Chapter 6: Little garden

That night after Mrs. All Sunday leave, (y/n) keep staring at the rose petal in her hand. She was wondering why would one of the Warlords giving her a flower if they wanted to kill her and her friends. She thought the Warlord will kill her or worse imprisoned her if she goes there. "who gave you that rose?" a familiar voice asked. (y/n) turned to see Sanji accompanying beside her. (y/n) told him one of the Warlords gave it to her "WHAT?!" Sanji gasped "that stupid Warlord trying to take my (y/n)-tan away from me—" he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

(y/n) chuckled by Sanji's reaction and looked back to the flower. Sanji pouted that (y/n) keeping her attention toward the rose instead of him "do you know, a rose flower has a meaning?"

"Really? Do tell" (y/n) smiled at him as leaning on the ship barricade.

Sanji grab the flower and closed his eyes "a single red rose means… love at the first sight. There's a chance that this so-called-Warlord has taken a love interest in you" he groaned in annoyance.

"But I never met this person in my entire life. I'd remember if I ever meeting such bigwig" (y/n) said as she took the rose back "and how this person knows about me anyway?"

"didn't you said you have bounties over your head? Maybe he saw your photo and fell in love?"

"well, that sounds ridiculous…" (y/n) sighed 'they even what I'm looking for. Do they really have Poneglyph with them? If they do, the leader sure is something' she gives a deep thought.

Sanji noticed her sudden serious expression and asked what's wrong. (y/n) shakes her head and tells him everything is fine "if something bothering you, you can leave everything to me!" he said proudly.

"your faithful knight in shiny armor shall protect you from any danger" he gently pulled (y/n)'s hand and gives a kiss on top of it.

(y/n) chuckled and smiled gently by his sweet gesture "do you do this to all girls you laid your eyes on?" she tease.

"haha, but I think you're—" he stopped in the middle when he raise his head to face (y/n), the bright full moon behind her makes her 10 times more beautiful than usual "you are--…" Sanji was enchanted.

(y/n) wondered why is Sanji suddenly froze in the spot and stare at her "is everything alright?" she ask in a worried tone.

"eh? Huh? E-everything is fine! It's just—you looked so beautiful~" he said with an awestruck face.

(y/n) laughs by his boldness "don't fall for me too, Mr. Cook. The Warlord might get jealous" she jokes.

"A Warlord means nothing to me! just watch me saving your life if you ever get kidnapped by the bad guys" Sanji starts imagining (y/n) kidnapped by some bad guys and calling his name for help. It'll be bliss for him. (y/n) chuckled by his energetic fantasy.

On the other side of the sea, a Marine ship is sailing crossing the Grand Line. There, the ship Captain just finished working out and was covered in sweat. Smoker went to take a seat and reading the paperwork beside him. Then his partner, Tashigi approached him with a folder in her hand. She handed it over to Smoker. He opens the folder and it was filled with copies of (y/n)'s classified data. Including her data when she was in the Marines. Tashigi asked him what (y/n) has to do with their case.

"…back in training days, we used to practice a pretty lot. But her case is much worse since she's been trained privately by one of the Fleed Admiral, Akainu"

The first time he met her it was when they're kid, he was just done training and about to find a place to take a rest. But he heard small sobbing around the corner. When he turned, he saw a little girl Marine crying over a small grave. He thought her pet was probably dead and she buried it there. Smoked approached the girl and asked her if she's alright. The girl turned to him with teary eyes, she tried to brush off her tears and cleaned herself from the dirt "I'm fine" she tried her best to give her best smile.

Smoker blinked and confused why is she forcing herself to smile when she obviously sad over her dead pet. When he looked at her closely, she was covered in bruises and some bandages. He was wondering what happened to her, he worried that she might get bullied by other young Marines. He offered his hand to her and asked her name, she stared at him for a moment and accepted his hand "I'm (y/n)" she said.

Then he pulled her into the infirmary room so her wounds could be treated properly. Thankfully, (y/n)'s wounds were fully treated by the nurses. Even the doctor is worried that (y/n) is training too hard, it's not good for her body. But (y/n) told them that she's fine and giving the best smile again.

