Finding Myself (One Piece Fanfic)

Chapter 28: An Old Friend (part 1)

I don't own One Piece.

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I've heard of Sabaody Archipelago. One of Mamoru's friends that came often to visit lives here.

He's a nice old man, who self proclaims himself as my Uncle. Every time he came to visit he would tell me plenty of stories, good and bad. He didn't sugar coat things for me, which I always appreciated. However, both him and Mamoru would deny my request of visiting him at his home.

It was a dangerous place, I'll admit. With high bounty pirates, I suppose my crew fits that category now, high ranking marines, the ever popular slave trade there, and the worst of them all, the Celestial Dragons, it's definitely not the best place for kids. Though that never stopped me from wanting to go.

Even now that we've docked, I'm not listening to the fishman that we've saved as he's giving his own orders. One thing to note, if I'm gonna listen to orders it's gonna come from my captain, and sometimes Nami.

Instead of listening to the fishman, I'm looking over at the giant trees that looked as if they touched the sky. A large 41 was painted on one of the trees. Taking a pen from behind my ear, I wrote the number down on my arm. Replacing the pen back on my ear, I grabbed my bag and hopped off the ship.

I needed to find that old man! He hasn't visited me in months!

"I have the number, so I should be able to find my way back." I mumble walking away from the ship. My crew was still huddled talking, and there was no way I was gonna wait for them!

..................

"Maybe I should have stuck with someone in the crew." I muttered, ignoring all the looks I was receiving. Never having a bounty before, I didn't realize how much attention it would bring to me. I wasn't particularly fond of the whispering and the pointing.

Sighing, I adjusted the strap of my backpack and looked around. I appeared to be in town, which meant I was clearly going the wrong way.

Then my eyes landed on a white bear wearing an orange jumpsuit. I blinked, pausing as I looked him over.

"Cute." I whispered, remembering the pirate crew. They weren't particularly loud on Gol's island, though their captain didn't look the friendliest. It could be that he didn't appreciate me hugging his navigator?

Not wasting a second more, I sprinted across the space between us and tackled the bear in a hug. A gust of air escaped Bepo as he landed on the ground with me on him.

"Bepo!" I grinned, "How's my favorite talking bear?"

"Sorry." He muttered, blushing as he looked at me. Then he blinked, realizing who I was. "Katsu-san? Why are you here?"

I sat up grinning at him. "I'm a pirate now!"

"Oh?" A new voice mused, making me look up. The Heart Pirates captain stood over us, his sword resting on his shoulder. "First, I would like it if you got off my navigator, Katsu-ya."

"Oh yeah," I nodded in agreement, standing up and offering my hand to Bepo before pulling him to his feet. "I didn't mean to tackle you to the ground."

Another crew member sighed at Bepo, his hat labeled Penguin shadowed over his eyes. "She tackled you too easily, Bepo."

"Sorry." The mink hung his head low.

"Leave him alone," I protested, "I just surprised him."

Law looked down at me, silently making me curse me height, "Speaking of, what crew managed to get you to join? From my observations, you refused everyone."