Chapter 15: Lost Friends

"So tell me little lady, what's your name again?"

Yulie let out a long sigh as she put her two hands near her mouth and shouted again.

"YULIE!! YULIE ANNE!!"

If she had known that it would be this hard to communicate with giants then she would have brought a speaker. Yulie pursed her lips as she stared at the giant in front of her. There were two of them, she doesn't know their names but the other giants around them were calling them masters.

"And you're looking for red-hair?"

Yulie wanted to roll her eyes, they have been having this conversation over and over again for the past ten minutes. After she had walked out of the forest, a wide landscape welcomed her. With mountain ranges and humungous houses that she could never dream of. She had avoided most of the giants as much as she could. She couldn't tell if they were hostile to other people or not so it was best to just be careful.

Having said that, some giants still managed to find her and corner her.

Yulie welcomed her surveillance butterfly who immediately told her that Shanks and the others are already at the port and are preparing to depart. Her eyes widened instantly as she stared at the giants.

"Are you kidding me? Shanks and his crew are going already? Damn it"

She was ready to run towards the port when one of the giants blocked her path with his hand.

"Hold on, we're not done talking yet"

Yulie raised an eyebrow at the two of them as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You two, did you deliberately wasted my time knowing that Shanks would be gone in a few minutes?"

"Uhh no"

They answered in unison, Yulie let out a sigh as she held on the hand blocking her path.

"I'm not looking for trouble. Shanks and the crew used to look after me when I was a child. If you bring me to them, you'll know that I'm not lying"

They looked at each other and for a moment it seemed like they were deep in thought. When they finally nodded in agreement and laid out their palm, she felt a smile crossing her face.

"All right, hop in"

Yulie wasted no time and hopped on the giant's palm and sat as the giant walked a little too fast to the port. If she had walked at that path, it would have taken minutes but with how the giants were walking, they arrived in the port in just a minute.

Yulie smiled as she saw the familiar faces that didn't seem to change over the years.

"Oh what are you two doing? I thought you were going to set sail"

Yulie heard Yasopp yell to the two giants the moment they arrived at port.

"We met someone who said she wanted to meet you"

"She said you know her"

"They do!!"

Yulie instantly quipped making Yasopp glance at her direction. It took him a full minute to recognize the now young lady sitting in the palm of the giant's hands. A wide smile painted across Yasopp's face as he happily exclaimed.

"Yulie? Is that you Yulie Anne?"

Yulie grinned widely as the giants put her down in the ship, at the spot where Yasopp was standing. Yulie stood to her full length and smiled widely.

"It is you. HEY GUYS IT'S YULIE. It's been a while"

Yasopp exclaimed before pulling Yulie into a tight hug. One by one the crew members gather around them and Yulie could finally see the familiar faces she had been wanting to see for some time now.

"Hey it's Yulie"

"Wha— how did you get here"

"Wait why are you not a kid anymore"

Everybody else berated her with questions, Lucky Roux with another meat in his hand. Limejuice and Hongo patting her head saying how she was really small when they had left the village. Building Snake and Bonk Punch only looked at her with a wide smile in their face. The group had only stopped when a muscular man stepped out to greet her, his grayish hair almost making him unrecognizable for Yulie but she never really forget about his face.

"Beckman!"

"Well this is a surprise"

Beckman smiled as he pulled Yulie into a tight embrace to which she immediately gave back.

"Look at you, you're already a young lady and you've managed to reach Elbaf. Nice work"

Yulie grinned widely at Beckman's compliment. Even back then when she was a sickly young girl, Beckman had always been the one giving her compliments for a job well done. He said he always believed in Yulie's capabilities which pushed her to do stuff no one else would expect from her.

"and she's out of her little castle"

Everybody turned to see the owner of the voice that had just spoken and Yulie instantly ran up and hugged the red-haired man she had always looked up to.

"Hey Shanks"

"Hey princess, long time no see"

Yulie instantly felt like a kid again. Being surrounded by the familiar rowdy environment she had always been missing. Shanks chuckled as he tapped Yulie lightly on the back.

"Come on let's talk for a while. It's a good thing you caught us before we set sail"

"Yeah you wouldn't want to miss seeing Yulie again after so many years"

"Boss, I could cry just by looking at her. The little princess is all grown up"

Yulie laughed as she felt the familiar fatherly attitude from the crew. Yulie and Luffy both grew up without a father, so it was their instinct to cling close to someone who could resemble that figure in their life. In their case, the red-haired pirates were the ones closest to being a father figure.

"I actually wasted 10 minutes being interrogated by them because they thought I was looking for you for trouble"

Everyone's attention went to the two giants to whom Yulie pointed at. Shanks stared at them and bursted out laughing. He introduced Yulie to them before they apologized for the misunderstanding and went away. Dorry and Brogy was what they had introduced themselves. They smiled apologetically at Yulie before bidding the group goodbye. They said they need to set sail for Egghead soon.

