❛ WHY DID WE COME ALL THIS WAY?! ❜
₊˚៹ . ❪ episode : 103 ❫˖ ₊˚.⋆
࿐┊ CH. 10┊🏴‍☠️🌊👒

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The sun was still setting over the now cooling down desert environment, all the Straw Hats finally back together after getting separated again and were walking across the sand to their next destination up ahead.

"Hey, (Y/N), Happy, Luffy..." Usopp heaved out lagging behind the group, using his stick to pull himself along still feeling effected by the heat, "What did your brother give you?"

The two boys shared a look of confusion hearing this question, Happy being in Luffy's arms since he was tired from using his wings, and walked beside Chopper, "We dunno."

She hummed in agreement also staring at her brother with Happy, the girl being carried on Sanji's back now just like how she was with Zoro before, "It seems like a scrap of paper," She admitted unwrapping one arm around Sanji's shoulders, and held the card in that hand, "but knowing Ace, it means something."

The cook chewed a bit on his blunt hanging in his mouth, slipping his arms under her thighs some more, and turned his head to look at her, "Can I see that for a second, please belle?" He asked kindly, and smiled softly making Zoro scowl at them from her other side.

She nodded her head returning the look happily as her hair was brushing against his under the blue hoodie he was wearing, and passed Sanji the paper.

He took it using one arm to keep her up on his back, "It really is just a scrap of paper." He mumbled confused gazing down at the object confused, head leaning onto the side of hers, "It's not even a note or anything."

Usopp wheezed some more breathes of air into his lungs, sweating badly down his forehead gripping onto the stick for dear life, "A-are you serious?"

"I'm not sure either, but..." Luffy shrugged his shoulders also lost to what it was, and trailed off in thought turning his eyes to his sister, which had Happy shifting up more in his arms.

She grabbed the paper when Sanji raised his hands for her to take it, earning him a smooch on the cheek that had him gushing, and Zoro to control his urge to knock the cook out. But he wouldn't, knowing it was his turn to carry her, and also he was holding onto (Y/N), which he didn't want her to get harmed in the chaos.

"(N/N)! Give me your hat." Nami called out smiling at her best friend, walking up to where Sanji was grinning like a dork over the captain, and held out her hand waiting.

The Monkey D. girl tilted her head to the side innocently not understanding, but slipped the straw hat off of her head carefully. Nami gently took it into her possession now, "If it's that important, I'll sew it to the underside of your hat ribbon."

"Oh? Yes, thank you Nini!" She brightened up at what the navigator was going to do, giggling excitedly pressing her cheek against Sanji's blushing one watching Nami now sew the paper onto the red ribbon.

Nami's lips lifted up fondly hearing the nickname she always called her, continuing on sewing the paper into the ribbon with a string, "Okay! All done!" She announced biting off the left over material to snip it, and grinned passing back the hat to (Y/N), "Here you go."

"Thank! Now me, Lu and Happy don't have to worry." She chirped flashing a wide smile to Nami, letting Sanji place the hat back onto her head with a nuzzle gaining more giggles from her as it tickled.

Zoro grumbled annoyed at the cooks display with her, crossing his arms over his black and white robe, "There's nothing written on it." He stated the obvious stomping up to beside them more, and raised an eyebrow at her curiously, "What point is there to keeping it?"

She lifted her head up a bit from resting on Sanji's shoulder, and held the brim of the hat with her hand, "Ace told us to keep it, so we're keeping it!" She retorted giving him a stubborn pout, and for Luffy and Happy to cheer their agreement also.

"Thinking like that will get you nowhere..." Zoro mumbled deadpanning at his determined captain, who was talking to her brother and Happy. His comment had Sanji irking, lifting up his leg to kick the back of Zoro's ones as he was careful to not bump (Y/N) on his back.

The swordsman exclaimed surprised at the hit, regaining his posture by using his katan's and got back up straight away to glare angrily at Sanji, who matched his attitude growling for him to back down.

Before a fight could break out between the frenemy rivals, Vivi's excited voice cut through the air breaking up the conversations, "Everyone! Yuba is just over those big rocks!" She announced facing the direction they needed to go in, and smiled, "Let's make one more push to get there!"

"Okay, let's go!" Luffy, (Y/N), Happy and Chopper all exclaimed together joyfully in agreement, rising their arms up into the air also as the crew now go to walk into the direction where Vivi pointed too.

⚔️🏴‍☠️⚔️

The more closer they got to the village of Yuba through the desert, the more the wind was picking up around them, which had the sand swirling around it also, and it effected their vision a bit walking.

