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"Thank you!" Luffy shouted as he got on one Yagara with Usopp and the large bag of gold while Anamaria and Nami shared their own.
They led the animals in the direction the man had shown them and then went off.
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"This is amazing!" Luffy shouted as his arms went behind him as the Yagara he was riding raised its head proudly, making Usopp sputter out a bit as the hands hit his face before he too admired the animals.
"It's amazing that such convenient creatures exit in this world" the sniper said "It doesn't rock much, its comfortable!"
"What do ya see Nami?" Anamaria asked the navigator behind her as the two boys stared at the street they went into.
"This town was built around canals" the orange haired woman explained with her head stuck to the map in her hands.
Luffy called out to one of the men that was playing chess on the streets besides the canal and who told them where the shipyard was.
"Oh my beautiful mademoiselles!" a man poked his head out of one of the windows "How about dinner for three with me tonight?!"
He was yanked into the house again as another woman came out of a window and told them with a smile that it was a usual greeting around there. Anamaria and Nami shared an awkward look before they looked forward again.
"Aren't people far too friendly here?" Ana asked her friends out loud as they were greeted from all sides. No one answered as they came up to a separation of the canal up ahead.
"Ah, a hill is coming up. We're gonna go against the flow. Is that okay?" Usopp asked "Can we go up?"
All of a sudden, the Yagara perked up and swerved left which was the wrong turn for them while Nami screamed the contrary directions. Luffy, Usopp and Anamaria were happily throwing their hands up at the motions while Nami continued protesting about how they were going the wrong way.
"Don't be hasty Nami" Luffy turned around to see the two women "This is a rare opportunity. Let's stroll through the canals"
"Ah! Ah!" Usopp shouted making the four of the look up ahead to see a huge drop "We're on top of a hill! Which means..."
While Usopp and Nami had a scared reaction to it, Anamaria and Luffy smiled at each other before they fell, the Yagaras themselves having grin-like faces as they did.
"THIS IS FUN!" "YEAH!" "IT'S FUN BUT SCARY!" "NOOOOOOO!" (Luffy, Anamaria, Usopp and Nami respectively).
As they reached the end of the fall the two animals fell from the sky making Nami and Usopp panic once more with, you guessed it, the other two happily enjoying the fall. After they had landed Nami hit their Yagara when it chuckled.
"Don't be so full of yourself!" she shouted as she caught her breath "Oh?" they all looked to see the market in front of them "We ended up in the shopping district! Could it be that you took a short-cut?" the Yagara looked at the navigator with tears in its eyes from the hit "I'm sorry. You guys are actually smart, huh?"
"Whose a good guy, yes ya are" Anamaria cooed as she hugged the Yagara's neck fondly calming the animal down.
"I've never see such a lively market! Hey, look at that! That's a huge bull!" Luffy remarked.
"Wow! Look at all those beautiful masks!" Ana pointed out at the people on the huge blue and white animal that passed them. A shout alerted them of Luffy's and Usopp's Yagara swimming at full speed towards one of the stands "Where are ya going cap?!"
"I don't know?" the animal stopped on front of the stand and stared at the food "Oh? You were hungry"
"Water-water meat is the Yagara's favourite food, although its human food" the vendor explained.
"Oh really? Then give me ten of them" Luffy demanded before taking them and taking a bite out of one "Oh. They...are...so...soft!"
"Eh? They're that good? Give me one Luffy" Usopp demanded.
"No! buy your own" the captain responded as he kept them away from the sniper's grabbing hands.
"Nami?" Anamaria asked the navigator whose eyes were fixed on a passing person with a mask on.
"Hmm?"
"Ya okay?" the pirate asked the other woman.
"Hey! Some pirates are causing trouble in Dock #1!" someone shouted far from the catching Ana's attention before Nami pulled their Yagara away until they reached their next wanted location.
"Now...we're finally going to go to the shipbuilding island by using a water gate elevator" Nami announced.
"A water gate elevator?" Luffy finally woke up from his 'food coma'.
"That tower-like thing is the one" Nami pointed out, they all looked up at the large building.
"The elevator will go to the shipbuilding island, shipbuilding plant and downtown Water Seven!" a random green haired woman announced.
"What'll happen inside?" Luffy asked excitedly.
The water level began to rise bringing them all up with it making the four StrawHats there wait with anticipation at where it would take them. Nami did a quick explanation of what she could see was happening as they finally arrived at the top.
"Whoa! Water Seven is so interesting!"
