Chapter Text
The sea wind fluttered through Vivi's hair as she stood, newspaper in hand, on the deck of the merchant vessel she'd acquired passage on. Five days ago she had made her escape from Alabasta, and now the ship was in sight of its destination, a busy trading hub called Espree, where she would have to figure out the next step of her grand plan.
The scent of the salt water tickled her nose as she read the headline again, the bustle of the merchants preparing to disembark with their wares fading into the background as she looked at the photograph of her smiling face.
“Princess Vivi Nefertari Missing! The Desert Princess Stolen Away in the Night?!”
She remembered the day that photograph was taken, and the reasons for its peculiarities that nobody else knew. Why her azure hair was mussed. It was the long run on Karoo to see her crewmates off with a smile as she vowed to one day join them again. She remembered vividly why her smile wasn’t quite as bright as it could be. Why her eyes looked so tired.
Vivi had regretted it almost the moment they sailed away. She was part of the Straw Hat Pirates, the tattoo on her arm a mark of that fact– but they were moving on without her while she’d stayed in one place. Playing princess for a nation she adored at the expense of that rush of freedom and excitement the sea brought with it.
Her father had almost immediately begun talking about marriage and suitors. The demands of the crown grew heavier. She found herself wishing she were still on that beautifully silly ship with her beautifully silly friends.
Friends who needed help more than ever if the papers were to be believed.
To her side, Karoo made a worried trill as she read the article.
“Don’t worry, Karoo.” she murmured softly/ “...they won’t recognize me. And even if they do, nobody’ll believe a princess is way out here in commoner’s clothes…”
Dubious, her stalwart supersonic duck huffed and started sipping at his water barrel in reply.
“Worrywart,” she sniffed with a shake of her head as she turned the page past a story about pirate emperor Red Haired Shanks causing some kind of trouble in the new world.
Vivi hadn't been kidnapped— it was an escape. She fled the palace in the night with Karoo by her side and a vague note to her father.
It was all so she could find them again.
The Low Tide Brokerage on Espree Island was the emergency meeting point for Baroque Works agents. When the papers had reported on Crocodile's escape from Impel Down and the disaster at Marineford, all the remaining agents had known that, if the boss was planning to salvage the organization, that was the place to be.
Marianne hadn’t wasted a single moment since the reports of his escape. She’d practically fallen out of her chair at the rebuilt Spiders Cafe in her excitement to show Zala the good news, and it wasn’t long before they’d chartered themselves a ship to rush to Espree as fast as the sails could carry them.
The former Miss Goldenweek had tried, back when the organization first fell apart, to save as many former members as she could– only to be refused by Mr. Zero and Mr. 1. His spark, the colors of his ambition, had dulled with defeat but the thrill that maybe it’d come back from the depths of Impel Down was an excitement Marianne couldn’t pass up, even if she rarely showed it on her face.
She adjusted her wide brimmed hat as she approached the familiar Brokerage shop with her pack on her back. If he really was going to be there– if he really was going to return Baroque Works to something like its former glory– she had to be a part of it.
“I wonder if Mr. 3’s gonna be there,” she murmured as she popped a rice cracker in her mouth.
The Brokerage was a low but handsomely appointed little building in one of the main shopping plazas of the summer island's city. There was an awning shade over the door, and a discrete mark carved into the lintel just below it-– almost unnoticeable in the shade-– but there if you were looking for it.
She looked up at it for a moment, rice cracker in her mouth as she stared almost right through it. For most, it was the doorway to an information broker like any other, but for her…it was a doorway back into a dream.
Briefly, she entertained the thought to place a color trap on the door to dissuade interruptions-– and cause a little trouble-– but she ultimately just pushed the door open and stepped inside. It’d have been annoying if Zala had gotten trapped in a cycle of apathy instead of some random citizen anyway.
Inside was the familiar comfortable shopfront, with its plush waiting couches, and the smell of tea and incense filling the air. Behind the desk was a familiar man with a dark complexion, swept back hair, and a rather garish suit. He was a man by the name of Louis Don who had run the brokerage on the organization's behalf since before Marianne had joined.
He clapped his hands together and smiled broadly. "Oh! Welcome!"
“Morning.” Marianne said simply as she walked up to the desk. She was never a woman of many words, not when her art spoke so much for her. Still, she stood at the other end of the desk and stared the man down with expectation.
He knew who she was– that was obvious. But there was the formality of the code phrase. As he poured a cup of tea he announced conversationally, "I saw a green albatross this morning."
Marianne sighed and pulled out her sketchpad. Quickly, with her sketch pencil and a bit of green paint she formed an image of a green albatross flying over a sinking ship. She held it up, the radiating calm of the green paint’s aura projected through her abilities.
“Bad Omen.”
Louis chuckled as she completed the code phrase, and offered her the cup of tea. "Welcome back, Ms. Goldenweek. The others are downstairs."
She took the tea gratefully with a nod.
“Miss Doublefinger is on her way," she warned. “She’s still prickly.”
Louis chuckled and shook his head. "Well, I'll keep that in mind. How was your trip here? Quiet, or eventful?"
“We had a brief run in with some no-name pirates.” Marianne sipped her tea. “Sunk.”
"Uneventful, then. You're the first to arrive, you know. Aside from Mr. 1. And the boss. Funny to have that revealed after all this time. Who would have thought?"
“Not me. I thought Mr. Zero would have been someone taller.”
Despite the dryness of her tone as she sipped her tea, she couldn’t help but joke a little. After all, the fact that Sir Crocodile was their boss all along was a shock to everyone except Miss All Sunday— who turned out to be quite the big shot herself.
The Devil Child.
This seemed to throw Louis for a moment, then he chuckled as he realized the joke, shaking his head.
"Taller. Good one, Ms. Goldenweek."
She gave him a thumbs up.
“Thanks Louis. I’d better not keep the boss waiting though. Tell me if Mr. 3 shows up.”
She curtsied to him before grabbing her tea again and heading towards the door. “You can keep the painting. As a friend.”
Pleasantly– and calmly– Louis waved and thanked her as she headed downstairs.
The basement of the Brokerage was a quite normal looking one, being full of old crates, barrels of wine, and some cold larder items. But at the back of it there was a door hidden by a shelf that was quite easy to move aside, even for someone as small as Marianne.
And behind that door was the Baroque Works meeting room.
She dusted off her hands, and opened the door without hesitation. She was excited— very excited even.
Her time with Zala and the others at the cafe, biding their time and committing minor crimes here and there in service to their band of ruffians, was fun, but there was something about Baroque Works that brought out a lot in each of them.
The door shifted open and admitted her to the meeting room– a comfortably appointed room like the VIP room of a club, with a pool table, bar, and meeting area with couches and chairs.
The two figures in the room were arranged at the pool table, and both looked up when the door opened. Both were familiar, though one of them more so than the other. Daz Bones, aka Mr. 1, a tall, rakish looking young man, broad shouldered with handsome, finely cut statuesque features and close cropped pale hair that contrasted with his tanned skin. She'd worked with him frequently, though indirectly, and he nodded as she entered, a smile curving his lips.
The other was Sir Crocodile-– aka Mr. Zero-– the formerly elusive leader of Baroque Works whose public identity as a famous warlord of the sea she had only learned on the very day that everything had gone to hell. He was wearing one of his signature suits, and the smoke of the cigar in his mouth curled around his head.
He stood from where he'd been leaning over the pool table and grinned broadly at her. "Well, well, look who we've got here."
Marianne saluted with the hand that held her tea. “Miss Goldenweek, reporting in. You look good for a prison escapee, sir.”
He chuckled, and set down his pool cue, putting his cigar in an ashtray on the rim of the table. "Kind of you to say, Miss Goldenweek. I feel pretty good for a prison escapee too, admittedly."
Daz, meanwhile, headed over to the bar quietly, and started mixing drinks.
Marianne finished off her tea and placed the cup on the bar before she turned to the boss once more with an adjustment of her hat.
“What got you all fired up? Last time I saw you, you asked me to leave you in prison.” She paused for a long moment before she said “if you don’t mind me saying, sir.”
"No, it's a fair question." He leaned against the table with his arms on the ridge of it, hook dangling. "I probably shoulda taken you up on your offer in hindsight, but the spark was gone. What fired me up? Hah… a chance at revenge, honestly."
“Revenge.” Marianne nodded once before she took off her pack and set it down. “The second best motivator, outside of snacks.”
Crocodile actually chuckled at that.
"You got a point there, Miss Goldenweek." He looked over at where Daz was pouring three cocktails, and back at Marianne, his brow furrowed. "Do you drink?"
“Huh?” Marianne blinked slowly. “Yeah. Of course I do. I even help Zala with the bar.”
"Huh." Crocodile shrugged, but did seem perturbed.
Daz looked up as he handed Marianne her drink. "She's like 20, boss."
"... you're kidding." He stared at her, and repeated, "Huh."
Marianne took the drink and held it up with a nod.
“Just petite.” She shrugged her shoulders as she took a sip of the drink. “Probably the malnutrition.”
Crocodile snorted, and raised his drink after Daz handed it to him. "Cheers to that."
“Cheers.” Marianne leaned on the pool table. “Are you gonna put Baroque Works back together, boss?”
"Baroque Works is cooked," he said, shaking his head. "I've got some thoughts about a rise from the ashes, but it's hazy. We'll need a new name at minimum. And so far, you're the only agent who's shown up, so."
“Zala’s comin’ too. we just separated at the port so the law didn’t follow us. The others weren’t so sure about rejoining up just yet. So…”
"And smarts like that's why you were a top agent, Miss Goldenweek." He nodded approvingly and smiled.. "So Miss Doublefinger's on her way, too. Not bad."
"I told you we just need to give it some time, boss," Daz said, leaning on the bar. "Everybody got scattered to the four winds. News takes time to travel, and so do people. I still think even Galdino might show up."
"He's busy with the clown," Crocodile mumbled.
“.....Galdino’s become a clown?” Marianne asked with a widening of her eyes. “Good for him.”
"Yeah, good for him." Crocodile sounded much less than thrilled as he sipped his drink.
Marianne wasn’t thrilled herself. It was her fault Galdino had gotten himself captured in the first place, and now he’d gone off to join the circus.
“I hope he comes back around. Wanted to say thanks.” She put the drink down on the edge of the pool table with a half smile. “...you’ll have to settle for just me until then, boss.”
"Well, you're the first to show up, so you're the first in line for a promotion."
Vivi had spent a little time getting her bearings in the city as she left the port and headed into town. What she needed more than anything else was information. Information, which she knew, was traded in the underworld as a precious commodity.
She didn’t have much in the way of funds, but she had a few snippets of information that might catch the ear of the right sort of information vendor. Her bright eyes scanned the streets, past the meandering townsfolk and merchants as Karoo trotted beside her.
She had to find some sort of broker of information. Someone she could ask for a lead on her biggest step in her plan to reunite with Luffy and the Straw Hats.
Vivi needed a devil fruit. A strong one. Something that would give her the power to stand up to the government that killed her captain’s brother right before his eyes.
After asking around in the marketplace, Vivi found herself directed to a squat building with a green awning and a sign reading "Low Tide Brokerage". While the shop itself didn't advertise what it brokered, she'd been assured that this was the right place to look for what she wanted.
Vivi took a deep breath before telling Karoo to stay outside. Incognito as she was, she’d adopted a former mode of dress– forgone was the telltale Alabasta style of her homeland in favor of something more like the outfit she’d once worn as ‘Miss Wednesday’ the agent of Baroque Works.
It was unique, yes, but very much unlike anything people would imagine the princess of Alabasta would ever wear. A spiral print corset top with a long blue coat over her shoulders and a pair of hip hugging pants and heeled boots didn’t exactly scream ‘desert princess’.
WIth her hair down in tight waves over her shoulders she was sure nobody would recognize her as she stepped into the office with a confident smile.
There was a tan skinned man with a wide smile and a fancy suit behind the counter, fixing a cup of tea.
"Welcome!" he greeted as she entered. "How can I help you?"
“Hello, sir!” She put her hand on her hip as she strolled right up. “I’m looking for a bit of information. I’m told you’re the guy to talk to!”
He leaned on the desk and smiled. "I do have that reputation. Usually I even live up to it. What kind of information are you looking for?"
Vivi gently twisted a lock of her hair around her finger with a furrow of her brow. “....I’m trying to track down a devil fruit. Fruits, really. Any leads I can get on the location of one.”
A door in the back of the shop that Vivi hadn't been paying attention to opened with a creak, and a large figure emerged.
"Now why would the princess of Alabasta be looking for a devil fruit?"
Her breath caught in her throat so sharply she almost choked, her fist balling against her chest as she took a step back and looked up at the figure with panic in her eyes. A cold prickle of terror crawled down her spine as she shook her head.
“No! No I…I …I…”
The figure who had spoken– the figure who had come out of the door-– was terrifyingly familiar. Sir Crocodile. Mr. Zero. The man who was at the heart of every way that her life had changed.
He stepped toward her as the man behind the counter stepped away.
Vivi felt her world narrow down into a view of the man, his looming visage shaking as her body did the same. She took a step back as her hand slowly moved down towards the pocket she kept her peacock slashers in, biting her lip nervously.
“How are you here? I heard you e-escaped but you can’t possibly be here, Crocodile!”
Crocodile chuckled, seeming unconcerned. He loomed over her, somehow suddenly quite close. "It's my brokerage, princess. What a funny coincidence."
His brokerage. Of all the shops she’d walked into in the entire Grand Line, she’d walked into one belonging to the man who had attempted to throw her home into chaos and destruction. A man who’d dropped her off the palace without a second thought…
The man Luffy and his friends, her crew, had given their all to stop for her.
She swallowed thickly, looking up at him with a narrowing of her eyes and a cross of her arms.
“Hilarious.” she managed to say. “if I’d known I might have gone to the next island over, or at the very least not walked into here. A-and don’t call me a princess!”
His dark eyebrows arched and he looked down at her with something like amused curiosity as smoke from his cigar obscured his face.
"Why shouldn't I? After all, you successfully defended your claim on your kingdom."
Vivi’s fingers curled against the top of her corset as her lips formed a nervous but firm line.
“My father’s claim. Not mine.” She tilted her head up defiantly. “So kindly stop announcing to the world that I’m The Princess of Alabasta, because...I’m a pirate, Sir Crocodile.” she practically shouted it.
It gave her a sting of pride. She was a pirate, she wasn’t supposed to be out there. They’d be hunting for her to bring her home the moment the marines got word. But it was the truth…under all her royal robes, in every ounce of her being…she was a pirate through and through.
“I’d rather you didn’t bring the marines down on me w-with your loose tongue!”
Crocodile's mouth opened, and he looked like he was about to respond, when suddenly his posture changed, stiffened, and his amused expression disappeared.
"Then get behind me." With a sudden movement like a striking snake he grabbed her wrist and pulled her, whirling around and stepping in front of her. As Vivi's head spun from the sudden change and the grab– she realized she'd heard the door open.
"Ah, navy men!" the man behind the counter announced. "Welcome!"
Vivi’s eyes went wide— her body was hidden effectively by the long and heavy coat Crocodile always had worn even in the desert heat. She pressed behind him, carefully making sure not an inch of her body showed as she dared not to even breathe.
She could only hope Karoo had the sense to run when the navy had come sniffing.
"Yeah yeah," she heard a voice say. "We're here for some info, old man."
"You could stand to be more polite, lieutenant," Crocodile warned.
"Yeah? What's it to you?"
"Uh? Trav? Is that?"
Vivi’s fingers grabbed the back of Crocodile’s coat as her other hand finally hooked through the ring of her spinning blade tucked away in her pocket. She didn’t want to have to fight and blow her cover so soon, but…
She was too early in her mission to stop now.
Crocodile sighed. "I guess it's too late for the two of you to walk out of here."
"What? No, I–"
Vivi saw Crocodile's shoulders twitch, there was a sudden hiss of sand– and then screaming which was swiftly smothered.
She winced, hissing softly between her teeth as she held the peacock slasher by her side in a tense and ready stance.
She likely didn’t need it…without a doubt Crocodile had taken the two navy men out of commission already.
There was a soft thump, and Crocodile sighed, dusting his hand off on his pants. "Louis, can you have those two cleaned up, please? If you need Daz, I'll send him up."
"No need, boss."
Crocodile turned to her, and his smile slowly reappeared. "Sorry for the interruption."
He didn't call her princess.
Vivi felt her dark cheeks flush as she bobbed her head in a thankful bow.
“It's fine! Sorry about the Navy, I ah..” She rubbed the back of her neck. The death of the navy men didn't perturb her as much as maye it should have. After all, she was a pirate— and they would have taken her back home. “Thanks for hiding me. That could have gotten much worse.”
"You're welcome," he said, puffing on his cigarette. "It could have. So. I shouldn't call you princess. What should I call you? Not Miss Wednesday, I presume. It doesn't sound like you came to get your job back."
“Just Vivi’s okay for now,” She laughed nervously as she looked up at him. “I’m still working on what my ephilet’ll be. As for ‘Miss Wednesday’, I wasn’t aware there was even a job to go back to, much less one you’d accept me in.”
"It's a work in progress," he said, lifting his chin with amusement. "But it sounds like we shouldn't speak openly of either of our business. If you want information– come downstairs with me. Otherwise, you're free to walk out that door, and I'll pretend I never saw you."
The way his dark eyes sparkled said something– like they were almost daring her.
For a moment she was torn. He was the man who tore her life to shreds after all…and not all that long ago, either.
But he had information…and he absolutely had connections. And he’d already blocked the Navy from her path, despite it not benefiting him in the least.
She pocketed her slasher and huffed. “Lead the way, Sir Crocodile.”
As the man behind the counter came around to clean up the two desiccated bodies on the floor, Vivi followed the enemy of her people through the door in the back, and down into a dimly lit basement.
With one last look at the desiccated navy men, Vivi entered into the dim, unknown darkness of the former Warlord’s den.
Chapter Text
"Have you been well?' Crocodile asked, politely and nonchalantly as he led her through the apparently normal basement below the brokerage. There were crates, and stored goods, and nothing apparently out of the ordinary.
Have you been well was rich coming from the guy who’d once cackled while aiming a giant cannon at the town square– but somehow it brought a laugh out of her.
“Have I been…I suppose so, yes. After you… left the country I …parted ways with the Straw Hat Pirates and my father asked me to take a bit more royal responsibility .”
Mostly that meant ‘look at these suitors and choose one to take the throne with’. Something she absolutely didn’t want to do. Not when the Straw Hats were waiting for her, and not even after.
"Left the country," he chuckled with apparent good humor. "For my vacation home in Impel Down. Royal responsibilities, hmm? And are those what brought you here?"
“Vacation home…” She laughed politely, before folding her arms behind her back and leaning against a crate. “Not quite. Partially. I…”
She frowned for a moment, thinking back to the crisis in Alabasta, but she pressed on. “I never left the Straw Hat Pirates. They actually asked me to come with them when they left Alabasta…but I was drawn back at the last moment.”
"Oh?" he paused in front of an empty shelf by the wall and turned back to regard her with a curious look. "You were planning to sail away with pirates?"
She rubbed her arm, where the tattoo of the black X signifying their bond-– that they all were who they said they were-– still stood marked against the warm brown of her skin.
“I was part of their crew, I am part of their crew. I’d been planning on leaving with them and seeing everything the Grand Line had to offer…but…”
At the last moment the weight of responsibility had crashed on her shoulders. The royal mantle, the speeches, her father’s expectations now that Alabasta was free of its hidden tyrant. “Alabasta needed its princess.”
"Then why are you here now, princess?"
It was a simple question, but Vivi could feel the weight in it. Crocodile knew what he was asking. He must have had a good inkling of what she'd say. She'd known him for a long time-– long before he was revealed as the dastardly Mr. Zero, when he had been Sir Crocodile, the hero of her country. And she knew what a cunning and insightful man he was.
Before she knew what he was doing to the people of Alabasta, she’d even respected and looked up to him.
She idly twisted her slasher around her finger.
“I didn’t need it. The crown. Being Princess. Father saw my whole life ahead of me, marriages and speeches and reveries, but the sea was calling out to me.”
She looked up at him as she continued. “I’ve regretted not leaping on that ship almost every day since. And then I saw…I saw what happened to Luffy at Marineford in the papers, and I knew I had to join them again. I had to find them and…and do whatever I could to help, as their crewmate and a fellow pirate.”
With a shrug, she looked away. “So I ran away with Karoo and promised that I’d catch up with them…but I’m too weak. I’ve fallen behind them even more by now. I need something to make me stronger.”
"My my, Miss Vivi. You never cease to surprise me. Marvelous. Just marvelous." As she turned back toward him she saw that Crocodile's curious expression broke out into a wide and toothy grin, like his namesake.
He pushed away the shelf, and revealed a hidden door, which he pulled open. The dark basement was filled with a wash of warm light, and Vivi could see a handsomely appointed room beyond it with a number of familiar faces.
She took a step towards it, enough to really peer inside with a quiet intake of breath. It was a damned Baroque Works reunion right under her nose. People she’d called false comrades and enemies alike…all gathered in the basement of her first hope for a Devil Fruit.
Sitting around some low tables in the smoky private bar room were Daz Bones– Mr. 1, Marianne– Miss Goldenweek, and Zala– Miss Doublefinger. Her own former partner, Mr. 9, was not there. But then, there were lots of people missing.
"Huh," Daz said with a rare, wide grin. "Now there's an agent I didn't expect to show up."
Marianne had turned the full force of her strange and uncanny stare her way without a word– though she did wave pleasantly with what was just about a smile. Zala had turned in her chair with her long pipe raised to her lips with an amused look in her eyes.
“Our dear, elusive Miss Wednesday,” she purred as she blew curling, acrid smoke through her darkly painted lips. “It is a surprise.”
Vivi blinked, before she laughed awkwardly and eased her way into the room.
“Trust me, the surprise goes both ways…is Mr. 9 not here?” it occurred to her she’d never learned his real name.
"If he's coming, he hasn't joined us yet," Daz shrugged. "Actually, everyone here only arrived today. Want a drink?"
It was strange the way they were all treating her as if her presence was normal. But then, what was normal with a group like this? And besides, their boss, Crocodile, was looming behind her with a smug grin on his face. So if they had any questions, they'd certainly save them for him.
In fact, though the question was undoubtedly aimed at her, she noticed Daz glance up at Crocodile past her-– perhaps looking for his permission if she said yes.
“Y-yeah. I’d love a drink. Thank you.” She paced slowly towards the table. It was like walking into a viper’s nest and finding yourself a welcome guest, or one of the vipers yourself.
Marianne sipped her drink and went back to drawing something on her sketchpad , seeming rather pleased with Vivi’s presence despite their limited interaction.
Zala was more vocal.
“Good. You missed out on the last company outing, after all.” She blew the smoke between her lips. “That one was less fun.”
"Sadly, it doesn't seem like Miss Wednesday will be joining us again," Crocodile said, striding over to the largest chair he'd clearly recently vacated, and draping himself over it. He picked up his half finished drink. "We ran into one another by coincidence."
"Coincidence?" Daz looked up from the bar where he was mixing her drink.
“Now that’s a shame. I’ve always wondered what a princess looked like when she went bad.” Zala purred as she peered at Vivi through long lashes.
Vivi flushed and ducked her head. “I’m not a princess. I’m a p-pirate. and I just happened to come here for some information on Devil Fruits. That’s all.”
“Devil Fruits….” Marianne spoke for the first time as she looked up from her drawing pad, grabbing a glass of what was clearly some hard spirit cocktail. “You’re interested in them?”
Crocodile grinned even wider. "Apparently she's turning pirate-– and feels like she needs a little bit of an upgrade. Though who among us here can blame her?"
Daz shook his head as he brought her drink over and offered it to her. "I think our opinion's probably obvious."
Everyone in that room besides Vivi was a devil fruit user.
Marianne laughed into her drink. “As long as you don’t gotta swim there’s really nothing like it…” Her voice was quiet and deadpan as always.
“My my, our little Miss Wednesday is taking the bold step into a life of villainy, is she? It’s about time.” Zala leaned on her hand, spikes visible at the tips of her fingers as she watched Vivi with renewed curiosity
Vivi glanced off to the side with a puff of her cheeks. “I’d hardly call it a first, bold step. I’ve been a pirate before! And I did all sorts of things in the service of infiltrating Baroque Works!” She put her hands on her hips “I’m not going to be able to keep up with the Straw Hats like I am now. I’ve got to—”
“Oh…that makes sense.” Marianne’s quiet voice interrupted.
"It sure does," Crocodile said with a smile as he puffed on his cigar. "So you ran off from the palace all by yourself, to hunt down a devil fruit, get stronger, and join up with Straw Hat and his gang. Your father must be worried sick."
“I think he probably is.” Vivi finally took a seat at the table, as if she were still one of them. “No, I know he is— it only takes one look at the Marine presence everywhere I try to go to know that.”
Zala whistled low, and placed her pipe back between her lips. “Somehow I don’t think the boss is so worried about old Cobra’s mental health. He seems pretty damn amused. You’re not going to feel bad and go scampering home to Alabasta, Miss Wednesday?”
Crocodile held his cigar in his hand, and watched her carefully as she answered Zala's question.
“What?? What do you mean by that, Miss Doublefinger?” Vivi’s hackles raised despite herself, but Zala held up her hand.
“Zala’s fine,” she purred. “All I’m saying is a pirate needs to have strong resolve. No criminal makes it anywhere in any line of work if they don’t got that. No crew needs someone who’s going to back out when things get tough and they start second guessing themselves.”
Vivi frowned deeply in response, her shoulders still raised in quiet anger as she composed herself. She loved her father. He was a good man; a kind leader, a staunch pacifist… a traditionalist…
Someone who saw her taking the crown of Alabasta like all her ancestors had, getting married, and continuing the same rule as all the rest. He’d be worried she ran off to become a pirate…of course he’d be worried. Angry even.
But to ask if she had the ‘resolve’ to be a pirate.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Of course I have the resolve to be a pirate! I care for my father, but I’m not going to let him, or anyone make me something I’m not! If I say I’m a Straw Hat Pirate; if I left home to become strong enough to stand by their side through anything like Marineford that comes their way, then I’m not going to give up for anything! Not my father, not Alabasta…not Baroque Works!”
Crocodile set his cigar down and slapped his hand several times on the arm of his chair, as if clapping. "Well said, Miss Vivi. Well said. I have to say, I've never known you to lack resolve in our interactions. Common sense maybe, but not resolve. Friends– I think if Miss Vivi has her heart set on a devil fruit, we ought to help her out."
Daz raised his eyebrows, looking over at his boss curiously.
Zala grinned widely behind her pipe, the smoke curling to half cover one of her sharp, keen eyes “I like you better this way, Wednesday.” She looked towards Crocodile. “You've got my help, boss.”
Marianne held up a rather beautiful picture towards Vivi, which made her double take. It was herself in pirate attire on a deck overlooking the crystal blue sea.
“Me too.”
Vivi blinked in surprise. “You— you’re really going to help? Do you know where I can find one then?”
"That's the tricky part of the equation," Crocodile said, picking up his cigar again and flicking the ash in his ashtray. "Because sure, I could get you a fruit right now-– but it wouldn't be one you'd want to eat."
Daz snorted. "There are a lot of trash devil fruits out there."
“Really, really bad ones.” Marianne agreed. “Melty ones even.”
Vivi grimaced. “Oh. I mean, I’ve seen Luffy’s, and all yours seem pretty good…”
"There's a guy in the Big Mom pirates who manifests cookies," Daz said, sipping his drink. "I've heard he uses it well, but." He shrugged, as if to say 'but it's still cookies'.
“C-cookies?” Vivi reeled “that’s absu–”
"And that doesn't even get into all the zoan type fruits you don't want," Crocodile said. "I doubt you want to eat something that turns you into a mouse, or an eel or something."
“Could a devil fruit turn you into an eel?” Marianne murmured softly into her drink. “The oceanic aversion thing would probably just kill you instantly.”
“There’s also some up and comer I hear who’s whole thing is he’s a human swamp.” Zala added. “Smells like one, made of mud. Not great, honestly.”
"Goopy," Daz nodded. "Like that guy in Dressrosa who generates glue."
Crocodile nodded along. "Trust us, Miss Vivi, if you're going after a devil fruit, it pays to be picky."
Vivi grimaced as the possibilities played in her mind. Whenever she’d heard and read about the mysterious fruits that granted you powers straight out of myth and magic. They’d all sounded so grand.
“Ew. I thought all the Devil Fruits were…broadly useful? Like being made of rubber, or turning into an animal, or sand…”
"Well, doll, any devil fruit power has utility if you use it right, but some are just flat better than others," Crocodile snorted. "The ones you've seen? Some of the best of the best, and that's not by accident."
He gestured around the room.
“Dol,.” Vivi said dryly in response, feeling her face heat with the indignance of her former enemy calling her doll. She shook her head. “So you tailor picked the devil fruits for your followers?”
"My followers were tailor picked for their devil fruits, for the most part," he corrected.
“That’s right.” Zala leaned back in her chair, shooting spikes out to balance it as it tilted back on two legs “The best he could find…and I expect if you’re getting our help, it’ll be the same for you, Vivi~.”
“Maybe you’ll get an art power, like me.” Marianne murmured. “Those ones are fun.”
"I think we owe it to Miss Vivi to get her the best devil fruit we can find," Crocodile said, watching her intently as he leaned his chin on the crook of his hook. "Consider it my apology."
“An apology.” Zala chuckled, “I’d say it’s a pretty good one, boss.”
Vivi placed her hand to her chest. “...your apology. To me?”
She wasn’t sure if she could trust him. She couldn’t, right? He’d smiled to her before, been a trusted friend and hero for years before his sharp and brutal betrayal. That one horrible, nightmarish day played in her head— the chaos in the palace square, the feeling of his fingers around her throat...Pell…
There was no way she could trust him to really find her the best devil fruit he could for her.
And yet.
“You promise you won’t pull any funny business? You’ll really help me to make up for…for everything? Why do you want to?”
Crocodile puffed at his cigar thoughtfully, turning it between his thumb and forefinger. "No funny business. You have my word as a gentleman. As for why– I have no plans for the moment aside from rebuilding a new organization and shipping out of paradise. I might as well help an old friend at the same time."
Vivi was struck for a moment. Between ‘my word as a gentleman’ and ‘an old friend’, she simply couldn’t form the words.
She turned to her drink instead, taking a long gulp of it until she felt the ice fall to her lips.
“An old friend, huh?”
"I'll understand if you'd prefer to continue to consider me an enemy," he shrugged. "It's entirely reasonable."
The barrier of his body between her and the navy men flashed in her mind again, and she felt the weight of her former ‘coworkers’ eyes, all of them enemies at the same time.
She lowered the glass from her lips before she stood sharply and marched around the table towards him with her lips in a firm, tense line.
Her cool gaze fell on him, her neck craned to look him in the eyes as she thrust her hand out towards him.
No matter the past, what had happened to her beloved Alabasta, her people— she couldn’t deny Sir Crocodile was her best bet at what she wanted. What she needed.
“We’ll see where we fall, Sir Crocodile. Until then— until then I’m putting my trust in you. No funny business.”
"No funny business," he repeated. His smile widened, and he glanced around at the other agents. "Alright, crew, sounds like it's time to start getting ourselves in gear."
"We'll need a ship, boss," Daz murmured. "That's first thing."
“Wish I had the devil fruit that makes your art come to life.” Marianne mused as she painted. “Just draw a ship.”
Zala stood in a smooth motion, hips swaying and smile sharp. “I doubt we have time to have a shipwright make one from scratch, right? I’ll saunter on down to the docks and get a list of ships for sale.”
"Pay attention to the crew size we'll need for 'em," Daz nodded to Zala. "We're a pretty small operation for now."
Zala pulled her tightly curled hair back, binding it in a bouncy ponytail that she covered with a handkerchief from her pocket “When have I ever been known for my lack of sensibility, handsome?”
Vivi was pretty sure the answer was ‘when fighting Nami’ given how badly she seemed to underestimate the Straw Hat navigator.
“In combat.” Marianne said from her seat, seeming to mirror her own thoughts. “You get excited.”
"She's not wrong," Daz said with a wry smirk. "I'll look into supplies in the meantime. Would you mind helping me out with that, Miss Goldenweek?"
“Tch.” Zala headed for the door, though as she passed Vivi could see her grinning.
Marianne nodded. “Of course. Easy.”
Vivi put her fingers to her lips as she watched. Everyone here was ready to leap into action, to set sail on a moment's notice. Her eyes trailed to Crocodile as the members of the former Baroque Works started to move.
Crocodile sat there grinning as his agents lept into action. He puffed his cigar as the room started to empty out. As Daz passed him Crocodile said, "Have Louis pass a message to any more agents who stop in about where we're headed– and have him forward their information to us."
Daz nodded, and the serious faced man smiled. "Got it, boss. Glad to be back in action."
"Cheers, Number 1."
Despite herself, she couldn’t help a small and tentative smile. As evil as Baroque Works had been-– as cruel-– it was almost nostalgic.
Soon enough, as the buzz of activity died, she found herself alone in the room with Crocodile-– a state of affairs that hadn't occurred in quite some time. The last time she could think of was at a party in the palace on one of the official festival days two years prior. They had found themselves outside on the veranda together, him, smoking, and her taking a short breather from her official duties.
It was a dark terrible irony that pervaded the memory. She was a young woman watching the water fountain below the palace veranda, telling the charming hero of Alabasta about just how exhausting holding court was– how tired she was of dancing with her suitors.
It wouldn’t be long after that the fountains would all dry up, and that smiling hero cast in the haze of his cigar smoke caught in the moonlight turned out to be the very man dragging the country into a long darkness it only barely escaped.
Vivi leaned against the back of one of the chairs as she watched him smoking once more, just like then but with far, far more context.
"Freshen your drink, Miss Vivi?" Crocodile asked, just as she roused herself from her reverie. She realized a moment too late that she hadn’t spoken since Mr. 1 left.
“Oh!” She looked into her glass, ice mostly melted into a hazy swirl of leftover alcohol and chilled water.
“Might as well, right? We’re going to be shipping out soon, it’s not like the drinks are going to flow freely on the open sea.”
"No?" Crocodile stood up and holding out his hand for her glass. "The sea isn't as dry as you think. I might need a stiff one in me to get on board."
He chuckled in an almost self-effacing way, in stark contrast to the way she'd last encountered him. Much more like the charming hero of Alabasta.
It made something inside her twist painfully as she handed him her glass. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt it. When she’d first figured out the identity of Mr Zero-– the same sharp ache plagued her for days.
She bit her lip thoughtfully, before she asked. “Does the sea make you nervous, Sir Crocodile?”
"I have a healthy fear of the sea, Miss Vivi." He set her glass down on the bar, and twisted open the bottle with one hand. "You will too, if you carry through with this idea of yours."
“Because the sea curses anyone who eats a devil fruit, right? It tries to swallow them whole the moment it touches them.” She’d heard it from so many people. Pell used to tell her about the sea’s wrath to keep her from ever eating one of the devil’s bargains. It was a story to frighten children…
But at the same time, one she knew was incredibly true. She'd seen it first hand.
He nodded quite seriously as he brought her drink back, a distant look in his eyes.
"It's a hell of a trade, you know. Power. Great power, in some cases. But the water will swallow you without a second thought. You fall overboard and no one spots you? That's the end. Hell– you sit too deep in the bath and you might need somebody to help you up."
That wasn't even mentioning Crocodile's personal weakness to water, which ran further even than most devil fruit users. The man who embodied the desert sands.
Luffy had fought him back with Alabasta’s most precious resource– it’s dwindling water supply. In the face of water, an unbeatable element became a mortal once more.
Every devil fruit had a weakness, and every devil fruit user had to fear the sea. Her fingers clutched tight to her chest again as she nodded. “Water becomes your greatest weakness and in a world like ours, it’s a dangerous trade.”
"Most of the world is water," he agreed, sitting back down in the chair nearer to her. "And I'll tell you-– it's hard to maintain an optimistic disposition in a world that mostly wants to kill you."
He picked up his cigar again and it hung in his mouth as he relit it. His words, despite their almost humorous tone, held as much admission as they did warning.
VIvi’s eyes flicked down briefly as she let it sink in. “It’s enough to make a man desperate, I’d bet.”
"It doesn't help, that's for certain." He shifted forward toward her, his arms on his knees. "I wasn't going to ask again in front of my crew. Are you sure about this, Miss Vivi? Running away and playing pirate is something you can come back from. But your goal…"
He let it hang in the air.
He didn't need to say it. There was no coming back from it.
It was a one way path away from everything she’d ever known.
“I’m positive, Crocodile. I’ll be honest with you; part of the reason is because I can’t come back from it. If I were happy in my palace, as the smiling princess in my oasis city, I’d never have considered it.” She frowned as she pushed her azure hair from her face and looked up at him. “It’s a clean break. I don’t care if the world itself hates me and wants to drag me into the sea, I will become stronger…and I will help Straw Hat Luffy become the pirate king. Princess Vivi Nefertari was left back in Alabasta. This is my choice. My freedom. I know what I’m cutting myself off from.”
Crocodile nodded, his endless black eyes as serious as they were dark.
"I won't ask you again, then. We'll find you a fruit that's worth the life of a princess."
The worth of the life of a princess. What had that been when he had dropped her from his grip to the sands below?
Did it matter?
She pushed away the vertigo that came from the visceral memory of her drop from the palace walls.
What was the worth of a princess’ life? Maybe it didn’t matter at all.
“Cheers then, Sir Crocodile. To the value of a princess’ life and a future as a pirate.”
Notes:
Marianne's power working the way it does without a devil fruit is silly. She has a devil fruit.
Chapter 3
Notes:
Ah, the sea. The beginning of a journey... <3
Chapter Text
When Vivi boarded the ship that the former Baroque Works members had procured it was not without reflecting that she was about to embark on a voyage surrounded by people that she had called enemies only months before.
She stepped onto the gangplank with the incredibly annoyed Karoo, watching the meandering of the scant crew as they bustled about in the preparations to launch. The smell of the salt-kissed air played nostalgically against the back of her throat as she found her way to the railing, leaning on it and looking out at the vast and open sea.
Baroque Works had been the insidious cancer killing Alabasta-– smothering the livelihoods of Koza and countless others until they turned to desperate violence in answer to her father’s falsified sins.
She’d set out to stop them against her father’s wishes and infiltrated the organization up to its highest echelon. These people were her hated enemies— and they had been her comrades, no matter how much her own dedication was a lie. And now somehow she was back here in the midst of ‘Neo-Baroque Works’ with no more false pretense around them sailing out to sea to make her dream come true.
"It’s surreal, Karoo."
Karoo certainly seemed to agree with her, turning up his beak at the whole affair and waddling onto the ship only with the greatest hesitation. He gave her a look that seemed to ask, 'are you really sure these are the only guys who'll help us?'
"Of course I am!" Vivi puffed out her cheeks as she leaned on her crossed arms to watch the seabirds fly off towards the sun, dipping into the water here and there in their hunt for food. "They’re…I know we’ve had some history, but…"
"Nice to see Karoo's still with you," Daz said, coming up from below deck and passing behind her carrying a large crate over his shoulders. She and Mr. 1 hadn't spent much time together while she was undercover as Miss Wednesday– but the little had been enough for her to notice that he had a fondness for Karoo. She caught him discreetly feeding him grapes on more than one occasion.
Grapes which, despite Karoo's reticence to board with the crew now, he had not been too good to accept then.
Vivi smiled at him despite herself, and patted the top of Karoo’s head, pushing his hat down.
"I don’t think I could do it without him. I’ve been taking care of him since he was a duckling, you know. I think if I’d tried running off alone, he’d have tracked me down and pecked me for like, an hour."
Daz laughed and it was a warm, rich sound that matched the smile on the often quiet man's face. "Better to take him along then. I think there are some grapes with the provisions."
Karoo gave a slightly dubious quack, but did straighten up a bit out of his sulky posture at the mention of treats.
What did Daz think of the fact that Vivi had been a spy in their midst all along? It certainly didn't seem like he held a grudge.
Vivi’s fingers tightened against her elbows. She opened her mouth, thinking of asking, but the question fizzled before it left her lips.
She was sure she wouldn’t like the answer. People were good at hiding what they didn’t want others to see. That was Baroque Work’s whole strategy.
"I..I think Karoo would like that, wouldn’t you?" she said instead, giving her companion a grin. "As long as he doesn’t stuff himself."
Daz nodded solemnly. "Only one use for a fat duck after all." He slapped her on the shoulder with a smile and hefted the crate again. "I'd better get this finished so we can ship out."
She poked Karoo's beak.
"Hear that Karoo? Eat too much and you’ll turn into dinner." She smiled as she shifted to prop herself up. "Is there anything I can do to help, Daz?"
It felt odd using his name…it felt odd using any of their names.
He gave a thoughtful look and then turned his head toward the forecastle, where Vivi saw Crocodile standing. "Not that I can think of, Miss Vivi. You'd want to ask the captain."
Vivi squeezed her fingers against her palm for a moment as she stood fully, before she gave him a salute. "You got it! Can I ask a favor?"
"Gimme your best shot," he nodded.
She pointed to the dubious Karoo. "Karoo’s still not used to Crocodile just yet. Mind taking care of him for a bit? I’m sure he’d love to steal more grapes from you."
Daz looked between Karoo and Crocodile, and the duck followed his gaze– feathers fluffing out with irritation when he did.
He laughed and patted the bird's head. "No problem, Miss Vivi, Karoo can help me out. Everyone's a little intimidated by the boss now and then."
Karoo quacked– probably he would not say he was intimidated, but…
But he was probably intimidated. Vivi laughed and bowed her head.
"You’re the best…t-thanks, Daz." She started towards the stairs. "Besides…you always seemed to like Karoo. I know you’ll get along!"
"We'll be stuck together for a full voyage now. I know we'll become friends this time."
Daz smiled brightly, white teeth flashing in his dark face. It was her he was smiling at, not Karoo.
Vivi blinked, struck for a moment before she flashed a smile in return, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I know we will…I think that’d be nice, Daz!" She placed her hand on the railing to the stairs, one foot on the rise towards. ‘Captain Crocodile’. "I’m willing to give it a shot…a-and I know Karoo is too."
The stairs creaked under Vivi's feet, careful for now as the ship rocked while she still waited to get her sea legs back, and she heard Daz talking to Karoo and Karoo quacking back.
Crocodile stood with his back to her– back against the wheel at the helm– apparently staring off into the sky, a haze of smoke around his head drifting forever upward.
Despite having his back to her, he lifted his head in greeting. "Miss Vivi."
Vivi raised her hand as well as she stepped onto the deck and towards the wheel.
"...Sir Crocodile." she murmured. "Thank you again for being willing to take on a risky venture like this…"
He turned toward her and smiled that broad dangerous smile like his namesake, taking a long puff of his cigar and letting the smoke drift out of his mouth for a moment.
"About time I started taking risks again."
Vivi chuckled, tucking her hair over her ear as she folded an arm around her stomach. "...me too honestly."
"I guess this is a chance for both of us to get out of our set ways. I haven't been to sea in almost 14 years."
"14 years?" Vivi was actively surprised. She knew he’d been busy in Alabasta of course…but he was a warlord of the sea. A pirate, even if that title had been replaced with one more palatable to the World Government.
She took a step towards him, looking up at his expression with a furrow of her brow. "That's longer than I imagined."
He closed his eyes. "It's a long time. I said to myself that I'd put the sea behind me. I never really expected to set foot on it again."
Vivi looked out onto the ocean. "Why?" she asked curiously as she stared out at the endless blue. "What drove you onto land…was it your devil fruit?"
"No," he shook his head. "Though that's part of what kept me there. It was the end of a dream. It was the end of taking risks. But playing it safe didn't get me where I hoped it would, eh?"
Vivi leaned near the wheel.
"Was that what Alabasta was? The ‘Pluton’? Playing it safe?" she closed her eyes for a moment. "...you’re right, though. It didn’t. It didn’t work out for me either."
"Yes, it was, and no, it didn't," he agreed. "So we'll sail away and try our luck elsewhere, eh– Miss Vivi?"
She could tell-– it was work for him to stop himself from calling her 'princess'.
"Looks like…and this time we’ll actually be working together, ‘Captain’. Maybe we’ll actually hit the jackpot." She looked up at him, her eyes tracing his scar. "Thinking of old times, Sir Crocodile? You keep almost calling me Princess."
He chuckled, and shook his head. "Well, we haven't exactly been on a first name basis before now, have we?"
"No, we sure haven’t." Vivi chuckled weakly. "You were always ‘the Hero Sir Crocodile’ until you become Mr Zero… and you haven’t known me as much more than the silly princess of Alabasta, and a traitorous low ranking ‘calendar’ agent."
"It's a shame I didn't get to know you better as an agent," he chuckled. "Miss Wednesday does have a bit of a ring to it. I don't hold it against you though, you know."
She chuckled softly as she looked down at the outfit she still wore…the one so much like her outfit in Baroque Works.
"I did have fun coming up with the persona, honestly." Her voice trailed off before she murmured. "You really don’t?"
Crocodile shook his head. "Why would I? You were doing what you needed to to pursue your own goals. That's just how people are– how I've always known them to be. I didn't hold it against Miss All Sunday, and I don't hold it against you."
Miss All Sunday, the name brought back memories. The mysterious woman with the sharp and frigid eyes who, even as she helped Crocodile bring his plan to fruition, ‘somehow’ let it slip to Vivi who was behind the organization, and had saved Luffy in his moment of need.
She’d seen her again in the papers, popping up in the same breath as her captain…’the Infamous Straw Hat Pirates have Aligned with the Devil Child Nico Robin’, ‘Disaster at the center of law! A declaration of war, the Straw Hats and Devil Child vs. the World Government’.
Vivi had always guessed she’d been close to Crocodile with the way they worked together, but it seemed the truth went far deeper than that.
"Miss All Sunday…" Vivi walked over to the edge of the ship to lean on the railing and stare at the surf again. Her fingers trailed against the railing. "You two were close. I can imagine it hurt when she left you, and I don’t know about her, but…not everyone is like that, Mr. Crocodile."
He chuckled warmly. "It would be nice to think so, wouldn't it? I admire your naivete, Vivi. Genuinely, genuinely I mean that."
Vivi felt a hot, frustrated flush on her face as she turned to point towards him with a slight puff of her cheeks.
"I--I’m not naive, Crocodile! I just…I just think there’s more to it than just ‘everyone uses everyone else for their own goals’. I’m not some little princess anymore!"
He shook his head. "That's not what I mean, Miss Vivi, you've misunderstood me. People get along all the time. People go their whole lives without sticking a knife in someone's back. But when it's important enough? When the chips are far enough down? "
He shook his head again.
Vivi tensed. "....then you think anyone would turn on anyone else? If it meant getting what was important to you? Is that why you had a falling out with Miss All Sunday? Or why you tried to burn my country to the ground?"
"It's why Miss All Sunday turned on me, yes," he nodded. "As for burning your country to the ground… I wouldn't call that quite the same."
He looked out over the water, and back to the shore, something heavy in his expression. Was it regret? Nostalgia? Or just plain frustration.
Vivi bit her lip, before she looked off to the side with a quiet sigh. "Not the same, huh? Alright… well. I can promise you this time I’m not going to stab you in the back, Crocodile. You’re helping me, so you can count on me to do my part, okay?"
Crocodile chuckled and took his cigar out of his mouth, taking a long breath. "I won't lie and say I trust you, Miss Vivi. But I'd like it to be the case. And I'm willing to take the risk. That's all I can be. Willing to take the risk."
What had happened to him in the past that took away his ability to trust? She knew part of it was that she was once an enemy, but it seemed there was something more. Far deeper than the country of Alabasta and their drama together only a short time ago.
"I’m willing to take the risk too, Sir Crocodile." She put her hand on her hip with a smile. "...and Daz seems to think we might actually all get along on this trip. A bit idealistic, maybe, but I’ll be giving it my all!"
Crocodile smiled, and this time Vivi was sure it was nostalgia. He raised his cigar to his lips again. "Yeah, well, no matter how big of an assassin he is, he's always gonna be a sweet kid at heart. But that doesn't mean he's wrong I guess."
"A sweet kid at heart, huh?" Vivi’s curiosity was piqued, and she wandered a little closer to the wheel. "He seems it…I always did see him sneaking treats to Karoo."
Crocodile snorted and shook his head. "Doesn't surprise me. Far be it from me to ruin his mystique but it sounds like he's doing a good enough job of that himself. First time I met him he was…. twelve? Ten? Something like that."
"....." Vivi’s eyes widened. "Wait, really? You’ve known him that long? I thought the agents of Baroque Works were all gathered especially for the Alabasta plan, I didn’t think you knew any of them long, aside from maybe Miss All Sunday!"
"For the most part, for the most part," Crocodile nodded. "I wouldn't exactly say I've known Daz that long– just that we met for a while in our youth. Didn't see him again for, oh, 15 years after that at least. While he was making a name for himself."
"Wow…" Vivi put her fingers to her chin, caught up in curiosity "I didn’t know you guys had a history. What was he doing? Was he an assassin? A bounty hunter?"
"When I met him?" Crocodile laughed. "He was hiding in a jug eating a jam sandwich."
"............" Vivi had to clap her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "I hope you didn’t interrupt him, then! The man deserves to finish his sandwich."
"I'll let you keep thinking that." He leaned over the wheel of the ship again, looking thoughtful. "This'll be the first time he and I have been to sea together, funny enough. I invited him to join my crew back then, but he wasn't interested at the time in being a pirate."
"He wasn’t? What did he wanna be?" She leaned near the ship’s wheel, tilting her head. "If not a pirate on the ship of the soon to be famous Sir Crocodile."
"Exactly the thing he became," Crocodile shrugged. "A famous assassin. That was what he told me he wanted back then. Now you might say, Crocodile, every red blooded 12 year old boy wants to be a famous assassin. But Daz went and did it."
Vivi in fact would not have thought to say that, but she smiled anyway. All the 12 year old boys she knew wanted to be heroic soldiers or run their own gangs; one of which she’d gleefully joined the moment she got the chance, herself.
"That’s pretty impressive, actually! I– I remember seeing him work, some. He certainly lived up to it, even then."
"He sure did. Hell of a surprise to me when he turned up on Miss All Sunday's shortlist."
"And you made him your number one guy." Vivi chuckled, gesturing towards the lower deck of the boat. "And here he is, even today. Even through Impel Down, however you guys got out. That’s impressive."
"When you say it like that, yeah," he nodded. "Might be a long voyage, Miss Vivi. I might even have time to tell you about Impel Down, if you have the stomach for it."
Vivi held her hands up.
"I’m stronger than I look, Crocodile. Make me a drink before you tell it and I’ll be just fine." She took a deep breath before she sighed. "I still can’t believe we’re going on this journey to begin with."
"No?" he grinned widely and leaned toward her. "Expecting to wake up in the palace?"
"Terrified I might." Vivi’s chuckle masked the shame that welled up when she thought about the fact she really would be scared to be dragged back home. No matter how much she loved her father, loved her country and her friends. She was scared she’d wake up trapped in a life she didn’t want while the sea called for her without an answer.
"But that’s not going to happen, is it? I’m really out here, and I’m really going to find a devil fruit, and I’m really out here with all of you."
Crocodile reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. It was firm, but hesitant, as if ready to be pushed away.
"That's right, Vivi. And if anybody tries to drag you back? Well, I get the sense you don't want that to happen. So we're not going to let it."
He smiled again and there was something feral in it.
Her eyes widened, and despite herself– she found herself smiling back.
"May the sea have mercy on them if they try, right?" She quickly looked away, trying not to mirror his feral smile quite so closely, "the marines might already have our scent."
"That they might have," he agreed, his hand still on her, when she didn't pull away. "Part of the reason for our hasty exit."
She felt warm as his hand lingered on her, and she told herself it was just the midday sun beating down on her. She still didn’t pull away, leaning a little against the contact. "Good…I’m afraid I made a bit of a stir with my escape from the palace heh. They’re reporting that I’ve been ‘stolen away’. I might bring trouble, and I’m sorry about that."
