Destined for Flames (One Piece Fanfic)

Dashing Hopes and Lighting Fires

(A/N: Rebel Army is veeerrrrry close....)

Raya's POV

"Are you sure about this?" Vivi asks me, fidgeting in her seat atop Carue. The duck is in a similar state: Trying to be brave, but losing the battle. I look out at the retreating figures of our friends, identicle cloaks swishing in their wake. Their respective ducks' feet pound against the sand, and I imagine that the sound is right against my ear. But it isn't. They're too far away, risking everything in a desperate gamble concocted by Zoro.

It's brilliant for its simplicity, and at the same time for its complexity. I see that that makes little sense, but I can find no other way to describe it acurately.

"I'm sure," I tell Vivi, narrowing my eyes. The glare reflecting off the sand is attempting to forbid me from seeing one last glimpse of my nakama, but I ignore the dark spots dancing among my vision. Finally, I sigh when they drop from my view hidden among the ever-shifting dunes.

"You needed someone with you," I go on. "I know you're the only one who can stop this rebellion. Their leader will listen to no one but you. But everyone else went off in pairs. I wasn't going to let you wander out here with only Carue for protection. No offense, Carue."

A quick, accepting quack answers me.

"Besides, I kind of want to see the guy who was able to spur so many citizens, and royal army soldiers, to fight for his cause. He must be some leader."

Vivi dips her head, memories I have no way to see etched across her face. A smile plays at her lips, but quickly hardens into a frown. Such conflicting emotions for the man who is threatening to overthrow her father.

On the way here, I rode behind her on Carue. The duck is surprisingly strong for one so small, comparitively of course. While we rode, and the deathly silence of ones approaching their climax descended, Vivi told me all about her past dealings with the leader of the rebellion. He saved her life when they were younger, and now he's about to rip out her heart as he unwittingly kills Alabasta.

Childhood friends, turned against one another so easily. It's madness on a grand scale I quite despise.

"We'll have to move quickly if we want to catch the rebels before they attack the city," I say, swinging myself up onto Carue's back. I hesitate, unsure as to whether I should continue. I sigh, shaking my head. "Vivi," I say; she looks at me over her cloaked shoulder. "If by some chance we can't convince them to stop, are you prepared for the outcome in where their leader doesn't survive?"

Her entire body tenses, becoming rigid with her dark thoughts. I don't want to hurt her, but like Luffy said, people die. There's no escaping that fact. And as a princess, Vivi will come to understand that more and more.

"It won't come to that." Her voice is hard, final, warning me to move away from this subject. I narrow my eyes, yet do as she commands and keep my volatile mouth shut.

"C'mon Carue!" she says. With a quick nod from him, and a resigned sigh from me, we take off, zipping across the sand, bent on halting the rebellion before they can do any damage.

But I am not as naive as Vivi. Thousands upon thousands of battle-hardened men stopping for two seemingly insignificant figures? It's as likely to happen as Luffy scoring well on an I.Q. test. But for now I'll humor the princess. She won't listen anyway, that much I'm certain of.

Her heart is breaking, and she won't stop until it, and her country, are whole again.

As we move, I find my thoughts drifting to the others. How I wish that strange observational power of mine had returned. But in the two or so hours it took for us to reach the walled-in city of Alubarna, nothing of said power stirred within me. Like a switch had been flipped, it's disappeared. I curse quietly to myself, words ripping from my mouth by the wind tearing at my clothing, and lost on Vivi and Carue's ears.

This plan, it's already in action. But all it does is put my friends in even more danger than before.

(FLASHBACK)

"Zoro's got a plan?" Nami asks, incredulous. "Yeah," Usopp agrees. "How good can this be? It's Zoro we're talking about!"

He scowls at them, looking ready to rend their heads from their bodies with a slash of his sword. Afraid for their safety, and Zoro's blood pressure levels, I tug at his arm. "What is it?" I ask curiously, brightly. A pleasant smile sits on my lips, and it isn't forced in the slightest. More and more, I find myself smiling around the grumpy Swordsman.

He wrenches his gaze away from the mocking Nami and Usopp and looks at me. He blinks as he sees my expression, then clears his throat and addresses the entire group. "They'll be looking for Vivi," he begins.

"No shit, Marimo," Sanji snorts. A red flush of anger adorns Zoro's cheeks, and I shoot Sanji the most withering look I can, threatening him to keep silent. He swoons, complying with my silent message and clamping his jaw shut.

Zoro takes a deep breath and continues. "So we'll give them what they want." He holds up a hand as they chorus their shocked exclamations and threats. The latter come mostly from Sanji, and I have to flash out my sword to block his expensive shoe from colliding with Zoro's head. Horrified for almost assaulting an "innocent maiden" , he jumps back and starts sulking, anime tears streaming down his cheeks in abundance.

