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2020-05-07
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of pop greens and tangerines.

Summary:

After the world went to hell, Usopp and Nami find themselves just a few years before they meet Luffy again. This time, they're not going to be the cowards of the crew. They're going to save themselves, and they might as well drive everyone absolutely insane while they do it.

An expansively written time travel fanfic featuring a Blind Usopp, Metal Arm Nami, and two others.

 

Current Arc: Enies Lobby.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1: blinded (disabled)

Chapter Text

Sea Age 1527, Day 55.

Today, Robin and Chopper left. There are many more ruins to find, books to read, and patients to treat-- and there are places only the most careful feet can go.

Usopp’s going too. He’s setting sail for Little Garden. His plan is to get Dory and Brogy, meet up with Cashew and Oreo Kashii and Oimo, then he’s going to Elbaf, apparently. 

On this blue sea, we’ll definitely meet again.

 

 

Sea Age 1527, Day 91.

We reach the Red Line once again, and Brook reunites with Laboon. We partied to the light of day, drunk and giddy and never happier. 

Brook stays with him. They’re going on their own, long-overdue journey together.

Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Bink's brew! 

Wave good-bye, but don't you cry: Our memories remain.

 

 

Sea Age 1527, Day 147.

Vivi’s doing great. We took Zoro’s suggestion this time and kidnapped her out to sea.

It’s okay, we’ll give her back before the next Reverie

 

 

Sea Age 1528, Day 10.

Luffy’s missing. That fucking idiot.

 

 

Sea Age 1528, Day 12.

Apparently he went to visit Katakuri. Can you believe him? Apparently he destroyed a few fleets of Marines on the way and ate half of the island.

Dear lord that mochi bastard has a soft spot for the rubber glutton fuck knows why

For god’s sake, we’re the Emperors now! They’re not just going to let him waltz up to Totto Land and say hi!

 

 

Sea Age 1528, Day 22.

We don’t know what he talked about there, but now he’s leaving for real.

He made sure to tell us his plans, he even talked to Coby though it’s not the kind of plan I should write in the logbook before the day. It’s a promise to us only in words, and he’s going to find the others and tell them himself, before he does it.

No longer wearing his stupid straw hat, smiling like the sun.

Our Pirate King walks away.

 

 

Sea Age 1528, Day 68.

Zoro and Sanji stay behind in the New World. 

I hope they didn’t fight and drown once we left, that rowboat was small

Momonosuke is turning twelve soon, and Zoro’s been commissioned to be his personal master in the sword. He’s going to stay in Wano until Momo becomes king.

Sanji opens his own sea restaurant in the New World, and it’s a big hit with only the most notorious of pirates. Of course, every worker in there packs a mean punch. Or kick.

 

 

Sea Age 1528, Day 111.

Franky leaves on a passenger ship toward Sabaody, leaving behind the Thousand Sunny in the Sea Forest ten thousand meters under the surface.

It’s amazing how there are daily ships in and out now. Shirahoshi-chan’s brothers are working really hard, aren’t they?

Jinbei lords over the Fishman District now, approving efforts of bringing the island to the surface and the surface to the island. The Strawhat flag flies proud and strong at the entrance of Fishman Island, and Jinbei is the gatekeeper.

Everyone’s settled down somewhere, and now it’s my turn.

Today, I’m going to close this book, Sunny. 

I still haven’t decided where to go. I never knew I’d stay this long. Maybe I’ll pay Gen-san a visit.

It really makes me wonder how Buggy decided to settle down where he did.

He may have been a wimp, but he watched his own captain die and stood back up. 

The road we walked on narrowed, but as long as we’re alive, there’s always a way to keep going forward. 

Even though our journey's over, we’ll always be nakama, Sunny.

The Strawhats are Eternal.

 

 


 

 

There are happy moments in the log. There are sad moments in there, too. But what it doesn’t have-- is the truth of what comes after.

It’s a deceivingly beautiful ending to a magnificent adventure.

 

With the execution of Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy, the era comes to an end. What comes next certainly lives up to the name of the previous generation.

Decades into the next era, someone will find the Thousand Sunny in the depths of the sea, and they will find their logbook.

And by the end of it, surely, they too, will mourn the bitter end of the Strawhats.

 

 

This isn’t the story of what comes after. We don’t have time for all that.

This is the story of two people who will make sure it never happens again.

 

 

-


-

 

Regarding the King of the Snipers.

 

 

Usopp's arms are bound on either side of the wall, and his legs are crossed in a way that was him trying to get himself comfortable as he slept.

He wonders if Ace felt like this too, before his execution. Man, his shoulders ache. Is that joint even still connected?

But Usopp knows that no one is coming for him. It’s not something he particularly wants at this point-- his time is over.

 

Speaking of time, it’s hard to grasp the flow when you’re in Level Six of a high-security prison. He wonders if the world is still intact out there.

He doesn’t resist, and just waits for the next storm to take the world.

 

The world has really become more boring since Luffy’s execution, hasn’t it?

 

He would’ve been really disappointed. When will the successor of his legacy come by?

He wonders if Rayleigh felt like this, wearing those bomb shackles and pretending to be a slave in the human auction, just as a pastime.

He grasps some shred of news, every once in a while, from some newbie that wants to goad him into action. But Usopp is beyond that now. A brat’s ramble is far from anything that can anger him.

 

“I heard Roronoa Zoro had to disembowel himself before the masses!” 

 

He closes his eyes and he goes to sleep, not at all expecting the scenery to change when he wakes up again.

 

-

 

Usopp regains his awareness in the Spring of Sea Age 1518, nearly three to four decades earlier than he was supposed to be in. He doesn't know why or how he understood the precise date in such suddenness-- perhaps it was the way the wind blew through his face-- the way his limbs felt light-- the way the stone before him felt distinctly like a grave-- but he just did

 

His hands are free. And small. And his shoulders don’t have the chronic ache from being shackled to the wall for much too long. The agony of the muscle atrophy was no longer there-- and he could breathe-- because the walls weren't musky, the air was fresh-- and sweet, and salty, like the sea.

The sea.

He was-- he was outside.  

Not in Impel Down's Level Six-- truly, truly, outside.

His vision is blurry, as it has been for the past how many years since he was captured and chained to Level Six. But the world right now is bright and colourful and so many colours Impel Down evidently isn’t.

 

Blotches of so many colours, yet he can’t see the clouds.

 

For the first time in a while, he wishes he had his eyesight back.

 

(He still remembers the agony when those marines spilled acid over them, laughing in glee at the aspect of the greatest sharpshooter in the world, crippled forever.)

(Joke’s on them, Usopp can shoot them down a mile away, blind or not.)

 

What’s going on?

 

The sunlight is harsh against his head. The sea is a painful cobalt blue. The tombstone before him says Banchina, in loving memory of a beloved mother. He knows because he runs his hands over them and feels each carved letter, and he knows it’s new.

He hugs himself.

He’s too small. Too thin and soft and lacking muscles.

He closes his eyes (they’re useless anyways) and his mind stretches. He thinks he’s dreaming when he feels the amount of people in the town around him. The amount of gentle, good-coloured people.

His heart expands across the terrain, up strangely familiar roads, and rests on the girl that has always been his one lifeline.

(It’s Kaya.)

 

Usopp buries his face on his mother’s grave and sobs.

Sobs, because this isn’t a dream.

 

It makes no sense, but it’s real, it’s happening, he’s young again, and all his adventures definitely aren’t his imagination. His blindness is proof of it.

He’s back.

 

-

 

He may have lived alone after his mother died, but that didn’t mean there were no adults to take care of him.

Shortly after realizing Usopp hadn’t shown up for groceries a while, the local fishmonger’s wife decided she was going to pay the poor kid a visit. She even brought along lunch and veggies from the supermarket ossan.

What they stumbled upon was a horrifically messy house, and Usopp sitting upside down in the middle of that chaos like a kitten trying to pretend this wasn’t his fault.

Cue panicked screaming, fussy neighbourhood aunties, a doctor’s visit, and a very nice house remodeling session courtesy of the carpenters in the village.

 

-

 

In his past life, his reputation was ‘the boy who cried pirate’. 

This time, by total accident really, he becomes known as the boy who cried himself blind. Apparently.

Sudden blindness doesn’t quite occur so, uh , suddenly, after all.

“No sign of an external injury,” the doctor says, “but it’s not going to get better. I suspect it’s something like what took Banchina… but instead of his life, it’s just taking his eyes.”

They can only theorize. Sudden blindness in one night? No way. But maybe it’s a disease that takes away his eyesight? That is just a little more likely than time travel. 

(They still don’t know what took Usopp’s mom from them, so maybe it’s this, just a different form of it? There are plenty of diseases that only attack certain body parts. So maybe Usopp is absurdly lucky and it only took his eyes instead?)

All in all, Usopp is glad that they’re going to explain this for them and he doesn’t need to come up with a lie for it.

But if they do ask, it’s not like they’ll believe his tragic retelling of how his wife’s jealous ex-husband from his last life’s forbidden romantic relationship cast a curse over his eyes so he’d never be able to see his beloved’s beautiful face again.

 

-

 

Usopp spends his first few days home trying to figure out where everything is.

Haki can only see souls, so Usopp can’t see fixtures and furniture. 

He sits on his bed, and he admires the colours of the world again.The sky is a blue blur. His bed is a white blur. His desk is a brown, black, white and green blur. 

And a bit of red. What’s the red? 

It’s the wax seal from the letter Yasopp sent. Banchina had read it lovingly, and Usopp thought the wax seal was cool so he kept it like a lucky coin.

He can’t even remember how the pattern looked like anymore.

And now he’ll never remember.

He breathes out a heavy sigh.

Alright, he slapped his cheeks a few times. He blinked a few times, though his vision isn't clear at all. It’s only going to get worse herein, and maybe, that’s fine.

This time, he’ll wait for his captain, and this time, he’ll hold onto him tight.

 

-


-

 

Regarding the Burglar Cat.

 

 

 

Burglar Cat Nami had been a mercenary pirate for a few years before the purge began. 

Current wealth? Insurmountable. Number of claimed islands? Every island that owes her money belongs to her. Including Cocoyashi, that’s about thirty five in Paradise, Twelve in the New World, and one Fishman Island. Oh, and one in North Blue, because of Torao.

Treasures? Countless. 

Maps? Priceless.

What about the map of the world? That’s buried in the ground, completed and perfect, revered as a legend just like her Captain and the rest of everyone’s dreams that have already come true.

Burglar Cat Nami led a fulfilling, successful, very productive life. As documentaries often say-- she was a woman of fortune, a kitten of great wealth. 

 

She spent most of her time in Fishman Island, being the core of human-fishmen relations, learning karate for fun, and occasionally mooting off Fukaboshi-chan’s royalty.

It was a nice life.

 

Laying on the ground, her hair sprawled out over her figure as she lay on the cold, disgusting mud-- unable to bring her face away from the soil. She feels the blood under her, gathering in a pool of sickening red. 

She feels the burn of the tears in her eyes, but she isn't scared-- she isn't frustrated, nothing like that. 

She was just resigned-- simply waiting, for the cold to take her. 

 

(Has it really been so long since Vivi was executed?)

(Vivi died, high and beautiful and as mighty as Ace’s death had been. She hopes they meet up there, princes and princesses in their own right, scorned for their dreams and dying for the ones they loved.)

Nami is different.

Nami’s death is ugly.

(At least, she thinks she dies.)

Like a stray cat, she curls up in the corner of some trash, dirty and drenched and missing a few limbs. She struggled, she struggled until she was the last one left-- but unlike the rest of her beloved crew, her death is one no one mourns.

No one she once loved existed anymore. 

 

And no passersby approaches, because a dead body at the side of the road is just that.

 


 

 

Nami jerks awake in the Winters of Sea Age 1517, a scream at her throat and a rush of vomit churning in her stomach. She bites her fist, holding it back and shoving down the dissonance, praying and hiding and-- hiding, from what?

 

She first cringes, reaching toward her arm stump and whimpering at the dragging, clawing, grinding agony. Phantom pains, not again. Not again. Not again. She has one foot less to brave against the soil. 

No, something’s wrong. 

The stumps have been there for years. She’s past the point of having phantom aches any time except rains. 

Why do the stumps feel fresh and raw?

 

She opens her eyes to knees that are too small, too free of scars. She’s between barrels, tucked under a blanket in a semblance of a shelter. She doesn't know where she is, but she knows, strangely enough, when she is. 

(And it's not when she is supposed to be.)

Beside her, a bag full of beri. 

There are sandals on her feet-- sandals, something she hasn't worn since she'd lost one foot so many years ago-- and a sleeveless shirt.

 

How long has it been since she’s worn a sleeveless shirt?

Her tattoo was just too recognizable, so after a few years of gallivanting in a bikini top, she returned to the modesty of shirts. 

Without her right arm (her right arm, her right arm, how is she going to draw maps without her right arm?) she can’t lift the cloak that's covering her figure-- but somehow, she knows what’s hidden underneath it.

 

Arlong’s mark.

 

She bites her lip, holding back a whine.

She's back.

She’s back, and this time-- this time she’ll find them again, she just has to be patient.

She just has to wait, quietly, and she’ll be back with them again.

She’s the weakest, but when it comes to having a stubborn will to live, Nami wouldn’t lose to Luffy.

 

-

 

The Arlong Pirates take her missing limbs hard, but she shows her stuff and she manages to convince them she’s worth enough to stay.

(Cat Burglar Nami has drawn a million maps in her life. She could draw with her teeth and feet if she had to, and they’d still be the picture of perfection. Losing her dominant arm is a small issue.)

 

She’s not sure how her missing limbs came back in time with her, but she isn’t going to question it. Stranger things have happened in the New World.

 

She’s missing her right foot from the ankle and down. She binds a contraption to it made of wood and stuck it in a boot, and it gives her enough leverage to walk normally. But not having a right arm will be tough, so she’ll need to commission a prosthetic technician and get it fixed. 

Okay then. 

She’ll first save up enough for a pair of prosthetics, and get at least some of her muscle and finesse back in her body. 

Then, she'll find a way to slam Arlong back into the gutters.

 

Everything else comes after.

Chapter 2: adapting (enduring)

Chapter Text

Usopp can’t read books anymore. 

That’s a shame, but it’s fine. All he needs to know is already in his head. 

He didn't really like reading, anyways. He's not sure if he remembers how the alphabet looks like anymore, actually. He hasn't seen one in... maybe a decade? Man, he feels so old... 

 

He is thirteen where he arrives, and thirteen is the perfect time to get serious with his personal training. 

After regaining his bearings, scouting out his living areas over the course of a few months-- he was finally permitted to move about unsupervised (for the most part) and with it, he adapts to his new life. 

He has been blind a long time, but he hasn't exactly been an active blind man for a long time. 

 

He works out, runs laps around the island perimeters. The good thing about Gecko is that the beach shores the islands far and long, interrupted by a cliff before going downhill back toward the beach in one big oval of sorts.

 

He needs to get stronger.

Stronger, stronger, and stronger even more. 

He has plenty of years to train now, not just two. And he needs it-- he’s lacking everything he used to have on Boyn. He doesn’t have access to his Pop Greens, and that’s already a big setback in strength.

 

(...No, he doesn’t need them now. He’s a New World level pirate.)

(New World Level pirates don’t need their best weapons to win against the small fry of the East Blue. He needs to think calmly, slowly. No rush, no rush.)

 

He needs to get back to his basic level first. Baby steps. First he familiarizes himself with blind fighting, building up his stamina and power on the way.

Then, back to crafting.

 

-

 

“If you find a Strawhat, you either run, or you kill it.”

A little after Robin’s public burning, that rule became a permanent fixture. 

None of the Strawhats could stay long in one place-- that’s why Zoro and Jinbei were the first to fall, standing proud and strong before the gates of the place they treasured most. 

(For Jinbei, that was literal.)

When it came to Usopp, the marines didn’t kill him.

With Elbaf behind him something he didn’t want to discard, he was captured. And, because they couldn’t think of a better way to trample over a warrior’s pride, they spared him and kept him alive.

 

“Because only the small fry is left, ” they mocked. “Surely, they’d pull a Mugiwara and break into Impel Down for you. Then we can capture them at once and you can all die together!”

“But if they don’t, well maybe you weren't that important after all! Hahaha!”

 

Never once, not even once, did Usopp feel like that.  Never once had he felt a single bit less significant and important to his one remaining comrade he knows is alive and he knows will not come for him.

He just wants Nami, at least, to live out there, running free and strong.

 

-

 

He wakes up with a start. 

It’s dark. It’s blurry, His arms hurt. No they don’t. He can’t see, he can't see-- where is he? The bed under him doesn't feel familiar under his hands, doesn't feel right-- it should be hard. It should be chapped, broken bricks

It’s so dark. Completely dark.

No gray. No red-- just black black black black black --

(What’s beside him? He’s sitting down.)

On a bed. But why? 

He claws at his head, squeezes his eyes shut, trying not to remember the burning, burning pain on them that he could never forget. He crosses his legs over each other, because things don't feel real, and that's how he's been comfortable for the past ten years, why change it now? He squeezes his shoulders in, a half-hearted attempt to remind himself he's no longer tied to the wall.

He leans forward, making himself small, as small as he can.

 

(Where’s everyone? Who’s there? Is anyone there? Anyone, please , anyone.)

 

He opens his eyes. It’s still complete darkness.

He can't take this any longer. 

 

In a few hours, the sun finally rises over the sea, and colour filters in again.

Usopp looks at his own hands,and sits there.

He breathes, in and out.

 

(It’s another hour before he can will himself to move again.)

 

-

 

It’s become commonplace to hear Usopp’s walking stick click against the tiles of the streets. It's not paved, but people are careful to stay out of his way. Eventually, children learn how to swirl right around him when they play tag.

If they run into him, Usopp is quick to reach out and set them right back on their feet. And they're quick to gather themselves, giggling with a short apology before running right off once more. 

He’s gotten good at that, even without Observation.

 

And that’s what happens. 

 

The flutter of a girl’s dress alerts him to his surroundings, the gentle pitter patter of flats against the sun-baked pathway-- Usopp notices quickly who it is, but he doesn't quite know how to avoid her before she crashes into him. 

She's distracted, probably playing tag with her very harried Merry, who just wants her to watch herself and not trip. 

And trip she does. Kaya bumps into Usopp, shoulder to shoulder-- and her toes catch on the edge of a tile-- Usopp quickly releases his hold on his walking stick, extending a firm arm for her to fall forward on.

His other arm grasps her shoulder, keeping her upright as she regains her balance. 

 

“I- I’m so sorry!” 

Flustered, she gathers herself. The apology spills before she’s fully upright.

 

Usopp smiles. “It’s fine. Are you okay?” he asks, though his eyes wander toward the ground, trying to locate his walking stick.

He closes his eyes for a bit. It’s one thing to look into the fog, but trying to look for something in it always makes him dizzy. Maybe he should keep his eyes closed more often-- or get glasses, sunglasses. 

He feels a gentle hand on his, and his cold cane is pushed into his hands.

“Here you go,” it’s Kaya’s voice again, gentle and apologetic. “I’m really sorry to trouble you. Thank you for catching me.”

Usopp closes his fingers over the walking stick. He opens his eyes to the platinum blonde and the angelic white, and he wants to cry because he can’t see her anymore.

 

(He can’t even see the face of the woman he loved, and she doesn’t know their star-crossed magic just yet.)

(Right now, they are nothing.)

 

“Kaya-ojousama!” 

When Merry the butler rushes forward, Usopp senses her stiffening slightly, as if she was caught in the middle of a childish prank. He smiles fondly as Merry begins to lecture Kaya for running off.

After a hasty apology from Merry for the trouble, Usopp finds himself waving shyly back at their general direction as they leave.

 

“I live in the mansion on the hill, by the way!” she says cheerfully, “My name is Kaya! Nice to meet you!”

She’s a lot more energetic than Usopp remembers. Is this before she was diagnosed? That’s quite a bit earlier than when Usopp originally met her.

“I’m Usopp,” he barely remembers to say, “nice to meet you too.”

 

 

-


-

 

Nami has plenty of experience trying to self-maintain her limbs. But right now, she’s a growing girl-- thirteen, if she's right about this. She’ll need a lot more than just maintenance-- she'll need more than one session of full surgery to change the fittings as she grows.

And fuck, they’re heavy.

Mekani Isle isn’t as advanced as they are in the future, so she’ll have to handle them weighing a ton or more on her limbs until technology improves. 

Who knows, she might get stronger like this. She'll have to, anyways-- need some to sail on the Pirate King's ship, after all. For now, however, these limbs are way too fucking heavy to swim in. If she drops in the sea, she’ll be a literal hammer, even more literal than Devil Fruit users.

She's having trouble walking, but she'll get used to it. She'll be having sleepless nights, horrible muscle aches, and incredibly lethargic runs for a while.

But she'll live. She's survived through worse. 

 

(If only she could jump into Paradise, make her way to Baldimore, and get these limbs done there...)

 

But it’s fine, beggars can’t be choosers. Nami might love money and act spoiled, but she certainly knows when she can and can’t be picky.

Man, Nami hates being poor.

 

-

 

She finally brings up enough courage to visit the tangerine grove. She’s come back to Arlong Park a few times, but the town is a place she doesn’t visit much.

She betrayed them, after all. She needed them to think she was a witch, she needed Arlong to think she really turned for money. So she stayed away-- but now, now she’s finally home. Home.

Her home, that's been burned to the ground-- to her family, that were seared to ashes. 

 

(How long has it been?)

 

Gen-san’s reaction is just… hard to watch.

He just breaks down sobbing, then screams into the void, and then demands for his guns wait wait wait wait wait! Calm down! Calm down!

She’s a little embarrassed. Thank god she showed up at the house instead of the village. She might just accidentally bring the Arlong Park confrontation up to half a decade too early.

 

Then there’s Nojiko. She takes the metal hand in hers, holds it gently-- and then she leans into Nami’s shoulder and cries.

Nami is the younger sister. She doesn’t know what to do when her big sister cries. (She doesn’t remember the last time she’s seen Nojiko cry.) She doesn’t remember the last time she's seen Nojiko.

(The Marines took everything. Burned every island. Gecko. Conomi. Dawn. All of them. All the people, their severed heads lined up on the newspaper like a symbol and a warning for the world.)

So she cries too, wailing into her big sister’s shoulder, because she’s alive.

She’s so glad she’s back here, and her arm and foot was the only toll for this chance.

 

-

 

Princess Nefertari Vivi’s execution was where the gears grinded and broke apart.

Even if Luffy was gone, this was a declaration of war against the Strawhats. There was no way any of them were going to cop out and let it happen.

But just like it had been when it was Ace, they lost her anyways.

And they lost Chopper while they were trying to escape.

History repeats itself, and the World Government will never not win.

Nami’s known that fact for so long-- and yet, she wanted to hope that this time, just this time, would be different… it wasn’t.

 

-

 

Her food was tossed over her. Cream soup drenching her hair, seeping into her skin, leaving a stain on her clothes.

It wasn’t even hot. 

 

The door slammed shut with laughter. 

 

Nami wondered if any of the maps were ruined. Perhaps a few specks here and there, but nothing unsalvageable. That’s a relief. If only she could burn it all and burn herself along with it, too. 

Not yet. Not yet.

She’s a New World level pirate, but every Fishman here was too, once upon a time. She shouldn’t push her luck just yet.

Just a little more. Just a little longer.

 

Her fist tightened on the floor, clasping against nothing.

(What am I waiting for? )

Luffy’s not coming. Jinbei’s not coming. They’re all in different parts of their own pasts, unable to come and save her. Because they don’t know her.

(No one came back with her. If they did, they’d cross the seas for her before Bellemere even died. She’s alone.)

(She has to save herself.)

 

She stepped out of her room. Everyone was having their dinner in the hall, boisterously making noise for their latest raid nearby. Nami made her way to the front porch, and dove into the sea.

It’s faster and colder than a proper bath.

She sinks letting the weight of her limbs drag herself to the bottom-- looking up, to find the moonlight shining in. The ladders are on the edge of the wall-- she wades over, lifting her flesh arm to grab it, dragging herself back up. 

It's hard, but it's not the worst thing in the world. 

 

“Ahhh, Nami, Naaaami, wait.”

 

Hair still drenched and her sandals in her hands, Nami turns around. There’s Hachi, looking less like an intimidating eight-armed man and more like a flustered little big brother as he scampered up to Nami, looking over her carefully.

“Was it Kaneshiro again? Oh man,” his hand hovers hesitantly before the girl, “did you get hurt?”

Nami finds herself wordlessly shaking her head.

Was Hachi this nice before? She’s only had bad memories of this place, never once thinking any of them were any form of good against the bad. 

She doesn’t quite remember Hachi ever coming by to console her.

 

Hachi reaches around himself, then rushes inside only to come back out with a towel, draping it over her head, though he removed his hand as quickly as he could, as if she didn’t want to touch her too much.

No.

He didn’t want her to be touched too much.

Because he’s a Fishman. And Fishmen are big and brawly and scary.

 

(It’s experience. Because no matter what Hachi says and who he follows, he’s always got a soft spot for Koala and the soft spot stays and extends to Nami.)

 

The young Nami would have been frozen with fear and apprehension, worried for this deceptive moment of kindness. Bracing for a punch or a shove back into the waters.

But it isn’t coming, Nami knows that. She recognizes this towel.

She remembers hiding it in the corner of her room and tossing it the first moment she could because she was disgusted by it, hating every moment of this fake family feeling. This fake, bargaining kindness that to her, was in no way, no possible way, true.

 

“Thanks, Hachi,” she said.

 

She misses the way Hachi startles. She takes the towel gratefully, wiping her hair down and pressing the hem to the joint of her metal arm. 

She’ll wash the towel and give it back.

 

-

 

Back downstairs, Hachi watches Nami walk back to her room, leaving a faint trail of watery footprints.

“What’re you doing outside, Hachi?” Choo sticks his head out the door-- “wait, are you crying, Hachi? Seriously?? You’re drunk, aren’t you.”

“M’not cRYiNG”

Chapter 3: best friends (found family)

Summary:

Timeline wise, currently, Nami is a year ahead of Usopp.

Basically: Nami is 5 years pre-canon, Usopp is 4 years pre-canon. This will quickly meld together, so you don't need to remember that or anything-- it's just to clarify if things get confusing.

Notes:

I'm gonna speed things up from the next chapter on! dsjaklsfjklasj I'm so honoured you guys are enjoying this, I hope you enjoy this chapter too! :) ♥️

Chapter Text

Usopp doesn’t quite know what to think.

“Usopp-san! I came to visit!”

Sandalled feet against the soft shores and a strong flutter of a sunhat against the wind, a cheery bundle of yellow bounces up in his direction. 

Usopp leans against the wall of his house, a wooden plank between his lap and resting on his shoulder, and a few dozen piles of chopped wood sprawled all around him.

“Don’t step on the nails, Kaya,” he warns.

In the corner of his vision, the yellow bounces a bit to the left, stepping daintily over the box of bolts before crouching down near him to inspect the little wooden cube in his hands.

“Kaya-ojou-sama,” Merry calls from not too far away, “three paces away, please.”

 

Yes Kaya, when someone is carving wood, you stay five steps away or get showered in splinters and whine.

 

“Good morning, Kaya, Merry,” Usopp greets, “what brings you?”

He can hear Kaya pout from here. “I came to visit!” she says, emphasizing the visit in a way that means ‘I came to play, obviously’, “hey, what’re you making?”

 

Hell if Usopp knows. The wood started off looking like a brown blur, and right now? it’s just a smaller brown blur. 

 

“Does it look like something?” Usopp asks instead, holding it out so Kaya could take it. “I’m just practicing how to not cut myself while carving it, so I didn’t really think about the shape.”

Kaya takes it to inspect, and Usopp gestures dramatically at the piles of firewood around him.

“That aside, look at all this!” he brags, “you see yesterday, a big brown mountain… bear, I think? that was two-- three-- ten! meters tall came down, saw me and he thought I was a tengu! So he chopped me a lot of firewood as an offering!” 

“Really?” Kaya asks, hopping forward those three paces again. “That’s amazing!”

“Do people give offerings to tengu, usually?”

Usopp can almost imagine the exasperated grimace on Merry’s face. He huffs, opting to expertly ignore the butler, “and yep! He’s coming down again to cook my dinners and keep my fires lit!”

 

Usopp’s current tactic to avoid babysitting aunts and uncles from the village (because no one in their right mind leaves a newly blind child to his house by the sea, alone) is to make up the wildest stories to get them too tired to question it.

Because sure as heck they won’t believe him if he says he’s making his own meals blind and handling himself with the experience of an adult that hasn’t been able to see for a long, long time.

He still has some babysitters though. They usually make sure he’s not dead, ask him about his day, cook him a few meals, then they go. Merry wrote his name on the volunteer roster (upon Kaya’s insistence) and today is his turn. 

 

Kaya sounds like she’s going to jitter right out of her skin, “then, can I stay the night and meet him? Pleeease?”

Usopp squawks, “oh, no, no, you can’t!” he panics, “he’s uh-- uhhhh,” his eyes dart around away from Kaya and then they close, “shy around girls!”

Before Kaya can deflate and Usopp can spontaneously combust, Merry pats them both on the head to stifle the growing fairy tale.

“As interested as we are in Mister Mountain Bear, I will have to remind you Usopp-kun-- don’t talk to strangers if you don’t know who they are,” Merry says. 

Usopp hums. They think this imaginary bear is a man. Okay.

He hears the click of a pocket watch. “Now then, Kaya-ojousama, and Usopp-kun. Shall we head to lunch?”

 

-


-

 

“So this is Momoiro Cafe… oh! Koala-san!” Usopp felt the need to bow as he greeted her, “it’s nice to see you again!”

Retiring from piracy, Usopp had plenty of time to dabble. He taught the kids on Elbaf how to shoot. He found a legitimate Island of Snipers and had a lot of fun there. He claimed a few islands for himself and visited them every few months.

And most important of all, he joined the Revolutionary Army on a part-time basis.

 

“Sogesopp-san, did you come by to play?” Koala says, sarcastic, but brimming with honest joy. “Oh would you listen to this? Sabo-kun and I were on a mission--”

 

Expertly, Usopp sat himself on the opposite side on the table, setting down his bag and leaning on the desk comfortably.

The agent he was talking to excused himself, and Usopp waved with a sheepish apology. A moment later, he was served tea in a pink and heart-painted cup. Almost comfortingly, he picked it up and took a sip, enjoying the warmth of peaches and roses. 

 

“...Then when he showed up again he was holding the prince in his arms! Could you believe that?!” Koala gesticulated wildly. “The building was on fire and even though it was just a spying mission he went and blew everything up anyways!”

Usopp burst into laughter, “I take it that's the new guy in the East Division that’s wearing the hat, right? Saw him on my way in.”

“That’s him! He’s doing a great job, but man, could Sabo stop adopting every troubled kid he finds?” Koala complains, “he idolises Sabo so much we just know he’s going to grow up into a pain in the ass.”

Usopp sips his tea.

“Well, he has to pass the baton somehow,” he says. “I can’t wait to see how the new generation ruins the world.”

“They’re terrible,” Koala says, scowling fondly.

“No,” Usopp says, “they’re the Worst.”

Conversations like these were common now. Like old war buddies, Usopp sought solace in people of the previous generation, trying to get a semblance of closure in reminiscing.

 

“Sometimes, I wish we could go back to those times,” Usopp says.

Koala smiles, a little sad, “optima dies... prima fugit.”

 

The best days are the first to flee.

 

-


-

 

He sits on his bed, his stew cooking and his mind wandering. 

Right now, he’s about thirteen years old, give or take a few months. He can’t read newspapers, so he can’t know the exact date. Days are a blur now that sunrise and sunset are hard to tell apart, especially if he takes a nap. 

He does ask Kaya to read the news for him, though. Just to keep a lookout on the workings of the world.

 

What’s the plan? Is there a plan?

He needs a plan.

What should change and what shouldn’t?

 

Honestly, Usopp loved every moment of his journey, the bitter and the sweet, all of them. The only problem was what came after, the cruelty of their strength and the despair they all felt as they were picked off, one by one.

Why couldn’t they have a nice retirement life like Rayleigh?

The problem is the world.

Princess Nefertari Vivi loved her country. But her love for her country made her go obediently toward the execution platform. No one can say it was right to take her away from her throne-- but if she wasn’t on the throne, maybe she would have lived to see a daughter or a son take it from Kohza.

They have to hit the world harder than they did before.

 

(Is that even possible?)

 

Usopp laughs to himself. Is fighting the government seriously his calm-minded first choice? The old him would’ve just gone to sleep crying for his I-can’t-blow-up-anymore-WG-flags-or-I’ll-die-disease.

He’s sure changed, hasn’t he?

I’m so … he ran a hand through his arm. Smooth, clean, but he remembers the place of each and every scar that ran through this very limb. I’m so… wrong, right now.

He can’t be the Usopp that Luffy met. He can’t be that guy anymore-- the guy that was the weakest, was the wimpiest, yet was so irreplaceable. 

Usopp can’t be that guy.

 

He has to be someone different. Someone better.

 

 

-


-

 

Nami’s covered in oil and grease and surrounded by nuts and bolts.

“Nami, straighten your posture,” Nojiko chides.

Nami makes a whiny sound. “But these things are heavy!”

 

Muscles are thick and ugly, but at this rate, she’ll need a toned figure just to handle walking around for more than too long. The long-term strain will also give her joint issues… 

Even right now, when she wore her metal arm in a sling when she didn't need to use it. It was just too painful to hold it up for long periods of time, especially coupled with the muscle strain that came with each day trying to get used to it. 

 

“You sure bought a lot of stuff this time around,” Nojiko says. The house, usually smelling like fresh dew and oranges-- now it was filled with the slightly pungent odor of wax and oil. Not awful, just different.

“Sorry, Nojiko. Maybe I’ll keep them at Arlong Park inste--”

“No, no, I didn’t say that,” Nojiko interrupts, “you can keep them here.”

 

Where had her tomboy little sister, delicate and so adorable, gone? She looks so at home among gears, robots, and machinery. She would smear a handful of ink on her face, or fall asleep among the soil, to the smell of oil. 

It was jarring. 

It’s like her lifelong dream of mapping the world has taken a back seat, and her priorities have sorted from map-money-beauty, to power-map-money, with the aforementioned beauty never to be seen again.  

She now cares little enough about money that Nojiko gets a monthly bag of gold she can use to pay off their headcount taxes. Nojiko thought Nami was trying to save up. How is she paying for those limbs, investing in Nojiko’s allowance, and saving up all at once? Where is she getting the money? (Easy, she just isn't saving up anymore. She's using all she has.) 

She still cared about beauty, though. Nojiko's seen her frowning at the mirror at a new set of acne or a new scar, but she didn't think there was time to deal with it in her schedule. She wasn't taking care of herself as often, not letting herself be pampered until she truly had a moment of real reprieve. 

Someday, when this is all over (if that day ever comes,) Nojiko is going to drag Nami to a massage parlour. And a hair salon. 

 

She leans against the side of the door.

Nami’s tattoo is in full view-- something Nami used to try her hardest to hide when Arlong wasn't looking.

And Nojiko hates it. It’s as if Nami is adapting, trying to become one of them by first numbing her heart. It’s as if the naive and innocent part of Nami, the Nami that dreamed of maps and whined after being caught stealing books-- it’s like it was all lost, along with her right arm.

This Nami is stronger-- so much stronger, tougher, and more resilient. So much, Nojiko holds back tears. 

It's not necessarily a bad thing.

But is this still her Nami?

 

-


-

 

The both of us, we have to rely on our brains to survive. Usopp had told her before, and it’s been her lifelong code.

You do what I can’t do, and I’ll do what you can’t do . That’s something Sanji said-- it’s the general rule of the Strawhats, paraphrased from Luffy’s own rambles.

There’s not a soul in the crew that doesn’t love it. 

 

Nami navigates. She keeps the crew going. That’s her job, and it’s been everything to her and her crew-- it’s the most important part, and it’s her pride. But this time, that’s not enough.

This time, she has to pull her weight even more. She has to be dependable.

She was the last to remain last time. It’s not because she was strong-- the strongest died first. She was the last because she was the coward, running and hiding.

 

What would adventure be without fun?

But what is adventure with only bitter aftermath?

 

“Hey, Bellemere-san,” Nami says, looking out toward Bellemere’s grave and praying for more than her mother’s soul. 

She put a hand on the grave.

“One day, I’ll get strong enough to defeat Arlong. And then we’ll all be free again,” she promises. “Then I might have to leave, but it’ll all be fine.”

Because this time, she can’t just be a damsel in distress.

“Watch over me until then, okay?”

 

-

 

Nami spent her post-retirement life in Fishman Island. She was a beaming icon for their interspecies relations, and picture books were made of their story.

Largely censored and sugared in, but it was the story that made a note in the world, showing people just how cruel both sides were, yet forgiveness was possible.

Fishman island was her home.

She even worked part time in Mermaid Cafe (she wasn’t a mermaid, but people loved her anyways) with Caimie, and helped out with Hack’s Fishman Karate lessons to the kids.

With a certain unexpected someone.

“Hey Bepo-chan, does Torao really not mind you coming by so often?” 

The Polar Bear Mink straightened, then he nodded. “Captain is hanging around Punk Hazard recently. Trying to find new things. They’re always on the fire side, but I’m bad with that. So if I’m here, they can stay there longer. Sorry.”

“You’re still apologizing a lot,” Nami chuckled when Bepo followed with another apology. “What about back at Zou? How’s Carrot doing? I heard she’s graduated from the Musketeers?”

Bepo nodded. “Lord Nekomamushi and Lord Inuarashi are retiring, and we’re not too sure who to pick as a successor. All the votes right now are between Carrot, Pekoms, and… me. Sorry.”

Nami perked up at that last one.

“Sorry!” Bepo quickly covered up, flustered, “I mean-- captain said he doesn’t mind but-- I’m sorry. I’m sorry-- I mean-- uh, sorry.”

Nami laughed. 

“A human and a mink learning Fishman Karate, talking about how one of us is going to be Lord next week.” Nami muses, “a decade ago, this was unthinkable! Man, if Luffy saw this, he’d be so confused, wouldn’t he?”

Bepo went silent at that.

“He’d call me a mystery Polar Bear again…”

Nami snorted.

“He definitely would!”

 

-

 

“Where’s Nami?”

“She just jumped into the sea.”

“Oh-- wait, WHAT?!” Choo lurches forward in surprise. He swirls on Kuroobi, because dude you could sound a little more like you care! That kid’s like fourteen! Or thirteen. A kid! A Human! Kid!

Plus, after Hachi kicked up a fuss about properly feeding the brat, there have been shifts on who looks after Nami and makes sure someone doesn’t accidentally punt her across the town on purpose. It’s currently Choo’s turn and he only looked away for two minutes, he swears.

Kuroobi scratches the back of his neck. “I mean, she’ll be fine. She’s human, but she can swim, right?”

 

Choo kinda understands why Hachi kicked up a fuss now. All of these absolute morons need a lesson on the difference between fishmen and humans again.

 

“Nami has a metal arm,” Choo grinds out, dashing toward the coast and trying to figure out if he should jump in, “and that thing is heavier than two of Hachi’s swords, okay? Would you want to swim in the water with two of Hachi’s swords?”

There’s a pause.

Then, “fuck,” Kuroobi says, “Hachi’s going to kill us.”

Choo explodes, “I’ll kill you first!” he yells.

 

The threat goes unfulfilled though, because the next second, Mohmoo surfaces, a certain orange-haired girl on his head.

Nami’s laughing. She’s the happiest anyone has ever seen in her, in like, ever.

For Choo and Kuroobi, a very unsettling memory rises-- and they shake their heads, dismissing it.

They chose to follow Arlong. No sense in being sentimental for that little girl anymore.

 

Drifting over with half his head above the surface, Mohmoo meekly delivers Nami to dry ground. He accepts a head pat, and then Nami bids him goodbye before he returns to his undersea nest.

 

Choo and Kuroobi just stare, wide-eyed.

“Nami, what were you doing under the sea?” Kuroobi asks, sounding less antagonistic than he usually did towards her but he wasn’t in the state of mind for racist jabbing right now. 

Nami swipes her bangs back. Oh hey her hair’s getting longer. “Huh?” she notices the two as she picks up a towel at the side. Isn’t that Hachi’s towel??

“I went for a swim. Mohmoo almost ate me, but I think he smelled the metal and decided I was unappetising or something.”

Mojmoo almost WHAT?!

“I thought your limbs were too heavy to swim in,” Choo says, “they’re fine now?”

Nami shrugs, “it’s shallow here," she assures them. And her comfort in talking to them is something that unsettles them greatly. She sin't even shrinking away when they step closer. "I can climb up when the situation calls for it.”

With the stairs along the edge of the shore, probably. 

Deciding this conversation is over, she walks toward her room again, probably to get changed.

 

“Wait, Nami!” Kuroobi calls.

 

When Nami turns around, he finds himself at a loss for words. Just two weeks ago this kid was still a cowering little girl just as pitiful as Koala had once been. But now? There wasn't a shred of fear in her figure. She looks them in the eyes, and handled herself daintily, not trying to look tougher than she was. 

Just tolerance, and a professional sort of camaraderie.

 

Kuroobi trails off. “It’s… dinnertime soon.”

 

Nami nods. “I’ll eat after.”

“No no no no nono,” Choo interrupts quickly, “No.” Then when Nami looks at him weirdly, he goes, “you’re eating on the same table. No Kuroobi, don't look at me, do you want Hachi to explode on us again? No? Okay. Nami? You heard me.”

Chapter 4: baby chick (seagull sail)

Chapter Text

It’s becoming a habit now.

Usopp jerks awake, sweaty, breathing hard, crying-- completely disoriented and confused, why is everything so dark? Where's the lamp?-- not being sure of what’s real and what isn’t. The darkness definitely isn’t helping. His heart hurts, his vision’s a blur, and nothing is right.

But he's starting to get used to it all. Being stuck, unable to lift himself form the floor for a few hours at first, less than an hour soon, and eventually, he can get up and wash his face before the sun rises. 

 

He sobs for an hour. Jogs for another. Then he works out until the sun rises, and he takes a shower before Kaya drops by.

 

Kaya’s been dropping by really often now. Every day if Merry allows.

It’s strange.

Usopp hasn’t particularly done anything to make a real change in the situation, but it changed, simply because he’s blind. And Kaya, the rich girl without friends, had a penchant for the strange blind kid without friends.

Usopp’s honestly a little conflicted. But it’s fine.

 

“Hey, Usopp-san! Tell me a story,” Kaya says, sitting down beside him as he works on a slingshot, fiddling around blindly and trying to make it perfect.

Usopp smiles.

“Have I told you about the time we fought a dragon and then made a centaur friend?”

 

-

 

It's been a year since he came back now.

Usopp is slowly getting used to darkness. He still hates it, but when he feels the leaves under his bare feet and the gentle dew of leaves against his cheeks, he calms down just a little.

It’s like self-imposed therapy.

He feels the world with his skin, breathes the world’s air, hears the sounds of the night, and tries to tell them apart. 

Standing between two trees, Usopp feels something crawl past his arms-- but he’s fine with it.

He’s always been the best with arachnids and myriapods. He doesn’t particularly care for what’s on his fingers and what’s skittering past his feet. They're part of the world, just like him-- they're alive, just like everything else in the forest. He can feel them, with his Haki-- and they're much more assuring than the things he can't feel, like the damp branches marred with the slime of moss, or the trees that crunch just a little too loud when he steps. Those are scarier to him now. 

 

He stretches. 

And stretches.

He’s never managed it before-- but in this life, he has more time to train. So maybe-- just maybe, his Observation can become something that surpasses even Sanji, who can see miles and minutes into the future at his peak.

Maybe not in the aspect of how far he can see-- maybe just in sensibility, in what Usopp does best. 

 

He stops walking.

He stops at a tree, looking up though he can’t see. There’s a life force there-- just one, very small, very tender presence, and it distracts him from his train of thought. Up on the trees-- it's the nest of a bird that has been here for a while.

(...but the flock flew this morning, didn’t it?)

Usopp starts climbing.

 

-

 

“It’s a little ball of fluff!” 

Kaya squeals out her greeting, making Usopp jump in fright. His Haki was active, but he wasn't focused and didn't notice her coming. The house is a mess and Kaya just charges and runs over a few things, and hopefully she didn’t shuffle them too far because Usopp only vaguely remembers what’s where, until she found herself before the little makeshift cushion on the cupboard. 

It’s a very small, freshly hatched seabird.

It’s barely got any feathers, sleeping weakly in a nest made of twigs and vines and newspaper cuttings and a worn felt blanket. Usopp had found it in a nest, and presumably the mother thought it had been too weak to raise, so it was abandoned.

Usopp is in no way a bird expert, but there was no harm in raising a fellow weakling. 

 

It's a recent development, but Merry has stopped coming over as a chaperone. 

Dropping Kaya’s name in restaurants is good enough to pay for the meal (man, being rich is nice...) so with how independent and responsible(™) Kaya likes to be, they’ve deigned to leave the kids to their daily playdates. She holds his hand and pretends she's the most responsible big sister on the planet. It's very cute, and the villagers have begun smiling warmly at the sight of them.

(Usopp still doesn't know that the village sees them as a little couple, though.)

(The villagers like to keep it that way.)

 

“Try not to yell too much at it, too. It’s a baby, so loud noises might startle it,” Usopp says, smiling as he sat down, a towel around his shoulders. 

Kaya makes an affirmative sound.

“Do you know what kind of bird is it? Is it gonna get really big and cool?” she asks, “oh! Can I come help raise it? Please please please please?”

Usopp has to mildly watch her excited outburst, knowing she's very close to him sparkling with glee. It's a little awkward, when he can feel she's looking him in the eye yet he can't quite return the gesture and it makes him feel a little less sincere. 

He turns away, reaching for the shades on his desk and bringing it up to his eyes so he doesn't have to worry about his gaze. 

“Ah… I was planning to ask you anyways, cause I can’t really raise anything when I can’t see…” he mutters, which he briefly regrets for a second as she sparkles even against the blindness and he's momentarily unable to cope with the sheer radiation of sunshine from her. “As for what kind of bird it is… I’m not sure.”

“You don’t know?” Kaya asks.

There’s a pause.

Then Kaya balks, flustered, “I’m sorry! I forgot you can’t see!”

 

-

 

Khlahadore is here.

It was honestly about time, so he wasn't too surprised. Right now, the notorious pirate is recuperating from quite severe wounds and a certain degree of malnutrition in Kaya’s mansion. Usopp even knows very well the layout of the first floor guest room he's staying in, and which window from Kaya's it was positioned.

(He may not be able to see, but he has been in that house a few times, and has had plenty of sleepovers while Merry taught him how to do chores. He knows the ins and outs of the mansion, even more so than last time around.) 

As unsettling as it is, Usopp finds strictly nothing wrong with treating an injured pirate seeking refuge after a near-miss with execution. The problem is his ideal once he realizes just how much money Kaya’s parents have.

 

(If Usopp wasn’t blind, he could look for that wanted poster…)

 

“So there was potential water damage in the lungs from nearly drowning or something..."

If there was anything Usopp didn't know enough about last time around though, it was just how much of a medical enthusiast Kaya could be if left alone to pursue her passion with all her heart. Her anxiety never quite left her last time around, so her excitement was always a little subdued-- but for this Kaya, unsuppressed and over-enabled, she let her dreams run wild. 

Usopp loves it, though. This energy was very endearing, and he hopes it never burns out.

He listens to Kaya as she drones on about Khlahadore's very unnervingly-detailed injury report that she’s managed to snatch from her parents. She was definitely not supposed to read it, the details were gruesomely depicted, in a way a little teenager shouldn't be exposed to. 

"But papa doesn’t know for sure yet,” she’s listing them off her fingers. She must have memorized it, because she can’t take the physical copy out of the house in case of an emergency, “I also found X-rays! There were multiple compound fractures in the left tibula and--”

(For a girl that will eventually start worrying herself to the point of sickness, she sure is fine with very descriptive gruesome talk.)

Even Usopp felt a little queasy when she described the worst of the wounds, but that could be the fault of his overactive imagination filling in the blanks. Regardless-- who is this very scary girl and what have they done to soft-spoken sweetheart Kaya?

“And we don’t have a hospital on this island so we moved into the basement to do the surgery and--”

Kaya’s parents must’ve really been focusing, if they didn’t notice Kaya following them. Why has Usopp never known that Kaya’s basement was the village’s only hospital? He only recently learned about the basement, wine cellar, and panic room, too-- this house wasn't just frustratingly rich, they were frustratingly huge

“--then just them two! And town doctor of course. They just all gathered in there with super cool equipment and clothes and routines and all and then they--”

 

Usopp sighs.

She didn't seem to run out of things to say, but he was going to enjoy every second of her talk.

(If she could handle all of his stories in the first time around, he can handle hers, too.)

 

 

-


-

 

“It seems like Hachi’s taken a liking to you recently, Nami.”

No matter how many years pass, Nami will never get over her bone-breaking fear of Arlong.

When she faces Arlong, singled out and standing before him-- She feels her heart seize in her chest, her shoulders tighten, her toes shrill up, her knees weaken.

Even though she’s long past the point of being afraid of Fishmen, even though she’s long past the point of forgiveness and overcoming trauma, even though she lived her last years amongst Fishmen-- Arlong is different.

 

“That’s fine,” Arlong says, begrudgingly. “You may be human, but you are one of us. I’m pleased to see how you’re assimilating.”

 

She’s not assimilating into anything. She’s just-- just adapting, she swears. She’s not tolerating Arlong. She’s just ignoring him, gritting her teeth and biding and enduring and trying, trying, trying not to explode this instant.

(If it’s just Arlong, she can take him out.)

She can think of various ways-- sneaking up on him, or, if she tries hard enough, maybe fighting face-to-face… Arlong’s biggest weakness is how much he looks down on humans. Nami can win, easy. Especially with her Haki. She's getting used to her arm now-- she can give straight punches and not wince at the strain anymore. Soon enough she'll fight with it perfectly, she knows. 

 

But if she wins, then what?

Which marine base will come to her aid and arrest Arlong? Which base will lock him up and let her claim the bounty?

None. None of them will, if Nami can even get that far.

The entire community in Arlong Park will take her out in an instant, stronger or not. Because skills aside, Fishmen really are ten times stronger than humans, and Nami is most of all a weak human girl with half a barely-functional metal limb.

 

“I look forward to hearing of your endeavors, my dear little mapmaker,” Arlong sings, and Nami wants to bite his hand at her chin. Wants to throw up. 

 

She bites her lip and clenches her fist and agonizes because Arlong knows. Arlong knows that Nami can do something-- call the Marines. Run. Fight back-- but he knows she won’t. Not as long as Cocoyashi is his hostage.

He’s smart like that. 

When Arlong finally releases her to entertain one of Kuroobi’s comments she doesn’t hear, she turns around and leaves.

 

If only she was stronger.

Stronger than Robin, who could bear to run for twenty years under the radar.

Stronger than Zoro, who would no doubt, have destroyed this place in seconds.

Stronger than Luffy, who faces all his problems and always comes out victorious.

 

I do what you can’t, and you do what I can’t.

Nami waits and waits but no. No, she won’t, can’t, mustn’t wait for a Prince Charming this time. She can’t just-- expect to be saved. What was she doing, waiting here like a damsel in distress? She's always like this-- she's always here, crying-- waiting, helpless.

People have wanted her cartographic abilities for years. 

Every time, Luffy has to save her.

(What is she still doing here, weak and useless?)

She needs to pursue the fastest way around. The fastest, most peaceful, most efficient, and the only route without corruption in its wake. Who, in this era, can subdue Arlong with ease?

That’s it.

 

-

 

Nami sets sail.

(First, she’ll cross the Calm Belt into the Grand Line.)

Going through Reverse Mountain takes too long, expends too much effort, and it's too shaky a chance of actually getting through. It's one thing to go there with a crew or on a cruise-- another thing to go alone. One man cannot sail a ship that can withstand the rough waves-- she'd shatter to pieces at the peak.

Even if she does make it through, it’ll take too long to actually get anywhere after that if they get caught up by Laboon or Whiskey Peak on the way.

She just needs to look for the Knight of the Sea, Jinbei.

Hopefully, he’s in Paradise. Nami needs a way to get information-- a channel, something fast. Like the extensive Den Den Mushi chains spilled through the forces of a government base, tracking records of the Four Emperors across the seas.

 

So, infiltration it is. 

She can’t go through the seduction route this time. It’s significantly harder to charm a pedophile when one of your arms are made of not-flesh, so Nami disguises as a guy. It might be easier to try and convince someone she's a capable worker. The scars from her prosthetic arm surgery and the toned muscles she's been trying to accumulate can certainly help.

(It’s a relief that her chest hasn’t developed much yet, since she’s barely a teenager for now.)

Chest bound tight with bandages that cross over her left shoulder, expertly covering the Arlong mark as if it was an injury-- Nami puts on a tank top to show off her metal arm proudly.

With a few expert lines and pleas, the young and eager Namizo hikes a ride on a marine ship as their newest chore boy.

She may not be as great as Robin at this, but Nami’s got her fair track record in the infiltrate-and-betray business as well.

 

-

 

One miscalculation, though.

 

“Do your job, probably, Smoker-kun. Can’t believe you’re still acting like this. Hina’s in disbelief.”

"Be quiet, Hina, you're not the one that just got back from a long term suicide mission."

"Do not call it that. Hina's very disgusted by your attitude. Hina expected better from you."

"Smoker is also very disgusted by your face. Leave Smoker alone."

"Don't imitate!"  

 

Namizo is supposed to deliver this stack of letters and the newspapers to the highest ranking officers of this ship. Which, in hindsight, she should have checked, is Lieutenant Commander Hina and Lieutenant Smoker.

The latter has his legs on the desk, lounging exhaustedly on the sofa with a nondescript book splayed over his face. The former is staring disapprovingly at him, sitting on her desk and reading through other paperwork.

Namizo freezes shock still at the door, despite having knocked and being given permission to enter.

She quickly snaps out of it when the two turn to her. Saluting, she greets them as she enters and hands the papers to Lt.Commander Hina. Her smile is awkward, her posture is stiff-- but she breathes, and she does her errand as told. 

 

Who can blame her? Of all the ships she could’ve snuck on

 

It’s okay. She’s not Burglar Cat Nami, she’s not even a pirate. Wait, she is. She’s an Arlong Pirate right now. Man, that’s trippy. But it’s okay. Strictly speaking, she’s Namizo, the new and nervous chore boy that’s working his best mopping floors every day.

Namizo confidently bids his superiors goodbye, and closes the door a little too loudly on the way out.

Then he runs, because that was scary.

Looks like their first Smoker confrontation in the future is going to be awkward. Nami sighs in relief once she’s past the immediate vicinity of the office.

Man, Smoker’s not even a captain yet. Time travel really is trippy… he’s always been strangely perceptive about pirates, though. Nami decides that she should try to stay far from there from now, just in case.

She won’t want her cover to be blown too quickly.

 

Chapter 5: blind waiter (crossdressing spy)

Notes:

quarantine is making me lose my mind and that's why there's another chapter of this already daskjdlajdakl hi guys i love you guys please accept my eternal love and virtual hugs

I'll probably put a li'l timeskip cos we all wanna see canon events (...right?), so next chapter will be the last before Luffy finally comes in. Which means a timeskip! ...I already said that oops

lots of love, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Text

Kaya’s dad is a very cool guy. Usopp can't for the life of him remember ever interacting with this man in his past life, but he's a very nice person.

He hasn't had a proper father figure in his life (Yasopp, well... he's certainly an admirable role model and aspiration-- but as a father? That's a title of pride Usopp allows him to wear, but in terms of actually being a dad, he fails,) but Usopp think this is the closest he'll ever have to a real one. 

(Jinbei was always honorary dad, though. Nothing's changing that.)

Usopp finds himself on a ship. Kaya's dad's business ship-- a decently-sized caravel, just a little bigger than the Going Merry had been. Usopp can't actually see the ship-- he can walk along it, but he can't do it too often, lest he get in the way of the workers-- but if there’s something his Haki has always been good for, it was seeing things like this.

It’s a very well-loved ship.

Usopp almost wonders where this ship went after Kaya’s dad died last time… was it demolished? Merry (the butler) had built Merry (the ship) for Kaya's personal use in the future-- perhaps it had been a replacement, because they couldn't bear to keep this one around after her father's death. 

 

“So! Usopp-san, there’s this new Sea Restaurant out, and my dad says he wants to bring us out there, you too!”

 

Usopp pauses in his thread. 

“...pardon?” 

 

-

 

It’s less awkward than he thought, intruding on this family dinner table like this. 

(He can’t remember the last time he had anything like this with Yasopp or Banchina. It’s bitter, just a bit sour, but so, so sweet. He’ll have to thank Kaya’s parents later, when he's no longer overwhelmed by the sheer gratitude and unending urge to cry.)

Merry’s staying home to look after Khlahadore, so only a couple of servants and a few fishermen came along to sail the boat. This was as much a business trip as it was a casual outing. Of course, Kaya’s dad paid for all the meals as they partied in the Baratie, eating hearty meals. 

Being hired by Kaya's dad was such a nice place to work. 

 

“Here you go.”

 

Usopp flinches slightly at the voice beside him.

Kaya’s mom had ordered just anything for him, because he can’t read the menu-- but Usopp still feels nervous. He’s been feeling Sanji’s small, weak, but so familiar presence since they arrived, and it’s taking all he has to distract himself from it.

Not yet. It’s not time yet.

He can’t. Shouldn’t. There’s no reason nor logical way for him to suddenly wrap this waiter in a hug and cry on his shoulder. They’re not there yet. But that voice, oh god, that voice.

 

"Usopp-san, are you alright?” Kaya asks.

Usopp nods, “I-” he swallows, “I’ll try my best!” Then he fumbles around for the fork, feels around again for the plate-- yes, he’s gone through what’s where before the food arrived. It’s just carbonara, it should be easy enough to eat…

His hand knocks against the glass, and sends it toppling down the table. He yelps, and Kaya squeaks when the water splashes onto her dress.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry, Kaya!”

Kaya chuckles a little, and Usopp sees (is that Kaya’s mom or dad?) move over, chastising them slightly and moving towards them, probably to dab at the damp spot. He's quickly assured that it's alright, a hand coming up to rub warmly at his arm. 

Next, Kaya's mom carefully takes Usopp's hands in hers-- and leads him through it. He gets used to it quickly, and by the middle of the meal he can do it by himself. 

 

It had just been water.

But instantly, Usopp feels reality crash down on him. 

 

He’s being an inconvenience. He can’t see, and this-- this is a disability

A physically restricting, genuinely assistance-required-- disability. And it hurts, to have spent so long adapting only to find out there are still things you couldn't do properly. He’s legally classified as disabled, and… and for the first time outside of Syrup, he’s really seeing how this sets him apart from everyone else around him.

Being blind is fine if you’re locked onto land, full of help.

But if you’re planning to become a great warrior of the sea, being blind takes you a few hundred miles behind an average person from the very beginning.

 

Usopp may have years of experience ahead of him, but his blindness is an undeniable handicap-- something no one, no skill, can truly, fully replace. 

 

-


-

 

“Admiral Fujitora, sir.”

Usopp still had his eyes back then.

Nervous, undercover, a (sort of) rookie in the revolutionary’s new ranks and he just didn’t want to pass up this chance. He'd found the man coincidentally. They'd passed each other by, and their thoughts lingered just enough for Usopp to approach the man by the shores later to strike up a sort of conversation, merely to reminisce. 

“Former,” of course, the man already knew Usopp was there. They’ve faced off a handful of times before then (usually from afar,) up until Fujitora defected and retired and Luffy’s execution was scheduled. Now, they were just an awkward pair of war veterans that no longer had a reason to fight each other. “What brings you here, God?”

Usopp can’t help but cringe at the nickname. Fujitora had been there when Usopp was (absurdly, no matter how many times he reflects on it) declared divine amongst a whole town of people, and he never let him live it down. 

“Have you grown tired of the world?” Fujitora asks, sensing Usopp’s internal conflict before the words even escape the younger man. “Have you seen too much?”

 

Usopp wants to nod.

He doesn’t.

I nstead, he closes his fists and lets his breath go out slow.

 

Fujitora looks out toward the sea, as if he could see the magnificent blue waves, ripples delicate and dainty. 

(The sea never seems to change, even as the world crumbles around it. The strongest material in this world is not diamond, it’s not vearth-- it’s the sea. Diamonds shatter, the earth fissure, but the sea--  it sustains.)

 

“I have,” Usopp admits. “I needed to see the world, purest and ugliest and sharpest and I had to know everything. It’s been hard.”

Fujitora listens. 

“But now that my captain is gone, I find myself… I just wonder,” Usopp says, “if I can finally will myself to stop looking.”

Fujitora smiles.

“It just takes courage, God,” he says, and Usopp sighs. “I’m sure the bravest warrior of the seas has a lot of that to spare, does he not?”

“I’ve never been brave,” Usopp tells him.

Fujitora laughs. “Sure you are, God!”

Usopp groans, “stop calling me that, please!”

 

-

 

It’s nighttime.

Sailing in the dark is dangerous, even for the East Blue. So it's not rare for late customers of the Baratie to dock for the night against the restaurant. That's what Kaya's dad decided they would do tonight. 

 

Usopp clicks his tongue once, taps his stick twice on the wooden walkway. He takes one step forward, clicks twice-- taps once. Taps once more, and then takes three steps forward.

The cycle repeats. 

Slowly, step by step, bit by bit, he makes his way to the restaurant.

 

It scares him, the idea of walking on this narrow woodway with the sea around him and nothing but darkness. Colour can’t calm him, can’t assure him. On misstep, and he'll be in the sea-- and blind, he won't know where to swim to reach the top-- he won't even know which way was up. 

But he braves it.

He braves it, holding his breath at intervals and taking all the time he needs-- because he’s scared he won’t be enough for Luffy when he comes. 

 

He can’t take this slow and steady. He needs to do scary things if he wants to be good enough when Luffy gets here.

He only has a handful of years left. Will it be enough? (Will any amount of years be enough? Usopp can't help but think a whole lifetime won't be enough. He's so scared of being weak-- and yet, his mind only reminds himself of what he can't do.)

(It's a stupid thing, this anxiety.) 

 

He finally makes it to the steps. He climbs up, and leans against the railing, breathing out a sigh of relief.

 

“You sure do some dangerous things, little beansprout.”

Usopp squeaks, jumping slightly and-- shit shit shit where’s his walking stick??

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” and oh. That’s Zeff, standing too close to him now, a hand at the boy’s shoulder and the other pressing the walking stick back to his chest.

Usopp had been so focused on walking, trying to sense the soulless surroundings, that he forgot to sense for humans in the area.

Man, he needs to work on that. 

“So beansprout, what are you doing out of your ship at this hour? It’s…” Zeff pauses slightly, “four in the morning. Have your parents not told you it’s dangerous to walk around like this, at this hour?”

Usopp hums, nodding. “I just… wanted to practice.” Because Zeff won’t accept ‘I wanted to go to the toilet’ or equal bullshit as an excuse. Nor the smartass information that he does not in fact have parents. “Walking, I mean.”

He can hear Zeff make a longsuffering noise.

 

Zeff mutters something about starved eggplants trying to cook all over again, and ruffles Usopp’s hair. “Be less suicidal about it, could you? I don’t wanna wake up to floating kid bodies around my restaurant.”

 

Usopp nods obediently. He wisely doesn’t say more.

He calms down a little, letting his Observation spread out comfortably again-- and he’s surprised to find an extra voice near him. He only turns slightly toward the side, trying to ascertain if someone is truly there-- and it’s enough to make Zeff wary.

“What is it?”

Usopp doesn’t know how to deny sensing something, so he says, “oh uh, I thought I heard something. Might be the wind.”

 

He can feel Zeff’s skeptical gaze on him. Or maybe that’s just Usopp’s anxiety peaking.

 

Zeff steps away for a bit-- Usopp notices how Zeff’s footsteps are uneven, one making a sharper sound than the other, and he remembers the peg leg he sports. Usopp completely forgot that little detail about the old chef.

“This.”

Zeff brings the second voice nearer to Usopp.

Usopp reckons it’s not human or animal, it’s not strong enough for that and it isn’t making any noise. So what could it be? He frowns, trying to figure it out with just the vague information he has in hand-- but it doesn't come to him. 

Zeff answers for him.

“Is my logbook.”

 

Usopp swears internally.

 

Inanimate objects aren’t supposed to have voices, but Usopp’s Observation Haki is a special sort of sensitive. In the same way Katakuri could see into the future and Coby could hear hearts in his heart, Usopp can occasionally feel the spirits of beloved relics.

And ohhh no, no

Accidentally letting Zeff know he’s got Haki is one thing. Making him realize Usopp had special Haki is a totally Mihawk-level oh shit situation.

 

“Beansprout,” Zeff says, and Usopp imagines a smirk on his face. “You’re special, I’ll tell you. Even in the Grand Line, people like you are rare as rocking horse crap.”

Usopp swears internally one more time.

“Tell me, little blind beansprout,” Zeff raises the logbook to his side, and Usopp makes the mistake of following the book upwards. Zeff makes a snort. “Honestly. Can you hear this book’s voice?”

 

Usopp’s totally screwed, isn’t he?

 

-


-

 

Being stuck on a marine ship with a metal arm, in hindsight, is a hell Nami did not expect to sign up for. 

This would be the first time she’s out on sea for so long with this arm (and not in the future), so the disuse and the sea breeze was just so much harder to deal with.

Shame, because if there’s anything Nami loves, it’s her namesake, the waves.

Coupled with the binder (she secures one on one of the islands after getting her pay and allowance) and the bandages at her arm covering her Arlong mark (maybe she could find a shoulder brace to hide it, she’ll need one to lessen the strain from her opposing arm anyways), her life is a mix of suffocating to stifling to trying her best with a little too many secrets.

 

Maybe she should have picked one identity and stuck with it, because now she’s like an awfully planned character with too many subplots that aren’t going to be addressed.

She’s not sure how long she can keep this up, so yeah, she’s gonna have to jump ship soon.

 

One problem.

 

“Hey, Namizo-kun! Wanna go train with me?”

Tashigi, the sweet little swords-master woman that Nami adores as an empathetic Marine officer, is right now, barely a Petty Officer. She already has her long sword at this point in time, though it’s too long to strap to her side so she usually has it strapped to her back.

And, like a magic power, she instantly knew Nami(zo) was female.

Apparently, most people thought Tashigi was instead a 'Takashi', even without the Officer actually trying to do so. She had short hair, had a deeper voice than normal girls, and well, as children, no one can quite tell with just actions. 

And Tashigi doesn’t even notice it herself, so she never corrects them. She just thinks they’re clumsy with her name.

 

Nami almost feels stupid. Maybe if she acted tomboyish enough like Tashigi did, people would have naturally mistaken her for a boy without all the extra effort. 

Nami(zo) is honestly filled with admiration and seething jealousy.

 

“Sorry, Tashigi-chan,” she says in her practiced male voice, “I’m done with my chores today, so I need to do some maintenance in the mechanic’s wing.”

Tashigi blinks. “On your arm?”

Nami(zo) nods. “On my arm. The sea breeze isn’t good for it, y’know?”

 

-

 

Wearing just the binder, Nami slowly screws off each outer cover of her arm, setting them aside on the dry towel. 

Tashigi is sitting precisely five feet away, staring.

“It must be hard, needing to do that every day,” Tashigi says.

Nami shrugs, “you get used to it.”

 

Tashigi is silent for a moment.

Then, “hey, Namizo-kun. Should I… crossdress too?”

 

Nami’s grip on the screw slips, and the screwdriver falls. She picks it back up, scowling at the other girl. “You’re still on about what Captain Gorilla said? I told you to ignore him, didn’t I?”

“Uh,” Tashigi sputters, “Namizo-kun, he’s a Captain. You can’t call him Gorilla like that…”

“He’s a gorilla if he thinks your goddamn gender has anything to do with being a swordsman,” Nami says, sharp and firm. “You’re a girl, right? And you want to be a girl? You know you’re a girl? Then you’re a girl and screw whoever the fuck says otherwise.”

 

(Where did Nami get all this swearing from? Probably Sanji.)

 

Tashigi goes silent.

Nami pats down the metal parts on the towel, and sets to put them back together.

“Namizo-kun,” Tashigi says, and Nami lifts her head. “Do you really think a girl can become the greatest swordman in the world?”

Nami looks at her.

“I’ve seen you do it once, I’m sure you can do it again.”

She doesn’t answer any more of Tashigi’s questions after that.

 

-


-

 

Zoro died before Tashigi got her final rematch in. 

As undeserving and frustrating as it was, it didn't change the fact that following the death of Legendary Swordsman Roronoa Zoro-- the strongest swordsman in the world was Marine Vice Admiral, Tashigi of the Autumn Rain.

She always hated that this was how she got the title. 

So she never used it.

Never called herself the Greatest Swordsman in the world even though she had yearned for the title. People still sent her name high and soaring across the seas, and she hated every moment of it.

Ironic, isn’t it? 

She wanted nothing more than to be acknowledged, back then. But when she finally was-- she wanted nothing more than to discard that recognition.

 

-


-

 

Paradise is as rigorous as Nami remembers.

They quickly found out how much navigation knowledge she sported, so she was quickly promoted form cabin boy to glorified sailing boy. This gave her better access and more time in chambers with information flowing. 

Nami works chores on every Marine Base they land on, and almost too casually, she always slips into the primary communications office.

Everyone in there is so busy, they don’t notice her coming in, assuming she’s here to collect documents or receive reports for whatsoever reason.

 

“...New bounty for...”

“Promotion... transfer to G-7…”

“...Mock Town, just… taken care of…”

“SOS! Transfer this call to…”

“...Whiskey Peak, again? No…”

 

She acts casual-- pretends to look through the records, as if she's sifting for a name. Take one down. Flip a few pages. Sigh. Flip front to back again. Look disappointed. Koala and Robin drilled this simply investigation go-to into her plenty of times. She can almost hear them guide her through the process of acting subtle, and focusing all her energy into her ears.

That’s it.

Stay calm and casual, look troubled, but not troubled enough to be called on.

Be quiet, but only as quiet as a nervous new recruit should be.

 

 

“Trouble in Arabasta… no, it’s…”

“...Finally nearing Sabaody, that rookie…”

“They say... take down Whitebeard, of all people.”

 

Nami closes the shelf, and pauses.

 

“Bound to be trouble in the future. The starting bounty is…”

 

Nami walks back toward the door, but not before she looks back to see the bounty poster the two marines are talking about.

 

“...the Mera-mera no Mi, so he’s ‘Fire Fist’ Ace.”

 

Bingo.

Chapter 6: the assassin (the envoy)

Summary:

double sized chapter to wrap up the precanon story! Everything that's been skimmed over might come back as interludes or extras if y'all wanna see it and if I have time in the future to write em.

as usual, i love all of you guys with all my might. enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Text

Usopp spends his weekends at the Baratie from then on. 

 

They always need an extra waiter, and one of the fishermen in the village has a monopoly on Zeff’s fresh fish stock, so Usopp always tags along with their weekly deliveries. People often give the blind waiter a suspicious look, but there’s a special paved trail on the floor just for him.

It's jokingly dubbed the Usopp Road by Sanji, and it quickly passed around the chefs and regulars. 

 

It’s set in a specially arranged pathway that doesn’t intersect with any tables, so Usopp (walking bare feet) won’t need his walking stick and he can have both hands free to wait tables. He works much better than other waiters, not that other waiters ever stay long.

There are occasions where a new customer neglects to stay off the Usopp Road, but if it’s a human, Usopp can avoid it with Haki.

It’s good training for both his Haki and his maneuverability at the same time. Consulting Chef Zeff about this really was a good choice.

 

(“Time travel? You’re kidding me.”)

(“I mean… wait, Chef Zeff sir, how far into the Grand Line did you say you went again? That’ll probably give me a perspective on how much absurdity you can take.”)

