Chapter 8: Lost and Found

*dies from the amount of favs and follows* I seriously cannot stress enough how awesome you guys are! Thank you sooo much!

Also, to the reviewer who asked if Pika-chan was going to have its own arc? Of course Pika-chan will have one, but it will be a while, like, 'not until Sabaody' a while, so sit tight. Pika-chan will get snippets of memories here and there, but we won't learn about its home for a while. Hope that clears things up.

This marks the second time I've been lost at sea. I'm not sure if I was even at sea when I woke up on the Baratie but I definitely have had the worst luck since then. Hopefully this wouldn't happen again. Thankfully, I landed with the wood Luffy threw me on so I wouldn't drown, but that didn't soothe me much. I just had to wait until I reached land or came across a boat. Then maybe I could find a way back to the Baratie...if it was still there after that fight.

From the looks of it, Sanji and Luffy were the only capable fighters there; I hoped they could pull through. Hopefully Sanji's not too torn up about me being out here. I couldn't help but feel guilty thinking that. Sanji was my friend. Now I had practically abandoned him when he probably needed my help!

I sigh and lie on the piece of wood, wincing as I put weight on my stomach and chest; this injury was probably gonna take a while to fully heal. I close my eyes and just let myself drift; something will happen eventually I'm sure. I fall asleep pretty quickly due to the sun and my injury, but I hear some muffled voices in the background after a while.

"What is that? A yellow rat?"

"I don't know, but it looks stranded; stop the boat." I feel a pair of arms carefully pick me up off the wood and lie me down on a bigger piece of wood, obviously a boat. Thank Arceus.

"Well, at least this thing doesn't seem dangerous…"

"It's actually pretty cute." Ugh, if I had the energy I'd give them both a good shock.

"This little guy looks hurt pretty badly." I wince as I feel a hand press on my middle making the pain flare up again.

"I think we have some extra bandages, hold on!" A few moments later, my middle is all bandaged up; the medicine they gave me has made me feel much better too. I think I can open my eyes now. I open them and three faces appear over me.

"It's waking up!" One guy with sunglasses exclaims. I recognize the other two, the one with a long nose and the swordsman with green hair. Weren't these guys Luffy's friends?

"Pika…" I groan and slowly sit up.

"Say, this little guy looks familiar…" Long Nose comments. "Haven't we seen you somewhere before?"

"It's probably nothing; it's just a rat." Swordsman says dismissively. Hmph, maybe if I shock him again he'll remember.

"Pika pikachu." I say, giving a nod. 'Thanks for picking me up.'

"Aww! It's so cute!" Sunglasses gushes, patting my head. I sigh but allow him to pet me; looking like this sure was a burden, especially since I can't speak their language. I notice that Swordsman is really heavily bandaged; I'm not really surprised considering what he went through.

"So, how did a little guy like you end up all the way out here?" Long Nose asks.

"Pika pi." I respond, deciding to give a shrug. He couldn't understand me so giving a straight answer was out of the question.

"Quit talking to the rat, you look like an idiot." Swordsman comments.

"Well excuse me for being concerned." Long Nose retorts. I give him a small smile regardless and decide to get some more rest. I was still pretty wiped from being adrift for so long. I curl up and everyone leaves me alone after that.

After a while I wake up again and sneak to the back of the boat. I peek out from the back railing and see nothing but ocean. I frown slightly; guess getting back to the Baratie was going to take longer than I thought. I hope Sanji and Luffy are okay; that poison gas seemed pretty lethal from where I saw it.

Despite it being pretty inconvenient, Luffy did save my life. I probably wouldn't have made it if I had stayed where I was...but did Luffy have to throw me so far? He could've just thrown me out of range of the restaurant, not make me get lost at sea! Ah well, I'll berate him the next time I see him...if I even can see him and Sanji again.

I get up onto the railing, perching myself there and simply watch the ocean until I hear Sunglasses. "There's Arlong Park!" I turn from my perch seeing a giant tower ahead surrounded by a large gate.

"I really hope Nami's actually here…" Long Nose whimpers.

"Let's check for the Going Merry before we do anything stupid." Sunglasses suggests.

"Good idea." Long Nose agrees but Swordsman stands up.

"Let's attack." he says simply, getting his katana ready.

"Hey! I just said we shouldn't do anything stupid!" Sunglasses protests. I watch the argument and it ends with Long Nose and Sunglasses hitting Zoro over the head with two small hammers before tying him to the cabin.

"Untie me dammit!" I sweatdrop as I watch their antics. I got picked up by a pretty strange bunch. Then again, these are the guys who were friends with Luffy; I shouldn't be surprised.

"Now Zoro, you're too injured to be of any help." Long Nose says. He places his hand on Swordsman- I mean Zoro's chest making him flinch in pain to prove his point. Yeah, after getting sliced and diced by someone from the Grand Line, fighting is pretty much out of the question. "Prepare the anchor and bring us alongside the Going Merry!" Long Nose orders.