"Up ahead! I see a light!" Vivi claimed loudly to the pirates, narrowing her eyes down on something in the distance which was hard to spot, and had her lower half face covered by her robe.

Luffy made a noise placing his hand that wasn't covering Happy up to his forehead, "Did we make it to Yuba?!" His question was muffled by the material over his mouth, "I can't really see with all this sand!"

Usopp was knocked out throwing over Zoro's shoulders like a sack of potatos, and he carried his stick in his other hand, standing beside Chopper who was in his reindeer medium sized form on all four hooves.

The wind was also picking up more now almost blowing off their robes hoodies cover their heads, and a strange gust sound traveling through the air, had (Y/N)'s head lifting up from being hidden away again Sanji's neck.

"Whatever the noise is I'm hearing, it doesn't sound good.." She murmured worriedly furrowing her brows, trying to narrow her enchanted gaze down onto the city up head but still couldn't see through the sand everywhere.

Sanji panicked a bit seeing she was now exposed to the gusting wind and sand. He quickly raised a hand from on her thigh, placing it behind her head gently just underneath the gap of the hat.

"Keep your head low, my love." He whispered in a urgent, but tender tone that had shivers traveling down her spine hearing his voice so close to her ears.

She just gulped not answering him, as she just let him gently push her face to nuzzle into the crook of his neck, and felt his relief exhale against her exposed skin. Gripping onto his robe in between her fingers, she ignored the howling wind around them and focused on how safe she felt in Sanji's hold instead.

"The city doesn't look right!" Vivi claimed in horror pulling down the robe covering her mouth, which had her voice being heard more, "A sandstorm!" She yelled once they had gotten closer, watching a huge amount of wind blow cover the once populated city left in ruins now, "The city of Yuba is being struck by a sandstorm!"

The pirates all stood there on the edge of the line where the city's entrance was, not moving an inch till the massive storm was over. (Y/N) had also made sure to place an air barrier around them, just in case things would go sideways, but in the end no one had gotten blown away or injured expect for the city.

Once the hazard was cleared away and vanished from over top of Yuba, Vivi was the first to step forward gazing at the scene with widened eyes, "This can't be..." She gasped at how everything in sight was covered in sand, or broken looking like it hasn't been touched for ages.

"This is bad." Zoro mumbled his comment trailing up beside his captain still being held by the cook, and scrunched his eyebrows together, "It's almost no different from that Erumalu city!"

(Y/N) twisted her face out from the side of Sanji's neck, to rest her chin on his shoulder instead, arms loosely hanging around them also, "That means no water for any of us..." She hummed quietly, flexing her fingertips wishing she could bend some up with her abilities.

The cook squeezed her thighs that he ruffled up her clothes so he could touch, trying to bring her a bit of comfort before glancing to princess questioning, "Wasn't this supposed to be an oasis city, Vivi?"

"The sand has raised the ground." She answered in a dreadful one, eyelids dropping in sadness at the state of the once lively city, "The oasis has been swallowed up."

However the sound of someone digging up is heard, followed by an older man's coughing that reached through the groups ears. They only than realised the figure of a person, in one of the holes using a shovel to dig up the sand wanting to find water underneath it all.

"Are you travelers?" His gruff, warn out voice asked, his back facing them as he shoved away the sand on the ground to another area, "You just be exhausted from your trek through the desert.." He grunts out, and turns around to show his dusty face, "Sorry. This town is a bit dried up. But you're free to rest here if you want."

Vivi covered her face from view now feeling on high alert, as she didn't want to be spotted or exposed for her true indentiy. The man continued on his speech to them digging, "There are plenty of inns here. They are this town's pride, after all."

"Umm, we came because we heard the rebel arm was in this city..." The blue haired princess told him, voice muffled from the robe around her mouth, and her words gained a scowl from the older male.

He paused his shoveling in the sand sticking it into the ground, and snapped his head back around to them, "What business do you have with the rebel army?!" He questions in a threatening tone, and began to throw supplies at the group, "Curse you! Don't tell me you're hoping to join the rebellion?!"

Lashes, Luffy and Happy were taking many of the hits from the stuff he throw at them full forced, making (Y/N) wince on their behalf, really worried seeing how her brother and Happy were both slumped down a little.

"If you're looking for those fools, they left town long ago." The older man announced stopping his temper tantrum, and his words had the pirates exclaiming in disbelief, "A sandstorm hit the town just now, but it certainly wasn't the first. The sand has dried up after three years of drought, and sandstorms began to frequent this town ever since. Little by little, the oasis of the past was swallowed up, leaving what you see now." He explains digging the sand up more again, "With the town's flow of supplies gone, not even the rebel's army's protracted struggle would have worked out. So the rebel army moved its base to Katorea."