(“Now don’t get cheeky with me, brat.”)

 

Not to say there are never accidents, though. Of course there were plenty of clumsy moments. There were also plenty of customers that just wanted someone other than the blind waiter to serve them. 

It's hard to work here, but that was part and parcel of life. 

After too many complaints of the same ableist nature, Sanji finds himself a near permanent job of sharply barking back at rude customers for Usopp. 

"That was your elbow, you shithead!" Sanji would shout, and though Patty would smack him for that language, he would then, politely, tell the customer to respectfully fuck off. 

 

(Usopp likes this-- to be protected. It's Sanji-- not the Sanji he knows, not his-- but it's Sanji, and his nature to instinctively stand up for comrades (even the males, though he denies it,) is something he's missed very much.)

(His heart aches, but it's fine.)

(He'll get used to it.)

 

“Oomph! Hey, watch where you’re going--”

“...I can’t.”

“...Right. Sorry.”

 

He makes a lot of weird customer friends, though some of them are horrifyingly unexpected. 

It’s useful that they tend to think he’s just a very nervous teenager, because even Usopp can’t hold back a terrified shriek at the sight of CP9 agent Jabra at a table in the corner. Or Mihawk, dining quietly in his table, enjoying the wine in silence. 

(There was a time someone else came by, but Usopp didn't know his name.)

(He had a really pretty girlfriend (at least Sanji said she was pretty and she does sound very sweet) called Lucian or something… Or was it Russian? It’s hard to tell with just the pronunciation.)

There were a few old faces (voices) that he barely recognized and got to know-- differently this time, of course-- but he smiled, acted, and hid. He's learned how to hide this familiarity and act dumb in his many years of needing life-sustaining chat skills in the Revolutionary Army.

(He was no longer too bad of a liar, at least when he was really trying.)

 

It’s good practice. Maybe this time Usopp can double up as a scout along with his sharpshooting and mechanic duties.

 

Ah wait, they’re called assassins, actually.

Nevermind, then. Usopp’s not gonna be an assassin, name or not. It sounds too edgy.

 

-


-

 

“Captain! It’s an emergency!”

Piiman comes running with all the desperation of someone running from pirates. Usopp hums, still trying to fix one stubborn hole on his house wall. The child barges into the house, loud and cantankerous. 

“Captain, have you seen--”

“I don’t know Piiman, can I see?” 

“...I officially hate talking to you.”

 

Usopp can’t sense any trouble, so his actions do not reflect the panic the kids are probably feeling. He lifts another plank over his head and starts nailing after carefully ascertaining the position.

 

“Captain!” and there comes Tamanegi and Piiman, equally erratic. “Trouble!”

“Usopp-san!” oh, Kaya’s here too. “I can’t find Kinoko anywhere!”

 

On cue, Usopp turns around, and a little gray ball of fluff sticks its head right out of his hair.

The vegetable trio and Kaya let out synchronously surprised shrieks.

 

“She’s been with me all morning,” Usopp tells them, like that's supposed to be obvious.

 

Kinoko, the baby bird they've raised since it was a hatchling, had grown over the years. The bird lives primarily in Usopp’s house, but while it was just a hairless little gremlin, it lived in Kaya’s. Her parents may not be the most knowledgeable in animal husbandry, but they had the basics and it was better than nothing. 

Once the bird had enough feathers to be considered and recognized as a decently-sized chick of its own caliber, the two taught it how to fly.

The three stooges came into the picture somewhere in between the years, entranced by the bird, by the stories, by the adventures, and by the growing family being built in the little house by the shore. 

 

Kinoko has a birdhouse in the tree beside Kaya’s window. Usopp's house may be much homier, but it only sports a glorified cushion bed-- so Kinoko had taken to the habit of sleeping at Kaya's, then rudely intruding into Usopp's place once the sun rose.

Usopp’s mornings now include a mass of feathers flying straight into his face as a greeting.

So this bird is as blind as Usopp is, because it keeps crashing into faces. Not literally, of course-- her kinetic vision is amazing-- she just doesn't know another way to greet people, apparently.

(It’s so fucking stupid. Usopp wants about thirty of them.)

 

“By the way Captain, why did you decide to name him Kinoko?” Piiman asks, the bird squeaking innocently in both his hands as they walked toward the store.

 

Usopp’s walking stick taps against the ground as he leads the group toward the restaurant. He leads, because they need to walk slower for him anyways and it was just, by unspoken consensus, easier with him in the front.

“I didn’t,” Usopp says, ”Kaya just thought it was funny.”

Tamanegi chuckles, “because you hate mushrooms?”

Kinoko makes a sad bird noise. 

The three kids converge on it, apologizing profusely to the bird and desperately trying to assure it that Captain does not, in fact, hate Kinoko, but he hates mushrooms, which is kinoko but not Kinoko , and now they’re all confused.

 

Usopp honestly thinks they’re cute.

 

“We have a Vegetable Trio, might as well make it a Quartet,” Kaya says cheerfully.

 

-

 

Khlahadore makes a show of frowning in disapproval whenever Kaya cheerfully leaves to visit Usopp, a basket of sandwiches in her hands. It's night time now and he's talking to Merry about it, trying to figure out if that boy is the unspoken honorary successor of this house or something. 

“She’ll be fine,” Merry assures him, “Usopp may look like a punk with his figure, but I assure you, he’s no vile thing.”

Khlahadore sighs. “Perhaps you would know him better than I do, but that is exactly why it seems suspicious to a newcomer like me.”

Merry chuckles, “it’s a strange combination, isn’t it?”

Khlahadore fixes his glasses. “I’ve only heard unsavory rumours about him in town, after all. It can’t be helped that my impression of him is a little skewed, perhaps.”

 

Merry stills ever so slightly at the tea mug, but he resumes, expertly trying to pretend he didn't hesitate.

 

Khlahadore misreads it as skepticism, so he continues.

“I’ve heard that the boy’s the son of a rather infamous pirate,” he grimaces, “I can’t help but feel that he may have a little of that in his blood as well.”

 

To Khlahadore’s surprise, a steaming tea cup is shoved hastily into his hands, and Merry stares him down fiercely. Fiercer than that sheep butler has any right to, at least-- Khlahadore almost fought back on instinct, only to remind himself that it’s much, much too early to drop the humble butler image yet.

“Your tea, Khlahadore-san,” Merry says, stately. “I’ll excuse myself for tonight. Please do get as much rest as you can. Your more severe injuries are not completely healed just yet, and the Master of the house won’t be happy if it worsens.”

And then he leaves.

 

Khlahadore sips his tea.

“That Usopp will definitely come in the way in the future,” he determines, mirthfully. That did not go over well just now-- he may have shaken the trust between them a little too hard. He needs to be careful. “I should watch myself a little more.”

He needs to gain their trust. That’s more important now.

 

“Yeah, you should.”

 

Khlahadore drops his tea in surprise, but a hand catches it before it crashes to the floor. The lights in his room flicker off, the window is still open, and a too-strong night wind comes in from the sea.

“Shh, you wouldn’t want to wake Kaya up, do you?”

Khlaha-- no, Kuro finds himself staring straight at Usopp, who had, at some point without even his notice, made his way into the room and right into the bedside. Kuro tenses and shoots back. He reaches for his blades first-- a defensive dagger, because his claws are hidden elsewhere.

 

Usopp steps right out of the way of the knife, swerves once more to the side when Kuro gets out of the bed. Kuro lunges, Usopp vanishes.

He hears Usopp place the teacup on the nightstand behind him, and he swings the blade wide.

Usopp twists the knife right out of Kuro’s hand, and points it right below Kuro’s chin.

Fuck, is this kid seriously blind or was that just someone messing with him? This is ridiculous, even if Kuro isn’t in top form yet. There is no way a blind kid is doing this much. It’s not possible.

 

Kuro’s next tactic is to scream, but Usopp predicts it, shifting the knife to place right at his throat, so he wouldn’t dare.

 

“If you value your life, Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates,” Usopp begins, and Khlahadore tenses. “Leave once your injuries are healed,” Usopp says, and it’s a warning, a threat, and an order all at once.

How did he know? There is no, no possible way, logical or not, that this blind kid could recognize him. Unless someone else has recognized him as well but no , his cover is perfect. It can’t be.

Kuro almost felt shivers down his spine, but no. He won’t. Is it the knife? Is the knife making this kid think he can make demands of Black Cat Captain Kuro?

Usopp loosens his hold on the knife.

Somehow, Kuro thinks he shouldn’t yell out now. Even though yelling would guarantee a win on his hands-- Usopp’s glare makes him stop. Makes him… concede. Begrudgingly.

 

Just for now , he tries to tell himself. The Black Cat Kuro does not falter in front of a kid.

 

“If you know who I am, why do you not hand me in?” he asks instead. “Isn’t it because you’re just throwing empty threats? Like the serial liar you are?”

Usopp doesn’t take the bait.

“You’re right,” he says, a short laugh. “You’re not the kind of person that has honour. I shouldn’t trust you, I’m just wasting my time.”

 

Kuro blinks confusedly as Usopp turns and leaves, the knife back in Kuro’s hands and the long-nosed sniper jumping onto a tree to clamber back down. 

Kuro watches Usopp walk casually out of the fence and into the road and back into the village, as if he hadn’t tried to threaten a pirate captain just moments ago. Kuro watches until Usopp makes his way down the road toward his house.

Kuro sighs. 

 

He could yell for Merry now, but if he can’t justify how Usopp could make it up here when he’s blind, no one would believe him. It’ll just make them distrust him more.

He turns around.

 

Then, a sharp pain at the back of his neck.

Then, nothing.

 

-

 

Usopp sighs, putting down his slingshot. 

Small button as a projectile, coated in Haki-- shot at a velocity too fast to not be dire, hit directly at a pressure point at the nape.

(At best, a concussion. At worst, an interruption in the synapse.) 

He requires immediate medical attention, but Khlahadore has only fallen awkwardly into bed and no one will find him strange until the servant arrives for routine check up, three hours later and three hours too late. 

The button is a part of Khlahadore’s clothes. It'll fall not too far from his body, and won’t at all look unnatural when someone finds it in the morning. Of course, no one will suspect it to be the cause.

Perfectly executed, impossible to trace back. This is East Blue, where the impossible doesn’t happen, after all. 

Satisfied and admiring the slowly fading voice in the distance, Usopp closes the window.

 

(Oh hey, the Assassin job might suit him, after all.)

 

He keeps boxes and boxes of his pellets, makes a slingshot similar in sharpness and power to his Kabuto, but without the dials, he can’t live up to them yet.

But it’s enough, for now. 

His hands are scabbed and full of callouses. Kinoko is growing each day, and he knows that if he walks away, Kinoko will follow him anywhere.

“I’m ready, Luffy,” he says to himself.

 

(I’m just waiting for you to come.)

 

-


-

 

It takes Nami six months on the straightest ships to find Fire Fist Ace. 

She sneaks a tracker Den Den on them, and watches their movements closely for another three months. She returns to Cocoyashi twice in between, then sets off for the New World at the same time the Spades Pirates do. 

It's been almost two years since the beginning of this operation-- Nami feels intense relief when Ace finally meets Knight of the Sea Jinbei.

She watches them, carefully. She watches their long battle and watches as Whitebeard comes in, watches as Ace loses, and watches as they leave the island after aiding in the damages.

Then she follows them out to sea on a ship.

 

“One small vessel approaching, Oyaji!”

“A small vessel? In the New World?”

 

There’s already activity there.

 

“Enemies?”

“Not sure. Just one, and it’s young.”

“Suicidal punk number two?”

“Suicidal punk number two.”

 

Nami swallows thickly. This would be the first, honest first time that she’ll meet them-- and she’s younger than even Ace right now. She’s barely a brat.

But it’s fine. 

Jinbei’s on that ship right now, recuperating, and she just needs to talk to him. She just needs to remember her manners, calm down, and calm down, and calm down. Calm down Nami you can do this you’ve done this before.

Marco the Phoenix leans over the deck to look at her when she comes close enough. 

 

Nami knocks her knuckles against the hull twice. “First Mate of the Whitebeard pirates, Marco the Phoenix. Permission to come aboard?”

Marco hums. “Yeah, sure.”

Nami hops up to the deck, and immediately bows respectfully to Marco. Then she turns to Whitebeard, and says once again, “Permission to come aboard, Captain Whitebeard?”

Whitebeard laughs. “Just state your business, young one.”

 

Nami lets out a sigh of relief. Everyone’s still tense. Weapons aren’t hidden. A quick sift around-- at least half of the Commanders are present on board.

She doesn’t have much time to think.

“My business is with the Knight of the Sea, Boss Jinbei,” she says, “I came to ask a favour of him.”

Her grip on her bag tightens when Whitebeard’s eyes narrow. She evens her breathing, placing her bag down by her feet to show she was not immediately prepared to leave when things turned for the south.

“He’s still recovering,” Marco says, “you’ll have to come back later.”

 

Later?

She resists the urge to click her tongue in annoyance.

 

“It’s urgent,” Nami says, a bite of her fervor from her Burglar Cat days seeping from her tongue as she sent a sharp glance toward him. If this was back then, even Marco would know better than to divert her needs. “He’s conscious, isn’t he? Then he can listen.”

“Oh,” Whitebeard speaks up and it’s a deep intonation that marks anything but patience, “you think you’re in a position to make demands on this ship?”

Crap. 

“You’re just another small-time brat that thinks they’ve hit it big once they got out of Paradise,” Whitebeard says, anything but amused. “Leave this ship.”

 

No. No, no, no. It took her a whole year to get this far, she can’t leave now! 

(God, why are her eyes burning? Is she seriously going to cry from frustration?)

Nami bites her lip, and reaches up to her left shoulder. With one hard tug, she tears the bandages around it, revealing the bright cobalt Arlong Mark on her shoulder.

 

Someone sees it immediately. “Wait!” 

 

Eyes turn to the only Fishman on the crew, Namur. His eyes are wide, and Nami meets his gaze with a pained look. 

Marco turns to him. “What’s wrong?”

Namur stares at Nami for a long moment. Then, “call Jinbei,” he says, to the shocked deterrence of everyone else. Namur quickly turns to Whitebeard. “Oyaji, this is… serious. Very, for Jinbei. I’m sorry, but-- please.”

 

“I’m already here.”

 

Nami swirls toward the voice-- and Jinbei’s eyes are wide and horrified.

“Wait, Jinbei!” Whitey Bay calls from behind him, “I said bedrest! Bed rest includes the bed!”

“You,” Jinbei speaks to Nami, “you’re a human. Why do you have that mark?”

 

Nami can't help the way her shoulders sag noticeably, completely in relief, “I need your help to stop Arlong.”

 

-

 

“So… Jinbei went ahead on his whale-sharks, are you sure you’re fine not following him?”

Nami turns to Marco. 

“I’ll just slow him down,” Nami says, sliding her shoulder guard on over her tattoo and getting ready to set sail again. “If Arlong finds out I’m the one that brought Jinbei there, I can’t tell what Arlong would do.”

 

Most of the Commanders were present to hear her story. From Arlong’s arrival, to the taking over, to the deaths. 

When asked about the arm, Nami denied Arlong’s involvement in it-- but they probably still assume she got it from her too-young thievery endeavours, and Nami can’t find a way to deny the claim. 

 

It’s kept brief and quick, but Jinbei doesn’t need the details to gather the rest.

There are only two very similar reasons a human would be on a Fishman crew-- Koala’s situation, and the opposite. And this was obviously not like Koala’s situation.

Jinbei’s face darkened considerably.

Up until the very end, he was apologizing profusely, repeatedly, head to the ground. Nami’s forgiven him already, a lifetime ago, and she makes sure he knows that.

 

“You’ve got guts, girl,” Izou says.

Marco stiffens. “Girl?”

Izou stares at Marco like he’s just said something stupid. Then Izou looks around at synchronously shocked faces around, and he facepalms.

“I can’t believe you guys.”

 

Nami laughs, “you can’t do that, Izou-san. Look at their faces!”

 

“Oh but Nami-chan, Jozu noticed an hour ago while he was ogling your arm. You totally have to let him tinker with that later,” Izou says.

Nami blinks, “well... I am due for a replacement, soon.” She's outgrowing this one, after all. And since she's int he New World, she can go somewhere with better technology, to reduce the weight just a little more. 

“Consider it done,” Jozu hollers in the distance.

 

Izou smiles. “You know, Oyaji would be glad to have you on board.”

And Nami stops.

Looking around, everyone’s got similarly approving smiles on their faces. Whitebeard huffs, but doesn’t deny it.

(Seriously?)

“Can’t.” Nami tells them, and one of them deflates. She shrugs her jacket back on, and sits on the bows of the ship, ready to drop back into her rowboat. She turns to Whitebeard with a grin. “I’m already taken, you see.”

Whitebeard hums, “by who? This Arlong fellow? You know you aren’t.”

“No, not Arlong.” Nami says, firmly. She grins up at him, “I’ve got a seat saved for me beside the future King of the Pirates.”

 

Shocked gasps and panicked reactions spread across the deck.

(She did not just insinuate that Whitebeard won’t be Pirate King, right in front of the man himself, did she?)

 

“Gurararara!!” Whitebeard laughs , louder than before. “That’s perfect, my girl. You don’t need to join the crew-- won’t you become my daughter anyways? We’ll give you a ride back to Paradise.”

 

Nami fixes her eyes on the rowboat, then turns back around, baffled. She never thought she’d ever hear those words again.

("You’re my daughter, Nami," Bellemere had always said. And she was the only mother Nami ever had.)

It’s so strange. Last time around, Whitebeard had barely even heard of Nami’s entire existence. She wouldn’t be surprised if he never even knew her-- hell, she never met him personally, either. They were universally strangers. 

But now…

She stops herself from the immediate refusal, thinking to herself. Thinking of those days on that island, where she would chat with Izou about Ace’s beginning days. She finds herself bursting out into giggles.

 

“If I say no, would you let me go?”

"Sure, if that's what you want."

"Then, I respectfully refuse. May I leave now?"

And Whitebeard smirks. “Nope!”

 

Figures.

 

-

 

Nami watches in muted awe as Ace goes flying across the deck again. It's honestly impressive, how many times he can try a day and still have energy for another an hour later. Her arm is in pieces beside them, and a few other in the mechanic divisions are trying to inspect it.

“It’s an old East Blue model, the core,” someone says, “the plates are Grand Line quality. Wires… a fair amount of this is pretty good.”

“Can we replace the core? It’s not quite your size anymore, is it?” another says.

“Look at the design of this arm! This is definitely the work of the Jan-Jan island in Grand Line!” someone says, sparkling.

“Where the heck is that?”

“It’s the Jan-Jan Island, doofus!”

“That explains absolutely nothing. Thanks.”

 

Nami turns to Jozu, “I got this when I was thirteen, and it’s changed every year since. They told me to change it again when I turned seventeen, so I'm still quite a few months out.”

Jozu blinks, “no harm being a little early. We’ll get right into it then.”

Beside her, Haruta crouches down and declares, “we’re going to give you the coolest arm ever.” with bright and expectant eyes. And Nami knows those eyes. It’s the same eyes Luffy gives Franky when they see a new fancy robot thing.

Nami pauses, “wait, I like normal. With all due respect, I implore you, please--”

 

(They’re already sparkling so much, it’s entirely pointless to try.)

 

She deflates. “I want to go home.”

Marco’s response is immediate. “Not until Jinbei deals with Arlong you aren’t.”

 

-


-

 

It’s a long story in between, but that’s a story for another time.

Nami can’t help but become so, so comfortable in the midst of the Whitebeard Pirates. She gets to know all the faces she only heard of last time, including Ace. She avoids the topic of his little brother because it never comes up.

 

Nami is greeted by the apology brigade when she steps into Fishman island.

 

Jinbei has a foot on Arlong’s head, and the rest of them give the most begrudging yet sincere apology Nami has ever seen from a Fishman in this life. They do it before the masses, and Nami isn’t the only one that cries that day.

Arlong is dragged back to Fishman District by the ear, given a big angry talking-to by Jinbei and Aladine, and apparently, tears and manly hugs were shared that day.

Nami grips the Arlong mark on her shoulder-- and with everyone’s approval, she has it removed at a tattoo parlor on Sabaody Archipelago. 

 

She doesn’t replace it just yet, leaving the scars bare. Instead, she gets Whitebeard's mark on her lower back, the cross and the crescent emblazoning her hip, trailing part of the spine in dark blue.

She’s Whitebeard’s child this time, and she’ll be proud of it.

 

-


-

 

“It’s so light!” Nami gapes at her new silver arm, tinted with orange accents. 

The fingers are thin, more similar to her actual flesh fingers now. The arm itself is also much thinner and less bulky to match her other arm, but the quality of the steel makes it twice as solid. She curls her fingers, twists her wrist, and throws an experimental punch. 

“I’m glad you like it,” the mechanic team grins. 

“Just a normal arm?” Nami asks.

“Just a normal arm,” Marco promises, “I took out the laser beams and tossed them into the sea before they could try and implement it anywhere.” 

 

(In the distance, Haruta is sobbing into Thatch’s shoulder about stingy phoenixes.)

 

“Thank you,” Nami says, wholeheartedly grateful. 

“Y’know,” Marco says, ”you could’ve at least accepted a few dials. They’re from Sky Island and they’re pretty useful.”

“No,” Nami pouts, firm, “if I want anything from Sky Island, I’ll go there with my own crew and ask my crew’s mechanic to do it for me.”

“You’re in the New World and you seek normality,” Marco states, baffled.

Nami shrugs. “There’s enough crazy in the crew. I don’t want to add to the madness.”

"Fair."

 

“Nami-chan, we're gonna do your foot next!”

“Coming!”

 

Soon, now. In just one more week, Nami will be dropped off at Loguetown, and she’ll officially leave the crew. Then she’ll head back to Cocoyashi, cry a few more tears, visit Bellemere’s grave, and then...

 

(And then from there, she just needs to wait.)

Chapter 7: leaving (I'll join your crew)

Chapter Text

“You’re jumping ship?” Zeff asks. “You, our last and only waiter for the past four-ish years?”

Usopp smiles, “yeah! Thanks for the hospitality, Chef Zeff sir!” he bows, like a little shit. “Next time you see me, I’ll be a pirate!”

Zeff huffs, “oh do whatever you want then.”

Sanji slams the door open, “what?! What did you just say, you shitty waiter? You’re leaving?!”

“Yeah!” Usopp raises his hand, “thanks for the love and care, everyone! Anyways I have a feeling Chef Zeff sir is gonna kick me out in--” he ducks quickly to avoid a kick, then stands back up. “--yeah. So I’m gonna run now. Bye!”

He kicks off the entrance, and makes a big leap right onto the leaving fisherman’s boat.

“Dammit! Get back here, you shit-waiter!” 

“Bye Sanji! Love you too!”

“I don’t swing that way! HEY!”

 

Usopp waves widely at the Baratie as the voice drifts further away. Kinoko, now the size of an apple, lands gently on his head. Snuggling in like it was a nest, it fell asleep.

The fisherman laughs. Kaya peeks out of the cabin.

“Are you sure about quitting, Usopp-san?” Kaya says, “Mister Zeff has always been pretty mean, but you’ve never complained before.”

“No, no, it’s not about that,” Usopp says. He sits down by the bow, taking a moment. “Have I ever told you about the time I protected this town from pirates, with everyone none the wiser?”

“Another one of your stories?” the fisherman asks.

“You haven’t!” Kaya settles down beside him with a smile. “Tell me!”

“In a few weeks, or days, or months-- I’m not sure. But soon, a pirate wearing a straw hat is going to show up. I don’t wanna miss him,” Usopp tells her, “and this man? He’s the future king of the pirates. And I’m going to get on their ship, and be their sharpshooter!”

 

-

 

Buggy spits out his drink.

“YOU! What are you doing in my vault?!”

Nami pouts, “I just want your map of the Grand Line. Can I have it, please?”

Buggy sighs, “oh, is that it? Okay then since you asked politely-- NO, OBVIOUSLY NOT! Do you take me for an idiot? Get out!”

Nami giggles.

Buggy fumes . “Look, we’re only tolerating your existence because I don’t wanna make Whitebeard mad! You said you were waiting for someone, right? Your Captain or whatever, but not Whitebeard, or whatever. You don’t need us here!”

“But I do ,” Nami puffs up her cheeks, “who else’s   treasure am I gonna steal when I leave?”

“Ah, you have a point… WAIT, YOU’RE PLANNING ON TAKING MY TREASURE WHEN YOU LEAVE?!” Buggy yelps, “I said no! It’s my treasure, steal your own!”

Nami gasps, wiping away fake tears, “you want me , a weak and young little girl, to go out, alone , in the wild, and steal ? How cruel of you, Buggy-sama!”

Buggy yells, “weak?! You wiped the floor with all of us last week!” Mohji and Richie stare at their captain with severe judgement and disapproval in their eyes. Buggy balks, “she’s obviously faking it! Guys? Guys?? Stop staring at me like that!”

“Oh c’mon, you don’t need the map,” Nami whines, looking away.

“Yes I do! I’m try’na get to the Grand Line!” Buggy snaps, patience waning.

“If you really were trying to get there, you would’ve gone there like ten years ago,” Nami argues, “look at you. You’re a New World level pirate that’s been hiding here for twenty years, Mister. Sure you could get there easily if you try.”

 

There’s a moment of silence.

Then Buggy’s entire crew converges on him, “you’re a WHAT?!”

Buggy explodes back on Nami, “you’re one too! You have Whitebeard’s mark on your back and you’re a great navigator! You don’t need my help!”

Nami says, “exactly!”

“Then get out!”

“No!”

Buggy goes into the corner and sobs. “How selfish can you be?!”

“Wait Captain Buggy, you’re a what ?! You’ve been to the Grand Line before?? Why didn’t you tell us???”

 

-

 

Buggy finally loses it, and now everyone’s chasing Nami the map-stealer across the empty streets of Orange Town.

(After being liberated by Nami a few weeks back, they all decided to gather on the other side of town for a party. No civilians were harmed and no treasure was stolen in the making of this ploy. None at all. At all , Nami swears.)

Nami laughs. 

Her metal arm exposed on one side and a shoulder guard covering the scar on the other, she jumps around the city in a tank top and short shorts, flipping over roofs and dancing across light poles. 

While her old short hair was just a little under her ears, this time she let her hair drape over her shoulders, resting comfortably around her shoulders. 

She loves being a thief.

Assembling her collapsible bo staff, she lands on the ground and turns around. Maybe she’ll knock them all over first…

“AHHHHH!!!”

And a figure crash lands right into the array of boxes beside them, shattering the crates on impact with an undignified squawk.

Everyone, Nami included, just stares entirely exasperated. She’s long forgotten the original spot he’d landed, so her plan was to meet him after he lands and meets up with Zoro. And yet, Luffy falls out of the sky like perfect plot convenience. Cool.

“Stupid bird! Don’t just drop me!”

Nami’s breath gets stuck in her throat. 

 

(It’s him. It’s him-- younger, thinner, but it’s him. The scar under his eye is just the same, the hat on his head feels like it’s been gone for too long.) 

(Nami’s glad it’s back where it belongs.)

(But it hurts. It’s hot and boiling and churning in her throat and it brims into her eyes and she blinks it away and. And he’s still there .)

(He’s there, finally, within her arm’s reach again, and this time, she wants to punch him on the head and tell him how much of an idiot he’s being because-- because.)

(But she can’t. Not yet, not yet . She can’t hug him now and beg for him to never leave again. She can’t. )

 

Twisting her features into a smile, she jumps on the chance.

“Oh, Captain ! What perfect timing,” she grins, casually collapsing her staff again to tuck it in her belt. “These terrible men were just chasing after me!”

Luffy stares at her, confused. “Huh? Captain?” His eyes drift, and immediately bursts into excited sparkles of boyhood romance. “Woah! You have a robot arm! That’s SO cool! Can it shoot lasers? Hey, miss lady, you have a robot arm !”

Nami’s face falls for one fraction of a section, and she brims back into a smile. “Anyways, I’ll leave these guys--” she jabs a thumb at the crooks, “--to you. Thanks, boss!”

Then she ducks into the alley, and watches Buggy’s men get punched to oblivion.

Luffy huffs and walks away angrily, because they dared touch his treasured hat. He mumbles something about looking for Zoro, and wondering where the cool lady with the robot arm went. Nami only stares, slightly forlorn.

Putting a hand at her chest, she sighs. “...of course he’s not here,” she tells herself, “what was I hoping for?”

 

-

 

Nami sits at the balcony of a house, smiling down at Luffy while she swings her booted feet casually in the air. “Thanks for taking care of those guys for me! How do you want me to repay you?”

Luffy takes one curious look at her, and then he looks away. “Don’t need anything. Who’re you? And can you shoot laser beams?”

Of course, Luffy knows better than to accept charity after being used .

“I’m Nami, and I’m a thief,” Nami says. “I can’t shoot laser beams, sorry.”

“You can’t?” Luffy looks so disappointed, Nami can’t help but giggle.

“Those guys are from the Buggy Pirate Fleet, and they were after me because I stole their map. It’s a chart to the Grand Line,” Nami holds up the map in her hands, “you know where the Grand Line is?”

“Of course I do!” Luffy yelps, slightly offended, “wait. A map? You can navigate?”

Nami grins. “Of course. I’m the best navigator you can find around here.”

“Really?” Luffy says, “then, join my crew!”

 

Joining this time is a little easier than last time. Nami has nothing holding her back, Luffy needs a navigator, and of course, the metal arm.

 

“Sounds great,” Nami grins, “but if you want me to join your crew, I’ll need to ask you another favour… that Buggy guy? Can you beat him up for me?” 

Luffy pouts. “First you say you wanna repay me, now you say I needa do you a favour?”

“But if they’re still chasing me, I can’t leave.”

“Oh. You’re right. Okay then.”

Luffy’s still so adorably easy to manipulate. Nami finds it so, so endearing.

 

(And just a little, she’s sad.)

 

-

 

Luffy jumps at Buggy with a declaration of war. Then instantly, he gets blown away by a Buggy Ball, and is sent flying all the way to port.

Nami is honestly impressed by how far he can fly. Is rubber supposed to fly that far so easy? Buggy’s cannons are strange, too. Luffy deflected it, but he also went flying backwards. 

Buggy’s lair is pretty blown up. 

(Rest in literal pieces, Buggy, I’m sure your crew will help put you back together in a sec. Good luck. Ah, maybe Nami should leave a note.)

 

-

 

“Oh hey Zoro! What’re you doing here?”

“I was looking for YOU, you dumbass! Why the hell did you get caught by a fucking bird!”

“Anyways, who’re those guys behind ya?”

The three men stare wide-eyed at the destruction at the top of the hill. “You bastard! What did you do to Captain Buggy?!”

“Huh?” Luffy asks, “you mean that red-nosed guy that got blown away?”

 

-

 

“Found you,” Nami says, setting down two bags of treasure at her feet. “Is that the rest of your crew?”

Zoro lifts his head, sheathing his sword as Luffy piles up the imbeciles to the side. “Who’s she?”

“Our navigator,” Luffy supplies.

 

(Zoro. Nami travelled a lot more than the other last time, and she made it a point to visit everyone around the world every few months. Every time Nami dropped by Wano, Zoro had a few more followers and a few less braincells.)

(She was there, in the crowd, when Zoro died and took down the world with him.)

(They met eyes once. Just once.)

(Nami would never forget how angry Zoro looked at her. Because she was there crying, sobbing, watching-- instead of running, escaping, and safe.)

(Zoro says it a lot, that he wished Nami was still a scaredy cat.)

 

“I’m Nami,” she says, “this Captain of yours invited me in.”

Zoro smiles-- and oh, he smiles. It’s been a while since Nami’s seen him like that. He stopped acting as carefree after what happened with Mihawk at Baratie, after Arabasta came and went, Zoro was just moody all the time.

This is fresh and so weird.

“You’re the one that these guys were talking about?” he asks, “the one that tricked them and stole their boat?”

Nami leans back, placing her hands beside her to hide the disappointment flashing by. She’ll have to get used to this now. 

(It’s been a while, Wado Ichimonji. I wonder if you made your master proud back in Wano, serving under Hiyori’s hand.)

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“You can predict the weather or something?” Zoro asks, remembering something the grunts complained about before. 

“Wait, you can what ?!” Luffy exclaims. “Magic robot powers??”

“Enough about the robot!” Nami whirls around and knocks him up the head. She pretends not to notice Zoro’s resigned look. She turns to him. “I’m a navigator, you’ll be glad to have me on board, Pirate Hunter.”

Zoro grins. “We’ll see.”

 

When they board the ship again, this time alongside another ship with Buggy’s sails on it. They set sail for Syrup, the closest island from here. 

Nami adjusts the sails a little, and sits by the bow with a sigh.

She should lower her expectations. The disappointment she feels each time she realizes that’s not hers, hers , it just hurts. Just hurts so much and it’s lonely.

She puts a hand on her empty left shoulder with a sigh.

Chapter 8: it's you (it's me)

Summary:

And, they meet.

Notes:

Have I told you guys how much I love you guys yet? I'm honoured beyond belief that you guys like this T^T and we're finally here! Finally, the reunion of Nami and Usopp! There's going to be a second part of this reunion where they properly talk it out and cry and find out things, but the next chapter will be a Zoro POV because mosshead is very, very confused.

Chapter Text

“You’re a Whitebeard pirate?!” 

Nami comes out of her cabin wearing a bikini top, and Zoro straight up balks. Her show of skin is the last thing on his mind, because the glaring blue mark on her lower back is exposed for the world. Luffy turns around, still eating an apple, and he hums.

“You live up to your name, Pirate Hunter Zoro,” she teases. “Don’t worry, I quit the Whitebeards a while back. I’m a free pirate now.”

“You quit ?!” 

“Hey Nami, who’s white bread?” Luffy asks, looking at the cross and crescent on Nami’s back. Nami turns around so they can see it better. “Izit someone impor’ant?”

Zoro looks like he wants to throw Luffy overboard. “Whitebeard’s known as the strongest man in the world,” Zoro says, “you’re trying to be Pirate King and you don’t know the man who used to go toe-to-toe with Roger?”

“Strongest?” Luffy wonders. Then, “wait! He used to fight the Pirate King?!”

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Zoro sneers. He turns to Nami, “why’d you quit?”

Nami shrugs, “I didn’t join in the first place, I just got kidnapped,” Zoro grimaced in empathy, “then after a while they said I could go, so I went.” 

Zoro went what,  

Nami giggles. “Oyaji isn’t aiming for One Piece, so he’s not going to travel the Grand Line thoroughly. I want to draw a map of the world, so I’m going to travel by myself, and draw the road I go on!”

Luffy grins in approval, and Zoro hums.

“That’s a nice dream!” Luffy says, “well, you quit, so I can have you, right? White Bread isn’t gonna be mad if you’re on my crew? Well, even if he does, I guess we’ll just have to fight him when the time comes.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow, “are you suicidal?”

“You can try!” Nami laughs. She dearly hopes he doesn’t, but she has a feeling that Luffy will try anyways.

Zoro groans, "oh. We are suicidal. Okay."

“Anyways Nami, can you shoot lasers-- OW!”

Zoro stares at the dent in the wood, aghast with horror. 

Nami dusts her hands, “how many times are you gonna ask me that? The answer is no!”

 

-


-

 

Usopp lifts his arm-- and he waits. 

He closes his eyes and breathes, feeling the air around him-- he turns a little to the left, one step on the branch-- and just in time, Kinoko lands gently on his wrist.

“There you go, girl,” Usopp says, letting the bird hop over to his shoulder

“C- C- CAPTAIN!” Piiman yells.

Usopp loses his footing on the tree branch and just drops .

“AHH! CAPTAIN!” Piiman and Ninjin are yelling for a different reason now.

Usopp lies on the ground, dizzy and ow , did I hit my head? Where’s Kinoko? Oh hey mushroom butt, get off my face please. Get off my face. Don’t get comfortable.

“I'm fine…” he groans out, “what’s wrong?”

“Oh, right,” Piiman receives Kinoko in his hands when the bird hops up, “pirates! At the bay! It’s got Buggy the Clown’s flag on it!!”

Usopp jumps upright. 

 

-

 

Usopp sits by the bay, the Vegetable Trio behind him.

He watches the strange blue blob that’s the sea, watching the two sails come toward him. He can’t see anything except the strange contrast of the colours, the black sail definitely Buggy’s flag, just as he remembered.

He can see the little red of Luffy’s vest, the little green of Zoro’s figure, and the orange of Nami’s hair.

He almost feels like crying. He rubs his eyes, sniffling. It’s been so long-- so long, yet. Yet, he can’t see them. They’re just distinct blobs of colour he has to squint to make out, and he can’t. Can’t see them.

 

(He barely remembers Luffy’s last smile to them. When he hands them his hat, gives them all a kiss on the forehead, and marches off in chains toward Coby.)

(He barely remembers that last, meaningful glance Zoro gave him as a goodbye in Wano. The warmth of his sword’s bloodthirsty voices, the burn of his presence.)

(He barely even remembers the last time he met Nami. They meet too often, all their spots are marked off and watched. There was only a shadow of a rushed hug during Vivi’s execution, then Usopp never met her again.)

 

“Captain?” Tamanegi asks.

“You guys can run back to the village if you're scared.” Usopp tells him.

They salute and gladly escape.

 

He sits at the edge of the cliff, sitting in full view. They’ve probably noticed him already, and that’s fine.

Their presences in the distance calms him. Reckless little Luffy, Level-headed Zoro, Free-spirited Nami. Strange, unstable, just like the start of their journey.

He can’t help but smile.

“Huh? Who’re you?” Luffy asks.

Usopp tries really hard not to stiffen, but his grip tightens on the ground, his chest seizes-- and it takes two deep breaths for him to ease again.

He grins. 

“I'm the great Captain Usopp, leader of the great Usopp Pirate Fleet, commander of eighty million men!” the words escape him in the form of a nostalgic joke, and he chuckles, “they call me, Usopp the Terrible !”

“No,” immediately, Nami speaks up, her tone jumping as she dives to respond first, and Usopp’s eyes widen, “you were called the Worst .”

 

His smile falls straight down and he swirls on her, and though he can’t see it, he knows that Nami is staring right back, the same burn of tears in her eyes. 

He can hear the cries she’s holding back in her voice.

He looks closer.

There’s a bit too much silver on her body. An offsided right. 

His Observation senses her as incomplete, and the soul is just missing a few portions.

Usopp clicks his tongue once. 

The sound that comes back from her-- it’s not flesh, it’s metal.

He immediately sees red, the magma rising from the pits of his stomach..

 

Nami ,” he finally says, and it’s hoarse, it's deep, it’s painful. 

 

It’s filled with pure, seething rage that makes Lufy step back and Zoro draw his swords, but Usopp can’t be bothered to react to those right now. 

Because that’s Nami. That’s his Nami. She knows the code, she responds correctly to the code, and she’s-- she’s acting differently . That means it’s his Nami, and she’s-- she’s here. With him. Finally. Finally. 

Why?

 

“Nami,” he repeats, but it’s not any calmer than before. “...who did that to your arm?”

 

Arlong. Maybe it's Arlong. Maybe Nami resisted this time and he snapped. That sounds possible-- Usopp got a few concussions from mistakes like that, after all. 

No, on second thought, it probably isn't Arlong. Arlong valued Nami's writing arm more than they valued Nami in general. It wasn't Arlong.

It's a transferred wound, just like Usopp's blindness. Someone in the future took that arm from her, after they were separated.

Someone in the future took Nami's dominant arm from her. (Her dominant hand it's her dominant hand it's the hand of the best cartographer in the world and they--)

How dare they. 

How dare--

 

"Usopp!" Nami tells, and Usopp stops short, dragged out of his furious internal rant. "It's just you and me."

 

And Usopp knows what that means. It means later, we'll talk about this later . It's a promise to hug and cry and break, but not now, not here. Because no one else is here-- Luffy and Zoro-- they don’t know anything. They don’t know anything yet .

So Usopp swallows all the anger back down and faces the other two once again.

(Laterlaterlaterlaterlaterlater)

“You guys are Nami’s friends?” 

He turns to them, sounding much more friendly this time and he’s proud that he’s managed to train his actual lying skills over the years. He stands up.

“I guess that’s fine then. Come on into the village! I’ll treat you to a meal.”

 

-

 

Luffy bounces right up, and Zoro follows him. Usopp tries not to immediately run in and hug them, because the feeling of them so near to him so near finally-- it just leaves him breathless. 

Then he turns around, and Nami wraps him in one painful, painful, and so so tight hug.

He wants to protest-- the other two are staring at them like they’re a new item of interest-- but he doesn’t. He knows he needs this.

He hugs back, firm and strong and-- oh hey, your metal arm. It’s metal, Nami. Why is it metal? How could I have let this become metal -- and he doesn’t breathe for a long, long moment. 

 

He just grabs and holds , feeling her face on his neck and feeling her fingers press bruises into his back. He cradles her head, and tries to get closer. Tries to feel her aura, and it’s stronger than he remembers, but it’s been too, too long he doesn’t even remember how strong it was last time and--

“I’m,” he chokes out, tears in his voice, “so glad you’re alive, Nami.”

 

(He wants to see her face. He wants to see her face so badly. Your hair's longer than it's supposed to be-- I'm sure it looks great on you. I want to see it. I want to see it .)

( But I can't .)

 

Nami bubbles out in laughter, “of course I am, you idiot!” she says, but she doesn’t move away. “You owe me ten billion beris for making me worry, dammit!”

“Oh c’mon, Nami, even my old bounty wasn’t that high.”

 

Finally, they break up the hug, and Usopp can’t help but feel like he wants another minute or twenty or actually, can she stay like that forever? Please?

 

Nami pats him in the back. “Alright then! Reunions are over, let’s get food!”

No, Nami. Reunions are not over. Usopp is so going to snatch her after this.

 

They turn to Luffy and Zoro, only to find Luffy screaming his head off. Apparently, a bird had charged belly-first right into Luffy’s face, and now they’re in a power-struggle tangle of wing and too-stretchy limbs.

The boy gives them an undignified squawk that sounds suspiciously like a slew of curses. Zoro just watches.

“STUPID BIRD!” he finally yells, managing to get it off his face, “god that surprised me.”

“Oh, a bird,” Zoro draws a sword, “looks edible.”

“Wait wait wait!” Usopp snaps at them, recognizing the little bird’s cry of greeting. He charges forward and snatches the bird out of Luffy’s hands, “this bird’s my friend! You can’t eat her!”

Luffy’s already drooling, “birds are yummy, though?”

At this point, Kinoko jumps in horror, hopping up and fluttering right away, crying tears of fear. Luffy stretches right over and grabs it by the belly, retrieving it right back.

“Bird!” he says happily, because he’s such an endearing idiot like that. “Let’s roast it.”

Usopp flips on his heel and lands one hell of a dropkick on Luffy’s head. “I SAID NO!”

“OW!”

Zoro hums in approval, and Nami slow claps.

 

 

Usopp extends an elbow, and Kinoko flutters over, landing on the appendage and breathing out in relief.

“Her name is Kinoko,” he introduces them, “Sorry about her, she likes to crash into people for fun. She’s my seeing-eye bird.”

“Your what?”

“What’s a--”

Luffy’s stomach growls. He broods, “so we can’t eat that bird? But I’m hungry!”

They decide to head for the restaurant, first of all.

 

-

 

“Oh my Usopp-kun, new friends?”

“Yeah, they’re pirates!”

Zoro and Nami’s jaws drop. Luffy yells a greeting right back. The auntie laughs it off, then reminds Usopp to come by later for groceries. 

Nami facepalms. “Usopp the Liar has become a village favourite, huh?”

Usopp chuckles right back, “they don’t take me seriously anymore. It’s pretty amusing.”

 

Finally arriving at the restaurant and placing in a monster-sized order, he repeats his introduction to Zoro and Luffy. “My name is Captain Usopp! I command a fleet of--”

“--Three people,” Nami cuts in.

“People fear me! I’m known as Usopp the Great!”

“Weren’t you Usopp the Terrible a minute ago?” Zoro asks.

“I was once a leader of the greatest tribe in the Country of Giants. They called me the King of the Snipers! And my eighty million followers called me God!”

“COooooL!” Luffy’s eyes sparkle.

“Your character’s all over the place,” Zoro mutters. “Are you a leader, a king or a god?”

Nami just sighs. 

 

(Come to think of it. The entire world did call  him ‘god’, didn’t they? And the King of the Snipers. And yeah, he did make it pretty big in Elbaf last time...)

She facepalms. The only truth in it was the most unbelievable part of it… in some way, it’s impressive.

 

“So how do you know Nami, Usopp?” Luffy says. “I thought Nami was with White Bread.”

“You were with what ?” Usopp says, turning to the general direction of the orange-haired navigator, “what have you been up to??”

Nami giggles, “it’s a long story! But me and Usopp, we go way back. We used to sail on the same ship for a while, and then we got separated for a few years.”

Zoro hums, “you went to the Grand Line?”

Usopp smiles, gathering the lie he has to tell, “yep! I’m a marksman-- a sniper. I never miss my target, you know! I could shoot the wings off a fly two hundred miles over the horizon! They call me Usopp, the man of miracles! I always come through in a pinch!”

Zoro makes a noise that indicates he doesn’t believe that at all.

Luffy goes “wOAH! THAT’S SO COOL!” before continuing to eat. 

Then he pauses, and lifts his head. 

“Wait. You’re Yasopp’s kid, aren’t you?!” he suddenly realizes, eyes now sparkling with a sort of recognition. “I knew you looked familiar!”

Usopp chuckles, knowing that they’ve now caught the attention of a few other restaurant patrons. “Oh, you knew my dad?” he prompts.

“Yeah, I’ve known him since I was young!” Luffy says, continuing to stuff his face but somehow still managing to make his sentences make sense. He swallows. “He was on Shanks’ crew!” The entire restaurant’s worth of occupants all back away two meters. “He always talked about you!”

Zoro looks around, “what’s with the reaction?”

 

The crowd’s jaws dropped, hushed whispers passing around rapidly. 

 

Usopp takes a sip of his drink. “Of course they’d be shocked. Shanks is an amazingly infamous pirate,” he says-- he hums like he’s thinking, leaning into his chin, “so my dad’s that high up the pedestal, eh? I’ll have to catch up.”

Luffy blinks, “is Shanks really that amazing?”

Nami knocks him lightly on the head. “He’s one of the four strongest pirates in the world, Luffy.”

“Huh?” Luffy says. Then, “HUH?!”

“God, you’re hopeless,” Zoro says. “If you’re trying to be Pirate King, you’ve gotta know these things!”

 

-

 

The three kids watch in awe as Luffy inhales his food, quite literally.

“Hey, are you really pirates?? Are you gonna burn houses? Are you gonna eat people?” Ninjin asks. “Why are you flying Captain Buggy’s flag?”

Zoro says, “this meat is actually that Buggy dude, we cooked him.”

The vegetable trio screams in horror.

Usopp bolts right up and smacks him up the head, “don’t scare them!”

“This is over, Captain has become a cannibal!” Tamanegi sobs in despair, the three of them hugging each other in dramatic mourning. Looking at the clock, they decide, “let’s go tell Miss Kaya.”

Then they run off. 

Usopp yelps, “what are you going to tell her?? HEY!”

“Kaya?” Luffy asks. “Whuzzat?”

Kaya ?” Nami asks, and Usopp can hear the suggestive smile on her face. 

Usopp wants to curl up and die now.

 

“You guys need a ship, right?” he turns to them, quickly changing the subject. Luffy hums affirmatively. “Let’s go meet her, then.”

“You guys have a ship you can give us??” Luffy brightens up.

“Again with the convenient bullshit…” Zoro mumbles, “should I be getting used to this?”

“Probably,” Nami says, standing up, “then we can set right off after that. Let’s go meet your girlfriend, Usopp.” 

There’s a shocked moment.

Then Luffy spits out all his food on Zoro. “YOu HAVE A--”

“NO SHE’S NOT!” Usopp yelps back, but Luffy is now preoccupied because Zoro is literally squeezing his neck to mince.

 

“Yes she absolutely is,” the waiter puts down their bill, “don’t even deny it, Usopp.”

“You’re turning against me too, madam?”

“You’ve been joined at the hip since you two were ten. I’d call you married if Merry wouldn’t shave your head off for it.”

 

Nami snickers her usual, blackmail-acquired snicker. Usopp pales.

He stands up abruptly, face heating up. “Anyways! Time to go!”

God, if he stays here any longer with them, Nami will manage to gather enough blackmail to cripple Usopp financially for life!

 

(And somehow, Usopp thinks that’s probably okay.)

Chapter 9: [we're all mad here, apparently]

Summary:

Zoro's confused. That's it. That's the chapter.

Chapter Text

Zoro thinks everything is weird as fuck and Luffy needs to be a little more aware of that. 

He hasn’t even met Nami for more than a minute, and Nami is already raising all the alarms in his head. God, this crew is goners without him!

She exudes the air of a warrior, battered and beaten and resting in the body of a laid-back teenager.

Sort of like his dojo master-- a grandmaster hiding in complacency. Hell, Zoro knows the cons of underestimating someone like that firsthand.

 

And that arm. That arm

 

It’s a prosthetic. He’s not going to ask how she lost it-- but a girl, working a metal arm like it belongs on her? That’s the sign of level one guts, especially in East Blue. 

Most people leave lost arms be-- even that one Yonko left his arm alone instead of seeking to replace it-- because metal arms bring more bad than good. It changes your fighting style, alters your footsteps, throws you off balance. 

Not something you'd do unless you're committed to a life of rough battle.

Someone who can fight well with a limb that they didn’t grow up with-- that’s a fighter rising from the pits of hell. Kuina would’ve loved to meet Nami.

Zoro respects Nami, but he only trusts her about as far as he can throw her. 

...which, in hindsight, might be pretty far actually.

No no no, that’s not the main problem.

 

Luffy asked someone to join straight up, and she actually said yes without hesitation? Then he proceeded to blow someone up for her, and she’s already loyal as a clingbug, not even complaining when Luffy literally eats her treasure dry?

And then the Whitebeard mark. What the fuck.

So somehow, by some mad coincidence, Luffy meets a former Whitebeard pirate that’s also a good navigator with a lot of money, and she just joins? There’s suspicious, and then there’s this. 

Zoro just wants an explanation. Or twenty.

 

-

Then he sees her awake most nights, sees her cry some.

 

He rolls over and continues to pretend he’s asleep.

If Nami’s suspicious, they can deal with it later in the future.

But for now, she’s fine here.

 

-

 

“Let’s get a big ship on our next island!” Luffy declares. “We got a navigator! Now we need a musician.”

Zoro laughs at that last part. “A musician?”

“Yeah, cause pirates sing!” Luffy grins.

Nami sighs longsufferingly. “Why are the most ridiculous things always on your priority list? We need a doctor, first and foremost!”

“A doctor? Why?” Luffy asks, because he genuinely doesn’t know at all.

Nami facepalms.

“If you’re planning on going to the Grand Line, you need to be more prepared than just battle battle adventure treasure and fight !” she bonks him on the head.

Zoro doesn’t even respond this time. He’s used to that now. 

She lifts her hand and counts off her fingers. “You need a skilled navigator to even get there. Then you need a doctor in case anyone gets hurt. You need a shipwright to keep you afloat, and a scholar of the Grand Line if we don’t want to die immediately.”

Luffy blinks, “so we need mystery people?” 

He immediately receives a well-deserved punch to the head.

 

Zoro looks at Nami and doesn’t say anything.

“I’m gonna guess you don’t understand either?” Nami asks.

Zoro hesitates for a moment. Then he nods.

 

Nami sighs. “Okay, okay,” she calms herself down, “we can agree that musicians aren't a priority right now?”

Zoro nods. “But do we have a choice?”

Nami groans, “you definitely know Luffy well.”

 

Zoro, for one, is glad that Nami is to some degree a sane person. Too bad their Captain is insane enough for both of them.

 

-

 

One thing Zoro finds rather interesting is that, even after they realized Nami was a Grand Line Pirate, Luffy doesn’t ask a thing about it.

No ‘what’s the Grand Line like’ or ‘are there really crazy things there?’ or ‘how dangerous is it?’, not even questions of treasure or Whitebeard.

Just ‘oh okay, but you’re with us now’. 

Luffy is strange, but what else is new?

Looks like Zoro has some catching up to do in the weirdo department.

 

-

 

“OW!” Luffy whines for the hundredth time, because he’s made another dumb comment probably.

Zoro stares. When will he learn? 

 

“Wait,” he says, “Luffy.” The boy turns to him. “You’re made of rubber, but it still hurts?”

Luffy stares at him for a moment, holding his throbbing head.

Then he balks, “you’re right!” Luffy snaps towards Nami, “why does it hurt?? It’s like what Grandpa does.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow at the last part.

Nami hums. “Well, it’s something you have to know to survive in the Grand Line. Your grandpa… if it’s who I think it is, then yeah, he definitely knows how to do it.”

Luffy blanches, “you know my grandpa?”

“The entire world knows your grandpa, Luffy,” Nami dismisses, “it’s called Haki, and it can nullify Devil Fruit powers to some degree. Wanna learn it, Zoro? Then you can help me knock some sense into this idiot.”

Luffy makes an offended, traumatised noise in the corner.

Zoro blinks appreciatively at Nami, surprised by the sudden offer. “I can learn it?”

Nami smiles. “Anyone can learn it. In fact, I reckon you’ll be able to do this much better than I can,” she says, “the swordsmen that can do this-- they can cut through stone, steel, ships, I’m not a swordsman so I don’t know, but yeah. It’ll definitely come in handy for you, Zoro.”

 

That definitely caught his interest. 

 

So all great swordsmen can do it? That’s something an East Blue swordsman like him would never know otherwise. Doesn’t that mean he’s way too far behind right now? He can’t cut steel yet, but apparently it’s common in the Grand Line? Damn.

Zoro clutched his swords closer to him, thinking twice. “What’s the catch?”

Nami grins, “my lesson fees are pricey.”

“For get it, witch!” he snaps, “you have all our money right now!”

Nami smiles wider, “oh, I can lend you some!” she raises her hands in a counting-money motion, “at a two-hundred percent interest, of course.”

“In your fucking dreams, you thief!”

 

-

 

“So that’s the Gecko Islands… it’s pretty big.”

“There’ll definitely be a ship somewhere we can take!”

Luffy looks mildly excited. Zoro reckons he just likes the prospect of adventure, more so than the town itself. Are they going into the town?

“We need to shore off a little more to the side, Luffy,” Nami says, downing the captain’s mood, “I’m flying a pirate sail, so if we go through the major city’s entrance, we’ll have more than just angry civilians with pitchforks on our backs.”

Luffy pouts.

 

“Huh? Nami, there’s someone sitting there,” Zoro points out first as they come closer to the beach. Sitting by the edge of the cliffside, wearing overalls and not wearing shoes-- as they came closer, Zoro also noticed his oddly long nose.

“Sitting there?” Nami actually put down her rmap, “in plain sight? Is he stupid?”

And Zoro hums. That’s right-- people don’t usually just sit there when a pirate flag is approaching. Zoro can’t quite tell if this guy is good or bad news just yet.

 

Zoro’s general impression of Nami thus far is ‘she’s this Grand Line veteran, even though she’s younger than me’. And it doesn’t quite strike in until they come to the conservative little Syrup Village and they meet Usopp.

Luffy, of course, is the first to ask who the weird guy is.

And the boy puffs up his chest to declare, in the most staged voice he can muster-- “I'm the great Captain Usopp, leader of the great Usopp Pirate Fleet, commander of eighty million men!” 

How on earth does someone speak all those lines without cringing?

 

Zoro turns to Nami for validation, only to find that she's frozen. Stuck, jaw slightly agape, eyes stuck in a moment of pain and recognition.

“Hey, Nami,” he speaks, soft, “are you o--”

The boy is still talking, “they call me, Usopp the Terrible!”

No ,” Nami jumps, like she’s desperate-- and Zoro can’t help but stare. 

It’s just like she’s been waiting forever to say this, that the words are just lost in her throat. She struggles for a moment too long, but the words come out and there are tears in her eyes. 

“You were called the Worst… Usopp.”

Her voice dies at the end.

And Zoro suddenly realizes. Oh , they know each other. They’re acting like old war buddies who haven’t met each other in much, much too long, and it hurt to see each other again.

He turns to the long-nosed boy, and the boy’s completely stiff in his spot. His hand halfway at a thumb pointed toward himself, his eyes squinting like he’s trying really, really hard to look--

His fake joy crumbled instantaneously.

 

(What was his name? Aesop?)

 

Zoro turns to Luffy. Luffy’s staring at them with a similar amount of stilted curiosity. Zoro’s impressed that he hasn’t busted a few hundred questions yet-- Luffy was always unnecessarily loud, but it seems like he had tact after all.

 

“Nami.”

 

And Zoro immediately regrets thinking this guy was weak at all. 

Even Luffy takes a step back when the glare sears onto Usopp’s face. Roaring from his figure, a will so fierceful and so-- so angry -- that Zoro’s first instinct is to reach for his swords and Luffy’s fists tightened into a fighting stance.

Zoro swallows something thick in his throat. Because fuck , that was the kind of bloodlust you’d feel from Koushiro when one of his students got hurt by a bandit. Pure unadulterated anger .

 

“Nami, who did that to your arm?”

 

Zoro pulls his sword out of his sheathe. Luffy fixes a stern glance on Zoro, and Zoro eases. Because Luffy says no-- and that’s probably got a reason.

Yeah, let the two settle this themselves.

Nami finally puts her metal arm out before them, telling them that it was fine. Nami breathes out strong and slow, like she’s forcing herself to ease.

“I’ll handle this,” she whispers to them.

Then she raises her voice.

“Usopp!” she says, then with a more resolved tone, “it’s just you and me.”

The weight lifts right off of Zoro, and Zoro suddenly realizes just how tight his breathing has been. That glare was heavy. So heavy. So this is the level of a former Grand Liner?

They’re so behind.

 

Usopp and Nami are looking at each other eye to eye-- Zoro recognizes this as a silent conversation between trusted comrades. 

Luffy looks like he’s really interested now-- Zoro rolls his eyes at that-- so Zoro slots his sword back into the scabbard and straightens himself. If there’s no danger, then whatever now.

“You guys are Nami’s friends?” Usopp speaks in a similar tone to his funny declaration from before, and Zoro does a double-take at the friendliness. “I guess that’s fine then. Come on into the village! I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Luffy beams at the prospect of a meal. Of course.

If anything goes wrong, Zoro is going to stab Luffy and run.

 

-

 

“I’m so glad you’re alive.”

What the fuck? What the fuck.

Zoro isn’t going to ask. Okay, he’s not going to ask. It’s not his business anyways, and Luffy is-- “Oh my god Luffy!” 

Luffy gets attacked by a bird. Again .

 

He’s still screaming, throwing blind punches around but the bird is literally just grasping his face for life because Luffy’s shaking too much for it to get a balance and fly off. Cue the struggling madness.

Zoro contemplates drawing his sword-- but he’s not sure which he should cut first, the bird or the monkey. They’re both fucking idiots.

“SAAAGUACK! YOROOO!” Luffy yells.

Zoro sighs. He’s going to pretend he doesn’t hear a thing. At least this bird isn’t big enough to carry the boy off. He doesn’t want to go on a captain chase across the seas again.

Finally, Luffy wins. He yells “STUPID BIRD!!” and peels the bird right off of him, giving it a punch to the head for good measure. “God that surprised me.”

The bird looks horrified stiff.

 

It’s a strange bird. It’s not very big-- it’s smaller than an average News Coo, but it’s probably not a baby eagle. It has a deep silver coat, streaked with bronze save for the white belly. 

Looks weird. Is it a native Gecko Island bird?

 

“A bird,” Zoro notes, wondering if he could butcher it, “looks edible.” Because that’s, obviously, the most important thing right now.

Then Usopp barges into them, interrupting with a panicked shout of “wait wait wait!”, snatching the bird right away and cradling it to his chest like he was looking at a pair of monsters. “This bird’s my friend! You can’t eat her!”

Awh man, that sucks.

Then Usopp drops a solid heel on Luffy’s head (if Luffy wasn’t rubber, he’d probably have cracked that skull) and Zoro can’t help but feel a little apprehensive around the kid. 

 

That’s mildly terrifying. Are all of Nami’s friends like this?

 

They watch the bird fly back off in some other direction, the boy not really caring for where it goes after leaving the rubberman’s reasonable range. 

Nami and Usopp lead them into the village, and Zoro can’t help but look down again, wondering why the long-nosed boy still isn’t wearing shoes as they step onto the stone pavement.

Isn’t that an injury hazard? Even Luffy wears shoes.

Well whatever, it isn’t Zoro’s business. And Nami doesn’t seem to respond to it, so maybe it’s a normal thing between them? Oh god, Zoro really needs to up his weirdo game if he wants to fit into this crew.

... wait . He’s not in the crew yet. Why is Zoro already assuming every weird guy they come across is going to join the crew?

 

Lord, being sane hurts .

 

-

 

They meet the Usopp Pirates, which is basically a legion of brats that sort of worship the long-nosed storyteller like he’s a hero or something.

They learn a lot about him in the next hour. He’s known as a serial liar, and everyone tolerates it. People either enjoy it or hate it with a passion, but no one actively throws things at him for being annoying. 

(Which Zoro is already tempted to do within thirty minutes of meeting this punk.)

Red-haired Shanks’s sniper’s kid. Come to think of it, Luffy’s said that his hat was given to him by the guy-- good lord, is there no one here that isn’t somehow connected to an Emperor? 

Zoro might need to get himself a Warlord as a foster dad so he won’t get left behind, probably.

 

After chasing the three stooges away with a rather impulsive joke, Zoro gets bonked on the head, and they’re now headed toward a relatively fancy mansion at the top of the hill.

He still doesn’t get why they don't just head toward the main city instead. Even Nami, the smarter one of the bunch, isn’t realizing this.

Is Zoro on crack, or is everyone else on crack without him? 

 

Whatever then, he doesn’t care as long as he gets to take a nap soon. He’s peaked his quota of bullshit for the day.

Chapter 10: [I trust you] (it's all my fault)

Summary:

Kaya's thoughts, and then, the awaited hug and cry between Nami and Usopp.

Notes:

hey guys! ♥️ here we finally have Usopp and Nami and angst. Enjoy!

In case you haven't caught the new tags up there, I'm planning to have a slightly bigger crew for this story-- but not too many people, though! I've got two characters in mind now after thinking through what could be their dreams, roles, and new skills throughout the journey. Well, I'm just saying for now.

And there will be no romantic pairings among the crew in this story-- I'm not a fan of the drama that tends to come with it. The only romantic pairing in this story is Usopp/Kaya, and that's a long-distance thing. Every other relationship is platonic and/or brotherly.

Next chapter will be the last in the Syrup Village arc!

p.s I finally added actual titles to the chapters yay

Chapter Text

Kaya has known Usopp for nearly a decade. 

At first, she had only approached him out of curiosity. Who wouldn’t? The village blind kid, living alone yet he was brave and strong and so oddly independent.

She had been hiding behind his house, peeking in to see what the boy was doing, (he was painting! And it was so cool!) and she was so sure she didn’t make any noise, yet the boy knew where she was, and even who she was.

The boy’s eyes never met hers-- couldn’t, because he can’t see well-- but Usopp always listens to her when she talks about her day. So in return, she listens when he tells her about these strange, magical stories.

(And just a little, she falls in love with those stories, this routine, and this habit.)

Usopp was probably the first friend Kaya made willingly. Of course, her parents encouraged friendship with other smart children in town, but in the backwater village of Syrup, she couldn’t make friends stick. So Usopp was her only real friend.

(And she loved it.)

 

-

 

(“And so, full of tears and burning with regret, the man ran back. Each step hurt him more and more, but no! He couldn’t let this stand!”)

(“And with a face full of shame He told them-- no. I am not your hero. I lied to you-- everything about me was a lie-- my lineage, my ideals, even my name was a lie!”)

(“But that wasn’t it all. He drew his weapon, and he declared to them-- I will not turn around! I wasn’t the hero you wanted. So now, I will become the hero you need!”)

 

-

 

(She always wondered, though, how Usopp could describe things in such vividity, when he was blind? He painted the most beautiful pictures in her mind, and cast the most illustrious stories into her heart. She can’t help but love it.)

The vegetable trio loved the story of the cowardly warrior who became a legend. They always hate him at the start, and then start crying near the end.

It’s the only story Usopp ever told in third person. 

Every other story, Usopp would speak as if he were the one to experience those adventures-- the large fish dump island. The century-long competition of the two warriors. Each one of these were clearly lies, yet Usopp daringly pretended he was the warrior in those stories.

It was a little terrible, but so charming in the children’s eyes. Kaya allowed herself to enjoy this.

But the cowardly warrior-- who is this man, that Usopp dared not project himself into?

 

-

 

“Miss Kaaaaya!” 

She sticks her head out the window in time to see the Veggie brigade hustle in tearfully.

The next lines were probably a jumbled mixture of ‘captain, captain’, ‘pirates, witch, demon hag that eats humans’, ‘cannibals,’ (that word was abnormally clear,) ‘buggy got eaten, eaten, got buggy’, and whatever else. She’s getting good at deciphering their simultaneous speech.

She leans over her window, giggling. “Tamanegi-kun, why don't you explain it instead.” 

In the garden, Merry is gleefully tending to the garden. Her mother is in the hall, crocheting, and her father is in the kitchen.

“CAPTAIN’S A CANNIBAL!!”

Cue the sounds of glass shattering. 

Kaya facepalms. 

“AHHH! They’re coming! They’re coming this way!”

The kids are running the endless circle of panic around Merry, and Merry is desperate to find out if the master hurt himself in the kitchen when he dropped that cup, and in the distance, Kaya knows her mother is cackling.

She sighs.

 

-

 

Kaya meets Usopp’s friends.

(He hasn’t left the island ever since he was born. There’s no logical reason he would have friends from outside the island. It just doesn’t make sense.)

( “The boy with the straw hat who’s always full of smiles. The green-haired swordsman with three swords at his belt. The orange-haired burglar cat who loves money more than people.” )

She stops short, taking in the appearances, so congruent, so right, so perfect like the last piece of a puzzle.

( “And the little cowardly warrior was always behind them, lame in comparison.” )

Oh. She looks at Usopp, who’s waving in her direction. Oh .

 

Kaya smiles. Casting one mildly curious glance at the admittedly interesting group behind Usopp, Kaya climbed over the windowsill, hopped onto the branch-- and jumped down.

“Usopp-san!”

Usopp lets out a surprised squawk, but Kaya already knows his arms are spread to catch her. Usopp has never dropped her before. He’ll definitely yell at her, though.

 

(She ignores Merry’s frantic screaming in the background.)

 

“Wait, Kaya!” here it comes. 

Usopp snatches her beautifully into his arms and sets her down, because he panics and he flushes easily, but he’s incredible and, in no known way at all, lame. 

Once he affirms that the girl is safe, he flusters. “You can’t just-- why would you-- god how many times do I have to tell you no--

Kaya takes the chance to get a good look at his companions, and their surprised faces.

The ginger-headed girl smirks at her, and Kaya musters the sweetest smile she can whilst purposefully staying exactly where she is, with her arms wrapped lazily around Usopp’s neck and Usopp’s hands firm at her waist.

 

(Mother always said you have to claim your territory strongly, and Kaya has always been a mommy’s girl.)

 

“Who’re you?” the one with the straw hat asks.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” she says. “I take it you’re Usopp-san’s friends?”

“Oh they’re just--” Usopp straightens, urging Kaya to let go. He turns briefly to them, “the rude and loud one is Luffy. The green one is Zoro, and the girl is Nami.” 

Zoro makes a rightfully offended remark (what do you mean the green one ) and Luffy laughs. Kaya smiles, because they seem like good people. 

Usopp’s built the habit of pointing out the most obvious traits in people to distinguish them, and more often than not they offend people. He says he’s trying to work on it, but Kaya reckons he just likes to see people get angry.

“--well, new recruits of sort. They wanted a new ship, so do you think we could give them the Going Merry?” he turns to Merry, where the three kids have taken to hiding behind as if the man was a well-placed clothes rack of camouflage. 

Kaya blinks, “the Going Merry?” she asks. 

That’s a recently built (two years ago) ship, made to be taken alongside her father’s Sloop on their business trips-- but they’ve deemed the ship a little too small for the work and it’s been left aside for Usopp to occasionally take on his trips to Baratie. 

He never did, though. Usopp loved that caravel so much.

And he’s giving it to these people?

(Ah, that could only mean one thing.)

 

She couldn’t help the saddened look on her face, but she bloomed into a smile. “Of course you can! Right, Merry?”

Merry flusters, looking like he has a lot to say-- but Kaya knows that there’s more confusion than denial in his splutterings. They’ve agreed long ago that Usopp can do whatever he wants with the ship.

Kaya steps toward the three of them, greeting them with a polite bow. 

“Luffy-san, Zoro-san, and Nami-san, was it?” she says, “my name is Kaya. It’s nice to meet you.”

 

-

 

Kaya’s known for a while that Usopp’s heart wishes to be a pirate. He doesn’t exactly hide it-- all his stories are of great voyages that can’t be legal. He plays pirate with three kids and they love it, but Usopp’s heart is serious.

And Kaya’s known for a while that Usopp isn’t as kind as she thinks.

She’s known since the day Khlahadore died in their basement, presumably from a medical complication because they just couldn’t detect the cause.

They were sad, but Usopp was dismissive about it.

Usopp stayed in his house and worked on a collapsible three-piece staff, and Kaya pretended not to notice the five-pointed slingshot in the corner of the house.

There’s no proof, but deep down, she just knew.

A while after that, Tamanegi found a bounty poster for Black Cat Captain Kuro, and all the questions in her heart were answered.

Kaya cried herself to sleep, and then the next day, she just wanted to know more .

Usopp never tells her more.

She’s bitter, but she’s fine. Usopp has his reasons and if there’s anything that she knows, it’s the fact that Usopp never wants to hurt her.

 

-

 

She catches Kinoko on her arm, and carefully shows it off to Luffy. Apparently, he’s made of rubber! That sounds like something right out of Usopp’s stories, and Kaya would be fascinated if he weren’t drooling.

Eventually, the boy and the bird engage in a heated staring contest. They must be on a similar wavelength, then.

Usopp and Nami have left for the town, apparently needing to stock up and pack for the journey, and Usopp is showing her around.

The green-haired swordsman is asleep in the corner, and the Vegetable trio are carefully prodding at the sleeping lion with the longest stick they can find. Occasionally the swordsman bolts up with a roar, and they dash away screaming.

A minute later, the three stooges come back with a longer stick. Just to try again.

 

“Oh, it’s on, you bird!” Luffy yells at her, and Kaya’s attention is drawn back to the exchange.

Kinoko makes an angry caw-- but it’s more of a rivalry caw than a hostile caw.

Luffy points in a random direction. “You think you can fly better than me? Well I’ll race you over there!” 

Kinoko makes a very evidently scoffing expression in response. Kaya never knew the bird could ever make such a smug face.

Are they… communicating?

Immediately, Kinoko flaps her wings, hovers in the air for a moment. Luffy turns around and stretches his arm out to hold at the gate, positioning himself like a large slingshot.

Then they give Kaya a synchronous glance.

“Uh,” she stumbles, “ready, set. Go?”

They literally shoot off at the speed of light. There’s a faint yell that sounds like ‘rocket’(!!!) from the boy, and Kinoko is zooming ahead in the same manner she always does when she finds a mouse at the corner of the house.

Kaya doesn’t know what to do, she’s never been in such a stupefying situation.

 

“Uhm, be careful,” she reminds into the air.

 

Whatever this situation is, she’s glad that Usopp might actually fit right in with these crazy guys.

 

-


-

 

 

It’s strange, how Usopp and Nami always find it so easy.

