( 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢     /    the pirate hunter and the siren )
˚ ༘🏴‍☠️·˚ ₊˚ˑ ONE PIECE: LIVE ACTION ! .°• ੈ🏴‍☠️₊˚•.
. . . . ╱╱ ︵ . . ⌗ the pirate hunter and the siren ❜

( A better use for this gif also no ghost readers please. )

after all was said and done, shanks and his crew were in the windmill bar. ran by who sapphire likes to call miss makino. someone who had a huge hand in raising both her and luffy. not like dadan, but she still had a bond with the children. 

while his crew drank on, celebrating, shanks sat luffy down towards the back to patch up his face. sapphire sat one one of his thighs while she happily hummed to the songs they were drunkenly singing. 

shanks placed his straw hat on top of her head, letting her wear it. she mumbles some of the words while swinging her little legs back and forward. 

"at least you didn't get your eye." shanks mumbled, stitching the wound together. and although he was serious about his work, he did fight back a smile. luffy reminded him too much of himself. especially at the age his at now. 

"I was aiming for it, but i missed." luffy stated grumpily, earning a forehead flick from sapphire. "ow! sapphie!" 

"don't say things like that." she scolded with a small pout on her face. "you can't be a pirate with one eye! not unless you're that one guy on those glass bottles i see miss makino gives mister yasopp." 

"i know!" luffy frowned at her, rubbing his forehead. "but don't stitch it up too good, i want everyone to see my scar." 

"scars don't make the man, luffy." shanks sighed, finishing up his work by clipping the extra thread from his stitch. "it's the lesson behind the scar, and you didn't earn this one." 

"then let me earn it." luffy declared proudly and confidently. "me and sapphie will be the best pirates ever. look, i've been practicing what my face will look like on my wanted poster." 

he then processed to make the funniest, scrunched up faces. the sight made sapphire giggle comically. it was cute and funny. 

"me too!" sapphire announced, hopping off shank's lap. "look at mine." 

shanks smiled softly at the two children in front of him. it was such a sweet sight to him. seeing two kids,  he's grown very close to, acting so wholesomely and dream filled. it definitely reminded him of his own time as a child. also filled with dreams and goals too big for his head, at the time. 

"my luffy is so funny." sapphire giggled out after said kid made a funny face in order to get her laughing again. 

"your....what?" shanks suddenly questioned, staring at sapphire. he looked at her as if he was suddenly hit with a big wave of nostalgia. especially after what she just said. 

"my luffy." sapphire repeated with that same sunny smile on her tiny and adorable face. "luffy is my luffy. because he's my best friend. you're my shanks because you're my best friend, too." 

"oh, my shanks, how you've grown." 

shanks suddenly heard oceania's voice echo in his head after hearing that. he didn't really remember much about her since it's been so long. but he does remember the way she would warmly greet him whenever she and her crew visited his home. and for some reason, sapphire kept reminding him of her. 

but it wasn't like the other times, where she would do a little action that was somewhat similar to oceania. no....everything reminded him of her. her facial structure. her glowing light blue eyes. her long hair and her love for sea shells. 

snapping out of his thoughts, shanks chuckled a little at both of them. "well, i've no doubt your mug will be on a wanted poster one day but you two aren't ready, yet." he poked sapphire's cheek softly, making her laugh a little. "especially with how cute you are, my wee brave sea star. they'll want you even more for being so adorable. i can't have that! besides, my ship already has an anchor." 

luffy huffed again at this denial to let the two of them join his crew. "we're not anchors!" he stated grumpily, crossing his arms. 

shanks drank half of the rum he was given as he pointed to a random area on luffy's shirt. once said boy looked down, thinking something was there, the red headed captain flicked his finger up and poked his nose. 

frowning at him for his playful trick, luffy stormed off. not appreciating the trick at all. sapphire felt bad and wanted to follow him. but she could tell he wanted to be alone. so she left him by his lonesome. 

blind curiosity caused her to snoop around the back area, where shanks and his crew stored a lot of the cargo they brought with them. she snuck passed makino and walked in the back room. 

"whoa..." she whispered as she looked at all of the rather lavish items all around her. sapphire crept deeper into the storage room to look at everything. hoping that she would find a really cool sea shell that shanks probably didn't show her. 

her oceanic blue eyes spotted a small and gold box. it looked like a mini treasure chest. one that could fit a crown or a really pretty necklace. thinking it was a sea shell, sapphire smiled a little as she made her way over to it. 

she flicked open the box, revealing a shiny gold crown. it was pretty with different sea shells all over it. it was so pretty and so shiny, sapphire's left hand slowly rose and went to grab it before she was brought out of her trance. 

