Author's Note: LAST CHAPTER EVERYONE!! Sorry if it's a little sudden… but I SMELL SEQUEL TO COME!!! (I just also had to finish this or else I would never get any studying done!) XD
Disclaimer: don't own
Chapter Fourteen: Air
Hoshi mentally screamed with rage. Dammit, damn all those bastard Marines to a burning Hell!!!!
The reason that she wasn't really screaming was that she was busy trying to save her air as she helplessly floated down deeper into the depths of the ocean, unable to move a single muscle. Her lungs were burning and darkness was eating at the corners of her vision.
Suddenly her stomach involuntarily caved in, making her lungs contract. Her air went spiraling up towards the surface of the water. Shit…
The water around her started getting colder and darker. Fear pumped through her veins. There was absolutely nothing living that she could see, and the cold was penetrating her entire being, first numbing her, then slowly freezing her. And the thing that scared her the most was that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. A flood of carefully locked memories broke free, and tears streamed out of her eyes as despair flooded her soul as painful memories flashed through her mind…
"Damn kid, get out of here! We never would have protected you if we had known what you were!"
"You lied to us! Get your ass out of this village before we beat it up and hand yourself over to the World Government already!"
"Monster… monster, she's a monster! Die already!!"
Hoshi curled into a ball as water started leaking into her lungs.
Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji crashed into the ship's mast. Instead of groaning and cursing Luffy, like he normally would have done, Zoro jumped straight into the water without a word.
"That idiot!" Nami muttered. "Both of them had better make it back alright."
Robin smiled.
Zoro quickly swam over to where he thought Hoshi had hit the water. He filled his lungs with air and dived… and dived… and dived… Dammit Hoshi! How far down did you sink?!
Visibility was going down rapidly. He could barely see anything anymore… suddenly, he saw Hoshi! A bubble floated up from her mouth. Zoro felt alarm race through him. Damn, did she let go of all her air?!
He picked her up under her shoulders, yanking out one of the darts while he was at it, and started swimming straight up… but the surface was so far away! He didn't know if she'd be able to make it…
Zoro scowled and pumped his legs, even though he knew that if Hoshi didn't get air in the next ten seconds, she'd probably be done for. He pulled her up and did the only thing that made sense to him… he placed his lips on hers and blew his air into her lungs. He didn't try to keep any for himself, but gave every bit of air in his lungs that he could summon, while still swimming towards the surface. His lungs and legs began to burn painfully and his heart started to pound in an attempt to keep his body supplied with oxygen… but her eyes opened! They looked at him, dazed and confused, but she still opened her eyes! A new determination fueled him, and he kicked upwards harder than ever holding Hoshi close. He was only ten meters from the surface… eight… six…
Involuntarily, he coughed but inhaled nothing but water. He paused and made a face as it choked his lungs, but he refused to give up… not now, when he was so close…
He broke the surface, coughing and gasping, spitting water out of his lungs, holding Hoshi to his chest to hold her above the water. She weakly clung to him, trying to breathe and cough out water at the same time.
"You okay?" Zoro asked the second he got his breathing under control.
Hoshi spit out some more water and gulped in air. "Z… Zoro?"
Zoro relaxed. "Yeah, it's me."
Hoshi all but melted with relief, and her whole body started to tremble. She hadn't known if the person who had saved her was a Marine or someone from the ship… her wanted poster had, after all, demanded her alive. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes as Zoro protectively tightened his arms around her. "I… I was scared," she whispered. "The darkness…"
"It's okay now," Zoro murmured, moving one hand to cradle the back of her head. He held her protectively. "It's okay."
"ZOOOOORO! HOOOOOOSHI!!" Luffy yelled. "YOU TWO ALRIGHT?!"
"Yeah, we're fine," Zoro called back.
"Veinte Fleurs!" Robin created a chain of hands. "Grab on!" she instructed. Zoro grabbed Robin's hand, and she pulled them on board.
Hoshi felt her knees give out, and she collapsed on the deck. "S… so cold…" she gasped, hugging herself.
Chopper ran over. "You overdid it!" he scolded. "I told you not to, but you s-"
"No… that's not it…" Hoshi met the little reindeer's eyes, and suddenly Chopper saw a clear picture of all of her past pain. He froze. Hoshi…
"That cold feeling in the darkness of the ocean… it's the same…" Hoshi's voice broke, and she doubled over, clutching her stomach, tears leaking out of her eyes. "It's the same as all those times…!"
Hoshi stopped speaking, unable to go on.
Everyone looked at her. "Hoshi…"
"Hoshi." Luffy's eyes were shadowed under his hat. "The bottom of the sea is cold and dark, it's true. But you're not alone, and you never will be alone ever again." He offered a hand with one of his grins lighting up his face. "You're our nakama!"
A warm glow blossomed inside Hoshi, banishing her dark dreams as she remembered that she wasn't alone anymore. She took the hand with a shaky smile. "Sorry… I forgot."
