23~ Trying to Understand Those Confusing Emotions

Mira

My eyes slowly opened and I found myself staring at the ceiling of my room. I yawned, then stretched, hoping to get the stiffness out of my joints. I held back a grimace. My ankle still hurts?!

"Stupid lightening..." I muttered as I sat up and rubbed at my ankle. "Stupid Buggy, stupid storm..."

"You're finally awake?" I looked up and found Zoro leaning against my wall near the door.

The words he said to me came back and I looked away. "Yeah, I am."

He stood up and walked over to me. "Does your ankle still hurt?" He knelt down by my feet.

I nodded. "Yeah. I don't know why. I'm thinking that when I got hit by that lightening strike, it must have messed up my metabolism or something. I should be completely healed by now!"

"Easy there, Mira." I met his gaze. "Don't get too worked up."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "I didn't peg you as the caring type, Zoro." He didn't say anything. "Say, I have a question for you."

"Huh?" His eyebrow rose up a bit.

I chewed on my lower lip and looked away from him. "Did... did you really mean what you said yesterday?"

There was silence for a while. "I wasn't expecting the wind to suddenly pick up like that. I thought we could both make it and-"

"No," I cut him off. "Not that. About liking me." I didn't meet his eyes. I stared out my window.

"Oh," He sighed. "That. Yes, I guess I did."

This time, I did look at him. "But, I've heard you calling out for Kuina several times in your sleep. Who exactly is she, anyway?"

It was his turn to look away. "I don't want to talk about it. But, Mira. These... feelings I get around you, I can't exactly describe them. I don't know what to call it or how I should react. A great swordsman should be ready for anything and be prepared for anything that's thrown at him. But ever since I started traveling with you beside me, I don't know what to do, and I think it's starting to encroach on my quest."

I poked his nose and kept my finger there. "Don't let it. I'm not finished speaking," He shut his mouth. "I get weird feelings sometimes when I'm around you, too. They're foreign to me because I've never known what love or true happiness was."

"Now," I removed my finger. "You think these feelings are encroaching on your quest to be the greatest sowrdman ever, right?" He gave a single nod. "I won't force you to choose between these feelings and your quest. But, I suggest that you can try to incorporate them into one thing."

He snorted. "And how would I do that?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

He face palmed. "And here I thought you were giving out good advice..."

I gasped and faked being hurt. "You fiend! I almost always give out good advice!"

"Almost?" He smirked atthe word.

I looked his straight in his eyes. "Nobody's perfect. I mean, just look at me. Abandoned, abused, treated like trash. We all have faults, and I eventually learned to embrace them." He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it.

"Zoro?"

"Hm?"

"You can leave now if you want." I cast my gaze out the window again. "I'll be up soon. Save some food for me, alright?" It was quiet in my room then. I only knew I was alone when I heard my door open then close once more.

Zoro believes that he may love me, but he doesn't know how to react about it. Truthfully, I don't either. I meant what I said about not knowing what love was, or how to react around others. I'm literally picking this up as I go. I'm learing on the spot, and it's difficult. Now I have to worry about how I feel about Zoro and if I can call these foreign emotions "love."