"So what?" Crocodile grinned. "My bounty will go up if they find out you're with me, I guess. It's not like they weren't gonna be after me. Not after they revoked my warlord status, and threw me in the fucking clink."
Vivi brushed her hair out of her face with a wink. "Then I guess we’re both sticking it in the World Government’s eye, aren’t we? A former Warlord of the sea and a renegade princess on the run."
"You almost make that sound… appealing, doll."
Doll.
Vivi felt even hotter— and this time she couldn’t even blame it on the sun. Crocodile always had seemed fond of pet names and nicknames-–it carried through into Baroque Works, hadn’t it?
And it was infinitely better than the constant reminder of her former status in Alabasta. But it certainly left her a little flustered as she pressed her hand over her mouth and jaw to hide it.
"Well…it’s going to be a long trip, right? Better it be appealing than appalling, don’t you think?"
"Damn right," he nodded. "And we better get this show on the road before the whitebacks show up like you were mentioning. Hope Daz is finished hauling those provisions."
"Worse comes to worse, I can convince Karoo to give a hand!" Vivi looked up at him, accurately aware of his hand on her still. "Just point the way, Captain Crocodile, and I’ll do what I can to get us out to sea!"
"Then I won't be afraid to put you to work."
And put her to work Crocodile did– though frankly it seemed well meaning. She was passed around the ship to various agents and stations and each of them seemed to be checking up on her general sailing knowledge while she helped them with their duties as they made ready to sail.
She wasn’t a born sailor, of course, but she’d picked up quite a bit during her time adventuring with the Straw Hat Pirates. Nami especially had been a wealth of information on how to navigate, operate, and survive on the open sea. From helping Daz with the ropes, to double checking the sea charts and their log pose with Zala, and ensuring the food was properly stored with Marianne…she made certain to impress them.
I wouldn’t want to be known as a pirate who can’t sail, after all.
The sun was setting as they finally sailed out of the port of Espree island. And Vivi was alone on the open sea with Karoo and the top members of the same organization she'd worked to bring down.
Chapter 4
Notes:
Breakfast with Baroque Works...
Chapter Text
On the Merry, Vivi had shared a cabin with Nami. On this voyage she was sharing one with Marianne and Zala. Marianne had been as quiet as a mouse as she prepared her bed and crawled into it to watch her with her uncanny stare. Eventually, she’d started painting as the conversation turned to lighter things. The three of them caught up like old friends somehow while Zala smoked her acrid smelling pipe and read from a book written in Alabastan. It was one Vivi recognized as an old romantic thriller, popular almost a decade before she was born.
Eventually Zala had tied her tightly curled hair back for bed, telling Marianne and Vivi that she’d make their favorite teas in the morning. Eventually, Vivi found herself lulled to sleep by the presence of the quiet squeaking of Marianne’s snoring, and the rise and fall of Zala’s breath.
It wasn’t the long cabin nights with Nami, those wonderful memories of tangerines and excited chatter over one of her many sea maps as they plotted a future that for Vivi, simply had not come. But it was pleasant all the same. Comforting, despite the horrors they’d inflicted on one another. The beautiful, playful yet doting Poison Spider and the quiet and wry humored artist lingered in her thoughts as she fell into dreams.
Dawn broke with the shuffle of Marianne’s feet as she slunk towards the water pumps to fix her hair as it stuck up all around her face in a frizzy brown mop, and it continued with Zala’s warm and amused laugh.
"Wake up, Wednesday." A thin, needlelike fingernail poked her cheek light enough not to cut her. "You’re snoring like some kind of sea beast."
It snapped Vivi from sleep to wakefulness almost instantly, her dark face flushed red and her eyes wide in embarrassment as she hurried to get herself dressed for the day in one of her few spare outfits; a long skirt and one of Nami’s borrowed and never returned tees.
A few playfully sharp words to Zala followed before practically fled to the backing of Zala’s rich laugh. Her hair was a mess, and her stomach was growling, but she stumbled out onto the deck all the same.
The small galley of the ship, which Vivi had learned was called the Dovey Mull, was filled with the rich, dark smell of coffee, salted meat, and fried bread. Daz was the one at the hearth and stove, passing out mugs and rough bowls when they arrived.
Somehow Marianne had arrived before her, holding up a piece of fried bread that she’d dusted with sugar and waving it in greeting. "Hey."
Vivi gave Daz a small smile, and a wave to Marianne as she leaned on the edge of the door. "Have a mug of coffee for me? I’m gonna need it…"
"Got you covered, I promise," Daz nodded, pressing a cup into her hands. "Can't need it more than the boss– the captain– though, when he gets there. More of a late night man than an early riser."
Vivi gratefully grabbed the cup before sitting at the table and picking herself a plate of the offered meats and bread. Raising her cup to her lips, she tilted her head. "Really? I can’t imagine he’s worse at waking up than I am."
"He’s grumpy." Marianne murmured with a piece of sugary bread in her mouth "I’m betting that now."
Daz nodded solemnly at that, sipping his own coffee, which Vivi had discovered was quite good.
She tipped back a long sip, taking a moment to savor the taste before she grinned. "Daz! Where’d you get the beans for this?"
"Good morning everyone. Good morning Miss Sea Beast." Zala sauntered in with a sway of her hips, holding up a hand to greet Daz with a flirtatious wink. "and good morning, big man. How’s the brew this morning?"
"Not bad given the circumstances," he said, furnishing Zala with a cup. He tapped his nose as he nodded to Vivi. "The secret is in the smell of the beans. You let your nose pick which ones to buy."
"He’s always had a sense of it." Zala purred as she took her cup and leaned on the counter near him. "that’s why I sometimes bullied him into helping me pick the right batches for the Spiders Cafe."
"Not too bitter." Marianne mused as she dumped a whole pile of sugar into her coffee to Vivi’s mild alarm.
She shook her head, and leaned on her hand. "So are you the ship cook, Daz?"
"Zala and I'll probably take turns," Daz nodded. "But I'm the early riser so I do breakfast."
"You’re in good hands as long as Doublefinger and One are in charge of the meals." Zala sipped her coffee and closed her eyes. "but I rarely do breakfasts. Unlike Daz, who gets up at the ass-crack of dawn every day, I like my beauty sleep."
"Explains why she looks better in the catsuit than I do, doesn't it?" Daz said, deadpan.
"You’re right about that, partner." Zala snickered, lightly punching his arm.
"Wow." Vivi laughed as she leaned on her hand "you two have quite the patter, don’t you?"
"You think?" Daz smiled and punched Zala back. "We've spent a bit of time together, that's all."
As they were chattering, there was the shuffling sound of footsteps, and Crocodile shuffled into the room, coat over his shoulders as usual, though his sleeves were rolled up. The cigar hanging out of his mouth was freshly cut and unlit.
"Like a stormcloud," Marianne said with a note of amusement as she sipped her sweetened coffee.
Zala was about to jab back at Daz, already nudging him in the chest when she noticed Crocodile and snapped a salute/ "Morning, boss."
Vivi watched him curiously as she took another long sip of her coffee.
It was a rare sight to see the great and powerful former Warlord look tired like everyone else. "Morning, Mr. Crocodile."
"Morning," Crocodile grumbled. Daz wordlessly handed him a cup of coffee and Crocodile took it from him with the most grateful look Vivi had ever seen on his face. She watched as Mr. 1 further pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit his boss' cigar for him.
Zala quietly sipped her coffee as she waited for the creature comforts to sink in, something Marianne seemed keen to do the same with.
But Vivi couldn’t help but stare a little. It was so human— obviously it was, he was human as anyone else— but the closeness that she witnessed and the simple act of a morning coffee and a smoke rousing the man from the half-asleep depths of a slow wakeup really drove it home.
It was so easy to forget in the face of big names and dire opposition. But here at the breakfast table, even in the temporary lull in morning conversation, Neo Baroque Works were undeniably more than just some faceless criminal conglomerate.
The whole scene wasn't terribly unlike the ones that had unfolded in the galley of the Merry with the Straw Hats– though energy was perhaps a little less madcap. But it was close enough that it brought it home. People were just…. people.
After about half his cup of coffee Crocodile asked Daz. "How's our bearing?"
"Straight and true, b-captain. If the weather cooperates we'll make Sabaody in about four days."
"Sabaody…" Vivi tilted her head to the side. "That’s the place with the massive theme park, isn’t it? My father spoke of it occasionally."
Zala lowered her coffee with a wry smile. "It’s a real hive of nasty pieces of work if you wander into the wrong district. Even the roughest parts of Alabasta look like a city of gold compared to the slaver dens of Sabaody."
Crocodile nodded. "It's not a pleasure trip, and we're sure as hell not going to the amusement park, doll, sorry to say. We'll be there for information, and to get our ship coated to cross out of Paradise."
Daz quietly freshened everyone's coffee while they talked. After that he sat down and took out a rolled cigarette, lighting it off of Crocodile's cigar. Vivi knew that the Baroque Works agents hadn't known Mr. Zero's identity before the last days of Crocodile's plan, but her talk with him yesterday made the obvious familiar intimacy between them less of a strange curiosity.
Maybe in the coming days she’d learn a little more about just what happened between them. She poked at a piece of salted meat, as Zala took a seat and began to pack her long pipe with something that very much didn’t look like tobacco and Marianne sprinkled more sugar onto her bread.
"I usually stole cigarettes from Galdino’s pack. But he’s not here. Shame, I’m smokeless."
Vivi nibbled at the meat with a nod. "Of course…of cou—" she paused. "wait…our ship what now?"
"Coated," Crocodile repeated. "Waterproofing. Have to go through Fish-man island to get to the new world, which is where our best bet of getting you a decent fruit will be."
Daz quietly handed Marianne his partially smoked cigarette, and started rolling another from a pouch of tobacco from his pocket.
Marianne smiled that deceptively innocent smile of hers before she took the cigarette and popped it between her lips. A moment later she was smoking away while she shook yet more sugar onto the remnants of her fried bread.
Zala nodded as she placed her pipe to her lips. "Devil Fruits can pop up anywhere in the world of course. Even in a peaceful sea like the East Blue, but the good ones tend to be hoarded and kept beyond that barrier from Paradise to the New World. Hopefully some scumbag in Sabaody has a lead we can follow once we slip through Fish Man Island."
Crocodile nodded, puffing on his cigar. "Exactly. Tracking down a devil fruit is not what you'd call an exact science. Never has been. But we'll do it. Have a few connections in Sabaody that might still be active."
Marianne tilted her head to the side in thought, smoke curling up around her face before she said "I want to see a mermaid. They might have information too."
Vivi suspected she just wanted to see a mermaid.
"If they’re not there anymore, boss. I know a guy." Zala draped her arm around the back of Daz’s chair. "One of my old customers from my old job wound up moving out there."
"That so?" he looked up with interest and nodded. "Good, then. We'll keep it in mind. As for mermaids. Hah, probably see a few when we go through Fish-Man. Better if we don't in Sarbaody."
"Slavers," Daz murmured. He wrapped his arm around Zala's waist in return, lighting his fresh cigarette one handed.
"That’s right. I was his favorite dancer, and he was a very, very connected man. Worked for the World Economic Newspaper. While I don’t trust the rag, it’s got a good intelligent network." Zala nodded as she took a long pull off her pipe. "and yeah. We’d best avoid the slavers, especially with a former princess in our midst."
Vivi’s eyes widened mid bite of a piece of bread. "...I heard you mention slavers before, but…isn’t that outlawed? Is such a horrible thing still practiced in Sabaody?"
"It's outlawed by technicality," Crocodile shrugged. "No citizen of the world government may be held enslaved. Plenty of non-citizens out there though."
He glanced up at Zala appraisingly, perhaps less interested in talking about slavery than her time as a dancer– though he didn't ask any more about it.
Vivi wasn’t keen on talking about it either, letting the horror of the idea sink in. The worst part– as she thought about the World Government’s envoys she’d met at the same parties she used to see and gravitate towards Crocodile at– was how little it surprised her to learn that they were turning a blind eye to it all.
She sunk into herself somewhat as Zala caught Crocodile’s eyes.
"I never told you, captain?" the tall woman mused as her fingers tapped against Daz’s shoulder.
"Don't think you mentioned it, no," he said, leaning his chin on his hook. "Makes sense when I think about it."
"Mm hmmm," Zala smirked, "in Rainbase, before Rain Dinners became quite so prolific."
She took another pull off her pipe as the smoke shrouded her face. "Back when it was Alabasta’s little Oasis of Sin. A girl on her own had to support herself, right? I was a dancing girl in one of it’s smoke dens."
Vivi’s eyes widened. She knew what Zala had meant, and now that it sunk in, it certainly explained the particular way she walked and moved– like a dancer. A sultry dancer. She’d worked in one of Rainbase’s old drug dens and brothels. ones she’d heard often about while running around undercover in Baroque Works.
"You meet a lot of people that way— and if they like you, they really like you." she winked as she exhaled her smoke.
Crocodile nodded approvingly. "Then your connections might very well be useful. Well done, Miss– Zala."
Zala gave him a lazy salute, her smile sharp around her pipe. "Thanks, Captain. Wouldn’t wanna let you down now, would I?"
Vivi rubbed her face for a moment, taking it all in for a moment more before she spoke. "That’ll take care of that then! Do we know where we’re going to get the ship ‘coated’?"
"That's a simple matter at least," Crocodile nodded. "I wouldn't exactly call it routine– but close enough."
Despite his words, Vivi caught on to Crocodile's posture, his shoulders stiff like they sometimes would be when they had chatted long ago at parties. He was nervous– and was refusing to let it show.
Back in the day before he’d held her captive in his casino, laughing like a madman as he explained his cruel plan for the Utopia project— when she’d seen him looking so nervous and tense at the parties she would approach him.
She’d smile and ask for his help out on the veranda to give them both a break from the press of people. Once upon a time in Alabasta, she’d have tried to help him relax.
"We’ll just have to be sure to be extra careful, even if it’s routine…right?" She said by way of soothing without hurting his ego. "For me. It’s my first time doing this; I’m likely to get a little nervous."
"We'll have to steel your nerves then, Miss Vivi," Crocodile smiled at her, and some of the tension went out of his shoulders. Just like in the days before.
Breakfast continued with more chatter of specifics and details, and afterward there were the usual chores and things to be tended to on the ship, which Vivi found she was not exempt from. After an hour of so of work on the deck her skin glowed with the warm kiss of the hot sunshine, and the cool mist of the salty sea.
Vivi wiped the sweat from her brow as she leaned near the fore of the ship, staring out at the sea and letting the cool mist cool her off as she caught her breath.
With such a small crew, the work was a lot, but there was something about feeling a part of it, about working in tandem that brought out a sort of joy in her. It reminded her of the days on the Merry, days when she almost always had a smile on her face before the news of the rebellion broke her heart.
"Enjoying being back to sea?" Crocodile asked. She hadn't noticed him come up behind her, but now she was very much aware of his shadow on her back.
It darkened the wood in front of her, and she had to look up and over her shoulder to see him with a quiet smile on her face.
"Honestly? Yeah. I’ve missed being like this. I never realized how much I’d love the ocean until I was out on it for weeks."
"Doesn't surprise me. Either the expectation, or the reality," he nodded. "The sea's something different than anything else.".
Vivi nodded again, watching the waves as the ship cut through them in its slow rocking against their crests and valleys."It's nothing like the deserts of Alabasta, that’s for sure."
"It surely is not. But you seem comfortable here."
He stood by the railing with her, watching the water rushing past beneath them. Off in the distance, they could see the low profile of a tiny uncharted island, and birds drifting through the sky. Vivi put her hand over her eyes to peer out at the uncharted island with a curious smile. Not that she was eager to land, but the joy of seeing something unexpected at sea filled her as she laughed and leaned back.
"More than comfortable, I feel almost at home, you know? More…more than I was feeling in the palace. I wasn’t lying when I told you it was stifling."
"I know," he nodded. "I can't imagine why you'd lie about that, after all. What ulterior motive could you have?"
He smirked at her– evoking the idea of ulterior motives. Certainly something that wasn't far from her mind with regard to him. Her eyes flicked down as she chewed her lip.
"I don’t know. Unlike a lot of people here, I don’t have any need to hide my motives here now. I’m— " she gestured out at the sea. "I just want to be free to be the person I wanna be."
"I can't guarantee to you no one here has ulterior motives, Vivi. But I can almost guarantee you that the reason you're out here? Is the same reason the rest of us are out here."
Vivi squeezed her arm before she firmly turned to look at him.
"You’re all looking to be free too, huh? Even you, Sir Crocodile?"
"Even me," he nodded. "I'll tell you something, Vivi. I spent the last 14 years thinking freedom– like trust– was an illusion. But even if it's the case? I refuse to live like that any more."
"Freedom and trust were illusions to you?" Her brow knit. "Is that why you ran Baroque Works the way you did? Is that why Operation Utopia was going to burn everything I knew to the ground?"
Crocodile looked out toward the sea and nodded.
"I lost something a long time ago, Vivi. And I think it was 'myself'." He huffed– somewhere between a laugh and a sigh, and he fished for his cigar in his pocket, putting it to his lips before drawing out his lighter as well. "Sure as hell wasn't just my hand."
Vivi bit her lip again, the old nervous habit of chewing on it when she was deep in thought or upset rising more and more often now that she slipped away from her etiquette lessons and the air of ‘a ruler must be unflinching, yet kind’.
"I wouldn’t be surprised…what…exactly happened to your hand, to you?"
"Whitebeard," he growled, lighting his cigar and taking a long, long puff. "Whitebeard happened.-- Listen, Viv. About Alabasta…"
Viv.
It’d been a long time since he’d called her Viv. The first time he’d used the nickname it was a surprise, a novelty in the world of ‘Princess Vivi’ and deference. It had brought a smile to her face on a difficult day.
She couldn’t help but smile a little at its sound, before her expression sobered.
"...Whitebeard huh? I’m listening, Sir Crocodile."
He closed his eyes, breathing out a long breath of smoke. "The plan was never to burn Alabasta to the ground like I made it sound like, alright? That's the truth. It was… things got messy."
It wasn't what she expected to hear. Vivi’s brow furrowed and she felt her lip start to quiver as the question slipped out in a shocked rasp.
"W-what?? But you said…you told me…"
"I know what I told you," he continued, eyes still closed. "I wanted you to hate me. I wanted you to hate me because at that point I was pretty sure I was going to have to kill you. And that wasn't in the plan either."
Vivi’s jaw set, and she felt her fingers clasping against the edges of her blouse.
"...I did hate you in that moment, Crocodile. I was furious….and I was hurt. And I wanted to kill you with my own hands." She felt the sting of tears in her eyes. "It wasn’t even true…? What…what was the plan?"
He laughed ruefully.
"The plan was for the hero of Alabasta to swoop into the middle of the civil war and put out the fires. Take the reins of the throne, and forge a new country. Marry the princess, for legitimacy's sake."
Vivi felt a sudden hot flush overtake her face, and for a moment found she couldn’t speak beyond the soft sounds of ‘ah, er…oh…eh??!’
For clarifications sake she pointed to herself.
Crocodile finally opened his eyes, and he nodded, pointing at her with his hook. "Yeah, Viv. You."
"Oh…"the plan was to …to…to stop the war you started… and take the credit …and then …then…" She squeaked, turning a deeper red, "...then marry the princess, huh?"
He huffed another awkward laugh, and then turned out to face the water again. "Yeah, princess, that was the plan alright."
Vivi turned to lean on the bannister and stare at the sea again— .anything to hide the flush that burned down her cheeks.
"Why didn’t you say something…why didn’t you, I—I don’t know, make the overtures BEFORE I found out who you were?"
"Because it would have introduced a hell of a lot more ways the plan could have gone wrong," he grumbled. "Trust me, if I knew the way things were going to go, I would have. Straw Hat was the one factor I hadn't figured in."
"Luffy’s sure something you can never predict, huh?" Vivi smiled weakly as she pressed her hand to her eyes. "If he hadn’t shown up and you rooted me out of your organization…what would have happened?"
"I'd have tried to bring you into the plan the second I caught wind that you were undercover," he said with a shrug. "Think I would have succeeded?"
Vivi closed her eyes tightly.
"If you’d told me it wasn’t to destroy Alabasta…it was— was to make it somewhere safe and secure from the world government?"
"If I'd told you that, yeah. Which was the truth."
"It might have succeeded." She whispered into her arms. "I’ve never fully trusted the World Government, and— and unlike my father I was always ready to be proactive in Alabasta’s defense. I would have fought the world to keep it safe back in the day. If you’d told me you wanted to make it safe…to protect it in your own way…"
She dropped her face into her arms. "I might have married you gleefully. I could explain it to my father afterwards."
Crocodile smiled ruefully. "If I had remembered how to trust people-– how to take risks-– you and I might be ruling a new nation right now, instead of sailing on the sea."
Vivi laughed softly.
"We might have been." She looked out at the sea. Her heart was pounding in her chest, the jittery, squirming feeling of butterflies in her stomach making her body feel weak as she took a deep breath. "But we have to admit the sea is beautiful, isn’t it?"
He leaned a little bit closer to her. "The sea is very beautiful. And I don't know about you, but I guess I needed to lose again in order to find my way."
Vivi felt her breath catch, her heart pounding faster as he got closer.
How could she feel this way? How could she still feel this way? Back before she knew– back when he was ‘the hero Sir Crocodile’, she’d fallen for the charming and rough-around-the-edges Warlord of the sea…
She’d enjoyed their quiet moments together, and daydreamed some days about there being more than just the soft quiet moments out by the fountain or in the halls.
But that was before, before everything that had changed her. So why did he still make her feel like this?
She swallowed thickly, "I—I think I needed to see the world , and be shocked out of my own system to find my way too. I had to almost lose everything and…and make a big mistake."
"That makes two of us then. Maybe this is the way things had to be." He turned toward her and smiled a rather amused, rueful smile. "After all, you'd rather be a pirate than a queen, wouldn't you?"
She looked up at him despite her deeply flushed face, and her timid smile.
"I’d rather be a pirate than a queen any day, Crocodile. No matter what else, I’m going to be free on the open sea. And I’m going to be stronger…stronger than I ever could be as a princess."
He put his hand on her shoulder– warm, and rough, and strong.
"Between me and you, I think you make a much better pirate than a princess. And I think maybe I prefer being a pirate to anything else myself."
She laughed into her hand, and shifted her weight gently against his hand as she met his eyes.
"I think you make a better pirate than a government hero, Sir Crocodile. If nothing else you’re a bit more honest this way!" It was a tease, a soft tease to try to overcome the feeling of flustered happiness that he saw her not only as a pirate, but better for it. "I know this is a bit of an awkward trip, but…"
"But what, Viv?" he puffed on his cigarette, watching her with his dark eyes.
"I’m…glad to be on it." she murmured. "and I’m glad to know your original intentions for Alabasta, even if it still hurts, even if too many people died."
"Well princess, I'm glad you're here too." He offered her his hand.
She looked at his hand before she took it, finding herself holding onto it tighter than she wanted to admit.
"That should make this whole journey a lot easier, huh? I.." she swallowed. "I’m glad to be undertaking it with you, too."
Chapter Text
Vivi had a lot to think about after her surprising conversation with Crocodile— but she also had a lot to keep her busy. The next couple days as they made their way to Sabaody were smooth sailing for the most part— but even smooth sailing was a lot of work.
Who had time to dwell on anything but that work? With her thoughts still buzzing about her head and going nowhere, she threw herself into the life of a pirate on the sea.
The new, re-formed Baroque Works worked right alongside her as they charted their course and sailed the sea towards Fish Man Island and their step into the New World. She worked the rigging with Daz, climbing the ropes and setting the sails to catch the unpredictable Grand Line winds.
She cooked with Zala in the kitchen, going over the sorts of ingredients they'd need to prepare for meals that would extend their rations as long as possible and listening to her stories of her time working with Daz.
Marianne, who was shockingly around her age— how had she never known? She'd always just assumed— tasked her with helping chart their path according to the Log Pose, and somehow Vivi had found herself the second opinion on her various attempts to make a 'new Baroque Works flag' that Crocodile might approve of.
She was so busy she hardly had gotten the chance to see Crocodile outside of mealtimes, finding herself tongue tied when she'd bumped into him on deck while working the various tasks around the ship.
It had been two days since then, when she finally found herself with a little time to catch her breath. She'd headed below deck, hand on the railing as she made her way towards Karoo's pen to spend a little time with her longtime companion.
Karoo greeted her with a sharp little 'weh!' his tail feathers pinning agreeably as she approached. The pen was newly constructed– not to keep Karoo in, he could easily open and close it by himself– but to give him a space of his own on the ship to nest. Sometime between all the work, Daz had set it up for him, and Karoo seemed very pleased to have his own space.
And his own corn.
"And very nice to see you too, Karoo!" Vivi laughed as she opened the pen to lean down and rustle the top of his hat. "I'm still so surprised Daz had the time to set this up for you!"
"Weh!" Karoo raised his bill under her hand in a rather pouty fashion, as if to say 'Daz had time, but not you?
"Ah!" She scoffed softly with a pout of her own. "he's more used to this! I've been running here, there and everywhere Karoo! Manning a ship is hard work with such a tiny crew!"
He gave her a dubious, narrow eyed look, but ultimately forgave her, nuzzling his head up against her shoulder. He was certainly glad to see her, but it was clear he'd been wondering what she was up to.
Vivi laughed softly, petting the top of his head as she reached into her pack by her side and produced a fresh cob of corn, swiped with Zala's permission from the kitchen. She snuck it to him by way of apology.
"I've been all over, Karoo. It's amazing how much needs to be done on a ship like this! Cooking…charting…the rigging…even critiquing art! I've been all over with the Daz…Zala, Marianne, everyone! You should come up top sometime, Karoo. They'd probably love to have you carry stuff around!"
This Karoo also looked dubious about but he seemed to be considering it as he filched the corn from her. It was strange, usually he was a very social bird. It was surprising not to have seen him helping out– or getting in people's way.
He must have been avoiding someone.
"Still kinda scared of Crocodile, aren't you?" she leaned on her hand to watch him eat. "I can read you like a book, Karoo."
"Weh!!!" Karoo stamped his talons and his wings fluttered. He was absolutely not afraid, that was ridiculous! His piercing, beady-eyed gaze asked her— why wasn't she afraid of Crocodile, anyway?
Vivi felt the sudden burn of a flush as it lit up behind her cheeks. The conversation of two days ago filtered back into her thoughts as she chewed her lip.
"Well…he's not the same guy I thought he was. I mean, I'm still mad Karoo! I am! But…" She shrugged her shoulders. "...you remember what he was like before, right? When he came to father's parties…"
Karoo leveled his gaze at her as he munched on his corn. When he was lying and manipulating?
Sir Crocodile, the hero of Alabasta had always been very charming, and witty. Larger than life, and with many clever, cutting remarks. But, surprisingly kind. Warm even. To her, at least. Sometimes, especially when she was younger, he'd even brought her little gifts when they met at parties. Small things like foreign candies, or an etched little hair pin.
It had mostly stopped when she got older— when she'd gotten to marrying age, she reflected— but the warmth never had. Not even the last time they'd met officially. Before she'd left to infiltrate Baroque Works.
He'd offered her a puff from his cigar. She'd tried it of course, a small and impish little rebellion against her image as Princess Vivi. She still remembered the lingering taste and feeling of it on her tongue after she'd passed it back to him.
"It just makes me wonder how much of it was real." She folded her arms over her knees. "He told me a few things,Karoo…about what his plan was back then."
Karoo cocked his head. He hadn't been there of course, when Crocodile had talked to her on the deck about his plans for Alabasta. He couldn't know that marriage had come up.
Vivi looked up at the door to the deck.
"He told me that the plan was to swoop in and stop the war to win the love of the people…take over….find his weapon…" She trailed off before she murmured even lower, "and marry me…to legitimize the claim on the throne."
Karoo's corn cob fell to the floor with an audible thump, and rolled until it hit the toe of her shoe.
He stared at her incredulously.
"I mean, it kinda makes sense, right? Save the country, become its hero…marry the princess. It's like one of those fairy tales in the newspaper."
Only it was all engineered by a criminal conspiracy by a man who'd been so hurt and unable to trust that he'd lie and burn bridges when all he had to do was ask.
And that was the sticking point, wasn't it? How did she know how much of it was real, and how much of it was just… the plan.
Karoo unlocked his pen and waddled out toward her. He bumped his head against her shoulder and looked her in the eyes again.
She looked over at the duck. He really seemed as smart as any human sometimes, maybe even smarter if not as brave. She gave him a weak little smile as she rustled his hat again.
"Do you think any part of it was real, Karoo? Or was it all just…the plan."
Karoo stared up at her.
The duck was not a romantic.
Vivi stared him down for a long moment before she lightly bopped the top of his bill.
"Nevermind, Karoo."
She'd just have to stew in it herself. It wasn't as if she wanted it to be real anyway. Crocodile— even if she sympathized with him, even if they were working together now—
Even if she wished she'd kept some of his little gifts, that hair clip, her brush. Even with all that and even as she felt her face burn with heat, she still didn't want to think about anything about that plan being real.
It was just part of his Alabastan game.
Crocodile leaned against the wheel, their course currently locked in, turning his cigar in his fingers as he puffed at it. He was going to have to restock on Sabaody before they dived. The last thing he wanted to do was run out.
Funny to think this was probably the last time he'd be able to get Alabastan cigars for a while. The thought splintered in his mind anxiously, bringing up both Vivi, and the fact that he was still fucking nervous about the dive to Fish Man Island.
Damn it he'd done it before. It would be fine.
He sucked on his cigar and thought about Vivi instead. What a wild time it was to have her on board. Hell, she was the whole reason for the voyage. Sure, they'd be hauling into the new world anyway, but their course was set with a purpose.
Find a devil fruit for the princess of Alabasta.
Former princess of Alabasta.
Good luck explaining that to himself from a year ago.
A thin spike stabbed through his cigar from the side, jarring him from his thoughts as it popped out from between his teeth and raised to the lips of Zala the Poison Spider as she hopped up into view on the bannister by the ship's helm, heel-spikes bored into the wood as she stood with a grin and a long pull off his cigar.
"Captain."
Crocodile found himself suddenly, and rudely, jolted out of his anxious reveries. He sneered at his agent– his crewman.
"Awfully bold of you, Miss Zala." He crossed his arms, hook glinting in the light.
The spike retreated, and she handed it back down to him with a chuckle.
"Wasn't that one of the reasons you hired me, sir? You can flog me later, if you want… but I warn you. I used to charge for that."
As Sir Crocodile, he'd gotten to know her fairly well. She was high up in the organization after all, and the 'Spiders Cafe' that she'd taken to running when not out on assassination gigs was a sort of semi-official offshoot of the Rain Dinners Casino. Drinks and drugs,a beautiful woman, and a little warm up gambling set the stage and got guests thirsty for the main attractions at the casino.
He'd gotten to know her as 'Paula' there, the playfully flirtatious yet firm bar-owner, slinging drinks and conversation his way on his visits. The local gossip, opportunities for the casino to expand, and the who's who of visitors from near and far…she was a goldmine of information even to his civilian persona.
It was only recently that he'd learned of her past as a dancer— a prostitute— at a smoking den, but it certainly made her other talents make sense. He'd heard tell of the 'Poison Spider', an assassin and thief working out of Alabasta who seemed to have a particular talent for killing the rich and powerful silently and without a trace.
Jewels, artifacts, money, they all wound up in Zala's web.
He chuckled and let her prank pass with the wave of his hand. Once, he might have insisted on punishing her in some way for it— formally or otherwise— if only to keep the perception of his iron grip alive.
But where had that gotten him?
"You used to charge," he drawled instead. "Does that mean you don't any more, or just that it's free for your captain. Be warned, there's a correct answer here."
It was all bluff. He just wanted to hear what she'd say.
Zala stared him down for a long moment with her dark eyes, her dark and kinky hair falling in her face as she crossed her arms over her chest with a wry smile.
"It means now I charge extra for it," she teased, reaching to her hip for her pipe. "Though if you ask nicely I'll make sure it's free for my captain, of course. Won't charge a berry."
"Good. Since it's supposed to punish you, not me." He smirked and held out his hand. "At least give me the cigar back if you're not even going to smoke it. I'm almost out of those things."
She handed it back to him with a wink, before she shifted to sit on the bannister and pack her pipe with an acrid smelling substance. "I wouldn't want to deprive you. Alabastan cigars are some of the best in the world."
"Gonna be one of the things I miss when they run out." He checked the cigar for damage, but it was still smokable and he relit it. "Been smoking 'em for more than a decade now."
Zala struck a match, lighting her long pipe with a tilt of her head. "Since you came to Alabasta , right? As 'Sir Crocodile', before Baroque Works?"
"Yep," he nodded, taking a puff and holding it in his mouth for a long moment before he let it out. The early days were such a fog. A twisted fun house mirror of pain, and rage and despair. "Early 'hero' days."
'The hero of Alabasta'. That had been a hell of a mask. Some days he was more than happy to see it in the mirror. Some days he wanted to sink his nails into his face and tear it off.
In the end, everyone had seen what lay beneath.
"I can see why you took a fancy to them." Zala took a deep breath of smoke from her pipe, holding it for a moment before she closed her eyes and exhaled. "I always enjoyed the smell of them back at the…"
She waved her pipe nonchalantly. "You know." When her eyes opened they focused right in on him "...early hero days though. I have to admit, it was a surprising opening gambit for a ploy."
"You think so?" he asked, raising his chin. To him, it had seemed like the obvious option. At the time, anyway.
"It puts you in the public eye. Which— admittedly is really good for garnering the kind of acclaim and respect from the people that you were aiming for. If the people respect you, like you, they'll accept you when you take over. It tracks."
She put the pipe to her lips. "I guess for me I always felt drawn to the subtle option. A hero has eyes on them…and people are fickle."
"People are very fickle," he agreed. "They're also very easy to impress. But the subtle option is important. It's why I started Baroque Works, in the end."
Zala spun the pipe in her fingers, small spikes rippling up her arm in an almost hypnotic fashion. A stimulation, perhaps, or a reaction to what she was smoking, like a shiver.
"So you could play both sides. It was a clever plan, boss. It really was." The unsaid 'until it fell apart' hung in the air before she put her pipe to her lips. "I'll admit, I'm surprised that we've got Miss Wednesday back even after all that."
"Nobody's more surprised about that than me, Zala." It was true, he thought. The fact that she's agreed to accept his help— the fact that she'd willingly boarded a ship crewed by people she'd called enemies for months at least. It baffled him. She had guts, that was for certain. But then, he'd known that for a long time.
"I knew I liked her. I never really got the chance to really get to know her back in Alabasta, but I had a good feeling about her." Zala mused with another puff off her pipe. Whatever narcotic cocktail she kept in there didn't seem to have much visible effect on her at least. "We must have done something right if it meant she was willing to let us help her on this 'devil fruit' gambit of hers."
"Must have. Or she's got more balls than brains, which is possible. Might run in the family," he drawled. "I know I sure as hell wouldn't get on a ship— alone— crewed by people who were my enemies not six months ago."
It had honestly been a blow, more than he wanted to admit, to discover that she'd found him and Baroque Works out. It wasn't in the plan. He didn't want to make an enemy of her. Her idiot father, with more charisma than sense, sure, he was disposable. But Princess Vivi and her iron stare?
It had been a real blow.
Zala snorted softly. "She's got more going on behind the eyes than her old man did, I'll say that much. Cobra, ehhh" she waved her hand. "Unlike him Vivi has a spark of something strong, dangerous in her."
She glanced down at the deck of the ship, perhaps thinking beyond it and into the belly where Vivi had gone. "Maybe she's trying not to see us as the enemy anymore. You know what they say, sir."
Crocodile followed her gaze. "Tell me what they say, Zala."
Her smile carved across her face as smoke curled up from the corners.
"Yesterday's friends are tomorrow's enemies, and yesterday's enemies are tomorrow's friends. Things change. Vivi certainly isn't the dutiful princess everyone tried to peg her for, after all."
Crocodile puffed on his cigar thoughtfully. "Yeah, they sure do say that. And Vivi sure isn't. Don't know exactly what she is, but dutiful princess isn't it."
Why was Crocodile hoping the answer really was, as she'd said, 'pirate'?
When they docked on Sabaody Daz told Vivi that they were paying a steep bribe on top of the legal docking fee in order to disembark without scrutiny, and when they stepped onto the island– which was not technically an island at all– it was one of the strangest places Vivi had yet found herself. All the land was made up of clusters of huge trees, and fat, shining bubbles rose from between their gnarling roots every now and then and rose into the air.
Marianne had told her that the whole archipelago was an entire cluster of mangrove trees with a special sort of resin that formed the massive bubbles that surrounded them.
They created bikes that could zip around the island— ship coating, all sorts of things out of the strange natural world around them. It was like nothing on Alabasta, that much was certain.
Despite the sparkling theme park on the horizon and the smiles of the vendors, she could practically feel the tension in the air. She saw how the group stuck close together as they passed under the fanciful trees. Zala especially seemed incredibly cautious as she gave Crocodile directions through the winding roots towards her contacts. Remembering her explanation of the island's hidden darkness, Vivi could understand exactly why.
"Nobody go off on your own," Crocodile growled plainly as they made their way through the crowds. He caught Vivi's eye when he said it, which made Karoo— who was waddling by her side— shoot him a dirty look with his beady eyes.
Vivi felt a nervous shiver roll through her. She was admittedly, a terrifyingly good target for slavers and rogues. If anyone happened to recognize her the slavers would have a field day fighting over how high to set her price.
She'd drawn Karoo closer and found herself easing towards the middle of the group after that.
Zala had taken to flexing her fingers, her jaw set as she muttered something about 'hoping no damn Celestial Dragons are here today'.
Crocodile drew up next to her on her other side, and Karoo's feathers rustled uncomfortably as the captain looked her over.
"We ought to get you a hat and some sunglasses, Viv."
"We should," she agreed with a quiet voice, her hand resting atop Karoo's head to try and calm him down. "I hate how recognizable I am."
"Try being me," he chuckled with amusement, gesturing to his scar with his hook. "At least no one will expect you to be with me of all people, eh?"
Her eyes traced the scar, and she nodded with a soft and amused huff. "Good point. No, I can't imagine anyone around thinking I was willingly traveling with you, Crocodile. Maybe 'kidnapped' by you."
"Now that'd sure make a story for the papers, wouldn't it?" Crocodile's wide smile hitched at the edge as if something about the idea particularly amused him.
Vivi flushed, crossing her arms.
"Amuses you, does it?" she asked with a huff she knew was petulant.
Especially when Zala had to cover her mouth to stop herself from snickering.
She huffed again and pet Karoo. Admittedly it was kind of amusing to her too.The papers would have a field day with it. They were already crying 'kidnapper' in the international news, after all. Nobody believed the dutiful little princess of Alabasta had willingly run off to become a pirate. Not her father, for certain.
"Maybe a little," he admitted, rolling his cigar in his mouth. "I'm not sure what I'd do with ya if I had kidnapped you in the first place. Sure as hell not haul your ass all the way out to this dump."
'Dump' was an interesting way to refer to the strange, glitzy locale. Either it was very much not to Crocodile's taste, or even the conscience of Mr. Zero couldn't abide the city's muck hiding just under its gilded surface.
"Where would you haul me, color me curious."
Marianne's eyes turned towards them as she walked , sketching something with a subtle look of amusement written on her face.
"What do you think I'm gonna say, doll?" He sucked in a breath of smoke, and blew it out. "Toss you over my shoulder like the cover of an old paperback and haul you to a black castle on a deserted island? I know where to find one of those, by the way."
Vivi felt her face bloom hot with a flush on her cheeks, and her whole posture stiffed as she heard Zala's stifled snicker turn into a full on cackle of amusement.
'I know where to find one of those' he said. 'Toss me over his shoulder and haul me off like in a bawdy story' he said. As if she'd want anything like that at all! Vivi very much wished for those sunglasses right about now if for nothing else than to hide her expression from the former warlord who nearly destroyed her home.
She settled for the mature thing to do. She stuck her tongue out at him.
Karoo, finally seeming satisfied that they were on the same side again, mirrored her gesture. "Weh!!"
Crocodile only laughed and shook his head. "Thought so. Come on, we have places to be. People to meet."
Chapter Text
Their stop in Sabaody wasn't a long one, thankfully. Crocodile's contact could get their ship coated in just under two days, which was fortunate, since the archipelago, still reeling from Luffy's encounter there, was absolutely crawling with marines.
It would have been beautiful! If she wasn't so mind-numbingly anxious. If it wasn't a hotbed of the exact people she was rather keen to avoid, thank you very much! No, she spent most of her time in Sabaody pretty much as close to Crocodile as she could get, avoiding too much time out and about on the off chance that someone might see and recognize her.
It was enough to make a woman think about wearing a mask. The rare moments she ventured out, she ventured out with some of the crew and a veil over her face to hide her distinctive features. Resupplies were done quietly, especially with the help of the people Zala had suggested, all while Vivi allowed herself to spend time with the crew.
Now that she was sailing with them, it was easy to see them past the obfuscation of 'enemy agents in a criminal organization' or 'conspirators against her father'. Instead, she actually found herself laughing and smiling with them in a way that made it almost easy to forget that there were ever troubles between them.
Karoo, however, was less than convinced…until he was fed. After that, he was quite content to help haul supplies or spend time with Daz. Crocodile it seemed Karoo was still much less than thrilled with, waddling away from Daz in a huff whenever the captain came over to speak to him, as was the case an hour or two after they'd set off from Sabaody.
Daz and Vivi had been chatting about the last time that Daz had come through the area on his way to the grand line through the West Blue— and apparently some kidnappers had tried to catch him and make a slave of him. It had been their last mistake.
"But I'm still as pleased to see the back of the place now as I was then," he said. He snapped a salute as Crocodile approached. "Sir."
"At ease, Daz," Croc grumbled around his cigar. He didn't look particularly at ease himself, his shoulders tight and his expression tighter.
Vivi was mid-shudder at the idea of the slavers and kidnappers apparently rampant in the area when she looked up quickly at Crocodile through the waves of her pale blue hair. "Sir Crocodile…are you alright?"
She had a guess for why he was so off-– his discomfort with the sea likely only intensified the closer they got to diving down and into the crushing deep. A place she heard whispered had something like a 70% failure rate of traversal.
Not one to lie to herself, she had to admit that she was kind of scared too.
"I'm… fine," he grumbled, tilting up his chin as if daring her to question it. "Just coming around to check that everything's ready for the dive."
"Aye, sir," Daz nodded. "Ready as we'll ever be."
She'd let the man keep his pride. She nodded her head. "Well. I"m certainly ready. A little nervous myself though, this is my first time going quite so far under the water— but I know I'm in good hands for it."
"The best hands," Crocodile nodded, stiffly, but firmly. "First time I made the journey I was young and reckless— didn't even give it a second thought. And we still made it through just fine. Getting a lot more of my attention this time."
VIvi shielded her eyes as she peered out at the sea.
"Young and reckless. You know…I still have a hard time picturing you like that, Crocodile." She turned to him with a cheerful and teasing grin on her face.
"Oof." He put a hand to his chest and the corners of his mouth turned up in an almost smile. "I think that's the most hurtful thing you've said to me yet."
Daz chuckled, shaking his head at the two of them.
"You'll forgive me," Vivi said cheerfully as she did a little spin on the deck to take in the sea air before they took the plunge with a wide grin. "Maybe you'll get a little more reckless again, you know…really surprise me!"
Crocodile smirked at her, and ashed his cigarette on the deck with a shake of his head. "This whole trip is pretty damned reckless of me, you know."
Vivi laughed, leaning back on the ship's cabin with her arms crossed over her stomach. Reckless, yeah, it really was wasn't it?
A sudden departure from the job of reforming his criminal empire to go haring off into the New World of the Grand Line, deep into the territory of the 4 Emperors in search of one of the rarest items in the world. A devil fruit.
Not just for any devil fruit, but a GOOD one. It was reckless as it was insane— and she was just as reckless as he was, wasn't she?
She giggled some more, tickled with it as she imagined her father's face. Pell, Chaka, their aghast faces as she went on a madwoman's adventure to the bottom of the sea and out into an area people called a living hell.
"Heheh. Well. I think we're all pretty reckless here. I'd go so far as to say we're a little crazy, even. You can count me as a bit impressed, Crocodile."
"I'll take the compliment," he said, smile growing. "Being a cold manipulator didn't work out exactly the way I hoped— I've earned another swing at 'crazy bastard' instead. Daz! Let's make ready for the dive!"
Daz jumped to another salute and flashed his bright, striking grin. "Aye! Vivi, give a man a hand with the rigging?"
Vivi gave him a salute as well "You've got it, Daz!"
As she leapt into action, she spared a lingering glance at Crocodile's smile as he stood backed by the great blue sea and the bright rays of the sun.
She had to agree, she couldn't deny it…'crazy bastard' suited him a thousand times more than 'cold manipulator'. Something about it came off far more charming than it ought to .
Maybe this was how Crocodile had always been before the world forced him into fear and desperation.
Crocodile called Vivi to the bow of the ship when they were ready to dive. He told himself that it would be interesting for her to see everything up close— it was her journey, after all. But he couldn't completely silence the tiny, jeering part of himself that said he wanted her nearby as the only one on the ship who could swim if it all went wrong.
Cowardice. The fear of death. He pushed it away. Nothing would go wrong. Nothing would go wrong and if it did, so be it. He had been ready to let himself die all too short a time ago. If it happened, it happened.
But it wouldn't. He was going to flourish again. He was going to be a real pirate again. Not some government dog.
"Ready to see what it's like under the sea?" he teased to Vivi. He remembered it well himself. A strange, almost mystical part of the journey through the Grand Line.
Vivi had her hands on the railing of the ship, shaking visibly but subtly against the vision of the seafoam splashing up from the waves and over the coated bubble protecting their ship as they prepared to dive.
She must have been nervous– or maybe excited. Despite her nerves, she had a wide smile on her face as she turned to him with a nod.
"I've been ready since I heard we'd be going to Fish-man Island! I've never seen the world underwater. And this is deeper than I ever even imagined going before."
He put his hand on her back to steady her– and maybe to steady his own nerves as well for their descent. The sea's waves slopped around them, higher and higher around the protective shell of the bubble.
"If you didn't know better, you'd think it was an alien world," he told her. "It's beautiful. Strange as hell, and beautiful."
Her fingers tightened on the railing, and he found the weight of her body pressing back against his hand as her breath sucked in a sharp and surprised gasp as the water rose around them. "An alien world of dangerous beauty, full of unknown treasures no doubt…"
"Damn full of em. And all em completely inaccessible to air suckers like me and you," he chuckled. "Me especially."
His fingers tightened on Vivi's back as he felt a shiver of inky black fear wash over him as the icy waters overtook the top of the bubble. He took a deep breath— the bubble held. Water surrounded them like a globe.
A school of fish swam past the bubble in front of them.
He heard her breath catch again as her eyes followed the trail of fish as they passed over the top of the ship and along their journey towards food or rest.
"...it's like a dream I had once. I can hardly believe it's real." He felt her shiver under his hand, her eyes once again falling on him as the water rushed over the top of their ship's bubble. "Well. Soon it'll be inaccessible to me too, won't it?"
"More distant even than a dream," Crocodile nodded. He remembered swimming, long ago when he was a young boy. The feeling of the waves on his body without the horrifying, endless pull of the sea sucking him to his grave. It was such a long time ago. "Such is the price— the things we give up to pursue the power to carve what we want from the world."
Vivi's brow furrowed slightly, before she turned to look out at the sea again— an infinite stretch of blue-black and bubbles flitting past the membrane of the bubble, interrupted here and there by curious flitting fish.
Maybe she was daydreaming about the times she'd gotten to swim before.
"There's always a price, isn't there?" she said with a quiet breath. "Don't worry. I'm willing to pay it, Crocodile. I'm willing to pay— well. I'm willing to pay just about any price to be strong enough not to fall behind."
She looked like there was something else on her mind as her soft lips started to close, open, and then close again.
"I certainly believe you, Viv. I've seen just how far you'll go when you want something." He chuckled slightly to himself, the fear of a water grave having eased slightly now that the viability of their coating had been proven. The stubborn young princess of Alabasta infiltrating his organization— the idea had never even crossed his mind. And yet.
He shook his head. "But you look like you have something else on your mind."
Vivi saw the world above wash away before her eyes. The splash of the waves over the dome-like coating and suddenly they were in another world. She remembered a few times when her father had taken her to the port city of Nanohana and allowed her to swim in the sea.
She'd dove immediately under the water, and despite the way the salt stung her eyes, she watched with keen interest as the seaweed swayed and the small fish flitted away from her face. It was captivating, beautiful, and ended all too soon as she was scooped up and taken back to the place for more lessons on history, strategy and etiquette.
Now here she was, cast in the flickering light filtering down from above as fish swam and squid and octopi twisted in a dance before her staring eyes. The sea was a world unlike anything she'd seen before.
As much a symbol of freedom as the surface of it.
For a moment, a terrifying moment, she feared the seemingly fragile bubble would pop, finding herself leaning against Crocodile's hand for support until it rippled and evened out into the window-like clarity it held before.
"Not exactly something 'else', Crocodile, more…" she tilted her head thoughtfully as a fish bumped against the outside of the bubble "Just thinking about that. About what I'd do for power, and what I've done in the past."
"Ahh," he chuckled, his large, warm hand lingering still on her back. "Funny enough, that's just what I'd been thinking about too, Miss Wednesday."
She flushed, feeling the slight rush of embarrassment roll through her as she leaned back against his hand. Out beyond the bubble, the light of the surface was growing more and more faint.
"You too, huh Mr. Zero?" she looked up at him with a half smile. "I think I pulled off being a little bad pretty well."
"From the reports I heard, you were doing a damned good job out there." It was unclear if he was just teasing, or if he was actually impressed. He puffed on his cigar, and glanced away from the water to meet her gaze.
She looked deep into his eyes for a moment, over that curling scar over his face as she shifted against the bannister. "Did you know it was me right away?" she asked quietly.
"No," he shook his head. "All of my information on field agents was filtered through Miss All Sunday. I didn't know until everything was almost on us."
"Now that must have been a shock. I'm curious where you thought I'd gotten to when I vanished from the palace."
"Your father never told you?" Crocodile raised his eyebrow, his expression searching, and almost surprised. No, not surprised– incredulous and annoyed. "He told everyone that he'd sent you to go stay with relatives because of the increasing tension in the country."
Vivi's eyes widened. "....w-wait, he really said that??"
She'd wondered exactly what he'd said to the subjects, especially the way they reacted upon her return. Hailing her with fanfare and the sort of praise reserved for royalty come home after a long time away.
Like a lost princess. Which, she supposed, in the narrative painted by her father she kind of was.
"Sent to go stay with relatives. Because it was too….frightful for me to be home in Alabasta." She grimaced. "No wonder the general public thought I was a soft little thing to be protected."
She was a pirate— a criminal rogue and adventurer who'd been fighting strange battle after strange battle on the high seas and in Baroque Works while undercover while the whole world thought she was sitting and wasting away in the villa of the branch family…stuck listening to her uncle drone on about medicine, and her annoying cousin talk about his successes abroad.
"Sorry to be the one to tell you, but that's the impression your father wanted people to have," Crocodile said with a shrug. He turned his cigar in his fingers thoughtfully. "I was talking to him one time and your time with that child gang came up. He called it a passing childish fancy, and implied the whole thing was because you had a crush on Koza."
Vivi felt her face flush— and it wasn't just from embarrassment as a sharp frown etched across her face.
"A c-crush on Koza?? And a passing childish fancy???!!" She crossed her arms over her chest, gritting her teeth together. "...I joined because I wanted to be strong! I wanted to fight, just like they were. I joined to make peace between me and Koza so we'd stop brawling in the streets!"
"Your father didn't see it like that," he said, shaking his head. "He was busy softening up the law to let you marry him. Talked about how that was why you were rejecting your suitors."
Vivi felt frustrated, even a little bit betrayed, causing her shoulders to shake a little as her lips tightened into an uneven frown.