"Don't forget," Luffy advised helpfully.
"STRAW HAT-SAAAAAN!!" someone yelled.
Everyone looked back. The villagers all lined the docks, blocked by the Marines. They all yelled, "THANK YOU FOR SAVING OUR TOWN!!"
Luffy laughed and waved. "No problem! Take care!"
Onshore, Sakura watched as the ship started to sail away. Some feeling grew inside her chest, a feeling of longing…
"There's your money. Leave this kid alone now."
"Jeez, don't you have any manners?"
She had watched them fight off the Marines with their amazing powers from behind a trash bin… Sakura clenched her teeth. She just KNEW that if anyone was able to help her, it would be those people… and they were getting farther away by the second.
"Kaizoku-neechan!" Sakura yelled, trying to get through. "Please… please take me with you!!" A Marine stood in her way. Without giving him a chance to speak, she punched him where it hurt and ran to the edge of the dock. She didn't stop. She jumped right into the water and started swimming after the ship. "Please!!"
Sanji sucked his cigarette. "So… what do we do?"
"She'll probably be okay," Luffy said. "The Grand Line is a dangerous place, and the Marines wouldn't hurt a k-"
BAM!! A gunshot hit the water next to the brown head bobbing up and down in the water.
"Oi! They're shooting at her!" Usopp yelled.
Luffy instantly changed his mind. "We need to go back!"
"We can't!" Nami called. "We're already in the outgoing current!"
"Damn!" Luffy stretched out his arm to try to reach Sakura. She saw his hand coming and reached out of the water to grab it… but the ship was too far. They had already gone farther than his hand could stretch.
Hoshi pulled out her wings. "I'll be back in a minute," she called, jumping over the figurehead. With three painful flaps, she had gained enough altitude and she flew downwards, streaking over the surface of the water. "SAKURA!" she yelled.
The girl saw her coming. Hope lit up her small face as she raised up her hands.
Dodging bullets, Hoshi scooped up the terrified girl out of the water and made a sharp turn, going back the way she had come.
"She got her!" Luffy cheered as Hoshi touched down, clutching the bundle of terrified, wet Sakura.
Hoshi pulled in her wings and set Sakura down with a sigh. She massaged her sore shoulders. "Ouch," she winced.
"Did they hit you?" Zoro asked.
Hoshi shook her head. "Nope. My shoulders are just sore from when we jumped off the Ferris wheel."
Sakura's eyes widened. "You jumped off the Ferris wheel," she repeated.
Hoshi glanced at the girl. "I'm not answering anything until you give me a good reason why I shouldn't fly back and leave you on that island."
Sakura's face hardened. Hoshi was bracing herself for a long argument when she unexpectedly turned to Luffy and bowed, touching her forehead to the ground. "Please… take me home!" she pleaded. "My home is two islands away on this Log Pose course, please take me home!"
Luffy laughed and pulled the girl into a standing position. "You didn't need to do that, you know," he informed her cheerfully. "Of course we'll take you home! You just needed to ask!"
"You hungry?" Sanji asked, starting to walk into the kitchen. "I was planning on making some rice balls since we're going to need every bit of our strength tonight."
Everyone looked at Sanji. "What are you talking about Sanji-kun?" Nami asked. Sanji pointed with his cigarette as an answer.
On the horizon, there were a fleet of ships chasing them.
"Whoa, so many!" Luffy yelled, stars in his eyes.
"This isn't the time to be admiring them!" Hoshi scolded as a cannonball was fired and landed ten meters to the right.
Nami started barking out orders to the crew so they could increase the ship's speed. Hoshi reached for the rigging when a small hand caught her sleeve. Looking, she saw Sakura. About to tell the girl to shove off, Hoshi realized how terrified the girl looked. She bent down and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be alright! Why don't you go into the kitchen and eat something? That money I gave you earlier wouldn't have bought you much… the food was awfully expensive!"
Sakura hesitated, then nodded. She ran into the kitchen just before the second cannon was fired.
"Do you want me to slow them down!?" Hoshi yelled once she had reached the mast.
"That would be great!" Nami called. Hoshi pulled out her wings and caught a breeze. Flying high into the air, she surveyed the scene below. Fifteen ships in a 'V' formation…
She pulled her sword out of the air. "Yo," she greeted it fondly. "It's been a while, but I'm afraid I need a sharp edge today."
Hoshi folded her wings and dropped. With all her accumulated speed, she skimmed as and swiftly cut the mainsails on all the ships. Grinning, she flew out of bullet range and circled around back to the ship. "That'll keep them busy for a while!" she grinned, touching down.
"Yosh, good work Hoshi!" Nami smiled, giving her a thumbs up. "Everyone!" she yelled. "Let's make good use of this time and get out of here!"
"AYE!"
