One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ A Log Pose to Nami ❯ Gomu Gomu Island! Giving Back Stolen Goods! ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A Log Pose to Nami
Gomu Gomu Island!
Giving Back Stolen Goods!
Robin awakened to the smell of bacon, coffee and eggs, and she knew that more delicious scents would be added to the mix soon enough. She rose, brushing her hair to tame it, and then found a blue tank top and black skirt to wear with thigh-high boots. On her way out, she nodded to Zolo.
He looked up from his guard post, and said, “Luffy and Nami didn't come back last night.”
A thin brow lifted slightly, but she walked out to the deck where Zolo was, and looked out at the shore, “Strange. This island is normal enough.”
“Maybe it's too normal,” Zolo said.
Frowning just slightly, Robin nodded, and then grinned at him, “Come. I think breakfast is almost ready.”
She gently greeted the others as they entered the dining room together, and chuckled when Sanji said, “Robin-chan, I've concocted heaven on a platter for thee! Please, partake of it, and direct that ever-lovely smile toward me. I would die a happy man.”
“Finally,” said Zolo, who started to dig into the food.
“Peh,” Sanji leaned in, butting foreheads with the swordsman, “What'd you say, shit face?”
“I said, `go drown, and die, love cook.'”
“Cook-kun,” Robin said after eating a bit of the flan that their sea cook had served to her, “this is delicious.”
“Aah, how my heart leaps with rapture to hear it, Robin-chan!”
While sneaking away some pieces of flan - with Robin's help - behind Sanji's back, Chopper said, “Are Luffy and Nami back yet?”
Scowling around a bite of bacon, Zolo said, “Nope. Did they say anything to you guys?”
“Not me,” said Usopp, but then he leaned over to Chopper, and said while grinning, “But I think I know where they went.”
Chopper said, “Really?”
Lowering his voice into a low, conspiratorial hum, he said, “What? You don't have any idea at all? It's obvious, don't you think? Luffy and Nami … together? … They must have gone to Gum Gum Island.”
As stars appeared in Chopper's eyes, Sanji turned to Franky, “We saw them last on the river, right?”
“It's Luffy's birthplace, and the home of the Gum Gum people, all stretching, and training to become the very best!”
“Yeah,” he said, swigging some Cola before he continued. “They were in the same boat.”
“There, he ruled with a great rubber fist as their prince!”
Zolo finally pushed his plate away, crossing his arms as he idly watched Usopp lie to Chopper who was enthralled with his words, “We should go up the river, and look for their boat.”
“Who put you in charge, shitty moss-head?”
“Luffy was not satisfied there though. Yet one day, he was inspired by the stories of a great captain, and so he set off to the sea to become the King of Pirates! And do you know who that captain was?”
“I'm the first-mate, and since Nami's not here to order us around, I'm in charge while the captain's gone!”
“Captain Usopp?” Chopper said.
“That's right! Captain-!”
Sanji kicked, and Zolo punched Usopp's head at the same time, squishing it between both the fist and the foot, “Shut the hell up!”
“U … sopp …”
Robin set down her coffee cup, resting her chin on a palm, “That's a good plan though. It's best to investigate the river foremost. There might be something there we didn't see the first time.”
Standing up, Zolo nodded, clacking his katana to indicate them, “I'll go check it out myself in case there's trouble.”
“What're you going to do? You'd get lost before you got anywhere near them.” Sanji said, “You couldn't go up a river if you were swimming in it.”
“Shut it! At least, I wouldn't get distracted by some native girl, and go up her!”
Kicking a chair out of his path, Sanji said as he advanced, “Say that to my face, you shitty moss-head!”
“What, your face? Or do you mean your ass?”
Sighing, Robin stood up, and tapped Usopp's shoulder with a hand that bloomed from the floor - as Usopp was still lying on the floor from the hit, “Long Nose-kun, Doctor-san, will you come with me?” Beaming, Chopper jumped up to go take Robin's hand, and their sniper sat up with a shake of his head to clear himself. She said, “I think these two are a little busy right now.”
“Need any help?” Franky said, stocking up on Cola in his chest compartment.
“No, we'll just take the Mini Merry up the river together. Long Nose-kun can send a flare if we come across anything.”
Usopp abruptly grasped Robin's shoulder, and said quite seriously, “I've got I-have-a-bad-feeling-about-going-up-the-river-itis.”
She smiled, and said, “I don't think Doctor-san can help with that.”
“It's incurable,” the reindeer agreed.
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Usopp blinked, and then settled back on the small lamb head to look at the others, pushing his goggles up his head, “There's their boat. It's just a kilometer upriver.”