I brought my legs up to my chest and buried my face into them, my tail curling tight around me and my ears flattening against my head. I wish I had a mother to talk to...

~~~~

"Okay, Mira." I tried to encourage myself. "You can do this. You've faced worst foes than this and have suffered even worse injuries, but you always managed to pull through. Nothing can stop you now!" I carefully hopped out of my bed, putting most of my weight on my uninjured leg. "So far so good..." I hobbled over to my door and carefully opened it.

"Part one of getting out of my room is complete." I smiled to myself. "No sign of Nami, so it should be safe for me to continue." I hugged the wall for support as I made my way to the stairs to get to the top deck.

I'm sick and tired of being in my room! I have to get up and wander around before I go crazy! She can't leave me in there forever! It's been two days!

Then I remembered that I have to climb the stairs.

"What do you think you're doing?" Came from befind me.

I squeaked and spun around. "Nami! I-I was, uh.... sight... seeing?"

She frowned and crossed her arms. "I know your ankle isn't well enough for you to be up and moving. C'mon. I'm taking you back to your room."

I shook my head and ran up the stairs, not caring if my ankle was screaming in protest. I made it up the stairs alright, but the second I hit flat footing again, I fell face first.

"See!" She helped me up and leaned me against the side of the ship. "You can't even make a smooth getaway! Now, I'm going to-"

"Nami!" Saved by Luffy. "Nami, come 'ere!"

She sighed heavily and jabbed a finger at me. "Don't move." She stood and went to see what Luffy wanted. I followed on my hands and knees after her.

"Nami!" Luffy called from his perch. "Aren't we in the Grande Line yet?" She leaned on the railing and pulled out a map.

"We just left Loguetown two days ago..." She spotted me, her expression clouding over. "I thought I told you to stay put!"

I jutted my lower lip out. "But you're all up here! And I was all the way back there! I didn't wanna be alone!" I crawled up the remaining stairs, past Sanji, then sat beside a resting Zoro.

Nami made a disapproving noise at me, but let it go as she continued speaking with Luffy. "Anyway, it'll take us a few days to get to the entrance. Wait a bit longer."

Luffy gave her a goofy grin. "Okay!"

"What nice weather," Sanji commented after a while. I looked up at him. "That storm seems like a dream now." He met my gaze and gave me a small smirk. "I'd love to spend the rest of today with you, Mira."

"U-uh... um..." I leaned into Zoro a bit.

"Back off, ya damned cook." Zoro said from beside me.

"Or what, you lazy piece of-"

"Hey!" Sanji's insult was cut off by Usopp on in the crow's nest. "I see a flock of birds to starboard!"

Luffy looked up to him. "A flock of birds?"

"Yeah," Usopp answered him.

"What kind of birds?" I asked.

"Dunno." He replied. "Too far away to tell. I also see something big on the water... I can't really see it. I wonder what it is."

"Maybe a fish?" Luffy glanced over in the direction of the object.

"Or a small boat..." Usopp observed. "It could be a big fish, too, but..."

"If it's a fish, I wanna eat." I held my stomach as it growled. "I'm starving..."

"I often hear that seabirds flock above fish." Sanji called up to Usopp.

"Yes!" I cheered. "Food!"

"Fish!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Luffy!" Sanji called over to him. "Let's have them for lunch."

He stood. "Alrighty! Gomu Gomu no..." He threw his arm back. "Grab!"It shot forward with a slight curve. I quivered with excitement as his hand made contact with the fish.

"Whoa!" Usopp cheered. "Now that's a stretch!"

"His body sure is convenient." Sanji noted.

"I got it!" Luffy cried as his arm began to stretch back into place.

"Hey..." I watched the speed at which his arm was coming. "That's coming in fast..."

"It's pretty big!" Luffy observed, his arm never slowing down one bit.

"Nice, Luffy!" Nami complimented.

"H-hold on a second..." Sanji took a step back. "What're you gonna do now?" Sanji dove for the deck. I had no time to react whatso ever as Luffy's arm connected with me, and me into Zoro. We went airborn.

"Luffy!" I screamed. "I'm gonna-" And I swallowed water. I fought my way to the surface, but each kick I made with my left leg, pain shot up it and I found myself sinking farther. My vision blurred and I had no reserve air, since I lost it all when yelling at Luffy.

I blacked out before I could freeze time.

~~~~

"Is she awake yet?" A voice asked.

"She did fly pretty far out into the sea..."

"So, can Nekos really fly?" A fist conked against that person. "OW! Zoro! Why'd you hit me!?"

"Guys, back up and give her some air!" I coughed hard and a bit of water spewed out from my nose and mouth.

"I think she's finally waking up!" Huh, that's a new voice. Almost childish.

I placed a hand to my forehead and slowly sat up, keeping my eyes closed. "That was one hell of an experience..." My eyes opened to the harsh light of the sun. I let my eyes adjust and found that the entire crew, along with a little girl, surrounding me.

"You're finally awake and responding!" Nami cried, then she turned serious. "Had you not left your room, this wouldn't have happened!"