"sapphire!" shank's voice muffled behind the wooden door. "where are you, sweet girl?!" 

he sounded urgent. like he was about to panic if he didn't find her. so sapphire quickly closed the case back and left the room. 

"i'm here!" sapphire called, walking back into the bar. she surveyed the faces all around her. almost everyone looked rather shocked and kind of concerned. which only made her curiosity grow. 

shanks sighed as he made his way to her, kneeling in front of her. "did you eat any of it?" he asked urgently, picking up one of her arms as he examined her. 

"eat what?" she asked confusingly. although she giggled a little when shanks seemed to try to stretch her arm in a funny way. 

"the purple fruit, baby." shanks said, looking into her eyes. "did you eat any of it?" 

"no." she said, shaking her head. it was then she noticed luffy not too far away from them. her eyes widened when she saw that his arms were stretched out like rubber. luffy looked pretty shocked by it, himself. 

sapphire stared at him, eyes widened by the sight.

"oh, neptune." 

"you ate a devil fruit?" koby questioned luffy. sapphire had just told him how luffy got his abilities and to say he was flabbergasted was an understatement. he was purely shocked. the three were sailing in the dingy boat they took from alvida's ship as the moonlight shined above them. 

"i didn't know any better." luffy defended himself casually, shrugging his shoulders. "but mine was a gum gum fruit. it turned my body into rubber." 

to show an example, luffy stretched one side of his face really far before letting it go. smacking him and shaping his face back to normal. "you'd get used to it as time goes by," sapphire added with a small smile. she paused her writing to join in the conversation. 

"w-well." koby stuttered out, still pretty shocked by his story. "how did you discover your magic, sapphire?" 

sapphire giggled, closing her journal. "that was purely by accident." 

little sapphire and luffy snuck away from makino to go play in the nearby forest. which led to a beach just below a cliff . the two kids giggled as they played together, enjoying the sun and the nature around them. 

"woah!" sapphire said, pausing her running to see the cliff. she could hear the sea waves crashing below it. it even had a beautiful view of the horizon. "my luffy! look!" 

luffy ran over to her and noticed the cliff. his eyes widened in awe at the view in front of them. this had to be the highest point in the forest. palm trees surrounded the area. luffy grabbed her hand and tugged her along to look over. 

"so cool." he mumbled, looking down at the ocean below. 

"i wonder how many sea shells are in the ocean." sapphire pondered. 

"i'd say.....a billion." luffy replied, nodding his head a little. as if he agreed with his own guess. "yeah.....a billion." 

what neither of them noticed was how the area sapphire was standing on was crackling slowly. and it wasn't until the cracking grew a little louder that it got their attention. luffy and sapphire widened their eyes as the piece of the cliff slowly started to break. 

luffy tried to take sapphire's hand and pull her away but it was far too late. the cliff edge broke, taking sapphire down with it. making her scream loudly as she fell. 

"sapphie!" luffy yelled in panic as he quickly ran over to the edge to see if she was hanging or if he could catch her. but he was met with the sight of her and the huge rocks splash into the riptides. 

thinking the absolute worst, luffy began panicking. he couldn't lose sapphire. not when they haven't achieved their dreams yet. he couldn't be pirate king without her. he didn't want to be without sapphire. 

with his heart beating loudly and his nerves shooting through his body, luffy quickly ran back to his village to call for help.

"shanks!" luffy yelled desperately, barging into makino's bar. knowing the red haired captain and his crew would be there. "shanks!" 

"woah, woah!" shanks quickly caught luffy before he could run into someone and hurt himself. he laughed a little drunkenly, holding the frantic boy in place. "where's the fire? press the panic button. what's got you crying wolf?" 

"it's sapphie." luffy said. he was so scared for her that his eyes began to become overflowed with tears. "w-we were in the forest a-a-and we were-" 

luffy's tears and his shaken body made shanks suddenly sober up, as well as his crew mates. makino, who was busy with a customer, stopped as soon as she heard luffy crying. 

"hey, hey, luffy." shanks kneeled down to his level, placing both hands on his shoulders. "it's okay, just tell me what happened, okay?" 

luffy hadn't stopped crying but his voice was a little more stable. "the cliff broke and sapphie fell off of it." he cried. "i didn't know what to do so i came here. you have to help me." 

makino gasped in horror after listening to luffy's words. she knew what cliff he was talking about and it made her instantly scared for sapphire. "the water in that area has predatory sea creatures there." she explained urgently. "the tides are always harsh, too!" 

like a silver bullet, shanks immediately grabbed his hat and ran out of the bar, with his crew mates following closely behind him. 

