now, to dress your wounds, and that’s it, all ready to go. They will keep you warm, I heard there are going to be some temperature drops pretty soon.” she warned them as she carefully put the plant mixture on all of his wounds and carefully bandage every inch of his body that was at risk of infection. “Well, guess I’ll keep watch tonight. That’s the least I can do.” Gyro offered, but the girl denied firmly. “No. You have to rest if you want to get better. I’ll keep watch. I have to make sure your wounds don’t fester anyway.” her voice was gentle, yet still held a strictness often seen in doctor around the hospital. “Okay, Y/N, we trust you. Wake me up if you need to sleep, okay?” Johnny smiled at her, before getting in his sleeping bag, turning away from them and the fire.

The girl started cleaning around the place, organising all the medical supplies she had and storing them back in their respective bags, in the kit, before giving Dahlia a sugar cube and an apple, kissing hear nose and hugging her neck, telling her how amazing she is, before putting her forehead to hers, telling her she loves her.

The affectionate gesture earned a playful coo from the long haired man, which in turn, made the girl chuckle and sit down opposite of him, leaning on a log and taking out a sandwish that she ripped in two and gave the other half to the man.

“Huh? You’re giving it to me?” he blinked at her in surprise. “You have to rest, drink and eat properly if you want to get your full strength back.” she informed, shoving the half-sandwish in his hands. “Right, right, thanks, Y/N.” there was a silence hanging around them, only the crackling noise of the fire disturbing it. “Do you like the stars, Y/N?” Gyro asked her, as he shifted his gaze above. “Yeah...I guess I do. When I was little, I used to sneak out every night and watch the stars with my friend. It was always nice trying to see constellations...And sometimes even making wishes when seeing shooting stars.” the girl grinned in nostalgia as she, too, looked at the open sky above her. “Awww, two little girl looking at the sky, how cute. Little rebels.” he joked lightly, but the girl only grinned wider, looking at him with a teasing smile. “My friend was a boy, Gyro.” she chuckled lightly at the man’s reaction. “Ahhhhhh! A cute little girl and her crush, sneaking for a stargazing date! Nyohoho, how romantic!” he laughed, as the girl looked down, her smile never faltering. “Well...He was pretty cute, I admit. He was really pretty. And he had gorgeous eyes. My 7 year old me was always very happy to see him. Even though he could be quite naive and lowkey arrogant and boasting over how cool he was...He was always super funny and made me laugh a lot.” she giggled, as she looked up to meet his eyes. “What a lucky guy! Hear that, I’m kinda jealous now!” he grinned, before shifting his position, resting his cheek on his fist. “Y’know...Now that I think of it, I remember a super cute girl that always dressed in flow-y dresses and had flowers in her hair. Oh, and, y’know what? She used to put cute animal plasters on my wounds, whenever I’d scratch my knee or something. And she’d kiss my cheeks every time, to kiss it better.” he batted his eyes at her. “That’s adorable, Gyro! And? What happened? Are you two still friends? Or more?” she leaned forward in anticipation. “Nahhh. Unfortunately, she kinda...Disappeared one day? I searched for her, but nobody had any idea what happened. It’s a real pity, I liked her a lot. My father didn’t really allow me to form any emotional connection with anyone, so he forbid me from looking for her more.” he sighed heavily, looking away. “What about your little crush? How did that go?” he asked, already knowing the answer. “Well...He said he had to use more of his time to learn from his father and properly become a man of his family. I believe they were in the medical field or something. Anyhow, my parents both had fighting-based Stands that they used for thievery, and when they saw my...Uhm...Useless Stand, they didn’t take it well...So I ran away before they could do more damage than needed.” she explained, looking down, biting her lip. “Do you believe in fate, Y/N?” Gyro asked, his voice low like never before. “I didn’t use to. But now...I think there may be something out there. Otherwise, I don’t think we’d have met each other again, Gyro.” she smiled softly at him, taking out the handkerchief on which “Gyro Zeppeli” was neatly embroidered. “Do you still have yours?” she asked, looking into his beautiful green eyes with a tender look. “Of course I do.” he smiled, taking out the f/c handkerchief, on which her own name was embroidered in beautiful cursive letters. “I always carried it with me. My father never found out, thankfully.” he chuckled softly. “I really missed you all these years, you know? When I saw you injured...I...I really panicked. Great thing nobody finds out when I panic...I mean, did you see Johnny? He was trembling like a Chihuahua!” she giggled, getting closer to the man. “Nyohoho, that was a good one! Johnny the Chihuahua!” they giggled together like highschool girls seeing their crush pass down the corridor.

The laughter soon died, and it was replaced by the same fire crackling noise from the fire wood, before Gyro spoke again, yet this time, his voice was more serious...With a tint of mischievousness.

“Hey...Y/N? Do you...Want to kiss it better?” he grinned at her, despite the rosier tint shading his sun kissed cheeks. “Awww, how cute, Gyro.” she mused, getting in front of him, planting soft pecks on both of his cheeks, before looking at him with a playful smirk. “How was that?” “Hmmm...It was nice, alright. But...I think you missed. I’m not quite getting the effect of the kiss like I used to.” he nudged her with his words, making her snort in amusement. “You’re such a dork, Gyro Zeppeli.” but despite her words, she cupped his cheeks and kissed him tenderly.

The world seemed to stop around them - The wood was no longer cracking, the Earth was spinning no more, the stars weren’t twinkling, the wind wasn’t breezing and nor was the time moving. The only thing that was alive was the warmth and feelings flooding from both of them, engulfing the atmosphere more and more with each kiss and each caress.

“That’s more like it.” he chuckled breathlessly, looking up at her with so much love and tenderness. “God, how I missed you. And to think you’re finally here, in my arms...I almost think it’s a dream. And if it is, I’m gonna kill whoever dares wake me up.” he buried his face in the crook of her neck, holding her close to his chest. “Don’t worry, this is not a dream, this is reality. I promise. I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere again.” she caressed his hair soothingly, feeling at peace for the first time in ages. “...Say, Y/N, wanna hear my new song? I wrote it all by myself, and I even made the tune of it. I’m very proud of it, and I want you to be the first to hear it. How’s that?” he kept her at arms length as he cleared his throat to prepare his voice. “Aww, Gyro’s serenading me, how romantic! Go on, I wanna hear!” she grinned playfully.

Okay, so it goes this way....

Pizza Moza-Rella...Pizza Moza-Rella...Rella Rella Rella Rella Rella Rella Gor-Gon-Zola...Gor-Gon-Zola...Zola Zola Zola Zola Zola Zola....

Gyro’s voice sang in a baritone tone, without any care in the world, making even the girl join in the silly song that was, unexpectedly, incredibly catchy, and now it was forever stuck in her head.

In Johnny’s head too, unfortunately, since he couldn’t sleep because of all the chatter and laughter, but he was at least happy that his friend met his long time best friend and crush after so many years, and they were both happy.

[aaluminiumas]

Merry Christmas Chopper

Time flows differently at sea, especially on the Grand Line: the weather in this part of the world never followed the ordinary calendar people had outside the ocean, so a blizzard in the middle of the summer wouldn’t surprise anyone. The climate depended on the island itself, and the inhabitants stuck to their specific routine maintained throughout the years: the holidays of the Fish-Men didn’t coincide with those of the Minks thus a lucky traveler may get a chance to become acquainted with rituals and traditions of all races.

The Straw Hat Pirates had already seen a lot. That’s why Nami yearning for Christmas she last celebrated a couple of years ago, made sure that the ship steered for another Winter Island and then ordered to throw a real party. Initially, only two latched on the idea: Sanji who agreed to do anything offered by Nami, and Robin, as usual peacefully calm, whose multiple hands immediately embarked to festoon Sunny. Luffy seemed to worried about one thing only – whether they were going to have meat; Zoro followed his Captain’s suit and asked about drinks – again, following Luffy’s suit, he got punched in the head and crawled away with gloomy grumbling. As a result of the powerful blow, the swordsman deigned to hang a garland over his mat on the deck. Sanji waspishly advised not to remove it in the future in order to define the borders of the improvised botanical garden and what is the vantage point to feast the eyes upon the ugliest plant.

While Brook, Usopp and Franky were trying to part the fighters to the rippling laughter of their Captain, Chopper took advantage of the common turmoil and ran over to Nami. He had first-hand knowledge of Christmas: as resident of a Winter Island, he often celebrated the holiday. Even when other reindeer atrociously lambasted him, he kept believing in miracles and never doubted Santa and his presents. However, the presents weren’t the main concern: absolutely unspoiled, he was waiting for some other guest – the red-nosed reindeer, Rudolph, who was claimed to have been mocked himself. Since childhood he swore he would stay up till morning to see Santa and his famous sleigh; he was sure he would talk to Rudolph in the animal language asking how he managed to take the lead, to turn his flaw into an assert and to overcome the sneers. Unfortunately, Chopper kept falling asleep – and woke up with bitter frustration written upon the snout. Later in the morning he disappeared in his lab and crammed another book borrowed from shrewd Kureha who unexpectedly failed to grasp what ate him away every winter so desperately.

Nami wasn’t paying attention to the skirmish between the cook and the swordsman: she continued decorating her tangerine trees and enlaced the boughs with colored garlands even though they hadn’t yet reach the island.

“Nami,” Chopped called in a low voice awkwardly tapping his hooves against each other and snuffling, “Is… Santa coming to us?”

Puzzled by the question, the navigator nodded.

“Of course, Chopper. Santa comes to all good kids… and adults. To the bad ones too,” she narrowed her eyes, pursed her lips and slowly turned her head in the direction of the bickering friends. “But there is not enough coal for those in the whole world. It’s easier to send them to a mine.”

“Are there deer, too?” he went on, still meek and at the same time more enthusiastic. “Or is he traveling by ship? He can’t get here by his sleigh, right?..”

Nami looked at him, clearly perplexed: she wasn’t ready for such questions; practically deprived of childhood herself, she never had illusions as to Santa’s personality but the girl didn’t venture to shatter her friend’s faith in this mythological figure. To her Christmas was a day when she could finally express her gratitude and affection towards all the crew members (and to get a nice present for her outstanding navigation skills) but for Chopper it was an evening of miracles and didn’t want to wreck it all.

“Doctor-san,” Robin suddenly came to rescue with her low voice pierced with confidence, “his sleigh runs across the sky, not by the sea. Why would he need a ship if it is safer to travel above multiple dangers of the Grand Line?”

The archeologist’s words mollified the reindeer: his large woeful eyes beamed in a heartbeat. If Nami was able to fib a little, Robin would rather remain silent or elude.

“Don’t you happen to know,” Chopper hesitated for another moment rattling his hooves again, “when is he coming? I would… I would love to just have a peep… at Rudolph. I heard that he was… different from others. Just like me. But I have a blue nose…”

Even if Robin was taken aback, she didn’t reveal her astonishment in the slightest: her face remained serene and tranquil. With a small apologetic smile upon the lips, the woman shook her head and adorned his tiny antlers with a garland interwoven with a sparkling tinsel.

“Unfortunately, Doctor-san, I cannot give you a proper answer to that. The number of good kids changes from year to year, and he has to pay a visit to them all. But I am certain this time he will stay a little longer: after all, you have done so many good things that you deserve a special present.”

Encouraged by the praise, Chopper was about to start dancing: the reindeer still couldn’t get used to the fact that he was genuinely loved and cherished even though aloof and unsociable Law tended to commend him every once in a while. And if Nami expressed her emotions in quite a ribald way, Robin tried to find the right approach to everyone not resorting to punches and manipulations – even a rejection didn’t sound adamant though her voice was always firm.

“Then,” the doctor scratched his blue nose, “If you see him… can you please wake me up? I promise not to fall asleep but,” here he got embarrassed completely, “Every year I just pass out and… I would love to…”

“Of course Doctor-san,” Robin interrupted him soflty, “We’ll be on guard.”

“Don’t worry Chopper,” Nami bolstered her friend, “A mouse won’t slip by Zoro, let alone an old man with a flock of deer. We’ll take care of it!”

As soon as their inspired friend rushed to his little laboratory equipped with all the necessary things for his endless experiments, Nami crossed her arms in the chest staring at Robin with a suspicious grimace on the visage.

“I certainly love your idea,” she muttered in a low voice, “But what is that you suggest us doing? We cannot steal a deer, put a red nose on it and introduce it as Rudolph. I couldn’t even think that he’s so…”

“Flustered? Excited? This is quite obvious,” the woman adjusted a glossy purple ball on the tangerine branch so its ribbon didn’t cover the image. “He doesn’t really have someone… to share his experience with. Whether we want it or not, we… do not fully understand him.”

“So what are we supposed to do? To turn ourselves into deer?” said Nami sarcastically. “Can’t even imagine myself… this way. I’m no doe. What kind of doe… would I be?..”

“The most beautiful doe in the world, Nami-swan! You will be the most charming female deer in th–”

Robin chuckled: Sanji didn’t manage to accomplish his laudatory ode as he got maimed which nonetheless failed to cool him down.

“You’re just in time, Sanji-kun,” the woman smiled thus provoking another bout of jitter. “Do you know the legend about Rudolph the Deer?”

Soon enough the whole crew began to arrange the Christmas party for Chopper. Nami, as usual, was in charge: she succeeded to draw attention to the discussion by heavy blows and threatening stares while Robin put forward various proposals that seemed suitable. Luffy only comprehended that Chopper ‘had some wrong Christmas’ and offered to pile the deer with presents but the idea implying a thousand of meat dishes didn’t sit well with the rest of the crew. Zoro supported his Captain on the topic of presents but added on his own behalf: let the swirlybrow make a present to them all by locking himself up in the kitchen throughout the celebration. Sanji pledged to cut the swordsman in pieces and feed seagulls, deprecated. Brook proposed to compose a song – and Robin’s hands writing down more or less reasonable suggestions, started jotting something in her notebook.

