Little Fish

Part 4

Two days later, Emi sat playing with her stuffed transponder snail on the upper deck as her jii-chan stood watching something out at sea, leaning against the door. The three year old wasn't paying attention; her jii-chan sometimes stared out at the waves. She heard him make a noise of slight confusion and looked up; her two pigtails bouncing with the movement of her head. Patty had put her hair into two pigtails with two purple ribbons, and she didn't cry this time. Usually she got a little teary eyed; Patty pulled her hair too hard sometimes by accident.

She had spent the morning and all day yesterday playing with the errand-boy Luffy and his friends. Emi liked them a lot, especially Usopp. He told a lot of funny stories. Zoro was quiet and serious, but she liked his earring. Emi also had a lot of fun swinging on Luffy's rubber arms. The boy was basically all fun.

Emi blinked and looked up when her jii-chan stood up, still staring intently out to sea.

"Emi, go downstairs" he grumbled, and Emi gazed at Zeff with confusion.

"Why?"

"Go now!" he said sternly, and Emi flinched at the harsh tone.

She quickly got to her feet and scampered inside, clutching her snail to her chest. She felt her chin quiver and sniffled, trying not to cry. Her jii-chan never used that tone with her before. She ran down the circular stairs and stopped short, confused. Everyone in the restaurant was frozen in fear as the doors to the restaurant were open. Two figures stood in the middle, and she scurried to Patty.

"Who's there?" she asked, tugging on his apron.

The chefs were freaking out, and didn't notice the three year old at their feet. She pouted and scampered to her papa and Luffy as the two figures walked in. Her purple eyes widened when she saw the skeleton man carrying a giant man beside him. She hid behind Luffy's legs and clutched Luffy's shorts in one hand and her snail in the other.

"That weak, worn-out looking guy is Krieg?" she heard Patty say, and she gazed at the chef before turning back to face the hulk of a man.

To the three year old, Krieg looked like a massive gorilla. She let out an 'oh!' when the gorilla man swayed and then fell forward with a mighty crash. Patty began poking fun at the downed man, and the patrons of the restaurant began to join in. She looked around, confused. She crept out from around Luffy's legs, but sprang back when the gorilla man got to his hands and knees.

"Wha's he doing?" she asked Luffy, purple eyes wide.

Before he could answer, her papa kicked Patty away while holding a plate of food. Her eyes widened in surprise; when did he do that? As Patty lay stunned on the floor, her papa gave the food to the bowed gorilla man. Emi peaked out and took a step closer to the gorilla man and her papa.

She felt her little chest swell with pride: her papa was such a nice man.

She skipped closer, much to the other chef's protests. Suddenly, the gorilla man swung his elbow forward, catching her papa's chin in it. Emi's eyes widened in shock and fear as her beloved papa sailed across the restaurant. Her heart stopped, and her body froze on the spot as fear consumed the three year old.

"Papa..." Emi whimpered, shaking in fear as the skeleton man shouted in confusion.

The gorilla man effortlessly grabbed his friend by the neck, choking him. Emi's eyes widened in fear as the huge man rose to his full height. He was even bigger then before! Emi dimly heard the patrons run away in fear as her body trembled in fear. The hulk of a man threw his friend to the ground, and Emi flinched.

"Gin!" she heard Luffy shout.

A shadow fell over her, and the toddler looked up in fear. The gorilla man loomed above her, one eyebrow raised.

"Who's this brat?" he thundered, and reach down to pick up Emi.

She back peddled and tripped over her feet, landing on her bottom on the restaurant floor. She felt a hand grab the back of her shirt and her feet were off the ground. Her feet kicked aimlessly as the gorilla man lifted her up, and she closed her eyes in fear.

"Lemme go! Lemme go! Lemma go" Emi yelled in her high pitched voice.

Her little fists clenched and she swung out, hitting something hard. She heard a noise of annoyance and opened her eyes. Apparently she had punched the gorilla man in the nose. The gorilla man growled, and her eyes widened when she felt her body launch in the air. She let out a terrified squeal, and let out an 'oof' when she felt arms grab her.

She looked up and saw that Luffy had caught her. She clutched at his shirt and clung to the boy like a monkey as Patty took out a massive gun. Emi hid her face from the commotion and banging. She pressed her face into his shirt even more when she heard gun fire, and clenched her eyes shut. She could hear the chefs crying out in pain, and felt tears prick her eyes. They slid down her cheeks and stained Luffy's shirt as she heard the gorilla man begin shouting. She felt one of Luffy's arms hold her underneath her legs as Emi began slipping down the boy.

She peaked out and began crying harder when the chefs were lying on the floor, injured from numerous gunshots.

"Guns?!" she heard Luffy exclaim and, in a moment of shock, let Emi go.

The toddler scampered away, fear causing her to run as fast as her little legs could carry her. She bumped into something large and fell back, landing painfully on her bottom. She looked up, and saw the tall chef hat her jii-chan always wore. She felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes as her jii-chan carried a massive bag towards the gorilla man. She scrambled to follow Chef Zeff as he dumped the bag of food at Krieg's feet.

Zeff turned his back to Krieg and lifted the terrified toddler up, feeling Emi trembling in fear. She pressed her face against his white coat as tears streamed down her cheeks. She just wanted the scary gorilla man to go away. She wanted her jii-chan, papa and the other chefs to be happy and play with her just like before. Sniffling, she listened as her jii-chan talked to the gorilla man about the places he went. 

Finally, Krieg left with the promise of being back. The skeleton man was sitting up this time, shock evident on his face. The other chefs had recovered, and were standing this time.

"Jii-chan? Can I go down" Emi asked as she lifted her head from the coat.

The older man complied and placed the toddler on the ground, where she immediately scurried over to Sanji. He lifted the toddler up and situated her on his lap as he sat on the edge of a table. The smell of cigarette smoke wafted over the toddler, and little by little her small body relaxed. She turned her body so that she was leaning her body against his arm. As everyone was talking in excited tones, Emi's eyes began to close. The whole day was one terrifying ordeal, and Emi just wanted it to be over with.