39~ One Way to Alabasta

Mira

"Wait, wait," I held up my hand to stop Luffy. "Are you telling me I missed best the action around here??"

He grinned. "Yeah! That weird guy who ate our ship was kinda tough, but it was nothing!"

"You let him escape and almost get to Nami, you numbskull." Sanji conked Luffy's head. "If you had been paying more attention to Wapol instead of Chopper's transformations, you would have beaten him sooner and Nami wouldn't have gotten thrown in the middle of it!"

"Transformations?" I tipped my head to the side. "What exactly do you mean by that? I mean, I know he ate a Devil Fruit, but I don't quite understand."

"Well, I ate the Human Fruit." Chopper explained. "It gives me the ability to transform into different forms."

"He can do it seven times!"

"Luffy, that's six fingers."

"Seven times!" He corrected himself.

"Well, I'm limited to three, but I found a way to make it to where I can transform seven times." Chopper said softly.

"That's so awesome!" I grinned and giggled at him.

"Oh stop it!" He shouted at me. "Flattery won't work on me!" He grinned and blushed. "Just shut up!" Evil Chopper. He then switched back to happy, flustered Chopper.

I chuckled at him, already loving his antics. "Maybe I'll be able to see your transformations at a later time."

"Well, the effects only last about three minutes when I use my Rumble Ball." He shrugged. "So I'd have to act fast to defeat my enemy."

I nodded. "Makes sense."

"Oh, oh! Also there was a huge cherry blossom tree!" Luffy said giddily. "It was huuuge and pink, and sparkly!"

"Luffy, that's a tree in the spring." I sighed as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "There's no way a tree like that could have grown-"

"Shut up! It did happen!" I jumped back a bit at Chopper's words. "It was Doctor Hiraluk's invention! It's supposed to help heal the land, and it did! It bloomed and everyone was happy and all their illness went away! I watched it happen with my own eyes!"

"Hey, I'm sorry." I held one of his hooves. "I didn't mean to upset you. I guess I find it hard to believe since I didn't get to see it."

Chopper sniffed. "It really happened... Doctrine made it happen so I could see it before I left. She helped me with my medical training after..."

