The Misadventures of Nora

Chapter Thirteen: You've Got To Be Kidding!

"He really is a reckless idiot." Sanji sighed from besides her, staring out at the ocean with an almost fond look his face. "All this trouble."

"He's a good person though." Nora replied with a small smile, glancing over her shoulder at the reckless idiot they were talking about. Luffy was still in bed, knocked out from his injuries but he was slowly regaining colour, much to her relief. She was no expert, but she expected that soon enough he'd be waking up.

Luffy can only stay asleep for so long with the smell of food wafting through the air. She thought with a small chuckle, a fond look on her face. Even I'm getting hungry from it!

"For someone who keeps denying being on his crew you seem to be quite loyal towards him." Sanji noted, his mood still sombre from the earlier battle. It seemed he was to lost in thought to keep us his usual flirtatious mood which Nora could greatly appreciate. "Why keep travelling with him if you don't plan to join?"

She didn't answer his question right away, instead staring out at the rolling waves, mulling it over in her head. Truthfully, she had been beginning to wonder the same thing. She could keep coming up with excuses but the truth of it was that if she had really wanted to stay on those other islands, she could have. She could have stopped going back to talk to them, she could have just disappeared on any of the islands without a goodbye. With their quick departures, they wouldn't have had the chance to come and find her. So why? Why did she keep going back to them?

"I suppose I've always been amazed by those great adventure stories you always hear about." Nora thought aloud, tapping her fingers idly on the ship's railing. "I guess, even though I know I shouldn't, there's this part of me that wants to be able to go on a great adventure."

"Like the one he's bound to go on?" Sanji spoke from besides her, his words sounding more like a statement than a question. "I guess I can understand how you feel."

Before she was given the chance to reply, she heard the sound of rustling coming from the bed behind them, followed shortly by a shout.

"My hat!"

And he's finally awake. She thought as a grin spread across her face. About damn time.

"It's right there, isn't it?" Sanji said, glancing backwards at Luffy as he panicked looking for his hat.

"I made sure to grab it for you Luffy." Nora said, turning around to lean against the railing, sending him a thumbs up from the window.

"Oh… it is." He said with a sigh of relief, his precious straw hat now firmly in his grip. "Thanks Nora."

"So, you finally woke up, did you now?" Sanji asked, not turning back to glance at Luffy who had taken to ripping off some of his bandaging. "Sorry but we've run out of more bandages."

"Don't need it." Luffy said, continuing to rip them off, much to Nora's disdain.

"Luffy keep them on!" She said, walking closer to the window with a frown. "You need to keep your wounds covered so they don't get infected."

"Don't need to." He stubbornly replied, reaching to tear off yet another bandage from his arm. She felt her eyebrow twitch at the action.

"Yes you do!" She protested, all but climbing through the window attempting, and failing, to stop his efforts at removing his bandages. "Stop moving!"

"What happened to those guys?" Luffy asked, ignoring her attempts as he turned to face Sanji. By those guys she could only assume he meant the Krieg Pirates.

"They left. Thanks to you." Sanji responded, his cigarette firmly between his lips, a smile slowly spreading. "'Let's meet out on the Grand Line' is what Gin said before leaving."

"Cool." Luffy said with a grin. Nora was already preparing to face palm based on the look on his face. "He said that to you?"

"To you, dumbass!" Sanji whipped around to yell while she shook her head with a sigh.

"Actually…I believe that what he said applied to the both of you." She said glancing between the pair. Before Sanji could protest, she turned back to Luffy, digging around in her bag. "I made sure to get a photo of them leaving. They looked really funny all piled up on that small boat."

"They all got on there without sinking?" Luffy asked with wide eyes, a grin spreading across his face. That grin quickly morphed into a look of excitement and relief. "Ah! That's right! I'm finally done with being an errand boy as of today! 'Cause I made that promise with the old man!"

"Right, congrats." Sanji responded, still staring out at the ocean.

"Back to your adventure now Luffy." Nora added, watching as he excitedly made his way to stand beside the window, grinning at Sanji's back.

"So then, you wanna-" He began, only to be quickly cut off by the chef.

"I ain't gonna be a pirate." Sanji spoke with a self-assured nod as he huffed out a breath of smoke. "I'm gonna stay here and be a cook until the day that damn geezer acknowledges my cooking…"

"Fine." Said a dejected Luffy, making his way back to the bed. "I'll give up."