“Why not write him a letter?” exclaimed Usopp out of the blue. “It won’t replace Rudolph of course but… at least we will show we care about him.”

“And then he’ll eventually understand that Marimo is a good-for-nothing sentinel who hasn’t heard the thud of the hooves,” Sanji noticed melancholically, lighting another cigarette. “What a remarkably useless plant. Shall we toss it overboard?”

“I don’t need my swords to beat the shit out of you,” hissed Zoro flaring up. “Damn you, ero-cook!..”

It didn’t take much time to put things in apple pie order and reassert the breached discipline: Nami scattered the two in different directions, and both the swordsman and the cook rubbed their heads and squabbled in hushed voices not to instigate the navigator who seemed to like Usopp’s offer.

The preparations lasted for the whole day: Robin sneaked into the farthest corner of the deck to write the letter; Sanji wearing a funny apron garnished the desserts with cotton candy. As for Zoro, he had risked to get a carver knife between the eyes and now imitated some frenzied activity – according to the cook, it was ‘frenzied enough to outshine the quickest algae drifting with the stream’. Brook, laughing, was playing a song by ear while Usopp was wrapping the presents. Nami kept things tidy: she prevented Luffy from pushing his nose into every single box he saw. Franky, though, took care of it himself: he had cut out several wooden boxes for various trinkets. Now he improved his invention and fit locks into them – exclusively by the navigator’s request so eager to keep the spirit of Christmas. Albeit none of the tasks looked hard to finish, they appeared to be time-consuming, so none of the pirated noticed when and how the warm climate gave way to pleasant frost and slight snowfall.

Chopper went out to the deck only in the evening and started perusing snowflakes, so brittle and peculiar that they seemed to be knitted. They sank into his auburn fur and didn’t melt at all as if they morphed into a scintillating garland. Back at home they looked less fragile and yet bigger; accustomed to blizzards and cold, he learnt to ignore them and now, after all those visits to hot countries, a simply snowstorms morphed into a hibernal miracle.

He remembered the first time he saw himself in the reflection of the frozen river. He remembered his resentment for himself, that blue nose, and roared smashing whatever he could smash. He remembered how he nuzzled into white and fluffy snow hoping that the color of the nose would alter, and he, Chopper, would be just like others.

He also recollected the frosty redolence Hululuk’s fur coat exuded; he recalled Kureha’s perfume mingled with the fragrance of the wind. Her hands were always tender and smelled ice while Hululuk reminded him of the first snowflakes’ scent. It dawned upon him how much he actually could reminisce: that cheerful laughter, ridiculous stories the Doctor used to tell, and those midnight talks – they spoke about everything in the world. It was almost eternity ago when Chopper lost his best friend – and they still had so much to discuss. Hiluluk always supported him, and, probably in his own manner, taught the little reindeer to keep his head up.

“Merry Christmas,” a familiar gentle voice came; Chopper sharply turned in the direction of the sound and instantly noticed a figure he knew so well: it was a tad shorter than he remembered and moved angularly but the kind smile and warm eyes made everything clear. It was exactly the person who encouraged Chopper to become a doctor.

“Doctor Hiluluk!” the reindeer darted towards the man feeling he was barely able to squelch the tears that were about gush out from the eyes. “Doctor Hiluluk!.. How did you..? You are...”

The intruder laughed in a low tone and embraced his friend caringly.

“You’ve become so big and strong,” the doctor patted Chopper by the shoulder, “Are you happy with them?.. I’ve heard a lot about you, Chopper. I am exceedingly proud of you. You have become a talented physician. You are definitely second to none.”

The little reindeer didn’t release his friend – and almost ignored the praise. Millions of questions were swarming in his head but he didn’t hurry to ask them. Hiluluk didn’t insist on a decent conversation: he kept smiling looking at the reindeer cursing himself for the cruelty he had shown in the past. How could throw him out sugarcoating his atrocity and calling it care? Why didn’t he tell the truth letting Chopper make his own decision whether to stick around or to deal with his own life? Yes, that notorious quack felt ashamed and couldn’t disappoint his friend, but at the moment, after all those years, he finally realized that it may have been the only blunder he regretted so much. If he could turn back time, nothing of it would have happened.

“They do love you,” the guest drawled squatting before Chopper. “And protect you too. I am glad to know that you have found a family… despite everything. I am so sorry that I cannot be near.”

“But you are here!” the reindeer exclaimed blinking his watery eyes. “I’ll introduce you to my nakamas. They’ll like, I assure you! Sanji will cook the pies you are so fond of, Brook will sing for you, you’ll talk to Robin and–”

With a sad smile on the lips Hiluluk shook his head.

“Alas, it won’t do.” He sighed heavily. “You have a different life now… But,” he straightened up, “I have a little surprise for you, Chopper. I know who you are waiting for. Unfortunately, he cannot…”

Robin’s soft hand touched the glossy fur. Flummoxed, Nami noticed that Chopper finally awoke and placed a small box near the adoze reindeer: it was different from those that Franky had created. This one had incised ornaments and a carving of a certain mushroom on the lid. Still sleepy, Chopper kept staring at the present: did someone do that specifically for him?

“Open it, Doctor-san. This undoubtedly belongs to you.”

Robin’s honeyed mellow voice seemed to have pushed him, and the little hooves lifted the lid. Inside, there was a handful of pink powder – the same powder his friend had been working on, – and a letter with a stamp of a deer hoof. The whole crew gathered around: Usopp failed to wake him up, and panicked alarming the rest – even Zoro, normally apathetic and detached, scowled and rushed to rescue.

The whole ship was emblazoned and festooned. Nami had cleared the place underneath her tangerines, and now neatly wrapped presents were peacefully lying there revealing the cards written in Usopp’s and Franky’s untidy yet diligent hands. Sanji was serving cocoa with little cloud of marshmallow. Exclusively for Chopper he had created rosy petals of cotton candy. Robin, normally calm, adjusted bows, knots and decorations striving to make everything look like a picture. The evergreen lawn where the crew used to sprawl and relax, turned white: no one even tried to get rid of the glistening snow which reflected all Sunny’s embers and glimmers.

“Merry Christmas, Chopper,” Nami flashed him a broad smile.

“Merry Christmas!” shouted both Zoro and Sanji and looked daggers at each other.

“Su-u-u-u-u-u-per-r-r-r-r Christmas!” Franky struck a pose raising both his arms in the air.

“Mefwy Fuwissmas!” pronounced Luffy proudly munching on the ham he’d just stolen from the kitchen. A sound of Sanji’s powerful kick muffled another sentence he was about to utter.

“We love you, Chopper!” candidly declared Usopp.

“Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!.. Merry Christmas, Chopper-san. Thank you for suturing our wounds! Though… yo-ho-ho… I don’t have skin to be sutured! Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!”

The little reindeer sniveled. Probably he should let his past go – to let it get dispersed in a blur of pink petals.

[ghost-kitty]

I was bored so I decided to play around with the prompt generator and this is the result:

Pairing: LawLu

Warnings: none

Even though Law is sure that he will never get used to the straw hats antics, he hast to admit that he gets along fairly well with their archeologist. And sure, it may have something to do with their similar backgrounds and the shared understanding they have of each other because for it. But it’s not only that; he appreciates it greatly that she is much quieter than the rest of this crazy crew. And they share the same sense of morbid humor, which is a plus too. Though, the biggest reason why he appreciates her so much is that, like him, she loves to read. Ever since he started traveling with them she has recommended several books to him. He devoured all of them within the same day and, much to his surprise, loved every single one of them.

Now is no different, as he’s sitting on the grassy deck of the thousand sunny, leaned against the mast and totally engrossed with her newest recommendation. The weather is nice too; only a pleasant breeze blows and the cloudless sky is a beautiful shade of blue. He enjoys the warmth of the sun against his skin and the wind playing with his hair as he turns page after page.

The straw hats are apparently busy with whatever, not that Law cares, and that’s just perfect because it leaves him with his favorite sound in the world: absolute silence. Finally, he thinks to himself, some well deserved peace and quiet.

He wants to take that thought back as soon as he finished it in his mind. Because not even a second later he hears a way too familiar ‘TORAOOO’. He sighs and braces himself and sure as hell when he looks up from his book he sees straw hat coming flying towards him. And there goes my peace and quiet, he thinks bitterly as straw hat lands directly in his lap, knocking the air out of his lungs for a second.

He decides on ignoring the teen and turns his attention back to the book in his hand and away from those big expectant eyes. It works… for all about five seconds. “Toraooo,” comes the needy whine from the boy in his lap and goddamnit can’t he just have a few hours to himself to finish his book? Apparently not.

“Can’t you see that I’m reading, straw hat-ya?”

Luffy is clearly not impressed as he happily laughs his stupid ‘shishishi’-laugh. “Of course I can see that, Torao. Aren’t you a doctor? You should know that I’m not blind.”

Uh-huh. He doesn’t care if Law is busy or not, is what he wants to say. Law rolls his eyes at him, knowing already that he has lost the battle. “What do you want? Can’t you bother someone else?”

Great, now he starts pouting. Law doesn’t think that he looks cute. Absolutely not, that would be ridiculous. For a second he considers to just shamble himself away. Or even better; he could shamble Luffy directly into the ocean. He decides against it. Because he feels rather comfortable on his spot. Yes, that’s the reason. And straw hat… well, he will do whatever the hell he wants to do anyway.

Luffy starts rambling on about adventures and meat and whatnot. Law barely listens to him, only occasionally throwing in some ‘ah I see’s and ‘oh really’s while he reads the same line over and over again. He can’t even concentrate on the book anymore, which honestly is a shame because he enjoys it quite a lot.

They stay like this for who knows how long until Law feels like something’s missing. It’s only when he feels straw hat slump against his shoulder that he realizes what it was: he had stopped talking. Apparently he fell asleep somewhere in the middle of rambling, judging by his soft snores. And now he’s drooling all over Law’s shirt. Fantastic.

He should probably wake him up and tell him to fuck off but oh well… at least he can continue to read now.

In the distance he spots Nami-ya and Long nose-ya throwing glances at him over their shoulders and whispering to each other. Should they think whatever the hell they want, as if Law cares. Now of course he knows what it must look like, with straw hat asleep in his lap. He doesn’t give a fuck though, he’s just grateful for the silence.

That is until he hears someone clear their throat next to him. When he looks up he sees Nico-ya standing there with a smug smile on her lips. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you but Sanji asks if you would like some grilled fish for dinner.”

Law huffs out a breath in annoyance. “Sure,” he says nonchalantly.

She quirks an eyebrow at him, glancing down to where her captain is resting his head and Law makes the mistake to follow her gaze. Pure horror washes over him at what he sees: He had started to brush his fingers through straw hat’s hair without even realizing it. What the hell?

He stares back up at her, daring her to say something about it. She doesn’t. “Oh my,” she snickers. “Alright I’m going to tell Sanji then and leave the two of you alone.”

Law sits there, a little flabbergasted, his hand still in the soft locks. What is most shocking to him though is that he actually doesn’t really mind it. Might as well, he thinks, a fond smile creeping up his lips against his will. He continues to brush his fingers through the black mess of hair, closing his eyes and enjoying how soft it feels against his rough skin. The book is long forgotten but what can he say… there are other ways to relax.

[lostheartcard]

The Supernovas And Their Straw Hat Pirate BFFs

After the Worst Generation Supernovas and the Straw Hats are done fighting and trying to kill each other off...I think this could be a start of a beautiful friendship! Right? Hahahaha ok...maybe not...but here’s a list of the Supernovas and their future Straw Hat Pirate BFFs anyways! 

Eustass Kid and Franky

Can I just say BROS FOR LIFE? Where to even start with these two? They love robots, weapons...pretty much anything to do with mechanical engineering. They are both from the South Blue (wouldn’t be surprised if they came from the same island) and were both able to rebuilt their bodies using mechanical elements. They have MAD RESPECT FOR TECHNOLOGY...So yeah....these dorks are BROS FOR LIFE!

Capone Bege and Usopp

First off...you should see this one coming....Bege is going to ask Usopp to be his son Pez’s GODfather! Come on! Perfect right? Hahahaha! Actually these two would get along pretty nicely...one of Bege’s hobbies is looking at fine art and I’m sure he would love to take a browse of Usopp’s Pirate Gallery. They also would have a great time shooting pistols and playing board games together. 

Basil Hawkins and Nami

These two would be MAGICAL together lol. Hawkins and Nami both like taking relaxing baths, they love cats, and they both have an eye for fashion (Nami likes clothing and Hawkins likes interior design). Image these two having a very cute sleepover together on the Sunny: wearing spa facial masks, braiding each other’s hair, flipping through magazines, drinking freshly squeezed juices, and Hawkins would do tarot cards readings all night for Nami. BFFL, folks!!

X Drake and Chopper

First off...When it comes to Daddy Drake NO ONE is going to fuck around with his Son Chopper. Fucking. NO ONE. Drake and Chopper were both bullied a lot when they were kids so they share a mutual respect for one another. Drake has a great interest in zoology and impressed by Chopper abilities in communicating with animals. Them both being zoan users also opens the door for them playing around and showing each other their different forms. Cute AF.

Jewelry Bonney and Sanji

I mean...do I even have to explain this one? lol. If Sanji is going to be BFFs with any of the Supernovas you best and believe it’s going to be with the only girl in the group. LADIES ONLY! LOL! And of course Bonney wants to be BFFs with one of the best chefs in the One Piece verse. He cooks, cooks, cooks and she eats, eats, eats. Now that’s what you call a beautiful friendship, folks!