“Are they okay?” Chopper said, growing into his Heavy Point so he could see better over the railing.
“I didn't see them,” he said, scratching his chin in worry.
“Look again. They have to be there!”
“Okay, okay.” Setting the goggles back on, he adjusted the lenses, searching around the boat, “Well, it's tied up to a tree, so the stop was deliberate. Maybe they didn't want to sleep on the boat, and went ashore.” His eyes trailed over the river's edge, looking around trees and starting to frown deeper. He said, “There's no sign of them anywhere though.”
As the Mini Merry came up beside the rowboat, Chopper tossed down the anchor, and leapt into the boat, popping into his Brain Point just before he landed. He picked up their sandals, and waved them at Robin and Usopp.
“Why'd they leave their shoes?”
Robin said, “I remember that Navigator-san complained about her sandals bothering her.”
“What about Luffy's though?” Usopp said, pulling up his goggles again.
Getting out of the boat and onto shore, Chopper wandered into the forest, “Luffy! Nami!”
“Oi, oi! Wait for us, Chopper,” he said before he jumped out to land in the river, knee-deep in water as he trudged onto land.
He followed Chopper in, nervously glancing around while pulling down one goggle eye to inspect their surroundings. Hearing Robin jump onto the shore, he glanced back to make sure it was her. Confirming that, he walked along, feeling slightly better until he saw something glinting on a tree, and he zoomed in with his goggles before he tensed in alarm.
“Nami! Nami! Luffy!”
“Cho - Chopper! Robin! There's a sword over here!”
The three came up to the sword, and Robin was the first to dare to come closer, touching the bits of paper hanging from where the blade was imbedded. Abruptly, Chopper looked around, and said, “I can smell Luffy and Nami!”
“What? Track `em then,” Usopp said, watching Chopper turn into Walk Point, and then followed the reindeer as he sniffed the ground.
“Someone left a note for the other,” said Robin.
“You mean Luffy left Nami a note? Or Nami left him a note?”
“No,” she said. “Someone else must be on the island.”
Usopp's nose dripped, and then he said to Chopper, “I have a cure. It's called let's-get-back-on-the-boat-and-get-the-hell-away-from-here.”
Chopper said, still sniffing, “You can cure yourself. Robin and I will stay out here.”
“No way, I'm not going back alone!”
“Do you smell anyone else, Doctor-san?” Robin asked.
Snuffing a bit longer before he answered, Chopper then said, “The trail splits around here. Someone took Nami, and Luffy must've followed them.”
“Huh?” Usopp poked, “Why'd he split from them? Wasn't he chasing after?”
“I can't smell why he did that!”
“They must have taken her when he didn't know, and left a note for him.” She said, “The captain took the right way for a while, but they were long gone, so he must have just kept going the way he was.”
“Why didn't that idiot leave the note for us to find too?” Usopp said, “It could've told us where to go and what was going on.”
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His nose itched, so he reached into his pocket - his fingers flicking against something hard- took out a soggy piece of paper, and sneezed into it. Throwing it over the side, Luffy grinned at Nami who was approaching with a first aid kit she had found in the small cabin.
Taking his hat off her head, Luffy plopped it back onto his own, and sighed at the familiar sensation. The sun was shining high in the sky with errant clouds sometimes blocking its rays, but the temperature was blazing, and Luffy wondered if it was possible for his body to melt - though if he could, it surely would have done him in when he had been in Alabasta. He watched Nami against the sparkling water. She brushed a loch of hair behind her ear, and he smiled, enjoying the everyday sight as if it were new.
Nami suddenly punched his shoulder, frowning at him, and he knew what it was about because her cheeks were pink, “What the hell was that kiss for? You could've lost the way back to everyone! Who even knows how much time we had left to leave?”
“Nami,” he said, smiling when her cheeks immediately started to darken, “I really missed you.”
Rolling her eyes with a sigh, she then set the first aid kit down while she knelt beside him, “So that's why?”
“You're my navigator, and I really like you.”
“Now, you're just babbling,” she flung the kit open, and then started to pull off the grimy bandages on his hands. Taking out a clean cloth, she spread some salve onto his hand, and he winced, but let her rub the salve into his aching palms and fingers. “I can't believe that you … A log? No wonder you're so scraped up.”
“I was shot and stabbed too,” he said.
Cringing, she nudged his chest, “Don't grin like that, you idiot! You're severely injured here.”
“I stopped bleeding though,” Luffy pulled open his vest to look at his shoulder wrap and stomach. “Those bandages look clean enough.”
