One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety Eight [Rewritten]

-Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-Eight-

"Why can't we go right now?" Luffy frowned.

"Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with going to go and get them now" I agreed, not opposing to getting our lost crewmembers back this very instance.

"Searching for two people on an unknown island in the middle of the night is a recipe for disaster" Robin pointed out.

"Oh...guess you got a point" Luffy nodded in understanding as I crossed my arms and slowly nodded as well—knowing full well that there was no point in arguing with the older woman when she was clearly right. Besides, with the sudden reappearance of the child and the confirmation that he had been the one to steal the other's memories, it wouldn't be wise to go wandering around alone at night. There's no telling what kind of tricks he may have up his sleeves if we went on the island unprepared.

"Let's get some rest and then we'll begin our search when the sun comes up" Robin suggested. "I don't think that boy will be back tonight, we gave him a lot of trouble—he'll think twice before showing up here again" she assured us.

"Yeah, you're probably right" I agreed, certain that she was right and that the child wouldn't dare try to come back after the fright Luffy had given him.

"Right! It's settled, we'll rest up and start the search first thing in the morning!" Luffy brightly smiled.

"Hold on a second" Sanji said, catching our attention as we halted in our tracks. "I'm all for bringing the lovely lady, Nami, back, but not that Zoro guy—he can just stay gone for all I care" he confessed, seeing no reason why we should go chasing after the swordsman.

"I agree—if you three want to go looking for him, you can do it on your own" Usopp nodded.

"What?!" I snapped, causing the sharpshooter to flinch as I whirled around and started storming toward him and Sanji—ready to chew them both out before stopping when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking back, Luffy pulled me toward him as he gave my shoulder a firm squeeze as if silently ordering me to stay and not do anything rash.

"I'm not sure..." Chopper shyly admitted, looking down in discomfort as he realized all eyes had suddenly drifted down to him as if to see which side he would choose.

"What the—what are you saying?" Luffy frowned.

"We're saying, why look for Zoro?" Sanji asked.

"He's a pirate hunter, remember?" Usopp questioned, now hiding behind the blond in an attempt to put some distance between himself and me once he saw the venomous glare I was giving him.

"Isn't it obvious?" Luffy asked, letting my shoulder go as he gave my back a gentle pat. "Because he's our friend" he grinned as he looked back to me for confirmation.

"That's right, captain" I nodded, softly smiling as I found myself instantly relaxing upon seeing his grinning face.

"Just because you said it doesn't mean it's true!" Usopp snapped. "Come on!" he frowned, refusing to believe that the swordsman was their friend just because the captain said so.

"That guy sure didn't act like he was our friend" Sanji scoffed, rolling his eyes as he recalled how unfriendly and distant the swordsman had been earlier. "Surely you noticed that—the way he left is proof enough for me" he said.

"That's because he lost his memory" I argued in defense of the swordsman's behavior, knowing that the others probably would have ditched the ship as soon as they could if they hadn't been willing to hear Robin and me out.

"Usopp is the sniper, Sanji is the cook, Chopper is the doctor, Robin is the archaeologist, Skylar is the swordswoman, Nami is the navigator, and Zoro is the swordsman" Luffy huffed, refusing to back down just because the two wouldn't believe him. "We are the Straw Hat Pirates and we don't leave any man behind!"