One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter Fifteen [Rewritten]

-Chapter Fifteen-

"No!" Vivi and I shouted as I tackled Zoro to the ground while she knocked the other two onto the floor, giving the Sea Cat a chance to quickly diver under and disappear for good.

"Vivi? Skylar?" Luffy frowned. "What are you doing?! I'm hungry!" he whined in frustration.

"Why? Just why?" Sanji groaned. "It was food!" he complained, just barely able to contain his own frustration.

"Because you can't eat a Sea Cat—I won't let you!" Vivi scolded. "Sea Cats are sacred animals in Alabasta" she calmly explained.

"Well...that's good to know..." Luffy groaned.

"Although...," Vivi began as she now shifted her attention towards me from my spot atop Zoro's stomach, "I didn't expect you to jump in the way that you did, Skylar—is there a reason why?" she asked.

"Yeah, aren't you hungry also?" Zoro grunted from underneath me. "Why'd you let it get away? That thing could have helped make up for all the food Luffy ate earlier!" he frowned.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm hungry" I admitted with a nervous shift. "But...well...I like cute things and I couldn't just sit by and watch you guys hurt the poor thing" I confessed, awkwardly laughing as I mindlessly scratched my cheek. "It was adorable and looked absolutely terrified, therefore, I didn't want to witness any harm coming to it!" I proclaimed, cheeks puffing out as I crossed my arms.

"Cute things, huh?" Usopp questioned. "What about Chopper? What do you think about him?" he then asked as he motioned to the reindeer behind him that was starting to look a little shy.

"Well, I think he's the cutest thing to ever exist" I sweetly cooed out with a smile that only widened as I watched the reindeer start to go through his normal wave of emotions after hearing such a compliment.

"Mind getting off?" Zoro grunted.

"Hm...nah, you've got a pretty soft stomach" I teased as I shifted around like I was settling in before giving a sharp yelp in startled surprise the second I was suddenly knocked off him and onto the deck. "Rude..." I muttered with a glare as he sat up. With a peculiar glint in his eyes that disappeared just as quickly as it had come, he barked out a laugh that caused my face to split into a wide grin. Neither of us paid any mind to the curious looks of the other as they silently exchanged questioning glances with one another.

"There are more animals in the ocean than I thought" Chopper suddenly sighed, his gaze now locked on the lapping waves of the surrounding sea.

"If you're still scared of that stuff, then you still got a long way to go" Usopp said before diving straight into one of his many tall tales he seemed to enjoy spreading and instantly captivating the reindeer.

"You know, he'd probably make for a great author someday" I said while leaning back against my arms, smiling at the way Chopper peered up at the sharpshooter in wonderment the longer he listened to his tale.

"You think so?" Zoro asked from beside me as I nodded. "I think you might be right..." he mumbled upon spying that same look of wonderment I had on the reindeer's face.

"Our food got away!" Luffy wailed before he started to chew on the railing as if he was starving to death at this very moment.

"Yeah, but don't worry, Luffy" Vivi softly sighed. "You'll be able to stuff yourself really soon" she reassured him with a small smile.

"Yeah, really?" he perked up. "Will we get another cat to eat, Vivi?" he asked.

"Vivi, the wind and air seem to be stabilizing" Nami butted in before the princess could properly answer the rubber man.