Hoshi sat atop the crow's nest, her eyes closed and humming a little tune happily. Their adventures on that island… she knew she'd remember them forever, because it was the first one she had been on as a member of the Straw Hats.
"Had fun?" a voice asked.
Hoshi didn't open her eyes. "I thought you were sleeping," she said as Zoro pulled himself into the crow's nest.
"Nah… couldn't sleep."
Hoshi opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. "You?!"
Zoro made a face. "I don't sleep THAT much."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't!"
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"No."
"Ye- hang on a second!"
Hoshi laughed. "You fell for it!"
Zoro scowled, but let it go. They stood in silence for a while, watching the stars.
"It was on a night like this you all gave me my name," Hoshi suddenly said.
"Yeah…"
She sighed and leaned back, still staring at the sky. A breeze ruffled her hair, playing with her bangs. "There's something I need to say…I have to thank you," she said.
Zoro blushed a bit and looked away. "It wasn't anyth-"
"No, it was really important." The seriousness in Hoshi's tone made him look around. "Before that night… I had seen the only person who ever truly cared about me killed before my eyes when I was ten years old, trying to protect me. Since then, people I was stupid enough to give my trust to betrayed me countless times. It was… hard." She took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. "I was sure that I could never trust anyone again. But when you came down into the dungeons the other day, the look on your face… you cared if I was going to get hurt, even though you knew I was a monster." Hoshi put a hand on her chest. "The phoenix that I was bonded with… you knew, and still… all of you still came for me." Hoshi laughed as a tears formed in her eyes.
Zoro smiled tenderly. He put an arm around Hoshi's shoulders, using the thumb on his other hand to gently wipe away her tears. She relaxed and leaned her head on his shoulder. Zoro got the impression that Hoshi was like a butterfly. She seemed so delicate and fragile, leaning against him as the vast skies arched overhead… albeit a butterfly threaded with steel wires. He pulled her closer.
"Hoshi," he murmured. She looked up. Zoro closed the space between their lips… and this time, there weren't any fireworks or Marines to interrupt. Hoshi stiffened in surprise at first, then relaxed. She returned the kiss, turning her body so she was leaning against his chest. Zoro wrapped one arm around her waist, the other hand cradling the nape of her neck and deepening the kiss. He slid his hand around to cup her cheek when they broke apart for air. She leaned her head on his shoulder and slid her hands under his arms, hugging him tight. Zoro pulled Hoshi closer. "You aren't alone any more," he whispered. "I'm always going to be here."
"Zoro…" Hoshi smiled and leaned forward, putting her forehead against his neck, feeling his solid warmth in her arm. Tears formed again at the corners of her eyes. "Thank you."
Smiling tenderly, Zoro straightened her bangs and tilted her head up, a gentle question in his eyes. Hoshi smiled and leaned up and touched her lips to his, a little butterfly kiss. Zoro took that as unspoken permission and brought his lips down to hers again. The breeze flew around them, before soaring into the night sky.
Finally, they broke apart. Zoro took Hoshi's face into his hands and tenderly kissed her tears away, before suddenly blushed a deep red and loosened his grip. He coughed slightly and turned his head away. Hoshi laughed and pushed him to the edge of the crow's nest. "Go on back to bed. How much do you want to bet that tomorrow's another hectic day?"
Zoro grinned. "When have we ever had a quiet day in this crew?"
Hoshi groaned and pushed him towards the rigging again. "Good night!" she called, hanging over the edge of the crow's nest. He smiled up before disappearing into the boy's cabin.
She sighed with happiness and looked up at the sky. Placing two fingers on her tingling lips, she thought she felt her face almost crack in two from the grin that covered her face. How could things possibly get better than they were now? It would be almost too much goodness in her life for her to handle…
Suddenly things got even better. She stared in utter amazement before laughing aloud.
"EVERYONE! WAKE UP!" Hoshi yelled. "WAKE UP!!"
The doors to the cabins burst open. "What's wrong?" Nami called.
"Man, can't a guy get any sleep?" Zoro muttered.
"Nothing's wrong!" Hoshi laughed. "Look up!"
Everyone looked up and gaped for a second. Then Luffy suddenly whooped and punched the air in delight. "SHOOTING STARS!!"
Sakura squealed and clapped her hands. "So pretty!"
Usopp grinned. "Heh, you don't see something like this every night!"
"Got that right," Sanji agreed.
Hoshi laughed. She jumped out of the crow's nest and pulled out her wings, soaring into the sky with a whoop. Whatever the damn world could throw at her now, she could face it as long as she had nakama like this on her side… and Zoro… She shook her head. She'd have to do some serious thinking about him… not exactly her forte, but she'd have to do it anyways. The thing that made her the happiest at the moment though, was that a new adventure was waiting, just beyond the barely visible horizon.
SEQUEL UP!! "ADVENTURES ON KOBARUTO ISLAND" IF YOU LIKED THIS STORY THEN READ THAT ONE! XD