What an idiot. She grinned as she stifled her laughter, watching as Luffy's grip on Sanji didn't release, even as he trudged back to the bed. He literally can't let it go.

"But your hand hasn't given up!" Sanji ground out, trying to shake himself from the boys extended grip.

"There, there Luffy." Nora said, patting his arm. "We're not leaving just yet so there's still time for him to change his mind."

"Nora-chan." Sanji sighed, finally free from his future captain's grip. "I thought you'd be on my side."

All she could do was laugh, a blissful smile on her lips.

It was shortly after that that Nora had left the two boys to talk. As much as she wished to stay and watch Sanji's eyes light up as he talked about the East Blue, she had set her mind to something else.

She wanted, no she needed, to get some answers from Zeff.

She could deny it as much as she wanted but the fact still stood that both Zeff and Mihawk had noticed something strange to do with her necklace. There was also that incident with Buggy back in Orange Town that she had done her best to push aside. The fact that she was here in the first place was strange enough but to then have people recognising the strange necklace that had appeared in her bag and then have people claim she looked like someone, well, she wanted answers.

I can practically feel my life turning into one of those OC fanfictions. She thought with a snort as she stomped around the Baratie with renewed vigour. Getting told I look like someone, getting a weird necklace… What's next? Maybe I'll grow a pair of wings.

She instantly cringed at that thought. The effort that would go into that would be far too much: cutting holes in clothes and cleaning the wings and whatnot. She wasn't sure how Monet had made it looks so easy in the anime…

"What are you doing stomping around with a frown on your face?" She heard someone call out from behind her, stopping her in her tracks. "That stupid playboy didn't do anything to annoy you, did he?"

"No. He's actually been quite well behaved." She replied with a chuckle, turning around to face just the person she was looking for. "I was actually looking for you."

"For me?" Zeff asked, frowning at her before letting out a sigh of understanding. "I suppose Hawk-Eyes said something that has left you with a few questions."

"That would be correct." She responded as she crossed her arms, her frown deepening. "And please don't give me the same cryptic answers that he was giving."

I might actually go insane if he does.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to answer all of your questions because I simply don't know the answers." He responded, staring right back at her. "But if Sanji is going to be travelling with you, it's necessary that you know what dangers you're going to have to protect your friends from."

"Dangers?" She asked with a frown. "Hawk-Eyes did say something to me about being cautious."

"Come." Zeff said, gesturing for her to follow. "We'll go sit down to talk about this."

Zeff had led her through the seemingly endless corridors of the Baratie and into one of the rooms she assumed was used as a break room for the chefs. After she had taken a seat on one of the many couches, Zeff had busied himself with hustling around a small counter in the room, making them both a drink. With each second that passed she could feel her curiosity increasing. She felt so close yet so far from the answers that she needed.

"I'm sure you are aware that even before the start of the 'Great Pirate Era' that there were pirates wreaking havoc across the world's oceans." Zeff finally spoke as he placed the glass of hot chocolate down in front of her, sitting in the seat across from her.

"Of course." Nora responded with a nod, gently picking up her drink. "From what I know, there weren't as many, but they were still quite troublesome."

"Yes. That's certainly true." He agreed with a nod, taking a sip from his own mug. "The government has done their best to erase any trace of pirates from that time but there are still many, especially in the Grand Line, that have not forgotten them. That would still recognise their faces."

"And what does this have to do with me?" She asked with a frown spreading across her lips, her eyebrows knitting in confusion. Lifting up her necklace, she rolled the gem between her fingers, watching as the light reflected off of it. "Or the better question is what does this have to do with this necklace?"

"I'm afraid that even without the necklace you'd still be connected to this." He responded, his fingers stroking idly at his braided moustache. "That necklace just confirms the connection rather than making it."

"Connection…?" She muttered, her frown only deepening. "What do you mean by that?"

"I believe that in some way, you may be related to one of the pirates from that time." Zeff explained, a stern look on his face. "I can't say for sure how you are connected, whether she is an aunt, a mother or a more distant relative, but there was a woman from the East Blue who wore that necklace and looked a hell of a lot like you."