"Yer right cap! This is all amazing! They can use water fer all sorts of things here!" Anamaria exclaimed with a similar smile as his.
After a few minutes they arrived at the top making the four of them stare in awe at the city.
"Wow!"
"So this is the world's no. 1 shipyard! Downtown Water Seven!" Nami exclaimed.
"Things are huge all over!" Luffy said as they looked around.
"Seeing that fountain up close really makes it bigger!" Anamaria admired it.
"Let's go see it! Go, Yagara!" Luffy and Usopp swam forward leaving both the women behind as their Yagara sped forward.
The four of them got off of their Yagaras and walked on sown the street. They saw a crowd that had gathered in front of them and Luffy went to ask a man what was going on.
"Hey old man? Did something happen?"
"Yeah. It seems that some pirates caused a ruckus at this here Dock #1" the man explained with his arms crossed over his chest "But , well, it ended when the craftsmen knocked them down. There's no end to those fools"
"Shipwrights beat pirates up?" the four of them were more than confused at it.
"Oh, you must be a voyager. That crowd is...well, in short, busybodies. The ones from Galley-LA are admired by all the residents. They're strong and skilled. The pride of Water 7"
"Ooooh" Anamaria nodded her head as the man explained.
"Oi Luffy" Nami caught her captain's attention once more "Let's hurry up and go to the money-changing shop. We can come back later"
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"Who the hell were those guys?" Zoro asked himself after he had thrown the pirates that had tried to take over their ship into the sea "Oi! Sable! Don't eat him. He most certainly has gone bad by now"
The huge snake that had helped him get rid of the ones coming from behind his back spit out one of the men she had her jaw unhinged around letting the now trembling man fall on the deck before she hissed at him and he jumped off the Going Merry in a panic.
Zoro looked to the city wondering how the others were at this time.
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Anamaria had told Nami to go ahead without her as she went to look around.
She looks at the stores around her until she finds Robin in one filled with masks, from simple coloured masks that cover half the face to the most bizarre designs on masks that she's ever seen that cover the entire face.
"Robin!" she called out, having a hand immediately grow out of the wall besides her and clasped over her mouth.
"Ann.chi, did you follow me here?" the archaeologist asked with a small frown on her face, releasing the hand when she saw the woman shake her head, negating the statement.
"What're ya doing here?" Anamaria whispered this time as she walked into the shop following Robin forward.
"Getting a mask" Robin replied, but Anamaria could feel that wasn't the entire truth.
"Let me join ya?" she waited until Robin nodded in agreement and in a few minutes, both girls walk out with two full face masks covering their features.
Anamaria smiled under her mask which was a dark red base color with small white skulls littered across it and with black lips.
"Do ya like yer mask Robin?"
Robin smiles under her mask that's divided to white on the bottom half, with dark blue lips carved on the bottom, and on the top half shows a checkered design of sky blue and black scattered around the eye holes.
"It's actually pretty comfortable. We should keep moving"
Anamaria nods in agreement as she stays by her side all morning. They managed to travel to the heart of the city with no issue, and with each passing minute, they start to actually enjoy themselves by exploring the town's culture.
They acted like the classical tourists by exploring the stores, listening to the local street performers, and even took a tour on a giant Yagara bull with ten other people. By the end of the tour, both girls decide to take a break by eating at the centre of town inside a cafe.
"Man this city's awesome" Ana said as she sighed and pulled back from her hot chocolate.
Robin slightly giggles at her friend's enthusiasm and takes an extra precaution of installing ears in each corner of the room of the floor. Once she's satisfied, she thinks back on how well Anamaria navigated them through the city, then lifts her mask over her head to reveal her face.
"It was a nice experience. You seem rather used to these kinds of surroundings though" she told the pirate.
"Where I come from, even though it wasn't as pretty and colourful as this, I had to get used to being around so many people so that must be why" Anamaria shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly.
While Robin is sipping her drink, Anamaria stares at her friend for a moment when she sees the small hidden fear under her friend's eyes but she doesn't mention it yet. As the two girls let themselves relax for a brief moment, two masked figures, wearing black cloaks, who are seated on the other side of the restaurant, look over the pirate women.
Anamaria sees them but keeps calmly sipping her sweet drink while she waited for Robin's reaction to them once she saw the woman tense up at the sight of them.
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"So that's them?" a masculine voice coming from the full red and white checkered mask, sitting on the left side of the table, asks his companion.