I carefully pulled him into an embrace. "It's okay, Chopper. I believe you. Come on, now." I let him go and stood. "It's pretty late, guys. We should probably head to bed. We've got a princess to return." We all smiled at each other and parted ways.

~~~~

Morning came soon after. I awoke with a stretch and sighed. It's a new day, we have a new crew member, and we're this much closer to getting Vivi home. I smiled and went to get up.

Something at my side stopped me. I lifted the covers to see a sleeping Chopper. When did...?

A memory from late last night popped in my head.

I had turned over to the sound of my door opening. "Who's there?"

"Mira..." A small voice asked. "Um, I know it's not my place, since I'm new here, but uh..."

I turned over more to face the door and turned on my small gas lamp. "What is it, Chopper?" I asked with a yawn. "It's the middle of the night."

"W-well, I uh... It's..." He stared at his feet. "It's perfectly okay if you say no, but, um... I... I had a bad dream... Neither Nami, nor Vivi, woke up when I went to talk to them... I was wondering if I... could maybe..."

I saw the tears glisten in his eyes. With a small smile, I moved over and patted the bed. "You can stay here for the night. I don't mind."

A huge smile lit up his face. "Really?!"

I nodded. "And if you ever need to do this again, I'd be happy to oblige."

"Thanks, Mira." He crawled in beside me and we fell right to sleep.

I smiled down at the little reindeer and carefully got up so I could get ready for the day. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Chopper was sitting up, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning, sleepy head." I said as I stuck my hair up.

"O-oh, uh, good morning!" He ducked his head down. "Sorry for waking you last night."

"Nah, it's fine." I waved for him to follow me. "Come on. We better go before all the breakfast is gone."

"R-right!" He followed along happily beside me. Somehow we made it to the kitchen before Luffy. As Sanji was beginning to serve the food, I introduced Chopper to Herman.

"He's our mascot!" I beamed as I held my little friend. "He's an Island hermit crab, so he'll grow big enough to have what resembles an island on his back."

"Whoa! That's so cool! Where did you find him?" He beamed as he stared at Herman.

"We came from the East Blue, but Herman came from the South Blue." I explained as we sat at the table. "It's a mystery as to how he got there."

"That's amazing!" Chopper held out his hoof to Herman. He bumped it with his claw. "I think he likes me!"

I giggled and took a bite of my breakfast. "He's a smart crabby, aren't you, Herman?" He saluted me and took a small piece of my food.

"He can understand you?!" Chopper gasped.

I nodded. "Yup. He can understand human speech as if he was a human, too. And they can be very loyal to one person. He gets along with everyone here, but he's grown attached to me."

"Awesome!" As we continued to talk about Herman, everyone else joined us. We ate our small breakfast with many laughs and tales of our adventures. Chopper stared at us in amazement as he took it all in.

After breakfast, we all went off in different directions to do what we needed. I stood with Nami and Vivi, Herman right beside me. They were staring at a map and the Eternal Pose.

"There's no mistake," Nami grinned. "This ship is heading to Alabasta." We stared out to the open sea, knowing we were so close to getting her home.

"Luffy! Don't lie!" We looked down to see what could be going on. Usopp, Chopper, and Karoo were fishing. Zoro was napping on the other side of the ship (as always) and Sanji was scolding Luffy for something.

"Tell me what you know," Sanji crossed his arms as he stared down at Luffy. He knelt down and grabbed Luffy's cheek. "Hey, why are you looking away? Look me in the eyes!"

Luffy pulled away and cast his gaze to the side, waving off Sanji. "Well, seriously, I don't know anything."

"Then let me ask you something," Sanji took his cigarette out of his mouth. "How did enough food for nine people, which I carefully divided up so that it'd last us until we reached Alabasta, disappear during the night?"

"Uh-oh." I snickered. "Looks like he raided the fridge again last night."

"Stop fighting! It's pointless!" He grasped Luffy's face. "You have a horrible poker face!" Luffy gave a small burp as he looked away.

Sanji sighed and stood. "Hey, you have something around your mouth."

"AH! Shoot! Food crumbs!"

"Busted." I smirked.

"It was you!!" Sanji kicked Luffy, sending him head first into a wall. "Geez... Nami-san... you saw that, right?" Sanji turned and said in a soft voice. "The large rat trap is no longer good enough."

"Wait, we have one of those? When did we get one?"

"Please buy a lockable refrigerator." Sanji said as little hearts drifted off his cigarette.

"Well..." Nami crumbled the map a bit. "I'll think about it, since it can be a life or death issue."

I glanced over at the other three. I tilted my head a bit. Something seems fishy about this... "Well! We better catch something for Sanji!" Usopp said, his whole form stiff.

"Any luck fishing?" Sanji asked the three of them as he walked over. The three of them flinched.

I grinned to myself. "Looks like Luffy isn't the only thief." I whispered to Nami and Vivi. They giggled.

"W-well...." The three fishing gave very cheeky grins.

In one swift movement, Sanji cracked their heads together. They fell backwards. "Seriously, I can't take my eyes off these guys for a moment... Well, looks like we'll have to ration out what we have. Which means smaller portions."

"What?!" Luffy was on his feet in an instant.

"But you lovely ladies can have as much as you want!" Hearts appeared in his eyes as he opened his arms to us.

"Well, that's not fair." I mumbled to myself. "But it's what they get for raiding the fridge."