"That wasn't why at all! I just didn't want to marry some idiot someone picked out for me for…for…for a political alliance! And Koza was my FRIEND! I didn't …I wasn't…ARGH!" She hissed out a sharp breath through her teeth. "I didn't wanna marry him at all! Why'd it always have to come back to that with him? I told him again, and again, and again that if I wanted to marry I'd marry because I loved the person!"
She'd told him over and over— arguments about the 'suitors' he kept sending to her door. They were all…fine. Her father was meticulous not to pick anyone unpleasant after all, but they weren't what Vivi wanted in a partner. After the argument, things had quieted down…
Mostly.
Crocodile patted her shoulder and sighed. "Well, of all the things I can say about your father, he definitely wants you to be happy. He's just dumb as a fucking rock, doll. He seemed real convinced you were in love with Koza. I mean, I wouldna blamed you if you were. Mighta been another reason why I never said anything about that post-coup marriage proposal idea."
She was aware of the strangled gurgling sound she was making as she stared into the eyes of some deep sea fish instead of up at Crocodile as her face flushed deeper.
Instead of quieting down actually, it seemed he was just scheming to get her together with her 'one true love', Koza. In his eyes. WIthout asking her. Her father was a traditional man, a kind man, a kind king and a gentle ruler.
Crocodile wasn't wrong that he was a bit dumb, though. Especially if he got it into his head that she was head over heels with the kid she used to fistfight for gang dominance in her rebellious youth.
"I love my father, but you aren't wrong." She finally managed to stammer out. "Geeze. Koza? I mean. I guess I can see why you'd think that, or why he'd think that but he– he was just my friend. He's not exactly…my type."
"Not your type eh? Color me curious?" Crocodile grinned a long grin, like his namesake. "Straw Hat?"
She flushed deeper, pressing her hand to her face. "Straw Hat's one of them yeah. He's unpredictable, he's passionate— he's got that streak of danger mingled with the biggest heart I've ever seen."
And Nami, the slightly older cat burglar. Money-minded and playfully flirtatious the same moment that she was picking your pocket. Always there to help, to support a woman in need.
The whole Straw Hat crew had their charms, charms that very much fit into her tastes. But not all of her tastes.
She flushed deeper as she glanced up at Crocodile. "And other types too. I've got… eclectic tastes."
Like her younger self's massive crush on Crocodile. The large, slightly rough but gentlemanly pirate. Charming with an edge of danger, a hero or a villain. Smelling of cigar smoke and expensive whiskey.
She suddenly realized she was staring again, red faced and wide eyed as she shook her head and looked back out at the ocean. "Yeah."
"Can't go wrong with variety," Crocodile teased. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that his gaze too was locked now on the fish in front of them rather than on her. "I'm a man of diverse taste myself, so I salute you."
"M-me too. I salute you." She hated how squeaky her voice came out. How flustered she sounded. "I mean, I think I'd already told you that when I was younger I had a bit of a crush on you, didn't I?" She huffed as she watched the fish flit away.
"You know I think I do remember you saying something like that," he answered in a coy, sly voice. "Wouldn't want to make assumptions though."
"Uhhuh." she huffed, turning her nose slightly up at him. "....let's just say you're in the realm of my tastes."
"I'll just flatter myself and say you have good taste, then." He chuckled that slow, throaty chuckle that she knew all too well and puffed on his cigar. "Probably time for me to check on the rest of the crew. "
Vivi looked over at him with a nod. "And I should make sure Karoo's not freaking out— after I take in the sights a little more I think. It really is majestic. Like a night sky under the sea."
"With fish for stars?" Yeah. It's gorgeous."
And with that and little more, he excused himself, leaving Vivi alone for a moment at the bow of the ship as it sailed ever further down under the dark water.
He'd teased, but the deeper they got the more the fish sparkled in the infinite darkness of the abyss. The more lights flickered in fluid constellations far beyond the bubble of their coated ship.
She leaned on the railing, watching it all go by with a smile as she let her racing heart still. Marriage… romance… expectations… Koza.
They all spun in her head, along with her father's well-meaning but deeply flawed misread of her heart. Those nights, before she'd found out what he was really doing to her country, she'd often thought about someone she realized now her father had mistaken the identity of.
In her ridiculous, youthful daydreams it wasn't Koza she was dancing with in the garden by the fountain. It wasn't Koza at all.
The daydreams came back to her, briefly but vividly. Crocodile in his vest and long furred coat, sweeping her in the spray of the fountain's spout.
With a deepened flush she shook the thought from her head and pushed herself up to look for Karoo.
She needed a distraction.
Notes:
The flirtation has begun in earnest ;)
Chapter Text
Unlike the secrecy of Sabaody, they docked– for lack of a better word– at Fishman Island without incident, and it was a fairly active port.
As they disembarked to resupply, Vivi saw Daz looking over the other ships that he could see.
"Doesn't look like anyone we'll have to be too concerned about."
Vivi peered out at them as well, curious what sorts of ships made it out of the supposedly dangerous and deadly trip from the surface. She wasn't surprised when she realized she couldn't really recognize any of the flags.
Marianne hopped off the boat with her pack on her back and her hat back on her head.
"...Captain?" She asked in her soft spoken and deadpan voice.
Zala stretched, seeming much more comfortable on land as she looked around with a whistle. "..never had the pleasure of making it down here…" she murmured to Daz.
Captain Crocodile strolled down the gangplank with his cigar in his mouth and puffed out a long breath of smoke. He put his hand briefly on top of Marianne's head and smiled.
"It's been a while. Alright, crew. Saobody was a nerve wracker but we can relax a little around here. No marines, and the slavers won't be moving in yet even given the chance in… situation," he snorted. "We're here for a resupply, and to see if we can find any good information. I have a contact in the New World we can lean on if we don't find anything— but we'll be putting feelers out."
"So you want us to gather information while we take a little R&R is it?" Zala purred, "Now that, that I can do."
"I wanna see the Mermaid Cafe," Marianne chimed in.
"Mermaid cafe?" Vivi asked in surprise. "...so, Crocodile, is this place safe? We can actually enjoy ourselves a little?"
"Safe enough for a bunch of pirates," Crocodile grinned widely. "We can enjoy ourselves. And yeah, you know what. It's been too long since I saw the mermaid cafe myself. Can't stop here without a visit."
"We still probably don't want to split up too much," Daz said. "But it's not the kind of worry it was in Sabaody by a long shot."
"Then what is the worry? That some pirate might try to start a fight?"
"Bingo, Viv," Crocodile nodded as they headed into the city together. "Port towns that attract pirates attract pirate brawls. Everybody's drunk and it's a big machismo contest."
Zala snorted softly through her nose. "Meaning most of the idiots who start a fight are going to lose one."
Marianne put her hand to her chin with a soft sigh of 'hmmmmm' before she murmured. "Calming yellow, I think."
With a laugh, Vivi shook her head. "Well. That does sound like trouble, but I think we should probably be alright. We're a lot tougher than we look, after all!"
"Damn right," Crocodile chuckled. "Which is exactly why it's safe to relax a little. C'mon we'll get a drink in you— you do drink, right, Viv? Outside of when you're making shady deals with former enemies?"
Vivi huffed, giving him a little sidelong look, thinking of the drink they'd shared in the basement before the voyage. "Of course I drink, Crocodile. I used to drink all the time with the Straw Hats."
It wasn't like when she was younger, where she only could take a glass of wine or two before she had to excuse herself from the party.
She'd become rather experienced the last few years, even. Still, she felt a kind of giddy excitement. Here she was…on the bottom of the sea under the light of some strange tree that cast the depths in sunlight. Among fish men and mermaids who were frolicking about and going about their day to day, and all of it as a pirate on a grand journey.
She shivered in excitement. "So let's get that drink in me!"
It had been a hell of a long time since Crocodile had visited the island's infamous mermaid cafe– something on the order of 20 years. A wave of nostalgia washed over him like surf as he stepped inside and found it virtually unchanged from his memory. The so-called 'cafe' was styled more like the jazz lounge or club that it actually was, with tiered seating along swooping, curling mezzanines with different degrees of privacy and views of the stage for the floor show. The best seats for privacy were up in the top mezz, tucked in the back of the cafe behind flowing curtains. The best seats for the floor show were of course the several handsome round booths and tables on the floor itself.
It was decorated in a style that Crocodile was told, from a Fishman perspective, was incredibly kitschy. Bordering on tacky, even. Everything was done up in mother of pearl with gold colored brass edgings and the decorations were sea themed– lots of clams and pearls and statues of fish and things like that. Even a lot of the seats were clamshell themed. Apparently plenty of locals hated it— but it was a hell of a tourist magnet.
They were informed when they entered that there'd be a show in about 20 minutes, and since they weren't going to be discussing anything sensitive anyway, Croc opted to have them seated at one of the booths.
He glanced over at Vivi, curious what their first timer thought of the whole thing as the mermaid waitress accompanied them to their seats.
"Woooow…." Vivi whispered as she followed the mermaid waitress along, her eyes wide and curious as they flitted from seashell chairs to the grand stage, to the mermaids and the shining tables. "Nami would love this place."
Nami would frankly, especially love the mermaids even if she'd protest about it. Which certainly wasn't to say Vivi didn't either.
It was glittery, it was shining— and it was packed to the gills with beautiful women and the smell of fine food. And there was to be a show on top of all this?
Vivi couldn't help feeling a little excited as she practically vibrated. She loved the sea theme, honestly, and while it did seem, maybe a bit overly themed? Probably tacky to the locals, it certainly caught the eye.
Marianne walked near her, deadpan stare locking eyes with some of the mermaids as they passed with a little nod.
"I wonder what show set they're doing this time. Heard rumors." she murmured.
Daz cocked his head as he shifted toward the center of the long, curved booth they were seated at, on Crocodile's left. "Rumors, huh?"
Currently the cafe was filled with the soft strains of piano music, or similar, piped in through shells. A soft, bubbly tune.
Vivi hesitated, not sure what seat to take. She did notice Zala took one of the seats closer to the stage proper, leaning on her hand as she grinned lazily. Marianne dropped down beside her, opening her pad and starting a sketch of the interior.
"Rumors," she said with a nod. "Saucy rumors."
"...Saucy rumors?" Vivi asked with a flush, still awkwardly standing.
Crocodile chuckled, and Vivi watched as a mermaid offered him a fresh cigar from an expensive looking box. He took it and replaced his own with it, lighting up.
"They've had a few racy shows here from time to time. What's on the stage today, pretty miss?"
The mermaid giggled coyly. "Actually, we have a special guest today. It's a lounge show. It's only been running for a couple of weeks and it's very popular."
Vivi eased herself down on the other side of Crocodile, tilting her head with a curious smile. "Wow, then we really lucked out, didn't we?"
She couldn't help but look at the mermaid. She was a beautiful woman, that was for sure.
Vivi had always had a deep appreciation for beautiful women as much as an appreciation for beautiful men.
"Lounge show, huh?" Marianne murmured. "Who's the singer?"
"Our special guest!" she cooed, swimming away. "I'll be right back with your menus!"
Crocodile puffed on his new cigar, which had a curious sweet smell to it, and smoke that burned faintly blue. He slipped his arms relaxedly over the back of the booth, one of them dangling just over Vivi's shoulders.
"This place hasn't changed a bit."
Vivi felt the hot flush roll through her once more as she sat just under, but not quite touching, Crocodile's arm. She took a breath of that new cigar's secondhand smoke, before turning her eyes to the stage to distract her.
"N-no? Not even a little? What kind of show did you see last time?"
Zala packed her pipe with a hum. "Likely something burlesque. I heard they often are."
"Yep. It was this whole little tableau about sushi with a naughty song to match." Crocodile's grin curled across his face.
"Sushi," Daz chuckled. "That's cute. I don't remember what they were playing last time I was here, but uh, I was pretty drunk. So that's not unusual."
"Tsk tsk, Daz," Zala waved her finger back and forth teasingly as she put her pipe between her lips. "They certainly get creative with their innuendo don't they?"
Vivi caught the glance of Crocodile's grin, and felt her face flush more. "Okay that's sounds like it was pretty fun actually."
The table chattered away, looking at the menu and ordering a round of drinks. Crocodile told a story about the first time he had been there, with his first mate, Mihawk, who had initially claimed to have little interest in the Mermaid Cafe but indulged Crocodile anyway. That seemed to all change during the show, of course. Crocodile had heard one— very rare— short laugh from his first mate's lips during the sushi number, before becoming rather enraptured with the follow up act. A mermaid swordswoman had been performing a dance, and he'd absolutely insisted on meeting her to discuss technique in a display of uncommon excitement for the man. He'd practically stormed the stage.
Vivi had seen Dracule Mihawk. She could NOT imagine him excited over anything.
Crocodile had a deeply nostalgic smile painted across his face as he told the story, puffing away at his fresh cigar. He looked honestly relaxed— perhaps for the first time she'd ever seen him. She realized that even during those pleasant times at the parties years ago, Sir Crocodile had been wearing a tension, a tightness through his whole being, stiff and guarded.
Some of that had dropped now, for whatever reason. Seemed to have been dropping as their voyage continued, and unless she missed her guess, had finally melted away.
Even back in the days of Alabasta, before 'Mr. Zero and Baroque Works', he'd always carried that tension. But now…he looked content. That contentedness was well worn on his handsome face, and almost made her heart skip a beat when she saw him smile.
She distracted herself instead of thinking about it– she reached up and gently plucked the cigar from his fingers to take a puff "sounds like it was a real blast."
Zala was mid laugh at the story when she froze , glancing between the cigar and Crocodile as if hoping nothing bad came of it.
Crocodile gave her a dubious look and slipped his arm from the back of the seat to over her shoulders instead, picking up his glass.
"Oh pardon me, doll, I should have asked if you wanted one," he drawled. That low chuckle echoed out of hips.
Daz covered his mouth, smothering a laugh of his own as he side eyed her.
Marianne snickered into her hand. "Hope you're ready, those aren't tobacco…least not all tobacco."
Vivi coughed a little, the smoke leaking from her lips as she already had taken a long pull.
"R-really? Oh ah. Huh." she looked down at it, before taking another puff and letting herself lean a little— just a little, against the weight of the arm.
The taste of the cigar was much sweeter than tobacco alone, like the smell was, and it tasted somehow fresh in her mouth, tingling the back of her nose. Along with the usual rush of a puff off a cigar, she felt a swooning thrill of giddiness move through her.
Crocodile shook his head, grinning. "Don't worry, they're not that strong or anything. I'd have warned ya if you gave me half a chance, Viv."
She wriggled a little bit in her seat with a flush, before she shrugged, took another puff and handed it back to him with a giddy grin. "Well. Now's the time for it, isn't it? I'm on an adventure, embracing the pirate life…might as well have some fun with it!"
"That's the spirit," Zala purred as she took a draw off her own very much not tobacco pipe.
"Damn right," Crocodile agreed.
Vivi was feeling very pleased indeed by the time they'd ordered their food. Crocodile's arm was warm around her— he seemed loath to move it— and they all started in on their drinks, the ice clinking in the glasses.
She wouldn't deny that she was loath to have him move it either. In fact, she found herself leaning almost against him as she reached for her glass, catching and choosing not to get flustered by Marianne's knowing little smirk as she continued her sketching and drinking.
She felt warm, and cozy, and his arm was a weight over her shoulders that shouldn't have made her feel as pleasantly comfortable and safe as it did.
If Crocodile was finally relaxed, maybe she was too. Even if they used to be enemies, even if things were complicated she still melted into his touch with a pleased murmur and a sip of her drink.
And then the floor show started. The lights dimmed and turned cool colors shot through with pink spotlights, and rather jazzy, sexy music started to play as the curtains lifted.
That snapped her attention right to it, wide eyed and curious as the lights flitted around the stage in preparation for the 'special guest'.
The curtain parted on the mermaid chorus, some of which were positioned on shelflike tiers and some in a clear pool at the center stage swirling in an underwater tank.
But it was a minute into the song and dance before the 'special guest' came out, rising from a trap door in the stage just in front of the pool. The gorgeous singer strutted across the stage– and then their face changed— and then it changed again.
Vivi was speechless. First, at first it was just from the beautiful mermaids and their entrancing dance.
But there was only one person in the world she'd seen a party trick like that from.
Marianne nearly fell out of her seat as she slapped her hand on the table with a near-silent sputtering sound. Zala looked like the pipe was going to drop from her lips.
Vivi had to be the one to say it— she pointed and squeaked out. "Is that fucking BON CLAY?"
She was probably the only one capable of saying it— Crocodile had nearly choked on his cigar, and Daz might have actually spit out his drink.
With one more wave of the dancer's hand, there was no question about it. Bon Clay– Mr. 2– strutted across the stage, crooning. He turned his long, beautiful face toward them and blew a kiss.
Crocodile slapped the table with his hook and started to laugh. "Well I'll be damned!"
"He actually survived…" Zala said with genuine joy. "I'll be damned. I was worried he'd been locked away for good."
Marianne blinked. "Gotta say sorry for leaving him behind."
Vivi glanced at them, and back at the stage where she waved limply back in response to the blown kiss.
This was one hell of a coincidence.
Crocodile raised his glass. "Well, better enjoy the show or he'll really be pissed off."
Vivi grabbed her glass again with a laugh "I remember, actually. From that time back on the Straw Hat ship– anyway, I don't think I could not enjoy it if I tried!"
It was a hell of a show, and it would have been hard to take her eyes off of it even if Crocodile had told everyone to pay attention. The show was great, the food was great, the smokey, boozy atmosphere of camaraderie cradled the whole table.
She'd all but fallen into Crocodile at one point, head swimming with the cigar and the booze and the party atmosphere. She was happy, giddy and excited. The show was fantastic, the food was amazing, the drinks were strong and the company was…
The company was amazing. She never thought in her life that she'd somehow wind up partying , genuinely partying, with the agents of Baroque Works like old friends. Like she was one of them, instead of the traitor in their midst.
She laughed, she joked around, she watched the show in all its beauty and excitement. She even allowed herself to indulge in a little light flirtation that she hoped would go unnoticed in the morning.
Eventually, after the show had ended and the lights raised back up, and the room was once again filled with gentle, bubbly piano music, Crocodile finally slipped his arm away from her shoulders. He touched her cheek playfully with the curve of his hook, and gave her a heavily lidded look that made her worry that flirtation might not be forgotten after all.
He straightened up and tugged at the hem of his vest. "I'll be back, crew. Gonna go see if I can say hello to the 'special guest'."
Vivi felt the lingering sensation of his smooth hook on her cheek, blinking slowly before she sat up with a smile. "Do you want company, Crocodile?"
He seemed to consider it for a moment, looking on the verge of saying no, before he barked a laugh and extended his hand. "What the hell. Big surprise to see him here, might as well surprise him in return, eh?"
"We'll keep your seats warm then, boss," Daz said, shifting to where Crocodile had vacated.
Vivi grabbed Crocodile's hand and helped herself up with a laugh. "Turnabout is fair play and all that, right?"
Zala laughed, sliding across and closer to Daz as Vivi left her seat "Tell him we say hi, and he better not vanish before we chat."
"Oh don't worry about that, Zala, I'm hoping to drag him back to the table." Crocodile smirked slyly and slipped his hook around Vivi's waist, tugging her away.
She walked with her hand against his side, cradled by his hook in a way that took her back to Alabasta again, both the good times, and the bad. His hook holding her in two very different circumstances flashed through her mind as she smiled up at him.
"This is quite a surprise isn't it? I mean, who'd have thought we'd find Bon Clay here."
He laughed roughly as they strolled through the cafe up toward the hostess' table. "I mean if we were gonna fucking find him anywhere, it'd be here. But I really thought we'd lost him in Impel Down. He gave us all the chance to escape– for Straw Hat, really."
Vivi felt a ping of surprise, glancing up at Crocodile with wide eyes. "Him and Luffy? He helped save Luffy at Impel Down?"
"Damn near gave his life for him," Crocodile growled. There was something deep in his expression– grief, maybe. Worry. "We really weren't sure if he was gonna survive."
Vivi felt tears sting her eyes. Bon had been an enemy during their raid on Alabasta, but at the same time, he was an eccentric and kind hearted man willing to do anything for those he had gotten close to.
And it seemed he very much did for Luffy in Impel Down. "He's a brave man, and more importantly…one who's still alive and well."
"And thank fucking hell he is," Crocodile grumbled. He paused in front of the hostess station and his manner changed, smiling, again, but commanding. He told the hostess to let Bon Clay know that his friend Crocodile was here to see him.
Crocodile was imposing enough— maybe even famous enough— that the woman didn't even question it. She said she'd give the message, and to wait there.
Vivi leaned very slightly against his side before she caught herself and straightened up with a smoothing of her hair and a deep breath.
"He used to play sometimes at Rain Dinners," Crocodile said as they waited. "You ever catch any of the shows?"
She shook her head as she thought back to the past.
"I missed them, I'm afraid. Before I left Dad wasn't altogether happy with the image of the princess going to a casino and it was a bit far for me to make the trip without causing a stir, and after, well. I was a bit busy with stuff in your organization…"
She smiled thoughtfully. "Though if tonight was anything to go by I was missing out."
"Yeah," he chuckled quietly and shook his head, looking distant for a moment. "I loved that place. Oh well."
VIvi felt a sting of sympathy. 'If things could have gone differently, he could have kept the casino'.
The real surprise is that she wasn't surprised. He seemed to have fun managing the casino; he and Miss All Sunday had created an impressive business and consolidation of Alabasta's vices into one handy location.
"If only, right?" she murmured, leaning into his hook.
The hostless came back a moment later and told them that they were welcome in the VIP lounge. Once more, Crocodile tugged Vivi away.
She stumbled along to follow him into the depths of the VIP lounge with a smile to the hostess.
Notes:
What this? A wild Bon Clay appears!
Chapter 8
Notes:
Damn I love writing Bon Clay XD <3
Chapter Text
"Croco, baby!" Bon Clay cooed, throwing his arms around him as they entered the room. "And is that the Princess of Alabasta? Did you kidnap her, or did she kidnap you?"
The 'VIP' dressing room they'd entered had just as smokey and boozy an atmosphere as the main club itself had. There was a lighted mirror, and pieces of costuming strewn everywhere, and a couple of empty bottles sitting among the piles of makeup.
Vivi flushed, sputtering as she stared at the flamboyant and unforgettable Bon Clay embrace Crocodile. 'Did she kidnap him' indeed! She rubbed her arm with a deepening flush.
"It's…it's just Vivi actually. I– I'm a pirate, not the princess anymore. And I kidnapped him, as a matter of fact."
Bon stood on tip-toes to kiss Crocodile several times on the face, leaving lipstick marks there, before he threw himself on Vivi in turn.
"Pirate Vivi! Oh that has a ring to it, dear. Congratulations!"
Crocodile chuckled, shaking his head. "Glad to see you too, Bon."
Vivi squeaked, nearly toppling but catching herself and Bon with a hug in return as she grinned up at him. "Oh! Ah, thank you! I think so too, Bon! I'm over the moon that you're okay, you know! I was hoping you got out alright!"
He had so much energy, just like that time on the ship, just like every time they'd ever seen him. It was almost impossible not to be a little charmed by him.
"And I was still in the 'find out if Bon's still alive' part of the rescue plan," Crocodile said, wiping off kiss marks with a handkerchief from his pocket. "How the hell'd you get out?"
"Well, you know me, Croccy, I honestly just walked right out," he said, playing with Vivi's hair for a moment before he released her. "That's after the sweethearts all convinced me that I should. I felt guilty, you know, being able to get myself out and not anybody else."
Vivi tilted her head to the side, flustered but smiling as she came to stand again under her own power. "Sweethearts?" she asked curiously "I heard you helped my captain get out but…who are your prison sweethearts?"
"Oh now this is a story," Bon laughed. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes off the table. "Is this a private audience, or should we go back to your table, Croc?"
"If you're in the mood for telling stories, let's take it back to the table," Crocodile grinned. "We've got our own to tell you about. But no getting into any fights, eh?"
"I'll behave," he purred, striking a match and lighting his cigarette. "I know you'll spank me if I'm too naughty."
Vivi watched Crocodile, 8 feet tall and cool as his namesake, turn red and take his cigar out of his mouth to cough.
"C'mon," he huffed, waving his hooked arm. "Back to the table. You're a menace in a backroom."
Vivi had gone just as red as he was, sputtering again as she pressed her hand to her face.
"Wow. Uh…I was really missing out on a lot during those Baroque Works meetings, I guess…" she murmured as she pushed her hair out of her face.
Bon Clay just laughed and sucked on his cigarette, leading them out of the VIP room.
If it had been a party atmosphere before, it was more than double once Bon Clay joined them at the table. The drinks and smokes flowed freely, and everyone was laughing and sitting close to one another. Sitting himself directly in Zala's lap, arm wrapped around his shoulders, Bon Clay regaled them with the story of his time in Impel Down, starting with Luffy's escape.
Zala had slung her arm around him, just under his leaning back just enough to smoke her pipe between laughter and wide, teasing smiles. She was impressed, Vivi could tell that much, and kept ribbing Bon Clay about leaving a 'perfectly good group of fashionable maniacs' to frolic with mermaids instead of coming back to 'another perfectly good group of fashionable maniacs'.
At some point, Marianne had broken out of her near-silent fascination with his story to murmur her apologies for not being able to save him in the first place even as she excitedly talked up drawing a sketch of his 'big victory in Impel Down over that stupid moron the Warden'.
Vivi couldn't say she wasn't just as enraptured. It was an absolutely crazy story, from the interesting and charming sounding newkama, the Revolutionary Army's own Iva, heroic sacrifices and the bonds of friendship. She found herself leaning forward, with wide eyes and a broad smile as she clapped upon his escape.
After that, it was their turn to tell the story, specifically he grinned at Vivi.
"So, you're going to tell me the story of how you kidnapped Sir Crocodile and his merry band, aren't you?"
Vivi flushed as Marianne turned her stare to her. "You kidnapped us?"
"W-well," Vivi laughed as she put her hand on her chest. "you know that I'm a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, don't you Bon?"
Bon laid a finger by the side of his nose conspiratorially. "Not exactly playing that too close to the vest, were you, Vivi?"
Vivi flushed a little, shaking her head with an embarrassed grin.
"I'm proud of it. No need to, except to people who're gonna drag me back." She rubbed her neck before she continued. "I'd regretted not leaving with them for a long time now, you know? So when I heard about Marineford, about what happened to my captain, I knew I had to find them and join back up instead of sitting at home to be wedded and useless…"
She glanced at Crocodile with a flustered smile. "I needed a devil fruit to be stronger, so I wound up by chance walking into an information broker that was serving as a front for Crocodile's little Baroque Work's Reunion."
"Walked in like a deer in the headlights, poor thing." Zala purred as she took a drag off her pipe.
"Oho! That ugly little place on Espree? What a dreary place for such a chance meeting." He leaned on his hand, listening as closely as she'd listened to his story. "I have to say, I'm surprised to hear that you even left the Straw Hat. You all seemed thick as thieves, so to speak."
Marianne spoke up. "Pal-ish as pirates, maybe."
Vivi snorted softly, before she broke into a little laugh. Composing herself, her expression sobered as she sighed. "We were, Bon. It's just complicated. Everything in Alabasta, nearly dying— my father. The people's expectations and the personal tragedies I had to wade through, and the fact that I was weak, honestly."
She grit her teeth. "I was too weak. I was already useless to them since I'd come on board. So I convinced myself my country needed me more than they did and I stayed out of obligation."
Bon sucked in a long drag of his cigarette and shook his head. "Easy to see why you regretted it, then, honey. Followed your head instead of your heart."
"Must be something in the air in Alabasta," Crocodile grumbled, so quiet that no one besides Vivi might have heard him.
They were more alike in that regret than anyone knew, it seemed, she could think of a dozen regrets circling in his head that it could have been.
She nodded, looking up at Bon with a shaky smile. "Yeah. I should have followed my heart from the start, but…there was a lot of pressure. So I let them go and now I have to fix it."
Zala hummed quietly. "Which led you to us, didn't it?"
"By accident. I thought Crocodile was going to kill me for Miss Wednesday daring to show up to the revival of Baroque Works, but he saved me from some marines and heard me out enough for him to agree to help me find a devil fruit in the new world." She smiled wryly. "So I guess in a fashion I've kidnapped the whole of Neo Baroque Works."
"As good a kidnapping as I've ever seen," Bon teased. He lit another cigarette off the butt of the first one. "Seems like the whole gang's here, except— Where's Mr.3?"
Crocodile rolled his eyes and topped up his drink from the bottle of whiskey he'd had their waitress bring. "Ran off with Buggy the Clown at Marineford. I think he might still think I'm gonna try to kill him again."
"Croccy, your temper!" Bon Clay shook his head. "Or maybe Mr. 3 just has a thing for boys in makeup after all."
Daz snorted and slapped the table. He'd been quiet, but it got quite the laugh out of him.
"Not just boys in makeup," Marianne murmured with a snicker that still sounded somehow serious, "but absolutely boys in makeup."
Vivi reached for the bottle with a little chuckle.
"Geeze, well, maybe we'll run into him anyway. I don't think anyone expected to run into you here, Bon…" She trailed off for a moment. "A bunch of the under-agents aren't here, my partner sure isn't. But I assume, or at least hope, he's living his best life if Mr. 5 didn't really kill him at least."
"No, he's fine. Got out of crime." Marianne answered as she munched a cracker.
"The red-head, right?" Bon cooed. "Good for him, he was adorable. I hope he's doing well for himself."
"So you're coming with us, right, Bon?" Crocodile said, pouring him another drink too.
"Croccy, babe, you couldn't keep me away with a stick! Especially since it sounds like you're going to see dear Luffy, right, Vivi? I made a very serious promise that I'd see him again."
Vivi's eyes widened.
"Well yes, of course! I mean…once I have my devil fruit the plan's to find where the Straw Hats are and drop me off." She flashed him a broad grin. "Funny enough, I promised the same. We can both fulfill our promises at the same time!"
Bon raised his drink. "Cheers! I'll let them know to cancel my shows. Oh this is going to be fun."
All around the table, Crocodile and the former Baroque Works agents raised their glasses too. In the center of the table, their glasses clinked together, Vivi's among them as she excitedly cheered.
"It really is one hell of a reunion," she was tipsy, happy— overjoyed even enough to say. "I'm so glad to be here with you guys."
Daz smiled at her, and clinked his glass against hers a second time. "We're glad to have you here too."
She felt Crocodile's hand on her shoulder again. "Damn right. Things are looking up."
Vivi raised the glass to her lips, drinking it down to chase the flush from her face.
Things were looking up, unlike Sabaody, with its fear and trepidation— this, THIS, felt like the start to a great journey.
That night they stayed in rooms in the same hotel that Bon Clay had apparently been staying in, and Vivi had had the choice to bunk up with someone or get her first night of solo sleep since they'd left Espree island.
She'd contemplated grabbing a solo night's sleep, if for no other reason than she imagined Zala and Marianne would bunk together or Zala would head off with Daz. However she was taken off guard when the tipsy 'poison spider' looped her arm over her shoulder and sashayed in that dancer's way of hers down the hall.
A short conversation later, and Vivi found herself agreeing to share a bunk with Zala for the night as they left Marianne contemplating if she should ask Daz or 'take the opportunity to catch some sleep without Zala's snoring'.
Zala was a shockingly affectionate drunk for someone Vivi suspected was high pretty much most of the time from how often she smoked that pipe of hers. Maybe it was the party mood, or the sheer relief of hitting fishman island and a missing friend, but she'd wrapped her arms around Vivi and tugged her down into the bed to nestle her face in the pale blue strands of her hair.
It reminded Vivi strangely of the Straw Hat crew— of Nami when she let her miserly facade fall enough to cuddle with her under the starlight or sleep together to the rocking of the sea. It was comforting, and Zala was comforting in her own way too.
Even a human pincushion was softer on the inside than that one terrible day made it seem. So Vivi had cuddled up with her, feeling the springy locks of her hair against her hand as she settled into bed.
They had a late morning that morning, and there was lots of coffee being drunk at the table in the restaurant where they ate. Crocodile had come in with his arm around Bon Clay that morning and sat closely with him, drooping over his coffee, and puffing at his cigar.
By now, Vivi had seen that he really wasn't a morning person.
Still he had an announcement for the table. "Gonna stay a couple extra days and take on some crew. Bon says he knows a few guys. Might get a bigger ship once we complete the crossing."
Daz chuckled, certainly the most alert man at the table. "I wouldn't say no to a bigger ship, captain, so long as we have hands to crew it."
Vivi was still exhausted and hung over herself, Zala sipping her coffee right beside her as Vivi helped her stay upright with the presence of her shoulder. She downed more of her coffee to muster up the proper enthusiasm for the announcement
"That's really exciting! More crew members means a smoother trip, right? And a bigger ship should have more room to operate, and hold up against storms and stuff, yeah?"
"Yay," Zala murmured into her morning coffee.
Marianne gave Bon Clay a subtle thumbs up and a nod.
"Better in storms, less likely to be seen as easy picking by some idiot looking for a haul," Crocodile grumbled. "And it wouldn't be a bad idea to have some crewmen who aren't devil fruit users, as long as they're worth the risk."
"You know me, Croccy, I won't bring on anyone I wouldn't trust with my life and yours," Bon cooed, lighting his second cigarette of the morning. "They'll all be properly afraid of your reputation, I promise."
Crocodile harumphed, but let the teasing pass.
"That's a good point," Vivi mused. "I mean, strong swimmers are going to be important just in case. We kind of only have me and Karoo and I'm planning on selling that particular meager talent to swim as soon as I can."
Marianne giggled quietly into her hand. "if the new crew don't fear you sir, you can bite them."
"They'll get a personal interview with my hook," Crocodile drawled, turning said instrument so that it flashed in a beam of light. "But I know the kind of people you're in with Bon— I won't say I trust 'em, but I'm willing to run the odds on it."
"Ever the gambler, captain," he chuckled. "It shouldn't take too long."
"Where are we going to be looking for a new ship, sir?" Daz asked over his coffee.
"Mystoria," Crocodile responded. He nodded his head to Vivi as he said, "Just short of paradise we used to call it. A bit of a pirate trading hub. Not a lot of choices for where beyond that unless we want to push it until we hit Dressrosa and I do not."
"Dressrosa…" Vivi murmured quietly. "I've heard of Dressrosa. It's a bit too far out, isn't it?"
Zala tilted her coffee back. "I'd take my chances with Mystoria before I took 'em with Dressrosa, honestly. That's Donquixote territory, ain't it?"
Marianne bobbed her head. "If we get a new ship, can I paint it?"
"Sure you can, Marianne," Crocodile grumbled. Vivi watched him pinch the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, Dressrosa's Donquixote territory. If we can't get any information on a devil fruit before we get there, that's where we're gonna have to go. I ain't looking forward to it."
"The Donquixotes basically control the devil fruit black market," Daz explained, leaning toward Vivi, and offering her more coffee from the carafe at the table.
Zala held out her cup for it with a tired smile. "Weren't you both Warlords, Croc? Can't you just radio the guy and ask for a favor?"
Vivi was getting the impression that things were a little too complicated to just 'call in a favor' if Crocodile was already trying this hard to avoid the guy's territory and he was already a devil fruit broker.
"I get the sense that won't be the best idea, right Crocodile?" Vivi mused. "Instead, let's really hope we can get a lead on something in Mystoria."
"If we're lucky we'll find one there," Marianne smiled thinly. "Before we have to start venturing into Emperor territory."
"Warned you it wouldn't be easy to find a good one," Crocodile grumbled as he nodded to Vivi. "Zala, one major problem– one of several– is that Doff– Doflamingo is still a damned warlord. A government dog. And I'm once more a wanted criminal. So that's an issue right there."
"Ah, so he's one of those government dogs. Loyal to the end, is he?" Zala muses with a shake of her head. "Good to know. Well. I'll hold off on my desire to see Dressrosan fashion with my own eyes for a while yet then."
Vivi twisted her hair around her fingertip with a thoughtful hum. "You know, if we're lucky maybe Mystoria has one of his secondary brokers with access to his network? We could use his services without him ever knowing, right?"
Crocodile grinned. "Smart girl. That's exactly what I've been hoping. That we can scoop his contacts and get the goods before he finds out we're looking. Plus, I have some other contacts in Mystoria I'm hoping to pick up for general business. Shake the dust off everything."
VIvi grinned under the praise, Zala lightly slapping her arm with a mutter of 'good job, Viv'.
"All to get the gang back up and running, right? Is there anything I can do to help with that? I mean…as an outsider of course."
Crocodile's grin widened. He was already looking more awake after his coffee and cigar. "As an outsider? I'll think on it. And I won't hesitate to ask, doll."
Vivi raised her coffee before polishing it off. As an outsider. Not a member of Baroque Works anymore— not quite a 'client' either. It was a strange and amorphous place to be. But no matter what label you could slap on it, she was intent to pull her weight.
Things had gone bad between them before…now it was the time for them to make it up to one another.
"Good man, Captain Crocodile."
Later that day Vivi found herself returning to the ship with Daz, who had a load of supplies to bring on board. Including a special treat for Karoo, who had so far been left 'to watch the ship', as had often been the case with the Straw Hats.
"Sardines," Daz grinned, showing her the tin. "Most of 'em are for us of course, but I figured Karoo would appreciate a couple."
Vivi grinned widely, leaning forward to look at the tin with a whistle.
"Yeah, Karoo's gonna go crazy the moment you open those, Daz. There's only one thing he loves more than fresh water and it's fish!" She laughed, shaking her head. "You two have really hit it off, huh?"
"Guess we have," he swaggered along pushing the cart full of supplies toward the ship. "Can't say the same about him and the captain, though."
Vivi shook her head as she helped carry another few bags. "Sadly Karoo holds a longer grudge than I do. He still remembers that whole— whole mess really vividly. And Crocodile dropping me off the palace and everything."
"Well, you know how it is," Daz said, shaking his head. "Sometimes it's easier to be mad on behalf of someone you care about than it is to be mad on your own behalf, right?"
It sounded perhaps like he was speaking from experience.
"That makes sense, because you care about them and you can't work through the problem in your own head with all the stuff you know about it you can hold onto the anger easier. Right?" Vivi tilted her head. "Have you been mad at someone like that before?"
He waved his free hand. "Oh all the time. I'm the type who gets mad for other people easy. Part of why I kill people for a living, eh?"
He flashed his bright grin at her. It was such a contrast to think about, the quiet, easy going man was also a famous, deadly assassin.
"Do– do you look into them to find things to be mad about first? Or only accept targets of like, guys who've gone on record saying mean things about Crocodile or someone else you care about?"
Daz shook his head. "That would make me very picky. Especially before I started working for Crocodile. No, but you're half right. I don't take a contract if I can't see my employer's side of the argument."
"Huh," Vivi adjusted the bag on her shoulder, smiling over at him. "That's honestly really admirable, Daz. Honorable even…"
He waved her off, shaking his head again and looking embarrassed. "I'll admit I'm not unhappy to hear you say that. I turned down Crocodile's offer to join his crew the first time because, well, I didn't want people to see me as a villain."
Vivi blinked at that, curiosity bubbling inside her as she walked alongside him. By and large, everyone in the world saw pirates as villains of one sort or another, even those deemed 'heroes' like Crocodile once was.
But Daz didn't want to be seen that way. "Really?"
Again he looked embarrassed. "Yeah, silly, I know, especially wanting to be an assassin. But I figured I'd only take jobs killing bad people, right? I was pretty naive back then, but, well. I was a kid."
"I mean, I can kind of see the logic, especially if you were young. If you only took jobs killing bad people then you'd be kind of like a hero in a way yeah?" She winked at him. "I mean…things are a bit more complex but I think you're pretty heroic in your way, Daz. Even Karoo probably thinks so, but that might just be because you feed him."
"Probably just because I feed him. But I'm glad he likes me anyway." He left her for a moment with the cart while he climbed the side of the ship and lay down the gangplank. He dropped from the rim of the ship down to the ground beside her and shook his head. "I still don't want to be a villain— but I've learned that the world's a lot less black and white than I thought it was when I was a kid."
Vivi nodded up at him with a tentative smile.
"Yeah, I can relate to that. Things aren't as easy as we thought when we were kids. Heck…they're not as black and white as I thought they might be during that whole mess back in Alabasta. But…well." She offered him the bag. "I think you've done a pretty great job of not becoming a villain. And I'm doing a pretty great job of not thinking like my father."
He took the bag from her and slung it over his shoulder, grabbing the cart and pushing it up the gangplank as she followed. "Not becoming your father? Color me curious."
Vivi rubbed her neck as she hopped up the gangplank after him.
"I love my dad," she started with a smile, "but he's got a very specific way of thinking. He knows what's good and just, and he knows what a king and a princess should do. And he knows the traditions, and he knows how to rule in a very particular way. But Crocodile wasn't exactly wrong when he said he wasn't bright— though I'll be kinder and say he's not very good at thinking outside that particular box."
She shrugged her shoulders. "He sees the world in black and white. He let Baroque Works steamroller over him because he thought he could stand up to them with purely peaceful means, while I ran off to at least figure out who you were. To him, my fighting in the streets was just a phase to grow out of, my love of adventure was a phase. Obviously I was in love with Koza, which was the furthest that worldview would bend for him to try and allow that by law…even though he wasn't even right about the assumption! I didn't love Koza, I liked him as my co-leader in our GANG. But Dad couldn't see that."
Daz paused at the top of the gangplank, offering her his hand up over the last step. "He has a vision of how the world should be, and won't see how it actually is. Am I right?"
Vivi had felt the frustration bubbling inside her since she started her rant, burning ever hotter with every misunderstanding and misconception that came back to her already active memory. That conversation with Crocodile, the news that he'd told everyone she'd been sent off to be pure and untouched by war to her cousin's, and his assumption of her 'deep love' for Koza had rekindled the frustrations that had simmered down with distance and time.
She sucked in a sharp breath as she nodded, taking his hand with a gritting of her teeth. "...yeah honestly you're completely right. That's exactly it."
He put a large, warm hand on her shoulder and gave her a soft smile. "If you see it that way, it's no wonder you and Crocodile have been getting along so well. Despite Karoo's misgivings."
Vivi felt her face flushing again as she nodded up at him. "...despite Karoo's misgivings, yeah. I suppose we have been getting along better than I expected, huh?"
Daz chuckled. "He had his arm around you all last night."
That memory, even clouded by drink, leapt right to the forefront as Vivi tripped over the lip of the ship and stumbled onto the deck with a squeak.
"S-so he did. I'm still rather surprised about that."
Daz caught her as she tripped head long into his lean, solid body.
"Easy there. Didn't mean to spook ya," he chuckled. "I'm not all that surprised by it, though. More surprised you allowed it as long as you did."
Vivi huffed against him, working to get her feet oriented back under her as the warmth bloomed hotter inside her. "W-what do you mean by that, Daz?"
Daz shrugged. Once Vivi was on her feet, he grabbed some boxes off the cart, starting to unload them on the deck.
"The captain, for all he doesn't let people in close, is pretty free with physical affection. If he likes you, he'll get in personal. Tends to put off people who are more particular about their personal space."
Vivi brushed her pale blue hair over her ear, before hurrying to help him unload the boxes. It was utterly mundane, even in a wonderland as strange as Fishman Island. Surrounded by fish high above, mermaids and coral, they unloaded boxes.
"I've noticed…so that means he likes me now, huh?" She asked cautiously.
"Feels comfortable around you," Daz nodded, looking at her from where he leaned on one of the boxes. "Kind of like a cat in that way."
"He's catlike…" Vivi thought about that for a long moment before she whispered. "Huuuh…he kinda is, isn't he?"
So he'd gotten comfortable around her, the deeply wounded and slow to trust Crocodile had warmed up to her that fast, feeling comfortable around her enough to sling his arm all over her?
She felt another rush of flushed heat when she remembered the times he called her 'doll' or 'Viv'.
"Well , I'm…I'm a bit comfortable with him, I suppose."
"I noticed," Daz said with a grin. "C'mon, let's go find where Karoo's hiding and give him his fish, eh?"
The look he gave her was mischievous, as if he was holding back some sly, additional comment.
Vivi stuck her tongue out at him. "We'd best, or he's going to come trotting up here to cause trouble! He's smart, he probably already knows you've got a treat waiting!"
"Probably," Daz chuckled. He waved her along. "C'mon then."
Vivi hurried along after him. Somehow the thing that stuck in her mind was that Crocodile felt comfortable around her, and she around him.
It wasn't like the last 5 years hadn't happened. It wasn't like Baroque Works and the pain Crocodile caused simply vanished, but time moved on. She found herself falling into the same comfortable banter and proximity her old crush so often longed for, smiling and laughing all too easily in his presence…
Daz had noticed it. Zala had, and Marianne too. Everyone could see it.
But that's all it was. Comfort. Friendliness. Understanding and thanks for the help.
As she headed down into the ship with Daz she resolved firmly to push her childish crush into the depths of her mind. This wasn't love, it wasn't even a crush.
She was just happy to be close to them again. For a new chance.
It had to be.
Chapter 9
Notes:
Seeing that there are some people enjoying this made me really happy <3 I think there's some fun stuff in this chapter and it's a little longer than usual-- whoops!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
They left Fish Man Island a couple of days later with three additional crewmen, plus Bon Clay– or rather, Bentham. They were past code names now, after all.
Two fish men had signed on and a human who'd been at port with a small black market merchant ship who wanted the opportunity for a better paycheck. All three of them were thoroughly vetted by Ben and well, Crocodile didn't trust them certainly, but knowing Bentham they were worth the risk. Ben was good with people, and it was worth it to have swimmers on board, and someone else to handle lookout duty. It would give the rest of them more time to work on more important things.
More important things like the slim volume of writing that Crocodile had obtained from his contact on Sabaody and not yet had occasion to make use of. He was hoping to make use of it now, with the week of open sea ahead of them before they reached Mystoria, and still-lingering atmosphere of fresh relaxation from their several days in port.
Thes sea air filled his nostrils as they finally crested out of the water and back up into open air. Crocodile took a long breath of it, pleased to be under the open sky again. Fish Man Island, beautiful as it was, was too claustrophobic for him. Here, at least, on the surface of the sea, he didn't feel the crushing weight of the icy blackness— even if it lurked below his feet.
He watched the crew in their positions taking care of the rigging and adjusting the sails. The ocean was dangerous— so very dangerous— but it was also nostalgic. A ship at sea was home, both good and bad. He'd been away so long, hiding in the desert. Hiding from everyone. Hiding from himself most of all.
No more of that.
He leaned against the rail and fished a new cigar out of his pocket. He'd let the world change under him while he stayed the same. He needed to catch up.
Lighting his cigar, his eye was drawn to Vivi, helping Daz tie down the ropes. He was impressed with her sailing. He was impressed with her ambition. He was impressed with her quite generally.
She wanted to catch up with the world, too.
Croc smiled around his cigar thoughtfully, and held it between his fingers as he blew out a plume of smoke.
"Miss Vivi! A moment of your time when you're done over there!"
"Huuh??" Vivi's head whipped around, and she almost fumbled the rope before she grabbed it with a firmer hand and saluted "I'll be right over!"
He watched as she got back to work, quickly tying down the rope and talking for a moment with Daz. Likely asking if he needed her for anything else. Crocodile could see clearly from where he stood that Daz was teasing her about it.
That suited him fine. He took another puff off his cigar, and waited.
Vivi stuck her tongue out at Daz, her face heating from his teasing before she waved it off with a laugh and hurried across the deck towards Crocodile.
The wind was rustling her hair, the warm breeze intoxicating with the scent of salt and the sea. She loved being on the open ocean. Better than the stifling palace, better than the arid winds of Alabasta—no matter how much she loved her country, there was no place she felt more at home than on the ocean.
She did a little spin, enjoying the way the wind sent her hair in a flutter before she grinned and hurried over to Crocodile. "Hey, Crocodile—Sir Crocodile, you needed me?"
"Not particularly," he drawled with an amused smirk on his face. "I wanted to propose something to you."
Vivi pursed her lips, her bright eyes locked on him as she leaned on the railing opposite his chair. Her face heated as the thought of just what he was thinking of 'proposing' took on several forms in her mind—she watched his expression, her eyes lingering on the amused curve of his handsome smile as worked herself up to answer.
It was a proposal—not a proposal. Not like he'd apparently been planning years ago. She shut down the stray thought, and the accompanying image of the two of them dancing in Alabasta, and pushed a smile to her face with the hope that he hadn't caught her flushing.
"Well, you've got me curious, I'm listening!"
He looked comfortable—more comfortable than he had at the start of all this at least. He finally, finally seemed to have shaken off the nerves of sea travel. It was nice to see.
He waved his hand and gestured to follow as he angled toward below deck. "Not here. Come down to my cabin. If that's alright with you, doll?"
Vivi fell into step behind him, flushing a little and glancing over her shoulder at where Daz was still working before she huffed a breath and sped up to follow closer behind.
"Of course it's alright with me!" After all—for all of what people would call Crocodile's sins, he was a real gentleman. She lightly fanned herself as she tilted her head at him. "Do I get a preview?"
"Nope." Croc grinned at her and blew out a breath of smoke. The good natured tease was still reminiscent of his tight lipped and mysterious 'Mr. Zero' persona.
He held the door open for her as they headed below deck.
"Hmph!" Vivi huffed as she folded her arms behind her back and eased down the steps with a thankful nod. She chewed her lip, remembering the day she'd found out just who Mr Zero actually was—It was the biggest surprise she'd ever had, and a blow straight to her heart.
"Well, I'm a patient woman," she deflected back. "as you know!"
"I am in fact counting on that, Miss Vivi." He chuckled, his coat swaying behind him like a cape as he led her through the ship's narrow corridors to the last cabin at the back of the ship. It was the one place onboard that Vivi had not yet been.
Once again, he held the door open for her.
It was small, but quite a private little room. Unsurprisingly plain given the ship's hasty acquisition, but with a few little personal flourishes. There was a rather handsome quilt on the bed, and some fresh flowers from Fish Man Island in a small metal vase. Vivi also noticed one of Daz' jackets thrown over the chair.
It was undoubtedly Crocodile's room—and it was no surprise that Daz had already visited. Honestly, it woulda been weird if she HADN'T seen evidence of the man's first mate and one of the closest people on his crew in his chambers.
She thought about that, deflecting the low thrum of flustered nerves that rolled through her. It was just a room. There wasn't anything to get worked up over. Sure—all sorts of things could happen behind closed doors. All sorts of things took place in the privacy of cramped quarters, between a man and a woman with a complicated history—but that didn't mean anything romantic was going to happen!
Even if she wanted it to, she doubted he was inviting her down to sweep her off her feet and onto—-Vivi cut the thought off as fast as it came, reminding herself once more that her 'crush' was in the past. She had to stop getting worked up, even if a part of her she'd thought was long quieted was eager to whisper romantic 'what ifs' of what happened behind closed doors. But what if—what if he really was going to make an overture?
She felt her face heating deeper, and she tried not to look at him framed in the light of the door. Did she really want that? The handsome, broad shouldered and confident Sir Crocodile, framed by his long coat and the plumes of smoke from his cigar—interested in Vivi Nefertari as more than just a political marriage?
"You are, huh?" she asked as she slipped inside, realizing she might have left off answering for just a beat too long.
"Yeah, I've been told patience is a real asset with this stuff."
He the door behind her. She watched as he swaggered past her, coat brushing her legs, and retrieved a slim black book from near the bowl of flowers. "Be delicate with this. It's old as fuck."
He handed her the book. Embossed in gold the title read 'The Application and Mastery of Inner Will.' Vivi tilted her head to the side as she took it from him, her leg still tingling faintly from the brush of his furred coat, turning it over carefully in her hands.
"The application and master of inner will?" She carefully opened it up to read the first page. The writing was dry, and in an old and formal style. Readable, but dense. "Is this about haki?"
"It sure is, doll. I picked the book up on Sabaody. I was wondering if it was something you were interested in.
She read the first couple of lines twice over to make sure she got it before she looked up with a wide smile.
This wasn't what she expected at all. Even putting aside the traitorous excitement that seemed intent on putting a romantic spin on this invitation to his cramped chambers—she didn't expect him to give her a book on haki, that mysterious power of will that her family's always harped on about.