"if she fell from that cliff, there is a good chance she washed up on the beach side not too far from here." benn pointed out, stopping his captain from doing anything stupid. "i suggest we check there before you go jumping after her." 

"i don't have time for searching around, benn." shanks snapped at him a little. "the longer we stand here talking, there's a greater chance she's gonna drown." 

"i'm thinking rationally here, shanks." he argued back. "we can't lose you as a captain because you wanna dive head first into raging waters. all because you're not thinking straight." 

shanks, feeling insulted by his choice of words, walked closer to his first mate with a menacing glare. "what are you trying to say, benn?" 

benn sighed, staring at him just as sternly. "i care about the little sea star, too, shanks.... all of us do." he explained calmly. "but what good would you be to her rescue if you end up dead, too?.....our best bet is to check the beach side, nearby. luffy said she fell off the cliff in the forest. that forest is only west from here. it connects to the beach around this island. if she fell, there is a great chance that the ocean would wash her up there." 

shanks stared at him. his eyes never leave that hardened state. but instead of arguing with him, he decided to listen to him. acting on impulse was not going to help anyone in this situation. 

"every single one of you." shanks said to his crew. "check every inch of the beach. we're not stopping until we know she's okay. anyone who decides to stop, will have me to deal with."  

meanwhile, sapphire was plunged underwater. the wind from such a high fall knocked her out. the sounds of the underwater filled her ears. it had to have been three or four seconds before she slowly opened her eyes. immediately realizing that she was underwater. 

sapphire's eyes widened as she suddenly started to try to swim to the surface. the current was way too harsh for her little arms and legs. which made her slowly start to panic. that is, until her she felt something poking her shoulder. 

sapphire turned her head and nearly let out the only bit of air in her lungs at the sight of a orca whale a few inches away from her. she covered her mouth with her hands as she stared at it with wide eyes. 

the orca whale let out a sound. but to sapphire, she heard actual words. 

"do not be alarmed." it said. "your lungs are one with the water. just breathe." 

sapphire frowned for a number of reasons. one: she actually heard a sea animal speaking to her. two: what did he mean, just breathe? she couldn't breathe underwater! she'll die! sensing her reluctance, the orca whale repeated himself. "your lungs are one with the water. just breathe." 

sapphire stared at him, a little irritated with his request but anything to get her out of this mess, she guesses. so she did as he instructed. she let her hands fall from her mouth and started to breathe. expecting to immediately drown, she was much more surprised to feel what it felt like more air filled her lungs. keeping her.....alive? 

sapphire found herself breathing under water. she didn't have to hold her breath anymore. "wha-" she spoke but then got shocked again by her being able to speak normally. "....i can speak under water?!" 

the orca whale swam behind her and swooped his body right underneath her, making her sit on his back. "we will bring you back to the surface land, little one." he said, swimming off.

"we?" she asked, before noticing a large group of orca whales in front of her. it was a herd of them. some really big and some very small. it was such an amazing sight. "wow~" 

the orca whales all said hello to her in their own way. sapphire giggled and waved back as the one she was on top of began leading the group into taking her back to land. 

"sapphire!" shanks yelled as everyone looked all around the shores of the beach area. it was hot and the sand was practically steaming under the sunlight but none of that mattered to him. "sapphire! baby, where are you?!" 

shanks, his crew and luffy had been searching for her for about 30 minutes now with no progress. and with each passing minute, both shanks and luffy  only dreaded the worst. luffy was struggling to come to terms that there was a possibility that sapphire didn't make it out alive and shanks tried not to have that in his head. 

no one wanted to lose sapphire. not that sweet little girl. 

"sapphie!" luffy called out desperately, refusing to stop looking. if it wasn't for the fact that shanks was close by, he'd probably have jumped into the ocean for her. not caring that he ate a devil fruit. "sapphie!" 

no sight of sapphire at all. not her little foot prints, not her head of jet black hair, not the sight of her light oceanic blue eyes, nothing. absolutely nothing. and just as shanks was about to have a mental breakdown, something happened. 

"captain!" yasopp yelled a few feet away from the rest. his voice captured all of their attention. "come look!" 

without thinking twice, shanks quickly ran to where he was. heart pumping loudly and adrenaline filling his veins. luffy and the rest quickly followed in suit, hoping to be met with good news. 