The other three slowly sat back up. After a scolding from Sanji, they returned to fishing so we could have a bit more food. Sanji gave Luffy a pole and sat him with the others.

Not even five minutes in, I heard his stomach growl. "I'm starving... The fish aren't biting..."

"It's your fault, Luffy!" Usopp snapped. "It's because you ate the bait! If we don't have bait, the fish won't bite!" When did that happen? I've been watching them this whole time!

"You ate some, too." Luffy grumbled.

"Well..." Usopp trailed off and looked away. "I only ate the stuff on the bait box cover."

"Luffy-san, Usopp-san, have you caught anything?" Vivi asked as she went to stand behind them. A loud squawk suddenly sounded. Vivi shoved them off to the side to peer over the ship.

She screamed and stumbled back a bit. "Karoo! Oh no!"

I jumped over the railing to help. "Did you idiots really use Karoo as bait?! What's wrong with you?! I can't even blink without the risk of you guys doing something reckless!"

"I wonder if we can catch a shark or something." Luffy said nonchalantly.

"I wanna catch a sea king!" Usopp said as I reached the ship railing. Sure enough, there was Karoo tied up with their fishing line. He squirmed and squawked as he tried to get away.

"What are you two doing to Karoo?!" Vivi growled as a scary expression crossed her face. They didn't even get a chance to answer as she slammed their heads together.

Vivi and I took their poles and hoisted Karoo back up. He glared and quacked at the pair.

I sighed at them. "What idiots..."

"Huh? What's that?" I looked up and followed Vivi's gaze. A large, green-ish mist was rising from the water.

"What the heck is that?" Usopp asked as he sat up.

"I wonder if it's cotton candy." I rolled my eyes at Luffy.

"I'll go get Nami-san!" Vivi raced off to find her. I looked up as they came out of the kitchen.

Nami smiled. "It's nothing to worry about, guys. It's just steam."

"Steam is coming from the sea?" Vivi asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's a hot spot." Nami simply said.

"Hot spot?" I thought for a second. "You mean like an underwater volcano?"

She pointed a finger at me and winked. "Precisely. It's an area where magma is produced. As Mira said, there's an undersea volcano in that area."

"I see." Luffy looked out to that spot.

"There's volcanoes even underwater?" Chopper looked up at Nami.

"That's right," Nami held up a finger as she explained. "There're more undersea volcanoes than above ground ones."

"I don't really care, since it's not food." Luffy grumbled as he played with his fishing pole.

Nami ignored him as she continued. "With the volcano like this, a new island will be born here over thousands or tens of thousands of years."

"You're so cool, Nami-san!" And there goes Sanji gushing over Nami.

"Tens of thousands of years..." Luffy sighed to himself. "I wonder if I can live that long."

"Well, you're human," Usopp's shoulders sagged at his words. "You should try dying sometime before that." They pulled their poles back up. Karoo was still on the line.

"I thought you were told to let him go!" I snapped at them.

"Have you caught anything?" Sanji asked them, my words not reaching their ears.

"Oh, Sanji, I'm hungry." Luffy said over his shoulder. "Cook something."

"You guys are hopeless." Sanji shook his head. "I'll go search the storage thoroughly to see if there's anything left." He headed back for the kitchen.

I was done with their antics. I sighed to myself and headed for the front of the ship. We slowly drifted towards the steam. I've never been through steam like this before. It's amazing what this earth is capable of.

The second we started to go through, my nose curled up and my ears flattened back. I covered my nose as best I could and tried not to gag. "Oh, god, what is that?!" We all coughed and gagged at the awful smell.

"Since Zoro was asleep for the explanation, if he wakes up we blame the smell on him! All in favor?"

"Aye!" Everyone agreed as best they could.

"Ugh, it's the smell of sulfur!" Usopp said as he almost hurled.

"We can't see anything!" Luffy sputtered. "There's steam everywhere!"

"Bear with it," Nami stated. "We should be through it soon."

Finally, we got through. Just as we cleared the steam, Luffy and Usopp cried out as their lines pulled.

I stared at what they caught, not sure if I was seeing this right. There, hanging from Karoo, is probably the strangest looking person I've ever seen. He (I think it's a he...) wore thick green eye shadow and pink lipstick. His black hair had a small yellow band around it that held up small white pompoms. On his pink trench coat were two swan heads and wings coming off the back.

What made me question him the most was his choice of clothing. He wore a leotard that form fit his upper body, but had a large bubble of sort on his thighs. He wore ballerina shoes that came up to his knees. They showcased his hairy legs.

This makes me want to barf more that the steam.

"Why did I jump on the first duck I came across!?" He shouted as he stared at Karoo.

"Is he a human?" Luffy turned to Usopp.

"I dunno..."

And there he goes, falling into the waters. "Help me, please!" He flailed his arms as we watched. "I can't swim!" He sank like a rock.

"I mean... should we...?" We all shared a few glances before deciding we probably should. We woke Zoro up and had him dive down to grab him.

He was hoisted back onto the deck. Water dripped off him, making his odd clothes sag. I stayed away from this odd creature, mainly because I didn't get a chance to cover my ears yet. I kept them folded out of the way.

"I thought I was gonna die..." The strange man panted. "Well, I'm really swanny." ......wut?

"To think I was saved by pirates, who are total strangers." He grinned at us. "I will never forget your kindness for the rest of my life!" He bowed to us in gratitude. Did... he mean to say he was grateful instead of swanny? What is up with this guy?

"Also, may I have a cup of warm soup?" And now he's asking for our limited amount of food.

