32 A Drop of Water

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Chapter 33 (Crocodile, The Warlord), Chapter 34 (Blood in The Sand), Chapter 35 (Baroque Works vs Pirate Crew), Chapter 36 (The Guardian of Alabasta), and Chapter 37 (Poneglyph) are already available for Patrons.

Nothing but endless Desert for miles ahead; it felt as if they had been traveling for hours now; the sun had just risen up in the sky, and the crew was following Vivi behind since she knew the place much more than them due to Luffy's abilities, they had plenty of water, and the danger of Dehydration was gone. However, they still needed to eat food; that was the difficult part.

Luffy had told his crew his ability to make it rain was something he could do only if there were at least some clouds up in the air; he could do nothing if there were no clouds for miles ahead.

Looking up, Nami could see no clouds; Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy were holding the majority of their bags, with a little help from Usopp; Nami was holding a backpack; she didn't want to leave it to them to carry everything, and so was Nojiko. The only ones not carrying anything were Chopper and Vivi.

Nami's brown eyes went to her sister; something was a bit off; she wasn't sweating, despite the high temperature, and she was carrying over 20 kg of items in her bag; despite that, she wasn't sweating, and she didn't look tired in the slightest.

She could understand why the case could be for the Princess; she was born and raised in Alabasta after all, but even someone like her was sweating slightly; Nojiko wasn't sweating, not even a little, her breathing was completely normal, and from what she noticed, it seemed this detail was noticed by Chopper and Luffy as well.

"Jeez, just how much further should we go?" Usopp blurted out, his tongue sticking out like a dog in heat, and it didn't help that he felt sand in every part of his body, not knowing how it got there.

"Don't worry, Usopp; Vivi says we are close; worst case scenario, we need to spend another day in the desert," Luffy replied instead of the princess with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Luffy's right; Yuba is nearby, is close to an Oasis; there will be plenty of Food and Water there," Vivi said, encouraging her crew to keep moving forward.

Hearing they were getting close brought a dark look upon Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji's faces; if the information was correct and there was no reason for it not to be, they were over five hundred thousand rebellious soldiers there, the captain had spoken with them last night telling them what to do in case things got ugly, which could happen way too easily.

"What should we do, Captain?" Sanji questioned, his voice void of emotions, a cigarette between his lips.

"Once we arrive there, we must take into account that they might not believe Vivi; many of them might even blame her, saying she's just trying to put the guilt of her father into Crocodile, The Great Pirate who helps them," Luffy said grimly, his voice cold and his face blank.

Sanji usually would jump in defense of the Princess if things weren't so serious, but when things got serious, he knew to pull out his serious mask and act like a Pirate.

Zoro grunted before nodding his head in agreement. "What do you suggest we do, Captain?"

"If things go well, we simply kill Crocodile and his little group; if the Rebellious blame Vivi and don't trust her, then we get away and plan something, but if they dare to attack, Protect The Crew," Luffy ordered, his voice alone sending shivers into their bodies, despite being their captain, they knew just how powerful Luffy was.

They escaped their grimly thoughts when they heard a loud noise getting closer; looking around, trying to figure out where it was coming from; Usopp was the first to pinpoint the direction of the noise.

"Right there," he shouted, pointing his index finger at a large amount of sand flying in the air, and getting closer, almost like a small sand storm.

Usopp put his hand on his forehead to see better, and he could see a small, what at first looked like a horse getting chased by a giant Lizard?!!!...

"Aaahhhh, A Giant Lizard," Usopp shouted in a panic the moment he understood what he was looking at; now, as it got closer to the crew, they could see it was a camel running away from it in panic.

"That Lizard must be Delicious," Luffy shouted; his eyes suddenly looked like meat, and it seemed Zoro and Sanji were thinking the same thing.

The camel reached them before hiding behind Nami; the giant weird-looking lizard was about to attack the Navigator when its head was kicked hard by Sanji, his chest slashed across, killing instantly.