She doesn’t want Usopp to leave her sight for even a second. She’s clingy like that-- selfish, possessive, and her crew is hers

If Usopp’s noticed her Haki clutching around him, maybe he just ignored it. She can feel his, much more versatile Observation, wrap around her too, like a thick fluffy cloud they just can’t break away from, but it’s so soft and comfortable she’d wear it to sleep.

 

They slot themselves into a bar first. 

Get a drink, and the conversations come easy. They reminisce on drinking habits, divulging into the third annual discussion of whether Nami actually has a liver or not.

They don’t get drunk. 

Instead, they leave quickly after planning their shopping list, then they get a donut to snack on. Lugging behind them bags of groceries and tools on a trolley, they reminisce about the bubble bags in Sabaody.

Usopp doesn’t need to tell her anything. Nami just watches him, and she knows.

 

Usopp had walked into the store and asked for the things he needed. The shopkeeper had patiently walked around to gather the bolts, nuts, and screws for him.

If there was anything Nami knew, it was the fact that Usopp loved to choose his own supplies. There was novelty in picking out the best of the batch on your own, and Usopp was just superstitious like that.

He walks barefooted on the stone pavement. His eyes never look at her-- they blink a little less often than she knows eyes are meant to. 

Nami has studied human behaviour for ages. She knows what this means. She knows what this means about Usopp.

 

(Tell me it isn’t true.)

(...It is, isn’t it?)

 

The pain just bubbles in her throat, but she can’t do it yet. Not yet. She lets the burn sear into her throat and hurt her, hurt her, hurt her.

That’s it.

And it’s the moment they walk to the mouth of the forest, to where she knows Usopp’s old house is. She just stops, and she can’t help the tears.

Usopp turns around, and there’s just a mutual knowing that sinks in.

 

Something in her breaks.

“I’m,” she chokes out, and Usopp’s already stepping forward to give her a hug. She cries. “ I’m sorry .”

 

(I’m sorry sorrysorrysorry I’m so so sorry )

 

Usopp holds. Holds her tight, feels every bit of her shivering, of her snivelling, and he just wraps his arms tighter around the girl and waits .

“It’s not your fault,” he says, and he repeats, “it’s not your fault.”

 

Nami doesn’t believe it for a second.

( It’s because I wasn’t there. It’s because I left you behind left everyone behind because I was so scared I didn’t bother I just assumed it was fine and and and )

“There was nothing you could have done, Nami.”

( I should’ve been there even if I couldn’t. )

 

“None of us did anything wrong. We did our best.”

Nami cries anyway. Buries her fingers into Usopp’s back and sobs, trying not to be loud about it. Breathes quickly and sniffles and squeezes her eyes painfully shut.

She feels Usopp rub soothing circles into her back, and clutches closer.

And suddenly, the anger is back again. The fury twisting in her throat, she bites her lip down hard. 

 

Then Usopp pulls apart slightly (no no no come back) and puts a hand under her chin. She stares back at those eyes-- those mildly unfocused, and upon closer look, just a little murky in colour-- and she turns away.

“Marines?” he asks first, and Nami takes a moment to realize he’s referring to her arm.

She shakes her head, then realizes something. “No, not the marines,” she says, “bounty hunters. They were a sick bunch.”

Usopp’s brows furrow. “Your foot too?”

Nami blinks once, “you can tell?”

Usopp’s frown only deepens at that, so Nami answers with a hum into his shoulder, getting back the contact and the warmth she needed. 

They stay like that for a moment. Nami can’t see Usopp’s expressions, but she can feel just slightly with her Haki that Usopp has a similar monstrous churn of emotions inside him. It can’t be pleasant, but what ever is?

“What about you?” Nami asks, and she hates how her voice cracks. 

She feels the tears coming again and she hates it. She’s past the point of crying now-- she promised a lifetime ago to live with a smile on her face. What is she doing ?

Usopp doesn’t answer her. The pained look is answer enough.

She reaches up a shaky hand toward Usopp’s face, and lets the palm cup his cheek. She looks up once, and she fights against the tears again. 

“Where was I?” she finally makes out the words and it’s not the first question she intended to ask. 

( Where was I when they did this to you? How could I not have been there? )

Usopp’s chest lowers in a sigh. He leans, just a little, into her palm. He keeps his arms around her, and he doesn’t smile. 

“You were safer ,” he chooses his words carefully, “and that’s all that matters.”

Nami’s situation was just like hell. So Usopp could only be in one other place, and Nami can’t help but hate hate hate herself again.

She buries her face into Usopp’s shoulder, and though she doesn’t cry this time, she doesn’t move from there. 

She stays there, not thinking about anything, not talking about anything. She just stays and listens and feels and they’re both breathing and that’s all that matters now.

 

(That’s all that matters now.)

(It’s not fine, but it will be.)

 

-

 

Nami pulls the trolley of materials with her metal arm, her other arm looped around Usopp’s. If Usopp was bothered by it, he didn’t let it show at all. He just shrugged his own bag of items over his other shoulder, and continued his way toward the house.

“You’ve gotten stronger,” he says, and it’s like the words are strangled out of him.

Nami gives her arm a light glance.

 

If anything-- she’s gotten weaker. It’s obvious-- she’s two limbs down, a few years back in physique, and a couple months out in Haki. She’s far from her prime, and that’s not surprising considering they’re younger now.

They’ve really trained religiously for as many years as they could, but somehow, something’s just weaker either way.

 

Instead, she puts a hand on Usopp’s bicep.

“You too,” she says. “God-- we don’t need two muscleheads on the ship. You taking after Zoro now?”

Usopp sighs theatrically, “what can I say, living so many years on the same ship as that trainoholic, it’s contagious.”

Nami laughs anyways. “I guess one sad thing about this arm is that my Happiness Punch would be worth a little less.”

Usopp grimaces, “ please , none of us ever liked it when you do that.”

“Remember that one time in Wano?”

“God, that was a disaster . It actually seemed like it was going to work , and who did it work on? Sanji. What the hell was he doing in there? Actually, I don’t wanna know.”

“Well, he did say he wanted to be an invisible man for a rather specific reason…”

“Dear lord.”

 

Usopp flicked the lights on in his house.

“There’s nothing much I need to grab. Just clothes, a toolbox, and of course,” he stepped over the carpet and pulled out a blue object, tossing the three pieces over his shoulder. “Your one and only.”

Nami snatched her Clima Tact out of the air, and she swoons.

It’s the basic model, her very first. No dials, no Pop Greens. That’ll change soon.

Nami may have made her first Sorcery Clima Tact on her own, but it was made from a rendition of the previous model. The concept and beauty of the Clima Tact came from none other than Usopp himself, and she’s always loved it.

 

She tried to make it herself, with Jozu and Haruta’s help on the Moby Dick. Hilariously enough, they managed to make a large cloud-making machine with the concept. It was a disaster for Namur’s sanity, but they never could figure out how to compact it well enough to weaponize it efficiently.

Usopp’s creative, out-of-the-box thinking was something abnormally unique he had even back in the East.

So Nami stuck with her usual three-piece staff with no enhancements. It just didn’t feel right.

 

“I missed it,” she admits quickly, a bright smile on her face, “I never really understood how you made them so compact without dials. How’d you do it without Grand Line tech, though?”

Usopp huffs proudly. “It’s because I’m the Great Captain Usopp, craftsman of the Pirate King’s ship! Of course I can do anything.”

Nami humours him with a dry laugh. “Ha, hah. Now c’mon, grab your slingshot. Let’s go. We’ve got business before we go back, right?”

And Usopp does. They leave their luggage in the house, and step out with their weapons in hand.

 

Standing side by side, confident smiles on their faces-- for a blissful moment, it’s as if they were in the future again, the cowardly duo facing an opponent due to an unfortunate coincidence and unlucky matchup.

It’s nostalgic.

 

“Y’know, what would you have done if I was still the me in the past?” Nami asks, nodding her head toward the assembled staff before realizing Usopp can’t see it, “with the Clima Tact, I mean.”

Usopp hums, “I’d probably hide it? Then give it to you when you ask for a weapon or something. No offense, you would’ve been dangerous if I gave this to you before Lufy beat up Arlong.”

Nami snorts. “You could give it to Luffy. Remember the time he stole Sabo’s pipe and straight-up socked Dragon in the face for being ‘a meanie’?”

Usopp groans, “yes, he shaved a good thirty years off of my life that day. And no, you would kill me for giving you Luffy’s hand-me-downs.”

Nami hums, “ah you’re right.” Then she spins the pole around a few times, doing a spin and practicing a bojutsu kata. Straightening, she huffs. “Perfect. I’d like it a little heavier, though, and longer.”

“Already making demands? What a slavedriver.”

“Hush hush. You’re my mechanic, aren’t you? If you want me to do it myself I’ll charge you for my time, effort and resources. On a 300% interest.”

“Wow, what about my payment for making it in the first pl-- I KNOW THAT THING IS SPINNING NAMI I’M NOT FALLING FOR THE MIRAGE TEMPO AGAIN GET BACK HERE”

 

The comedic playout is interrupted when Usopp tenses. Nami straightens, because she knows Usopp’s Haki stretches further than she can imagine and it’s only gotten further since the last time she’s seen him.

Usopp steps back once just in time for a rubber body to slam into the sand, sinking in like a screaming meteor and burying himself into a hole as he lands.

Nami resists the urge to facepalm.

Usopp looks up and raises his arm to receive his bird friend Kinoko as it arrives. “Hey there girl, what’s up with you?” he asks the bird, because it’s (she’s?) breathing like she’s run a marathon. Do birds run marathons? 

On cue, Luffy bursts back to life with an explosion of sand. 

“HAH!” he says, head spinning around before his gaze locked on the bird, and he has that competitive glint that he always wears when he fights stupid fights, “I won!”

Kinoko makes an offended squawk, flapping her wings angrily. Evidently, she disagrees with that verdict.

“What? I obviously got here first! You were smelling my dust!” Luffy throws his hands into the air.

 

Nami sighs, “Luffy, the phrase is ‘left in my dust’, not smelling,” she says, but Luffy is growling like a feral animal at the bird so he’s probably not listening.

 

Finally, Luffy turns accusingly to Usopp, “Usopp! You saw right? I got here first!”

Usopp is silent for a moment. 

Then he juts out, like he’s kind of appalled, “oh yeah. Certainly. Definitely.”

Luffy balks, “that’s the tone Shanks uses when he absolutely doesn’t believe me!” he whines. He turns to the bird, and the bird is grinning smugly. “Damn you, you bird! I’ll roast you!”

 

Nami thinks this is fucking hilarious. That bird has a future in being an annoying little shit, and Nami volunteers to be the mentor.

 

Her Observation Haki picks up a presence, and she looks up to find… oh, not this guy again. 

(Usopp said he dealt with Khlahadore long ago, but the rest of his crew were still on standby with orders to return in three years. That’s today.)

She spins her staff around, and knocks it against the straw-hatted boy’s head. Luffy is completely unfazed, but his attention is grabbed.

“Alright Luffy. You can fight Mushy later, okay? We’ve got trouble,” she says, pointing toward the sea with her other hand. She ignores Usopp when he clarifies the bird’s name.

 

Luffy follows the pointer, and there’s a man at the shore, wearing a horrendous suit, a terrible hairstyle, weird heart-shaped sunglasses, and of course he’s walking like a total unoriginal moron. 

Jango turns to them, and he snaps, “what’re you looking at? I’m just a passing hypnotist, nothing special, nothing suspicious, nothing to see here. Shoo.”

“Who’s that idiot?” Luffy says.

“Hi there,” Usopp interrupts them. “Mister Jango, the hypnotist? I assume you’re here to look for your captain, Mister Black Cat Kuro.”

Jango stills for a short but very obvious second, then he sputters like the most convincing liar in the world. “Wha- What are you talking about? I don't know any man like that! I’m just a passing hypnotist. Please excuse m--”

He goes silent.

 

Nami has his Den Den Mushi in his hand. 

 

“It says Kuro on it, wow,” she feigns, “I wonder who it is. There’s a skull and crossbones on it. You must be a pirate crew then? But what would a pirate crew do in this backwater village? Aha.” She clicks her fingers and whistles in fake surprise, “are you after the pretty rich lady in the mansion?”

Jango startles dramatically, ironically entirely honest, “oh no! They found out about Operation Assassinate Ojou-sama!”

Nami tries really hard not to laugh. Usopp looks like he wants to kill this guy yesterday. 

Luffy looks back and forth between them. Then, “wait, you’re trying to kill Usopp’s girlfriend?!”

“She is NOT my--”

Jango quickly whips out his bladed pendulum. “You leave me with no choice. I’ll have to make you forget everything! Now look here, and in three second you will--”

 

WHACK!!

 

Usopp bashes him in the eyes with the hilt of his Kabuto, shattering the sunglasses.

“What a waste of time,” he mutters, turning away. Kinoko, at some point, has moved from his arm to settle on his head. “I found them, Nami. They’re on the South shore. Let’s go.” 

Luffy stares, awestruck for a moment.

 

Then Luffy makes a pouting, sad sound, poking at the fainted hypnotist, “but I wanted to see what he was gonna do! It looked cool.”

“Don’t be stupid, Luffy,” Nami says, “wanna come with us?”

“Huh? Where’re you going?” Luffy asks, tilting his head to the side.

Nami grins, “somewhere fun.”

Chapter 11: [weird, but cool] a cowardly warrior

Summary:

Luffy's awfully terrible rivalry with the bird continues.
Meanwhile, Usopp gets a very important parting present from Merry.

Chapter Text

Luffy is always curious, always eager for adventure.

He’s learned it a long time ago that when people don’t want to tell you things, you don’t ask. Ace punched him in the mouth too many times for him to not think twice now.

And eventually, he realizes that it’s fine. 

Everyone carries a different weight. He doesn’t need to know all of them to have an amazing adventure with them, right? 

Plus, he has the World’s Greatest Swordsman in his crew! That’s awesome.

Oh oh oh , but even cooler! Nami! She has a metal arm. How cool is that? Ace is gonna be SO jealous when he hears this. She has a metal arm--

“Luffy, you’re shaking the boat with your jittering. If you’ve got too much energy, walk around the boat on your hands or something.”

And Luffy does exactly that. 

Then he trips over Zoro, flips into the sea, and after being rescued by an angry Zoro, Nami punches him on the head.

Ow.

He hates the Fist of Love thingy. 

 

“There’s a theory to it,” Nami tells them on their way to Syrup. “There are various ways to go about this, but the core of it is spiritual discipline. Depending on how far you take it, you can get much, much stronger. You can even make a branch useful if need be.”

Luffy’s listening, but he’s already lost. Zoro’s the one that was interested in it, so maybe Zoro understands? Nah, Zoro’s an idiot.

“There’s not much of a space, but I’ll show you,” Nami says, picking up her staff. 

She closes her eyes-- and Luffy’s breath holds. The air thickens around Nami, weighing down like a firm blanket. He gulps.

Nami spins her staff behind her, swirling it back before her horizontally. 

Then, right before their eyes, black spreads out on the brown bo staff, coating the wood with a pure, metallic sheen, through from one end to the other.

 

“Armament: Imbuement.” 

 

Nami opens her eyes, and they’re sunken, focused, serious. She closes them again, and breathes out.

Luffy can’t help but feel amazed, breath bated. There was just something so… regal about this. Different from the rough movements of his own staffmanship, this was-- like a swordsman. Elegant, noble, and strong.

Luffy gulps. It’s like that one time Garp wielded a staff just to make sure the kids knew how far down the league they were.

 

She swirls the bo staff around, once, twice, spins, and the staff dances around her. 

Then she brings it down with her right arm, striking not at the water, stopping sharply a little above the surface of the sea.

 

Luffy was not prepared to see the sea cave out under it, sinking like a cannonball had sunk in, leaving a water crater in its wake that was quickly swallowed back up by water again.

The waves rocked the boat wildly, shoving it back quite a few paces. Luffy almost falls off from the sudden jerk, but he falls onto Zoro and finds the swordsman frozen in awe.

Okay, if Zoro is impressed, this is amazing. 

 

“That. Was. COOL!” Luffy says, jumping forward, “hey Nami! Naaami! Do it again!”

Nami spins it back toward her, and the staff is brown when Luffy sees it again. She breathes out with a sigh, and Luffy recognizes that it took a bit of energy out of her. She quickly firms into a frown, “no Luffy, this isn’t easy to do. I’m not doing it again.”

Luffy pouts, but Nami doesn’t change her mind. She lets Luffy take her staff though and Luffy keeps staring at it, wondering why it’s not black anymore.

“Ar--rainbowthing: Innn-bubbles-ment!” he attempts, posing coolly.

“Your word-butchering abilities are in a total other plane of existence,” Nami retorts instantly. “It’s not a magic spell, Luffy.”

Zoro takes the staff to inspect it. “There’s nothing special about the staff…” he mutters, “what’s the trick?”

Nami raises her eyebrows. “It’s just willpower and life energy taking physical form. Haki, I told you.”

Zoro hums, handing Nami her staff back but his eyes never leaving the weapon. “And what happens when you do that to a sword instead of a staff?”

Nami grins. 

“Well, Zoro,” Nami says, “that is when you start competing to be the Greatest Swordsman in the World.”

Zoro’s lips widen into another dangerous grin.

 

Luffy walks away. His comrades are cool, but they’re all so weird. 

He’s not very interested in their creepy giggling over there (kinda reminds him of Dadan when Luffy gives him some of the treasure he accidentally stole) so he’s going to go into the corner and do more handstands.

 

-

 

“They call me Usopp the Terrible!”

“No, they called you the worst, Usopp.”

Luffy stares at that weird exchange for a while. It’s a weird way of conversing, the way they suddenly changed from ‘pretending to not know each other’ to ‘it’s you? Okay’ expressions. Luffy knows those faces because Ace and Sabo’s were pretty obvious.

Oh! They’re speaking in code! Luffy remembers this game.

It was always when they were splitting up to run away from the Gray Terminal bandits. Luffy never managed to remember the codes, but Ace and Sabo used it all the time just to make sure they weren’t being baited by the hooligans.

And oh. Right. That means Nami and this Usopp guy are friends, right?

...Usopp? Where has he heard that name before?

 

-

 

Luffy finds this bird as annoying as that dumb trash panda in Gray Terminal that kept stealing the pretty things he wanted to give Makino.

What was the bird’s name again? Enoki? Shiitake? Ennosuke? What’s an Ennosuke? 

“Ey!” is what he ends up with, “what? You wanna fight?!”

 

The bird scoffs at him from the top of Usopp’s head, and Luffy rages. This bird knows exactly what he’s doing, and no! Those aren’t normal bird faces, imaginary Sabo!

They’re walking to the other side of town, and he’s so occupied by the stupid bird that he only notices now that Nami and Usopp are holding cool things.

“Nami, is that a new staff?” he asks.

“You just noticed?” Nami takes the three-piece and assembles them quickly, handing one end to Luffy. “Usopp made it for it. Want to try holding it?”

Luffy may have outgrown his staff-using age, but using one will always have a special place in his heart. So he takes it happily-- only to stumble slightly in surprise, nearly dropping it before he grasps it with both arms, hugging it close.

He stops quickly, shocked.

“It’s so heavy?!?” he asks, flabbergasted. They just laugh at him, so he holds it properly and tries to spin it. It’s not as hard as he thought.

He passes it back to Nami.

 

“I’ll show you the cool part of it later,” Nami promises.

Luffy blinks. “Is it a laser bea--MMPH!!”

 

Nami just literally punched his face in. He can’t see. 

...Help.

 

-

 

Usopp raises his slingshot in the direction of the pirate ship in the distance. Luffy looks over, wondering why his eyes are closed.

Usopp breathes out and pulls his sling back, prepared to fire.

“What’re you doing, Usopp?” Luffy asks.

Usopp smiles but his concentration doesn’t break. 

 

He shifts his aim a little to the side, a little higher. “My skills with a slingshot are much better than with a gun,” he tells him, and Luffy hums. “Hissatsu: Explosive Star!”

Luffy barely catches the zooming projectile before it vanishes in the distance-- and then-- the ship's jolly roger bursts into flames.

Luffy’s jaw drops. 

Immediately, he turns to Usopp, eyes twinkling, “what was tHAT?!?”

 

Usopp grins, then his face lowers into a serious hero’s face, firm and resolute. 

He speaks softly, like a war-torn warrior, “the truth is… I hail from the island of the Snipers. This is child’s play for me! Two hundred miles, three hundred miles-- I can do all this with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind me!”

Luffy is amazed . Sniper Island? COOL! Usopp is amazing . “Do it again!”

To his disappointment, Usopp holds up his hand as a denial. 

“Ehhhh why noooot?!”

Nami’s laughter comes from behind them. “Don’t worry, Captain,” she says, and Luffy notices she’s spinning that blue baton around, releasing red and blue balls of energy into the sky. “I’ll show you something cooler than a laser beam.”

 

Luffy knits his eyebrows together. No, nothing is cooler than a laser beam. 

 

Nami presses a button on her third baton, and a yellow, sparkling orb of energy pops from it. Luffy watches as it floats up to the-- wOAH when did that super duper black cloud get there?

“Thunderbolt Tempo!”

Luffy is not literally but very emotionally blown away when the cloud rumbles, sparks-- and then rains lightning on the pirate ship. His jaw drops immediately, and he barely realizes what’s going on before there’s panic in the distance, the pirate ship’s mast is on fire, and there are people jumping ship.

“What--” he turns quickly to Nami, “what was that?!?”

Nami just smiles, “cool, right?”

Luffy’s eyes sparkle, “yES!”

He has the coolest comrades ever !

 

-

 

Nami then bonks Usopp on the head. “Too strong, you moron! You set the mast on fire and that rarely happens even out at sea !”

Usopp grumbles, “for the last time, I don’t make the Clima Tact to be used like that! I can’t control the energy of the thunderstorms you make!”

 

-


-

 

Luffy hasn’t stopped grinning in a while, and Usopp knows because Luffy is humming, his voice is dancing stupid dances, and his overall mood is just over the moon in general.

Usopp sighs.

It felt great to finally put his sniping skills to good use again. He sits there, jittering with excitement, and Usopp has his eyes closed and his slingshot out.

His Observation haki stretched out as far as it can go, he locates the voices. It’s much easier to shoot people than things.

Kinoko rests on his head, her voice calculative, directive. She’s a smart bird, Usopp loves her. It works for him that he can hear her voice so clearly.

 

(She’s my seeing-eye bird, after all.)

 

“So, why are we fighting them?” Luffy finally asks, and Usopp almost keels over from laughter. They haven’t explained, have they?

Usopp loads his shots again.

“Two years ago, I killed their Captain,” he admits. “He was evil, he was after Kaya… and now, they’re back.”

Luffy stares at him. 

Usopp knows that it doesn’t sound like a very convincing reason to strike a resting pirate ship, but well, he’s a pirate. And Usopp is the village's only line of defence. 

“They’re pirates,” he tells Luffy, “pirates should always be prepared to have people after them. There’s no fair or unfair game once you’ve got money on your heads-- that’s how it is, right?” 

Luffy seems to think for a while, his face a rare neutrality in them.

“Shanks said something like that before,” he says.

Usopp’s a little surprised to hear that, but he smiles, because that’s undeniably a compliment in Luffy’s standards.

Kinoko makes an angry caw from the top of his head.

“What, are you jealous?” he asks. The bird hits him back for that remark.

 

-

 

Nami heads down to negotiate (extort) a trade-off and please-go-away. 

Usopp tells Luffy great stories of random adventures while they wait, and he shoots down anything that comes too close for comfort. 

"And so, the Knight went up to the army-- and he said-- stop it. The war is over!"

Luffy sits there, probably comfortable, and adorably amazed by every obviously fake story. Usopp chews down the nostalgia and the pain in his heart and he wills himself to enjoy this. Savour this joy, savour this moment.

Because his Captain is back. 

He’s back, and Usopp doesn’t want to let him go yet. He knows Luffy will run off immediately once he stops, and Usopp doesn’t know if he’ll be able to find him again once he runs too far. He’s blind, after all.

 

“I’m back!” Nami sings. 

Usopp turns around, slightly saddened that he has to stop. Nami sounds very happy… oh. 

“Woah, what’s all that, Nami?” Luffy asks, and Usopp grimaces, already knowing what’s coming.

“I got their treasure! There’s about five hundred thousand beri in there!” she declares proudly, and Usopp is a little proud, a little defeated. “They’re all getting on rafts and going to escape toward the main town by sea. There’re guards there, so no worries.”

Usopp hums. Sounds good.

“Alright then. Let’s go back, Luffy,” Usopp says. 

 

Luffy whines, surprised that it’s already over, “but I didn’t get to punch anyone!” 

Usopp picks up his slingshot and starts walking, “turn to your left, there’s someone there you can punch if you want.”

Luffy turns immediately. 

The cat-masked men in the bushes stiffen in shock.

Usopp doesn’t look at the rest. He just hears a loud “GOMU GOMU NOOOOO---” and prays for their sanity.

 

-

 

He’s got a little practice in. At least his new Kabuto is working as fine as it can. With Kinoko’s guidance, he should be able to hit his target as much as he used to.

“What’s with that self-satisfied look on your face?” Nami teases. 

Usopp doesn’t hide it. “It’s the first time I actually got to try it out in a sort-of battle, and I’m happy with the results!” 

Nami grins, “I’m really satisfied with the Cyclone Tempo, by the way.”

“Always happy to serve.”

 

Nami continues to look through her Clima Tact, connecting and altering the arrangement every now. She makes a pleased noise. “Oh, this screw is on perfect , Usopp. Please tell me you’ll help me maintain my arm?”

Usopp pauses for a second, strapping the Kabuto to his back. “Depends. I’m not sure how it looks, though.”

“I have the blueprints, if that helps,” Nami offers.

Usopp rolls his eyes, “oh great, that’s perfect.”

“Alrighty!” Nami cheers. Then, “wait.”

 

Usopp lets her realize it as he walks away. Seriously, Kaya and the Veggie Trio do that all the time too. Usopp’s used to it by now.

 

“USOPP THIS ISN’T FUNNY”

 

That’s where Nami is wrong. This is hilarious.

 

-

 

“Ennosuke!” Luffy yells, shrieking at the bird,  “that was mine! Give it back!”

They’re at Usopp’s house now, gathering up Usopp’s things and giving all the dangerous stuff a good sealing so the kids won’t break in and explode something while he's gone.

Usopp had gotten Luffy a batch of jumbo-sized donuts from the very ambitious donut store owner for Luffy to occupy himself with, but Kinoko has amazingly managed to grab at it and start flying, scooping it right out of his mouth.

(Or that’s what Usopp gathers from his limited vision and a bunch of educated guessing.)

Kinoko is too focused on flying to retort, but Usopp can feel the victorious glint in that bird’s voice and he just mirthfully wonders who taught her that.

(Probably Tamanegi.)

“Luffy, that bird’s name is Kinoko,” Usopp says, watching Luffy stretch and grab the donut in the air, engaging in a tug-of-war with the vulture. “How did that turn into Ennosuke?”

Kinoko makes a caw in response, but unfortunately, Usopp doesn’t speak bird. Of all things, Ennosuke? 

 

(That’s a very cool name. And it’s a boy’s name.)

(...for a bird?)

 

“Giiiiive me my donut you stupid bIRD!”

Ah, so peaceful. Now where did he leave his hair ties in this house? They're missing. Why do hair ties always go missing?

“No, don’t come over here, Kinoko. You pick a fight with the feral monkey, you don’t run to me when you lose.”

 

-


-

 

“Oh, they’re finally back!” 

Once again, Usopp wishes he could see. His Haki gives him a vague picture, but he thinks the kids are actually scaling Zoro like a tree right now, one on each arm and Ninjin admiring the view on his shoulders.

Zoro is bubbling like he wants to punt them across the ocean. 

 

"Zoro Zoro listen to this we just fought some ugly looking dumb guy and then Usopp just WHAMMED his head in-- and then Nami also whammed my face in but-- oh and Nami made it thunder just now! It was COOL!!"

Zoro grumbles, "speak in a language I understand," but Luffy just drones on and on.

 

Usopp sets down his things and greets Kaya, as well as her parents near the entrance. Hm? Where’s Merry? Oh well.

“Uncle, Auntie, we’re going down to the Going Merry, is that fine?” he hollers to them, “we’re making her a pirate ship.”

“Pirate?” Kaya’s father asks, “oh, is this a Yasopp situation?”

Usopp pauses. “What’s that?”

 

A… Yasopp situation. What is that.

 

Kaya’s mother laughs. “It’s when some random boy wearing a straw hat just shows up one day and snatches a sea-loving man away to the ocean of his dreams, leaving behind their dear little lady waiting for him.”

“Why is that so very oddly specific?”

Kaya’s mother doesn’t answer. She’s smiling, isn’t she? Usopp doesn’t like that smile. He has never seen the smile, but he doesn’t like the smile.

 

“It’s nothing like that,” Usopp flushes, “it’s not like I’ve been directly asked to join them anyways--” he pauses, because Luffy makes a loud whine.

“You’re not joining us?!” Luffy sounds like he’s gonna launch into a tantrum in two seconds.

Usopp corrects himself, in the most emotionally exhausted voice he can muster, “yes, I’m being snatched away to the ocean of my dreams.”

And he can feel the sparkles of auntie’s voice when she says, “good for you, honey!”

Kaya’s dad groans, “oh, this is a Yasopp situation.”

 

(What the heck did Shanks do?)

 

“Mom, stop teasing him,” Kaya chides. She reaches over and takes Usopp’s hand. “C’mon, Usopp-san. The Going Merry is this way.”

Usopp hears Nami giggle behind them, and he’s already dreading everything.

But this is going to be the last time he gets to be led around by Kaya, so he’ll enjoy this for now.

 

-

 

They go down, and Merry the butler is there, waiting for them.

“Merry? What’re you doing down here?” Kaya says, surprised to see him there too.

Merry smiles, and Usopp knows that because his voice is friendly. “The Going Merry is my creation, after all. I wanted to present this personally.”

And Luffy makes the most amazed noise in the world, “wooOOAH! It’s a ship!”

“A caravel,” Nami adds, “it’s lovely.”

Zoro whistles, pleased with it too. But “is that a sheep? It is a sheep.”

"Isn't it a lamb?"

"What's the difference?"

 

Usopp listens as Merry explains to them the systems of the ship and how to sail it-- which he also mentions he trusts Nami knows what she does as the Navigator.

Speaking of knowing how to sail, it would be helpful if they actually got someone with proper sailing knowledge. They got Jimbei way too late last time around and most of their pre New-World troubles could've been avoided, in hindsight.

But Usopp’s attention is turned to a small object in Merry’s hand, which thrums with the voice of something with a sentimental soul.

 

“So you’re really leaving, huh, Usopp-san?” Kaya says, and Usopp jumps a little. Her hand is on his, and she sounds really sad.

Usopp forces a smile. “I’ll come back when I’ve turned the world once,” he says. “I’ll have a lot more stories to tell you then. Real stories, not made up.”

Because that’s what he did the first time. He’ll do it again, of course he will.

“None of your stories have been lies, though,” Kaya says with a grin.

This time, Usopp can’t hold back the full on flinch of surprise. 

Kaya lets out a giggle. “It’s time for Mister Cowardly Warrior to become a Legend, right?”

Usopp’s lips tremble. God, he loves her so much . He wants to hug her. He’s going to miss her, dammit. She always understood him.

 

Then Merry clears his throat right before them, and both of them squeak, jumping a step away from each other and swirling on the butler.

 

“Right,” Merry states. 

Usopp knows that Merry is staring at them with disapproval again and right in front of everyone else? He’s so embarrassed right now.

“I have a little something for Kinoko here. You’re bringing her with you, are you not?” Merry asks, and Usopp assumes he raises the thing he’s holding.

Usopp feels Kinoko lift from his head, fluttering over to the butler. Usopp nods, “I can, right?” he looks toward Kaya first, then at Luffy.

 

(Luffy mumbles “yeah as emergency food supply” and gets punched lightly by Nami.)

 

And Merry takes out the little object with a soul. Usopp doesn’t really realize what it is, but it’s small and feels as treasured as Zeff’s logbook. Must be quite a thing, then.

Kaya gasps.

“Merry, that’s--!!”

“Yes, it is,” Merry says, “I’m giving it to Kinoko for safekeeping, of course.”

 

(What would you give to a goddamn bird for safekeeping? Kaya stop being surprised and tell me, I’m blind.)

 

“Is that made of gold? Oh my god,” Nami’s voice comes from the side. Her voice has that amazed tone to it, like she’s looking at the most adorable or most beautiful thing in the world-- but strangely enough, she stays where she is, not moving forward.

Merry makes a hum of approval. “It’s my family heirloom, so take good care of it, Usopp-kun,” Merry says. 

 

Usopp swirls on him in horror. Gold? A gold what? You’re giving what to a bird?? Why is Nami not stealing it already?

 

Merry continues with a delighted lilt in his voice, “and when you come back home one day, you can give it back to Kaya-ojousama.”

A family heirloom? Why would Merry give it to Usopp instead of Kaya? He definitely sees Kaya as more of his child than he does Usopp, right? Wait, what do you mean, to give it back to Kaya--??

Usopp receives Kinoko when she comes back, only to hear a little more noise at the bird’s leg. He reaches up, curiously prodding at the little, solid, object… 

That is shaped very suspiciously like a… ring.

 

( When you come back, give it to Kaya. )

The implications hit him like the sea train, and his face burns with embarrassment.

 

“And here is yours, Kaya-ojou-sama.”

Merry hands the matching ring to Kaya, and she spontaneously combusts with a very troubled and flustered, “Merry!”

Usopp sputters with equal parts wanting-to-die and god-help-me, but what comes out of his mouth is a “MEERRRYYY” with lots of ugly tears.

 

Because did Merry just give his approval for their relationship? Because holy crap this did not happen in as epic a way last time. Usopp is Freaking out .

Merry’s heirloom ring. It’s Merry’s heirloom ringsss!?!?

 

Behind them, Nami makes an excited squealing noise with-- Kaya’s mom, what are you doing there? Why are you two being excited together? When did you two get so close?? Stop looking like a pair of fangirls! Go away!

In a corner, Luffy and the Vegetable Trio are discussing the mysteries of the birds and the bees which they haven’t yet learned from their parents. Ninjin thinks it has something to do with potatoes. Luffy thinks it has something to do with bananas. They seriously don’t know. 

Kinoko gives her own bird-language input, not understanding humans but liking her new leg bangle, apparently.

And in another corner, Zoro and Kaya’s dad are having a daytime drink. What the fuck.

God, they’re all hopeless. Usopp wants to die.

 

-

 

If Usopp gives Kaya a kiss on the cheek before leaving, let’s just say he ignored that Den Den Mushi flashing the corner. 

Their departure from Syrup is much more homely this time, and Usopp doesn’t hate it at all.

Chapter 12: on the Merry, onward to Baratie.

Summary:

Usopp keeps messing with Nami, Zoro is tired of things not making sense, and Luffy can't win rock-paper-scissors against the goddamn bird.

...not necessarily in that order.

But hey, on the bright side, they've made it to the restaurant.

Chapter Text

“Right. To do this all again without the dramatics,” Usopp starts with a bow. “My name is Usopp, I’m a liar, a sharpshooter, and a brave warrior-- or at least, that’s what I intend to become-- I’m glad to be on board!”

Nami smiles from where she sits. Zoro hums from his position on the bow, one eye opened with mild interest.

“So you did end up joining after all,” he says.

Nami reckons that Zoro is feeling very much like how Nami used to feel. Exasperated. On cue, Zoro throws his hands into the air and looks around the ship, probably trying to decide which corner on the Merry is the most out of the way of the madness.

“Zoro, we’re cracking some ale, so don’t run off just yet.”

“I’m not running, I just don’t want to share.”

“HEY”

 

-

 

Kinoko caws. 

Usopp glares at her, “you’re a bird. You can’t drink.” 

Kinoko caws louder.

“Okay fine,” Usopp reaches for Kinoko’s drinking dish.

 

-

 

“And this will be our pirate flag!” Luffy proudly declares, raising his monstrosity of a painting into the air. How he got himself covered in so much paint, Nami will never know.

She sighs, and Zoro’s just baffled. 

Luffy is proud of it though, and it’s endearing. But this is beyond the design aspect and just ‘you can’t draw, captain’. So Nami tells him, “you suck at this, Luffy.”

“In a way, it strikes terror,” Zoro says, and Nami isn’t sure if he’s being sarcastic or just trying his hardest to be kind of nice.

Usopp hums, “I don’t know, it looks good to me.”

“You can’t be serious, Usopp, that looks so abstract it makes Picasso a joke,” Nami says, mildly horrified. Seriously, what’s wrong with this guy? Does he miss Luffy so much he just wants to spoil him now? 

No way is she going to have that disaster as a jolly roger, no matter how much she loves Luffy. Seriously, one look at that and they’ll be a laughingstock.

Wait. 

 

Wait .

 

She immediately swirls her fist toward Usopp. The marksman dodges it with ease, and Zoro leaps back in surprise. 

“Stop messing with me like that!” she snaps, “and don’t dodge, dammit!”

 

Usopp laughs. This asshole has the gall to laugh. Nami wants to punch him to kingdom come, but he just keeps dodging, dammit.

 

“What’s wrong with the flag?” Luffy whines, a little offended.

Nami sighs. “We’ll go with that design, Luffy. But how about we leave the painting to Usopp?” 

“Ah, yes. Leave the painting to the blind kid. Good idea.”

“Usopp I will strangle you if you don’t shut up.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Wait wait wait wait,” Zoro makes his way between them, holding his hands up in a sort of placating gesture before they both start throwing each other into the sea. He turns to Nami first, “what was that?”

Nami blinks. “I will strangle him--”

“Before that.”

“We’ll go with that design?”

“No no, after that.”

“Leave the painting to the blind kid.”

“Yeah, that,” Zoro says, and Nami hums. 

 

Then Zoro takes a moment to breathe, and Nami can see the exact moment his brain cells curl up and commit suicide in tandem.  

Kinoko makes the obligatory ‘caw, caw’ of doom. Did Usopp teach her that?

 

Zoro swirls on Usopp with a horrified, “you’re what?

 

Nami is gratified by the way Usopp raises his hands like he’s in front of the police.

Luffy turns to Nami then, “hey Nami what’s brine?” he asks, putting down the disaster jolly roger on the deck. He obviously doesn’t care that Zoro looks like his veins are gonna explode. 

“Well Luffy, being blind means that you can’t see anything,” Nami explains very patiently, “and Usopp is that.”

Luffy hums. He waits a beat.

Then, “WHAT?!?”

 

-

 

“Wait but this doesn’t make any sense!” Zoro yells, he’s been agonizing about this for hours now, “you can literally walk everywhere without hitting yourself!”

Right on cue, Usopp nails his toe against the edge of the table, and he doubles over in pain.

Zoro stares incredulously at it for a moment. “I stand corrected.”

“I’m trying to remember where everything is OKAY”

“...Why don’t you just wear shoes?”

“Ah right, that’s a good idea.”

 

“Alright but really, how did we not notice?” Zoro says, “wait, how did you know my hair’s green?”

“I’m blind, not colour-blind,” Usopp vaguely explains, “I can see colours, but everything else is too blurry to make out.”

Zoro pauses. “Right.”

“You don’t know the difference do you?”

 

Zoro dodges the question, because when he doesn’t want to know things, he doesn’t want to know. “Wait, how did you notice Nami’s metal arm if she didn’t have it before?”

That’s a good question. Usopp actually thinks for a bit before he reaches the same conclusion as Nami, says fuck to the world, and delves into knowledge he isn’t supposed to know yet.

“That’s actually a thing called Haki. You'll need it to survive the Grand Line. Wanna learn?”

Zoro stares at Usopp for a while.

“Oh, not this shit again.” Zoro throws his hands into the air and escapes.

 

Usopp is silent for a baffled moment. What’s up with him ?

Usopp turns to Nami, because obviously that’s Nami’s fault. He doesn’t manage to get a question in edgewise, though. He doesn’t know if he wants to ask.

 

In the distance, Zoro yells, “I’m not paying you a million beri to train me, witch!”

 

Usopp sighs. Of course.

“Fix this, Nami. They need to learn it eventually.”

“No.”

 

-


-

 

They left the painting job to everyone except Luffy. Once they drew in the lines (mostly Nami with her expert measuring and charting skills), they just needed to paint it in. 

With a little help from Kinoko and his general experience in painting tons of Strawhat flags, Usopp was able to contribute some.

Altogether, it's a group effort this time. Even Zoro helped to fill in the whites.

 

“I’m a little sad that I won’t be able to see it,” Usopp says as they all lay around the finished black flag in exhaustion. “I can kind of tell where people are, I can feel where furniture is-- but paintings can’t be felt.”

 

Nami looks at the flag under them, and she feels only an indescribable melancholy.

It’s their flag, and finally, they can fly it again. Yet, Usopp can’t see it, he can only imagine its shape, in those foggy, blotchy colours that are only getting dimmer as the years go by.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to see it one day, Usopp,” she says. She promises. 

( I'll figure something out. )

 

-

 

“Usopp, Ennosuke is cheating!”

“Luffy, she’s a bird. She can literally only use scissors. How on earth are you losing?"

 

-

 

By the second morning, Kinoko had made herself a nest on the little, specially-made platform at the crow’s nest. Usopp makes a little sign that says ‘Kinoko’s House’ and nails it above the nest on the flagpole.

Usopp finds Kinoko snoring on Zoro’s head one day, when the swordsman was asleep, and he sort of feels jealous.

 

-

 

Usopp’s hammock is always the lower one, because apparently, after finding out that he’s blind, they don’t trust him to get himself anywhere higher than the ground. Usopp reckons they’re lying when he wins the couch very often.

And when they kick something a little to the side, they make sure to put it back as close as they can. 

(Usopp will definitely notice it later, though.)

 

-

 

Usopp is told to wear his boots on the ship to avoid splinters, but more often than not, he takes them off. It’s easier to feel his way around when he’s not wearing shoes, and he already knows which planks in the ship have a slightly different texture. 

It’s probably from a different tree, he says. Luffy doesn’t get it.

It’s a rule on the ship to always make sure nothing dangerous is on the floor, (Usopp kicked the dumbbells once and Nami screwed Zoro a brain surgery) and Nami nails in all the loose planks she can find.

 

-

 

Luffy claims the figurehead as his favourite spot, and he runs around the ship two times an hour. Zoro sleeps either at the top or the bottom of the staircase, and people usually just avoid his feet as they pass.

 

-

 

Nami’s room is always the luxurious girl’s room, which is nice, but doesn’t really suit her needs now. It’s spacious, so she first shoves aside some things, and makes herself a workshop she can share with Usopp. 

Last time around, Usopp’s workshop was a little platform in the galley-lounge-helm that had to be put away when it was time for lunch. Sanji always said it wasn’t too sanitary to make food in a place that stank of oil and gunpowder, so the mostly-empty girl’s room should be fine.

Let’s say Usopp is totally lost in the machinations of her arm, and the first time she took it apart to maintain it, Usopp was desperate to know every single detail of the design so he’d know how to upgrade it.

 

-

 

Luffy wakes up in the middle of the night to go to the loo.

Usopp is sitting by the edge, Kinoko by his side as he watches the sea, humming softly in the night. He’s blind, so he doesn’t take night watches. He just likes to feel the sea.

Nami walks over with two cups of what smells like hot chocolate. Handing one to the boy, they talk in soft tones, leaning shoulder to shoulder and enjoying the contact.

Luffy can’t hear what they’re saying, but their smiles are gentle and their laughter is light-- it’s a nice contrast to the dark circles that sag their eyes.

Luffy smiles.

 

He doesn’t understand anything about them, but together, they’re at least not alone.

And Luffy likes it when they’re happy.

 

-


-

 

“I forgot to ask, Nami,” Usopp speaks up during lunch, “you joined the Whitebeards, right? Did you get the mark on you?”

Nami was busy serving another roast of meat for Luffy, but she does answer him over her shoulder. “Yeah I did, Oyaji insisted. It’s on my back.”

Usopp inhaled another forkful of his food with a hum. “Like Fire Fist, or like Phoenix?” he asks, and Nami doesn’t miss the way Zoro’s eyebrows raise. 

Nami reckons he recognizes those names. 

If Zoro knows Whitebeard, he would definitely know Phoenix. Luffy though, is more interested in the meat she’s frying. She swats his hand away, because uncooked meat can be lethal, and she’s not risking it even if it’s Luffy.

“Like Phoenix,” she answers, “cross and crescent.” 

Usopp hums, trying to imagine that, “what about the shark?” 

 

...Shark?

 

She serves Luffy his food and sits down. “Removed it a few years back. I’m waiting for inspiration on what to cover it with.”

Zoro, seemingly done with his food, takes a good look at the ugly scar on Nami’s left shoulder. “You sure have a lot of tattoos for a girl.”

“My sister’s got a bigger one,” she responds, and Zoro chokes on his drink. “Comes with being in this world, y’know? Pirates everywhere. You need to be tough to survive, and one good way to look the part is to get a tattoo to show for it.”

“What are you, a family of yakuza?”

Nami grins, “yeah, the worst kind.”

“Nami, stop teasing him,” Usopp sighs. “How did you get to the Grand Line, anyways? You're not telling me you sailed Reverse Mountain on your own.”

“I snuck on a Marine ship,” Nami tells him, enjoying the way Usopp and Zoro choke in unison. “It was nice being a cabin boy for a while.”

“That’s reckless,” Usopp mumbles. “Wait, boy?”

“No sane Marine takes in a cabin girl to the Grand Line, Usopp.”

“Right. You have a point. But seriously?”

“I have a fucking metal arm, Usopp. They don’t even think a girl’s got enough guts to get one, so obviously it went over easy.”

“I deeply apologize for doubting your manliness , stop grinding my foot please-- ow ow ow OW NAMI STOP I’M SORRY”

 

Zoro escapes the chaos, going over to the sink and volunteering for dishwashing duty so he won’t get caught up in the conversation.

Nami as a man, huh… that certainly fits. Zoro knows very well about the absolutely irritating sexism in sea work, so it’s impressive that Nami’s a Grand Liner with as much experience as she boasts. Luffy lucked out with this navigator.

...Wait, where did Luffy go?

 

BOOM!

 

...ah.

 

-

 

“Stop biting me, Ennosuke!” Luffy whines, fighting with the bird, who’s furiously pecking at his face. It managed to grab his cheek and pull it too far away.

Usopp stretches out his Observation. No enemies, but it’s too noisy for him to ascertain anything new on the deck.

From the explosion, though, “Luffy, why did you bring the cannon out?”

“I just wanted to test the cannon!” Luffy explains, swatting at the bird with a little Gomu Gomu pistol. He knocks the bird on the head and the bird attacks again. “Hey hey Usopp, try aiming for that rock!”

 

Usopp stares at him blankly. Did Luffy forget he’s blind, again?

 

“It’s a waste of ammo, so no,” Usopp says first. He doesn’t even know where the rock is. What rock, even? “I installed those cannons myself, Luffy, I assure you, they work.”

Luffy whines.

“What’s the ruckus about?” Nami asks.

“Luffy wants to blow up a rock,” Usopp supplies.

“What rock? Where?” 

“I don’t know Nami, do I look like I can see where it is?”

“Shut up, Usopp.”

 

Nami makes her way over, followed by Zoro. They gather around the cannon, and Nami leads Usopp by the collar into the direction of the rock.

Luffy is still fighting with the bird. Expletives are spilling and Zoro is grimacing.

 

“How do you usually aim?” Nami asks, “you’re a sniper, you’re not telling me you can’t aim at all, right?” 

In fact, Usopp aimed at the Black Cat’s jolly roger just fine. He definitely has a way to do things, even when he’s blind. The greatest sharpshooter in the world isn’t chained down by something like sight.

“I can aim at living things with Haki,” Usopp says, and no one misses the way Zoro turns over with attention. He doesn’t want to pay Nami for lessons, so he’s going to scoop any random information by eavesdropping. “For non-living things, I ask Kinoko.”

 

But the bird in question is too busy trying to chew on rubber.

 

“Ah, right. She’s your seeing-eye bird,” Nami recalls. She had wondered what a seeing-eye bird was, it’s probably Usopp’s illogical rendition of the dog version. “It’s at one o’clock. Angle at thirty five, about three Merries away.”

“Don’t measure things in Merries, what the hell,” Usopp says, but he’s already moving to adjust the cannon. 

He reaches for a match to light the wick-- then he goes still. 

“Wait. Uh, no. We can’t shoot that,” he says, and the other three give him weird looks. Usopp groans and throws his hands in the air in exasperation. “Haki, Nami. Haki .”

“Lord, how far’s your range? I can’t sense a-- oh.” Nami turns over there and she facepalms. “Zoro, turn the helm, let’s go to the rock.”

“What? Why?? I wanna shoot it!”

“There are people on it, Luffy. Let’s shoot it after we save them.”

 

-


-

 

“Usopp, could you go get the limes?” Nami says.

Usopp hums. “Where are they?”

“In the cabin, it's in one of the barrels, you’ll see it.”

“Okay.”

 

A second later, Nami swirls around and socks Usopp in the gut. 

Johnny shrieks, jumping to Zoro for cover. Luffy goes to get the limes, because he has survival instincts, unlike Usopp apparently.

 

“Stop doing that.”

“Stop... falling... for it,” Usopp suffers on the ground for a while, and everyone just watches because really, the idiot deserves it. 

 

Johnny looks rightfully scared shitless. No one is going to explain to him for a while, because for now, all he needs to know is that Nami is scary.

Luffy is pouring another gallon of lime juice into Yosaku’s mouth, because he’s not interested in anything over there.

 

Usopp makes a soft strangled noise, “...did you have to hit me with your right arm?”

“Yes!”

 

-

 

Both Nami and Usopp have significantly longer hair this time around than last time starting off. 

Usopp’s hair, ever the curly mess, is tied back in a similar fashion to his post-Boyn look. It’s not as easy to cut his own hair this time, and Merry didn’t always have the time.

Nami’s hair is about as long as Robin’s hair used to be, but Nami’s hair is wavy and light, so it offers an entirely different image. She’ll probably leave it to grow a little more.

Their clothes haven’t changed as much. 

Nami wears a proper shirt unless the day’s really hot out, simply because the Whitebeard mark attracts too much attention in the East. That with boots to hide her foot prosthetic, and she wears one glove on her metal arm. 

For Usopp, it’s just easier to wear a pair of overalls than it is to coordinate a set of clothing. He’s rarely seen with shoes.

Small changes.

 

-

 

“Yes, Zoro, for the last time-- yes,you can ask me questions. I’m not gonna charge you for it, I’m not Nami.”

Zoro stares at Usopp skeptically. Any friend of that witch can not possibly be trustworthy, but Usopp seems pretty genuine at least in heart. 

(Or at least that’s what Zoro wants to think.)

So Zoro swallows his skepticism for a while. “Is Haki different for everyone? Cause you use it really differently to how Nami uses hers.”

Usopp hums, seeming to think for a while. “It’s not exactly different for everyone-- there’s just more than one form of it.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow. “Like how Nami can make her weapon black and she can use it without a weapon too?”

Usopp’s face scrunches up in a way that means Zoro isn’t wrong, but isn’t right either.

“I think we need to start from a little further back in the basics,” Usopp says. “It’s all a manifestation of willpower, so it depends on how you train it and what your innate talent for it is. People usually focus on just one of them.”

Willpower.

Zoro’s hearing that a lot from them, so he that’s definitely the core of the ability. Does this mean meditation and determination and all that?

Usopp flexes an arm, tightens the fist-- and to Zoro’s shock, it turns a sheer metallic black. They can make their fist black too? Not just weapons?

“This is Armament Haki. It’s like armor, and Nami’s better at this than I am. It’s possible to use it without the colour, but the colour’s the advanced level of it.” 

So the metallic sheen is basically the level two? Zoro has the urge to touch it, but it quickly turns back into skin.

 

As if on cue, Kinoko flies in, and lands on the wrist right as Usopp’s arm lifts.

Zoro’s eyes widened. The bird had been coming from behind Usopp-- yet it’s as if Usopp knew she was coming, and just waited. 

“Another form of it, the form I excel at, is Observation Haki,” Usopp says. “It’s why I can always see where you guys are and how far away anyone is, even when I’m blind.”

 

Oh.

(Oh, that makes sense.)

 

“Fuck,” Zoro says, putting a hand on his sword. “So if you weren’t blind-- you’re telling me it’d be stronger?”

Heck, Usopp could tell that two people were on the rock a mile away, hidden from view. And that’s while his vision is critically impaired? 

Usopp smiles, and it’s not a nice smile. It’s a sad, knowing smile, and Zoro hates that look. He hates it with a passion and he’d punch Usopp to get rid of it.

Usopp doesn’t answer him.

And that’s an answer in itself.

 

-

 

“Nami fights better without Haki anyways.”

“What?!”

 

-

 

“With the scurvy issue in mind, we need a proper cook,” Nami says. “Usopp and I have decent sailing knowledge, but the rest of you are lost causes, I swear.”

“Well, if that’s what you’re looking for, there’s a place that’s teeming with strong cooks,” Yosaku says. “Usopp-aniki might die though.”

Everyone turns to Usopp.

“I have… history with the owner,” he throws into the air, and Nami laughs. Usopp stares at the bounty hunter duo. “Wait, how did you guys know that?”

“See! I’m not the only one that got surprising new connections!” Nami laughs.

 

-


-

 

“I’m a Lieutenant of the Marine Headquarters, known as the ‘Ironfist’, Fullbody.”

Sir your introduction is too long. You lost me at ‘Marine’, what’s your name again? 

Usopp casually makes his way down the rope ladder, taking a little more time because Zoro gets angry when he skips too many steps.

“I'm Luffy! We just made our flag the day before yesterday!”

Usopp hums as he makes his way around the deck, picking up pieces of what sounds like bounty posters with Kinoko’s little caw signals. Oh, right, they should drop the anchor, too. Busy, busy.

 

“God dammit that kid over there! Stop ignoring me!” Lieutenant Furby yells.

Usopp pauses, looks in the general direction of the sound… then he tilts his head to the side, putting a hand at his ear in a ‘did you say something?’ gesture.

“I said!” Lieutenant Furby raises his voice, “DON’T IGNORE ME!”

Usopp blinks. “Sorry sir, I can’t hear you. I’m blind," he informs. 

 

Nami has been laughing for a solid two minutes now, and Zoro has gone below deck to lower the anchor. Luffy is still trying to size the Lieutenant up, and the two bounty hunters were probably staring in panic.

“Ah, right, okay then,” Furby says, his voice laced with fury. “HEY! Sink them!” 

Luffy gawks. 

“Gomu-Gomu no: Balloon!"

“Luffy, look, there’s meat at three-o’clock.”

Still inflated, Luffy rapidly spins to the right-- (there’s MEAT?!)

And the cannonball sinks into his balloon belly, bouncing right back onto the Marine ship, shattering the Mizzen mast, which crashes into the Main mast, and in a domino of panic, chaos occurs.

Luffy swirls on Usopp, deflating in annoyance, “there’s no meat in that direction!” he accuses.

“Sorry Luffy, I meant nine-o’clock,” Usopp says unapologetically, handing the papers back to Johnny. 

 

Usopp is an expert marksman. He knows how to aim any sort of gun, even if the gun is his captain that ate a rubber-rubber fruit and has a shitty inconsistent aiming system.

 

-


-

 

“I told you, sir. I am not a waiter, I am the sous chef. I’m simply filling in for the waiter that jumped ship last week.”

Ah, ah, what a marvel to walk into.

Lieutenant Furby, held up by the skull, bleeding enough for two people yet the floors are miraculously still clean from blood. They’ll need to clean the floors from the soup remains and broken dishes, though.

Johnny and Yosaku were left to watch the Merry, and the rest of them walked into the restaurant for a meal and a recruitment.

Sanji really knows how to make a great impression, doesn’t he?

 

“HEY SANJI! What're you doing to the customer?!”

Nami sighs. This is such a familiar sight, it probably already goes without saying that this Sanji isn’t her Sanji. Usopp would know.

Hm? The floors are strange . There’s just one thin line of a different textured floor, is that the waiter’s pathway? That wasn’t there the last time…

Kinoko flies into the restaurant, and Nami mildly panics. Birds shouldn’t fly into a food establishment without permission! It’s hardly sanitary, and they’ll just give the owners a reason to be annoyed.

And to her upbeat horror , Kinoko smacks body-hug facefirst right into Sanji’s face, and Sanji lets out the most startled shriek in the history of Sanji.

All eyes are on the bird, who crawls onto Sanji’s head and then settles in like she just belongs there. Sanji’s face is red and full of feathers, and he looks minutes away from cooking bird stew right there.

She should probably step in with an apology (Sanji would definitely forgive it if it’s her, right?) but Usopp is already walking forward.

 

Before anyone notices, Usopp retrieves the Lieutenant’s body from Sanji’s hand, and sets it on the ground by his feet. 

“It’s dangerous to leave the glass and wood around, so clean that up, okay?”

The two chefs swirl on him so fast, Nami might’ve heard the cracks if she was closer.

“Ack, Usopp?! You shitty waiter!” Sanji explodes. He turns to the bird, “Shitty bird, get off of my head! And you!” he turns to Usopp, “you run off last week and then have the crap to come waltzing back in?!”

“I’m a pirate now, so it’s just for a while,” Usopp answers, “c’mon guys, Chef Zeff is gonna be angry at us. We’re backed up on orders, so I’ll send Lieutenant Furby out.”

And then he turns around and makes his way out of the restaurant, lugging Lieutenant Fullbody out like he was a sack of trash.

“Lieutenant Furby,” Nami mutters, “seriously?” 

Everyone just stares, flabbergasted.

 

Patty grinds his teeth, “don’t think this is over, Sanji!” he says, pointing angrily. “Hey! Someone get the crappy broom out here!”

Magnificently diffused. Usopp’s incredible, Nami thinks.

As expected from someone that was a waiter in this hellhole, Usopp’s completely over his cowardly phase now.

 

(Nami’s a little... sad.)

They’ve graduated from the coward trio, officially-- and this is the striking proof of it all. Even after two years in Boyn, that never happened-- of course it’d happen now, after all they’ve been through.

Cowards don’t live long in the Grand Line, after all, and Usopp had to change for it.

(Isn’t here any way they could go back to those fun, fun feelings?)

 

-

 

“Lieutenant! Lieutenant? LIEUTENANT?!”

The poor soldier literally walks in to see his superior getting lugged away in a bloody mess. Oh, how traumatising.

 

“What’s wrong?” Usopp asks him nonchalantly, as if he wasn't lugging a bloody human around.

“Ah! Oh no, we need the lieutenant! What happened to him! The pirate we captured and kept on board is--”

Usopp sensed the marine ship out there in jeopardy for a while, but he’s only just noticed the little, weak presence coming forth.

A gunshot.

The marine soldier falls.

The entire restaurant stops working, horrified. Staggering in his steps, a man walks in the doors, covered in blood and holding a gun in his hands.

Usopp smiles, entirely unfazed. “Welcome to the Baratie, dear customer,” he greets, “please, take a seat, and I’ll be with you shortly.”

 

Chatters broke out. What is that waiter doing ?! Is he suicidal? Oh god.

 

Usopp smiles. Gin only takes one look at him, and continues walking in. Usopp deposits the marine lieutenant and soldier on their ship, and quickly comes back in. But oh, someone's there before him.

“Welcome, you squid-faced bastard!” Patty grins in his sarcastic, asshole way, “pardon me, you bastard, but do you have enough money on you?”

Gin’s obviously reaching the end of his patience, and he lifts his gun. “Do you guys take lead?”

 

Patty raises his fists. Usopp dashes forward.

The one sent flying isn’t Gin, but Patty. Usopp swirls and kicks him in the gut, and he doubles over with a howl.

Gin looks up, eyes wide with surprise.

The entire restaurant is looking at him like he’d grown another head.

 

“You crappy waiter! What’s the meaning of this?!” Patty yells. “This is a paying restaurant! We don’t serve anyone that comes to look for trouble and can’t pay!”

He falters immediately when he catches Usopp’s gaze.

“I’ve told you before, Patty. When I’m here, the floor is my territory.” Usopp warns, letting the anger boil out of him into a fierce glare. “Now get back in the kitchen.”

 

-

 

“You say pretty things, but you’re just going to kick me out too, aren’t you?” Gin grumbles when Usopp leads him out to the balcony. 

Usopp sighs, “we’re really sorry about Patty. We don’t discriminate here, but well, he got put in a bad mood apparently.”

“Screw the apologies, I just want food.”

“Don’t be so cranky.”

“I’ll show you cranky if you don’t give me food now!”

 

The door opens behind them, effectively saving Usopp from immediate death by bullet. Sanji steps out with a hum, a cigarette in his mouth and holding a plate of fried rice.

“Food for the hungry sir?” he asks rhetorically. 

He drops the plate on the ground, along with a cup of water. Then he goes over and boxes Usopp over the head.

“Can you not do shitty dumb things?” he chides, “you know you’ll get in trouble for that, right? Patty holds grudges.”

Usopp grins, “and yet, you still made the food.”

“Shut up.”

 

Gin stares at the plate, skeptical. 

“What, you gonna say your pride’s in the way this time?” Sanji says, sitting down by the railing and taking a drag of his cigarette, “eat already. You’re hungry, right?”

"N-No, nothing of the sort. Just--" Gin gulps. “Just-- I'm sorry. Thank you… for the food.”

 

Usopp walks back into the restaurant after that, because he knows his captain can take it from here.

Chapter 13: the Greatest Swordsmen.

Summary:

Luffy annoys the heck out of Sanji.

Some things change, but other things are dragged back onto the course of fate, simply because history doesn't like to be altered.

Notes:

Hiii guys ♡♡♡ ah goodness I love you guys so much??? thanks for all the support and the reviews T^T they make me so happy esp with all the shit going on irl now. bless y'all. have this superlong chapter and I hope you enjoy! ♡

Just a question-- I mentioned that we were gonna have more strawhats added to the mix, but, who would you really want or not want to join? It's okay to answer honestly, because I might still go with my original plan either way. I just want to know the general opinion.

Chapter Text

(“I can’t cook anymore, Nami-san. Not with these hands.”)

(“Think of what happened to Franky. At the rate I’m changing, they’re going to find something interesting in me, too. And it’s not going to be as pretty.”)

 

-


-

 

Nami watches Sanji pour the champagne into her glass.

“Good evening, oh lovely mademoiselle,” and though the words are so sweet, it brings tears to her eyes. “How may we serve you and your… slightly less than stellar company today?”

“Meat! I want Meat!” 

“Sake.”

“I didn’t ask you shitty bastards! And don’t come into a restaurant and order sake!” Sanji snaps, then swirls back into his deep tenor for the lady of the table, “pardon me, milady.”

Nami smiles, leaning into the back of her hand in a seductive way. “I apologize for my Captain and his companion. They’re terrible , aren’t they?”

“Oh no no, I could never fault such a lady for these brutes,” Sanji says, “in fact, I might have to apologize for subjecting you to a meal on the same table as they. Would a meal on the house suit your fancy?"

Nami barely squashes the mirth in her heart. Of course he misses the code. Why did she even try when she knew he wasn’t her Sanji?

“It would be lovely, thank you,” Nami says, in her flirting manner, because as much as she doesn’t like to indulge in Sanji’s swooning, he deserves it at least. “Would it be too much trouble to request for a meal specially prepared by the sous chef?”

One thing she loved about Sanji was the fact that he loved all ladies equally. No manner if they were the enemy’s elite, they had three eyes, or if they had a metal arm.

It made her feel genuinely pretty for the first time in a long, long while.

 

-

 

“You little blind BRAT! How dare you come scurrying back in here!”

“Good morning, Chef Zeff! Would you like a seat or shall I clear the staff table for you?”

“Stop treating me like a customer you little SHIT!”

 

-

 

“Oh? Usopp’s serving us the food?” Zoro says.

Usopp sets down the mountain of plates before Luffy first, then it goes to Zoro. Sanji personally serves Nami’s meals, because he’s extra like that.

Kinoko is asleep in a little nest by the main mast of the Baratie. It’s her bed when they stay here, and people mainly just treat her like decoration that needs to be fed.

Princess life, basically. 

(Though Sanji always threatens to make a good bird stew out of her.)

 

“I used to work here, up until a couple weeks,” Usopp says, “they never have any waiters in here cause Sanji keeps beating up people.”

“You talk like you’re any better!” Sanji snarks. “You brained a dude with your tray last time when he started going on a drunken craze.”

“It was an accident,” Usopp emphasizes in a way that indicates it was absolutely not an accident, looking absolutely innocent. “Don’t blame the blind kid when someone gets too close, y’know?”

“Yeah, right.”

Zoro hums amusedly, sending a foot to Luffy’s face when he stole a chunk of meat, “HEY LUFFY THAT WAS MINE!” before proceeding to strangle the captain. He tugs at Luffy’s face, taking care to avoid Nami’s plate.

“You two get along well,” Nami says, “been working together for long?”

“No, not at all,” Usopp and Sanji say in unison. And in perfect synchronisation, they swirl to each other, and yell, “you liar, I’ve/you’ve been here for two years, of course that’s a long time! Then why’re you lying? Stop copying me!”

Nami bursts into laughter. 

 

The scene has caught the attention of the other patrons as well, and though some look annoyed, the regulars look accustomed to Usopp and Sanji’s usual bickering.

“HEY! Sanji, Usopp! Get back in here and DO YOUR JOBS!”

“Shut up, crap-cook!” 

“I quit last week, don’t order me around!”

“You’re a fucking oxymoron, Usopp!” 

“How do you even know what the word means?!”

 

Zoro, finally settling back into his seat, makes sure to eat away from the table this time. “So? How long are you gonna be wearing that apron? You gonna quit and become a waiter?”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Usopp says, casually slamming his tray into Luffy’s fingers (he shrieks) when it comes too close to the plate he’s holding. He sits down and starts eating, “we’re going to be here for a while so Luffy can recruit our cook, so I might as well, right? They’re understaffed.”

Luffy inhales the rest of his plate, and huffs, satisfied. “That was good!” he says. 

Sanji’s brows raised. 

“You guys are here to recruit?” he straightens, subconsciously moving a little away from the table. He sighs and looks away. “Well, good luck getting any of those morons in the kitchen, they’re shitty.”

Nami leans over the table, setting down her cutlery. “Oh?” she swoons, “aren’t you an option as well, pretty boy?”

Sanji laughs, “unfortunately, miss--” he pauses. Zoro and Luffy are both looking at him, dead serious. He gulps. Oh, they’re not joking.

So he composes himself.

“Unfortunately, there’s something I have to do. I can’t leave this restaurant,” Sanji says. 

Nami looks up at him, “no matter what?” she asks, in that sultry tone that definitely means you’ve lost your wallet. “Even if I’m here?”

Sanji falters with a very visible arrow to the heart.

“I- It devastates me, but I must refuse.”

 

Usopp takes another bite of his food before handing it off to Luffy, who finished it instantly. 

 

“Oh, it’s that bad to stay here?”

All movement in the restaurant freezes. 

 

Sanji jolts to a stop, straightening immediately. Behind them, Chef Zeff crosses his arms.

“Why don’t you make like a squirrel and scram, you fucking eggplant,” Zeff says, “you don’t need to be here. Take a page out of the blind brat’s example and get out of here.”

What happens next can be summed up as a fight that’s as ugly as it can get. 

Zeff swings Sanji into a table, a lot of yelling and cursing goes on, and the customers watch, mildly amused and yet so horrified.

Usopp sighs.

 

-


-

 

They spend more days on the Sea Restaurant, Luffy chasing Sanji around every few minutes just to piss him the hell off. 

Meanwhile, the Strawhats find other things to occupy themselves with.

Usopp works on the Baratie whenever he feels like it, and spends the rest of his time on the ship, either working out with the boys or tinkering on a new device.

Kinoko spends her time sleeping like the bird she is, though Usopp occasionally asks her over to the ship to fit some weird metal contraption on her feet or wings. 

Zoro broke out the dumbbells, and the three bounty hunters spend most of their time working out a sweat trying to get stronger. 

 

-

 

“What, you joining us today, Nami?” Zoro says.

Nami walks out of the galley wearing a tank top and easy-to-move-in shorts.

“I might as well. I need more muscle to live with this arm,” she scoops up a dumbbell from the ground with her metal arm.

“What? Nami-aneki? No way!” Johnny says, getting up from his plank. 

“Actually, I have a feeling Nami-aneki would be better than us at this…” Yosaku mumbles, suffering on the ground.

Nami quickly transfers the dumbbell from her metal arm to her flesh arm. 

“Don’t you have a heavier one?” she ignores the two in favour of Zoro, who’s doing hand-stand push-ups, “this is only about as heavy as my old arm.”

“Your arm is as heavy as a--”

“My old one,” she clarifies for them, “of course it’s lighter now, this is Grand Line tech. But this dumbbell isn’t heavy at all. Zoro?”

Zoro straightens, and breathes out. “Second one to your left,” he says, then he resumes his workout. “The lighter ones are for Johnny and Yosaku.”

 

Nami puts the weight down, and reaches for the other. It’s a little thicker, but it’s about the same size as the other one-- holy crap.

Nami stumbles, then she uses both arms to heft it to her hip. Then she stares at Zoro with a horrified expression.

“You’re kidding. This is what you usually crank? Are you a bloody gorilla?”

“I’m thinking of adding more later.”

“And you’re calling us insane…”

But seriously? She was looking forward to impressing Zoro with her strength this time, only to find out Zoro’s leagues above even in his weaker state? You’re kidding.

Once a Monster Trio, always a Monster Trio , Nami thinks mirthfully.

 

-

 

“Hey Sanji, join us!”

“No.”

“Hey Saaaanji.”

“I said no.”

“Saaaaaaaaanji!!”

“No!”

 

-

 

“So you’re finally setting off, huh?” Zeff says, “you’ve always done just whatever the hell you want, but it’s for real this time?”

They’re in Zeff’s quarters, with the old man sitting by the bed, and Usopp on his knees on the ground. The door closed behind them, the restaurant noisy downstairs.

Zeff does this a lot to his longer workers. 

He’s no sentimental old man and definitely not a trained psychologist, but he’s definitely the oldest man in the building and that has to mean something. 

Something, as in, actually being an adult.

 

He tugs Sanji in more than most, at first to deal with his guilt complex, then to deal with his inferiority complex, then so on and so forth, this kid is a mess. 

For Usopp, it’s mostly to sort out his memories, his struggles, and his past. Usopp’s gone through legendary feats that would leave even a grown man trembling with years and years of trauma-- and he hasn't even told Zeff everything yet.

Usopp is no strong kid, was no strong man. He’s definitely got a deep scar inside somewhere no one can reach, and Zeff can tell. It’s pretty obvious when you know what to look for, even if he lies well enough to pass it off as childish cowardice. 

 

“So those kids are the ones you’ve been waiting for,” Zeff says. “Gotta say I expected a grander impression.”

Usopp chuckles, “he blew a hole into your roof, last time around. With a cannonball that the Marines shot at us.”

Zeff makes a groaning noise, “do I want to know?”

“Nope!”

 

Zeff sighs longsufferingly. 

Usopp runs a hand across Zeff’s logbook, smiling sadly.

“You can take it, you know?” Zeff says. “It’s not much-- but if it can help you, in any way, to prevent what you came back for-- I’d give it away in a heartbeat.”

Usopp’s shaking his head before Zeff was even done speaking.

“It’s helped me far enough,” Usopp says. Plastering on a cheeky grin, “I mean, I can’t even read it. Don’t waste this on a blind boy like me. This logbook stayed here last time-- it’s going to stay here this time too.”

Zeff hums, “you don’t need to read it to know its contents,” he says, but he doesn’t pursue any further. 

Usopp hands the book to Zeff, a sort of finality in the way he presses it into the Chef’s hands.

