+~*~*~*~*~*~+
"Come on, Luffy," I sigh, squishing his cheeks together as we sit on the deck right outside the kitchen. "You have to cheer up. I don't like seeing you sad like this."
"What's the point?" Luffy lets out a sad breath. "She decided to stay back. I thought we were having a lot of fun together."
"She's a princess, Luff, she has to take care of her country. That's why we were helping her in the first place!"
"Okay, sure," he slightly pouts. "Still doesn't make me feel better. I never thought that a crewmember would leave."
"It was only ever going to be temporary," I pull my hands away. "Alabasta was her end goal, and after we ensured that Crocodile was out and she would be back at the top, we would have to move on without her. She'll always be our friend, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I guess so. How come you're not sad?"
I gently smile, "Well, when I start to miss Vivi, I'll just remember all the great memories we made together, and I still have the rest of the crew here as we continue our journey. It's all going to be okay."
"It is nice that you can have such a positive outlook in this kind of situation."
"Well, after all I've been through, I have to," I lightly chuckle.
His arms wrap around my middle, pulling me into his lap. "It is a good thing that you are still by my side."
"It seems like the Navy isn't after us," Zoro says as he walks around the lower deck.
"Uh-huh," the rest of the crew says as they are all sitting on the deck around us.
I shake my head as Luffy rests his chin on my shoulder.
"I think we lost them, which is good," Zoro says.
"Uh-huh," the others mumble.
"Can you guys not say anything else?"
"We miss Vivi!"
"Quit crying! If you didn't want her to leave, you should have kidnapped her!"
I chuckle, "Zoro has a point."
"Barbarians!" Chopper cries.
"You're mean," Nami growls.
"Moss head," Sanji grumbles.
"Three-sword style," Luffy gives me a squeeze.
"That's not an insult, Luffy," Usopp looks at Luffy with wide eyes.
"Four-sword style."
I giggle, "That isn't possible."
"Listen, try natto," Usopp says. "Tell him his stinks like natto."
A door creaks open from below deck, and then a female' voice that I've heard before speaks up. "Well, it is about damn time you left that oversized sandbox."
"Yeah, about time," Zoro agrees, and then his face contorts into confusion.
Silence can be loud when the shock of some event is beyond believable. Especially when the enemy is on our ship. Well, ex-enemy at the very least, though it is unclear what her intentions are being here now. Every one of us jumping up and heading down to the lower level, besides Chopper who tries to hide behind the railing.
"Here to avenge your comrades!? Bring it on!" Zoro gets into a fighting stance with a hand on his swords.
"What are you doing here!?" Nami cries.
"Ah, a babe!" Sanji gushes.
"Enemy raid! Raid!" Usopp screams.
Chopper lets out a wail. "Who is she!?"
"Hey Robin," I wave as Luffy's arm stay wrapped around my middle.
"You're still alive?" Luffy asks, resting his chin on my shoulder.
"How rude, pointing those at me," Robin waves her hands out, making more of her arms appear on Nami and Zoro's sides to get rid of their weapons. "I've told you that before, and you haven't learned."
"A hand!?" Zoro blurts out.
"How long have you been on board!?" Nami demands.
"Oh, quite a while," Robin pulls out a lounge chair from her hiding spot. "I was reading below deck, then I took a shower. I borrowed these clothes, which I assume you girls were sharing anyways."
"I can't believe you! You Baroque Works witch!"
"We do share, but not that much," I speak up.
"Monkey D. Luffy," Robin starts setting up her chair, "You didn't forget what you did to me, did you?"
"What did you to do this beautiful woman, Luffy!?" Sanji rips me out of Luffy's grasp to shake the boy around by his collar.
"We don't want any trouble," Usopp cries. "Please get off this ship."
"I didn't do anything to you!" Luffy shouts. "Don't lie!"
"I suffered a great deal because of you," Robin settles into her seat, placing her hands behind her head. "Might as well say that you are in this as well, Portgas D. Akari. So much suffering, so now you have to take responsibility."
"Who is she?" Chopper grabs onto my leg.