"did you find her?" shanks asked as soon as he made his way over to him. 

yasopp just looked on in complete awe. not even looking at shanks or the rest. "look for yourself." 

the red haired captain frowned a little, following where his eyes were glued to. immediately, his frown dropped as he saw what made yasopp so stuck in the moment. before him and everyone else, there was sapphire. on the beach, perfectly alive. 

she was completely drenched in sea water but....she was standing on one of the big rocks that lined near the shore, the calmer tides crashed against it a little, singing. as if nothing was happening. but she wasn't just singing to herself. their eyes looked to see a huge herd of orca whales in the ocean, heads poked out of the water, all paying attention to the little girl singing for them. 

and it wasn't just orca whales. there were colorful fishes jumping around them gleefully, dolphins of all sizes, even a few tropical birds lined up all around her on the rocks as she clapped and sung for them. they were her audience and she was their entertainment. it was honestly a beautiful sight to see. 

she was smiling and singing to the animals all around her. and they were responding with her as if they understood what she was saying. 

"in all my years of living...." lucky roux mumbled, watching the scene in astonishment. ".....i've never seen anything this....magical before." 

"now, i've definitely seen everything." benn mumbled. still not able to get over his shock. "this little girl.....she's a lot more than what any of us can comprehend." 

" ready?" sapphire beamed the animals around her. the sea animals made their own noises as the tropical birds squawked and flapped their wings in excitement for another song. 

"okay, one, two, three.....what do we do with a drunken sailor? what do we do with a drunken sailor? what do we do with a drunken sailor early in the morning?" she sang while clapping her hands. "weigh, hey and up she rises, weigh, hey and up she rises, weigh, hey and up she rises, early in the morning~" she sang in an upbeat fashion. 

shanks was both happy and in awe. happy that she's okay but in shock that this is how they found her. he almost wanted to just let her continue but luffy, who had been the most scared of her situation, couldn't help but to call out for her attention. 

"sapphie!" he yelled out her name, making her and the animals immediately turn their heads to the group. 

sapphire smiled brightly at them all as she waved at them. "my luffy, look!" she yelled, pointing at all of the sea creatures and birds around her. "isn't this cool?! these are my new friends!" 

"sweetheart, just stay there!" shanks yelled back as they all made their way to her. 

but instead of listening to him, sapphire walked towards the edge of the rock. as soon as it seemed like she was going to just step off and fall into the ocean again, a wave rose up and practically carried her off the rock. like it was a giant hand, carefully placing her back to the sand. another shocking thing they saw that they all would have to sit down and talk about it soon. 

once the ocean basically placed her back onto the sand sapphire dusted off the sand from her long and wet skirt  as best as she could. she turned to the orca whales and waved goodbye to them. 

"thank you for helping me!" she thanked them. 

the orca whales said their own thanks and goodbyes to her. the one that taught her how to breathe in the water let out one last sound. to them, it was the sound of a normal orca. but to sapphire, he said "we're here whenever you need us, little one!" before swimming back into the ocean with his family. 

"sapphire!" shanks and luffy were the first to get to her. luffy immediately hugged her tightly. 

"i thought you were gone," he muffled into her shoulder as he squeezed her, extremely happy to see her alive. once he pulled away, shanks pulled her into his arms. placing one hand over the back of her wet hair. 

"thank the gods, you're okay, sweetheart." he sighed in relief, trying to calm his heart down. he took off his jacket and placed it around her, giving her a quick kiss on her forehead. it was obviously way too big and her little arms didn't even make it halfway through his sleeves. "you gave us all a fright, you know?" 

"i'm sorry," sapphire apologized, seeing everyone worry for her. "but i was fine. my friends helped me." 

"we can see," yasopp said, bending down and picking her up in his arms. making sure shank's jacket stayed on her. "how on earth did you manage to make a group of orca whales help you?" 

"tika helped me." she said wrapping her arms around his neck. 

everyone looked confused at her. "sea star, who's tika?" benn asked, breaking the momentary silence. 

"tika, the orca." she explained further. "he helped me breathe under water. i can even talk too! and then, the ocean put me on that rock. all i did was wave, too. and i can understand what they were saying. isn't that cool?" 

although luffy looked as if that was the most exciting thing in the world, shanks and his crew looked at each other almost seriously. it was like they all had the same idea at the same time. those abilities weren't normal for just anyone to have. rather they ate a devil fruit or if it were pure haki. this was not normal for a human to be able to do.

"captain." benn mumbled to shanks. "you don't think....i mean...could she be a-" 

shanks shot him a quick glare to shut him up. he didn't want benn saying anything in front of the kids. this was something they would have to talk about privately and with the crew. and benn got the message. 

"come on, you two." shanks said, putting on his friendly face. he placed a hand on luffy's shoulder as they all began making their way back to the village. "you must be hungry after all that." 

"i can eat a sea beast!" sapphire cheered adorably, causing them to laugh. 

as they were making their way back, shanks couldn't help but to look back into the sea. if this little girl didn't remind him of oceania more.....she did now.

it made him even more curious as to just who sapphire really is and who her parents were. 