“From now on, things are going to be harder,” he says. “I’ll need to start working if I really want to change everything. Me and Nami both.”

“And everyone else too,” Zeff reminds him, “you two aren’t alone in this, you know? They may not be the ones you remember, but they’re your comrades all the same. Don’t forget that.”

Usopp pauses a little at that.

Zeff doesn't miss the way Usopp recomposes himself, rethinking-- his mouth drops open, then closes quickly, his fists tightening.

Usopp laughs dryly, “of course I know that.”

Zeff sighs. He doesn’t.

 

-

 

“Oh my god! Look, it’s Krieg’s Pirate Ship!” Carne yells.

“What?” Usopp asks, “where?”

“It’s right out there, just look!”

“I’m looking, where is it?”

“It’s literally-- GO AWAY USOPP I FUCKING HATE YOU”

 

-

 

Johnny and Yosaku are on the ship with Nami, and Usopp was in here for a lunch break with Zoro. 

Luffy had been chasing Sanji around until the galleon appeared, and Gin came back in carrying a large, weakened man.

The confrontation with Don Krieg went by similarly to last time-- no one wants to feed the man. Sanji wants to feed the man. Angry cooks. Scared customers. Red Leg Zeff and enough food for a hundred people.

“You’re not gonna do anything, Usopp?” Zoro asks. “That’s unusual.”

 

Usopp busied himself with trying to clean Kinoko’s feathers on his lap. He can’t literally see, but Kinoko is one demanding little bird and she fell into a pile of onion peels yesterday. 

Usopp is just patiently trying, because when Kinoko asked Zoro, the man offered his help in the form of three drawn swords. And Luffy is busy trying to court convince Sanji to join.

“Nah, I think Chef Zeff has this handled,” Usopp says, “plus, if you get between Sanji and trying to serve hungry people food, you’re gonna be in trouble.”

 

Zoro hums disinterestedly.

Then he turns toward the growing chaos in the center of the restaurant, “Luffy, you planning to rumble? Need a hand?” he hollers.

 

The eyes in the restaurant turn to them, and Usopp makes sure to send a scowling look at the crowd, just to keep up the measly intimidation tactic.

“Ah no, I’m fine,” Luffy hollers back, “you two can stay there.”

It’s one simple command, and Zoro stays down. Usopp turns back to Kinoko, fussing the feathers and trying to get that one stubborn peel out of her wing. 

Usopp’s impressed. Zoro’s loyalty to Luffy was really impeccable from start to the end.

 

-

 

(“I wield my sword for only one man, Momo. You are not that man, so I can never be your subordinate. I can only be your teacher.”)

 

-

 

“Nami-aneki is breaking all the barriers of gender,” Johnny mutters, a little jealous.

Nami raises an eyebrow, sorting through their bounty posters while cranking a weight on her flesh arm. “Something wrong with that?”

Yosaku waves his hand in denial.

“No, no, of course not,” he mutters, “it’s just really rare in the East, y’know?”

 

Nami hums. They’re not wrong. Girls are tough, but more prominently in the Grand Line. Even Tashigi is trying her best and still falls short.

 

“There’s a reason the East is the weakest,” Nami shrugs. She grins, “but you know one thing us Easterns have much more than everyone else?”

The two look up, curious.

Nami hefts the weight to her shoulder.

“We’re the most stubborn ones!” Nami says, raising a finger. “Only the greediest ones make it all the way up. We come from the bottom, so we see everything on the way. Our journey is longer, stronger, harder and so much more fun than anyone else. Right?”

Johnny and Yosaku pause.

Nami smiles a beautiful, toothy grin at them-- and it’s reminiscent of Luffy’s own. It’s so infectious, they can’t help but smile too.

 

“Purupurupurupurupuru--”

Nami jumps a little in surprise. All eyes turn to the side, where a little Den Den Mushi was crawling its way over to her.

It’s a red snail with a light blue shell, dark blue patterns curling over the curve almost like a heart. 

It’s Nami’s personal Den Den Mushi.

Not minding Johnny and Yosaku (both which have moved a little away to continue their workout with a little more gung-ho this time), Nami picked it up.

“Gacha!” eyes open, and immediately, Nojiko’s frantic voice comes through. “Nami? Nami! We’ve got a problem.”

A problem? On Cocoyashi in this timeline… oh goodness.

“What kind of problem? The fishy kind or the mousey kind?”

“Yes.” 

Nami turns to Arlong’s bounty poster. Alright then, if it’s some dumb hooligan that doesn’t recognize the flag of the Sun over the island’s gates, they’re probably new to the sea.

This is going to be ironic.

 

“Is anyone hurt?” Nami asks.

 

-

 

“The man with hawk-like eyes…” Zoro mutters, “that’s the man I’m looking for.”

Luffy looks over from his spot on the table (why are you sitting on the table, Luffy?) and asks, “who’s that?”

“The Greatest Swordsman in the world, right?” Usopp says.

Usopp lets go of Kinoko, who flutters away satisfied.

“You know of him?” Zoro asks. He stares at Usopp for one second before turning away in repulse, “nevermind, don’t answer that. I don’t know why I bothered to ask.”

Usopp smiles. 

 

“What did you guys do? He can’t have attacked you unprovoked, right?” Sanji turns back to Gin. 

“We don’t know!” Gin snaps. “He just attacked us out of nowhere!”

Zeff sighs, “you probably disturbed his afternoon nap or something,” he says, eyes full of some sort of exasperated understanding. “Happens a lot with that guy.”

“You’ve got to be kidding-- he destroyed our fleet just for that?!”

“No need to get angry-- that’s just the kind of place the Grand Line is.”

Two pairs of eyes turned to Usopp, obviously asking for clarification.

Usopp hums, leaning his chin into folded fingers. “Have I told you guys about the time I fought a super secret agency, against a group of super secret agents?”

“This is not the time for your funny storytelling,” Zoro mutters, burying his face in his palm.

“No! Tell me!” Luffy beams.

“Well, Luffy, at the time, my companions were all drunk and exhausted after a long and tiring journey! But there were a hundred people against just one of me! I could wake up my pals and fight together-- but I didn’t ,” Usopp makes a dramatic pause, reaching for his Kabuto. “I reached for my weapon-- and I declared-- I’ll take you all on myself !”

Luffy’s jaw drops in awe, “WOOAH!! That is SO cool?! One hundred people! Alone?!”

Usopp huffs, “and yes! I defeated them all easily!” 

“So how exactly,” Zoro interrupts with his most emotionally exhausted tone that eerily reminds Usopp of Sanji at 3AM every morning before his coffee, “does this tie in to the man with Hawk Eyes again?”

“You’re such a party pooper, Zoro.” Luffy makes a pouty face at Zoro that makes the swordsman look away.

“The point is,” Usopp emphasizes on a more serious note, “that’s the amount of strength you’ll need to get one island into the Grand Line. Nothing less.”

 

That.

That sends silence roaring into the restaurant.

 

“You’re kidding,” Sanji says. Oh, everyone was listening to the dumb story?

Usopp doesn’t correct him. 

Zoro tightens his grip on his swords. When he speaks again, his voice is lowered and serious. “And the man known as the Hawkeye... is leaps and bounds above it.”

Usopp runs a hand over Kinoko’s feathers. 

 

“There are a thousand islands on that sea. I reckon that man’s gone at least halfway through it to be what he is,” he says, not at all exaggerating.

To everyone’s surprise and utter horror, Zoro grins.

“So to get on his level, I’ll need the strength to defeat fifty thousand men on my own?” Zoro asks with a smirk.

For a moment, Usopp actually looks like he’s thinking about it.

Then Usopp blurts out, “how are you doing all the math so quickly?” 

“Read the goddamn room--”

 

-

 

Zoro doesn’t get to finish his line. Nami charges in from outside, looking fearful and searching frantically around for something-- for the boys.

Usopp frowns at her flustered sound. 

If she’s in such a disarray that she’s forgotten her Haki, then… it must have something to do with either Cocoyashi or the Whitebeards. Something must've gone wrong.

(Crap. The Whitebeards. Did Nami handle that yet?)

 

Usopp’s been in the East for so long, he hasn’t thought about anything over there. There’s a whole chain of events to derail if they want to move Ace’s execution off the mark of history. 

(Wasn’t Nami in the Whitebeards for a while? Then he’s definitely met Blackbeard in the time…)

It’s about time for it, isn’t it? What’s their nearest connection to the problem? Someone that can get there soon enough...

 

“Nami? Where’s Johnny and Yosaku?” Luffy asks-- there’s no reason for this panic. The Krieg pirates can’t be done eating yet. In the distance, Usopp hears the voices of Johnny and Yosaku working. 

Nami stops before Luffy-- and after a moment of deliberation, she bows her head.

“I’m sorry, Luffy!” she says loud and clear. “I... need to go.”

“...Huh?” 

 

-

 

“Johnny, Yosaku, watch the ship!”

“Wait! Nami-aneki, it’s dangerous with that galleon out there!”

The two bounty hunters lurch over the rails in shock. Nami leaps over the bow, landing narrowly on the shore platform of the restaurant before running inside.

 

“Nami? Nami!”

The Den Den Mushi is still on. 

 

Johnny and Yosaku turn to it. Whatever the case and chaos, leaving the other side in panic is probably not good. So they nod at each other and speak to the person on the other end-- Nojiko, was it? 

“Nami-aneki is safe. She went inside the restaurant,” Johnny says assuringly, “Don Krieg is on his own ship, so she’ll be fine…”

The Den Den sighs. “That’s a relief. She’s so reckless,” the lady on the other end says. “And you are?”

“Johnny and Yosaku. We’re… not from this pirate crew, but we’re guests for now? Something like that. Uh--” 

“I’m sure there were better situations we could’ve met, but it’s nice to know you. Is Nami doing well?”

“Ah-- yes. She’s very scary.” Johnny stumbles out an apology for that, but Nojiko just laughs, “uh, Nami’s sister-aneki, about what you said just now… is your hometown really…”

“Ah, our hometown’s fine. We’re under the Sun Pirate’s protection. The problem here is…” Nojiko seems to sigh again, “well, let’s just say they gave us a good knocking around while our guards were gone.”

She sighs, and Johnny nods grimly. 

“Yosaku, let’s get the ship sailing,” Johnny decides, “Nami-aneki’s gonna need it more than the others.”

 

-

 

“Y’know, I’m a little worried about you going alone,” Usopp says, “how about you take Kinoko with you?”

Nami raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“Kinoko’s a smart girl. Even if she doesn’t come in handy, you can send her back to us if you’re in trouble of any kind,” Usopp says. “And she’s company.”

Nami finds herself with one bird passenger already settled on the ship, ready to leave.

She can’t find a reason to refuse. 

“I’m fine if you insist on it,” she says, because she’s sure Usopp knows how much she hates to travel in sheer lonesomeness, “but isn’t she your seeing-eye bird? Are you fine without?”

Usopp nods. “I have other ways of seeing.”

 

-

 

Usopp sighs.

Fate has a way of dragging things right back to the correct route of history, huh?

Nami and Kinoko sets off as quickly as Johnny and Yosaku manage to alight from the ship. They’re giving her the Merry simply because it’s faster, and they’d all catch up to her on Cocoyashi later on.

“Aw man, the pretty lady is gone,” Sanji mutters, “why don’t you guys scram too?”

“No!” Luffy snaps, “you’re gonna join our crew!”

“I said NO, shitty rubber!”

 

Usopp kicks off his shoes, setting them beside the rails. Zoro turns to him, curious, but Usopp disregards him.

He didn’t even notice Nami rushing into the restaurant until she was there. If he’d been attentive, he should’ve been hearing the whole Den Den conversation without trying-- how ignorant has he become, is he truly this blind?

He was trying to avoid listening to the pain and the starvation of the Krieg pirates, so he’d shut it all out. But that kind of selective hearing could mean your death in the wrong situations-- and though this isn’t one of them, it still hurt to think of it.

 

(There is no room for carelessness on the Grand Line. They had that wake-up call in Sabaody, and Usopp’s already learned it. You can’t unlearn these things, so what is Usopp doing ?)

 

“There are a few forms of Observation too,” Usopp tells him, at a volume the two bickering idiots in the corner can’t hear him. “Observation is the ability to see, to hear, to feel. I’ve been disregarding the first two thus far, but it’s wrong to assume the third is superior to the rest.”

Usopp closes his eyes, and spreads out. 

He has to focus. He’s been so obsessed with trying to see with his Haki, he’d forgotten the entire principle of Observation-- to listen, to know, to observe

(To perceive the bullet a moment before the trigger is pulled.)

 

Zoro gulps, the tension making him take one step back.

“They’re going to come down in about two minutes,” he says, gesturing at the galleon while his eyes are still closed. “But before that…”

“Before that?” Zeff interrupts. Seems like he’s come out of the restaurant now. 

Usopp stretches a little further, turning toward the galleon. “Raise the anchor. It’s the big man himself.”

 

There’s barely a second between Usopp’s words and the panicked yells. The galleon is cut into three clean pieces, and the Krieg pirates are screaming in horror. The ship's pieces capsize, throwing the waves into jeopardy--

Zeff bonks Usopp on the head, “next time, say that first !”

“I was focused on the Merry, okay!”

 

People struggle to hold on. Customers have run off a while ago, after Krieg's threats of overtaking the restaurant. Only the cooks and the Strawhats, and Gin, are left on the Baratie.

Then from the dredges of the water, seated comfortably on his one-person, coffin-shaped raft-- is the World's Greatest Swordsman, 'Hawkeye' Dracule Mihawk.

“So that’s the guy?” Zoro asks, hands instinctively reaching for his swords.

Even without Haki, Usopp can sense the deep-seated admiration from Zoro beside him. He doesn’t move to stop him, doesn’t move to express any disagreement, even knowing exactly what Zoro was going to do.

“Let’s go give myself a taste of reality, then.”

Zoro jumps over the ledge, and onto the split galleon.

This is the historical first meeting of two of the greatest swordsmen in the world, and Usopp has no right to change this in any way or form.

 

-


-

 

Zoro died while Usopp was in captivity, so the last thing Usopp remembered about Zoro was his body, baked in blood, as they ran from Vivi’s execution like a bunch of defeated rats. 

He remembered turning back, horrified to realize Zoro was just too far, too far, he’s not following us, why? 

Come on Zoro we gotta go this isn’t the time for hesitating let’s go.

And Zoro raised his sword-- sword, because one of them broke. Which one? It can’t have been Enma. Kitetsu wouldn’t break, would it? Was it Ichimonji?

(No no no, go get him, someone go get him!)

(Is no one close enough? Go get him! He’s Zoro but he’s-- he’s--)

“Usopp, GO!” Zoro’s voice was a little below a scream. 

His voice is hoarse and it's the pain. He’s trying to hide it so hard but they all know he’s suffering they all know he can’t think straight.

Usopp briefly came to know that he survived and escaped to Wano after that, and nothing else.

Nothing about the arm he’s missing, because a handicap like that does not disgrace the Greatest Swordsman in the World.

( Where’s Chopper? Usopp thinks, only to remember a second later that just a moment ago, they all saw that little fella die. He tries not to cry again, this isn’t the time, this isn’t the time.)

(There will never be a time for them to safely cry again.)

 

-


-

 

“The World’s Greatest Swordsman versus the Demon of the East…”

The two stand before each other, swords drawn. Mihawk doesn’t think much of Zoro, and Zoro is fueled with anger.

“There’s a limit to how much you can underestimate me,” Zoro grinds out.

 

Mihawk doesn’t draw Kokutou Yoru. Instead, he uses Kogatana, the little knife in his crucifix-shaped necklace.

Against three swords, it’s nothing short of mockery.

Zoro’s grip on his swords tighten.

 

( “You can even make a branch useful if need be,” Nami had said.)

 

He remembers his younger days, trying to grip too many swords on each hand, thinking more was better and more was stronger. He’d never used a shinai before that, after all.

Then he remembers Kuina, wielding just one beautiful one blade with grace that surpasses a thousand swords in the world.

 

(Ah.)

(Zoro hasn’t changed at all, has he?)

(He still thinks quantity triumphs quality.)

 

He throws his swords forward, grace forgotten in the pursuit of power and force and ferocity. He doesn’t knock Mihawk back at all-- three swords against one toy, and still, he’s completely outmatched.

Zoro realizes what he’s feeling right now isn’t confidence.

“Toragari!”

 

(It’s childish arrogance.)

 

-

 

“Usopp?” Sanji comes closer, “what’s wrong with you?”

Usopp flinches slightly before noticing who’s before him. He breathes out, suddenly realizing just how stilted his breathing is, how stiff his fists are clenched.

He shakes himself awake.

 

The smell of blood. Zoro’s shivering voice.

Zoro’s voice doesn’t shiver . It’s Zoro , for god’s sake. The only reason it’d be so weak would be if he’s-- if he’s dying and no, no, Zoro doesn’t die.

Zoro won’t die. Not yet, not for a long time.

(So why is Usopp so scared of it?)

 

He closes his eyes. And he keeps them closed. Usopp pulls his goggles over his eyes so no one can see him cowering from the sight, from the colours.

From the memory of Zoro dying in blood, blood, blood-- no he’s not dead. Zoro won’t die, can’t die, not this time.

(Calm down Usopp, you’re a brave warrior of the sea, aren’t you?)

 

“Usopp.”

Usopp tenses, realizing his hands are gripped tight over the railings. He doesn’t run, but he knows that voice is Luffy’s. It’s Luffy’s voice, cold and stern and commanding.

“Don’t interfere,” Luffy warns.

Usopp can’t even deny it. He just bites his tongue and turns his head back to the scene. His Haki is still locked on them, because he can’t look away.

“Yes, Captain,” he simply says.

 

Luffy’s hands are on Johnny and Yosaku’s heads, holding them back. They don’t have the same restraint Usopp has, and Luffy doesn’t want them to interfere.

Zoro would hate for them to interfere.

But Usopp holds on tight. Holds on tight to the remaining wisps of Zoro’s voice, as if holding onto it would make them stay on longer.

 

-

 

"A person’s life force is like sand."

"Clasp it as tightly as you want, but it’ll fall through your fingers eventually."

 

-

 

Kokutou Yoru. A sword tainted black with spirit, carved with magnificence, and wielded with impeccable elegance. Zoro would wax poetic about that sword all day, and that Marine Swordsman Girl could sing it a thousand love songs if she wanted to.

Usopp loved the voice of swords almost as much as he loved the voice of ships. 

Yoru’s voice, among them, is a voice he feared, but in a comforting way. Similarly to Marco and his warm, protective wings-- and the giants on Elbaf who have lived decades more than he. 

When he set his Haki’s focus on the sword, Usopp instinctively bowed in greeting.

 

-

 

“A wound on the back is a swordsman’s shame.”

Ah, those words. They’re words Usopp has heard once, never forgotten, and lived by as a code. Not the literal meaning of it, but the sheer regality of the phrase, the mere beauty of the moment.

 

Zoro wasn’t protecting his own pride.

(No true swordsman strikes an opponent when his back is turned.)

He was protecting Mihawk’s .

 

“Splendid.”

And Mihawk knew that. Bleeding, shamed, and defeated-- Zoro yielded his front to take the blow frontfirst. 

 

(That’s why, on that day, he was allowed to live.)

 

Kokutou Yoru comes down, a gash ripping through Zoro’s front, from his left shoulder to his right side. 

“ZORO!”

 

Roronoa Zoro falls to the sea. 

“Yosaku, alcohol!” Usopp orders, “Johnny, you grab Zoro!”

Yosaku, right about to leap into the sea after his sworn brother, does a double take. “Wait, Usopp-aniki! You can’t just jump into the--”

“I’ll get his sword!” Usopp yells, his tone fierce in a way that indicates no questions asked. He jumps into the sea right after that, and Sanji lurches forward in a panic.

“What is that blind idiot doing?!” Sanji yells.

“Leave him,” Zeff says to the bounty hunters, “you two have a boat, don’t you? Set sail and get that suicidal little shit some decent medical attention.”

 

And he’s right.

There are medical supplies here but no medical professional. They need to get to the nearest island and shove him in a hospital or Zoro's going to die of an infection somehow.

A swear on his lips, Yosaku bites his tongue and turns back toward the restaurant, yelling for anyone that knows where the medical tools are.

 

-

 

Johnny comes up with Zoro, and Yosaku lugs him up to the boat. 

A second later, Usopp surfaces with a gasp, Wadou Ichimonji in his hand. It’s a heavy sword, so it was sinking like a rock.

Thank goodness it had a distinctive voice. 

He takes deep breaths. There were a lot of voices under the sea, Krieg’s crew hanging by their threads everywhere. Only Wadou Ichimonji’s voice was strong against the waves. 

Noticing another voice, Usopp reaches to the side, retrieving Luffy’s Straw Hat from the water’s surface. That idiot used rocket without holding onto his hat again...

 

Pulling himself up into the fishing boat, Usopp set the sword and hat down, pulling the goggles away from his eyes and finally, finally taking one look at the red and green.

It’s a mess and he can’t even see it.

The agony in Zoro’s voice is loud, loud, loud, and vanishing . But not gone. Johnny’s and Yosaku’s voices are a step away from sheer grief. 

Usopp closes his eyes again. He needs to focus and the blotch of colours aren’t helping.

From the smell, the kit is beside him. The faint smell of alcohol through the bottles-- he crouches down, picks one up, and empties it over the wound.

Calm down, calm down. Remember what Chopper said about this. If the doctor in charge panics, it’s over for the patient.

 

“USOPP! IS ZORO ALRIGHT?!”

 

Usopp barely catches it.

 

“NO, HE’S NOT!” he yells, eyes squeezed shut as he opens the medical kit, clicking his fingers, focusing, focusing-- trying to discern what tool is where and which-- “BUT HE’S NOT GOING TO DIE HERE!”

 

Usopp startles, sensing something approaching. A projectile-- but not a bullet.

He spins around-- and catches… it's Kogatana. Mihawk’s little cross-shaped sword. He stares at it, baffled. Why did this come flying at him?

“Usopp-aniki, that’s--” Johnny notices.

“Keep it, Roronoa Zoro,” Mihawk says, and Usopp’s jaw drops. “Let it serve as a reminder of your conviction. So you will never forget your own inexperience.”

 

Usopp touches the blade necklace lightly. It’s nothing special-- but this. This is different . Startlingly different.

(That has to mean something.)

 

“Live! Live and surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!”

 

That declaration bursts with a wave of Haki-- not Conqueror’s, it’s just conviction, it’s just power. Raw, solid power.

Usopp feels the burst firsthand and his breath is knocked away. He sinks a little deeper into his knees, his Observation taking in too much, too much .

Zoro’s voice roars awake.

 

Usopp snaps out of it, quickly rushing back towards Zoro. He needs first-aid-- c’mon, c’mon, think, think, think!

Johnny and Yosaku aren’t calm enough for this. 

Usopp has to do this alone or Zoro’s going to die right now. Remember, remember, what did Usopp do last time here? Tear the fabric. Stop the bleeding. Stitch. Bandage.

Zoro reaches for his sword, grasping pure white by the hilt and raising his blade to the skies. All movement stops on deck.

 

“Luffy, can you hear me?”

 

Oy you suicidal bastard stay the fuck down.

Usopp breathes out, calming himself with Zoro’s voice. It’s weak, but powering through. It’s so unlike him-- Zoro was never like this after Sabaody. 

That’s right. This isn’t his Zoro, so it makes sense that he’s weaker. He’s here to change that, isn’t he? He can’t panic here.

Usopp channels his Haki forward, onto Zoro-- covering him thick with a layer of sheer will and energy. He draws it in, spreads it out, and files away the information, drawing a picture in his mind.

 

-

 

(Focus, focus, focus.)

(Presence. Strength. Emotion, and Intent: the four pillars of Observation)

(Its advanced form, Future, is a fusion of Emotion Sensing and Intent Sensing.)

(Then the other advanced form, the form only Usopp and Coby have ever been able to use, Vision-- is a combination of Presence Sensing and Strength Sensing.)

 

-

 

Just for Zoro’s war-torn body, he spins threads of his soul to emulate sight. 

Bit by bit, like a television screen assembling the pixels of each detail; like a master seamstress sewing each knot of the world’s most important tapestry.

 

“Until the day I fight him again and WIN-- I swear that I’ll never lose again! You’ve got a problem with that, Pirate King?!”

 

Usopp smiles. 

It’s complete. He keeps his eyes closed, his Haki forming the world around him in soul-bending detail, illustrating each thread of the world startling clarity.

He sees Johnny and Yosaku beside him. Each cut of the wood under his feet. Each breath of each Krieg pirate around him. Every contraction of muscle, every twitch of their nerves.

The world is black and white. The souls beam bright and all things are alive.

 

(He can see.)

(No colours, just details, and it’s all he needs.)

 

“USOPP! Go on ahead, I'll catch up!” 

Reaching over, Usopp picks up Luffy’s hat, and hurls it across the sea. Luffy stretches his arm out to catch it. 

“Leave Zoro to me!” he shouts, “we’ll wait for you with Nami, so make sure you bring Sanji with you when you get there!”

“Of course! Then we’re going straight to the Grand Line!”

“AYE CAPTAIN!”

 

There’s no further goodbye needed. Usopp slips right back to Zoro’s body, tosses Mihawk’s Kogatana to Johnny, and reaches for the needle and the thread.

Johnny makes a surprised squeak before catching it, but Usopp reckons he knows how important it is.

He can’t keep this intricate Observation Haki up for long. It takes too much energy he doesn’t have yet-- even at his prime, he couldn’t keep this up for long, and he had only ever used it in place of night vision.

This would be the first time he used it in this timeline. He’s never tried, simply because the stressful situation needed to evoke it never came up.

But it’s a risk he has to take.

 

“Sail the ship, Johnny, get us somewhere stable right now,” Usopp says. “Yosaku, you go back to the restaurant. Luffy sucks at sailing, so he’ll need someone to actually make sure he gets to Conomi.”

There’s only one short pause.

“Got it!” 

Usopp hears the steps, and the splash of water as Yosaku dives back into the sea. Johnny steers the sails, and though the rocking doesn’t stop, they’re getting further away as quickly as they can manage.

 

No questions asked, no doubts sent, no cowardice in any form. Just obedience in the face of dire straits and a man clinging on to life. 

 

Good.

Now Usopp can focus.

Chapter 14: Fishmen Friends and Deceiving Dons.

Summary:

Nami makes it home to Cocoyashi.

Gin makes difficult decisions.

Notes:

Surprise surprise. This chapter draws Baratie arc to an end, and well, the very first huge change happens! It's pretty fun to write in Gin's point of view.

I write in a way that skips most of the canon stuff because no one wants to read my lousy transcribing of the canon script (not even me), so if it gets hard to follow or feels rushed, do tell me! I'm trying my besto.

As always, I love you guys with all my heart. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Text

Nami sets the Going Merry on a course for Cocoyashi.

Just a little, she lets herself ease. 

“It sure is nice to sail on you again, Merry,” she whispers. Each step of what she had to do came more than naturally to her, and it’s startlingly clear as she operates the ship all on her own.

 

Kinoko flies into her view, and she watches the bird land on the bow beside her. 

“So, Noko-chan,” Nami says endearingly, “how’s travelling with me thus far?”

The bird makes a huffy little caw, flapping her wings in an imitation of Luffy’s boisterous demeanor before scoffing. Then she snuggled up to Nami’s metal arm.

Nami can’t help but laugh. 

This bird was so human , in the way that it was honest, expressive, and didn't need words to communicate. It’s not as if Nami could fully understand it-- but the animated actions were conversation enough.

Beautiful silver feathers, crusted with a bronze underbelly. The golden ring around her left foot, and the numerous metal contraptions added in the mess of her wings, hidden from view. 

She sighs, trying to admire them as she distracted herself from the problems at home.

 

“It’s Gen-san. He confronted the pirates first, that’s what we usually do… and we didn’t notice! They had a gun, and then…” 

 

He’ll be fine, Nami shakes her head. He was fine in her past life, wasn’t he? All the way until… until they blew the whole island up and destroyed everything. But he was proud of her. Always. That wouldn’t be until a few more years, anyways.

But no, this didn’t happen last time. 

She hugs herself close, holding onto her scarred (empty) shoulder, looking into the sea, into herself, trying not to cry. The mark isn’t there, not yet. 

Tangerine and pinwheel. It’s gone. 

(And if she loses her dad today, maybe she doesn’t deserve it.)

 

Last time, this was certified Fishman territory, and Arlong’s home base was here, so no one dared to approach, not even the marines. Definitely not bandits and pirates.

Now?

It’s under the Sun Pirates’ protection, but the Sun is always in the New World. It chases away the experienced, but the ignorant newbies of the world won’t care, knowing that it’ll take even Fishmen a while to get there.

This is all Nami’s carelessness at work.

She meddled, so she wasn’t prepared for something like this to happen. There’s no blanket safety for Genzo anymore-- she took it away from him by changing the course of events. 

Genzo was supposed to be completely safe. He was supposed to be. This time, there’s no blind assurance that he’ll be safe and alive-- this time, he really can die too many years too early. 

 

“SQUACK!”

Kinoko jets forward with a warcry, wings flapping largely outwards, limbs everywhere, and Nami turns around just to get a facefull of angry bird.

Nami freaks out, jumping away from the railing and reaching for the struggling bird-- she stumbles backward and lands on her bottom before finally managing to pry the bird from her face. She then punches it on the head for good measure.

“What was that for?!”

Kinoko nurses the bump on her little bird head, making more angry squawking noises.

“I don’t speak bird!” 

More angry caws.

Nami rolls her eyes. Holding the bird a good distance away in case she tries to bodyslam? Birdhug? They need a word for it. She glares at the bird. 

And as if to prove a point and as if she’s done this plenty of times before, Kinoko immediately glares right back.

 

Nami bursts into laughter.

Bird in her lap, tears in her eyes, and a weight in her chest, she laughs. She pries her mind away from the soul-crushing thoughts, the abyss of self-blame, and she laughs.

She laughs, and comes away just a little braver than before.

Kinoko huffs, looking proud of herself.

 

(Just a little, Nami understands why Usopp insisted she bring Kinoko along on this journey.)

(It might’ve been years, but Usopp really was just so overprotective.)

 

-

 

Enough worrying.

Nami ties her hair up into a high bun, retrieving her staff. Heat ball, Cool Ball, and Thunder Ball. It’s much stronger than her old Clima tact, not because of Grand Line materials but definitely with Grand Line techniques.

 

(It’s faintly reminiscent of Franky’s works, that they’ve gotten from Baldimore.)

(Usopp must’ve made a stop there after Elbaf, because Franky only took the weapons, and Usopp really wanted to see the lifestyle creations that were more his thing. These are like little offshoots of those concepts.)

 

Oh well. Time to try the other parts out.

The sails are drawn, and she’s standing on the afterdeck. Her Clima Tact set to aim behind the ship, she presses just one button.

“Gust Sword!”

And it bursts with a whirlwind, an explosion erupting from the baton.

It’s not nearly enough to make grand progress like the Coup de Burst. The mechanism rattles dangerously inside itself, obviously letting out a capacity beyond what it can release at a time.

Maybe using it at max power isn’t the best solution. This isn’t the waver, the wind machine isn’t a dial, and it’s definitely not as sturdy. She’d rather not risk a broken Clima Tact when Usopp isn’t around to fix it.

 

Not good enough , she realizes. It’s nothing compared to my old Gust Sword .

 

“I miss Zeus-chan,” she mumbles.

So she quickly cuts off the power, humming disapprovingly.

“Change of plans,” she decides. Turning to the bird on the mast, she hollers, “Noko-chan, would you be a dear and untie the sails for me?”

Maybe it’ll work better if she just hits the sails with the wind.

 

-


-

 

It was hard to get anywhere after Luffy’s execution.

Places like Elbaf, Zou, Fishman Island and Wano were easy to go for, but their hometowns were watched. 

Nami liked to frequent a lot of places, but if she showed any direct attachment to her hometown, it’d get taken down by opportunists at the next moment.

That’s why, when she managed to go home, she would make it count. She would spend her time enjoying the tangerines and helping out in the city.

Then the purge began and all Nami came home to was fire and ashes and ruined land.

(She didn’t look for anyone. She didn’t have that courage.)

(She just turned back toward the sea, and never came back.)

 

-


-

 

“Noko-chan, stay right there, okay? I don’t want them to think you’re hostile.”

Nami sets the bird on her shoulder, and hops down into shore. She turns around just to make sure the anchor’s set, sails are drawn-- then she breaks into a run.

Leaping over the cliffside and onto the main road, she catches herself on her hands and knees. Gathering herself upright again, she breaks through the city gates, hops over a crate, and slides under a food stall.

“Ah, it’s Nacchan!” 

“And a bird? What’s with the bird?”

“Nacchan’s back! Nacchan!”

She doesn’t turn back. She just yells an obscure greeting behind her, looking around as she assessed the damage.

She runs past a few Fishmen, all carrying trees and chopped wood toward the village.

“Oh hey, it’s Nami. Is that a bird?”

“Nami? Oh right, you have a guest-- aaaaand she’s gone.”

A few buildings are shattered, swords on the ground and burned trees here and there. People were already working on rebuilding things up, and Nami doesn’t miss how most of the older men have bandages over their bodies.

She tuts. This wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t interfered with the timeline-- but no, no, she can’t think like that.

 

(She’s not wrong. She isn’t. She’s here to make things better, not make things worse.)

(She shouldn't look at those wounds.)

 

She stops right before the doctor’s house, where Nojiko was standing outside, by the window. Nami nearly trips, stumbles, and lands on her knees. 

“Nojiko!” she calls, frantic. 

“Oh, Nami! Welcome back!” her sister greets her cheerfully.

Nojiko’s smiling. 

Oh, she’s smiling. She wouldn’t be smiling if it was anything less than good news.

 

In her relief, Nami can’t get up. Simply catching her breath, she lets her will stretch out again. Genzo’s voice is there, awake, and as alive as ever.

She sighs, a smile breaking out.

 

“God,” she says, her voice breathy, “don’t worry me like that, please?”

 

-

 

After the Arlong Park fiasco and Jinbei turning up to set him straight, the town celebrated. 

Tensions were tough in the first few months, but Jinbei got on his knees to apologize and the Sun Pirates made sure that the Fishmen helped to reconstruct the city.

The island began to have a share of the Sun Pirates’ loot, and flying the flag brought mostly benefits to them, especially with Jinbei’s status as a Shichibukai.

By the time Nami made it back, relationships were building back up and Cocoyashi was fruitful as it was before Bellemere died.

When she visited her mother’s grave, Jinbei came along to pay his deepest respects.

From there, they coexisted.

 

-

 

Shifting Kinoko to her arms (she’s a surprisingly obedient hug toy), Nami rushes into the medical bay, and Genzo is on the bed, looking more knocked out than asleep. 

The villages are surrounding him, and Doctor Nako has a frying pan in his hand.

“Oh, Nami. Welcome back,” one of them greets nonchalantly. “He kept trying to wake up and tell you not to come, so we’ve knocked him back out.”

Nami facepalms, bursting into laughter.

“By the way, why a bird?” 

Nami laughs again. She lets herself relax at the knowledge that Genzo is fine, (he’s fine she’s not too late this time--) and shows off her new bird buddy.

“Her name is Kinoko, she belongs to my--” she thinks of the word for a moment, stalling. She looks at Kinoko, then she smiles warmly. “My comrades .” 

It’s so easy to say it this time, and she knows her village understands. The way their faces light right up just shows how much they understood the weight of that word to her.

(She loves her village so much.)

 

She doesn’t call the Sun Pirates that. She calls them friends, brothers of another species, kin .

She doesn’t call the Whitebeards that either. They were family in all but blood, big brothers and sisters and Oyaji .

She doesn’t call the villages that too, no, no. 

 

It’s a word reserved just for the Strawhats that are yet to be what they are. She just wants a lot of terms, a lot of relations, a lot. She’s greedy like that.

“Welcome to Cocoyashi, then!” Nojiko grins at the bird, in her mischievous, yet endearing way. “I’m Nojiko, Nami’s big sis. I hope our Nami hasn’t been troubling you.”

Nami blushes. Is she seriously introducing herself politely to a bird?

Kinoko lets out a birdlike sigh, raising her wing and sweeping it by her head in a ‘ oh, she’s been SO much trouble ’ gesture.

Nami balks, “don’t lie!” 

And the bird has the gall to turn around like an offended madam, the dramatic gasping gesture and everything. Seriously, who taught her how to do that?

Everyone in the room laughs. 

 

-

 

A seat is cleared for her at Genzo’s bedside, and she leans in to get a closer look. 

He’s wrapped all over in bandages, some stained faintly red. 

“He got shot about eight times, lost a kidney, his gallbladder, and about half a lung. I don’t know how the hell’s he alive, but he is,” Doctor Nako says, reading off the medical record and then handing it to Nami, “have I mentioned the foot yet? Because congratulations, Nami, now you two reckless buffoons match.”

Nami turns over to Genzo’s startlingly empty leg on the side, and her breath holds.

Amputated at the knee, huh . For an old coot, this guy sure is sturdy. He got sliced into a few pieces, shot here and there, lost a foot, and Nami can somehow imagine him up and yelling the next second he wakes up.

 

She sighs fondly, leaning further into the bed. “I’m so sorry, everyone… if only I was here a little earlier.”

They were some random no-names from East, new flag and no bounty head-- so Nami should’ve been able to deal with them easily. 

“It’s not your fault, Nacchan!” the grocery store uncle pats her on the head, “in fact, it’s because of your connections that we could be saved by the Fishmen so quickly.”

“Apparently, Hacchan-san was around the Calm Belt, so he came right over. He and his group just swooped in and--”

“Anyways, those small-time pirates? I don’t think they even have a bounty at all, so Arlong took them and sank them.” 

“Oh right, one of the big guys is here too. He’s a Merman? I’m not sure. He came here faster than the others.”

Nami listens patiently as they all huddled around making noise, trying to explain to her the situation in their own dramatised storytelling. 

It begins with their epic quest of fighting back, to tragic screaming, to the magnificent entrances of Hachi and Arlong, former enemies now trusted bodyguards.

 

(Ironic, but the amazing, so heartwarming kind.)

 

She clenches her fist. What was she so worried about? Of course no one blames her for this. They don’t even know she’s changed anything.

And she’s going to make sure they don’t.

“Could you take care of Noko-chan for me? I’ll need to drop by the Park for a bit.”

 

-

 

“Are you sure, Nami? Really, the best thing I can do for you guys is to never come here again…”

“It’ll be fine, Hachi! C’mon, I’ll introduce you to Nojiko again.”

 

-

 

Nami walks into Arlong Park.

It used to be a symbol of nothing but grief for her-- the towering building, the prison-like room in the corner of the topmost floor-- and the welcoming party filled with nothing but Fishmen.

Now?

The building itself hasn’t changed, but it’s more akin to the hotel the Fishmen use when they drop by than a base. Mohmoo hangs out on shore a lot, and he takes the village kids for a ride every once in a while.

And when Nami walks in, the welcoming greetings are full of love instead of forced camaraderie.

 

“Nami’s back, guys!”

“Hey Nami, how was your trip this time? Did you rob a country?”

Nami can smile this time-- widely and honestly-- as she greets them. “I’m back, guys!”

 

The Fishmen come out in parades, poking their heads out of rooms to get a closer look. Nami waves at them, setting down her little bag of treasure.

“What’s that?”

“My tribute,” Nami says teasingly, opening the bag to reveal a little pile of gold. “I nabbed this from Buggy the Clown, cause he didn’t seem to want it anymore.”

Choo stares at it skeptically, “that just means you stole it, right?”

Nami just beams.

Choo looks away. He wants nothing to do with this.

“Nami, no!” Hachi snaps. He skids right out of the dining hall, all decked up in an apron and pointing at them with a takoyaki pick. “We said we didn’t want it! Take that away!”

Nami laughs, “oh c’mon guys, just take some. I gave the villagers the rest already.”

“Nuh!” Hachi made three big Xs with his arms, “we are NOT taking it!”

“Then I’ll throw it in the sea,” Nami states.

“Then-- I’ll scoop it back out and ship it to Whitebeard!” Hachi declares, pointing at the sea. Mohmoo stares back and tilts his head to the side, confused.

Nami does a double take, genuinely looking worried now. “Don’t use Oyaji against me!”

Hachi points at the sack of gold with all his hands. He doesn’t say anything, he just. Points dramatically. At the sack of gold.

Nami pouts, turning away.

“You’re such a bully, Hachi.”

“Oh I’M the bully?!”

 

Laughter interrupts them. Nami and Hachi huff away from their heatless quarrel, turning to the arriving Sun Pirate. 

“It’s been a while, Nami,” Aladine says, “have you gone to see the mayor yet?”

“Aladine-chan!” Nami greets him, “I’ve seen him. I can’t thank you guys enough for saving him.”

“No, no-- we must apologize for not arriving sooner,” Aladdin says humbly, “we’ve been neglecting the protection in these parts because of the dwindling danger in the East… seems like trouble is beginning to brew again.”

 

They sit down by the veranda, a fishwoman serving them drinks as they settle.

There are works in progress to adapt the first floor into a cafe/bar. It’s such a strange change to see, especially when, last time around, this place was ruined and was left as ruins.

“So? What brings you?” Nami goes straight to the point, “and as I’ve noticed, Arlong isn’t around as well.”

Aladdin nods, not beating around the bush as well. “There’s disarray in Fishman District at the moment, so Arlong and Jinbei are home to settle the disputes. I’m sure they have it handled, but for now, we can’t afford to leave Fishman island unsupervised.”

 

Nami hums.

Must be Hordy Jones and his gang, and whatever remnants of the old, human-hating faction. It’s a can of worms no one wants to open, after all.

It’s not a problem they can solve now. Nami’s taking little steps, but with the Celestial Dragons up there and xenophobia being the norm, there’s nothing they can do.

 

“What about Shirahoshi-chan?”

“Still locked in her room.”

“Then we should get rid of Decken.”

“It’s not that easy, Nami. You don't just 'get rid' of wanted criminals whenever you want-- if that was possible, there wouldn't be pirates in the world.”

Nami grumbles something incoherent under her breath about straw hatted idiots and plot conveniences. She picks up her tea and takes another sip, sighing heavily.

 

Aladine continues. "We will leave a squad here on Conomi as protection. They'll oversee the rest of the East as well, so if there are other places you'd like us to watch, just say the word." 

Nami hums, “it’ll be relatively peaceful. You won’t want to stir up too much attention and get the government moving thinking you’re a threat.”

Aladine nods approvingly, then he turns to the crowd. "Who wants a long term vacation in East Blue?" A few hands raise up. Aladine looks at Nami. "And there's the squad."

Nami can’t help but chuckle a little. “You guys don’t wanna go home?”

“Arlong-san and Boss Jinbei destroy one building every week, I'm sick of doing cleanup.”

“I can’t get a decent night of sleep there.”

“They keep quarreling .”

“Even the Sea Kings have complained about it.”

 

Nami stares back, surprised. That’s not something she expected out of their most mature Strawhat, but wow-- Arlong is what makes the difference? 

(That’s kinda… endearing, actually.)

 

“Alright then, I trust all of you,” Nami says unhesitantly. “I’ll be setting off soon, so knowing you guys are here? That’s really assuring!”

The Fishmen smile warmly at her. 

Then the words sink in.

“You’re-- what?!” 

“Seriously?”

“You’re setting sail?” one of them lurch forward in excitement, “longer than with Whitebeard? Like, longer than when you go to steal?”

Nami flushes, “the thing with Whitebeard was a-- y’know-- alliance! Thing,” she fumbles. Gripping her fists with resolve, she grins. “This time, it’s for real! I’m going to go to the Grand Line, and I won’t come back until I’m done with my map!”

Jaws drop.

 

“Guys guys guys GUYS OUR NAMI IS A BIG GIRL NOW”

Nami sputters. “Stop that, it’s embarrassing!”

 

-


-

 

Gin finds himself facing Sanji in a battle-- and he freezes more times than he’d naturally allow himself. 

HIs tonfas are just a little heavier today than usual. He can’t swing them as well.

 

(Weakness. In the Man-Demon? What a joke.)

 

He’s lived his entire life feeling nothing like this. This-- this weight in his bones, it’s guilt . It’s compassion. It’s weakness.

Weakness because why is he hesitating ? He’s never hesitated before, whether in front of a child or a woman or an admirable warrior, never. 

 

(All his life, he’s only known murder. )

 

He remembers Usopp saving him. Saving him , what kind of joke is that? He doesn’t need a goddamn waiter to save him from getting his ass rightfully kicked and tossed out.

He remembers the food Sanji cooked for him. It was easily the best thing he’s eaten in weeks, years, in his entire life. Why would he do that for Gin of all people in the world?

And now it’s all Gin’s fault that this ship, that Sanji, that everything, is going to die.

 

(Sometimes, Gin wonders if it would be easier to breathe if he was dead.)

 

He presses the metal bar down on Sanji’s neck, and he tries not to cry.

He has to kill this man. The one time he’s received any sort of-- of kindness in his life, and of course, this happens. This always happens.

 

( C’mon you literally have him under you now you just have to smash his head open let him bleed out and die and then you can go back and forget this ever happened, cry a few nights, it’ll be fine, just kill him --)

 

He doesn’t move.

“I’m sorry, Don,” he chokes out, dropping his tonfa and chewing back sobs, grabbing at his bandanna and trying to hide his tears with them but they’re spilling over and-- 

“I just… I can’t kill this man.”

He can forget their fearful faces. He can forget their dying, agonized cries.

But he can’t forget their kindness .

He can’t.

 

-

 

“Throw away your mask, Gin. You’re no longer part of my crew.”

 

The MH5 is fired. 

Gin can’t even cry at this. He’s used to it-- he has to be. 

Being betrayed, betraying, hurting, being hurt. 

He sees Sanji throw his mask at the straw-hatted boy, and Gin doesn’t need another second to realize what he’d ought to do now.

Gin has killed more people than he can remember, blindly following the orders of the Don he swore his loyalty to, the Don that now tells him to die .

 

(He isn’t afraid of dying.)

(He’s afraid of being unwanted, discarded, useless.)

 

If there’s someone that deserves to live in this world, it’s Sanji.

 

(And when the poison fills his lungs and burns burns burns, he almost feels gratified. Maybe a painful death is exactly how a Man-Demon like him should go.)

 

-

 

“Don’t you dare die, Gin.”

 

Gin doesn’t understand. He doesn't understand anything

The Don he’s followed for his entire life tells him to die, and this guy he’s only met for a couple minutes tells him to live ? That makes no sense.

If he had the energy and if he wasn’t busy hacking up his lung’s worth of poison-soaked blood, he’d be laughing.

He’s so pathetic .

 

“Don’t let yourself be killed by a man like him!” Luffy yells at him, like a declaration, like a warcry, like an order.

 

No, no. Don Krieg is the strongest man Gin has ever known. There’s no way this kid is any match-- what is he, delusional? The Don is someone Gin has sworn to follow all his life.

(And he just got thrown away by that very man.)

If Gin can’t follow the Don, if Gin’s being thrown away by the Don-- what else can he do? Who else should he follow? Where else can he go?

 

“Bring him up to the second floor where there’s fresh air.”

(What reason does Gin have to live ?)

“Hang in there, I’ll send that bastard flying!”

(Why do you care?)

 

-

 

And Luffy wins. By some dumb, sheer, stupid, somehow-- he knocks Krieg out, shatters his armor, punches and kicks and destroys and bleeds .

And Luffy isn’t dead yet.

Krieg is getting there.

Gin looks over his shoulder at the scene, his gaze hazy, his body throbbing with pain-- and he can’t help but laugh.

 

“What’s with you? Gone crazy?” Patty asks, “heyyy, don’t die okay? Please? C’mon.”

 

Gin ignores them.

He watches Don Krieg lose, almost one-sidedly-- and somehow, Gin can’t find it in himself to care.

Gin’s dying. He’s fading in and out of consciousness, and the pain is growing duller each moment. He keeps hacking up blood and his throat burns like solid acid. 

He may as well wait it out and die here.

 

(“Don’t you dare die, Gin.”)

 

He looks at the sky. How would things have been if he had followed a leader like Luffy instead of Krieg? 

He smiles.

It’d be so much nicer, wouldn’t it? If only he could turn back time, but life wasn’t that easy. 

 

(“Don’t you dare die, Gin.”)

 

Fuck, he’s really going to die, isn’t he? He can’t even think straight. He doesn’t want to die. He should. He deserves this unfulfilling death. He shouldn’t die. 

Krieg told him to die.

Krieg told him to die.

Krieg told him to die.

 

-

 

So Gin should die for Krieg?

(Isn’t there someone he can live for?)

 

-

 

He tightens his fist, clenching over his chest and howling, choking up another mouthful of blood, doubling over.

No.

 

(I can’t die here.)

 

He reaches for the oxygen mask, sets it over his face-- and he breathes .

He can't die here.

(I can’t die here.)

He can’t die here.

 

“Hey, wait! You can’t move yet! The poison will-- actually I’m not sure if it spreads if you move but-- HEY!”

“Either way it can’t be good for you so you need to lie down and rest!”

 

He shouldn’t let Krieg command his life. He should never have. But even if he regrets it now, there’s nothing to be gained. 

Gin needs to make a decision.

For the first time in his life, he has to make a decision for himself and not for the Don, for the sake of the Don, and for the sake of his stupid, stupid pride.

He needs to make a decision based on what he wants, and not what he’s taught himself to need.

 

And he’s already made it

 

-

 

“I’VE WON EVERY BATTLE! I’M UNBEATABLE! THERE’S NO ONE THAT CAN MATCH ME IN STRENGTH! AND I WILL-- CONTINUE TO-- WIN--”

“Look at yourself.”

The fleet halts, the cooks freeze. 

Gin stands before Don Krieg-- the hysterical, mad, furiously defeated Krieg. The Don himself isn’t even conscious-- he’s clinging on pathetically for victory, incapable of accepting defeat.

“Can you even see how miserable you’ve become?”

 

Maybe it’s the pain. Gin can see it in such startling clarity. 

He sees a shell of the man he’d admired, the disgusting husk of someone despicable someone he’d fantasized to be amazing-- but once Gin takes a step back and looks -- he sees someone who is just a man.

A man.

 

And Gin is a demon, isn’t he?

 

He lunges forward-- and sinks his fist deep in Krieg’s gut, gouging at the wound there and feeling so gratified when Krieg vomits blood.

Gasps sound across the waters.

People are looking at him, eyes wide in horror-- and Gin remembers why he’s called the Man-demon now. It fits-- it always will.

He lets Krieg fall to the ground.

 

(He’s not dead yet. Not so easy. But his wounds are dire.)

 

“We’ve lost,” he says. He turns to the sea, to the rest of his crew (his former crew) and he stumbles. 

He hears someone call for him but it’s not something he cares to look out for. He knows he looks like shit, yelling at him isn’t gonna help.

“The Don we followed is gone,” he tells them, choking back the agony in his throat. He puts his foot down on Don Krieg’s body and he declares

We need to leave.

“The Krieg Pirates are over!”

 

Find new loyalty. Leave the seas, stay in the East, go on land and become a bandit or whatever. That’s what you guys want, right? You never want to enter the treacherous Grand Line again, not after that pathetic defeat.

Don’t you see that Krieg was so much weaker than we thought?

The dream is over.

(Now go.)

Krieg and I are no longer worth following.

 

-


-

 

Gin wakes up with a gasp and a dull ache in his lungs.

He stares at his hands. Clean. No blood. His breathing is heavy, but it doesn’t hurt as much now. His vision is clear.

 

“They left you behind.”

 

He flinches.

Realizing he’s on a bed, he quickly sits up. He winces at the pain that shoots up just everywhere , and he can’t help the groan that escapes him.

Gin looks up. That’s Zeff, standing by the balcony. He’s looking out at something on the lower floors-- not even turning once to look at Gin.

“Red Leg Zeff,” Gin addresses, his voice just below a strained croak. 

Instead of returning the greeting, Zeff continues talking. “They took Krieg with them, but I reckon he won’t live long anyways with his injuries.”

And Gin knows who the chef is talking about.

His crewmates have left him behind, abandoning him.

It’s deserved.

 

“You shouldn't move around too much yet,” Zeff helpfully informs, “we don’t got any medics here, but you’ve got a blood transfusion and plenty of fresh air. You’ve survived, but no one can say for sure if you’ll be back in top form.”

Gin nods. That’s fair.

 

( Why did you save me? He doesn’t ask it. It just didn’t seem appropriate.)

 

So he bows. 

Still seated, he lowers his head.

“Thank you,” he says.

 

Zeff scoffs at that.

“Save that gratitude for our eggplant, would you?” he says, dismissing his thanks, “I just didn’t want you dying in my restaurant.”

 

Gin couldn’t help but smile a little. What a dishonest old geezer.

He looks to the bedside table, and startles at the book beside him. It’s Zeff’s old log book, and it’s completely unguarded. 

The tricks and terrors of the Grand Line-- it’s a guidebook to the dangers, and with it-- with it, maybe he could go and brave the Grand Line again, as the pirates he never stopped wanting to be.

( He can still dream .)

He reaches over--

--and stops himself.

( But he has no right to .)

 

Unbeknownst to him, Zeff watches that little action, and he smiles.

 

-


-

 

“You don’t usually save customers like that,” Zeff asked Usopp, “what brings?”

Usopp only grins at him and says, “nothing really. Just-- he’s a good guy!”

Zeff raises an eyebrow, “future shit?”

Usopp nods. “I didn’t really know him back then, but Luffy and Sanji did. I never really found out if he was alive, though.”

 

-


-

 

“A merman?”

“No, you idiot, that’s just a guy being eaten by a panda shark.”

“Oh hey, Yosaku!”

 

-

 

“Gin!” Luffy bounces over to the man when he appears. “You’re awake!”

“You fine to walk around now?” Sanji asks.

Leaning on a crutch and admiring how the entire second floor goes silent, Gin stumbles over. “A little poison won’t kill me,” he says.

“Don’t lie.” 

“You’re full of shit.” 

Gin breaks out into laughter at that. For a gentleman, Sanji is completely tactless, isn’t he? It’s not as if he was trying to act tough in the first place, anyways. 

 

He stops before the two, staring them straight in the eye.

“I’ve lost everything,” he tells them, not too sure why he’s speaking. His throat still hurts, He’s lightheaded, but it’s nothing he can’t walk off. It’s nothing he hasn’t walked off before. “I’ve lost my captain, my ship, my crew, and my ambition.” 

 

(Did he really have any of them to begin with?)

 

“But thank you very much,” he bows as long as his crutches let him, “for sparing my life.”

That’s all he came to say. 

There’s no way any of the chefs in this building would want him here any longer-- they only helped him to return the favour of saving Sanji, which in turn was just Gin repaying Sanji a favour -- really, he’s overstaying his welcome at this point.

He turns toward the door, and leaves.

 

(Or at least, that was the plan. )

 

-

 

"Please let go of me."

"Dun wanna."

“Are you a fucking baby. Sanji, help.”

“Nah, deal with it. I’ve been trying to get rid of him for days-- oh god he’s got his other arm on me. Help. Old man, hElp mE.”

 

-

 

After what was a tearful, loud, and swear-filled goodbye, Gin finds himself slotted into a corner of the boat as they sail away from the Baratie.

 

“I really think I should just swim,” he mutters.

“Don’t be so cold, Gin.” Luffy pouts at him, obviously upset at the aspect of repeating himself way too many times now.

Gin side-eyes the sea, pondering. “Maybe I should just jump in, you can’t follow me when I’m in the sea.” 

“No! Yosaku, grab him!” Luffy snaps back and orders. 

Like a trained dog, Yosuke jumps, and Gin ends up pinned under in a groaning lump. He’s not even fully healed yet, and there they are, roughhousing. 

 

In fact, Gin feels weak enough right now he can’t even throw this small-fry off of him. It's actually pretty comfortable being crushed to death.

Gin honestly doesn’t understand a thing that’s going on. He thanks the kid, and somehow the kid just doesn’t want to let him go. It’s not as if the kid owes Gin in any way-- this should be the end of their debt-repaying tango. And yet.

There’s completely no value for Luffy in keeping Gin alive, and Gin is perfectly happy with drowning somewhere like Krieg’s probably doing by now. He just shouldn’t die in Baratie because that’s a restaurant and they don’t tolerate dead bodies there.

 

“You don’t want me to die, right? Then just drop me off at the nearest island.”

“We can’t, we promised Usopp we’d go meet him at Cuckoo Mountain.”

“Where the fuck is--”

“Luffy-aniki, it’s called Cocoyashi,” Yosaku interrupts to correct him.

Luffy blinks, “Choco Mountain?” he mishears again, because he’s apparently half deaf, “that’s a weird mountain. Is there chocolate there? Or coconuts?”

“Forget about the goddamn mountain!” Yosaku snaps. And if he had a table, he’d be flipping it across the horizon.

 

Gin lets out a long-suffering groan. 

“Whatever, wherever, just drop me there and I’ll leave,” he mutters.

Luffy pouts, “no, I’m bringing you there, but after that, you’re joining my crew!”

 

Gin stops.

“What.”

 

“Huh? Did I not tell you that? You’re part of my crew now.” 

“When the fu--” Gin throws Yosaku off him in one angry move, swirling at him in teeth-baring incredulity, “I mean, no! When did that happen? Are you stupid? You literally defeated my crew’s captain less than a day ago! What makes you think I'll join you?!”

“Yeah, I punched the hell out of him,” Luffy says, “that means you can join, right? You don’t have anywhere to go anyways.”

“I don’t follow your logic!” Gin yells, then he’s cut off by a harsh bout of coughs. Doubling over the side of the blood, he spits out some blood into the sea. 

 

This is ridiculous. What even is this situation?

This brat is literally going to drive him to an early grave, and he’s already dying so it’s not actually that difficult, but he’s doing it anyways.

 

Sanji sighs, leaning over and rubbing him on the back with a sympathetic frown. “Just give up and join already. He literally pestered me for a week and I thought I was gonna go crazy. Now you can’t even run away, you’re going to go insane.”

 

You’re kidding. No.

(I literally tried to kill you, Sanji.)

 

“I’m gonna die anyways, might as well wait it out,” Gin groans.

“Shit, you’re gloomy as hell.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re hopeless.”

“Then let me leave.”

“No.”

 

Fuck, this is a train wreck. This is a dream. A hallucination. A nightmare. He’s not sane right now because of the poison, this must be an adverse effect. Okay then he’ll just wait until the poison kills him.

 

“This is a kidnapping,” Gin miserably informs, slumping over the side of the boat and suffering from the remnant pain of the poison swirling in his veins.

Yosaku nods, “yes, indeed it is.”

“Dammit.”

“And by the way, if the poison was gonna kill you, it would’ve done it before you woke up,” Sanji helpfully informs, lighting himself a cigarette, “one of your crew told us that there’s not enough left in you to actually kill you.”

Gin bolts upright, surprised.

“They--?!”

 

(No, no , they abandoned him. Sure, maybe they left him alive, but there’s no way…)

 

“They took care of you,” Sanji tells him, and Gin feels his heart freeze in his spot. “There’s no ultimate cure, as far as they know. But they made sure you wouldn’t die before they went off on their own.”

Gin bites his lips. Those fucking idiots. 

“Said you deserved better, apparently,” Sanji smiles, “great guys, huh? Don Krieg told you you weren’t part of the crew anymore, but apparently he was the only one to actually think it.”

 

The crew were as loyal to Gin as they were to Krieg.

Because Gin’s the second-in-command, the First Mate. And in a crew like theirs, people tend to favour the nicer of the two, even if they obeyed the Don more often.

 

(Stupid bastards, all of them.)

 

-

 

“We’re probably going to quit being pirates, but Gin is different. He has nowhere to go, and we can’t promise we won’t be deadweights to him.”

“His place is out in the sea of monsters, don’t you think?”

“But I guess he’ll probably deny it for a while? He’s an idiot, so that tends to happen. Careful, his punches really hurt. Keep his tonfas far, far away.”

“But he’s a big softie, so don’t worry!”

“He might break your bones though. Like, a few hundred times. Don’t worry he won’t hit your arm if you tell him not to, he’s not that bad.”

“Don’t tell him we said sorry, he’ll just call us idiots again. Just tell him we love him! Oh but then he’ll call us idiots too. Nevermind.”

“Ah whatever, we won’t be there to hear it.”

“Sorry again, you sea-cooks. Hopefully, we never meet again.”

 

-

 

“What, Gin, you crying?”

“Shut up, the poison just fucking hurts!”

Chapter 15: "No one ever listens to Pirates. Right."

Summary:

Usopp gets a headache. Gin thinks Luffy and Sanji are a package-deal headache. Meanwhile, Nami greets an unwanted visitor. Let's just say Nojiko really has bad luck with Marines and guns.

No one ever listens to pirates. It's misunderstandings on the left, false accusations on the right.

Well, but that's just another day as a Strawhat, don't you think?

Chapter Text

“Usopp?”

Usopp bolts awake. “ZORO?!”

 

Instant regret, because his head explodes with pain and he squeezes his eyes shut, covering his eyes with his hands so the light wouldn’t pierce past his eyelids.

 

“Uh, you alright there?”

The sky is still bright. Zoro is awake, sitting upright by the cabin. 

"No. I've got if-I-exert-myself-anymore-my-head-will-explode disease."

"You sound fine to me."

"No I'm nOT--!! owwwww."

 

After the emergency surgery, Usopp had to leave the bandaging work completely to Johnny. 

After using Vision, he'd lose his Haki for a while-- usually an hour or two, give or take how long it was used and his physical capabilities. He wasn’t like Luffy who just needed ten minutes, after all. Even Coby needed half an hour at first.

(Though, after a long time of training to master it, the buffer time did go down.)

Near his prime, Usopp could use it with no drawbacks at all-- but now, as a weak little seventeen-year-old brat, the agonizing time of weakness comes back tenfold. 

Plus this time he can't see, so the Haki is much tougher to activate and the headache hits him so much harder too.

In a sense, he’s actually blind for the first time in a very long while. Left in voluntary pitch darkness, only knowing his surroundings with his ears and his sense of smell.

 

"What, does the light hurt your eyes or something?"

"...something."

Zoro drops his black bandanna over Usopp's eyes, just to shield him from the sunlight so Usopp's hands could take a break.

Usopp smiles gratefully.

He can’t quite tell how long it’ll last, but he’ll probably recover before they get to Cocoyashi. Hopefully.

 

-

 

“Thank goodness you’re alright, Zoro-aniki,” Johnny’s a sobbing mess, “I thought you were deeead! You were bleeding and everything and Usopp-aniki was doing the stitching even though he can’t see and then--”

“Usopp did? Seriously?”

A blind man? I mean, he can feel that it’s rather patchwork, but it’s still crazy. Can blind people actually be certified surgeons? 

Zoro doesn’t know, but he's kinda grateful he’s not dead. He trusts Usopp, but he reckons it was pretty close.

“Please speak softer,” Usopp pleads, voice croaking. He rolls over so he’s face down and makes a dying noise, “my head hurts.”

Zoro stares at him judgmentally, “you’re acting like you have a hangover.”

“Please call it a migraine…”

 

A headache? 

 

“Did you use your Haki thing again?” Zoro asks. He recalls it’s something that helped him see, but he thought it was more of a sixth sense kinda thing rather than literal replacement of sight.

“Haki?” Johnny asks.

“Something like that,” Usopp grumbles. He raises an arm in a dismissive gesture, “don’t attempt it, Zoro. You’ll suck.”

“What are you, picking a fight?”

 

Zoro glares at Usopp, who just makes strangled frog noises in response. The sniper’s too delirious to keep talking anymore, so Zoro sighs. 

 

“So? We’re headed to Nami’s place?” Zoro turns to Johnny.

“Ah, yes. We’ll be there in a few hours at this pace,” Johnny tells him, “you should get some more rest, Zoro-aniki. Usopp-aniki, you too. I’ll keep watch.”

Johnny says that with a sort of determination. It’s the least he can do, after all.

Zoro catches sight of the blood crusted around his clothes, the stains on Usopp’s hands-- and he breathes out in relief, knowing it’s just his blood and not theirs.

“Thanks,” he says, “my swords?”

Johnny hands him Wadou Ichimonji obediently, and Zoro cradles it. The other two have shattered-- but it’s fine. This one’s the only one that matters.

 

“That’s right-- you might not remember, but Hawk-Eyed gave you this.”

Zoro reaches over to catch a small, cross-shaped object. Upon closer look, it’s Mihawk’s little toy sword. Zoro inspects it for a moment before drawing it-- he faintly remembers something like this.

(Let it serve as a reminder of your negligence.)

His eyes narrowed.

 

“It’s called Kogatana,” Usopp mutters from his spot on the floor. “Not a Meitou, nothing like that. It’s just Kogatana for the sake of it.”

“Kogatana, for literally ‘little sword’?” Zoro asks incredulously, “he’s got awful naming sense.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you, Onigiri.”

“It means Demon Slasher!”

“It’s a food pun .”

“Shut up.”

 

Zoro sheathes Kogatana, and holds it tight in his hands. It’s something given to him by the Greatest Swordsman in the world. And that can only mean one thing.

(“Surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!”)

It’s such a little, insignificant thing-- but to Zoro, it could not weigh any heavier in his hands. It’s a mark of humiliation, and at the same time, a symbol of resolve.

Wadou Ichimonji, too, is a sword given to him as a reminder of crushing defeat. There is no reason he shouldn't treasure Kogatana just as much.

He closes his eyes, and silently gives his thanks.

Before he rests, he pulls the string over his head, the cross pendant coming to rest at his chest. 

 

-

 

Last time around, Mihawk’s little blade ended up somewhere entirely unexpected. 

It was honourably passed down, contrary to popular belief-- to a certain boy who Mihawk saw the faintest glimmer of potential in.

Mihawk didn’t think Helmeppo would become the next greatest, but he had guts, he had the determination, and he was definitely someone that would step pretty high on the pedestal if he kept trying.

 

(And perhaps, he would’ve gotten there.)

(But before that, he was put on the chopping block with Fullbody, Hina, and Fujitora, and they disappeared in the guise of an early retirement.)

(Whether he kept the sword or threw it, Usopp doesn’t know.)

 

Mihawk was never one to over-praise individuals. Helmeppo had earned that blade, through and through-- it wasn’t easy, not at all.

It’s nothing much, but it meant the world to them.

 

(If only the world had parted to let that dream come true.)

 

-

 

“Quit whining, Usopp.”

“Shut up, you don’t know how Haki withdrawals even feel .”

“I got slashed into fucking two .”

“Have I told you the story of when you, sorry I mean I , just chased away the literal grim reaper with a glare? Well actually I can’t do that. But you can. So I can actually die. But you can’t. Apparently.”

“Are you drunk? You’re not even making sense.”

“No, I’m just hungover.”

“You just called it a hangover.”

“Sorry, I mean a migraine. This is a migraine.”

“Johnny, could you knock Usopp out with a hammer or something? He’s going to start serenading the sea if we leave him alone.”

 

-

 

“There, that’s the Conomi Islands-- what should we do?” 

Usopp groans. The light doesn’t hurt anymore, but he still can’t use his Haki. he only noticed the island in the distance due to the green and yellows in the distance. 

 

He flinches when Johnny steps a little too close. Oh god, he thought he was past the point of not knowing where everything is and being startled when something is closer than he thought.

Maybe he’s depending on his Haki too much. That’s why he’s so lost once he loses it. And out in the sea, a lot of his usual methods to compensate for sight are null. 

There’s no solid ground in an ever-rocking boat, and the salt in the breeze interferes with everything else. There’s nothing to feel but blisters, and the air is interrupted by the shiver of the birds and the clouds.

(He can’t use Vision for another good while.)

(The repercussions are too drastic for him in this state.)

 

“We’re not flying a pirate flag, so it should be fine, right?” Zoro asks.

“No, I mean… Nami-aneki said they were attacked by pirates, so they might still be here. That, or the Sun Pirates might have arrived,” Johnny says, “either way, if we tread recklessly, we’re going to be in trouble.”

“But the Sun Pirates are protecting the island, right? We can just say we’re friends with Nami and maybe they’ll let us in,” Usopp says. 

 

Sun Pirates means Boss Jinbei, right? Then they’re probably good. But he should be in the New World right now-- too many Shichibukai in East at once would have the Marines in disarray, so Jinbei wouldn’t dare.

Then, who’s here? Or did they not make it in time? Either way, they’ll have to assume Nami has a certain degree of a good relationship with them. She’s a Whitebeard, after all-- surely there’s at least professional camaraderie between them.

(Nah, Nami’s always been good at building relationships. Maybe they tolerate her now? Or has she gone a step further and become total buddies?)

(She got over her hate of Fishmen in the future, but in this time, there’s also the villagers and the fishmen themselves to consider…)

(Agh, this is a mess.)

 

“No, no, it’s not that simple!” Johnny snaps, “pirates don’t just put islands under their protection out of the goodwill of their hearts! They’re definitely getting some sort of tribute in exchange for protecting them. If they think you’re a threat…”

“Then we just cut our way through,” Zoro says.

“No! Are you an idiot?!”

Yes, Zoro is an idiot. Usopp closes his eyes, leaning back against the cabin. “Anyways, do you guys see the Going Merry around? It’s probably hidden around the corner.”

“Huh? Isn’t it easier to look for Nami first?” Zoro asks. 

“You’re not suggesting we charge right through Arlong Park.”

“I am.”

“Why is violence always your first choice?! We can deal with this peacefully! Let’s try and look less hostile! C’mon!” Johnny yells in exasperation, sounding like he’s going to cry, “if you pick a fight with the fishmen, I’m going to run away and ditch you, got it?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Like hell I can do that, Zoro-aniki! You monster!”

“This ain’t a soap opera, Johnny.”

Usopp groans. “Is anyone looking for the Going Merry or were you two expecting the blind kid to look around?”

“Geez, now he’s mad. Great job, Johnny.”

“This is obviously your fault, Zoro-aniki.”

 

-

 

Usopp whistles loudly, biting on his fingers and calling a loud, high-pitched note into the wind. “Oh man, this is bad. I can’t tell if Kinoko’s coming,” he says.

“What’s wrong, Usopp?” Zoro asks. 

Johnny goes ashore first to anchor their boat well. They manage to find the Merry after a while of searching, and have decided to dock beside her.

“Sorry, Johnny, could you go up to the Merry and grab my walking stick for me?” Usopp asks, “it should be in the men’s quarters’ closet.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow. He picks up his sword and straps it to his belt, shrugging on a blue, swirl-patterned shirt without buttoning it up.

“Your walking stick?” 

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t see, Zoro.”

“Yeah, I mean, you’re not exactly supposed to see, you’re blind.”

Pause. 

Zoro stares at Usopp. Usopp looks magnificently unimpressed by Zoro’s dismissive response. 

Usopp sighs, throwing his hands up. “Y’know, my If-I-don’t-get-my-walking-stick-right-now, I-will stick obnoxiously-to-Zoro disease will act up.”

Johnny, not prepared for a clingy tantrum from two injured/incapacitated scary guys, immediately moves to make his way up to the Merry. 

“I’ll go get it.”

 

-

 

“Seriously? You can’t use your, whatever that Haki thing is?” Zoro asks, “is that bad?”

 

Zoro is a little guilty to hear this. So Usopp used his Haki to give Zoro emergency first aid, now Usopp’s lost it for a while? 

Yikes. 

Zoro hates being a burden. It’s the worst feeling in the world.

(But Usopp probably won’t accept an apology.)

 

Usopp shakes his head, tapping at the ground with his stick as they made their slightly slower pace forward. The two swordsmen take strides after Usopp takes his, just to make sure the sharpshooter won’t fall behind.

Zoro looks around. For now, there aren’t any people. Maybe they’re gathered somewhere? Oh well, better for them.

“I’m just not used to being actually blind,” Usopp says, “it’s fine because we’re in the East right now, but in a Grand Line level fight, the moment you lose control of your Haki, you lose.”

