The Princess and The Swordsman (ZoroxOC)

Chapter 76

I felt Zoro gently shake my arm and I looked at him, "He's right, Zoro. But I'm not sure Vivi will listen." I said softly. Zoro shook his head, "She will. Just give Luffy some time." he advised me. I nodded once and looked at Vivi and Luffy again as Vivi smacked Luffy hard, "Stop talking like that! I won't listen to it!" My twin shouted, shaking her head frantically. She stopped shaking her head and looked at Luffy, "Say that again and I will really hurt you!" she threatened, breathing hard.

 "That's the whole point of what we're doing here. Don't you understand? No one here in Alabasta, not the rebel army, the royal army, or the people, is to blame for this! None of them have done anything wrong! Why should any of them have to pay for what's happened? When every last bit of it is Crocodile's fault?" Vivi shouted. Luffy stood up, his eyes locked on Vivi. He ran forward and landed a punch on my twin, as I watched on. What was Vivi doing? Couldn't she see what Luffy was trying to teach her? Or was she too blinded by her love and compassion for our kingdom?

That's all it was, she was blinded by her need to save everyone. But, if there was one thing I learned from my father, it was that you couldn't save everybody, no matter how hard you tried. It was one of the hardest choices a ruler had to make, and my sister was bad at making this choice. Luffy threw Vivi off of him, "Well, you can at least try putting all of our lives on the line together! Aren't we friends, huh?" Luffy shouted and Shae smiled at him

"He sure has a unique way of  showing how much he cares." she said with a giggle. Realization dawned Vivi's face at Luffy's words, "Well, aren't we friends?" Luffy asked, much softer, as Vivi began to cry. Shae picked up Luffy's hat and placed it on his head as he spoke, "There, now you see. Now you understand." Luffy said, looking at Vivi, "Hey, you can cry. I know how much you hate this. You wanna get Crocodile the most." he said as I left Zoro's side and walked over to my twin. I got down on my knees and pulled my sister into a tight hug, "It's okay, Vivi." I soothed as she cried.

Shae held her hand out and pulled Luffy to his feet, smiling at him. Luffy smiled back at her and then looked at me and my twin again. Everyone was watching us silently as I tried to calm Vivi down. Luffy's smile faded as he spoke, "So now tell me. Where can I find Crocodile?" he asked. I smiled at Luffy, "A town called Rainbase." I answered as I released Vivi and pulled out the map and laid it out in front of us as the others sat around.

I pointed to a town, "This is Alubarna, where our father rules. Here's Katorea, where the rebels are camped, so they can invade Alubarna." I explained. Sanji looked at me, "So we just need to get to Crocodile before the rebels can get to Alubarna." he guessed and I nodded, "This is Rainbase. It's to the North of us, about a day's journey from here." I said and rolled the map up as we all stood back up, "We should set out for Rainbase, immediately." I advised and everyone nodded, "Lead the way, Evie." Luffy said and I nodded, "Let's go." I said, smiling, as I headed out towards Rainbase.