"We don't have it!" We all snapped at him. I glanced around. Where's Vivi? Did she go into the kitchen with Sanji?

"We're the ones who are hungry!" Zoro glared at the man.

"Oh, hey you!" I followed his gaze to see Vivi standing by the kicten door. "What a cutie! You're my type! I wanna eat you!" He tossed her a kiss. I shuddered and ducked down more into my hiding spot. I watched Vivi cringe.

"So, you can't swim, huh?" Luffy said with a smile.

"That's right. I ate a devil fruit." Does everyone on this sea have one?

"Really?" Usopp leaned forward a bit. "What kind of fruit?" Okay, I'm kind of curious, too. I moved a bit closer to get a better look.

The man stood. "Well, since there's no rush until my ship comes to pick me up, in lieu of entertainment, I'll show you. This is my power!" Luffy squirmed with excitement.

I gasped as the man shoved his hand right in Luffy's face. The force was strong enough to knock our unsuspecting captain tumbling.

"What the hell was that for?!" I growled as I pulled my blade out.

"Why you-!" Zoro was ready with me.

"Wait wait wait!"

"Huh...?" I lowered my blade. "What..."

"I just told you this was entertainment!" That's... that's Luffy's face and voice! He copied Luffy! Though, it was only his face and voice. Not much else on his body changed from what I could see.

"Give me a break!" The man gave Luffy's signature smirk.

Our Luffy was back on his feet. "That's me!"

"Are you surprised?!" The man waved his arms around and laughed. "If I touch my face with my left hand, I'm back to myself!" He did and returned to his former self.

"This is the power of the Clone-Clone fruit I ate!"

"The voice changed, too!" Nami gasped.

"The body was also the same!" Usopp took a step closer.

I took one back. One should not have that kind of power... As Luffy couldn't stop drooling over this guy's power, he began to touch Nami's, Usopp's, Chopper's, and Zoro's faces with his right hand.

"Well, for that matter, I don't have to knock you down," He chuckled as he spun to face Luffy once more. "Now, look!" He touched his own face with his right hand and cycled through their faces.

"All I have to do," Usopp. "Is touch the faces with my right hand," Zoro (barf... he should not be in that kind of outfit...). "As you can see, I can," Chopper. "Mimic anyone!" He finished with Nami.

"I can do bodies, too!" I gasped and covered my mouth, horrified. He opened his shirt and revealed Nami's body to the guys.

Nami decked him, steam coming off her fist. "Stop it! Don't use my body like that!"

The man fell over, back to his original form. Usopp and Luffy knelt down before him. "Hey, are you alright?" Luffy poked him.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow...." He muttered into the floor.

I wrapped my arms tightly around myself. Yeah, one should definitely not have this power.

"Well, sorry." The man started to get up. "I can't show any more of my power."

"You're amazing!" Luffy cheered him on as Usopp whistled for more. "Do it more! Do it more!"

"Well, if you insist, I guess I'll show you more." He stood on his toes and put on a show for them.

I stood off to the side with Nami and Zoro. "He's actually into it." Nami glared at him.

"One should not have that kind of power," I voiced my thoughts to them as I leaned into Zoro.

"I agree."

"I'm also equipped with a memory feature!" The man twirled on his toes. "Here we go!" He began to cycle through many faces for them.

He stopped spinning and spotted me. "Oh! It's not very often I get to add a beauty such as yourself to my repertoire! May I...?" He reached a hand out for me.

I gave him an icy glare and growled low in my throat. "Touch me and it'll be the last thing you ever do."

He flinched back. "Scary!"

"Ah, come on, Mira! It's just for fun!" Luffy grinned.

"Yeah, it's okay!" Usopp chuckled beside him. "Ah, don't worry about her, mister clone guy! She's just being a little scaredy-cat!"

"I'll make you eat those words!" I snapped as Zoro pulled me protectively against him.

"Alright, I can respect your wishes." The man turned away and kept showing off more faces he's stolen.

"How stupid!" Zoro scoffed beside me.

"So how was my secret talent?" He asked once he was done. "I usually never show it to others."

"Cool! So cool!" The three of them stood to applaud the man. They began to dance and sing together.

"Oh, whatever." Nami sighed as she turned away.

"I don't like him." I crossed my arms as I rested my head on Zoro's shoulder. "Something about him seems... off."

"You're picking up that vibe, too?" Zoro continued to glare at the man.

"Oh! That's my ship!" We all looked up as the man pointed over our shoulders. He jumped up onto the railing beside us, his coat billowing in the breeze.

"Is it already time to say goodbye?" He asked out into the open sea. "What a shame..."

"WHAT?!" The three shouted as they held back tears. "Please don't go!" Usopp begged.

"Don't be sad!" The man said as his shoulders shook. "Journeys are always accompanied by farewells. But don't ever forget this. Friendship has nothing to do with how long we've known each other." He wiped a tear with his thumb and held it up to the guys.

His ship pulled up beside ours just as he leaped over. "Don't cry!"

"We'll see you again!" Luffy called to him as he and the other two fought back tears.

"Now, let's go!"

"Yes, Mr. 2, Bon Clay-samma!" Their ship took off ahead of ours to who knows where.

My eyes widened in shock. He's... from Baroque Works?! How the hell did we just let someone like him get away!?

"Mr. 2??" Usopp clutched at his hair.

"So he is Mr. 2! Bon Clay!" Vivi gasped.

"Vivi, you didn't know his face?!" Luffy turned to her.

"No, I've never met Mr. 2, nor have I seen Mr. 1 and his partner." She shook her head. "I don't know their powers, either." She stumbled back into the wall and slid to the floor. "Though, I have heard rumors... Mr. 2 is... a ballerina with a large frame, who also talks like a woman. He always wears a swan coat that has 'Bon Clay' on the back." She placed a shaky hand over her mouth.