Zoro hums. In a Grand Line level fight-- his duel with Mihawk? That couldn’t have been it at all. It was crushingly one-sided.

“So I’m not even strong enough for Mihawk to use it in the first place?”

That’s how far back he is, isn’t he?

“Yeah, that was just Mihawk showing off his knife skills,” Usopp says, no even sugarcoating it at all and Zoro can’t find it in himself to be too miserable about it. “His sword-- you saw it, right? The Black Blade.” 

Black blades. Zoro hums, remembering his dojo master saying something like that before-- Kuina often spoke about it too.

 

(Named swords often have a black edge. It’s not a special metal it’s forged by, and it’s definitely not from the strife of battle. It’s a painting of the master’s will, darkened and sharpened with the wielder’s experience.)

(Because swords choose their masters, and swords are stronger with the right masters.)

 

Usopp says. “That only happens with Masters of the sword-- if the blade acknowledges you, it doesn’t turn back into silver steel. It becomes a permanently stained blade, and stays like that even if the master changes.”

Zoro thinks back to Nami, who coated her pole with black will and drove a crater into the sea with one nonchalant swing.

 

(If Mihawk had been serious, Zoro wouldn’t just be sporting a huge scar-- he’d be in two pieces, irreparable.)

 

“What about Nami’s weapon?” he asks. "Is she not good enough for that?"

Usopp pauses for a bit, seemingly hesitating. Then he smiles, and Zoro almost thinks there's sadness tinged by it.

“You need talent,” he says. “Some people are better than one type of Haki than the other. Some people just end up mediocre no matter how they try. Nami’s like that, y’know? But it’s fine-- Nami’s not a striker-type combatant anyways.”

And he leaves it at that, walking on. 

Zoro stops where he stands, watching Usopp trail further away-- and his fist tightens. Is Zoro angry? Frustrated? Maybe not. 

Just disappointed.

“How do you know if you have the talent?” Zoro asks.

And Usopp chuckles, “you just know , Zoro. One day, you’ll find out.”

 

Zoro scoffs in response, because Usopp trying to be mysterious is just obnoxious. He rolls his eyes in disinterest.

Then he jerks to a sudden stop.

“Usopp, wait!” the order came out a little more urgent than he’d intended. Johnny immediately reaches over and tugs Usopp back toward him.

They narrowly avoid a nasty bump with a fishman. 

“Oh, sorry about that,” the ray fishman steps back a little. He sets the huge stack of lumber he was holding on the ground, “I wasn’t looking where I was going. My bad.” 

“A- A- A-” Johnny stutters, using Usopp as a shield, “a fishman!”

Zoro reaches for his sword, but doesn’t draw it. He forces himself to stay calm, if only because Johnny was freaking out, hugging Usopp like a security blanket. He sets a firm gaze on the fishman-- and the fishman looks back.

Zoro notices the mark of the Sun on the fishman’s chest.

“Haven’t seen you guys around before,” the fishman says, calm-- but Zoro knows that the fishman is staring each of them down, already prepared to subdue them all at once if the need came to be. “What’s your business here?”

 

(This island was just ravaged by pirates. They might think we’re allies of those pirates, if we don’t tread carefully.)

 

“We’re looking for Nami,” Usopp interrupts the tension. He sets his walking stick before him, apparently not minding how he’s being Johnny’s human shield. “Orange hair, metal arm, loves money and tangerines?”

Where’d the tangerines part come from? Zoro doesn’t ask, he just raises an eyebrow. Right, this guy knew Nami before they all met, right?

 

(But isn’t Usopp younger than Zoro? When’d they have the time to know and get to know each other and become something like war buddies?)

(Well, they must’ve been shit young, then.)

(Zoro’s almost embarrassed to have had a normal childhood in comparison.)

 

“Nami? Well yes, I have heard of her,” the fishman responds noncommittal. “What is your business, if she does happen to be on this island?”

Oh lord. Of all people-- fishmen-- they could’ve stumbled upon first, they decided to come upon mister I’m-suspicious-of-everything. 

“We’re comrades!” Usopp answers cheerfully, and Zoro can tell immediately by the way the fishman’s brow furrow and he did not like the implications of that, and it only served to deepen the suspicions he had.

 

Usopp doesn’t notice, though. Usopp has always been perceptive of moods, but right now, he can’t see, in more ways than usual.

 

“And we need a doctor,” Usopp adds, like he’s just remembered, “Zoro over there, he’s actually in critical condition so we need to get him fixed up by a proper doctor.”

And that. The immediate flip.

“Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro,” the fishman acknowledges, and Zoro swears internally. Geez, who gave him that nickname? It's a pain in the ass to explain! “Coming directly to a pirate-marked island. Claiming to be a Whitebeard pirate’s ally. I can’t help but think there’s something wrong in your story.”

 

Wisely, Zoro doesn’t move.

This is somehow turning into a misunderstanding.

(Story of his life.)

 

-


-

 

“Before I left, the old man told me that some people call the Grand Line a ‘Paradise’!”

Yosaku and Gin look on in disbelief.

“The old geezer said that?” Sanji asks. “Well, among all of us, he certainly has the most experience in that sea.”

Gin hums contemplatively, “I can understand calling it an adventure, but paradise?” he says, incredulous, “the place was a nightmare .”

“That’s because you guys had the bad luck of meeting Hawk-Eyed so soon.”

“No, no. Even before that,” Gin says. “It was hailing one minute, thunderstorms the next, and then the goddamn ocean was boiling the fishes! The sea doesn’t make sense, and our navigator cried two days in.”

They stare at him, slightly baffled. 

 

This is Gin, who was very recently in that sea. He sounds like he’s exaggerating, but his expressions certainly don’t show the same amount of incredulity. With as little as they know about Gin, Sanji already believes him entirely.

 

Then, “see what I told you?” Yosaku says, “you can’t enter the Grand Line with five-- six people! It’s reckless! Back me up on this, Gin-aniki.”

“Don’t call me your aniki.”

“That sounds fun!” Luffy beams, clapping his feet together. “Oh mannnn I can’t wait!”

Gin groans something under his breath that suspiciously sounds like ‘fuck, should’ve seen this coming’. Sanji gives him a smug expression and Gin reflexively swings his arm in for a punch, but the cook dodges.

“What’re you so worried about? Nami went there before, so we’ll be fine,” Luffy says, and everyone on the ship does a collective double take.

“Who’s Nami-- no, that’s not important,” Gin sputters, “she’s been there before?"

“Wait, Nami-san is a what?” Sanji sits up with surprise-- sure, she had a metal arm, but a Grand Line veteran? “Really? Was she a cabin girl or something?”

 

(Sanji has been in the Grand Line before. But he was a cooking apprentice in the safer parts of the ship, never truly facing the tides head on.)

 

Actually, Nami really did seem like she wasn’t East Blue material. There was just that look in her eyes-- the calculative, fox-like gaze that flutters as quickly as a butterfly’s wings-- reserved one moment, deception the next.

Like some of their more infamous visitors, most of them whom Usopp would stay his best away from when they come in.

 

(Huh? How could Usopp tell?)

 

Luffy grins, “no, Nami’s a white bread! She says she’s been to the Grand Line a lot of times! Oh, and Usopp too. It’ll be fun!”

"A white bread?" Gin asks, but isn't answered.

“Wait, I can understand Nami-san, but Usopp?” Sanji stops him, “I’ve known him for two years, you know? And when I first met him he had trouble guiding himself around. There’s no way a kid like that is...”

Sanji trails off. 

(That’s right.)

(Usopp had that gaze too. He’s blind, but he still sees. Somehow . He senses things in a way no one can quite understand-- he jumped into the sea to retrieve Zoro’s sword, didn’t he? Why would a blind man that relies on colour jump willingly into the sea?)

(His eyes, they flicker in the same, war-torn way.)

(Sanji should know, he’s been watching the blind kid for two years.)

 

(He should know better than anyone, that Usopp, too, was not East Blue material at all.)

 

“Oh man,” he sits back, hand reaching for his mouth to meaninglessly suppress his shock. “That kinda makes sense, but at the same time, it doesn’t make sense at all.”

Gin spoke up, “we met this guy... He told us that in the Grand Line, if something doesn’t make sense-- you don’t question it. Instead, you just have to correct your own common sense. We didn’t really take him seriously at the time, because it just sounded dumb to us, but...”

But if he’s being serious? 

Then the Grand Line is one hell of a place.

“Come to think of it, Hawk-Eyed really destroyed your entire fleet because he was bored, didn’t he?” Yosaku mutters grimly. 

 

Sanji stands up.

“Right, right, enough of this gloomy talk. Let’s eat. Any requests?”

The mood instantly shifts. 

“MEAT ON THE BONE!” Luffy yells.

“I want stir-fried beansprouts!!” Yosaku joins in on the excitement, previous ominous fear entirely forgotten.

Sanji turns to Gin, who flinches.

“I’m… fine with anything,” he stutters. Then he quickly corrects himself. “Wait. Seriously, you don’t have to cook for me, resources are important on a sea trip.”

“Shut your trap and just tell me what you want to eat.”

“This is a terrible way to organize resources.”

“I’m the cook. You listen to the cook.”

“I’ve been sailing for more years than you, punk!”

“Ah yes, I must admit, that in fact, you do. Maybe if you come on our crew you can deal with the rations like the oh-so-responsible shithead you are. Now may I have your goddamn shitty order for the meal, dear bastard with more sailing experience than me?”

Gin lets out a longsuffering groan. These people, from their stupid captain to that suicidal swordsman to the blind waiter to this idiotic cook-- they’re all so hopeless!

“Pilaf, please.”

 

(And just maybe, Gin can fit right in.)

 

-

 

A sea cow surfaces, and Yosaku promptly freaks the fuck out.

Understandable, really, but Gin has better things to focus on. Like the absolutely heavenly pilaf in front of him right now. God, Sanji’s awesome at cooking. He could eat this forever. 

 

“IT’S A SEA MONSTERRRR!!!”

“It’s a huuuuge cow!”

“A cow… that swims? Isn’t that just a hippo?”

Gin wants more of his meal, please. “Sanji, seconds.”

"Ah, alright," Sanji says extinguishing his cigarette and taking the plate from the man.

"Oh, me too!" Luffy says gobbling up the rest of his plate before handing it to Sanji too.

“Please care a little!” Yosaku sobs. “ That’s a Grand Line Monster! What's it doing here??”

Gin decides to turn to the sea cow. He chews on his food, he swallows. “I’ve seen scarier ones. This one’s actually kinda cute.”

" Cute-- ?! why did I think you were the sane one on this boat?" Yosaku mourns in the corner, "I was naive. Everyone on this boat is a madman. I'm going to die."

"It probably has a name like Moo-moo or something," Gin says. “The Fishman Pirates are there, right? They probably rode it over.”

"Okay, your name from now on is Beef!" Luffy declares.

“We’re keeping it?” Sanji asks.

 

-

 

“DIE!!”

Sanji decides that the sea cow was just hungry-- you shouldn’t beat someone up for that. So he feeds the monster-- only to kick him right up the jaw with all the force of a blistering catapult on a tobacco high.

 

Gin isn’t a smoker, but he really wants a smoke right now. 

Maybe it’ll give him the ability to handle all this incredulous bullshit. As things are going, he’ll probably need as much caffeine as possible too. And if he doesn’t find a way to run away from Luffy soon, he’ll be stuck here forever.

 

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!” Yosaku is near hysterical at this point. The man just really wants to live another day and he’s not sure why he's with insane company.

 

Gin wants to go over and cry with him, but Yosaku probably won’t appreciate it.

Sanji’s explanation is simple, “that thing was about to take a bite out of me too,” he says, like that explains everything.

Of course, the cow gets angry, so Sanji gives it one more bash in the skull for good measure. 

Gin might be going crazy. He’s actually feeling sorry for the monster-- he, the cold-blooded man demon who has killed children without feeling anything, is feeling sorry for this sea monster that’s being bullied by a sea cook.

 

“With all due offense Sanji you’re already Grand-Line-level in terms of crazy,” Gin says.

“Gin, I think you’re supposed to say ‘with all due respect ’, not offense.”

“I said what I said.”

 

And in another minute, Gin sees the poor sea-cow pulling their ship en route to Conomi, a bump on his head and tearing up a little. 

Did they just bully a sea monster into being their horse? Yes, yes they did.

Gin is going to stop feeling surprised now. This is tiring and he’s already feeling sick enough without the extra stress. He can’t afford to add ‘being the straight man’ onto his list of things to endure. He’s going to get gray hairs.

 

-


-

 

“NAMI! We’ve got trouble!”

Nami had been talking to Aladine about the current state of the New World-- then a Fishman runs in, covered in wounds and breathing heavy.

She stands up immediately.

“What’s going on?”

Someone who can hurt the fishmen as much as that on this island? Definitely not a villager-- and they’d just driven away the last group of pirates.

Every fishman on the crew is strong. No pushover could possibly… (Don’t tell me it’s Zoro? Already? No, those wounds look more like gunshots than sword slices. Then...)

 

“The Marines!” the fishman says, and Nami’s heart seizes in her throat. 

 

Bandits are one thing. Pirates are another. The Marines? That’s a line the Fishman Pirates can’t touch, simply because Jimbei is under agreement to not hurt them.

Her eyes widen in horror.

“I thought Jimbei-chan ensures the protection here?” Nami says, “are they stupid? Doing this specifically when the Sun is on the island, even!”

There’s no reason the marines will be on this island-- they’re under agreement to not touch Sun Pirate territory. Why would they take the risk?

 

(Oh.)

( Fuck .)

 

Nami clenches her teeth, hissing in distaste, “they’re after me, aren’t they?”

 

A few Fishmen stand up at that. The Sun Pirates may have blanket protection as the Shichibukai, but Nami has no such protection.

Her threats are limited to ‘I am a Whitebeard’-- and though that’s a good threat in the New World, it’s hard to be of use when you’re on home grounds.

Having a civilian family in a place the world knows-- that’s the most disadvantageous situation a pirate can ever find themselves in.

 

“They’re at your house!” the Fishman says, “they were saying something about the gold you’ve stolen, and they’re trying to frame Nojiko for it!”

Oh, that does it.

She turns toward the trees-- and pauses.

 

(Huh? Wasn’t Noko-chan on that branch just now? Where did the bird go?)

 

She tuts. Now she can’t pass a message on to Usopp! Forget it then. 

“Who’s there right now?” she asks, looking around the fishmen group-- Kuroobi and Choo aren’t around. She can’t feel far enough to tell where they are.

“Choo is there, along with Nojiko and a few villagers-- not the mayor,” the Fishman reports, “I can’t find Kuroobi.”

Nami nods. 

“Hachi, give me a ride to the tangerine grove!”

 

-

 

Nami hates Marines.

No, she doesn’t-- she just hates the bad ones. 

There’s a good apple in every bad bunch, like Tashigi and Smoker, or Coby. It’s the same for Pirates and even Revolutionaries, there are just bad people everywhere in the world. 

Cruelty and abuse of power is the norm. That’s the main problem. 

That’s why she became a pirate this time around, not by circumstance, but by choice. It’s the middle ground of both battles, the only party that associates with both sides and never interferes at the same time.

There are good pirates in this world. There are good marines, as well. There’s no real way to solve this problem. 

 

(Coby tried, and look what happened to him.)

 

They just have to grit their teeth, bear it, and overcome the pain, over and over.

 

(Not this time.)

 

-

 

“You’re just a fishman! Don’t obstruct justice!”

 

Nami draws her Clima Tact, assembling it quickly.

Swinging it in one strong move, she deflects the bullet with two clean spins before swatting away the pistol into the air, and bringing it back down on the Marine’s head, knocking him to the ground.

 

“Nami!” that’s Nojiko. Nami turns over immediately, eyes narrowing at the sight of her sister, arms held behind her and a gun at her head.

“Nami,” and Choo behind her had been shot in the arm once, probably caught off guard.

She gives Choo one concerned look, and Choo responds with a resolved glance back, hiding his injured arm behind himself as a gesture to not mind it. Respectfully, Nami turns away from that.

At least Nojiko doesn’t look harmed beyond a little ache and bruising.

 

There are nearly two dozen soldiers-- not a lot, but still a big group. The only fishman present was Choo, and he’s stuck at the fence too far to take Nojiko out of harm’s way. 

The soldiers have the house and the entrances of the tangerine grove all surrounded-- and among them, one man stood out.

 

“A girl with a metal arm, wielding a staff. Burglar Cat Nami of the Whitebeards, am I right?” the highest ranking officer says, faking a polite bow that was in reality nothing more than sarcastic procedure.

“That hair looks awful on you,” she says, because she’s not in the mood for greetings right now.

The tangerine grove isn’t trashed yet, small mercy, but they’ve got shovels at the ready. 

From the coat, the one talking to her is probably Captain or above. Seriously, who wears that many ponytails? There’s one on his forehead, on both sides of his head, and even on his chin. Who does that?

“Have some respect for me! I’m Commodore Purinpurin, the highest ranking officer of the Seventy-seventh Marine branch!” he snaps.

Nami raises an eyebrow. Well, she’s heard stupider names than that.

“You barge into my house,” she gestures at the tangerine grove, “destroy my property. And there you’re holding my sister, a civilian, at gunpoint.” On cue, Nojiko casts a side glance at the Marine who was holding a gun to her head. Nami sets a firm gaze on the Commodore. “You have the gall to demand respect?”

“Nami--”

“Choo. I’ll be fine. Just leave this to me and get back to the town.”

Instead of being phased, Commodore smiles.

“And that is the issue we are addressing today,” he declares, like he’s very sure he can win today. Nami highly doubts it, but she’s not one to be overconfident.

 

She makes sure Choo goes further away, straight toward the village for medical attention-- before focusing on the Commodore again.

For starters, Nami stretches out her Observation Haki as far as it can go-- which isn't very far at all. No snipers, at least none in East Blue level’s distance.

So Choo took that bullet and hasn’t killed a human for it yet. Why? To protect Nojiko? For the Shichibukai matter? Or for the tangerine grove? Ah man, that’s totally Nami’s fault, then. 

 

“I’ve heard that, in this very tangerine grove-- there’s a stash of gold hidden away. Pillaged from other pirates of the East-- now, who could be the culprit of that?”

Nami resists the urge to roll her eyes. They’re going for this route again? 

“It’s mine,” Nami says immediately-- “what’s wrong with pirates stealing from pirates? You’re not going to police my piracy, are you?”

“Of course not. You are a Whitebeard-- who am I to question your intentions? I wouldn’t dare to make an enemy of an Emperor of the Seas,” he says, still wearing that shit-eating grin on his face. “I’m here to question the hoarder and hider of that money.”

This time, Nami really rolls her eyes.

“You’re reaching for reasons,” she says. “I am a pirate-- what’s so strange about me having secret hordes of money in my backyard?”

“Don’t you know assisting in robbery is a crime as well?”

 

Nami froze.

(Oh. That’s the road they’re taking?)

 

“Commodore, we found it!” 

Nami swirls over. When did they?! Nojiko jumps forward, but is quickly held back by another marine holding a gun and a warning shout.

They’ve dug around the trees, spring most of the trees but leaving the soil a brown and dugout mess. Shining jewellery and stacks of cash spill from the casket hidden in the soil-- and someone was around counting the stacks to add up the estimate.

“It won’t matter what you say or insist,” Commodore Purinpurin says, “the evidence speaks for itself. You can try to defend-- but why do the words of a pirate matter? Much more, she’s your family, isn’t she? She should be ashamed to have been raised in the same family as a criminal.”

Nami sees red.

 

(“Ace always asked himself if it was right for him to have been born.”)

(“I can’t say for real-- but I hope he found the answer to it in the end.”)

 

This is so fucking stupid.

“Do the marines have no real criminals to capture? Is that why you have to come up with new ones so you can get something behind bars?” Nami grinds her teeth, fists clenching, “you do know what will happen if Whitebeard hears of this.”

“Oh?” Commodore smirks, “running to your old man when there’s trouble? I never knew Whitebeard pirates were such pushovers.”

 

Nami is so going to kill this guy. 

 

“So you were counting on my pride to not call Whitebeard? You must be an idiot,” Nami sighs. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. You’re just a snot-nosed brat from the East who thinks he’s above anyone just because he’s got a little promotion.”

Nami frowns at the tangerine grove. They’ve mostly just destroyed that one patch hiding the treasure-- maybe because Nami put a marker on it this time. Good tactic, now the trees are safe. She’s still pissed about the mess, though. 

That irks the Commodore. “I am a Commodore!” he has to establish that, apparently, “what can one lone, teenage pirate girl do against my fleet?”

Ah, that explains it. 

 

Nami doesn’t have a bounty, she only has the tattoo to her name, and a few infamous little ventures in Paradise or the Grand Line. Her epithet exists, but it’s about as infamous as Pirate Hunter Zoro, perhaps a little less. 

Indeed, anyone can just take Whitebeard’s name if they’re fearless enough.

Even if Nami is a Whitebeard, the rest of her crew are in the New World. Not to say that gives them any opening at all-- no, no one would dare. 

But if it’s an extended attack on Nojiko instead of Nami, it’s a Nami problem, not a problem that warrants Whitebeard’s efforts or retaliation. Much more, they won’t face any consequences if they just silence Nami.

 

(Which, they seem to think is easy simply because Nami’s a girl? How dumb. How does Tashigi-chan handle staying here? Nami almost feels sorry for her.)

 

Nami drops her staff.

She smiles. “That sounds like a challenge, Commodore Pudding-puddle.”

 

-

 

“Don’t push your luck,” the Commodore growls at her.

Nami keeps her smile on her face. “I’m not!” she says, “look, I even dropped my weapon. In what way do I look like anything but a fragile little girl? My arm?”

Commodore Purinpurin is seething . Nami isn’t taking him seriously at all, and that’s clear. In fact, she’s looking down on him. She doesn’t believe he would actually shoot her sister, doesn’t she?

 

The Marines of East Blue can’t continue being pathetically shoved around by pirates like this. First Morgan was apparently taken down and arrested, then Buggy in Orange Town, and Fullbody’s incident in the Baratie-- if this keeps up, Marine reputation will plummet and East Blue’s crime rates will go up. 

Seeing as this is the weakest blue, there’s no greater shame. The higher ups are even commanding him to do something-- his own position is in danger, who cares if he needs to get desperate for it?

Angering a Whitebeard is a problem, but confiscating the money and establishing a little Marine dominance over small-time thieves like Nojiko , right in the Sun’s backyard-- that will win him points.

It’s fine if the story isn’t the greatest. The world will believe the newspapers, or the rumours among the pirates. He just needs to make sure it’s written well.

 

“The money will be confiscated. I will have mercy to plead your case,” he grins, “so your sister will not receive a bounty. But she will be put on blacklists in case of future conspiracies, and be put under watch of the Marines until she is released in six months for good behaviour .”

The glare that sinks on Nami’s face is glowering .

“It’s a merciful punishment,” Commodore Purinpurin says. 

 

Nami crosses her arms together, and the marine holding the gun to Nojiko’s head stiffens. 

“No suspicious moves!” he yells. 

 

Nami’s eyes widen-- in the very next second, the trigger is pulled and Nojiko howls, a bullet sinking into her shoulder. 

“Nojiko!” she yells, but her sister interrupts.

“I’m fine!” Nojiko says.  It’s just a shoulder wound, so she won’t die from that. She won’t die from that, but--

“The next bullet will be lethal,” the marine warns, “Please stay still until we finish retrieving the gold, Miss Burglar Cat.”

 

Nami sets a firm gaze on that marine soldier.

Those are courageous eyes, but he’s shaking, and his actions are out of trigger-happy paranoia warped into mad confidence. 

He’s scared. 

Scared that, if he lets Nami so much as scratch an itch, the situation will be completely overturned and they’ll all be dead in the next second. 

Nami smiles a little, though it's stiff from anger.

 

(She knows better than everyone that cowards are good for one thing in this world.)

(They never underestimate their enemies.)

 

It’s a shame she never came to know this guy, this no-name little bastard, in her past life. He would’ve been a nice guy to talk to, especially because he’s a total wimp. “What’s your rank?” she asks.

He’s surprised by that question, but he juts out an answer instinctively. “E-Ensign.”

“Well Ensign,” she addresses him, “it’s shameful for me to admit, but it seems you’re the smartest of all the Marines here today.”

 

Nojiko was shot. Just like last time. Different spot, but the fact remains.

History really doesn't like to be changed, does it? It's almost ridiculous how hard it's trying.

Chapter 16: chaos? here? more likely than you think.

Summary:

Zoro gets sewn up properly, Nami gives the Marines a one-fingered salute, and Gin wants to go home.

Chapter Text

Zoro is a fucking idiot, and Usopp should’ve known that.

(He should’ve fucking known.)

He honestly didn’t see-- if Usopp remembered right, this was Kuroobi-- Kuroobi’s attack coming, so by the time Johnny shoved him aside, Zoro called out, and a clash of flesh was heard-- 

“ZORO-ANIKI!”

Usopp realizes a little too late what’s going on, and Zoro’s pained howl reaches his ears. Green fills his vision, and anger erupts.

 

(“Zoro!” Usopp yells-- but no, it’s too late for him. He’s surrounded, and though Zoro can handle a crowd of marines on his own-- the rest of them can’t come with. They’ll have to leave him behind., they’ll have to go without him.)

(They haven’t seen so much blood on him since Thriller Bark.)

 

And for a moment, they were there again. In that battlefield, protected by their strongest, running for their lives, total burdens, weak, weak, weak .

One step back for balance. 

His mind was set only on one thing-- the enemy in front of Zoro.

He switches his grip on his walking stick, holding it like a spear before drawing it back, and chucking it forward, right between Zoro’s arms.

It’s not solid enough to deal any damage, but Kuroobi definitely flinches. 

 

(He can’t see, but he has a trajectory to follow. From the amount of time it took to hit, he knows the distance.) 

 

Usopp drops to his hands, spinning his foot to the side-- landing a solid kick at the rayfish-fishman’s side. Without a beat of rest, Usopp flips over, and kicks his heel upward to sock Kuroobi in the jaw.

“What the-- Usopp-aniki?!”

“Get Zoro!” Usopp yells, because that obviously takes priority over anything else.

Usopp gathers himself back onto his feet, swirling back around for the next strike-- but he freezes instead. 

 

A loud caw rips through the air, and the world snaps back into place. As clear as a blind man’s view can be, at least. 

Kuroobi lifts his head, noticing the bird in confusion. 

Usopp breathes, his chest burning. “One caw, long,” he says, and then translates. “No fighting.”

 

And immediately, Usopp gets punched in the face by Kuroobi.

 

-

 

The bird dives in, crashing full-speed right into Johnny’s screaming face. Let’s just say Johnny’s screaming got louder.

“Ah, you’re the bird that was with Nami,” Kuroobi realizes, retracting his fist and straightening, resting a palm on his swollen jaw, “so you guys are Nami’s friends? Why didn’t you just say so?”

“WE DID!” Zoro and Johnny yell in unison, the latter peeling the bird off his face with a ‘get off me!’, chucking it to the ground in anger before converging on Zoro. 

 

(The bird squawks and whirls back into balance before she crashed, making her shaky way to safety on Usopp’s head.)

 

Usopp sits up from the ground slowly, wincing at his cheek-- he’s pretty sure it’ll bruise, but that’s the best case scenario. Fishman punches can break human skulls easy, and Usopp reckons he got off pretty easy. 

Usopp had hit him in the jaw, so the vertigo must’ve thrown Kuroobi’s strength off. Lucky him, because he still has all his teeth.

 

Usopp groans, reaching blindly for the bird on his face, trying to shove it away but the bird was grabbing at his face like a cat. “Fluffbutt get off me,” then, “wait, why do you smell like perfume?”

Nami doesn’t wear perfume. Chopper hated it, after all-- it’s a girl’s perfume, not a strong one but certainly mixed in with dew and fresh oranges. 

(Did she fly through a tangerine grove?)

 

Kuroobi just blinks, turning to Zoro again. “Huh? But you’re a pirate hunter,” he says.

“Since when was I a pirate hunter?!” Zoro growls, frustrated, “if I ever find whoever started calling me that, I swear I’ll--”

“Zoro-aniki, stop yelling! Your wound’s gonna reopen!”

 

Kuroobi had struck him once at his chest, which was frankly enough to jostle the stitches a little too hard. Did the stitches tear? Usopp can’t tell, but they’re definitely agonizing.

Probably a few, hopefully not all of them. Either way, bad.

 

“Wait wait I know this sounds far-fetched, but he’s not a pirate hunter anymore,” Usopp assures him, standing up with Kinoko in his arm and looking around for-- oh damn, where’s his walking stick? Nevermind -- “we’re a just-starting pirate group. I’m sure Nami can explain it to you.”

Kuroobi’s response is silence. 

Usopp’s looking in his general direction, and he feels a little psychological weight, as if Kuroobi was staring straight at him, studying his every expression. Usopp knows he shouldn’t look away now.

So he stands straight.

“Is something wrong?” he asks.

Kuroobi crosses his arms. “You’re not scared of me,” he says, not at all intending on sounding like a boast, but the words are what they are. “You’re not even wary.”

 

And that’s strange. Johnny’s reaction-- the panicked ‘oh-no-it’s-a-bear’ treatment-- is the norm, especially out here in the east. 

Zoro’s not scared, but he’s definitely wary and alarmed. That’s also the normal reaction.

Usopp’s reaction-- he acted like nothing was wrong or different. There wasn’t even the beginning traces of alarm a pirate would have against a clearly stronger figure. 

And that usually boasts confidence or pride.

For a New World pirate like Kuroobi, it’s a sign to keep your guard constantly at a high. Because this human before him might be a frog in the well-- or it might just be a dragon. The chances are a sharp fifty-fifty.

 

(Kuroobi had always been the perceptive, skeptical sort. There is no way he’s going to face this man with anything less than full alert, especially after that kick in the jaw.)

 

Usopp chuckles, waving his hands before him in a dismissive gesture.

“Of course I’m not scared. I’m the great Usopp, fearless man of the seas!” he says, puffing out his chest in fake confidence. This was easy to see through as a loud lie, so Kuroobi was a little taken aback. 

“I see,” he calmly accepts. “Nami mentioned she would have guests. However…”

 

Quickly, Usopp lowers his arm and lets Kinoko fly away. 

Then he proceeds to panic

 

“Oh no!” he yelps, composure missing immediately, “I forgot! Oh man, I should’ve told you guys about this first.” He turns toward Zoro and Johnny at ‘you guys’ before turning back to Kuroobi, “I forgot, didn’t I? Can we start over? Please don’t kill us.”

Kuroobi kind of wants to.

So much for his previous acknowledgement of the longnose. Usopp’s not scared of a Fishman but he’s scared of this ? Geez.

 

(It’s only a little after this that Kuroobi realizes how drastically and immediately the mood changes, just from one line.)

 

“What this time?” Zoro asks. If Usopp could see, he’d probably laugh at his face. Zoro sounds like he’s finally remembered he’s not supposed to be sane anymore.

“When you get on someone’s territory when the pirate crew is still on it, you’re supposed to ask for permission,” Usopp turns around to tell him. “We’re assumed hostile if we don’t. It’s kind of like pirate code.”

Zoro makes an annoyed ‘but that’s such a pain in the ass’ noise.

“Oh come on! Unlike you, Zoro, I do not go places wishing to fight everyone on it when I’m bored or don’t have money,” Usopp says, stressing the words. “And no matter what you say, we can’t beat them all up. We’ll die. We’ll seriously die. No, don’t give me that disbelieving look, we cannot win .”

Zoro raises a finger to interrupt, but Usopp speaks over him again.

“And no, I am not being a coward. I am a coward, but this is being an idiot. I am not an idiot. You are an idiot,” Usopp rubs that last line in with extra emphasis. After a moment of deliberation, he adds, “you and Luffy both.”

Zoro throws his arms up in defeat.

Kuroobi sighs. Seems like he’s feeling defeated too.

 

“Don’t bother with it. I was just screwing with you,” he says. “You said you were here for a doctor?”

 

-


-

 

Johnny sighs.

Zoro’s pained screaming in the background, behind that window, is, as wrong as this sounds, absolute music to his ears. 

 

When they were treating him on the little dinghy, Zoro had made no noise at all. 

They were scared-- very, very scared-- because what if Zoro was dead? What if he’d died from blood loss already? Johnny was too scared to check and Usopp was too busy, too focused, too flustered to have time for that.

In contrast to that, Zoro’s constant loud complaining right now, inside Doctor Nako’s house, was just very relieving to listen to, even from outside the doctor’s house and sitting by the window.

 

Usopp sits beside him on the bench, Kinoko in his lap and his walking stick laying beside them. 

Johnny is exhausted.

They had literally rushed their green-haired idiot into the doctor’s room after that. There were a lot of villagers around the doctor’s house for some reason, though Nako yelled for everyone to clear out after noticing Zoro’s condition. 

Meanwhile, the rest of them just got a pat on the head and were told to sit down. 

Usopp and Kuroobi got an ice pack for their new bruises. Kuroobi went off somewhere else after getting it, though. 

 

“You’re pretty strong, Usopp-aniki,” Johnny decides to say. “Are there a lot of Fishmen in the Grand Line or something?”

Usopp was completely unfazed by the Fishman. And he attacked-- Johnny wouldn’t even dream of recklessly attacking a fishman like that-- and actually striking twice?! Crazy. Usopp-aniki is on a completely different level. 

(Sane, but just from a different world to begin with.)

“Not exactly,” Usopp says, “I’m scared of them too. Just not any more than I’m usually scared of a marine, or a dangerous pirate.”

Johnny stares at him.

“You’re not very expressively scared of any of those things,” he says, very necessarily, “you didn’t even give Don Krieg a glance.”

Usopp chuckles, “I don’t need to. I mean, I’m blind.”

 

And Johnny has to admit-- Usopp’s right. The man’s blind, there’s no reason for him to be scared of a strong-looking fishman or pirate. Prestige only goes so far against someone with experience as much as he, and there’s no appearance-wise shock factor to back it up.

Johnny’s kind of jealous.

 

“There’s nothing wrong with being a coward. You just need to stand up when it counts,” Usopp tells him. “Have I told you the story of how the cowardly liar became the bravest warrior of the seas?

“Another one of your weird stories?”

“You won’t listen?”

“Well, I have nothing better to do.”

 

And they settled down, side by side. Usopp spinning one dramatic tale after a breathtaking story, his tone lilting and exaggerated at the right moments.

Behind them, Zoro’s surgery goes on.

Just a little, they sound less agonized now.

 

-


-

 

Nami honestly thought this would go a lot harder.

But it didn’t. For the second time in this timeline, she’s in disbelief for how convenient the world is for her, in totally incredulous ways reminiscent of her old life.

Long story short, Luffy has stupendously perfect timing.

 

-

 

They were in a sort of intense stare-off, when a loud, chain of screaming in the distance caught their attention. They turn to the source-- seaward-- and, there it is.

“AAAAHHHH!!! WE’RE GONNA DIE! WE’RE GONNA DIE!”

“WE’RE FLYING! WE’RE IN THE AIR!”

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO SO FAST! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!”

“DON’T YELL AT ME, YELL AT THE STUPID BEEF-FISH! NO ONE TOLD IT TO CRASH!”

 

A fishing boat-sized vehicle, soaring through the air. 

A handful of full-grown males all inside screaming bloody murder as they land, yelling for everyone to get away, run away, we’re gonna hit, dodge, oh no .

A fraction of a second is spent on pure ‘what the fuck’, then the Marine are squawking too, dashing past each other and scrambling and shoving over each other to get out of danger zone.

“It’s a fishing boat?!”

“RUN!”

“NO, NO, THE OTHER SIDE!”

“Aaaaahhh!!”

 

In the panic, the man holding Nojiko loosens his hold to find space to escape-- and at first, Nojiko was also horrified, scrambling around for anywhere that’s cover instead of escaping-- priorities are life over freedom for now, after all.

And then it lands, right on top of Commodore Purinpurin, who was too shocked to escape in time. That's not enough to stop the velocity of the fall, so the boat skids on forward, grounding against the grass-- and then proceeds to crash right into the house.

Her house. 

Damn, there goes her house. 

 

The door shatters on impact, and the motley chaos disappears into the building in a mess of broken wood and debris and furniture. And startled yells, lots of startled yells.

Nami stares, utterly flabbergasted.

She snaps out of it for a moment. Nojiko’s still surrounded by Marines, though none of them are holding onto her. Nami runs forward.

The Ensign notices her, and he freaks. He reaches for his rifle-- but Nami is faster.

She braces on her right foot, throws her body forward with her right fist-- 

“Shark Tile: True Punch!” 

--she doesn’t hit them. She hit the air, and the shockwave blows them all back. Fishman Karate is the philosophy of wielding water, and the vapour in the air is enough of a weapon to deal with these grunts.

All except Nojiko, who Nami grabs by the wrist and tugs over to her side. 

 

“Nami, isn’t that the fishmen’s technique--?!” Nojiko says, startled. Nami shushes her quickly, scooping up her Clima Tact on the way.

“I can steal more than money, Nojiko,” Nami grins. 

She splits it into three and catches it, spinning Heat and Cool Balls behind her. She takes a good look at Nojiko’s still-bleeding shoulder and painfully unmoving arm. 

Behind them, a figure laughs, bursting out of the house.

“We’re alive!”

“WE ARE NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!”

“I’ll never have enough lives for this...”

“That shitty hippo, I swear if we ever see it again-- OH! NAMI-SWAN!! ♥️♥️ AND ANOTHER PRETTY LAAAADY~!!”

Nojiko presses her hand on the wound. Nami’s eyes narrow on it, but she quickly looks away back toward the new entrants.

 

The Marines have regained their composure now, getting up quickly and cocking their guns at the crowd.

“Commodore Purinpurin!”

“You fiend! What do you think you just did to him?!”

“Uh, is he still alive?”

“Seize them!”

The four (four? Usopp’s not among them, so maybe Johnny and Yosaku? She can’t see the fourth in the angle she’s looking from, but anyways they) step out of the smoke, coughing, brushing dust and rubble out of their clothes. 

They’re still bickering as they come out, and Luffy’s booming laughter still towers over all the other noise in the area. 

 

At the loud threats, Luffy looks up with an unwelcoming glance. 

“Huh?”

Nami holds up her hand, assembling her staff together and sets it standing beside her. “Luffy, don’t worry about them,” she calls after him. 

“Oh, Nami!” Luffy immediately beams.

Half of the marines snap back toward her, suddenly realizing that they’ve had the tables completely turned on them. It’s one thing if they confront her with a hostage-- they didn’t come here in preparation to fight a large battle!

 

(And without their Commodore, they’re all in disarray and heck, they might not get out of this alive if they’ve put the pirates in a bad mood-- which they have.)

 

“You idiot! Why did you let go of the hostage!”

“But the Commodore-- shit.”

“She has her weapon. Troops, aim at the Burglar Cat!” 

“But what about the ones that attacked the Commodore?!”

“ShIt shit shit!”

 

Nami raises a finger toward the sky. Eyes turn towards it, and panic ensues again. Shit, when did such a large, dangerously gray cloud get there? Well it’s been there for a while, so Nami reckons her opponents are pretty blind all the time. 

“The weather calls for a Thunderstorm warning. Do abstain from leaving your houses until it passes,” she smiles. She raises a finger to the air, and the cloud crackles with golden sparks. 

She throws down her finger in time with the first strike of lightning.

“Thunderbolt Tempo!”

 

-


-

 

“Listen here, you marine buffoons. Whatever the hell you were trying here, consider yourselves scarce and,” Nami hisses with teeth, “fuck. Off.”

Her staff twitches a little in her grasp, and a Marine makes a shrill whimper.

 

Luffy and his group are staring at the scene with jaw-dropped interest. Yosaku is screaming, finally realizing that they’d crashed into a Marine Commodore back there.

Nami raises a metal middle finger.

“This ain’t a show! Get off my private property already!” she yells.

 

And they bolt. Screaming, they dash off like no tomorrow. Some of them scramble past Luffy into the house to retrieve their Commodore, stopping only once to look at Nami.

“And just let me tell you guys this-- don’t you dare go tacking on Oyaji’s name for any of this, got it?” Nami threatens them. “I’m not a Whitebeard Pirate anymore-- from now on I’m a Strawhat Pirate! Got it?”

 

The Marine pauses confusion, Commodore Purinpurin unconscious over their shoulders. 

“Strawhat?” he asks.

He turns slowly toward Luffy, who’s standing right beside him a door’s distance away.

Luffy beams, “I’m Monkey D. Luffy!”

 

Luffy sure knows how to be unintentionally threatening, because that’s a million-watt smile that sends shivers down the spines of the bravest marines. It’s the same thing in the future, and the same thing from Gold Roger. 

(The smile of a man that can overturn the world without hesitation.)

(Maybe it’s a Pirate King thing?)

 

Nami scoffs at their retreating figures. What a waste of time! “This is ridiculous,” she sighs. “You dropped by right in the nick of time, Luffy. Thanks for the help.”

“Oh, no problems!” Luffy grins. He hooks an arm around Sanji and then at his other companion-- “Anyways, we got new comrades and everything, so let’s go, Nami!”

Sanji quickly escapes from that hold, zooming forward to Nojiko and bowing dramatically, getting on his knees before holding her hands out in a proposal.

“Oh, you bring the goddess of beauty to shame,” Sanji swoons, “may I have your name, oh lovely mademoiselle?”

Nojiko humours him. If there’s something she and Nami definitely inherited from Bellemere, it was the fact that they loved to charm the playboys, if only to get away with everything under the sun.

“I’m Nojiko.”

“Nojiko! Ah, such a beautiful name. The voice of the angels! I have been blessed by your company, Nojiko sweetheart.”

 

Nami stares at the scene with muted horror for a moment. Sanji has probably lost his wallet twice now… she opts to ignore it in favour of Luffy. 

“If you’re here, Zoro and Usopp should be in town…” Nami pauses. “Wait.”

Her face falls, her jaw drops.

“Luffy,” she speaks up, a shaky finger raising. 

Okay, the one with the straw hat is Luffy. The charmer beside her sister is Sanji. The one behind them, face full of panicked tears, is Yosaku. 

So who’s the exhausted-looking guy being held down by Luffy’s three-looped grip?

 

“Luffy, who’s that?”

 

It’s different.

It’s different, sure-- the entrance is wrong and the greetings don’t line up. That’s to be expected. But the members and the casting shouldn’t be different. 

Why is there another actor on the stage?

Why is there another chess piece on the board?

 

(Usopp must have done something.)

( Usopp must have done something , because Nami didn’t.)

 

Luffy grins. He always girns, because he’s adorable and innocent and nothing he does can be wrong, he won’t let anyone tell him it’s wrong. Once he’s decided on something, once he’s marked his territory, he’ll fight you to keep it.

He’s an animal, an endearing, so endearing little animal.

“That’s right! You haven’t met him yet,” Luffy tugs the older man closer toward himself, “this is Gin! He’s nakama , too!”

 

Uncharted territory.

 

Nami feels hollow inside, but it’s not devastation she’s feeling in her chest. It’s not that kind of painful emptiness or disappointment-- she’s not upset about this, but she's not overjoyed, either. She’s surprised, but she doesn’t know if it’s pleasant or unpleasant.

She’s conflicted.

 

(Not for the first since she’s come back, she’s finally realized something.)

(This was unpredictable . This was different. This was wrong but not wrong , because the ‘real’ she knows doesn’t exist anymore .)

(So this can’t be ‘wrong’. This is the new ‘right’.)

(And that’s what it means to be ‘changing the future’.) 

 

So she forces a smile on her face, and tries to stifle the growing sense of dread in the pits of her stomach. Things weren’t going to be the same anymore.

She threw away the familiar future when she decided to change the sequence of things. She threw that away willingly, the bad, and the good as well.

 

(They’re not the East Blue Five anymore. They won’t be the Strawhat Ten anymore.)

(Things are going to be different and that means the dynamics and the friendships and the crew and the atmosphere, everything, it’s going to change .)

 

She can’t cry about it now, Gin didn’t do anything wrong. She shouldn’t blame him for it.

“I’m Nami. I’m the Navigator.”

 

(This was for the better, she just has to believe in that.)

(She can’t be the old Nami anymore. She has to be the new Nami and this new Nami has new friends, new comrades, too .)

(Because this is the new timeline, and Nami can’t spend too much time wallowing in the old one. They’ll be left behind)

 

“Nice to meet you, I guess.”

 

-


-

 

Zoro is alive.

Like, he probably died a few times in between the surgery simply out of Doctor Nako’s spite, but yeah he’s alive. 

Johnny hasn’t stopped crying in relief yet.

 

“The first aid was done well, thankfully, but it might still get infections,” the doctor says, taking a drag of his smoke, “I don’t care what you guys do, but let the stitches heal before you let him challenge a brick wall again, got it?”

Oh, they’ve only known Doctor Nako for the past hour or so, but he’s already gotten Zoro’s personality down to perfect understanding. That’s impressive.

“No promises,” Usopp promises half-heartedly. “He’s only got swordsmanship and aimless idiocy in his head, so it’s out of my hands, sir.”

“What was that, Usopp?!” an offended voice comes from behind the window.

“And strangely sharp ears, apparently,” Usopp corrects himself. 

Doctor Nako nods contemplatively. 

 

In the few hours they took to get the surgery done, Usopp was beginning to get the threads back into his vision. His Haki was starting to crawl back out, easing out he kinks like a baby deer learning how to use his legs. In a while, it’ll be back to normal.

The familiar voice of Kinoko beside him began to take shape as a little more than a brown, fluffy blur, and with it, he began to spread out over the island.

He reached over to Kinoko’s leg, retrieving the vial he had fastened to it before. 

 

Usopp’s Observation Haki could not sense furniture, infrastructure, and plants-- but he could sense humans and animals. He’s particularly sensitive to his own voice, his own smell, his own whisper in the wind.

So the vial around Kinoko’s leg contained droplets of his own blood, diluted to a colourless, odourless degree. Kinoko would spread it around an island-- and Usopp would feel around blindly with his Haki, charting a map inside of his head.

This way, he can get a survey of the land using his Haki, even without his eyes.

 

It’s a relief that Nami used to draw so many maps, discard just as many, and she was always in the mood to talk Usopp’s ears right off about the logistics and tactics of the perfect sea chart. Though that was back in the old world.

(Now, Usopp could only try to dig those memories back out. He wasn’t even sure how a map was supposed to look like anymore. He hasn’t seen a clear thing for ages.)

 

“Thanks a lot, old guy,” Usopp says, “is Nami around?”

“Hm? What, you owe her some money or something?” Doctor Nako asks.

Usopp blanches, “who doesn’t owe her money? But no, not for that. We’re actually meeting up here with our crew before we set off for the Grand Line. The last of our crew should be here soon.” 

If Usopp could see, he would’ve probably laughed at Doctor Nako’s expressions.

“I don’t get it, you guys masochists or something? You’re gonna have to deal with that greedy tyke for the rest of your life if you let her on your ship,” Doctor Nako tells them. 

“Don’t worry, she’s actually the least crazy of the crew we have so far,” Usopp says, his face stoic as a deadpan without him even trying.

 

Johnny makes an offended noise, “you are the last person that gets to say anything!”

“Now, Jimmy, don’t bully the blind kid.”

“My name is Johnny ! And we all know you’re not as blind as you pretend to be!”

“Now that’s just rude.”

 

They’re interrupted by Kinoko, who scatters her wings and flaps wildly, getting her altitude before soaring off in a direction Usopp can’t see. 

(What’s got into her?)

“Wait, Kinoko! I still need you to...” Usopp raises his voice-- but the bird’s presence is too far away now, so he trails off. “Johnny, what’s over there?”

 

There’s a lot of noise at the village gates, a flock of voices (people) gathering, all voices in disarray and a weakened voice making himself known.

Doctor Nako runs toward it, and Usopp realizes that whatever happened, a doctor was necessary there. 

 

“Something happened,” Johnny says, his voice tense. 

That’s clear. Peace never stays long around the Strawhats, and this was exhibit one. But seriously? Trouble on the Fishmen’s island? You’re not telling me Luffy is here already…

An injured Fishman is being led towards them-- and Usopp doesn’t pinpoint the voice until Doctor Nako calls out his name, 

“Choo!” he gapes, “you’ve been shot?”

Choo. That’s the guy Usopp fought in his last timeline. Yikes.

 

Johnny flinches in his spot. “Another fishman?” 

 

Usopp nods sympathetically. If this was the previous timeline, he’d be just as freaked out. After all, Johnny’s a normal guy. 

Usopp could sort of imagine the internal turmoil Johnny’s facing. Oh right, this one is hurt-- that’s not the problem! He shouldn’t be this scared of them. (There’s no reason to be!) (But I am!) Cue confused screaming.

In fact, the panic is hilariously clear in his aura alone, and Usopp’s haki right now is hazy like a freshly-awakened mindset, so Usopp is just absorbing Johnny’s internal crisis like a sponge. 

(He wants to slap Johnny once. Maybe he’ll stop panicking.)

 

“It’s nothing, chu,” Choo says. “We should hurry. The Marines are…”

 

(First pirates, now marines? This island’s protection is a complete mess. An overhaul on the guarding duty needs to be organized, seriously.)

Usopp can smell the blood in the air. Choo’s been shot, but it’s nothing serious. But shooting a Fishman is a serious matter-- why would a Fishman of Choo’s caliber let anyone shoot him?

(Hostage situations, politics?)

Usopp stands up suddenly, his aura blaring, eyes wide, and fists clenched. 

( He’s here.)

 

Choo stops speaking immediately, his New World-levelled instincts freezing him shock still as he swirls, vision landing on Usopp. Eye contact was not necessary-- this was an assertion of spirit, from one pirate to another. 

”W-What’s wrong, Usopp-aniki?” 

Johnny latches onto Usopp’s arm, looking frantically between them. 

“Huh? Uh, no, nothing much--”

“Don’t do that. Usopp-aniki you might notice but you’re glaring right at the Fishman, and I’m not a Fishman, but I’m sure that’s rude,” he pleads, sounding more confused by the second, “stop it. Please . Usopp-aniki I am going to cry. ” 

Usopp quickly closes his eyes. He had been focusing too hard . His eyes have no discolouration, so it definitely does look pretty threatening when he stares off in a random direction. He’ll need to keep that in mind next time.

Johnny breathes a sigh of relief.

 

“I see,” Usopp says, “the Fishman Pirates can’t do anything to the Marines on this island, Shichibukai and all. Hey, Mister dandy sir Fishman over there!” 

 

Johnny squeaks, presumably because Choo’s stepped forward, coming very much closer towards them. Doctor Nako’s fussy voice comes closer too, presumably to treat the gunshot wound where the Fishman stood. 

The bounty hunter ducks behind Usopp’s body, shaking like he’s read to wet his pants today. But Usopp is unfazed.

“And you are?” Choo asks.

“I’m one of Nami’s new comrades. My name is Usopp!” Usopp says, huffing in practised pride. “Don’t worry, me and my legion of eighty million--” he trails off and starts again with, “anyways, Marines?”

“Kind of. If you’re her comrade, how about you go up and help her? Chu,” the fishman says in an apprehensive manner, clearly issuing a challenge rather than offering a friendly suggestion. “They have Nojiko, so she’s in a bit of a pinch."

 

Usopp raises a finger. "Don't worry."

Right then, thunder struck in the airspace above the tangerine grove.

 

All eyes spun on the scene. Jaws drop, eyes widen, and surprised squeaks pass through the crowd. Even in Paradise, sudden miniature sparks of hell thunder was not actually common. It makes sense that this freak everyone the hell out.

Usopp chuckles nervously, “on behalf of my captain, I would like to ask-- permission to come inland, sir Choo of the Sun Pirates?”

Choo made a longsuffering groan. “Should’ve known Nami’s comrades would be just as crazy as herself. Chu.”

 

-


-

 

“GOMU GOMU NO--” is the only warning, “--HI USOPP!!”

 

Usopp is abruptly met with a facefull-- or actually armfull, or actually let’s just say bodyfull-- of Luffy. The rubber menace greets the blind boy by rocketing straight into him and shooting them both churning backward into a tumbling, ragged pile of pain.

As Usopp stares at the blue sky, a blooming agony in his head, a laughing weight on his body-- he finds himself deeply reconsidering his life choices.

There's that caw in the air. With his Haki, Usopp can tell that Kinoko is currently perched on Nami's head.  Oh hi there you moronic fluffbutt, what's the point of you being here if you always run off somewhere else when I need to avoid being, y'know, rocketed into?

He's going to pluck out that stupid bird's feathers one by one he swears.

 

“Hi, Luffy,” he says, still sprawled out in a defeated manner. Luffy had probably made himself comfortable on top of Usopp, arms crossed as a pillow for his chin. “Zoro’s in the doctor’s office.”

“Doctor?” Luffy asks, in his very irritatingly endearing way, “Zoro? Why is Zoro in there?”

“Obviously because he almost died--!!” Usopp snaps back instinctively, only to belatedly realize he’s wasting his energy. “Hey, listen to me!”

Luffy’s not listening. He hops back up to his feet, dusts himself off, and hums a lazy tune as he marches off in the probable direction Usopp is pointing. 

“Maybe he’s taking a nap,” he decides, because he’s a very responsible captain like that. He goes through the window, because he does not know what a door is. “Hey, ZORO! Oh you’re right there. WE GOTTA GO! WAKE UPPP!”

 

Then apparently Luffy finds something else interesting. 

“OH HEY! You’re Nami’s big sis! What’re you doing here, did you teleport?!”

“No, I came through the door right over there.”

“So mystery teleport! Cool. And woah! This old guy looks like one of those ugly dresses in Dadan’s closet! WOAH! A PINWHEEL THAT’S SO COOL!”

Who gave Luffy a shot of caffeine? He’s awfully excited for some reason. 

 

A blur of beige passes his vision, and Usopp sits up to find orange and silver looking back at him.

“Glad you made it, Usopp,” Nami says.

Usopp squints at her. “Nami, did you just give the blind boy a hand to help him up?”

“For hurting my feelings, you now owe me another thousand beri.”

“Alright then, let’s decrease that total with the two hundred thousand I spent making your Clima Tact.”

“That’s cheating!”

“Pot kettle black!”

“Are you going to take the hand or not?!”

 

-

 

Gin stares at the scene, flabbergasted. While the two bounty hunters have a tearful, much more normal reunion, the two, saner Strawhats are having a spat about money.

Sanji takes another drag of his cigarette. 

“Are they always like that?” Gin asks the two bounty hunters, who stop in the midst of their brotherly hug of joy to address the scene.

“Well, sometimes,” Yosaku says, “they’re really close. Even more so than Luffy-aniki and Zoro-aniki… Cook-aniki?!”

 

Unified squawks resound as Sanji goes streaking through the air like a missile, bringing his feet toward Usopp with an unholy screech.

“HOW DARE YOU BE SO RUDE TO NAMI-SWAN, YOU BLIND BASTARD!”

Usopp squawks as he goes flying for the second time that minute. Sanji lands on top of him, grasping him by the collar. That half-transparent thing swelling out of his mouth is probably his soul. Does that mean he’s dead?

“And you still owe me an explanation for the dumb and reckless SHIT you’ve been doing recently!” Sanji yells at him. 

Usopp just looks dizzy at this point. Nami sighs. Yosaku decides to go see Zoro before Luffy mauls him, and Johnny tries his best to ease the not at all heated banter.

 

Gin facepalms. “I need a drink.”

 

“Wait!” Usopp raises his arm to block Sanji’s kick, suddenly raising his voice in realization. “Is that guy over there the hungry guy from the Krieg Pirates? What’re you doing here?!” 

Gin blinks once. Is he not welcome? That’s amazing news. “Can I leave?”

“Your captain invited him in,” Sanji says, not removing his foot but certainly taking a leisurely moment to smoke before continuing to dig a bruise into that forearm. “His name’s Gin. Introduce yourself, you shitty bastard.”

 

“What kind of first impression of me are you trying to give him?” Usopp whines, moving both hands over to catch Sanji’s next kick. “Wait! Nami, did you do something?!” he asks in an accusatory tone.

And Nami sounds scandalised, “what? I left the Baratie crazy early, remember? I thought you did something!” 

“Huh? Then what changed?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t there!”

 

Sanji interrupts. “You shity bastard! Are you being rude to Nami-san again?!”

“Geez Sanji, you’re misunderstanding the situation!” Usopp whines, “wait! OW! That hurts! That’s dirty! You don't kick a blind boy in the face! OUCH! STOP! I’M SORRY!”

 

“Wait, Usopp, this is serious!” Nami yells, “you know this could mean--”

“--Sanji, stop kicking me!” Usopp is too occupied by the assaulting blond asshole. “And Nami, seriously, I don’t think I did anything that could’ve-- don’t you think it’s you ? You travelled around a lot more than I did! Maybe--”

 

This was such an incredulous mess. Are they seriously a crew of pirates? They seem like such a motley crew, there are two disputes in front of him, and the captain is fooling around in the corner without a care in the world. They’re hopeless.

Gin side-eyes the alley.

If he ducks away now, no one would even notice…

“Gin! Come on, let’s introduce you to--” Luffy is suddenly beside him, latching onto his arm. Dammit! Did he realize I was trying to run away? Luffy’s eyes land on the bickering group, “--oh nevermind, Usopp’s busy. Let’s go meet Zoro then!”

And Gin is unceremoniously dragged into the doctor’s house.

 

He’s exhausted. He just wants to sleep. He could just pull away now-- but for some reason,he can’t bring himself to shove the little captain off.

(Ah man, is he getting soft already?)

(Obviously not. It’s just the poison in his veins.)

Speaking of the poison, he’s getting used to it. He can pretty much get by with ignoring the dull ache in his lungs now, which is good if he wants to keep being a fighter

The problem was if he wanted to be a pirate on this crew, or run off and go solo.

 

“Zoro! Look, this is Gin! Gin, that’s Zoro!” Luffy introduces them without even saying anything important.

 

Gin considers Roronoa Zoro, lying on the bed with hell’s new scar marring his chest. Their eyes meet-- and he knows that Zoro is observing his newly thinned figure, the faint blue freckles on his arms where his short-sleeved shirt couldn’t cover.

Gin is first to break eye contact, if only to pull his blood-stained bandanna further over his eyes. 

(He wonders if he can get himself a replacement for his shredded jacket in this town.)

 

Zoro smirks, turning away. “Too bad for you, dude. I guess you’re stuck with us from now,” he says. “Welcome to hell.”

Gin sighs, “you’re not going to help me get away either, huh?”

 

Zoro just laughs, and Gin is sort of offended.

Chapter 17: wait, this is wrong. No, it's not my fault.

Summary:

The crew meets the Fishmen, officially. Usopp and Nami speak of the future that could have been, and preparations are made to leave.

Meanwhile, Gin gets assaulted by a bird, tries to find a meaning for himself, and as usual-- is utterly exhausted.

Have I mentioned the bounties yet?

Chapter Text

“Cool! Fish people!”

“L-l-l- Luffy-aniki! NO! That’s a Fishman! Don’t just walk up to it!” 

Yosau clings desperately at the boy, but Luffy just walks on, his very long arm still holding onto Gin. 

 

The commotion draws the attention of the other Fishmen.

“Oh, are you a visitor?” an octopus fishman asks, walking forward to greet them before they came too far into the gates and offended someone. “You guys don’t look like you’re from this island.

Yosaku squeaks, ducking behind Luffy, “it’s an octopus fishman!”

Hachi nods, “yes. I’m a dandy octopus fishman,” he says, swirling his arms about in a very bodhisattva fashion. “I’m Hachi.”

Luffy laughs, “you're an octopus but you’re a person! That’s so weird. Oh! Hey, do you poop?” 

“DON’T ASK THAT!” Yosaku yells, hysterical.

“Yeah, I do.”

“DON’T ANSWER!” Yosaku snaps.

 

The laughter rings through humans and fishmen alike. Luffy laughs boisterously, Yosaku looks on the verge of fainting, while Johnny and Gin just look defeated at the side. 

Sanji was frankly disinterested, simply because there were no female fishmen where he could see them. Nami and Usopp stayed behind to look after the sick people in the infirmary, but for politeness’ sake, they were here in Arlong Park.

 

“Hey, Aladine-chan,” Nojiko greets them loudly, catching everyone’s attention with the bandages around her shoulder. “Nami’s busy, so I came to introduce her crew to you guys!”

“Wait, wait, what happened to you?” Hachi fusses.

“Oh, I got shot a little.”

“HOW DO YOU GET SHOT A LITTLE?!” Hachi grows red, “who?! How dare they!”

“Don’t worry, Nami dealt with them already,” Nojiko says.

 

But before she gets to say anything else, a certain sea cow surfaces at the port, teary-eyed and full of bumps on his head.

“Oh,” Luffy says.

“Ah,” Sanji drops his cigarette.

“Moh-moo!” Hachi squawks, rushing over in a panic. “Oh no! Who bullied you?!”

Gin just facepalms.

 

-

 

“Nami sure has some strange friends,” Choo says.

After Luffy and Sanji got on their knees to apologize to the traumatized sea cow, they became fast friends. Sanji and Gin stare as Luffy starts sea cow rodeo riding, while Yosaku and Johnny squeak at every fishman that comes too close. 

 

The Fishmen are getting way too amused by the two bounty hunters’ jittery reactions, and they've started playing Peek-a-boo.

By the end of it, Johnny and Yosaku look like they’ve lost ten years of their life.

 

“The captain is Luffy-kun, then there’s Sanji-kun, and Gin-kun. Those two aren’t members, but they’re friends,” Nojiko introduces them. “The rest are back at Doctor Nako’s place, but they’ve also got pirate hunter Zoro and one more, Usopp-kun.”

“Hehh,” Choo says, “so, which one broke Kuroobi’s jaw?”

“Wait, what?” Nojiko swirls on the ray-fishman in the corner, suddenly noticing the darkening bruise at the man’s chin. “Woah. Who did that, was it the pirate hunter?”

“No, it was the longnose,” Kuroobi answers. 

Choo does a double-take. “The longnose?!” he asks. “I saw him. Seriously, you let that guy land a hit on you?”

“How about you try facing the longnose before you talk, Choo.”

 

-

 

“WOAH! You’re a fishman too! You look like an eel!” Luffy exclaims, because he needs to establish that every fishman around him is a fishman, apparently.

“I’m a merman. A goatsbeard brotula merman. It’s a little different from an eel,” Aladine explains in his greeting with all the patience of a man talking to a child, resting his trident over the crook of his arm. “It is an honour to meet you.”

“A goat? You’re a goat?!”

“...Something like that.”

 

Sanji smokes. No hand is extended, so he doesn’t offer one either. “Nice to meet you. Heard you’re a shitty big deal in the Grand Line?”

Johnny’s soul escapes him. Yosaku screams. He wants to go home.

Aladine laughs good naturedly. “Something like that.”

Sanji’s eyebrow twitches. Judging by the mirroring responses-- Aladine’s pretty much treating him like a kid. And he doesn’t quite like the implications of that. It’s one thing to treat Luffy like a kid, and a totally different thing to treat Sanji like one.

 

Sure, Aladine probably has an unimaginable bounty, and Sanji’s not dumb enough to think he can beat the merman in an actual fight-- but still. 

Aladine grinned at him. 

Sanji thinks he wants to grill some brotula for dinner tonight.

 

“C”mon, don’t look at me all angry like that,” Aladine says cheerily at Sanji, “I can tell all of you have great potential and I respect that. You’re just very endearing to me.” 

Sanji raises an eyebrow. “I’m not angry,” he says.

Aladine grins, like he knows better.

Sanji really wants to grill brotula for dinner tonight.

 

-


-

 

“It might’ve been Old man Zeff.”

 

The two are sitting outside on the bench, side by side, speaking in hushed tones

Nami’s jaw drops. “You told him?”

Usopp holds a hand up to stop the girl before she mauls him alive, “in my defence, I’m blind. It’s tough to hide Haki from a veteran when I’m literally counting on it to have sea legs or legs at all.”

Nami groans, “I spent half a year with Whitebeard and I didn’t tell him anything!”

“I’m not a scoundrel like you.”

“I will break your nose, Usopp.”

“I apologize from the bottom of my soul.”

 

They sigh in unison. Nami brushes her hair back behind her ear. 

 

“Hey, Nami,” Usopp speaks up, tone more sullen this time as he leans in closer for a serious whisper. “...have you dealt with that yet?”

And Nami leans onto Usopp’s back, closing her eyes on Usopp’s shoulder. The boy traces a letter on Nami’s finger-- a faint B, slow and unnoticeable, but Nami knows what it means easily.

“I couldn’t,” she admits. “I wasn’t close enough to Oyaji to warn them about it. They just told me that I’d get used to him, because I’m new. And I couldn’t stay long enough to thwart it. I didn’t go there to fix it to begin with, so I didn’t plan things out.”

Usopp’s fist closes.

“His Haki is better than mine, so I couldn’t do anything about him on my own,” Nami says. “And now my Den Den won’t reach over the Red Line.”

Usopp sighs. “Countermeasures?” he prompts.

“Striking when the time is right,” she tells him. “We don’t know the exact time-- but it’s around now. I’m going to ask Aladine-chan to go over and check things out, but we can only hope for the best to ripple out since we can’t be there ourselves.”

 

Silence runs between them.

 

“I’m sure you did what you could,” Usopp says, closing his eyes and steadily tapping on Nami’s fingers at an unrhythmical pace. “Question is-- what now?” 

If they truly want to change the future, they should be changing further than just their adventures. They should be causing world-scale ripples that could upset the balance of everything much earlier, much more differently. 

“Maybe I should’ve joined the revolutionaries this time,” Usopp considers. 

Because if they were truly putting their all into changing the future, working on another side would be the easiest way to get through it. Especially the revolutionaries-- that’s the side that needed the most support now.

And yet, both Nami and Usopp chose to cling to the Strawhats, like selfish bastards wishing only for their own happiness and pretending to forget the inevitable future in favour of sweet memories with once-dead comrades.

“Should I have stayed with the Whitebeards?” Nami asks rhetorically.

 

And Usopp doesn’t answer.

Because no one knows. 

No one knows how things could have turned out if they went big and apart in the first place, focusing all their energy into a greater future. Maybe things would already be different. Maybe the world could already be changed.

 

“Do you think we’re selfish?” Usopp asks. “We could be doing something so great. And yet, we’re here, wasting our time.”

Nami closes her fingers-- her flesh hand, over Usopp’s.

“Maybe,” she whispers.

They lean on each other, silently. Their breathing in tandem and their eyes closed in serenity-- they stay like that. 

Maybe it’s fine to waste their time and do nothing.

 

They’ve lost this nonchalance once already, they know how precious it is.

 

-


-

 

It was evening now, and the villagers held a little festival to party with the Sun Pirates’ arrival and news of Nami’s departure. 

Luffy was out in the village, because all the food was free and he was trying to find raw ham melon with no luck. 

Zoro was having a delightful drinking game with Kuroobi, Sanji was on a food venture, and Nami had gone to visit her mother’s grave-- so Usopp was by the alley with his bird enjoying the cacophony of the crowd and revelling in peace.

With Gin.

 

“Uh,” Usopp starts nervously, “nice to meet ya properly, I guess.”

Luffy had strapped the former Krieg pirate to Usopp out of nowhere, with strict orders to ‘keep an eye on him ok Sanji said he was sick’ before running right off.

Seriously, did Luffy think the blind kid had any power to stop Gin if the Man-demon was seriously trying to run away?

“...Yeah,” Gin responds. 

It’s awkward. But Gin isn’t bolting so maybe conversation is okay.

“So, poison?” Usopp asks.

He feels Gin’s presence shuffle a little further away, and he doesn’t respond.

 

So Usopp runs his fingers through Kinoko’s fur and smiles. “Y’know, I know a man who was submerged into deadly poison, from the roots of his hair-- to the depths of his bones! He was on the verge of death by the time anyone found him.”

Gin makes a scoffing sound.

Usopp continues talking. “When we asked him later on, how he survived to tell the tale-- he said he stumbled upon a paradise filled with Okama , right in the pits of hell!”

Surprisingly, that got a laugh out of Gin. 

Usopp smiles victoriously. 

“He said--” with a high, squeaky voice, “--the Queen of New-Kama Kingdom stabbed me with the miracle elixir of the legends!” he cleared his throat to get his low, dramatic voice back, “so in exchange for ten years of his life, he lived!”

“Ten years?” 

“Yes, ten years!”

There’s a silent pause. Then Kinoko caws through the awkward silence, because the little shit thought that’d be appropriate. They both burst into exasperated laughter at that.

“That’s the most ridiculous conversation starter I’ve ever had the misery of experiencing,” Gin says, and Usopp feels him move to sit directly opposite him. 

Usopp hums, “well, it worked, didn’t it?”

Gin takes a moment before humming as well. “It sure did.”

 

When they spoke again, it was of their journey here, the journey before here-- and it was all about Luffy and Zoro, their crazy rampages thus far, and what they’d have in store therein. Usopp also introduced Kinoko halfway through.

 

“Are you sure I can’t escape?” Gin asks, not for the first time in their conversation.

Usopp chuckles. “You can try.”

“Was that a threat?” 

“Please don’t kill me, I’m just a blind boy trying to live with my ugly pet bird.”

Gin scoffs. “Liar.”

Usopp laughs. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

 

-

 

“Luffy-kun, was it?” 

Luffy turns around to see Aladine sitting by the alley, out of the way of most of the party but still enjoying a mug of booze.

“Whuzzit, goat-eel guy?” the boy asks through a mouthful of meat.

Aladine chuckles at the nickname. “How is Nami on your voyage?” asks the merman, taking a sip. He sets a set of meat beside him, to which Luffy delightfully scoops up into his endlessly wide mouth. “Is she happy?”

“Nami?” he questions. “Of course she’s happy. Why wouldn’t she be?”

Aladine smiles through his mug. “Is that so? That’s a relief.”

Luffy stares curiously at the merman. “You’re a weird old guy, aren’t ya. You talk for a little, and then you don’t talk. What’re you doing in the corner like this? Trying to act cool? Benn always did that.”

Aladine raises his eyebrow at the name, but dismisses it as a common name. “What can I say, I’m not much of a talker. I may have the authority, but I’m not a people person, you see.”

Luffy blinks. “What a person people?”

Aladine just looks at him and bursts into laughter.

Luffy squawks, because that’s exactly what Shanks does when he doesn’t want to answer Luffy’s questions-- not because it’s a dumb question in partcularly, but because he’s an asshole like that. He makes an offended noise. 

 

“Goat-eel guy, you’re mean!”

 

Aladine laughs harder.

 

-

 

“So Usopp bruised your jaw? Seriously?”

“I was telling him that he’d gotten rusty, chu!”

Sanji, ever the fearless deviant, decided to tease Kuroobi about it. Choo had joined in, cheeks flushed from drunkenness.

Zoro can see the growing irritation in Kuroobi’s movements-- but as expected from a martial arts master-- he kept his composure and simply took an angry sip of his ale.

“He might be blind, but I must admit, his grasp on Haki far surpasses mine,” Kuroobi says, humbly. “I let my guard down where I should not have.”

Choo burps, “haki, huh. Never thought we’d see that here in the East.”

Zoro and Sanji share a confused glance, the latter a little more so.

“Haki?” Sanji asks.

Zoro hums, “so Haki’s really a big deal out there?”

“Wait, what’s Haki?” Sanji interrupts.

“It’s essential for survival in the Grand Line,” Kuroobi says, his eyes casting to the side steadily. “It doesn’t matter if you’re blind, deaf, or missing two limbs. As long as your Haki is disciplined, you stand a greater chance in any battle.”

Sanji blinks at that. “Survival in the Grand Line? How did our longnosed blindie get that power, then? He’s never left the East.”

“Some people are just naturals,” Choo says with a shrug. “Rare in the East, but even Gold Roger heralded from the East, so what can we say…”

 

“Wait,” Kuroobi interrupts, “he’s never left the East? That’s impossible.”