I growled in my throat at her. "Not the time, Nami... How long was I out?"

"You were out for about ten minutes." Usopp said. "Zoro was able to get you breathing again by giving you mouth-to-mouth. Once you woke up, you passed out for another five minutes. Zoro kept watch over you the entire time." I blushed. Hard.

"I wanted to do it..." Sanji sulked.

"Quit complaining, Sanji." Nami rolled her eyes. "We all know Mira has a thing for Zoro, and Zoro for Mira."

My cheeks heated up even more. "D-do not!" I denied. "What gave you that crazy idea?"

"Hey! Her cheeks are all red!" Usopp chuckled. "She must be telling the truth!"

"B-baka!" I hid my face in my hands. "I just went about ten minutes without breathing!"

"Mira likes Zoro!" Usopp chanted and stood.

"Do not!"

"Mira likes Zoro!" He began to dance in a circle.

"Stop it!"

"Mira likes Zoro!" Luffy joined him.

"Guys!"

"Hey, maybe you should stop..." Nami suggested. But they didn't. They kept chanting that over and over. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer. I leaped to my feet and in an instant, I was behind the two idiots and cracking their heads together. The girl squeaked as a small puff of smoke rose between their heads and they slumped to the ground, out cold.

I'm glad I picked up on Kurahdol's footwork.

"Hey!" Nami pointed at my foot. "You're standing!"

I glanced down. "Huh. So I am..." I stepped over the idiots and sat again. I unwrapped my ankle and smiled. "Now that's how my ankle should look." It finally healed after two days. "Who knew that drowning would help it heal faster..."

"I don't think that helped at all..." Zoro mumbled.

I crossed my arms and stuck my tongue out at him. "How do you know? You're not a Neko!"

"Huh? Neko?" I cast my gaze to the girl. "So, you're ears and tail are real?"

I nodded. "Wanna touch them?" She nodded slowly then walked up to me. She reached a hand out, her fingers lightly touching my ears.

"Wow!" She smiled wide. "Even when wet, they're still so soft!"

I grinned back. "So, who are you? I don't remember seeing you before I was thrown off the ship."

"Mira, this is Apis." Nami introduced her. "She's running from the Navy back to her home town and we're taking her there. She's from Warship Island."

I blinked then smiled at her. "Cool! I'm Mira! I also somewhat escaped from the Navy once upon a time!"

"Eh? Really?" She leaned in closer. "What did you do?"

I snickered. "A rumor was spread around that I would destroy the world." She paled. "But that's a bunch of bullcrap!" I chuckled, and eventually, everyone joined in with me, even Apis.

Usopp and Luffy finally came to. Usopp got right in my face. "That wasn't necessary, Mira! I was only joking!"

I flicked his nose, then stood. "It was mean. And when I told you to stop, you didn't. And you, Luffy!" He looked up at me. "You only got hurt like that because you joined in with him."

"I'm sorry..."

"You better be. Now," I glanced around. "If you'll all excuse me, I'm gonna walk around the ship for a bit." I locked my hands behind my back then went on a leisurely stroll around the deck.

I became lost in thought. Is it possible that what I do feel for Zoro is love? I've never felt this way about anyone before. I don't know what to expect to come out of this, how I should act, nor do I even know what to do when the relationship starts getting serious. I can't ask Nami; I don't think she's ever loved someone like this before.

Sanji is out of the question. Luffy's too much of an idiot to understand love, and Usopp would probably make up some stupid lie about how he was the hottest guy on his island or something. Well, he does like Kaya... Maybe I could ask him.

"Hey!" I stopped near the back of the ship and looked up to Usopp. "I see ships coming up from the rear!"

"What?" I whispered to myself as I scanned over the waters.

"Oh man!" He cried out. "They're Navy ships!"

"Navy!" I heard Nami respond. Oh great... I just come back from nearily drowning, passing out, then waking up again only to have to possibly have to fight in the next ten minutes?! Today's just not my day...

"And it's not just one or two ships!" Usopp's voice shook a bit.