Urouge and Robin

Much like Sanji....Urouge likes the ladies so of course he’s going to be a BFFs with the classy and refined Robin. Being the eldest and most well traveled Supernova in the Worst Generation Urouge would have a lot to talk about with Robin and she would be all ear for it. They would sip fine wines and enjoy going to Cabaret shows together. Urouge is a BIG FAN of Geisha O-Robi! Duh lol.

Scratchmen Apoo and Brook

Holy shit can you image these two going on TOUR together? The music these two would make together would be INSANE! And not to mention they would probably go around perving on all the sexy groupies together. I know we are all anticipating a crazy Apoo and Brook Fight in the future but I know if these two join forces they are going to make AMAZING music together.

Killer and Zoro

These two are going to be BFF Sparring buddies! They’re going to hit the gym, sword fight to the death, and then go out for drinks together afterwards. Having Captains like Kid and Luffy, they have a mutual understanding and respect for one another. Even though they are usually pretty quiet...they are known to talk mad shit about the other Supernovas together and sharing a good laugh about it. Oh and Zoro will compare Killer’s cooking to Sanji’s from time to time and of course this will get him into fights with Sanji because of it. Boys will be boys lol.

Trafalgar Law and Luffy

Oh...I know I don’t even have to EXPLAIN this one to you folks. LOL. And if I had to I can pretty sum it up in one sentence: Law and Luffy are BFFs because LUFFY SAYS SO. Done. Finish. End of story. Sorry Law...you’re not going to be able to worm yourself out of this BFF relationship. Hahahahaha!!

[anubislover]

Welcome to the Heart Pirates, Nami-ya chapter 12: Love is the Drug

As the clock struck nine, Law escorted Nami back up the narrow stairway to the main street, gallantly helping her back into her coat as they waited outside for Ikkaku.

Leaning against the doorway, he smirked down at her. “I’m going to go ahead and assume my choice for our victory dinner was to your liking?”

“You know what they say; ‘to assume makes an ass of you and me’,” Nami quipped, guard back up. It had been a nice dinner, to be perfectly honest, but the realization of how easy it would be to get hooked on Law’s seduction had shaken her.

After their dance, he’d led them back to the booth and ordered another bottle of champagne, settling in to watch the performers until it was time for her to go. The problem was, in order to get the best view of the stage, the two of them had basically had to cuddle up in the middle of the booth. Law had refrained from wrapping his arm around her waist again, but somehow, the way he’d instead rested it along the back of her seat, his long fingers just able to absently brush against the bare skin of her shoulder, had been worse. The pinpricks of heat they left behind with every casual touch had traveled through her veins like poison, settling in her lower belly and making her hyper aware of his presence for the next half-hour.

Yellow eyes rolled in mock exasperation. “Is it really so difficult to admit you had a good time with me?”

“I’m doing you a favor; with the way that place strokes your ego, your head will swell to the point where you won’t be able to walk through the Tang’s doors.”

He snorted, pushing away from the door frame to stand up straight. “How considerate of you. And how much are you charging for this service?”

Resting her back against the side of the building, Nami peered through the foggy streets, hoping to catch sight of Ikkaku. “I’ll cut you a break and say the cost of those four bottles of champagne we drank. Of course, you still owe me 75,000 belli per day for the rest of the time I’ve been providing this service, plus 300% interest,” she stated, sticking her tongue out at him. Even though she knew their banter would quickly turn to flirting, she couldn’t help herself. It came as naturally as breathing at this point.

“What a coincidence; that happens to be the same amount I’ve been charging you for room and board, plus medical expenses.”

“Liar! That was never in our deal!”

“I never agreed to cover it, either. You also still owe me for your lovely jewelry,” he chuckled, reaching out to run his fingers over the shimmering barrettes. “I believe that was 30,000 belli for the set, plus an additional 50,000 for the diamond hairpins. Oh, and you promised to pay me back with interest, too.”

She shifted her stance so he was no longer touching her, hoping the motion was subtle enough that he wouldn’t see it as a sign of weakness. For extra measure, she glared at him, crossing her arms and jutting out her hip with more confidence than she truly felt. “Well, maybe you should have brought that up after the mission.”

“Give me some credit, Nami-ya; I’m not going to shake down an exhausted, potentially traumatized woman for money,” he drawled as he tucked a stray lock of sunset hair behind her ear. The hot tip of his fingers brushed against the sensitive shell, and Nami fought to suppress a shiver, though she was certain from the way his smirk widened that she’d given some other subtle cue that he’d sparked her arousal.

She was really going to have to watch herself now. If Law was as good at reading her body’s tells as he claimed, it was going to be so much harder to claim she wasn’t interested. For the sake of keeping things professional, the Surgeon of Death needed to be kept at arm’s length, otherwise the next nine months were going to be hell.

Abandoning subtlety and jerking away from his touch, she snapped, “Fine, I’ll pay you when I get back to the ship. But only at 0.1% interest.”

“That seems pretty low.”

“I never specified, so that’s all you’re getting.”

“Hmmm, considering how much you like to weasel your way out of things, I think I’d rather you pay me back now. And if you don’t have cash, I’m happy to take another form of payment,” he said, leaning his forearm against the wall above her head and grinning mischievously down at her. “I’ll forgive your debt for one kiss on the lips.”

Instinctively arching her back to better look up at him, she scowled defiantly. “Kisses from me are worth 800,000 belli each, so I’d be taking a loss on that. No deal.”

“Kiss or pay up, Nami-ya,” he teased as he caressed her jaw, his hot breath, which smelled deliciously of champagne and whiskey, dancing over the pale skin of her throat. “You should know nothing in life is free.”

Luckily for the redhead, out of the corner of her eye Nami spotted Ikkaku approaching, so she ducked under Law’s arm, tossing over her shoulder as she dashed off, “Everything is free if you take it without paying!”

To her surprise, Ikkaku, having heard her parting quip, laughed and grabbed her arm, leading her down a dozen winding side-streets in a dead sprint. When they finally stopped to catch their breath, she winked. “Well. I promised a rescue, but it looks like you were managing fine on your own.”

“The assist was still appreciated,” Nami said with a grin, bumping their hips together. “Ready to party?”

Slinging her arm around the redhead’s shoulder, Ikkaku replied excitedly as she led her inside, “Hell yeah! Our long-overdue Girls’ Night has come at last!”

The bar, Venus, wasn’t nearly as extravagant as Ruby 8, but it was illuminated with cool blue lights that gave the place an unearthly glow, large glass tables, cushy couches, and plenty of attractive male waiters ready to serve the lovely ladies that come through the door. It seemed that, on top of being Ladies’ Night, there was a two-for-one special drink called Hypnotique on the menu. This resulted in a fairly impressive turnout despite being a new establishment as several groups of girls, lured by cheap drinks and lack of creepy men, had flocked to the place.

Luckily, there was still room at the long marble bar, and Nami and Ikkaku quickly claimed a pair of empty stools. Before they could even open their mouths, a tall, pale-haired bartender pulled out a pair of martini glasses. He was well-built, had intense green eyes, and flashed them one of those boyish smiles that could easily make a weak-willed lass melt like butter. “First ones are on me,” he said with a wink. “It’s the least I can do for such beautiful ladies.”

Giggling and fluttering her eyelashes, Nami cooed, “How gallant! Thank you!”

“Wow. Free drinks already?” Ikkaku asked suspiciously, eyeing him up with an unimpressed frown. “Bold to assume you already know what we’d like.”

Nami elbowed her friend in the side. Free drinks were rarely something to turn down, and she certainly understood why any man would treat Ikkaku; the engineer looked absolutely stunning in the short, body-hugging silver dress. The curves her jumpsuit usually hid were on full display, proving that for all her tomboyish personality, she had a great figure. Dark, straightened locks fell enticingly around her shoulders, and her makeup was minimal but smokey, enhancing her umber brown eyes.

The bartender, who’s ID tag stated his name was Mandōreku, didn’t seem dissuaded. “Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? When a man has a chance to win a woman as beautiful as you’s attention, it’d be a crime to waste it.” He leaned across the bar towards the dark-haired beauty, whispering conspiratorially, “Besides, I’m positive you’ll like it; Hypnotique is my own recipe. If it’s a hit tonight, the boss promised me a special bonus. So yeah, first one’s free if you promise to give a good review.”

Ikkaku’s thin eyebrows furrowed a moment before finally nodding in agreement, far more accepting of his practical reason than his flattery. “I don’t give praise lightly, so it’d better be the best damn thing I’ve ever tasted,” she warned.

“If you’re not hooked after tonight, I’ll cut off my nose as penance,” he said confidently before turning to finish fixing their drinks.  

With the handsome man suitably occupied, Ikkaku turned to Nami with a teasing smirk. “Now that that’s taken care of; spill. I want to hear all about how your date with Dr. Heart Stealer went.”

“It wasn’t a dat—wait. You knew about that song?” Nami asked, gob smacked. “Why didn’t you warn me?!”

“Warn you that the boss had his own theme song or warn you about how sexy it is?”

“It wasn’t that sexy,” she grumbled unconvincingly.

“Uh huh. So, you weren’t even a little turned on?”

Pink dappled her cheeks as she recalled the suggestive lyrics and the way Law had held her close as they danced, her curves flush against him so she could feel every muscle ripple as they glided across the dance floor. “Can we change the subject? You promised me five consecutive minutes with no talk about Law tonight,” she replied with a pout, hoping the blue lighting hid her embarrassed flush.

“Fine, fine. But I’m counting the past minute.” The two martini glasses were placed in front of them, both containing a fruity, sky-blue cocktail with a drop of dark purple juice floating down towards the bottom like squid ink. Ikkaku took a sip and smacked her lips approvingly. “Ok, I’ll admit it; this is good,” she acknowledged.

Mandōreku beamed proudly. “Told ya so. Want me to bring you another once you’re done?”

“Fine. You can open a tab for us, too.”

“Sure thing, gorgeous,” he said with a wink, walking off to attend some other customers.

As she sipped on her own drink, Nami smirked. “He’s totally into you.” After all the teasing Ikkaku gave her over Law, there was no way she was going to miss the opportunity to return the favor.

Unfortunately, instead of showing even a hint of a blush, the engineer merely waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever. He’s not bad looking, but he’s only into me because of the dress. If he saw me in uniform, there’s no way I’d be getting free drinks.”

“Give yourself some credit—you make that jumpsuit look damn good.”

“Oh, I know I do, but I prefer a guy who thinks I’m irresistible in motor oil and baggy clothes as much as slinky dresses and lipstick.”

“And those are hard to come by, huh?”

“Big time.” Her full lips turned up in a smirk. “You should have seen the crew when I walked down the hall in this dress. They always seem to forget what a hot piece of ass I am, so it did my ego good to see them trip over themselves. Penguin literally walked into a wall he was so distracted.”

“I don’t blame him. I can barely keep my eyes off you,” she giggled, easily imagining the first mate’s dumb-struck face. The man might have been one of the more sensible Hearts, but he was still weak to a pretty woman. “But you should give Mandōreku a chance—maybe he is the kind of guy who would go gaga over a dirty engineer.”

“Please, he’s flirting because it’s his job—make a girl feel pretty so she’ll buy more booze. It’s no different from when you hit on a guy so you can steal his wallet.”

“Ok, ok!” Nami laughed, conceding the point. “But you don’t get to tease me about my lack of sex life if you’re just as picky as I am.”

“I’m not picky; I just know what I want. I know what you want, too. Tall, dark, scheming, dominating, dangerous…”

Rolling her eyes, the navigator slowly sipped her cocktail. It was fruity and tasted strongly of pomegranate and strawberries, but a sharp, sour note and the burn of alcohol cut through the sweetness nicely. “Couldn’t even make it five minutes, huh?”

“Technically, I didn’t bring up anyone specific. But fine, here’s a question I desperately need answered,” Ikkaku said, brow furrowing as she turned to face her, long legs crossed and drink in hand. “How the hell did a girl as gorgeous as you manage to stay a virgin on the high seas?”

Chewing on her bottom lip, Nami hesitated before replying, “It…it was partially by choice, but mostly I just never had the time to invest in a relationship. I had to earn 100 million belli if I wanted to buy back my village. Personal relationships would have been a distraction. Plus…my captain at the time would have slaughtered anyone who so much as touched me.” Even if he hadn’t been determined to keep her in his clutches, Arlong’s casual attitude towards killing humans would have ensured she’d avoid relationships to keep their blood off her hands. “Even a one-night stand wasn’t worth the risk. I mean, what if I got pregnant? That bastard wouldn’t hesitate to hold a baby hostage if it meant I’d have to work for him forever.” She shuddered at the thought. Though she often imagined children in her distant future, she’d get a hysterectomy without anesthesia before letting such a monster gain that kind of power over her.

“And your captain never decided to claim you for himself?”

The thought of Arlong bearing any amount of physical attraction towards her made her stomach lurch. “If there was one good thing about being a prisoner of Fishmen who saw humans as repulsive scum, it’s that sex with me was the last thing on their minds.”

“You’re lucky,” the engineer said softly, knocking back the rest of her drink. “A lot of girls have to suck it up and take it.”

Brown eyes widened as sick realization dawned. “Did you—”

Ikkaku shook her head. “Got groped a lot at my old engineering job. No matter how many times I complained about it, my boss always looked the other way; at least, until I’d threaten to bash someone’s face in. Then I was the one who faced docked wages.”

“Why didn’t you leave?”

