Strength (One Piece fanfiction)

Ch 9

When I woke up, Luffy was laying down with Nami sitting beside him, and the pirates were scrambling to get onto their ship. I seriously missed the whole fight? I sat up, my clothes feeling crunchy from the dried blood. But my wounds were gone.

"Hey, why were you so mad earlier?" Nami spoke to Luffy.

"Because I hate them. They're wrong." Luffy said. "That's not how you treat friends," he flared at me, knowing I was listening.

"You know, I'd say he was pretty normal for a pirate. You're the odd one." Nami had a point. But I'd say there's a reason we're on our way to the Grand Line, and he's never left the East Blue.

Luffy was silent, seemingly processing her words. "...I want meat."

Nami choked him with his hat. I couldn't find it in me to laugh. That's two battles already, that I was completely useless.

My mind dragged me down. How could I be someone worthy of their power, their trust, if I couldn't even fight with my own strength?

"Luffy, your hat please." I walked up to him.

He held it out, knowing what I wanted. I opened a portal in the band of his hat to my dimension. This way, I wouldn't be left behind should they move away from the area.

"I'm gonna stay for awhile...I want to be alone." He was confused, and sad. "Call me if you need me," I stepped in, landing outside my home.

I took off my tattered coat, I'm gonna need to fix those holes. Stupid cats. I stretched my wings a bit before heading inside.

I made sure to send out some of the meats from my storage. He'd appreciate that after his fight.

A bath would definitely make me feel better. I showered and cleaned off all the dried blood and dirt. I had to wash my hair too. I stepped into my heated bath tub to relax.

There's gotta be something else I could do...should I just expose my wings? No...we're not ready. But I can't keep failing my crew mates like this. I can't keep failing Luffy.

Now that I had Zoro's strength, as well as Luffy's, perhaps I could remove the coat. I could keep my wings in the Demon Realm. To be able to use my arms again in a fight would definitely give me the advantage.

I frowned as I leaned back in the tub. That's not it, it's my own head that's the issue. It's the panic I feel when I know someone else's power is supporting my strength.

But how do I get over something like that?

It was never really an issue, back home with Luffy. No one in Dandans place exhibited such feelings toward me. I couldn't really go to town once my wings came in. We mostly stayed in the forest, with Luffy as my only source of energy. I never really had to deal with anyone else's attraction until we left the island.

I furrowed my brows, realizing something important. There's no point to me getting strong enough to remove my coat, if I still black out from humans looking at me.

I sighed, and got out of the bath. This was getting me nowhere.

I put on some pants and decided to sleep. Maybe it'll make more sense after a long slumber.

....

When I woke up, I put on one of my halter tops. I didn't know when he'd call for me, so better to be mostly dressed.

I made myself some breakfast and a cup of coffee. I sent out some food as well, peaking out first to make sure it was safe. Seemed like we were back on the ocean, and on an actual ship!

I retreated once more before Luffy could catch me, but I did notice Usopp on board. He probably joined as our sniper, he definitely had the skills for it.