A Dream of the Sea- Chapter 5

The boat was resting on a small beach where Luffy had demanded to go exploring. Frustrated with how cramped the boat was with five people aboard, Ace and Sabo had agreed. Now Nekari and Gale were watching the boat as the three captains stretched their legs.

Gale watched Nekari as she sat on the side of the boat reading. "You know, we never got properly introduced."

"You're supposed to be keeping an eye on the ocean." Nekari turned a page of her book. "Not examining me."

"Thing about being made up of wind, I can hear things better than most. I can clearly hear things up to a mile away." He smiled and held his hand out to her. "My name's Gale Storm."

She glared at his hand for a moment before going back to her book. "Nekari." She glanced at the ocean. "And you need to work on your hearing." She said as she pointed to a ship on the horizon. She stood and walked to the other side of their boat. "Are the pups still running around the center of the island?"

Gale looked at the approaching boat with surprise on his face for a moment before looking at Nekari. "Yeah, they are. Why?"

Nekari's eyes were glued on the boat. "Let's hope they stay there for a while, cause if I'm right…"

Gale waited for her to say something more, but she remained silent as they watched the boat pull up alongside them.

Garp climbed out of his boat and stared back at Nekari. "Where are my grandsons?"

Nekari folded her arms across her chest. "Okay first off, rude. Second, how could we know where your grandsons are? You have given us no names, ages, or descriptions of their appearance or personality, so how could we know if we know them or not?"

Garp's eye twitched in irritation. "I know you two were with them on the last island! WHERE ARE THEY?"

Nekari stood firm and silent while Gale looked between the two, confusion written on his face.

Garp growled. "Where are Ace, Sabo, and Luffy?!"

Gale looked at Garp in shock while Nekari quirked a brow at him. "Oh is that who you are looking for? We currently do not know their location."

Garp was visibly holding himself back from attacking Nekari.

Nekari took a step towards Garp and stood in a firm, yet light stance obviously prepared to fight.

Something changed in Garp's eyes. They were still angry, but behind that was an emotion that Gale was afraid to name. His shoulders sagged just the tiniest amount, barely noticeable.

"What do you know about their fathers?" The same emotion hidden in his eyes laced Garp's voice.

Nekari tilted her head to the side. "You mean about Sabo's parents being nobles? I know that."

Garp looked confused. "What?"

"He's a noble?" Gale looked surprised and slightly amused.

Nekari blinked at Garp. "You didn't know that…Okay, forget I said anything. What were you going to say?" She smiled sweetly at him.

Garp was silent for a moment, obviously debating something, before speaking. "Ace's father…" He stared directly into each of their eyes in turn, determination overshadowing the emotions in his eyes. "Ace's father is Gol D. Roger. And Luffy's is Monkey D. Dragon."

Gale was frozen for a moment. "Well that was not what I expected."

Nekari shifted her weight onto one foot and crossed her arms against her chest again. She tilted her head and stared at Garp silently. "And? Telling us this is supposed to do what? Make us want to kill them? Tell the world and throw them to the dogs?" Suddenly she leaps off the boat and stalks up to Garp, poking him in the chest. "This information changes nothing for me. I have decided to follow these boys, and it does not matter who they are related to. That did not and will not affect my decision." Her sharp glare turned on Gale as she silently waited to hear what he said.

Gale settled on the railing of the boat with a grin. "It's an interesting fact, but doesn't really change things for me either." Gale watched as tension slipped out of Nekari's posture at his answer. "And honestly, I have no clue who this Dragon guy is."

Nekari stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before pinching the bridge of her nose and muttering quietly for a moment. "Dragon is the man looking to overthrow the World Government. His movement hasn't had much effect on the East Blue yet, but still. Do you ever read the newspaper?"

Gale's grin stretched. "Not really, no."

Nekari sighed and resignation settled on her shoulders before she looked back at Garp. A contemplating look covered her face. "You're desperate aren't you?" She examined the Vice Admiral for a moment before continuing. "You want them to become Marines so that you can protect them. If they become great Marines before the truth of their fathers come to light, it could very well save their lives." She turned to look over the island, gazing everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "But that wouldn't work with those three. It would stifle them…" She returned her eyes to Garp. "It's obvious you care greatly for them, care enough to risk exposing their greatest secret to protect them. If we had reacted badly to that information, I doubt either of us would have left this island. But it didn't matter to us. What are you going to do now?"