The other man slowly nods and begins to smirk under his silver mask before the two men turn to each other.
"That's them alright. Contact that door buffalo from CP 9, we'll go after them as soon as...!"
They flinch from the sound of a cup breaking and look back at their targets to see that the only things left of the targets are broken tea cups on the table.
"SHIT!" the two men rush out of the cafe, but with the hustle and bustle of the crowds, they can't get a decent sight of them.
"Can you spot the other 'demon' with your haki?" the checkered masked man growls in frustration, before he turns to his partner.
The other masked man was already on it, by scanning the area with his haki, but he can't spot the woman's outrageous aura like he did in the restaurant.
"She must've ran off as well. We should call that CP 9 buffalo and tell him to also bring the others. We need all the help we can get to catch them"
"Right!" he grabs his baby den den mushi and follows his comrade in running away from the square in hopes for a sign of the criminals.
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Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the café, Ana and Robin were staying as quiet as possible as they lay down on the roof and watch the two men run off from the edge.
Neither woman relaxes when they see them leaving, but Anamaria is the first to move by sitting up, then sees that her companion is hugging her arms, and shaking like a leaf.
"I need you to breathe Robin. We're safe for now" Anamaria told the woman despite not knowing why she was reacting that way.
"No, we're not!" Robin practically yells in her face, as she keeps trembling as if she's back in Ohara all over again "They mentioned CP 9! That's one of the deadliest Cipher Pol units out there!"
"Alright, it dont look like we can simply hide in plain sight anymore. Even with the masks" Anamaria said calmly, hoping to balance out the other woman's emotions.
"You're right. We need to find somewhere to hide out, come on" Ana stands up and gently helps her friend up.
Before they moved a noise got their attention and they both gape when they see a door appearing out of thin air on the rooftop. As soon as the door opens, they see a large man, wearing a green mask, as well as four other masked men in black cloaks about to step out.
"Tha fuck!" Anamaria shouted as she quickly hit the men with a full strength blast of water making them be thrown back into a wall.
"Robin, I need ya ta make eyes around the island to find a decent place to hide from these guys and the crew" Anamaria continues using a monotone voice hoping that her friend would calm down a bit as she looks back to see that their pursuers go after them.
Even so, there's no way that they'd give up this easily. Robin does as she's told and sees a remote shoreline on the outskirts of the town, that's far from the Merry, and looks like it's been abandoned.
"Turn left and keep going until you reach the rocky edge of the island, it looks like nobody has been there for a while" Anamaria complies to the directions, and turns left, pulling Robin behind her as she then keeps going until they reach the edge of the island where a rocky plain resides.
As soon as they reach there the tattooed woman looks around to see that this place is uninhabited, thanks to the jagged boulders that block the shore for miles and keeps people from simply walking here.
Anamaria relaxes seeing as they appeared to be well hidden and looks to see Robin still being anxious.
However, time doesn't seem to be on their side, for in a matter of seconds, another door appears beside them, and once it opens, a tempest kick is being flown at them.
Anamaria watches in confusion at the flying slash is black and that the blade carved its way into the boulder behind them.
They didn't have time to react though because their pursuers used the time they dodge to leave, shut the door behind them, and sky walk up to their level and surround them.
Robin does her best to put on a brave face, and gets her arms crossed to be ready to use her powers, while Ana does the same by unsheathing Fang and letting the blade freely seep its acid out and creating a sort of ice claw in her other arm.
"So, you decided to fight? Very well, let's see if the will of an outsider and demon or those of the world will strive!" a man in a dark blue mask, with a dark red line circling its face, snickers at the girls, as he creates two clay orbs in his hands.
He throws the clay at them, but a small cyclone of water stops them and they divert from the pirates to direct them towards Blueno, but he uses iron body to protect himself when the two orbs hit him and explode.
"Get outta here Robin! I'll take care of 'em" Ana told the other woman when she saw her shaken expression.
Robin took action on her way to land by growing arms on all of their bodies, and goes for the clutch, but their iron bodies keep her from bending them to her will.
When she sees that it has no effect, she listens to Anamaria's advice. As soon as the archaeologist's feet touch the ground, she goes to make a run for it, with Blueno giving chase with sky walk.
"Leave 'er alone!" Anamaria smirks and throws several spikes of hard ice at them forcing them to pause their attacks to dodge them.
Before she can go to her next attack, the checkered mask man and the bomb user use the move instant-shave and sky walk to simultaneously appear by her side.