“Couldn’t afford it,” she replied sadly, running her finger around the rim of her martini glass. She paused briefly as Mandōreku swooped in to replace their drinks with fresh ones. Thankfully he didn’t linger, and Ikkaku continued, “It was a shit port, but the only one with any real mechanic jobs, and I guess I was just stubborn, you know? My brothers had always told me that, yeah, I was smart and knew machines better than anyone else, but a female engineer just didn’t stand a chance. I wanted to prove them wrong, even if it meant putting up with creeps and assholes.”

“And then you got fired anyway for doing your job right.”

She smiled, eyes bright with pride. “And then I joined the Heart Pirates, where I’m respected and never groped, and the boss takes my opinions seriously. Most of the time, at least.”

Despite herself, Nami grinned as she raised her glass. “Sounds like we both got out of pretty bad situations and found captains worthy of our amazing talents and beauty.”

“That we did. Straw Hat’s a lucky man to have gotten you on his crew.”

“Damn straight.” Seeing an opportunity to gain some information, she asked innocently, “Speaking of lucky men, I hear you guys got to see Amazon Lily and live.”

A dark aura surrounded Ikkaku the moment the words left Nami’s mouth. “Yeah, the guys are lucky I didn’t kick all their asses!” she snarled, fist clenched in rage and murderous fire in her eyes.

Nami blanched. Penguin had said the crew had pissed her off, but this was a much more volatile response than she’d been expecting. “Yeesh, was it that bad?” she asked hesitantly. She was faintly reminded of her own reaction back when she’d been mocked for mentioning Skypeia but brushed it off. Surely, she hadn’t been nearly as bad, and that anger had been perfectly justified. After all, those drunken idiots had dared to laugh at her, all over an innocent question!

Caught up in her anger, the engineer ranted, “Those stupid bastards acted like they’d gone years without seeing a woman. Fucking heart-eyes and nosebleeds everywhere! Almost got themselves shot full of arrows for it, too! I don’t care that they don’t all want to bang me, but fucking hell, when I pointed out that they were acting stupid, they asked if I was jealous! I nearly walked right off the ship and joined Boa Hancock’s crew out of spite!”

Though it was probably smarter to change the subject, Nami found herself asking, “What stopped you?”

Ikkaku’s boiling fury simmered down into a scalding irritation. “Bepo. Literally the only male with sense during our stay. Well, I guess Jean Bart wasn’t so bad, either, but he didn’t really know any of us well enough to pick a side. Either way, Bepo managed to convince me to stick around, even though I still didn’t talk to the other idiots until a week after we left.”

A small smile lifted the corner of Nami’s lips as she noted the deliberate lack of mentioning the Heart Captain. “Ok, I’m curious, so I’ll let you off the hook for this; what did Law do to piss you off? Penguin said he made a stupid comment…”

Chin resting on her fist, she sighed petulantly. “I mean, I get he was stressed with Straw Hat’s surgery and trying to keep everyone alive, but the way he blew off my complaints about it reminded me too much of my old boss, you know? He even snapped at me and said if I didn’t like it, I could leave.”

“…Excuse me I need to go punch your jackass captain.”

A laugh bubbled up in Ikkaku’s throat as she caught Nami’s wrist, tugging her back onto her stool. “It’s fine! Like I said, he had a lot going on, so he was more sleep deprived and grumpier than usual. Straw Hat’s surgery took a lot out of him, and that on top of avoiding the Marines and keeping the boys from getting killed couldn’t have been easy. Once shit settled down and he realized how genuinely pissed I was, he apologized.”

Crossing her arms, Nami scowled. “You let him off with just an apology? I would have made Luffy grovel.”

“Oh, he knew I’d never let him get away with just a verbal admission of guilt, so said apology mainly consisted of a fancy new tool kit and a nice bonus to my paycheck; that’s basically groveling for him. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s part of why he put us together; figured I’d be more willing to keep putting up with his shitty attitude if I had some female companionship.”

A more cynical part of Nami’s brain wondered if that was why Law had been so eager to recruit her, but she brushed it off. He was opportunistic and probably reassured that her presence helped appease his best engineer, but he wouldn’t have taken the risk of trusting the nakama of a rival pirate for such a minor thing. “I’m surprised he wasn’t worried about you convincing me to run away with you.”

“Maybe that’s why he flirts with you so much—he knows I won’t leave if there’s decent entertainment.”

“And the subject of Law is officially back on hold again.”

Ikkaku sniggered. “Fair. But just you wait, oh blushing virgin. You can’t hide from my teasing forever.”

“I can try.”

They finished their cocktails, and before the empty glasses even touched the coasters, the bartender had already brought new ones.

“Impressive service,” Nami noted as Mandōreku darted away to attend to some other customers. She would have loved to watch him try to flirt with Ikkaku again; whether she shot him down or finally gave into his attentions, the redhead was sure it would be an amusing show. Unfortunately, it seemed that none of the men working the club had time to linger—the place was packed, so every man had their hands full, especially as the clientele got more wasted. There was a group of girls at one of the large glass tables that looked like they were having a great time ordering as many drinks as possible so they could watch the attractive waiters walk back and forth, and one black-haired beauty in particular appeared to be utterly smitten, leaning in closer every time one stopped by to drop off another Hypnotique.

“The place just opened, so they’re probably hoping to generate some good buzz,” Ikkaku replied, taking a sip of her drink. “Grimm’s full of flash-in-the-pan, pop-up bars and clubs. Everyone thinks they’ll be the ones to make it big, or it’s a front to some other illicit business, but sooner or later, the owner pisses off the wrong person and gets killed or run out.”

“Well that’s terrifying.”

“Eh, it’s an island full of brothels, black market brokers, back-alley doctors, and other scum. That’s why the crew enforces the buddy system. Which reminds me…” Reaching into her coat, she passed Nami her Clima-Tact and holster. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

Gratefully, she took her weapon, strapping the holster around her waist. “Right. Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Hey, no one’s allowed to steal you away from the crew but me, you hear?”

Laughing carelessly, Nami nodded, taking a sip of her new drink. It was stronger than what she’d expect for a two-for-one special, but maybe Mandōreku added an extra shot in hopes of impressing the duo. Or getting them drunk. She wasn’t worried, though; she’d out-drunk entire taverns with stronger booze than this, and she expected Ikkaku was no slouch, either.

Taking a glance at a nearby clock, the dark-haired engineer’s grin widened. “Anyway, it’s now been five minutes, so Law’s a viable conversation piece again. I don’t see any hickeys—Boss managed to control himself this time?” Ikkaku teased.

Nami’s face flushed slightly at the memory of the incident. Her skin tingled as she remembered the delicious way his teeth had scraped against her vulnerable throat. “Law is so lucky I didn’t slap him for that,” she groused, shaking the feeling away.

“I mean, that was his payback for the sunburn prank, right? Fair’s fair.”

“Oh, shut up; your boss is a lecherous jerk and you know it.”

“And you like the attention he gives you and you know it. I don’t get why you two don’t just fuck and get it over with. You don’t have an evil Fishman holding your life hostage anymore, so what’s the holdup?”

Finger pressed to her bottom lip, Nami sarcastically pretended to think. “Hmmm, I wonder; because we have to work together, and a one-night stand could make the next nine-months-and-change awkward? Because, despite the odds, I’ve made it this far with my virginity still intact, so it seems a waste to throw it away for some meaningless fling? Because I want my first time to be special and with someone I fully trust and not just a guy looking to get into my pants? Because we could end up being enemies in the New World and I don’t want to have to explain to my nakama that I had sex with one of Luffy’s rivals?”

“Do you really think they’d care about that?”

She sighed, absently playing with Nojiko’s bracelet. “I don’t know. I mean, they’ve forgiven me for a lot worse. But Luffy and Law might someday fight it out for the One Piece—you can’t tell me you wouldn’t feel a little guilty if you’d slept with, let’s say Drake or Kid?”

“I’d feel guilty about sleeping with Drake, but only because Law’s staked his claim. And please tell me you wouldn’t actually think I’d be crazy enough to sleep with Eustass Kid?!” she asked, nose wrinkled in disdain.

“Ok, bad examples.” Nami wracked her brain for other Supernovas. “What about Basil Hawkins?”

“If I’d actually managed seduce the world’s most stoic magician, Law would be singing my praises. But I get your point.” Taking a sip of her drink, Ikkaku smirked. “Here’s a question; would you sleep with Hawkins? I mean, imagine it’s not your first time—which, I’ll admit, is a totally legit reason for not giving into Law. But if Basil Hawkins came up to you and said, ‘the cards predict we’ll sleep together’, would you?”

The question caught her off-guard, but despite herself, she considered it. “I mean, I’d never settle for such a shitty pick-up line, but if we just went by looks…” she trailed off, thinking. “He’s got nice hair and he’s not exactly ugly, but the deadpan expression’s kind of a turn-off. Hard to imagine him as a lover.”

“Agreed. He’s from the North Blue, too, so we ran into him a couple times before we set off for the Grand Line, and I don’t think I saw his expression change once.”

“I believe it.”

The Heart Pirate’s grin turned salacious. “So, does this mean we’re going to start rating the fuckability of each Supernova?”

“I mean, what’s Ladies’ Night without arbitrarily ranking men you barely know based on how willing you are to sleep with them, right?” Nami joked, glad they’d moved the conversation away from serious topics. This was supposed to be a fun evening, after all, and she was still feeling a bit raw from spilling so much of her past to Law earlier. And while she’d often indulged in late-night girl talk with Robin, it had rarely been about men; there simply hadn’t been anyone who’d caught her attention at the time, and she’d felt awkward asking the archeologist about her love life considering what a private person she was. Ikkaku was definitely more inclined to share all the dirty details, whether Nami asked for them or not. “You already said you’d never lower yourself to sleep with Kid, but what about his first mate?”

“Bold of you to assume I haven’t already tapped that.”

The redhead’s jaw dropped to the polished bar top. “You’re kidding!”

“Nope.”

“Spill.”

Grinning like she’d been wanting to tell the tale for ages, Ikkaku leaned forward eagerly. “Happened the third time our crews crossed paths. Usually, we try to stay out of each other’s ways so our captains don’t try to murder each other, but we were both after the same treasure. A freak storm came out of nowhere and Killer and I got separated from the group, and since I was injured, we opted to wait for help in a cave.”

“You were hurt?”

“Just a sprained ankle. Nothing serious, but I wasn’t in any condition to traipse through the jungle like that, and with all the dangerous animals about, I wasn’t going to let Killer carry me around and not have his hands free in case we were attacked.”

“Who made the first move?”

“Well, I ripped off his mask and kissed him, but he’d been coming onto me for hours by that point. I mean, a girl can only hold back so long when a hot guy like that’s rubbing her shoulders and offering to share body heat to keep warm.”

Now that was an obvious come-on if ever she heard one. “How was he?”

To Nami’s amazement, a red blush spread across Ikkaku’s cheeks. “Surprisingly gentle, though that might have been because he didn’t want to jostle my ankle. I usually like it rough, but damn, he was such a tease I didn’t mind. Definitely a considerate lover; he even made me breakfast the next morning.”

“Nice. A guy like that at least seems worth my time, if you’re willing to share,” she joked.

“I’m not opposed,” Ikkaku replied with a wink. “Moving on, I’m going to pre-emptively assume that Apoo and Urogue are in the ‘no’ category.”

“Apoo is horrifying on at least a dozen different levels, but I heard that Urouge’s hobby is ‘making love’, so he might have some redeeming qualities.”

Ikkaku nearly spit out her drink. “Where’d you hear that?!”

Chuckling, Nami recalled her own flabbergasted reaction when she’d been informed of that surprising tidbit. “Robin. If there’s anyone who studied up on the pirates of the Grand Line more than me, it’s her. And she always seems to know the weirdest, most obscure facts.”

“Noted. So, what about Roronoa and Straw Hat? They’re Supernovas, too.”

Nami choked on her cocktail, the burn of the alcohol settling uncomfortably in her lungs. “I wouldn’t sleep with Zoro any more than you’d sleep with Law!” Shaking her head in exasperation, she continued, “Sure, aesthetically he’s good-looking, but he’s dumb as a sack of hammers and has even worse directional sense.” Wiping away some of the blue liquid that escaped her lips, she added, “Besides, he’s like my brother, you know? He and I were Luffy’s first crewmembers; if something were going to happen between us, it would have already.”

“What about Straw Hat?”

Shifting awkwardly, the navigator admitted, “Luffy…look, Luffy’s a sweetheart. He’s fought pirates for me, climbed a mountain to get me to a doctor, saved my life at least a dozen different times…I can easily imagine a girl with far more patience than me falling in love with someone as goofy, determined, and loyal as him. But I can’t imagine him having sex.”

Tapping her lower lip thoughtfully, Ikkaku replied, “Yeah, I can see your point.”

“Dare I ask your opinion on the matter?”

“I’d do Zoro, but if he’s as dumb as you say, he’d probably have no clue what to do with an amazingly sexy woman like me. Probably isn’t all the interested in girls.”

“Seeing as he’s the only guy who didn’t spy on me in the baths, I’d say that’s a fair assessment.”

She sighed dramatically. “Such a tragic waste—a guy that good looking, but so utterly clueless. As for Straw Hat, I think you’re right. He’s sweet as pie, but not the kind of guy who’d push you up against a wall and ravish you. Unlike my captain—”

“Jewelry Bonney! Would you do her?!” Nami cut in, desperate to keep the subject off Law for just a little while longer.

Ikkaku laughed. “In a heartbeat! That chick’s wild, so I can imagine she’d be up for a good time. How about you?”

“You know, I think I’m on board with that, assuming she doesn’t stop halfway through to grab a snack.”

