Chapter Ten: Smokey the Bear
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Shanks was back at his ship, hand on his chin as he contemplated his actions. Okay, so he may have fought with a legendary beast and killed it. Well, maybe he didn't actually kill it, seeing that he and Benn were now back at the ship, slightly bruised with the dragon glaring at them in the distance. There was some strange voodoo magic going on. He was pretty sure he sliced the dragon's head right off (because he was pissed that it was stomping on his book), but the funny thing was that the dragon's head grew back and he was kicked out of the forest.
Okay, maybe it wasn't that funny because seeing the dragon's head grow back was mildly disturbing.
So now he was trying to figure out how to get past the dragon. Especially when apparently haoshoku haki didn't work.
"How long has he been sitting there?" Yasopp asked, giving Shanks a concerned glance.
"Thertiminuhs" Lucky Roux spoke muffledly as his mouth was full of meat. Yasopp shook his head, bringing out a bottle of booze.
"Oi captain! You wanna get drunk?" Shanks didn't respond as his gaze was still on the forest where they came out of. Yasopp turned towards Benn. "Benn, you should give Shanks a kiss. Maybe that'll snap him out of his daze."
Benn looked over his shoulder, before shaking his head. Shanks seemed like he wanted some time to think, especially after realizing that the dragon couldn't be killed. The dragon seemed to be conscious of his actions, stepping on the book on purpose to get a reaction out of Shanks.
But why?
His gaze fixed onto the ruined copy of The Little Princess that you had given him. Staring at it, at shimmered for a second, before the shine disappeared.
Maybe... He stole a glance at Shanks, before grabbing the book, flipping it over to where you wrote your small note. His eyes widen.
Hope you like this book Shanks!!
This is my favorite story. My grandpas always read it to me
when I was younger.
Love, Y/n.
The book was supposed to be all drenched in alcohol, but there were small clean spots on those specific letters. Look Trstoryee? No, Look Tree Story.
But what did that mean?
* * *
Smoker let out a small yawn escape his lips as he sat in his chair. He felt tired today. He wondered why. Gazing at the picture frame on his desk, there was a melancholy look in his eyes. Smoke escaped Smoker's lips as he adverted his attention to the window in his office, blinking in confusion when he saw a flash of pink falling from the sky. Narrowing his eyes, he stood up, walking towards the door. Pulling it open, he was met with a confused Tashigi, fist raised, about to knock on the door.
"Smoker-san? Where are you going?" she asked.
"I thought I saw something falling from the sky."
"Do you need me to accompany you?" He shook his head, pulling out another cigar, stuffing it in his mouth.
"No, it probably isn't that big of a deal. You should stay here incase something happens." She nodded, a serious look on her face as she took off. Smoker sighed. Walking down the hall, his subordinates struggled to quickly get out of his way, in fear that they would be scolded. Leaving the building, Smoker frowned when he saw a girl standing in front of the building, talking to someone on a Den Den Mushi.
He found it slightly suspicious.
* * *
When Doflamingo had left you (albeit very reluctantly), you began to make your way around the town.
Now then, why exactly were you at Loguetown? Well, you had a feeling that Luffy would arrive soon, if all goes accordingly, estimating that it would take approximately one week for his crew to get here. And that meant- *cue the drum roll.
One week of Loneliness! ...Yay.
You smacked your head against the wall of a random building. God were you an idiot. Sure, you had money, but loneliness was again, one of your phobias. Fuck you and your stupid phobias. This was probably one of the reasons why Mihawk was so nervous about you setting off by yourself (Ya think?) and lucky you, Phoenix was nowhere to be seen. Good thing Mihawk had you work on your phobias, but he alone could not be a therapist you needed.
Walking around town nervously, you found yourself standing face to face a Marine base. Huh, speaking of marines, that reminded you of something.
Digging into your bottomless bag (Nino Kuni anyone?), you pulled out a small transponder snail. Grabbing the receiver, you awaited for an answer.
* * *
Garp was sitting at his desk when he heard the familiar sound of a transponder snail. Digging around, he pulled out a familiar looking snail, resembling his "granddaughter". It was cute, to say the least. Eagerly, grabbing the receiver, he held it up to his ear.
"Hey Grandpa!" That familiar sounding voice- tears were practically streaming down his face. "Sorry I haven't been able to call you, I miss you a lot!" He could hear your giggles and he just wanted to pinch those little cheeks of yours.
"Bwahahaha! I was starting to think you forgot about me!"
That elicited a small gasp. "I would never! But I was getting a bit lonely." There was a pause down at your end before you spoke again. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that there was a pirate attack at the Floating Restaurant Baratie, so you might want to send some people down there."
