Boy With a Scar

Chapter 30: Miss Wednesday

Vivi slumped in defeat. The pirate in a top hat was right. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get these ropes to loosen up. Going by puffs and huffs beside her, Mr. Nine had just as much luck as her.

This was not good.

This mission already took longer than she had expected. She couldn't waste even more time. She needed to go back home as fast as possible.

Vivi wiggled her hands. A heavy sigh left her mouth when her efforts to free herself once again ended up in vain.

She wondered what was happening in her country. Did her father get her letter? He should have, by now. If nothing unexpected happened. He must be worried sick though. She and Igaram planned to leave soon after sending the letter with a summary of all the information they had gathered, but this mission came and they couldn't risk blowing their cover when they were so close.

Her chest started to ache. It hurt her to remember that her family had never been so far away from her before. Now she was all alone in the world, miles away from anyone she could trust...

Vivi clenched her fists, feeling nails digging into the flesh of her palm. She ought to go back no matter what. Tenacious brown eyes shifted up to look at the pirates who were starting to gather back at the stone table. Even if she had to beg these pirates to bring her back.

Sitting at the table, the pirate girl continued to towel dry her hair after a bath that she had just taken in the lighthouse. Conversely, the two boys who painted the whale were wholly unbothered by the various colored splashes decorating them as they chatted and laughed nearby while organizing used equipment and leftover paints.

The blond in the top hat and the swordsman were still somewhere behind the lighthouse. Vivi could hear the faint dings of metal clashing against each other from the direction they had disappeared to.

"Nami-san~!" the other blond cried out, the one with curiously swirly eyebrows, as he popped on top of the cliff carrying various sized plates piled high with filets of fish. How he managed to climb the ladder with all that was a mystery. "The meal is all ready, my dear~!" He set everything he was carrying down on the table.

"Thank you, Sanji-kun," Nami said, making the last few taps with a towel on her hair.

Sanji danced backward from her with a dopey smile, but not before swiping a couple of plates full of food. "The rest of you!" he hollered towards his other crewmates. "Food's done!"

Vivi jumped with a surprised gasp when the blond swooped in to kneel on one knee before her in a flash. At the corner of her eye, she noticed Mr. Nine eyeing a plate with food that was placed in front of him.

"Oh, fair maiden! Will you allow this unworthy one to know your name?"

Vivi shrunk away from the pirate, despite him simply staring at her with sparkling eyes and not trying to sneak a hand to touch her. "M-Miss Wednesday..." she replied meekly.

"Such a mysterious name for such a beautiful lady~!" Sanji crooned. "Will you soothe my pounding heart by accepting this food that I made with all my love?"

"Y-Yeah!" Vivi hurried to take the plate. And not because she was particularly hungry. "Thank you..."

When she glanced back at the gathering spot for pirates, she saw the two who were previously sparring out of sight returning too. The swordsman moved straight to the table, brushing the sweat from his forehead, a little satisfied smirk dancing on his lips. The one in the top hat stopped next to the duo painters, gazing up at the giant straw-hatted Jolly Roger on the whale's head.

"Nice work, Luffy."

"Thanks, Sabo!" The black-haired boy beamed. "Usopp helped! He's really good at it!"