"She's not bad, if that is what you want to know," I place my hand on Chopper's hat, watching as Sanji continues to shake Luffy.
"Please leave," Usopp cries. "Or I'll be forced to call the Navy."
"What do you want anyway?" Luffy huffs as he pushes Sanji away.
"I want," Robin lightly smiles, leaning forward and placing her head in her hand, "to join your crew."
"WHAT!?" Luffy shouts in confusion, Usopp and Nami in anger, and Sanji in infatuation.
I giggle as Zoro looks on in absolute disinterest and Chopper clings tighter to my leg.
"I wanted to die there, but you made me live," Robin says. "That is your crime. I have nowhere to do now, and nowhere to return to, so the least you can do is let me join your crew."
"Well, I guess it can't be helped," Luffy nods. "Okay, you can join."
"Luffy!" Nami and Usopp angerly scream, Sanji happily cheers, and Zoro growls.
"Don't worry," he chuckles. "She's not a bad person."
"I can vouch for that," I raise my hand for a few moments. "She saved Luffy's life, which meant the world to me."
"Then everything is good! I'm going to get out of this outfit and back into something much more comfortable!" Luffy rushes off to the boy's room.
"I'm off to make some snacks!" Sanji coos, skipping up to the kitchen.
"Idiot," Zoro shakes his head as he walks past me.
"Going to change as well, Zoro?" I tease.
"About time I got back into something I can really fight and train in," he shrugs, heading down to the boy's room as well.
"Akari," Chopper speaks up.
"Yeah Chopper?" I look down at the reindeer still clinging to my leg.
"You love Luffy, right?"
"I do," I nod.
"You'd follow him anywhere?"
"I would."
"Then you trust him with this decision?"
"One hundred percent," I smile, wiggling my leg so Chopper lets go and takes a step back. "That boy knows what he is doing, and even if I didn't love him, I'd still trust him. That's just Luffy."
"Okay, that makes me feel better. Oh, are you only allowed to love one person?"
I chuckle, "What's with all these questions, Chopper? Are you afraid that I don't like you anymore just because I love Luffy?"
"What? No, don't flatter yourself like that," he wiggles around as a smile spreads on his lips.
"I can love you too, Chopper, but in a different way than I love Luffy."
Zoro returns in his normal attire, followed quickly by Luffy in his usual outfit. I didn't realize how much I had missed it until he had changed back.
"Now, Akari, Chopper, let's play!" Luffy rushes over to us, grabbing my waist and hoisting me into the air. "What do you want to do?"
"Careful with her Luffy," Chopper reaches up for me. "Her knees are still healing."
"I won't drop her," he lowers me enough to pull me into his chest as my legs wrap around his middle. "I've never dropped her. Not even when we were kids, so you have nothing to worry about."
"That's true," I giggle.
"Plus, Akari is a lot tougher than you think. I don't have to go easy on her or be gentle with her. She can hold her own in a fight. Just because she's my girlfriend doesn't mean I have to always protect her."
"Thanks, Luff," I pat his head. "I don't want anyone to think that they need to protect me, and if I need help, then I'll ask for it."
"Now come on!" Luffy leads us over to an open spot on the deck.
"What are we going to do?" Chopper asks as we sit down.
Before either Luffy and I can answer, a few hands sprout up from the deck. Robin's hands to be exact. The boys are instantly mesmerized, but I lean back to listen in on Robin talking to Usopp who has brought a table and chair out for himself.
"I was an archaeologist by the time I was eight, and then a bounty was placed on my head," Robin says.
"An archaeologist!?" Usopp blurts out.
"I come from a family of them. For the next twenty years, I have hid from the government. A child can't live on the high seas alone, so I joined various outlaw gangs to survive. As a result, I became an expert of operating in the shadows. I can be a big help to this crew."
"You're very confident," he nods. "What is your specialty?"
"Assassination," she hums.
"Luffy!" Usopp whines. "Upon interrogation, I have concluded that she's too dangerous!"
The hands that are messing with Luffy and Chopper make them bend to the side before pulling them down and stretching out their necks. This causes them to burst into laughter as more hands pop up and start messing with them. A hand even pinches my sides causing me to laugh.