“Yeah, the only eating I’d want her to do is eating me out!” Ikkaku cackled before her mocha eyes took on a devious gleam. “I already gave you my answer, but I’m curious about yours—would you fuck Drake?”

“Didn’t you just say Law has dibs?”

“If it’s you—and he gets to watch—I think he’d be ok with it.”

Maybe it was the chance to indulge in real girl-talk without fear of their crewmates eavesdropping, but Nami felt almost giddy. Sure, talking about sex was still embarrassing, but Ikkaku gossiped about it so easily that it was hard not to get drawn in. Or maybe she was still a little aroused from her evening with Law, and she needed to let off some steam.

Taking a deep breath, Nami admitted, “I mean, before yesterday I’d say no—too stuffy and intimidating. But now…”

“He and Law got you all hot and bothered, huh?”

“I honest to god have never been so terrified and horny at the same time. Drake looked…feral.”

Blushing, Nami gave her the details of their encounter. How he’d helped her through her panic attack and been such a shy gentleman, at least until he’d decided to abduct her. How, when Law had been egging him on with his lecherous comments and groping, Drake had gone from hostile to interested, particularly when asked to help teach the wayward Cat Thief obedience. How, despite the bloodlust in the air and the bad reaction to the birth control, she’d found her panties had been completely soaked through after the encounter.

Honestly, she’d never expected to be turned on by a man like X Drake, but now she was sure he’d be the star in at least a few fantasies. After all, it had been pretty hot imagining him with Law. In her mind, the pair went together nicely; Law was cool and collected but eager to tease, while Drake seemed like the sort who’d start off shy, but morph into a hungry beast when pushed too far. Now, put an eager, orange-haired navigator in the middle…

When Nami was finished, Ikkaku blinked owlishly. “Wow. Ok, I know I’ve been trying to get you with Law, but if you really don’t want to date the Boss, I’d be happy to play wing-woman and set you up with Drake.”

Shaken out of her daydream, Nami gaped at her. “He tried to take me hostage!”

“Which could lead to some pretty intense sexytimes. I mean, handcuffs and dominance are a classic for a reason.”

“He’s at least a decade older than me!”

“On the Grand Line, age is just a number, and older men have their charms.”

“He could barely look at me when I took off the jumpsuit!”

“And yet you just admitted that, when Law basically put you on display, that shyness practically melted away.” Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Ikkaku leaned forward until she was barely an inch from her blushing friend. “Oh, come on; indulge me! You’re supposed to be a woman who can bring a man to his knees with a smile and empty his wallet with a wink. Are you saying you couldn’t seduce X Drake?”

Nami nibbled on her lip as her thighs clenched, warmth from the alcohol and fantasizing settling low in her belly. Oh, what was the harm, right? It was way safer to talk about Drake than Law; the chances of seeing him again were slim to none.

“Fine, I’ll play your game, but this,” she pointed between them erratically, “stays between us, got it?”

“You have my solemn oath as a Heart Pirate that if I so much as whisper any of your dirty fantasies to someone else, I’ll tattoo ‘traitor’ across my forehead in bright red letters.”

Pleased with Ikkaku’s sincerity, Nami leaned forward. “So, given how shy he is, I figure he’d need a little coaxing, right? But if the way he pretty much refused to look at me when I stripped down is anything to go by, I’d have to go slowly and start off dressed pretty conservatively.” A wicked thought entered her mind. “I’d dress up as a Marine or something—maybe something like Hina’s outfit. A nice, tailored suit that still hugs me in all the right ways.”

“Oooo, nice. Be sure to accessories with some sexy high-heeled boots.”

“Damn straight. Then, I’d pull every subtle trick I can think of—suck on a popsicle, ‘accidentally’ brush up against him, engage him in conversation just full of double-entendres, offer to help him ‘relax’ if he’s been having a stressful day—basically, drive him crazy wondering if I even realize how sexual I’m being.”

The shameless engineer sniggered. “Damn, girl, playing the innocent seductress card, huh?”

“Well, yeah. A shy guy like him needs to be pushed to the breaking point until he finally just snaps and pins me to the nearest flat surface.”

“You may be just as sadistic as Law.”

Red-faced but pleased with herself, Nami giggled. She was just glad Ikkaku didn’t ask her to elaborate any further—she was feeling surprisingly turned on. She made a mental note to grab a shower before bed; either a cold one, or a long, hot one where she could indulge in her fantasies a little longer. If that dildo her evil roommate had given her was water-proof, she might settle on the latter. “Hey, you asked. So, any other sexual conquests you wanna share? Who else has seen past the motor oil and canvas and been blessed by the goddess Ikkaku?”

“Honey, my sexual conquests would put those books of yours to shame. I once made a guy cum so hard he literally blacked out.”

Impressed though she was, Nami found herself momentarily distracted. It had to be a trick of the light, but Ikkaku’s eyes looked almost blue.

“You ok?” the woman in question asked.

Nami shook her head, positive she’d just been seeing things. “Yeah, fine. The blue light’s just getting to be a little much.”

At that moment, Mandōreku stopped by, studying their half-finished drinks. “You ladies want me to freshen these up?”

“Actually, can you get my friend a glass of water?” Ikkaku asked.

“Water? You sure?”

The Heart pirate frowned at his failure to immediately comply. “Yeah. Water. You know, the stuff people drink to keep from getting dehydrated? You do have that, right?”

“Well, yeah, but it’ll have to wait until I’m done making the cocktails for those girls over there,” he replied cagily, pointing to a pair of women currently making out like they could only breath air stolen from their partner’s lungs.

“I think they can wait,” Ikkaku said blandly, eyes narrowing when he ignored her and went to check on another customer who was practically laying across the bar, clearly having had too much to drink.

Turning to Nami, she gave her a gentle nudge. “Why don’t you hit the ladies’ room and splash some water on your face? You’re looking a little flushed, girl. I’ll make sure there’s a glass of water waiting for you when you get back.”

Part of her wanted to insist she was fine, but when she shifted, her thighs rubbed together and a shocking jolt of arousal shot up her spine. Maybe a quick trip to the bathroom wasn’t such a bad idea…

As she got to her feet, Nami stumbled, ankles wobbling slightly as she made her way to the bathroom. Something seemed…off. She was having a hard time focusing. It was almost like being drunk, but that couldn’t be the case.

“Be back in a few minutes,” she told Ikkaku, though her voice sounded husky and distant to her own ears.

Her friend nodded absently, her eyes having strayed back over to their bartender, who was busy preparing another round of martinis. “Uh huh.”

High-heeled feet clumsy and numb, Nami slowly made her way across the club. It was almost disorienting to step inside the bathroom, with its regular lighting and distinct lack of blue, but she could hardly bring herself to care. At the moment, she was half-tempted to slip into one of the stalls and pull off her dress for a while—she was feeling hot and bothered, and her clingy dress rubbing against her sensitized skin wasn’t helping matters. It was different from how she’d felt in the jumpsuit, though—her warmed flesh wasn’t desperate for cold air and freedom, but for more heat and rough touches and contact with another person’s smooth skin.

For a minute, she imagined Law cornering her in the bathroom, caging her against the wall and slowly peeling off her dress, hands and mouth caressing every inch of skin he exposed, staring up at her with those piercing gold eyes. She may have been fantasizing about Drake earlier, but she knew that when it came to her own satisfaction, the Surgeon of Death was the real man for the job. When she was this ready and willing, she didn’t have time to carefully seduce a shy former Marine—she needed a hot and sexy bastard like Law who knew a golden opportunity when it fell in his lap.

Clutching the sides of the lone sink, Nami steadied herself, even though her knees felt weak and wobbly. What the hell was going on? She couldn’t be drunk! Sure, she’d had two bottles of champagne and the Sour Sunrise at Ruby 8, plus multiple Hypnotiques, but she’d drunk entire taverns dry without so much as a hiccup! And even on the rare occasion she had been more than a little tipsy, she’d never been a horny drunk! But right now, all she wanted was to slip her nimble fingers between her slick thighs and play with herself, or better yet, hunt down a certain captain and ride him like a prized stallion.

Gods, what she wouldn’t give to be back at Ruby 8 with Law. They could close those velvet curtains to the booth, she’d climb on his lap, and he could lick champagne off her cleavage while she ground her throbbing clit against his hard cock…

To her right, there was a groan and one of the women from the large group stumbled out a stall, collapsed to the floor and curled up into a fetal position, hand buried under her skirt as she twitched and spasmed. Nami stared at her, mind sluggishly processing that she didn’t seem to be in pain—her face was flushed and she was panting, but her blue eyes were rolled back in extasy.

The woman wasn’t hurt—she was in the midst of an intense orgasm.

Ikkaku’s advice popped into her head, and tearing her eyes away from the cumming burnette, Nami turned on the tap. Cold water was quickly splashed on her face, the shock allowing her to focus just a little bit more on her surroundings. Her head felt like it was stuffed with lead cotton, but despite the fuzzy weight she forced herself to look in the mirror, gasping in shock as she caught sight of her eyes.

Brown irises had been overtaken by an unnatural, bright blue.

The same blue as Hypnotique.

The sight cleared the rest of the drunken haze from her mind, and cold dread replaced the heat that had settled in her belly. She turned to the orgasming girl, and though the irises were barely visible, Nami could see they also had the same vibrant blue tint.

A horrible thought bubbled up, and she staggered back to the bar as quickly as she could, only to find that, throughout the club, more women were beginning to collapse to the floor with shuddering moans. Only Ikkaku seemed to be upright, though that was at least partially because she was currently being pinned to the edge of the bar by Mandōreku, the bartender’s large hands holding back her balled fists. There was a smoking gun on the floor, probably the tough engineer’s, but it appeared the only thing she’d managed to hit were the glass bottles.

Nami didn’t have time to think—she grabbed a half-empty martini glass and flung it at the bartender’s unsuspecting back, mentally cheering when it shattered between the shoulder blades, startling him enough that his hold on Ikkaku loosened enough for her to kick him in the stomach.

“You cowardly son of a bitch!” Ikkaku snarled, reaching behind the bar to grab the neck of one of the Vodka bottles, just barely missing Mandōreku when she tried to slam it into his face. “The fuck did you put in our drinks?”

“A lovely little drug called ‘uranos’, Miss Heart Pirate,” came a sneering voice from the door.

Nami spun on her heel, fear freezing her veins as Jinzo strolled through the door flanked by his massive bodyguards. Two of them blocked the entrance, rifles in hand and determined glares on their faces.

Taking advantage of the distraction the black market broker’s arrival granted him, Mandōreku grabbed Ikkaku’s arm and twisted it painfully around her back, wrapping his other beefy arm around her throat, panting as she struggled helplessly, “Good timing, Mr. Jinzo. As you can see, your investment is already paying off.”

Jinzo gave a pleased, yellow-toothed smile that sent a shiver down Nami’s spine as his gaze landed on the orange-haired pirate. “I must say, outrageous as your prices are, I can’t argue with your results. Seems your special drink was a real hit. And you even caught me the wretched Cat Thief.”

“Happy to be of service,” the bartender replied, nodding to the rest of the waiters. Immediately, the set aside their trays of drinks and began gathering up the barely conscious customers, carelessly tossing them onto the couches or into a heap by the bar. “Think this’ll be enough girls for your new brothel?”

“For now, but I’m sure I’ll call on you for a new batch once these expire.”

“What the fuck did you do to us?” Nami asked, grabbing a table to steady herself, the adrenaline and danger of the situation barely holding back the unwilling wave of arousal that tried to wash over her. She chanced a glance at Ikkaku, whose face was flushed with pain and pleasure even as she weakly tried to wiggle out of her captor’s arms.

Jinzo seemed amused at Nami’s determination to keep her head clear despite suffering from the effects of whatever she’d been dosed with. “Oh, just a special concoction that induces inebriation and doubles as a rather powerful aphrodisiac. You see, I’m opening up a new brothel, but renovations and paying off stupid pirates mean I’m short on the necessary funds to pay employees. So, I contracted Mandōreku here to open up this little club for a special Ladies’ Night to ‘recruit’ my first batch of whores.”

“You have the money to pay for a fake club, but not to hire legit employees?” Nami groaned, forcing herself to stay focused and not give in to the pleasant haze that was trying to creep back into her mind. Staring at the sleazy man’s terrible teeth helped—they were gross and crooked, just like his business practices.

“For what I spent on this whole façade, I’ll recoup the costs in no time. You see, once a woman succumbs to its effects, she’s completely addicted to physical pleasure. So I can cut back on unnecessary things like employee salaries because they’ll have no interest in money—just a single-minded drive for getting fucked.”

“Captain…won’t let…away with this,” Ikkaku panted, weakly clawing at her captor’s arm.

Jinzo scoffed. “Please, as if someone like Trafalgar Law gives a shit about either of you. By the time he realizes you’re gone, you’ll both be nothing but sex-addicted, mindless whores. Maybe I’ll let him buy one of you back, though I doubt you’ll be good for anything but pleasuring the crew.”

“Don’t forget our deal, Jinzo,” Mandōreku cut in. “I get to keep one chick for myself, and I’m choosing this one,” he stated, twisting Ikkaku’s arm a little tighter. “Feisty bitches like her tend to last longer, after all.”

“Yes, yes, she’s all yours. And since I’ve got the chance to make the famous Cat Thief my star attraction, well, I guess Trafalgar won’t be getting either of you back after all,” the thin man snickered, eyes locking onto Nami. “You cost me a lot of money yesterday, bitch, so it’s a good thing men will be lining up around the block for the chance say they nailed Cat Thief Nami.”