"I Killed it first," Zoro murmured with a sword in his mouth.

"On your dreams, moss head," Sanji shouted, landing on the sand.

"Good job, guys, now, We Can Finally Eat," Luffy shouted, drooling from his mouth. It didn't take long for everyone to sit and eat together; they found an excellent place to be under a shadow because of a large-looking rock.

"So, what's his deal?" Luffy asked with his mouth full of meat, pointing at the camel over his shoulder who was looking at Nami with literal hearts in his eyes, earning a raised eyebrow from Zoro, Sanji grumbling in anger yet again; Usopp wondered why a camel would be interested in a female human.

Chopper walked up to it, saying something that the crew couldn't understand; knowing the attention was on him, the camel turned to look at the men of the crew with an indifferent look.

He spoke something with Chopper, who started translating.

"Hi, I'm a harmless Camel just passing by; thank you for saving my life, I appreciate it, but I don't give rides to males, so piss off," Chopper translated with the camel sticking out his tongue mockingly towards the male group whose eyebrows were twitching.

"Aaaahhhh," the camel screamed as Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp were kicking it without mercy.

"We just saved your worthless ass; who do you think you are?" They shouted with Chopper trying to stop them, reminding them that Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi could ride on it. Nami slowly walked up to the camel, trying to calm them down.

"Calm down, guys; he's such a gentleman," Nami stopped them before caressing the camel's head, whose eyes turned to hearts all over again.

"Pervert,"

"Worthless,"

"Stupid Horse," The trio murmured under their noses.

After resting for half an hour, they were yet again making their way towards Yuba; Nami was humming as the good camel was allowing her, Nojiko, and Vivi to ride on top of him, with the camel sending the rest of the crew mocking looks making them rethink the reason why they even saved that worthless piece of shit.

"I swear if that horse mocks us again, I will eat it for dinner," Luffy grumbled, sending a glare; the others didn't bother correcting him but simply nodded in approval.

After hours of walking, a storm slowly started to hit them; Luffy used his devil fruit to ease it up a bit; despite the sand flying around, they could clearly see the image of buildings getting closer.

"Is that it?!" Luffy questioned skeptically, using his Observation Haki; he couldn't feel a single soul there, except one, but not the army he had expected.

Getting closer, now the city was clear to them, or what was left of it. Vivi jumped from the camel, walking in the front; she protected her face with her hand; seeing clearer now, she gasped in horror.

"Something is not Right with the Town. What Happened Here?" She asked no one in particular.

Looking closer, the whole crew was shocked by the large sand storm right in the town; Luffy narrowed his eyes, raising his arms in the air.

"A Sand Storm?! A sandstorm is hitting the Town," Vivi shouted in panic.

Luffy raised his arm, causing the storm to go away slowly; after a whole minute, the storm had disappeared on the horizon; the Strawhat drank water, and the captain was about to ask Vivi if they were at the right place when they heard a sound.

The whole crew turned to notice an older man digging in the sand with a shovel; he was standing in a sand-filled riverbed. "Travellers! It's been quite a while since I have seen anyone around here," the old man spoke. He was an older man with a bushy, white mustache; his body was thin and weathered from a harsh life in the desert.

"What happened to Yuba?" Vivi asked, but more like shouting, barely keeping her voice in control; the town looked nothing like she remembered. All the smiling faces, all the water from the oasis was gone...

"I hate to break it to you, but Yuba has been hit by sandstorms for three years now; the oasis has been buried deep underneath the sand," The old man explained with a sad tone looking up at the crew.

Vivi's eyes widened in horror, gasping from shock, falling to her knees in absolute despair; another town was gone, another town she remembered was gone, no longer looking like the paradise she remembered.