"Did you guys even hear me!?" Usopp screams.
"She's already won over the idiots," Nami sighs, shaking her head as she sits on top of the steps. "I'm not talking about you, Akari, of course, since you are a saint. You think before you act, and you must have a good reason to accept this woman. Even though a few days ago, she was the vice-president of Baroque Works. She was Crocodile's partner for sea-king's sake! You might have Luffy fooled, but that won't work on me! One wrong move and I'll have you thrown you out!"
Robin giggles, "I'll have to keep that in mind. Oh, I almost forgot to mention it, but I bought a few of Crocodile's gems along with me."
Nami rushes down the steps, settling right to Robin. "Oh, I love you so much, sister!"
"Hey! Hey!" Zoro and Usopp shout.
"Dumpling," Luffy falls into my side, dragging me away from the conversations with Robin just as Sanji comes dancing down with food. "She saved me because of a reason, right? And not just for you, right?"
I hum, "I think so. She said something about the Will of D, not that I have any idea what that is. Either way, she isn't trying to sabotage us or anything. I believe her when she says she has nowhere to go, and if you did save her life against her will, then she might as well join us."
"I can get Usopp on the same page, but you might have to convince Zoro," he presses a kiss to my cheek.
"I can do that," I push him off me, jumping up to my feet. "Zoro!" I start heading towards the swordman.
"Hey Usopp, look!" Luffy gets Usopp to look over at him as two of Robin's hand have sprouted from his head. "I'm Chopper!"
The three boys burst into laughter as they roll around on the deck.
"What do you want?" Zoro asks as I step up to him.
"Hey, I'm the only one who wasn't depressed like the others, so I feel like I deserve some slack," I giggle, holding my hands up in defense for a moment. "You are overthinking right now, Zoro. I know that Luffy doesn't think before making big decisions, but that hasn't hurt us."
"Yet." He crosses his arms over his chest as he frowns.
"This is nice," Robin steps up to us. "Is this how it always is?"
"Pretty much."
"When we aren't fighting, we can have a lot of fun," I add. "The pirates life for me," I sing.
She chuckles, "I see."
+~*~*~*~*~*~+
It takes a few hours for everyone to calm down about Robin joining the crew, and then it is like she's always been with us. She's about ten years older than us, which means she's seen a lot more of the world, and she knows how to deal with all of us in whatever way is best. She makes Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp laugh, accepts Sanji's treats with a smile, gives Nami all the gems that she could want, and talks with me when I'm not being dragged away by Luffy. Zoro keeps his distance while he exercises, but he always has an eye on her. Overall, she is fitting in well.
"What is your log pose course, navigator?" Robin asks as a few of us stand around the upper deck.
"Ahead west by northwest, Robin!" Nami happily answers.
"She gave you a gem again, didn't she?" Usopp sighs.
"Shut up," she sticks her tongue out.
"Hey Sanji! How about a snack!?" Luffy grabs my hand before leaning over the railing.
"Give me a minute!" Sanji calls from the lower deck.
"What do you think the next island will hold? More snow? Or a blistering summer?"
"Oh, another snow island would be great," Luffy chuckles.
"Aren't you sick of snow? Did you get enough back when we met Chopper?" Nami carefully checks out her log pose.
"After Alabasta, it should be an autumn island up next," Robin says.
"Cool! I like autumn too!" Luffy lets his head fall to the side to lean against mine.
"I've never known you to hate anything," I giggle.
In the next moment, something hits the railing around us, but it doesn't sound like rain. There aren't even any clouds in sight.
"Rain?" Zoro asks as he stops his bicep curls.
"It's not rain," Sanji says as he holds out his hands to catch whatever is falling.
"Rice crackers?" Usopp asks.
"Why would that be falling?" I tilt my head to scan the sky for whatever is falling. What I don't expect is a whole ship to be coming straight for us out of the sky. A ship that is a lot larger than ours.
"Out of the sky..." Luffy chokes out as his eyes widen.
Zoro grimaces as he stares up.
"A galleon!?" Nami blurs out.