"A group of killer whales saved your life and that's how you figured it all out?" koby asked. his eyes shined in awe. pure awe at the story. "oh, that must have been a beautiful sight." 

"seeing it was unreal." luffy agreed with him. "ever since, it's like the ocean loves sapphire, specifically. one time, sapphie was playing with a tiger in the same forest." 

"a tiger?!" koby exclaimed, stopping his rowing. his jaw practically dropped from his skull. 

"that is another story for another time." sapphire giggled out, remembering that story perfectly. it involved luffy's older brothers, ace and sabo. who were like her older brothers, too. "right now, we should figure out where land is." 

"r-right," he agreed, still not over what he heard. "so,  now what? we have to be going somewhere, right?" 

"we are going somewhere," luffy reminded him. "next stop, to the grand line, remember?" 

"do you guys know how to get there?" koby asked a really important question. one that made both of them look at him with deadpanned expressions. upon realizing that they had no clue how to get there. which only stressed koby out more. "you can't navigate. you don't even have a map!" 

"that is a good point, my koby." sapphire hummed in agreement. "we have to get one, now. but where?" 

"maybe i made a mistake." the pink haired boy sighed out, starting to regret even leaving alvida's ship and that's saying a lot. considering how he was treated with her. 

luffy suddenly sat up from his laying position, placing his hat back onto his head. "koby, if you could do anything in this world right now, what would it be?" 

he stayed quiet, thinking about it for a while. his hands gripped the oar a little tighter . "i guess there is one thing, but..." he trailed off, feeling self-conscious about it. "it's dumb." 

luffy's shoulders deflated while sapphire gave him a comforting look. he was too afraid of stating his dream to them. it was painfully obvious. but before sapphire could offer words of encouragement, luffy slapped him across the face. 

stunned, koby whipped his head back to him. "what was that for?!" he exclaimed, holding his slightly reddened cheek. 

"you're being dumb!" luffy exclaimed back. "now spit it out!" 

grumbling at him a little, koby rubbed the sore spot before sighing. "i've..." he started shyly but trailed off. it wasn't until sapphire gave him an encouraging smile that he suddenly had the confidence to do so. "i've always wanted to be a marine. ever since i was a kid, i wanted to protect people that can't protect themselves."

"that is a wonderful dream, my koby." sapphire praised, smiling at him sweetly. one that was prettier than any diamonds found on this earth. it made koby turn pinker than his hair. 

that, and she kept calling him 'her koby'. either way, it made him feel so warm and welcomed by her. 

SHELL TOWN
153RD MARINE BRANCH

although koby was reluctant, luffy told him to set sail for the next marine base. which happened to be in shell town. they wanted koby to achieve his goal while they got a map. which seemed like an even exchange for them. by the time they made it, luffy's stomach began rumbling again and sapphire was running out of fruits to feed him. 

there was a brick walk near the docks with wanted posters all over it. different pirates with high bounties presented to the marching marines nearby. as soon as they docked and got off their small boat, the three walked over to the wall and stared at the wanted posters. 

sapphire started reading off the names and their bounties. it was all fascinating to her. she came across a clown looking pirate. big red nose, clown makeup, he looked creepy to her. sapphire was never a fan of the circus or clowns. it all scared her. 

"there are way worse pirates on the grand line." koby said, bringing her out of her thoughts. 

"yeah, i know right?" luffy said excitedly. he has always had a taste for danger so that no longer surprised koby. "where's ours?" 

"we're not gonna have one, yet, my luffy." she giggled out, looking at him. "besides, we can't sneak into the base if your stomach is growling so much. we'll get executed before we even get a map." 

"she's right," luffy said, feeling his stomach growl again. "this thing has a mind of its own. so let's go!" 

he ran off to find food while koby tried to keep up. sapphire was about to follow but one of the wanted posters caught her attention. she stared at it before realizing that it was triton d. oceania. they called her 'diamond rush oceania' and her bounty is extremely high. so high that it was on the top. above everyone else's posters. 

she remembered koby saying that even though no one knows where she was or if she really is alive still, her bounty is still very much active. but it wasn't just the bounty that made her stop and stare. it was the photo, itself. 

oceania was super beautiful. more beautiful in this poster than the one in her book. black hair, light blue eyes, lacey black pirate hair lined with trimmings of black lace around it and gold chains with jewels dangling off of it. she looked like luxury in a pirate form. 

but why on earth did she feel too familiar to sapphire? like.. she should know who she is to a deeper level? 