Unfortunately for the black market mogul, Ikkaku and Nami weren’t going to let that happen. The navigator quickly drew her Clima-Tact, blasting a heavy gust of wind at Jinzo and the two armed guards by the door. Meanwhile, Ikkaku bashed her head back against Mandōreku’s face; there was a sickening crack as his nose crumpled against the Heart Pirate’s skull. With her captor’s grip sufficiently loosened, she pulled away enough to slam her heel into his groin, forcing him to fully release her. Leaping forward, she grabbed her discarded gun from the floor, shooting the two thugs right between the eyes before they could recover from Nami’s attack.

“Nami, run!” she shouted, spinning around to slam the heavy hilt of the empty pistol into Mandōreku’s sternum, putting him down for the count.

“Not without you!” the thief shot back, using more wind to launch a few of the glass tables at the waiters to keep them from stepping in. The drug made her legs feel cumbersome and unsteady, taking away some of her natural agility and making real combat difficult, but her determination to not be made a sex slave at least kept her head clear.

“I’m right behind you,” Ikkaku assured, though it was undercut by the way she stumbled as a stray thug took a swing at her. Most of the men in the club weren’t armed, having not expected much of a fight from a bunch of incapacitated women, but this one had been smarter than most, grabbing a shard of glass to use as an improvised knife. He managed to get in a lucky hit and slash Ikkaku across her ribs, the deep cut immediately pouring blood down her silver dress.

“Damn it, don’t damage the merchandise,” Jinzo shouted. Nami dimly realized that was why the guards weren’t shooting at them, and why the waiters were so lightly armed—they wanted the girls alive and with minimal injuries to clean up. Wounded whores probably wouldn’t go for much, and if Jinzo was being so stingy with money, he wouldn’t want to waste his cash on medical expenses.

Using her opponent’s momentum against him, Ikkaku managed to knock the heavy thug head-first into the marble bar, putting him down for the count. “Nami, get out and find Law!”

Nami refused to leave her friend, though. Turning quickly, the navigator blasted Jinzo and his goons with another gust of wind, a storm of bottles, broken tables, and martini glasses shattering in their faces. Taking advantage of the distraction, the pair of women dashed out the door, with Ikkaku pausing just long enough to grab the two dead guards’ rifles.

Unfortunately, that burst of energy didn’t last long, especially for the injured Heart Pirate, and they were forced to duck into a dark side-alley only a block away. “Nami…” she panted, crumpling to the ground, “find Law.”

“I said—”

“Find him and bring him back,” she wheezed. “It’s not a deep cut, but aphrodisiacs stimulate blood flow, so if I keep running, I risk bleeding out.”

“Fuck,” Nami whimpered.

Forcing herself up into a kneeling position, Ikkaku rested the muzzle of one of the stolen rifles on a trashcan. “I’ll hide here; pick off any sons of bitches that try to follow you. But you need to get Law now.”

“But the drug—”

“The longer we stand around talking, the more blood I lose and the less clear your head’s going to be. Now go!”

Though she hated to leave her friend to potentially fend off a bunch of vicious thugs by herself, Nami knew she was right—they needed Law, since he could remove the drug from their systems, fix Ikkaku up, and slice Jinzo and his men to bits. Casting her Mirage Tempo to render herself invisible, the navigator sprinted through the winding alleys back towards Ruby 8, silently praying Law was still there. How long had it even been since she’d left? An hour? Two?

A helpless whimper bubbled up in her throat as Nami darted down another foggy street. Could she not go one day on Grimm without some drug fucking with her system?! What was worse was that the longer she ran, the harder it became to think. The aphrodisiac’s effects were becoming more pronounced, from the way heat pooled in her lower belly as her thighs rubbed together to the delicious way the soft material of her dress slid over her sensitive skin.

The cool air wasn’t quite as effective at clearing her head this time—if anything, it just made her nipples pebble harder, and the slight breeze against her exposed flesh reminded her far too much of the way Law would let his breath tickle her neck and ears.

She needed to find him. Law could rescue Ikkaku. Could remove the drug from her system. Could cure the ache inside her with those wicked lips and dexterous hands—

Collapsing against a brick wall, she slapped herself in hopes of knocking that thought from her head. She couldn’t let the drug distract her from her mission! She needed to get to Ruby 8 and find Law so he…

Whatever plan she’d been formulating vanished from her head the second she heard a deep, smooth voice in the distance. “It should be a couple blocks away. Haiko-ya says Jinzo’s new brothel is slated to open in a few days—let’s see if we can get a sneak peek and draw him out for a chat.”

“We aiming to kill, Captain?” Jean Bart’s voice asked.

“No. Capture him unharmed if possible. I’d hate for Drake-ya to think I have no faith in his torture abilities.”

Despite the cruel words, Nami nearly cried in relief as Law strolled around the corner, the other Heart Pirates in tow. Focus solely on the dangerous captain, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his chest and pressing her trembling figure flush against him.

Law stumbled back a few steps, clearly unprepared for an assault from the invisible woman, and Nami felt his muscles tense as he activated his Room. “What the fuck—”

God, even though he was pissed and ready to attack her, his voice was like molten honey. “Law,” she murmured breathily, clinging to his blazer and breathing in his spicy cologne. The masculine scent made her mouth water.

“Nami-ya?” he asked, awkwardly patting where he presumed her head was. “What are you doing wandering around Grimm’s back alleys alone for? Again?” he growled.

The way his chest rumbled with every word enticed her to slip her hands inside the jacket to run her palms across the taut muscles. “I was looking for you,” she cooed breathily, mind fogged with lust. He sounded so mad. Was he going to punish her? Spank her for being a bad girl and disobeying his orders?

“Why are you invisible?”

“And where’s Ikkaku?” Penguin chimed in, brow furrowing beneath his hat in concern.

Why was she invisible? Law needed to see her to touch her, right? He’d want to see her hot and aching for him; see that she needed him so badly. Absently, she dropped the Mirage Tempo before shifting her focus to undoing the buttons of Law’s shirt. She wanted to see those tattoos up close, to trace them with her tongue—

Firm hands grabbed her wrists, yanking them away from her prize. “Nami-ya, what the fuck are you doing?” Law snapped. “Are you drunk? Where’s Ikkaku?”

Why was he asking about another woman? Did he secretly have a thing for Ikkaku?

…wait, she was planning on telling him about Ikkaku, though. Something about her being with someone…

“Ikkaku’s waiting for…a man,” she moaned, eyelids lowered as she pushed herself onto her tiptoes to brush a kiss across the exposed skin of his throat. Her mind was fuzzy, the anxiousness she’d been feeling hard to hold onto when the man she wanted was right there.

“We need more information than ‘a man’, Nami,” Penguin groused, subtly shifting closer, ready to pull her off his captain if needed. All the Heart Pirates knew Law could handle himself against one slight woman, especially since her intent was clearly more amorous than murderous, but they also knew her behavior was far from normal.

Law, for his part, softly groaned as Nami teasingly swiped her tongue across the dip of his exposed collarbone. “Nami-ya, your timing for this really couldn’t be worse.”

“Don’t you want me, Law-kun?” she mewled, pressing her soft breasts to his chest as she rolled her hips against his hardening cock. Really, he’d been teasing her for nearly three months! If it had all been some kind of joke and he left her wanting now, she was sure she’d go mad!

“Obviously, but right now—” Law cut himself off as he finally got a good look at her eyes. Releasing one of her wrists to grab her chin, he peered down into the electric blue orbs. “Fuck. She’s taken uranos.”

Shachi’s eyes widened behind his sunglasses. “Shit, Boss, you’ve gotta get it out of her!”

“Wait, did Ikkaku take it, too?” Penguin asked, grabbing Nami’s shoulder. “Nami, did she—”

Moaning, Nami leaned into the touch. His hand wasn’t as satisfyingly rough as Law’s, but it still felt so good to be touched…

Her euphoria was broken as she was unceremoniously jerked away, both of her wrists captured by one of Law’s large hands and yanked above her head. He took special care to hold her away from his body, basically dangling in front of him, leaving her nothing to rub herself against for stimulus. Needy and impatient, she jerked and writhed in his clutches, legs flailing to try and hook around his hips, but he clumsily dodged, determined to keep the thief at arm’s length.

“Nami-ya, I’m not letting you go until you tell me where my engineer is.”

“Please~” she whimpered, thrashing about, desperately trying to get any kind of stimulation. Her panties were soaked through and her breasts demanded to be touched. She imagined the hand restraining her was replaced with handcuffs—that way, he’d still have her exposed and helpless, but he’d be free to run his hot palms down her sides, caressing and squeezing her luscious curves as he got down on his knees and showed her what that wicked mouth of his could do to her dripping cunt.

“Law, we don’t have time to play around! You know that stuff’s addictive! If Ikkaku—”

A harsh glare from the captain cut off Penguin’s complaints. “I know, idiot. We’ll find her.” Turning back to the captive thief, he studied her intently, though there was an anxious edge to his normally confident tone. “Nami-ya, I know you’re stronger than this. If Ikkaku’s in trouble, I need you to tell me.”

“She’s…” she trailed off, having the hardest time concentrating on anything other than the way his gold eyes shone in the dim light of the alley.

“Focus, Nami-ya. She wouldn’t have let you wander around alone. Is Ikkaku in danger?”

Though the salacious fog encasing her brain was thick, Law’s words and the sudden memory of her friend bleeding but ready to snipe down the men who’d attacked them managed to poke the smallest holes through, allowing her enough clarity to groan, “Drugged…Jinzo.”

“I’m going to make that bastard suffer,” Law growled. “Where are they?”

But the self-control the navigator had regained was washed away by a hot wave of lust. God, Law sounded so fucking hot when he was mad. So powerful and dangerous. She wanted him to throw her down and growl like that in her ear while he took her roughly, make her beg and scream while he pinned her to the wall, telling her all the dirty things he planned to do with her.

“Tell me where she is, damn it!” he snapped, shaking her slightly.

Her only response was to bite her lip and moan shamelessly as she arched her back, thrusting out her chest in hopes of enticing him to lean in and wrap his lips around one of the straining peaks.

Realizing his orders weren’t getting him anywhere, Law changed tactics. Carefully, he pulled her in but left just enough space between their bodies so she still couldn’t get the contact she was obviously desperate for. “Nami-ya,” he purred in her ear, hot lips tauntingly brushing against the sensitive cartilage, “tell me where Ikkaku is and I’ll give you exactly what you need.”

That was an offer her aching body couldn’t refuse. “Venus…cl-club…three blocks west…please…”

“Thank you, Nami-ya,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around her waist as he finally released her wrists. Eagerly, Nami buried her fingers in his thick hair and yanked him down for an intense, desperate kiss, moaning in relief as his lips slanted across hers. The pleasure was short-lived, however, as a sharp jolt to the back of her neck made her body go limp and black creep into her vision.

As unconsciousness overwhelmed her, she felt Law’s lips part from hers just enough to whisper, “Sorry about this, Nami-ya, but it’s for your own good…”

[remnantoforario]

The Road Not Travelled AKA Fairy Tail’s Lack of Motivation

I know. I know. Another long-winded post about why Fairy Tail isn’t good, but before you fire up the reblog button calling me a hater, I just wanted to say my peace about something that has been bothering me about the series, almost since it started. That is (as the title clearly states) Fairy Tail (and by extension Hiro Mashima’s) lack of motivation when it comes to its characters.

Warning: This post is going to be very messy. This is mostly a rant/scattered thoughts about a variety of different things in the series. If you’re looking for more cohesive breakdowns of the series faults, I suggest looking at posts from @thegreatrhapsode, @ac-fairytail, and a few others since they would be much better at this than I am. Let’s get started. 

So what do I mean by “A lack of motivation”? It’s simple really. None of the main characters in Fairy Tail have anything to do and thus aren’t motivated to do anything other than what they have been doing. I’ll break them down.

Natsu: When he is first introduced in the series it was established immediately that his one goal in the series was to find Igneel. It was this goal that lead him to Hargeon where he met Lucy, and it was also what spurned him to go find Macao for Romeo. It is also one of the first things Mirajane tells Lucy about Natsu after she joins the guild. He forms a connection to Gajeel over their missing parents, and it is also one of the first thing Jellal says about him when he bursts into Erza’s mock trial.

Natsu’s singular focus in the story should be investigating any lead he can on Igneel...but after Phantom Lord he seems to lose motivation (there’s that word again) in favor of just doing whatever at the guild. Now I’m not saying every single arc Natsu should be out looking, but the fact that after Phantom Lord, Igneel isn’t really mentioned again until Eclipse poses a very large problem for Natsu as a character and the story as a whole.

Even when given a new goal (that of killing Acnologia) he still meanders around until the final fight to put the guild back together. 

With a goal so concrete in his mind, it would only make sense for the story to form around this idea and have arcs centered on it, but it doesn’t so Natsu is left dicking around with nothing to do. But he’s not the only one with this problem.

Lucy: Arguably the best developed character in the series, she suffers from a lack of motivation very early on. It was established not long into the story that her goal after joining FT was to gather all the Zodiac Keys (and finish her novel but that was never all that important and more of a character quirk). It wasn’t as pronounced as Natsu’s goal was, but it was progressing further than his. She already had Aquarius, Cancer, and Taurus before the story began, she acquired Sagittarius as early as the second storyline after the Everlue job, helping Loke gained her his Leo key, beating Angel during the Oracion Seis arc granted her the Gemini Twins and Scorpio, and Loke defeating Caprico helped Lucy regain her mother’s Capricorn key (which she was originally supposed to have anyway). 

