Chapter 29: Vivi's Cry

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The man approached them and Sakura demanded to know who he was. "I am Pel, a guard of the royal family."

"Then you must know Vivi," Sakura said. Her tone edged with concern.

Before Pel could respond, Luffy interjected, shoving the small barrel of water towards her mouth, squishing her face. "Sakura drink some water!"

She complied, taking a few sips, and she could feel the changes in her body nearly instantly. Her skin inflated, and she thought she could feel her blood running through her veins, a feeling she could actually place now. This was akin to how a plant would feel being watered.

"Sakura you popped!" She slapped Luffy lightly, careful of his injury. She still felt like a husk, but at least she could move better, even though her skin was still painful to strength.

Pel observed their exchange sensing the gravity of their situation. "Come I will guide you out of the desert. You both need assistance."

"Meat! I need meat!" Luffy exclaimed, almost dropping Sakura back into the sand. She didn't want to cling on him though as she hadn't gotten to completely healing his injury. It would take some time, but could observe that he had a fast recovery.

"You need a brain scan! Now is not the time to be thinking about food!"

Pel looked at the two, "Is it true? That you two brought Princess Vivi back here?"

"Our crew did," Sakura said, her eyes hardening. "And now we have to go and save them."

Pel transformed back into a falcon, and Luffy watched awestruck. "If you will allow me, I will take you there."

"Let me heal your wounds first," Pel protested but Sakura insisted she didn't want to be getting on the back of an injured man. Especially when he was meant to be carrying them across the desert a hundred feet off the ground. That was her argument for not accepting.

Luffy was like a meercat, his head dashing between Sakura and Pel as the kunoichi healed his injuries inflicted on him by Crocodile's partner.

"Luffy, is there something you wanna say?"

Luffy's head stopped, and he looked at the two with a piercing gaze, "I think I get it now."

"Huh?"

"It's water."

"What?" Somehow Luffy was managing to make less sense than usual, and that perplexed Sakura, as the desert heat and dehydration was like sitting on a stove with the pressure rising. "Luffy-

"To kick Crocodile's ass,"

Sakura nearly slammed her fist into the sand, "Luffy we get it, but that guy's made of sand, he isn't going to be beaten by physical-

"I need to use water!" Luffy exclaimed, "Bird guy I need you to get me water…and meat!"

Pell and Sakura just looked at each other with the same expression of two individuals attempting to put together a blank puzzle.

"Luffy what did you learn about Crocodile?"

However, Luffy just looked at Sakura sternly, "Sakura…." It was an expression that made her blood harden, for Luffy, the ever jovial captain hadn't directed such a fierce face at her before. Yet somehow it reminded her, that this person was their leader. "I need you to promise me something."

Sakura stared hard at her captain, "What is it?" 

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Trust. Hard to earn easy to lose. Faith just the same. Crocodile's scheme was the perfect demonstration of this statement. He twisted perspective and proved that even the most valuable gem can be sold for a single copper. That a benevolent king could be displaced as a tyrant with enough manipulation.

When something like this could happen, Pell felt like the foundation of his belief in the world had shifted underneath him. So when Sakura and Luffy came demanding his trust, Pell felt shaken about putting his faith in the hands of some teenagers, and pirates no less.

They were promised to be the ones who returned Vivi and that made Pell want to trust them. But then they were making promises to defeat Crocodile, A warlord, and making an insane declaration of defeating him.

It was like a fish claiming it would climb a mountain. And yet there was no other choice but to carry on with their demands if Pell desired to ever see his beloved country and its royal family return to the peace they once held.

It wasn't too amusing to think that the fate of his country relied on the two teens on his back and their friends running amuck. But all those doubts vanished when Pell flew over the capital city of Alubarna and watched its destruction at hand.

The smell of gunpowder and ash was heavy in the air, as the sands blew heavily with the wind like an angry battle cry, its animosity almost infectious to all it touched.

Sakura and Luffy viewed it all from Pell's back as he soared through the sky. With Pel's aerial abilities, traversing the desert was made effortless, providing them with a swift means of reaching Alubarna with an excellent view. Yet, as they beheld the city from above, their hearts sank at the sight before them.

Alubarna was becoming ruins right in front of them. Many of the buildings were reduced to rubble, and the streets teeming with panicked civilians trying to rush to safety while rebel army soldiers and royal army soldiers fought against each other, littering the streets with scenes of battle and violence. Screams pierced the air, mingling with the clamor of battle cries as soldiers and rebels clashed in violent skirmishes. It was a scene of utter pandemonium, a city consumed by the flames of conflict.

And all unaware of the strings being pulled behind their backs.

And this was the only thing keeping Pell from diving forward onto the state in an attempt to seek reason as he knew the only way to stop this horrific production was to go backstage, behind the curtain, and cut the strings attached to Crocodile's fingers. He maintained a steady flight path, weaving through the turbulent skies above the besieged city.

Drawing closer to the castle standing above the city, overlooking the capital.

"We're almost there!"