The sort of power that Zoro, that Miihawk and countless others possessed deeper in the Grand Line—and the sort she was told she should have as princess of Alabasta. Vivi D Nefertari—and her mysterious power.
So he wasn't interested that part of her murmured inside her, this is part of our training. Yes, of course it was part of her training—training was important if she was ever going to be more than a princess in distress!
"Honestly? I've always been pretty interested in it! I've never really had the chance to train it but—I'm told I should have some talent in it."
"Wouldn't surprise me," he said, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed thoughtfully. "The legends all say that especially powerful haki is passed through the blood of kings. Mihawk always told me that was bullshit though and anyone could do it if they trained hard enough."
Vivi had been told once when she was a girl that her family held the capacity for finely honed and powerful haki, and especially the talent of the Supreme King's Haki. While her father had never trained her in armament or observation—she'd had the occasional flash of tactile willpower wash out from her and onto others. A few times as a child, and once when she was fighting through Alabasta only a few months ago.
It was her birthright, her father had said, but she'd seen so many people even in her short time outside of Alabasta, people with fine-tuned skill in Haki who weren't related to kings or emperors. It was a skill like any other, if you asked men like the strongest swordsman in the world.
And it was a skill she wanted to hone—if she could, could she? She probably couldn't—
"I think he's probably right. I mean, it pops up all over the place, not just in royalty," Vivi glanced at him with a fond smile before she flipped the page. "I'd love to see if I can manage to awaken whatever ability's hiding in my 'inner will'---if I can manage it, I mean."
"If you're interested, you could train with me." He lifted his chin rather imperiously as he offered.
Vivi looked up at him with a flare of excitement rising inside her, taking a few quick steps towards him with the book held to her chest and a broad smile. She had a good view of him from here—the cramped quarters bringing them quite close, and the light playing off his imperious stare.
He looked like a statue, looming over a tomb marking someone's old ambition. She chewed her lip, the idea that he really looked rather handsome like that flickering through her mind as she turned over the idea of training together with a growing smile.
Training her haki with him, under his guiding hand—it not only meant getting stronger but…but it means I'll get to spend all kinds of time with him too! There was something enticing about the idea of so much time spent training side by side with Sir Crocodile—she had to say yes!
"Really????"
"Yeah, really," he nodded.He suddenly held up a finger. "There's one important rule though. If you don't agree, no dice."
Vivi huffed a quiet sigh, before she held up her hands, the book clasped tight in her fingers. "Alright, I'm listening!"
"You don't fucking tell a soul. Understood? Daz will know about it. But I still don't want you to say anything about it." The teasing air of a moment before was gone. He was deadly serious about this, and Vivi had no idea why.
A condition, a rule, a secret—Crocodile often had at least one or two in place didn't he? Whatever it was—it was so very clear that it was deathly important to him. And if it was important to him, how could she say no? How could she break his trust?
Vivi hesitated only a moment before she nodded solemnly. "I won't tell anyone about it, I promise— can I ask why?"
"Since you promised, yeah." His jaw's tightness softened a little. "You are promising, right?"
Vivi nodded again, and she reached out to grab his hand in her free hand with a serious look in her eyes—she was promising, absolutely. If it meant that much to him—she wouldn't tell a soul.
"I'm promising, my word is solid, Crocodile."
His fingers closed around her hand, and he nodded. "Good. Perfect. The reason why is because I'm gonna be learning alongside you. And there's no way in hell I want anybody to know for sure I don't already know exactly what I'm doing."
The admission made the promise make complete sense. It was a vulnerability. One he had opened himself to Vivi on.
Crocodile had opened himself—to Vivi. She remembered seeing him in Alabasta, so closed off from everyone and never letting anyone into his trust. Not even Miss All Sunday. He was a man slow to trust—and now she'd learned why, hadn't she?
And yet he was trusting her. Trusting her to confidence and a shared vulnerability. She felt the warm flush rolling through her again as her breath caught. He was trusting her—even if she'd stabbed him in the back in the past as a false member of his organization, even as a former enemy.
The simple fact that he trusted her shouldn't have made her heart patter quite as much as it did—but she couldn't deny the happy flutter in her chest. Sir Crocodile had shown her the gaps in his armor, with the implicit trust that Vivi was someone he knew wouldn't exploit it!
Somehow that was the biggest sign of their growing bond she could think of—somehow it was more intimate than even the full on cuddling they'd apparently done in the Mermaid Cafe while Vivi was slightly out of her mind with drink. That old crush flickered again inside her, its flames finding kindling to grow a little brighter, as childish as it was.
She squeezed his fingers tight. "I won't tell a soul, Crocodile. We'll learn together, and nobody will ever know. Promise."
He squeezed Vivi's hand lightly, and she could see his own dark eyes light up, looking as pleased as the cat who got a canary. "We'll practice together. Figure this haki shit out."
Vivi nodded up at him with a grin. "Maybe we'll get good enough to impress Mr. Mihawk, eh? Really knock his socks off!"
"I think it'd take a lot of doing to impress my former first mate, Viv." Crocodile's smile had faded for a moment at the mention of Mihawk, but he swiftly pulled it back across his face. He thumped her gently across the shoulders with the curve of his hook.
Vivi stumbled—only a little with the surprise, but she leaned back against the curve of his hook with an amused wink.
The cabin was small, and he'd gotten closer—close enough that she could make out the scruff on his lower jaw, and smell the oil and cologne in his hair and on his body. His hook, heavy and imposing often with the constant reminder that it was, in fact, a rather deadly weapon, felt like so much more than that in such personal company. Its heavy weight was reassuring, the curve of his hook like the palm of his hand against her shoulders—even as it did stand as a symbol of what he'd lost in the past.
She took a deep breath of his cologne , watching his expression shift— Crocodile's moods could sometimes swing. She'd watched him during those old parties, often when she should have been entertaining guests, seeing his alternatives of melancholy at some sad reminder and the warm happiness or boisterous laughter when something came up that tickled his fancy. For only a moment, she worried she'd sent him into a melancholy—she'd always liked helping him bounce back even back in Alabasta. Until the end, at least.
"Welll….I mean, we've got a bit of a trip ahead of us, right? And a lot of can-do spirit!" She made a muscle with the arm holding the book and grinned. "and I'm gonna can-do until I feel like maybe I can match the rest of the Straw Hats!"
"You're certainly keeping that spirit of ambition up, Viv. I like it."
He seemed to bounce back easy enough. Instead, she leaned into the sense of excitement. Haki—even if she still wanted a devil fruit, a honed talent for haki would do wonders to help her fight even DEVIL FRUIT users in the New World—she'd heard all sorts of stories of the sorts of 'powerful monsters' lurking just behind the Red Line.
He liked her ambition—hadn't he said something like that in the past to her? A compliment here and there when she'd shown she wasn't as passive or pacifistic as her father? It brought a smile to her face that she tried to hide with the palm of her hand.
Maybe he likes my spirit of ambition almost as much as I like his, that part of her mused again, even as she tried to push it back. But it was true wasn't it? This rekindled Crocodile, a man she'd only really gotten to meet here on this ship after his long depression in Alabasta, was a man she DID have to admit a certain fondness for.
She liked it too. She could admit that.
She laughed into her hand. "Well—they say Haki's about inner will, right? Won't keeping a spirit of ambition help that along?"
"Guess we'll be finding out together, doll." His smile curved knifelike as he took the book back from her.
That smile lingered in her mind a lot longer than it should have after their little meeting, which Vivi was struggling to admit was too soon for her liking. But in the first hours of their surfacing and setting their heading for Mystoria had lots of busy work to attend to on the ship, and Crocodile had confided in her that he didn't want to be seen as too absent by the new crew that'd taken on, and give them a mistaken impression of a lax attitude.
With more regret than she expected, they'd parted ways before they'd even gotten much of a session in, beyond a little reading of the old book and some conversation back and forth. It surprised her how much she had wished that maybe he'd had a little more time—a little less responsibility—so they could continue on a little longer in one another's company with that dry little book.
But she busied herself, as best she could with as much distraction as she could to help with the rigging once again. She was sure though that anyone with eyes could see that she was distracted.
For a quite while, no one called her out on it. The day wore on, warm and breezy– good weather for sailing. The sweat beaded and glowed on her warm skin, carried away by the sea air as it cooled her and the hard work conditioned her muscles. It was hardly an unpleasant way to spend the day, but it left her plenty of time for daydreaming.
But her daydreaming was eventually interrupted.
"That's such a soft expression for someone doing ship's gruntwork. Thinking of a boy?"
A fanciful daydream of sinking a marine ship, side by side and grinning with—don't think about it— sunk like it's very focus as she startled and nearly tangled herself in the ropes with a vivid flush.
"Ye–NO? What???"
Bentham covered his mouth as he giggled and shook his head. "I'm sorry, dear, you're too easy."
Bentham, or Bon Clay, or Mr. 2 as he was variously known, had absolutely not been doing any work on the deck that day, though he had led the crew in a song at one point from his perch on the railing. He stood beside her now, with a rather teasing smile on his painted lips, hands on his hips.
An exceptionally pretty individual, with a long,-fine featured face always carefully made up, and wispy coal black hair, Vivi had often, in her past life as Miss Wednesday, seen him dressed in the manner of the male lead in ballet, with a pale, tight fitting jacket, and tights that showed his lean, muscular legs. He was dressed similarly now, though the jacket was missing somewhere, exposing his princely ruffled white shirt.
Bentham and Crocodile, Vivi couldn't help but think, were two very different species of men.
Very different, but that didn't mean that it wasn't charming, in its own way. There was this kind of honestly admirable joy in Bentham's ability to express himself however he wished and unrestrained. He was flamboyant, he was very fun to be around, as the Straw Hats quickly learned during the biggest blow to their cover on their entire trip, and he was above all—just really kind.
He stood in sharp contrast to Crocodile's looming brand of masculinity, living one all his own.
And pretty. That much couldn't be stated enough. She tilted her head at him with a puff of her cheeks and a little pout.
"I'm not THAT easy, Bentham! I mean—You just surprised me, that's all."
"I know, you were a million miles away!" he chuckled and shook his head. "But pardon me, I just wanted to see if you were done with that tedious work so we could catch up. We hardly got any time to, so far!"
It was true– between closing out his final shows at the Mermaid cafe and interviewing and assembling crew for Crocodile, Vivi had hardly seen him aside from that first night.
Which was a shame! She'd always liked 'Bon Clay', the few scant times she'd gotten to keep company with him—even if he had impersonated her father on multiple occasions. But he'd been so busy lately, hadn't he?
She looked up at the rigging. Their heading was set, the wind was blowing well. "I think these ropes'll be okay without me for a bit! I've missed you, Ben!"
He slipped his lean arm around her waist and pulled her to his hip. He was surprisingly strong.
"Have a drink with me then! Or is that too naughty for a former princess?" The way he winked at her assured her he was only teasing.
Vivi laughed sharply, her face tinting pink.
"Hardly! I'll have you know I've actually learned how to handle my drinks from a pro!" Mostly from Zoro—and admittedly the lesson was 'kind of poorly, but at least you have fun doing it'.
With Ben's declaration of 'fantastic!' he dragged her off to the galley, and only moments later was concocting some sort of intricate cocktail out of bottles that Vivi knew for a fact had not been on board before Fish Man Island.
The galley was empty aside from the two of them and a large bag of freshly peeled potatoes.
Vivi plopped herself down as far from the potatoes as she could manage while still leaning on the table with her elbows, and smiled across the way at Ben with a tilt of her head. "Man—you've really stocked up the liquor cabinet, huh?"
"My dear we were in dire straits!" Ben said aghast as he presented her with a blue colored drink with a lime garnish. It probably would have been a gorgeous cocktail if it was in a proper glass instead of a brown ceramic mug. "Croco babe must have been in a hell of a hurry to leave with you– he's usually much pickier about his alcohol."
Scooping up his own mug he fell artfully into the chair across from her, practically laying in it as he put his delicately booted feet on the table.
Vivi took a sniff of the drink with curiosity in her eyes before she lifted it to her lips. She blinked, flushing a bit with a shrug of her shoulders.
"The m-marines were starting to sniff around, so I think he was keen to get out of there as soon as he could. So we kind of made getting essentials the priority and headed out asap!"
"Uhuh." He batted his eyelashes at her with a broad smile. "Like I said, a hell of a hurry. So tell me about that!"
She took a long sip of the drink, looking up at Bentham with her wide eyes. She smiled shyly at him. The drink had a fruity, rather spicy taste to it– heavy on the alcohol, and it tingled her lips.
"About how Crocodile wanted to help me find a devil fruit? Or about why the marines are hunting me down and he's …" acting like a knight in armor "protecting me."
He leaned toward her from his reclining pose as he sipped his drink too. "Exactly! I mean, it's certainly not what I would have expected from the way things ended in Alabasta! It has intrigue written all over it, don't you think?"
Intrigue—it certainly had oodles of that. A whole sordid royal drama of angst and the desire to escape at any cost. Of bad decisions and pacifism warring against Vivi's drive to just—DO something about their problems.
She leaned forward on her elbows, drink sloshing before she lowered it.
"You'd think I'd be resting comfy in the palace, huh? I mean—I'd won. Alabasta was free, Baroque Works defeated and my father back in power…and then, of course, when the Straw Hat Pirates fled, I stayed behind to follow my duty."
"A real 'happily ever after' for the princess in distress," Ben nodded, leaning on his hand. "In the theater, that's where the curtain closes. But your curtain is still very much open."
"Wide open." Vivi held her hands out with a playful smile. "Somehow I never felt quite like a happily ever after. I missed my crewmates, I missed Luffy—and I was kind of starting to realize that after two solid years of playing the part of a criminal agent, and months of pirating? The life of a demure princess wasn't any more appealing than it was when I was a kid, and constantly running away to try joining gangs."
"Didn't want to go back to mooning about in pretty dresses and signing official documents after your time in Baroque Works and with the Straw Hats, hmm? I can't say I blame you. It's not like there was a handsome prince waiting for a kiss."
Vivi felt her face heating again, smothering it as best she could with several long sips of her drink. "I'd say not!"
There wasn't a handsome prince waiting for a kiss—oh, don't get her wrong, there were PLENTY of people her father wanted to set her up with, from Koza to his little book of suitors that he tried to shop past her.
Plenty of 'handsome princes' interested in the Princess of Alabasta, but none of them were what Vivi wanted. None of them had that spark, none of them were pirates, or thieves, or— She once again thought of Crocodile, dressed in his fine suit as he leaned across the table from her in his chambers.
None of them were what Vivi wanted. She continued, flustered.
"I didn't want to be some idle princess—I, I'm a proactive woman! An ambitious woman, and all father wanted me to do was adhere to tradition, find a husband—Koza, or one of his other suitors—all while he LIED about my achievements to make everyone think I was safe and sound with my cousins! And there was nobody there, nobody in Alabasta anymore who was anything like what I wanted in a partner!"
Ben sat forward, his feet swinging to the floor with a little 'click' of his boots. "No one? Goodness, well now I'm curious about your taste in partners, Vivi babe!" That teasing smile had come back– he did seem powerfully curious. "Not one who adheres to tradition, it sounds like."
"Absolutely not someone who adheres to tradition, and nobody my father would pick out for me either." Vivi flushed, shimmying in her seat and bit her lip. "---I mean, I like people who're, I d-dunno, more like the kind of people I met in Baroque Works, or the Straw Hats. People with ambition."
"Pirates?" Ben teased, scooting even closer. He grabbed the liquor bottle and topped up both their drinks.
Vivi stuck out her tongue at him.
"Yeah, like pirates—" she shifted in her seat—like Luffy and the Straw Hats, like Nami, like—once more that crush of hers came back to her mind, Crocodile flashing into her memory along with the scent of his cigar and cologne as she started to flush.
"Yeah, like pirates," she murmured again.
She watched Ben's gaze flick over to the closed door of the galley behind them before returning to her face. The smile on his painted lips grew wider and more sly.
"Like Mister Sir Crocodile?"
Vivi nearly spit out her drink, only by some miracle managing to swallow it despite the way she jolted forward with her vivid flush. She coughed, gasping for breath as she placed her hand to her chest.
"I never said his name! I never told anyone!"
Ben laughed merrily, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Vivi, dear, darling, babe, you should never ever play poker, promise me you will never ever play poker!"
Vivi felt like her head was swimming, her face was burning—and now she couldn't get Crocodile out of her head. She felt teased—she was being teased—but it wasn't wrong, was it?
"I uh, I promise I'll never play poker un-unless I know my opponent will take some pity on me?"
"Unless you're playing to lose!" He wagged his finger at her admonishing smile still painted across his face. "So my little guess was right, hmm? Oh dear, my poor desert flower. Not just intrigue, but romance!'
She certainly felt like a poor desert flower right now, collapsing into her arms to hide her flush as her drink sat before her.
"You'd already guessed?" she asked with a squeak.
Of course he did, he seemed to have some kind of sixth sense for this sort of thing. He'd zeroed in on it right away, hadn't he? He'd taken one look at her terrible poker face and just KNEW.
"I mean y-yeah there's tons of intrigue, but it's not exactly—I mean… romance is a bit of a stretch!"
"Oh honey, I had guessed the minute you walked into my dressing room practically hanging off his arm!" He gave her a dubious, patronizing look. "My surprise was that Croco babe insisted that the two of you weren't a thing! I was just like, now hold on that can't be right!"
"T-that's because we aren't, Ben," Vivi laughed as she rumbled for her mug, sitting up enough to take another sip "we're not a 'thing', really."
Vivi felt seen, exposed even with all her clothes on—Bentham had seen past even her own self-conscious insistence that there wasn't even attraction there. That this was just a mission for a devil fruit and Crocodile was trying to help out of some—guilty obligation.
She hesitated, but somehow Bentham disarmed her, and made it easier for her to murmur the truth "I mean, I've had a crush on Sir Crocodile since I'd met him. That's part of why the whole Mr. Zero thing hurt so bad. And for a while I tried to pretend I didn't, mostly because I was mad at him—but now that we're back on good terms, well."
"Now somebody's dried out all those wet fireworks and they're waiting for a light?" He put a finger to his lips. "Don't worry, I won't tell Croccy unless you ask me to."
Vivi's eyes widened, and she held up her hands.
"they're alre—I mean…they're already starting to light up again, Ben…but please don't tell Crocodile." She shimmied on her seat with another sip of her drink. She couldn't fathom a universe where he felt the same, even with the closeness at the Mermaid Cafe—even with the trust he showed to train with her "there's no way he'd like me the same way, you know?"
"We'll I–"
Whatever Ben's reply was going to be, it was cut off when the galley door slammed heavily open and Crocodile loomed in the doorway holding a scrap of paper skewered on his hook.
"Viv! I was wondering where the fuck you were!" His shout wasn't angry, but there was a wild look in his eyes.
"Croco, babe, what's up?" Ben cooed.
Vivi felt the humiliation washing over her as she sunk into her chair, the absolute panic that Crocodile happened to hear any of that hitting her like a wave.
"Iiiii….I…I.." she squeaked. "I was having a drink! It's been a while since Bentham and I got to catch up!"
"That's great, but you missed the big fucking news." He stalked forward, brandishing the paper at her. If he'd heard any of it, he made no indication whatsoever.
Almost immediately, she saw why. The paper skewered on his hook was a freshly printed wanted poster.
The face on it was hers.
Vivi grabbed the paper off his hook, staring into her own wide eyes as she gaped in shock. It was one of the photographs taken back during the reclamation of Alabasta—one that'd been in the papers under very different circumstances.
And now it's staring at me from my very first wanted poster as a real pirate.
Her eyes glanced at the reward—at the very least to make up for all the trouble this was bound to cause, she could hope for a decent number.
A hundred million berries. Wanted, Alive.
Notes:
Vivi's first wanted poster! Wooo!
Chapter 10
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
There'd been a toast. A toast and a celebration in the name of Vivi's new bounty, no less. Crocodile had called everyone together, drinks were poured in the galley and everyone passed her poster around and congratulated her.
'You're an official pirate now, Vivi!' had been the common exclamation as her back was slapped and her side was ribbed. They'd talked excitedly about what this meant—Vivi felt more like a part of the crew again than she had in a while at that very moment.
Crocodile had lingered close the entire time to her, his arm slung over her at one point, and the scent of his cologne and the cigar he smoked still heavy at the back of her nose. He'd refused to leave her side the entire time—congratulating her numerous times for himself.
Her heart was still beating fast when she'd wound up in the ladies' bunk again, laying on her bunk as Marianne and Zala sat near her. Zala punched her shoulder again, purring affectionately that 'she was in the big leagues now' again and prodding her teasingly about the massive bounty.
Marianne offered to paint her a commemorative picture, which Vivi took her up on with a laugh.
She was comfortable with them, the girls of Baroque Works, but her mind was still on her conversation with Bentham, the way he saw right through her crush on Crocodile. Was it true that Crocodile felt the same? Did it mean they were getting closer?
She didn't dare bring it up to the other girls yet—she knew exactly what would happen. Zala would get the idea of 'matchmaker' in her head and it'd turn into a whole thing. As she started to turn red, drawing the curious eye of the quiet Marianne, she changed her train of thought to the poster itself.
'Alive'. They'd taken the bounty out on her alive. Her father, no doubt was the reason for that. They wanted to drag her back to Alabasta to make her a princess instead of a pirate again. Her smile grew a little grim as she thought that one day— one day she'd make sure that changed to 'dead or alive'.
She'd just have to prove to the world that she wasn't just some expensive runaway.
Marianne and Zala would agree with her, of course. The two of them knew her better and better each day. She just had to prove it to the rest of the world. She held the poster up over her head with a smile.
Starting tomorrow, she was going to get stronger—stronger and stronger until the World Government knew to fear the name Vivi D Nefertari , rather than ever think they could control it.
The sun broke through her sleep early that morning, the ache of alcohol in her head as she roused herself through her morning routine quick as she could. With barely a breakfast in her stomach and just enough coffee to cut through the hangover, Vivi made her way for Crocodile's cabin for her first real day of haki training.
She knocked, a little hesitantly, on the door.
"Come in." The voice behind the door was gruff. Rougher than usual. But then she remembered how much of a morning person Crocodile wasn't. It was a little surprising even that he'd decided to do their training that early. Maybe there was something about it in the book.
Vivi opened the door and peeked her head inside with a squint against the light and a smile. "Helloooo Croccy-dile! It's Vivi."
Crocodile was arranged at the little desk in the room, somewhat hunched over the book. There was a large carafe of coffee next to him. He closed the book with a flick of his hook as he turned to her with a curled smirk.
"You're in good spirits this morning, Viv."
Vivi laughed as she shut the door behind her. "Well…I mean. What can I say? I've gotten a bit excited about the idea of training with you? And haki's about will, right? And will's kind of tied into a positive can-do spirit."
"I'd say 'well no wonder I haven't mastered it yet', but that would leave Mihawk a fucking mystery," he drawled. "If a positive can-do spirit is essential he's burning his for fuel in the back."
He stood up and poured coffee from the carafe into a mug and offered it to her.
Vivi flushed with a laugh, as she grabbed the coffee mug with a shake of her head. Mihawk— well, he really did lack a positive can-do spirit, didn't he? She didn't know him well, but she'd seen him and heard about him enough to know just how absolutely stoic the man was.
"Maybe he's really good at hiding it?"
She leaned in towards him with a grin, taking a moment to look him over—to take him in in the morning light.
"I'll give him an acting award."
Crocodile ran his fingers through his hair, smoothing it behind his ear. There was no hair oil slicked through it yet, and it was wispy and fly-away. This early he wasn't as fully put together as she usually saw him. No coat, not even the habitual waistcoat he wore, just his pants, and a linen shirt that she could see the underline of his undershirt, and the curve of his strong arms through. It was a more rugged, less deliberate side of him. One she doubted most people ever saw.
It was one she knew she hadn't seen until this day. Her eyes lingered on the curve of his arms through the shirt, on the way the linen clung to his body now that he'd recovered from the stress of the Alabasta mess—he was stronger now, healthier—
Vivi felt her face heating up as she smiled awkwardly and stifled any stupid comments with a long sip of her coffee, nodding in lieu of saying anything for the moment.
He raised his arched eyebrows, a little smirk still painted on his face. "You alright there, doll? Morning finally catch up to you?"
Crocodile chuckled at his own joke and turned briefly to grab his own cup of coffee now that his hand was free.
"Mebbe," Vivi murmured through her sip of coffee as she tried to compose herself. Bentham's little pep talk still rang in her mind—and she felt her whole body shiver with a flustered excitement. Did he know? Could he?
She bit her lip and looked up at him. "Maybe a bit. But i"m ready to train, I promise!"
"Good. Then as soon as I'm good and ready, we'll start." He laughed and sipped from his mug. "Congrats again, on your bounty."
Vivi perked up with a broad grin. "Thanks, Crocodile—it's a pretty high one isn't it? I ah, I'm a little offended they want me alive, but—well. I'm sure that'll change soon enough."
"Once you manage to get out there and piss 'em off, doll," he snickered. "For now, it's more of a 'lost princess' type bounty. But you'll show them your true colors, won't you?"
Her true colors. It sounded like Crocodile was really starting to believe in her as a pirate.
Vivi felt the blush deepen, and the smile spread across her face at the compliment. He believed in her as a pirate. He didn't just see her as a princess with 'some spirit' who was trying—he saw her as a pirate.
Crocodile knew her true nature. She took a sip of her coffee to swallow her excitement, and nodded. "I will, and real soon too—they're going to see that I'm not the little lost princess they think. One day—one day soon they'll know exactly what I really am."
"And if we have anything to say about it you'll be ready for that day. Ready enough anyway," he said. "Otherwise the sea's going to eat you alive."
He was speaking from experience, of course.
She took an impulsive step forward and put her hand on the curve of his hook.
"With your help, Sir Crocodile—I know I'll be ready. I promise I'll be ready. I'm going to work hard every day to make sure I am!"
He set his mug down with a heavy click, the cool curve of his hook still resting against her palm. "Well then we'd better get down to work, eh, doll?"
Ten minutes later the two of them were seated cross legged on the narrow space of the captain's bed. The small area meant that his knee brushed hers as they practiced the breathing exercises outlined in the book.
It was— a little distracting, the very gentle and very faint physical touch a constant reminder of how close they were. But she didn't let herself get distracted— she couldn't. Even if she snuck a few looks at him every other breathe in—a glance before she breathed out.
This was important after all, this was her training in techniques that would save her life one day.
Crocodile's wide chest rose and fell as he breathed in, and out, his dark eyes squeezed shut. From the look on his face it seemed like he was having a bit of difficulty relaxing himself like she was. Again, she couldn't help but notice how much better he looked now than he had in those last days in Alabasta, and in the first days even that she'd reconnected with him on Espree Island.
He'd been pale. Thin. He was more tanned now, and he'd put on weight, most of it, it seemed, in muscle. She couldn't help but wonder. In those last months in Alabasta, he must not have been eating, or sleeping well. Must not have spent much time outdoors.
And then there had been Impel Down.
The world had given a beating to him, but he was healing. The sea air, the sun and the activity of working the ship together with his growing crew—he was healing. Her breath caught in her throat, a hiccup in her breathing exercise as she wandered into the thought that he looked really handsome again.
Had she changed since the start of the journey? If she had—had he noticed in the same way she couldn't help but notice he had?
She flushed, looking quickly down and trying to recenter her breathing. Crocodile had always been handsome. This wasn't something new. I'd thought the same thing—back when we'd dance in the Alabastan palace during the balls. It's not new.
It's not something to be distracted by.
Despite that, it had been distracting back then, too. But she had to master this. The first step to mastering haki.
If she was going to master her inner will—she'd first have to master her ridiculous crush.
Eventually, she felt a tingle through her body that didn't have anything to do with her proximity to Crocodile.
She felt the tingling shudder roll through her, and couldn't quite stop the gasp that escaped as she buckled down—she tried not to let the feeling slip away, she held tight to it and tried to draw it further out.
The sensation spread from her core and through her arms, pooling in her hands.
Her fingers clenched gently on her lap as she stilled her breathing. The gentle tingle pooling in her hands—the warmth of it gathering. It was exactly what the book had mentioned, exactly what she'd been told it should feel like when she finally tapped into that latent aptitude.
She just had to figure out how to use it.
The soft, hissing sound of sand from the hourglass that Crocodile had set ran out and stopped, signaling the end of the exercise.
Vivi's eyes snapped open, and she looked at Crocodile with a wide smile. "Croc—Crocodile, I could feel it! For a moment I could really, really feel it!"
Crocodile grinned a long, sly grin at her. "Good going, doll. Want to move onto the next exercise?"
Vivi flexed her fingers, looking down at them with a wide smile for a moment before she looked into his eyes with an eager nod. She'd leaned forward—forward enough that she brought herself closer than she'd meant to to him—lost in her excitement. "I'm ready!"
He looped his arm around her shoulders when she came near and smirked. "Donno if you're gonna like this one."
Vivi was maybe a bit too wrapped up in their proximity and the warmth of his arm over her shoulder to properly dread what came next. She smiled. "I –I dunno about that Crocodile, how bad can it be?"
And then the next half hour was with Crocodile smacking her knuckles with a long, whiplike stick.
She hissed, understanding the concept—she was pretty sure what the lesson was trying to encourage—but it didn't mean it didn't hurt like crazy.
"You can see why I didn't have a lot of patience for this when Mihawk was trying to teach me 25 years ago," Crocodile drawled. He rapped her knuckles with the stick again.
"Yeah…" Vivi winced as she tried reaching deep down inside herself again, her whole body shaking as she tried to get that feeling to pool back in her hands again. "I'm starting to see why! And why nobody ever bothered to try and actually teach me be—OW!"
Crocodile chuckled, and she saw his eyes lingering on the pink of her knuckles. "Guessing you didn't quite get it yet. Wanna try me for a few minutes and let 'em cool off?"
He brushed the cool curve of the back of his hook over her sore hands.
She shivered for a moment, the cool of the hook soothing the stinging pain. "I…m-maybe yeah. Just for a moment. But I think I'm starting to get close, I just need to get that feeling back."
She turned her hand to rub it against the smooth curve of his hook.
The metal lingered there for a moment, and when he slipped the stick into her other hand, his hand lingered there, too.
"We'll show em, doll."
Vivi nodded, looking up at him as she let her stinging fingers brush against him for a moment. "We'll show 'em….once we get the trick we'll show them."
She was hesitant to let go—maybe it was the soothing warmth. But was he just as hesitant? For a moment she thought so, his narrow dark eyes watching her as skin and metall lingered on skin.
Then he stepped back and raised his chin, and presented his hand to her, broad, and rough, and covered in rings.
Vivi took a deep breath, before she smiled at him and took a step back to prepare her aim. She looked at his hands for a moment before bringing the stick down hard against the back of his hand.
His hand twitched, and the edge of his lip tugged. "Again."
Vivi nodded with a slight huff of breath, before she raised it once again and sent it slapping against the back of his hand. It was a painful process for him as it was for her—that was the way of it, right? You had to feel that sting of pain—you had to fight through it and concentrate that power to protect yourself from it.
Crocodile endured sting after sting from the little stick in Vivi's hands. It barely hurt, but every time he felt it he felt a little sting of humiliation as well. He had no talent for haki, that's what he'd always been told by his father. That was what his father had always used to make him feel worthless. Mihawk had believed in him, but he'd let Mihawk down.
It wasn't fair! Fucking Doflamingo was throwing out haki blasts to bring a mob to its knees before he hit puberty!
Crocodile was more than 40 years old and he couldn't even block a stick.
There was a reason that he had sworn Vivi to secrecy. But would she think less of him if she mastered the skill and it continued to elude him? He liked Vivi. He always had. That was what made everything so damned difficult! And it was more difficult now that she was around him again— seemed to be enjoying his company again.
If he humiliated himself in front of her he might just throw himself off the damned ship.
The stick stung his knuckles again and he snarled.
Ten minutes of practice in, and Vivi could sense Crocodile's rising frustration, bubbling away. She had a feeling about why—it was the same reason she'd been fretting to herself the entire time she was swatting at his hands.
The concern that they didn't have a knack for it, that they wouldn't be able to make the theories connect into something functional.
She liked Crocodile—she liked him enough that Bentham was able to see right through her. His company was wonderful—his charm infectious, and his newfound determination and ambition attractive. But this was an old wound.
She lowered the stick somewhat with a furrow of her brow, before she reached out to place her hand on the back of his knuckles.
"...hey, Croccy." She tried the nickname—hoping that he didn't reject it instantly.
He did raise his eyebrows rather significantly, giving her a dubious look. But some of the abject irritation had gone out of his face at the same time.
"Yeah, Viv?"
She gave him her best smile, a big and warm smile as she squeezed his hand under hers. "You're getting lost in your own head, I think. Frustrated—I think that's probably what's making it hard. So I'm gonna try and help you calm down."
"I've heard sometimes anger helps," he grumbled, Still he cocked his head as if waiting to see what she was going to say or do.
"If a lot of anger helped, I think you and I woulda been haki masters by now," Vivi stuck her tongue out at him as she tilted her head to the side in thought.
She warred with herself for a moment. Conflicting ideas pinged in her mind, including one very tempting thought to surprise him with an embrace.
But she was trying not to distract him!
"W-we're gonna try that breathing thing again. Close your eyes, and visualize the haki with me." She shifted until she was sitting closer to him, and took a deep breath to lead him.
He grimaced, some of the frustration coming back into his face. "That's not gonna— fine. Fine." With his mouth a thin line, he closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath.
It was impulse, a pure and insane impulse that drove her with the thin excuse of 'it'll surprise him out of his melancholy and maybe help him make a breakthrough. It'll certainly clear YOUR head too'.
But when he closed his eyes and took a breath, Vivi closed the distance and stole a quick peck of a nervous kiss before dropping back down and grabbing the stick again with a vivid flush.
She gave his knuckles an arbitrary whap.
There was a hard knocking sound as the stick hit his knuckles that was almost lost in the sound of his startled grunt.
Vivi cracked her eyes open to glance down at him as she took a soft little breath. Her heart was racing as the impulse cooled to leave the action of what she'd done reverberating in her head.
I kissed Sir Crocodile. She squeaked out loud, preparing for repercussion, even as she stared down at his hand. The air seemed to darken and ripple down his fingers and up his arm.
He wasn't staring at that, though– he was staring at her.
Vivi's face was flushing red, looking anywhere but in his eyes as she focused in on his arm again, shifting in her seat.
Her madwoman's theory had paid off—that was haki. That was armament haki coating Crocodile's arm. So at least there was that—even if she still couldn't fathom why she'd thought it was a good idea.
She'd tried to leave her crush in the past, so hard, and in a stunning lack of willpower—she'd crumbled.
Apparently, though, in doing so it had ignited something in him.
"Viv."
Vivi brushed her hair over her ear with a timid grin.
"...it worked, Croccy."
It took a valiant effort, but she'd managed to look up to meet his eyes again.
He was staring at her in bemused disbelief, his face a scattered mix of expressions she had seen him wear before. None of them were anger.
"What worked?"
Vivi whacked his hand again with a widening grin.
"my little scheme—I've gotten you out of your own head, Croccy and look…haki."
She tried to stave off the embarrassment—the excitement, that was excitement, wasn't it? A vibrating, buzzy sort of excitement that pooled inside her like the haki had in their visualization exercise—but this was something different.
She'd kissed him. And he wasn't angry—he wasn't angry at all!
Crocodile apparently hadn't noticed anything but the kiss. He looked down at his hand and raised it, turning it back and forth as the force radiated over it.
Vivi whapped the back of it again as it turned towards her, breaking down into a desperate giggle. "And all it took was a kiss, huh?"
Crocodile stared at her. Suddenly, he felt very tall. And the room felt very close, and he was very, very close to her. He said nothing as she giggled, not a word. His silence, and his closeness only stirred the giddy, flustered embarrassment still rolling inside her. Every silent moment was another moment to start worrying that maybe she had made a mistake.
He moved suddenly like a striking snake.
That hand, still coated in the haki of his will, grabbed her suddenly by the collar and pulled her against him, the flat of his hook suddenly pressing up against her back as he pressed his lips to hers in a very, very different kind of kiss than she'd just surprised him with.
Vivi gasped, and arched against the flat of his hook. Her lips parted—accepting the kiss even as her rational mind froze up in surprise. Her hand rested on his chest, fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt as she moved on the same impulse that drew her to kiss him in the first place.
She deepened the kiss with a murmur of satisfaction. Crocodile held her tightly. He was a strong man. A rough man. A passionate man. All these came through in the depth and ferocity of his kiss. As if he were celebrating, yes. But as if he'd been waiting, too.
Her head spun, and when he let her lips go she was breathless, and he was smiling the long smile that was so like his namesake.
Vivi gasped, catching her breath as her fingers squeezed the fabric of his shirt, her eyes on that long and handsome smile. She'd always liked Sir Crocodile's rough edges, all the way back to the day she'd met him. Even if he was always a perfect gentleman to her, she could tell—he was a pirate after all, and he'd always had those pirate edges.
The passion—the ferocity of his kiss had swept her off her feet for a moment and left her speechless. It was a celebration. A long awaited celebration.
"C…ah.." she felt her face heating up again. "Crocodile…"
The edge of his smile curled further into a rather nasty smirk. "Problem, Viv? If there is, I'll remind you, you started it."
Vivi puffed her flushed cheek before she whacked his haki-coated arm with the stick again.
"I did, and I'll have you know I HARDLY regret it! Maybe it'll help me have a breakthrough too, eh??"
Crocodile chuckled as she whacked him. "Maybe. Now I just have to figure out how to turn it on and off. I can't believe it though– it actually. I. Huh."
He seemed genuinely shocked that he had managed it.
"I told you," Vivi said, leaning on her hand. "You were getting too lost in your own head—probably thinking about how frustrated you were that you couldn't do it. Telling yourself all kinds of stuff. I knew that if I just—distracted you from telling yourself you couldn't, then I was sure you'd manage at least a flicker of it!"
Crocodile found himself thunderstruck by half a dozen different circumstances. The flash of haki. The kiss. Vivi's daring— and her insight.
Was he really that easy to read? Or was it just that Vivi could read him. Perhaps those long ago hours at those far away boring parties chatting smalltalk over canapes, combined with her two year infiltration of his organization had given her some real look into his mind.
It was as intriguing as it was vulnerable, and he rankled under it not unpleasantly. Vivi, former princess of Alabasta, was nothing like his old first mate Mihawk. And yet that was the only connection that Crocodile could make. The last person who had cut straight through him emotionally that way.
"Well, doll, what can I say. I guess you were right." He smirked at her coyly. "Wonder what it will take to get some out of you?"
Vivi felt like her stomach had become some kind of butterfly terrarium. When the thought came to kiss Crocodile, she'd had the genuine inkling that it was one of the only ways to snap him out of what she could tell was a spiral.
A spiral—something about him she'd started to notice and notice in hindsight all the more. When Crocodile got into a mood or a train of thought, he'd be sucked down into it deeper than most people could reach.
But she'd reached him. She'd somehow read him correctly and done just what was needed to yank him out of it, and into the right state of mind. She was surprised it had somehow worked.
She swallowed, trying to push down the butterfly feeling in her stomach and the yearning pang in her chest for more moments of intimate closeness just like that.
She smiled at him, trying to push the bravado they liked in one another to the surface. "I wonder. We'll have to experiment, huh?"
He dragged the flat of his hook up her spine and it sent a tingle through her body that reached down to her toes. "I should have known when I invited you to train with me, you'd be interested in experimenting."
His coy tone was thick with unmistakable double meaning.
The warm shudder rolled through her body as his hook traced her spine. It took her back; back to the times they'd danced together in the past, his hook looped around her waist. But this—this was a very different context, wasn't it? A very different touch.
The butterflies grew agitated, fluttering about as she looked up at him with a shy smile.
"Well, Sir Crocodile, I guess you hadn't quite gotten a handle on my adventurous personality."
"I guess I hadn't. But I think I'm getting a better handle on it now, doll." He chuckled that sinister chuckle of his, and the tip of his hook tickled the back of his neck. "Funny, just the other day I was telling Bentham he was full of shit."
"He told me," Vivi gasped softly, her skin prickling in a way that was far from unpleasant. She'd been on the other end of his hook in other, less pleasant circumstances—but this. There was something about the gentle touch of his hook that sent a fond, warm flush through her body.
"He told me that you swore up and down that there wasn't anything going on between us."
"I didn't think there was. Well, no, I didn't think you were interested." He chuckled and shook his head. "Guess I was wrong. Can you blame me for thinking otherwise?"
"In your defense, I was kind of trying to tell myself I wasn't interested," Vivi laughed shyly, brushing her hair back, and sending it falling over his hook.
Hesitantly, she reached out to brush her fingers against his lower jaw. "He saw right through me. Bentham did, I mean—yesterday he spent the whole afternoon basically teasing me about my 'super obvious crush'."
He laughed, leaning in toward her again. She could feel the stubble on his chin under his fingers. "Musta been right before I walked in, eh? No wonder you looked flustered."
"I'd thought you had heard, I was sure you'd overheard and were just—I dunno, holding off on saying anything because you weren't interested." Vivi glanced away, even as she brushed her fingers against his stubble "I mean, we've got a pretty complicated history."
"Complicated history." Crocodile dragged the curve of his hook down her back again and watched her shiver. "That's one way to put it. And we'd better get out of this cabin for a while unless you wanna make it more complicated by lunchtime. I'm a gentleman, Viv, but I'm still a man, and I'm still a pirate."
Vivi's face went scarlet as his meaning struck home. He wasn't wrong—the atmosphere was charged, especially with the way her body shivered with each brush of his hook down her spine. If they weren't careful—well. He was a man, and Vivi—Vivi was a woman who'd spent a lot of time since she'd left home learning just what sort of needs she had.
"I'm a pirate too, don't forget. There's a pretty low limit for my sense of propriety."
It looked like maybe she wouldn't be mastering haki just this moment—not with the way she'd gotten distracted. Not with the way the cabin kept them so close and within arms reach of any wayward affectionate impulse.
"Oh at this point there's no way I could possibly—"
The ship suddenly shuddered under their feet, as a terrible noise rolled through it.
Vivi squeaked, and wrapped her arms around him with a low hiss of breath.
"What the—??" Whatever it was, it wasn't good. It could have been anything—a reef, an enemy ship, a sea monster—she looked at Crocodile with wide eyes. "We—we should probably go make sure that's not something serious."
"Looks like we're going to have to wait til after lunch after all," he growled, holding her close to him for just a moment as the ship shuddered again. Then he pulled her up and toward the door. "Come on, doll."
Vivi stumbled to her feet with a low hiss of breath through her teeth. So it seemed. Fate, the universe, bad sense—something had spoken and said firmly it wasn't the time. For both mastering haki, and romance.
She hoped the universe had a damn good answer for getting in the way.
Notes:
I had a lot of fun thinking about how one would train haki if it didn't just *happen* to you.
Chapter 11
Notes:
I'm delighted to say that Sandstorms and Starfall has been translated by a reader! You can check it out here. I'm so excited and flattered to see it in another language! Thank you so much again to the kind translator.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The incident that had interrupted Vivi's heart to heart with Captain Crocodile was as serious and potentially deadly as it was stupid. She had heard about the insane weather the further on the Grand Line that one sailed, but this was her first encounter with it.
A rain of frozen fish, some of which were the size of a person.
Vivi had been absolutely awestruck. Like, yeah—outside of Alabasta the weather could get weird, randomly changing from calm to a hurricane in mere moments. But this was something on a whole other level.
The fish had sent the boat rocking, and damaged some of the woodwork here and there—but when the men had gotten on it, they'd done all they could to intercept.
Marianne had made the deadpan crack that 'at least they didn't have to worry about refrigeration'
Crocodile had come up on deck and immediately took over from Daz, barking orders at the crew. They'd already taken in sail, and were navigating across the short end of the storm. There was no way to dodge individual fish, so all they could do was mitigate the damage.
It was the first time Vivi saw Crocodile using his devil fruit powers to any serious degree since Alabasta. Torrents of sand smashed huge blocks of ice out of the sky and away from their ship.
Vivi wasn't sure what she could do, but she was set on doing something, even as her eye was drawn to Crocodile's powers' flow and decimate the projectiles falling their way. When smaller ones came falling, Vivi used her peacock slashers to slice through the ice and reduce the possible damage. Zala fell in near her, projecting spikes to stab into the ice blocks and using her surprising strength to use the 'icepick' like holds on them to toss them off the ship or into her captain's blasts of sand.
The storm, thankfully, vanished as quickly as it had appeared leaving the crew on deck breathless and surrounded by quickly melting ice and slush– and quite a few dead fish.
Marianne ran out onto the deck and lifted a particularly large one with a muted smile and declared rather firmly. "Dinnerrrrrr"
Vivi pressed her hand to her face, laughing. The whole thing was absolutely absurd. Only in the Grand Line—only in the grand line would they be assailed by literal frozen fish.
Crocodile laughed. "Alright, crew, grab the big ones and I'll sweep the minnow's off the fucking deck. I can't believe I was interrupted by another goddamn rain of fish."
"Interrupted, eh Captain?" Zala asked with a casual smile as she leaned on the wall.
Vivi turned bright pink, trying not to catch anyone's eyes as she directed some of the men to grab the larger fish.
"My morning reading," Crocodile drawled, lifting his chin imperiously. He waved his hook with a smirk. "What are you lot looking at, get back to work!"
The rest of the day, work on the ship kept Vivi busy– too busy to have a moment alone with the captain, whether by accident or design. She'd 'joked' about it being some kind of act of fate that had gotten in the way of what was shaping up to be a passionate decision—but the longer things conspired to keep her apart from Crocodile the more she was starting to believe it.
She worked hard, as she often did, tending to the rigging and working with Karoo to run about making sure everything was properly secured after the storm. Karoo seemed—dubious of her. Maybe he could sense something was off, which was exactly why she was doing everything she could to keep the both of them distracted.
As she wrapped a rope around her hand and yanked it back into place—she wondered if she was growing the same as Crocodile. Her skin a healthier shade, muscles where the life of a princess had softened her….she hoped so. The train of thought didn't quite derail her from thinking about the way Crocodile looked during their training.
"Geeze…" she murmured softly, standing on Karoo's back enough to reach a higher rope.
Karoo quacked at her, as if trying to keep her on task. From the tone, it was easy once again to feel like he knew something was up. Could he smell Crocodile on her? She had no idea how sensitive a duck's sense of smell was.
Vivi looked down at him as she grabbed the rope and checked it for frays. "I'm grabbing it, Karoo! Gosh! What's ruffled your feathers?"
He quacked again, tossing his head as if to say 'you should know'.
Vivi flushed and pointed down at him as her footing wobbled. The rope was fine—sure, a little banged up but not to any kind of level where it'd be a structural problem.
She held tight to it. "Maybe I should! But I've got no idea how you'd know, MIster! Nothing's happening!"
"Weh!" Karoo did not seem to believe that at all.
Maybe it had something to do with the approaching bootsteps. Ones she was already becoming familiar with.
For the first time she almost fumbled the rope, flushing a little as she caught herself on Karoo's back. The supersonic duck was already up in arms over her just smelling like Crocodile—and now here he came.
Recent memories came back to the forefront, a bright flush crossing her face at the feeling of his lips against hers in the cozy but close-held cabin. Her face was warm—her stomach so full of butterflies that she felt almost dizzy with the way they spun and whirled inside her. But she gripped the rope tighter and looked over her shoulder with a smile.
"H-h-hey Captain Crocodile!"
"Am I distracting you?" He chuckled roughly as he approached. "Looking a little wobbly there."
Karoo's reaction to Crocodile's arrival didn't help. The duck whipped around to stare menacingly at the captain, further throwing off Vivi's footing on his back.
"N-no, I'm fine, you're not—Karoo you idiot, stop wiggling!"
Her foot slipped on his saddle—and she found herself falling backwards with a squeak, the rope going taut around her hand as she tumbled towards the deck.
She landed squarely in Crocodile's arms as he stepped forward to catch her, the rush of the fall leaving her breathless and dizzy.
Her head spun as she looked up at him with a shaky edge to her smile, sure that the ferocity of her flush showed through the mussed cerulean locks of her hair. For a moment, she couldn't think of anything to say—he was warm, solid, he'd caught her before she hit the deck—but she had to stop herself from staring.
She tried to catch her breath before she murmured a thank you.
Karoo had gone and made it worse, not that he'd acknowledge it.
"Fine, eh?" He grinned down at her with his long smile, eyebrows raised in an expression that was certainly patronizing, but somehow still a little endearing.
Karoo quacked loudly– Vivi wasn't sure if he was going to scuttle away, or possibly bite the captain.
"I was fine until Karoo had a fit." She huffed, sticking her tongue out at him impishly. Somehow— she couldn't find the will to stand up and pull away. Not yet. "Careful, he might bite you."
Crocodile showed no sign of putting her down anyway, and gave Karoo a dubious look. The two of them stared at one another for a long moment.
"Doesn't like me much, does he?"
"Weh." Karoo snapped and gave the former warlord of the sea a haughty look, as if the duck was above him.
She couldn't help but sputter a bit in amusement before she huffed and rested her head against his chest.
"He's still pretty mad about Alabasta. Ducks hold grudges for 10,000 years you know."
"I didn't know they lived that long," he drawled, not breaking his gaze with Karoo. "Or should I expect trouble from his descendants?"
Vivi laughed, finally letting go of the rope as she gave Karoo a long and warning look. "Probably. So hopefully he doesn't meet a nice lady duck to settle down with. You'd be haunted by angry ducks for generations."
She felt her heart beating in her chest, the feeling of his arms around her sending tingles of excitement through her. "Karoo, be nice."
"Weh!" He snapped, but he finally broke the tense stare off between him and Crocodile.
Croc laughed and shook his head, finally setting Vivi down on her feet. As he did, the back of his hook ran up her spine. "Well, he didn't bite me so that's something, right? I suppose I can't blame him for his grudge."
Vivi's body shivered at the brush of his hook, only thinly separated by her thin top from her bare skin. She bit her lip to keep from making a noise, and smothered it with another laugh.
"At least, right! I can't blame him either—but, w-well. Circumstances were circumstances. Things are changing. Besides, he gets along real well with Daz, so he must know you're all not THAT bad."
"Maybe I should do like Daz does and fatten him up for dinner." Crocodile's grin turned a little feral, and for a moment Karoo looked concerned. Then he looked away in a huff. "I'm kidding, of course."
Vivi smoothed out her skirt, head still spinning from the drop—and the proximity to Crocodile. It was surreal wasn't it? The way they fell into this easy patter; even after Alabasta, now that she'd forgiven him. Even after that shared, intimate kiss.
Even after being interrupted before it became something more. The way they joked—even if it was at poor Karoo's expense. The handsome curve of his smile and the brush of his hook sent such a feeling through her.
It couldn't be love, could it? She swallowed, and flashed a smile. "Of course, I know you wouldn't eat Karoo, Crocodile. He's too cute to be a morning meal, right Karoo?"
"Too fat for the morning meal, anyway. We can get at least two dinners out of him. Cute dinners."
Karoo's feathers pinned and his tail feathers fanned he turned around indignantly, showing his behind to the captain, who again, only laughed.
Crocodile shook his head. "Well, your duck's grudge aside, Vivi there was something I wanted to ask you."
Vivi turned her eyes from Karoo's antics and back up at Crocodile's face with a tilt of her head. "Y-yeah Crocodile?"
He shrugged fluidly, but something in his posture , or the set of his jaw, told her he was a little bit tense. Nervous, perhaps. "If you wanted to continue our conversation from this morning, I'd be happy to have you in my cabin for a drink after dinner. Otherwise, I think we should postpone our training sessions until we make shore on Mystoria."
Continue their conversation… or postpone their training. That made Crocodile's thoughts seemingly very clear. He didn't think he could train with her without finishing what they'd started. which was… what exactly?
It was hard to say—they'd been practicing their talent for haki—but it became pretty clear that there was a distraction in the room. Eachother. She'd started… something… when she'd leapt up to kiss him to break him out of his spiral of self-doubt. But what was she trying to do? Woo him?