"Huh?" Came Nora's intelligent response, her face blank with unblinking eyes. Zeff's words didn't seem to properly be registering, her mind going blank.

"She was a ruthless pirate to put it lightly." He continued, looking almost nostalgic. "Could take out a whole ship in the blink of an eye."

"Wait, wait, wait." Nora cut in, a look of pure confusion on her face. "You think I'm related to some terrifying pirate?!"

There is no way this is possible. She thought, waiting for the ex-pirate across from her to respond. I just don't see how this could be true. I'm not even from this world!

"She was never seen without that necklace on." He told her with a nod. "It was a gift from her captain I believe. She treasured it more than anything."

"But how can you be sure it's the same necklace?" She reasoned, refusing to believe the words he spoke. "You said she was never seen without it so how would I have ended up with it?"

"Don't try to deny it. It'll get you nowhere." He responded with a sigh. "That's a one of a kind gem on that necklace."

It was true that she'd never seen anything quite like it before…

"Well assuming I am somehow related to this mystery pirate, who exactly is she?" Nora asked. She needed more details. Even if the chances of it being true were slim, she wasn't going to accept these cryptid answers. "Whose crew was she on?"

"That's something you'll need to learn for yourself." He responded seriously. As much as she wanted to make him tell her, the tone in his voice prevented her from doing so. "Just know that the resemblance between the pair of you is enough to cause you a whole world of trouble."

"So, what you're saying is that I'm in a pretty bad situation." She groaned, leaning forwards and cradling her head in her hands. "Why is it always me?"

She had managed to come to terms with dying. She had even been able to accept that she was in the One Piece world. Accepting that she had somehow had the scars from the accident travel worlds with her had been hard, but she'd come to terms with that one as well. But this, this was just ridiculous! She'd been joking when she thought about her life becoming a fanfiction. She hadn't meant it literally! The thought of somehow being related to some fearful and mysterious pirate was something she refused to believe. That also brought up the question of how? Accepting that she had died and travelled worlds was one thing, the possibility of someone else doing it was something entirely different. She had no doubts she was from her world. That would mean that her potential pirate relative had either come to this world just as she had or had jumped back and forth between the world's multiple times. She simply couldn't believe any of that.

But even then, she knew Zeff was right. She could choose to ignore it and not believe it but that wouldn't change how others reacted. Even if she ditched the necklace, she doubted it would help. Buggy had recognised her before she had found the necklace in her bag.

"So when Hawk-Eyes was saying I shouldn't assume that I'd be safe in the East Blue, this was what he meant." She groaned with her head still in her hands. "This is bad. Very, very bad."

"If the government realises the connection you have, they won't hesitate." Zeff spoke almost sympathetically. "You'll be automatically branded a criminal by birth."

"Potential connection by potential birth." She cut in with a frown, still refusing to believe all that she'd been told. "There's no proof."

"What I'm saying is that perhaps you should stop turning down Straw Hat's offer." He spoke, her eyes widening at his words. "You're eventually going to be branded a criminal and you'll end up on the run sooner or later. A potential relative of that woman isn't something that will be taken lightly."

She wanted to argue with that, to say he was wrong. She wanted to believe that the government wouldn't hunt her down at kill her simply because she looked like some old pirate but she knew all too well that it would be a lie. The way they had treated Ace, the way they were going to treat him, was evidence of that.

"You think I should become a pirate." She stated. It wasn't a question she needed to ask. She knew this was what he was telling her.

"You're going to be branded a criminal either way." He said with a laugh, standing up from his seat and patting her shoulder. "You might as well be a criminal surrounded by friends."

She wasn't sure how long she sat in that room, a million thoughts racing through her head, but at some point, she figured that sitting around wasn't getting her anywhere. She could worry about this later. What she had learned today didn't change the fact that she would still be leaving the Baratie with the Straw Hats and that she would going to the next island with them. She could worry about this later. There were more pressing things to worry about now.

So, with that in mind, she shook the thoughts from her head and left the room, making her way down the hallways, following the sound of crashing plates. She could only assume that that sound was the sound of the chefs throwing down Sanji's soup. It seemed their time on the Baratie was finally coming to a close.

