-Chapter Sixty-Five-
"And just who made you captain? Why do you get to give all the orders?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Back off! I may not be the captain, but who else is going to do it?" Nami defended.
"Look, all of them are kind of short" Luffy smiled as he held up four short straws.
"Luffy, that's not how you draw straws" I sweat dropped.
"You drew four! You were only supposed to take one!" Usopp snapped.
"I thought the person who grabs the most is the winner?" Luffy frowned, tilting his head in confusion as Nami's eye seemed to just twitch in irritation.
"Were you not paying attention when Nami was speaking earlier?" I questioned.
"I don't think further explanation on the subject is necessary, do you? Nami asked.
"No" we responded as the captain burst out laughing.
"I know, am I great or what?" he grinned.
"You idiot!" Nami, Usopp, and Zoro snapped as they hit him.
"Yeah, you sure are" I softly sighed with a smile.
"I drew the long one, so I stay and watch the ship" Chopper said, repeating back to himself what Nami had said earlier as he looked at the remaining stick that he had drawn.
"That's right, just make sure to keep her in one piece, okay" Nami nodded.
"That shouldn't be too much of a hassle with how empty and peaceful everything is" I smiled.
"Hurry up! Hurry up—let's go! There's lots of fruit waiting to be picked!" Luffy excitedly bounced in place as he impatiently waited for us. "You're coming with us, Nami, right?" he asked.
"No thanks, while you guys are gathering supplies, I'm going to spend the day measuring the island so I'll be able to add it to our sea charts" Nami shook her head. "Now, let's get to work" she smiled with the clap of her hands.
"Be careful, see you guys later—have a good one!" Chopper waved as we finally departed from the ship.
"You too, look after the ship!" Nami called back as she and I waved bye to the reindeer.
"I'm sure he'll be fine, it's not like he's completely alone" I hummed as the navigator nodded in agreement
"The one who collects the most fruit is the winner!" Luffy suddenly and happily announced, already bursting with excitement as he started to practically bounce.
"I can't wait" Usopp smiled.
"Already turning this into a competition now, are we?" I laughed.
"It's going to be a long day" Zoro groaned.
"Come on, sourpuss—look on the bright side, at least it's a beautiful day today" I smiled, lightly hitting the swordsman's shoulder.
"I guess..." he grunted.
"Alright, it's time—measuring, measuring" Nami happily chanted, already looking rather eager herself to start exploring the island.
"Oh, how lively Nami is when she's taking measurements—the tools on her back glistening in the sunlight, Nami!" Sanji swooned, gushing over the ginger as hearts floated all around him.
"Stop acting stupid and catch up already!" Zoro huffed.
"That's not looking on the bright side of things" I chirped, giggling as he turned his narrowed eyes toward me before softening his gaze and giving a small smile the second I locked eyes with him and brightly smiled.
-Later-
"I wish somebody could give me a good explanation on why I have to take orders from that woman, seriously, she's going to drive me insane..." Zoro grumbled, still complaining about Nami as we walked despite the ginger being nowhere near. It hadn't taken us long to get separated from the others and I still couldn't tell if it was Zoro's fault that had happened or if Luffy and Usopp had just run off on their own accord and left us behind.
"Well, one reason would be because Nami's quite scary when she's angry and another would be the debt she has holding over your head—shall I continue on with the list, or are those reasons good enough for you?" I asked, cheekily smiling at the glare I received upon mentioning his debt.
"Whatever..." he grumbled, setting his basket down.
"I don't see why you're complaining—even if she hadn't said anything, we'd probably still be out here collecting fruit either way" I sighed, setting down my basket as well before flopping down onto the ground the minute I spotted him drawing his swords.
"Three Sword Style: Dragon Twist" he slashed his swords, causing the trees around us to violently shake at the sudden gush of air that hit them which in return caused them to drop their fruit. Covering my head, I winced as some of the fruit missed my basket and hit my arms instead.
"I think you overdid it, just a little" I smiled, giggling once I lowered my arms and saw the swordsman practically buried underneath a mountain of fruit.
"You think?" he huffed, knocking the fruit away from him before picking up his now full basket. "Let's get back to the others" he motioned, already picking a direction as he started to walk.
"Hold on" I said, grabbing my basket as I rushed over and snatched the back of his shirt. "Your sense of direction isn't that well, so I'll be the one taking the lead this time" I chirped, already turning us around so we were now going in the opposite direction he had chosen.
"Hey! It's not that bad!" he snapped, heavily blushing as I grabbed his hand and intertwined our fingers. I said nothing as I happily smiled, pulling him along as he looked the other way and started to grumble under his breath.
-Later That Night-
"She's really going at them, huh..." I mumbled, leaning back against Zoro with my legs stretched out across the rest of the log we were sitting on. My gaze drifted away from the flickering flames of the campfire we had built earlier and towards the ginger that was currently chewing Luffy and Usopp out.
"Go on, explain to me why you weren't able to gather so much as a single piece of fruit" she scolded, displeased by the fact that the two had returned empty-handed despite having a whole day to collect nothing but fruit.
"That's a good question—what's your answer?" Luffy asked, looking completely unfazed by the navigator's anger as he looked to Usopp and continued to eat.