Garp was silent for a while, turning his gaze away from them to stare out to sea. "Why…What makes you follow them?"

Nekari looked at Gale, obviously waiting for him to go first. Gale thought about it for a moment before replying. "The way they treated me. I'd grown used to being treated like a freak, and they came along and treated me like a human being." He shrugged and looked at the sky. "I think that's what did it for me."

Nekari settled cross legged on the railing next to Gale. "When I was young, a pirate stopped on my island to get some food. He had been a part of Roger's crew, not a well-known one though. We only knew because of the insignia he still bore. Everyone on the island was scared and hid. I stayed on the street. He knelt down in front of me and asked me if I was scared. I told him no and he laughed and asked me where he could get something to eat. I led him to the tavern and we talked. This was around the time that everyone was freaking out about the possibility of Roger having a son and I asked him about it. The pirate said that if Roger did have a son, he hoped that son grew up strong and free. When he was leaving I asked him another question." She looked over at Garp. "The same question you just asked us. I give you the same answer he gave me." She smiled, a soft, simple, and determined smile. "Some people are just worth following."

Without another word, Garp returned to his boat and left the island.

Gale was so focused on Garp that he wasn't prepared for Nekari to shove him off the railing.

"You really need to work on your listening skills." She looked over at an outcropping of rock. "Are the three of you going to continue hiding or are you going to come over here so that we can talk?"

Sabo came out from behind the rocks first. Ace followed behind with Luffy asleep on his back.

"How'd you know we were there?" Sabo's expression was full of curiosity.

"Wolf sense." Nekari snorted at Ace's expression. "Good grief pup. You really didn't expect us to react the way we did, did you?"

"No one has before." Ace's expression was guarded, but Nekari could see the hope buried in it.

"Except for your brothers." Gale gently took Luffy from Ace's back and placed him in the designated sleeping area of the boat.

A small smile fought its way onto Ace's face. "Yeah."

"I didn't care about Sabo's parents, why should I care about yours or Luffy's?" Nekari waited for her other two captains to get on the boat before she and Gale pushed it off the beach.

"Which reminds me," Gale looked at his blond captain. "Are you really a noble?"

"Not by choice." Sabo's expression was dark at the thoughts of his 'family'.

Gale nods. "Okay then. Just getting things straight. We're heading northwest, right?"

"Yeah. The island we want should be in that direction."

"Opposite to the direction your grandfather went. That's nice." Nekari settled against the railing near where Luffy was resting. "Don't bother me for a while. I'm tired."

Sabo grinned as their resident doctor immediately drifted off to sleep. "I don't think she got a lot of sleep last night."

"I don't think she likes me much." Gale adjusted their sail to catch the wind properly.

"That's not it." Ace tossed a blanket over Nekari and Luffy. "I think Kitty was just getting a measure on you."

"And she got it during that conversation with Shitty Old Gramps." Sabo grinned as he adjusted their course.

Gale looked at his two captains who were tense and throwing glance toward the ocean every now and then. "Why do the two of you look like you're on the verge of panic?"

"We'll calm down once we're sure that the old man isn't gonna show up again." Ace sat down next to Luffy and glared out at the sea, his face slightly pale and his fingers tapping nervously against his steel pole.

"I'm surprised he gave up so easily. That's not like him." Sabo's knuckles were white from his tight grip.

Nekari stirred a bit from her sleep. "He was tired…and probably hadn't been given much time to look for you…" With a yawn she turned over and fell back asleep.

Ace huffed. "Doesn't matter. We wouldn't have gone with him no matter how hard he tried." Sabo just nodded in agreement.

xXxXx

Author's Note: Alright, I've decided to introduce the next crew member in the next chapter. These scenes…needed their own chapter, and I am still figuring out how to introduce the next character. All I know for sure that it will be…explosive. Guess what position the next character is going to fill!

I am not a writer! I am a puppet controlled by fictional characters!