But then someone called (y/n)'s name, it was Akainu looking for her so she could continue her training. The doctor tried to tell Akainu to give (y/n) some rest even though he's scared a little by Akainu's intimidating face. Akainu glared at the doctor "I will not having my future right hand getting so weak over small scratches. Thank you for taking care of her and your advice, doctor. But we're taking our leave. Let's go, (y/n)" he said as he turned his heels without looking back.

(y/n) thanked the doctor and the nurses before leaving the room, she even smiled and gave a small wave to Smoker, leaving him dumbfounded "poor girl, she's been directly trained by a demon" the doctor sweat-dropped.

A week later, Smoker met (y/n) again. They're training together again with other young Marines. She's still being covered by the wounds, some of the new and the old one already started healing. At first, (y/n) was giving a bright smile that would make others smile as well. But the more they trained together the more he noticed that she's changing slowly. She would still smile at everyone, but something in her eyes is… empty. Like there's no more emotion behind that once bright smile on her face.

But the two of them were closer than anyone. They would mostly train or hanging out a little. When time flies, (y/n) is much stronger than him. She would often win every match and showing him her new devil-fruit ability. Once Smoker has his devil-fruit ability too, he challenged her again. it was chaos but (y/n) still winning. Over time, (y/n) start pranking at Smoker a little. She would put spicy pepper in Smoker's food without his notice or made him carry her for a piggyback ride.

Back in the future, Smoker added that (y/n) is a prankster to other Marines and she would get out of trouble thanks to Akainu. Even though, she would prank him as well. But they can't get mad at her because she would use her sweetest smile as her weapon. Tashigi sweat-dropped and can't imagine that (y/n) would prank Smoker or Akainu. "do you think she still the same girl you knew back then, Captain?" Tashigi asked.

"after the betrayal, I feel like the girl I knew back then was nothing… but a ghost. I wasn't even there when the scene happened, she was just… disappeared like that after killing hundreds of Marines"

"and you wish to meet her again?"

"deep down, I was hoping the girl I knew is still there even if it is just a little…" he said with a sad face.

"but she can't come back to the Marines now"

"I know. I just wanted to know the real reason she did all that"

The next day it was a beautiful day under the bright blue sky, voyaging to the next island. Luffy wondered if it will snow again. Vivi explained that it's not always snow, since the weather would change rapidly depends on the route they're passing. She felt bad that she's bringing everyone into big trouble. But she looked at everyone was not worried and being cheerful as usual "are they supposed to be doing that?!" Vivi shouted when she looked at their goofy behavior.

"it's fine. They always been like that" said Nami and handed her a fresh drink made by Sanji.

Vivi accepted the drink "okay, but… I still don't like it" she said with a worried look.

Meanwhile, (y/n) was drinking and look at Vivi being comforted by Nami. But suddenly her vision is blocked by something. She removed what's blocking her and it was her thick blanket. "there, I have to wash it too" said Zoro and drink his alcohol next to (y/n). she said your welcome and gives a smile to him.

While enjoying the sunny day, a dolphin jumps out from the water… a giant dolphin… that is about to eat them. The crew panicked as they tried to run away from it.

While still on their voyage, (y/n) was bored and decided to walk around the ship. There she spotted Usopp was making something on the deck. (y/n) got curious and decided to see what is he making. When she looked closely, he was making few small bombs for his weapon. "Usopp-kun, what is this?" (y/n) picked one of the bombs and inspected it closely.

"ah, that—be careful not to squeeze it too—"

BOOOM!!

*SPLASH*

"…hard…"

The bomb was exploded the moment (y/n) touched it. her strength was a little too strong even grabbing for the smallest thing. Both of them half-covered in black ink.

"That was my newest bomb. The squid ink bomb. It's still under development" said Usopp.

Then Luffy and Vivi arrived "what happened? We heard an explosion just a second ago—" Vivi stopped in the middle and saw (y/n) and Usopp covered in ink.

