The Princess and The Swordsman (ZoroxOC)

Chapter 75

The next morning, we woke up early and packed up before setting out. As we were about to leave, Toto stopped us, "Luffy, Shae, here. Take this with you." he said, handing Shae and Luffy each a cup of water, "Wow! Water!" Luffy exclaimed, happily, "You found some, then?" Shae asked smiling. Toto smiled at them both, "Yes, it was last night, a bit after you both fell asleep while digging that huge hole of yours. I finally reached a moist layer under the dry stuff. That water there is the moisture that I was able to extract from the damp sand." he explained.

"Whoa! That sounds pretty complicated, but thank you." Luffy said smiling, "That right there is genuine Yuba water. It's not much, but it's all I was able to get." he said. Luffy and Shae both bow their heads, "Right. Then we'll drink it with care." Luffy and Shae promised in unison. Zoro took my hand in his and we waved goodbye to Toto, then we set out for Katorea. We only travelled for a little while, before Luffy dropped on the ground, "Luffy?" Shae asked as Usopp shouted at Luffy. Vivi stepped closer, "Um, is everything alright?" Vivi asked.

 I looked at Zoro as he gave Luffy a knowing look and I tilted my head, "What's he doing, Zoro?" I asked but Zoro didn't answer as he watched Luffy, "Luffy, tell me what's going on." Shae pressured. There was a moment of silence before Luffy spoke, "I quit." he stated. Nami blinked, "What do you mean? Quit what, Luffy?" Nami asked. Usopp placed his hands on his hips, "Oh, come on. We don't have time to put up with every weird little mood you have right now, Luffy. Let's go." Usopp argued, "Yeah, shouldn't we get going?" Chopper chimed in. Sanji was glaring down at Luffy, "Yes, we should and fast. If we don't get back to that Katorea place the way we came and stop the rebellion that's about to begin, then a million Alabasta citizens are gonna start fighting and things will get real ugly real quick. We're doing this for Vivi and Evie!" Sanji snapped.

He walked over and grabbed Luffy by the front of his shirt, "So, let's go." he said and shouted in surprise when Luffy threw him off. Sanji began shouting at Luffy, but Luffy didn't react to anything Sanji was saying, as his focus was on my twin, "Vivi." he said and she looked at him, "Yes?" she asked, "Right now all I wanna do is kick Crocodile's ass, you understand?" he asked. Vivi nodded, as Luffy continued, "Maybe we can keep the people from starting a rebellion, but that won't stop Crocodile. Besides, we won't be able to accomplish anything in Katorea. We're pirates. Everyone knows things are better off without us around." Luffy explained as I tightened my hand on Zoro's.

"You gotta admit, he has a way of getting straight to the point when he really wants to." Sanji remarked, "Well, yeah, but not often" Usopp added. I looked down at the ground, already thinking about what Luffy was saying. He was right, of course. No matter how much I wanted to believe in my sister, I also knew Luffy wasn't wrong. I knew Koza wouldn't listen to us, we are the king's daughters, after all. Koza was so fixated on stopping Dad and "saving" the country that he wasn't going to change his mind.

With that said, I also knew what kind of influence Vivi had over him, she was the only person he would listen to, but would he listen to her when we defend our father? That was the biggest concern on my mind.