"Alright, thank you for letting me know." He could hear your childish laughter.
"You sound like you expected this!" you giggled.
"Well received a report that a certain grandson of mine was causing trouble. If I wasn't preoccupied I would have given him a fist of love! Honestly, why couldn't he have turned out like you?"
"Hey! You say that as if I'm not a pirate." Garp could imagine you pouting on your end.
"Well at least you aren't causing too much of trouble." You grew quiet.
"... Are you sure you're not mad that I left?" you asked, addressing one of your biggest concerns.
"... I was more worried than mad at you," Garp spoke truthfully. "If anything, you should have seen the reactions of Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu!"
"Saka-chan is going to kill me when he sees me." you sighed.
"I don't think so, but he might give you a beating or two."
"That's the same thing!" you whined. "Oh, by the way, I'm currently at Loguetown, standing in front of the Marine base. So if you can't reach me, you can reach me from there."
"Okay, thank you. Make sure you come visit me sometime, Y/n!"
"I will! But just don't tell Saka-chan or Borsalino-chan that I'm there."
"Alright."
"Gacha." The sound of the transponder snail echoed throughout his empty office. The muscular old man could feel the dread sinking in him in realization that what he had said to Y/n was basically a death wish. If she came to the Marine Headquarters, surely she couldn't take on all three of the Admirals? Ah, he (but more specifically Y/n) was in deep shit now.
Maybe he should let you know that you shouldn't come to Marine Ford.
* * *
Stuffing the Den Den Mushi back in your bag, a voice gruff voice called out to you.
"What are you doing here?" Glancing up, you locked eyes with light blue ones belonging to a shirtless man adorning a marine jacket. Two cigars stuck out of the corner of his mouth, and his white hair was slightly ruffled up as though he had just woken from a nap. Puffing out a breath of smoke, he gazed down at you. You stiffened slightly, realizing who he was.
"Huh? Oh!" Sheepishly rubbing the back of your head, you looked away. How were you going to play this off? You didn't exactly want to cause trouble now. "Sorry, I kind of got lost."
The taller man looked down at you, before nodding his head. He could spare some time helping a good civilian he supposed, but he wanted to investigate that pink mass that fell out of the sky. "Well then, would you like some help, Miss...?"
"Just call me F/n- I mean, uh," Your eyes snapped towards Phoenix who was perching on a street lamp. "Um Phoenix. Just Phoenix."
Oh, that was a close one. Laughing awkwardly, you continued. "And you are?"
"Smoker." He paused, scrutinizing you. "Have we met?"
"Um, no?"
(Wow that sounded real convincing Y/n. This is one of the reasons why Mihawk treated you like an idiot. )
"Is that so?" Letting the smoke escape from his lips once more, he gestured for you to walk with him. "Is this your first time in Loguetown?"
"Yup!" The initial weariness had worn off, and you felt slightly more comfortable with the handsome man. It didn't seem like he recognized you, that was a good thing. God were you terrified of him remembering you, he was going to be so pissed when he does. "How did you know?" you added.
"Well, first of all you clearly don't know where you're going," he said after you nearly crashed into a wall.
"Maybe I'm just clumsy," you mumbled to yourself, but his smirk told you otherwise.
"Secondly, there's something different about you that stands out from the rest of the islanders, though you do seem vaguely familiar." Smoker pondered about this for a second before snapping out of it. "Say, have you seen a pink blob falling out of the sky near the port?"
You pondered. A pink blob? That sounded like Doflamingo. You widen your eyes. You can't let him know that you affiliated with Doflamingo! He might freak out like Law did.
"A pink blob? Um, I-I don't think I have." He hummed in acknowledgment, frowning.
A silence enveloped the two of you as you both strolled down the busy streets, you gazing at the small trinkets within the stores in awe as you passed, to which Smoker softly smiled at, slowly letting down his guard. You were adorable, and he felt his initial suspicions about you were all wrong. How could someone like you be evil? Or maybe that was what you wanted to appear like, to lure him into your trap. He was snapped out of his thoughts when you broke the silence.
"Could you direct me towards an inn? I'm staying here for a roughly about a week." Smoker nodded stiffly, beginning go feel wary about you as he lead you down a few roads.
Walking down the brick roads, the two of you stopped in front of a rather small, yet homey inn. It would be a nice place to stay for a while, and you were grateful that your old friend was among some of decent people within the marines. Bowing down low, you told Smoker your thanks, handing him a white slip of paper. You knew this was stupid, but you missed your old friend. He stared at it in confusion. He obviously didn't know what a Vivre card was.
"Just a way of finding me. I get lonely easily, and I don't really know anyone here...," you spoke softly, a pink tint beginning to form on Smoker's cheeks. "Um..." Ah, this was embarrassing. "But you don't have to if you don't want to! I understand..."