Chopper and Usopp let out silent screams.
"How?" Sanji's mouth hangs open and his cigarette falls out.
Robin looks on in amazement.
The ship crashes down into the sea right next to us, causing a giant wave to rock and throw us into the air.
"Hang on to something!" I shout as Luffy's arm wraps around my middle to keep me grounded.
"What's going on!?" Nami screams. "What is that!?"
"This is all a dream! A very bad dream!" Usopp cries.
"A dream? Are you sure?" Chopper lets out a breath.
"There's more coming! Look out!" Sanji orders.
"Hold the rudder, Zoro!" Nami commands.
"What good is that going to do!?" Zoro snaps.
"Luffy!" Sanji has a fresh cigarette between his lips. "Protect the ship! She'll break up if she takes big hits!"
"Okay!" Luffy nods, pulling his arm away from me.
I look down to see Usopp mumbling as he has his eyes closed. "Are you okay, Usopp?"
"Don't worry," Usopp mumbles. "Relax, close your eyes, and then open them slowly to see it's a peaceful morning after a bad dream," he opens his eyes just as a skeleton falls in front of him, causing him to let out the biggest scream.
"Come on Akari," Luffy nods for me to follow him.
"Anything to get moving," I glance back at Usopp before heading down to the lower deck to help Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro with debris cleanup.
Since a ship of that size carried a large crew, a whole bunch of skeletons begin to fall down on us. It doesn't freak me out that much, considering that skeletons have no blood on them, but a few of the others (Usopp, Nami, and Chopper) are extremely unnerved by the state of these dead people. Regardless, it seems only one ship was hanging in the sky, so we don't have to worry about more damage.
"Why are ships raining from the sky?" Luffy asks as we all look up.
"Can a sea monster out here throw a ship up into the air like that?" I ask.
"It could, but there were skeletons, which is crazy," Sanji says.
"There's nothing up there," Zoro grunts.
"AH!" Nami lets out a short scream.
"Nami, what's wrong?" Sanji asks as we all look over at the girl.
"What the..." she gasps, holding the log pose up to her face to get a close look. "The log pose! It broke! Somehow it broke because it is pointing up and now moving!"
"It's not broken," Robin speaks up. "The magnetic field of another island must have made it switch, so if it is point straight into the sky, than only once thing can be true. Our log pose has been captured by a sky island!"
"Sky island?" I tilt my head slightly to the side.
"What's that!?" Luffy widely smiles.
"So the island is floating?" Chopper questions.
"That's where the ship and skeletons fell from!?" Usopp blurts out.
"I don't see any islands," Zoro walks up to the upper deck to look at the sky.
"Actually, it isn't just the island, but the sea is floating in the sky," Robin explains.
"The sea!?" Nami exclaims.
"Now I'm even more confused," I pout.
"Wow!" Luffy and Usopp's mouths fall to the floor.
"The sea floating in the sky!" Luffy points to the clouds. "And an island up there too! Let's go! Raise the prow!"
"Raise the prow!" Usopp echoes.
Robin's hands sprout out of Luffy's biceps and clamp down on his mouth.
"We can't raise the prow, captain," Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette.
"I've never seen this sky island, so I don't know much about it," Robin looks at Nami.
"That's impossible!" Nami shakes her head. "An island and the ocean floating in the air!? I can't accept it. The log pose has to be broken."
"No, navigator, it has nothing to do with the log pose," she points at Nami. "We need to figure out how to get up into the sky now. In fact, someone should head over to that ship and search for valuables."
"On it!" Luffy nods. "Akari, hold my hat!" He places the straw hat on my head before rushing off.
"I'll come too!" Usopp says before following Luffy.
"What do you hope they find?" I look over at Robin.
"Anything that can help us figure out how old the ship is," Robin answers. "I am an archeologist, so I like looking at this kind of thing. There must be something of interest or help on that ship."
"Akari," Chopper pats my thigh so I look down at him. "Want to watch them with me?"
"Sure," I grin, walking over to the railing with Chopper to look over at the two boys running around the ruined ship. My left hand reaching up to hold the straw hat in place on my head.