Sounds like the noise is coming from in here. She thought to herself as she quietly opened the door. The sight of broken plates and soup covering the floor when she entered proved that to be true. Such a waste of soup…

"Would you mind taking that lil' Eggplant with you?" Zeff was saying as she stepped into the room. "Take him to the Grand Line… It's his dream."

"You're really advocating for people to join Luffy's crew today." Nora managed to let out a laugh, finding the humour in her rather dismal situation. "Next thing we know; you'll be trying to hand over all of your cooks."

"I'm just saying what I believe is the best thing for everyone." Zeff said, turning to her with a plate of soup. "Now shut up and eat up."

"Thank you." She smiled, taking a seat on the ground besides Luffy as she tuned out the shouting of the chefs around her. "What do you say Luffy? You going to take Sanji?"

"Take Sanji along?" Luffy spoke as he glanced up. Nora could feel the smirk coming to spread across her lips. "Don't wanna."

As the chefs around her cried out in horror, she sat with a smile and ate the soup, letting all of her worries leave her body. While Luffy explained his reasoning for saying no, she helped herself to another serving of the absolutely delicious soup. The thought of being able to eat Sanji's cooking everyday was almost enough for her to make her tell Luffy she would join his crew. Almost.

Her brief moment of peace and acceptance quickly ended however, as she found herself choking on the soup when Yosaku crashing through the wall looking like a merman.

"What the fu-" Nora screeched out, however she was quickly cut off by Luffy's concerned shout from beside her.

"Ah… Brother Luffy. Sister Nora." Yosaku spoke as he painfully raised a hand in greeting.

"What're you doing here alone?" Luffy asked crouching in front of him. "Where are the others? And what about Nami?"

"You're going to ignore the shark?!" She yelled out in exasperation. "He's literally inside the mouth of a shark!"

"Oh. Right." Luffy nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "We should probably do something about that."

"Probably?" She deadpanned, turning to Luffy with a blank stare. With a shake of her head she got up and began to yank Yosaku from the sea creatures' mouth. "Someone go and get him a blanket! He's freezing!"

It took quite some effort but with the help of Luffy and some of the chefs, they had been able to free Yosaku from the mouth of the shark. They also discovered Sanji underneath it, having been sent through the wall along with the pair. Now Yosaku was sat upon a chair, wrapped in blankets as they all waited for him to explain what had happened.

"We couldn't catch up with sister Nami but judging from the way she went, we're pretty sure we know where she's headed." He told them, still shivering with his lips tinted blue. When Luffy happily responded at that statement, Yosaku continued, sounding far from enthusiastic. "Well um… If she's headed to where we think she's headed to then it's an incredibly dangerous place."

"What? Don't tell me there's something we need to fear more than Don Krieg." Nora spoke, knowing full well what the answer to that question was. Soon enough, Luffy would be crossing paths with Arlong. Letting out a laugh she continued. "Either way, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Well I'll fill you in on the details later. In any case, we need your strength." He continued speaking. "Please come right away!"

"Okay!" Luffy said with a nod, as self-assured as ever. "I don't know what's going on but fine, let's go!"

"How exciting." Nora drawled, the reality of having to back to a smaller boat finally hitting her. "I just love sailing."

"Wait. Take me with you." Sanji spoke, halting them in their departure and sending the chefs into a shocked silence. "I'll accompany you on your way to becoming the Pirate King. After all, we both have crazy dreams, so I'll tag along to fulfil mine."

He says that now, but it will become so much more than that. Nora thought as she watched on, once again being overwhelmed as she was reminded of the events she was witnessing. The Straw Hats really are amazing…

"I'll be the cook for your ship." He said, glancing up with a smirk. "Sound good or bad?"

"Sounds great!" Luffy yelled with a whoop of excitement as he began to dance with Yosaku, his arming reaching over to drag her into the celebratory dance. "Nora! We have a chef now!"

As she found herself getting dragged out the door by the duo, she realised it was becoming harder and harder to say she wasn't on his crew.

"We haven't even left yet and you're going pale." Luffy said with a laugh, poking her cheek as if she was some strange creature that belonged on Gaimon's island. "I thought you didn't get seasick anymore."

"Are pirates supposed to get seasick?" One of the chefs asked with a laugh.

"Certainly something I've never seen before." Another replied.

"I haven't been on a boat this size for quite a while now." Nora groaned in protest as her stomach did flips. "I'll get used to it soon… I hope."

