Death Do Us Part

XV

Shop Closed Until Further Notice.
                                                         - Lovely Fortun

"What could it possibly be?" a villager asks her companion. "Miss Fortun's been closing more often recently. Isn't that strange?"

"Probably a financial issue," her companion says. "I sure hope she doesn't go out of business soon."

The villager taps a finger on the side of her lips and frowns. She shakes her head. "I don't think that's the case. A young lad who ran the shop told me she's been ill recently. The poor thing lost her husband one Christmas. I wonder if her grief caught up to her. I don't blame her for wanting to take a break."

_____

Behind the shop, Lovely, Usopp, and Chopper load the trunks onto the back of a horse-drawn carriage. Luffy stays hidden in the car, sipping a small bowl of blood. The curtains inside the car were drawn closed to conceal him from the sun and anyone who passed by, but he would sneak a small peak through a tiny opening in the curtains. Lovely talked to him through these curtains, asking if he needed anything.

"I finished drinking," he said to her, slipping the bowl outside the window.

Lovely takes the bowl and washes it with a bucket of water before returning. "Anything else?"

"A blanket would be nice. I'm freezing in here."

Lovely takes a blanket from inside one of the trunks and hands it to him through the curtain. "For an undead man, I expected you to feel numb to warmth or cold."

"Who told you that? We're just like living people! We only have different needs to live!"

"When we were younger, there were other children who warned us about the dangers of the forest because of vampires," Usopp said.

"I thought it was just a story adults told us to scare us into behaving," Chopper said. "That was until they first attacked us." He looks at Lovely. "Sorry, Lovely."

"Don't worry about it," she smiles. She lowers her voice to a whisper. "With Luffy here, it's almost as if that attack never happened."

"I'll say," Usopp grunts, heaving the last trunk onto the back of the carriage. "You're much happier, Lovely, considering having to say goodbye to Luffy."

"I am still sad about saying 'goodbye,' but thanks to the time we've had to prepare for this trip, Luffy and I had the chance to rekindle our friendship!"

"That's good for you and everyone else," Chopper says. "If you think about it, you've been taming him since you brought him in, Lovely." He knocks on the door to the carriage. "Hey, Luffy! We're ready! Can you open the door for us?"

"Sure!"

Everyone rushes to the door when he flings it open. "Woah!! Not too much!! You'll be seen!!"

"Sorry!" Luffy giggles.

Chopper quickly rushes into the car and sits opposite Luffy, his back facing the front of the carriage. Lovely glances at Usopp, who marches to the head of the carriage with a shotgun.

"Usopp? Where are you going?" Lovely asks.

"I'm driving," he croaks.