She felt herself flushing as she stammered wordlessly. "A d-drink huh?" she murmured. "...I could use a drink."
"I'll be in my cabin with one after dinner then." He fished in his pocket and pulled out a half smoked cigar, putting it in his mouth. "If you don't show up, I won't hold it against you."
His hook briefly brushed her cheek, and then the captain turned and started away down the deck.
The ghost of his hook lingered on her cheek as she reached out in a wave, calling out on impulse "I'm looking forward to it, Croccy!"
An invitation back to his room to finish what they started—maybe, maybe if she didn't chicken out, maybe she'd be able to figure out exactly what it was they'd started.
And where it'd lead.
The rest of the afternoon had seemed to fly by in a haze, and dinner with the crew was the same kind of lively affair that Vivi had come to expect, and enjoy, since the beginning of their journey. Eating together in the cramped galley space had a familiar camaraderie to it, reminding her all too well of her time with the Straw Hats, in a way.
They laughed together, teased—Marianne had taken to drawing during dinner and showing off her doodles between bites of fish, and Zala was in high spirits enough to start joking around about her assassination career with Daz. It was lively, it was FUN—but her eye kept being drawn back to Crocodile and the promise of a drink after dinner.
She wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, the way Crocodile's eyes seemed to return to her face more than they usually did, despite the constant bids for attention from Daz, and from Bentham, and all the others.
Bentham had even put his feet up in Crocodile's lap!
Vivi felt herself flushing throughout, sure that the others had noticed as she leaned on her hand and cast glances to meet his eyes before quickly averting. Even through Bentham's flirting—very open flirting—he still seemed to notice her across the table.
But she did her best not to let it get the better of her. She joked and laughed—told stories of her own and prodded them out of Bentham and at least attempted to with Crocodile.
Anything to distract from the butterflies as they returned to her chest.
Dinners usually lingered a while, and Captain Crocodile usually lingered a while after them with one of his cigars, but this time he excused himself almost right after the end of the meal. Vivi watched him shove Bentham's feet away with a grin– and pat his cheek– before giving the crew a wave.
His eyes met Vivi's one more time before he stalked off.
"Well! Croco-babe's in a mood tonight," Betham teased, giggling and glancing around the table.
Vivi watched him go for a moment as she nibbled the last of the bread on her face with a flush. "H-he certainly is. He's probably got something he wants to d-do tonight."
"Wonder what that could be." Ben grinned slyly.
Daz reached across the table to refill his mug. "Whatever it is, it's his business. Not gossip."
"Spoilsport."
Vivi ducked her head in embarrassment. "I ha-have no idea. No Gossip though, t-that's for the best. By the by—I think I'm going to be turning in earlyish tonight."
Marianne looked up with a tilt of her head. "To the ladies cabin?"
Daz caught Vivi's eye. "Didn't you tell me you were going to spend some time with Karoo?"
He was giving her an excuse– if she wanted to take it. Which meant that he knew exactly what was going on. No surprise, given how close he and Crocodile were.
Vivi flushed deeper, giving him an incredibly thankful smile as she tried to shrink from the crew's scrutiny. "Yeah—I was going to go spend some time with Karoo . He's been grumpy lately. Hope you all don't mind."
"Not at all," Daz said immediately, forestalling any other objections. "Let the old grump know I say hello."
Zala raised her eyebrow at the two of them while Vivi stood with a lopsided smile "I'll pass it along, promise!"
She looked over her shoulder at them. "You guys enjoy dinner! I'll see you later!"
After that, Vivi found herself alone in corridors of the ship's below deck, with the prospect of making her way to Crocodile's cabin– or the alternative of doing absolutely anything other than that.
She waffled for a moment. On one hand, logically she knew she should take a step back. She was obviously emotional, drawn in to his charms. She should take a step back and remember why it was that she was shutting down that old crush in the first place.
It was sensible. That was the logical, responsible thing to do…so why did she find her feet leading her towards the man's cabin?
One foot after the other. It wasn't a long walk, just all the way to the stern of the ship, the end of the long, narrow hallway. The only sound was her footsteps, the groan of the ship's timbers in the rocking sea, and the gentle murmur of continued conversation from the galley.
Her good sense or her heart? Which should she follow? It was the question that played over and over as she wandered the bowels of the ship.
It seemed the answer had come to her when she found herself standing outside Crocodile's door, knocking gently upon it.
There was a flutter of activity from within, and then the door clicked open. Captain Crocodile stood framed by it in front of her, tall and imposing as always, his coat discarded and his shirt sleeves rolled and pinned. There was a trail of dark hair up each of his forearms, interrupted by old puckered and shiny scars– but none so visible and obvious than the one that peeked just above the polished shine of his hook.
"I wasn't sure if I'd see you or not this evening, Viv. Come in."
"I was kind of going back and forth, myself." She smiled shyly as she stepped into the room. Her eyes lingered on him—on his arms, the scars marking a long history of memories, and the place where his hook set over his arm.
It was a rare sight, but one she wasn't unhappy to see. She bit her lip "I heard you had a drink ready for me."
"Sure do." He gestured to the table in the small room where a couple of glasses with ice and a large bottle of whisky had been set out. "Can't wait til we upgrade ships. On Mystoria I hope. Missing my old ship's state room just about now."
Crocodile chuckled, and as she stepped inside he closed the door. She felt his eyes lingering on her from behind her.
She shifted, letting herself pose a little to catch his eye despite herself. Was she trying to attract him?
Of course she was—she certainly was attracted to him, even if her good sense still grumbled that it was a bad idea, she still couldn't quite keep herself from trying to draw his eye to her as she slid into one of the seats.
"I'd bet. I never got to see it, what was it like?"
He slid into the other chair- more beside her than across from her, but angled so that they were still facing one another. He tugged the cork on the whisky out with the tip of his hook and poured a generous measure for both of them.
"Had a bed about the size of this whole room for one thing," he said with a wide grin, his dark eyes narrow. He slid one of the glasses toward her. "Big map table. Desk. The wardrobe was a piece we hauled out of an old mansion, all carved with roses. Used to have a big stuffed gator sitting on top of it."
His grin turned soft— nostalgic certainly, as he talked about his old ship. Vivi had never seen it. It must have been at least fifteen years since Crocodile had.
Vivi took the whiskey glass from him with a smile, tilting it back and forth in her hands as she listened.
"It sounds like it was beautiful, Croccy. I mean—that wardrobe sounds like something straight out of a palace. And that bed sounds—gosh." She giggled as she took a sip. "...did you catch the gator yourself?"
The amber liquid hit her lips, rich and smooth and warm like honey, with a finishing burn of alcohol. Crocodile had broken out the good stuff.
It really was the good stuff—high quality and delicious. The kind that could sneak up on you because it was nice enough to drink.
"You're picturing me wrestling one?" He smirked, lifting his glass in a little salute before taking a long sip himself.
The image did come to mind easily—his coat off, wrestling the crocodile with his bare hands as—
She felt herself burning bright with embarrassment as she tilted back another sip to hide it.
"Maybe."
"Then maybe I did." He chuckled, and leaned his chin on the top of his hook. "Once we get a good ship, I'll have to start collecting furniture and shit again. Haven't done that in a long time."
The way he said it had a sad nostalgia to it, and Vivi could guess why. Crocodile had lost everything, and in his bitter cynicism that had grown up in the wake of that loss, had rejected the idea of holding on to things. At least, that was how it seemed to her.
Holding onto objects, holding onto people. It was all the same to Sir Crocodile when the despair had hold of him. Maybe because he'd been scared of losing it all again.
SHe leaned forward to look him in the eyes with a smile "You should, Croccy—I'll even help. When we have that ship, we'll make it just as nice as your old cabin—maybe even nicer."
"Maybe. Can't tell what the future holds, eh?" That was a big admission from him, and it came with a smile. "Like for instance, I never predicted having you in here with me over drinks. You like the whisky? It's not a bad one."
Vivi flushed and she sipped it again to prove her point when she murmured "it's maybe the best whiskey I've ever had actually. Or maybe it's just the company?"
She laughed quietly "to be honest, if you asked me only a month or so ago if I ever thought I'd be sharing a drink with you—I'd have assumed I'd gone insane."
"Most people you know would probably say you're crazy, Viv." He leaned closer to her.
Vivi huffed softly, still not breaking the contact with his eyes as they slowly drifted closer together. "Would you call me crazy, Croc?"
He grinned, looming over her as he scooted his chair even closer to hers. "No question. All pirates are insane, Viv. Just some of us are the fun kind."
"That's a pretty good point, isn't it?" She laughed. Memories of the Straw Hats—of the Baroque Works agents too—flashed through her head "well, it sounds like I'm in good company then, so I'll take it as a compliment!"
She chewed her lip. "One insane pirate to another."
He clinked his glass against hers. "One insane pirate to another. So. Pirate to pirate– I got something on my mind, doll."
The ringing of the glass still in her ears, she raised it to her lips again to take another sip. "...me too, but you go first."
Crocodile smirked and sipped from his glass. "No, no. I'm a gentleman, remember? You go first."
He looked at her expectantly. Vivi felt her heart pulse in her chest, and she had to avert her gaze for the first time since they'd started talking. Of course he'd ask her to go first—which meant she either had to lie, or be honest.
And being honest meant telling him exactly what was on her mind—'finishing the conversation from this morning'. Talking about the kiss—and what it meant. "Uhm…"
He waited. Patiently he waited. With that wide, thin smile on his face, strands of dark hair escaping his slicked back style and falling over his eyes, swirling his drink in his hand.
"Mostly about what I want to say, Crocodile," she laughed shyly, daring to glance up and let her gaze linger on his smile. "And about our training session this morning?"
"Funny enough, that was exactly what I was hoping to talk about." He drained his glass and set it on the table, pouring another measure of amber liquid over the ice. "So it sounds like we're on the same page that we gotta talk."
Vivi laughed before draining her own glass.
"Yeah, I'd say we're on the same page—I ah, I guess I sure did something impulsive, huh?"
'And that was stupid, please forget it happened' her good sense urged inside her head.
"Sure did. And I escalated it." He poured more whisky into her glass for her. "I'm real good at escalating shit, doll. It's practically my specialty."
"And here I thought that was practical leadership," she teased with a little grin. "...bu-but yeah. You sure escalated it."
And she liked it. She liked the rough and passionate kiss he'd placed upon her lips—she'd liked being wrapped in his arms "but it's not the sort of thing former enemies really share, is it?"
"Depends on the former enemies in question," he purred. She was very aware of how close he was to her. The warmth of his large body. The scent of his cologne and his hair oil mixing with cigar smoke and whisky. "Among pirates it's not exactly unheard of. Princesses less so, but thankfully we don't gotta deal with any of those, right?"
Vivi flushed again, her hair falling down off her shoulder as she shifted and leaned on the table between them with a shy smile. "That's right—not a princess in sight."
There it was again—him smiling at her, acknowledging her as a pirate rather than a princess. As who she wanted to be, not who her father and Alabasta said she was.
"Glad we're clear on that." He chuckled and sipped his drink. "I'm more comfortable among pirates, to be honest. The machinations are usually a little more open. Usually."
"Usually. I've seen a few pirates who like to take the long and winding way around, but—" She bit her lip. "I'd like if maybe the machinations were out there in the open. A-at least between us, right now."
"Saves me a whole lotta trouble," he nodded. "So, you got any machinations you wanna tell em about after that little surprise this morning? Or are you playing things by ear."
"You're going to be disappointed in me, Croc" Vivi laughed as she tucked her hair over her ear. "...I thought 'I need to distract him from feeling bad about himself' and my brain used it as an excuse to shut off and let something else lead the way."
"I wouldn't say I'm disappointed." He leaned in, his shoulder brushing hers. "Honestly, I'd say that's growth, isn't it? We've both let our head get in the way of our instincts in the past, haven't we?"
Vivi tipped her drink back, placing the empty cup on the table as their shoulders brushed.
In the past—Vivi had always had a problem with that, hadn't she? After a certain point. After her time running around with gangs in the streets and making life hell for Chaka and Pell, after her grand plan to infiltrate Baroque Works—she'd started letting her head block her heart.
That's why the Straw Hats left without her on her request. That was why she held herself back time and time again and did what she knew Alabasta 'needed' from her. That was why she never made an appeal to Crocodile when she figured out his plans. Crocodile had been the same way, hadn't he?
All those years when he let his 'plans' smother his instincts.
"I'd say we've had a pretty bad problem with it, yeah…"
"Yeah. So, I'm glad you let your instincts take over. Might have spared us all kinds of problems." He put his hand on top of hers. It was large, and warm, and surprisingly soft.
"I like you, Viv. A lot. I might be kinda falling for you. But I'm not gonna pretend to be somebody I'm not any more, so we gotta talk about that."
He turned his dark, narrow eyed gaze on her. She'd felt it on her face many times before, but never quite so open, or earnest. Vulnerable.
A part of Crocodile he rarely let show—he was opening himself to her, just like she was hoping to open up to him too.
She smiled at him, her eyes lingering on his hand before she looked up to meet his eyes. Her other hand rested atop his.
"I like you too, Crocodile." Nerves briefly tried to overtake her, to make her hesitate, but she continued "I liked you a lot in the past, but since we started spending time together again I think I'm falli…I might be falling for you too. But y-you're right. It's something we've got to talk about."
She laughed, self conscious despite herself. "We do have a complicated history, after all."
"We do. And like I was saying before that little crisis this morning, we could make it even more complicated real easy. So before we do that. Let's talk, eh?"
Notes:
Thank you so much to everyone who is reading and enjoying so far. This is one of my favorite fics to work on <3
Chapter 12
Notes:
Sorry that this chapter took so long! I hope you enjoy it, and we're excited to share more very soon <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Vivi leaned on the table, shoulder to shoulder with Sir Crocodile—the man who'd nearly brought Alabasta to ruin. A man she'd had a silly childhood crush on before it'd been torn to shreds by the revelation that he was the one behind all the pain her people were going through.
The princess of Alabasta's people… but she wasn't a princess anymore. She had a bounty on her head, she was a pirate, and so was he. He'd helped her escape a life she hadn't wanted. He'd promised to help her get stronger.
He'd been such wonderful company, and told her things about the past she'd never known. His history, his plans in Alabasta, even his vulnerable insecurities. And now her heart had reopened itself to him, and that 'childish crush' that had somehow survived was becoming something more every day.
And now she had the slight buzz of alcohol in her system.
She laughed, self conscious despite herself. "We do have a complicated history, after all."
"We do. And like I was saying before that little crisis this morning, we could make it even more complicated real easy. So before we do that. Let's talk, eh?"
His hand was warm between hers, and more of his dark hair had fallen in his face. His cheeks too, were slightly flushed with alcohol. Surely he had a better tolerance than she did, but maybe even he'd needed a little bit of 'liquid courage' to discuss this with her.
She squeezed his hand, drawing it closer to her with a nod of her head.
"You know I had a crush on you back in the day?" She laughed as if it were supposed to be silly. "S-surely I've mentioned it. Have I?"
"You did.".The scar across his face crinkled as he chuckled and wrinkled his nose. "Makes me feel a little stupid for not just sweeping you off your feet. But how was I to know? According to your dad you had somebody else. Probably shoulda just talked to you."
Vivi's heart fluttered, and it mingled with the sting of annoyance at her father's declaration that she was head over heels for Koza.
"I wish you had—but we can't change the past can we? But we can start again now." She ducked her head. "That's part of the reason I was so furious with you, though. Because it felt like a personal heartbreak on top of everything else."
"More than fair." He ran the edge of his hook around the rim of his mostly empty glass, filling the room with a little ringing sound. "So I guess the question now, is, should we try to pick up the pieces, or do we need to back the hell off? Last thing I want is to make you more pissed at me, Viv. I'm not exactly prince charming."
The sound that came from the glass gave her a shiver, not unpleasantly, and she leaned a little towards him.
"And I'm not exactly a proper princess. But I think…I think that sort of thing isn't what either of us are looking for, is it? Prince Charming and the Fair Princess?"
He shook his head, hair softly dancing around his sharp, marred face.
"Not for me it sure isn't. But we do need to be realistic about a few things.I'm a lifelong pirate, and I'm old enough to be your father. Now don't get mad at me, I know you're an adult now, doll." He held his hook up defensively. "I'm just saying you might have different expectations for things between us than I can give you."
Vivi leaned forward.
"Maybe." It was true—he was old enough to be her father, having a whole life of experience beyond hers. There were bound to be differences between what they expected, even if the mention of her age sent a flustered rankle through her.
She swallowed thickly. "...can I ask your expectations? What you 'can give me'?"
He chuckled a little again– maybe at the looking her face– and his fingers curled between hers.
"My expectations. Well."
Some part of Crocodile couldn't believe he was having this conversation. In the dim light of the narrow cabin, his fingers softly between those of the youthful former princess of Alabasta. He'd watched her grow up, from a tough, fiery young girl playing street-rat, to a poised and dedicated princess. And now to this. A stubborn, tough as nails pirate who had helped derail his entire life and everything he was working for.
And thank hell she had. Thank hell all his careful plans had been smashed to bits. What a stupid, cold plan, from a stupid, cold man who'd tried to turn off his own heart for more than a dozen years.
He couldn't look at her and see a child. Not after everything she'd done. Not with her face on wanted posters, and her eyes like stars.
He was falling for her. Without question he was falling for her. Maybe it had all started back in the ruins of Alabasta. It had certainly kicked him in the chest seeing her again on Espree island.
Yes, he could fall for her. He could love her, if he let himself.
But he wasn't going to change for her. Not now, not when thanks to her, he was finally starting to become himself again. The person he'd thought he'd lost for good so many years ago with the loss of his hand.
He wouldn't change for her, and he refused to hurt her. He'd hurt her enough already.
So he'd have to be open. He'd have to open himself to hurt. And if it crumbled that gentle, growing spark between them, well. He owed her his life, in a way. They'd move past it. They'd be… friends.
If he was going to smother that spark, it'd be now, not later. Not when it would hurt her.
"My expectations. Well." He paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "I'm not a chaste man, Viv. I have other lovers."
That was—not exactly what she was expecting, admittedly.
That wasn't the concern she'd expected him to raise. She'd been prepared for 'we're years apart, are you sure you're not interested in someone younger' or 'I'm not going to tone down the kind of pirate I am', or something along those lines— things she had a prepared counter to.
But this—
"I noticed that, though." A lopsided smirk grew on her face. "I m-mean. You and Daz—You and Bentham. Even the way you talk about you and Mihawk in the past. I—"
She'd already slept with Zala, back in the Fishman Island hotel. Zala was cuddly, and Vivi wasn't uninterested. She liked Zala a lot, so she'd cuddled back. On the Straw Hat ship, she and Nami— she and most of the crew—had been likewise close.
Their captain was notoriously casual with his physical attentions. That kind of behavior spread like wildfire across the crew.
"I think it's a pirate thing."
Crocodile chuckled softly, and she watched some of the stiff tension drain out of his smile, replaced with something like bashful embarrassment.
"So you did notice. Yeah, a pirate thing. Guess it is. Most of us don't go for the strict rules of romance, the same way we don't go for any other rules." He gave her a curious, appraising look. "Was it like that on Straw Hat's ship?"
Vivi flushed deeply, before she brushed her hair over her ear.
"Yeah, it sure was. It surprised me at first, even though I know Nami tried to 'lessen the blow' so to speak, but—" She smiled shyly. "It's a small ship, and I was a popular girl. So I kind of found out sooner rather than later."
Crocodile chuckled again. It seemed to put him at ease, and his arm felt a little heavier against hers.
"Well what do you know," he purred, giving her a sly look. "Guess you really have been a pirate this whole time. Well, that's one worry out of the way, then."
She leaned under his arm with a flustered grin, chuckling low under her breath. "That's one worry out of the way. ....do you have any others?"
"The other one's easy." He lifted his chin a little as he looked her over. "It's the fact that as a pirate I'm a cold blooded killer. I might do things that would turn your stomach, doll."
Just as she'd thought, he did at least bring it up as a consideration. And it was a fair concern. Pirates could be brutal, cruel, violent. She'd seen that all too well, really. From things he'd done, to things she'd heard about while traveling with the Straw Hats.
It'd turn any former princess' stomach. But—
She bit her lip, her fingers tracing against the back of his hand.
"I'm not innocent, though. It takes a lot more to turn my stomach than people think. Especially after I left home, Croc."
"I was wondering, you know." He gave her a scrutinizing look again, his dark gaze sweeping over her appraisingly. "You never did say anything about those two marines I took care of when we met on Espree."
The two marines who had come after her. He'd hid her behind him when they met, and then when the marines wouldn't leave, he'd killed them with his powers. Drained the lifewater from their bodies. Withered them practically to dust.
That had been how they'd met back up. It had been the beginning of their collaboration.
And it was true. She'd said nothing about them.
"They'd come after me." Vivi knew her smile was a little timid, but it was still a smile. "So I couldn't bring myself to care about their deaths. You'd saved me, and I wasn't about to put up some kind of pretense of being aghast about it, not when if you hadn't, I would have sliced their throats with my slashers to get away."
She met his eyes. "I was friends with a bounty hunter, a thief, a violent cook, and the future king of the pirates, and before that I was undercover as one of your agents, I'm not scared of a little bloodshed."
"I was very much getting that impression. But I wanted to hear it from your own pretty lips, doll." His appraising look turned teasing– maybe even a little bit feral. "I wouldn't have minded seeing you cut their throats, as it happens."
Vivi flushed deeply at his feral smile, but she found a smile coming to her own lips.
"No? I'm a pretty good fighter. Not to the level of everyone else yet, but…w-well. Maybe the occasion'll come where you'll get to see me slit someone elses' throat. Another marine's, or another pirate's."
His hand slipped under hers, and she found him running a teasing finger up her arm. "I've always found I liked the look of a pirate covered in blood."
It brought a pleasant—pleasurable—shiver to her at the image. First of herself, under his appraising stare, and then of him speckled in blood. The image sent another hot flush of heat through her as she leaned slowly into his touch. "You know, me too.."
"Then that's my other big concern put to rest. The sex and the violence. What about you, Viv? Got any concerns to lay on me if we were to get into it?"
Vivi laughed quietly.
"Well I certainly don't expect you to go around treating me like a princess—" She leaned towards him with a teasing smirk. "So I guess I should warn you that I'm not keen on being treated like a kid."
"Like hell I'd treat you like a kid." Crocodile grunted indignantly, his grin showing teeth. "Trust me, doll, if I'm condescending to you it's the same as I am to everyone else. One adult to another."
"One adult to another—" Vivi laughed quietly. "You're right about that."
She flushed, ducking her head. She pried inwardly, looking for any other concern or worry—
"The only other concern's been kind of answered—heh."
His slim eyebrow raised. "Which one was that?"
"That you'd be upset when I wanted to also rekindle my—romances—with the Straw Hats." She flushed. "I know people can get possessive."
His feral grin broadened. "Don't get me wrong, doll, I am possessive. But I also know how to share– and that people are people, not belongings. You do what you want, and who you want, but if we get into this and I find myself pining for you, I'll make it known. I get lonely."
I'll make it known. Somehow that sounded almost like a promise– and a threat.
Vivi brushed her hair over her ear with a soft huff, her smile crossing her face. "You know, I get lonely too. So—if you pine for me, make it known, and I'll do the same. That's a threat."
"Glad to hear it." His hand rested on the crook of her elbow. "That just leaves one question I think. Do you want to complicate our already complicated history? Or should I back off."
Logic and good sense said to back off. To keep things from getting too complicated. To stay friends, to hold him at arm's length to preserve some degree of normality between former enemies.
But she swallowed before smiling.
"...complication can be the spice of life, right? And I've never really liked things bland."
Crocodile's face lit up, clearing away all the hesitation that had lined his features as he waited for his answer.
"Cheers to that, doll. Like I said before. I'm done with safe gambles. Let me pour you another drink, and we can finally get to know one another without any of the old masks."
Vivi was overjoyed, she was sure the big grin showed on her face, the genuine excitement that thrilled through her as she pushed her glass towards him.
"Sounds like a wonderful plan to me, Croc~."
Another drink later and Crocodile was complaining about the lousy hard chairs, and had asked if Vivi wanted to move over to sitting on the bed with him.
The drink swimming in her head, Vivi shifted off the chair and offered her hand to him. The bed was a siren call, comfortable and intimate, and with the glow of mutual honesty between them, and the tacit permission to get to know one another, she couldn't resist it.
Not when she'd decided to follow her heart.
And, admittedly, he was right. The bed was much more comfortable than the hard wooden chairs at the little table. Comfortable too, was his arm slipped around her shoulders, the hook dangling over her.
It made his arm heavy but not in an unpleasant way. The way it hung over her shoulders and naturally drew her closer was as comfortable as the plush sheets and springy cushion. It was handsome, too. Curved, golden and always seeming to catch the light, she'd always found it interesting—like when she was a girl, dancing in her father's ballroom with him with one hand on the cool metal.
Chilly to the touch, but pleasantly so and she couldn't help but remember the way he'd practically hooked it all the way around her back in Alabasta. Different, far worse circumstances— but still.
She flushed deeper. "You really are very handsome, Crocodile."
"Looking to win me over with flattery?" he teased. Still he tossed his head and lifted his chin as if preening.
A little vain. She couldn't help but smile a bit as she teased back. "Maybe a little. I am in your bed already, but what's a little more on my side?"
"I won't pretend I'm immune to pretty words. Or pretty ladies. Especially when I've got one in my bed, as you so helpfully reminded me." He grinned that teasing grin of his. "Your father would be livid about this, I'm sure."
Vivi flushed a vivid red as the absolute fury on her father's face played in her imagination.
"Y-yeahh…I mean—if anything would make him rethink his vow of pacifism, it might be this Croc."
That got the chuckle at him, the long, slow one that she'd heard many times before. "Don't tempt me to send him a photograph."
"Don't tempt me to urge you on then." She teased with a wicked smirk. "...I mean, I'm still kind of miffed about the fact he told everyone I was running off to live with my cousins….and that I was in love with Koza."
Crocodile leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, just near her ear. "I'll keep it in mind, doll."
Vivi hummed softly, tilting her face as he kissed it. The curve of his lips played against the sensitive skin, causing her to snuggle closer until she was practically on his lap.
"But forget my father for now—" She looked up at him with a flustered smile. "I kissed you earlier, Crocodile, not just to distract you. I m-mean—it worked, but I'd been kind of desperate to kiss you since F-Fishman Island, even if I kept telling myself otherwise."
He stayed leaned in close against her, his larger body looming over her, almost enveloping her. "Desperate to kiss me, hmm? Sounds like you were at war with yourself, doll."
"Maybe a little," Vivi reached out, and brushed her fingers up his arm with a flush, trailing towards his shoulder. "I knew it'd probably be a bad idea to complicate things, after everything, but I couldn't help but f-feel—w-worked up, emotional, around you."
He wrapped his head arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer against his body. "I couldn't help but notice."
She could feel the thump of a heartbeat— it wasn't clear whether it was his or hers.
Her fingers trailed up his strong side as she slid herself against him, fitting almost perfectly against him. "...I wasn't being subtle, huh?"
"No, but I was being obtuse." The curve of his hook rested gently on her stomach. "Deliberately. Telling myself I wasn't seeing what I was seeing."
She leaned into it—it really was different from the last time. What was a sting of fear in Alabasta was a hot blush of comfortable excitement.
She shifted, letting it brush just a little under her top as she laughed. "...didn't wanna hope?"
"Didn't want to put my foot in my mouth and fuck things up even more. That whole 'complicated history'." He chuckled softly and his lips rested near her ear. "If I was misreading you… well…"
"T-things could have gotten pretty bad," She arched her neck a little for him with an upward glance. "So I'm glad I finally got insane enough to make the first move, huh?"
"I'd say more than one good thing came out of your boldness. The haki– and the pleasure of getting to have your company."
Vivi grinned widely.
"I'd say a pretty good result for one day of training together—" She leaned up, and kissed the bottom of his chin. "Crocodile—you're really falling for me?"
He looked down on her with a tenderness in his eyes, and he wrapped his other arm around her, his hand on her stomach with his hook.
"Doll, I can't imagine anybody in my place could avoid it. You just keep amazing me. Forget that you're gorgeous, that's obvious. It's your drive. The way you refuse to stop. The lengths you'll go to."
There really was an amazement in his voice, a passion. Almost an awe.
Vivi's eyes widened. He really was. And not just for her looks, her former position, he had fallen for her. All those complicated little parts of herself that others failed to see.
She blushed deeply, her breath catching in her throat. He was falling for her the same way she'd fallen for him—caught in enraptured awe, just like she was with him. "C-Crocodile…"
He didn't answer. Instead he pulled her into a kiss. A rough, eager one, like that morning, all tongue and teeth and passion. He tasted like whisky, and cigar smoke, and the triumph of the heart over the head.
This time she didn't freeze up, or hesitate in the slightest. Her own lips, too, tasting of whiskey and triumph, she pressed her hands to his strong chest and leaned in to catch his lips with eager passion, sucking softly at his lower lip.
He fell back on the bed, taking her with him, pulling her down sideways alongside him without so much as breaking the kiss. One leg wrapped itself across her lower half. It seemed that now that they'd talked things over, all trace of 'gentlemanly' behavior and restraint was out the window.
It was freeing in its own way. She'd been holding herself back too under a guise of fake innocence and an attempt to distance herself from her feelings.
But that barrier was gone. So she pressed her lithe body against his, chest against his side as her arms tangled around him and drew him closer. Her lips parted, inviting him to deepen the kiss with a murmur of satisfaction.
The sucking desperate kiss lingered on her lips for a long moment before he grinned at her widely, giving her a teasing, half-feral grin.
"I'm thinking it might be a long night, Viv."
Vivi caught her breath with a gasp, before looking up at him with a nod of her head. "Good thing I told everyone I was gonna be pretty busy, huh?" she leaned closer, kissing his neck.
"Oh did you?" His hand snuck up her body, trailing over her stomach, teasing over her chest, to her shoulders, and finally cupping her jaw. "I won't worry about keeping you, then."
Her skin prickled with anticipation, her smile growing wider on her deceptively innocent face. "I kind of had an inkling how tonight might have gone so I made sure we wouldn't be interrupted again unless there was another rain of fish."
Crocodile was warm—his touch affectionate and commanding at the same time. It was going to be a long night, he was right about that.
The way things were going, the slippery slope they were rolling down together in their mutual attraction, she was likely to keep him busy till morning.
Vivi woke up the next morning warm and comfortable, the sea rolling gently, distantly beneath her, and a large body draped around hers like an enormous hairless cat. There was a little bit of lingering fuzziness in her head– she'd had a lot to drink, hadn't she? It wasn't the worst hangover she'd had, and the comfortable sleeping arrangements did help…
Slowly she remembered that she was in bed with Sir Crocodile, and that they had indeed had a very long night.
It all came back to her, filling her with a deepening flush and sending her squirming against him. As the fuzziness behind her eyes slowly started to fade into background noise in the face of the morning she curled into her bed partner, her head resting against his strong chest as she smiled to herself.
A long, long night of passion. Somehow it felt like it'd been a long time coming, despite their troubles.
She was still naked, and so was he, his broad, over-large body pressed against her own in a surprisingly clingy fashion. He shifted under the blankets as she squirmed.
"No need to hurry and get up," he murmured against the top of her head.
The air outside their blankets was cold and he was so comfortably warm. She snuggled her naked body more firmly against him as she glanced up at him with a smile.
"I'm sure the crew'll handle things just fine for a little bit…"
"They can handle it," he agreed with a soft snort. He nuzzled his face against her hair and as she looked up she saw a rather soft smile on his rugged face. "Ben used to sail with me in the old days. He knows what to do."
"He always did strike me as pretty capable," Vivi giggled softly, meeting his eyes with a fond smile on her flushed face. He was so handsome—even from this angle and through the mussed strands of her azure hair, it made her heart skip a beat.
"...Crocodile, I'm…I'm really glad I came to your room last night."
"I'm glad too, doll." Crocodile shifted enough to push the strands of her hair away from her face with his fingers. As he did, Vivi remembered that he'd taken the hook off his other arm the night before, just before they'd gone to bed. Sitting discarded over on the desk, it glinted gold in the pale strands of early morning light that came in the window.
Vivi's fingers reached back,raising to gently loop around his arm to hold it gently as he stroked her cheek.
"Maybe now we'll be a little less distracted during haki training huh?" she teased softly "or at least—be able to deal with it better."
He grinned, that long grin wide across his face like his namesake. "I'll say so. Worked out a little of the tension, eh? Won't have it hanging over our heads." He tugged teasingly at her shoulder. "That way you'll be able to concentrate."
Vivi shifted against him, a catlike smile gracing her own face as she leaned up to plant a kiss on his lips. "Me? You're the one who kept getting distracted, Sir Crocodile!"
Crocodile kissed her back, sneakily nipping with teeth at her lower lip.
"Eh, who's counting, doll? Either way, it's sorted out. And you're very charming company by the way."
Teased—she didn't stop herself from playfully nipping him back as she settled rather comfortably on his lap.
"You're lucky you're charming company too, you know…it was harder and harder to deny that."
He straightened up a little further, pulling her half onto his lap.
"You know what, I am lucky. Woulda driven me crazy if it turned out you didn't like me with the way you were acting."
Vivi huffed, arms wrapped around his scarred arm and drawing it into her chest as she settled against him "It would have been pretty confusing, huh? Looking back I wasn't even a little subtle."
"I'll say! I was trying to ignore it and be a gentleman! But here we are, my dear Vivi." His dark eyes met hers with a look of bemusement.
All the distance and awkwardness between the two of them seemed to have been erased in an instant the night before, leaving the same kind of casual ease that Vivi had once known with him before everything had gone to pieces.
It was comfortable. It took her back to those days in the palace garden, trying to get away from her royal duties and her father's expectations. And yet, it was so much different. Somehow more comfortable than even then with how things had grown between them.
She ducked her head, not breaking eye contact as she flushed. "...Here we are. Different than it used to be between us, huh?"
"I should hope so!" He huffed and that wide, teasing grin spreading across his face again. "If I've forgotten something that happened in Alabasta, please remind me, it's the kind of thing I want to remember."
His dark eyes sparkled with the evil suggestion.
Vivi felt her face heating up. Squirming, she shifted in his lap and leaned up and kissed his lips rather suddenly.
"I think I'd remember something like that y'know! So..so yeah! I think it changed!"
He chuckled and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers again. "Good change, right? You're not already regretting it?"
Vivi thought about it for a moment. She knew how she felt, the feelings in her heart right now, but she wanted him to see that she was being serious. She smiled softly, nodding her head so his fingers brushed her cheek.
"Good change—I don't think I'm gonna regret it. Not after all that, you know? We've…we've had our rough patch. I think we're beyond it."
"I sure hope so, doll. Next time we have a fight, you can dangle me off the edge of a building."
Vivi stared at him for a long moment before she leaned back and grabbed a pillow and hurled it into his stupid, handsome face.
"I just very well might! Hmph!"
Crocodile laughed deeply at that and held up his arms as the pillow slid down into their laps.
"I deserved that one."
It was clear from the way he laughed, and from the way he grabbed her and pulled her into another rough, searching kiss, that they really had left the past in the past, where it could be safely joked about on occasion.
They were sailing into the future.
Vivi could already tell as she melted into his kiss that it was a bright and sparkling future for sure.
It had been a lazy and flirtatious morning. The two of them had helped each other wash up, and they'd had a few sips of wine– to and tide them over to breakfast– and Crocodile, ever the gentleman, had asked if she'd prefer one of them to slip out first rather than make their appearance together.
Vivi had thought about it for a moment. She considered the look on everyone's faces if they showed up together. It'd made her giggle, imagining shock and the surprise, but ultimately she kissed him and said she'd go first.
Maybe next time they'd go together. So she'd slipped out, dressed up in her clothes from the night before again, and hurried along to the breakfast table.
It seemed like everyone had already eaten and gotten along to their duties. She walked in on a galley full of dishes, and Daz Bones with his sleeves rolled up pumping hot, soapy water into the sink.
His back was still toward her when he greeted her in a warm voice. "Morning, Miss Vivi. Sleep well?"
"Better than I have in a while, Daz!" She chirped cheerfully, sliding into the room with her hands folded behind her back. "Need some help?"
"Wouldn't mind if you wanted to dry as I wash." He turned to smile at her. "But I saved you some breakfast."
Vivi beamed from ear to ear as she slid in beside him.
"Aww…thanks Daz! I know I was kind of sleepy this morning—I missed breakfast with everyone and everything. I'll enjoy it even more when we're done, huh?"
She grabbed a wet plate and hummed as she got to work drying it.
Daz put a big, sudsy, hand briefly on her shoulder as she stepped in beside him, and then got right back to it, the two of them working in unison.
"That you will. It's nice to see you in a good mood this morning, too."
"Well…" A playfully coy smile crossed her lips as she set the dish aside and grabbed another. "I had a pretty good night! Lots of very, very pleasant dreams."
"The kind that stick around after you're done dreaming?" Daz asked with a curious tilt of his head. "Or the kind you have once and forget about?"
Vivi flushed slightly, trying to hide it with her hair as she dried another plate. "....I'd say it's sticking around, Daz."
Daz, politely, was looking at the dishes rather than her as he smiled. "Sounds nice then." He was quiet for a moment. Just long enough to give them both the grace of deniability about what they were discussing. "It's nice to have you on the crew, you know."
Vivi tilted her head towards him.
"It's nice being on the crew—I'll be honest I…" she stammered, setting a dish aside. "well I'm happy to b-be here, Daz."
It wasn't exactly what she'd meant to say but—well.
"You know, you fit right in." He handed her the last of the dishes, his smile soft on his sharp face. "Funny how these things work out."
She took it from him, smiling back. "Almost like I'd never left, huh?"
"Nah. I think it's better now. Ready to have something to eat?"
Vivi bumped her shoulder against him with a chuckle. "Much better now, I think…"
She put the plate to the side and nodded firmly "I sure am, I didn't wanna be rude but…"
She winked "I'm famished."
"I'm starving."
Crocodile's voice intermeshed with hers as she spoke, and she turned to find him looming in the doorway, grinning. "Hope you saved some for me, too, Daz."
"Of course, captain. Good morning."
Vivi tilted her head back. "Darn, you showed up right when I was about to eat your portion too, Captain Crocodile!"
The hook was back in place on his arm now, and he rested it against his hip, grinning at her. "Well, if you need more meat on your bones, take it and I'll have coffee. You did make coffee, right, Daz?"
"I'll make some fresh," he said, bustling about the kitchen. "But you're the one who still needs to eat more after Impel Down, captain."
"...I think I'm a pretty decent weight, thank you very much!" Vivi puffed out her cheeks before dropping into a chair and leaning on her hands. "And you do need to eat—so I'll be gracious about your share!"
"Well, as long as you're gracious, doll." Crocodile chuckled and flopped down into the seat across from her at the table and Daz brought over a plate for each of them.
"If he bothers you, Vivi, you can hit him."
Did Daz ever hit the captain for something he said? That was something to wonder. Vivi grinned slightly, tilting her head towards Daz as if to suss that out. One day she'd have to ask.
"Oh don't worry. I'm not scared to give Crocodile a few whacks!"
"I'd say she's lost all fear of me, Daz, but I don't think she was ever the least bit intimidated!" Crocodile grinned across the table at her. She was sure that Daz would hear about Crocodile getting hit with the pillow in private.
"No, captain, I don't think she has been. I was just telling her, she fits right in with the crew."
Daz set two fresh, steaming cups of coffee down.
"T-t-thank you Daz!" She took a long sip of her coffee to cover her embarrassment before she winked. "never had an ounce of fear, sorry Crocodile. I'm spirited~."
"Spirited!" Crocodile snorted before taking a sip of his coffee. "Don't call yourself 'spirited' it makes it sound like someone's comparing you to a camel."
"Fiesty's not going to be any better, sir," Daz warned.
Vivi turned a bright pink, her lips forming a downward bow as she bristled "I'm nothing LIKE a camel!! Geeze!! I…"
She stammered quietly for a moment.
"Feisty? Are you talking about me behind my back, boys?" Ben was leaning against the door frame in a flirtatious pose.
Vivi dropped her head into her hands. Her father had called her 'spirited' to people before. She'd overheard it at parties, or during meetings, which only made her even more annoyed if it really did make her sound like a camel.
"Morning, Ben…"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Ben, but we were talking about Vivi. Daz was saying how she fits in with the crew."
Ben swept into the room and stole Crocodile's coffee cup for a long sip– which earned him a reproachful look but nothing more serious than that.
"She really does!" Ben cooed. "We missed you both terribly at breakfast this morning. Try to get up just a little earlier next time, won't you?"
Vivi turned a deeper pink as she looked up from her hands with a flustered sputter.
"I got up as fast as I could, Ben! Gosh! You aren't the only one who needs their beauty sleep!" She stuck out her tongue. "...but I missed you guys too!"
"Or next time you can bring me with you, and I won't complain."
"Ben!" Crocodile choked, nearly spitting out his coffee.
Vivi sputtered, nearly dropping her coffee mug with a deepening flush. "Ggughghh…sssssure! Alright!"
Daz just sighed, grabbed Ben by the shirt collar and hauled him out of the galley. "Time to work the rigging, Ben."
"Oooh, tie me up, Daz!" was the last Vivi heard about it as they left. Crocodile was half flopped across the table with his face in his hand.
Vivi was sure she was scarlet red as she raised her shaking coffee cup to her lips.
"...are we that transparent?" She squeaked softly.
"I think Ben has a sixth sense," Crocodile said thickly. "And absolutely no common sense. And this is exactly why we had to have that conversation last night before things went any further."
Vivi sipped her coffee again, reflecting back on Ben who was always so open and flirty, who she knew had had…well, relations a lot like Vivi had had with Crocodile last night. The closeness between the crew was obvious. Even she'd slept with a clingy Zala back in Sabaody—and that wasn't even mentioning the Straw Hats.
She felt herself blushing deeper. She was just as widely passionate as the rest of them. "Good. Because I'd rather not be blindsided if he offers again! Even if I'll probably wind up agreeing!"
"I thought Ben would at least wait until this afternoon!" Crocodile shook his head, and carefully pushed his oiled hair back into place. "That's just his own brand of piracy, I guess."
Vivi raised her eyebrow before she dryly asked. "Booty plundering?"
Crocodile nearly spit his coffee out again. "Viv!"
Vivi grinned at him. "...I'm not wrong, am I? You can't blame me for being right!"
He shook his head and laughed, knocking against the table with the curl of his hook. "Daz is right, Viv. You absolutely fit in with the crew. Whether we call you spirited, or feisty."
Vivi flushed deeply again as she pointed her mug at him.
"Don't you dare! Not after you said it makes me sound like a camel!" She dropped herself back into her chair and lightly threw a balled up napkin at him "call me spirited and I'll show you just how feisty I can be!"
Still—she couldn't help but smile.
She was a part of this crew, just like she was a part of the Straw Hats—wasn't she?
Notes:
Finally!! :D :D Now we just have to see what other curveballs fate throws Vivi and Croc's way XD On the horizon-- Vivi's devil fruit!
Oh, also, I might write the contents of the "Fade to black" and post it as a separate fic ;) So let me know if you'd be looking forward to that!
I've finally been able to draw again so I also did a little bit of art inspired by this fic
Chapter 13
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
They tied up at the docks on Mystoria, an eerie Autumnal island shrouded in a thick mist. From the bow of the ship Vivi could just make out the shape of the rambling buildings that began a little way from the water. Many of them were low and rough looking, but they seemed busy; lively even. Distantly she could hear the strains of music being played– accordion and violin it sounded like– the wan notes adding to the strange quality of the island.
"Ever been to Loguetown, Miss Vivi?" Daz asked as he finished up with the ropes. "Mystoria's a little like that."
Crocodile grunted. "Mystoria's like Loguetown used to be, more like. Loguetown hasn't been as lawless since before Roger's execution."
"I've been, once. It was kind of…" She didn't want to say 'touristy' but that was how it was. Lots of 'come see the place Roger was executed' and 'buy one model ship and get the second half off'. "Ingenuine. And not as charming about it as other places! ...Mystoria's more wild huh?"
She glanced at him, allowing herself to brush her fingers against his forearm fondly. Things had been going well since they'd broken the tension between them. While they hadn't gotten much time alone in the two days aside from their haki training, they'd stolen plenty of little moments.
Crocodile's tendency towards affection seemed to match her own, something she certainly wasn't about to complain over.
He slung his arm around her shoulder right there and then. "Much more wild. The marines have never managed to get a foothold here."
Vivi let herself rest against him, basking in the warmth and comfort of his body against hers as she listened to the music on the air. "How? That's amazing! The marines—they even had footholds back home."
"Because it's pirate central," Crocodile explained. "Always was since back before Roger, even. And after him, all the emperors of the sea declared it neutral ground."
Daz nodded. "So it's no one's territory– and everyone's territory. If the marines try to get a foothold here, basically all of piracy will swat back at them."
"Ohhhh…" Vivi's eyes widened, bright and eager as she looked along the shore. "So it's still free territory, under order of the Emperors and every pirate. It's a place like no other! Even Fishman Island…"
Crocodile tugged her toward the rail as Daz put down the gangplank.
"Like no other," he agreed. "If it ever fell it'd be the end of an era. Used to be a bit of a home base for my crew when we were first getting our feet wet in the New World."
"It was?" She glanced up at him with genuine curiosity. "Then you know all the best places to see, don't you? If they're still around, I mean…"
His long smile widened around his cigar to show teeth. "Exactly, Viv. That's exactly why we're here."
He whirled around to face the rest of everyone on deck. "Alright, crew! You know your orders!"
Crocodile set the crew loose on Mystoria in pairs, with orders to get comfortable, find out the local news and rumors, and look for potential contacts. Bentham– who as far as she knew was the only old Baroque Works officer who hadn't worked with a partner– had enthusiastically volunteered to go with Vivi.
She walked alongside him as they walked the city streets, her eyes drawn to signs and pirates as she passed them by, a smile on her face. It was nice to be out—and have a moment to collect her thoughts in the cool air, especially with the company of a friend. "This place sure has a charm, huh?"
"Do you think so?" Bentham was smiling widely, and he was almost as affectionate as Crocodile. He'd taken hold of her hand and was walking close beside her. "A rough, stinky charm. But that's definitely a charm."
She didn't mind, honestly not one bit. She squeezed his hand, in a way it took her back to her time with the Straw Hat Pirates, too. She nodded, taking a deep breath of the air. It did smell kind of bad, but there were also other scents mingled inside. Foods she'd never tasted, perfumes, the scent of wood…
"It is! Lemme tell you, I'll take a little rough and stinky over boring, bland palace walls any day! At least there's variety here!"
Bentham giggled. "Well, I already know you like rough and stinky over boring because you put up with Croco babe, right? Don't worry, I feel the same way."
He batted his eyelashes at her teasingly, and elbowed her gently as they walked.
Vivi felt herself flushing, and looked up at a rather raunchy sign advertising some entertainment deeper into the island. She elbowed him back. A club of some kind, saucier than the club she'd visited on Fish Man Island, judging by the wording on the sign.
"I've noticed, you know! As we said—it's got a lotta charm! Just like Sir Crocodile!" She looked sidelong at him with a teasing smile. "and now we can put up with him together."
"So we can!" he beamed, and she noticed his own eye drawn to the sign as well. "Interested in checking that out, Vivi dear?"
She felt her face flushing deeper as she bumped her shoulder against him.
"Mayyyybe. I admit—it at least looks kinda interesting. What is it? Some kinda bawdy play ? Or maybe dances like Zala used to do?"
"That one, I think," he said, with a wry smile. "They'll call it a cabaret but I suspect they also sell private dances and possibly drugs. A fun kind of place. And also exactly the kind of place we're looking for for our mission, hmm?"
He put his finger to his lips teasingly.
Vivi nodded firmly, an impish edge to her smile as she leaned closer. "No better place to get information than somewhere with drugs, alcohol, a bunch of people and a party atmosphere, right?"
"No place at all, sweetheart!" he cooed, leaning even closer toward her. "Have you ever been somewhere where they sell the forbidden delights, or do I get to watch your first time?"
Vivi pursed her lips.
"it's not like I'm a virgin to this kinda stuff! I…I mean, well.." she trailed off before she smiled sheepishly "...the closest thing was your show on Fishman Island…"
"So I will get to see your first time!" He giggled and tugged her forward. "Well, when it comes to this sort of thing anyway."
She sputtered a moment before squeezing his arm and stumbling after him. "Yeah, you've missed my first time by a while, I'm afraid. You can blame Nami for that."
"Blame, or thank her?" he teased. "I'm a little jealous of the time you got to spend with them, you know."
Vivi felt her face flushing as she stumbled along. "Thank her, then!" she glanced sidelong at him as she fell into step beside him. "you are, huh?"
His eyes sparkled as he answered. "I fell a little bit in love with Straw Hat babe myself, though our time together was cruelly short. I'm sure you understand."
"Well he is rather charming…and I can say he's very fun to be with in that way!" She chuckled into her hand, shaking her head. "But well, your time together has been cut short at the moment, but who's to say about the future, right? I'm trying to get back to them after all, I can see what I can do!"
"Careful," Bentham cooed as they passed through the narrow, rambling streets of the pirate town. "Wind Croco any tighter around your finger and he'll pine for you once you've gone."
Vivi flushed, and tucked her hair over her ear. "Well…I don't want him to pine too badly…but I also don't want to put myself at a distance for no reason."
She let her eyes wander instead of glancing at Bentham, taking in the town curiously as she went.
Bentham had said something in reply to her, but she missed what it was as she was glancing around the area. Her gaze had fallen on a man standing across the way, talking to a woman in the mouth of an alley.
The woman she had never seen before, but her gaze was stuck on the man. Red hair, frock coat, and a distinctive crown.
"Bentham…Bentham hold on," Vivi grabbed his arm suddenly with a widening of her smile "Hold on!!"
She couldn't contain herself…she'd recognize that look anywhere, the look of her partner from her time in Baroque Works! He was alive! She'd thought for sure that he'd fallen in that mess at Whiskey Peak—or at least had the good sense to get far, far away when the organization crumbled "Mr. 9!!!!!!!!!!! Mr. 9, it's me!!!"
Bentham stumbled along behind her at first only to gasp when he heard her call out. "What? Mr. 9? From Baroque Works?"
But Vivi wasn't kidding. Mr. 9 looked up at the sound of her calling, and their eyes met.
"Miss Wednesday?"
He looked just as shocked as she did.
"You've never been to this half of the Grand Line, have you, Marianne?" Crocodile asked curiously.
"Nope, I haven't," Marianne pushed up her wide brimmed hat to look around. "Never got out of Paradise, boss."
She was walking beside him through the narrow streets with a paintbrush spinning between her fingers. Daz and Zala, and Bentham and Vivi were off on their own—leaving her paired with the boss.
Maybe it was because Galdino had never shown up. Maybe he just liked her company.
"I figured that was the case, but you've been a woman full of surprises." He smirked down at her as he puffed on his cigar.
Marianne snickered quietly, covering her mouth to hide her amusement as she strolled alongside him. When the giggle fit had faded, she gently adjusted her floral print shirt and glanced up at Crocodile again.
When Crocodile had hired her, she'd assumed he'd known a little more about her background. She was an assassin—a clever killer with a unique ability, and a side business selling art on the streets of port towns.
He'd known that much, but when Neo Baroque Works came back together, Marianne was slapped in the face with the realization that Crocodile had legitimately thought she was possibly less than 12 years old. He'd, in the world of his own mind, hired a child assassin to be his organization's 'Miss Goldenweek', and snuff people out for him.
It was probably the funniest thing ever, given she wasn't even that young! She was just short. A life stunted by malnutrition would do that to you. When she'd started working for Baroque Works, she was already more than 18 years old.
She smirked at him with a nod. "Sometimes. But not about this, sadly I never got the chance."
"Most people never do. Even most pirates. All of 'em stuck out in the four blues, or in Paradise. Not too much further than this and all the commerce lines start breaking down. Dressrosa's about the furthest reach of the World Government's power."
