#maybe a lil bit ooc because this is my first time writing about the strawhats

[santisimaria]

a goofy idea i had for a one piece oc! could be considered practice writing should i ever have the urge and motivation to continue this. (crossposted in ao3) wc: 2,475

dancing toes go crazy (raise a glass to me now)

“Captain. It’s been a while.”

Her words were met with silence, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable one. Rather, it was serene; a moment akin to the calm before the storms. In her case, it might as well be something like that. After all, she was here to ask for a favor in case she never lives to see another day in her next mission. Her eyes flitted over the straw hat covering her captain’s eyes; it was another good thing that the spot she picked in this small shop was hidden from prying eyes to avoid any unwanted excursions from happening. 

“Here, read this once you get back to your ship,” her gloved hands brandished a small folded parchment, settling it near the unmoving figure. She watched as the straw hat bobbed a little, signifying that she was being acknowledged by the latter–even more so when the parchment was lifted off the table and was safely pocketed in the lapels of his jacket. Sensing their conversation had concluded, the formally-dressed woman stood from her seat and pulled her satchel over her shoulder. Her head turned sideways, looking at her companion within her peripheral vision before speaking softly that only he could hear what she said.

Her presence disappeared almost as quick, akin to a ghost vanishing within first sight. But she felt it; the relief and excitement combined with the usual joy of her captain. She could almost imagine how his lips stretched into its usual mischievous curl.

After all, she was finally coming home. And she couldn’t wait to meet all the members of her captain’s ever growing family.

__________________________

“Thank you, Sabo… But you have to leave. I got this.”

“But Teresa–!” The blonde chief tried to interject, but was immediately pushed back by an intangible force only the woman in front of him was capable of doing so. He couldn’t leave her to deal with a world-level threat–he didn’t want her to die, no! In the midst of his desperateness, his mind wandered back to their memories and the promises they made to each other. The years spent together sweeping through the ranks of the Revolutionary Army, all the missions they have accomplished side by side while fighting the worst people in the world, how they promised to each other that they will oversee the liberation across the globe. How they whispered their desires of keeping themselves alive at the end of the line. But why…  Why was she throwing it all away just to save him? It all began when a small mishap occurred halfway through their mission; a miscalculation of the recruits within the marine base. They never expected for a nuclear devil fruit user to exist in their ranks, and their power was too immense for any of Sabo’s troops to handle. Not even the chief of staff himself can attest against the magnetic energy polluting the space around him. 

Yet here she was, in all her defeated glory; his friend, his partner–with a hand poised above her head like a brilliant statue of a goddess and the same cocky quirk or her lips that told him–she had already accepted her demise. With one last look over her shoulder, he witnessed as blood trickled from her forehead and her bruised lips curled just a little to form a small smile. He tried to shout, scream and beg for her to stop–no, he wasn’t going to lose another important person in his life–he wasn’t going to let her die like Ace–!

That was the last he saw before the blast went off and everything became white.

______________________________

Dawn Island. Three days.

Luffy clutched the piece of paper in his hand anxiously as he watched the sea below him. Two days had passed since he gave orders of returning to East Blue to his crew. As expected, he was met with numerous clamors and stares in disbelief. Even Franky had asked for the reason why they have to turn back when they have already reached the New World. It was truly shocking for everyone, yet one undeterred look from his eyes sent them freezing and working straight away, albeit hesitantly. Zoro had half a mind to ask again just to clear any confusion with his captain, but he also had an inkling of his reason. One that he never bothered to explore any further knowing it wasn’t his place to reveal to the crew–that was entirely up to him… and them. The swordsman wasn’t the first mate for nothing; of course he knew some secrets that the rest didn’t. He managed to catch Luffy at random occasions talking to his Den Den Mushi, with no clue as to who was at the other end of the connection. All he knew was that Luffy regarded them as someone important; someone who was potentially a hidden member of the Strawhats that was recruited way before Zoro. He wasn’t able to catch another moment of their conversation due to Luffy’s Haki catching upon his presence. It was rather surprising to see his captain level him with a blank stare before he bid farewell to the snail transponder. Zoro can vividly remember that day; the two of them standing like statues, poised as if a fight between them was about to occur. It wasn’t until Luffy broke the tension with a huge smile and a finger to his lips, indirectly telling him to keep his mouth shut or face the consequences of being a tattle tale. It was rather amusing and worrying at the same time, but Zoro trusted Luffy’s judgment; he trusted his captain to reveal everything in the right place and at the right time.

Going back to the restless figure on top of Sunny's head, it was an odd sight for the Strawhats to see their captain looking so… worried and staring at nothing with furrowed eyebrows. Others have tried to crack the silence and offered the young man things to distract, but neither of those deterred him from his spot. He was only thinking of his friend; his crewmate that was concealed from his family, wondering what prompted her to leave the Army and join them after years of working as an secret intel officer for their crew. Millions thoughts ran through his mind at a rapid pace, only being given respite if it was time for their meals. At least the food was enough to distract him from the looming doom hovering over his shoulders regarding his crewmate.

Luffy hadn’t been able to catch any proper sleep since the second night after they departed from New World. He wasn’t able to rest easily until the ship entered the sea lines of Dawn Island. He was quick on his feet, jumping off the ship before it could even dock–to which many shouted in panic upon watching their captain do something so recklessly–and planting his two flip flops solidly on the sand. Luffy wasted no second to scan the island using his Haki for his crewmate’s aura. His heart was close to dropping in his stomach when minutes passed and he still couldn’t sense her energy, until he finally did. It was weak, beating almost inaudibly in his ears–but it was there. Northeast from the Foosha Village.

