Carved

Journey

Luffy soon returned with more food and an info about the boat. He said that it should be ready for us in the morning. So we'll be sailing tomorrow morning at the same time as the Heart Pirates.

"I have a bad feeling."
I said to Jinbei as it's just the two of us sitting on the beach.

"About what?"
He asked.

"I don't know... I keep on getting flashbacks of my deceased brother. Images of Gramps too."
I said, unsure.

"You have another brother?"
He asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah... It was the four of us back then. But an accident happened and... Yeah."
I smiled sadly at the end.

"Is it a premonition? Have you experienced something like this before?"
He asked again.

"No... Nothing like this."
I sighed.

We both stared at the sea in silence.

"Well, I'm sure it's just me overthinking. Don't tell others about it. They'll be worried."
I smiled as I stood from my seat.

"You seem so different."
He commented as I was dusting off my pants.

"Do I?"
I chuckled.

"Yeah... Happier and brighter."
He chuckled.

"I'm not always stiff and strict, you know? I need times to wind off too."
I said as I stretched my arms.

He didn't say anything more as I turned around and walked back to where my capsule was. Trafalgar already took it back to his submarine right after lunch since I look pretty much healed already.

____________________________

"You finally called-yoi!"
Marco said happily over the den den mushi.

"I'm just going to ask about your whereabout. I'll set sail there soon."
I smiled.

"We're still on our way to Pops' hometown. Where are you?"
He asked.

"Amazon Lily. I guess it'll take some time before I get there. So do me a favor and don't move around."
I said.

"Women Isle? How on earth did you end up there-yoi?!"
He exclaimed.

"I'll tell you once we met. Oh, is Pops doing okay? Why are you answering his den den mushi?"
I asked.

"He's alright. He just went under surgery a couple hours ago, so he's asleep now and left his den den mushi to me in case you called-yoi."
He explained.

"That's good, that's good."
I nodded with a relieved sigh.

"What about you-yoi? You were in a very bad shape."
He said, his eyes showed worry.

"I'm alive and kicking. So is Ace, Luffy, and Jinbei."
I said to him, smiling.

"That's good-yoi..."
He sighed out in relief.

"I was so scared since you didn't contact us for the past days."
He continued.

"Sorry, I was still unconscious then. Ace was probably too worried that he forgot to call you too."
I smiled apologetically.

"It's fine-yoi. The important thing is you all are doing fine."
He smiled.

"How's the others?"
I asked.

"Most of them are doing fine. Your nakama, Eric joined us-yoi. He's been asking about you nonstop."

Hearing Eric's name brought warmth to my heart. It's good to hear that he's doing fine and is now in good hands.