Zoro nods a thanks to me. "I wasn't finished, idiots," he snaps to the rest of them, save Vivi and Chopper. "I meant that we'll let them think that Vivi is with one of us." He details his plan to us, how we're meant to don identical cloaks as we ride the Duck Squad to one of Alubarna's gates, each pair meant to take a different one. Zoro reasons that whoever is standing guard in the city from Baroque Works shouldn't know our exact numbers, so if Vivi slips away it'll be unnoticed. And the impostor Vivis will ride on into the city, dragging the attention of the agents away from the real Vivi. She'll have the task of stopping the rebellion.

"Oh," they all chorus. At a loss for words, I suppose. It's a great plan, and I wholeheartedly endorse it. Well, maybe I have some doubts, but nothing serious.

"I like it," I say, throwing my hands on my hips. "Now all we need to do is figure out the pairings, right?" I cock my head to the side, letting that wash over.

Usopp's hand shoots into the air, as fast as a student who has all the right answers. Or believes he does, anyway. "I'll go with Zoro!" he announces.

I laugh at the expression of extreme annoyance on Zoro's face. He clenches his hands, before slapping a hand to his forehead. He grumbles something to himself I can't hear, though I have a suspiscion it involves a way to kill Usopp.

"Shouldn't it be ladies first?" Nami complains, hands also on her hips.

"What?" I ask. "You want to be with Zoro?"


She smirks at me, and there is such a hidden meaning behind that smirk I barely restrain myself from slapping it off her face. "No," she says, in an almost mocking manner. Geeze, what does she have against the Swordsman? "But girls should still have first pick. Don't you agree, Sanji?"

Oh, yes, turn to the one man that will never deny a word you say.

"Yes, my dear Nami-swaaannn~" he sings, his strange wriggling dance coming out in full force. Now that I'm actually paying attention to it, he actually looks as though he's having an Epileptic fit. "And I, your knight in shining armor, your prince, will protect you from--"

"I nominate Eyelash as Nami's partner!" I say, waving my hand to gain their attentions. Several pairs of eyebrows shoot to the sky. I raise my own brow at them. "What? It's not like he'll go with any of the guys, and I sure as hell don't want him."

A moment of silence. And then--

"Alright, fine," Nami smiles, patting the perverted quadruped affectionately. Hearts replace his dirty eyes at her touch, as more perplexing sounds escape his mouth.

"'Anything for a beautiful girl!'" Chopper translates.

I groan, deciding to move on. "Now that I think about it," I say, peeking at my nakama through my cracked fingers, hand thrown over my face. "We should decide who goes with Vivi first."

"I thought I was going alone," the blue-haired princess says, stepping to my side. I smile at her. "I don't want one of my nakama alone in this type of situation," I say, resulting in her returning my smile, the wattage thrown way up.

"So who are you suggesting this time?" Zoro asks, a hint of a smirk in his voice.

Raising my hand in a dramatic fashion, I say clearly, "I volunteer as"-- (A/N: Ha! We're not in the Hunger Games!) --"Vivi's bodyguard!"

More silence. What's so hard to believe about what I just said?

"But Raya!" Chopper says, looking up at me from beneath the brim of his pink top hat. "You're still injured! Shouldn't you go with Zoro or Sanji so they can help you out?"

I shrug a shoulder. My wound doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did before, and even less since I first woke up. Whatever medicine Chopper applied is working miracles. I can fight if need be. "I'm fine in that regard, Chopper," I promise him. "And really, wouldn't this be putting me in the least amount of danger?"

The five Straw Hats mull that over, eventually agreeing to let me go. As for the other pairings, Usopp does indeed end up with Zoro, much to his chagrin. That leaves Sanji with Chopper. Sanji looks quite upset, due to the fact that neither I nor Nami chose to be his partner.

All of us pull on bland, forgettable white cloaks, hiding our faces securely. We ready our respective ducks, preparing to shove off in a few minutes.

Just as I'm about to follow Vivi's lead and climb onto Carue, I turn around to face the others. I might not get a chance to do this later, when we're only just outside Alubarna.

I jog up to Zoro and pull back his hood. He turns to look at me curiously, mouth open in a question. I push off my tiptoes and plant a swift kiss on his cheek. "For good luck," I explain to his baffled face, half transformed in the action of asking that question. I smile and pull Usopp aside, giving him the same gesture.

I sweep Chopper into my arms, hug him briefly, and peck his cheek before letting him down again. His swaying dance returns, hoofs clasped together, an undeniably joyful sparkle in his eyes. "You bastard!" he cries happily. "That won't make me happy!"

I chuckle and move onto Nami, pulling her into a hug.

And that just leaves Sanji.

I sigh and roll my eyes. As stated earlier, no matter my feelings for his perverse nature, he's a Straw Hat. And because of that, he will always have a place in my heart. So with lead footsteps, I make my way over to him, jerk his head down by nearly choking him with his tie, and kiss his cheek.

The amount of blood he loses from his nosebleed is beyond normal comprehension.

I smirk to myself and finally hop up behind Vivi. The rest of the crew stares at me, besides Chopper who attempts to treat Sanji. I smile a winning smile. "I really am happy I was able to come back."