Seeing the princess's mood, Nami and Nojiko walked up to her, putting a confronting hand on her shoulders; Luffy took a step forward, looking at the old man still digging in the sand, he didn't know what he was trying to accomplish, but from the state of the town and the lack of people here, everyone quickly figured the Rebellion Army wasn't around, at least not anymore.

"Where are the rebellious? Do you know where their base is?" Luffy questioned the old man, whose welcoming eyes suddenly hardened to glare, and the grip on his shovel tightened, causing it to creak.

"Are you with them?" He questioned with a low dangerous tone before throwing various objects mainly at Usopp and Chopper, who was desperately trying to dodge them, the latter quickly hiding himself behind Zoro's leg, using it as a shield.

"What are you doing, old man?" Usopp shouted, after dodging from buckets, to pickax.

"We are not with the rebellion," Vivi quickly said, which seemed to ease the tension; the old man gave them all a wary look, focusing on Vivi a bit longer but eventually turning to dig in the sand.

"They're not here," he shouted, pushing the shovel with his feet down; using his strength, he threw the sand away.

"The fools left the town once the oasis wasn't around anymore to supply them with water. Their base is in Katorea now," the old man answered.

"Katorea?!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Katorea? Where is that place, Vivi?" Nojiko questioned, none of them knowing where that was.

"Is near Nanohana,"

"Aaahhh, why did we waste our time coming here," Usopp shouted, his jaw-dropping on the sand.

"Wait, Vivi? Did you just say, Vivi?" The old man questioned, looking at the crew again, suddenly making his way over to them.

"Dang it," Nojiko cursed for saying her name out loud; the old man looked at Vivi closely.

"I-is it really You, Princess?" The old man asked with tears building up in his eyes; Vivi was lost for words, not knowing how the man would react knowing she was the princess.

"It's really you," the man said with now tears rolling down his old cheeks, his voice sounding as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Aaa-ahh, Yes," Vivi answered with the old man openly crying.

"Don't you remember me? I know I have gotten older and perhaps lost a bit of weight but not that much," the old man said, understanding that his face must have changed drastically for the princess not to recognize him.

Looking closely, Vivi's eyes widened, a flash of a much different face in front of her face, a healthier face, a wider face. "Old man Toh-Toh," recognizing him now, the old man nodded his head, confirming everything.

"Toh-Toh?!" Luffy tilted his head to the side, not recognizing the old man's name.

"You have returned home; you have finally-" he stopped before falling on the sand with a huff, kneeling in front of the princess.

"Please, princess, stop the rebellion; they are all fools, they think the king betrayed this country, but I know your father would never do this to us, never. I tried so many times to change their times, talking to them, telling them this was a fool's errand," the old man spoke, keeping his face down, not baring to look at her.

Vivi closed her mouth with her hand, crying herself; she couldn't believe the state Toh-Toh was reduced too.

"They have been here for a long time. I tried and tried, but all fell on deaf ears; they're all cornered into a corner like animals; after the Oasis of Yuba was no more, they all left. They're convinced to bring the fight straight to the king, you must stop them, your grace, if you don't, there will be a..." he stopped speaking, chocking into a sob, the images of his son lying dead in the sand, his blood everywhere was a nightmare come true, hundreds of people killing each other, the king's head on a spike for all to see, and all the rebellious cheering for the fall of the tyrant.

Vivi crouched at his level, putting a hand on his shoulder, her own tears rolling freely on her cheeks, dripping into the sand. "I will stop them, Toh-Toh. I won't allow a single innocent blood to drop. I will stop them before anyone innocent dies," Vivi promised with resolve in her voice. The crew had backed away a little to give them a little space. Still, they all gave Vivi a nod, telling her that she had their support to stop Crocodile, even though Luffy doubted they would be able actually to stop them before innocent blood was spilled; he had been told and seen it himself many times that things don't usually go how we want, that is Life slapping you in the face showing that the World could be a Cruel Place.

"Thank you, Princess," The old man said with all his heart; the princess helped him to stand up, and the old man showed them a comfortable inn they could spend the night and continue their journey tomorrow.