Crocodile sounded thoughtful, nostalgic even. During her stint as Miss Goldenweek, she hadn't known that her elusive boss, Mr. Zero had been a famous pirate. But with that revelation neatly tucked away, now months in the past, it wasn't surprising.
Marianne pumped her shoulder against him, her eyes lidded in thought as she thought back to those early days. Crocodile—he was a hell of an impressing man. Large, imposing, handsome, calculating…
The minute Marianne received her orders from 'Mr. Zero', she was intrigued enough to devote herself to fulfilling them despite her usual apathy towards…most everything—and when she'd eventually met him, she was enraptured with the imposing 'hero of Alabasta' , Warlord and Pirate.
She'd tried to save him, despite the danger to herself, and he'd refused. He told her to leave him there in the rotting pit of prison, shortly before she bent reality to give him the appearance of what he'd always wanted to be. A pirate king, before she sailed away with the Baroque Works agents who were willing to leave.
She'd regretted leaving him behind, but she couldn't save a man who didn't want to be saved, no matter how much she respected him. But something big had changed.
Now he really was a pirate again, this latest voyage had invigorated him, and drawn them closer together. He was back to being the man she looked up to, respected, and wanted to know much better.
Even if he did once think she was a killer baby.
Amusement wrote on her face for a moment, before she stared up at him with a nod. "Yeah. That makes sense. We're going out past it, right? Eventually."
"Maybe." He pulled the cigar out of his mouth and turned it in his fingers. "There's not much out that far. Well, there's mystery, and adventure of course."
Marianne folded her hands behind her back, walking a little closer to him with a humming sound.
"Adventure." she parroted with a nod. "A pirate adventure. For mr. Pirate King Crocodile." she teased quietly, bringing up his 'wish' granted by her power.
He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her an almost bashful smile. "Not gonna let me forget that, huh? Well, I said maybe. Maybe we will. I got a lot of power to rebuild before we can even think about it."
"Make sense, boss." She bobbed her head. "Thanks for taking me along again."
He paused, pulling himself and her out of the flow of traffic and tucking into the front nook of a squat storefront.
"Thanks for coming after me. Twice, even. A lot of people would give up on a man who had given up."
Marianne leaned against the wall of the nook with a nod, adjusting her hat again as she glanced up at him with her wide, dark eyes.
"I'm not exactly a lot of people. I'm weird. Besides—third time is the charm, right?" She smiled thinly. "You just needed a push."
"A few of em, even. My fire's going now though. We're gonna be big, Miss Goldenweek. Real fucking big. You better get taller."
Marianne looked down at herself—her lanky, too small body. "Any tips? You're friends with those tall freaks from the Warlords, right?"
"Close enough I guess." He shook his head, smirking. "Maybe the secret is just to act tall and you'll get there eventually. Seems like it worked for Doflamingo."
Marianne stared up at him for a long moment. It was a little annoying having to crane her neck to look at most people, admittedly. And she'd certainly like it if people stopped thinking she was a damn kid. It'd make certain things a lot easier.
She tugged one of her pigtails thoughtfully "I'm thinking tall now. Tell me if I shoot up a couple inches."
"I'll keep an eye out. C'mon, there's a bar here I used to frequent. If any of my old contacts are still around, he'll be able to hook us up."
With a flourish of his hook, Crocodile waved for them to head back into the lane.
Marianne closed her eyes with a trace of her joy showing in her grin as she skipped along after him. "When we get there buy me a drink, boss!"
This was the start of their real pirate adventure, after all.
Vivi and Bentham dragged Mr. 9 and his companion, a mercenary woman named Isuka, with them to the burlesque club, which admittedly was probably a distracting place for a reunion, but it was too late to change plans now.
The four of them were tucked into a corner table at the back, Bentham taking care of ordering drinks and dealing with the staff– all of whom were practically naked and not at all shy about touching guests.
VIvi felt caught between the excitement of seeing her old partner alive, well and right there in front of her—and the mingled excitement and embarrassment of the burlesque club's atmosphere.
It was definitely DEFINITELY a lot saucier than the mermaid club had been! She looked up at Mr. 9 with a huge grin, absolutely distracting herself from watching another scantily clad serving girl walk by as she gushed. "I just can't believe we ran into you here!"
That mercenary girl, Isuka, peered at her curiously through long lashed eyes under a fringe of red hair. She had a burn scar up her cheek, covered by a bandage. She smirked and shook her head. "...this guy's been hunting down Crocodile for islands now."
"I missed him on Espree island, and it's been a comedy of errors ever since!" 9 shook his head. "He must be well ahead of us by now."
Vivi blinked a bit, tilting her head slowly to the side as she chewed her lip. "Oh geeze, actually Mr. 9…I think you're being a little pessimistic about that!"
Bentham passed glasses around the table when the scantily clad server brought them, and he giggled. "What do you think, Miss Wednesday, should we tell him, or let him be surprised?"
Isuka leaned over to grab her drink and raised it to Bentham with a murmur of thanks. "They know something, princey." She leaned over and poked his crown so it wobbled off balance.
With a raise of her hands, Vivi laughed "I think I'll break the news so he doesn't sulk off again chasing wild geese! He's on this island right now, Mr. 9. You haven't missed him."
"You're kidding me! We beat him here?" Mr. 9 jumped to his feet, crown going fully askew. "I knew that little ship was fast, but…"
Bentham quickly reached out and stopped 9's drink from spilling as he stood.
Isuka jolted back, muttering. "Holy shit…he's a spry little bastard. Looks like we lucked out then. Or you did, Sid." She tipped her drink back, glancing around the table.
Vivi laughed into her hand. "You're lucky you got a quick little ship then! You beat us here! Right now Captain Crocodile's looking for some old contacts of his, and the rest of us are kind of fanned out doing the same."
Sid stopped mid-motion and adjusted his crown, blinking. "Us, you say? You're with him, still? But I thought–"
"Oh ah…" Vivi waved her hands with a flush. "I mean, I did join with the Straw Hats and helped stop him from taking over A-Alabasta, that still happened.. But ah…well…"
She had no idea how to go about this.
For some reason, when she mentioned Alabasta, that Isuka girl started staring her down with a subtle smile and a quiet 'huh'.
Bentham waved his hand. "Sit back down, Mr. 9. Croco babe isn't going anywhere, and we've got a heck of a story to tell you!"
Isuka the Nailer used to be an up and coming marine. A legend among the young recruits of her age range known for her deadly rapier and dogged persistence. 'The makings of a Vice Admiral' she'd once been told.
All that changed the day she learned the truth about the way the marines saw civilian life, and the true fate of her home village, burned in the flames of the man who'd stolen her away and indoctrinated her into the marines.
After that, she'd become a bounty hunter and mercenary. Hunting down pirates and criminals across Paradise on the heels of a man she never quite caught up with. After Ace died—well. She still had to work.
So she'd set her sights on a target that would either make her rich, or send her to reconcile with Ace in the abyss. Either way worked for her. But still, this development was unexpected.
She wasn't sure where to go from here…this Alabastan girl, Miss Wednesday, and her buddies were friends with Crocodile. His crew, though she said she'd betrayed him, right? Betrayed him to free Alabasta from his organization's control, only to somehow wind up back in the organization again when he reformed it.
It was weird, right?
She'd been tagging along with Sid this whole time, ever since she'd found him wandering in a tragic haze on Espree and found out he was a bounty hunter just like her. He'd talked about his ambition to find Crocodile, and she had been under the impression it was for the same reason as her.
To drag him to the Marines for a massive payout.
Even if the work left a sick feeling in her stomach ever since Ace's execution, even if she was questioning the job, she still had to make money.
The renegade warlord would make enough money to keep her drowning in booze, dinner and room and board for some time, and she needed that booze to forget the look of Ace's face on that broadcast.
But now she saw that 'Mr. 9' had other plans. Clearly he was there to rejoin the organization. Which…was going to be pretty awkward, wasn't it? When Vivi had gotten up to take him to Crocodile, leaving 'Bentham' to chat up the waitresses and dancers in the hunt for information, Isuka felt compelled to follow them.
So now here she was, trailing behind a woman she suspected was Alabasta's lost princess (kinda funny how much she reminded her of someone she'd once known), and the bounty hunter she'd been unwittingly helping on his quest to wind up a bounty. She sighed, running her hand through her hair as they trudged through the dingy streets.
Once more, as she had for months and months and months, -she wondered 'how the hell did I end up here?'
When Crocodile had sent everyone out onto Mystoria to hunt up contacts, he had not been expecting Vivi to come back with another Baroque Works member. Her old partner, even.
Granted he wasn't exactly complaining but he didn't know how the hell it had happened.
He was waiting with Marianne for everyone to check in on the deck of the ship after a productive time spent in the Ogre's Head and saw them as they were coming up the docks.
He would have recognized that stupid fucking crown anywhere.
"Is that Mr. Fucking 9 she's got with her? Where'd he come from?"
Marianne leaned around from behind him to stare Mr 9 down with that unceasing stare of hers. "....wow. I didn't expect to see him. …Thought he was dead."
Vivi caught his eye, and looped an arm around Mr. 9 before waving enthusiastically at Crocodile with an absolutely radiant grin.
Crocodile waved lazily back with his hook,and that was when he saw the third person with them wasn't Bentham. It was… some girl.
"Eh? Who's that? Marianne, do you know who she is?"
Marianne shook her head. "Complete stranger, boss. She's not one of ours."
The girl had short red hair cropped around her neck, and a bandage on her cheek—as well as a pretty simple outfit of a long coat slung over a dark blouse and vest combo that lost some of its elegance by being unbuttoned down to the cleavage. She kept a hand resting near her sword belt—where a rather lovely rapier hung at her hip.
Her posture, unlike Vivi and Mr. 9's was tense and alert.
Vivi didn't seem bothered by her, at least…especially as she ran up "Crocodile! Look who I found!"
Pleased as he was to see Vivi– and even Mr. 9– Crocodile's familiar guard went up in the presence of the unfamiliar woman.
"I'm looking, Vivi," Crocodile drawled. He took the cigar out of his mouth and she watched him look past her, at Sid and Isuka.
Vivi glanced over her shoulder at the two of them briefly, before she turned her attention back to Crocodile and danced over to loop her arm around his to spread a show-womans arm towards them.
Crocodile seemed tense, immediately tense, and it probably wasn't just because Mr. 9 had been gone so long, and presumed…well. Completely absent. It was probably the stranger currently sizing him up.
So she had to defuse the situation.
"This is Mr. 9's friend, Miss Isuka. It sounds like she'd been helping him catch up to us!"
She saw Isuka smile, and she held her hand up in a wave. "Just trying to help a guy out. He seemed real excited to find you, Crocodile."
"Mr. Zero! Sir Crocodile, I uh!" Sid stammered and laughed. "I just missed you back on Espree."
Crocodile's tight posture didn't change, though he did smirk. "That's why your number was so low, you know. Always running late. Looking to get your own job back? And how about you, miss… Isuka?"
His gaze fastened on her before Sid could even answer.
He was 100% super suspicious of her. Vivi could tell…she'd started getting a sixth sense when it came to Crocodile. Getting closer to him, both romantically and as a person, made him easier and easier to read.
Isuka shrugged her shoulders, reaching up to adjust a pair of sunglasses in her hair with a quiet sigh. Her hand as well was partially bandaged…old burn scars visible underneath them. They certainly weren't fresh…so why was she bandaging them like that?
"I came to check up on a job, myself. Things haven't been so great in my line of work lately."
"That's a shame," Crocodile purred. "Must be a dangerous line of work by the look of you."
Mr. 9, clueless as usual, had saluted and started to answer Crocodile's question from before, but went silent at the tense aura between Isuka and the captain.
"What isn't a dangerous line of work in the Grand Line, 'Sir Crocodile'?" Isuka chuckled as she closed her eyes "I know you're in a dangerous job too…pirate, former warlord. You're pretty famous."
Vivi felt a chill go up her spine. For a moment, she felt a sting of terror that she'd invited danger into their midst.
Crocodile lifted his cigar to his lips and took a slow puff. His gaze never left Isuka. "I guess I'm a bit well known. Most people would call me 'infamous' though. Since I'm a pirate."
Isuka placed her hand on her hip with a mirthless smile, fingers brushing the handle of her sword ever so slightly.
"So you are. I'm a little infamous too. Isuka the Nailer, at your service…" She glanced at Vivi, and then back at Crocodile. "And I'll confess that it's your infamy that convinced me to help ol' Sid here out."
"Is that so? Isuka the Nailer… might be familiar, but I can't quite place it." Crocodile turned his hook thoughtfully in the light. "So you came along with Mr. 9 to see me. Does that mean you were looking for a job, too? Or should I be expecting some other interaction?"
Isuka laughed, tossing her hair before her fingers firmly closed around the pommel of her blade.
"Well. I'm afraid I was under a bit of a misconception regarding Sid's motives, here. I was under the impression we were looking to drag you to the nearest outpost dead or alive."
Sid just about yelped out of his skin, eyes wide and crown askew. "You thought what?"
Crocodile's hook glinted in the light again and he lifted his chin. "Is that so?
That chill up Vivi's spine returned.
In her excitement at seeing Sid alive and well, she'd brought a wolf right to their door. As the woman's body tensed and her smile hitched a little wider, she knew she'd made a mistake.
Dead or Alive, the famous words emblazoned on every wanted poster across the sea—the siren call for mercenaries, bounty hunters and marines. It was only a matter of time before their infamy came back to haunt them.
Notes:
Uh-oh, looks like we've got a bit of a tense moment here! Isuka, if you're not familiar with her, is from the Ace novels ^^
Chapter Text
A chill wind blew across the deck of the ship as Crocodile and Isuka the Nailer stood, face to face, intentions bared.
She had come to take his bounty.
Crocodile laughed roughly, his hook gleaming in the light.
"Should I praise your swagger, or are you just suicidal? You're surrounded by pirates, girl. But come on, test me if you want."
Vivi stood back along with Mr. 9. Her heart was pounding, and her hand clasped over her chest with a swelling feeling of sick and churning guilt and fear. She'd brought Isuka the Nailer with her—and Isuka was here to kill Crocodile or die.
She swallowed, and her hand slowly reached into her pocket to find her peacock slashers.
She didn't want to hurt Isuka, she seemed nice when they were talking over drinks, but she wasn't about to let her try and hurt Crocodile in the middle of a pirate…town…
It dawned on her slowly that this woman was assaulting a fairly popular pirate…in the middle of a pirate island…surrounded by his comrades.
She was probably trying to die.
Isuka slowly drew her sword with a lazy smile.
"Praise me if you want, Captain Crocodile. I really don't give a shit one way or another." The blade pointed towards him—long, thin, gleaming in the light with its sharp little ridges hooked down the blade—it was like the barbed stinger of some kind of terrible insect. "This is the one big score I need to ride out the end of my days on. It's up to you how long that turns out to be. Gonna come quietly, or am I going to have to go for the throat?"
Crocodile turned his hook in the wan sunlight that peeked through the misty clouds.
"Stand back, crew, let's see what the Nailer's got to offer."
"Alright Captain Crocodile…" Vivi's hand left her pocket, and she took a deep breath with a nod. If he wanted to give her a shot, it meant he had something in mind.
Vivi watched as the captain's stance changed, shoulders squared, tense and ready, but he didn't move. He was waiting for her to take the first shot.
"You've got the royal princess of Alabasta calling you captain now?" Isuka tilted her head towards Vivi. "Interesting. No wonder you've got a hefty bounty on your head too, princess."
The bounty hunter returned her sharp gaze to Crocodile, and when she moved she was nearly a blur to Vivi's eyes.
She was quick on her feet, quicker than almost anyone Vivi had ever seen, as she crossed the deck in a nimble zig zag to launch a series of quick and brutal jabs with her rapier at Crocodile's throat, chest and hook arm.
Vivi could see why she was called 'the nailer'...on an ordinary man, a series of brutal stabs like that would leave someone full of holes.
Crocodile's response to the attack brought Vivi back to the days of her childhood, when Sir Crocodile had been the hero of Alabasta, repelling bandits and invaders with practiced ease.
He knocked the first two blows away with the back of his hook– and allowed the final one to land, severing his arm. There was a hiss of sand, and a loud thump as the massive prosthesis fell to the deck of the ship.
To another bystander, it might look like Isuka's speed had cornered him.
But Vivi knew intimately from her own time fighting Crocodile, he was far from cornered. His fruit wasn't invincible—but attacks like that weren't going to cut it if she really wanted to kill him.
Isuka's lazy smile hadn't fallen though, not as it set below an intense glare in her eyes.
"Come on sandman. You can do better than that. Let me earn my miserable retirement with some shred of honor, or kill me."
As she pulled her blade back, she did something unexpected, shocking Vivi as she shifted her position and drew the barbed hooks of her weapon against her own arm, leaving it stained with crimson blood from a rather nasty gash down her off hand's forearm.
She didn't lose a second, still dodging sidelong before launching another series of precise blows with the bloodied blade towards Captain Crocodile.
Crocodile's expression immediately flashed from interested to furious-- even alarmed. She watched his lips twist as he rushed backward away from her in a flow of sand whispering through the air, dancing away from the bloodied blow.
He hadn't been taking her seriously; he'd been toying with her, and he let his guard down.
Unfortunately for Isuka, Vivi knew that Crocodile was much more dangerous when he felt cornered.
The hook twitched on the deck, and sailed upward in a cascade of sand. It flew behind Isuka, hitting her square in the shoulders with its heavy metal bulb.
Isuka's blood splattered across the deck from her arm as she grunted, stumbling forward with the blow as the hook slammed into her back. She skid, her foot slipping slightly on the droplets before she got her bearings enough to raise the sword again with a darkened stare.
"That's what I want, Crocodile." She lifted the sword again, holding it towards him with a grim smile. Her shoulder was still shaking somewhat from the blow—but it steadied after only a moment. "This way I can face Ace with pride when I finally go to hell, either as a rich woman who can pretend she followed the right dream, or a warrior who died against a worthy foe."
Ace….
Vivi's eyes widened FIRE FIST ACE??? Luffy's brother she'd met in Alabasta?? Who'd been executed—horrifically executed—while Vivi was so far from Luffy and unable to help?
"You're up against a woman with nothing to lose, Crocodile, I'm glad you're done fucking around."
Isuka scuffed her foot on the deck to wipe the blood from her heels and reestablish her footing, rushing at him again with another lightning-fast strike.
Crocodile's expression changed again as he rushed away from her blow once more in a flurry like a phantom made of sand. This time however, Vivi couldn't read what was written in his eyes. It wasn't anger, this time. Surprise? Sadness?
His hook took its place on his arm again as he moved, but the next time Vivi saw it, it was wrapped around Isuka's throat as he reappeared behind her. His strong hand snatched her sword arm.
"You're pretty fast, Ms. Isuka. Fire Fist Ace, hmm? I bet you impressed him."
Isuka's jaw set, and for a moment it seemed like she was willing to pull against his grip on her sword arm—dislocate or even break it if it meant continuing the fight. But when she jerked forward, she met the curve of his hook and a look of resigned acceptance crossed her face as she sighed.
"Maybe. I hope so." She dropped her sword from her hand and let it clatter to the deck, her wounded arm going limp beside her "I wasn't fast enough to join him, but at least I can die living up to that promise I made."
Isuka pressed her throat firmly against his hook with a low chuckle. "I became a great bounty hunter, and I died like one."
A swirl of sand knocked the bounty hunter's sword across the deck, clattering by Vivi's feet. Crocodile's hook twinkled in the light as he held it by Isuka's neck. Across the way, Vivi could see the alarm in Mr. 9's eyes at the scene.
"You damned well haven't yet, Ms. Isuka," Crocodile growled in her ear .With a quick move he withdrew his hook and he threw her down to the deck on her belly. He put his boot on the small of her back, holding her down as he leaned toward her. "Did you know I was there that day, at Marineford?"
Vivi stepped on the sword, her own breath hitching—it was true then. Isuka really was aiming to die, in a way she hoped would impress Ace in the afterlife. She bit her lip, unsure of if she should intervene.
Isuka the Nailer lay pinned by Crocodile's boot, a grimace of pain on her face as her wounded arm scraped along the deck.
"Most Warlords were. Right there alongside my old comrades, destroying the idea of justice together." She laughed raspily against the deck, shaking now as she closed her eyes tight. "But you were different. You came flying out of the sky with Straw Hat Luffy and raised hell…that's what I saw on the broadcast of the worst day the Grand Line had seen in decades."
"That's right," he growled, leaning down, his long coat like a shroud, shadowing her. "I saved Straw Hat's life that day, but his brother Ace slipped through all our fingers. Leaves me feeling like I owe the man a debt, in a way. If Straw Hat hadn't sprung me from Impel down to save his brother, I'd have died in that prison. I was planning to die in that prison. Didn't have anything left worth living for."
"Hell of a feeling," Isuka muttered, resting her forehead against the deck with another pained shudder of breath. "Guess I can relate—to losing everything worth living for, and for owing a debt to one of those brothers."
Crocodile snorted."Still feel like you owe that man a debt, Ms. Isuka? Because right now, your life belongs to me. I think we can both agree on that, from this position."
Vivi chewed her lip as she listened to the exchange. He was giving her a pitch, a lot like the pitches she'd heard him give a few times already—she'd been on the other side of what she'd realized was one in Alabasta.
When he'd extended an offer to 'Miss Wednesday' over Vivi of Alabasta, urging her hurt and vitriol towards one of two roads.
She knew Marineford was a huge regret of his—how could it not be? Ace had died despite his attempts to stop it, and Luffy's heart was broken on the battlefield. Did he see this as a chance to save a life connected to Ace's out of that regret?
Isuka tilted her head enough to look at him over her shoulder with half lidded eyes and a sharp frown that tugged the edges of the burn scar over her face.
"You've got my life in your hand, sure…" she whispered "I guess we can agree on that. Maybe I still owe him, but it's a debt I can't repay now that he's dead."
"Wrong. It's a debt you can't repay once you're dead." Crocodile ground his heel on her back. "You owe Ace? He made some impression on you? Die, and one more part of him disappears from this world, isn't that right?"
Vivi jolted, raising her hand to her lips in surprise.
One more part of him disappears from this world. She couldn't agree more… People Ace had impacted were the biggest pieces of his legacy still alive in the world today. Luffy, Miss Isuka, and who knew who else held part of him in their presence here—and if she died, she'd take that piece of him with her.
One more lost piece of Fire Fist Ace, gone forever.
Crocodile didn't let Isuka reply yet, snapping at her again. "If you owe Ace, and I owe Ace, and your life's forfeit to me, then I'd better use it in a way I think Fire Fist would approve.Sail under me, Ms. Isuka."
Isuka's breath hissed out, and she saw her back compress as she let out the breath under Crocodile's boot. Tears dripped onto the blood smeared deck, and she took a labored breath with a quiet nod of her head.
"You want me to join your crew?" Her voice was trembling. "This is the second time a pirate's asked me to join them, you know."
"The second time, eh?" Crocodile knelt down over her, nearly bent double, hair falling in his face. "Better answer right this time, then. Not many people get second chances."
Vivi's eyes averted down, her breath hitching briefly as she nodded firmly.
Second chances.
It was true,not many people got them. Crocodile had his second chance after he'd been sprung from Impel Down, after he'd refused Marianne's help escaping custody. Vivi had a second chance—not just to rejoin the Straw Hats, who she saw off with a smile she never felt, but to be a part of Crocodile's organization— one she knew now he'd hoped to have her right there by his side before things went to hell.
Second chances were rare, but they seemed to be cropping up a lot around Sir Crocodile, and his circle.
Isuka thumped her wounded arm's fist against the ground, tears rolling down her face and diverting into jagged trails once they hit the wrinkle of her old scars.
"Yessir. I'll sail with you. For Ace's memory. I know when I've been beat." She laughed bitterly. "...not like I wanted to be a bounty hunter anymore, I guess."
"Good, cause I'm out of the bounty business." Crocodile chuckled roughly and stepped off of her, pushing his hair up out of his face, before reaching down and offering her a hand.
She looked up at him, before grabbing his hand with her uninjured one—squeezing it in a way that tensed the large patches of scar tissue Vivi could see across the flesh. "After what Ace's bounty did to him, I couldn't stomach it."
With a dry chuckle, she started to hoist herself to her feet, her arm still dripping blood onto the deck. "I thought…one last job would solve the problem one way or another and get me out of the game. Guess in the end it did."
Vivi breathed a sigh of relief and felt a small smile cross her face. "I can't blame you, Miss Isuka—but it's a second chance, like Crocodile said. Being a pirate's not so bad, it's actually pretty fun!"
Mr. 9 for his part, was collapsed half over the rail of the ship in obvious relief. He still looked nauseous. "I can't believe it…"
Crocodile smiled though. "Being a pirate's not so bad, she says. Like you weren't chasing after it with all your heart, Viv. Anyway, welcome to the crew, Isuka."
Vivi flushed, cheeks puffing out as she crossed her arms.
"Well …Yeah! But I don't know how much Isuka was! I was trying to ease her into it!"
The woman started to laugh, pressing her hand to her face and leaving a small smudge of blood against her cheek as she shook her head.
"I used to be a marine, until I realized what that really meant 'cause of Ace. When he offered me a place in the Spade Pirates, I wanted to join so badly, but I couldn't bring myself to take the leap. It was too soon. So don't worry about 'easing me into it', alright?" She dipped into a low bow. "...thank you, Captain Crocodile. Isuka the Nailer's at your service."
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Let's get you bandaged up before you bleed all over the deck, pirate."
"Do you think he's going to kill me?" Sid asked Vivi, after Crocodile had taken Isuka below deck.
Vivi had taken a moment to catch her breath. Isuka the Nailer, some bounty hunter with a firm tie to Luffy's brother Ace, had come all this way to try and die or retire on the bounty of Crocodile. It was nerve racking— but Crocodile had turned it around on her splendidly.
Somehow he'd managed to pin her, convince her to stop trying to throw her life away and to join up with the crew. She remembered when she was younger, witnessing the sheer power of Crocodile's charisma as he won friends and spun deals…the same charisma that drew her to him even now. Seeing it again here and now made her heart flutter all the more.
She was so lost in that, and the relief that she didn't bring a bigger problem to his door in her excitement that she almost forgot to answer Sid.
"Oh! N-no! Of course not! You didn't know, right? And she didn't manage to hurt him in the end. He's probably gonna be happy you're back!"
Sid rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a hesitant smile. "I'm not sure he'll be happy, but if you say so. I sure didn't expect to find you sailing with him, Miss Wednes– I mean, princess."
"If he forgave me, he'll forgive you just fine for an honest mistake! And besides, he got a new crew member out of it," Vivi chuckled with her hand on her hip. She looked over at her former partner with a grin "Miss Wednesday's alright…or you can just call me Vivi. I'm…well, not exactly a princess anymore."
The former Mr. 9 hadn't changed much from how she last saw him. Safe fluffy, fly-away red hair, same ridiculous crown pinned in it. The suit was new, though still the same bold emerald green color. He'd added a pair of high boots and leather gloves.
"Not a princess anymore, huh? There's got to be quite the story behind that. You and Mr. Two didn't exactly say much about what you've been up to."
She looped her arm around him with a giggle, and nodded her head.
"Well… I'll have you know that I've turned pirate, Sid! I've left my father's kingdom, and I've even got my own bounty poster on walls all over the Grand Line!" She winked. "Lemme pour you a drink and I'll tell you all about it!"
She dragged the astonished pirate away to regale him.
Crocodile bandaged Isuka's arm personally, resting it across the flat width of his curved hook, and winding bandage around it with his good hand.
She watched him work in silence for a bit, letting him bandage her up from her self inflicted wound. It was kind of poetic, wasn't it? That the most damage to come from the fight on either side was a self-inflicted wound inflicted in a moment of desperate violence.
She'd been cutting herself to pieces for years.
Once she'd been an honorable woman fighting for justice, but she'd lost that sense of justice when the hypocrisy of her superiors burned it away. She'd cut her ties, letting Ace sail off into the night instead of joining him in a life of piracy. She'd cut away her honor as a bounty hunter when she saw just what happened to the men she brought in on the screens showing the tragedy at Marineford.
What was left was this, Isuka the Nailer—former bounty hunter trying to die on her last job, and now, she supposed, a pirate in the crew of the former Warlord of Alabasta.
It was an almost bittersweet feeling to be sitting here alive with a second chance hanging on her shoulders. Joyful yet melancholy at the same time.
What would Ace say, seeing her finally turn pirate long after his own crew had fallen apart?
And what of Crocodile? She was surprised—he was tending to her wound himself, personally, instead of having one of his men take care of it. The princess of Alabasta was off on deck, and Crocodile was tending to the woman who'd just tried to kill him in the least honorable way she could.
It was absurd. It spoke to a better character than she'd ever ascribed to the 'Desert King' of the bounty posters. Probably a better character than her own, by now.
"Hmm." she hummed under her breath, staring down at him as it turned over in her mind.
"Berry for your thoughts, Ms. Isuka?" He tugged the bandage between his thumb and forefinger, tying it expertly with just the one hand and the curve of his hook, and giving an appreciative look to his own handiwork.
"I'm just surprised you're bothering to tend to the wound I gave myself, Captain." She said with a tired smile. "Most people would leave it to one of their subordinates, or make me do it myself."
"My subordinates are busy right now," he drawled. "Which is why you got such a private showing as you did. In any case, I made the mistake of not paying attention to who was working under me before- it's a mistake I won't be making a second time."
That was a curious way to put it—did he mean something about 'Baroque Works'? Isuka glanced down at him sidelong as she flexed her fingers.
"What do you mean by that, sir?"
"Exactly what I said." He lifted his chin imperiously as he took his hand and hook away from her arm. "Test that. Is it too tight? A captain, any leader, has to be able to face his people one on one, from the top down, or it'll all fall apart."
Isuka flexed her arm. It wasn't too tight, she still had a decent range of motion, and it didn't cut in when she moved.
"It's good, thank you…" She laughed quietly under her breath. "That's a better outlook than the Marines ever had. I don't think my superior officer ever faced anyone one on one like that—not unless he thought he could use you, anyway."
Crocodile stepped away and nodded.
"Exactly. A man who's only concerned with the men right below him and no further never knows what the hell his organization is doing. Not a very smart me, all things considered."
She watched him pick up a bottle of whiskey and take a long pull from it, before offering it to her. "So you were hunting Ace once upon a time, eh?"
Isuka cautiously took the bottle before raising it in thanks and taking a long sip. He was talking about himself there, she could tell. He'd once neglected his men— and now he was starting again. Isuka was impressed.
"Yeah," she murmured as the bottle's mouth left her lips "Once upon a time I was a marine ensign who'd run afoul of the Spade Pirates. Wound up hunting them across their journey through the Grand Line with the goal of finally taking them down."
"Only it went south. And not in the way you expected."
It wasn't a question.
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'd finally cornered them at Saboady Park, Ace was running around like a clown having the time of his life and I was…" she trailed off for a moment as she found her thoughts. "Well, on a bit of a forced vacation after a previous encounter. I confronted him and his first mate Deuce on the great wheel, and the maniac jumped out from the very top to leave me with the poor bastard. I…"
Her fingers tightened around the neck of the bottle. "I wanted to ask him to give up and join the marines with me. I was stupid. Turns out he wanted to ask ME to quit and join his crew, because of the bizarre relationship we'd started to form all those times I tried to take him down."
Crocodile smiled a little. There was sadness at the edge of it. Maybe even pain. "Sounds like he had a real soft spot for you."
Isuka smiled—there was very much a sadness in her own.It must have been being there at Marineford and seeing that travesty first hand that pained Crocodile. She nodded once.
"Yeah…and I had a soft spot for him. Only my superior officer was in town too, and he attempted to kill Ace right then and there, even setting part of the island on fire and threatening civilians."
Her fingers twitched. "Which was how I found out my own superior officer was the guy who'd burned my hometown to the ground. He killed my parents, burned my home—scarred my flesh for life and then kidnapped me to turn me into his pet marine. I found this out as he was pointing a fucking flamethrower at a bunch of scared kids to keep Ace from burning his face off."
"And this is why I hate the marines," Crocodile hissed. He took the bottle back from her and took another long sip from it. "Guess it's the same for you."
Isuka nodded firmly.
"Damn right, Captain Crocodile. It was that day that I started hating the marines and my whole 'noble purpose' up till then. And that was when Ace invited me to join the Spade Pirates, and kicked off a whole misadventure of me trying to catch up and make up for the mistake of letting him slip away."
Crocodile pulled up a chair with the back of his hook. It seemed like she was going to get to tell the whole damned story.
"I trust you've been keeping Mr. 9 here occupied, Viv," Crocodile drawled as he overshadowed her, back on deck.
Vivi looked up at him with a bright flush, tucking her hair over her ear as she smiled up at him rather fondly.
"I sure have. I've been telling him about what's been going on—and he told me all about his adventure with Isuka."
She didn't tell Mr. 9 yet about her rather intimate relationship with Crocodile, but everything else she'd caught him up on.
"That so?" Crocodile chuckled. "Sounds like we're both all caught up, then. Didn't expect to see you again, Mr. 9."
Sid, who had recovered at least a little bit of his bravado over the course of the conversation, gave him a salute. "It's been a weird few months, Sir Crocodile."
"I'll say."
Vivi had heard all about Sid's 'weird few months'. Most of which had involved trying to become a bounty hunter, and realizing he hated it. Apparently there had also been a marriage proposal at some point, and that was when he'd fled.
"Did you know he almost got married?" Vivi teased, ribbing Mr. 9 with a grin up at Crocodile.
"and he booked it and tried to join back up with us!"
"Hah!" Crocodile's long grin spread across his face. "Running back into a life of crime, from a girl who wants you to settle down, eh?"
"Yessir!"
The captain waved his hook. "You're hired. But pick your friends more carefully next time."
"Yessir! Ah, I'm sorry, I had no idea she was–"
"Forget about it!" Crocodile snapped, his eyes blazing momentarily. "She's a pirate now."
Vivi leaned forward. "She just needed that little push, yeah? I think it all worked out for the best—right?"
Sid saluted again. "Haha, yes! Absolutely!"
"Absolutely." Crocodile nodded and the momentary heat in his voice had faded. "Now go get yours and Ms. Isuka's stuff from wherever the hell is and load it on board. That's an order!"
Another salute. "Yessir, Mr. Zero! Sir Crocodile! Captain Crocodile!"
Vivi watched him go, sputtering and stumbling over Crocodile's name as he scampered off to go get their things from who knows where. He hadn't changed one bit—which admittedly brought a smile to her face.
It wasn't much longer until he was distant on the dock, nearly bumping into people in his mad dash to fulfil an order from a boss everyone used to be terrified of.
"Gosh."
Crocodile chuckled as he watched him go along with her, and he wrapped his arms around Vivi's shoulders looming over her from behind.
"Well. Never thought we'd see your old partner again."
Vivi leaned into his arm with a wide grin, looking up at him with an amused nod.
"Yeah…me neither. I'd worried he'd died, and even if he escaped it—I dunno. I assumed he was going to get out while the getting was good, you know? But I'm glad. I missed the guy. We'd always been close."
"Funny how that works, eh?" He tugged on a lock of her hair. "How'd he like your own funny little story?"
"I think I knocked his socks off," Vivi couldn't help but grin remembering his expression. "I don't think he expected to ever see me again, either—given the way he reacted when I told him about the skirmish at the information broker's. I…"
She flushed deeply. "Didn't exactly tell him we were intimate yet, Crocodile. I thought it might be more fun to let him figure that out for himself like the rest of the crew had to."
Crocodile chuckled,and cuffed her gently across the jaw with his ringed knuckles. "Good, it's none of his business for now."
Vivi stuck out her tongue, before kissing the edge of his hand with a quiet laugh of her own.
"Exactly—he'll figure it out eventually. Bentham's already figured it out—he was teasing me the entire time you had us partnered up out there."
"Bentham wants to get you into bed," Crocodile drawled with flat amusement. "But he can wait his damned turn. Speaking of our 'intimate relationship', since we're actually on a decently interesting island, I'm taking you out tonight."
Vivi's grin widened a little as he spoke—honestly she was pretty excited to get Bentham into bed—but her expression lit up even more when Crocodile finished his sentence. "Oh!!!"
She whipped around to look up at him with wide eyes. Ever since they'd bridged the gap between them and allowed themselves to give in to old, long held feelings—they'd been on the ship, or at brief stopovers. It was nice, honestly, training haki with him and enjoying the company of one another while they snuck around the ship itself—but they hadn't had a proper date out even once.
And it seemed that was finally about to change. "You're gonna take me out on a date!?"
She watched the flesh beneath the puckered scar across his face redden.
"Sure. I want to spend some time with you."
Vivi leaned up and stole a kiss from his lips, letting the excitement urge her to be bold as her heart felt.
"Well then—I want to spend time with you too, so let's hit the town!!"
Crocodile leaned down, pressing his lips to hers for a longer, more insistent kiss. "Get ready, doll, it's a hell of a town."
Notes:
And we've got two new crew members!! And a date planned!
Still no devil fruit though...
Chapter 15
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Crocodile was in a good mood. He'd gotten to have a decent, if short, fight. He'd gotten a new crew member. He'd gotten to pay Ace back a little of what he owed the dead man.
And being on Mystoria was intoxicatingly nostalgic. It had practically been his home base in the long-ago past, striking out onto expeditions in the New World and pulling back to enjoy the spoils. Being here really made him feel like a pirate again.
Not some beaten man, or government puppet. A real, proper pirate captain.
A real, proper pirate captain with a very beautiful and excited young lady on his arm. Vivi had done nothing but impress and charm him since she'd turned back up in his life, much like she once had as a vivacious girl back in Alabasta, and he was determined to show her a good time in the pirate life. The last thing he wanted to do was let her down after she took a gamble on him.
Luckily, Mystoria was full of things to see and do, so even if they didn't find a devil fruit lead here (he was very much hoping they would) it still wouldn't be a wasted trip, because it made an excellent place for, as Vivi put it, a date.
It was the kind of island that Crocodile loved.Sheltered away from the ever expanding influence of the World Government it had little in the way of structural technology; no electricity to take for granted here. What little tech there was ran on batteries like a ship, but most of the island used the kind of old solutions that had been around since Crocodile was small.
The dim, misty streets were all lit with oil lamps; there was some poor sod whose job it was to run around and keep them all lit; and it lent the whole island a mysterious, candle-lit glow. Down the streets of the Mystoria Bazaar there were always garlands and signs hung between the lamps, and with the tents and carts and market stalls there was a jolly festival atmosphere that pervaded the area, masking the cut-throat pirate swagger.
Crocodile paused with his hand on Vivi's shoulder as they turned the corner and arrived there. The Bazaar was just as he'd remembered it. Loud and raucous full of shouts and laughs, the occasional scream, and even the noises of animals. It was one of the filthiest, seediest black markets in the Great Blue Sea; the kind of place where anything could be had for a price.
He squeezed Vivi's shoulder, a wide smile across his face. "Watch your purse, Viv. This place puts the Alubarna market to shame."
Vivi couldn't contain her excitement from the very moment the idea of a date came up. She'd spent the time Crocodile was setting things up eagerly bustling around her things until she found a halfway decent dress with a daring neckline, all in charming blue that complimented her hair.
She'd tied her hair back, winding it in a bun with sticks holding it in place and put on makeup for the first time in weeks and weeks on the ship. She felt ready—she felt pretty, and excited and eager to spend a little romantic time with Crocodile somewhere that wasn't the cramped cabins.
As much as she loved the sea, there were experiences you just couldn't have until you made landfall, and her first date with Crocodile was one of them! Her excitement didn't wane as they set out on the town, taking in Mystoria's rustic and chaotic atmosphere as she hung on her date's arm.
It was a fantastic place, untouched by the World Government and their push for modernization and conformity—it was dirty, it was violent and crude—and it was a thousand times more honest than uniform marine port towns.
They reached the bazaar, and Vivi already knew it would be her favorite place…tents, bustling people, laughter and shouts, it was full of unique and interesting items for sale and a sense of lawless excitement abounded. Her head felt on a swivel as she looked this way and that.
Crocodile put his hand heavily on her shoulder and loomed in close, a wide, thin smile across his face. Watch your purse, Viv. This place puts the Alubarna market to shame."
Vivi laughed into her hand. "You say that as if I wasn't one of Alubarna market's greatest thieves!"
His grin widened. "No, I say it knowing that's exactly what you were, doll. Mystoria's one of the gates to the New World. This ain't Paradise."
She bumped him with her hip, her smile blooming across her face. "well..New World or not, I'm not exactly a slouch when it comes to quick fingers or tricky moves."
Crocodile chuckled and patted her shoulder before sliding his hand down to her hip. "Well far be it from me to hold you back. Let's have a good time."
Vivi cooed, leaning into his touch with a smile. She was keen on having as good a time as she could. Even if her pride as a thief and gang member in her youth urged her to maybe try her hand—she held off for now and instead turned her eyes to taking in the sights and sounds of the bazaar.
From stalls selling fried and candied foods, to craftsmen shilling the fruits of their labors; ship's figureheads, furniture—but what Vivi's eyes were drawn to were two stalls in particular.
A jewelry stand, selling lovely necklaces and earrings and bracelets inset with polished stones and jewels, and a weapons stand featuring strange and exotic weapons. She practically leaned over the stand to take it all in.
Crocodile loomed behind her, and she could hear the amusement in his voice. "Big fan of shiny things, doll?"
Vivi flushed, bobbing her head with a wide smile. "Well…who isn't? Don't tell me you forgot how flashy I can be. I threw my slashers straight through your face once, wasn't that a good view of them?"
He rested the curve of his hook on the small of her back. "It was a pretty good look. I suppose you can be a little flashy, doll. You want something?"
She shivered pleasantly, the weight of his hook pressed against her back sending an excited shiver through her body. "I do—I haven't upgraded in forever. And this fine shopkeeper's got some unique pieces for sale…"
"Anything for the beautiful lady," Crocodile teased. "We can go back and look at the jewelry again, too."
"Really?" Vivi grinned at him over her shoulder. "You're a real gentleman, Crocodile! Have I ever told you that?"
Turning her attention back to the stand she looked over the offerings with a soft hum.
"I like spinning weapons, myself….things that do a lot of damage with the way you move them. And I'd like for them to be easy to hide…"
Crocodile listened to her patiently with a big smile on her face, letting her talk about her weapons, and her fighting abilities as they looked over the items on offer. He stood close to her, his body warm, and his eager attention obvious.
Incredibly obvious; she couldn't keep the smile from own her face as she rambled on about hidden blades and acrobatic combat…as well as the aesthetics of appearing unarmed until the last possible moment to get the drop on an enemy.
His attention, the warmth of his body against hers, it was intoxicating. It put her at ease, letting her feel comfortable as she leaned back into the curve of his hook. The warm, fluttering feeling of affection in her chest was almost surprising with how powerfully it was welling up.
She pointed to a couple of interesting items—one of them being an item that looked like a belt of night sky blue and silver metal at first blush, but was actually some sort of sword separated out into sharpened sections that could lash out like a whip on it's retractable wire or snap back together into a surprise blade.
Crocodile's cool hook tickled the back of her neck as he stepped forward to talk to the shopkeeper.
He pointed not just to the sectioned sword, but to all the pieces she'd shown an interest in. "How much for all of 'em?"
Vivi startled, her hand going to her lips as she tilted back to look up at him with a vivid flush. "Crocodile!!! I-isn't that a bit much? Even for your date??"
Despite her protest, she was pleased, REALLY pleased to be doted on so much. How could she not be? It was a far cry from the closed off Crocodile of Alabasta.
He waved his hand dismissively. "If it was too much I wouldn't do it, obviously. Besides, I haven't gotten to spoil somebody like this in a long time. Used to buy Mihawk every sword he looked at for more than three seconds. He never even used the damned thing!"
The image of Mihawk surrounded by swords he never used came to mind, all sort of hung from the walls and in piles around him—and she couldn't help a little giggle.
"Well!! In that case, spoil me to your heart's content, Crocodile." She nudged him playfully with her elbow "I'd say I'm still owed a little spoiling after everything!"
Crocodile chortled and cuffed her gently on the shoulder. "Hold it over my head why don't you, pirate!"
Vivi glowed with a little bit of pride at that. Between the ease in the rapport between them, and the reminder that he—and soon the whole world—saw her as a genuine pirate sent another flutter of excitement through her.
Deal done and new weapons in hand, they continued to poke their way around the bazaar. They waylaid themselves slightly on the way back to the jewelry cart, stopping to listen to a musician who was playing crouched on a stool, careful eye on a hat full of berry.
Vivi could easily see that beneath the musician's jolly, rather audaciously dressed persona, he was armed to the teeth and ready to defend his money from anyone who decided they were going to take it from him.
This was a rough and tumble place, after all,even the musician on the street corner was the type to gut you at a moment's notice if you misbehaved. It was a town of cutthroats, thieves, pirates and grifters. She gave him a little smile of respect as she bobbed her head along with the music, only stopping to toss a handful of berry into the hat.
At the jewelry cart, Crocodile was only slightly less indulgent than he'd been with the weapons. He immediately bought her the bracelet she'd been looking at before, and asked if there was anything else than she had wanted.
She'd hesitated, but he said he wanted to spoil her, didn't he? She pointed to a rather lovely locket inset with sparkling sapphire stones with a sheepish grin. "It caught my eye.."
"No surprise, doll. You have excellent taste."
When it was in their possession, Crocodile held it in his hand and rested the curve of his hook against her throat.
"Turn around."
She swallowed….feeling the hook brush against her throat in a way that sent more excitement through her than fear, and she turned around with a nod of her head.
"Thanks again, Crocodile," she murmured. "This place really is better than the market back in Alabasta."
"Told you," Crocodile purred. She felt the locket dangle against her chest as he slipped it around her throat from behind her. "It's where a lot of pirates come to sell their spoils, eh? Wonder what fancy noble owned this one before you?"
His fingers brushed against her throat as he fastened the necklace for her and the warm scent of his aftershave filled her nose.
She took it in, a deep breath as she eased herself back into a proper snuggle against the larger , older man.
"No wonder their selection is amazing!" She laughed. "I wonder—whoever they were, I doubt they wore it as good as I do. Don't you think so, Crocodile?"
He leaned in and kissed the back of her neck as the locket fell into place. "No one could wear it as well as you do, doll. You look stunning."
She flushed, and brushed her fingers over the surface of the locket, her heart thudding in her chest as she felt her temperature rise.
"Well, Crocodile…I guess we finally match. You're as handsome as a devil today."
"To be honest, I'm feeling especially devilish, too." The pirate captain chuckled deep in his throat, and he tilted her chin up with the crook of his hook, pressing a kiss to her.
Vivi looped her arm around his neck as she leaned up to meet his kiss with eager abandon. The truth was, she felt particularly devilish herself. Far from the respected princess of Alabasta she showed her affection with a passionate and decidedly unchaste kiss in the public market.
She hung arm in arm with him as they swaggered around the bazaar, taking in the sights, trying treats from various booths, and joking back and forth. Crocodile, even more than he was on the ship, was gregarious and outgoing. Quick to make a sly comment, and quick to laugh, at her jokes or his own.
She liked this side of Crocodile. On the ship he was charming enough to ease her from her anger and betrayal into the slow slide of affection—love, even. But here, on the island of Mystoria as they went from place to place and laughed together in the lantern light—that love only grew stronger.
Was this what he was like all along? Under all the pain and hurt that drove him to the tragedies in Alabasta?
It was still on her mind as he was handing her a skewer of glazed meat from a vendor whose smell had drawn them over. They were close to the far side of the bazaar now, and the dim, misty afternoon had given way to a deep twilight.
"How're your feet, doll? Tired of dragging an old man around yet?" He teased her with a big grin on his face.
Vivi took a nibble of the meat with an amused look "I'm still young, I've got all sorts of—"
A sharp cry cut through her answer. A familiar one.
Not a human one.
Loud, distressed quacking was coming from somewhere nearby.
Vivi startled, her eyes widened as she gripped Crocodile's arm.
"....KAROO????" her eyes were on the hunt—trying down her faithful companion.
Crocodile turned along with her, almost as alarmed. "What the hell's your duck doing here?"
Vivi scanned the crowd nearby for her companion and she was rewarded when she zeroed in on a bright flash of yellow.
It wasn't Karoo.
At one of the stalls a little distance away there was a merchant with a whip, struggling with a large and unruly super spot billed duck that was laden down with packs. Even from the distance, Vivi could tell that the creature wasn't well; its feathers were a mix of bright dull.
"Oh no…" Vivi's hand raised to her lips before she pushed her skewer towards Crocodile. "Hold this! I'm going to go DO something about this! The poor thing!"
Crocodile tossed the skewer on the ground, his smile having faded completely. "I'll get you another. I'm coming, too."
Vivi nodded firmly, before jogging towards the merchant with a furious frown on her face. Mistreated, beaten—-sick! Those feathers were a sign of a very poorly cared for bird. For a time, those super spot billed ducks in the palace were the closest things she had to friends outside her retainers and the gang. To see some brute mistreating one brought every ounce of fury to the surface.
She was going to knock his block off; and at the very least make him feel like an absolute heel for his actions when she was done!
The man was snarling at the bird, who was crouching further and further to the ground in distress, quaking and razzing as its feathers pinned. As Vivi got nearer she could see not only were its feathers thin, but the bird itself was under-fed and seriously overladen with cargo.
"You stupid bird," the man hissed. "I ought to roast you and buy a mule instead."
"Maybe you're the one that ought to be roasted, hmm?"
The sharp retort came from low in the back of Crocodile's throat. She hadn't heard that warning tone from him since Alabasta.
It was a tone that she was glad to be on the right side of this time—and to hear it directed at someone worthy of both their ire.
Vivi's hand went to her new belt, her lips set in a firm frown.
"...you're sitting here blaming the bird when you're the one who's put her in this state? You should be the one who's roasted! Then the only 'stupid' one here'll be taken care of."
The man sneered at them. "It's none of your business what I do with my property, is it? Leave me be, unless you have something you want to buy."
A breath of air escaped Crocodile through his nose. "I think you might have something you want to buy, friend."
It was a very dangerous way that Crocodile said 'friend'.
"Eh?" The man squinted at them. "You don't have anything I want."
Crocodile turned his hook in the light. "Your life, perhaps?"
Vivi's fingers trailed along the flat of her belt before she pulled it off in a smooth motion and sent it snapping into rigidity with a tug of the retracting string. "Captain Crocodile's making you a kind offer, you know. I'd take him up on it if I were you."
"A kind offer, ha! More like extortion! I–" The man paused and his face paled. "Did you say Captain Crocodile? As in Sir Crocodile?"
"The very same." Crocodile grabbed the man suddenly, picking him up with his hook as it ripped into the man's shirt, and he put his hand around his neck. "I'm feeling generous today, since I wasn't done with my date. I can take the bird, and go about my business. Or I can take your life, and take your bird, and head back to my ship."
Vivi leaned in with a sharpness to her smile. "...and you should thank your lucky stars, because with the condition that poor bird's in, I'm about three seconds from asking my date here to make an example out of you—but we're both in a good mood."
She tapped the flat of her blade against his leg. "take the offer."
A few other people in the market had stopped to watch, but it seemed to be the 'with popcorn' variety, and not the 'with concern' variety. The man, meanwhile, looked like he was about to piss himself.
"I paid good money for that bird!"
"Funny," Crocodile hissed, as he held him up. Vivi saw the veins in the man's body stand out as Crocodile absorbed some of the moisture from his body. "The way you treat it, it doesn't seem like it's worth more than your life. Or is that of little value to you, too?"
The man wailed. "Take the bird! Take the bird!!"
Vivi snapped her hand, and the sword snapped apart into component pieces again for her to wind around her hip with a smile ."
I think we struck a deal—also, never…ever…mistreat another duck, mule, or whatever you decide to buy next? Got it?" She walked over to the duck and reached slowly down. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you—"
The duck looked up at her with big, warm eyes. It was shaking under her touch, and flinched away as she reached– but didn't do more than that. Super Spotted Ducks were smart, almost as smart as a person. There was every possibility that the duck understood exactly what was going on.