“Oh, you sore loser," Choo teases.

"I'm not!" Kuroobi finally snaps, "Choo, you're drunk! That's enough liquor for you!"

Choo whines, “I’m fiiiiiiiine!” before slipping right past Kuroobi’s punch. He laughs. “Your Observation is rusty, Kuro!”

“It’s not! Stop that stupid drunken fist of yours!” Kuroobi snaps, “we all know you’ve been hanging out with Hyouzou for that! What have I told you about him?!”

“That he’s a bad guy and I shouldn’t go near him. I know, mom .”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!”

 

Zoro takes another sip of his booze.

At least the fishmen were good drinking buddies. 

Sanji squints, still skeptical, but at this point of drunkenness, there wasn’t a fish around that wanted to answer his questions.

 

(So in the end, what is Haki?)

 

Honestly, Zoro wants a proper answer to that, too. Usopp and Nami were both so vague about it that he was getting rather frustrated.

 

-

 

“So, I heard you’ve brought friends over, Nami.”

The girl stands up quickly, turning around in surprise. “Gen-san?!”

 

The man is seated on a wheelchair with Nojiko pushing him up the hill. His usual police uniform was nowhere to be seen-- he was wearing a strangely unfitting button-up left open over his bandages, and Nami can’t help but feel it’s off.

Her smile falls when her eyes land on his leg stump.

“What, this?” Genzo doesn’t miss her glance. “It’s nothing. It’s a shame you won’t get to see it when I get the prosthetic done, but now you and I can have something in common, don’t you think?”

Nami bit her lips, but the smile came anyways. Setting her metal arm at her hip, she sighs. “Don’t you think it’s about time you retired from sheriff duties, Gen-san?”

Genzo scoffs, “never!”

Nojiko pouts behind them, “I’m on Nami’s side with this. We have the Fishmen to turn to now.”

Genzo feigns a jaw-dropping gasp, “both my daughters have turned against me. My life is over now, they’re in their rebellious phase! How miserable.”

“Don’t be a drama queen,” Nojiko chides.

They laugh synchronously. 

 

They make space beside Bellemere’s grave, and Genzo’s wheelchair is pushed adjacent to it, the girls sitting by the little bed of flowers. The wind blows strong in the night, so Nami brushes her hair back against her ear, breathing in.

This would be their last night together here, enjoying their time as a family.

Nami spun tales about their adventures thus far-- about the times Luffy would race a bird across the horizon only to sink into the sea and get fished out by a fuming Zoro-- about the times Zoro would sleep through dumbbell falling on his head, but would wake up when Usopp leaned a little too close to the stairs.

Each story made Nojiko laugh a little brighter, and Genzo would always find the pettiest things to whine about. 

 

“I found my comrades ,” she admits to Bellemere. “They’re unhinged, they’re hopeless-- but I’m one of them too. They’d be dead without me!”

Nojiko giggles at that. “I honestly think you’re more than they deserve.”

Genzo leaps to agree, but he’s stuck on his wheelchair so he just leans really far toward them over the chair, “of course she is! My Nami is the best in the world! Not a million or billion beris is worth her!”

Nami feels the sudden urge to tell them that, in fact, she is worth about a few billion in the future simply because of her world map-- but she keeps it to herself.

 

She puts a hand on the gravestone.

“I’ll be happy,” she promises to the wind, to the soil, and to the soul. “I’m sure Bellemere-san will be there with me the whole way, right? I’ll be fine.”

Genzo turns away with a defiant huff. “If that captain of yours makes you cry, I’ll personally run over to that young man and kill him myself!”

Nami grins. 

She turns behind her.

“You hear that, captain?” she hollers.

 

Nojiko and Genzo swirl around, startled-- to see Luffy in the very near distance, hunks of meat in his hand. He had been staring at the three for what seemed to be a while now, accidentally eavesdropping. 

He grins widely. 

“Loud and clear!”

 

Then he turns around, suddenly wondering when the festival got so far behind him. 

“By the way, pinwheel-ossan, your pinwheel is REALLY COOL!”

He waves a gleeful goodbye at the three, then continues his marvelous misadventure of the raw-ham-melon scavenger, that will, inevitably, end in failure if Nami’s hunch has anything to say about it.

Nami turns back to her father figure. “He’s adorable, don’t you think?”

Genzo immediately flips, “what? NO! Nami, you are NOT--”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Gen-san!” Nami bursts into laughter, looking at her sister, “I'm allowed to look at the menu without wanting to take a bite. What do you think, Nojiko?”

Nojiko smirks. “Not my type, but I wouldn’t mind a cutie like that.”

 

Genzo explodes. “I SAID NO! Seriously, you guys take after Bellemere in all the worst qualities possible!”

 

-


-

 

It’s the break of dawn when Gin wakes up from the chronic ache in his chest.

Groaning, he untangles himself from the mess of Luffy (because those things are only fifty percent limbs) before stretching out the kinks in his joints. 

The village had partied all night, and the morning was uncomfortably chilly. Everything seemed to be coated in one humid layer of dew and mist. He rubs at his face in an attempt to wake himself up a little, grumbling through the throes of the pain in his senses.

 

(Wait.)

 

He turns to the side. 

Luffy is sleeping in a mess of barrels, and Zoro was beside them, legs hooked around Usopp’s. Sanji was on the other side, sleep muttering something about shitty rubber thieves.

 

(Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to run away?)

 

He takes one step away.

Yeah, he really should run away now while he has the chance. These guys were really good kids, he really liked them-- but truth be told, he just wasn’t in the right state of mind or physical condition to join them on their adventures.

Luffy was just hanging onto him out of respect for his old crew’s wishes, after all. Gin himself didn’t particularly… deserve to be in this dynamic. He could sort of feel it.

 

So, fists clenched and resolve gained, he steps out of the alley...

...and immediately, he’s met with a facefull of bird and feathers and everything else unpleasant about avian anatomy at seven in the morning.

 

“@*&^%!!!”

He screeches in a language he never even knew existed, the shock throwing his soul right out of him. By the time he pries the animal out of his face, he’s already going through all the steps in his head for a good roasted bird.

“What the--” he notices the ring around its feet, “you’re Usopp’s bird, just fucking great.”

 

(He is not going to be stopped from his escape attempts by a fucking bird.)

(...or is he?)

 

He turns around. Seems like he wasn’t as loud as he’d thought, because none of them seemed to be awake yet.

The bird makes a proud little huff as it (she?) settles on Gin’s arm, preening its  feathers a little before hopping along the man’s forearm.

It’s a strange feeling, having an animal just climb over him like he’s harmless. Gin’s only seen birds do it to corpses, so maybe this bird is trying to tell him that he’s dying-- “Ow!” he yelps, when the bird pecks at his cheek sharply.

Before he’d even realized, the bird was just making herself comfortable in his hair.

 

“No, get off. I’m leaving this island already, so go back to your owner,” he hisses at it, reaching for it over his head-- only to get picked in the hand and almost lose a finger.

 

Gin was losing his patience. Is he seriously being thwarted by a bird?!

“You little shit get off my head!”

“SQUAWK!” came the defiant response.

 

-

 

When Nami wakes up an hour later, she decides to take a walk by the river bank.

There, she finds Gin sitting on a large rock, thinking deeply to himself as he gazed into the river, a melancholic look on his face. His shirt and bandanna are presumably washed and hung by a branch to dry.

 

(What was he thinking about? About his former crew? About Luffy's offer?)

 

In his topless glory, Nami sees the blue freckles sprinkled across his body, from his collarbone to his shoulders to his forearms-- that just couldn’t be natural

Sanji had told them he inhaled and barely survived poison, so perhaps that was the mark it left.

 

More importantly, she fixed her gaze on the bird resting in the nest of his hair.

Even Kinoko looks like she went through a rinse and shake, but she was still sitting there with regality and determination. Nami guesses that the guy tried to get rid of the bird by swimming in the river, only to fail.

Suddenly, Gin looks less like a contemplative man of maturity, and much more like a brooding boy pouting in irritation.

 

Needless to say, Nami bursts out into laughter.

Their eyes meet, and Nami stops abruptly, a little embarrassed by her vulgar show. 

Ah well.

“Gin, right? Good morning.”

 

-

 

"You're telling me you made it halfway across the Grand Line, came back twice, went over the Red Line on the other side and returned-- all in the span of a little less than two years?"

"To be fair, I didn't make any unnecessary island stops."

"And you were on the sea the entire time?!"

“Oh crap, I forgot that the sea's more dangerous than the land.”

 

Gin has a bird stuck on his head, an irritated itch in his lungs, and a girl speaking nonsense beside him. What has his life come to?

He shrugs his shirt back on, but leaves the jacket hanging on the branch.

Nami sits down beside him on another stone, and Gin has to look away.

Unlike yesterday’s top and jeans, she’s wearing a tanktop and shorts-- leaving the connections of her metal pars in full exposure, her hair sliding over her shoulders comfortably. 

(She really does look like a village girl when she dresses like that. Maybe she covers up simply to hide her metal parts?)

Seriously, Gin has heard that she’s a veteran, but he didn’t expect this.

 

Nami had been gallivanting across the perilous seas like it was a joke. She was a Whitebeard Pirate, a crew of one of the Four Emperors of the sea, a party only heard in myths too far away to sound relevant.

Gin almost feels inclined to get angry at it-- but the fault lies in him. She’s not making fun of him, he and the Don he once worshipped were just that pathetic. 

(It’s so frustrating.)

 

“What’s all that lightning you did?” he questions. He’s been wondering about it since he landed on that little house on the hill (wait, what about the house? Are we going to forget about the house?).

“It’s called the Clima Tact,” Nami says. She hooks out a three piece baton and assembles them in the air. “It’s my weapon. Weather Science.”

Gin squints at that. “Weather… science?”

Nami chuckles. “In the Grand Line, common sense makes no sense!” she says, as if that was a legitimate sentence to say, “don’t worry, you’ll get used to it soon.”

Gin grimaces. “Why do all of you assume I’m joining permanently?”

Nami disassembles her staff and tucks it on her belt again. “Everyone doesn’t want to join at first, don’t worry. But the greatest captains don’t quite  let you leave after they’ve got their eye on you, y’know? Whitebeard was like that with me.”

Gin hums at that. 

 

Wait, something doesn’t add up. 

 

“Wait, where does the longnose fit in that story?” Gin realizes, “were you two together in that two year journey? You’ve known him for really long, right?”

Instead of answering, Nami smiles.

“If I explained all that, it’ll get too confusing, don’t you think?” she says.

 

Gin stares at her. Obnoxious, misleading types like her were usually people that Gin would immediately kill for being annoying-- after all, he was known as the Man-Demon for a reason, and Gin always found it easier to teach insolence a lesson.

But if he did anything, Sanji would probably kick him to next year, so maybe not.

 

Nami whistles, “I see your bloodlust is still going strong.” Gin turns to her in surprise, and Nami smiles, leaning into her hand, elbows resting on her knees. “I thought mister scary Man-Demon mellowed out after meeting our cute little captain, you know?”

Gin’s hands itch for his tonfas, but they’re hidden under the deck of the Going Merry and much too far away to weaponize right now. Maybe that rock over there…

Nami giggles.

She stands up. “Wanna fight?” she suggests and Gin’s face lights up. “Hand to hand, no weapons.”

He raises his eyebrow. Nami may be a Whitebeard, and Gin may be severely impaired by the poison in his veins, but it really doesn’t take that much to know how to take down another person. 

He stands up anyways, flexing his wrist. “Don’t underestimate me.”

Nami grins.

 

Gin sets his eyes on her.

“But before we start, can you get this stupid bird off of me?”

“Wait, you mean Noko-chan isn’t there because you like her?”

“NO?!”

 

-


-

 

It’s sunrise now, and the boys are at the tangerine grove. Sanji’s helping a few of the village men and fishmen transfer tangerine trees onto the Merry. 

Usopp sits out of this one.

The purple-haired lady notices him as she takes a break from tidying up the house. It was in rubble now, but most of the furniture is intact. There aren’t a lot of valuables in there to begin with, other than memories and a few pictures. 

 

“So you’re Usopp-kun?” she steps forward, taking notice of his barefooted state. 

“Nojiko-san, was it?” He greets her. “Ah, so you’re the reason why my bird smells like honey in a tangerine grove.”

Nojiko leans forward. “You have quite the sharp nose, don’t you?”

Usopp huffs proudly, “haven’t you heard? I once tracked down my companions on the other end of the desert, with just the smell of the perfume she wore!” 

Nojiko chuckles at that. “I’m sure you did.”

Usopp pouts. “And the saga of no one believing me continues…”

 

Nojiko sits down right beside Usopp, less than an inch away. Usopp flinches slightly, not quite expecting that-- Nojiko has always been the bold, touchy type-- Nami was like that too, but she was always too much of a tomboy so Nojiko was better at it.

(No, that’s not the problem.)

(There’s only one reason these sisters would get near you.)

 

“Nojiko-san, even if you steal my wallet, it’s empty,” Usopp warns her with all the resigned intonation of someone that’s been swindled out of his purehearted boyhood emotions too many times.

Nojiko whines in defeat. “Ah, you got me.”

Usopp sighs. “Like sister, like sister…”

 

Nojiko observes the boy. Not once looking her way-- understandable, he’s blind after all-- but Usopp didn’t budge even when Nojiko came much too close to be comfortable. Such, he flinched, but he stayed perfectly still.

She’s read Nami long enough to know that Usopp is holding back. Holding back because, even though he’s uncomfortable with the distance, disturbed by the suspicious contact-- he knows that Nojiko means no harm.

It’s the reflex of a person that has learned not to trust for too long in the past, and is now trying his hardest to come back to the safer, harmless present. 

So Nojiko moves away. 

Usopp may be wary and attentive, but he’s a little too kind. Just like Nami.

 

She grins and stands up. “Take care of Nami for me, okay?”

She knows her sister’s in safe hands.

Usopp smiles a little, “of course we will. We’re nakama , after all.”

 

-

 

“Oh, you’re one of Nami’s friends. What are you doing all the way out here?” Aladine notices Gin walking over to the bay of Arlong Park. 

Everyone was out to guard the perimeters or help Nami load their pirate ship, so only Aladine is here now.

Gin, with a bird on his head still, makes a gurgling noise. He’s wearing his short-sleeved shirt, his jacket in his arms. 

 

“I’m trying to find a way to swim away from this island and that crazy crew while I still can,” he says, because it sounds so incredulous he wasn’t going to bother sugarcoating it anyhow anymore. He’s too tired for this.

Aladine stares at him. Then he turns to Kinoko, and looks back at the boy.

“Ah, I see. Best of luck to you, then,” he says, in all seriousness despite the disbelieving implications. Aladine has seen more incredulity in the Grand Line before, so he’s not going to retort on this one. “I will be taking my leave now, so do bid your captain a farewell in my place.”

“He’s not my--” Gin hesitates for a moment.

Aladine laughs at that, arms crossed. “Ds are always incredibly attachable, stubborn, and hard to look away from. I’m sure he’ll grow on you,” he assures. 

Gin isn’t sure why he can’t find the words to deny it again. He just bites his lip and looks away in defiance. Man if he had his tonfas, he’d be fighting right now. Maybe. He’s tired so maybe not. 

 

(Dammit he is not getting soft! He’s just… tired from the poison. Yeah.)

 

It’s only when he hears the splash and Aladine is gone, that he wonders what the Fishman Vice-Captain could be heading toward, rushing away from his base without his crew. 

He sighs.

Maybe swimming across the Grand Line is no big deal for a pirate like that… what next, is a human going to be able to swim through the Calm Belt too? 

 

(When he asks Nami about it later, Nami actually laughs in his face.)

(He hates that witch. Why does he bother asking her anything? He knows she won’t answer him.)

 

There’s a sea cow in this part of the ocean, so swimming out is definitely a no. Guess he’ll go look for a rowboat somewhere else…

“How long are you going to stay on my head?”

Three defiant caws.

Gin, unfortunately, does not speak bird-- and any attempt at pulling the bird away is met with retaliation in the form of deadly bird claws gouging into his skull, so he gives up on it for this hour.

“I finally got rid of the clingy monkey, and now I get the sticky bird instead?” he sighs. 

 

When will he get a break?

 

-


-

 

“Oh, young man with the blond hair over there, I’ve got fresh fish if you need any.”

The grocers in the morning market are all incredibly social people, and Sanji really feels quite at home in this sort of environment. 

“Oh, really? What’s the best you’ve got?,” he approaches the store, taking one last drag of his cigarette before stubbing it out on a trash can nearby. “Come to think of it, you guys get along with the fishmen but you still eat fish, huh?”

The grocer chuckles warmly, “now now lad, the fishmen do take offense in being compared to fishes, y’know?”

“Seriously?”

“I mean, think of it this way-- we’re literally just smart, less hairy monkeys to them, but they don’t call us monkeys, do they?”

“Ah.”

 

It’s an interesting way to look at it, and Sanji had honestly never quite cared if whatever he said offended anyone. He grew up in a restaurant with an A grade in inelegance, had a diploma in swearing, and a bachelor’s degree in pissing everyone off. 

It’s far too late to redeem Sanji’s personality from literally not giving a shit about anything that isn’t female.

But well, Hachi had been a nice guy yesterday and his takoyaki was delicious, so Sanji will try not to treat them as things on his chopping block anymore.

Try.

Maybe. 

 

“Speaking of which, I saw your bandanna pal walking toward Arlong Park this morning,” a vegetable grocer strikes up a conversation. “He looks pretty sick, so are you guys sure you don’t want Nako to take a look at him?”

“Well, if he was gonna die, he’d be dead by now,” Sanji hums. 

Come to think of it, he didn’t see the guy around when he woke up. Maybe he ran off? Well, Sanji wouldn’t put it past the guy to run off since that was his intention this entire time, but if Luffy let the guy go, it’s on Luffy if Gin’s missing.

His condition isn’t all that stable yet, and Gin is obviously a hater of being perceived in weakness, so like a stray cat, he’s probably run off to hide. If his condition worsens… well, it probably won’t. Maybe. 

 

“Was anyone with him?” Sanji asks anyway, not because he’s worried, absolutely not, but because he wants to know how whiny Luffy will be about it.

“Well, the bird,” someone mentions.

Sanji pauses.

“Ah,” he says, “don’t worry about it, that bird’s the most territorial little shit I’ve ever met. Anyways, let’s look at the fishes.”

 

Gin’s in perfectly capable hands.

Sanji knows the terror of that bird better than anyone else on the ship, after all.

 

“Speaking of that-- you guys got a clothing store open this early?”

 

-

 

“Zorooooo!!”

 

Luffy latches right onto his First Mate from three miles away.

Zoro holds the little, cross-shaped knife against the sun to observe the curve-- when he hears the yell, his grip on the hilt tightens, startled. He doesn’t manage to stop the short, absolutely-not-a-squeak from escaping his throat when Luffy rockets at him.

Thankfully, the force wasn’t enough to throw them off the cliffside, but it really rattled his injuries enough to make him cringe.

 

“What, Luffy?” he asks, his tone irritated but it probably didn’t sound as angry as he thought because his captain is still grinning over his shoulder. 

Zoro sheathes Kogatana, wrapping the cord around his wrist because his captain is being one necklace too many for him right now.

“The old guy said he wanted to change your bandages, so I came to get you!”

“I thought Nami was getting her tattoo done so I couldn’t go in?”

“She’s done already!”

“It’s not that fast.”

“Zoro’s slow, so Nami said to come get you or you'll get lost.”

“Oh, that witch is picking a fight.”

 

He picks up his sword, getting up. Luffy just keeps hanging onto him, like a limpet hitching a ride. Zoro doesn’t brush him off.

 

“Zoro, it’s that way.”

“I know, dammit.”

“Zoro, no. I said, that way.”

“I said I know, dammit.”

“Zoro, are you an idiot?”

“Shut up!”

 

-

 

"Usopp, you have to see this."

"I hate to break it to you, Nami, but--"

 

Papers are shoved in Usopp’s face, and Usopp wants desperately for his next line to be ‘wow, a piece of paper’ , but he doesn’t say it yet.

Because there are two .

Promptly, he corrects himself.

“Wow, two pieces of paper,” he says, immediately ducking sharply, to dodge Nami’s fist. The texture of the paper is rough and grainy, so it’s definitely a wanted poster. “Did someone else get one aside from Luffy?”

 

“No, one of those is Gin’s,” Nami explains, “he got a raise from twelve to eighteen for assaulting Commodore Pudding-puddle.”

“I did what?” came the confused voice beside them.

“And the other one is mine,” Nami continues, ignoring the question, “they were holding mine off for a long time anyways. I’m at twenty-five mil.”

Usopp hums. That’s impressive for East Blue, but it’s really paltry for a Grand Line veteran. Ah well, Nami specializes in being undercover, so it makes sense. It’s still a big deal for this side of the world, so...

 

Wait.

What?

 

“Where’s Luffy’s,” it doesn’t come out as a question, and it ends up sounding more like a demand. 

Because excuse me ? You’re telling me our captain doesn’t have a bounty but two in our crew of six already have above average bounties for the east? 

And of all things, the only girl in the group has the highest bounty in all of East Blue? Ah, no offense to girls of course. But what ?

“Exactly,” Nami says, “maybe I should have let Luffy destroy an island before we got here. Or told him to beat up Pringle-pimple for me instead. What else didn’t he do again?”

 

Gin sips on his tea. 

This Honey Tangerine tea is really good. 

 

“Maybe you should’ve asked him to destroy Arlong Park?”

“No no, that’s war against the Sun Pirates and Jinbei-chan will get angry at me.”

 

Gin does not hear anything. He does not.

(Yes he absolutely does.)

He stands up and smashes his teacup against the floor. Usopp and Nami turn to him. The bird on his head makes a very robotic and long ‘caaaaaaww’. Gin sits down.

Nami’s face scrunches up in intense sympathy, and Usopp actually facepalms.

 

 

"Anyways, this is really bad. Can't you find a way? Like is there a nearby government flag we can shoot or a nearby Celestial Dragon we can punch?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Usopp. People that important aren't in the East Blue. We need to find a King or something. Wanna drop by Goa?"

 

 

Gin is starting to wish he died from the poison.

Chapter 18: shaky winds, waters, and wills.

Summary:

They leave Conomi.

Gin reconsiders his spot on this crew, and a role is named for him, though he's skeptical about it just yet. Nami plots their next course of action, and Zoro is trying to move forward from his little setback.

Notes:

I deeply regret being unable to bring about the popular demand of "hey, can they actually go raid Goa?", but next chapter is a strange mini adventure to make up for the lack of Stelly-punching. What is it about, well there's a small teaser in this chapter o.o

anyways HI GUYS I LOVE YALL ❤︎❤︎ ENJOY THE CHAPTER!!

Chapter Text

“What happened to you guys?”

Johnny and Yosaku look like they’ve gotten the worst sleep of their lives. Clothing disheveled, dark bags under their eyes--

“Are you guys imitating Gin?”

“OBVIOUSLY NOT!!”

 

They were at the port, ready to sail.

“Anyways,” Johnny says, placating Yosaku before he goes on a rant about scary drunk fishmen and horror movie situations, “it’s been nice meeting you again, Zoro-aniki, but we’re really overstayed our welcome. We’ll go our own way from here.”

Zoro hums, leaning over the railing of the Merry. “What, really? Well, it really wasn’t a problem for us, though.”

“No, no, we’ve been in your kindness long enough!” Yosaku insists, “we need to be independent! Seeing Usopp-aniki and Luffy-aniki has made us very sure of that now!”

Then, in a muttered voice, Johnny adds, “we’ll go crazy if we stay here any longer.”

Zoro raises an eyebrow, “what was that?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Yosaku assures.

“We’re bounty hunters, anyways. It’s better if we find our own way from here,” Johnny says, and they both move into their cool-guy poses, “it’s good bye now, but may we meet again in the future.”

 

Zoro leans his chin into his palm, smiling at that. 

They’ve always been two clingbugs he didn’t mind having around, but seeing them willingly cast off to grow their own legs made him feel a little proud of them.

“Well, good luck on that, whatever you do, I guess.” 

“Same to you, Anikis!”

 

Beside him, Gin leans against the railing. He’s looking at his own wanted poster, a thumb running across the number eight in 18 million. 

His picture’s just his usual uninviting, indifferent mugshot, and his prestige is just as terrible as always-- maybe worse. He’s gone from being known as Krieg’s underdog right up into a rabid one. 

(He didn’t read that article fully, but the reports all say he’s no longer a Krieg pirate. He’s not sure how to feel about it.)

(His bounty is higher than Krieg’s now. He’s not sure how to feel about this, either.)

“You sure you don’t want to make one last break for freedom?” Zoro says in an almost teasing manner, and Gin retaliates with a swift swing of his fist against Zoro’s shin.

Zoro screeches, very shortly, curling into his knee for a moment-- before the next punch is thrown and Gin dodges with a large swerve to the side.

All the while, Kinoko has a very comfortable roller coaster ride on top of Gin’s head.

 

-

 

Monkey D. Luffy is currently throwing a tantrum.

“Why did Nami get oneee! This isn’t fair! I’m the Captain of the crew! The Captain!!”

“Yes, captain , but you haven’t done anything yet,” Sanji says, dusting off his hands from the final bag of flour he had to move into the galley. 

“I beat up Don Pringles.”

“They’re blaming that on Gin.”

“What?! NO FAIR!”

Cue baby whining. Sanji scowls at the octopus tangle of limbs and high-pitched wailing in the air, and he feels the sudden, undying urge to just step .

“Luffy?” Usopp calls from afar, his voice strangely lilting like a mother talking sweetly to her child, “do me a favour and help me read the newspapers.”

“Ehhhhh?!”

“C’mon, captain, help a blind guy out. You can read, right?”

Luffy pouts, “yeah I can read!” he gets up, scrambling for the newspaper in Usopp’s hand before sitting down angrily beside the sharpshooter, “uh,” he squints, “must- mister- mystery man… did a mystery thing...”

“Really? What else?”

“Reading-- leading? A mystery word… something something...pirate.”

 

Sanji watches as Luffy is impressively distracted from his tantrum, working intensely to decipher the news article about himself that he’s somehow butchering. 

Usopp had already gotten his tools out, shearing down an oddly-shaped wooden carving with the sanding machine. He’s only half listening to Luffy, but it’s enough to entertain the boy.

Wow , Sanji thinks, Usopp’s good at taking care of kids.

Then he realizes. Wait a minute, that means my captain is an absolute child!

 

“Is there really no quick way to get him a bounty now?” Sanji says, crouching down and talking beside Usopp’s ear where the captain can’t hear. “He’s going to be miserable for the whole week.” 

Usopp hums, absent-mindedly, “Nami’s working on it.”

“Nami-san’s working on what ?” 

“Yeah,” is Usopp’s noncommittal response. 

“Answer my question.”

“Uhh-- WAIT NOOO SANJI! My Kabuto MK VII! NOOO!”

 

-

 

The fishmen are there to see her off when Nami departs.

That doesn’t exactly spare them from Nami’s final wallet-stealing stunt, though. 

In fact, only Kuroobi had been wise enough to stand away from the chaos. His overly cautious manner finally came in handy, and he was going to hold this against Choo for the next month as a retaliation for the fishman’s obnoxious teasing the evening prior.

When Nami lands on the deck, she lands with a pile of thick wallets and a bright, beaming grin on her face.

The reaction on the ship is a healthy mixture of ‘what the fuck’, ‘what the fuck’, and ‘oh Nami-san is so beautiful’, bracket three exclamation marks. 

Gin is obviously the former, but at this point, he’s not going to retort anymore. 

 

Nami waves at the island until they've gone over the horizon, and by then, her cheeks are tired. It doesn’t stop her from smiling at the crew, though. “Sanji-kun, get the booze out, we’re toasting.”

“Huh, isn’t it usually the captain that calls for it?” Gin raises an eyebrow.

Almost immediately as he says it, Luffy punches his arms into the air with a declaration. “Booze! We’re celebrating!!”

“Nevermind.”

 

The worst thing about the situation was probably how Sanji is already in the middle of the deck with a barrel and beer mugs, like he’d seen this coming ages ago. 

Gin knows that this crew is small and their stock is currently full, but as a former first mate of a huge fleet, he’s very well aware that rationing food is better than lavishing on it. 

Sure, they should eat it before it goes bad but even so, he’s not a fan of meaningless parties such as this one. They already drank a whole village dry yesterday and somehow they’re still up for drinking? 

 

“This is still a terrible way to ration resources.”

“Yes, mother ,” Sanji sneers at him. 

 

Gin makes his way toward the cabin where his tonfas are kept. In honour of Sanji being a painfully nice guy, he’s not going to murder him. Instead, Gin’s going to smash a hole in the deck in retaliation. 

“C’mon, Gin!” and here comes Luffy, the rubber arms of doom, and Gin suddenly feels like he’s wearing the world’s most uncomfortable boiler suit with all the loops of arms around himself. “It’s a toast! You have to be here!”

“It’s a waste of booze.”

“NOoooo! TOast! C’mooon!” 

 

Gin did not sign up for a baby captain, but it’s what he ended up with. He regrets everything. 

He’s tugged into the center, taking a mug. Kinoko is there too, sitting her fat butt in the center of the makeshift table, squinting birdily like some avian sage. 

“Alright then!” Luffy bounces onto his feet, lifting his mug. “All of us are here now! So to our new comrades, CHEERS!”

Gin has to admit, he thinks this childish partying is fine too.

 

(Well, all things considered, it’s fun.)

He could drink to his heart’s content, because he didn’t need to spend every waking hour making sure the ship ran, making sure the crew was trained, making sure they were on a course, and making sure the captain held authority.

Here, no one cares about that. Things are done in leisure, and the journey is enjoyed more often than large progress is made. 

Unlike his days as the Commander of the Krieg pirates-- here, he could unwind. He could be a child among the children, and live without worry.

(Living without worry, huh.)

(Once upon a time, that had been his dream .)

And maybe, just maybe , Gin wants himself to think, just for a while… that on this ship, he can go for it again.

For days he can just sleep his worries away, without leaving one eye open. 

For a life without the constant requirement of a murderer’s nightly vigilance.

 

-

 

“What are you doing?”

The seas are calm, the winds are choppy, and the News Coo has raised their prices. Nami’s pretty miffed about the latter two, but she’ll enjoy the peace while she can.

Except, Usopp is making a mess of carving wood on the deck and Nami’s concerned about wooden shards flying around in the breeze. What if it gets in someone’s eyes? It won’t be sanitary to have food nearby either, and with the erratic wind direction, that just might be possible. 

“Making a bow,” Usopp responds, thumb running around the edge. 

Nami’s expression scrunch into confusion. “Well, that’s new.”

“So is that gigantic battle axe in the female cabin, but you don’t see me talking about it,” is Usopp’s immediate, sarcastic response.

Nami frowns, “Usopp, be real with me. Are you actually blind or are you just screwing with all of us?”

“...Find out in the next chapter of Usopp’s East Blue adventures.”

Nami spins her batons.

Usopp scrambles to his feet, “Zoro, save me!”

 

Well, all jokes aside, Nami sits down beside Usopp to look over the materials. “I think you’ll need better bowstrings if you want it to be useful outside this sea,” she suggests. “Why the sudden new arsenal, though?”

“Why the sudden gigantic battle axe?”

“It was a gift form Haruta,” Nami hisses at him, evidently irritated. “And I, unlike you, have the ability to wield it.”

Usopp scowls at that, “I’m perfectly capable at archery.”

“Usopp, you’re blind, ” Nami says, disbelief in her tone.

Usopp frowns, like he’s offended at this betrayal of trust. He looks into the sky, “oh, almighty aiming god, can I become an archer?” 

Kinoko makes a long caw.

Usopp promptly translates, like he’s proving a point, “the almighty aiming god says yes,” in an obnoxious matter-of-fact tone.

Nami groans, “Noko-chan, don’t encourage him!!”

 

-


-

 

Gin stares incredulously at the luxurious meal in the galley.

“Sanji, this is a--”

“--terrible way to organize resources, yeah I get it you shithead. Just sit down and eat.”

 

Gin has his tonfas with him this time, so nothing stops him from putting a hole into the wall. Usopp even makes a sad whimpering noise when it happens.

And Gin is just about done with this.

He throws his hands into the air. “Oh I’ve had enough! What if an emergency happens and we need to stretch out our food supply?! Don’t just use all you have carelessly!”

Gin’s got the entire Krieg annihilation starvation issue set out in trauma file number five-hundred and thirty, and his entire seaman experience just screams hell fucking no to the five star meal before him. 

Sure, he’ll eat it if it’s there, but what the fuck Sanji? 

They have no idea how long it’ll take before they get to the next island, and who knows if they’ll be able to restock as much as they did on Cocoyashi with two bounties on the crew! 

So Gin tugs Sanji out of the door, closes it, and there the arguing begins.

 

-

 

“Don’t just cook everything you find! Think of what’s perishable and what’s got a longer shelf life!” 

Seeing all this food on the table just hurts his guilty conscience. Gin’s never seen that much food for so little people in his entire goddamn life.

“Don’t underestimate Luffy’s stomach, you dipshit,” Sanji returns with equal ire, though his swearing has the least heat in the entire exchange, “that’s my job on this ship. You don’t tell the chef how to cook his meals, got it?”

 

Sanji’s job as the cook-- make sure nutrients are well balanced, prevent food-related illnesses on the ship, manage the food stock, and et cetera. 

But here’s Gin, the currently jobless member of the crew, sticking his nose in.

It’s not as if Sanji and Gin are on bad terms in any meaning of the situation. In fact, if there’s someone on the crew Gin would die happily for, it would be Sanji because of the debt he still doesn’t believe he’s repaid.

And no matter how much anyone denies it, Gin definitely has the most experience in sailing than the rest of them. Aside from Nami and Usopp’s mysterious situation, of course.

Sanji would have had a similar amount of sea-time, but Gin is older, and he had been First Mate of Krieg. He’s got the commanding and navigational experience that Sanji, chore boy and kitchen apprentice then sous chef, did not have.

 

“Sailing on the Baratie and sailing on a pirate ship are entirely different things,” Gin snaps back lowly, “what’s your sailing experience? Or have you been in nothing but restaurants your entire life?”

Sanji twitches at that. “Don’t push your luck, you little shit,” he hisses, “I sailed on a cruise ship when I was younger.”

Gin crosses his arms, “that means you have no experience making exact amounts of food for small amounts of people.”

 

Sanji tuts. 

 

“Hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?” Gin mutters. “You think that since Strawhat’s a glutton, you can just cook till everyone’s full and Luffy’ll deal with the leftovers?” 

Sanji clicks his tongue. Seems like that was right, too.

Gin grabs the chef by the collar. “Pirates don’t get as much food stock and we don’t have a lot of opportunities for supply runs. You don’t think of it all in the same mindset as you had on the Baratie!”

Sanji keeps a hand on Gin’s, glaring firmly. Gin might be right, but Sanji’s not one to let anyone walk all over him. They’re not even at the Baratie anymore-- his final fence was shattered and he could go wild all over again. 

“How about you cool your head for one shitty second before I toss you overboard?!” Sanji snarls.

 

And just a little bit of him realizes that he did get something from his biology, after all. 

His temper. His tendency for violence. 

(It’s all there, obscured but definitely there .)

(And it makes him so angry that he’s ignored that history for so long and guess what? Someone here can actually make that part of him come back out.)

(Two. Two people.)

 

And Gin has the gall to scoff. “You know that’s only doing me a favour, right?”

That’s it

“Shut up, you suicidal edgelord!” Sanji smashes his forehead right into Gin’s.

 

-

 

It got ugly really fast, and eventually, because the others kept staring at them instead of helping, Kinoko came down from her perch to stop the scramble for pantry ownership.

(Luffy won.)

 

-


-

 

Last time around, there were three major factors in Luffy’s early bounty earning.

And that was him taking down the big three of East Blue in tandem: Buggy the Clown, Foul Play Don Krieg, and Saw-Toothed Arlong.

This time around, the third factor in the equation are the Sun Pirates instead of Arlong himself. Luffy didn’t take down the Sun Pirates this time, and instead, he drew two top executives with high bounties to his side. 

 

“Of all things, they think I defected from Oyaji!” Nami sounds positively offended at the implication, a mug of sake in her hands as she sits on the deck. 

Usopp picks up the bottle and refills her mug, because a drunkenly ranting Nami is a Nami you don’t defy, even if the moon is high in the sky and they’re supposed to be the lookout for the night. 

(It’s okay, Usopp has his Haki stretched out.)

“Could you believe that? Not even Luffy is that suicidal!” she rants. Then she scowls, “wait, actually, he is. Not the point!”

Monkey D Luffy, the mysterious crew-stealing pirate, is definitely on the Marines’ radar. All that’s left is to actually get his danger levels and his picture set, and who knows, he might break another record on his own.

“They’re not wrong about me betraying the Don, though.”

They turn up to see Gin, apparently not as asleep as they all thought. For a moment, Usopp was really glad that they weren’t chatting about future-specific things today.

Anyways, Usopp gestures with his hand, and Kinoko makes her way from the railing toward the galley.

“But they just assumed you were the one to cause the whole mess! Isn’t that rude?” Nami whines. “Life of a pirate-- getting blamed for everything under the sun! Geez!”

 

Gin settles down beside them so they sit in an almost circle. Kinoko returns with a tea cup and Usopp pours out some sake for the Man-Demon. 

“It’s true that I’m bitter, having to take Strawhat’s credit from him,” he admits, downing it all in one shot, “but it’s nothing to get drunk over.”

“Says you, then chugs,” Usopp grimaces, receiving the cup again to pour out another fill. 

Seems like he’s the only functioning lookout tonight, and he’s the blind one. It’s over. This ship is doomed.

 

Gin looks tired-- he sounds tired, but none of them ask why he’s awake, none of them tell him to go back to sleep.

(Because they understand.)

 

“So, how does it feel to have the second highest bounty in East Blue, Gin?” Nami asks.

Gin scoffs instead of answering, and Nami just laughs. She’s too drunk to bother chasing for an answer, and Usopp can feel Gin’s internal conflict without words.

So Usopp changes the subject.

“Are we headed for Loguetown?” Usopp asks.

No one misses the way Gin flinches at the mention of it, but they don’t react to it.

“No,” Nami says, her tone a little somber. “The winds are against us for at least the next week, you know how that place is-- it opens when it wants to, and spits us out when it feels like it. We’re better off loitering for now.”

 

Gin takes a sip of his sake. 

“You guys talk like it’s alive.”

 

Usopp suppresses a groan, “oh, you have no idea.”

Nami sighs. “Don’t be a drama queen, Usopp,” she chides. Then she turns to Gin, “it’s not exactly alive-- but well, it’s definitely unnatural. It has clear weather just in time for a ship to come in, but the moment the ship heads toward the Grand Line--”

Gin straightens, remembering something, “a storm will brew?”

Nami smiles. “Yes!” she says, “and it’s one of the first mysteries of the Grand Line-- because only those that follow the storm can find the lighthouse.”

Gin has to put down his cup, jaw dropped. 

He did know about the unnatural storm because he remembers yelling his throat out at everyone on Don Krieg’s fleet to get their asses in gear-- but he didn’t specifically know that was a necessary parcel of the path.

 

“It’s not all that hard to get past the storm in the first place-- this is just the Grand Line’s first way of weeding out the cowards of the four blues, y’know?” Nami says, raising her metal arm in a show of guts. “Like, go for it at its worst, or you’re not even worth the entrance! Or something.”

Usopp chuckles at that, a fond memory of tearful pleading and strong gales suddenly in his head.

He takes his first large gulp of sake for the night.

“Anyways, if we’re going to go through Reverse Mountain again--” Usopp pauses when Gin drops his cup.

The Man-demon fumbles for it and manages to salvage most of it, but Nami and Usopp are both staring at him now.

And their expressions curl up in some sort of scrutinizing pity.

Gin would’ve busted their heads for daring to offer some form of empathy, but he only manages to look away, pretending to drink a little more.

 

Usopp turns back to Nami. 

“Money?” Usopp asks.

Nami hums, “a little over twenty thousand beri right now, with all the wallets I stole.”

“I guess our first step now is to find a place to treasure hunt?” Usopp says, “right. What happened to our plan to raid Goa?”

Nami facepalms, “if you really want to go with it, you talk to Luffy about it.”

Usopp frowns, “yeah, my bad.”

Captain has final rules on where they go, after all. And Captain said Grand Line, so Grand Line it has to be. 

(Luffy definitely wouldn't want to go all the way back home for some funny revenge-- Luffy had never cared for the king of Goa Kingdom and it will stay that way until Sabo punches them himself.)

Nami shrugs. “To begin with, we can’t really waste that much time going back and coming here again-- it’ll be trouble if we miss out on meeting Uncle Gon, right?”

Usopp chokes on his sake.

Gin looks confused. “Uncle Gon?”

Usopp is dying. 

 

With all the casual movements of a master, Nami slides a cup of water in his direction.

“Don’t mind him, just an inside joke of ours,” she says, turning to Gin. “But we should probably go somewhere nearby so we can go into Loguetown right as the storm lets up… which will probably be in a week or so.”

 

And suddenly, Gin finds himself looking at a much-more detailed sea chart than the chart Nami has displayed in the writing room.

The entirety of East Blue, down to the waves to the line of the Calm Belt and many more islands than Gin has found himself raiding as a Krieg Pirate.

A completed navigational chart of East Blue.

Gin stares at it, in shock. He can’t see well in the darkness-- but as a sailor, he knows. He knows just how valuable this map is.

(Did Nami draw t his?)

 

“Ah, can you see?” Nami asks. “Should I light a candle?”

Oh, Nami can see in the dark? And Usopp’s blind, so he doesn’t need a candle. Gin found that rather interesting-- after all, they acted like they were used to espionage and strategy meetings in the middle of the night. 

 

(Well, it’s not Gin’s business.)

 

“I’m fine, the moonlight is enough,” he says, because he doesn’t want to be an inconvenience for the two. He’s just a bold little eavesdropper stealing a drink, after all.

“We’re around here,” she gestures around the sea between Conomi and Loguetown, “we’re edging on the low tidal areas of the Red Line, so the only islands around here are a Marine base, and Baratie in the further distance.” 

Gin makes a confused noise. “Then what’s this?” he gestures at a large piece of land marked with a red X right by their current location.

Nami pauses at that.

“Oh,” she says, “I forgot I drew that in. Wait, this isn’t our usual map? Oops. Sorry, I just noticed,” she slaps her forehead. 

“Are you drunk?”

“No, I don’t get drunk,” Nami sounds offended. Then she hiccups.

“It just makes her a little giddy and she likes to lose herself in the high,” Usopp says, pouring out a glass of water for the girl, who snatches it. “She has the amazing ability to become sober immediately when she wants to, but yeah, she’s drunk.” 

“I said I’m not .”

“Okay, want another glass of water, Nami?”

“Yeah.”

“That will be one thousand beri.”

“I’ll throw you overboard, Usopp!!”

 

Gin watches Nami get up right there, lunging at the sharpshooter who only laughs, scrambling away with minimal noise, drunken play fighting, and lots of hair-pulling. He’s now entirely convinced that the sanest creature on this ship is the bird.

But this is good sake, with a nice moon out.

 

And hell, this navigation chart is a really good one. He picks it up and observes the expert strokes, because it seems like the strategy meeting is over for today.

He squints at the red X, noticing a little name at the edge of the island.

“Oykot Kingdom?”

 

And though it was faint, there was a trail drawn over it, leading from the sland to the red line and across a section of small, unnamed islands.

Gin could make out the name if he squinted.

“...Tequila Wolf?”

 

-

 

Zoro wakes up to see Nami and Usopp snoring on the deck, side by side but an inch apart. There was a thin blanket laid out over them, and Gin was seated by the mast, reading a map and supposedly taking lookout duty.

Zoro sits down and takes a sip on the sake as well.

And then Sanji wakes up, and cue the angry screaming of ‘how dare you let Nami-san sleep on the cold wooden deck?!’

And then Zoro drags Usopp to his hammock, Nami crawls back to her bed, the sake is confiscated, the end.

 

-


-

 

“We really didn’t get anywhere with our talking yesterday, did we?”

It’s the morning, Nami’s hair is a mess from the late night drinking. Usopp is asleep by the mast, and Zoro is awake at the crow’s nest. Well, Usopp took night watch yesterday so that makes sense. 

“We really didn’t,” Gin acknowledges.

 

He hands Nami her map back. He definitely didn’t spend all night admiring the artistry. 

 

“Well, Usopp’s not really interested in listening to my plan because he’s not the kind to navigate-- obviously, I’m glad someone else here can read a map for once,” Nami sighs, rubbing a metal arm against her nape, “wait. What was your job on Krieg’s?”

Gin raises an eyebrow. “First Mate. Swashbuckler if we’re reaching.”

“Swashbuckler-- that’s the jack-of-all-trades fighter, right?” Nami asks. Then she prompts, “and on this ship?”

“Kidnap victim, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Ah, you’re still at that stage huh,” Nami says, and it speaks volumes about their captain with just how unfazed she is. “Luffy doesn’t usually recruit without your job in mind, so guess we’ll have to solve it out. Any specific skills?”

“Murder.”

Nami deadpans, “next.”

 

Sanji is giving them weird looks from the stairs.

 

Gin hums. The crew is small, so everyone seemed to have distinct jobs on the ship, with none overlapping in the slightest. Zoro, the Swordsman and rather unofficial First Mate, seems to be the only combat-focused job so far.

On a fleet like Krieg’s you’d have a squad of navigators, a team of cooks, a shifting system of lookouts and everyone else were cabin workers until battle calls. 

It’s not at all unusual for there to be crew members who are just specialized fighters, without any other skills necessary for voyage. Gin was content being one of those fighters.

 

“Alright, let’s think of it this way,” Nami raises her hands, “look at Luffy,” she gestures at the idiot currently lounging on the sheep head, “think. What skills do you have that Luffy doesn’t?”

Gin squints at that. “Logic? And, common sense, self-preservation instincts--”

“Don’t bullshit, Gin,” Sanji warns. “We all know your self-preservation instincts are shittier than Luffy’s, don’t lie.”

“Shut up, Sanji. Like you can talk.”

 

He’s heard enough horror stories about Strawhat from Usopp, and to this day he still wonders if half of those lies were truths. One just couldn’t ascertain authenticity here.

Was this a job interview or something? Did it really matter if he had a job or not? He could just be a cabin worker if Luffy really wanted to put a name to it.

 

“I was Quartermaster, so I’m capable of taking command-- not that I’d need to do that here” he says, trying to scrounge up all the information off the top of his head, “I’ve got basic navigational knowledge, some sailing knowledge, a bit of ship maintenance and grunt work skills.”

And Nami stares at him, eyes slowly beginning to sparkle with an impressed vigor.

“You can navigate?” she says, grabbing the man by the shoulders and instantly triggering his fight or flight response out of the sheer self-preservation skills Gin swears he has. Nami’s eyes are sparkling , “you can command? Take responsibility?”

 

And for some reason, Gin feels like responsibility was the key word there. 

He grimaces. 

(Exactly how much has Nami suffered to be so grateful at the aspect of a sane human being with common sense?)

 

Gin didn’t particularly mention anything special, either. All those were common skills even a practiced sailor or fisherman would have. 

“You were the Quartermaster!” Nami says, beaming, hands held together in glee. “Gin, you can be our Quartermaster too then!”

This catches some attention. Zoro had been on his way down the rigging, and Luffy at some point, turned his head around from the figurehead. 

“Huh?”

Usopp’s awake now, rubbing his eyes before momentarily remembering that his vision wouldn’t clear up either way. 

Everyone’s staring straight at Gin, including Sanji. 

But Gin’s the most confused one here.

 

“Hey Nami, whuzzat?” Strawhat speaks up, and Nami smiles, like she’d just come up with the best idea on the planet.

 

Being a quartermaster would mean that you had the most power on the ship, second to the Captain himself. It made you acting captain when the captain was out of commission, and it was definitely the most important job on the ship.

Yes, that means Zoro, the chief mate, would usually take that job.

As far as Gin knows, this ship didn’t have a clear one-- the burden of the actual work is shared out among Nami and Sanji for navigation and cooper duties, while Zoro and Usopp handle the guarding and organization of the ship.. 

Putting it on an actual person with experience, like Gin, would certainly make a lot of sense, but at the same time…

 

“No,” he puts it out there firmly. “I’m the newest member of the ship. I’m the last person you should be putting that huge responsibility on.”

And much more, Gin was a traitor that turned his blade on several members of this crew more than once. There was no way he should get any trust yet.

 

Luffy pouts, “but then who else is gonna do it? We’re all idiots except Nami.”

“Hey,” came three offended voices.

“What? He’s right.”

“Nami!”

“And Nami’s doing a perfectly good job at it,” Gin hisses at him. “Anything Nami can’t do, Sanji and Zoro can do. You literally don’t need an actual quartermaster on this ship.”

Luffy grins, hands on his hips, “then we can just call you that, you don’t have to do anything!”

“That defeats the entire purpose!”

 

-

 

Sucks to be Gin, because in the next few hours, Sanji has him in the storage to help him keep numbers on their stock.

“No! You can’t keep the water for so long, it’s going to go to shit in seconds! We should’ve stocked up on more rum on Cocoyashi!” Gin realizes very quickly, throwing his arms in the air. “Shit, how much sake have we already drunk?”

Sanji stares from the doorway. This was a lot more interesting than he initially thought it would be.

If Gin was any younger or any less jaded, he might’ve thrown a tantrum by now.

 

“And look what I told you, we have five days of fresh meat right out of our stock in one day! Of course, I trust you can keep us on a good long voyage with everything else in the pantry, but why did you touch the jerky! Those can last us!”

Sanji deadpans, “woah, you sound just like Carne. You’re definitely a Quartermaster.”

“Shut up!” Gin snaps, “that barrel is not leaking but the bolts are worn out and damp! Do you want the fruit to go bad?? Get them out! And-- who did the math in this part? How could you fucking mess up addition and subtraction?”

Sanji raises a thumbs up, “add a few more curse words and you’ll fit right in.”

“I said shut up about that! God we are all going to fucking die on this ship!”

 

-


-

 

“You want advice from me ?” 

Usopp is in disbelief. He’s sitting by the tangerines on the rear deck, and Zoro is there, along with all his dumbbells, his sword, and Kogatana. 

Zoro huffs.

Usopp blinks just once, in a different confusion.

 

“I can’t call myself a swordmaster if my sword’s durability is all I’m worth,” he says. “Teach me that Haki thing.”

As expected from the training maniac, he’s humble enough to immediately seek help for what he’s lacking.

Except… what Zoro needs is Armament, and Usopp absolutely sucks at that.

Well, Usopp knows the basics, so the first thing they have to do is focus on it, perhaps. Zoro can get there on his own pretty easy.

 

(Come to think of it, when did Zoro unlock his Haki? Usopp learned of it much later, but even Luffy only had it around Sabaody, or a little before that.)

(...Huh? You need Haki to cut steel, right?)

Zoro’s been doing it forever, so Usopp never quite registered it as Haki. But it was Haki, wasn’t it? At least, the untamed, unhardened version...

(Holy shit , 60 million starting bounty had a very good reason, didn’t it? The Marines knew about Zoro’s potential since Alabasta!) 

 

Zoro’s determination is awkward, but Usopp loves that about him. It’s exactly what Luffy saw in Zoro his whole life-- that unfaltering, unwavering part of him that holds onto things once he’s decided to take them. 

Usopp respects that.

 

“Nami, lend me your Clima Tact!” Usopp says. 

The girl had been sitting in the center of the deck on her lawn chair. At the call, she reaches under the table, retrieves the three pieces between her fingers, and hurls them upward. 

They’re heavy, so the spinning makes a lot of noise.

Usopp catches one of them easily, swerves so the magnets connect in mid air, and sets the assembled staff before himself, setting himself up for a spar.

He’s no swordsman, but he’s learned enough bojutsu in the Revolutionary Army to get by in close combat.

 

“It’s not really something that can be explained, but I guess you won’t understand the theory of it anyways,” Usopp chuckles. 

Zoro makes an offended urk at that.

“I guess you’ll figure it out on the way. You’re only using Kogatana?” Usopp asks. He can hear Wadou Ichimonji’s slightly upset voice in the corner, and Kogatana’s soft and uninterested tone before him in Zoro’s hand. 

Zoro nods. Then hums, because Usopp can’t see him nodding. 

“Until I’m worth an actual sword,” he says, and doesn’t elaborate.

 

Usopp likes that. He smiles a little, running his hand across the straight pole of the staff-- and stops momentarily on a faint dent in the steel, around the middle section.

His eyes widen in surprise..

(Someone actually left a dent on the Clima Tact? On the soul-inforced, special metal? With Nami’s Haki piping through it?)

No no, this isn’t the time to question that. He’ll ask Nami about it later. 

 

“Well, try defending first,” Usopp prompts Zoro, moving into a fighting stance. “And try dodging more than parrying, or you'll break that little dagger.” 

“Shut up, Usopp.”

And so daily sparring sessions begin. 

 

-

 

“What’re they doing?” Sanji wonders out loud. He sets a cup of an orange, fizzy drink in front of Nami, and sighs as Zoro makes an undignified squawk from the rear deck.

“Training?” Gin suggests, because that seems obvious.

He’s lifting a dumbbell on one arm, because Zoro rolls it over and he thought he’d keep his hands busy.

It’s been nearly two days since they’ve left Cocoyashi, and everyone is bored. 

Nami savours her drink. “It’s Haki training,” she says, taking a sip before taking a spoonful of cake and depositing it in Luffy’s mouth.

 

(Gin jumps. When did Luffy get beside Nami’s chair?!) 

(And why is he just letting himself be fed like that’s supposed to be normal?!)

 

“Haki?” Sanji asks, planting one foot on Luffy’s head in case the imbecile tries to eat Nami’s food again. “I’ve heard it a few times, but what exactly is it?”

And Gin is interested too. 

If there was something that set Nami and Usopp apart from the rest of them, it was this mildly confident air they exuded despite their disabilities, like they were veterans of decades ago rather than just fighters of a similar experience. 

There was just something about them that emitted the air of a strong fighter, in a different but not much higher caliber than the rest of the crew.

 

“To put it in simple terms, Haki is willpower,” Nami says. “It lets you see without your eyes, and lets you pierce without a blade… and lets you conquer without saying a word.”

 

What a riddler.

 

“I don’t get it,” Sanji says, and Gin echoes it.

“So it’s a mystery power!” thank you, captain.

 

Nami laughs. 

“Everyone needs to use it someday, but you need to awaken your Haki within yourself-- it’s not something we can force out,” Nami explains, “if there’s someone that’s closest to it right now, it’ll be Zoro. And Zoro knows that, so he’s working on it with Usopp.”

Sanji sounds disgruntled, “that stupid Marimo is gonna get a powerup?! No fair!”

Gin hums, “so I’m guessing Hawk-Eyes uses it too?”

“Mystery power!” Luffy declares, “alright, I'm going to wake up my mystery power too, then! Hey Zoro! It’ll be a race!”

“You idiot, it’s obviously not that easy.” 

 

Nami sighs at them as they divulge into a screaming competition of ‘obviously I’ll awaken my mystery power first’ to ‘no, I will’, and so on, so forth.

She casts a glance toward Gin.

Gin wasn’t as interested in all this Haki business. He’s busy recollecting himself, reconsidering his goals, reorganizing his priorities, and finding a new path in himself. 

 

(Is he really worthy of this crew?)

 

So Nami decides to assure him.

“Remember our spar on Cocoyashi?” Nami reminds him of that morning talk they had. Their first conversation, which divulged into a chat, and then, into a spar to test each other’s strengths.

 

Gin looks at her.

Nami swirls her cup of juice in her hands, thinking back on her Clima Tact, and the little dent Gin’s tonfa had made that morning.

It was so impressive, Nami actually let her guard down and nearly lost the spar. She probably did-- Gin was just a little stronger in pure fighting prowess, but held back in honour of Sanji’s protectiveness for ladies.

Nami sighs.

 

“Well, you at least. You already have a headstart on the other boys.”

Chapter 19: old kingdoms, old friends, old dreams.

Summary:

They take a detour before Loguetown.

Exhibit A: Nami's sister was once friends with a princess?!
Exhibit B: Luffy goes exploring, because of course he does.
Exhibit C: Sanji gives Gin a long-needed counselling session.

Notes:

Hi everyone!! ❤️ I'm glad you guys are enjoying this fic, i love you guys so so much I swear T^T

so this chapter and maybe half of the next will be a little off-canon detour. There won't be OCs at all, don't worry about that-- and for the few that are wondering, they are not going to Tequila Wolf. I don't have the writing capability to settle that bridge of worms in two chapters I'm sorry

This little interlude is just for me to put more character development between our cast, for them to have more interaction, and to just settle Gin into a proper strawhat before we go into the Alabasta Saga.

That's all I have to say! Lots of love, enjoy the chapter!! ❤️❤️❤️

Chapter Text

Nami did not tell Usopp where they were going, and now, Usopp wants to cry.

 

“Shit, this place looks haunted,” Sanji says. He sets foot on land and, with all his heart, wants to go back up there. “What, was there a war here or something?”

“Yeah, about nineteen years ago,” Nami tells him.

 

They’re in the ruins of the Oykot Kingdom, where a civil war once destroyed everything between it, and Marine intervention only made things further worse. 

There are two castles, two territories in this kingdom. 

The larger castle, Asukasa Castle (Akukasa? Asakusa?), was taken over by an ‘unknown force from the World Government’ as a base for the construction of the giant bridge that towered over the fog. 

Even from here, through the fog, they can see the overwhelming shadow of the bridge. It stands taller than a giant in height, extends further than the seas can stretch in their eyes-- the millennium bridge, Tequila Wolf. 

Usopp can see as much as a large, dark blur and its overcast on their area, so he’s sure it looks much more impressive to the others.

 

“What’s that huge thing?!?” is predictably the first thing Luffy exclaims upon seeing it. 

“Luffy, no,” Nami warns.

Luffy is giving her a look that screams ‘Luffy YES’.

“Luffy, absolutely not,” Usopp emphasizes, though he knows that saying no will only make Luffy go even more.

 

He straps a little capsule to Kinoko’s feet and lets her fly.

Zoro sets down the anchor, stepping foot onto dry land with Wado Ichimonji at his side and Kogatana hanging like an ornament at his sash, occasionally bumping on Ichimonji’s hilt like a jingle as he walks.

“Doesn’t seem like there’s any point in landing here,” he mutters. “There’s no forests or anything, just trash and debris. Unless we’re going to the bridge.”

“Look, shitty marimo, your kindred,” Sanji says, gesturing at the piles of moss-crusted wreckage.

Zoro kicks broken wood at him.

 

“We’re not here to restock or anything, I just want to find treasures and books from the abandoned castle over there,” Nami points in another direction. 

It’s the second ruined castle on the farther side of the bridge, and it really does look like no one’s been inside it for decades. 

“That’s Aznig Castle ,” Nami says, “we’re going to avoid the bridge entirely, so whatever you do, don’t enter Asukasa territory, okay? We’re going to the other side.” 

 

And that makes sense.

Most of the slaves are on the bridge itself. What’s down here are mostly patrol, supply transportation, and the information bureau for their building progress.

And Tequila Wolf is only taking up the area around Asakusa-- wait, was it Akusaka? Asukasa? Usopp doesn’t know anymore. Who named these castles?

“Let’s just call that one ‘the stupid pink castle’, and the other one ‘the stupid other castle’,” Zoro speaks up with a tired groan.

Wow, thanks, Zoro. Which is which? I can’t see.

 

“Alright then,” Nami picks up from there, “we’re going to the stupid other castle. Do NOT go to the stupid pink castle, alright?”

“Too late, kids, we have a flier already,” Gin says, staring blissfully in defeat at the tiny figure soaring in the distance. 

Nami swears.

Usopp sighs, “I’ll be right back.” 

 

Kinoko, having been making surveillance rounds around the island, detours toward Luffy. Usopp retrieves his Kabuto, picks up his walking stick, and goes after the boy.

“Ah, Zoro, go with him,” Nami says. And her metal hand slaps against Zoro’s back, the boy making a squawking noise as he’s tossed forward by the force.

Zoro curses. 

“Just go already,” Nami squints at him.

“Geez,” Zoro groans, following after the blind boy.

 

Gin and Sanji watches them make their way across debris toward the stupid pink castle, and Sanji has to take a drag of his cigarette.

A directionally challenged mosshead, a literally blind idiot, and a mentally stunted brat of a captain. They go towards the one place they are not supposed to go towards.

“Nami-san, is that really okay?”

If Sanji is doubting Nami’s decision, it’s probably worth doubting.

“Nope,” Nami says, without hesitation. “But Usopp can handle it.”

Gin whispers, “are we suicidal?”

And Sanji whispers back, “shit, we might be.”

 

-

 

“Can we really leave the Merry here like this?”

Sanji makes sure the sails are drawn up and the anchor is down before they leave the ship in the little obscured cove in the corner of the island.

There are plenty of broken rafts in the area-- this was definitely the evacuation port in times of war, and Sanji could sort of tell.

“It’ll be fine. No one ever comes by this area anymore,” Nami says. 

 

Meanwhile, Gin shrugs on his new coat. 

It’s a silver bomber jacket, strangely enough, it fits him perfectly. How did Sanji figure out his size? Even Gin didn’t know his own size. 

(He’d always stolen jackets, never bought one.)

(This is definitely the first time he’s been given one.)

“Well, that looks pretty good on you,” Nami approves, looking over him. It’s dark silver, with dark blue details and a red wolf sewn at the chest. It’s slightly different, but pretty similar to his old jacket. 

Plus, it looked much cleaner and much more fitting than the old one.

 

Meanwhile, Nami had gotten herself a little wardrobe change too. 

A sleeveless top. Her Whitebeard Mark was hidden, but her metal arm and a new tattoo on her left shoulder was in full view. 

She had always worn sleeved shirts until now.

 

“That’s the one you got on the day we left?” Gin says, referring to the tattoo, remembering how it had been wrapped in bandages to heal until yesterday.

He squints a little when he spots the scar. It’s pretty gruesome.

Nami smiles at that, setting a hand over the wound. “For a village girl, I sure have a lot of tattoos, don’t I?”

Gin shrugs, unimpressed. “Your sister had more.”

Nami laughs, “guess I can’t lose out, huh?”

 

They turn simultaneously to see Sanji glaring at them (at Gin actually, he’s only glaring at Gin,) with a sort of jealous, I’m-gonna-cry-blood look on his face.

He’s even puffing up his cheeks like he’d just swallowed a lemon.

“You panda bastard, don’t talk to Nami-swan so happily like that when I’m right here!” he whines. 

“Panda?” Gin asks.

Nami snickers, “oh, are you jealous, Sanji-kun?”

“Yes! Very!”

After getting Merry docked in hiding, Nami leads them on their journey toward the castle.

 

-

 

The trip toward the castle is quick, simply because they've docked nearby and they actually went on a straight road towards ‘stupid other castle’. 

It’s abandoned, it’s haunted. Sanji didn’t like this place at all-- the floors and walls are a little more than damp, creaking cement and bricks. 

Sanji grimaces at the moss on the wall.

“Seems more like the castle’s been dead for two hundred years rather than twenty,” he mutters, scowling at the wall that comes off like sand as he passes his hand through.

“It’s war,” Gin tells him, like it explains everything.

(And it kinda does.)

 

They don’t stop to sightsee. Nothing in the castle itself is salvageable due to many years of weathering. It’s a miserable sight-- it’s hard to believe anything here is worth pillaging.

Sanji is certainly curious about some of the kitchen supplies, but he and Gin follow Nami as she pulls a lamp lever down and reveals a secret staircase down into the basement of the castle.

“The basement. No one knew of this, so of course, no one’s been around to steal it yet,” she explains. “It’s a long walk down.”

She even knows where the spare lamps are, and which matches aren’t laced with gunpowder to offset intruders.

Which, Sanji knows, is incredibly suspicious of the girl. 

It’s almost too good to be true, that she just knew where everything was and what the shortest route to the hidden room was. 

 

“How did you know about this place?” Gin is the one that asks.

 

Sanji almost wants to box him over the head-- because both of them knew better than to ask something like that. Nami kept her knowledge obscure for a reason, and it’s obviously a sensitive reason for her.

Her answer though, is out of their expectations.

“Nojiko told me,” she says. 

Before they can wonder how her village-bound sister has anything to do with this haunted castle in the middle of the sea, Nami elaborates. 

“Nineteen years ago, Nojiko was friends with the princess of this country, and she learned a lot back then. Not everything was true, but some of it is.”

This makes the two boys freeze in confusion.

 

“Wait, Nami-san, your big sister… knew the… who ?” Sanji barely manages the question correctly, “...wait, how even?”

“Conomi is pretty far from here, y’know?” Gin adds. “And if it was that long ago-- she can’t be that much older than you, so was she, three?”

Nami nods immediately, looking as if that was supposed to be common knowledge. “Nojiko and I are both adopted, we’re not from Cocoyashi,” she says, brows raising, “Bellemere-san, picked us up from this very island we’re standing on right now.”

Now that , that earns her two surprised yelps. 

“This is your hometown?!”

"Nojiko-san was friends with a princess?!"

 

“Huh? Did I not tell you guys?”

 

-


-

 

Usopp climbs over the broken horse cart, avoiding the splintered wood and getting himself on a little higher ground to survey the distance with his Haki.

He’s not wearing shoes.

Zoro stares at him, slightly appalled.

 

“Zoro-kun, Zoro-kun,” Usopp says, “it’s this way. You know, 12 o’clock. C’mon.”

Zoro’s irked now. “Usopp, admit it. You’re just pretending to be blind, aren’t you?”

Usopp hops off from his perch and lands two feet in front of Zoro. Zoro notes that Usopp lands just beside a beer bottle on the ground, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing fall.

“I had Kinoko fly around just now to spread something into the air. I’m not seeing anything in reality, I’m just using Haki to sense those particles, then I map out the landscape with my head, and fill in the gaps with the sound,” Usopp says.

Zoro makes a face. “What?”

“Yeah, of course you don’t understand,” Usopp turns around. “Ah, Luffy finally landed. He’s definitely going for the castle, since he’s right in front of it. At least he’s not going for the bridge...”

Zoro mumbles, “is that Haki too?”

Usopp grins, “you’re catching on!”

 

And so the trek continues.

 

“Zoro, not that way.” 

“How the hell did you know which way I was going?”

“Not that way, either. Look, Zoro, should I hold your hand or something?”

Shut up .”

 

-

 

Luffy finds himself at the palace really quickly.

“What, Ennosuke, you followed me?”

Luffy whines at the bird that lands on his hat. Kinoko gives a resigned huff, like Dadan used to do when Luffy was doing something stupid and she didn’t want to stop him.

Dusting himself off, he admires the pink walls of the stupid pink castle, what was it, Ass Castle? Ass Castle. Wow, it’s so ugly, it reminds him of the palace at Goa.

He went there once by accident. He doesn’t like palaces. They stink.

 

(“No Luffy, palaces don’t stink,” he remembers Sabo once telling him, “what you’re smelling here is ventilation . We don’t have that in the Gray Terminal, so you might not know, but this is how a clean thing smells.”)

(Luffy diagrees, because Makino is clean and Makino doesn’t stink like that.)

 

He’s really close to the bridge now, but there’s a whole row of guards along the road. He watches from afar and wonders if he can reach the bridge if he rockets from here.

Hm, probably not. Maybe if he gets somewhere taller?

“Hey, Ennosuke, wanna see who can get up to the bridge first?”

Kinoko gives him a curt caw. 

“What, you don’t wanna race? You loser.”

Caw.

“Oh! The castle is tall! I’ll go there!” is his bright idea, and he trots right past the dozing guards and right into the front door of the castle. 

 

The doors aren’t locked, that’s great. He forgot to knock, so he makes sure to close the door before continuing on his way.

Manners, manners.

Ooh, that guy’s jacket is cool! Gin might like that!

 

Kinoko rests on his head comfortably, because she can.

 

-

 

Usopp is used to this nonsense. He’s quite sure that letting Luffy run off immediately was part of Nami’s master plan in the first place.

Luffy can’t sit still for five seconds, after all. They know that.

Like watching over a puppy on a high table, Usopp is here to make sure Luffy doesn’t rush off the edge. He can play to his heart’s content-- but Usopp will grab him before he heads somewhere he shouldn’t. Like usual. 

Like usual, except this time around, Usopp actually has the ability to play that out.

 

“She sends the idiots away immediately and grabs only the smart ones with her,” Usopp sighs, realizing the groupings now, “what a witch.”

“Usopp, did you say something?”

“I’m just insulted that Nami thinks I’m part of the idiots.”

“Huh?”

 

And instead of responding to Zoro’s offended voice, Usopp stops. 

He freezes right there-- and spins . He reaches out and drags Zoro to the side, and they duck under a shattered carriage.

Right then, something in the distance creaked.

“Huh? I could swear I heard something.”

“Must’ve been a rat, you buffoon. Why would anyone be out in this wasteland?”

And they kick the stones as they walk away.

Usopp has his hands over Zoro’s mouth, and Zoro has his arms around both of them, supporting them in case their shelter toppled.

 

It’s a minute later that Usopp sighs in relief, shoulders loosening.

“We’re getting closer to the castle,” Usopp says, “the guards have increased.”

Zoro hums. “That Haki thing is pretty useful, but we could’ve just punched them.”

“There are too many,” Usopp says. “And trust me, Zoro. You don’t want to be caught by Tequila Wolf. We need to keep our damage down here- we can’t make them drag their forces down here, got it?”

Zoro frowns at that. “You’re being a wimp,” he accuses.

Usopp lets Zoro help him back to his feet, trying not to throw off too much wreckage to make noise. 

“Maybe I am,” Usopp says, “but don’t you know? Cowards always live longer.”

Zoro can’t find it in himself to disagree with that.

 

-


-

 

“Don’t touch that switch, it explodes in contact with human skin.”

“What on earth kind of trap is that?!” 

 

Nami is enjoying herself, Sanji thinks Nami is beautiful, and Gin is regretting everything. For Gin, that’s almost a constant in his life now.

They make their way down a long basement road.

There aren’t mountains of gold or jewels-- in fact, this secured, hidden room under the castle was in fact the study of a mysterious, nameless man that collected sacred antiques. There are trinkets, tools, books, and journals.

Gin picks out one book from the shelf to find it in perfect condition. Not a ruined page, not a frayed edge. 

 

“This is our treasure?” Sanji asks, sifting through old paintings on the side. Some of these were pretty good, but he didn't recognize any of the signatures. He’s not some sort of painting connoisseur, so maybe he shouldn’t speak.

“We’re headed to Loguetown, there are plenty of people who will recognize the value of these things,” Nami tells them. 

She wanders around the little room, enjoying the ambience.

“Can you feel it?” she asks them. “The energy.”

 

And Gin continues looking around the books. Not a speck of dust. As if magic was cast upon this room, everything seemed metaphorically shrouded in a protective layer that prevented rot and rust to taint a single bit of its former glory.

Nami smiles at him, as if she knew what he was sensing, but she knew better.

 

“This is Haki, too,” she tells them, and they both straighten with attention. “People who put their soul into what they do leave a bit of their will inside of what they treasured.”

Sanji blinks, “you mean, like how people say you can see the spirit of the blacksmith in a good knife?”

“Exactly like that.”

Gin rolls his eyes. “Sure these books and paintings and ornaments are in good condition, but are they themselves worth anything notable?” 

Nami chuckles, “of course. Sell all these to collectors and specialists and auctions, I guarantee you I’ll raise a hundred million beri in no time!”

 

Gin looks at her with doubt, but who is he to judge the expert haggler?

Sanji whistles at the side, admiring the array of recipes he’s found written in scraps of paper on the ground. It’s a mess, but it’s not destroyed at all. He can salvage some of this. 

Nami’s looking at the desk. She finds a journal, an album, and a log book. She picks up the pendant of a swirly heart that reminds her of Nojiko’s tattoo, and she pockets it. 