The little boat begins to head towards a ship with a goat head on it (was that weird looking thing really their ship…?) when Long Nose suddenly ducks down in fear. "What is it?" Sunglasses asks. Long Nose points to the side and I see what's got them so spooked.

"Fishmen!" They exclaim silently. I stay rooted to my spot behind the cabin; those guys definitely looked like guys you shouldn't mess with. The boat goes right past the dock, hoping not to draw attention, but that doesn't work so well as two of those Fish guys jump into the water making headway for the ship. "Let's get out of here!" Long Nose exclaims.

I gape as Sunglasses and Long Nose jump off the ship, leaving Zoro and I completely at the mercy of the fish guys. Well, more Zoro than me; they haven't seen me yet. But still, those jerks! I wait in the wings with baited breath as they take control of the ship and steer it towards a large gate where a tower labeled Arlong Park sits in the distance. Looks like I'm gonna have to swim for it to keep from being caught.

I climb over the edge of the back of the boat and hang from there; I just had to wait for the right time. The gates open and I see a small canal between the inside of the gate and the entrance itself; perfect. I let go and land in the water with a small splash. I swim underwater a few feet to my right until I'm behind the wall. I climb onto the concrete jutting out under the gate as the gate closes and I'm about to get out, but something stops me.

What were they going to do to Zoro? He was already injured enough...maybe they would let him go. I peek over the wall carefully, keeping my ears low as a giant fish guy, who I can only assume is Arlong, began interrogating Zoro. It looked like neither party was getting anywhere, but it got ten times more complicated when a familiar red head came out into the open.

That's the girl who was with Luffy in the restaurant. Zoro seems pretty shocked too at seeing her here; but the worst part? She's smiling.

"Is this human a friend of yours Nami?" Arlong asks. Ah, Nami, so that was her name.

"As if," she scoffs. "He's just another idiot who thought I was his friend before I robbed him blind." She walks forward and kneels in front of him. "You followed me all the way out here without knowing that? You really are stupid!" I wince at her tone; she definitely didn't seem like the sweet innocent looking girl I saw in the Baratie.

"So this is who you really are." Zoro says softly. I can't see his face, but it's probably devastated.

"Yep, it was all an act; and you bought the whole show." Nami says. She brings her arm forward revealing a tattoo. I squint and realize that it's the same design on the pirate flag above us. "I'm a pirate, and Arlong's navigator."

Well, this just got ten times more dramatic.

I watch as Nami smirks down at Zoro; I can't believe that girl was actually a trickster this entire time! When I saw her with the others in the restaurant she looked so happy; was that seriously just an act? Zoro can't seem to believe it either.

"She had you completely fooled!" Arlong laughs."She's cold-blooded; she even betrayed her family for money!"

My eyes widen as Nami's expression suddenly changes. Whoa, I've never seen that amount of emotion on anyone before! That's the face of someone who regrets everything they've done and have no way to fix the damage they've caused. Maybe…

"If I were you I'd just admit defeat." Arlong continues, but Zoro scoffs.

"I don't need to; I never had much trust in her to begin with." I wince; did he really mean that? Or did he see Nami's face like I did? He should have, being right in front of her and all.

"Fine, then just get the hell out of here!" Nami demands, putting on her cruel act again. Oh good, maybe this means she'll let Zoro go. Zoro suddenly pushes off the ground with his feet, propelling himself into the water.

Uh...what?

I don't think this is what Nami meant by get out of here...is he gonna be okay? He's tied up and injured, so there's no way he can swim. I glance frantically between the water and Nami. Um, do something? Hello? Nami? I fight the urge to jump in, but I'll be caught right away if I do, and there's no way I can stand up to all these guys!

I can tell by Nami's expression that she's having one heck of an inner conflict. 'C'mon Nami, do something! You can't possibly tell me that you're okay with this!'

"That idiot!" I deflate in relief as she throws off her shoes and dives into the pool. I knew she couldn't be as bad as they made her out to be. That look in her eyes said it all. A few moments later, they both reappear, breathing heavily on the concrete ground. They're whispering to each other, but I can't pick it up. But judging by how the whispering ended with Nami kicking him and holding him up by his neck, I'm guessing it wasn't a pleasant conversation.

"Try that again and I'll make sure you die!" Nami threatens. "That's a lot of bandages; you must've been hurt pretty bad." I can pick up concern in her voice. Yep, there's no way she's a bad guy. She just can't be!

"Actually I just forgot my shirt," I can feel Zoro's grin. "I grabbed these to cover up so you wouldn't get distracted." I wince as she punches him in the stomach; yeah, he kinda deserved that one. Thankfully, Nami's able to get Arlong to lock him up saying that she would take care of him; well, I think it's safe to say that Zoro's in safe hands.

I'm about to drop down to get out of here when another fish guy comes in saying that Long Nose was spotted and got away in a place called Cocoyashi village. I look at Nami and realize that her fist is clenched and shaking; what on earth is going through this girl's head?

I plan to find out.