It would be easy to think 'how could someone treat an animal that way' but the truth was that Vivi knew people treated other human beings just the same all too often.
She carefully took the rope.
"Let's get you away from this cruel man—you know we have another duck on the ship? My friend Karoo! I think you'll get along—especially after we clean you up and get you a good meal."
After Vivi had gotten the heavy bags off of the duck and started to lead it away, she saw Crocodile throw the man heavily down on the ground and take his whip, throwing it over his shoulder before he turned his back on him.
With a small smile, she pat the duck's head as they walked away from the stall. "Sorry about that interruption to the date, Crocodile….but I know you weren't happy seeing that any more than I was."
"Men like that give pirates a bad name," Crocodile growled. He glanced over his shoulder just to glare at the man again, before turning away, and putting his arm around Vivi. "Give human beings a bad name, really."
Vivi nodded once, her lips set in a firm frown. "They certainly do. I have to hope he never harms another animal like this poor thing…when we get back we should make sure to give them a good meal and a wash…the state of these feathers speaks volumes."
"I'll say," he grumbled. "I don't know much about birds, but I've seen fruit wani in bad condition like that. I don't like it. Let's get him back to the ship and see if Daz'll clean him up. I'll take you out for dinner after, if you want."
Vivi smiled up at him, nodding her head.
"...I'd like that. It'll help us bounce back from that little encounter huh?" She walked a little closer to him. "Though…there was something appealing about being by the side of an indignantly furious Crocodile…"
Crocodile's smile crawled long across his face for the first time since the encounter. He looked pleased. Maybe even a little smug.
"Oh is that so, doll?"
She bumped her shoulder against him.
"What can I say? You've got a real appealing way about you when you're threatening a man's life." With a giggle, she gave him a sly look "and being on this side of things gave me the chance to really appreciate it."
His grin showed teeth and he pulled her a little closer. "I won't forget you said that, Viv. I love a pirate who likes a thrill."
Maybe it was a little risky to show her danger-loving streak to Crocodile. Maybe it was something she'd have hesitated showing in the past—; but she was a pirate through and through. She couldn't deny that she loved a good thrill—and a little danger—and to her past self's flustered distress….dangerous men.
"You'd best not, Captain Crocodile."
"Bringing in strays left and right today, eh, captain?" Daz laughed when they came aboard with the cautious, bedraggled super duck in tow.
"That's Mystoria for you, Bones," Crocodile chuckled. "Maybe we'll walk away with a full crew, a new ship and a devil fruit, eh?
"We can only hope, huh?" Vivi chuckled into her hand. "Mystoria's turning into a real island of surprises!"
A new crewmate, a new supersonic duck—it really felt like things were changing appreciatively on their journey. Things hadn't been this chaotic since they'd picked up Bentham on Fishman Island.
She looked at the duck with a pang of sympathy. She really did hope that the poor thing could be helped back to prime condition.
"I'll say." Daz nodded and reached over to put a hand on the duck's head. "How'd you pick this one up? She looks like she's in bad shape."
"She really is—" Vivi noticed she was a girl, too, and admittedly wasn't surprised that Daz noticed right away either. The man was an animal lover—she'd known he'd be able to tell at a glance. The feather coloration gave it away easy. "We saw a merchant abusing her, and shook him down until he relinquished ownership."
"That so?" Daz chuckled and looked up at the captain. "Doesn't surprise me at all."
Crocodile waved his hand dismissively, and glanced away. "Maybe the other duck will get off my case now, eh?"
Vivi leaned over towards Crocodile with an amused smirk on her face. "You think you'll distract Karoo from harassing you with the new girl on the ship?"
Crocodile grinned a little bit as he glanced back at her. "It'd distract me, if I were him."
Vivi huffed, shaking her head with a little grin. "Of course it would, Crocodile. Well…I hope for your sake you're right. I've forgiven you—but Karoo loves holding grudges. We can BOTH hope that our new friend distracts him from his vengeance."
His vengeance was mostly pecking Crocodile when he wasn't looking, or squawking disdainfully at him at every opportunity.
"We can hope. At least I know I'm in this one's good graces, eh?"
Vivi headed down to the little stable area that Daz had created for Karoo with him and their new friend while Crocodile waited on the deck.
"Having a hell of a night in Mystoria, eh?" Daz smiled slyly at her.
Vivi flushed, brushing her fingers over the locket around her neck with a shy little smile. "Yeah, it's…well. It's a beautiful night for hitting the town, right?"
"Sure is." He chuckled, and as they approached, Karoo lifted his head and quacked questioningly.
"Hey there, Karoo!" Vivi chirped as she saw him, waving her fingers on her approach. "I brought you a new friend!"
The new duck gave Vivi a hesitant look, and seemed to be curious about Karoo.
For his part, Karoo looked very curious. He used his bill to lift the gate of his stable and meandered out toward them.
Vivi gestured between them "Karoo, this is our new crewmate—Crocodile and I saved her from a nasty pirate. You'll make her feel comfortable, right?"
There was a hesitant moment as Karoo looked questioningly at her. You and Crocodile? Seriously? He seemed to say.
"Oh absolutely!" Vivi reached out to pat his head, before offering her hand to the new duck with a smile "Crocodile's a big softy when it comes to animals , you know."
Karoo gave her a dubious look, and quacked at the new duck.
A little conversation on back and forth quacks and ruffled feathers ensued, the shy duck slowly starting to move closer.
A moment later, Karoo looked at Vivi and gave her an accepting nod. Then he started to groom the other's feathers.
Daz smiled. "Looks like they'll get along. And maybe Karoo even believes you about Crocodile."
"Finally right?" Vivi laughed pleasantly with a nudge of her elbow on Daz's side. "....He really was something out there though. Seeing him get just as upset as I was over the poor girl's plight really…well. It was endearing."
"Believe it or not, the captain has a soft spot for animals, Miss Vivi. And woe betide anyone who crosses him on that."
"Oh I believe it alright," Vivi chuckled softly. "His crocodiles always seemed well taken care of…and he was FURIOUS with that merchant. The two of us taught him a real lesson."
"If he's still alive after that I imagine the only reason was Crocodile thought it would be inconvenient to kill him."
Vivi nodded with a wry smile. "We were in the middle of a crowded market. It would have caused more of a scene."
"Careful, Miss Vivi," he teased with a grin. "There are days the captain enjoys that kind of thing. I have it on good authority he likes the look of a partner covered in someone else's blood."
Vivi brushed her hair over her shoulder with a flush. "...well. He's in luck, I happen to like the same…and I'm not opposed to being covered in someone's blood if it means a shared good time getting it there."
"I can see why the two of you get along. You make a great pirate, Vivi."
Vivi closed her eyes, feeling a swell of pride as she nodded her head. She did make a good pirate—she found that out with her dear friends in the Straw Hats, her crewmates. Anyone with eyes, who really saw HER instead of the princess could see that she made a better pirate than she ever did a princess.
She just had to prove to the people who only saw her past that she was every inch the pirate her wanted poster claimed.
"Thanks Daz."
Crocodile made good on his word to take her out for dinner shortly after that, and they ended up at a handsome, intimate restaurant with some of the beefiest security at the entrance that Vivi had ever seen- literally, the bouncers were twelve foot tall bison minks.
"This is the kind of place where they don't want any trouble," Crocodile chuckled as money changed hands and they were let inside.
There was music piped in, and the dining area was candle lit, each table sheltered behind its own beaded curtains. Crocodile ordered a bottle for the table- whiskey, not wine, because it was after all, still Crocodile. The menu was largely seafood, prepared in a North Blue style that Vivi only recognized thanks to her time with the Straw Hats.
It was the sort of thing Sanji made quite often—and she had to admit she'd really started to crave it over the months. She glanced up at Crocodile as she scanned the menu. "I have to say—this place looks fantastic, Crocodile. Not that everyone's cooking on the ship is bad or anything, but…"
Crocodile grinned and waved his hand. "But it's plain fare, eh? That's what restaurants are for, anyway, doll. To really wow you. I used to know a pirate captain who made cooking his whole thing, but personally, if I was eating like that every day I'd either get tired of it or fat anyway."
He splashed whiskey over the ice in her glass for her, and pushed it toward her.
Vivi tilted her head with a grin as she raised her glass towards him and took a sip.
"...I might know someone like that, Crocodile. The chef of the Straw Hats always cooks up top level dishes whenever he can. He's all about cooking." She winked , leaning on her hand. "but…restaurants have a certain ambiance to them that the ship deck doesn't."
"Straw Hat's got his own personal chef, eh?" Crocodile chuckled and sipped his drink. "Shouldn't surprise me. But you're right. Restaurants are about the ambience. Something a little out of the day-to-day."
Under the table, he pressed his foot against hers.
"I think you know him a little better than you think you do," Vivi giggled with a swell of mischief in her heart. Her foot lightly brushed against his, looking up to meet his eyes with a smile. "But being out like this makes it really feel like a date, Crocodile."
"I sense I'm being teased, Ms. Vivi," he purred, leaning over the table. "But I'll allow it. As long as you're having a good time."
"A little," Vivi's foot brushed against his again as she leaned towards him. "but I'm having one of the best days I've had in a while. I'm hoping we can make it real special…"
In the lantern light of the restaurant, the smell of whiskey between them and the smoke from the other tables filtering through the air—it was a smoky, romantic kind of atmosphere in the midst of the chaotic island of vice and pirates.
She chewed her lip briefly, before taking a sip of her drink. "I haven't been on a date like this in a long while now."
"Let's make it a night to remember, then, eh? Me, you, a little whiskey, a nice dinner. If there's anything more you want, you just say the word, precious."
Crocodile leaned on his hand, looking over the table at her with a soft, almost adoring gaze, the candle light reflected in his dark eyes.
"Let's make it a night to remember," she agreed as she met his eyes. Her heart fluttered, and she felt herself flushing once more as she lowered her glass with a smile. "I don't know how I could forget such a romantic atmosphere, Crocodile—but I can think of a few things to make it even better."
It'd been crashing over her since the night training haki with him in his cramped and intimate quarters—but tonight, looking in his eyes, she knew for certain what the emotion sending butterflies through her stomach was.
Crocodile's grin crawled over his face, long, like the pucker of his scar, and he nudged her foot under the table.
"We've got plenty of privacy here. Feel free to tell me about 'em."
Vivi's foot trailed up his calf, a touch of that impish smile crossing her face as she murmured a reply."
I think the perfect romantic capstone to a night like this would be a little…private haki practice, Sir Crocodile."
She trusted him to get the hint, and he didn't disappoint her.
His smile only widened further.
Notes:
Duckie :3
I had a lot of fun writing Crocodile in the bazaar.
Chapter 16
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Mystoria had been amazing in many ways. It was going to live in her memory forever, a beautifully rough city under the sparkling stars where she had one of the greatest dates of her life. Interesting shops, wonderful food, entertainment, and Sir Crocodile's wonderful company throughout it all.
They'd found new weapons and jewels, as well as friends old and new. The crew grew when they found her old partner and a rogue bounty hunter with ties to Luffy's brother—and not to mention the high speed duck she and Crododile rescued together, as a team. She'd named her Sandora—or Sandy, after the great river back home—a symbol of resilience and bouncing back from drought or—in the duck's case, human adversity. It stood as one excitement after another, in all sorts of ways.
But they hadn't found any devil fruit leads.
Crocodile was tense as they sailed away from the island, his cigar tight between his lips. He took it in his fingers and exhaled a long breath of smoke.
"We're gonna have to go through Doflamingo's guys."
Vivi chewed her lip thoughtfully as she leaned on the bannister of the ship.
"...Doflamingo huh?"
Her brow furrowed slightly. She'd heard of him, somewhat. He was one of the Warlords of the Sea, just like Crocodile had been. He had a fearsome, but strangely companionable reputation in the world. A powerful pirate—but also the king of a peaceful and lively nation.
Crocodile sighed, resting his hand beside hers, the smoke curling up like a curtain between them.
"Nothing for it. His family controls the Devil Fruit trade with an iron fucking fist. If we don't go through them we're gonna be flailing fucking blindly and hoping for a miracle." He paused for a moment and shook his head. "Of course it's gonna be a miracle if we get out of this without a tiff with Doffy…"
She tilted her head to the side, noticing instantly the use of the nickname.
"You two aren't on good terms then? I'm a little surprised. I mean—I was thinking we'd just be able to ask and maybe get a lead on one."
Croc took another puff of his cigar and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Good terms. That's a hell of a question with the pink manchild. We've been off and on 'good terms' for years. We didn't have a great interaction at Marineford because I was in a fucking hurry, and I probably hurt his feelings. Add on to that the fact that he's still officially a Warlord of the Sea and I'm now a wanted criminal again."
Admittedly, that was probably going to be a bit of an issue, yeah. WIth all the fun she'd been having, she'd forgotten that she had no idea how beholden this Doffy guy was to the World Government. Was he like Crocodile, secretly working on his big plan against them, or was he more…content…in his position?. "Ough. Well. I'll make sure I'm ready for a fight then, Crocodile."
"Good, because you're gonna be the one talking to his guys." Crocodile smirked at her and blew a long stream of smoke out from between his lips. "You and Isuka."
Her eyes went wide as she jerked her head up to look at him.
"M-me and Miss Isuka?" She was a bit surprised, admittedly—but at the same time. "Well, I'll certainly do my best. You think they'll…take it better coming from us?"
Crocodile grinned. "Here's the thing. Nobody knows you two are part of my crew yet, so you can deal with 'em without bringing me into it. Hopefully."
Vivi snapped her fingers "...that's a good point, honestly. You don't think him possibly recognizing me as the runaway princess will cause any trouble? He won't uh…try to hand me over for my rather sizable bounty?"
Crocodile's grin widened. "If he does, that's when I'll step in to deal with the chaos. But I don't think he'll recognize you. Especially if you're interested in playing a little disguise dressup."
He had to have already noticed by now—she actually loved playing dressup and disguise. Her grin widened further as she leaned towards him, pressing herself against his arm. "Do go on, Sir Crocodile~."
He slung his arm around her shoulder and started talking. He had a lot to say that she liked.
There were a few long days of sailing between Mystoria and their next stop, and would be between that island and Dressrosa as well. Vivi spent a lot of her time in haki training with Crocodile, and finally she could say that she was making progress.
More times than not, she was able to coat that strange energy around her body in time to dull blows, and keep it up to make a normally painful strike feel like the lightest touch—she'd even been able to extend it to her new belt weapon, making it more effective at disrupting Devil Fruit powers and haki!
More than that—she'd started getting the hang of a little tingle whenever danger came near—she wasn't perfect, and she sure wasn't an expert, but each leap and bound in her training excited her more.
Crocodile seemed more than pleased with her progress, and with his own, and she frequently saw the long grin spreading across his face at the end of their training sessions. And now, per tradition, each session did end with a kiss.
It was perhaps her favorite part of the little ritual they'd started. At the end of every session, celebrating their mutual growth, she'd kiss him with all the passion she had in her. She could tell he loved it as much as she did.
Every now and then it meant that one of their haki sessions rolled into another kind of physical exercise.
Vivi found pretty quickly that she hardly minded a little extra exercise with Crocodile—in fact, she absolutely tried to encourage it whenever possible. After that date, she somehow found herself falling deeper and deeper in love.
At the end of the session on the day they were due to land at the last stop before Dressrosa, his lips lingered on hers for a long moment, and he brushed his fingers through her hair.
"You're pretty brilliant with this stuff, doll." It was unclear, as he grinned, if he meant kissing or haki. Or both, theoretically.
Vivi flushed—perhaps it was both, with the way his smile crawled across his face. She shifted against him, nuzzling her head into his hand with a broad smile of her own.
"And only getting better with practice. I must have a real talent for it, hmm?"
He patted her cheek and chuckled. In his eyes was that deep, almost awed affection again as he looked at her. "I'll say. So hey, are you ready for your disguise makeover? Bentham's been bouncing off the walls about it since I mentioned it."
Vivi's smile bloomed wider as she sat up against him. "Boy am I! I've been curious about it since you mentioned it! I've been dying to see what he's got up his puffy sleeves!"
"Me too. Don't be afraid of a dramatic change, but also, don't let him pressure you into anything you don't wanna do, eh? Like if he says to cut that pretty hair but you don't wanna."
Vivi twisted a lock of her vivid blue hair around her finger, looking at it as it twisted around in contrast to her skin.
"You've got it—I'd rather not lose too much of my hair," she chuckled. "but I'll make sure to say no if anything's too far…"
She always did like disguises. There was something fun about creating a look, and an identity around it—-a whole story in living form. When she'd gotten the chance to make "MIss Wednesday" the former bounty hunter, she'd poured all she could into making sure her cover was good.
And it was FUN. She changed her hair, her mode of dress—she even found things she loved and wanted to continue wearing from the mere experience of it.
That being said, she didn't want to, say, shave her hair off. She was sure she could make it work, but she was fond of her hair—it was a tethering connection to a part of herself that she wanted to distance from but not fully forget. It reminded her of her brother, too, a man she never met but always wished she could follow out onto the great blue sea.
Other than that—she was pretty excited to see what Bentham had planned.
"We could get it dyed," Bentham offered, fluffing his hands gently through Vivi's hair as she stood peering at herself in the shop mirror.
The trip to Redoly Island had been fruitful so far. There didn't seem to be any wanted posters around, and no one had made much of their appearance on the Isle. Bentham had, as promised, whisked her out shopping for a disguise while Captain Crocodile handled resupplying their little ship.
Vivi was all aflutter with excitement—she liked playing 'disguises', and she trusted Bentham's sense of aesthetics enough that she was sure she wouldn't come out of this looking too terribly ridiculous. Her faith had been rewarded. The clothes that had been picked for her disguise were loud and exciting, but not ridiculous.Bentham had explained that they'd be working with the fashion of Dressrosa to help her blend in. A short, flared dress with a bright fruit pattern, a half-length vest, and a feathered scarf.
As she tilted her head, she glanced over the length of her aqua hair.
"That'd be a pretty huge change—do you think it'd look nice? I'm not sure what color I'd go with!"
Bentham made a show of considering it, leaning in and looking at her from all angles as he played with her hair.
"Dark absolutely wouldn't suit you. Pink or blonde, I think."
Vivi turned slowly to give him better angles as she tapped her finger on her chin.
"Pink would be fun! Blonde too—" by now the cat was well and truly out of the bag, especially to someone as perceptive as Bentham, so she didn't hesitate in teasingly asking "which do you think would knock Crocodile's socks off more?"
Bentham grinned and slipped his arm around her shoulder, leaning in conspiratorially. "Ohoho, not only concerned about the disguise, hmmm?"
Vivi flushed, looking at him over her shoulder with a broad and confident grin. "Well—the hair's going to stick around even outside of the disguise, so It's worth considering ,no?"
"Well, there *are* less permanent dyes, you know," he cooed. "But it sounds like you're interested in a change. Something to knock Croco-babe's socks off."
Vivi tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Maybe a bit…if nothing else it'll keep the bounty hunters off my butt for a while?"
A change—it'd been a long, long time since she made much of a change to her look. Outside of changing how she wore it as Miss Wednesday, of course. It was an exciting—if mildly nerve wracking—prospect.
He wagged his finger at her, smiling wide. "Ahh, Miss Wednesday, you don't need to explain yourself to me. You must go where the passion takes you! As for which color, I think pink would show you off best."
"Then pink it'll be!" she perked up with her hands on her hips. "Can you imagine the look on Crocodile's face when he sees it??"
Bentham pulled her close, pressing his hands together gleefully. "Darling, I can see it now!"
"That's a hell of a color on you."
Crocodile's cigar had nearly fallen out of his mouth, and his gaze was fixed on her as she made her entrance. After the shopping, Bentham had spoiled her with spa time along with the salon.
She was sure she was absolutely sparkling—she felt cleaner than she had in months and months—and in her new outfit , with her new and VERY pink dyed hair—it was no wonder that Crocodile looked like he'd been thrown for a loop.
She leaned forward, catching sight of a few of the strands as they fell over her forehead and into her eyes. "Do you like it? Bentham suggested it and I thought 'that'll be FUN to try', you know?"
Crocodile fixed his cigar and took a long, slow puff of it. By now she was adept enough at reading his moods to tell that she'd managed to fluster him.
He blew out a long stream of smoke and grinned. "Looks good on you."
She flushed happily, her smile only growing. If she flustered him—it meant he liked it. She twirled a lock of the pink hair around her finger before leaning closer.
"Think anyone'll notice I'm a runaway former princess turned notorious pirate?"
"Not if we're lucky," he chuckled. "If we're lucky, whoever you meet with will be too wowed by your looks to notice anyway. Donquixotes are easy to distract like that."
"That'd be a lucky break, huh?" She smoothed out the dress with a low chuckle. "They're easy to distract, huh? I'll still try not to take 'em lightly!"
"Good." He took another puff off his cigar before offering it toward her.The now quite familiar scent of the cigar's smoke washed over her as she took the cigar and put it to her lips. At this point, it reminded her of him in a very pleasing way—and the taste of the cigar smoke washed over her as she took a soft pull of it into her mouth. It was a sign of their connection for him to offer it to her so often nowadays. "The Donquixotes are friendly, flirty. But they're no fucking joke."
She nodded, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "That's true, they're not. But I promise I'll take this seriously , even if I try to follow their pace!"
Getting close to their contact, buttering them up, and getting a lead on a devil fruit with their stores of capital on offer to seal the deal, it was a pretty simple mission, provided she and Crocodile weren't sniffed out. If they were—well—Crocodile had told her just how ruthless the Family could be.
Crocodile nodded. "I wouldn't give you this mission if I didn't think you could handle it, Viv."
Vivi took another puff off the cigar as she leaned towards him.
"Don't worry, Crocodile. I won't let you down." She winked up at him with a half smile. "You know me—I'm a people person. They're gonna love me."
The first thing that Vivi noticed about Dressrosa, even before they landed was the smell of it on the wind. It was heady and perfumed, like flowers in bloom, with a rich undercurrent that developed more heavily as they went ashore.
It was her, Isuka, and Bentham.
Vivi couldn't help but take in the scent of the city—feeling a glow of warmth at the scent of flowers on the wind as she tucked her pink-dyed hair over her ear. She felt only a little tense—hoping the exciting sights, smells and sounds of Dressrosa would loosen her up a little as she walked ashore.
Isuka followed casually behind, her hands hooked in her pockets as she looked around. She'd donned a rather flashy and loud tropical plant print overshirt open over a tank top and canary yellow pants, and a stylish pale hat worn low over her sunglasses and eyes—as she often seemed to, her burn scars were all covered with bandages, on her hands, face and partially exposed shoulder.
She seemed more on edge than Vivi—maybe because of her history as a marine?
"Just follow my lead, girls," Bentham cooed. "Our first task is to set up the meeting."
He was completely unrecognizable at the moment, wearing the face of someone that Vivi had never seen before. A rather fine featured, yet masculine face with a thin mustache and a strong build. Like Vivi and Isuka, he was dressed in the style of Dressrosa.
Isuka tipped up her hat with a thin smile and a nod.
"Lead the way, Benny." she glanced off to the side. "Still, this is a hell of a place, isn't it?"
VIvi had to agree—houses in every color of the rainbow, handsome clay-tile roofs and a hustle and bustle that almost put her hometown to shame. Everywhere she looked there were food stalls, laughing people, dancers—and even stranger sights!
"It's beautiful," she mused, "it's a shame we probably can't stay for too long!"
"It is a shame," Bentham agreed. "Dressrosa's always been quite the party town, and even more since Doffy took over ten years ago. But I'm sure we'll have a chance to come back– that is as long as Croco-babe's little tiff doesn't get any bigger."
"What happened between them anyway?" Isuka asked with a soft huff of breath. "They seemed thick as thieves back during the warlord days. At least that's what the rumor in the rank and file was."
Vivi folded her arms behind her back as she spun to take in the city again , keeping pace with her companions as she did "Well…I hope their tiff eases off, so we can have a little fun before we go!"
Bentham giggled. "Oh so there were rumors in the ranks, hmm? Croco-babe wouldn't be happy to hear that, but Doffy probably would. They were an item, but between you and me, Croco-babe always considered Doflamingo a rebound."
"I promise I won't tell Crocodile then. "Isuka snickered as she tipped up her hat with a half smile "...a rebound, huh? Color me curious."
Vivi walked a little closer to Bentham with a tilt of her head. "oh dear, he did huh? No wonder he's so cagey about the idea of seeing him…"
"Did he mention anything to you about what happened between them on Marineford?"
Shaking her head, Vivi walked even closer to Bentham "no, so you've gotta tell me! For the mission if nothing else!"
Isuka chuckled, shaking her head. "not a word, but then again—I'm still pretty new to your outfit, sir."
Bentham touched his fingers to his lips, pausing at the mouth of an alleyway. "Welllll, I only got the details myself from Daz-babe, so it's second hand gossip, but apparently they very much had a falling out. Doffy approached him for a battlefield alliance, and Croco-babe shot him down."
Vivi hissed a breath through he teeth. "No wonder he thinks Doffy's gonna be pissed at him."
Yeah, it was probably for the best that she was being sent, even with the risk of someone shipping her back to Alabasta for the reward.
Isuka snorted softly under her breath "a fight over a spurned alliance during Marineford. Heh. I see."
"Mmmhmmm. And I'm sure the captain would say he had his reasons, but Doflamingo is not a man who, shall we say, takes rejection well."
Vivi rubbed her arm nervously "that…makes sense. I mean, I guess I can understand being in that situation and feeling hurt by it. Hopefully he doesn't catch wind of who we're working for and decide to …I dunno, string me up outside his palace or something."
"Don't worry, I'll cut ya down if he does." Isuka brushed her fingertips over the hilt of her rapier with a thin smile. "Then we'll book it out of here together."
Bentham chuckled. "In any case, we'll have a few guardian angels looking out for us. But stay on your toes, dearies."
To emphasize the point, he stood 'en pointe' on his own toes, winking melodramtically.
Vivi attempted to do the same—but when she got to her tip toes she wobbled with a laugh. "You got it, Bentham. I won't even stumble!"
This was going to be either a tense and diplomatic affair , walking on the tightrope of truth the entire time—or a walk in the park. Who knew which way the dice would fall.
Notes:
Chapter length got a bit out of control for a while. Trying to dial it back a little.
Chapter 17
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vivi got her first taste of the beautiful and exciting island of Dressrosa while they searched to make contact with the Donquixote family's 'unofficial' side of business. They ducked into bars and outdoor cafes, and Bentham chatted the right people up while Vivi and Isuka 'looked striking and tough' as he put it when they were out of earshot.
It was a vivid land of bright colors, swirling fabrics and the scent of flowers and spicy food on the wind. It was hard not to dance along with the beat of the roadside bands as she kept her tough girl persona going strong, and it was impossible not to smile a little when she saw the way the locals interacted with the strange living toys here and there.
It was such a vibrant place— as full of sin as it was full of excitement and celebration. Pretty much everywhere she looked, she saw smiling faces and fashion she couldn't wait to try on, and take with her on the open sea. As she walked alongside Isuka and Bentham. She was certain that Zala would absolutely love this place—it was a shame they were only here a little while,and incognito at that.
Eventually, in a shady gambling bar, they made contact with the right person.
"Devil fruits are high level stuff," the stocky, grizzled looking minion leered. "You're gonna have to get vetted by the right people first."
"We'd be happy to," Bentham purred. "We know how sensitive these things can be. Let me thank you for your help. Miss Valerie?"
'Valerie' was Vivi's current incognito identity, and she was the one holding the purse Crocodile had given them for the encounter.
Vivi gave the man a thin, and she hoped dangerous, smile as she lifted the purse and opened it up to rustle for the pre-arranged bundle of berry to grease the wheels of this sort of thing. "As thanks."
The thug grinned, a wide, unctuous grin and accepted the stack, tucking it away into a pack on his belt.. "I see you all understand how we do things around here. Be here tonight at midnight. I'll make sure you get a meeting with somebody in the family."
"Somebody who can vet us for the family?" Bentham pressed.
"Donno, gotta see about that," the thug shrugged. "Might take a few meetings before you can get vetted. But hey, I'm sure you'll make an impression."
Isuka huffed softly through her nose, but nodded firmly as she pushed her hair out of her face with a half smile—she was wearing a larger bandage on her face, and gloves to hide the burn scars from view today.
Vivi refastened the purse and placed it back on her lap with a sidelong glance at Bentham. She could only hope it was a good enough impression to get what they wanted without any danger of…complications.
Crocodile had certainly been worried about those. It seemed the Donquixotes cultivated complications like Dressrosa cultivated its stunning flowers.
Bentham smiled, and it was his usual, glowing, practiced smile. "Well, we'll be here at midnight in any case, won't we, ladies?"
The three of them left the bar, and Vivi knew that both Bentham and Isuka were alert to if they were being followed. Crocodile had told them that it was possible, if not likely, that someone would keep an eye on them, so they shouldn't break character unless they were sure it wasn't the case.
Vivi reached into her pack for a cigarette—it wasn't nearly as nice as sharing a cigar with Crocodile, but it lent itself to the image as she lit up with a soft huff of breath. "Dressrosa's a hell of a city."
Isuka nodded once, glancing briefly over her shoulder. "Sure is. It's got one of the biggest tourism industries in Paradise."
"They say you can buy anything here for a price, let's hope we haven't wasted our money," Bentham purred. "How about we get some lunch and then do some shopping?"
For a moment it was a surprising suggestion, but even if they were being followed, wasn't that exactly what anyone else would do in the situation?
Vivi had a hard time keeping her usual excitement from leaking out—so she channeled it all into her winning smile. "Sounds like a blast to me!"
Isuka placed her fingers to her chin "...I have been wanting a new sword."
Crocodile was brooding in the galley, puffing on his cigars and fretting over the whole operation. He'd been below deck since they'd approached the island. Doffy had all kinds of guys with all kinds of powers - he didn't want to chance being seen or detected somehow. When they'd pulled into the harbor, he'd given Miss Marrianne the duty of playing the role of ship's captain, being absolutely certain that no one could connect her to his own organization or crew.
That had been hours ago. Now he could only sit and wait for news on Vivi, Bentham and Isuka's mission. News he didn't expect to hear anything about for quite some time.
The swift series of knocks on the door snapped him enough out of his brooding for the moment to notice the figure already peeking through the crack—Marianne.
"'Captain' Marianne," he drawled teasingly, turning his chair to face her and saluting her with his cigar. He was happy for the distraction, whatever it was– though he hoped it wasn't trouble.
"If I'm the captain, are you the cabin boy?" Marianne's quiet, deadpan voice came only a moment before she walked in with an expression that was very nearly a smile.
Crocodile scoffed at the comment, and shook his head, a long, toothy grin on his face. With the way she was joking it was unlikely that there was a serious situation.
He patted the table with his hook, a knocking sound ringing out from the rough wood. "I was hoping for a little better position, but hey, you're the 'captain'. C'mon, sit down."
Marianne looked from the table, to the chairs—before she attempted to scrabble her way onto his lap. At least she was pretty light. "Thanks for the offer. For that I'm promoting you to first mate. Sorry to Zala, now she's gotta swab the deck."
Crocodile laughed roughly and put his arm around Marianne as she scrambled up on him, her light weight a comfort to his nerves. "Oh I'm sure she'll be thrilled but that's the way the cookie crumbs, eh, cap? So, anything your ol' 'first mate' needs to know about, or is this a social call?"
"The most dire thing of all happened, I'm afraid." Marianne looked up at him with her large and uncanny eyes, "I got bored."
That got another laugh out of him and he shook his head, taking a puff off his cigar for a moment. "Well, that makes two of us, cap. I was just sitting here working myself into knots over the mission. Bet we can come up with something better, between us."
Marianne smiled a little wider for a moment before she nodded "I was going to set up my art supplies, but I thought maybe it'd catch too much attention. So I came down here. I think we can figure something out."
She reached up and poked his nose. "Don't want my first mate getting worked up in knots."
He gave her a dubious look for a moment, as if he was going to protest at the touch, but didn't. "Good. What's the situation like up on deck?"
She seemed to be enjoying the play-acted power reversal at least…she started swaying her feet back and forth. "People are getting a little antsy. Zala kept wanting to go out and experience the town, but we've calmed her down. Nine—Sid, is helping with some of the minor repairs to the ship along with Daz."
"Glad to hear he's pulling his weight, cap," Crocodile snickered. Nine had always been a rather dubious inclusion in his top ranks, pulling his weight almost through sheer charisma more than anything else. Crocodile was surprised, but rather gratified, to have him back.
"He sure is—I wasn't sure what to make of him at first. I didn't work with him often, but he seems like a pretty good guy." Marianne nodded once. "Glad I made the decision to take him back in. As captain."
"As captain," he chuckled. Honestly, he didn't doubt that Marianne could be a captain if she wanted to be. He was glad to have her on his team.
He still couldn't believe how old she was though. It threw him off every time he thought about it.
She was still looking up at him with her large, dark eyes. She really did look very youthful—round face, freckles, a very slight frame—but she was really in her twenties. She'd explained it as a history of malnutrition stunting her growth—and some of it probably came down to just genetics too.
"Berry for your thoughts, sir?"
He waved his hand. "Just funny how you and Viv are the same age, is all. Wouldn't guess it, eh?"
"Because I'm so much shorter than her?" Marianne asked. "or is it 'cause I'm not as…"
She trailed off, but demonstrated what she meant rather effectively with the arc motion over her chest.
Crocodile felt his face heat a little, despite his long years and gregarious nature. He didn't like to compare ladies' figures - that was the kind of thing that got you in trouble no matter what you said.
Still, Marianne was right, Vivi was absolutely stacked, and she was… not.
He puffed his cigar and stalled for time while he formulated his response.
"You just have a youthful way about you, cap."
Thinking about Vivi had gotten him worrying about her again though, and that was no good. He wrapped his arm around Marianne and picked her up as he stood. "I'm gonna make some coffee for us, how's that sound?"
She squeaked, not unlike some kind of small rodent, as she pressed to him in response to being picked up.
"sounds great to me, sir." It was followed by her quiet, hissing chuckle "and don't worry. I don't mind being called youthful—I'm just small."
"Well… good. Heh, you let me know if you ever wanna get bigger though. We'll find some way to make it happen, eh?"
Crocodile remembered when he was a kid, being a little bastard instead of a big one. Frankly, he preferred being big, even if he was outclassed by people like Doffy and his huge family.
"I can't say I wouldn't mind being a little taller, or more…Vivi-ish. I could reach things on high shelves.." Marianne's deadpan train of thought went. "Though it is funny watching people react to my age."
"I'll bet," he snorted, setting her down on the counter as he searched for where Daz kept the coffee supplies. He was usually the one who was using them, and he had his own way of doing things. "But I'm sure it can be a pain in the ass, too, people condescending to you."
That was one of the things that Crocodile couldn't stand.
Marianne went quiet for a second, a faraway look in her dark eyes as she chewed on her forefinger. After a moment, she nodded.
"People tend to do that a lot, yeah…usually Galdino would help set them straight while we were working together, but people tended to talk down to me."
She laughed quietly "...even the Straw Hats treated me like a kid when we were trying to kill 'em. And before I got the Baroque Works job, when I was working as a street artist and criminal for hire, it was even worse."
"Glad Galdino had your back at least. Not surprised about the Straw Hats. Not an ounce of respect in any one of 'em. Heh." He almost admired that about them, but still it was the principle of the thing. "Well. I won't be tolerating anybody talking down to my crew, you know that, eh?"
Marianne's subtle smile came back to her face. "Understood, Captain—that's one of the reasons you've got my loyalty for life—whether you help me look like a chesty princess or not."
Crocodile barked a sharp huff of laughter and shook his head. Marianne's dry wit almost reminded him of Mihawk's sometime.
It was nice. Letting himself be close with his crew again. It was perhaps the best thing that had happened to him in more than a decade.
"I'll put some feelers out on that front, Marianne. I've got a few leads. Now, where the hell are those beans?"
The shopping in Dressrosa couldn't help but be fun; taking time to see the sights, and listen to some of the street musicians they'd been too busy for before setting up the meeting. It became obvious, though, after their third or fourth stop that they were in fact being followed.
Vivi and Isuka hadn't given up the act—which was good on account of their tail—so they were probably fine, broadly speaking. But it did give Vivi the chills. It was natural of the criminal syndicate to be wary of someone coming around asking about the Grand Line's most illicit commodity, but it didn't make it any more comfortable.
So she'd allowed herself to enjoy the shopping as much as she could instead of worrying about them—even if she was taking mental note of the various faces picked out of the crowd she was sure were part of their 'observation'.
Isuka had found a new sword, which she seemed rather proud about—and Vivi had purchased a few Dressrosan dresses and some loud and flashy animal print clothes she was sure Crocodile would either be embarrassed or delighted to see her in. All the while she tried to still come across as at least a little imposing.
The last thing she wanted to do was be jumped, and her clanging nerves kept yelling that was exactly what was just moments from happening.
Even with her nerves up, Vivi wasn't sure the exact moment that she lost track of their tail. But she definitely noticed when Bentham put a hand on her back while they were browsing the latest open air market.
"Let's get some fresh air." The expression on his borrowed face, which she'd become accustomed to in the last few hours, was smiling, but unreadable beyond that. Bentham was a hell of an actor.
Vivi nodded her head—honestly, Bentham's acting ability was second to none. She took a deep breath before she smiled as best she could back. "Sounds good, this place is a little crowded."
It took a while for them to extricate themselves from the crowded city streets, out to the very edge of the city. They passed more sights, little cafes, and the long 'insula' apartments where dozens of people lived in rented rooms. The further they went, the less the press of bodies became, until they finally came to an old, nearly empty square with a fountain at the center of it.
It felt enough like they'd gotten a little breathing room out here that Vivi let herself sit at the edge of the fountain with a deep breath of the uncongested air.
Isuka stopped, scooping some water to splash on her face before she glanced over at Bentham. "Scenic area, huh?"
"Very," Bentham agreed. His smile hooked slightly at the edge, and it seemed more genuine on his face than any she'd see yet today. "Better yet, it proves they stopped tailing us. I thought it was the case, but you know I had to be sure."
Vivi sighed with relief. "Thankfully. I was starting to feel a little nervy with the way they were staring."
WIth a pleasant laugh, the former marine bounty hunter nudged her arm. "Not a fan of all the attention, eh?"
"Not everyone was built for such a long bout of theater, but you did great, Vivi-babe!" Bentham looped his arm around her shoulders, leaning against her in that already familiar way. He really seemed to treat everyone like he was flirting with them, all the time. "Now, why don't we go report back, hmm? I'm sure Croco-babe is pining."
Vivi flushed, wedged between Isuka and Bentham now as she leaned into the handsome shapeshifter. "You think so? I mean…I did my best! But I'm certain that Crocodile's pining—real bad."
"He does seem the type," Isuka mused "so why don't we take care of that? He'll wanna hear how it went, too."
"And strategize for the meeting tonight," Bentham nodded, even as he remained draped over her. "So let's not keep him waiting, girls."
Notes:
It's a shorter chapter, but it's still a chapter, and I'm happy with that. And there are more on the way!
Chapter 18
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Vivi stayed in the captain's quarters after the three of them were done meaning their report. Crocodile was on edge– of course he was on edge– but honestly, he seemed more relaxed than she had expected.
"This kind of thing is typical with the Donquixotes," Crocodile assured her again after Bentham and Isuka had headed out. It was the same thing he'd said when they'd first told him about the meeting. "They'll probably bounce you around to at least three different family members before they'll sell you anything."
Vivi tucked her hair over her ear, still somewhat surprised by the pink in her periphery as she gave him a small smile.
"...is it because they're a bit cautious?"
It made sense. They were pretending to be formally allied with the World Government. Any criminal business would have to be properly vetted to make sure they weren't some kind of agent there to gather dirt—or an enemy looking to screw them over.
"You could say that," Crocodile drawled. Vivi watched as he pulled out a fresh cigar, slicing off the end and lighting it with a thoughtful puff. "Doflamingo's… let's say 'advisor'... is a paranoid fuck for one thing. Can't really blame him, though. They've still got their fingers in pies they're not supposed to be in, with Doffy's position as Warlord."
"That's exactly what I was just thinking—" Vivi put her finger to her cheek in thought. "...that they want to make sure this isn't some kinda marine sting to catch them misbehaving."
She hesitated for a moment, turning it over before she tilted her head. "His 'advisor'? He's got an advisor, too?"
"Technically he's got a pack of 'em," Crocodile grumbled. He took another short puff, before handing Vivi his cigar. As he breathed out, he sighed. "His 'executives'. They've been together who knows how fucking long. Trebol's the only one who'd call himself an 'advisor', though. He's the one you'll have to deal with once you get up the chain. If we're unlucky, anyway."
Vivi took the cigar with a thankful bob of her head, and let herself slide until she was leaning on his arm before she took a puff off of it. Familiar, by now—it was a familiar and comfortable feeling as she took the smoke in and blew it out. "Is he the type to ah…cause us particular trouble? If he finds out who I really am?"
Crocodile shook his head. "Unfortunately, I can't predict what he'd do. The man thrives on order for himself, and chaos for everyone else. He might think it was hilarious and want to help you, or he might sell you out to the marines to benefit some scheme or another he's cooking. It's best if we try to keep him from finding out. It shouldn't be that hard anyway, his eyesight's dogshit."
Vivi took another puff, holding the smoke for a moment before handing it back to Crocodile "that's a point in our favor then. The last thing I wanna do is stir the pot or be unwittingly used as part of another political game. I'm done being a pawn for that kind of thing, and if they try, I'm not going to go quietly..."
Crocodile snorted, taking the cigar back and letting it pool smoke into the air for a moment.
"Between the two of us, we'd cause enough hell for a worldwide incident if he tried something like that, doll," he drawled. But there was that small furrow between his eyebrows again. Despite his flippant remark, Crocodile was worried about her. "But hopefully it'll all go smooth as can be, and I won't have to go in there and cash in all my chips at once."
Vivi leaned up, planting a kiss against the curve of his jaw with a smile.
"You know I can handle myself alright. And worse comes to worse, I'll use the best weapon I've got." She winked playfully, her smile crawling wider on her face. "My charm!"
The remark didn't unknot the furrow in his brow, but he did smile wide, and sling his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "Viv, you've got enough charm for a whole army, so there's that, for sure."
Even with all the time she spent with Crocodile, there was still a lot of time before the appointed meeting, and Vivi found herself down at Karoo's paddock. Which wasn't so empty any more, now that they had Sandy there too. Since they'd left Mystoria, the skittish girl duck seemed to be making a full recovery, already looking fatter, and glossier.
"Hey Karoo! Hey Sandy!" Vivi cooed as she leaned on the railing of the paddock, her smile wide "recognize me?"
It brought a smile to her face to see her healing up well. It was enough to tamp down the lingering anger she'd felt at her treatment—at the way that man was failing to care for her and treating her like some kind of burden he could work till she died.
Sandy was still skittish, and backed slightly away from her as she came near. But Karoo nuzzled her, and there were a few low quacks exchanged, and slowly, carefully, Sandy extended her head toward Vivi.
Vivi reached out carefully, to not startle her, and rustled her fingers through her feathers with a quiet chuckle. "Have you two been getting along? Karoo, you're being nice to her, right?"
Karoo gave her a dubious look, bill hanging open as if to say 'really? you have to ask?'
Despite her initial skittishness, Sandy made a soft noise as Vivi stroked her feathers.
"Well I had to ask!" Vivi laughed, scritching the top of her head some more. "You guys are missing a really weird adventure up there, you know.."
Karoo lowered his head curiously. Weird adventures? That he was missing out on?
"Sadly!" Vivi emphasised. "But it's not all excitement and action. Mostly a lot of walking around pretending to be people we aren't and getting followed by Donquixote spies."
Karoo quacked in indignance and gently headbutted the paddock. The message was clear - let him out of there, and he'd deal with any spies!
"Don't worry! They're already gone!" she leaned over to pet the top of his head. "But I know you'd chase them all over the city for me, Karoo. You've always had my back like that…I appreciate it, you know?"
He gave her a big, wide eyed look. He'd been mad at her over the whole Crocodile thing - there wasn't any doubt about that - but it seemed like he was coming around. A little, anyway.
Vivi smiled sheepishly. She knew he'd forgive her eventually—but she certainly couldn't blame him for being a little upset. "I mean it. And if anything happens out there, I'm counting on Crocodile to let you out so you can swoop to my rescue, ok?"
Karoo straightened up at that - the closest thing the duck could get to a salute. She knew he'd be counting on it, too.
Vivi grinned "good, Karoo–and in the meantime, make sure Sandy here feels nice and comfortable alright? Treat her right!"
It made her laugh to tease him a bit—just like when she was younger. Karoo had been her friend and companion since she was a little girl. Even if he could be a little stubborn and grumpy, there were few from back home she could trust half as much as Karoo to have her back no matter what.
Even as much of a bundle of nerves as she'd been since this operation started–-talking to him couldn't help but calm her down.
Vivi, or rather 'Valerie', stood outside the bar they'd been to that morning, once more with Isuka, and Bentham in his disguise. When they'd first been there, the Dressrosan sun was high in the sky. Now there was only moonlight, and the vast array of stars that dotted the heavens, only slightly dimmed by the lights of the Dressrosan nightlife.
There seemed to be shadows everywhere, as they stood outside, readying themselves for the meeting. Crocodile had briefed them on the family members that they might encounter, but he'd had to admit, that he didn't know exactly who Doflamingo might have sent.
'If it's the man himself, try to signal me,' Crocodile had said. 'That'll mean something's wrong.'
'Valerie' lit up a cigarette under the bright moonlight, looking up at the sky with a quiet exhale. Isuka reached over, casually taking one from the pack with a murmured 'thanks'.
"I wonder…" she murmured quietly. "Are they gonna keep us waiting out here long?" The scent of some bakery's preparations for the next day was on the wind, but by now—with the sun down—for some reason all the toys had vanished from the streets.
Bentham looked like he was about to answer, when someone poked their head out of the door of the bar.
"Now, don't let us hurt your feelings," a voice drawled. "We were just getting set up for you. This place is a mess at the end of the night."
The figure who loomed in the doorway was hugely tall– almost twice Crocodile's height, and built like some kind of scarecrow, with a broad brimmed hat perched jauntily on top of his head.
Vivi stiffened, her lips parting in a smothered gasp before she bowed her head with a tight smile ."My feelings aren't hurt, I was just curious."
He was massive—Vivi wasn't sure she'd ever seen someone so huge. So absolutely intimidating in sheer sense of scale. She knew people like that existed, sure, but seeing someone in person was completely different.
"It's nice to meet you."
Isuka looked up at him, her face hidden by the trailing smoke of her cigarette. "You're a real big motherfucker, aren't ya?"
"Aw, don't say that, I'm not exclusive to mothers." The man guffawed and slapped his knee, clearly pleased with his own joke.
Bentham took the opening to flirt. "Good to know - you know what they say about big men, don't you?" He shot Isuka and Vivi a suggestive look.
Vivi flushed, before snuffing her cigarette with a teasing grin as she joked back. "Big appetites?" .Isuka was a lot less subtle though. She pulled the cigarette from her lips with a sharp grin on her face as her dark burgundy eyes flicked over him. "Don't need an old saying to see what he's got, sir—I'll remember that."
The man guffawed again, and waved them inside with a wide grin. "C'mon, we can talk about that later, we better get down to business."
Vivi took a soft breath before stepping through the threshold inside—with her 'tough girl' persona projected out with her long-practiced charm, she followed the large man into the tavern door.
Every step, she reminded herself of just how strong she was—how much of a real pirate she could be. No matter what happened, she'd handle it. Her devil fruit was on the line, after all. For Sir Crocodile, and for herself.
As Daz handed the binoculars to Zala, she could see that his jaw was set tightly.
"That's Mr. Diamante."
Zala squinted through the lenses as she leaned on her hand, sizing up the tall and gangly man with a low whistle under her breath. "...pretty big guy, ain't he? He makes the lot of Baroque Works look like fuckin' ants."
She'd heard rumors that the Donquixotes were on a whole other scale—but this was ridiculous. And if the rumors were true, people only got bigger the deeper you got into the Grand Line's second half.
"Hard to believe they're not even the hugest pirates on the sea."
"Seems like most of the Donquixotes run large," Daz grumbled. "Especially the higher ups. Diamante's one of the executives according to the Captain."
"I remember that from the briefing," Zala huffed through her nose. "...I'm not gonna lie, I'm surprised they sent an executive to meet them before sending another one of their middle-men. Think they suspect something?"
She tried to keep it casual, but the nerves were already starting to send a little prickle of her power through her, sharpening into points up and down her arm as she frowned deeper. Sending one of their big guns instead of one of their agents in the 'armies' they divided into—it was something to consider.
Daz' slow nod betrayed that he was feeling the same way. "I don't like it. I'll hold the fort here. I want you to go back and report to the captain."
Zala stood nodded, taking the moment to kiss his cheek on the way up—just a little something for the nerves. His and hers. She shook her arm until the spikes receded and smiled down at him. "I'll be back. If anything pops off, call me. I'll come running and give them hell."
Daz smiled after her and nodded– but as she turned to leave, she watched one of his arms turn into a blade.
Just in case.
The bar was very different tonight than it had been during the day.
Cleaner, for one thing. The man, who had introduced himself as Diamante, hadn't been lying about that. The place was freshly scrubbed and smelled of soap and perfume instead of stale beer, fried food, and sweat.
It was also much emptier. There were perhaps ten people present, and Vivi started to get a prickling sensation up the back of her neck when she realized that, like Diamante once he'd introduced himself, she recognized a lot of them from Crocodile's descriptions.
These weren't usual patrons out for the night life. This was a bar, freshly cleaned and prepared and stacked to the gills with high ranking members of the Donquixote family.
It took all she had to stifle a shiver as she brushed her hair over her ear. This was maybe the most dangerous place in Dressrosa at the moment—and they were right in the thick of it. "It's like night and day, this place is practically sparkling!"
Isuka nodded, rubbing one of her bandages lightly as she looked around. "And you can actually move around in it."
"Told you we were sprucing it up a bit," Diamante chuckled. "Can't have the place a mess for guests."
A titter of laughter moved through the assembled Donquixotes.
The gambling table had been cleared off, and that was where the three of them were being led. There were several enormous chairs arranged around it - and some regular sized ones, too. But the most troubling one was the extra large chair at the head of the table, that was facing away from them as they approached.
Vivi felt the sting of fear only grow worse as she kept her smile on her face. The large chair—theatrically turned away from them.
There was little doubt in her mind who might be in it. The worst case scenario—Doflamingo Donquixote.
Her hands folded behind her back, carefully hooking around her belt in an innocuous movement people would only see as 'a girl looking for where to put her hands' instead of 'getting ready to defend herself with a concealed weapon if someone tried to drag her back to her father—or worse.
"You're a very polite man," Isuka said low under her breath as she looked around. "Looks like there's a few very polite men about, too. If I'd known it'd be a crowd I'd have primped up a little more. I feel dowdy."
"Same here," Bentham cooed. He was an excellent actor, but Vivi could tell that he too, was rattled.
"Aw, don't mind about that, it's just a business meeting," Diamante chuckled. "Come on and have a seat."
"Yes, please do sit down," another voice purred - from behind the new chair. "I'm eager to get this meeting started."
As Vivi was moving to sit down, the chair turned smoothly. By this point she was hardly surprised, but a shock still ran through her veins. Sitting casual and cross legged in the chair was a large, and limber man with a shock of blond hair, a pair of pointed sunglasses, and an enormous pink feathered coat.
Doflamingo.
Vivi's heart nearly stopped, her fingers squeezing against the edge of her belt as she stared him down.
"Doflamingo Donquixote—I…didn't expect we'd have the pleasure of meeting you directly."
Hells. She couldn't sound more strangled if she tried—all her charm, her practice acting—and she still couldn't say his name as more than a shaking whisper.
Isuka's smile grew tight as she held her hands up. "Guess we're in for one hell of a meeting. Pleasure to meet you, sir."
Doflamingo chuckled low in his throat and swung his feet up on the table. Vivi couldn't see his eyes, but despite that she knew that the glittering lenses of his sunglasses were fixed directly on her.