"This isn't looking good," Sakura observed down below with a glimmer of hope that she might catch sight of their friends but of course with the sands raging and kicking up the earth along with the stampede of people locking arms it was harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Needles didn't move on their own.

"It looks like they weren't able to make it in time,"

"We're not giving up," Luffy didn't even spare another glance down, his eyes fixated on one target, the only one ever since they arrived in this country. And although Pell never said it, he could feel it, they were locking on. "As long as we defeat Crocodile, we have a chance. As long as we're still alive, we have a chance to win."

Sakura pondered for a moment before suggesting that Crocodile might seek refuge in the King's Palace, given his aim to seize control of the country. It seemed logical that he would choose such a stronghold until the chaos in the city subsided. What better way for a new king to make an entrance than through the doors of a palace?

Following Sakura's intuition, Pell steered towards the castle. As they approached, their worst fears were realized as they spotted Crocodile, along with Vivi, in a precarious situation.

Using his keen eyes, Pell spotted King Cobra crucified on the palace walls, with several of his loyal guards scattered, even from that distance he could see traces of blood against the grass. It was an indignant sight. Meanwhile, Vivi dangled perilously over the edge, held by the throat in Crocodile's merciless grip.

"He has the princess!" Pell exclaimed.

Before they could react, Crocodile callously tossed Vivi over the edge, sending her hurtling towards the ground below. With lightning speed, Luffy leaped into action on Pell's wings, both rushing to catch Vivi before she could meet a tragic fate.

She fell into Luffy's arms, and Sakura greeted her with a smile for reassurance. "Need a ride princess?"

"Luffy! Sakura! Pell!" Vivi gasped, unable to contain her relief. Before being thrown off from her own palace walls, Crocodile sought to find amusement in her pain once again by informing her that Luffy and Sakura had lost to him, and lost to the desert. Although it was a brief reprieve from the tragedy it still weighed on her from all events that were pilling up to crash down on all of Alabasta.

Tears welled in her eyes as she enveloped them in a tight embrace. "I thought... I thought you were..."

"We're okay, Vivi," Sakura told her.

Vivi's eyes trembled, and her lips quivered as she sobbed out her despair. "I couldn't…do anything. The palace square will be blown away any moment now! Chakra and the others have already been done in and my voice won't reach anybody! I CAN'T SAVE MY COUNTRY!"

As she spoke, there was an extreme recount of what she endured at full speed through her mind. Her attempts to stop the rebel army before they could clash failed. Even with the help of her friends who put their lives on the line shielding her from the Baroque works main agents. Endangering their lives in the process. The windows drowned out her voice. She tried again, by going to the palace, with the intention of destroying it. Creating a spectacle that would hopefully end the bloodshed but of course, Crocodile couldn't allow that. And he had emerged at the worst time, with her father as hostage.

That was the hopeless situation she had been in until Luffy and Sakura found her.

"We're not giving up," Vivi felt Luffy's grip on her tighten, a bright infectious grin breaking on his face. "Your voice reached us just fine!"

Pell landed them just below the palace, where they could feel Crocodile's impending gaze burning through them.

Sakura turned to Vivi with a determined expression. "As long as you're alive, there is still hope. So don't give up." 

"Thank you, Sakura," she said, her voice tinged with gratitude.

Meanwhile, Luffy stood tall beside them, his gaze fixed on the palace like a dropped anchor digging deeper into the sand. "Alright."

 "Be careful, Luffy," Pell warned the young pirate.

Luffy grinned confidently, reeling back his arms with a confident grin, barely feeling the weight of the barrel taped to his back. "Don't worry. I ate a ton of meat. I won't lose anymore!"

Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at Luffy's irreverent confidence, but her expression quickly turned serious. "Are you sure you want to go in alone, Luffy?" This would be the last time she asked.

Luffy's grin widened. "Remember your promise Sakura. Captain's orders."

"Don't interfere with this fight." Sakura sighed at Luffy's stubbornness. It was always something she couldn't understand, something that even Naruto and Sasuke had. That overwhelming desire to fight on their own. Especially the strongest. All to become stronger themselves. She didn't know if it could be considered noble, or plain idiocy. But she could respect it. Especially when it was coming as a direct order. "But remember if you die, I'm taking care of things myself. Then I'm going to kill you."

"Right."

"SAKURA CHAN!" That voice was unmistakable and could be identified from the chaos. Sanji. He came dashing towards Sakura, giving her a tight hug. "You're alive! I knew you wouldn't leave me!"

Usopp and Chopper had also appeared with Eyelashes in toe. While both appeared as battered as old dishcloths, Usopp was the one who had his entire body wrapped in bandages like a living mummy.

"SEE, I KNEW THEY WERE STILL ALIVE! I KNEW ALL ALONG!" Usopp cried. As in full-on hard tears that dampened his stance on believing Sakura and Luffy had survived the skirmish with the warlord.

"You did?" asked Chopper.

Nami came behind Usopp giving him a hard whack with a staff, scolding him for the joke of a new weapon he had made for her, which she considered more of a toy for parties than a suitable item for battle. Zoro was closely behind Nami, who he had carried through the streets to get there.