"You should've noticed." Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro said at the same time.

"What's the matter, Vivi?" Luffy asked her as she began to shake.

"Among the faces he showed from his memory..." She paled and shook harder. "From his memory... I saw my father's face. The face of Alabasta's King, Nefertari Cobra."

Zoro took a step forward as all this sunk in. "If for example you could mimic a king, you'd be able to do quite bad things."

"We let a troublesome guy get away, huh?" Usopp crossed his arms and lowered his head.

"Then he's our enemy?" Sweat rolled off Chopper at the realization.

"He's certainly quite a problem if he's on our enemy's side," Nami leaned against the wall. "If he realizes that we're his enemy... If he transforms into one of us using his memory from earlier, we won't be able to trust our own friends."

"Really?" Luffy tilted his head.

"Listen, Luffy." she joined us in our small ring.

"Well, hold on," Zoro took Luffy's shoulder. "It's true that his opinion doesn't have any basis, but he's right about not having to be scared of him. We should be lucky that we got to see him now. We can now figure out his counter-measures."

My smirk matched Zoro's. "Hey, you're right. Now we can actually plan a strategy against him! Good thinking, Zoro! Okay, here's what we do-" I was suddenly cut off by the waves getting very choppy. I grasped the railing near me as a huge figure broke out of the water.

A giant sea cat-fish-thing broke through the water. It held up its right paw as it stared at us.

"Hey, Mira! It's a cat! Can you talk to it?"

"For the last time, Luffy, I can't talk to things from the water!"

"It's a sea monster!" Chopper and Usopp cried out in terror.

Zoro quickly took out his katanas. "It's the first real meal in four days!"

"It's real food!" Luffy joined Zoro in wanting to take it down.

I glanced up to Nami as she held up the Eternal Pose to Alabasta. "We're on the right track. I hope we get there pretty soon."

"Ah, we'll be fine." I waved a hand at her and watched the entertainment. The sea cat shied away, realizing its mistake.

"It's running away!" Zoro shouted.

"Have the ship turn around! Go back!" Luffy ordered.

"We can't!" Usopp stumbled back as he tripped over his feet.

"Don't let it get away!" Sanji chose that time to come rushing from the kitchen. "Capture it without fail! How should I cook you, cat monster?!"

"A-hem,"

"You're not a cat monster, Mira-chan, my dearest!" He faced the sea cat again. "I was talking about this thing that we can eat!"

"No!" Vivi grabbed a broom and smacked them into the railing. It took that moment of opportunity to swim away from harm.

"Vivi you jerk! What're you doing?!" Luffy snapped at her as he watched the cat get away.

"Wh-why, Vivi-chan?" Sanji was hurt emotionally, not expecting her to hit him. Zoro just simply pouted as he laid on the deck.

"You can't eat it!" She glared at them. "Sea cat's are a sacred animal in Alabasta!"

"You shoulda told us sooner!" Luffy stuck his lip out farther.

"There sure are many kinds of creatures in the sea!" Chopper said happily, now that the threat was gone.

Usopp gave a nervous laugh. "Being scared of things like that... you've got a long way to go..." You're one to talk... "So!" He quickly got off the floor to look brave for Chopper.

"I'll tell you a story about when I bravely fought Sea Kings in the Calm Belt!" I tuned him out as Chopper ate up all his stories.

"Our food got away..." I turned back to see Luffy gnawing on the railing, tears dripping from his eyes.

"But don't worry!" Vivi tried to assure him. "You'll be able to stuff yourself soon."

"Really!?" Sparkles danced off Luffy. "What cat will appear this time!"

"Vivi!" Nami cut her off. "The wind and weather seem to be stabilizing!"

"Yeah," Vivi smiled. "We've entered Alabasta's climate area. A sea cat appearing is also proof."

I helped Zoro up. "And what we see behind us is probably also proof of Alabasta getting close."

I gasped at what he was seeing. Hundreds of ships seeming to be bearing Baroque Work's name and emblem drifted on the sea behind us. They came out of no where.

"There's so many ships!" Luffy cupped his hands over his eyes. "When did that happen?"

Usopp pulled out a telescope. "They all have Baroque Work's symbol on them!" He confirmed for me.

"It's employees have started gathering." Vivi went serious as she stared at them. "They're probably Billions; the Officer Agent's subordinates."

"Which means our enemy is at least two-hundred strong." Nami placed a hand on her hip as she watched them.

"On top of that, they are the two-hundred elites of Baroque Works." Vivi continued. "They're far from those bounty hunters in Whiskey Peak."

Metal clanked behind me. I turned to see Usopp preparing the cannon. "Should we fire at them while we still can? Let's get on it already!"

I stared hard at the ships. "I don't think they've seen us..."

"It's quicker if we go over there and beat them up!" I get this feeling that no one is gonna listen to me... "No, wait, we have to eat first!" Luffy held his stomach as it growled loudly.

"Idoit," Zoro smirked. "Don't bother. They're small fries." At least he has some sense this time.

"He's right," Sanji took a drag from his cigarette. "If we lose our real target, that'll be it. There's only nine of us."

"Anyway, I was trying to say something earlier." Everyone focused to me. "Mr. 2 has your faces, and once we get to Alabasta, there's a chance we could get separated. We gotta think of a way to make sure we know who's friend and who's an enemy."

"Good idea," Zoro pat my head.

"But what should we do?" Chopper asked.

I grinned. "I have an idea. We need a mark or something. A mark of friendship! And I've got just the thing."