Her goal seemed attainable...until the GMG (This arc was responsible for A LOT of FT’s problems, but that’s a post for another day). Yukino presents Lucy the chance to complete her goal by offering the remaining zodiac keys, but Lucy refuses. 

Now her reasoning is sound enough, being a CS wizard herself she knows how important the bond between a spirit and their wizard is and wouldn’t feel right breaking that up. That is fine and speaks to Lucy’s character, but the problem arises in that there is nothing for her to do after this moment. You could argue that her new goal is finding Aquarius’ new key but that is established so late into the story that it’s pretty much moot (even the sequel hasn’t done much with it at this point). 

Happy: Never really had any long lasting motivation outside of what Natsu wanted. Moving on.

Gray: Probably one of the biggest wastes of potential in the series when it comes to rival/best friend characters, Gray almost immediately stagnated after Galuna Island. His mission of “killing” Deliora done. He was aimless until literally Tartaros when he met Silver, after which his motivation became “Kill END” and we all know how that ended. 

Erza: Has pretty much the same problem as Gray, but worse. After her issues in the Tower of Heaven were solved, she was pretty much done for the rest of the series. Any significant change that could have been brought to her character was swiftly tossed aside in order to keep the status quo and she became a shell of herself as early as Tenrou Island. A mere two arcs later. 

Wendy: Probably the most developed character after Lucy (in my opinion) she was both blessed and cursed by having her issues resolved in the same arc she was introduced. After that, she pretty much integrates into the guild immediately and seems to have no goals other than “get stronger” and “be less clumsy”. Both are admirable, but nothing worthy enough to justify her being a main character. 

Compare FT’s main cast to that of One Piece or My Hero Academia’s. Now you can argue that a lot of the characters in both these series aren’t well developed, but the one thing both Oda and Horikoshi excel at over Mashima is that their main characters have goals that can be carried throughout the series and, characters with less broad goals don’t overstay their welcome. They do what they are introduced to do and leave soon after.

In OP, the main goal of the story has always been finding the titular treasure. It’s a defined goal, but also broad enough to carry the characters throughout the entire series. 

Luffy’s goal is to find the One Piece, but not only is the story framed around this idea, Luffy’s crew is as well. Zoro wants to become the world’s strongest swordsman, an easy way to do that is travelling the world and defeating strong opponents. Nami wants to map the entire world, best way to do that is travelling it. Usopp wants to be a “brave warrior of the sea”. He does that by doing various feats across the world and building his legend. Sanji wants to find the All Blue, Chopper wants to be the world’s best doctor, Robin wants to find the Poneglyphs and learn the world’s dark history, Franky wants to create the world’s best ship, Brook wants to reunite with Laboon after travelling the world, and Jinbei wants peaceful coexistence between Fishmen and humans. 

With the possible exception of Jinbei, everyone’s goals (while vastly different) center around and are bolstered by Luffy’s search for One Piece. Helping him in turns helps them, its mutually beneficial and thus creates a group of characters who are together because they want to be, not because they have to. They want to see each other succeed and feel like actual friends (instead of yelling about friendship every five minutes while being massive dicks to each other)

Other characters who have arcs that are resolved leave before overstaying their welcome. Vivi is a prime example. She stayed with the straw hats long enough to reclaim her country from Crocodile, and then she was gone. Her arc was done, so there was no real reason for her to stay. She would only stagnate. 

In MHA, all of Class 1-A share the same goal of wanting to be pro heroes, but all have their own motivations that go a bit deeper than that. Both Deku and Bakugou want to be as great as All Might, Todoroki wants to spite his father, Uraraka wants to make enough money as a pro for her family to live comfortably, and Iida wants to live up to his brother’s example just to name a few. 

Since Deku is the main character the story focuses a lot on his personal journey to the top, but other notable characters get their shine when needed.

Even Naruto built its story about Naruto becoming Hokage from the very first chapter. 

Bringing all of this back to FT. None of the main characters have any established motivation, and if they do the story either isn’t structured around it (Natsu), Drops it entirely (Lucy), or finishes it and proceeds to do nothing else with the character (Gray, Erza, and Wendy).

It’s not like Mashima is incapable of writing motivated characters. Rave Master’s main cast had various different motivations that either carried them through the series, or evolved over the course of time. 

People called FT a ripoff of OP in its early stages (a comparison I still don’t quite understand), but maybe Mashima could have leaned a bit on Oda’s story structure. 

Have the story actually center around Natsu’s main goal of searching for Igneel. Have him ask questions and going on jobs based on leads he had found, taking him (and his team) on various locales across the world. Build up the continent and its history with the dragons. 

He could even leave the story for an arc or two, giving a side character (like Levy, Cana, Juvia, Mirajane, Lisanna or Elfman) a bit of time in the spotlight to develop their own stories along with the main cast. 

Change him over time to be a more single minded character post-Tartaros. Have him ignore bringing the guild back together in order to find Acnologia, which would cause tension between him and his friends and add more weight to the END turn as his obsession grows. 

If Lucy no longer wants the Zodiac keys, why not have her new goal be earning enough money to buy back her family’s home and land? Its a lofty goal to be sure, but it would add a little more weight to her desperation to go on a job other than “I need to pay rent”. It still amazes me that Lucy is supposedly came from a very influential family in terms of industry in Fiore, but no one recognized her name. They have a railroad named after them for God’s sake. Do something with that. Does she not have an inheritance?

Gray is a little harder to pin down since most of his character is tied to Deliora and with him gone there isn’t much for him to do. SO if you don’t want to phase him out, you could evolve his motivation from killing Deliora, to finding Ultear. Have Lyon or someone (possibly even Jellal in Tower of Heaven) mention that Ultear is still alive. Gray’s mission would be looking for her in order to make amends, which would lead to their fight on Tenrou, to which after his goal could once again evolve into defeating Zeref for creating Deliora in the first place, leading to the fight with Natsu. 

Erza is simple enough. She is heralded as Fairy Tail’s strongest woman, so why not have her actually lean into that and try to become a wizard saint? The near death experience would have spurned her choice, leading to an arc explaining the saints and how to become one. Erza could fail to be accepted (something she never seems to do post-Tenrou) and the rest of the story could be her working up towards that goal, and in a change of pace you could KEEP HER AS GUILD MASTER. 

One of Fairy Tail’s biggest problems is its unwillingness to change. Everything and everyone just sticks to the status quo and the story suffers all the more for it.

Keeping Erza as master changes the entire dynamic of the team because the story would have to phase Erza out and put someone else in (again either Juvia, Cana, Elfman, or some other notable side character).

Wendy’s motivations could be the same as Natsu’s, finding her dragon. Her relationship with Grandeeney is arguably as strong as Natsu’s with Igneel so her joining him on his jobs wouldn’t be much a stretch. You could even add Gajeel for an arc if you wanted. Three dragonslayers and three exceeds. 

I say all that to say that one of Fairy Tail’s most frustrating aspects is its refusal to realize the potential of its characters. There is so much to do in this world, so much lore and information imparted onto the audience, but the characters (and the author) seem to not care the least bit about it. They say they will do something, but don’t and that to me is worse than doing nothing at all. 

[neverwatchedonepiece]

538-539: "The Straw Hats Defeated?! Hordy Gains Control of the Rygu Palace!" and "The Haunting Ties! Nami and the Fish-Man Pirates!"

Neptune’s finely tuned Roid-dar in action.

Finally figured out what was wrong with Chrome, so it’s business as usual. (FYI, it was the antivirus SSL scanning feature conflicting with certain websites’ certificates. Not great that I have to turn it off for browsers to function but that is a rant for another blog.)

On the Fishman Island arc front, 539 was the episode I’d been waiting for. I don’t have all the story yet but I know it’s coming. I’m excited to see what Oda does with Queen Otohime and Fisher Tiger’s stories. I also wanted to talk about Nami this post and I finally have the chance because she’s already at the Sea Forest and has met Jimbei (more on that later).

[title]

A Fishman Captain who can’t beat a human in a fight underwater without resorting to performance enhancing Fish Roids can’t amount to much, either. 

Just a thought.

Must say the spoileriffic title for 538 was unexpected. I honestly thought Zoro would win, or at least force a stalemate so that he could hold back the invasion with Usopp and Brook. Nope. Oda has diverted the plot in a direction I did not predict. Now I’m wondering how Neptune will retake the palace. I’m thinking a concerted effort, with the royal guard, maybe some citizens, plus reunited Strawhats out in force. Mainly so the Strawhats can clear their name because right now, the locals still believe they’re responsible for storming the palace and kidnapping Shirahoshi.

There was some good tension sustained when Zoro was fighting underwater and knew he had to surface to breathe. He defeated Hordy but was grabbed by a bunch of Hordy’s Roided Goons. When I was a kid, I remember playing Sonic the Hedgehog. There was nothing like that dread when Sonic was underwater and the oxygen countdown started. Find a bubble or else! Even though I knew Zoro’s plot shield would hold, I still felt that tension. xD For a moment, I was annoyed that Usopp didn’t go help him but then I realised Usopp was the only thing stopping Brook from sinking like a stone.

Neptune was great. I like the guy now. Compared to Hordy Jones, he’s an excellent leader. I brought up before his tendency to take advice, to listen to his people and consider their opinions even if he weighs them up and decides to do something else. In 537, it was obvious that Neptune cares about his people. He realised the Fish roids could be a real threat to his people’s safety. Instead of saving face, instead of a “we shall defend this palace to the death!” attitude that only gets people killed, Neptune only considered getting everyone out safely, and used his strength to secure an escape route: sacrificing himself in the process.

When his men did escape, they immediately thought of Neptune, of how he had helped them. They wanted to help Neptune because of everything he had done for them.

Compare that to Hordy “Become my Meat Shield or Die” Jones. He rules by fear and thinks of his dispensable soldiers in terms of what they can do for him.

It’s clear who the best king here is.

Must admit, though. Hordy Jones is organised. He instructed his head goons to assemble raiding parties to invade different districts of Mermaid Cove. Waterwheel Town, Candy Factory Town, Fishverly Hills, and other places I didn’t catch are under the control of Hordy Jones. His Head Goons wasted no time forcing the new regime and the new ideals on the locals, forcing them to commit a highly-charged political act of disrespect: step on an image of Queen Otohime or die. 

Naturally, Fukaboshi was fuming when he found out what was going on. That was his mother. Not cool. (I am hopeful he will lead the counterattack. I bet he’ll succeed Neptune some day.)

I’m also wondering about Big Mom. Candy Factory Town has fallen to Hordy Jones. If the tribues stop pouring in from Fishman Island, would she send someone to see what’s going on and kick Hordy’s ass herself? I mean, sure, the Roids make him strong, but this is a Yonkou were talking about here.

And Brook is a potential wild card here too. When Neptune, Zoro and Usopp were captured, Hordy’s Goons dismissed Brook. “What’s that skeleton doing here?” “Dunno.” I wonder if Brook will do a Sanji and complete the stealth missions this arc?

Jimbei’s Glorious Reaction Face

LUFFY-KUN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

Watching Jimbei unravel like that was hilarious. It’s always funnier when the stoic characters crack. Only Luffy could stress someone out that much. And we got two in a row when he realised Hachi was there too. Chopper should start running blood pressure clinics for those suffering Strawhat-induced stress.

The object of Jimbei’s stress was that Luffy had appeared with Princess Shirahoshi in tow. Jimbei knew all the crap she had been through (I wonder if he tried to stop it before but couldn’t find Decken?). He also knew how unsafe it was for her to be outside. Just as he said this to Luffy, a random axe whirred through the air and Luffy deflected it.

I admire Luffy’s unwavering confidence that he can protect Shirahoshi (“She knows I’ve got her back!”) and I love that he did take her to the Sea Forest to pray at her mother’s grave (that was sad) but it is bloody dangerous, you’ve got to admit. Jimbei said the harrassment started after Queen Otohime’s death so poor Shirahosi couldn’t even attend her mother’s funeral (I need someone to kick that guy’s ass ASAP. Do not care who it is now.) What if Luffy suddenly has his hands full? Maybe Sanji will step in and fend off Decken, now that he’s back to normal, thank god. I guess the most effective treatment for Sanji’s weakness is immersion therapy.

The lack of message to Luffy is also suspicious. Why did Jimbei’s message not get through? Someone is intercepting communication. I wonder if Hordy is behind this too. Maybe he doesn’t want the peaceable but powerful Jimbei ruining his plans.

Den-san wondered what all the commotion was and shouted out from Sunny’s deck (and Franky had his “My captain is a dumbass” moment). Not long after, Nami and Camie arrived.

I liked that Oda assembled those three Merfolk and Fishmen together because they were able to represent different voices from Fishmen Island. It wasnt’ just one person speaking for their history. All of them had a voice.

Including a human who had been affected by the violent repercussions of Fishman Island’s brutal history.

Nami and Fishman History

I have been wanting to write about Nami for ages. After I finished the last post, I started thinking about Hordy and what he would think of Nami if he found out about her. I guessed he would hate her for betraying Arlong and would want revenge. It’s funny, but Hordy made the same mistake with Nami as Arlong did. He underestimated her. When she left with Camie, Hordy’s goons did tell him, but he dismissed the warning. Let them go. It doesn’t matter.

Now, I wonder if history will repeat itself. Nami has escaped, has told Luffy what’s going on and soon they will have the power to regroup, counterattack and re-take the palace. I doubt they will ever fix the relationships between humans and Fishfolk. But maybe they could be a symbol of improvement, if nothing else.

Nami’s reaction to Jimbei in the last episode was telling. Something was up there, I was certain of it. Again, in 538, she was indifferent to the point of wariness when she spoke to him. Camie was full of admiration. Nami was guarded. She also wanted to skip straight to the point and halted Sanji’s fool antics in their tracks because she had a bone to pick with Jimbei.

