Savior -Luffy-

-27-

Explaining to Maverick that I'm not sure if I'm the sister he used to have was hard, but the man took it well. He still had so many questions to ask and I had very few answers. I was trying to find out about myself as much as he was to me.

"So Shanks knew?" I nod. "How is he, anyway?" I could hear the hesitation in his voice.

"He's good." I pause. "He misses you, too. Don't worry."

"I owe him an apology. He saved me when I first fell here and landed in the ocean. A friend of our mother put me on his ship. I blamed him for their deaths. I blamed him for everything..." Maverick trailed with a slight sigh. "I ran away from him the first chance I got."

"Wanna write a letter?" I offer. "My friend can send it to him quicker than the bird. Plus I need to update him anyways." He chews on his bottom lip for a moment in thought. Finally, he nods.

"I suppose that wouldn't hurt," He concludes.

"Also, that girl down the road seems to really be interested in you," I tease. He stutters in his steps to get up from his seat, glaring at me with a reddening face.

"W-who?" He asks before clearing his throat.

"By the looks of it, you already know who I'm talking about."

"Annamarie is just a good friend!" He claims quickly. "I like her attitude and personality. She has the best jokes in this town and she always kept me company- Stop looking at me like that!" His voice gradually raised and I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.

"Don't worry, Maverick," I tell him with a soft grin. "I think she's great. She protected you, she knows how to live independently, and she helps whomever she thinks needs it."

"She's pretty great, yeah..." His voice trails and his eyes wander as if thinking of something.

"Why haven't you asked her out yet?"

"I couldn't!" He quickly interjects. "I would put her in danger with being related to Shanks and being an escaped slave of the uglies that run the government like dogs."

"What about me?" I joke. He arches an eyebrow and I tilt my head. "Do you not know what's happening if it's not on this island?" He shakes his head and I sigh lightly. "Well, I have a few bounty posters in my bag so I suppose that this will help explain." I drag out Luffy's, Zoro's, and Sanji's newest posters, causing Maverick to lean onto the table and look at them in confusion.

"Straw Hat Pirates?" He asks after reading the name below the bounty amounts on each poster. "These men dangerous or something?" I laugh lightly before pulling out my own bounty poster. Maverick stares at the paper, almost looking in disbelief, before finally meeting my eyes.

"Is it that shocking?" I question, trying to ease the sudden tension in the room.

"Well yeah, since pirates are kind of rough and tough compared to you." I laugh loudly and tap my finger on Luffy's photo.

"You think this guy is 'rough and tough'?" His eyes follow my fingertip back down to the page.

"Well, yeah. He's got a straw hat and the others don't so I'm guessing by the name he's your captain?"

"And my boyfriend." He gawked at me instantly.

"Your-"

"Yes, Mav," I laugh. "I'm turning twenty in the fall. I'm allowed to have a boyfriend."

"But he's a pirate!"

"So am I!" He shuts his mouth into a frown at my point. Finally, he sighs in defeat.