The rest of the crew were resting; except Zoro, who was training, and Sanji, who was making something for everyone, tea and a bit of food; thanks to Luffy's raining ability, he had more than enough water to boil it and use it for cooking.

Luffy, on the other hand, walked up to the old man, who was surprisingly still digging into the one-meter-deep hole in the sand, not showing any signs of being tired; the captain smiled slightly; he's a bit like Gramps, he thought, despite being old they were both much more than what they looked at first.

"What can I do for you, young man?" The old man questioned, still digging and not looking at Luffy; for a brief moment, the captain wondered if the old man had heard him approaching or had used Observation Haki somehow but quickly dropped it, walking up to the edge of the hole.

"Why are you digging?"

The old man threw sand away with his shovel, using his forearm to wipe away the sweat from his forehead and his reddened cheeks; despite staying under the sun the whole day long, his skin wasn't burned.

"Many think the Oasis of Yuba is no more, but the king entrusted me with this city. I know for sure there's water down there," the old man explained, spreading his arms around at the end as if to say that the whole place had water underneath.

"I see; well, let me help you," Luffy said with a broad smile. The old man briefly glanced at the weird boy with a Straw Hat; he's odd, he thought, before throwing him a spare shovel.

"What's your name, young man?" Toh-Toh asked curiously.

"Monkey D. Luffy, future pirate king," Luffy said with a broad smile; the old man raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Quickly Luffy started digging without stopping, much faster than the old man; within ten minutes, his hole was much deeper than that of Toh-Toh; now, Luffy was using a bucket attached to a rope to carry up and throw away the sand, the old man was helping him as well.

During the whole time, Vivi was looking at them from the inn, a smile spreading on her face; seeing her captain helping Toh-Toh like that made her heart beat faster before she even realized she was making her way over to them.

Luffy aimed his shovel down after filling another bucket with sand, ready to dig more, when he hit something hard, causing a small crack sound.

"A stone, I hit a stone," Luffy called out, looking up at the old man whose eyes widened in astonishment.

"That's not a stone; that's a Sandstone; this is miraculous for us," the old man said, now smiling as much as Luffy.

"It is?"

"Yes, Luffy, it means there's water below the area," the princess explained, making herself known to the old man; Luffy had felt her coming using his Observation Haki.

"Princess, what can I do for you?" Toh-Toh asked respectfully towards the princess but still smiled as if he hadn't smiled for three years.

"I want to help as well," Vivi said, looking down at the hole where Luffy was; before the old man could tell her that she didn't need to, Vivi grabbed a shovel before jumping down where Luffy was.

The captain backed away a little to give her space. "The more, the merrier," she said before starting to dig as well; Luffy smiled at her resolve, her hoodie no longer covering her beautiful blue hair from the sand and dirt around them, not that Vivi cared if her hair got full of sand.

Both of them dug, the old man carrying the buckets with sand up and down from the now deep hole. After half hour of digging together and perhaps over fifty buckets full of sand with the help of Toh-Toh, both Vivi and Luffy prepared to dig more when water started coming out, slowly filling the hole up to their heels.

"Princess, Luffy?" Toh-Toh called them, looking worried, noticing they weren't digging anymore.

"Water," Vivi said weakly with tears before saying much louder. "There's Still Water in Yuba," She shouted in pure joy, her voice even heard by the rest of the Straw Hats.

Luffy laughed and wasn't prepared for Vivi to throw herself at him, giving him the biggest hug of his Life.

"Thank You so much, Luffy," she said, her words muffled by his shirt; the captain rubbed her back, and the old man standing at the edge of the hole was crying happy tears, seeing water after a very long time.

Climbing up, Toh-Toh asked how much water was down there; Luffy explained that a pool had formed where they were.

"A pool?" Toh-Toh questioned; before Luffy could answer, the old man grabbed the bucket they used to remove sand, throwing it down; the old man was delighted to hear a splash sound.