"Oh I forgot to mention, they're backing Luffy up"

This instantly caught Yulie's attention as she sat down on of the chairs the crew had brought out.

"back Luffy up? Why? Did something happen?"

"I guess you didn't know"

Yulie's eyes widened as she listened to the story of how Luffy managed to throw Egghead Island into chaos. With Dr. Vegapunk and the elders involved, Yulie couldn't help but fear for her brother's safety. She let out a sigh.

"The last I heard back then was when I met Marco and Izo and they told me that Luffy was at war with the emperors of the sea and now he's stirring something again? Does trouble like him so much to keep on finding him?"

Yulie pursed her lips to which Shanks and the others laughed at.

"Well, we can see that you certainly hadn't changed at all Yulie"

"Yeah so tell us how you got here"

For a brief moment, the image of Law passed through Yulie but she shook the thought away. She would sort out her feelings later eventually, she doesn't want to waste her time not when Shanks and everybody else was here. She started retelling her story to which the crew listened intently to. After Yulie had finished her story, everybody else's eyes were wide except for Shanks and Beckman who were both smiling proudly.

"Boss, why do you look so proud?"

"What? It's Yulie, don't you feel grateful that we were the third on her list that she had wanted to meet?"

"First Ace, second Rayleigh and third us. Who's your fourth princess?"

Yulie smiled widely before saying

"Luffy of course"

Shanks laughed as he stared at Yulie. His eyes deceiving him for somebody else that he had been missing for a long time now. He let out a short breath and pat Yulie's head with his good hand.

"So? What's your plan? Do you want to go help Luffy in egghead?"

Yulie pondered on the thought but shook her head in response.

"I actually wanted to know something here. It was a rumor I heard about as I was travelling. I don't know how it got out but it reached my ear and I wanted to have your approval before I go in there. 'Coz you know Elbaf being under your territorial protection and all"

Shanks already knew what Yulie had wanted. He remembered how Yulie loved books as a child. How she had too many questions and no answers because her knowledge was limited.

"You want to see the remains of Ohara?"

Shanks asked, making Yulie's eyes go wide. She nodded shyly nonetheless. Shanks let out a laugh as he ruffled Yulie's hair.

"Go, it's alright. Know what you want to know but speak none of it outside yourself. You are the only one allowed to go in alright?"

Yulie didn't know she would actually get permission from Shanks. She only asked as a precaution in case he was guarding it and something like that but she would sneak in nonetheless. She wanted to know more about devil fruits. She wanted to know more about poneglyphs. She wanted to know more of the world.

"Someone is in there Yulie so be careful when asking sensitive questions and topics alright?"

Yulie nodded at Yasopp who was leaning in close to her now.

"Oh and there's somebody else who wrecked havoc in here a few days ago. Make sure to stay away from them"

Yulie tilted her head and asked Beckman. That she didn't know. 

"Who in the world is stupid enough to wreak havoc on the protected territory of Shanks"

The crew laughed at her before Beckman said the name that she would have never dared imagine hearing.

"His name's Kid, Eustass Kid, pretty sure he got some balls with Luffy but yeah he was stupid"

Yulie waved her hand as she watched Shank's crew embark and set sail. She was left with some of the giants that were gathered around earlier. Shanks had instructed them to treat her well and like family and they know better than to disobey his orders.

"So, we can show you were that place is"

"Oh that's alright, I can go by myself. I'll just come back later when I'm done in there"

The lady giant smiled at her before nodding.

"Alright, we'll see to your accommodations then, be careful on your way there"

Yulie nodded and smiled before walking to the direction where the remains of Ohara are. Ohara was the home to the most intellectual people who had dedicated themselves in their studies and research. When they had been burned to the ground because of a buster call, everyone thought the books were lost forever. But it wasn't.

And someone had brought those treasures here in Elbaf. That's what she wanted so bad to find but…

"Damn it I think I'm lost"

Yulie almost let out a scream as she looked around. 

Trees, mountains. 

Trees, mountains. 

Trees, mountains. 

She actually was lost and now she doesn't know where to go anymore.

It was then that she heard the loud wailing of someone that she stopped and looked at the direction of the forest. Their voices, loud different set of voices echoed from beyond the trees and she was compelled to see to whom it belonged to. 

Yulie stopped on her tracks when she saw scraps of metal, remains of what was once a ship and a group of people crowding on the sand that was separating the forest from the sea.

"Come on Kid wake up"

Yulie held her breath as she could finally make out the figure of the man laying on the sand. His blood colored hair dyeing the light brown particles of the earth while his companions gather around him. Beckman's warning rang at the back of her head and she knew it would be suicide to not follow him. But something was pulling her towards the scene. Something that made her walk out of the shadows and into the figures that were gathered there. For a moment, a familiar scene played in her eyes. A scene where a wreckage and multiple bodies took her attention. An event where she felt her whole life change.

Everyone looked up when they heard her get out of the forest. Everyone of them ready to attack her to defend when she said the words that surprised all of them.

"Do you need help?"