Nami ran up beside me. "He's right!"

I counted the spots on the water. "It's gotta be a whole fleet! Damn it! We're screwed!"

"But what's a fleet like that doing here?" Nami wondered.

"What? What?!" Luffy and Apis came running up. "What's going on?" I pointed to the ships. "Are they here for my head?"

I snorted. "I seriously doubt a whole fleet would come after you, Luffy." Zoro and Sanji soon joined us to watch the fleet get closer to us.

"Mira's right!" Nami agreed. "There's too many just for that!"

"That means they need that many to capture me, right? I'm amazing, aren't I!" I think he's just grasping for anything now as to why they're after us.

"Again, I doubt it!" I crossed my arms.

"How can you be so easygoing?!" Nami snapped at him.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Sanji asked. I turned to see Apis slowly backing away.

"Those ships belong to Branch 8!" She said just above a whisper. The others faced her. "I escaped from them!"

I nodded slowly. "Now that sounds like a logical reason- OW! Nami!" I whined as I rubbed my head.

"What am I gonna do?" Apis sounded close to tears.

An idea formed in my head. "I think I know how to handle this. Huddle in!"

Huge bangs sounded right after I said that. "ACK! They're shooting at us!" Usopp shouted as three cannon balls landed in the water right beside us, throwing us all off balance.

"Attention pirate ship!" Came from the Navy fleet's head ship. "Stop the ship immediately! Those were warning shots!" I leaped up to my feet and helped untangle Usopp from the net ladder leading to the crow's nest. "The next ones will hit your ship!"

"There's no way we'd stop!" I got Usopp back on the deck and with the others.

"What're we gonna do, Luffy?" Zoro asked. "If you wanna take 'em on, I'm with you."

"Same here!" I chimed in.

"Mira, you gotta stay behind!" Did Zoro just say what I think he did?

"What?!" I walked up right to him. "No! We're in this together! We fight together!"

"Yeah!" Luffy stood and faced us. "Let's fight! Together!"

"AHH!" Usopp screamed and was beside us in half a second. "W-wait a second! Why are you guys always like this!? What the heck are you gonna do against that fleet?!" He began waving his arms around.

"We'll raid them." Zoro suggested.

Usopp didn't like that answer one bit. "A raid isn't gonna work!"

"We can try." I shrugged. "I haven't done this before, but it sounds fun!"

"Mira, you just got healed!" I faced Zoro again. "You can't get hurt again! Go down below deck!"

"Zoro, I can fight! I'm not a damsel in distress!" I looked back to the fleet. "I can buy us some time. I can freeze time, hopefully disarm their cannons, and we can try to escape them."

"That's too dangerous!" Zoro countered with. "What if time starts up again while you're still over there?!"

"Then I'll stop it again and-"

"He said a wind is coming."

"Eh? What?" I looked back to Apis. "Who said that?"

"A strong wind is..." She repeated.

"Zoro! Mira!" We looked to Nami. "Lean the sail towards the south! Usopp and Sanji! Right rudder full! Hurry up!"

"On it!" I grabbed Zoro's arm and led him to the sail we were to lean to the south. "Zoro! South is this way!"

He grunted. "I knew that!"

"What's happening?" I heard Luffy ask.

"A gust of wind is coming," Nami replied. "We'll ride it out of here. If we fight them, we'll still lose no matter how good we are."

Zoro and I got the sail leaning the right way, ready for the gust to come in.

As Zoro and I held it in place, I called for his attention. "So, what made you think I was suddenly unable to handle myself?"

He gritted his teeth. "I don't know! I just don't want you getting hurt again!"

"I can handle myself!" I shouted over the sudden gust of wind that flew into our sail and sped us down a new course. "I've been doing it for the past thirteen years!"

"But what if you get killed?!" He pressed his point. "What if you get killed just like back at the restaraunt?!"

"Hey! I came back to life, didn't I?" I struggled to hold the sail in place. "You can't take down a Neko that easily!" In the next instant, the wind suddenly stopped hitting the sail and I fell backward. "Ouch! Alright, who turned off the wind?" Zoro helped me to my feet and we joined the others.

