ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛᴇ - 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦

𝙞𝙭 - 𝙥𝙤𝙫: 𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨

As Meela opened her eyes, she saw Nami talking to Chopper. She caught the tail end of their conversation, hear the words "Robin doesn't hate us..." — enough for her to piece together what she'd missed.

"So, Robin didn't betray you guys," Meela said as she sat up and stretched with a small groan.

"Oh, Meela! You woke up!" Chopper exclaimed, relief and excitement in his voice.

"Finally!" Nami huffed, throwing her hands up. "I was trying to wake you up for a straight minute to tell you and Chopper about Robin." Around them, the crowd of nearby bystanders shook their heads knowingly. They'd seen the whole thing.

"Oh, sorry about that, Nams," Meela said with a sheepish chuckle.

Nami facepalmed. "ARE YOU SERI—" she started, going in for a head bump but was interrupted by a firm voice.

"Wait, you guys," Iceberg said, stepping forward and catching their attention. "Though it's your decision to go after Nico Robin, the Sea Train departs at 11 PM sharp with all government personnel. It's only a possibility... but the odds of them being on it are high. Which means Nico Robin will likely be with them. After that, the train won't run again — Aqua Laguna's coming."

"So we only have one chance to get to Robin..." Meela muttered, brows furrowed.

Iceberg nodded. "Exactly."

"No way! This is bad!" Nami exclaimed. "We only have 30 minutes left!"

"We should get started then," Meela said, getting up fully and stretching her limbs.

"R-Right!" Nami turned to Chopper. "Chopper! Go search in the direction where I said Lu and Zoro flew!" As the reindeer ran off, a Galley-La shipwright rallied his men with a speech that dragged on longer than anyone needed.

'I think his name was Paul or something?' Meela thought, tuning him out as she focused on sensing Lu's presence.

⸻

(Mini time skip)

The Galley-La shipwrights and Chopper searched for Zoro and Lu while Meela followed, focusing deeply.

Nothing... she thought, trying again to reach out spiritually for any trace of her little brother. The group paused as Nami came running toward them with an update.

"So... two people in your crew are on the Sea Train?" Meela asked for clarification.

"Well, technically, one person," Nami replied, her and Chopper's expressions faltering.

Meela tilted her head in confusion. "M'kay, well, you guys can explain whatever that was later, because we need to find Zo and Lu."

Nami blinked. "Zo?" she repeated under her breath, smiling slightly before shouting, "Since this is the direction they flew in, everyone search around here!"

The shipwrights obeyed, scattering to check the area.

Meela moved quickly, weaving through the terrain. Eventually, she reached a crowd gathered near buildings for shelter from Aqua Laguna. That's when she caught it — the faintest trace of Lu's energy. Her eyes snapped toward two buildings... and there they were.

"Oh, uh, guys," Meela called out, but no one heard her. She cleared her throat. "HELLO—guys, I—"

"Miss Pirate Lady! Hey! Look over there! Something's over there!" a little blondie shouted, pointing toward the two trapped Straw Hats. Nami and Chopper immediately broke into a run.

Meela took a step, then froze. Her gaze locked on the enormous wave building in the distance. Oh shit! That wave's getting way too close! I should help them!

Without hesitation, Meela ran forward, gathering all the strength she had left. Just as Lu and Zoro freed themselves from between the buildings, she acted.

"Haki Style: Ribbon's Leap!" she shouted, her pointe shoes glowing as the ribbons whipped the ground with blinding force, launching her and the group into the air and toward safety.

The crowd gasped. "Look! They're okay!" someone yelled.

The team landed on the rooftop of a building, breathless but alive. Meela looked up — "the rope dude," as she'd dubbed him, was lowering a rope to help them reach safety.

Once they'd made it up, Meela didn't wait. She ran straight at Lu and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I missed you, Lu!" she cried.

Lu laughed, returning the embrace. "I missed you too, Me-Me."

The others stood around them, some catching their breath, others smiling at the reunion, even amid the chaos of Aqua Laguna.