"sapphie!" luffy's yelling caused her to come back to reality. 

sapphire jumped a little and quickly followed along, deciding that now wasn't the time to ponder over that thought just yet. 

luffy ended up finding a bar nearby. a bar filled with rowdy men and marines. the sounds of drunken laughter, sea shanties being sung in a haphazard way, smell of alcohol coating the atmosphere. it was an interesting place to even want to eat at but luffy did not care. as long as they had good food. 

sapphire was unaware of the stares she was getting as she was looking around the place. almost every man in sight, even some women, were staring at her in pure awe. in awe of her beauty and her angelic and hypnotizing aura. it was like she had angel wings and a glow to her. you would have thought she came from heaven with the way she had some of them nearly break their necks to look at her. 

a waiter even dropped his tray of drinks because he was staring at her with his jaw dropped. 

"we already have our food." koby told the waitress, who placed a basket of rice balls on their table but luffy stopped him. 

"no, more is better." he tells him. "more is better. you gotta feed the brain." 

"it's best to let him." sapphire said, shrugged, taking one of the rice balls. "he can and will eat anything....almost anything." 

koby slowly nodded, taking her advice. "alright, so..." luffy started, taking a rice ball. "we can't get inside the base through the gate, but maybe...what if we get inside flying?! i can grab onto a bird or something." 

"that is the dumbest idea you've ever had in your entire life, my luffy." sapphire said in annoyance, tapping his straw hat a little. "we can't hold on to a mail bird anyways. that's too obvious." 

"keep your voices down." koby said in a low tone. they were in a bar filled with marines. if they heard them talking about breaking into their base, they would all be arrested. "and i agree, that is a terrible idea." 

sapphire gestured her hand to koby, to prove to luffy her point stood. she was about to say something but her eyes looked towards the entrance as someone walked in. usually, she'd ignore it but this stranger captured her attention quickly. 

the stranger was muscular, had moss green hair and was holding a brown bag. he also had the most handsome and stoic faces sapphire has ever seen in her life. he radiated pride and power. she could already tell he was strong. and that made her stare at him in awe. 

"wow..." she whispered, finding herself not able to take her eyes off of him. 

the green haired stranger made his way to the bar, placing the bag on the seat next to him. "a bottle for me and one for my friend." he said, gesturing to the bag. his voice was baritone and deep, raspy octave. 

the bartender looked at the bag cautiously before looking back at the green haired man. to which he added. "he's had a rough day." 

deciding not to ask, the bartender just gave him what he wanted. as soon as he gave him the two bottles, the green haired man took one and began to drink it, leaning his elbows on the bar. he spotted some little girl peaking from the other end of the bar at him. when she was caught, she giggled and quickly left. 

but it didn't take long for her to come back. she ran up to him, holding a tray of rice balls. obviously made by her. 

"what's this?" he asked, nodding towards the plate in her hand. 

"rice balls." she answered happily, holding it up for him. she hoped he would like them because no one else wanted them. 

"you made them yourself?" he asked, suspicion coating his monotone voice. earning a prideful hum from the little girl. "what's the brown stuff?" 

"chocolate." she said, smiling up at him. "it makes everything taste better." she was about to hand the plate to him but her mother was calling her. just as she turned to go after her, she ran right into someone's legs. hitting them and making her drop her plate of rice balls completely. 

she ran into a tall and black suited blonde marine. who looked less than pleased by her accident. 

the mother of the little girl quickly rushed over to her daughter, very much in fear of the blonde marine. "rika, apologize to our guest," she quickly instructed her daughter to do so. 

"i'm....i'm sorry." the little girl, rika, stuttered nervously. 

"i'm sorry." the blonde and lanky marine mocked her with a fake crying face before giving her a threatening expression. obviously to scare her even more. "next time, i won't be so nice." 

sapphire frowned at the scene. she hated when people would use their position of power to trample over people. this little girl was getting attacked and insulted for no good reason. all because she accidentally ran into him. it wasn't like she did it on purpose. marines are supposed to protect people. not treat them like trash. 

the green haired stranger listened to the scene play out. he must have had a kind heart because he ended up intervening. "you dropped my food," he said, capturing their attention with a dangerous tone in his voice. he had one hand on one of his three swords as he leaned down and picked up some of the rice balls before eating it. "delicious." 

sapphire couldn't help but to stare with her cheeks turning light pink. just by that action, she could already tell he most likely had a good heart underneath his titanium-like surface. and it made her feel a small smile slowly etched on her lips. 

he placed the other one back on the plate. he placed the plate back on top of the bar counter and turned to the marine. "now you eat one. and apologize to the girl." 

the blonde, obviously not used to people defying him, walked over to the green haired man with an amused laugh coming out of his obnoxious mouth. "do you know who i am?" 

the green haired stranger looked him up and down slowly, not at all breaking the intense eye contact. "a shithead marine with a bad haircut." 

the marine started to grunt, pulling out his sword and pointing it at him. which was pretty stupid on his part. to challenge someone who not only carried three swords but he actually knew what to do with it. anyone can tell this man didn't have the slightest clue as to how to use a sword. 

