-Chapter Sixty-
"What do you call this dish?" Sanji curiously asked through a mouthful just as one of the servants sat down another plate of food on the table. Eagerly did he listen, mentally taking notes as the man answered his question.
"Yummy" Nami hummed in delight as she ate her food, paying little mind to the rest of us.
"Here's more, eat up" Terracotta smiled as the empty dishes were swept away and replaced with newer ones.
"Old man, I never knew you were the king" Luffy said through a mouthful of meat. "So I guess that means you're Vivi's dad, huh?" sloppily did pieces of the meat he was eating drop back onto his plate the more he talked. "That's pretty cool" he said, quickly snatching up the fallen pieces and devouring them.
"Uh...maybe we should talk after dinner..." Cobra suggested.
"Yeah, okay" Luffy agreed as he went straight back to shoveling food down his gullet.
"His stomach must be nothing but an endless black hole..." I muttered, impressed by just how much food the captain was devouring while still showing no signs of stopping anytime soon as his arms stretched out to grab even more food to refill his now empty plate.
"I need another drink down here, guys!" Zoro called out, holding his empty cup up into the air and impatiently shaking it.
"And water down here" Sanji added, harshly patting Chopper's back in an attempt to get the reindeer to cough back up the food he was now choking on.
"They're loud, uncouth, and disgusting..." a guard grumbled.
"I'll say, I can't watch" another agreed.
"The princess...how can she keep laughing like that?" the first guard asked before he and the rest of the men slowly started biting their lips and clenching their jaws in an attempt to suppress the laughter that now bubbled up to the back of their throats the longer they watched everyone. It wasn't too long before they finally broke down and burst out laughing—tears streaming down their faces as Luffy started to loudly and happily cheer on a dancing Usopp and Chopper.
-Later-
"This feels good" Nami sighed in relief as she relaxed back against Vivi who was helping her bathe. "I wonder if a ship with a big bath like this exists?" she pondered aloud.
"I'm sure one does, the sea is full of surprises" Vivi smiled before curiously looking toward me. "Skylar, are you certain you don't need any help?" she asked.
"Huh?" I questioned, dumping a bucket of water over my head and wetting my hair. "No, I'm good" I shook my head, sending droplets of water splattering everywhere. "Besides, it'd be weird having someone else bathe you" I remarked, nose scrunching up for a minute at the thought of letting someone else help bathe me.
"How would it be weird? Surely your mother must have helped bathed you when you were younger" Nami frowned, not quite understanding where I was coming from. I only stared back at her as unpleasant memories now started to float their way back up to the surface.
"Mary! Come here for a second!"
"Yes? What can I do for you, ma'am?"
"I need you to go run a bath and put this filthy...thing...in it. They're starting to smell."
"Are you...are you asking me to bathe your daughter, ma'am?"
"No, I'm telling you to run a bath for her—she's old enough now to bathe herself."
"With all due respect, ma'am, but she's only four and this will be her first time having an actual bath...seeing how you and your husband have been neglecting their basic needs since their birth..."
"What was that last part, Mary?"
"Nothing, ma'am."
"Hm...it better be nothing, or else I might just have to have a chat with my dear husband about your current payment. Do you understand?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good, now here you go. Anyways, I'm off—I have a few...appointments...I need to attend and won't be back until later tonight, do be sure to tell my husband, will you? We don't want him to worry now, do we?"
"No, ma'am."
"That's a good little maid, toodle-oo."
"I...I don't really stink, do I, Mary...?"
"No, sweetie, you're just a little dirty. But we'll get you cleaned up in no time and then we'll go see your brother, I heard his fever's starting to break."
"Mary...?"
"Yes?"
"What's a bath? Is it...is it like those wipes you use whenever you come to see me and So-So?"
"Yes...it's...it's something like that, but much better. You'll like it."
"Skylar?" Nami questioned.
"Yeah?" I flinched, vision jolting back into focus as my eyes started to rapidly blink.
"You okay?" Vivi asked. "You kind of spaced out on us there" she worriedly frowned.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking..." I muttered, staring off once more before shaking my head. "You can go back to whatever you were talking about" I quickly waved, ignoring the way they worriedly exchanged glances with one another before hesitantly nodding as I returned to washing myself.
"Uh...anyways," Vivi cleared her throat, "just think of what we've seen" she said, picking back up where she had left off. "Giants and dinosaurs, blossoms blooming in the winter lands—if those things exist then there must be plenty more amazing things out there in the sea" she brightened before sheepishly smiling when she saw the soft smiles Nami and I gave her. "I guess..." she murmured.
"My turn" Nami happily chirped, turning around as she now helped Vivi to bathe.
"Heh, thank you" Vivi smiled, owlishly blinking when she suddenly saw something through the steam that had settled around the room.
"Eh?" I questioned, squinting my eyes as I could stare up at the wall that divided the men's and women's baths. "Is that...?" I murmured.
"Hm?" Nami hummed, also staring up at the wall before growing irritated as Vivi and mine's faces erupted with color the minute we caught sight of the men staring down at us from atop the divider.
"What are you all doing over there?" Vivi cried out in embarrassment.
"I expected this from Sanji and maybe even Usopp, but not the rest of you!" I snapped, clutching my towel tightly around my body so that everything was properly hidden.
"Peeping" Nami glared. "Alright, it'll cost you 100,000,000 belis each" she suddenly sighed.
