Chapter 48

Grandline, Paradise, ???

Blue, strechting endlessly. Now and then the occasional white cloud drifted through Robins vision, only helping to amplify the surfacing yearning that crept out of the deepest corners of her mind as she was carried through the endless sky. Never had she felt so, for a lack of a better word, free of every worry that normally plagued her mind, despite being held in a pair of arms not really having any freedom to move around, ironically.

At first she had been f.u.c.k.i.n.g scared of the height they were travelling at, Azul being the only being that prevented her from plumeting to an early death but soon that worry had faded away, getting used to the pair of arms that held her steadily, the rushing wind that ruffled through her black hair and the slowly but surely distancing ground they had left only minutes ago.

Azul meanwhile was enjoying himself alot, never before having used his devilfruit powers to travel to such heights, brimming with excitement for what they would discover up in the sky. What does a skyisland look like? Does it float on clouds? Does it consist of normal earth like the islands on the surface of the earth? If not than what were they made of? Did people exist up there? So many questions floated through his mind, just waiting to be answered as they were getting closer to their destination.

Flames billowing, Azul with the grinning Robin in his arms reached a thick layer of clouds, so white that they were unable to see through them, rushing straight into said clouds. As they entered the white cloud they were met by some kind of watery substance, which wasn't pure water but still caused water vapor to form on Robin, which soon was incinerated by the heat Azul was radiating, returning the vapor back into the clouds embrace. With a soft popping sound they broke straight through the clouds surface, only to be greeted by endless whiteness. Clouds, as far as the eyes could see, in all kinds of forms and shapes. The ocassional fin signalling to the pair that even animals existed in the ocean of clouds, somehow being able to swim inside the ocean of clouds without falling out from the bottom.

Grinning to each other, Azul made his way over to a nearby solid looking cloud, touching one foot down at first, and after making sure it would hold both of their weights, set down completely, releasing Robin from his arms. Afterwards they stared in wonder at their surroundings, gobsmacked what nature made possible on the grandline. A freaking ocean made of clouds up in the sky for heavens sake! If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes they may not have believed it themselves. But here they were, standing on solid clouds in heaven, for a lack of a better word. After all it really looked like heaven.

"Unbelievable..." they both murmured at the same time, turning towards each other before both grinned wider at the same time. It seemed they both had been gobsmacked by what they were seeing right now.

"Do you think there are people living up here? I mean there are animals swimming through the clouds so it could be possible..." Azul asked the thoughful looking Robin before she answered.

"Possibly. I mean Cricket said that half the island of Jaya disappeared so it may have ended up in the sea of clouds and its inhabitants along with it. So the possibility remains that their descendant survived up here..." Robin theorized, walking on the bouncing clouds with a small giggle, before throwing herself into a bundle of clouds that had the height of a normal chair.

Azul followed her example and dove right into a huge pile of clouds, letting out a laugh himself at the incredible softness that engulfed him, making him want to take a nap immediately, which he promptly did, while Robin kept on observing her surroundings, completely absorbed in her own thoughts about this wonder made by nature.

While Azul was still napping, Robin walked to the edge of the cloud they were staying on, careful not to step into the ocean so she wouldn't fall down to the grandline on accident, shouting over to the strawhats, signalling to them their position.

At first the only reaction that came back was unbelivable astonishement from the crew that there actually existed an ocean up in the sky, not much different from the pair of Azul and Robin, but soon they registered Robin and Azul staying on a cloud which made Usopp do something unbelivably stupid. He literally jumped inside the ocean to dive towards the bottom!

Facepalming at the young mans stupidity, Robin told the crew that had sailed over in the meantime, that they probably should consider getting Usopp back if they didn't want to go look for a replacement crewmember.

At first they had been confused until it dawned on them what came after the bottom of the ocean of clouds with widening horror on their faces, before Luffy plunged his stretching arm into the white ocean and Robin deciding to help a little sprouting eyes and hands on said arm, directing him towards the still diving Usopp that was reaching the bottom, just as Luffys arm grabbed the moron, pulling him upwards and throwing him back onto the ship, which earned him a giant smack on top of his head, knocking him out instantly, from their exesperated navigator at the mans stupidity. Azul meanwhile had woken up from the ruckus and couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity displayed, falling back into the bundle of fluffy clouds, knocking him back into dreamland almost immediately, which in turn earned him an amused chuckle from Robin and a wide grin from Zoro who promptly jumped down from the ship on top of the small island, bouncing around like a kid in a bouncing castle at its birthday party.

After having had their fun for a while the crew began to think about where to go next, while Robin stayed with Azul who was still soundly sleeping with a resounding snore of contentment.

Their planning though was interupted by a man that had a giant bazooka on his shoulders, a mask on his face and skates below his feet, traveling with amazing speed upon the clouds. At first the crew was surprised that they would actually find another human being, with wings on his back at that, up here but that surprise soon turned into hostile confusion when the man without warning began to attack the crew, but was soon fought of by Zoro, Sanji and Luffy, though he didn't really seem to be in any danger from the squad of three attacking him, showing that he knew how to fight at least.

After the man had disappeared another man showed up, this time an old man wearing a knights metal armor on top of a weird looking, pink pegasus. A horse with wings!

Offering the crew some information and a whistle should they ever be in danger to call him, the man disappeared into the horizon. Shortly afterwards Azul woke up with a giant yawn, simply picking Robin up again without asking her, making her yelp in surprise, before igniting his feet once more and began to walk into a random direction, soon followed by the sailing ship. Surprisingly they soon reached a gate, guarded by some granny that took some pictures of the crew and the airwalking pair, which brought some confusion to all involved but that was soon forgotten as an actual island in the sky appeared before their eyes bringing awe and wonder to every single one of the group.

'Heavens, how beatiful! I could get used to living in such a place...' Azul thought to himself, not knowing that he wasn't the only one that was thinking along the same lines. Nothing surpassed heaven after all...