"i wouldn't do that." the green haired man warned him, closing his eyes tiredly. the little girl and her mother slowly backed up, sensing that things were about to get violent. 

"oh, come one, tough guy." the marine pressed on, taunting him with a loud cackle. "three swords? i only need one." 

he sighed, flexing his arms as his muscles tightened up. his arm veins were more visible. he opened his eyes, donning a menacing glare. "okay." he said in a low and warning voice. "but it's gonna hurt." 

taking that as an opportunity, the marine swung his sword at him. only for him to easily block it with the hilt of his own sword. slipping from the block, he whacked the lanky marine's sword out of his hand and with his arm, knocking him down immediately.  and with that, an all out brawl started. 

it was the green haired man versus multiple marines. after the irritating one whimpered like a baby and scrambled to retrieve his sword back, more came at him. which he fought off with ease. it was amazing to both luffy and sapphire.

both of them concluded that they needed him on their crew. "we have to have him join us, sapphie." luffy whispered to her. earning an eager nod from her. 

once the entire brawl was done, the green haired man walked over to the blonde marine, picked him up and slammed him against the bar top. "you shouldn't draw your blade unless you're prepared to use it." 

"don't kill me, please." he whimpered in fear, his eyes widened at the green haired swordsman's face. "my father will give you anything you want." 

the green haired man, who was leaned next to his ear, spoke in that same raspy monotone, "who's your father?" 

"captain morgan." he answered, hoping that it was a good enough excuse to get the man to get off of him and let him live. "he's in charge of the marine base." 

the green haired man slowly turned to look at him coldly. so cold, it was like dragging ice across your spinal cord. he yanked him up by his shirt, getting closer to him as his jaw  tightened. "then he owes me money." 

the sun was even harsher than it was the previous day. the air rippled just to show how much heat was in the air.  as the green haired man was tied to a wooden post right in the middle of the barren area, the sun's fierce rays were not lenient on him. but he remained seemingly unbothered. 

his clothes clung onto him, he had a thin layer of sweat coating his lightly tanned skin, but he still didn't seem too bothered by it. in fact, his eyes were closed. as if he were taking a nap. or at least he was trying to. that is, until he heard some metal clanking together and a feminine voice ring in his ears. 

"oh, neptune." it said as the metal hatch that led to the area he was in didn't budge. the green haired man slowly opened his eyes, irritated that someone was interrupting his sleep. though, he was curious as to who that rather soothing voice belonged to. 

he watched as the metal opening in the ground suddenly glowed light blue and flew open, nearly breaking it off the hinges, completely. delicate and slender hands appeared at the edge of the opening. holding it as they pulled up through the entrance. revealing sapphire's entire being. 

the green haired man watched with a slight frown on his face as the girl carefully climbed through and out of the hole. once she was completely out, she stood up, dusted off her long and flowy white skirt and bag, and fixed her long jet black hair. 

she huffed a bit before turning to face him and his eyes nearly widened as soon as he got a real good look at her face. 

sapphire turned to the man and gave him a shiny smile. "hello, there!" she greeted him cheerfully, lifting up one of her hands high, waving before walking closer to him. "you're the man from the bar. i recognize that green hair from a mile away, haha." 

the man arched an eyebrow at her as she stopped a few feet away from him. "get lost." he told her, grunting in annoyance. 

sapphire just giggled at his words. "it's funny you should say that." she explained comically. "you see, my luffy and i were trying to get into the base but, what do you know? i got myself into a pickle and now, i don't know where he is. isn't that funny?" 

the green haired man just sighed, not really listening to her but he heard her. quite frankly, all he really cared about in that moment was sleep. and this strangely beautiful young lady was interrupting that. which only annoyed him even more. 

"you know, i saw you in the bar yesterday." she spoke, breaking the moment of silence. "the way you fought was one of the best i've ever seen. especially with your swords." 

the green haired man opened his eyes again, flashing her a cocky and very attractive smirk. "oh yeah?" he asked. it was such a subtle action but it was enough for her to blush and suddenly feel shy again. making her let out a breathy chuckle, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. 

"y-yeah, umm..." she sheepishly mumbled, trying to calm her pounding heart. for someone who was rather stoic on the outside, he could be very charming. "how did they arrest you?" 