"You have done it, Monkey D. Luffy. You have hit the top of the aquifer; this proves that Yuba could still be rebuilt and considered a place to live," Toh-Toh explained, wiping away tears using his hand.

Using the bucket, all three tasted freshwater; the old man felt he was getting younger already when his lips tasted the water of this city.

A few minutes later, Vivi and Luffy walked together toward the rest of the crew. Toh-Toh was behind doing something in the hole but promised he would join the others very soon.

Vivi looked at Luffy from the corner of her eyes; she couldn't stop the blush from engulfing her face like a fire; he's such a kind man, he might be a pirate, but he's a Pirate full of Joy, a man who spreads happiness and laughter, she thought, instinctively her fingers playing with her hair.

She suddenly stopped walking; the captain turned to look at her in concern, seeing the princess looking down at her... fingers.

"Vivi, are you alright?" Luffy asked, concerned; the princess spoke nothing, now getting more worried; he put a hand on her shoulder, causing her tense shoulder to slump down, only now Luffy noticed she was breathing heavily with a blush across her cheeks.

Slowly she lifted her face to look at her captain, her eyes red from crying, her cheeks puffy.

"Luffy," she spoke warmly, her voice husky, her eyes looking at him with love, her voice much more different than usual.

The captain didn't see it coming; when the princess palmed his face with her incredibly soft hand and kissed him right on the lips, he was taken aback for a moment before quickly returning the kiss, his hands going around her waist, bringing her closer to him, feeling her soft breasts against his chest.

The princess had no idea what she was doing; this was her first kiss, so she allowed Luffy to take control of their movement; the kiss muffled a moan when his tongue wanted entrance in her mouth; opening her mouth, she felt pleasure just by his lips, every part of her body was on fire, her hands moved to his hair, her hand going through his dark hair, her other hand touching his well-developed chest.

Pulling away a string of saliva connecting them, she opened her eyes to look at him, the face of the man she had come to love.

"I- Thank you for everything, Luffy," She whispered softly, leaning forward, her arms around his back, her head resting on his chest, enjoying the way he was caressing her hair.

"You have a beautiful personality Vivi, and a beautiful face to add to that," Luffy whispered to her, his words making her heart beat even faster.

"So do you,"

The new couple didn't notice Nami looking at them with a sly smirk, licking her lips seductively before returning to the others.

Arriving there, the others noticed her happy attitude; Nojiko quickly realized what had happened.

While Sanji suddenly got the urge to kick his captain, Again. This World is Cruel, he cried with anime tears on his face, Zoro laughing out loud while Chopper was confused.

Nico Robin

The woman was looking at the newcomers with an unsettling smile on her face, that kind of smile that literally said 'I know everything' sort of smile. They hadn't noticed her yet.

Mister two was busy making ridiculous dance poses, and mister one simply minded his own business, but the officers were busy trying to start a fight with each other.

Seeing that the situation could get out of control, Robin walked out of a shadow, her hands on her hips, a sly smirk on her face.

"I should have known you can't sit still doing nothing for a whole minute, now, can you?" She questioned, amused; everyone turned to her abruptly; Mister one narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The way miss Sunday was acting was really off to him.

"Please don't mind me; you're welcome to kill each other," she said with amusement; before anyone could reply to her, a dark chuckle was heard in the room.

"Not yet, at least. They are worthless to me as corpses,"

Everyone turned in time to see a figure forming from sand, sitting on a fancy chair made out of pure gold, decorated with rubies around, and even a cigarette formed out of the sand on his mouth. His eyes were cold like ice; his presence caused almost everyone to gasp in shock, now recognizing who their leader was.

Robin smirked slyly before walking up to the Warlord, turning around to fully face the others.

"Let me introduce you to your boss. One of the Seven Warlords of The Sea, Mister Crocodile,"