Luffy swore he had never run as fast as he did that moment–it was on par with his speed as he tried to reach Ace on top of the execution platform. Dread began to fill him inside, but he shook his head; over his dead body would he allow another repeat of the past. He swore to himself that he would get stronger, bolder, and braver to protect his friends, his family. So he pushed himself, told his legs to go faster until he felt the familiar warm sensation of Gear 5 taking over his body. His legs began to blur in the wind and trees were broken in half due to his sheer strength. On most days, he would be found with a boisterous smile and eyes as wild as the seas if he assumed this form. But in the place of his smile was a grim line hiding his clenched teeth, and the usual spark in his eyes were dimmed as anxiety filled his entire being. The strawhat captain hated–no, loathed feeling like this. He loathed knowing that his friend was out here somewhere, hurting and barely surviving. It reminded him of his failures in the past. For her to be stripped to her most vulnerable and weakest form blared alarms in his head, and he knew he wouldn’t stop until he saw the figure of his last crewmate.

After what felt like the longest five minutes of his life, Luffy reached a clearing; a large, secluded, naturally formed pit-like clearing with high rock walls and a lake in the middle of it. His inhuman speed gradually slowed down and his hair went back to its usual black state, carefully walking towards the unconscious form at the edge of the lake. Luffy swore his breathing stopped for a whole minute as he assessed the current state of his friend and the dread he felt on his way from the ship came back tenfold.

To say that her body was tattered was an understatement; dried blood covered her clothes and exposed skin from head to toe. If a person squinted enough, they would see the residue of three-degree burns on her torso, arms, and face; shallow and deep cuts littered her skin, even sporting one over her right eye. Her dress was torn apart, leaving her with bits and pieces that covered most of her body. One of her arms was badly burnt, swollen and disfigured. Luffy’s stomach twisted inside of him; there was only one reason as to why her arm was like that, and he was intimately familiar with the downsides of her devil fruit abilities. Dragging his frozen feet towards his crewmate, the strawhat captain dropped to his knees and with a delicateness he seldomly possessed, carefully brought her body into his arms. The weightlessness of the latter’s body almost threw Luffy into disorientation, but he shouldered through his panic and built enough power in his legs to shoot himself and the figure in his arms through the sky. The wind was silent over the faint heartbeat of his crewmate, urging him to fly faster back to the ship.

“Hang in there, Teresa. Don’t die on me just yet,” the pirate mumbled under his breath as flew above the forest. His heart beated anxiously in his chest, only calming by a smidge when he caught sight of his ship’s proud head. The crew was divided into two groups; the first one consisting of his navigator, sniper, doctor, and musician lingering by the deck, while the other with his swordsman, cook, helmsman, and shipwright by the docks as they prepared to follow after him. All of them halted in their tracks when their captain landed a few feet from where they were located, eliciting some confused and worried expressions from everyone as they saw that he wasn’t alone. Chopper, in particular, let out an indignant squawk as he saw the condition of the person his captain was holding which prompted him to jump off the ship, albeit stumbling as he met them halfway. The reindeer had hundreds of questions running through his mind as he reached them, starting from the identity of the unconscious woman in his captain’s arms to the cause of her injuries but just as he was about to ask them–

“Chopper, help me look after our nakama.” Came the strong order from the young captain, eyes ablaze yet the reindeer could see the underlying worry and sadness of his words. But–did he hear him right? Did Luffy just call the stranger in his arms their ‘nakama’? More questions dawned in Chopper’s mind but he knew he had to save them for later when his captain began trekking back to their ship’s direction, leaving him no choice but to follow after him.

“Oi, Luffy… who is that? Don’t tell me we’re taking in strays now,” Sanji crossed his arms, a cigarette hanging from his lips. Despite saying those words with his usual bravado, he couldn’t help but worry and wonder–especially when he heard his captain regard them as their ‘nakama’. The swordsman, who’s opinions often clash with their cook, thought the same thing as the former. But this was Luffy; a very unpredictable individual to many, yet Zoro simplified it by going along with his strange antics. However, this one completely propelled him and the entire crew in a loop.

Luffy halted. All of a sudden–the breeze around them disappeared, replaced by a heavy pressure on their shoulders. Zoro’s eye widened.

“Teresa’s not a stray. She is our nakama.” The strawhat captain’s voice hardened, proving further his point by adding another wave of his Haki that Zoro was sure would’ve reached the nearest village by then. It was tense for a moment, until Chopper broke it by ushering Luffy to the ship and into the infirmary. The crew was left dumbfounded and silent, with the remaining members slowly moving back to the ship’s deck. Similar questions ran through their heads–who was that woman? What did Luffy mean by calling her their ‘nakama’? Had Luffy recruited her without them knowing?

Moments after, the primary source of their conflict emerged from the infirmary. Eyes shadowed by a straw hat, yet nobody can mistake the grim expression beneath. Half of the crew opened their mouths to begin their string of questions but it was, once again, silenced by their captain.

“I know all of you have your questions, but until Teresa’s awake and better, you gotta hold them off because we gotta go back to the New World.” Sounds of disbelief and indignancy echoed from the group. “For now, all you have to know is that she’s been a member of this crew since the day it was formed. I met her before I knew about Zoro, so I expect her to be treated just like how you do with everyone on this ship.” Luffy raised his head to reveal the hard glare he rarely sported and was usually facing their worst and strongest enemies. “None of that suspicious crap, ya got that? If I see anyone doing somethin’ out of the line, I won’t hesitate to send ‘em flying off this damn ship.” Fear skyrocketed from a certain duo, while the rest remained apprehensive before a couple of affirmative nods were given. “Nami, set the course back to the Red Line, then to Egghead. I’ll leave the rest to you and Zoro,” replied the pirate before he disappeared back within the walls of the infirmary.