I had been thinking about Jimbei and how he might be related to all the troubles in Fishman Island.

I had no idea he was the one who set Arlong on the rampage in East Blue.

Nami must have known something. Maybe she heard Arlong talking about Jimbei. Maybe Arlong told stories about the Sun Pirates and Jimbei’s name came up.

Jimbei did apologise. He said he was grateful for the Strawhats stopping Arlong wreaking further havoc in East Blue. But for Nami - and Sanji for that matter (I am so glad the daft behaviour has stopped. I like Sanji best when he’s being serious) - the apology wasn’t quite enough.

Sanji remembered was Yosaku told them about JImbei (I would totally have forgot about this if not for the flashback). In exchange for joining the Shichibukai, he set Arlong loose. Still not sure exactly what that means. Did Jimbei say, “Right, Arlong, go get those stinky humans” or did he have to cut the extremist Arlong loose so he could ascend to an official government role and not be tainted be association?

Sanji was cool here. “If you wanna make excuses, fine,” he said. “But Nami here had her home taken over by Arlong and went through hell. Depending on what you say, I might not forgive you.”

Which is fair enough, actually. No one is obliged to forgive anyone.

Nami told her story. She also said that travelling to Sabaody Park and finding out about how awfully Fishmen are treated would never change the way she feels about Arlong, but now she understands why he thought that way.

That is hugely generous of her, honestly. Considering the way Nami was treated by Arlong, to even feel the tiniest shred of understanding for his motives is remarkable. She saw how Camie and Hachi were treated and I think it was a real eye-opener for her. One that she’d never forget

Then the story of Fishman Island was told by three Fishmen who had lived through the worst of its history, Jimbei, Hachi and Den-san.

Nami mentioned that Arlong Park looked exactly like Sabaody Park. Hachi said that when they were little, they yearned for what the human world had. That shot above is like poor street kids looking over a wall into a gated community and longing for the tiniest portion of what the rich people have. 

But when they grew up, they hurt so many humans, Hachi said. He heard that, long ago, Fishmen and Merfolk were considered mere fish by humans. (This reminds me of how 18th century western academics used to classify other races as subhuman. Disgusting.) But then two hundred years ago, the Ryugu Kingdom became a member of the World Government.

You would think that would improve relations, wouldn’t you? But no. The Celestial Dragons, the ones who held the real power, were still bigoted and were the worst of them all.

The Great Pirate Era hit and Den-san said that was the worst time of all. Human pirates rampaged through Fishman Island. It was taken over.

And now I know why Jimbei was so determined to fight and die for Whitebeard. Saint Whitebeard the Great saved Fishman Island, claimed it for his own and imposed peace.

But humans still didn’t like Fishmen. The Strawhats had seen that at Sabaody. Even though the World Government bridged the gap in relations, it did not improve much. 

Then two figures stepped up to change Fishman Island’s history forever.

Queen Otohime, Shirahoshi’s mother, tried to convince the islanders to live in harmony with humans. 

Fisher Tiger, the hero who invaded Mariejois ON HIS OWN to free the imprisoned Fishman slaves, called for a parting of the ways between Fishmen and humans. 

I haven’t heard all the story yet, but I’m guessing these two have a Major Difference of Opinion.

I can’t wait to hear the rest. 

This is some good stuff. I love the themes in this arc. There’s so much here that resonates strongly with current events. It’s almost spooky...

You’re right, Franky. There’s no point. Just smile and nod.

[bearxclaws-blog]

She stared — thoughtlessly, unblinkingly and with an uncharacteristic sparkle in her eyes.

Quietly, she admired the cook as he moved around, his almost dancer-like grace helping him glide from one Straw Hat to another. He carried with him a tray of hefty tankards, but appeared wholly unburdened by its weight as he still found room to weave his slender frame around their newest ( and boniest ) crew member.

“I’m gonna laugh when you spill those, Curly-Q.” Snickered the brunette as he turned to her, a single drink left on the tray. There was only one way to hide that she had been staring, and that was to poke harmless fun.

Sanji, lips pulling into a radiant grin, remained unperturbed by her ribbing.

“Hearing your gorgeous laugh would be worth it, Anita-chan~!”

                         Dammit——!!

Quick as she could, Anita drowned her embarrassment. Flushed cheeks were hidden behind her tankard as she knocked back the drink. She swallowed hard and drummed her fingers along the side, lips rubbing themselves clean against the crook of her elbow.

“Mind getting me another one?” She shoved the now empty tankard towards him and chose to ignore the flicker of surprise in his eyes.

“Another one? But this is your fifth——”

“Curly-Q.  .  . Just get it. Please?” 

                        I don’t need to look at you anymore than I already do.

Manners from her were rare, Sanji knew this. He stood a little taller, surprise turning to concern. It didn’t elude him that she had been acting strangely since leaving Thriller Bark, and it certainly didn’t surprise him that she would rather drink than confide in someone.

“If that’s what you want.” He cooed adoringly.

God, she hated that voice. The hint of baritone traveled right to her chest where it sunk into her heart like a poison-tipped arrow. The wound would fester, every instance of his existence reopening it and sending fire through her veins.

Grumbling, she waved him away. He turned without another word and meandered towards the kitchen. Anita, with her mind sinking into a cloudy combination of booze and emotion, watched. Straight-backed, confident, cool — he was amazing.

                        Damn him. This is so stupid. So, so stupid.

And still her eyes remained on him. She pleaded with herself to look away from his fair hair and mesmerizing stride, but there was no cooperation. Not until she heard someone speak in her ear.

“You’re staring again.”

A jolt sparked up her spine and made her jump. Beside her, Nami sported a simpering smile. Cheek in hand, she slurped at the straw jammed into her glass. Anita narrowed her eyes and made to argue, but decided rather suddenly that there was no point. 

They had all witnessed something terrifying, and things were going to be different because of it. She was going to be different.

“He almost disappeared.”

“Mmm. So that’s why you’ve been so quiet.” Nami popped her straw from her mouth and set her drink aside. “You’re worried about him?”

“No! Shut up.  .  .” She fell silent long enough for her face to contort before she buried it in her hands and let out a sound of pure disgust. “Yes!”

Nami felt her lips wobble as she tried with all of her might not to giggle. A little titter here and there may have escaped, but she masked it with a knowing smile and a nudge to Anita’s side. “Then tell him you’re worried!”

“Uh, no. Nah, I’m good.” Her head snapped up, revealing splotches of red so bright that they masked the freckles dotting her nose. “That’s not gonna happen. Not now, not ever.”

“Why not?”

It was a simple question with a not-so-simple answer. There was no good reason for her not to tell the cook that she had been worried, not when the rest of the crew felt the same. Watching the sun burn him down like a slender candle had thrown all of them into a tizzy, so it should be expected that she would have felt that same momentary flash of white-hot panic while members of her crew were on the verge of death.

Only it had been more than that.

The loss of a dear friend was vastly different than the loss of a man that made her feel. That he made many women feel didn’t elude her. He was a shameless flirt that aimed to make every woman he encountered feel special, but it was the sincerity and selflessness behind it that had him worming his way under her skin. She hadn’t quite believed that he said those flowery things without wanting anything in return at first, but time had allowed her to learn that his kindness was real.

When he called her beautiful, he meant it.

When he praised her ability to take a hit in battle, he meant it.

And when he said he was glad that she had become one of them, he meant it.

He didn’t ask for sweet words in return, but she wanted to give them. She wanted more than anything to expose her stone-encased heart and show him that the cracks throughout were his fault. That she was becoming soft because of him.

But she flinched from the notion, past experiences tainting her romantic ideas of confessing. It wouldn’t end well, and she was convinced of that despite how open the cook was about his own appreciation for romance.

“It’s dumb to tell him I was worried. Everyone else was, so he should know.” She grunted, fingers kneading at her eyebrows.

“But what if he wants to hear it?” Wondered the redhead.

“If he wants to hear it from someone, he’ll want it to be from you.” Anita scoffed. Nami rolled her eyes. That argument, she had decided long ago, was getting old.

“You’re impossible, you know that? It’s not like you’re pouring your heart out to him. Just tell him you’re glad he’s okay!”

“No.”

“Anita.  .  . ”

“No.”

“I’ll tell him.” The threat was so swift and cut so cleanly that it left the bear-woman speechless. Her mouth hung open, but she remained in a stupefied silence until it dawned on her a minute later that she ought to argue.

“You wouldn’t.”

“The way I see it,” started the navigator as she leaned back on her hands, “you’ve got two choices. Either you tell him you’re happy that he’s alive, or someone else does. I can’t guarantee that the ‘someone else’ won’t ad-lib a little.”

The options were laid out, but Anita had already decided. She got to her feet and mumbled under breath as she stalked towards the kitchen. Nami appeared entirely too pleased with herself and shot a cheeky grin at her nakama’s back.

“Good luck~”

“Get stuffed!” Anita pulled the door open, gifted Nami a rather rude gesture, then stormed in. Sanji, still working on the drink she had demanded he make, turned to see her pulling the door shut.

“Anita-chan?”

She faltered at the worry in his voice.

“Is something wrong?”

Anita shook her head and forced a laugh. It sounded hollow in her own ears, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Yeah! I mean, no! Everything’s fine. Just, uh.  .  . wonderin’ how that drink’s comin’ along.”

“Oh! I just finished mixing it, my sweet~” He abandoned the tray sitting on the counter and came to stand before her, drink in hand. “For you, my little teddy bear!”

Habit lunged forward, but she grabbed it by the tail and reeled in it before she downed the entire glass in one gulp. She watched the surface ripple and swirl, tongue sweeping across her lips. Later. She’d drink it later; whether it was out of celebration or to calm a mounting depression, she had yet to know.

“Actually, can you — maybe — put it down for a second?”

The cigarette between the cook’s lips drooped as he frowned. “Why, do you not want it?”

“Just set it down!” She groaned with frustration and tapped the thumb side of her hands against her forehead after clapping them together. “Why do you ask so many questions?”

                        Hypocrite.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He did as he was told, but not without the look of a wounded puppy. “Are you sure everything is alright?”

There was no reply — only a shaky breath and a soft, almost too cautious press of her hands to his chest. The material was soft and cushioned her touch, but she could feel his solid chest underneath. And beyond that, the beating of his heart. A slow thrum, healthy. Alive. It picked up in speed, the gentle bump turning to a quick staccato against his rib cage.

She didn’t dare look up, knowing for absolute certain that she would see how alight with heat his cheeks were ( and, in return, he would see how red she had become. )

Content to stare at the bright blue of the sweater, she let her hands wander. She touched at his shoulders, at his upper arms, his wrists and sides. Tangible. Real. Not fading. He was there, she could see him. That wasn’t enough. She needed to know that it wasn’t an illusion.

Every sweep of her hand brought out a noticeable shiver in the cook, while the breaths he dragged in and out of his lungs made his chest swell.

“Anita?”

“You scared me.” Her voice was low and soft, edged with a reluctance to show her fear. 

His heart clenched. “When?”

“A few days ago. Back at Thriller Bark, when.  .  .” She paused, tongue growing dry.

“When.  .  .” He prompted again.

“When you were disappearing. It wouldn’t stop, and I thought that was the last time I’d — we’d see you.” 

“It wasn’t.” He assured her in an equally gentle tone. “I’m still here!”

“I know it wasn’t, but still——!” She trailed off, throat finally closing around her words. People wondered why she had difficulty speaking when it came to her thoughts and feelings, but none of them believed her when she claimed that her body rebelled against her. Her mind still functioned and dreamed up a million-and-one things she could say to him, but her mouth refused to comply.

Nami said this wasn’t comparable to telling him how she felt, but what did she know? To her, admitting she had feared for him was the same as telling him outright that she loved him.

“Still what?” His voice dropped again. Too soft to be a whisper, yet she heard it as loudly and clearly as she did the thundering in her chest.

“Sanji, do me a favor and be quiet for two seconds.” Not Curly-Q. Or Love Cook. Or Dumb-Ass. She’d called him by his name, and it only doubled his belief that this was important to her. But in believing that, he wondered if that meant he was important to her.

His pulse raced, and with it he fueled his imagination.

What if this was her way of telling him how she felt? Since the very start, he knew she was on the rougher side. Unrefined, jagged, crusted with dirt. She was a raw diamond, ready for cutting and polishing. Except she didn’t need to be conditioned to be beautiful. She did things the way she wanted to do them and didn’t care that others disapproved. There would be no surprise on his end if an admittance of love came out as gritty and messy as the rest of her.

And if this was a confession, would it lead to the sweet kiss he had so often daydreamed about?

“Hey, c’mere.  .  .”

His breath hitched. This was it.

Her hands were on his cheeks. Calloused skin against sparse stubble. All it took was a single tug, and they were nose to nose. He anticipated flushed cheeks and a wanting flicker in her eyes. A press of her inexperienced lips against his.

He glimpsed tightly furrowed brows and a hard, fiery stare instead.

“You listen to me, Fancy Pants. That ain’t allowed to happen again. You scare me like that ever again, I’m gonna kick your ass. I mean it. I will really, seriously destroy you. Understood?”

Sanji nodded. “Extremely understood.”

“Good.” She eased her head up, planted a short kiss above his curly eyebrow, then shoved herself away. The drink he had set down earlier was picked up and chugged down with worrying ease. It was her fifth in only the span of an hour, but she doubted that another ten would fill the warm pit she had put in her own stomach.

Turning, she shuffled towards the door, empty tankard in hand. “Another one, Curly-Q! And make it snappy!”

“Yes, Anita-dear~!”