Usopp was laughing at the Navy, which was no longer in sight. "The Navy isn't following us! Did Captain Usopp scare the pants off them?"

"Hey..." I nudged Zoro. "You don't feel that, right?" He nodded slowly. "What's going on?" We slowly glanced around. The water... It's too still; like glass.

"Amazing!" Luffy joined in. "It's just what you'd expect from our navigator!"

"Well done, Nami-chan!" Sanji swooned over her. "To think you'd detected such a wind beforehand!"

"Well, it was like an instinct, though..." She insisted.

Zoro tugged on my shirt and pointed up. Our flag isn't even moving. How does wind suddenly stop like that? One second, it's blowing full force, the next... poof... It's gone.

"Oh, Nami-chan is lovely when humble, too..." Just shut up, Sanji...

"Well, then!" Luffy piped up. "Shall we head to Warship Island, then?"

"Really!" Apis said happily.

"Yeah, really." He chuckled.

"Should we tell them?" I whispered to Zoro.

"Nah," He shook his head. "They'll figure it out soon."

"Okay then!" Usopp called out. "To Warship Island! Let's...Go!" Nami walked up beside us, a small smile in place.

"What's wrong, Zoro? Mira?" She asked. "You two have had a serious look on your faces for a while."

"Well, I hope it's just my imagination," I rolled my eyes at him.

"What is?"

He looked at her. "We feel like the ship hasn't been moving for a while now."

"It seems... too still." I added.

Nami was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Slowly, her gaze went out to the waters. "What...? C-come to think of it... the sail doesn't seem to be catching any wind at all." Fear clouded her eyes and her throat muscles tightened. I quickly flattened my ears and covered them just before she screamed like she was being stabbed. All activity below us stopped.

"What's wrong, Nami?" Luffy asked casually.

"Nami-chan...?" Sanji questioned her cautiously.

"Damn it..." She gasped out. "We've entered the Calm Belt!"

"The what?" I asked to clarify.

"Charm Belt?" Luffy, you idiot...

"What the heck is that?" Usopp wondered.

"Calm Belt!" Nami said louder and more clearly. "It's an area of sea where nothing moves a muscle!"

"Nami grew her muscles?" Luffy scratched at his head.

"Baka!" She screamed at him. Just then, the boat started to bob up and down on sudden waves.

"What was that?" Luffy glanced around. "An earthquake?"

"Earthquake?" Sanji wasn't buying it. "On the sea?"

"Hey, Nami?" I elbowed her lightly. "I thought nothing moved here?"

"You guys!" We focused on Nami again. "Enough chit chat! Fold the sails and start paddling now! Put the ship back on it's earlier path!"

"Yes, Nami-chan!" Sanji ran off to do what was said.

"What're you panicking about?" Zoro said lazily. "Paddling? This is a sail boat."

"He's right." Usopp shurgged. "Why're we taking the trouble to go back to where the Navy is waiting for us?"

"Just do what I say!" She snapped down at them. "We're in big trouble!"

"Trouble?" I took a step closer to her. "Nami, what do you mean?"

"Well, the sea is quiet," Luffy pointed out.

"Yeah," Usopp nodded.

"Alright, fine!" She gripped the railing. "I'll explain it for you! Listen up! All of you! Since we rushed and ran away, we went farther south than we had planned!"

"Then... Did we enter the Grande Line?" Well, it's obvoius to tell Luffy is on top of things (sarcasm...).

"Alright!" Usopp danced in a circle by himself. He's as much of an idiot if he believes Luffy.

"If it was that easy, anyone could enter!" Nami screeched as she jabbed a finger at Usopp to get him to stop.

"So, what gives?" I really want an answer. What's really going on?

Nami grabbed a map and went down to the main deck, Zoro and I right behind her. "Look," She pointed to a place on the map. "The Grande Line is running between two sea areas! Do you get it? The areas on both sides of it are called the Calm Belt." She tapped the two spots. "The reason is unknown, but in these areas, there is no wind and no currents. They're an area of sea with complete calm."