"Look, I thought I was being attacked by a huge condor who was trying to claw my face" Usopp defended before suddenly falling back in his seat. "Sorry I failed you—I did my best, I really did. But I guess, in the end, it wasn't good enough...and now I'm dead..." he bemoaned.
"Man, I wish I was as good of an actor as you are, Usopp" I chuckled as the sharpshooter pretended to be dead.
"I have to hand it to you, Skylar, Zoro, you did an impressive job today" Nami praised as Zoro only hummed in acknowledgment, practically ignoring everyone around him as he ate.
"Thank you" I smiled before turning my attention back to the fire.
"So impressive that you two should keep working for the rest of the night" she innocently smiled, causing the swordsman to spit out his food and start coughing up a storm in surprise.
"Aw! How loveable Nami is, even when she's yelling at everyone" Sanji swooned.
"Yes...how loveable she is..." I sweat dropped. "You okay?" I asked, shifting around until I was facing the swordsman beside me. "Hello? You alive?" I asked when he didn't answer, now poking at his cheek as he sat there practically frozen in place. I quickly jumped back though when he finally did move.
"Oh, shut up! You're a moron!" he angrily snapped toward the blond.
"You want some of me, Moss Head?!" Sanji growled, quickly getting in the swordsman's face.
"Oh look, a show to go along with our meal" I happily clapped, chuckling at the two's antics.
"Don't encourage them! And you two—calm down!" Nami scolded, harshly pushing the two away from one another before things could get physical. I giggled at the sour looks on their faces before I leaned towards Zoro and pecked his cheek in hopes of making him feel a bit better. I recalled that whenever Sora was upset, a small peck on the cheek usually made him feel better.
'Cute' I chuckled when I saw the blush that dusted over his cheeks even as he turned his head the other way and continued to frown.
"I can't remember the last time we had a nice peaceful day like this" Nami suddenly remarked, sighing with a smile as she looked up at the night sky.
"Hey, Chopper, was it tough being alone all day on the ship?" Luffy asked through a mouthful.
"Yeah, I hope everything was alright while we were away" I said, looking toward the reindeer.
"Kind of, it was a chore" Chopper confessed as he cast a glance toward Robin. "But way more fun than I've had in a long time" he brightly smiled.
-Time Skip-
"Eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight" Zoro grunted, doing one-arm push-ups at the very top of the flag pole. I boredly sat in the crow's nest below him and stared down at the others, eyes half-lidded as my attention kept falling in and out of focus the longer I listened to him count. I barely paid any attention to the conversation that Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper were currently having below, only hearing muffled voices as I tiredly peered down at them with a soft yawn...
I could already tell it was one of those days as my mind seemed to not comprehend just how high up we were here in the crow's nest. My stomach still churned all the same as it always did when I found myself too unreasonably high off the ground...and yet I paid it little mind as I continued to watch the others below me. I hadn't been lying when I told Zoro that I wasn't a big fan of heights or the concept of falling, but sometimes...it was hard to find the energy to care or worry about such things certain days.
"Nami, dear!" I jolted at the sound of Sanji's voice, my gaze quickly fluttering over toward him the moment he came running out onto the deck. I watched as he rushed over toward the ginger with a tray in his hands. "I've brought you an amazing tropical beauty drink—it's specially designed for keeping your skin smooth."
"Thank you" Nami politely smiled, taking the drink.
"Exactly how can a drink make your skin stay smooth?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow as I lazily leaned over the edge of the crow's nest as if that would help me hear them all down there better.
"Careful, don't fall..." Zoro muttered from above me, momentarily halting in his counting when he saw what I was doing before going right back to it as if he had never even stopped in the first place. I only tilted my back and looked up at him with a dull expression.
"I'll fall if I want to fall" I shot back, childishly sticking my tongue out as he rolled his eyes.
"Sanji!" Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper suddenly whined.
"Come on, I want some!" Luffy huffed.
"Yeah, no fair!" Chopper complained.
"What for? What the heck do you three care about having smoother skin anyways?" Sanji frowned.
"To be cuter" the three men smiled, innocently batting their eyelashes which caused me to snort. Eventually, the blond caved into their whining and gave them what they wanted as now they happily sipped away at their fruity drinks while they continued to fish.
"The wind and current look fine, I don't think we should have any problems today at all" Nami remarked with a smile.
"I got one!" Luffy suddenly shouted as he started reeling in his catch.
"Hm?" I hummed, tilting my head when I saw that instead of a fish, he had pulled something strange out of the water and onto the deck of the ship—something big and bulky that looked almost akin to a giant Sea Snail shell.
"What is that thing?" Luffy asked.
"It's huge" Chopper awed.
"Hey, guys, what did you catch there?" Sanji asked as the Sea Snail shell toppled over.
"That's a really big Sea Snail" Luffy whistled as Zoro and I finally climbed down from the crow's nest and join the rest in crowding around the shell.
"Looks weird for a Sea Snail shell" I remarked, taking note in the weird glass pane at the front of the snail's shell and hatch on its side.
"Yeah, Luffy, I don't think that's what it is" Usopp said, scratching his cheek.
"What do we do with it?" Nami asked.
"Let's have dinner" Luffy suggested, already starting to drool at the thought of food.
"Yeah...it doesn't really look that edible" I said.
"Are you nuts?" Usopp frowned as he looked at the captain.