~~~~~

We tied a white bandage around our arms. We made sure it was tight so it wouldn't slip off. I helped Chopper with his. Once done, we held our left arms out in a circle.

"Our enemy this time has too many mysteries," Zoro said as he had me check his wrapping.

"If we check this, we don't have to doubt our friends." We all smiled at our handy work. "This was a great idea."

I grinned. "Thanks."

"Does that clone guy really become so similar when he transforms?" Sanji asked as we all checked each others wrappings.

"That's right, I forgot you were in the kitchen," I noted as I pat Zoro's arm.

"You've got no idea!" Usopp said as I went to untangle Karoo. "It's not 'similar.' It's 'the same'! It's too bad! You should've seen it. We even danced with him."

"I'm not interested in a male ballerina." Sanji puffed on his cigarette.

"Knowing someone like that is among the enemy, we can't carelessly act alone," Zoro stated.

"Hey, what should I do?" Chopper asked as he pointed to himself.

"Do what you can!" Usopp said encouragingly. "You don't have to do anything more. It's okay to run away from an enemy you can't defeat."

I rolled my eyes as Sanji spoke. "Aren't you telling that to yourself?"

"What I can do, huh?" Chopper thought to himself as he stared at us all. "I got it!"

"Hey, I see land," I called out as what looked like sand mountains appeared in the distance.

"I can see the island now!" Luffy called out after me.

"Let's stop at the town Nanohana." Vivi suggested. "We have to hide the ship."

"Alright!" We all gathered near the center mast. "At any rate, no matter what happens, this thing on our left arm is the sign of our friendship!" We all stood in a tight circle and pressed our fists together. We stared down proudly at our friendship.

"Now, let's land! To a restaurant! Oh, and Alabasta." We all broke off at Luffy's command to get everything ready. I headed for the kitchen to find Herman.

"Alright, little guy." I sat him down at the table. "We're going to a desert island this time. It's gonna be hot, so try to stay cool and not get baked into a crab dish. I don't wanna come back and see that my friend has gotten hurt.

He saluted me. I stared at him, seeing that he has gotten a bit bigger. It's almost the same size as one of Sanji's dessert plates. "You're getting really big, Herman. After a while, we might not be able to keep you on the ship. If that happens, do you think you'd be able to keep up with us?"

He flexed his claws, determination filling him. "That's my Herman! I need you to watch the ship, okay? Take good care of it." I bumped his claw and went to join the others as we made landfall.

Time to help a princess in need and save her country!

~~~~~

I managed to get this chapter out (unedited), but between my weird hours from work, it won't happen all the time. Look for the next chapter!

-M12