 

Gin continues to look through the books.

[ Emerald City ]

Gin stops.

He takes it off the shelf in an excited rush of urgency, opening the book with a brimming interest he can’t hide, flipping through the pages, and instantly divulging in the tale.

No, it’s not a tale. It’s a diary, a biography of this nameless traveller.

 

“What’s that?”

 

Gin jumps a little when Sanji is suddenly beside him. 

“Emerald City?” Sanji asks, leaning closer over his shoulder to catch the text. It’s written in the unique tilt of Grand Line Script, so Gin wonders how Sanji can read it. 

 

(No no, there are more important problems here.)

 

“You don’t know about Emerald City?” Gin asks, incredulous. 

Sanji blinks, “should I?”

Gin is offended. How can a man of Sanji’s aspirations not know about the legendary city of dreams? 

 

“It’s Emerald City-- the perfect land. The El Dorado of the seas!” 

Gin exaggerates, putting it out there like why don’t you know this? It’s common sense! Even though it’s not really. 

“The metropolis of green glass, emeralds, and other jewels. It’s a place so brilliant, so beautiful-- it’s the safe haven of the world!”

Gin has to blush when he suddenly realizes that Sanji is staring at him with mild interest. 

(Did he just shoot off on a passionate rant about hopes and dreams? That was embarrassing.)

(He hasn’t done that since, before Krieg, probably.)

 

Emerald City had been a folk story he’d heard in the alleys, passed around like a fairy tale amongst the children of a similar, miserable upbringing.

It was an enchanting tale. For children that have only lived their lives in darkness-- Emerald City was the grace that promised them a place to sleep, so quiet, so safe, they could close both eyes and rest.

He hadn’t thought of it since he became the Man-Demon. 

(But somewhere deep inside, he’s never forgotten.)

(For a child like Gin, who was born into crime and murdered to live, Emerald City was a ray of hope, a fantasy. Liberation from the crimes he never wanted to commit, freedom from the regrets that haunt him in his dreams.)

(A place of peace.)

(Maybe it’s weird that Gin, of all people, dreamed of peace.)

 

Gin looks away. 

Surprisingly, Nami and Sanji just look on at him with interest, as if they had wanted him to keep talking and were wondering why he stopped.

“What,” Sanji says, his lips curling upward around his cigarette. “So you can be passionate about something. That’s cute.”

Gin feels his face heat up. There it is, the childish teasing!

“Emerald City, huh,” Nami says, admiring the thought, “I’ve heard of it! Just in passing though. Is it a town made of emeralds, like the City of Gold is gold?”

Gin turns his eyes back to the book.

“They say it is, but it might just be figurative,” he says, “but is the City of Gold actually completely made of gold? Or is that figurative too?”

Nami blinks, “well…” she thinks. “Huh? I’m not sure.”

Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette, “wow, it’s so nice to have dreams…” he says, a sarcastic lilt to his voice as he grins smugly at Gin.

Gin snaps, “oh shut up!”

“Gin has dreams, woahhh.”

Gin flusters, “enough!” 

 

Nami just smiles. Gin chases Sanji around the crusty little study, and Nami can’t help but find it so endearing.

The adventure log of the mysterious man, Khron Corde. 

Last time around when she found the log, she didn’t give it much of a glance-- she just took it and sold it off for the money it was worth. Which was quite a lot.

Even as the girl who had traversed every part of the world, she had never been to Emerald City. Never stepped foot on the lands.

(She had heard of it, found a clue toward it-- but she stopped herself. She didn't pursue it, didn't try to find it.)

(After all, a legendary city doesn't need a place on the map of the world. Just like how the map to One Piece should never exist in the world-- There is no value in a journey when the road is a clear, straight line.)

So she just watches them have fun trying to not murder each other, and she can’t help but enjoy it.

She’s glad that this detour wasn’t in vain.

 

-


-

 

Meanwhile, Luffy is already getting chased by guards.

“He’s over there!”

“He’s a kid, don’t shoot!”

“Capture him alive, he might be from the bridge!”

Seriously, what did any of them expect when they brought him here? Obviously it was to cause trouble, get into trouble, be the trouble. And hopefully, not die.

They were already shooting at him, but the bullets just reflected back at them. 

 

Kinoko was careful to stay in front of Luffy so she could be covered, but she was also furious. Kinoko makes frantic squawks of absolute anger, plucking at his cheeks as she flies in tandem with his runs.

“Ow ow ow! Ennosuke, stop that!” he yelps, swatting at the bird, “it’s not my fault they’re chasing us!”

Kinoko makes an angry sound, because, apparently, she disagrees with that opinion.

Luffy skids to a stop, and turns around.

“Gomu Gomu no…”

Kinoko flies above him, clawing at the vent cover before plucking it out of there. 

“BAZOOKA!”

 

The ceiling vent falls on his head, but does next to nothing. He follows the bird up into the pipes, and they bounce away.

“He stretched?!” 

“But Devil Fruit slaves are only in the towers? How did he get out?!”

“Do you think he’s from outside?”

“But that’s impossible. Report this to the head!”

“Should we go after him?”

“None of us can fit in those vents! Track him down!”

Luffy frowns a little at that. What, were they talking about, him? They were talking in the same tone all those Goans always used on the Gray Terminal folk.

Man, he already didn’t like them. 

 

-

 

Luffy crawls his way to wherever Kinoko felt like hopping, maneuvering around the vents in an almost bored manner.

They find themselves above a room lit with only a lamp.

Luffy peeks down at it-- the room itself was dark and dusty, like a very old storage room filled with crusty shelves and ancient books.

But in the center of it, two hooded figures were seated on the ground, talking to a Den Den Mushi with black skin and a red-patterned shell.

 

“I honestly can’t figure out what they’re doing. There are no documents, no blueprints, nothing for those purposes-- almost as if the road itself isn’t the priority, they’re just trying to connect the ends as quickly as they can.”

And the Black Den Den Mushi spoke back.

“So Oykot was a miss as well? That’s fine. Retrieve anything of worth and regroup for now. We’ll discuss your future movements at a later date.”

His voice was deep, and in the small room, it was resonant.

 

As the Den Den spoke, the taller hooded figure signed to the smaller. 

Luffy found that strange at first, but he recognized a few hand signs that Ace used to Sabo-- regroup (turn around, go the long way back home), be quiet (stay hidden)

That’s sign language that all bandits would know.

But there’s no need to use sign language when everyone is hearing the conversation. They’re not even special coded ones, they’re the basic signs. That’s so weird.

 

“Got it,” the taller one says, and the smaller one repeats.

“Understood.”

And the Den Den Mushi switches off with a kachack!

 

Looks like a secret meeting or something, that’s pretty cool. Luffy hums, leaning into his arms with interest. Is this their hideout? They didn’t seem like they were with the ugly guards from just now. 

 

So when the taller one suddenly froze, Luffy didn’t quite understand. 

Then suddenly he’s getting dragged down from the vents, thrown over a shoulder, and a hand is stuffed over his mouth so he doesn’t make noise.

(Holy crap , he’s getting flashbacks of all those times Ace nearly killed him like this.)

 

“A kid?!” the taller one-- a Fishman, Luffy notices. A yellow-skinned Fishman. “What’s a kid doing--”

“Ah, wait, Hack-san,” the other one interrupts him. Luffy looks over and sees pink hair. “He’s not an enemy. You can let him go.”

“I knew it, you already sensed him there, didn’t you?” Hack hisses at his companion, looking up before asking again. “You know the kid, Informant?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

 

Hack lets go of Luffy’s collar, but Luffy doesn’t get up yet. He just stares between the two hooded figures, confusedly.

“...Informant?” Luffy asks. He’s not sure what the word means.

 

That’s when the shorter figure takes off his hood, revealing a head of pink hair and a goofy smile.

“Hi, Luffy-san!” he says crouching down and extending a hand to help him up. “It’s been a while. Since Alvida, right?”

And Luffy gawks, jaw literally dropping to the floor. “COBY?!”

“Shhhh!!” goes Hack.

 

-

 

This time around, when Luffy meets the little kid called Coby, he’s not short or stout or clumsy. He’s the capable cabin boy on the Alvida Pirates’ ship, little like Luffy but just as strong, and missing the Marine Dreams he once had.

Not that Luffy would know the difference, of course.

“So you’re the captain, gathering your own crew? Seems like you were off to a terrible start, with that whirlpool and all.”

Luffy pouts. He holds up his hands and tries to sign the words he knows, because Makino always told him that was polite when the person he’s talking to can’t hear. 

“It’s fine, it was just a dinghy anyways.”

Luffy notices in curiosity how Coby’s eyes squint at that, almost in disappointment at something he said. (Or didn’t say, perhaps?) 

A flash of grief passes his face, and the pink-haired boy sighs, before smiling again.

“Well, I’m glad I met you. After all, you’re the man who’s gonna become the Pirate King, right?”

And Luffy grins, “yep, that’s me!”

Luffy travels with Coby to Shells Town, and then they part ways at the shore. He’s given directions to the Marine Base where Zoro is kept, and then the next he turns… Coby was gone.

Luffy had simply shrugged. 

Coby surely had his own adventures to go for, so that was the end of their relationship. Surely if the seas were joined, they will meet again.

 

-

 

Usopp flinches sharply the moment he enters the palace. The halls are in mayhem, but no one’s noticed them yet.

He has his Haki on full, but careful, because he doesn’t want to overwhelm himself with the number of voices-- but then he feels it.

 

“What’s wrong?” Zoro asks, and Usopp doesn’t register the question.

He hadn’t noticed it before, because it was screwed down so tightly it was indecipherable-- but this aura , this voice .

“...impossible,” he whispers to himself, “no, but why would he be…”

 

Here?

And the second he senses it, it’s gone. Like someone hastily extinguishing a candle light in the night and then covering it with a tarp, it’s vanished completely.

Understandable. Usopp had his Haki on full blast, so he may as well have screamed his presence to any sensitive Haki user.

But completely. It’s normal to compress your voice and hide your presence, but to make it vanish entirely isn’t a feat manageable by normal Haki users.

Usopp’s heart sinks in realization. 

Because who the hell is capable of entirely extinguishing their own voice? 

It’s scary every time to feel it, because a missing voice is a dead one -- but Usopp knows-- there are only two people in the world in both timelines that can do that while being alive. 

Two ultimate cowards, even more so than Usopp, with the strength to move mountains when they will for it.

And one of them’s Coby .

 

(That’s definitely him. He’s here-- but why? It just doesn’t make sense. Unless…)

 

“Usopp! Hey, get a grip!” Zoro is hissing at him now, looking frantically before glancing upwards, “there are guards everywhere! Hey!”

Usopp isn’t even hearing him. “Wait, is it possible? Well, if it’s only me and Nami for now, no doubt there’d be someone else…”

With an angry tut, Zoro turns to the side, punching the wall in frustration. Except, that particular brick of the wall sinks in.

And a secret entrance opens.

 

Zoro stares at it. “A basement? Ah whatever! Hey, Usopp, let’s go!”

“Huh? What did you do, Zoro? Wait, my walking stick!”

 

The opening’s already closing, so Zoro grasps Usopp as close to him as possible, dashing past and going down.

The door closes behind them, and the walking stick clatters on the other end.

“Zoro, my walking stick!”

“Geez, we’ll pick it up later, okay?” Zoro groans, “speaking of, are you done daydreaming? Then we gotta go find Luffy!”

Usopp grimaces at that. “Yeah,” he says, taking a few breaths to regain his composure. “Where are we anyway?”

“Hell if I know. It’s dark, I can’t see shit.”

“Ah, that sounds like such an inconvenience.”

“Shut up, Usopp!”

 

They’re in a narrow line of stairs, absolute darkness leading down to a basement unseen. It’s just enough for Usopp to spread his arms out and be able to touch both walls.

There are steps and nothing else. 

Even without seeing any colour, Usopp knows that what little Zoro can see is fixated on making sure Usopp doesn’t wander out. He’s a grouch, but he’s a nice grouch. 

 

If they end up falling, Zoro is going to stick to Usopp like a clingbug from tomorrow onwards. Usopp would rather not deal with that. Robin’s had to deal with that last time around and she invented her doppleganger move to avoid him.

Zoro stands guard on a lower step, one arm firmly on Usopp’s and only becoming firmer as Usopp feels around to get a grasp of his surroundings.

 

“Ow ow ow. You’re going to break my arm,” Usopp warns him, because she steps a little closer to the left and Zoro’s grip on his crushes desperately. 

Usopp finds a hollow in the side-- there's a wooden torch and matches to light it up.

Convenient.

But the matches were dry and the torch was still damp with oil, so that meant that people still used this passageway for something.

Probably not the guards. The guards would’ve brought in a lamp instead of a torch-- it’s like the people using this place wanted to replicate its original form to leave as little traces as they could.

 

(Oh.)

(The Revolutionary Army.)

 

“What is it?” Zoro asks, breaking him out of his thoughts again.

And Usopp doesn’t touch the torch. “I guess there’s no helping it,” he says, “I brought a candle, so let’s use that.”

“Why didn’t you bring it out earlier?!”

 

-


-

 

“Huh? Gin, you’re not taking this?”

They’re back at the Merry, no trouble along the way and a full storage of antiques. They move it to the female dorm, because it’s the most spacious area they have aside from the galley. 

Sanji sorts through the books only to find Emerald City under the pile. 

“Huh? Yeah,” Gin says noncommittally, arranging the loose objects in the little chest by the closet. “It’ll probably fetch quite some cash.”

Sanji squints at him, raising the book, “who cares how expensive it is, you want it, right?”

 

Gin definitely had that slightly gleaming look in his eyes when he was skimming through the first few pages, when he was telling them about the legendary city.

And Sanji knows. It’s the same face Sanji and Zeff always put on when they talk about All Blue, waxing poetic about the sea that may or may not exist.

It’s passion, it’s childlike, and it’s definitely a dream worth chasing.

This was definitely important for that dream-- it’s the first shard of the clues.

 

Gin looks at the book in Sanji’s hand-- and Sanji definitely intends for him to take it. Gin doesn’t, turning back to his side of the work as if the notion didn’t occur at all.

“I don’t need that nonsense,” he says, shrugging. “Sure, it’s a cool story, but I’m not particularly racing for it or anything. It’s a fairy tale, it’s got little to do with piracy.”

And he sounds resigned, like he’s too old for this.

And that makes Sanji a little pissed. 

 

“Oh shut your old man act,” is Sanji’s response. “Just keep it and read it or whatever. I’m sure Nami-san won’t mind you taking just one of these.”

Gin waves him off. 

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing, it’s just a book,” he says. 

He stands up, takes the book-- and puts it right back on top of the rest of the stack. 

Then Gin puts a hand on Sanji’s shoulder. “Look, you might be a passionate kind of guy, but I’m not like that. I’m the kind of person that’s fine if I can be alive every day.”

Sanji’s fists tightens. 

 

(“All Blue? You still believe in that story? Grow up already, Sanji.”)

(“It’s a child’s fairy tale, y’know? Think realistically.”)

 

Sanji grabs the book.

He doesn't know what Gin has gone through in his life thus far.

But for Sanji, his dreams have always been his one and only lifeline. When he was trapped underground, locked in a cage, he dreamt of freedom. When he was left alone, scrounging for a new life-- he dreamt of independence.  When he could finally fly, he dreamt of the sea at the end of his achievements.

For Sanji, a life without his dreams is a life better off dead.

(His father would agree.)

So he can't relate.

He can't relate to Gin, who thinks dreams are a weight, a burden on his shoulders. Sanji just can't understand someone who would discard his dream just for the chance of living another day. 

He can't understand that shit.

 

Instead, he picks up the book again.

"Have you heard of the All Blue?"

 

Gin turns around, and Sanji continues talking.

 

"It's a legendary sea. They say all four blues convene there-- so fishes of all the seas exist there, at your disposal. It's the dream of every chef in the world," Sanji tells him. Then a moment later he adds, "Obviously, it's my dream, too."

Gin eyes him, not too sure what his point is.

"I owed the Old Man a debt. So I gave up on this dream," Sanji says. "For half of my life I just thought it was fine that I never found that sea. I think that's how you feel too, that you don't really need that dream to live."

"I don't," Gin emphasizes. 

"But, one day, a shithead came by and dragged me off to his pirate crew, here I am," Sanji says, gesturing at the ship.

Gin groans, rolling his eyes. "And your point is?"

"My point is," Sanji tells him, pointing at the man and then himself, "you and I, we were both kidnapped by that absolute shithead. So we're both free now, from the assholes that we were tied to."

Gin doesn't speak at that.

Because there's truth to it. They're free, their pasts are over and tossed away-- from herein, a new life is supposed to begin. Sanji has moved up from a measly sous chef into a Head Chef of his own caliber.

Yet, Gin's still here, not to sure how to discard the Man-demon inside of him.

 

(Deep inside, he's still a Krieg Pirate.)

(Because he's hesitant. This is the first time he's been given so much safety.)

(This is the first time he's living, not because of himself, but because someone asked him to live.)

(Gin doesn't know how to be a member of this crew.)

(He doesn't know how to live depending on others.)

 

"I told you, I'm busy just trying to breathe every day," Gin says, stubbornly, driving the thoughts out of his head.

It's dumb, it's dumb. It's all so dumb.

Dreams? Gin's lost those ages ago. All he has left is a little fancy for an old story.

He doesn't need dreams.

"Look, we have that shitty rubber for a captain, and that shitty rubber is there for a reason," Sanji says, "but remember what he told you back on the Baratie? Or is the poison eating up your memory too?"

 

(What he said to Gin?)

(Which part of that?)

 

"We're a crew now," Sanji says, because that's obvious. "That means your stupid ass is part of us now. Your dreams are our dreams and your problems are ours, too. Your life isn't Krieg's anymore, you're ours, got it?"

Gin blinks, stunned by that.

Yes, his life is Luffy's because Luffy saved him... that's how it works, doesn't it? Not that Luffy explicitly says so.

"Not just Luffy's," Sanji emphasizes, and Gin startles at the coincidence. Did Sanji read his mind? "I'm saying your life is ours! Yours, mine, that shitty Marimo and the Longnose, and of course, Nami-swan and the stupid bird! Because in this crew, we look out for each other, we ain't gonna let your dumb ass die out there so easily. Got it?!" 

Sanji steps forward, the book in his hand. He stops two steps before him, and presses the book into Gin's chest. 

"Look, Sanji, I get what you're saying, but--"

"I'm saying that you don't need to worry about living, because we'll all be here to make sure you live!" Sanji says, raising his voice in case volume is what's needed to get the information through that thick skull of his. "You're free to do whatever you want now because you're not alone!"

 

(That.)

(That makes Gin fall completely silent.)

(His eyes wide, his fingers stiff against the cover of the book in his hands.)

 

"Understand already, you shithead?!" 

When Sanji finally yells that, he's breathing harshly, like he'd just gone for a run. Had he really been ranting that much? Gin doesn't know. Because only the last line is thrumming in his head like a painfully stubborn bell, ringing over and over in an echo.

"You're keeping that book and you're reading it and we aren't selling that. Got it?"

Gin looks at the book in his hands again.

[Emerald City] is in his hands, and the title is emblazoned in crisp, jeweled green across the cover of the book. There's a silver ribbon marker across one of the pages, slightly frayed at the ends.

"Yeah," he says. "I understand now."

 

Chapter 20: I.O.U. a concussion or two.

Summary:

Zoro's marvelous sense of direction breaks the barriers of logic about three times, Usopp hates prison cells, and Luffy gets captured, of course.

Nothing a few rockets and concussions won't fix.

Notes:

ahhh I have been fed ❤︎ I love all of you so much!! T^T I'm glad you guys are enjoying this fic, and seriously I don't say it enough! xD ❤︎❤︎❤︎ please have this chapter as thanks because I'm too socially inept to actually give you my boundless gratitude. We're finally moving into Loguetown next chapter!

Chapter Text

Nami is in her birthplace, but it doesn’t really feel like home. 

 

Sure, she was born in Oykot, but it’s as much her home as Goa would be Luffy’s. It’s just a piece of land, a location, with nothing else to it. Even last time around, Nami found nothing to her name here. 

She had thought she would at least find her last name here, but the Revolutionary Army had been thorough with its cleaning. All documents had been buried and dusted and prayed for. 

She supposed it didn’t matter anyways, so she didn’t bother searching for some this time around too.

She set the ruler on the base of the Merry, hopping over to the ledge on the other end to get a better view of the island. 

Since she’s drawing a new map, that means new latitudes, right? There are limits to charting by eye and ruler, no matter how capable of a charter she is.

She had tried to use her Haki to feel out islands once, but it wasn’t strong enough. Vision was replicable, but it took too much time.

 

Usopp would offer to do it, but it wasn’t very logical to plot just one island out in maximum detail while leaving other islands in the old quality. It’s not as if Usopp was always with Nami, anyways.

But this time…

 

“That’s right, if we get Noko-chan to take some pictures from above…” then she could even plot out population densities and mark industrial locations.

It’ll be World Map 2.0, bigger and better! Or something.

“Nami-san, Nami-san, sorry to disturb you while you’re in such an absorbed mood,” Sanji says, “but our three stooges aren’t back yet.”

Nami hums, setting down the pen on her easel, looking through the map once more.

“It’s fine Sanji, let’s just enjoy the ambience before they get back.”

 

-

 

“Uh, Nami--” 

Nami looks over and Gin flinches.

“--san,” Gin adds hesitantly. His feet shuffles around nervously, and he hides the book behind him. “I just, uh--”

Sanji stares at him with all the disgusted gaze of a man that’s tired of this dilly-dallying, “just ask her already.” He pokes the man at the back of his knee with his foot. “Hurry up.”

“Oh shut it! I’m doing it, alright?!”

 

Nami raises an eyebrow at that. If someone’s this nervous to ask her someone, it’s probably about money. Or maybe not, she’s not so sure about the new timeline yet. Gin seems like the type to be nervous to ask for anything at all.

And then he holds up [Emerald City] in his hands.

“Can I… uh…” he looks away, hesitating, “keep this book?”

Nami blinks.

(Oh.)

“Look, I told you that was a stupid question,” Sanji sings, his lips pursing in that subtly mocking way, “listen to this, Nami-san, he thought we weren’t going to let him take it!”

“Shut up, Sanji!” Gin snaps, his face heating up, “it’s our spoils, so I can’t just claim one of them without permission!”

 

And indeed, that’s protocol. The quartermaster has claim over the storage and loot, but it’s for the ship itself to function. A selfish quartermaster is a dead ship.

Plus, all income and sales goes through the treasurer-- Nami, of course-- and that includes the track of goods taken and sold.

Nami sees Gin asking for permission, and the first thing she realizes is that Gin is a splendid quartermaster, despite everything he says and denies.

Pirates would jump straight for the loot when it’s received. In a more organized crew, the captain gets first pick, followed by the first mate, second mate, so on. In the same way-- when no one is taking loot for themselves, no one should.

Gin knows that, which is why he feels it inappropriate to ask for any at all.

Because he knows they need the money for their voyage herein, and he’s reluctant to compromise any of it without being seen as a slump in their finances.

 

So Nami chuckles.

Sanji scoffs, “look, even Nami-san is laughing at you.”

Gin’s bright red now, “Oh I get it already, you guys are assholes!” he yells, throwing his hands into the air.

“No, no, nothing like that,” she says. When Gin turns to her, she smiles at him. “It’s just that this is the first time you’ve asked for anything, so I’m just really happy.”

 

Gin didn’t ask to come on board, Gin didn’t ask to stay.

But he asks for his dreams, and beyond anything, that’s progress.

“Of course, you can keep it, Gin,” Nami tells him. “When we get a shelf in the boy’s dorm, you can collect the rest of the series too.”

Gin pauses.

Then he throws the book open to the end. “It’s a series?!”

 

 

-

 


 

-

 

“So, Luffy-san, what are you doing here?”

The three have settled down. Hack gathers their papers while Luffy and Coby sit around to catch up. 

“Nami brought us here to explore!” Luffy says, happily. “Oh, and Nami is my navigator! I got a pretty big crew now! I’ve got Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji and--”

Coby looks to the side a little, thinking about something-- then he looks back.

 

“So, where is Nami-san now?” he asks.

“She went to the stupid other castle!” Luffy says. “So, Coby, what’re you doing here?”

Coby grins. “You see, I didn’t tell you last time, but I”m actually a super secret spy!” he says excitedly. “You know that bridge over there? It’s actually an evil king’s place, so we’re trying to take it all out from inside!”

And that’s sugarcoating it heavily. Hack grimaces at the side, because Coby’s pretty much talking to a literal kid over there. 

A bird helps him gather up the papers on the ground, and he thanks it.

 

(When the hell did this bird get in here?)

 

The bird is on his shoulder now and Hack is a little terrified. 

There’s a ring (a golden ring) around its foot, but it pecks at his hand when he tries to get a closer look. Hack isn’t an expert on birds, but he guesses from the sheen of its fur that it’s a domesticated pet. Maybe it belongs to Luffy.

“Oooh, that’s cool!” Luffy claps his feet, “I was going to go over there! Wanna go?”

Coby shushes him with a grin, “no, Luffy-san, we can’t do that!” he says with a bit of feigned fluster, “it’s a suuuuper secret mission, so we’re playing the waiting game now. You remember the waiting game?”

Luffy nods. 

“We’re almost done waiting, so we can’t rush it!” Coby tells him, “if we manage to do this, I’ll finally be able to play this game I’ve wanted for years-- It’s my dream!” 

Hack considers them. So is that an outright lie or just a very detailed metaphor he’s not so sure how to decode? Hack isn’t sure.

 

(Somewhere inside, Hack thinks he shouldn’t be listening. Shouldn’t be trying to decode his nonsense, trying to figure him out.)

(Coby is the Informant, and nothing else.)

(Their relationship is strictly professional. It’s not like the friendship he has with Koala-- Coby is an outsider and they both prefer it that way.)

 

Luffy swings about excitedly. “It’s your dream, huh? Then, I’ll come back and explore this bridge with my crew some other day!” 

Luffy has a strange way of understanding things, and Coby seems to have a perfect grasp on it after many years of dealing with people from the other end of the board.

But it’s impressive. Coby’s acting so flawlessly, it’s hard to remember that he’s deaf. 

Perhaps it’s because Luffy is honest, and everything he expresses is right on his face. Coby doesn’t need much to understand what he’s saying. Though the boy started out signing all he said to help Coby out, he eventually began to forget it.

Someone who can make people so absorbed in what they say is fearsome, in a political sense.

Hack knows that he can’t let go of Coby as an ally. For the Revolutionary Army to achieve their goals, they need Coby on their side.

But they still don’t know if Coby is their best piece on the chessboard, or if it's the other way around. 

 

“So Luffy-san, can you try and leave the island quietly?”

“Sure!” 

 


 

“Holy crap.”

Usopp stares.

Zoro lets go of him and shuffles around in the slightly orangish darkness, and Usopp can smell dust and wood and rust. Mostly dust, though.

“What’s with all this junk?” Zoro shifts through the mounds of paper in the dimly lit room. 

Usopp keeps staring. 

Zoro turns around, “what’s with that look?”

Usopp throws up his hands in a ‘I’m innocent officer I swear’ motion, sounding mildly offended. “What look? I don’t know what a look is.”

“What do you mean you don’t know what a-- oh. Right, my bad,” Zoro reaches over to set the candle down on a gap in the wall for candlesticks. 

 

Then he grabs Usopp by the elbow.

“There are papers everywhere. Crusty place,” Zoro mutters.

Papers? In a mansion like this? Usopp tries not to choke on the dust when Zoro brushes it off a surface. 

Zoro gripes about it, and Usopp reaches down.

The dust is thick. Thick enough to coat his fingers with grime-- and Usopp would believe if someone told him it had been left alone for decades.

“Zoro, what’s on this paper?” 

 

Usopp’s instincts are blaring. 

Because the room is filled with papers, and though they don’t have a voice, he knows there are tons and they’re secured far underground, wherever this is.

 

“Huh? Uh,” Zoro seems to hesitate for a moment, “I’m not sure. It looks like a contract,” he says. “Can’t read it, but there’s a signature. This stack over here looks like a bill, I recognize some numbers.”

Important documents, as expected. 

It can’t be. The revolutionary army should have been here once already, and they wouldn’t leave important clues like this in the dust. If Hack is here, he should be searching for these.

 

But if they followed the narrow staircase and went on a straight road they should’ve reached this place too. So why hadn’t they?

...oh. 

 

Zoro coughs. “Man, it’s dusty here. Let’s find another way out.”

Usopp facepalms.

“Zoro, you defy physics sometimes, you know.”

“Huh?!”

 

-

 

Zoro stands by the hallway, fiddling with Kogatana. 

Usopp positions himself in the center of the room and closes his eyes. Peeling off his shoes and planting them firmly on the ground, he snaps his fingers once.

A pause.

Then he snaps his fingers again, a little louder this time. 

Zoro turns away with a huff, strapping Kogatana back by his sash and hearing the little jingle against Ichimonji’s hilt.

Usopp tenses. “Zoro, try to be quiet.”

 

Zoro’s mouth opens in denial-- but then he stops and turns away, making sure the little ornament didn’t clink this time. 

Man, Usopp’s ears were really sharp. He could probably even hear Zoro’s breathing. Or his earrings now that he thought about it. 

(He’s not pouting, he swears.)

 

Usopp barely moves. 

He just listens to the echoes of his snaps, and tries to make sense of the sound that comes back. Zoro doesn’t know what he’s looking for, but if he’s trying so hard to look for it, he’s not going to interfere.

And finally, Usopp reacts.

He steps to the left, dodging a stack of papers and then stepping between a row of clay pots. Leaning down before the shelf, he brushes aside a painted scroll on the wall--

--and reveals a metal safe.

 

Zoro reacts immediately, “holy shit.” 

He steps forward, kicking aside a vase on his way-- he cringes at the noise. It’s not a very big safe, but it’s solid, well-hidden, and looks important.

“Hey Zoro, you can cut steel yet?”

“What the hell? Of course not.”

Usopp laughs, finding the combination lock and retrieving a stethoscope from his bag. “That’s a shame. Well, let’s do this the traditional way then.”

 

It takes Usopp exactly two minutes to get it open-- which, Zoro admits, is very fucking impressive.

He bends over to get a closer look at everything inside-- and his jaw drops right open. It’s filled with objects that all shine in a very visually pleasing way, and though Zoro’s no expert in jewellery, he knows all this cost a fortune of some sort.

Usopp reaches inside, feeling around.

“It smells like silver, mostly,” he says, picking up a necklace with a large emerald stone on it, the shell of the pendant lined with diamonds.

“Nami would like these,” Zoro says.

 

And then Usopp takes out something far duller-- something that seemed to be made out of greenish-blue stone, with odd, tribal-looking patterns engraved in it.

It’s a bangle, dull in colour and nothing attractive. From the way Usopp’s arms slump slightly compared to the hand holding the necklace, it’s quite heavy.

Of all the things Zoro expected the boy to grab, that one wasn’t it. 

Maybe it’s because Usopp can’t see how dull and ugly the bangle was. Zoro’s not one for ornamental fancies (shut up about the earrings--) but he knows a rock when he sees one. Still Usopp looks fairly pleased with it, so he won’t mention that out loud.

A smile tickles at Usopp’s lips.

“Yeah, she will,” he agrees. “Let’s grab it all, then. Luffy’s nearby.”

“Wait, really?”

 


 

“So Informant, what were you saying about leaving quietly again?”

Hack and Coby stare incredulously at the guards screaming after the boy in the distance. 

Coby, frankly, is impressed. He didn’t expect anything less from the man who’s going to declare war against two Emperors at once in the future, but still. They had literally led him out on the most unoccupied hallways possible with a straight road out.

“Hey informant? Informant?”

 

Well, this all works out fine anyways. Coby saw that coming, totally. The only place they hadn’t gone for was the Round of Knights hall, where the slavers had their meetings.

They could really use this distraction to go for it. And then he’ll pretend it was all planned out to begin with because obviously Coby knew this was going to happen with Luffy. Like, really. Of course.

(Even after so many years, Luffy can always manage to surprise him…)

 

“Hey Informant!” and a hard smack to his shoulders woke him up.

Coby squeaks and swirls back apprehensively-- oh it’s just Hack.

“Let me guess, you didn’t hear a thing,” Hack says, like that wasn’t obvious in the first place because Coby is, breaking news, at least eighty percent deaf. 

So instead he turns away and very, very convincingly, he swears, smiles awkwardly and laughs. “O- Obviously I heard you. Now let’s go before Uncle Gon gets on our case.” 

“Uncle--?! Hey, Informant! Where are you going??”

 

Coby turns around and leaves Luffy behind, only to register the new weight beside his head and the gentle, familiar smell of gunpowder..

...Huh?

“Hey Hack, whose bird is this and what is it doing on my shoulder?”

 


 

Luffy thinks the guards are mean. Everyone knows it’s not fair to come at him with a group! And why are they screaming? It’s rude to scream, Sabo said so!

Anyways he was definitely planning on just walking out, okay? 

Coby said it was important so obviously, it is. And when someone is playing a game they really like alone, you quietly go away. That’s common sense.

But listen, listen.

He swears he only thought that that guy’s jacket was cool and he only wanted to see it for half a second. Promise.

So it’s not his fault they just suddenly shot him! He hates getting shot, it startled him! Anyways, it just somehow ended up like this and Luffy is absolutely not responsible for this. And can they stop shooting at him?! 

 

“It’s bouncing off!”

“What is he?!”

“Wait, half of you get to the other side! We need to surround him, the kid’s quick!”

 

Luffy is so sick of this. He even lost sight of the exit, and he’s getting hungry.

He turns the corner, steps on someone’s face, swings over the rest of the crowd-- and huh? Where’s Ennosuke? Well, whatever, she’ll come back when she’s hungry. 

And then he sees it.

Laying on the ground, towards the wall-- a very familiar white cane.

His eyes widen. 

 

-

 

Two minutes later, Luffy is yelling again, waving the white stick in the air.

“You assholes! What have you done to Usopp?! Give him back!!”

And now the guards were running away from him, varying degrees of crying for help, just straight up wailing in confusion, and the other half were bolting for their lives.

Coby and Hack pass by the crowd again, and Coby incredulously looks up with his eyes at the bird on his head.

“Not going back?” he asks.

 

The bird shakes its head desperately.

Okay then. Back to searching they go.

 

“Man, I wish I could do the thing Luffy-san always did. I’d be able to understand you better,” Coby mumbles. “Ah, Hack-san, I’m going to use my Observation.”

“You don’t have to warn me,” Hack says, knowing that Coby isn’t looking his way so he can’t know what he’s saying.

 

And Coby does it.

He spreads out, and Hack can feel just the slightest difference in the air, like it’s gone just a bit thicker than before.

And suddenly, Coby’s so visible

His Haki is so strong, releasing it sends chills down Hack’s spine. If Coby would just train it a little more, he would be able to hide it better…

 

“Huh? Someone’s sending me a signal.”

And Hack snaps back to attention, spreading out his own Observation.

It’s nearby-- there’s a faint, irregular pulse of Haki somewhere deep in the walls, thrumming in a rhythm like morse code.

“I recognize it. It’s faint so I can’t read it well,” Hack puts a hand on Coby’s shoulder so the boy knows to look at his lips. “Secret entrance. It’s leading us toward it. You think it’s a trap?”

It’s a revolutionary code? But there shouldn’t be another revolutionary agent here. Hack was the only one sent because they weren’t supposed to show their faces at any point of time. Coby, the informant, should be their only extra lead.

 

Coby doesn’t recognize the code.

But he recognizes the soul.

 

And with how faintly it’s thrumming, as if it doesn’t want to be discovered-- Coby knows that the message is for him and his own oversensitive observation.

“It’s not a trap,” he smiles. “I probably know him.”

“I’ll trust you, then,” Hack sighs.

So, how should they get there? Secret entrances are unpredictable, and they can’t move around much with the guards in disarray. They know the general direction...

“Ah, wait!”

The bird flies off Coby’s head, coming to land before a hallway with a brick wall.

Then it turns around, as if it’s waiting for Coby to do something. And though Coby still can’t hear the souls and emotions of animals, some things can just be felt through actions. 

“Oh,” he says. “I think it’s leading us there.”

 

Making sure no guards were around, they scrambled over-- Hack found the secret passage easily after pushing a few bricks around.

“This is the one we found last week, isn’t it? There’s nothing down the but the shortcut to the castle dungeons,” Hack tells him.

“But the signal is coming from down there. It’s worth checking,” Coby insists, picking up the candle by the side and lighting it.

The bird flies in ahead of them.

“Are you sure we aren’t wasting our time?” Hack says, stepping in and letting the passage close behind them.

 

Coby didn’t see him talking, so Hack just rolls his eyes and follows along.

The bird hovers around, seemingly waiting for them to catch up. Coby hustles after it, not wanting to lose it despite knowing there was only one route down.

“Hey Informant, slow down-- right, you can’t hear me. HEY INFORMANT--”

Coby makes a startled squeak when his foot misses a step, and the noise that escapes his throat is some sort of strangled horror.

Grasping desperately at the walls in his panic, Coby drops the candle, slides painfully down too many steps that make his life flash before his eyes-- and the wall beside him turns with him.

 

(Wait, what?)

 

“Informant? You okay there?” Hack comes by with a new candle, making sure Coby turned to him so he could see him speaking. He even signed in case Coby couldn’t register it yet.

“Uh, ye--” Coby then snaps, “wait, don’t yell at me. You startled me.”

“Right, my bad.”

Coby, still in shock from feeling his life flash before his eyes, nods absently, confusedly trying to piece together what just happened.

Just then, the wall to the right of them opens, sliding soundlessly apart just enough to open a narrow hallway for one man to slide through at a time. 

Hack’s jaw drops. Coby blinks, pleasantly surprised. “See? I told you this was worth it!”

More like, how would you normally discover that secret passage anyways?!

 

Hack moves in with a new candle, and Coby follows. But the latter stops after two steps, turning back to realize the bird hadn’t followed them inside.

It was perched by the side of the steps, waiting for them to go.

“You’re not coming?” Coby asks.

Hack turns around. The bird simply stares back, without a response. 

 

(In a way, it looked regal. It reminded him of Sengoku-- composed, unfazed, and responsible. He did no more than he had to, and did all he could when he needed to.)

(...No, that’s a stretch.)

(It was probably just a whim on the bird’s part. He shouldn’t think too much about it.)

 

Coby hums. “Thanks for bringing us this far,” he says, just to be polite.

For a moment, he thinks the bird huffs a ‘you’re welcome’ at him.

 

-

 

“Huh?”

They made it to a room-- and their jaws drop.

There are thousands of papers in this archive, and all of them are exactly what they’re looking for. Information on the destruction of the country, the people left behind, and the underground trade that occurred in the later half of the war which led to Tequila Wolf’s formation.

“To think we’ve been missing something this close by this whole time.”

 

And Coby is honestly speechless. 

He came back nearly a decade ago. Spent a year building himself back up, spent years climbing up the social ladder of the underworld, making efforts to change the world. With his previous knowledge of the World Government, he weaved himself into their archives easily, and began to plant seeds in every liable gap.

He had been working many years on this road, staying on the verge of the Revolutionaries and the world nobles-- and yet, he couldn't have done this on his own. 

He brought the Tequila Wolf takedown and settlement leaps ahead in progress, and he didn’t do it alone.

 

(Where’s Usopp? Is there another exit from here?)

(Why isn’t Usopp here? Coby wants to talk to him. They’re finally on the same side of the law again. He wants to hug him and be with them again.)

(He wants to go with Luffy-san this time but, but, but…)

(...but he’s been tasked with better things, he can’t be selfish.)

 

Hack shakes him once, and Coby turns his eyes back to the taller man. The look Hack gives him is a reminder.

A reminder of exactly what they’re doing, and how much they can’t afford to be anything but completely serious now. 

The fun times are over.

After this, there will be no break for them. They’ve finally gotten somewhere, they have to keep going.

“It seems like the person that led us here doesn’t want to show themselves,” Coby sighs, looking through some papers and shuffling them around. A fallen vase is shattered to the side, filled with ash or sand of some sort. “That’s fine, right? Let’s get started.”

Hack retrieves his Den Den Mushi with a huff.

“Of course.”

 

Coby finds a spot in the corner, pulsing nostalgically like how all Usopp’s creations and emotions linger on his skin. He opens the door, which isn’t locked-- and finds it except save for a note written in scraggly writing.

[ I.O.U a Dream. -Sogeking. ]

Coby laughs.

 


 

“Wait, Zoro-- I don’t think this is the way we came from.”

“Huh? You can’t even see,” Zoro has his hand around the boy’s elbow. He’s clutching the sack of jewellery in his other hand. “Of course this is the way out. There’s only one road.”

“Exactly Zoro, there is only one straight road up,” Usopp says. “So how the hell have we turned left twice already?”

Usopp sighs. At least he sent the signal when they were still there. Coby should have found it and it should have led them to the archive. 

Man, he was looking forward to meeting him, too. Leave it to Zoro’s sense of direction to get them out of track.

“Zoro-kun, Zoro-kun, why are we walking down ? How did you find stairs that go even further down??”

“Shut up! Ask the road, not me!”

 

Usopp smells the dampness of the seabed, and he clings a little closer to Zoro. At the very least, they’re actually getting closer to Luffy. What’s Luffy doing so far down from the castle, anyways? 

Zoro finds a door and opens it.

They’re very far underground-- far down enough that Usopp just knew what this place could be. He holds his shoes in his hand, and he feels the rock under his feet give way to worn out stone. 

“This is… a dungeon, right?” Zoro says. “A prison, I mean.”

If it’s on a ship, it’s a brig. If it’s in a castle, it’s a dungeon. Then if it’s just a building full of jail cells, it’s a prison. The difference doesn’t really matter, so Usopp finds it strange that Zoro knows the difference. 

“You just thought something rude, didn’t you?”

“No, no, no.”

“You definitely did.”

“No, no, no.”

 

Something drips. There’s a leak-- they’re under sea level. It’s wide open in this space, but it reeked of humidity and the dead. Usopp’s haki tells him that it’s empty here. 

Completely empty.

Usopp clings closer, hugging Zoro’s arm to himself. They pass by a metal cage, and Usopp notes that the door is open.

“Get off already, we’re out of the stairs.”

Usopp doesn’t.

 

He breathes, in and out. Taking in the smell of rot and rust and blood, so thick it’s soaked and stained into the stone walls.

The sound of chains scraping against the walls.

He clutches even closer, fingers digging into Zoro’s arm. 

“Let’s just get out of here.”

 

Zoro gives him a glance and doesn’t say anything more.

He tries not to think of the motley colours, the humid air, the smell of blood, and the feeling of chains dragging across his wrist.

(He’s not there anymore.)

(He’s with Zoro and Zoro is a safe place.)

 

-

 

“DAMN IT! LET ME OUT!”

They went up about two floors to find a caged monkey screaming his head off. There are guards beside him, looking positively annoyed at this dumb chore they’d been stuck with.

Usopp sticks to the side with Zoro, who was looking at the scene with a grimace.

“What is that idiot doing?” Zoro says, exasperated. 

Usopp honestly expected this. Put Luffy anywhere and he’ll find himself a reason to get arrested-- that’s just how Luffy is, and it’s routine for pirates. 

 

“Oh! Zoro! And Usopp! HEYYY ZORO! USOPP!!

“Shit, he saw us!”

“Idiot, don’t call for us!” 

 

Immediately the guards spin in the direction of the call, holding their weapons at the ready. Zoro ducks away quickly, dragging Usopp out of view, but it’s too late. He looks to the left, then right, and up--

“He had companions!”

“Someone’s there! Seize them!” 

--Zoro grabs Usopp by the scruff and climbs up the wall. Usopp isn’t too sure about the infrastructure of this area, but he reckons they were on a higher level now, probably on some sort of hallway bridge. 

 

Zoro runs again, and Usopp uses his opportunity to assemble his Kabuto. 

“I’ll get Luffy, you stay here!”

And Usopp is suddenly dropped. And then Zoro runs off, bringing his ensemble of guards with him.

The sound of a door closing is the only thing Usopp hears after that.

Usopp swears loudly.

 

“Wait, Zoro, don’t just leave me--” he stands up quickly, realizing that he’s inside a room. The echo of his voice, the loud roaring of the guards in the distance, and then Luffy’s yelling even further away.

Usopp belatedly realizes he’s frozen still, because he has no idea where he is.

The walls are muted blue. The ground is cold rock, and his Haki tells him there are no souls nearby. The air is dry and the wind is stale.

And once he registers all of that, the smell of rot and copper assaults his senses.

He reaches out, and there’s nothing in front of him. He takes a step forward-- and feels around again. 

 

Okay, calm down. 

He should listen to the sounds. That’s right, snap his fingers once and hear if there’s anything in this--

“He went that way!” 

“Shit, is anyone guarding the kid with the strawhat?”

“Oh no! He’s misled us, get back over there!”

--he can’t hear anything except the guards. He can’t hear what’s in this room, the sounds are too erratic and all over the place. 

 

Is the room getting darker? No, he’s imagining things.

Calm down, calm down.

He uses the edge of his Kabuto as a walking stick. There isn’t anything on the ground-- he feels around until he reaches a wall, and sighs in relief.

(He’s going to teach Zoro a lesson about leaving him right in the middle of a fucking room next time.)

He moves along the wall-- he should be able to find a window from here.

He lays his hand on the slightly crusty stone, rubbing out a handful of sand from the walls-- 

--and he shoots away from it immediately, bringing his hand back to his chest.

The world is a blur.

The smell of blood is a stain, the infinite screaming is an illusion; and there are no sounds of chains scraping against the floor. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he whispers to himself, “I’m not there.”

 

“He went that way!” 

“Circle around and fire!”

 

Usopp straightens to attention, the sudden, incredibly close proximity snapping him right back to reality. They’re right over the wall-- which mean they’re at least still in the same general area.

“Kinoko, Kinoko, why are you never here when I need you?”

Zoro and Luffy are a little below. So Usopp is probably on higher ground. That’s perfect. He touches the wall one more time and finds a window. 

“Forty to forty,” he mutters, continuing along the wall with his hand trailing against the stone. 

He finds another window, and another, and then the door. 

“Each window is a meter apart,” he navigates in his head. Four walls, eight windows, one door leading out. “It’s an actual door, so this isn’t a jail cell.”

Which means this is probably an abandoned control room, or an abandoned employee rest area. Either way, it’s empty.

Alright, then. 

He rounds the walls one more time-- and sets himself in the middle of the room.

Then he closes his eyes and draws back the sling of his Kabuto.

 

-

 

“You idiot, why’d you get yourself captured?!” 

Zoro is officially done with all of this. He’s going to nap on the ship at the next island and he is not going to wake up.

The bars of the prison cell are made of iron. He could try to cut them, but with only one sword, that’ll be difficult. Much less with all the guards currently looped around them.

“They took Usopp!” 

“No, they didn’t?!? You literally saw him with me just now!”

“But I found his stick!” Luffy whines, waving about the walking stick like a statement. Oh, good, he has the cane. Saves them some time trying to find the thing again. 

(But is this the time?!)

“Yeah, because I dropped it you moron!”

“But it’s Usopp’s stick?!?”

 

Seriously, he left Usopp behind in that room just now. It’ll be a pain if the guards find him, because it’s obvious Usopp needs either Zoro or the stick to get around right now-- “Agh, just get out of there already!”

They’re shooting at him, and Zoro’s frantically running back and forth from the cell trying to dodge their measly bullets and blades. 

“Oh, I can’t,” Luffy says, sitting down there comfortably like his crewmate isn’t in danger of getting mauled. His arms hanging out of the square openings in his slouch, “I don’t have the key.”

“You’re made of rubber, just squeeze through the bars!” Zoro yells, frustrated.

“Huh?” Luffy blinks. 

He stares at the bars confusedly before trying to, and succeeding in, squeezing his head through the gap. 

Then, “oh. OH. YAY I’M OUT!”

“YOU FUCKING IDIOT!”

Luffy peels himself right out of the jail cell, depositing himself beside Zoro as they begin their round of cat and mouse.

Zoro groans longsufferingly. “So, what’ll we do? Run or fight?” 

“Of course--”

 

Luffy’s interrupted by an explosion beside them. There’s a clatter, and Luffy barely manages to spot a black capsule rolling by their feet before a smokescreen blows vision right out of the water.

“What the he--”

“Ahh Zoro, wait, don’t move!”

Luffy grabs Zoro before he draws his sword, and right then, they feel numerous projectiles whizz past their faces.

 

The guards scramble in a panic, yelping in surprise.

“What’s--” 

“Someone’s shooting at us!”

“From where?!”

“Shit, they had another companion! Where did he go?”

 

Lufffy turns around in time to see a man get impacted by a black lead projectile. He falls straight down, probably, hopefully, not dead.

A pachinko pellet bumps against his sandal.

“Oh, it’s Usopp,” Luffy says, sticking close to Zoro, back against his. He hands the walking stick to Zoro, who straps it to his side beside Ichimonji. “Where’s he anyway?”

Zoro squints through the smoke. “Huh? I left him somewhere up there…” 

“Up? Okay,” and Luffy throws his hand up to the ledge, looping his other arm around Zoro three times (“wait. Wait, Luffy, no!”) before shooting upward. 

 

Luffy hangs from the banister like a monkey, looking around.

The smokescreen has spread all over the room now-- it’s more potent than he’d thought. The guards were in chaos, burning through their ammunition in a vain attempt to reorganize themselves and identify the sniper.

“Oh! It’s Ennosuke!” he says as the bird casually flies in from, seemingly nowhere at all. “Where have you been? Where’s Usopp?”

The bird gives him a scoff-looking greeting, as if she hadn’t been on an adventure of her own or something. Seriously, what a free-spirited bird.

Zoro blinks blearily at that, hanging tiredly at Luffy’s side when the bird rests on his shoulder. “Seriously, you just go wherever the hell you want… hurry up and go to Usopp already, he needs ya.”

Kinoko pecks him in the ear angrily once before fluttering off in the clear direction of the room Usopp was in.

“Ow! Don’t do that!” Zoro snaps, holding his ear. He faintly wonders if Kinoko could use Haki too. She always seems so sure of where Usopp is.

Luffy notices the room and shoots over.

 

"There's Usopp! Let's go!"

“Wait Luffy, that window isn’t big enough-- OOMPH!”

 

-


-

 

“...What happened to you guys?”

Nami stares at them incredulously. 

After a surprisingly nostalgic Gomu Gomu no Rocket right into the mast of the ship, Zoro has to be restrained by Gin and Luffy is laughing like the moron he is. Sanji plants a heel in his head, but that doesn’t stop Luffy from laughing like a maniac.

Usopp just stares spiritually into the sky, “no… nothing much.”

 

Nami raises an eyebrow at that.

“Well, whatever,” she says. Immediately switching to her sweet tone, she raises her voice, “Sanji-kun, Gin-kun, could you let down the sails? The guards are coming this way and we need to get a headstart. And Zoro, the anchor please.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

“Aye, Nami-swan!”

“Dammit. I’ll get you later for this, Luffy!”

 

There’s chaos over in the direction of the castle. Seems like guards are in a mad dash for their intruder, and it’s obviously Luffy’s fault.

“Yosh! Let’s set sail, everyone!” Luffy declares, punching the air. 

“AYE SIR!” everyone hollers back from different directions.

The Going Merry turns quickly, and Usopp goes for the galley, tugging the steering with the directions Kinoko gives from his head.

Nami stays on the deck with Luffy, watching the mist give way to the sea, and the sea give way to their next voyage.

 

The Tequila Wolf residents weren’t bothered, Nami notices-- they aren’t sending a ship after them. There aren’t a lot of ships near this side of port, so it should be easy to lose them. They even have good wind for their escape.

Luffy sits on the figurehead, grinning widely.

“So, did you have fun, Luffy?” Nami asks him, leaning into the bow. It’s always a delight to see Luffy cheerful. 

“Uhn!” Luffy says, “that’s right- Usopp and Zoro found treasure, y’know! They’re really pretty things,” he informs excitedly, “and I saw this guy with a really cool jacket! I wanted to grab it for Gin, but he ran off first.”

Nami can’t help but smile as she listens to him.

 

“That’s right-- Nami,” Usopp comes out from the galley, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a stone. “Here, a present.”

And Nami reaches up to snag the object out of the air. 

It’s thick stone, the weight enough to make her arm sag slightly with effort. It’s carved in with elegantly intricate curls, similar in stylistics to Nojiko’s tattoos. 

“Did you just throw a rock at her?” Gin asks, climbing down at the cargo net.

“You idiot, why are you throwing projectiles at people?! What if it hit her?” Sanji snaps at him, leaning out of the crow’s nest. “Well of course Nami-san can catch that, but what if she didn’t?!”

 

But Nami’s reaction is neither alarm nor apprehension. She takes one look at it and instantly, her features bloom.

“No way!” she says, her voice bursting with excitement, “it’s a seastone ornament! Where’d you find it?”

 

“It’s probably the castle’s national treasure. We found it in a safe deep underground,” Usopp informs her. 

Zoro comes out of the room, “wait, what? That dumb rock is actually something interesting?”

“Of course,” Nami answers immediately, slipping it through her flesh hand and admiring how it fits. “It’s limited edition, straight from Wano I bet.”

Zoro only gives her more confused looks. “Isn’t Wano the country of the samu--”

“Thank you, Usopp! I love it!” Nami thinks she’ll keep it-- she can probably use it as a brass knuckle. “I’m taking twenty million out of your debt, okay?”

“That thing is worth as much as my bounty?!” Gin blurts, shocked.

Nami just grins at that. “Of course! It’s a huge chunk of seastone, you know! Essential for the Grand Line, and if you have this, you don’t even need Haki to punch Luffy in the face.”

“What?!” came four shocked male voices, Luffy’s voice a tad more offended than the others at the implication.

Nami pats Luffy on the head with a laugh, but Luffy pouts.

 

“It’s also known to be as tough as diamonds, so Zoro can’t cut through it either.”

“WHAT?!”

 

Nami laughs. 

“Enough messing around! C'mon guys, we need to make it to Loguetown in two days! Eyes on the sea and let’s go!”

 


 

The Oykot Kingdom is raided by the Revolutionaries approximately two weeks from then. The Tequila Wolf base stationed there is liberated, the slaves freed, and the station seized.

Approximately three months after that, the Revolutionaries will make incredible progress upon the liberation of the rest of the bridge. It will then lead to a bigger step forward on the revolution's progress, and the World Nobles will begin to take action.

But what happens therein is a story for another time. 

Chapter 21: land of the beginning and the end.

Summary:

Loguetown smells like a storm. The saltiness of tears, the bitterness of spilled blood, and the sweetness of dreams blend together to form an aroma that draws only the bravest to its towns.

Usopp takes a step forward and goes ahead.

Gin takes two steps back, making sure his captain is in front of him first.

Chapter Text

They curl around the deck, eating supper in the moonlight.

Zoro’s already snoring, and Luffy has his legs draped over Zoro’s, his head laying on Usopp’s lap as he throws an arm over to snag a chunk of meat.

There’s a candle before them, and Gin is reading his book. 

 

All the blankets from the dorms are sprawled over someone in some shape, way, or form. Luffy is humming something unintelligible off-tune, and Kinoko seems to be adding in echoes of her own to accentuate the music.

Sanji is serving up cups of hot chocolate, and Nami and Usopp are chatting.

“You found Coby?” she asks, her voice surprised enough to catch the attention of the previously nonchalant crew.

Usopp nods, hands wrapped around his mug and a blanket draped over his shoulders. “He was definitely there. I sensed him.”

It’s in the way Nami and Usopp respond. Their voices suppressed but not hiding, juggling the words carelessly yet it was undeniably an important piece of information.

 

Luffy blinks, “huh? Usopp and Nami, you guys know Coby?” 

Nami and Usopp turn to him, taken aback-- then they nod.

“So he knows Luffy, too,” Usopp says, almost contemplatively. 

“Yeah! I met him before I found Zoro,” Luffy says. Zoro twitches a little at that, but no one really notices when he stopped snoring. 

Luffy’s journey before he met Zoro is a territory none of them have fully gone over, in either life. 

(Or at least, Nami doesn’t remember it.)

 

They’ve shared plenty of stories, but in jokes and vague details, never in proper narration. Luffy didn’t have the patience for that kind of stuff.

Usopp can’t help but think through it a little more. 

Coby was with Hack, in Tequila Wolf. 

That combination indicates he was running errands for the Revolutionary Army-- so did he join the Revolutionaries this time? But if he was, he wouldn’t have the freedom to wander about and go meet Luffy on Alvida’s ship.

Unless he came back many years before Usopp and Nami, and thus already climbed far up the revolutionary ladder…

No, that wouldn’t make sense. 

 

“The Chief of Staff never came by Whitebeard’s,” Nami says.

Usopp hums. It seems like Nami had been thinking about the same thing. Coby hated Marineford more so than any other Marine in the world, bar maybe Garp. He would have gone step one to prevent it, first and foremost.

Unless…

(...unless he was choosing his targets on a larger scale, bypassing the little things and focusing just on the World Government instead.)

“Then what is he doing here?” Usopp wonders. What is Coby planning, what has he been doing, and what does he plan on doing from here? 

It would really put things in perspective if they had met. Maybe Usopp should’ve stayed a little longer, after all.

 

“Oh, I know!” Luffy says, cheerfully. “He’s playing a game with Uncle Gon!

Nami and Usopp simultaneously choke on their drinks. 

 

-

 

Coby came to visit Usopp many times in Impel Down. Each time, Usopp could sense that Coby was nearing his edge. Each time, Coby drank one-sidedly and spoke to him as if they could still be the good friends they wanted to be.

And at some point, Coby stopped coming, and Usopp guessed from the amount of prisoners coming in and out-- that Coby was probably dead, or retired by force.

Usopp closed his eyes and reigned himself to a world he would never recognize again.

“They don’t care, Usopp-san.”

Coby had been particularly exhausted that day. He came in disguise, wearing the grunt uniforms and leaving his Fleet Admiral coat upstairs. He spoke in whispers, his voice was full of nothing but spite-- and Usopp was his sounding board.

“Politics, war, civil unrest-- all of it is so far beneath them, they don’t care. They have the privilege to be oblivious to it.”

Coby was always a crybaby. 

“I hate that I can’t do anything about it,” he whispered, hate filling his voice. “Why did I become Fleet Admiral? It’s the most useless job in the world!”

Usopp’s eyes widened at that.

“That’s not true,” he says quickly, but he doesn’t have a follow up for it.

Because it’s true. It’s true-- but he doesn’t want Coby to say that himself. His heart breaks when he feels around for Coby’s shattered, despaired voice.

Being Fleet Admiral was Coby’s dream.

“People’s dreams don’t die,” Usopp says, the words bitter in his mouth when he remembers who exactly said those words to begin with. 

But he can’t reach over to hold Coby’s hands and tell him it’s alright.

“Your dream isn’t dead either, Coby,” Usopp says. 

Coby stands there for a moment longer, only to walk away without another word. 

But they both know that Coby’s dream has been dead for a long time. Ever since Lufy died, ever since Helmeppo left, ever since every single good marine had to be discharged one after another.

It’s dead.

“When I get out,” Usopp told him, “come with us.”

Coby’s presence lingered for a moment. Then, he was gone.

 

-

 

“They called him ‘Informant’?” Nami repeats, just to be sure.  

Luffy nods. “That, In foam thing,” he affirms. 

Nami forced him to sit down and tell the story, so throughout it he’s gone from sprawled around Zoro’s lap to sprawled over Usopp’s, turning a few hundred degrees the other way around with a loop around Sanji’s arm. 

“Informant,” Gin corrects him. “It’s somebody that tells you things you want to know.”

“Oohh,” Luffy looks over. “But why?”

They didn’t bother to answer that question. 

 

There’s no reason for Coby to use an alias like that-- was he hiding his name? Then did Luffy expose him? That could spell trouble. Whatever.

One thing’s for sure.

“So he’s working with the Revolutionaries,” Usopp concludes, fairly sure of that part, “but he probably isn’t a part of their forces. Does that mean he’s creating a fourth party in the war? No, if we count the world nobles as one side, Coby would be the fifth.”

He’s the informant . It’s a title, a role in this world that can change the tune of events simply just by existing-- and it’s a perfect excuse to already know the information they keep from the future.

Coby, from this world to the last, has always wished the best for the world. 

Among all the people in the world, perhaps he was the most pacifist. And yet, his role brought him to the core of the war, making him the head of the charge of millions of dead people he once cared about personally. 

At the top, he felt every whisper of each soul to the core, never pulling back his Haki from their agony. 

 

(“I finally get to play the game I’ve always wanted to play.”)

 

Coby was doing exactly what Nami and Usopp didn’t do-- taking big, useful steps to change the world. 

He’s going right into the territory of the World Nobles, playing on their field with his new freedom as an unknown. He’s serious about changing the future.

(Unlike Nami and Usopp, he’s willing to sacrifice his own desires for it.)

 

“Hey Nami, what’s the Revolutionaries?” Luffy asks.

Gin chokes on his drink this time. “Do you seriously know NOTHING about the world before you set sail?!”

 

-


-

 

It’s nighttime again.

Usopp puts a hand on the bow of the Merry, taking slow steps around the ship to feel each curve of the wood. 

He spreads his Haki, in and out. Through the deck, across the sea, and up the mast. Humming Bink’s Sake under his breath, he analyses the texture of each wood, knowing where the scratches are and identifying how old each of them were.

Luffy always seemed to train his Haki better when he was fighting. Zoro needed to sit down and meditate in long, empty silence. But Usopp, like Sanji, focused better mentally when he was doing something he nonchalantly enjoyed.

For Sanji, it was cooking-- usually peeling onions or watching a pot boil. Usopp tended to grind up some new lead, inspect seeds, or check the ship to hear Sunny sing.

 

Merry likes to sing, too. 

Usopp can already hear the dredges of her voice, giggling in her distinctly sheepish way here and there on the bow. Her spirit always seems so close, yet she’s in the other direction once Usopp gets too close.

It’s like hide and seek. That’s fine, it’s always better when Merry doesn’t show herself at all.

He looks out into the blurry dark blue in the distance, and he sighs.

 

(Their little detour ran long, and he can’t help but feel like he didn’t do enough there.)

(They know they have to start doing more now, once they get to Loguetown. If they really came back with purpose, they need to do more.)

 

“Coby probably has his own plans,” he says, well aware that Nami is by the tangerine trees, listening to him closely. “We shouldn’t mess it up too much.”

Nami sets down her watering can. 

“We can’t just do nothing, Usopp,” she tells him, stern. “He has his plans, we have ours. That’s how it’s always been, and this time shouldn’t be any different.”

She doesn’t mean any harm when she says it.

But Usopp takes his hand off the bow and turns to her with a glance that’s a bit more than put off at her tone.

“Nami, we’re on the same side now,” he says, firm. “He’s not an enemy anymore.”

 

(Not that he was ever an enemy, but that’s not the point.)

(Coby is a friend and this time he is one this time in every way and a silent arm in the air. Usopp has no intention for him to be anything else.)

 

Nami doesn’t reply yet.

“I know,” she says, in a way that means she’s putting off the issue to another, more available date she will forget about. “But he avoided you. You avoided him.”

 

(You didn’t make complete effort to try and meet him, even though you could.)

Because deep down, Usopp knows that they’re both on different stages now. Coby decided to throw everything away when he became what he is. Usopp decided to forsake the world when he came by Luffy's side.

(Their views on the importance of the world do not line up.)

(So they shouldn’t work together.)

If Coby joined them, they would just get in his way. They want to meet, they want to catch up-- but that isn’t what they need to do, isn’t what they should do. 

Coby is not on the same side. Not fully, at least. He is his own side, and he has his own train of thought for what occurs later on.

 

“Right,” Usopp turns back toward the sea. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.”

He shouldn’t be swayed by this.

“We’ll go with what we’ve already planned for our journey,” Nami says. “If anything goes wrong… we deal with it. That’s it.”

 

(It’s not ‘changing’ or ‘different’ from the old.)

(It’s the new ‘normal’, and they just have to overcome those struggles like the humans they are in this world.)

 

Usopp did not meet Coby in the Oykot Kingdom.

That is not a lie.

 

-

 

“Hey,” Nami stands up from the soil of the tangerine trees, plucking a ripe one. “Do you think… is anyone else going to come back?”

Usopp looks toward the sea and thinks.

“If they did, they would be back already,” Usopp says.

Nami peels the skin of her tangerine with a hum. “So if there’s anyone else, we either haven’t met them, or… y’know, they’re just… a really good actor?”

Usopp’s eyebrows quirk at that. “What are you implying?”

“Well,” Nami says, “Coby died before me. And with how far he’s come as an Informant, I’m thinking he got here at least a year before us.”

“But when I died, Coby was still Fleet Admiral,” Usopp asks, because he doesn’t know the timeline of anything after his prison time very clearly. 

“You first, then Coby, then me. Same week, I reckon,” Nami explains. 

 

Usopp grimaces. That’s a lot of World Noble achievement for one week.

 

“And yet, you came back to the same time I did,” she says. “So, let’s say someone else died, and they fit in the same, bullshit criteria for time travel as us-- but their arrival time’s much later. Like, say, after they meet Luffy instead of before .”

Usopp understands now.

“Who do you suspect?”

 

"Well," Nami says, "don't get your hopes up, it's just a hunch."

 

-

 

Gin stares up at Luffy’s hammock.

It’s dark, the sea is quiet, and his book is on the shelf, undisturbed. He turns over, changing his view to the corner of the room.

Luffy’s snoring above him, loud and obnoxious. He feels the sudden urge to kick upwards, but he dismisses it to look around the room.

 

His wanted poster is pinned to the wall beside Nami’s. 

He stands up from his spot, walking past Zoro’s hammock and Sanji who somehow ended up on the carpet, before trailing a hand over his own name on the wall.

His picture is his old one, without any of the ugly blue freckles on his arms, and none of his now sickly complexion. He hasn’t glared like that in a while and he’s not sure if he remembers how to.

He stares at it for a moment longer before sitting down on the couch, picking up his book and opening it to the page he’s dog-eared. He lights no candles and the moonlight barely gets under the deck, but his eyes are accustomed to the lighting.

It takes longer to read, but he takes his time. 

He’s not sure how long he spends like that, but after about ten pages, Luffy soars right off his spot and launches into Gin, eliciting a startled squeak from the man.

(Gin will not admit to making that noise in the morning.)

 

“Hm?” Luffy looks up, squirming around to find a comfortable spot on top of the man, as if he was just another, more bumpy part of the furniture. “Oh Gin, what’re you doing here?” 

Gin holds up his fist, dearly wishing Luffy wasn’t conveniently incapacitating Gin’s free arm, because he really felt like crushing this moron’s skull right here and now--

--instead, he sighs, using his free hand to set his book pages down over the shelf. Then he ruffles Luffy’s hair, resting his head on the back of the couch with a contented shoulder sag.

Luffy rolls over so he’s facing the ceiling. From his smile, Gin can tell he’s awake.

 

It’s strange to see the boy without his hat. 

 

“Makino always said that if you read when it’s dark you’ll grow eyes in weird places,” he says, grinning cheekily. 

Gin doesn’t know who Makino is, but he can’t imagine any situation involving Luffy that would warrant a warning like that in the first place. 

But from what he knows of Luffy so far… “Is that a bad thing?” he asks, and Luffy opens his eyes with interest.

“That would be cool!” Luffy says, excited by the mere idea.

“Right. So go back to your hammock and let me continue reading,” Gin ruffles his hair, pointing at the hammock above them.

Luffy shakes his head, shifting over to sit beside Gin. Unfortunately, the captain is wide awake now-- and from what Gin knows of Zoro, he is too. Sanji… nah, he’s still sleep talking. 

“Don’t wanna! I wanna try and grow another eye too!” Luffy says, his gaze filled with interest. “But I don’t wanna read, so Gin can read for my share too!”

“I don’t think it works that way.”

“So it’s a mystery eye?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Cool!” he rolls over, looking toward the book. “What’s it about? You’ve had it the whole day.”

 

Gin has an existential crisis for a second upon realizing that Luffy is expressing interest in a book. Then he picks the book back up and closes it properly after folding down the corner of the page.

 

“Sabo always got angry at us when we did that.”

Gin blinks. He doesn’t ask who Sabo is because Luffy tends to drop names a lot.  “You mean this?” he gestures at the creases over the previous pages, bumpy and scarred and a little worn out already. 

“He said he’ll XXX and XXX our lives to XXX if we do it again.”

“You sure have an incredible way of phrasing things,” is Gin’s only retort to the utter incredulity. “Emerald City. It’s about a legendary island.”

“Legendary Island? Where is it?”

Gin sighs at that. “It wouldn’t be legendary if we knew, right? Probably somewhere in the Grand Line. It was discovered by someone, but we don’t know his name.”

Luffy hums at that. “Ehhh,” he’s still staring at the book, “then who’s Con- Kon- ronron Coco Deer?”

“Khron Corde, wait, you can read?” Gin says, ignoring Luffy’s offended ‘obviously I can!’, he picks up the book and trails over the name of the author. “He’s the one that wrote it down. Like how you’re going on a journey, but Nami’s the one writing the log.”

Luffy makes a noise. “So he’s the navigator?”

“They’re actually called chroniclers.”

“But you said he was like Nami!”

“Luffy, I will XXX and XXX your life to XXX if you ask another stupid question,” Gin says without pause, and Luffy shrivels up dramatically, hands clasped over his lips. 

Ah, Gin has found a great weapon against Luffy. He needs to teach it to Nami later. 

“Emerald City,” he decides to talk, putting a freckled hand on Luffy’s head. “Buildings made of gems and jewels. And it’s not under the control of the Celestial Dragons or the Marines or even the Pirates-- so there, you can live free .”

Luffy rolls around again so he’s facing the ceiling, laying oddly comfortable in Gin’s lap. He’s no longer sure how they ended up in this position anymore.

 

One word however, catches the boy’s attention. “Celestial Dragon?”

 

“The people that lord over the World Government,” Gin says, remembering that Luffy’s pretty dumb on these things. “You don’t know who they are? They’re the--”

“No, I know who they are.” 

Gin blinks. Luffy says that in a strangely serious tone, and chases no more. Gin doesn’t think much of it and continues talking.

“When you’re in Emerald City, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done or who you are,” he says. “Everyone there lives fairly, justly, and as equals without prejudice.”

Something seemed to change in Luffy’s eyes.

 

(But Gin isn’t sure what part of it changed that gaze.)

 

“I lived stealing from corpses, killing for food, and using people for time. Then Don Krieg found me... and you know the rest,” Gin tells him. “That’s why I want to find Emerald City. It’s my dream.” 

And when Gin keeps talking, Luffy just listens, making his little dumb queries every now and then.

And as he finds it enjoyable to keep talking about this nonsense with his new captain in his lap, Gin thinks that something inside of him is changing, too.

 

-


-

 

Kogatana is knocked out of Zoro’s hand for the third time that day. He’s starting to get frustrated now.

Kinoko caws and raises her left wing, indicating that the winner of this round was Usopp. She’s still looking in the other direction, because she just knew Zoro wasn’t winning today either.

“It’s got no weight,” he groans, “it’s like it’s going to break any second it hits anything .”

Usopp disassembles the Clima Tact. “At the rate you were going, you would break even Ichimonji one day, Zoro. You’re treating them like a brute.”

Zoro’s eye twitches. 

 

Surely, that isn’t the first time he’s received a similar warning. He’s broken countless of his normal swords before this, gone through many nameless pieces of garbage while barely keeping Ichimonji together.

“It’s not about the force and the power-- though you’ve got that going for you and that’s great,” Usopp tells him. “But people like me and Nami, we’ve got nothing for us except our brains.”

Zoro prepares to call bullshit, but Usopp chuckles dismissively before it even begins.