"GYA HA HA HA HA!! You two looked ridiculous!!" Luffy laughs loudly, along with Vivi.

"Usopp-kun, give me another one" (y/n) said.

"huh? H-here" Usopp gives her another ink bomb.

"Luffy, catch" (y/n) throws the bomb at him.

Luffy almost didn't catch it, but it's safe in his hand. But the bomb exploded at that moment and now Luffy and Vivi are covered in ink "BWAHAHAHAHA!! Now you two looked ridiculous too!!" Usopp laughs and pointed at them. (y/n) laughs too.

But then Nami came and scolds them for making a mess. So they were told to clean the deck and then themselves before they're able to use the bathroom. They wipe off the ink on their body first but Luffy getting impatient, then an idea struck on his head. He came back with a pretty big water gun and told them they'll wash faster that way. So everyone who got ink on them gets in lines. Zoro and Karoo helped to shot the water gun "here we go!" he shot in their direction and washed off the ink.

"hey, the ink finally washes off!" Vivi said, feeling glad most ink finally washed off.

"Yeah, who knew that Luffy could come up with an idea like this. Right, Lu—" when Usopp turned, they saw Luffy and (y/n) laying on the floor weakly "(Y/N)!! LUFFY!!!" he shouted and checked on both of them.

"What happened to them?!" Vivi also checked.

Luffy groaned and tried to say something "t-the… w- wat- er…"

"the water?" Usopp quickly smelled the water "this is seawater!!"

"I thought—it will be faster—" Luffy groaned.

"WHY WOULD YOU PUT SEAWATER INSIDE, YOU STUPID DEVIL-FRUIT USER?!!" Usopp smacked Luffy's head.

Nami scolds them again for making more mess, while Zoro and Karoo quietly escaped from the scene.

The Straw Hat pirates finally arrived at the next island, Little Garden. The island is surrounded by jungle and there's a huge volcano in the middle of the island. There are even two skull mountains on each side of the island. Luffy felt very excited and told Sanji to make a lunchbox for him so he could explore the jungle. "be careful on your way, Luffy" (y/n) reminded him.

"I know! That's why you're coming with me!" Luffy grinned.

(y/n) freeze and her expression don't change "…come again?"

So in the end, Luffy, (y/n), and Vivi (including Karoo) started their exploration through the jungle, while the rest is guarding the ship. While walking through the jungle, Luffy told stories about when he and (y/n) was a little. They would go to the forest and play together. but (y/n) went quiet and scanning around the jungle "what's wrong, (y/n)-san?" asked Vivi.

"If I remembered correctly, this island would have their weird animal in it. but I forgot what it was called" (y/n) tried to remember.

"didn't you said you've voyaged around the Grand Line? You didn't pass through the island one by one?" Luffy asks.

"I didn't, my previous group in the organization always had their special log pos so we could travel straight to the determined island"

Suddenly, Luffy disappeared and both girls look around to find him. Turns out, he's on top of a creature with a very long neck. Vivi warned him that he's stepping on top of a dinosaur. 'ah, now I remembered. In this island, there was supposed to be a—' (y/n) stopped her track when the dinosaur accidentally ate Luffy. The girls panicked and were about to save him. But something sliced the dinosaur's neck and Luffy safely out before he was swallowed straight into its stomach.

Luffy is jaw-dropped and amazed by another creature that just saved him "wow! You're huge! Are you human?" he asks the giant.

"I am Dorry, the mightiest warrior of Elbaph!" the giant introduced himself. He even spotted (y/n), Vivi and… fainted Karoo.

Dorry invited the group to his hut, which is inside the skull mountain. He even cooked the dinosaur meat from earlier for Luffy. He starts telling stories about that he has lived on the island for hundreds of years and battling with another giant who lived on the other side of the island, Broggy. Then, the volcano starts erupting. Doffy gets up and went somewhere, (y/n) asked him where is he going. Dorry replied that he's going into a battle with Broggy, the two warriors have an agreement that every time the mountain explodes their battle has begun.