"And we're stuck in... this one, right?" I pointed to the belt to the north of the Grande Line.

Nami nodded. "Right. Since sailboats run by catching wind, it is an extremely dangerous area, indeed, a fatal area for them! Luffy, did you get it?"

"Yeah!" He nodded. "At least that we're in trouble."

"I see..." She sighed in releif. "Good, then you got more than I thought."

"Shocker." I commented.

"Mira! Don't distract him!"

"Okay! Okay! No need to yell at me..." I pouted.

"So this is what the geezer meant when he said it was dangerous..." Sanji said in a low, thoughtful tone.

"No wonder there hasn't been any wind." Zoro stated.

I sighed heavily. "Besides the obvious of paddling, how do we get out of here?"

"We can't do anything if the ship isn't moving." Usopp whined.

"Hey, Mira," I focused on Luffy. "Is this what it's like to freeze time?"

"Um..." I thought for a second. "Well, yeah, sort of. See, if you hold really still and don't breathe, it's exactly what it's like when time is frozen, minus the feeling of having your lungs yearning for air." Luffy held his breath and held stock still.

"Luffy! Focus!" Nami snapped her fingers in front of him.

"I want to know what it's like to be frozen." He said through a small portion of his moving mouth.

"Luffy!" Nami smacked the backside of his head. He let out his breath in a gust, then proceeded to gasp for air.

"Nami! I was so close!"

"We need to focus on getting out of here!"

"We'll just wait for a gust of air," He suggested.

"Like I said, in this area the wind never blows no matter how long you wait!" She slammed her hands down on the deck. "And, that's not all!"

"There's more?"

"Yes, Mira. There is." She pointed to the two belts again. "There's another reason why they call this place dangerous. In this area..." Something hit the ship and we started to get thrown in different directions.

"Another one?!" Luffy cried.

"What's going on?" Usopp shouted.

"Everyone!" I called out. "Grab ahold of something and don't let go!"

"Something is coming this way!" Apis looked to the water. We jerked up suddenly, the force of it knocking us to the floor. We kept rising higher and higher, the water below us getting farther and farther away.

"A place of complete calm, huh?!" I called out to Nami. "Yeah! This totally seems calm to me!"

"Here they are!" Nami screamed. I looked out over the edge of the railing. What I saw made my heart freeze, and my tail turn into a scrub brush. Huge, never-before seen monsters rose out of the water, staring at us intently.

"They're huge!!"

"Well, no duh, Luffy!" I shouted at him. "Oh my God! What do we do?! There's no way we can do anything about these guys!" The monster we were on the nose of was the biggest of them all and was zebra striped. Another was green and yellow striped and resembled a king kobra. There were a couple of crab-serpents, and one that I can't even compare to an animal.

Nami clung to the mast. "The Calm Belts are the nest of the Sea Gods..." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Moreover, these ones are super huge! They are the another reason why people can't cross the Calm Belt..." Her voice shook with her sobs.

"What're we gonna do now?" Sanji asked just barely above a whisper.

I gulped. "Stay still, stay quiet, and hope they never find us..." I replied just as quietly. "Maybe they'll go away if they can't find us..."

"For the time being, no one move." Zoro repeated part of what I said for emphasis. "They'll have to go back into the sea eventually. Then we'll paddle using our oars."

My nose suddenly twitched. "G-guys... I gotta sneeze!"

"Are you serious?!" We all quickly tried to shush Usopp. Nami reached up and covered his mouth. "Sorry..." He murmured. One of them leaped out of the water, this one looking like a giant, mutated frog.

"A frog's coming!" Luffy screamed as he backed away from the edge.

"What?! What?! What?!" Usopp screeched as it got closer to us.

My eyes widened. "AH! Apis!"

"Oh, no!" Luffy shot his arm out and quickly grabbed her before she fell into the frog monster's mouth and was gone forever. The frog snapped it's jaws shut just as Luffy pulled her away, then dove back into the water.

Luffy swung Apis up and stuck her in the crow's nest.

"Y-your arm is stretching!" She cried in disbelief. "Luffy! Do you have the power of a devil fruit?!"