"I didn't think becoming a pirate would be like this."
"It is unlike anything I could have imagined," I happily sigh. "You're having fun though, right? You enjoy being out to sea?"
"Oh yes, I am glad that Luffy didn't walk away when I kept running away."
"You're too cute, Chopper, but you can also fight, so it was a perfect fit for this crew," I giggle.
"No matter what happens to this ship, no matter the crisis, we must never suspect that the log pose is leading us wrong," Robin says. "It is essential out on this sea. If we doubt it, we should also doubt our senses. There will always be an island where that needle is pointing."
"I have something!" Usopp declares as he comes back with a coffin. Then he is heading back to the wrecked ship.
"Wonderful," Robin motions for him to set it down on the deck. Her hands bringing her a briefcase of her tools. Then she kneels down and gets to work.
"A coffin," Chopper clings to my legs as we walk closer.
"People usually place valuables with their dead," I say.
Nami is hiding behind the mast, shaking the log pose like that will fix the problem.
"Any clues?" Zoro asks, walking down the steps to join us all.
"A skeleton and a pretty lady, what a combination," Sanji gushes as he crouches nearby.
"You have weird interests," Nami mumbles.
Robin places a skull that she was placing together on the deck.
"Whoa, you were able to piece it together," I pat Chopper's hat.
"This is a man-made hole," she points to the top of the skull.
"Then that must be what killed him," Sanji says.
"No, these are not the marks of a gun, but the marks of brain surgery. Right, doctor?"
"Yes," Chopper nods. "A long time ago, people would make holes in the skull to relieve tumor pressure. Nobody does that anymore, though."
"This man died over two hundred years ago, mid-thirties I'd say. He got sick out at sea and died. Compared to the others, his teeth are well preserved, probably due to the tar on them. His clothes are from a particular area of the South Blue, so I would say that ship was an exploration vessel." She pulls a book out of her briefcase, quickly flipping through the pages. "Ah, here it is. The St. Briss from the South Blue. It set sail two hundred and six years ago. That is the ship that fell on us," she flips the book around to show us.
"That the same simple on the sail," I say.
"So it has been sailing around the skies for two hundred years?" Zoro asks.
"You figured all that out from those bones?" Nami asks. "They say dead men tell no tales, but clearly that isn't always true."
"If it was an exploration vessel, there should be plenty of records on board," Robin places her book back.
I turn to look back at the ship to see it sinking. "Um, it's sinking."
"Luffy, hang on!" Usopp shouts, reaching for Luffy in the water.
"Don't let my boyfriend drown!"
"What are you idiots doing!?" Nami screams.
"We'll be fine!" Usopp states.
I shake my head, watching as Usopp does his best to swim back to the Going Merry with Luffy hanging onto him. It takes a little longer for them to get on deck than I would like, but at least they get back safe.
"Hey, guys, we did it!" Luffy, water dripping off him, widely smiles. "I found something amazing! Take a look at this!" He holds out a map that says 'Skypiea' on the top. "A map to a sky island!"
Nami gently takes the map, looking it over. "Skypiea...then there is an island in the sky!"
"Right!? Right!" Luffy and Usopp bounce around.
"We did it, Usopp!" Luffy pats Usopp on the back.
"There is a sky island!" I giggle as Luffy snatches his hat off my head, pressing a kiss to my cheek.
Chopper releases my leg to join the boys, "We're going to a dream island! On our way to a dream island!"
"Dream island?" Sanji's eyebrows furrow as he looks at the boys dancing.
"Don't get too excited," Nami sighs, closing her eyes for a moment. "We don't know anything for certain. There are plenty of fake maps out there."
Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper stop dancing, looking over at Nami in horror.
"Oh, don't say that," I pout.
"Sorry, sorry," she grimaces, holding her hands up apologetically. "It's fine, I'm sure it's real...but that still doesn't fix the fact that we don't know how to get there!" she slams her fist into the mast.
"Uh, Nami, take it easy on the ship..." Usopp mumbles.
"Aren't you our navigator!?" Luffy screams. "Do something to get us there!"