Both giants start battling each other, their fights amazed them. After the fight, the result is draw. Both giants laugh together and told that they're having a guest right now as they sharing food and beverages. When Dorry is back Vivi asked him how long will the log pose to record the island "about a year" Dorry replied. Now she's worried that they won't make it to Alabasta.

The trio discussed how to get out from the island, in the middle of the discussion. The alcohol that has been drunk by Dorry suddenly exploded inside him. The group was shocked by the sudden explosion as the giant collapsed.

Luffy ordered (y/n) to heal him, she nodded and started to use her light power to heal Dorry. But since he's a giant and the wound is from an internal organ, it'll take a while to heal him. Vivi accused the other giant that he's the one putting an explosion inside the alcohol, but Luffy did not accept that and he believe the other giant wouldn't do such a thing to his best friend.

Dorry slowly gained consciousness and get up from the ground, coughing a lot of blood from moving so much. His wounds haven't fully healed yet. Dorry started blaming Luffy and his friends for the exploding alcohol. Vivi suggested that they should run since it's useless to argue with the giant.

"I bet it's useless to run too" Luffy handed over his straw hat to (y/n) "hold this for a minute. Stand back"

(y/n) looked at Luffy's serious expression "…alright" is all she could say and put the straw hat on her head.

"Sorry, Mister. But I'm gonna shut you up" said Luffy as he cracked his fingers and glared at Dorry.

The giant and Luffy start fighting to each other. He tried to bring the giant down so the wound won't get worse. So Luffy had no choice but to punch the giant the stomach as Dorry coughing blood again and falls to the ground once more. Luffy panted and was relieved a little that the giant finally calmed down. (y/n) approached him and returned the hat on his head "good work. It might take a while but I'll do my best to heal Mr. Dorry" she said as she approached Dorry and heals him with her power.

"the giant was right. somebody spiked that ale! It sure wasn't the other giant. And my people would never pull a dirty trick like that!!" Luffy gritted his teeth in anger.

Vivi widened her eyes "then, is it possible—"

"…somebody else than us on this island tried to kill the giants" (y/n) said as she still focusing on healing Dorry.

Turns out, there are other people aside from the Straw Hat Pirates. Somewhere in the jungle reside a small square house made of hard candles. Inside the house, few agents from Baroque works are discussing a plan about the lost Princess. It looks like they have found her and one of the agents called Mr. 3 is planning to kill the giants on the island. Mr. 5 and Mrs. Valentine were also there. And the one who put the explosion in the alcohol also they're doing since both giants are worth 200 million berries.

"Also, the boss mentioning about a 'jewel' being held by those pesky pirates. We need to steal it from there and brought it safely to the boss" said Mr. 3 as he casually sipping his tea.

"a jewel? What it looks like?" asked Mr. 5.

"dunno, I don't have the picture. Well, once we got the giants all we have to do is to make those pirates spill out where they hid their jewel"

"oh, I remembered—" a little girl next to Mr.3 just wake up from her nap.

"what is it, Mrs. Goldenweek?" Mr. 3 turned to see the girl start rummaging her big backpack.

"this" she showed everyone a bounty paper.

The agents inspected the bounty "Labelle D. (y/n), dead or alive—" then all of their jaws dropped the moment they saw the bounty price "55.000.000 berries?!!" the three of them were shocked.

"Mrs. Goldenweek, don't tell me the 'jewel' that boss talking about was—" Mr. 3 pointed at the bounty paper.

Mrs. Goldenweek nodded as she yawned and go back to napping, leaving the three agents frozen in spot. They can't believe they have to capture a woman that worth 55 billion alive.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?!!" Mr. 3 scolds Mrs. Goldenweek.

"w-what should we do, Mr.3? this woman is truly strong…" Mrs. Valentine asks.

"Yeah, she even defeated us with one finger" Mr. 5 added.

Mr. 3 starts thinking about a plan to capture (y/n) "…I have a plan, but I need you two need to follows my orders exactly. I need to call the boss for real quick"