“Close enough, I guess,” she sighed, “I'm no doctor anyway. Those can stay on, but I'll wrap your hands and feet.” Nami looked up at him in bewilderment then, “What was wrong with your sandals?”
“Nothing, I thought you were taking a barefoot walk, so I took them off, and followed you.” Laughing, he scratched the scar on his cheek, “But then I found the note that squishy guy left, so I went after you, ripped out a log, and chased after the ship.”
She smiled a bit, “You're so stupid.”
“You still like me though, right?”
Clearing her throat, she started to wrap his fingers, “Of course, I like you, but … you shouldn't go around stealing kisses like that. People might think it's something that means a lot more.”
Grinning widely, he leaned down slightly, causing her to look into his eyes in surprise, and he said, “Nami, did you want to steal it back?”
Slowly smiling, Nami leaned up, stroking the brim of his hat before she shoved it over his face, “In your dreams, straw brain!”
With a laugh, he wrapped his arms around her, and dragged her into his lap before he started to tickle her. After his navigator very quickly joined in with his laughter, he planted his lips firmly onto her own, and was thoroughly pleased when she reciprocated very kindly, his fingers slowing to a stop before they rested on her back.
When they pulled apart, she said, “I stole it back. What're you going to do about it?”
“I could steal it again,” he said, his grin wider than ever, and warmer than the sun as he lightly butted heads with her. “But then we'd be back and forth like that all day.”
“I could share the kiss with you,” she said, and it was his turn to blush.
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Usopp groaned, holding his head as he looked at the ocean shore, and Chopper said, “This is where the trail ends.”
“You're kidding,” he said, and then he slumped to sit on the beach, crossing his arms in thought. “He didn't try to go swimming after them, did he? He's not that stupid.”
“Wait,” Robin said, and she touched a tree stump that had seen much better days as it looked as if someone had pummeled and then wrenched it from its weaker point. “This looks freshly torn off.”
“Luffy does have that kind of strength,” he mused.
When Chopper smelled the stump, he nodded, “His scent is on it. There are pieces of dead wood on the beach that smell like him too.”
“So he went after the ship on a log because he didn't have time to get us and the Thousand Sunny.”
“So it seems,” she said, her eyes then on the horizon. “I just hope that he knows he has to get her before the log pose resets on another island. I'm sure that Navigator-san can take care of herself though.”
Usopp grinned, “Hah, she just might save him instead of the other way around. He's out on the Grand Line in a log after all.”
“With no sandals,” Chopper said.
“And his name.”
Cocking his head to the side, Usopp said, “Ah? What's that supposed to mean, Robin?”
“Hmm, it's nothing,” she said, and then she began to walk back into the jungle, the mystery having been solved. The two only shrugged at each other before he went to follow, both seemingly trying to figure out how to tell Sanji that Nami wasn't on the island.
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So! That's what they've been up to … XP since a lot of you asked about them anyway. At any rate, I think the next chapter may or may not be the last. Review like hell if you want at least two more chapters as I do have ideas for a bit more, but I'm kind of lazy feeling.
BlackNhite: Hearing that always makes me happy. Next on their list is making Luffy the King of Pirates, naturally. XP Thanks!
Nuit Fleur: The same goes for you! Thank you! So what's your favorite scene so far? I loved writing the scene in Dreams of a Floating Barrel where Luffy washes ashore on the uninhabited island. It was just screaming of Luffy's desperation …
overlord: Fuwahaha, thanks!
CSI Kaizoku: XP More like ripping them out from their holdings to the walls and ceilings. That silly boy. Well, I do have a sequel in mind. Or if not a sequel, then just another story, but it would help if it were a sequel because then I wouldn't have to write about them getting together again … I'm lazy like that. Thank you!
Gabe Logan: Heso! :D Thanks for the luck and review again! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
kage karasu: Heso! Thanks for the review! XP Fuwahaha, everyone seems to be enjoying the kiss scene, but it's just so simple looking now that I see it - though it took a while to create.
chuck: Of course you are! XP Thank you for the review!
catho: Yes, I shall dub thee my favorite. But then, I love every review that comes in! A lot had to be done to get to that kiss and I had to deliberate and tweak stuff until the setting and scene of it all was just right, so I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much!
wheathermangohanssj4: Of course, it's part of what makes stories interesting. If you don't keep the feeling of the show, you're basically making something else … :D And I just hope I live up to that feeling Oda's still creating to this day.
Cybertoy00: Awesome, it's always great to know that I have Luffy down right. Thanks so much! And the others are here now!
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