The first man is the first to act by turning his fist black with haki and punching her in the face with haki hard enough that it should've sent her flying.
The man's eyes widened when she simply took the hit grunting slightly before he was hit back and thrown away from her himself when her hit connected with his stomach (she strong strong).
The man creates another explosion and Ana uses it as a smokescreen for herself as she ran at the man only to be intercepted by another of them and she instantly jumps into the nearest canal and disappears.
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"Bibibibi! This chase is becoming a lot more fun than I thought! I can't wait to beat her senseless with my sea stone tools! Bibibibi!"
"Don't forget that we need to take her in alive Nishiki. We can't dishonor Sengoku's orders" the man at the front groans at his comrade's careless attitude.
"Oh, shut up Nair! I do what I please with my tools! If you keep complaining, then I'll take back the sea stone sword band I gave you!" the other grows annoyed by the comment and looks at him.
"I don't care if you do! If you're not going to...!"
"Enough!" the other man called out before the argument turns into a brawl, much to the dismay of the third, who was enjoying the argument.
"Aw man, we were just getting to the good part"
"The good part will be when we catch our prey" the man answers before he looks to his partner "You're the best at observation haki. Can you pinpoint her location?"
"You got it!" he closes his eyes and focuses on the auras of the city.
While almost every aura he detects is blue, there is one a dark red aura that sticks out like a sore thumb, even if it's surrounded by what looked like black ice
"I've got her! She's heading towards the west!"
"Then let's go finish the game, before our prey gets too comfortable" the checkered man smirks under his mask before he begins to sky walk.
The others silently follow their mission leader as Rufus follows the direction he was told to go.
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Anamaria feels a shudder go up her spine on the street she had come back up and she knows somehow that she had been found. Turning around to face the strange men she sees her enemies starting to come.
She smirks darkly despite the small feeling of dread and she raises her arm up, letting the water near her in two columns of water that were beginning to circle faster and faster
Two of them were able to dodge well, but the last two were hit by a small cyclone of water in a spin, and crashed them into each other, and pushed them down to dunk them into the water.
Anamaria sees the bomb thrown at her from both sides, but she is able to dodge the attacks. Both men dodge their own attacks with ease, while the other two men come up to the surface for air.
Before either of the other two agents can help their comrades out of the water, a strong wave of water from the sea pushes the two men further under water.
The men were shocked by the attack and use their powerful bodies to swim after them at top speed with frowns on their faces at the strength of the water.
When the men see the ever-growing waves coming from further out the sea, and joining into an all-powerful tsunami, one uses instant shave to get away from the trap while the other is all the more enjoying the challenge.
He works to create a large bomb out of both of his hands, just when the water throws him up just above the storm. The water that Anamaria had manifested into raises far above him, starts to move forwards trapping him in the eye of the wave.
Anamaria was calmly watching the events happen but then she sees the other three sky walking after her.
Another of them is quick to throw a haki infused tempest kick at her, which she raises Fang to cut through it and then she has to use her sword to block when they used instant shave and performed an upward strike.
Just as she pushes him off and strikes, the one who had tried to kick her throws three sea stone shuriken at her left arm. Anamaria smiles and then drops into the water, torpedoing away from them.
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After Robin left Anamaria to do for herself, she starts strolling down the stairs, to the room that CP9 held her in, when Blueno meets her halfway.
"You managed to get anything out of her?" Blueno bluntly asks which Robin barely reacts to.
"You were right. She was nothing but a filthy 'outsider' after all. Thank you for opening my eyes" instead, she just quietly sighs and puts on a cold facade, even with her heart still hurting.
"What about her do you know? How can her abilities be stopped?" the agent could care less about the gratitude, and it's clearly shown on his face.
Robin keeps a scowl on her face from her experience with the outsider, because she still has mixed feelings about her. Of course, she's still furious about how she held all those secrets about her.
Something about the faith her friend had for her reminds her of when Saul would tell her that she would have true friends in the future.
"She didn't say a word about it. When I spoke to her, she was tight lipped like always" she clicks her tongue at the ridiculous thoughts swarming her mind and looks Blueno in the eye.
Thanks to her poker face being perfected for years, Blueno wasn't able to catch on to her lie. He gives her a look of satisfaction before he beckons her forward.
She follows him back to their meeting room, with a feeling of dread dwelling in her heart. She knows that she can't go back to the crew, but deep down she wishes that what Anamaria said is true and the other woman would be fine.
Even though she wishes for it though, she knows that it can't happen. The crew may be trusting, but even they must have their limits, right?