With a huff of confusion, he stuffed it within his jacket, causing you to smile softly. "Alright," Smoker agreed, mostly because that expression on your face made him feel... uncomfortable? Sympathy?
A sudden force knocked into him, causing him to tense. Staring down, he could see the top of your head, and the faint smell of your shampoo. Hesitantly, he awkwardly placed his arms around you, realizing that he's never experienced a hug since his best friend had left. This hug, it felt so familiar. And because he's a (simp) softy, and because he felt strangely serene, he didn't bother to push you away.
You felt your face erupt in fire when you heard whispers from bystanders, and you immediately backed away, apologizing over, an over again. You reminded Smoker so much of the friend he had lost. Perhaps that was why he was so lenient with you? He sighed. "It's fine. You don't have to apologize. Tell me, what is the piece of paper you gave me?"
"It's a Vivire card," you told him after you had calmed down. "It's completely waterproof and fireproof, and it will always point to me. It's also known as the "paper of life", which shows my life force."
"Really?" He inspected it closely. "I've never heard of one."
"Oh, um. They're made in the New World."
The white haired man's eyes bulged at the sound of "New World."
"You've been to the New World?" Smoker asked, bewildered.
"Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that. Ahahaha...." You chuckled nervously. He's probably suspicious of you now. "Sorry Smokey, forget I said that."
"I- wait, Smokey?"
"Yup. We're friends now, right?" Friends again, you hoped internally.
"We're friends, Smokey! I heard that friends give each other nicknames!"
Was it the giddy look in your eyes that made it so that the marine couldn't refuse? Or the fact that you kept bringing up the unwanted memories of his first love? He just didn't know how he felt about you. You even had some sort of power that helped you survive the New World. Your demeanor and small stature made you look so innocent and weak, so how...?
"Yeah," he huffed, giving in. "We're friends now I guess."
"Yay! Come with me!." Dragging him inside the inn, you walked up to the front desk to rent a room. Digging into your bottomless bag, Smoker eyed it in confusion.
What's wrong with that bag? Actually, the question in his mind wasn't what was wrong with it, but why it seemed familiar.
You could tell that he was eyeing it, and began to explain what it was as you placed some money on the counter. "It's my bottomless bag. I don't really know where you can get something like this, as I've always had it, but as the name suggests, it doesn't have a bottom. That means I can fit anything inside of here."
"How did you get things out?"
"Well... there's this screen that pops up in my head that sorts through everything, and I just choose one!" you exclaimed as you unlocked the door to your room, swinging the door open to let him inside. Closing the door behind you, you flopped onto the bed. It felt different from the one back at Mihawk's mansion, but it held a different vibe to it. With the homey trinkets and decorations, unlike the extravagant bed that you were so used to, it was a nice change of pace.
Well actually you usually slept on Mihawks bed and not your own, but that was irrelevant.
"Let's do friend stuff. But first-" You were digging in your bag once again, only to stop and pull out a pair of bear ears. Smoker blinked, only to see you had disappeared. About to stand up, he felt two hands touching the top of his head, and he stiffened, reaching to grasp your hands.
"Stop moving, hold on," you spoke, paying most of your attention to what you were currently up to. You were certainly odd in Smoker's eyes. The insane speed you had demonstrated was proof of that, but you were kind and had an air of trust to it. He couldn't help but like you, that was a special skill that you naturally possessed (like a lot of anime protagonists). Eventually, your movements had ceased, and you stared proudly at your work. Holding a mirror from out of no where in front of him, his blue eyes widened in surprise. On his head were a pair of bear ears that matched the color of his hair.
"Now you really are Smokey the Bear." You grinned at him. He was clearly not amused as he made an attempt to take them off.
"Aw... please don't take them off. I like them on you, it's cute." You gave him your best puppy eyes. You didn't know if it would work on the man, but it worked on Mihawk who was a very serious man in itself, so it had to have some affect.
Spoiler: It did.
With a huff, Smoker removed his hands, and stared at you expectantly. Oh right! You guys were doing bonding stuff. Now, what exactly do you do to bond? You could only think of the times Akainu threw you into the sea, how Aokiji would like to take naps with you, and the times with Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. Fighting those alligators and adventuring...
That was bonding, right?
You put a hand to your chin, thinking. "Um... Do you want to sleep together Smokey?" He choked on his spit.
"What?!"
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Author's Note:
Now then, who wants a Christmas Special AU next week? It's going to involve breaking and entering a house, chaos, Corazon and his non-barbecue brother, Crocodile not happy because a two idiots were hiding in his bushes, and much more. But if you guys aren't up for it, I can always post it next year...