One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy One [Rewritten]

-Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-One-

"It's your loss, suit yourself" the old man chuckled. "Shelly says thanks too" he smiled when the horse suddenly neighed.

"Just keep off the stilts, okay?" Luffy laughed, confusing me a little but I simply brushed it off as it was clear that Luffy was very familiar with this older man compared to the rest of us. He most likely had met him earlier when he, Usopp, and Chopper had disappeared shortly after we had docked.

"Are you sure about this though? What about your little reindeer friend?" the old man worriedly asked.

"Yeah, you jerk! How do you think he feels being left with those weirdos?!" Nami snapped.

"Luffy!" Chopper cried, causing my heart to break a little.

"Poor little guy..." the ginger sadly muttered.

"Chopper, I'm sorry" Luffy apologized. "I know this is hard on you, but no matter what, I promise we will win the next game and get you back!" he promised. "So hang on a little longer, okay? I know you can take it—after all, you're a man, right?" he grinned.

"You bet I am!" Chopper huffed, wiping his eyes as he crossed his arms and sat down—puffing out his chest in an attempt to look brave and like he hadn't just been sobbing his eyes out mere seconds ago.

"That's our Chopper" Nami smiled.

"Our brave little man" I softly chuckled.

"Leave it to me, pal! You'll be just fine!" Usopp assured the reindeer, proudly puffing out his chest in an attempt to look confident.

"If you're Chopper's last hope, he's screwed..." Sanji grumbled, causing me to giggle as the sharpshooter deflated and shot a small glare toward the blond for that jab of his.

"I mean, is he wrong?" I teasingly asked, causing his glare to redirect itself at me as he began to pout.

"I wonder what the next game's going to be" Robin pondered.

"Whatever it is, I'm ready for it" Zoro grinned as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close.

"Guess I am as well" I smiled, shrugging as I leaned into him and crossed my arms.

"We're going to get Chopper back in no time!" Luffy happily cheered.

-Later-

"This next game sounds like fun, don't you think?" Robin asked, putting her jacket away in one of the lockers of the changing room. I hummed in agreement as I slipped my jersey over my head.

"Fun?" Nami frowned. "That's kind of insensitive—put yourself in Chopper's shoes for a second, poor little guy" she scolded, not appreciating the older woman's choice of words.

"I didn't think of that, my apologies" Robin apologized.

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to try and have a little fun—Chopper's a tough little guy and he has faith that we'll get him back" I argued for the woman, mindlessly pulling at a loose piece of thread that stuck out at the bottom of my jersey the moment I saw it.

"Skylar, quit messing with your jersey before you rip it" Nami huffed, swatting my hand away from the piece of thread once she noticed how it only seemed to grow in length the longer I played with it. "Also, don't you go thinking I've forgotten what you said last round—we're going to have so much to talk about once we're finished with this stupid game" she suddenly grinned with a certain gleam in her eyes.

"What's there to talk about?" I muttered, cheeks flaring up as I quickly averted my eyes.

"Lots of things" she teased. "I mean, finally—I thought I was going to go crazy watching you two bozos constantly dance around each other. Just friends my ass, can't believe it took you both this long to come out and confess" she chuckled as she gave my shoulder a light shove. "Once this match is over, I want to hear all about you and your dashing swordsman."