"Maybe you need to eat some limes." Yosaku suggested, watching as she slumped against the railing of Sanji's ship. "That fixed me!"

"That only works with scurvy." She replied, glancing up at him with a flat look. "I just hope Sanji hurries up so we can leave. The sooner we leave, the sooner I can get back on solid land."

"Brother cook is running late." Yosaku agreed with a nod.

"Ah, he's here." Luffy spoke as Sanji made his way through the sea of chefs, towards the small boat. Nora let out a snort at the timing. That was something that could only happen in fiction.

"This is payback for all those years!" Patty and Carne suddenly yelled out, jumping from the crowd and attempting to attack Sanji. To absolutely no one's surprise, their attempt was unsuccessful. Sanji was able to deal with them in no time at all.

"Let's go." Sanji said as he now stood in front of the ship, his bag in hand.

"Just like that?" Luffy asked with a confused frown. "No goodbye's?"

No need to worry Luffy. She thought with a small smile, watching Zeff appear on the second story of the ship. There'll be a goodbye.

"Don't catch a cold." Rang Zeff's voice, loud and clear the fond smile on his face unwavering.

Reaching into her bag, Nora felt her own widen smile as Sanji turned around with tears in his eyes. This truly was a heart-warming scene. She could already feel her eyes becoming slightly watery. She lined up her camera, wishing to capture a picture of the moment so that Sanji could hopefully look back fondly at it. With a click of a button, she added it to her seemingly ever-growing collection of photos. When they got the Merry back, she'd hang it along the wall, just as she had done with the others.

The way I'm thinking makes it sound like I'm going to stay with them. She shook her head at herself. I can't decide on that just yet.

"You bastard!" She heard Patty and Carne cry out with tears of their own. "Goddamnit! We're gonna be so lonely without ya!"

"They're all so sweet." Nora said with a grin as all of the chefs began to bid Sanji a tearful goodbye. "Hopefully I can come back here one day."

"They're the kindest!" Yosaku sobbed from besides her, tears streaming down her face. "Cook brothers are the best!"

As Sanji hopped onto the boat, tears still falling from his eyes, Luffy threw his fist in the air with an excited grin on his face. It was finally time for them to depart the Baratie and move onto their next adventure.

"Alright! Let's set sail!"

And so the East Blue crew have all been introduced. She thought with a smile, waving to the chefs and snapping one last picture of their shrinking forms. Soon enough they'll be heading into the Grand Line. What an adventure that'll be.

"Nora?"

"Yes Luffy?" She responded, grimacing in pain.

"What are you doing?" He asked, his neck stretching so he could stare at her in confusion.

"Yoga." She responded, wincing as she felt a harsh pull in her leg muscles. "I'm trying to take my mind off of my seasickness."

Much to her surprise, it had actually been working. The pain from all her swimming around at the Baratie combined with the fact that she was stretching her muscles more than she had in a very long time was actually doing quite a good job at stopping her from throwing up. She wished she had thought to do this on their earlier trips. She imagined it would have prevented her from puking a number of times.

"I thought yoga was supposed to be relaxing." Luffy said with a frown, watching as pained looks spread across her face. "You don't look very relaxed."

"Well I'm not as flexible as I used to be." She explained, attempting, and failing, to lower herself into a split. "I'll get there eventually."

To say she wasn't as flexible as she used to be was an understatement. She used to be able to drop into a split without any issues but now… well there were quite a few issues.

"Is this what you're trying to do?" He asked with a grin, dropping into a split in front of her. "It's easy!"

"Of course it's easy for you." She laughed, flopping onto her back with a pained huff. "You're made of rubber Luffy."

"You said you're not as flexible as you used to be…" Sanji noted, turning away from staring wistfully at the ocean. It seemed that he was still too deep in thought about leaving the Baratie to be his usual self just yet. "What happened?"

"I used to do gymnastics." She explained, hoping that they would know what she meant and that gymnastics wasn't some foreign concept in this world. When they nodded along rather than looking confused, she continued. "My father made me stop though because he decided that studying was more important."

"And you stopped because he told you to?" Luffy asked with a frown. "Why?"

"Well I didn't really have much of a choice. I had to do what he wanted." She said, rolling off of her back and preparing to try and drop into another split. "But I don't have to worry about him anymore so I guess I can get back into it again, huh?"