"Yeah, that's right." He answered her.

"Luffy! Stretch your arm downward again!" She pointed and I followed the direction to the monster's nostrel right in front of us.

"What're you doing?!" Nami yelled over to him.

"This is crazy!" I cupped my hands over my mouth. "Luffy, don't do it!"

"I don't know what I'm doing!" Luffy said as he swung Apis right to the nostrel of the monster we were on. Soon, she was out of sight.

"Apis!" "Watch out!" Nami and Usopp shouted at the same time.

"I can't see her anymore!" I rushed up to the front of the deck. "Luffy, you better not let go of her!" Within a few seconds, Apis came into view holding what looked like a huge strand of nose hair.

"What did she just do?!" Zoro ran up beside me.

"She pulled his nose hair." Luffy stated.

"Oh, gross!" I shivered in disgust. "Who knows what giant boogers are in his nose!"

The sea god started making strange panting noises as the ship began to rock again. I screamed and held onto the railng tightly as Zoro wrapped his arms around me and the railing, holding us in place.

"Hold on a sec!" Usopp held onto the mast tighter.

"If you do that, it'll sneeze!" Nami was right below him, holding on even tighter.

Apis slammed into Sanji and the nose hair fell out of her hands.

"That's a huge nose hair!" Luffy stated as the ship began to rock even harder, the gasping noises of the sea god growing louder and more frequent. "Alright! We're going back!"

"Everbody hang on!" I commanded as the sea god gave a mighty sneeze, sending us flying into the air.

"We could've done this some other way!" We all shouted at the same time as we started skipping arcoss the water and past all the other monsters.

"I feel like we're flying!"

"Now is not the time, Luffy!" I shouted as I clung on tighter to the railing, Zoro practically squeezing the life out of me.

"Idiot!" Usopp cried. "We are flying!"

"How many times have I said that Nekos can't fly?!?!"

Soon, we landed with a heavy splash into the water while somehow remaining afoat and not breaking into a million pieces.The ship was silent for a while before Nami sat up and spoke. "Looks like we're back in the area we came from..."

I slumped against the railing, letting out the breath I didn't know I was holding. "I never wanna do that again..."

"I don't see any sign of the Navy, either," Zoro said over his shoulder as he helped me to my feet.

"Ahhh.... I thought I was a goner..." Usopp panted, looking a little pale.

"Good job!" Luffy praised Apis.

"Yep!" She held a thumb up.

"Okay! Unfurl the sails!" He held a fist in the airand pointed out to sea. "Our destination is... Warship Island!" A fog suddenly rolled in.

"We can't see anything." Usopp stated the obvious.

"Well, I can see the fog." Luffy said.

"Does anyone have a knife?" I asked randomly.

"Eh? Why?" Nami questioned.

I shrugged. "I wanna see if we can cut the fog, seeing how it's so thick."

"Really, Mira...?" I could just barely make out the outline of Nami placing her hand to her forehead.

"It was just a question..." I mumbled as I crossed my arms.

"Apis, is it really around here?" Sanji asked her.

"Not sure." Oh, that's real helpful.

I stretched. "Well, while you guys are figuring it out, I'm gonna try and find a place to sit so I don't get lost on this ship."

"It should be close by," Nami assured. "And Mira, I think t would be best if we all stuck together. What of you suddenly fell off the boat? We wouldn't know where to look for you!"

"I guess you're right..." I stayed put. "Well, I gotta try and get close to you guys." I held my hands out in front of me and slowly waved them around so I would touch the peron before I ran into them.

My hands made contact with someone's arm. It was nice and muscular. "Zoro, is this you?" I asked while lightly squeezing the arm.

"Yes," He lightly placed a hand over mine. "It's me." I blushed and was glad no one could see me at the moment.

"Look!" Apsi suddenly cried and I barely saw her point through this fog.

"I'd look if I could actually see." I muttered to myself as I squinted to try and see what she was seeing. A dark outline of what looked like a warship started to form. "Please tell me that's Warship Island and not the Navy..."

"It's huge!"