Both were also injured, it seemed a bit severe, Nami had visible puncture wounds. And Zoro looked like he had fallen into a shredder with all the blood staining his clothes.

None of them were in the most dignified appearance, including Sakura but there was a sense of calm wrapped around them through all this chaos now that they were united again.

"You guys look like you've had a hard time," Sakura noted.

"Says the person who just came back from the dead." Clipped Zoro.

"At least I didn't get into a fight with a cheese grater. You look like you should already be in the ground."

"You gonna bring flowers to my grave?"

"How about moss?"

They somehow all started getting into some kind of banter with each other, Sanji demanding to know how Zoro could fail so miserably at keeping Nami from injury, Nami verbally attacking Usopp for her staff which turned out to be more of a party prop which cost her quite a bit of HP in her fight. And Usopp told Chopper to bury his body in the wastelands if he didn't survive.

But through the banter and the chaos of battle, Luffy managed to grab their attention when he stretched his arms out for the palace walls.

"I'm sorry guys. I lost to him once but I won't lose again! So take care of the rest!"

Zoro scoffed, "So hurry up and beat his ass already."

Luffy gave them one final glance before he departed, "It's time to end everything!"

He launched himself far up toward the palace walls, aiming directly where Crocodile stood. There was nothing more they could do now on that front and had to focus on saving everyone in Alabasta. Vivi quickly informed the rest of the pirates about Crocodile's scheme and the bomb he had planted somewhere in their vicinity. Which would be going off in less than ten minutes.

Vivi deduced that if the bomb had a blast radius of 5km, then the shooter would aim for a place at least 2.5km away. That still left a lot to the imagination on where to find this bomb. Of course, if it went off no way any of them would survive.

"Wouldn't Crocodile get caught in the explosion too?" asked Ussopp.

"That's just the kind of person he is!" hissed Nami.

"He doesn't care if his agents die!" exclaimed Chopper

"Some boss he is!"

"Then we should hurry up and-

And that's when they realized it wasn't going to just be playing a game of finding a needle in a haystack because they were also going to have chasers on their trail. More baroque works agents. As one of them tried to come up behind Vivi with a sword, Zoro and Sanji made quick work of him but he wasn't alone.

The other agents had also gathered to surround them all.

"We don't have time for this!" Sakura took to the offensive. Drawing back a fist before pummelling it into the ground breaking the agent's formation and balance as they collapsed over the rubble and each other. Also giving her friends a chance to scatter out and start searching for the bomb. She couldn't be too destructive with her punches as the entire area was surrounded not only by agents but also members of the royal army, the rebel army, and civillians who might have been unable to flee the scuffle taking place.

Her friends watched awestruck once more by her defying strength that could only be described as monstrous. Usopp and Nami were sweating bullets, reminding each other to be weary of angering Sakura. Chopper seemed a bit awestruck, saying how cool she was. Sanji was swooning, Vivi was gaping and Zoro was just….staring.

She snapped them to attention, 

"Go….GO GO GO GO!"

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There have been a lot of death-defying moments in Sakura's life as a kunoichi when time was teetering between life and death, but no matter how many times she experienced this, Sakura didn't think she'd ever get used to the feeling of dread that loomed over like a phantom. 

Everyone had scattered across the city to scout for the bomb, taking to the roofs seemed like their best bet as Vivi believed the bomb was going to be launched from a cannon.

They narrowed the radius, but it was still a hard hunt. The royal and rebel army running amock in battle, all the while unaware that their lives may be over in less than ten minutes.

Sakura dashed over the rooftops, but she felt it was a hopeless effort. She had enough wit to know that this strategy was sloppy but with the short notice, and desperation rising it was all they could. The places someone could hide a bomb and launch it was a wider range, none of them knew the layout of the capital aside from Vivi, but she hadn't narrowed it down far enough.

Her eyes scanned the horizon, searching desperately for any sign of the bomb that threatened to decimate them. But the sprawling cityscape stretched endlessly before her, a labyrinth of buildings and streets. The weight of the impending disaster pressed down on her.

Finally, after darting over at least fifty rooftops and towers, Sakura stopped as the minutes had ticked by, and overlooking the fray she could still see and hear the cries of war, and her knees began to tremble with the echoes surrounding her.

'We're not going to find it!' Sakura pulled at her hair, feeling her skelp stretch and pain fill her mind as she tried to remain grounded by it. A sudden and intense surge of overwhelming fear and anxiety suddenly reached out and embraced her without warning. Her heartbeat grew rapid heartbeat, her chest tightening as she broke out into a sweat.

'Am I having a panic attack?' She at least had enough mental fortitude to realize it was happening, but she couldn't believe it either. After all, she had endured, why had this crept up on her and why had she allowed it to sink its teeth into her? Just a few minutes ago, she was confidently rushing along with her friends, smiling at Luffy determined to put an end to this, to help Vivi and save her country.

It's like she had been soaring, and now was suddenly crashing.

She strained to open her eyes, but in that moment she was glad she did as she caught sight of the red smoke breaking through the sands and winds.

That wasn't just a signal, she knew. That was their beacon.

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