"Right!" Luffy said, nodding enthusiastically. "I'll help you!"

"Thanks Luffy." She said with a grin, lowering herself as far as she could. "Maybe by the end of boat trip I'll be able to get into a split again."

And she truly did mean that. While it was a rather painful process, with each attempt she was getting closer and closer to the ground. With a bit of hard work, she'd be able to get back her flexibility in no time. But of course, she knew getting her flexibility back wasn't all there was to it. Her stamina would need some work and that would take much longer. There was also her muscle mass. While she hadn't put on much weight, she certainly wasn't as toned as she had been. All of this was going to take her time and effort.

I can put that time and effort in now though. She thought, pushing herself closer to the ground, ignoring the burning pain in her legs. It's not like I've got any other life plans in this world.

"There, there Yosaku." Nora sighed, rubbing the man's back in what she hoped was a comforting matter. "It's all right."

"How long are you going to cry for?" Luffy asked, sat upon the bow of their small ship. "Cheer up already."

"B-But I'm so touched!" He sobbed, wiping at his tears. "It was truly a beautiful goodbye Brother Cook!"

"Yes, but if you keep crying, you're going to end up getting dehydrated." Nora spoke, giving a final pat to his back. "So, as Luffy said, cheer up."

"You are keeping a check on our boat's direction, right?" Sanji asked, the irritation evident in his voice as he ignored Yosaku's sobs.

They had been out at sea for no more than two hours and Nora was already over it. She had decided to take a break from her yoga and stretching, the pain in her legs becoming far too much for her. And while had managed to put her seasickness out of mind when she had been stretching the moment she had stopped the seemingly ever present queasiness in her stomach had returned. This combined with the fact that she had nothing to do meant she really was not enjoying herself. Yosaku's endless tears weren't doing anything for her either.

Perhaps I should have a snack. She thought as she stared up at the cloudless blue sky. Maybe that'll help to settle my stomach.

"I wanna bring back Nami so we can go to the Grand Line already!" Luffy suddenly called out, stretching his arms above his head in anticipation and halting her thoughts about writing.

"You're awfully happy." Sanji noted, taking a drag of his cigarette. "But even with Nami, don't you still only have five people?"

"Six!" Luffy was quick to cut in, pointing his finger in her direction. "Nora's the writer of the crew. Don't forget her!"

"I don't recall ever joining your crew." She spoke, sticking out her tongue as she stood up from the deck. "I'm gonna go and get a snack."

"I can make it for you Nora-chwan!~" Sanji swooned, moving to follow her into the small kitchen. "I'll make the most delicious meal for you!"

"No it's fine." She responded with a laugh, glad to see that he was getting back to his usual self. "I'll just grab some fruit."

She could tell that the chef was ready protest, but she simply smiled and made her way into the kitchen, not giving him the chance. She'd only be in there for a minute at most. She was just going to grab some of the fruit from one of the barrels that she'd seen being loaded onto the ship earlier.

"Nora!" She heard Luffy yell out from outside, causing her to turn her head as she reached into the barrel to grab her fruit. "Will you get me some meat?"

"Nope!" She shouted back, laughing as she heard Sanji smack his new captain on the back of the head. "Get it yourself!"

"But I'm starving!" He wailed back. She could practically imagine the look on his face. "Please!"

Shaking her head at his antics, Nora bit into the apple she had grabbed from the basket, glad to finally be tasting some sweet fruit again.

Only, it wasn't the flavour of an apple that she tasted.

Instead, what she could only describe as the absolute worst thing she had ever tasted, spread across her taste buds. The fruit she'd been hoping would calm her queasiness was instead making her want to throw up again! Why the hell did it taste so bad?

Glancing down to the offending fruit, Nora got her answer instantly.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

So I think we all know what just happened but it just felt like the perfect spot to end this chapter so I couldn't help myself with the cliff hanger that's not really a cliff hanger.

This is actually one of the biggest changes I've made since going back and editing all the chapters. This scene was originally going to happen around the time of the Little Garden arc but I was honestly just too impatient to wait until then and I figured that putting it now would work as well!

So, on that note, as always, be sure to leave some of your theories and thoughts because I'm so excited to see what you guys are thinking!

See you next chapter!