Vivi's eyes went wide hearing where it was moved, and stuttered out realising how far back the place was, where the crew left only a few days ago, "Katorea?!" She repeated shocked, "That's an oasis next to Nanohana."

"Katorea is the town where I got lost and met Lashes!" Chopper recalled also surprised remembering that moment before, and hear Lashes gibbering something now, "Lashes says he was carrying rebel army good to Katorea!"

This had Luffy, Usopp and Happy beating up Lashes for the trouble he caused, and Sanji would of joined but he had his beloved to worry about first, "Why didn't you tell Vivi or one of us sooner?!" Luffy snarked annoyed, not aware he exposed the princess's name to the older male.

Lashes gibbered something our again, and Chopper translated it deadpanning, "'Whatever!'" This gained more hits from the trio, and even a headlock from Happy despite how much smaller the Exceed was.

"Why did we come all this way, then?!" Zoro remarked sighing heavily, using his finger to poke (Y/N)'s cheek hearing her whines of complaint on Sanji's back, and deadpanned tiredly at them both.

Their attention was drawn back to the older male, who was dropping his shovel to the ground and slowly stumbling up to them, "Did you just say 'Vivi?" He questioned in disbelief, making Luffy try to protest about it but gained a punch to the head by Zoro, "Vivi? Is that you?"

She remined cautious of him coming up right close to her from the small hill, gasping gently as he placed his hands on her shoulders, "You're alive! Thank goodness!" He speaks relived smiling brightly at the confused princess, "It's me! Don't you reconginse me? I suppose I can't blame you. I did lose some weight.."

However Vivi soon realised who this male was standing before her, the very one she use to be around when she was a little girl, "Toto?" She breathed out placing a hand up to her mouth, making him tear up happily and nod his confirmation, "It can't be.."

"Toto?" Luffy repeated the name in confusion standing behind the two with the others, and held onto Happy in his arms again once he heard his complaining.

"Vivi, I have faith in His Majesty!" Toto tells the said girl gripping her shoulders firmly, as her eyes grow watery now hearing how confident he sounded, "He's not someone who would ever betray the kingdom." A few tears slip free from his eyes down onto his cheeks, "Don't you agree?!"

She catches his fall when his knees caved in on themselves, and held his arms as they were both knelt on the sand with Toto crying even more, "This rebellion is ridiculous!" He exclaimed digging his finger into the sand helplessly, "Those fools...so what if it hasn't rained for meter three years? I have faith in His Majesty. Most of the country still does, in fact."

He swallowed the lump in his throat, keeping his robe to cover his face from view, "So many times...so many times I tried to stop them. But they won't listen to anything I say." He continues on explaining, and everyone else listened closely, "The rebellion won't stop. Their strength is at it's limit, too. They intent to settle things once and for all in the next attack. They're prepared to die!"

I don't think Vivi likes the sound of that... (Y/N) thought to herself frowning spotting how the princess was looking mortified, and nuzzled half of her face back into Sanji's shoulder, gaining his warm lips brushing against her cheek in response.

The Monkey. D girl didn't want innocent people to die either, but if they were going to win this war, that may need to happen, or at least but themselves on the line to fight otherwise nothing would get accomplished. That's the truth and she knew that, but also could sense Vivi didn't, at least not yet.

"Please, Vivi! Stop those fools!" Toto pleads the princess crying hopelessly, more tears dripping onto the sand beheant his hands as he was sheading them like waves down his cheeks, knowing how far they would go.

Instead of answering verbally straight away Vivi pulled out her white handkerchief, and held it out for Toto to use, "Don't worry, Toto." She assured with a kind smile, and warm eyes, causing the males tears to stop looking up at her in awe, "We will stop the rebellion."

She motioned to all her pirates friends that she gathered along the way, all wearing serious expressions on their faces watching the scene playout in front. It had Toto gasping in joy, happy tears blurring his vison this time, and took the cloth from Vivi sobbing, "Thank you!"

─►☆ AUTHOR'S NOTE :
not a very long chapter im so sorry for that guys but its the ep and it only had a few scenes with the crew in them even if i did add a few of my own😪
but hopefully the upcoming chaps will satisfy everyone instead of this one cause
i hate it too dw LMAOOA

i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and pleaseeee don't be silent readers, it really helps to
keep me motivated :') kisses🫶