Her Wanderlust Odyssey

On the Rooftops

"When are we going back to the Grand Line?" Sakura asked as she took a sip of saké.

"After we go to Loguetown to resupply, and to hopefully capture some pirate bounties while we're there," Hiroshi replied.

"Well that's good I wanna make it back to the Grand Line as quickly as possible to continue exploring!" she laughed. "It's been a while since I've been to Loguetown so everyone can take the day off while the ship is getting resupplied, but first we have to pay a visit to um..."

"Smoker the White Hunter, a Captain and the commander of the Lougetown Marine Base," her right-hand man answered for her.

"Thank you very much, Hiroshi."

=~+~=

"Huh, I got the honor of being visited by a Vice-Admiral. What a higher up doing here?" The shirtless white-haired man was smoking two cigars at once. His name defiantly matches his appearance...

"Hello there Captain Smoker, I was just visiting Lougetown to resupply before I re-enter the Grand Line. I thought that I should at least tell you."

"Hmph, alright then thanks for telling me."

"Also you shouldn't need to worry, my men won't disturb your patrols, they'll just be walking around at their leisure." He nodded as he walked back into the Marine Base.

"He didn't even show much respect to one of his superiors," Hiroshi grunted.

"It's alright, he probably thought that I was here to tell him he wasn't doing his job properly or something," Sakura shrugged.

=~+~=

"Looks like a storm is coming, it suddenly got cloudy," Sakura pointed out. "Let's hurry up."

Suddenly there was a guy running down the street. "Help! People in the town square are being held hostage and a pirate is executing another pirate!"

"Come on, let's go check it out..." Her Den Den Mushi started ringing.

"Sakura-san! There's a pirate crew causing trouble at the dock, they seem to have a hostage. Orders to advance?"

"Hold back for a bit, I'm on my way. Remember that the safety of the hostage is our number one priority." she turned to the men that we're walking with her, "Go on ahead without me, find Captain Smoker, and ask him if he needs our assistance." They nodded and started to run towards the direction of the town square.

=~+~=

After Sakura helped her men take care of the pirates she rushed towards the town square. The storm had started and in the pouring rain, Sakura ran along the rooftops. She spotted a cloaked figure up ahead. "Excuse me, what are you doing on the rooftops?" The figure didn't respond. Instead, they continued to stare off into the distance.

Sakura looked in that direction and spotted something.  "Is that... Luffy?! Why is he running?" Then she saw a blondie running with him and Captain Smoker chasing them. Sakura readied her katanas, about to hold him off. Luffy has never encountered a Logia user before, he's not going to win. An arm held her back. The cloaked figure finally spoke. "I'll handle it. What would the World Government think if a Vice-Admiral fought a Marine Captian to let a pirate crew escape, including one with a 30 million bounty?"

"Luffy's bounty is already at 30 million?!" She turned and finally got a look at their face. "Are you 'the' Dragon, the Supreme Commander of the Revolutionary Army?!"

"How do you know Luffy? You didn't seem to know about his new bounty." He asked ignoring the question.

"He's my childhood friend, I meet him accidentally when I was wandering the outskirts of the Goa Kingdom," she happily answered. "You seem awfully calm, and I assume that you already know who I am."

"You're Sakura Amari, a Vice-Admiral and people tend to call you the 'troublemaker of the Marines'. I don't currently see you as a threat since I sense no hostility coming from you. Yet most Marines would kill for an opportunity like this to take my head. What's more important is why would you risk your position to save him?"

"You stay well informed," Sakura chuckled. "I have nothing against you guys, I actually don't mind if the Revolutionary Army actually overthrows the World Government. And regarding Luffy, I see him as family. He can be more reckless than me, which gives me every reason to worry about him. I wouldn't mind giving up my position as a Vice-Admiral to save his life."

"Then why didn't you just become a pirate or even joined the Revolutionary Army?"

"Heh, the only reason I became a Marine was because it allowed me to explore the world while being able to help people. Becoming a pirate or joining the Revolutionary Army would've just been too much of a hassle."

"You're a very interesting Marine, I would like to hopefully talk again in the future." He handed her the revolutionaries' contact information and jumped off the building and grabbed Smoker's hand before he could reach for his weapon. Luffy would be safe in his hands.

=~+~=

The ship swayed back and forth as the storm outside of her room showed no signs of stopping. She was laying in bed staring at the card Dragon gave her. He wants to talk again? Hm, I guess I will, I want to learn more about the 'World's Worst Criminal'. She hid the card and fell asleep with the sound of rain hitting the deck.

[End of the short story The Revolutionary]