"they didn't." he answered briefly, his voice seemed more raspy. "i gave myself up." 

"ah, i knew it." she said, snapping her fingers as if she knew all along. "you had your reasons, i bet. just like how you stood up for that little girl there." 

"you don't know anything about me." he retorted almost threateningly, slowly dragging his eyes up and down her entire figure in a menacing way. 

"maybe," sapphire replied with a shrug. but her grin never left her pretty face. she walked closer to him, readjusting her bag on her shoulder. "but i've been told that i do have a good sense of judgement. especially when it comes to good people. no bad person would have done that. so i concluded that you are, indeed, a good man." 

his eyes stared at her with the same menacing gaze. he was more so growing irate with the small talk she was giving him and the fact that it was so hot wasn't helping his bad mood. "My name is roronoa zoro. the pirate hunter." he introduced himself harshly, emphasizing on the last part especially. 

sapphire stared at him before she blinked her bright eyes. normal people would be terrified by his words. but she just stood there and returned the favor with a sweet and small smile on her lips. "nice to meet you, mr. roronoa zoro, my name is atlantica d. sapphire." she introduced herself. "and i think you should join my luffy's crew. you see, he's gonna be the pirate king but in order for that to happen, we have to have a crew of our own. two people isn't enough, you know," 

a deep and humorous laugh escaped zoro's lips as he leaned his head back a bit. thinking she must be completely out of her mind if she thinks he would join her 'luffy's' crew. she was already brave enough to stand in front of him with that nonsense. 

zoro slowly tilted his head back to look at her, his smirk intensifying a bit. "what makes you think i'd wanna play pirates with you, pretty girl?" 

sapphire's eyes widened as her face turned a little red. oh man, this guy really knew how to get the heart to kick start. she suddenly felt like she wasn't able to form words. "w-well, umm..." she stuttered out, moving a strand of her hair out of her face. "you're a great fighter, and my luffy and i think you would be perfect for our crew. you know...i think we would make a good team." 

"we?" he asked again, arching an eyebrow at her and smirking even more. noticing how flustered she was getting. which only made it worse for her. 

"y-you know, as in luffy, me and you." she mumbled sheepishly, suddenly feeling a bit hot. 

finding her state amusing, zoro just looked at her with a knowing smirk. "you're cute." he commented lowly. "but i kill your kind for a living.....pirate....hunter." 

"but is that all you want?" she asked, crossing her arms. "is that really all that you are?" 

a little surprised by her rather personal question, zoro remained quiet for a few moments. pondering over her entire question. he sighed heavily before speaking again. "i made a promise to someone a long time ago....to be the world's greatest swordsman." 

"that's really sweet." sapphire complimented, smiling warmly at him. she suddenly pulled out one of her guns and aimed it right at the rope around him. 

zoro frowned at her and her gun. wondering what the hell she was doing and that she better not shoot him. "just know that if you untie me, i'm still not joining your crew." he warned her. "and if you shoot me and i live, i'm hunting you down." 

"don't worry, i won't shoot you." she said, aiming and shooting at the rope. the bullet cut through the rope around his left wrist, freeing that hand. she did the same for his other wrist and the rope around his waist, making all of the rope fall to pieces. freeing him. "you don't owe me anything, either. think of this as a....common courtesy." 

she pulled out one side of her skirt and curtsied towards him elegantly. zoro, now entirely free, started rubbing his sore wrists a little as he looked at sapphire with both intrigue and skepticism. 

sapphire rose back up and placed her gun back into her bag and turned to leave him. "i hope you get your swords back, zoro." she said as she made her way back to the hold. but before she started to climb back into it, she turned back to zoro with one last smile. "do you mind if i leave this open? i think it's broken." 

zoro stared at her as if she really was crazy. crazy, but brave. and a bit on the adventurous side. 

just before she completely left, sapphire waved goodbye to him with one hand, leaving him even more interested in the beautiful girl with eyes like her namesake. zoro didn't notice this, but a ghost of a smirk found its way onto his fave. barely noticeable but it was there. and it was all because of sapphire. 

holy hell, this is the longest chapter i think i've ever written. 7000+ words and it's currently 6 am. 
I just want to let you all know, for those who didn't see my mb post, not too long ago, i under went surgery to get my ruptured appendix removed and due to me being very sensitive to medicine ( having a weak immune system ), i ended up getting very sick so i've been dealing with that this entire time. 

but don't worry, i'm okay now. nothing hurts or anything. i just can't do heavy lifting and all that for a little while longer. but anyways, hoped you all had fun with this chapter ( i re-wrote it three times. ) 

don't forget to comment and vote! your comments motivate me. love you all!