Free Heart

Ch 37 - I am On Uncharted Waters

"Luffy, look! Did I do it? Did I make a snow angel?" Emmy asked excitedly and she got up to her feet. She took four careful steps out of the snow as not to damage the imprint she had just left on the deck. She slowly turned to look at her creation as her breath puffed into the cold air.

The group was on their way to Whiskey Peak with their two prisoners, as the first mate insisted on calling them. They had sailed for just a little over a day before experiencing the notoriously fickle Grand Line weather. Just from this morning, they had already went through a hailstorm and a thunder storm. Then, the navigator had gotten them away from a hurricane in the nick of time and now Emmy was playing with Luffy and Usopp as snow piled on the main deck.

She had a heavy white cloak tied around her shoulders while she wore a matching beanie that hung over her headband and her ears. She had offered some winter garments for the boys but they didn't seem to mind the cold one bit. Living on Mt. Colubo, there were times when the weather was cold enough for them to get snow but this was the most snow Emmy had ever experienced. She was having fun and so was her brother.

Zoro was napping near the port side of the ship with a blanket haphazardly thrown over him. He had fallen asleep before the snow hit so a mound of it was beginning to grow over his torso. Sanji was on the upper decks, shoveling snow, while Nami was in the galley, keeping an eye on Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday. They were tied together and Emmy was adamant about keeping them asleep most of the time and only waking them up for meals.

It did not go unnoticed by the crew how differently she interacted with these two new people compared to Johnny and Yosaku. She kept a very wide berth from Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday and did not speak a word to them at all.

"Shishishi. Yep!" Luffy grinned at his sister and then lightly patted the head of a snowman he had just finished building, "Now look at what I did! This is the man that fell from the sky, Mr. Snow Barrel!"

Luffy's artwork had broom sticks for arms, a barrel on its head, two coals for eyes, and a watermelon slice for a smile. Emmy bowed to it. "How do you do, Mr. Snow Barrel?"

"Hmph," Usopp scoffed from his side of the deck, "That's such a crude snowman."

"What?!" Luffy exclaimed as Usopp stepped away from his own masterpiece and spread his arms out to present it.

"Look at my soulful artwork, the Snow Queen!" Usopp announced proudly.

"Whoa," Emmy breathed as she stepped towards the snow sculpture. It was of a woman sitting daintily on top of a snow throne. The sniper was able to make impressions in the snow that detailed the woman's hair, fabric of her winter coat, and even her facial features just by using his bare hands, "Usopp...It looks..."

"Amazing, right?" Usopp grinned.

"It looks like Kaya-sama," Emmy finished.

"WHAT?!" Usopp shrieked and stumbled away from his own work, as if Kaya had magically taken his snow woman's place. Unfortunately, he didn't see where was going and crashed through Luffy's creation.

"AHHHH! Mr. Snow Barrel!" Luffy mourned as the a broken watermelon slice landed by his feet. Then his grief backtracked into anger and he glared at the sniper, "Take this! Snow Barrel Punch!'

He took the broom stick that once was Mr. Snow Barrel's left arm and swung it hard across the Snow Queen's face, decapitating her instantly.

"AH! Kaya-sama!" Emmy cried.

"AH! KAYA! Wait no...it's a Snow Queen, Emmy, Snow Queen!" Usopp corrected. Then he returned the rubber boy's angered gaze while he crouched down and began to gather snow around him, "How dare you?! Take this!"