After all, she's turning a whole city against them, and will be treating them like they're her enemy. And even if Ana promised to rescue her, there's no way she can get out of those cuffs.
The only way she'll be free is if she cooperates with the CP unit that caught her, and takes Sengoku's deal...Robin softly sighs at the doubts, but she knows it to be true.
The one to let the pirates leave the island unharmed, and to let the outsider use her research to get out of this world. That's the only way she could think of for all of them to live.
As long as they can survive, she can accept her fate and end her misery. She keeps that resolution strong as she walks into the interrogation room with Blueno to wait for when it's time to take on their mission to attack Iceberg.
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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MERRY'S GOING TO DIE?!" Usopp yells in frustration, in Merry's kitchen, after hearing Luffy's news about the ship's condition.
Sure, he lost most of the money to the Franky Family, and got the crap beaten out of him as a result, but they still have over a hundred million beli. Surely that much can still fix her, but now he's hearing this?! That's bullshit!
Luffy though isn't going to budge, because after what Galley-La said about the ship, he knows all too well that it's the end.
"It's the truth, not even Galley-La can fix the ship. I wouldn't have decided this otherwise..." the rest of the crew knew this, so they didn't voice any objections, but Usopp won't accept that.
"This ship took us from East Blue, to the Grand Line, and even up to Sky Island! This ship is as strong as she comes!"
"This ship wasn't built to take us to those places, it took everything out of it! The shipwrights said it themselves!"
"Since when have you blindly followed a cheap sales pitch like that?! They're probably telling us that so you can buy a new ship!"
"It's not true Usopp! Please just calm down!" Nami calls out, but Usopp just ignores her.
"IF THE SHIPWRIGHTS WON'T FIX HER THEN I WILL!" Usopp shouts as he goes to leave, but Luffy blocks his path.
"This isn't something you can fix Usopp! I've already decided on our plan and we're sticking to it!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Usopp grabs the collar of his captain's shirt and pulls him so that they're face to face "The Luffy I know wouldn't give up so easily! And don't say that you decided something like a real captain!"
"Don't talk like you know everything! We all care about Merry, but this is the only way to keep going!" that line earned him a punch to the face from Luffy, causing the sniper to let go and get his back slammed to the wall by Luffy.
"IT'S NOT TRUE AND YOU KNOW IT BASTARD!" Usopp screams at him and drives Luffy off the edge.
"FINE, IF YOU DON'T LIKE YOUR CAPTAIN'S DECISION THEN GET OUT...!"
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Sanji had enough of this and kicked the side of Luffy's head to get him off of Usopp and to send him flying to the other side of the kitchen. The others were speechless about the attack, but stay quiet when Luffy gets up, and Sanji speaks up "Both of you need to calm the fuck down! Do you even know what you're saying?!"
Both sniper and captain catch their breath, with rage in their eyes, but begin to calm down enough to not go at each other's throats again. Luffy is the first to speak up with his head down in shame of what he was saying about Usopp leaving.
"Usopp, I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said..."
"Yes you did, but it's fine" Usopp raises his hands defensively as he starts getting up.
"What'd you say?!" Luffy asks, when Usopp keeps going.
"If you're going to leave Merry behind because she became useless to you, then you might as well leave me behind too" he leaves the kitchen with the others rushing to catch up, but he's already off the ship and heading to the island.
"USOPP, COME BACK!" Chopper calls out to him, but he won't answer him.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Nami calls out, which gets him to stop, and turn to them.
"I'M QUITTING THE CREW, BUT I WANT THE SHIP BACK, SO I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL LUFFY! I'LL BE BACK HERE AT MIDNIGHT TO FINISH THINGS, AND AFTER THAT, WE WON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER!" he gives them a look of pride, and anger as he calls out to them.
"I accept!" Luffy feels like his heart was being ripped out, but his face didn't show it.
Instead, it showed a look of rage as he watched Usopp run inland to get what he needed for their fight. As Usopp runs into the city, he refuses to look back or else he might start to waver.
However, he suddenly realized that's the least of his problems when he realizes that he's still running, but not going anywhere. He looks down to see the tattooed woman staring down at him with a sad look on her face.
"You heard my declaration, didn't you?" Usopp is surprised to see her there but he barely cares, because he has an idea of why she as staring at him like so.
"I'm pretty sure half the people 'ere heard ya" Ana answers with anger at herself for what had happened. Maybe if she had been there...