"Huh?" Usopp questioned, not quite understanding what the navigator meant.
"Nami...?" I mumbled as she suddenly stood up.
"Happiness Punch" she purred, boldly opening her towel and flashing the men. Bursting out into a fit of laughter, I watched how blood instantly squirted out of most of the men's noses as they fell back in both shock and excitement.
"Oh, that was just pure evil!" I giggled as Nami gave a bow for her performance, a proud smile now stretched across her face as she gave the princess and me a thumb's up.
"Nami!" Vivi embarrassingly squealed.
"Nami-swan!" Sanji loudly exclaimed in a blissful daze from the other side of the wall.
"Hm, I didn't see Zoro among those guys—he must not be man enough to want to peep on you, Skylar" Nami giggled as the three of us finally settled into the bath. Her laughter was quickly cut short as I splashed water on her face.
"I will drown you..." I threatened, sinking lower into the water until my nose was barely above the surface so that I could hide my embarrassment while lightly glaring at the two women that now looked to be holding back their laughter.
"Can't make up your mind" Nami suddenly commented, shifting around to face Vivi who now looked to be lost in thought as I slowly sat back up.
"What?" Vivi blinked.
"Better think quick, I was thinking that we might actually leave here tonight" Nami said.
"Yeah, that's probably for the best" I nodded in agreement. "With the Marines crawling around the place, it's best that we don't stay here for too long..." I muttered, leaning my head back so that I could stare up at the high ceiling.
"Really?" Vivi asked.
"Yeah, we need to go while the goings good" Nami nodded. "Like Skylar said, the Marines are crawling around the place and they're looking all over for us, that means the ship's in danger" she softly smiled, now looking to be lost in thought herself as a peaceful silence now settled between us.
-Later-
"Tonight?" Usopp questioned once Nami had informed him of her plan to leave early.
"Yep" she nodded.
"We have to leave?" Chopper sadly asked.
"The Marines know we're here, more will be coming" Zoro pointed out. "I agree with Nami, we need to get out now" he said, resting his chin on my shoulder as he wrapped his arms around my waist while I leaned back against his side.
"Me too, and not because she's got a pretty face" Sanji agreed.
"Yeah, we kind of don't really have a choice here" I said. "Not unless we want to risk getting caught."
"Do you think we should leave, Luffy?" Usopp asked.
"Yeah, but only after we've had some more yummy food" Luffy hummed before being struck by Zoro.
"No! Now, you idiot!" the swordsman snapped.
-Later-
"I swear, if your hands move any lower, I will kick you off this duck..." I embarrassingly muttered, causing Zoro to laugh.
"I'd like to see you try" he teasingly grinned.
"Sanji, can I—"
"Nope" he interrupted, covering my mouth before jerking back the second he felt my tongue run up the width of his palm.
"So a final farewell oh Kingdom of the Sand!" Usopp dramatically cried. "Luffy, aren't you full yet?" he deadpanned after spotting Luffy munching on a piece of meat.
"No fair, why did you get extra food before we left?" I whined, causing the captain to laugh as he cheekily smiled back at me.
"These Alabasta dishes are great, aren't they, Sanji? You should make them sometime" he suggested as he soon turned to look at the blond.
"Yeah, I liked them too, so I got some recipes from Terracotta" Sanji smiled. "I also got some of their local spices" he boasted, sounding rather pleased with himself that he was able to snag a variety of local spices before we were set to leave.
"Um...what's wrong, Nami? Are you sick?" Chopper worriedly asked when he noticed just how quiet the navigator was.
"Yeah, you're looking a bit down there? You feeling okay?" I asked, peering back at the ginger who looked rather dejected at the moment.
"I'll give you a piece of this if you want, just a small one" Luffy offered as he held out the piece of meat he was currently eating towards our depressed navigator.
"How generous of you..." I sweat dropped.
"Nami, if you're thinking about Vivi again, I understand" Sanji said. "Listen, moping around about it won't help. I know it must be hard for you—you two got close, just keep your chin up, okay" he gently smiled in encouragement.
"It's not that..." Nami sadly muttered. "I'm just sad we didn't take the reward—the 1,000,000 belis" she quietly sniffed.
"You're moping about money?!" Sanji shouted as the rest of the men now screamed in frustration and irritation.
"Yep, totally didn't see that coming..." I sarcastically mumbled, rolling my eyes...yet I couldn't stop the small smile that now tugged at my lips.
"Ah! Usopp fell off!" Chopper squealed.
"You shouldn't mislead people like that, Nami!" Zoro snapped.
"What did you think I was upset about?" Nami frowned. "We just walked away from a huge payday that we actually earned!" she quickly argued, puffing her cheeks out in frustration the longer she thought about the money we had turned down.
"Guys, Usopp fell down" Chopper repeated after no one responded the first time.
"That's his problem" Nami huffed.
"But you caused it!" we snapped back at her.
It grew silent after that.
"Hey..." I whispered, leaning back against Zoro's chest as he gave a curious hum.
"Yeah?" he whispered back.
"You think what Mr. Two said back there on the Transponder Snail was true?" I asked, tilting my head to the side so that I could look back at him just as he shrugged his shoulders and gave a quiet, "I don't know," in response. "Wow, you're so useful, great talk..." I sarcastically muttered.
"No need to get sarcastic" he quietly huffed, bringing a small smile to my lips.