"I can't do everything!" Nami glares back at him.
"Just sail to the sky, easy as that!"
"Nami is so beautiful when she's angry," Sanji lovingly sighs.
"Her looks could kill, that's for sure," I shuffle towards the stairs to be out of range.
"Ugh, well, this thing is useless, so we're getting nowhere!" Nami groans. "The needle is still point straight up!" Her hand slams down on Luffy's head.
"We need more information," Robin says, taking a seat on the stairs.
"Right! That ship was huge, so there has to be a way for us to get up there too. We can search it for records."
"But it sank," I remind her.
"Then we'll salvage it!"
"Yeah!" Luffy and Usopp shout.
"Impossible!" Zoro roars.
"What's it mean to salvage?" Chopper asks as he steps up to Robin and me.
"Raising a sunken ship," Robin answers, placing her head in her hand as her elbow rest on her knee.
"That's impossible for how big that ship is, though," I add. "She must have something else in mind."
"Usopp! Did you make those barrel things!?" Nami demands.
"Right, yes! On it!" Usopp rushes away.
"She keeps asking him to make things, and he keeps doing it," I chuckle.
"How have you been doing, Akari?" Robin looks at me. "The last time I saw you, you were bawling over the boy you thought you lost."
"Well, my heart isn't broken anymore, and we swapped I love you's, so thank you for saving his life. When Crocodile used your name for the first time, I wanted to believe that you weren't as bad as you were trying to make yourself out to be. I liked your laugh," I nervously chuckle. "That sounded so stupid."
Robin softly smiles, "You are like him in a lot of ways, aren't you?"
"Well, we did grow up together, so I'll say yes."
"Luffy, you get this one!" Usopp comes back from below. "Zoro and Sanji, you get the normal ones!"
I turn to see Usopp handing the three boys some kind of barrel suits that will allow them to head underwater. They have a window where their face goes to see out, and then arm sleeves so they can still use their arms. It doesn't look the safest, but at this point we have nothing better.
"Hold on!" I jog over to where the boys are starting to put on the barrels. "Luffy, the sea hates you, and you want to go down into it?"
"Sure," Luffy shrugs, holding the barrel suit in his arms. "We need to."
"But this is dangerous on a different level than fighting."
"Don't worry, Akari, my engineering is flawless," Usopp says.
"I'm sure that it is Usopp," I glance back at him, "but that doesn't mean some crazy accident won't happen."
Luffy leans in quickly to press a kiss to the corner of my mouth, "I'll be fine."
I feel my cheeks burst with heat as I take a few steps away from him, "Just, be careful, please."
Zoro flashes me a grin before slipping on the barrel.
Luffy awkwardly chuckles as he settles into his barrel suit. "Wow, you really like putting us in dangerous situations, don't you?"
"I promise to find the way into the sky, Nami!" Sanji gushes as he dances around.
"I'm counting on you," Nami coos.
"Ugh," I wrap my arms around my stomach as they are secured to ropes. "Good luck."
Then the three boys jump into the water to head down to the ship. To head down where all kinds of fish and monsters must be swimming.
Chopper changes into his larger form, standing by the lever to make sure the boys don't go down too quickly. "This is Chopper. Reports please."
I feel myself rocking back and forth on my feet as I wait for their answers.
"This is Luffy," Luffy's voice comes out clear from the funnels. "There are a lot of monsters down here. That is all."
"This might be the lair of a giant sea snake," Zoro says.
"This is Sanji," Sanji reports. "Damn, it's looking at us."
"They're fine," Nami nods.
"Fine!" Usopp blurts out.
"As much as I am freaking out about this whole deal, I do believe they will be fine, so there's nothing to worry about," I say. "Those three are monsters just like whatever they are facing down there."
"Chopper, hold tight to the brake," Nami orders.
"Okay," Chopper says.
"Good thing I didn't go with them," Usopp lets out a breath.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hope you enjoyed reading! I'm excited to be at the Skypiea arc as I planned some things when watching the show. Plus, it means Akari's first bounty is coming up soon! Anyways, I would love to know what you thought! :D