Usopp groans at the look, thinking her angry look is mainly for him, and turns around to look for an exit.
"I don't care if you drag me back to the ship, nothing will change, so you might as well bring me back down"
"Can ya at least hear me out?" she asks him, with a softened expression to show that she's not angry at him but more so at herself for not having been able to stop this from happening despite not knowing of the growing tension between him and the captain.
He looks back, with mixed feelings, and knows that she won't let him leave until he does what she says, so he tiredly sighs.
"Fine, go ahead..."
"I know what you and Luffy fought about, but Merry really is going to die. Ye've already proven that we need ya in the crew, so please come back with me. We can sort this out with them together"
"Why does everyone keep falling for that stupid pitch?! Galley La was just scamming you into buying a new ship by saying Merry can't be fixed!" Usopp grits his teeth at her bluntness and glares at her.
"It's not true Usopp!"
"Shut up! You're just backing up Luffy! None of you care about Merry at all!"
She grits her teeth at the insult and grabs him by the collar to yell at his face.
"We all care about Merry, ya fucking Pinocchio! And I know for a fact that Merry is dying because she told me 'erself!" Anamaria screamed at his face.
Usopp's anger is blown away from the new information, and is frozen in horror, because he remembers that they both spoke to Merry's spirit.
"W-what are you talking about?"
Anamaria quietly sighs at the question, releases his shirt, and comes clean to him about what Merry's spirit really was.
"What we saw on Sky Island, wasn't the result of our ship being on holy land. The reason we saw her was because she became a Klabautermann, apparently"
"What's that?"
She begins to shake from the question, because of having to speak about Merry's condition, but she has no choice but to tell him.
"She told me it was a spirit that lives in a ship that was well loved by its crew. She told me that the knock up stream was too much. It broke Merry's keel, she's been on her last legs ever since..."
Usopp begins to tremble at the answer, before his rage returns strong enough for him to try to punch her, but his fists just phase through, so he keeps trying to take out all his anger on her.
"IF YOU KNEW, THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU FUCKING TELL US, YOU PIECE OF SHIT?! THEN WE COULD HAVE SAVED MERRY!!"
Even though the punches didn't hurt her, each word he uttered felt just as much of a stab to her heart as Robin's words did back in her cell.
Even though she's hurting, she knows that Usopp's in even worse pain, so without hesitation, she wraps her arms around him, keeps her body solid for him to hit her back, and keeps hugging him like their lives depend on it.
Usopp stops hitting her to try to pull away, but freezes when he feels her glaring softly at him.
"Merry didn't want ya'all to worry about her, so that the last part of her journey with you all to be a happy one. That's why she asked me to keep it a secret for her..." Anamaria said as she remembered when she had lost her own ship to Calypso despite it being one of the few things she had left from her home "Do ya really fucking think that Merry would want this though?! To see two best friends like you and Luffy duel it out in front of her?! NO! So man tha fuck up and stop it!"
"And you saw the good that brought us!" Usopp shouts back with tears of his own as he pushes her away from him. Ana barely stumbles backwards "My carpentry skills weren't enough to save her! And if I was as useful as you say, I wouldn't have gotten mugged by the Franky Family!"
"That wasn't your fault! An' every one of us see you as a friend!" Anamaria shouted back.
"USOPP!"
Both Ana and Usopp quit arguing by Chopper's voice and look over the edge of the rooftop to see Chopper searching for the sniper.
"See, none of us think you're a burden..." Anamaria tells him, with Usopp looking heartbroken by the sight of his friend coming after him.
He looks to the tattooed woman, and opens his mouth to say something, but stops himself. He knows that he messed up, but he knows that he can't simply fix this, so he gives her a sad look.
"I'm sorry, but I can't go back. I challenged Luffy to a duel. As a man, I can't cancel my own challenge"
"When I go back for the duel though, I'll ask Luffy if we can fight away from the ship's view. I know it's not much, but I don't want to see her crying either..." he nods at her before he looks at her in anticipation, but she's not doing anything, so he sweat drops "Um, can you let go off me please?"
She looks down to see that she was tightly holding onto his arms and then she slowly releases him.
"Goodbye Usopp" Anamaria said as she waved at the man's back.
"Goodbye Ana-san!" he shouted.
Once his feet reached the ground, he went off to search for Chopper to tell him to go back to the others. As he goes off on his own, Ana grows angry enough to kick the railing, faulting herself for it as if she could have actually done anything about the situation.
"God fucking dammit!"
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