"You think everything is huge, Luffy!" I pointed out.

"The word 'huge' doesn't even begin to describe it," Zoro said in a low voice as it grew the closer we got.

"Does 'gigantic,' 'monstrous,' 'enormous,' 'colossal,' and 'tremendous' work?" I suggested.

"Yeah..." He breathed as the fog slowly began to clear.

"A super humongous sail boat?" Luffy tried to think of a better way to describe it.

"No!" Nami shouted over him.

"That's Warship Island!" Apis said happily. "It's shaped like a warship, so it's called Warship Island!"

"I see!" Luffy leaned around the figurehead. "Interesting!" Within a few moments, we made it out of the fog. The docking area came into view and I smiled.

"Land! Oh, sweet, glorious land!" I went to move to get a closer look, but Zoro held my hand tighter. "Eh? Zoro?"

"Wait," Was all he said. I looked out past him to see men running about the island in the same attire Apis was wearing, carrying pitch forks and spears.

"Well, they don't look too friendly..." I pointed out as we made landfall.

Apis walked from beside us and over to the edge of the boat, waving. "Hi! I'm home!"

"Apis!" Startled gasps rang out from the villagers as she climbed down the rope ladder to get to everyone. We followed shortly after.

"Why are you coming out from the pirate ship?" One asked her. "What's going on?"

"Say, you guys..." Whoa... When did Luffy get so serious? "Is there a barber que restaraunt on this island?!" Never mind...

"Huh?" Came from every man in the crowd before us.

"Wh-what's with this guy...?" One loosened his grip on his weapon a bit.

"Listen!" Apis drew the attention to her. "They're pirates, but they're good ones!"

"Are there really good pirates?"

"Yes!" She confirmed.

"Weren't you taken away by the Navy in the first place?"

"That's right, but I escaped." She turned to look over her shoulder at us. "And then these guys, Luffy and the others, saved me. Right?"

"Yeah." Luffy nodded.

"What'd you do, Apis?" One asked from the crowd.

While she spoke, I moved a little closer to Zoro. "They don't really seem too happy to see her..."

"You noticed that, too?" He looked down at me through the corners of his eyes.

I nodded slowly."They think she did something bad to get taken away by the Navy like that. What I really want to know is exactly what happened to bring the Navy here in the first place."

"Apis!" The crowd gasped and parted the way to reveal an aged man with a cane coming towards us. "Come to my house."

"Pst!" Zoro caught my gaze again. "Do you think he's the village elder? The Navy might look there first..."

"Who's that?" Nami asked.

"Dont know..." Usopp responded.

Apis took off running, arms wide open to him. "Grandpa Bokuden!"

I sighed to myself. "The Navy always checks family right after they check the Elder of the village... We're goners if we stay here too long..."

"Don't say that, Mira!" Nami lightly punched my arm. "We gotta make sure she's okay before we leave! We gotta stay here a few days."

I groaned. "We're making a big mistake... I don't wanna say goodbye yet, but we gotta leave!"

"How about this?" I looked up to Bokuden. "I'll throw you all a small welcome party."

"Is your place a barber que restaraunt?" Again with that, Luffy?

"It's not a barber que restaraunt," Apis said. "But Grandpa Bokuden's pork dumplings are the best on the island!"

"Alright!" Luffy threw a fist in the air. "Let's go!"

And so we made our way to Bokuden's home high up on the island, away from the village and the docks. I lagged behind to think to myself.

"I still think staying here is a bad idea..."

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Hey, everyone... This is a very late update, but I finally got it out. You see, I started school back in July and I haven't really had the time to actually work on this story. I started my senior year and I don't have an elaborate excuse as to why I couldn't work on Neko Pirate. I will say, though, that updates for all my stories will be pretty sporatic until possibly fall and winter break.

I hope this update has made you happy (to some degree) cuz it will be the only one for quite a bit. If I can get another chapter out, bonus. I know I'm happy, bcuz Neko Pirate got over 10,000 reads! I thank you guys all so much! Please continue to support me as I keep writing this story!

Until the next update (which I hope is soon...),

-M12