The Unforeseen

Take a Break

Chapter 32
I spent the next three days working endlessly in the sleeping quarters and around the ship. With the help of some of the crew, I built in rooms for the men. They were very grateful, and insisted on a party in my honor, but I turned them down; I wasn't done working yet. I made repairs to the ship where ever they were needed.
When the time to prepare dinner came on the third day, I was right on time to start preparing the salad.
A knock echoed through the mess hall. I looked up from my cooking and saw Ace leaning against the door.
"How's the side?" He asked.
"Good. Max bandaged it up for me." I lied. Max and I had agreed that we wouldn't mention my absurd healing rate to the captain. It wasn't a big deal, anyway.
"That's good." He commented. I returned to cutting up the lettuce for a salad I was making.
"So, the guys want to know if you would go participate in some game." He continued.
"No thanks. I have too much work to do." I responded, hardly looking up.
"Alright, Pipsqueak, that's it." He growled. He marched over to me, a determined look on his face.
"What are you-" I inquired.
"You're not on this ship just to work, you know. You're going to come and hang out with everyone."
"Ace, I thought we agreed that I would lend a hand where I could."
"No, we agreed on when it was needed." He countered. "Now come on."
I shook my head and returned to my cooking. "I have to do this first. It shouldn't take long."
Ace rolled his eyes. "Not happening." He took away the knife and slung me over his shoulder in one swift, effortless movement.
"Ace!" I cried. "Put me down!"
"You're going to relax." He said, making his way to the door.
"I am relaxing! Now put me down!"
"Okay." But he waited until we were out on deck with the other crew members before setting me down.
I crossed my arms. "That was uncalled for."
He mimicked my actions. "It was definitely called for."
"You've been working way too much." The crew member Ian complained.
"Yeah. You're on one of the Whitebeard ships; we always have a good time. But you have been ignoring that and haven't been enjoying yourself." Rin added.
I looked around at their expressions. I had ulterior motives to avoid their games, but I suppose I could no longer avoid it.
"Alright. What are you all planning?" I sighed.
The atmosphere lightened and the men let out a silent sigh.
"We're on track to meet up with the Old Man, but we are going to make a rest stop first." Ace said. He pointed to a map that pinned onto the wall by the mess hall. "Those are our possible stops. We each throw on dart, blindfolded. Whichever island has the most darts on or near it, is the winner."
I rose an eyebrow. "That's it? Sounds simple; let's do it. Who's first?"
"Rookies first." Ian said, shoving Rin forward.
He smiled and gladly let his crew mates tie the blindfold on. He took hold of the dart and, after being spun three times, let it fly. It struck the map near the bottom, near the lower island. A holler went up in response.
The next man went, and then the next. Soon it was just Ace and I left. He decided to go before me, and tied the blind fold on himself. He accepted a dart and gently tossed it towards the map. It landed right in the middle of the top island.
He removed the blindfold and looked at his toss. "That makes them all tied. Alissa, it's your turn. Whichever you hit is our official destination."
I chuckled. "No pressure, yeah?" Ace laughed in response and gently tied the blindfold over my eyes. He spun me around three times, but I kept track of where and when he started. I hesitated, calculating my target, then let it fly. After hearing the thump of the dart hitting the wall, I slipped the blindfold off. My dart had landed on the center island.
A cheer went up.
Ace smiled. "That was the favorite. We've stopped there before a time or two before." He explained.
I nodded. "Then let's go; I want to see it." He turned to his crew. "To Forest Land!"
"Forest Land? Is that really it's name?" I asked in disbelief.
"No, but that's what we call it. Its real name is the Ocean Oasis." He replied.
I rolled my eyes. "You're all so weird."
"Yeah, but you're here, so how bad can we be?"
I shoved his shoulder playfully. "Whatever. I have to go make you all food before you starve to death." I began walking towards the door, but stopped before closing it. "Let me know when you guys are doing other fun stuff; I enjoyed that."
I saw everyone smile a bit before I closed the door.
I loved this; the ship, the crew, my new life. It was amazing.