"The pleasure's all mine. And what interesting guests I have, don't I? An ex-marine. A shapeshifter. And the runaway princess of Alabasta."
Dimly, Vivi heard Isuka hiss a 'fuck' beside her—but her world was spinning too much to really notice. Her vision had funneled into the deep crimson lenses of Doflamingo's glasses, as her breath shuddered in her chest.
"I'm…" Vivi took a shaking step forward. "I'm not the runaway princess of Alabasta!"
Someone in Doflamingo's gang laughed out loud, slapping the table hard enough to send a twitch through her, but she held strong and tilted her head up.
"Come on now, really?" Doflamingo purred. "We're going to start off by lying to each other? Tsk tsk tsk, I thought this was supposed to be a business meeting!"
There were more giggles from the peanut gallery.
Vivi placed her hand against her chest with a deepening frown.
"I'm not lying, Mr. Doflamingo. I am Vivi Nefertari—and I'm a pirate, no matter who I used to be!" She stared deep into the lenses of his glasses. "If…we're going to do business here, I want to make it clear that you're not making deals with some wayward princess—you're doing it with a pirate!"
It was all she could do. They were caught. Somehow they knew EVERYTHING about them—so the only thing she could do was make it clear to Doflamingo—she wasn't who she was born to be. She wasn't going to sit here and be called 'the runaway princess' to the snickers of his crew.
That seemed to get his attention. At least, the smile hitched wider on his face, and he leaned forward toward her, glasses glinting in the light.
"Not some wayward princess, but a pirate. Is that right?"
Vivi refused to shrink down, even as the air seemed to crackle between them. Her jaw set, and she nodded firmly. "That's right, Mr. Donquixote. And not just any pirate—I'm going to be one of the greats. Great enough that my name eclipses the Nefertari crown! So please—if we're going to have this meeting, meet me as a pirate."
The whole room seemed to be watching with bated breath. Near her elbow, Bentham had shifted back to his usual appearance, and he looked both in awe of her, and ready to go to bat for her any time she needed.
Doflamingo's feet slipped down from the table and he sat up, putting his elbows on it instead and leaning forward like an excited teenage girl.
"Pirate to pirate! Well if it's like that then please, don't call me Mr. Donquixote! Call me Doffy - and tell me, Miss Vivi, what does it mean to you to be a great pirate?"
Isuka glanced at her, tucking her hair over her ear with a low huff of breath. "Well Vivi. You're taking the lead—answer the guy."
Vivi's fingers curled against her chest.
"Alright, Doffy." she flashed him her best smile as she leaned on the back of one of the chairs. "A great pirate is free. Free to take what they want, no matter how out of reach it feels—and to shape their own destiny. Vivi the great pirate is someone who loves who she wants, fights who she wants, and takes what she wants—she has the power and ambition for it too."
Her smile hitched wider as she thought of Crocodile—of Neo Baroque works—and of the last smiling days with the Straw Hat Pirates, the crew who promised there'd always be a place for her. "Damn the crown of Alabasta, or my father's designs for me, Vivi Nefertari is going to be on the crew of the next Pirate King!"
Doflamingo threw his head back and laughed. "Bravo, bravo Miss. Vivi! And what are you going to do if your daddy dearest comes looking for you, eh? He has the marines after you. All the Warlords had to hear about it."
There was something decidedly bird-like about the way he peered at her through the glassy lenses. But not like a songbird. More like a hawk, or an owl. The rest of the Donquixotes too were paying a huge amount of attention, the figures of all shapes and sizes intent on the conversation.
"Probably the same as you, if someone came trying to drag you back to a place you don't want to be." Vivi frowned. "I'd fight with everything I had to live the life I want to live"
She stared deep into his hawk-like stare, ignoring the stares and the bated breath around her. "any marine that comes for me, I'll kill. Anyone who tries to haul me back—I'll resist with everything I have until I'm the one standing."
She'd been groomed since she was young to be a princess, dutiful to her country and her people above all else. Her father was an idealist, a kind man who refused to see that she'd grown beyond the palace cage she was born in. Vivi belonged on the great blue sea—she belonged out here, among the pirates and the vice and the sin.
If she was going back to Alabasta, it was in a pine box and not a gown.
All the Donquixotes were watching intently as 'Doffy' chuckled again.
"I see, I see." He waved his hand. "You came here about purchasing a devil fruit, isn't that right?"
Vivi nodded slowly.
"...Yes. I did—" her eyes flicked around the room—almost every one of these people had the power of a devil fruit on their side "I know you know how powerful they can be."
She favored the warlord with a small smile, seeing herself in the reflection of his lenses. "And I'm in need of all the power I can get. With haki, and a devil fruit, nobody will ever be able to drag me back to my father's smothering 'duty'."
Somehow, Doflamingo's grin got wider still. It seemed to stretch the sides of his face.
"So I was right," he purred. "Not that it was a hard guess. Trebol, come here."
"Hey, hey, here I am, Doffy!" One of the Donquixotes hurried from the nearby sidelines to Doflamingo's side. He was another huge man - taller than Doflamingo, but not quite as tall as Diamante - and draped in a heavy cloak, with little glasses perched on his nose that looked like glittering beatles. Even if Doffy hadn't called him by name, Vivi would have recognized him from Crocodile's description.
He was the one Crocodile had called paranoid. She bobbed her head to him, turning her smile briefly to him with a subtle wave. "Hello."
Like Doflamingo, even though she couldn't see his eyes, she could feel herself being scrutinized by him, too.
He smiled at her, sallow faced. "Doffy's been very curious about you all day."
"So I have," Doflamingo purred. "And she's satisfied my curiosity. What do you think, Trebol? A former princess. Defying her father and becoming a pirate. Lovely little story, isn't it?"
Trebol chuckled. "It has a fairytale ring to it, young master."
"It does. It almost makes me a little… nostalgic." Doflamingo turned his head, and suddenly Vivi could see herself reflected double in the crimson lenses of the warlord's glasses. "Diamante, come here."
Vivi flushed a bit more, and Isuka made a little noise beside her—it sounded like they both knew that the game had been up since the start.
She rubbed her neck. "You've been curious about me all day—" her eyes locked on her own reflection in Doffy's glasses, the tint making it seem somewhat dreamlike as her image swam against the reflected light.
LIke a fairytale. She could only speculate on Doflamingo's nostalgia—had he run away from a kingdom too?
Diamante suddenly appeared flanking Doflamingo's other side with a big, lazy grin. "Yeah, Doffy?"
"You have your spare pistol with you, right?"
Diamante nodded. "Brought it just like you asked."
Out of the corner of her eye, Vivi saw Bentham watching all of this with some sort of curious appreciation, and it clicked internally. Some kind of theater was happening between the Donquixotes, but it was unclear if it was for her benefit, or for some other reason.
Isuka glanced at her , but Vivi waved her hand—this wasn't anything to be alarmed about. It was theater—at the moment they weren't in any harm.
Vivi stayed leaning on the back of the chair as she watched carefully, her eyes flicking up the tall man's form and down to Doffy's glasses again.
Doflamingo pressed his hands together, still grinning like a loon. "Fantastic. This is my gift, Vivi, from an established pirate, to one just setting out to sea. A devil fruit, and a pistol."
The Donquixtotes were all watching intently, some smoothing giggles, Trebol and Diamante both with awfully wide smiles. Diamante unhooked the pistol from his belt and laid it on the table in front of her, and Trebol opened the box.
The devil fruit he put on the table in front of her, beside the pistol, had five points like a star, and seemed to sparkle.
It was beautiful—way more beautiful than she expected. LIke a star plucked straight from the night sky.
A devil fruit and a pistol—a gift to a pirate just setting out to sea. She wondered if perhaps that same gift had been given to Doflamingo back in the day, before he was the infamous pirate and warlord he was now.
He was feeling nostalgic after all.
Vivi reached down to grip the pistol in one hand, turning it over to look at its shape and the gleam of its barrel. With her other, she picked up the devil fruit and held it up into the light to let it sparkle for a moment.
"T…thank you, Doffy." Vivi's smile grew wide on her face as wiped just under her eyes. She'd started to tear up—out of sheer relief, or the emotion of the moment. For a moment she thought about arguing— what about the price? The weight in gold that they were meant to trade for an item like this?
But Doflamingo seemed like the sort of man who took these sorts of things seriously. Even with his lunatic smile and unhinged laughter. If he said this was a gift, then arguing about it would only insult him.
She swallowed and flashed a bright grin that reflected in his glasses.
"Thank you. One day—you'll see how far I've come with your gifts, Doffy. Maybe we'll have a drink to celebrate!" Lightly tapping the devil fruit against her lips, she winked "I'm tempted to take a bite of it now..."
"Be my guest," Doffy said, sweeping his hand magnanimously. "Or wait, if you like. Either way, I have one more gift to give you." Something about his grin shifted, and turned dangerous. "Twenty minutes before the marines arrive in the port."
".....Oh." Vivi's smile tightened. "That's a very kind gift, Doffy!"
She bowed her head, hooking the pistol in her belt, and tucking the box with the fruit under her arm "I'm afraid I'll be saving it for on the ship then! It's been a pleasure to meet you, and I hope to see you again!"
They had to go. Right now. The sooner they got off the island the better—the marines were bearing down on them, and thanks to the tip…they'd have just enough time to slip away.
"Thank you again for everything."
"Ta-ta for now, Pirate Vivi."
As she, Isuka, and Bentham hurried out of the bar and into the dark streets of Dressrosa, they heard the sound of the Donquixotes laughing uproariously behind them.
Notes:
Next up - Devil Fruit, and confrontation with the marines! Thank you so much for reading and for all your kind comments <3
Chapter 19
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Crocodile had been summoned to the deck by a frantic Mr. 9 - Sid, rather - with bad news.
And it sure as hell was bad news. The situation had gone completely sideways. Crocodile peered through his spyglass out at the fleet that was making its way over the dark sea toward Dressrosa, aided by a stiff tailwind.
Marines, a horde of them.
He lowered his glass to speak to Marianne, who was standing beside him, on top of a crate, looking out at the fleet with him. But he was interrupted before he could speak.
"Captain!" It was Sid again. "It's Miss Zala!"
That got his attention. Zala, after all, was supposed to be with Daz keeping an eye on the proceedings with the Donquixotes. He whipped around and followed Sid's pointing finger, to see Zala running up the street to the dock.
Forget going fucking sideways.
The entire plan had gone to fucking shit.
Vivi kept a tight hold on the devil fruit as she and the others hurried from the bar straight toward the docks as fast as they could go.
She didn't know what to think - she didn't know if she had the time to think past the raw desperation as they sprinted across the empty Dressrosan streets.
She'd gotten the devil fruit, she'd even gotten the gift of a pistol with it - Doflamingo seemed, in his own way, rather friendly.
And then he'd called the marines down on them. With a head start. The whole thing made her head spin, a frustrated tangle of emotions as she poured all of her energy into her legs instead of her swirling thoughts.
The last thing they needed was to get caught now. Things had gone more than sideways. This was a potential disaster.
Daz had linked up with them as they'd split. "I sent Zala back to warn the captain something was wrong," he'd assured her.
As soon as they came into port, they came in sight of the marine fleet. Their lights were bright against the midnight, already well past the horizon and closing into firing distance with their own ship like a school of sharks.
Isuka was hissing through her teeth, spitting curses towards the marines she once was part of as they came into sight of it.
She couldn't help but sympathize. The fear of being dragged back was pinging in her heart too.
But all they had to do was run. Get to the ship, launch, and slip away before the marines got close enough to fire.
"About time you got here!" Crocodile roared as they approached. Vivi saw him lean precariously over the side of the ship to greet them, a scowl written across his face. The gangplank had already been removed, and he threw the rope ladder down instead. "What the hell happened?"
There wasn't any time to lose. Vivi grabbed the rope ladder with one hand, the fruit tucked under her arm as she leapt for the ladder and scrabbled up, Isuka hot on her heels.
"It..." she began breathlessly as she hurled herself over the edge of the railing to collapse on the deck, "it went as well as it coulda, I think."
"Doflamingo himself cornered us," Isuka growled as she hefted herself over the edge. "And gave Vivi some kind of test of character or some shit."
Vivi looked up at Crocodile with a tired smile. "I'll explain the rest of it, when we get away from here. Doflamingo called the marines but gave us a head start."
"Of course he fucking did," Crocodile growled. He grabbed Vivi's arm, pulling her more fully into the ship as Daz and Bentham scrambled up after her. Crocodile looked her over, perhaps looking for any sign that she'd been mistreated. His eyes lingered on the fruit. "Wait a minute, is that - "
Vivi fell half against him, holding up the devil fruit with a growing smile. "Looks like he approved of me anyway, Crocodile. He liked my answer - he gave me the fruit, and a gun - in front of his whole gang, didn't even take the payment."
"He just fucking gave it to you?" Crocodile's scowl furrowed his brow even further. "What the hell kind of game is he playing?"
"Something that had the whole fam giggling their heads off, Croco-babe," Betham purred. He slipped back into his usual shape as he landed on the deck. "He was asking Vivi about being a runaway princess and all."
"I think it was some inside joke," Vivi shook her head "they were all pretty tickled by it."
"It was damn creepy is what it was," Isuka huffed through her nose "i was on edge the whole time thinking I'd gotten myself a front row seat to an execution. He knew everything."
"But..." Vivi put her finger to her chin. She was upset he'd called the marines, frustrated with the need to flee so aggressively - but she couldn't say she felt hurt. It felt like part of some grander game, a 'formality', but underneath she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd somehow impressed the man. That she'd answered 'correctly'. "I think I made a good impression on him."
"I guess you fucking must have," Crocodile growled. "We can pick it apart later. What fruit did he give you? It could be a shit fruit as a joke..."
Even though he was still scowling, something in Crocodile's tone seemed unsure that Doflamingo would do that.
"He didn't say," Vivi rested her head against him. "He just gave it to me as 'a gift for a pirate just setting out to sea' , and then told me he'd called the marines on us. So - I don't know exactly what fruit it is, but I don't think it's some kind of trap or joke."
Isuka seemed a little more dubious, her eyebrow raised with her hand on her hip. "I'd be at least a little wary, myself. But I don't know the guy outside of rumors and that shitshow right now. Is that the kinda thing he's known for?"
"Not really," Crocodile growled thoughtfully. "But..."
As he trailed off, Daz spoke up. "Captain, I'm pretty certain I recognize this one from the books."
"You do?" Vivi perked up with a bright smile "so is it a good one, Daz??"
She had so many hopes - imaginings of what it could be, and how it'd change her life.
Daz traced the shape of it through the air with his finger. "The Star-Star fruit, captain."
Crocodile hissed through his teeth, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the fruit. "I'll be damned, I think you're right."
"The Star-Star fruit?" Vivi asked with a tilt of her head.
It didn't sound familiar to her, but it certainly tracked. With the shape of it, it was kind of on the nose, honestly.
Isuka placed her hand on her chin thoughtfully. "...think I've heard it mentioned before, myself."
"It's a logia." Crocodile lifted his chin thoughtfully. "If that's the fruit Daz thinks it is, and I agree with him, then you won't get better than -"
"Captain!" Sid's voice cut through the conversation. "We're ready to sail! Orders?"
Crocodile grimaced and squared his shoulders. "Sail, then! Hug the coast and even if we can't outrun them they should be hesitant to fire when they could hit the city!"
That gave them a little bit of time; not much, but enough to try and make the most of their head start.
That put Vivi's nerves at rest enough for her to turn her attention to the fruit in her hands. The weight of the gun on her belt hung heavy as she turned it over in her hands.
You won't get better than this, she was sure he was about to say. This wasn't just a devil fruit - it was a high quality one. One that'd give her the power she needed to survive on the high seas - to be strong enough to protect everyone.
With a strong power, she could be there if Luffy ever encountered a trauma like Marineford and help to stop it. With a strong power, she could help Crocodile find his footing after all his misfortune.
Had Doflamingo seen her potential? Or maybe he saw her drive to leave her old life behind and embrace infamy. After all, he'd given her the gift of a powerful devil fruit and a gun so she could fight for what she believed in no matter what.
One day maybe she'd have to thank him.
She rested her head against Crocodile's chest, listening to the rumble of his voice as he barked orders to the crew. She'd placed the point of the fruit against her lips as she listened, not quite biting, but letting it rest in contemplation.
Fate was not with her.
Or perhaps it was, in it's own twisted way.
Several things happened at once.
The first was the sound of an explosion, and the ship rocking violently in the water.
The second, was that as the ship rocked, Crocodile's body thumped against hers as they were both thrown off their footing.
And the third was that the devil fruit was thrust into her mouth by the motion, her teeth piercing its skin, and it's rancid tasting juice flowing over her tongue.
Vivi was so overtaken by the nauseating taste and the disorienting rocking of the ship that she barely heard Crocodile's shout.
"What in the name of hell?"
Vivi gagged, choking on the sudden taste of the fruit as it's juices flowed over her lips and down her throat.
Horrible - it tasted horrible. It tasted like a curse that turned her stomach but never brought her to vomit.
She swallowed thickly, her head spinning as she swooned to fall against Crocodile again with a murmured. "W...whoops..."
Crocodile grimaced, holding her to his chest. "Well that settles that, he huffed. Hold on, doll." But he didn't have more than a moment to spare for her, the ship needed him.
"They're firing on us, captain!" Daz shouted back.
"With what?" Crocodile demanded. "They shouldn't be in range yet!"
Vivi, meanwhile, was reeling with the sensation that grew within her.
She wanted to concentrate on the chaos around them - to help direct the ship and fight back against the encroaching barrage - but....
She pressed her hand to her face, panting softly as her body seemed - strange.
Cold. She felt cold, but at the same time hot...like little pinpricks of heat were flowing through her in an otherwise frigid sea. Her world seemed to spin - her legs and body felt strange....
Was this the devil fruit at work, already?
Daz and Crocodile were shouting back and forth, but Vivi had lost the conversation with the swell of feeling in her body. It was all just noise. Noise outside, and a strange sensation inside.
"Doll! Doll you alright?"
The worry in Crocodile's voice was what finally broke through.
Even through the strange feeling , it felt like she was melting - but not quite. Not like a liquid, was she dissipating? Flowing? Her arm and shoulder didn't feel solid, she just felt a strangely diffused sensation, even through it - Crocodile's voice came to her and locked her eyes back on him.
"I ...accidentally ate the fruit, Crocodile," she managed to say, even if her voice felt somewhere a hundred thousand miles away.
"Yeah, I saw that." He looked down at her with concern, and it felt like he was a million miles away too, even though he was still holding on to her. "Maybe I oughta take you down to the cabins. Things are about to get hot, Viv."
The world had started to sparkle between them - little pinpricks of beautiful light in an almost liquid darkness - like the night sky come to life.
It was strange , but through it she could see his concern, and the danger beyond.
As she reached out towards him , seeing the way the darkness and light was leeching out of her vanishing arm - she realized it was all her. That sparkling, ice cold and burning hot darkness was all her.
She didn't want to leave them alone - she wanted to fight alongside them, with the power that was supposed to make her strong enough to face down the whole Grand Line for her crew, and her lovers.
She wanted to help, but the strange sensations she was awash in were so much to handle.
Crocodile's concern grew too. His eyes went wide.
"Doll?Vivi?"
-
Everything was falling apart. For some reason the fucking marines had guns with enough range to hit them from absolute distance. For some reason, of course, they weren't worried about firing on their own damned coastline.
And now Vivi was going to pieces on him.
Literally.
Crocodile took jagged breaths, trying to calm himself by remembering how his own devil fruit transformation had gone - he'd dissolved into a damned pile of sand and had to put himself together piece by piece. Devil fruits were a hell of a time, who knew what Vivi was going through. She'd be okay though.
She'd absolutely be okay.
Except this was a real bad time to go to pieces.
As the chaos behind them only grew, Vivi's confused and desperate expression faded too, drifting into the shimmering cloud of darkness and light that looked like a section of the night's sky plucked from the heavens and diffusing around the deck of his ship.
Only a second later and everything recognizably 'Vivi' was gone - just that patch of the night sky floating in the air around them. It was a bad time for it - a very bad time for it.
Finally, it started suddenly to coalesce again. It flowed, twisting with the sparkling shimmer of starlight in motion until it formed an arm....a torso...legs that stumbled on the deck..and 'hair' of shimmering starlight.
The shape of Vivi stood there on the deck, featureless - a statue made of small twinkling lights and a near infinite darkness - looking at her hands and turning them this way and that. After a moment she started to 'breathe' audibly again, and the color and features leaked back into her form.
She was smiling, her eyes wide as she turned her hands this way and that again.
It was the same beautiful Vivi as ever, only different. There was a shimmer to her hair there wasn't before, a subtle twinkling like stars - and in her eyes, they looked like the view from a telescope. Suspended starlight met his eyes when she looked up at him with a broad smile on her face.
"I...I think I can fight with you, Crocodile....please - let me try."
Once again, as he had before, Crocodile found himself standing in awe of Vivi. Not just of her beauty which seemed magnified by the new power of her fruit, but in awe of her tenacity, her determination under pressure - her indomitable will.
A slow grin spread over his face. Maybe they could take whatever these damned marines could throw at them, after all.
He reached over and his fingers over her shimmering face. "You got it, doll. We'll take 'em on together."
He pulled her into a deep kiss. He'd learned a long time ago that you never pass up the moment for one.
And then, the both of them still dazed, it was time to fight.
-
Vivi found that while she had been putting herself together, Crocodile had ordered them to close the distance with the marine ships.
'If we can't outrun them, we'll have to take them out at short distance'.
Vivi agreed. The Marines had shockingly accurate long guns and a seeming disregard for the safety of the people of Dressrosa. They were opening fire without restraint - so if they couldn't outrun them, they had to get close and do enough damage to properly cripple their ships through power and their short range cannons.
It was a good plan of attack, and it gave her just a little more time to get used to her body. Just enough that she could try to figure out how best to use it. She felt cold, colder than usual - but at the same time those little pinpricks of heat dotted her body and shifted about as she moved. At the same time it held some feeling of - power.
Like she just had to figure out how to channel it to do something amazing.
The Star-Star fruit; it wasn't what she'd been expecting when she thought about what she'd get, but at the same time it felt strangely fitting for her.
Their ship was much smaller than the marine warships, which made it easier for them to take evasive maneuvers. Right now they were dodging and weaving in a sporadic zigzag to avoid canon fire as they sped closer to the marine ships, tacking into the wind.
Vivi smiled, brushing her hair over her ear, keenly aware of the strange way it sparkled, both catching her eye and resonating through the makeup of her body.
She was standing by - ready to fight however she was asked, but for the moment...it was the helmsman's game.
"It suits you," Crocodile murmured, as if reading her thoughts. He had glanced at her momentarily taking his eyes off of their target.
"You think so, Crocodile?" She met his eyes with a smile. "...I was just thinking the same thing. It feels kind of 'right'...somehow."
"I believe it." He smiled, bumping her shoulder with his body. "You're all the power of the starry sky now, doll. Can't wait to see how you'll use it."
She bumped him back - well aware as she briefly lost a little control and her shoulder dissipated and reformed a moment later.
"I've been trying to imagine what exactly that means," she chuckled. "Can I throw shooting stars? Flashes of light? blind them? I dunno....but I'm excited to find out."
"Same," he nodded. "Hey, speaking of your fighting style - should we let your duck out?"
"Karoo?" Vivi smiled broadly. "Honestly, yes, you should. He'll be livid with you if you let him sit another battle out - and he's a good swimmer. So if anyone happens to fall in...."
Crocodile grimaced and whistled. "Mr. Sid! Let Vivi's duck out of his pen! Then man your station!"
As Sid saluted and dashed off, Crocodile's grin spread back over his face. "You ready for this, doll?"
Vivi looked out at the looming marine ships ahead. Right now they weren't the shining beacon of protection so many people back home saw them as. She'd never seen them that way herself - no, right now they were a towering wall in the way between her and freedom on the sea.
They were the threat of dragging her away from the life of a pirate , and the arms of her captain - and of Crocodile - and back into the prison of princesshood.
Maybe after she killed a few of them, sunk their ships - they'd give her a real bounty.
Her fingertips felt cold - but sparked with blooms of heat as she placed them on the railing.
"Of course I am, Crocodile - when we're done, they're going to regret giving me a fake bounty, aren't they?"
"Damn right they are, Viv!"
Notes:
Almost at endgame now! One or two more chapters <3
Chapter 20
Notes:
HAHAHA it's finished!! Almost exactly 1 year after it started <3 and somehow we managed to hit 90k words exactly??? wow. Anyway, this is one of my favorite fics that we've written, and I hope that you'll enjoy its conclusion.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Karoo felt the ship rocking and weaving beneath them, and could tell that something was going on. Something serious. Karoo wasn't a duck who flinched from danger, but he could tell that Sandy was upset, her crest flat down against her head. He leaned in and nuzzled her neck for a moment, reassuringly.
He couldn't stay, though. If something was going on, then Vivi needed him and he wasn't going to let her down.
Karoo was already lifting the latch of the cage when Vivi's old friend, Mr. 9 - Sid, they were calling him now - came stumbling down the stairs and fell flat on his face.
Karoo sighed and pushed the gate open, waddling over, and nudging the man.
He quacked, and urged Sandy to come over and let the human take care of her, once he got up.
Karoo had some kind of mess to attend to. He dashed up the stairs.
On the captain's orders, Daz led the crew in their assault on the lead marine ship. A kind of peace flowed in his mind as the chaos swam around them. In battle, it was easy to focus. And this was their first real battle since Marineford. This was thier first real battle as a crew.
Captain Crocodile, himself, Vivi, Zala, Marianne, Bentham, and the rest who had joined them. It was time to see what they were all worth.
He couldn't help but smile when he saw the way that Vivi sparkled like the starlight under the midnight sky they sailed under.
The Star Star fruit. He had no doubt that she could handle it.
They came up along the ship - nearly raking their side as they fired their canons at the marines in a point blank volley. And once the guns stopped, Daz directed the crew to throw up the boarding plank.
With arms as blades, he was the first across to the ship, the rest of the crew screaming with fervor or behind him, the captain bound to follow.
Without a word, he was cutting down marines.
It was hard to believe how quickly everything escalated once the fight had been joined. Vivi found herself on the deck of the lead ship, carried across the boarding plank in Crocodile's arms as he flowed across it in partial sand form.
It was a chaotic battle that she hadn't seen since that day in Alabasta. Crocodile's crew had thrown themselves at the marines in a fury - each of them taking on a whole handful of marines on their own. Already, there was blood on the deck.
It was hard to make out each skirmish, though. The night battle was lit only by the marine running lights, and floodlights that flashed here and there, illuminating one part of the deck for a moment, and another the next.
Little flashes of her crewmates locked in battle - Marianne splashing paint onto the faces of marines and crippling them with their emotions, Daz's dance of death, Zala with a marine impaled like some grim sculpture on several spikes---and Isuka jabbing with her rapier like lightning - she'd lost sight of Crocodile, though.
He was somewhere in the fray, just like her, doing everything he could to take down the marines they'd boarded.
Her feet didn't hit the floor; she flew above it in the dark, starry sky her body kept flowing into, dancing through the darkness like it was her element. When she reformed, she'd found herself faced with a platoon of marines, men who's expressions flashed with understanding and recognition a moment before her gifted gun took one's life, and a flurry of 'falling stars' blasted the rest.
Burning hot, illuminating the space around her in flashes of light as she flicked more their way and set their clothes ablaze around them.
It was a power she didn't understand. All of what she was doing was new to her. This fight was a trial by fire to learn her new body as fast as she could.
"Nice work, doll." She heard Crocodile's voice before she saw him drop a trio of dehydrated marine bodies onto the deck. "Getting the hang of it?"
Vivi nodded her head with an eager, almost malicious edge to her grin.
"You know...I think I am, Crocodile! It- it feels odd. It feels very odd, but I'm figuring out ways I can move I never thought possible."
Still, she kept her awareness on the world around her, well aware of how many threats surrounded them.
She didn't have the benefit of blood on her hands to mark the strange milestone she'd crossed. Marines, full of charred holes and collapsed on the deck, had died mostly bloodless by her hands.
Her first kill. The first time her own hands had taken blood. It left her with a strange sensation, one she couldn't process as positive or negative.
It simply 'was' of note - something to parse when she wasn't actively fighting for her life and her freedom.
Crocodile had definitely noticed. Had noticed the bodies. Had noticed the malicious edge in her grin. His lips curled, too.
"Hell yeah, doll. Looks like we've got this under control. Now we just have to find their coward of a commodore. Doesn't seem to be on deck."
Vivi held her hands out and stars began to sparkle and shine on her palms to illuminate the path before them. "Then why don't we go say hi together? It sounds like everyone's having fun around here. I even hear Karoo, so we should be polite and knock."
"Damn right we - watch it, doll!"
Crocodile suddenly grabbed her and pulled her out of the way as a volley of bullets split the air where she'd been a moment ago. Another wave of marine grunts had mustered themselves for an attack - possibly coming from one of the other ships.
The look of relief on Crocodile's face once she was clear immediately turned into one of fury, and sand began to lash around the deck.
It was an anger shared. It boiled inside her ice-cold body before she lashed out right alongside him.
She let it carry her, side by side with the man she loved into the fray. Right alongside whipping sand, causing the individual grains to catch their light and shimmer beautifully across the deck, darkness and flaring starlight illuminated the massacre.
Where her darkness enveloped, men suffocated in the space between the stars, where Crocodile's sand flew, it left desiccated husks and shredded flesh. The reinforcements didn't stand a chance; especially when Vivi set another burning starfall upon their remaining numbers.
The two of them a whirlwind of death and triumph, sand and shimmering starlight mingling in the air. They wound up back to back, Vivi's shoulders against his spine for just a moment. Crocodile was laughing. She'd seen him laughing in battle before, long ago as the hero of Alabasta, driving bandits away from their boarders. And he was laughing now, practically arm in arm with her as they sowed chaos among the marines.
She found herself laughing with him. There was time to grapple with the fact that the bodies kept falling before her, her first kill quickly followed by more and more as she just let herself act on instinct side by side and back to back with her lover.
Her body flowed, billowed out into sparkling darkness and coalesced back against him to the sound of bodies hitting the deck, small fires erupted from the heat of the falling stars.
How could she not laugh with him when there was something so desperately fun about destroying the symbols she'd been so afraid of. How could any of the marines drag her back to Alabasta in chains when they fell so easily to her and Crocodile?
It was a glorious feeling that swelled in her chest - but it didn't last.
Just as all the marines on deck seemed to have fallen, every sense in Vivi - the ones she'd been honing with Crocodile in their haki training - screamed at her at once.
There was a flash of light from one of the other marine ships, and Vivi didn't have time to register the cannonball that blazed right at them - didn't realize that was what it had been until long after.
What she did realize was that Crocodile threw her out of the way with his own body, and the she felt the haki coating the projectile as an impression on her hindbrain. Just like with the volley of gunfire, he had taken Vivi out of harm's way. But this time, he'd put himself in her place. It slammed right into Crocodile, making a mockery of his logia fruit with it's devastating will.
"Crocodile!!" Vivi's breath hitched in her throat - as the cannonball struck him and sent him reeling , she rushed to catch him in a desperate panic.
He slipped past her fingers, and she heard the splash as his body hit the dark water. And there was no way for her to go after him, though her body jerked almost involuntarily to do so.
She found herself leaning over the railing, staring at the water below.
She was crying, of course she was crying. Hot tears rolled over her cheeks as it took everything in her power not to leap into the water after him.
She couldn't lose him, not now. Not after everything they've done. Not after they'd finally admitted how much they meant to one another.
"No...no!"
A sharp, familiar noise broke the silence that seemed to echo after her call.
The sound of webbed feet slapping on the deck, and a resentful quack.
Karoo's dark eyes caught hers for just a moment before he dove into the water.
"Karoo---!!"
She watched him fly past, his brilliant feathers catching the search lights as he passed her line of sight, and she found herself smiling through her tears.
Karoo, her best friend who'd always been there for her from Alabasta to the great blue sea, was coming to their rescue once again.
All the strength went out of Crocodile as he hit the water, but he didn't stop fighting. He didn't stop fighting even though he knew that this had to be the end.
The water was black as pitch in the middle of the night. All of the crewmen he trusted were fellow devil fruit users. Even Vivi - beloved, beautiful Vivi who sparkled like the starlight now - couldn't come to his rescue.
He reached up but he had no power with which to swim. Barely any life within his body. Nothing but weakness as the sea's pull dragged him downward.
Maybe it had been enough. Maybe he should be satisfied. He'd been a pirate. He'd been a warlord. He'd been a crimeboss. He'd fought, he'd loved, he'd drank and dined. They'd remember him. Daz. Mihawk. Vivi.
Maybe Vivi would take the crew. He could see her now, her hair and eyes shining, a great pirate captain for the new age, carving a scar across the world with Daz, and Zala, Marianne, and Bentham, and all the lovers and foes she was surely yet to meet.
She was special. Crocodile had rarely met a girl as amazing as Vivi was. As determined, and brave, and pigheaded. He hoped that he hadn't doomed her by helping her get her devil fruit. The way it seemed that he had doomed himself.
Well, it was probably a fair payment after everything, wasn't it?
He just wished that he'd gotten more time with her. Gotten to fight back to back with her more than once. Gotten to see her come into her own. Gotten to hold her in his arms while they sailed across the sea.
Crocodile knew that he had to be content with what he'd gotten, as the cold sea swallowed him, because he wasn't getting any more. Help wasn't coming. The last page of his book was about to close.
But he wasn't content.
Maybe Vivi would take the crew. He could see her now, her hair and eyes shining, a great pirate captain for the new age, carving a scar across the world with Daz, and Zala, Marianne, and Bentham, and all the lovers and foes she was surely yet to meet.
She was special. Crocodile had rarely met a girl as amazing as Vivi was. As determined, and brave, and pigheaded. He hoped that he hadn't doomed her by helping her get her devil fruit. The way it seemed that he had doomed himself.
Well, it was probably a fair payment after everything, wasn't it?
He just wished that he'd gotten more time with her. Gotten to fight back to back with her more than once. Gotten to see her come into her own. Gotten to hold her in his arms while they sailed across the sea.
Crocodile knew that he had to be content with what he'd gotten, as the cold sea swallowed him, because he wasn't getting any more. Help wasn't coming. The last page of his book was about to close.
But he wasn't content.
He wasn't satisfied. Even with the sea like an iron chain around his whole body, even knowing no one could possibly be coming, Crocodile fought for every moment of life.
It would never be enough!
There would never be enough fighting for Crocodile! Never be enough loving! Not now, and not if he sailed for a thousand years!
He thrashed with the strength that he didn't have, and just as the last of his breath went out of him, something golden shone in the light that wasn't there.
Something started to pull Crocodile up.
Vivi saw the shadow in the dark waters finally return, holding her breath, as Karoo crested above the waters, forcing the limp shape of Crocodile with him.
"KAROO!" She cried out, feeling the hot sting of tears in her eyes as she blinked them away. She had to find something, something to help them up onto the deck.
She looked around, frantic despite the growing smile on her face he'd saved Crocodile - she'd thought he'd hated him...he saved Crocodile for her and for the people he'd grown close to...
"Pardon me, Miss Vivi," a warm, relieved voice came from behind her, as Daz stepped past her and threw a rope down over the side of the ship. "Watch my back while I haul them up."
"Y...yes, of course" Vivi realized just how long she'd been holding her breath when she gasped in surprise, taking a step back with an awkward smile. "I'll watch your back---just please bring them up safely."
There wasn't much to watch, but she did have to hold on tightly. The marine ship they'd boarded had started rocking wildly under the bombardment of its fellows. Most of her fellow pirates were in the middle of boarding the ship that was firing on them, skirmishing precariously on the rails of the two ships.
It was chaos, and she wanted to send the one who shot that haki-laden cannonball down into the briny deep herself, but she stayed her ground, making sure the coast was clear as Daz hauled his captain and Karoo back up.
Daz, with his fantastic strength and poise, managed to haul both Karoo and Captain Crocodile up the rope to the deck of the ship practically one handed. Karoo hit the deck already preening his feathers. Crocodile, on the other hand, lay still.
Vivi abandoned the lookout to drop to her knees by his side, her fingers pressing against his throat, and his chest to test for breathing and a heartbeat.
"Come on Crocodile..." she whispered. She'd have to perform life saving manuvers, if he wasn't breathing she'd have to make him.
She pressed her head to his chest and for a moment, there was terror in the pit of her stomach as she heard nothing. Then she was jolted as he was seized by a great, racking cough.
She rocked back, her hands firm against his chest as she gasped.
"Crocodile...!! CROCODILE!"
His chest heaved and he sat up all in one go, putting his arms around her and pulling her close, and tight. He was soaking wet.
She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her chest nuzzling her tear-streaked face against him - not caring about the way the clinging seawater made her body feel weak.
She just needed to be close to him right now.
"I...I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so glad you're safe, so glad..."
Vivi could tell that he needed her too, the way he clung to her as the boat rocked, and Daz and Karoo both stood protectively over them.
Crocodile took great, ragged breaths as he clung to her. Finally, roughly, he gasped out. "For a minute there, doll, I thought you were gonna be a pirate captain."
Vivi's brow creased, and tears began to fall again. He thought she was going to be a pirate captain?
He thought he was going to die...and that I'd live on and take his crew on the adventures he'd never get to see...
"A-absolutely not, Crocodile! We're sailing the sea together, aren't we?? I..." she hiccuped. "I was so scared I was going to lose you."
"Yeah... I ain't too proud to admit I was scared of that, too," he rasped. "Who pulled me out?"
Karoo quacked sharply.
"You're never going to guess, but it was Karoo." She looked over at her best friend with a smile. "Right Karoo?"
"He slipped right out from under me when he heard miss Vivi call out, captain," Daz nodded.
Karoo quacked again, and Crocodile looked up at him. Their eyes met, and Vivi watched a very serious look pass between both of them.
"Well, Viv, I owe your friend here my life," he said in a low voice. "I won't soon forget that, Karoo."
Karoo lifted his bill rather haughtily - Vivi was struck for a moment by just how much it mirrored the way Crocodile held himself now and then.
Then the duck knocked his head against Crocodile's shoulder, and then Vivi's.
She broke down into a desperate giggle, throwing her arms around Karoo and nuzzling him too.
Maybe she wouldn't tell Crocodile just how similar that look was between them. He'd probably taken enough of a hit to his dignity today---and Karoo was sure to get a swelled head if she told him too.
Crocodile regained his strength, and insisted that he was not going to sit out the rest of the battle. So the three of them got themselves over to the ship where the skirmishing was happening now. That was probably a good thing, in any case, because the marine ship they were on was still being hammered by cannon fire from it's fellows. It seemed the marines were not above firing on their own ships any more than they were above firing on Dressrosa's coast.
It seemed the marines had absolutely no scruples at all.
It turned Vivi's stomach to think that most people idolized them, saw them as protectors, when this was the way they treated civilians and allies.
She followed Crocodile eagerly, crossing ships and preparing herself to enter the fray once more by the crew's side...in revenge for the near loss of Crocodile, and for them even daring to stop them now.
The pirate crew were holding their own against the marines, but they rallied with a cheer when she and Crocodile arrived along with Daz and Karoo. It turned out that the commodore had been on this ship to begin with, and the marines broke firing ranks to let him through.
The man was huge, as many marines were. He had a foot on Crocodile and was almost twice as wide. Add to that that he had miniature cannons strapped to his wrists, and one seemingly bolted to his chest.
"Hand over the princess and come quietly and there might be some leniency for your, Crocodile."
Vivi grimaced, her eyes narrowing as she danced back with her hands raised to rain starfall upon the man.
"I'm not going back!" She shouted to him, loud enough for his men to hear. "I abdicate from the throne of Alabasta, do you hear me? I'm a pirate."
"Don't talk nonsense, little girl," the commodore sneered. "Your daddy'll be happy when we bring you back."
"Over my dead body," Crocodile growled. There was perhaps more power in it, because they both knew that it had very nearly been so. "You heard Viv, she's a pirate now. And the only 'nonsense' here is the lie of marine 'leniency' ."
Vivi's fingers flicked open as starlight sparkled along their tips, and she prepared herself to let them fly true.
"If you live through this, Commodore, tell my dad I love him, but his daughter's found her life on the seas. I'm a grown woman, and I'm going to burn a reminder into you before the night's through. You'd better whip up a real bounty poster for me too."
Her smile grew wider , and she drifted around Crocodile to kiss his cheek - to really piss the marine off - and prepared to strike. "...I won't let you take me away from my crew, OR my lover."
Perhaps it was the scandal of it that shocked them all - but for whatever reason she got enough time for her kiss with Crocodile, who was smirking evilly, and put his hand suggestively on her ass.
And then the next moment they were ready for battle. Pirates versus marines, and she was on the side of the pirates.
It was where she belonged. She belonged here with the pirates. Among the criminals, the rogues, the chaotic lords of the sea who resisted all attempts to shackle them.
Shackle them to expectation, family obligation, the Celestial Dragons---
She knew that now - after the worst mistake of her life - and she let the marines know with every fiber of her vibrant, glittering being.
Marine blood splashed within the void of glittering stars as she joined Crocodile's dance once more.
The crew kept the marines busy while Crocodile and Vivi faced the commodore. Crocodile sneered as they sized him up. He was a more formidable opponent than most marines, mostly due to the fact that he could do haki coated projectiles. That meant he and Vivi couldn't rely on their logia fruits to save them from a shot - they actually had to fucking dodge.
It wasn't Crocodile's favorite kind of fight, to say the least - but his bloodlust more than made up for it. Here he was, fighting shoulder to shoulder with Vivi, with his pirate crew at his back, and they were up against the man who'd nearly killed him just minutes before.
Yeah. That more than made up for the annoyance, without a doubt. Crocodile laughed as he kicked up a whirlwind.
He and Vivi got to have that bloody dance he'd been hoping for as the ocean took him. One more fight, side by side. He'd always be hoping for one more, especially if it was by her side.
Vivi kept on her toes. This man was dangerous. His haki-coated projectiles would tear through her and Crocodile no matter how they tried to turn intangible, so it turned into a dance of dodging cannon fire and retaliation.
He had a thicker skin than most marines, reinforced with Haki, but he was still just a man. A swell of excitement welled up inside her, as invigorating as it was the first time she stepped on Luffy's ship, and as invigorating as the time she finally started opening up around Neo Baroque Works.
That feeling of freedom carried her as she flowed up into the sky in a curling mass of constellations, and rained the white-hot fire of the heavens down on the man to distract him while Crocodile went for a surprise strike.
She was fighting the marines, she was fighting to be free of their control, and of their attempts to drag her 'home' - to take her from the life she carved out for herself, just like the long missing brother she'd never met assuredly had.
This was the feeling of being a pirate. With every dodged shot, and blade of starlight and lance of sand, she knew she'd finally found who she wanted to be.
The commodore couldn't hold out forever. Every ball that they had to dodge tired them, but it was the same for him and their attacks. And eventually - the commodore ran out of ammo.
Vivi saw Crocodile catch the man before he could reload, grabbing him in a cocoon of sand and slamming him against the deck.
There was a wild smile on the pirate captain's face, his dark eyes pinpricks and his scar standing out from his flesh.
"How high are you looking to raise that bounty, doll? Want to finish a commodore?"
Vivi flowed down to stand over the man, unhooking the pistol Doflamingo had given her from her belt as her smile hitched just as wide as his. Just as wild.
There was something so intoxicating as getting swept up in the moment, wasn't there?
"I can't stay so far behind everyone else, Crocodile. Let's get me a respectable number, with none of this 'return to the King of Alabasta' crap."
Lowering the barrel between the man's eyes she gave him a small smile.
"Sorry, Commodore, but you did underestimate me."
The man stammered out some last words. How she'd regret this. How her blood wouldn't protector her. How she'd be executed as a pirate.
But Vivi didn't care. My blood didn't protect me anyway, it didn't let her become who she wanted to be. If they were to execute her as a pirate she damn well would like to see them try.
She smiled without regret, and pulled the trigger. "Goodbye, Commodore."
A trace of hot blood spattered across her cheek. There was no going back to the life of a princess, now.
Crocodile's sand dropped the cooling corpse onto the deck, as the man himself bellowed a familiar sharp laugh. Around them, the marines had been routed by the pirate crew. Most of them dead, a few unconscious or surrendered in a state of shock.
Crocodile caught her in his arms and pulled her into a kiss.
It was enough to shake her out of the brief fugue she'd entered.
The weight of it settling on her shoulders, there was no going back now. Her father would hear of this. He'd be heartbroken and ...
The feeling of Crocodile's lips on hers wiped her worries away for a moment, letting her melt against him and into the kiss with passion. All the while, the blood cooled on her cheek.
Vivi had had many passionate kisses from Crocodile by now, but she wasn't sure she'd ever felt one quite as passionate as this, carrying her away on a wave of zeal.
When his lips left hers, he wiped the blood across her cheek, and raised his hook in the air.
"Let's hear it for pirate Vivi!"
A cheer went up from the crew.
Vivi was flushed, beaming like a maniac as she raised her hand with his , laughing in the aftermath of the chaos, the scent of blood and smoke in her nose.
"Thank you, thank you all for helping me escape!"
Another cheer went up, and Crocodile scooped her up in his arms.
She had escaped. She had really done it. She hadn't been able to tear herself away before, not in time to follow Luffy and his crew, but now, here she was.
She was in the arms of pirates, the blood of marines was on her hands.
There was no going back to Alabasta now. The Crown would never accept a princess who'd been born again in blood as a rogue.
She smiled from ear to ear. Once more she knew that this was the only life for her. And now, until they were asked to part, a life in the arms of Captain Crocodile and Neo Baroque.
They looted the marine ships for all they were worth - mostly food and weapons. Marine ships were almost impossible to steal, due to needing certain codes from their bases to function, so they left the survivors on a crippled ship, and set the rest ablaze in the water. Neo Baroque Works would be long gone before anyone came to help, and heard the tail of their wicked deeds.
Crocodile stood with her at the bow of the shop as they sailed away from the blazing marine vessels, and finally left Dressrosa behind. He lit a cigar, and grinned at her.
"How are you feeling, doll?"
Vivi leaned against the railing, looking out at the great blue sea stretching out ahead of them as she smiled, glancing up at him with a subtle sparkle in the corners of her eyes.
"....honestly, better than I thought for my first ...series...of kills."
"That so?" he cocked his head as he put his cigar in his mouth and he threw his arm around her shoulder.
At the far horizon, the sun was just starting to rise.
"I thought maybe I'd be more messed up about them?" She chuckled "I mean...I was a scout, not an assassin, and before that a princess. I'd never taken a life before, I... expected it'd probably be something that'd weight heavy on you."
She closed her eyes. "...but I mean, that man was awful, and those marines were firing on their own allies. I don't exactly feel bad."
"Good," Crocodile said firmly, pulling her close. "You sure as hell shouldn't feel bad. Wasn't sure though, if it was your first or not. But I ain't surprised. Straw Hat's crew is pretty bloodless."
Vivi nuzzled against him, chuckling softly under her breath. "They don't tend to bother to finish anyone off. They just beat their way to what they want, take it, and leave. Or...they get attached, like they did with me after they 'captured' me..."
She shook her head. "I love that they have their creed and they stick to it, but it does mean this was my first time actually killing someone..."
And it didn't bother me, she though to herself. No, there was more of a rush to it. A thrill. Not in the act of killing per say, but in the act of being willing to defend herself with the power she'd been given, and with the hard won training she and Crocodile had shared.
And not only that, she had people fighting for and with her. By her side. So even if men had died, it'd been because they'd tried to stop her.
"But it just makes me feel like I can live the life of...a great pirate. Pirate Vivi, who's no longer afraid of being taken away to live in a palace alone."
Crocodile pulled her against his broad body with a wide smile, and offered her his cigar. "It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? Feeling like you have the power to be who you want to be."
It was familiar now, the weight of his body against hers, and the taste of his cigars on her tongue, and it filled her with a comfortable warmth as she placed it's tip to her lips and pulled some smoke into her mouth.
"It is, Crocodile. I never knew how much I'd wanted it until it was slipping away from me..
"I can relate to that." He chuckled roughly and pulled her closer, tighter. "Felt a bit the same while I was under water."
She clung to him at the reminder. "I...I bet it felt like that, Crocodile. When I saw you fall, my heart broke. I...I wasn't able to help."
"That's the price of a devil fruit, doll," he sighed and shook his head. "But you did help, didn't you? Without your Karoo, I'd have been a goner."
Vivi took another pull off the cigar, before offering it back to him.
"And he saved you, no matter how often you guys fought." She smiled happilly, thinking fondly once again of her best friend. "....he's a real hero, that duck."
Crocodile chuckled and took the cigar back, hanging it in his mouth. "Maybe we can get a few more to fill out the crew, eh? Karoo used to be captain of his own little squad back in Alabasta, right?"
"The Supersonic Duck Squad, yeah." Vivi laughed into her hand, letting herself rest against him once more, her fingers trailing up his back "he's already got a start with that little lady we saved. Maybe we'll keep an eye out for more."
He grinned. "Could be a real edge for a bunch of devil fruit users like us. Maybe a rank on the crew'll help soothe Karoo's temper, too."
"I think him saving your bacon means he's feeling pretty smug, Crocodile. You give him a rank after that and he'll be your friend for life." Vivi laughed out loud. "he's got a bit of an ego!"
"Reminds me of myself in a way," Crocodile chuckled along with her. "We're both stubborn bastards, and we're both pretty damned protective of you."
Vivi looked up at him with a note of amusement. It was kind of true, huh? They were both stubborn, strong willed - and very much protective. She felt her face flush deeply.
Protective of her. After all this time, the failed plan to marry her and take over, the coup, the animosity and the chase, and their journey together on her flight from home, it was true. He'd grown very protective of her, very close. Just as she'd grown close to him.
Just like she was protective of him, too. SHe didn't want anything to ever take him away, no enemy, friend or act of the gods.
"You two are very much alike. You even like to preen the same way." she teased. "...but I'm glad you both want to protect me so very much."
"Hopefully Karoo's just as glad as I am to see you even more able to protect yourself, too."
"I think he must be. I know I am."
Crocodile rested his cigar in between grooves on the rail of the ship, and leaned his chin down on top of her head. "How's the devil fruit suiting you?"
She smiled, looking up at him through the fringe of her hair. "It's...it still feels weird but... I feel like it really does suit me. I'm adapting well."
"Good." He kissed the top of her head. "It's what you came out here for in the first place after all. Gonna have to make it worth it."
"I'd say it was well wroth the journey, Crocodile, and I'm only gonna get better with it, right?"She nuzzled her head against his neck. "And it means… we got to reconnect."
He wrapped his arms around her body, holding her close. "Gonna have a hell of a time getting me to give you up to Straw Hat when we run into him, doll."
"It's going to be hard for me to leave," she admitted with a flush, letting herself fit so very comfortably against him. "I love Luffy and the crew, and I'm still part of it, but I'm also a part of Neo Baroque works, with you."
"Makes me real happy to hear that, Viv." He chuckled, and nuzzled against her, his big body overshadowing her and holding her close. "Well, nobody knows where the hell Straw Hat is right now, so we can take our time. I sure as hell ain't in a hurry."
Vivi looked out towards wherever Luffy might be now, over the great sea momentarily enchanted by the way it caught the light of the rising sun, glittering in shades of orange and red before her.
He was out there, somewhere, but until she found him she had a home in the arms of Captain Crocodile. However long it took, she would cherish every moment - and remind herself that changing crews wasn't the end for them.
No matter what, part of her heart would stay here, with him.
"Me neither, Crocodile. We'll take as long as it needs to take."
Notes:
And that's the tale as it's still told on the high seas, of Vivi's first adventure with Captain Crocodile and how she got her devil fruit.
We'll definitely be returning to the pair's adventures for shorts during the time between the end of Sandstorms and Starfall, and the end of the OP timeskip in the future, so please look forward to that.
You can also follow Vivi's adventures once she returns to the straw hats in some of our later episodes of Deicide.
Thank you so much for reading. Your comments and kudos will always be appreciated <3
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