“But Mihawk, you see-- he’s a guy with both and so much more,” Usopp says. “People like that are cool, don’t you think? Have I told you about the cowardly warrior? He spent two years building up pure muscle because--”

Zoro tunes that out. 

 

(Swordsmanship without grace is a weak sword.)

 

He picks up Kogatana again.

“--and when he got back, new arsenal and… you’re not listening,” Usopp says, leaning against the ledge with a knowing smile. “So, one more round?”

Zoro doesn’t give him a warning.

He eyes the blade closely-- focusing, deeply, thinking-- then he takes a breath. And then out, he lunges forward.

Usopp takes just one step to the side, throwing the clima tact back together in a haste, using the edge of the baton to catch the blade and slide it over the edge. Kogatana embeds into the ledge, sinking in nearly halfway through.

Usopp hums. 

Immediately as Zoro notices the clima tact is missing a piece, he gets bowled over the back of his head by a flying piece of metal.

And then it slots right back to the top of the baton.

Kinoko caws out the victor agan, raising her left wing.

 

Usopp blinks, confused for a moment on what exactly happened. Did something just come back? Did it hit Zoro like a boomerang over the head? Oh.

“Was that Cyclone Tempo? Hey Nami, looks like I managed to do Cyclone Tempo by accident.” 

“Good for you, Usopp.”

“Please sound happier about it!”

“Damn it, Usopp, this is a swordfight!” Zoro snaps, grabbing the boy by the collar, “and damn that fucking hurt!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Usopp says, looking away immediately, “totally didn’t mean to do it I swear. I don’t even know how I did it. I’m sorry.”

“You were assembling them and missed one,” Gin offers very helpfully, “then that one just kept spinning and came back.”

“It usually breaks skulls at that speed, so good thing you have a hard head, Zoro,” Nami offers monotonously, flipping through the newspapers. 

“This is mutiny!”

“This little thing couldn’t have hit that hard-- wOAH!” Sanji sinks slightly from the surprising weight when Usopp nonchalantly hands the long baton to him. 

“It’s heavy, isn’t it?” Usopp says.

Zoro snatches it out of the cook’s hands. “It’s about as heavy as my sword,” he notices with a grimace. “That’s why I said our weapons aren’t fair. You have the weight to counter me and all I have is a butter knife.”

“A butter knife that nearly killed you,” Usopp elaborates very necessarily, so Zoro knocks him over the head in retaliation.

 

Kinoko raises her right arm this time when she caws.

 

Usopp laughs.

Nami hides her face behind her newspaper and smiles.

 

-

 

After lunch, Nami takes off her shoes, and bares, for the first time to most of them, her metal foot. Usopp sits beside her, fiddling around with the pieces to get a general idea of the shape and structure. 

Setting it down on a non-slip rug, Usopp takes the time to feel around the area, counting as many pieces as the blueprints indicate (Nami’s reading out the details to him), and making sure he knows how to put it back together. 

 

“Wait, you had a metal foot too?” Luffy says, “that’s so cool!”

“No, Luffy. It can’t shoot laser beams,” is Nami’s immediate response. “It’s only metal from the ankle down, so it’s not as solid as my arm.”

“Oh, because it twists easily,” Usopp says. “Could we alter it to bring it up to your knee?”

“I would, but Vista said there wasn’t much point to that with my fighting style. Harder to hide, too,” she sighs. 

 

“I think Nami-san’s perfect as she is,” Sanji says, entering the scene with a nice cold drink on a tray.

And just naturally, Nami’s lips stretch into a smile. “Thank you, Sanji-kun.”

 

Usopp tries to pretend he isn’t smiling, busying his hands with getting the parts together. The polishing kit is beside him, the cleaning kit is to the left of that, and--

“Hey, Usopp, you better not be thinking unsavory things while fondling Nami’s feet, got it?” Sanji has turned his animosity toward Usopp for no reason now.

And Usopp sputters, face heating up. He drops the part he’s holding as if it’d burned him, “Hey, don’t make it weird!”

 

Luffy picks up a metal part, momentarily amusing himself with a screw by holding it up to the sky and catching the reflection.

When the light that comes back is blue with the wind, he turns around-- and he sees it.

An island in the distance.

“Oooh!!” he drops the screw (Sanji dives to catch it before it lands on the deck and starts rolling) and beams, “land! Nami! There’s an island!”

 

-

 

“See it? That’s Loguetown.”

Luffy was strangely quiet at the sight. Usopp had never noticed it the first time around, but Luffy greeted Loguetown with reverence and respect.

It’s something rare-- but then again, there are many things about Luffy that Usopp never quite noticed the first time around.

“There’s a marine base on it, so be careful on land,” Nami warns them firsthand. “We don’t want to lose any chances of getting out in time.”

 

She’s wearing a halter top with her shorts and boots, so her arm and her Whitebeard Mark are in full view. 

Gin stares at her like he really wants to say something about it.

 

“The squall is coming really soon, so we need to get our duties under way now,” Nami turned around, speaking in tone of a strategy meeting. 

Zoro groans. 

“Eh, but I wanted to explore,” Luffy whines.

“You can go explore, Luffy,” Nami says without much thought. “Sanji and Usopp can handle the grocery and supply shopping. Zoro, you need swords, right? Then go ahead. Gin, can you come with me to sell the books?”

“Huh? Uh, right.”

“Aye, Nami-swan! I’ll look after the blind bastard.”

“I’ll be fine on my own, Sanji.”

“I wanna go to the execution platform!”

“Wait, I decided that I’m not using my swords until I master the Kogatana--”

 

Zoro trails off when a wad of bills are shoved into his hand. And when you get money of all things from Nami, there’s some sort of otherworldly miracle occurring and you need to shut up.

It’s a hundred thousand beri. Which is still too damn little for good swords, but at least it’s cash. But still. 

“You’re gonna charge me for this, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, at a 300% interest.”

“Take it back, you witch!”

“Okay, you can return the remaining 200,000 at a later date.” 

“The interest rate starts now?!”

 

Luffy sits on the bow, looking toward the island in the distance. Gin leans over the bow, sharing the view with a slightly different reverence within him. 

At this pace, they would probably reach the island in an hour. 

The breeze blows toward the island, and the waves draw them in like a slow, draggy flow pulling them in. It's the first call of the Grand Line, the sea's arms opened, enticing unknowing visitors to the edge of an unimaginable adventure.

At some point, Gin couldn’t imagine he would willingly return to this very scene again. Sure, he’s with less stellar company now depending on how you look at it, but it’s still the same starting line he once ran away from.

He reaches up to his head, only to belatedly remember that Sanji purged his stained bandanna from the ship three days ago. Maybe he should go get a new one...

 

“So that’s the town the Pirate King died, huh,” Luffy says, almost to himself.

“Yeah,” Gin says, “the town of the beginning and the end.”

 

Luffy rests a hand on his straw hat, and Gin can’t help but have his eyes linger on the red ribbon a little longer.

He’s not sure why he can’t quite tear his eyes from it.

 

("It has a voice that just draws you in," Usopp eventually tells him. "It's a very special hat, Gin.")

("Voice?" Gin asks, but Usopp just chuckles in response, telling him he'll understand eventually.)

 

-

 

The exact moment they anchored the ship, Luffy shoots off toward the Town Square. For once, he forgoes the rocket-- before anyone notices, he’s on the shore and running toward some crowded direction.

Nami sighs in defeat.

“Right, everyone dismissed. We’ll leave Merry here with Noko-chan, so she’ll be fine,” she tells them. “Come back on time, alright?”

 

Overhead, a distinctive birdsong responds with some shrill tune of recess.

 

“Eh? You don’t need Noko-chan to spread out that shit over the town?” Sanji asks, “you know, the shit that helps you map out landscape.”

“Please don’t phrase it she’s defecating over the city,” is Usopp’s deadpanned response. “This city is too busy for that. Plus, I have a general understanding of the landscape and my walking stick. I'll be fine.”

“Well, whatever.”

“You’re the one that asked,” Usopp sighs. Then he raises his hand to get the attention of their most responsible member right now. “Nami, the one you should be most worried about just went off,” he says in a perfect monotone, pointing in Zoro’s general direction.

“Hold it right there, Zoro! At least bring Noko-chan with-- never mind, she has to watch the ship. Ugh. Usopp, prepare a tracking device."

"I'm not a mechanic, Nami. I can't make stuff like that."

"Man, you're useless."

“Sorry, ma’am,” Usopp hikes a knee up over the edge, walking stick in one hand and holding his bag down on the other. “Got lots on my shopping list, so I’ll get going.”

They barely manage a wave before the sniper drops to shore-- and his figure vanishes in a shifty blur right away.

“...Did he just disappear?” Sanji asks.

“Looks like he is learning new things, huh?” Nami chuckles. “You might want lessons soon, Sanji-kun. That’s useful for your fighting style.”

“Ehhhhh.”

 

“Nami-san,” Gin emerges from the deck, setting one last book on the pile already out in display, “I got all the books out. Which ones did you say we should hide again?”

Nami straightens from the bow, stretching out her sore joints.

“Guess it’s time for work. See ya, Sanji-kun!” she says, giving him a curt wave, “I’ll leave the groceries to you!”

“Aye, Nami-swan,” Sanji grins with salute. Then he immediately zeroes in on the man with  “Gin, not a scratch on our queen, you hear?”

“Yeah, yeah whatever. Get to the fucking fish market already,” Gin groans at him before closing the door above him and retreating back down to the men’s quarters.

Sanji turns around, hops off the ship, and lands on the shore. 

“The fish market, huh,” he considers. 

Noticing the ebb and flow of the crowd, he figured the morning market would most probably be along the shore, just a couple roads away from this port. 

“Yeah, that’s a good place to start.” 

 

-

 

“Yeah, most of us call him Commander, or Dragon-san,” Koala explained, “but when we’re on espionage, we tend to just say ‘boss’ or ‘leader’.”

Usopp hummed at that. 

He still wasn’t used to all this undercover work, but since Sanji and Robin were here too (though rarely with him,) he was pretty comfortable settling himself in slowly.

And just for today, Nami was here too. 

Koala had invited her over for tea. The three Strawhats, Koala, and Sabo too, gathered for the first time in a while, just to catch up.

(It hadn’t been that long after Luffy’s execution.)

“I remember we once called him ‘the big guy’ on a mission,” Robin muses from her spot by the window, thanking the passing grunt for the tea. Nami settles before the archaeologist, nursing her own cup.

Koala snickers at that, “and there was a time Sabo called him ‘Uncle Draco’!” 

Sabo’s face heats up immediately, “wh- wai- Koala!!”

Koala giggles at that. Nami and Robin burst into laughter, too, to Sabo’s increasing displeasure. 

Usopp found their reactions rather endearing, and seeing how Luffy was no longer around to make similar fun, it was nice. It was probably the first time in much too long that they’ve seen Nami crack a true smile.

“Draco? That asshat doesn’t deserve such a cool name,” Sanji groans over his cup of shitty coffee, “what about Gon? Let’s go with Gon.”

That got Sabo flustered in a whole other sort of way. “Sanji, that’s your current leader you’re talking about...”

“What, not enough respect in that name?” Sanji mutters, sarcastic, “then how about Uncle Gon?”

“That’s not the problem-- Koala, stop laughing!” Sabo snaps. “Sanji, please-- not you too, Robin! Nami, no! Usopp, I thought you were my ally!” 

 

-

 

Usopp’s mind lingers on that bittersweet memory for just a little longer.

He doesn’t really know the way, contrary to what he’s said before. It’s impossible to figure which roof starts and ends where, with as many buildings as there are in this city. 

But he didn’t really need to know the way.

He finds a figure in the distance, and he just needs to follow his route. He can tell the rest from his limited vision-- though it makes him a little dizzy, but that’s fine, it’s not for long.

He trails the man without even an attempt to hide, and the man speeds up. Usopp isn’t worried-- he’s worried about stumbling, but he’s not ever going to lose sight of his target. 

And finally, a few paces away from the execution grounds, the man turns around to confront his stalker. 

 

“Since you’ve been there for a while now, I take it we’re not just coincidentally headed in the same direction.”

 

Usopp holds up his hands in a sign of surrender, indicating he means no harm here.

He can’t see how the person looks, of course. But from the colours--  it’s almost the same sandy colour as the roof under their feet-- it’s a raincoat, a cape, whatever you call it. Usopp’s worn one of those before so he doesn’t need to recognize the person’s haki signature to know he’s the right one to look for.

In fact, they’re moving at a speed where the usual citizen would dismiss overhead. 

When Sabo turns around, his demeanor is wary and his Haki is firm-- that means he acknowledges Usopp’s haki signature as well-- just, not in a friendly way.

 

“I just need directions, good sir,” Usopp phrases, imitating the speech patterns of someone he can’t quite remember anymore. 

When Sabo speaks nothing, Usopp continues. 

“Would you happen to know where the dragon’s den is? It’s a pub, I’ve heard it’s down the street from the bear’s paw, but I can’t seem to locate either of them.”

Just a little, Sabo’s haki curves, bubbles-- and just as quickly, he grasps it right back firmly. The falter is indiscernible to a normal haki user, but Usopp’s sensitive to these changes. He catches it immediately and smiles.

“It’s closed for the anniversary of the Pirate King’s execution,” Sabo replies. A moment of hesitation later, he adds, “but I can leave a word for the master if you’re in a rush.”

That’s exactly what he wants.

“Really? That would be great,” and Usopp steps forward, reaching casually into his pocket and retrieving a piece of paper. “I would like some sake delivered to this address, anytime in the next week. Tell the master to send his best brew.”

 

Sabo receives the paper, briefly confused.

But he looks up again and Usopp is gone.

 

-

 

It’s too hard to recall the stranger’s haki signature again, so Sabo pockets the paper and returns to his mission preparations. It’s right about time for him to meet Dragon, after all.

It’s strange.

He’s been in the army for more than ten years now. He would know anyone, even undercover agents, that are his age. If not by name, at least by face or by aura signature.

Even then, no one’s ever been on an undercover mission for more than five years at a time, and even then, those were missions for the veterans. Dragon was strict on that, if not anything else in the world.

And yet… and yet, that man knew the most unused revolutionary army code. 

The one that meant ‘I can’t meet you guys yet, but I have something important to say’. Emergency ranked, but spoken so subtly and perfectly, Sabo had to be taken aback from reacting himself.

He sighs. No point thinking much about it. 

He opens the note under his coat.

 

“He wants our best agent… to the Whitebeards?” he mumbles to himself.

 

-

 

Kinoko watches as Nami and Gin leave the ship, a sack of tree-smelling books thrown over their shoulders. 

She sees the coast is clear and curls into her little nest, getting ready to sleep.

 

“So this is Strawhat’s ship...”

 

She wakes up, opening one eye to the intruder that, somehow, was already on their land. She squeaks and dashes back, rolling head and ankles over before slipping clumsily back forward and then flapping her wings out in a show of intimidation. 

 

“Holy fU-- shh! SHHH!” the human flusters, flapping his own arms right back and Kinoko starts squawking loudly so the man grabs at Kinoko to force her beak shut. “Don't make a fuss! C’mon! Shush bird!”

 

Luckily, Kinoko knows self-defense from years of dealing with human hatchlings, so she squirms roughly, breaking free with a sharp scratch of her claw.

She flies to higher ground with a victorious huff. Hah! Catch that, I”m better than you, you puny humans. Try grabbing me again and you’ll lose an eye next--

To her almost displeasure, though, the intruder just purses his lips in an almost annoyed manner. The finger she was sure she had clawed right off is still perfectly attached, not a drop of blood on his oddly smooth white fingers. 

 

“Oh do whatever you want, you dumb bird,” the intruder says. “Which of the mutts picked you up? One hell of a flamboyant fucking pet they’ve got this time.”

 

Kinoko stares at the intruder skeptically.

Usually, she could feel something. It’s how Usopp talks to her, by fluctuating that coloured little wave around them in either kiki or bouba or even something more complicated-- that’s how they went past the language barrier.

But this intruder-- she could feel nothing.

Not a speck, not a hint.

He was empty, just like the human that was beside the half-aquatic in the castle.

She just wanted him to get out of the ship already. Why is he here? Don’t humans know better than to go into someone else’s territory? 

Instead, the human makes his way to Kinoko’s nest (THAT’S MY NEST!!) and leaves a little red orb there. The utter gall! 

 

“Okay, okay, I’m leaving, geez!” 

 

Kinoko remembers to peck his eye out as he scrambles out of the ship.

Returning to her now slightly messy nest with one tired huff, Kinoko sort of wishes she got to peck out his other eye too, because that was an invasion of privacy there! Rude!

She spots the red orb. 

It’s deep red, and has a weird drawing on it. Kinoko wants nothing but to drop it in the sea, but with how shiny it was, surely it was valuable.

There’s a little satchel by the mast  for emergency coins, in case the News Coo came by and they needed some change quickly.

So Kinoko picks up the little red orb and puts it in the satchel.

She then returns to her nest and takes a nap.

 

That human sure had a weird face , she thought. Big red nose and everything.

Chapter 22: break the barrel, drink with him.

Summary:

It's just a small shopping trip for the Strawhats-- but not at all for the citizens of Loguetown that day.

Buggy puts on a show. It's flashy, but it's very different from his usual publicity stunts.

Heels come down on the barrel, and the lighthouse leads the way.

Chapter Text

“Here’s your keep,”  the disgruntled auctioneer said, handing Nami a huge worn-out duffel bag filled to the brim with pure cash. 

Nami grins at him. “Thanks for the service!”

Gin stares at the scene almost awkwardly as he finally understands why Nami decided to brazenly show off her mark here. They would have scammed them dead otherwise, wouldn’t they?

Gin takes it and easily hefts it over his shoulder.

He figured that this was his job to begin with-- to be the work horse. 

“Thanks for the constant glaring, Gin,” Nami says once they’re out, and Gin looks over with slight surprise, not actually aware that he was doing that. “It saved me some face muscles!”

“You were frowning a lot too,” Gin says, not really meaning anything by it. 

“Yes, but they were much more scared of you, y’know,” Nami chuckles. “Want to do some shopping? We can get you a new weapon.”

Gin looks at the duffel bag in his arm and wonders how the crowd would react if two of the highest bounty heads in East Blue walked into a clothes store together.

Well, fuck staying subtle then.

“Yeah, sure.”

 

-

 

Nami puts her seastone bangle into Gin’s hands.

Gin stares back, confused.

“You don’t have your tonfas on you, so use that.”

Gin is even more confused now, and his expressions clearly translated that thought, because Nami chuckles in response.

“You can give it back to me when you’ve used it, maybe, once.”

“You sound like an NPC giving me a side quest.”

Nami laughs at that.

 

-


-

 

Well, Luffy is lost.

More like, he never had an idea of where the execution stand was to begin with. He just turns whatever road feels right and somehow, he’s not at the execution stand yet. That’s weird. What’s wrong with the streets?

He runs into Sanji twice and Zoro once, but he still can’t find it.

“What’re you doing all the way out here, you flashy bastard?”

And Luffy turns around, confused. The man in the cloak is frowning at him-- Luffy notices the red nose and it seems familiar. 

“Oh, you’re the guy Nami told me to beat up,” he says, like it’s obvious.

And Buggy the Clown clicks his tongue. Crossing his arms, he stands offishly to the side, and he grimaces. “I’m Buggy, Captain Buggy.”

“Oh, right. Whatever.”

“Don’t be an obnoxious brat, seriously, you’re a fucking terrible guy to plan around.”

Then Luffy feels his cheeks being pulled out, and it takes him another second to see the floating hand right over there, tugging him over as they headed in the opposite direction of where he had been heading before.

“You suicidal bastards never even think of disguising yourselves before coming here, huh? Saw Nami gallivanting a while back,” Buggy scoffs, “geez. The D is really fucking infectious, ain’t it?”

“Whu- hwat’s dis? Leggo!” he whines, but the hand is firm.

“You’re headed toward the execution stand, right? It’s this way,” Buggy informs him, and Luffy stops to listen, slightly curious. “I’m sure Captain Roger is just as excited to see you, too.”

“W’oger?”

“Didn’t Shanks tell you? About our crew,” Buggy tells him, belatedly remembering that they didn’t have any of their hat-stabbing cabin-boying treasure-talk this time around. Which is probably what made him less memorable to the boy, in hindsight.

“Ya knew Shanks?!”

Buggy lets go of his cheek.

“Right. Guess we’re having a story session first.”

 

-


-

 

Zoro accidentally crushes not-Kuina’s glasses, and he’s forced toward a Marine base of all locations, and now he’s mopping their floors.

“I’ve heard that someone saw Roronoa Zoro in our base, mopping our floors. How funny would that be?”

Zoro raises an eyebrow at the gossip down the hall.

“Considering our history? Not at all,” the other voice groans. “Captain SMoker would literally have our heads. Don’t even joke about it.”

“Oh c’mon, it’s not that serious.”

“It is!” There’s annoyance in that tone. “How many times do you think Namizo’s snuck in like that?”

Namizo? Zoro looks to the side and spots Nami’s wanted poster.

Her suggestive gravure magazine-looking pose aside, she smiles almost smugly. There's a plethora of messy red markers over her picture claiming loudly, ‘IF SEEN, NOT A CHORE BOY. PLEASE ARREST’.

Oh, she’s mentioned that before, hasn’t she. Something about sneaking on Marine Ships as a cabin boy.

“I’ve chatted with him, I mean her,” the soldiers are still gossiping, “he’s a pretty nice guy. I mean girl.”

“Was it worth the extra training for not reporting that we had a stowaway?”

“Absolutely.”

“You are trash, my friend. You are trash .”

“This is why you don’t have friends, brother.”

Zoro hears the sound of fist hitting head and an ‘ow!’. 

“Enough about that. If we fall for another obvious fugitive hiding among our midst doing the laundry, I might just cry!” the marine soldier turns the corner and-- freezes.

Because he sees Roronoa Zoro there, brooms in his hand and one around his teeth.

Jaws dropped. Zoro calmly puts down the brooms.

Then “RORONOA ZORO IS SWEEPING OUR FLOORS!”

“ALARM! SOUND THE ALARM!”

“NOT A CHORE BOY PLEASE ARREST!”

“WHY IS HE SWEEPING OUR FLOORS?! WHY DO FUGITIVES LIKE SWEEPING OUR FLOORS SO MUCH?!”

Needless to say, Zoro bucks the hell out of there.

 

-

 

Zoro honestly thinks it’s purely ridiculous that he’s found such a good sword exactly when he intends to not use one for a while.

He takes off his earrings and leaves them on the ship just to show his resolve regarding it, and of all things, he runs into Sandai Kitetsu, notorious wielder-murderer.

And hell, it’s reverberating with some crazy bloodlust.

(He briefly finds himself wondering if this is what Nami means when she says inanimate things that are made with soul tend to have recognizable voices.) 

“You should get that sword!” the Kuina-lookalike that Zoro really wants to get away from is leaning closer by the millisecond. 

“No, you shouldn’t,” the shopkeeper snaps at them, “that sword is--”

“--cursed,” Zoro says, taking the sword out of the scabbard to raise it to the light, admiring the crimson temper line, a delicate wave so masterfully crafted.

Zoro may not know much of terminologies and legends, but he knows a beast when he sees one. And he’s no idiot, he knows he needs this in his arsenal if he wants to become the Greatest Swordsman in the world.

He prods at the hundred thousand beri in his hand and realizes that this had been part of Nami’s plan to begin with-- or maybe it was just fate, because the coincidental sequence of events are just too uncanny to dismiss.

And just maybe, these are instincts of a warrior of the Grand Line.

He grins. 

Then his instincts should be trusted, right?

“I like it. I’m taking it,” he declares, to the peanut gallery’s blatant shock.

 

-


-

 

Sanji watches as Usopp taps around carefully, occasionally bumping into shoulders and children, but making gradual progress.

“Shit, I’m so worried I can’t even look at the women.”

He follows him for a while, smoking with a hesitant twirl in his tongue as Usopp barely dodges a ditch and then trips over a heightened part of the pavement, but the boy gathers himself with no less than a minor inconvenience and continues on. 

Sanji crunches the cigarette under his feet and goes up to him, placing a hand on Usopp’s shoulder. “Hey, Usopp.”

And to Sanji’s surprise, Usopp’s reaction is to loudly flinch and spin around, walking stick thrown up and poised hastily before him with two shaky hands. 

Sanji watches the reaction, registering that he’s so flustered he’s holding the stick like a total amateur at staff weapons. Then the chef hesitantly raises his arms out in a ‘I mean no harm’ way.

“Oh, it’s you, Sanji,” Usopp says, visibly breathing out in relief as he set his walking stick back down.

“My bad,” Sanji says, “you’ve never reacted so strongly to surprises before.”

“Yes, because I haven’t been surprised in two years, Sanji,” Usopp responds immediately. “You don’t sneak up behind blind people and surprise them. We have a walking stick for two reasons, okay?”

Sanji stews on what the two reasons could be, then he hums in disinterest. “But you’ve never been surprised by sudden touches before.”

“Yes, because I was not in a crowd and trying to focus on walking .”

“Ah, got it,” Sanji says, dismissively if not anything else, “can you even see what store you walk into?”

Usopp hesitates for half a second. “...no,” he says, “but I can--”

“Yeah, bullshit,” Sanji says, grabbing Usopp’s forearm and leading him away. “C’mon, we don’t have all day.”

“Wait, what?”

 

-

 

Usopp had been here a dozen times in the past, this town being one of the most well-stocked islands in the East. He knew a couple of stores by name and owner, though his connections are now useless and store names are only useful as far as being blind in a tourist hotspot goes.

So when Sanji takes him by the elbow and starts leading him around, Usopp is the most surprised of them all.

“Here, Gunther’s Geschaft,” Sanji pushes Usopp into the store. 

“Oh, thanks,” Usopp composes himself. He makes his way from there to the counter, where the slightly ruffled shopkeeper hums in acknowledgement.

Usopp knows instantly that he’s underestimated blind discrimination, because in a second, old man Gunther’s voice changes from amusement to disinterested.

Usopp starts listing what he needs, and the man clicks his tongue at him.

He takes it in stride. He’ll have to get used to underestimation-- it’ll be a great weapon. It has always been, except this time, it’s not something that can be changed by putting on a mask or calling himself a god. 

He finds two dented nails and three awry screws in his pack-- he respectfully asks for a change, but he knows old man Gunther only obeyed because Sanji was oozing bloodlust right behind him.

They pay, and Sanji drags Usopp right out.

He can’t help but smile. Sanji’s always been magnificently irked by these sorts of insults, and Usopp’s quite flattered, yet slightly insulted, to be protected like this.

But it’s fine.

It’s Sanji, and that’s how Sanji operates.

They go around like that for a while, Usopp occasionally feeling around for rare things-- and then getting them, after masterfully subverting cheesy marketing lies. 

Their last stop is a little store on a homely hill, a cluttercore little establishment that seemed to have anything and sell anything.

Usopp doesn’t ask for anything. He walks over to the side, browsing the displays with his hands-- before finally, finding the one pair of goggles he used to wear.

He takes it off the shelf, carefully-- and then it’s gone.

“Hey, I want this one!” a girl’s cheerful voice chirps at the counter, and Usopp just knows that this little brat just stole those right off his hands. Just like last time. 

You’ve got to be kidding. 

Usopp is out of the door right behind the kid. “Hold it, girl, I got those first!” Usopp says, assertively, very well aware that he’s acting like a brat, but well-- she started it

He hears Sanji sigh in the corner.

“Isn’t it fine, just let her have it,” he says. 

Usopp does not like that idea. Sure, he’s blind now, but those were the goggles that got him through the first year. 

They’re the goggles Sanji retrieved for him in Alabasta, they were the goggles everyone’s picked up at least once for him, and many times more helped him fix because they knew it was important. 

There was sentimental value in it, and they’re definitely more comfortable than his current pair.

“Papa, that guy wants to steal my present for you!”

Sanji chokes on his tobacco. Usopp does a whole spit take when he suddenly realizes Daddy Masterson is there, and his voice is hostile.

Ah, regret. 

Usopp casually drops his walking stick beside Sanji, and he raises both hands. “Right, my bad. But I really want those goggles, so I would like to buy them off of you.”

“Wait a second, Usopp, what are you thinking?!” Sanji snaps-- but Usopp’s confident expressions seem to make him falter. “Dude. Just apologize and let’s go.”

“No,” Usopp insists, “or if I may request a duel with you, sir? I consider myself quite a sharpshooter, if anything else.”

Daddy Masterson clicks his tongue. 

“What makes you think I’ll entertain this--”

 

Usopp isn’t sure what happens then. Daddy stops talking, and his voice falters in a sort of confusion, before settling in acknowledgement.

Did he recognize Usopp as Yasopp’s son? Or did Sanji perhaps say or gesture something? Usopp doesn’t know.

What he knows is that less than a moment later, they’re lined up back to back with guns in their hands. There’s a wide berth around them, and Sanji’s voice is growing more concerned by the second.

 

Usopp smiles. 

“Don’t worry, Sanji, I’ve got this handled,” he says. “We’re in the crew of the future Pirate King, so you can’t be scared of something like this.”

His words leave a stilted silence in the atmosphere, and whispers immediately reverberate through the crowd. 

“You’ve got some guts to say that in this town,” Daddy tells him, and Usopp hears the noise of him thumbing down the safety. 

Usopp does the same. 

 

“One.”

The duel begins, and Usopp takes a step forward.

Last time around, he didn't do this at all. He didn’t bother to stew on the regality of this duel when he was a coward, thinking of only the fastest way to hightail right out. 

“Two.” 

But now, he has the courage and the skills to go right for it. He’s done this to a rookie last time around, the rookie lost, curling up in a panicked ball instead of shooting. (Usopp had a nice laugh about it before sending him off with a pat on the shoulder.)

He closes his eyes, and smiles.

“Three.”

Daddy spins around, raising the gun and-- fire. 

Usopp matches him, raising his gun with one hand. He swerves just half a tilt to the right, and pulls the trigger immediately after sensing the projectile beside his face.

Daddy had a second to swerve his face to the right, but the bullet scrapes the man’s cheek.

The silence that permeates the next second is almost exhilarating . Usopp lowers his gun, breathing out. His eyes open again when the crowd goes absolutely wild .

 

“Holy shit, did that just happen?!”

“Daddy the Father just lost in a quick draw duel!”

“Against a kid !”

 

Usopp steps forward, spinning the gun to the heel end for the man to retrieve it. “That was a great match. Thank you for the opportunity.”

“Why did you close your eyes?” Daddy asks, not moving yet to touch the weapon.

Usopp blinks once, slowly. 

"I'm blind," he admits. Then he smiles, though mirthfully. “And also, a coward."

And from the voice that comes back, he knows that Daddy Masterson understands what he meant. Usopp respected this man last time, and that wasn’t without reason.

The gun is taken from him.

“I think you’re a great man,” Usopp tells him with a grin, “why don’t you go back to the marines and come after me some day?”

Daddy scoffs fondly at that. “You’re just like your father, huh?”

Usopp laughs. “No, unlike him, guns just aren’t quite my thing.”

And Usopp straps the goggles on, feeling much better with the familiar weight on his head. Then he waves back at the father-daughter pair as he leaves, Sanji depositing the walking stick into his hand as he turns.

“Wait, when did you take that?” Carol yelps, more surprised than angry at the thievery.  

“I’m so sorry about him, little lady. He’s got no tact at all,” Sanji enters the scene, getting on his knees, “would you like some of this cotton candy I got from the store over there?”

Pleasantly distracted, Carol finds herself with a handful of pink sugary fluff. 

“Sorry if he hurt your pride or something,” Sanji says to Daddy, curtly,  “that blind bastard loves to show off, y’know.”

“Wait, blind?” Carol asks.

“Yes, Carol-chan,” Daddy says, resting his hand on her head. “Don’t worry about it, though. It seems I still have a lot to learn.”

Sanji hums, then excuses himself easily from there, his feet taking him quickly to where the long-nosed sniper had gone quite far ahead. And he bonks him over the head, yelling something about manly decency against a child as they continued down the road.

Daddy the Father laughs into the sky. “How ironic,” he thinks, “one man takes my dream away, and his son gives it right back to me.”

“What’s wrong, Papa?” Carol asks.

Daddy grins, “hey Carol, what do you think of going on a sea journey with Papa?”

 

-

 

“Guns aren’t your thing? Then why’d you shoot?” Sanji asks him once they’ve gone away from the scene.

Usopp taps experimentally at the steps before carefully making his way down. Sanji stays just two steps ahead of him, looking up with attention.

“That was a quick draw duel,” Usopp explains, “not shooting would be an insult.”

Sanji raises an eyebrow at that. Yeah, that made sense-- duels like these were about who could draw their gun quickly and accurately when put under abrupt pressure. Not firing on equal terms would be not acknowledging their opponent worthy of a bullet.

“How do you even aim? Or dodge?” Sanji asks, “and now that we’re entering the Grand Line for real, I’m no longer accepting instinct as an answer.”

Usopp barks out a laugh. 

“I see better with my eyes closed,” he says. He stops at his step and looks out toward the scenery-- toward the town-- and his eyes flutter shut.

Sanji stops there too, looking out curiously. 

He raises his hand in a finger gun, pointed straight forward. “First, I look for the voice of my opponent. Then I listen for other things-- his intent, his bloodlust. His one moment of resolution, right before he pulls the trigger.”

Usopp puts his hand down and opens his eyes.

“When you can do that much, it’s easy,” he says. “I just had to follow the same trajectory, and pull the trigger after the bullet passed my ear.”

Sanji blinked, confusedly. “But if you knew that much, why’d you take so long to shoot?” 

Usopp taps against the steps again, continuing to make his way down.

“Hey, answer my question!”

Surely, if Usopp had really known where the bullet was going to go, he would’ve shot in time with Daddy. Then the bullets would ricochet against each other, and the duel would end in a draw.

Sanji took another step and realized.

Usopp hadn’t wanted an easy draw. He wanted a fair, logical victory that didn’t make Daddy the Father feel like he’d lost single-handedly.

Was it a fluke? No one could quite tell, simply because it’s coincidental, a very near miss-- perhaps Daddy the Father aimed just a bit too to the side. Perhaps the dodging threw off the boy’s aim and it came luckily close to Daddy the Father. No one could tell.

And if no one can tell, that means they’re evenly matched.

Usopp was trying to show Daddy that friendly duels could happen, and they were fun.

He wasn’t trying to defeat Daddy the Father, he wasn’t trying to prove his skills. He was just taking the duel respectfully, and ending the duel on a lighthearted note.

Like a gentleman.

“C’mon, Sanji. We’re going to the fish market, right?”

Well, Sanji could respect that.

 

-


-

 

“You’ve got some guts showing your face in these parts, Namizo.”

Gin immediately tenses, bandanna on his head still with the price tag attached, but Nami’s posture is so relaxed, he can’t help but be distracted. 

She watches sweetly as the shopkeeper freezes midway through fitting her clothes into a big vinyl bag, and smiles, as if to urge her to go on, nothing’s wrong. 

“Nice to see you again, Captain Smoker,” she turns around, “but, my name is Nami now. Don’t you know you should respect a woman’s name?”

“If we cared about names on this sea, I wouldn’t be a marine and you wouldn’t be a pirate,” Smoker says, “that’s not the point. You dare show up on my turf, again ?”

“Awh, but Smoker-san, I was your chore boy for like, two months. Cut me some slack,” Nami says, a giggle at her lips.

“I’ve cut you twice too many slacks, I’ve got no more slacks to give!” Smoker snaps, reaching behind him and drawing his jutte. “You’ve got a bounty now, so I’m legally required to capture you.”

Nami feels sad when she sees Usopp, see how far she’s come, see how far he’s come from trembling under the deck with crosses and garlic around his neck.

It’s in rare moments like these that she realizes that she’s not that much different.

(She wonders if Usopp feels the same melancholy when he sees her.)

And Nami pouts. “Awh, tell Tashigi-chan I said hi, okay?”

“Tell her that yourself,” Smoker replies immediately. 

Smoker thrusts his arm forward in a cloud of piping gray smoke-- Nami swerves just a little to the side, lifting her metal arm up to grab him by the wrist, firm and taut.

The shopkeeper yelps, and every other customer in the shop screams, hurriedly escaping the scene in fear of a battlefield happening within.

Smoker tries to draw his arm back-- only to realize that the girl was stronger than him, physically-- or perhaps it was because he couldn’t turn into smoke to escape the grip and it was throwing him off.

Haki, uh. What a pain.

“What’s with the hostility?” Nami asks, smiling almost teasingly, “I properly paid for these clothes, you know. Though I haggled them about sixty percent of the way down.”

The old Nami would’ve been one of those that ran. The old Nami would’ve used her acting skills to get out of the situation, not make it worse.

“You’re not making it out of this island this time,” Smoker says, words bitter on his lips. 

Nami closes her eyes. She can’t quite feel out the crowd with her haki, but she can sense an amount of hostile presences aimed at her.

Nami smiles. “I will,” she declares, not a hint of doubt in her eyes. “You haven’t met my captain yet, have you?”

“I have met Whitebeard,” Smoker hisses.

“Not him,” Nami corrects. “I’m sure you’ve read the papers. Luffy’s the man who’ll become the Pirate King. You’ll see him soon, and you’ll be impressed.”

Smoker hesitates for only a second, trying to digest that new information.

It’s enough time for Gin to circle around him and bash a seastone-coated fist into the Marine Captain’s head.

The crowd freezes in shock, but Gin breathes out in relief and Nami breaks into laughter.

Smoker’s probably getting a concussion after this, but he’s far from actually out. Maybe he’ll be out for a minute or two,but soon he’ll be up and about with a jutte at their necks. Gin looks pale at this point, so he probably knows that as well.

Gin swipes sharply to the side, throwing the blood off of the seastone bangle before handing the ornament back to Nami.

“Can we run now?” he asks, as if he needed permission. He notices the price tag on his bandanna and tears it off quickly. 

And Nami is absolutely charmed . She slips the bangle back into her wrist and scoops up her bag of new clothes. 

“Let’s look for Luffy first, then.”

 

-


-

 

There’s a ruckus at the town square.

A huge ruckus, full of gossiping civilians and fussy tourists trying to understand what was going on. Some idiot was on the execution stand, and guards were threatening for him to get off or the authorities would be deployed.

But most of all was the confusion.

(Who was that boy, and who’s the cloaked guy beside him?)

Sanji, hefting the elephant tuna on his shoulder, looks over in surprise. Behind him, Usopp crashed into his back.

“What’s the big deal, Sanji?” he whines, rubbing his bent nose.

The running footsteps beside them are mismatched, Usopp turns around just in time to sense Nami running a little ahead of them-- and then she just freezes.

“You have got to be kidding,” Nami says.

Gin looks defeated at this point. “Is that who I think it is?”

There’s a yawn a little away from them, and Zoro finds himself in the impromptu meeting spot, three swords at his side. “Oh hey, everyone’s here. Where’s Luffy?”

And Sanji shakily points toward the execution stand.

Simultaneous gawks. 

Usopp squints in confusion. “Guys? I need an explanation?” he asks, but no one acknowledges his question.

“Sanji, Zoro, go get him back,” Nami orders. Sanji immediately tosses the elephant tuna at Usopp. “A storm’s coming, so we gotta sail out.”

“Aye sir!” they break right into a hard run.

“Sure they’ll be fine on their own?” Gin asks.

“Well, we need to get the ship ready.”

Usopp stares between them, flustered, “wait, explain the situation, I’m confused!”

 

-

 

Luffy stands at the execution platform, amazed by the view.

“C’mon, we don’t have much time,” Buggy calls for him. Still covered fully in his cloak, the senior pirate sits down to the left of the platform, retrieving a bottle of sake.

After a session of stories about Roger, Shanks, and their adventures in the same ship, Buggy brought Luffy to the execution platform in the pretense of introducing this brat to his former captain.

Luffy didn’t expect to come here with an escort, but it didn’t change much. He looks out toward the view-- taking in that this was the last thing the Pirate King saw in his life. 

 

“Hey, kid up there! And the mysterious man! Get down from there, that execution platform is government property and should not be approached so callously!”

 

Luffy sits down opposite of him, taking in the sight of the two black sake dishes laid out before them. 

“What’s this?” 

Luffy knows very well what this is. 

Sake, cups, and sitting together like a quiet ceremony. He still doesn’t know why Buggy’s wearing a full cloak, but he doesn't care much about the details.

“Sakazuki,” Buggy answers him anyways, popping the bottle and pouring it out in equal portions. “You know what it means, don’t you?”

Luffy frowns. “It means we’re brothers, right?”

 

“Excuse me? If you don’t get down, we might have to remove you by force!”

“Please come down without resistance!”

 

Brotherhood was something Luffy saw as a seat of pride only Ace and Sabo could have. But 'brothers' really meant a lot in this world-- maybe they could be one, too. Maybe they were one-- maybe an honorary uncle is the best he'll ever get. 

 

“Only when you want it to,” Buggy says. “I’m offering you this cup, not for us to become brothers, but to acknowledge you as my Captain’s successor.”

“Successor?” Luffy asks, his arms crossed and his head tilted to the side in confusion.

 

You become brothers when you drink together. This drink is a covenant, a vow-- a pact of water, not of blood, but so much more important.

Luffy doesn't quite understand the full length and tradition of the sakazuki exchange-- but Buggy seems like he knows more, so he has no reason to doubt it. Much more so when it sort of sounds cool.

"Shanks gave you his blessings. It's time I give you mine."

Buggy lifts his cup with both hands. Turning toward the crowd with his face hidden under the hood, he grins and throws his voice. 

“You’re the man who’s going to take the crown. It’s only natural that I make the world know it’s for real.”

 

Luffy knows a flashy cue when he hears one. 

 

“I don’t really get it,” he says, but he picks up the sake cup with one hand and grins. Then he raises his dish forward and declares, loudly, “but you bet! I’m the man who’s going to become the Pirate King, so that's fine with me!”

Maybe his smile was contagious, because Buggy smirked back just as widely.

 

“Wait, what did he just-- Did he just declare that--”

“In this town?! Who is that boy?”

“This is outrageous!”

 

Their dishes clink against each other, then they throw it back in one powerful shot.

And right on cue, in the slightly cloudy weather with not a gray wisp in sight-- lightning struck down on the execution platform. Like a strike from the gods themselves, lightning rained down on the wood, shattering it to bits with the force-- and then, it began to burn.

Horror falls over the city, mortified and bewildered all at once. 

There isn't a fearful soul in the crowd, and every person watches with bated breath as rain begins to fall and the fire quells in the cold, cold silence.

 

Then finally, Luffy emerges from the wreckage. Laughing heartily, he picks up his fallen hat, and puts it back on his head.

“That surprised me!” he says. “Guess I survived. Shishishi!”

 

The cloaked figure had vanished.

 

“Hey…” the passers-by whisper to each other, conflicted awe in their voices. “What do you think just happened?”

“He exchanged succession sake with a man on the execution platform, and then… it was destroyed. And then. And then-- the man disappeared.”

“Like… like a ghost?”

“Who was that man?”

“Who could it have been? I don’t recognize the voice.”

“Hey, do you think…”

“Do you think…?”

“Could it have been… Gold Roger himself?”

“You mean he came back to life?”

“No, that’s impossible. Maybe it’s a spirit.”

“He came back as a-- a, to-- to declare the arrival of the--”

“--the Pirate King’s appointed an official successor?!”

“No, it’s got to be some kids playing an elaborate prank!”

“On the execution platform? That’s a stretch no matter how you see it!”

“The Straw Hat. It can’t be-- he’s the one! He’s the one from the rumours! He’s got to be the one Burglar Cat and Man-Demon are working under now!”

“Holy shit. Holy shit.”

“Marines! Get the Marines!”

“Forget the Marines, this is breaking news! Reporters! Reporters!”

 

Luffy doesn’t even seem to notice the growing chaos in the crowd. He just looks around until he spots Sanji and Zoro in the crowd, their eyes wide and jaws dropped in shock.

“Oh, Sanji and Zoro! There you guys are!” 

Sanji forgets his cigarette, simply staring at his captain in some sort of bewilderment.

“Hey, Mosshead,” he mutters, “just asking but. Well, do you believe in god?”

“Don’t talk bullshit,” Zoro hisses back, “scared the crap out of us. C’mon, Luffy, let’s go. Nami’s getting ready to sail already.”

“No seriously, I consider myself a skeptic, but at this point I’m starting to reconsider my view on the paranormal.”

“Shut up, swirly brows, you need to get your head checked?”

“Fuck off, mosshead, some divine miracle just fucking happened were you blind?”

“That’s Usopp, idiot-- hey Luffy, wait!”

Luffy dashes past them, snickering to himself. Zoro and Sanji spin around in their argument to follow his lead. 

 

-

 

Luffy runs ahead, looks back-- and is right hooked painfully at the neck, thrown back a few meters as he chokes for air in surprise.

“Luffy!” Zoro skids to a stop, hands reaching for WadoIchi instinctively.

Marine Captain Smoker stands before them, gaze darkened “So you are Nami’s new captain?” he asks. “You’re just a punk.”

Luffy looks up in surprise. “You know Nami?”

In the second they’ve stopped running, Marines surrounded them, rifles in hand. The rain falls harshly against their bodies, a small stream spilling across the paved ground. 

In the loud squall, there was silence between them.

 

“Roronoa Zoro!” 

Sergeant Major Tashigi emerges behind them, her fists tight and her gaze trained on the green-haired swordsman.

Zoro groans, externally.

“You tricked me, didn’t you?”

“Don’t blame me for your dumbass. You just didn’t ask,” Zoro replies. He spends a moment thinking before his hands reach for Ichimonji and drawing the sword from its sheath. 

“To think a cretin like you had his hands on a beautiful sword like the Wadou Ichimonji…” she draws her Shigure. “I will take it from your hands!”

“Hold on, Marimo. What’d you do to the pretty lady?!” Sanji swirls on him. “And what are you planning on doing over there?!”

“Go on ahead, Luffy.”

“Alright,” Luffy reaches for Sanji, taking his cook by the collar before stretching out to the roofs overhead.

 

But before he could stretch out-- Smoker shot forward.

A gloved hand clasped against Luffy’s throat immediately, throwing the rubber boy over his shoulder and bringing him down hard against the stone pavement. 

Sanji, thrown off by the momentum, skids back onto his feet only to be stopped by Marine soldiers in his path. He curses, spitting out his cigarette.

Luffy chokes-- but he throws his feet up, only for sandal to pass harmlessly across white smoke. Eyes widening in horror, he struggles against the gloves hands, to no avail.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Smoker mutters, “what sort of joke is this? A man like you, who can’t even use Haki, is leading Nami and the Man-demon around? I'll never understand Nami, but I thought that punk had better standards.”

“Gomu-Gomu no Pistol!”

Smoker bursts into white clouds-- only to reemerge behind Luffy, slamming his face first down onto the ground, foot planting firmly on the boy’s back. 

“No matter. Your luck ends here,” he declares, reaching back to the seastone jutte.

But another hand interrupts, holding him back.

Smoker turns around, and his jaw drops.

 

“Dragon?”

 

 

-


-

 

Nami and Gin make their way back to the ship, hurrying to get the cargo under deck first and foremost. Usopp stays on the port, looking around confusedly.

There’s the disarray of the situation, the chaotic voices passing around.

But there’s something missing.

“Isn’t Buggy’s first mate and the lion supposed to be here?” he whispers to himself, confused. He’s distracted by Nami yelling orders as the anchor apparently almost gives way, and Gin’s panicked voice yells for Usopp to get up here already and help .

Usopp focuses on the storm. 

He’ll think about it later.

Kinoko lands on his shoulder, and Usopp climbs his way up to the ship. He can’t use his haki in all this disruption. He’ll have to focus on manning the ship now, with Kinoko’s help.

A gale rips across the storm, blowing in just the right direction to seem natural.

But Usopp can smell the difference. He looks up toward the roofs, and in the darkness, he can’t see a thing, not even colours. But he can sense it.

(And for a second, he thinks their eyes might have met.)

 

“WE’RE HERE!” Luffy yells. “Woah! Look at all this rain!”

“Nami-san, we’re back!” Sanji hollers.

“Man, we got lucky with the sudden gust of wind,” Zoro grumbles, “c’mon!”

 

Nami’s voice cuts in beside him, hollering. “Hurry up and come on board!” she yells, “we’re setting sail immediately!”

Usopp hears them rocket into the ship, and he’s lost in the noise. The rain has made him blinder than usual, and he’s lost in the noise and the laughter that he can’t quite participate in. 

“Fuck you Luffy, do that again and I’ll throw you overboard!” 

“If I ever get a concussion you are gonna bloody get it!”

Usopp smiles, because he knows he’ll be fine. 

Kinoko caws on his head, and he hums in their conversational way that doesn’t really mean anything.

 

Gin sighs, but his tone thrums with fondness, not exasperation.

“I can’t believe we’re leaving Loguetown so hastily,” he says. “This crew’s a hundred times more reckless than Don’s ever dared to be.”

Usopp grins widely, “and?”

He thinks Gin smiles when he responds. “And it’s the greatest decision I’ve ever made.”

 

-


-

 

“Are you done with your business, Captain Buggy?”

Mohji meets his captain at their borrowed fishing boat. The Big Top was anchored a ways away from the island, and Buggy had only brought Mohji with him to this short visit.

“Yeah,” Buggy says, getting on the ship and sighing exhaustedly, “I don’t want to stay on this island a second longer, Mohji.” 

“You say that, but I’m not sure if this boat’s gonna survive a storm like this one.”

 

Buggy blinks blearily in the direction of the town, where a shadowy figure stands on the roof of the furthest building, just barely in sight.

“We’ll be fine. Let’s go.” 

 

Mohji looks son worriedly, but Buggy closes his eyes and rests.

Clearing his throat, he coughs into his fists, massaging his throat through the rising discomfort. 

“I’ve had enough for a lifetime,” Buggy says, tone softening, “let’s go back to the ship.”

 

When Mohji responds again, his eyes are downcast.

‘Yes, Captain.”

 

-


-

 

“See that light over there, Luffy? That’s the entrance to the Grand Line.”

Nami remembers this moment very well. She knows it by heart, and she isn’t willing to compromise even a second of it.

She smiles, and holds her hair behind her ear.

Usopp holds her hand behind their backs, and they close their eyes to feel the wind on their cheeks.

 

“We’re finally heading in? Well, this calls for a ceremony, doesn’t it?” Sanji says, “Let’s break a barrel for the launch.”

“Oh, sounds great!” Luffy says.

“Sure!”

“Let’s do it!”

“No matter how laid-back we are, I’ve got limits,” Gin says, but he goes unheard. “Are we seriously doing this in the middle of a storm?”

Usopp sets a hand on his shoulder, and grins. Nami steps forward and she sets her hand on Gin’s shoulder, too. 

Gin sighs, defeated.

 

Kinoko lifts from Usopp’s head, and lands in the center of the barrel. Eyes turn to her, and Nami can’t help but feel so endeared when Luffy beams into a grin.

“Oh, Ennosuke, you’ve got something to say too?” 

Kinoko makes a very dignified-sounding line of caws, ending with a satisfied huff to her own speech. No one understood her, but no one said a word about that. They just smiled, and acknowledged it with respect. 

“I’ll find All Blue,” Sanji declares, hiking the heel of his foot to the top of the barrel, just an inch from the bird.

“I'll become the Pirate King!” Luffy goes next, announcing something no one doubted for a second. 

“I’ll be the Greatest Swordsman in the World,” Zoro follows, a wide grin on his face. 

Nami goes next, setting her heel on the barrel. “I’ll draw our map of the world,” she says, because her dream has changed, not the core of it, but the significance of it.

Usopp braces a hand on Nami’s and Gin’s shoulders, just to gauge the distance. Then he declares-- without a second of hesitation, without a stutter-- “I’ll become a brave warrior of the seas.” 

 

One left.

And everyone turns to Gin.

Gin hesitates.

But Usopp squeezes him in the shoulder, and Gin makes a face like he’s a second from tearing up. He purses his lips, struggles to not smile-- his eyes narrow in an almost gratified way-- before he puts his foot up there too.

 

“I’ll find Emerald City,” he declares.

 

And as if those were the magic words, a grin brims right onto everyone’s faces. At once, they raise their feet into the sky. Kinoko spreads her wings.

 

“Let’s go to the Grand Line!” 

“YEAH!”

Chapter 23: but first, let's catch lunch.

Summary:

Alright, full speed ahead, into the Grand Line!

But first, let's catch lunch.

Chapter Text

“Well, if the cups are the same size, it’s a brotherhood sakazuki,” Zoro explains, putting two sake dishes on the table. He then puts a bigger one beside it. “If one cup is bigger, it’s a fatherhood sakazuki.” 

Luffy hums, still confused. Zoro brushes the bigger dish away. 

“Then there’s the succession sake and the reconciliation sake-- hey are you listening, Luffy?” Zoro snaps, slamming a hand on the table, “I’m explaining this only cause you asked, you know!”

Luffy scrunches up his brows, arms crossed. “I don’t get it.”

“As expected from the Pirate Hunter, you’re proficient in Yakuza culture,” Usopp says nonchalantly, passing through with a large fishing net bundled up in his arms. 

“What do you mean as expected ?! I grew up in a dojo!”’

“No Zoro, that isn’t helping your case,” Nami walks by after Usopp, hunks of spare lumber under her arms. Wait. Where is she taking it?

Luffy stares very skeptically at the cups, “so if we drink together, we’re brothers, right?” he asks, “then why’d Buggy say no?”

“Do you want to be?”

“Well, no.”

“Then it isn’t.”

“Oh, okay then. Why didn’t you say that earlier?”

Zoro contemplates the pros and cons of strangling your own captain seconds after declaring your goal to go into the journey with him. 

 

“Huh? Does that mean we’re allies?” Usopp looks up from his hammering. 

“Associates, probably,” Nami says, tying the lumber against the edge of the net with a hand and a set of teeth. “You know him.”

“I’ll be honest, Nami, does anyone ever know the guy?”

Nami purses her lips in response, “well, no…”

They spend a moment simply frowning. Then Nami groans, rolling her right shoulder around with clear discomfort before moving back to her knots.

“But man, can’t believe you were right on the money about him,” Usopp sighs. He feels around for the nails with one hand and finds the right edge with the other, before expertly picking up his hammer again. 

“I’m on the money about most things, Usopp,” Nami says, inspecting the knot before moving onto the next one, “being right just doesn’t matter on this ship.” 

“Ah, you have a point.”

“What have you guys even been doing?” Zoro announces his presence beside them, “we’re in the middle of a storm, don’t leave all this stuff lying around.”

“It’ll be fine for a little while more--”

“No it isn’t!” Gin slams the door open, prying his hood off of his head, “what are you idiots doing? We’re still in the storm!” 

“Just give me a second, I wanna get the fishing net done before we cross the mountain. We won’t have time to do it after.”

“Nami,” Gin buries his palm into his face, miserable at this point, “Nami, please.”

“Be a dear and keep an eye on the lighthouse, please?”

“Why do we need a net?”

“Fishing.”

“Fishing?!”

“Well, we need to get food somehow.”

“By fishing?!”

“We’re on the sea Zoro, get a clue.”

 

Gin leans tiredly at the doorway, knowing very well that this is his last chance to jump ship, even if it’s in the middle of a shitstorm.

Nami’s next tug at the string sends a sharp pain shooting up her shoulder, and she winces, a pained noise ripping from her throat. 

No one misses it. Five pairs of eyes turn alarmingly to her, but no one prompts the question yet.

She drops the net and reaches up to her shoulder.

“Nami-san,” of course, it’s Sanji that says it first. 

Nami interrupts him, “I’m fine,” she insists. Finishing her last knot and standing up from her work, she pulls up her hood. “We’re getting closer to the Red Line, so get ready. We need to move.”

Everyone keeps their eyes on her for a moment longer. 

 

Zoro stands up first, reaching for his raincoat and securing his swords to the chest in the galley. Sanji respectfully turns his eyes away, and Luffy runs out to the figurehead because it was finally time to brave the mystery storm.

Gin makes his way to the mizzen mast, knowing they would need all the expertise they could get now. 

Usopp’s eyes stay on Nami even after the rest are gone.

Nami gathers herself to her feet, a hand on her shoulder, massaging the connection between the metal and the flesh.

“This is a Grand Line storm,” she offers, a weak excuse. “I don’t do well in them.”

The ‘ not anymore’ hung unspoken in the air.

It’s not a terrible thing. It’s just part of the package when it comes to prosthetic arms, and some days are better than the others. It’s tolerable-- even if it isn’t, they just have to bear it. Because in the long run, it’s definitely worth the drawbacks.

Nami could handle it. She was used to it. 

“It’s just acting up today, that’s all.”

In lieu of a response, Usopp closes the box of nails by his side and secures the latch. Kinoko flies in, picking up the box to deposit it in the chest to the side, along with the hammer, and other stray nails around the area. 

In the same way that Nami understands Usopp without words, Usopp can read her like a book, even without his sight. And that, beyond everything, makes her unsettled.

She spent years in this time and the past timeline, hiding everything in her heart. It was essential to survive-- with her bounty, with her reputation, you needed at least three layers over yourself to even buy bread at the store. 

Now Usopp had come back into her life-- and maybe it had come too quickly. Her chest tightened anxiously to know there was someone here who knew everything she was so desperate to hide.

(And most of all, that was devastating.)

(The Strawhats are supposed to be open.)

(Once upon a time they could trust each other with everything-- their pasts, their insecurities, their dreams.)

(But Nami has forgotten.)

(Forgotten how it felt to trust someone completely.)

Nami feels a hand on her head. 

Usopp ruffles her hair twice, doesn’t say a thing, and makes his way outside.

She finds herself torn between tears and pure elation. The smile that curls her lips is filled with more mirth than joy, but it’s warm inside her chest. 

And that’s fine.

She rearranges her bangs and follows him out.

 

-

 

“Nami, why are we leaving the-- why is the storm stopping-- Nami?!”

They come to a very anticlimactic stop in the sea, where not a breeze nor a wave made itself known. The sun was pleasant over their heads, obscured just enough by the clouds to provide a semblance of complete serenity surrounding them.

Gin immediately assumes the worst and he knows he’s right. 

He thought Nami knew better about the Grand Line, especially common sailor sense on the Calm Belt. Apparently Nami was so familiar with the Grand Line, she’d barge into the Calm Belt thinking it’s an insanely good idea instead of a horrifically bad one. 

 

(“The Grand Line is a place that doesn’t make sense. The people too, of course,” maybe Zeff had said that, maybe Gin’s mind was paraphrasing it, but he’s starting to understand the gravity of the sentence at this point and he hates it with a passion.)

 

Zoro and Luffy look pleased to meet the end of the storm. Kinoko shakes herself dry, making her chunky, damp-bird way to Usopp’s head, landing on his head just at the crook of his new goggles. Sanji is slightly concerned for Gin’s sanity. 

Nami and Usopp smile bright and wide. 

Gin knows exactly what those smiles mean at this point. He pales immediately, eyes blown wide in horror, “Nami? Nami please--”

“Isn’t it fine, the weather’s so nice here,” Zoro says, admiring the blue skies that were blue as ever, as usual, just blue, nevermind he’s just tired. “Perfect nap weather.”

Kinoko caws in agreement. She, too, was entirely oblivious to the horrors of the Calm Belt. And if Gin can’t trust the bird to sense danger maybe he can’t trust anyone .

“We’re all gonna die,” Gin whispers, despaired. He curls up at the edge of the deck and fake sobs, “I knew this was a bad idea. I knew I should have just thrown myself into the sea, This was a mistake.”

Luffy considers Gin for a moment, then stares accusingly at Nami. 

Nami holds her hands up in her defense, “I’m not a therapist,” she says, like that’s the problem here and not the absolute insanity she’s preaching.

“Oh no, Gin has surpassed me in negativity levels,” Usopp deadpans, “I was worried about facing Perona this time around but looks like we’ll be fine.”

“Wow, you’re cruel.”

“You don’t get to say that to me, Nami.”

“Is anyone going to explain Gin’s reaction or am I supposed to pretend this isn’t a total flag for disaster?” Sanji asks, chewing nervously on his cigarette. 

“Hey Naaami, I said go through the gate! Don’t bring us into the Easy Belch!” Luffy whines from his spot on the figurehead. 

“It’s the Calm Belt , Luffy.”

“Easy Belch, same thing.”

 

Sanji stares incredulously at him for a moment before he lit a new cigarette. “Well, guess it could’ve been worse.”

“Worse than this?” Zoro asks, indicating the current state of the crew. 

Luffy is whining like a child at Nami and Usopp, who are obliviously reminiscing away on something no one wants to listen to. Gin is muttering like a madman in the corner, curled into himself on the verge of a-- oops, better calm that down before it’s too late; 

“I think we’re all gonna die.”

“For the first time, Mosshead, I agree with you.” 

Kinoko caws three times at them, whatever that means. 

Sanji was prepared to stew in the chaos for a moment longer, but the previously bad feeling makes itself known as a low, guttural rumble from the bottom of the ship.

 

No, not the bottom of the ship. The sea itself.

The sea rises with a loud roar, and to everyone  the ship is lifted into the air by a large-- humongous -- sea king. More accurately, a whole pod of sea kings had surfaced and the Going Merry was just a tiny speck at the edge of its snout. 

‘Utter internal screaming’ did not begin to describe the situation. 

For one, Gin’s crying now. Kinoko opens her mouth for half a second before she, knowing better, closes it in a wildly unbirdlike manner, swallowing her caw within herself. 

Zoro is gesticulating wildly for the oars and Sanji, eyes blown wide and cigarette who knows where, is scrambling for it. They’re trying to be as quiet as they can because they had the off chance the Sea Kings hadn’t noticed them yet. 

Luffy is actually listening to them for once, dashing for the oars and the--

“Alright guys!” Nami yells at the top of her lungs, and everyone’s heart instantly stops where they stand. She raises her flesh arm, “grab the net! We’re catching one!”

 

Sanji immediately trips over a raised plank and faceplants over the oars in his arms. It’s the most disgraceful thing he has ever done in his life.

Zoro, distracted for a second, smashes his face right into a panic-flying Kinoko. In a similar predicament, Luffy runs right into the main mast.

“I don’t think I heard that one right.”

“Wait, what?”

Nami grins, “grab the net, boys!” she yells again, loud as a boisterous sailor ready to tackle their biggest catch of the day, “we’re fishing!”

The shocked silence that succeeded the statement was punctuation by Gin’s despaired wail of “ we’re gonna die …”

Usopp makes his cheerful way toward the stairs. He opens the galley door just as the biggest sea king’s eyes turn annoyedly to them.

The screaming resumes, externally this time.

“Oh, that one’s huge! Luffy, grab that one!”

“Aye sir!”

“PLEASE STOP”

 

-

 

“Alright! Sanji, cook that for us once we’re out?”

The middle of a storm is probably not the place to lay around exhausted, but Sanji feels like going to bed right about now and not waking up until morning. Is it evening? Oh damn, he doesn’t know.

The sails are drawn. Merry is now being hauled on the back of a huge sea… mudfish, thing, with horns. 

There’s a big bump on its head from where Nami nailed it in the head with her huge broad-axe, and there are ropeburns around her ears where Usopp hooked the world’s most durable net over her neck.

(And Nami. The way she leaps off the ship and soars into the air, riding the air currents and using gravity to swirl around a huge broadaxe flat-end down on the sea king. The sight of her lithe figure prancing in the wind is not something that's going to leave his mind for a very long time.)

(Zoro finds himself with one of the two ends as they reel the unconscious fish in. He’s not sure what’s more jarring, the undeniable sturdiness of the rope-- huh? What’s this black stuff-- or the fact that Usopp is strong enough to match his strength as they pull.)

There’s another, slightly smaller sea monster-- uh, is it a cow or a pig he’s not sure-- tied to the back of the Merry, ready to be cooked once they’re out. Apparently Usopp caught it while everyone was distracted by the huger sea king. 

(Zoro’s not going to ask.)

“This is so cool! We’re riding on the back of a sea king!” Luffy cheers, excited, “and it’s ten times bigger than the Lord of the Coast! Oooh!”

Nami stretches, brushing back her drenched bangs from her face. Her clothes are soaked now, all through her limbs to the underwear. Sanji is shamelessly staring as he hands her her raincoat. 

Usopp is patiently retying the knots of the fishing net, wrapping it up to be kept. He’s doing it patiently on the deck, like the storm isn’t a big deal-- and it isn’t, really, when you have a sea king keeping your ship together. 

Zoro and Gin are hanging over the bow, looking down at the majestic beast under them and trying not to throw up because that’s probably not a good idea. 

“I can’t believe the storm is the least impressive part of this situation,” Gin mutters.

“Last chance to jump overboard,” Zoro says back, looking equally exhausted as he buries his face into the banister, “tell me if you’re going, because I’ll join you.”

“Oh, joy,” Gin groans into his arm, “double suicide partner.”

 

Kinoko, struggling to fly straight in the wind and having done nothing but roll in the air in a panic this whole time, lands clumsily on Zoro’s head.

(More like crashed into his neck, claws grabbing at any handhold and wings flayed out to hug him in a desperate attempt to stop, but yeah.) 

Gin looks at her, “what, you didn’t get eaten?”

Kinoko squawks, offended. She stands up dignifiedly on Zoro’s nape, composing herself and tidying her feathers before huffing as if to prove her point. 

Zoro, not in the mood to be a bird perch, swoops back and grabs her by the neck. 

 

“Yosh! We’re back in the storm!” Luffy cheers, passing by the three as he carts the neatly-bound net back into the galley before prancing back out, rocketing himself to the figurehead. “Nami! Where do we go now?” 

Usopp stands up and stretches, and Nami lifts a telescope to her eye. 

“Straight ahead, Whiskers,” Nami hollers, choosing her spot by the figurehead to command the sea beast under them. 

She may not have Conqueror’s of any sort, but a good knock on the head is enough to tame any wild beast. It’s completely terrified of Nami now. 

“To the Grand Line, for real this time!”

The crew has a second to brace itself before the beast speeds up, jetting through the ocean like a boat with an engine, streaming across the waters quickly enough to leave bubbled waves in their wake.

Luffy smiles widely at her, enjoying every aspect of this impromptu craziness. When he first heard of an adventure-- this was exactly it. Surprises at every second, recklessly at every turning, incredulous but just the best .

He grins at Nami and Nami never fails to grin back, and that’s about the most assuring thing he’s ever experienced. 

“Woah! What’s that?!” Luffy exclaims, “there’s a huge shadow!”

Usopp stands by the mast, hands on the wood and feeling the wash of the rain whip across his face. Sanji stands beside him, holding onto the cargo net in an attempt to maintain his stability.

“The Red Line,” Gin answers, though he’s not sure if Luffy can hear him. Zoro and Sanji turn to him though, so he continues. “We’re here. At the starting point.”

And they blink, confused.

“We’re heading through the huge separator of the seas?” Sanji asks. “How does that work?”

Gin looks toward it, seeing the faint but clear lines of the entrance in the distance. And just a little, the tension is back in his shoulders, the tightness is in her chest, and maybe it’s the rain, maybe the air pressure, but he can’t breathe well.

His next breath out is choked, and he sets a hand on the bow.

“Nami, are you sure we don’t need to do anything?” he says loudly, unable to contain the words. 

Nami doesn’t turn around, “don’t worry, Whiskers will be fine. These Sea Kings have gone through the gate plenty of times! It’s like a rollercoaster for them!”

Strangely enough, that’s not assuring at all.

“A rollercoaster?” Zoro asks, skeptical. “Wait, what are we doing? How does the entrance work?”

“I just kinda figured there was an opening or something,” Sanji says, also curious. He’s never gone through the entrance-- only through legitimate procedures and maybe safe routes of the Calm Belt. Never formally through Reverse Mountain.

Nami grins, “come here, boys! You can see it from here, loko closely--” and she points it out to them, Luffy exclaiming excitedly as he spots it. Then she begins to explain the upward stream, and their gazes grow suspicious. 

Gin’s gone through this before, and it was filled with shouting, screaming, a hard crash, a handful of people thrown overboard-- and once they were up, they came to the sudden, dreadful realization that it’s a one-way street, and only hell awaits. 

Thinking about it again made his head spin and his feet abnormally light. He feels the sudden urge to run, to jump, preferably out of this ship and into the sea and away from here-- but his hands hold firmly to the bow, the only thing grounding him in place.

(His head was telling him to run. His heart clenched and begged to go away, run away, never again to that nightmare why do you bother? But his hands held firm and told him he wanted to stay here.) 

A hand lays on his shoulder and he slaps it away.

It’s Usopp. 

Gin breathes out, breath ragged, head throbbing, and eyes spinning back into focus. “O-Oh,” he stutters, lamely, “Usopp. My bad. You startled me there.”

(He falters, wondering why said that. Weakness like that was precedent for mockery on Krieg’s ship-- he should’ve just stayed silent and glared.) 

Usopp smiles at him. Gin wants to punch that face.

“It’s fine to be scared of it,” Usopp tells him. Gin snaps, ready to deny it, but Usopp’s fingers are trembling against the mast and Gin doesn’t manage to get the words out. Instead, the sharpshooter keeps speaking. “It means you’re still human.”

That may have sounded like a pointless cheesy line to any normal man.

But not to Gin.

“Are you stupid?” Gin says, stepping forward as he stifles a choked laughter. “Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m the Man-demon, and I'll sure as hell show you I live up to my moniker, Usopp.”

He joins the rest of the crew at the front of the ship.

 

Usopp’s smile hasn’t left his face yet. He feels a translucent hand prod at his fingertips, but he makes no move to return the gesture. 

“Do you have fears too, Merry?”

The wispy little hand makes no verbal response, but it curls around Usopp’s hand for a moment longer before vanishing completely with the raindrops.  

Usopp chuckles. “Yeah, figured.”

He makes his way to everyone else at the bow, feeling Kinoko perch on his head and hearing her caws to lead him around.

 

-


-

 

They cross Reverse Mountain in a chain of excited screaming, terrified shouts, and awed expressions. They strip off their raincoats and watch the light of the Grand Line break into view.

A deep, wailing cry breaks through the rippling wind. The fog splits as the Merry cuts through the narrow path of Reverse Mountain.

Whiskers howls back, head thrown back like a mournful response.

Usopp sets a hand on Kinoko’s back on his head, breathing out slowly as the emotions in the voice blow through his ears, flooding his wave with a wave of something he hadn’t quite braced himself to feel just yet.

Deep, searing sorrow .

From Whiskers, there’s unrelenting empathy .

“Hey, isn’t there something calling back?”

“Huh? It’s probably an echo, right?”

His knees are weak, his eyes squeeze shut, and he clenches the shirt around his chest, trying to breathe against the air pressure. He should’ve been prepared for this-- he was careless.

(With Haki as oversensitive as his own, this was bound to happen.)

(It’s fine, just breathe and bear with it and he’ll get used to it in a while.)

He grounds himself again Luffy’s booming, ecstatic voice. Clings closely to Sanji’s awed, naive, so innocently curious voice. He avoids Gin’s voice, filled with uncertainty, and stays away from Zoro’s-- because Zoro is mutedly excited, but the swords around his waist gnash their teeth in hell, soaked in blood that stains longer than stains.

 

Yo ho ho ho, Yo ho ho ho ~”

Heads turn when Nami starts to sing. She holds her hair away from her face as it dances erratically in the wind. She closes her eyes, singing with the roar of the wind and the howl of the sea creatures as her tempo. 

Usopp whirls back into reality, the music thrumming through his veins in a painfully, painfully familiar way. He holds back the tears. 

Gather up all of the crew, it’s time to ship out Bink’s brew …”

Luffy’s face blooms into the widest smile in the world. 

“Sea-wind blows; To where? Who knows? The waves will be our guide,” Usopp joins in his voice shakier and a little more off-tune than Nami, but they match up well. 

“Binks’ Sake, huh,” Gin says. At Sanji’s confused look, he explains, “it’s an old sea shanty. All pirates know it-- it’s a classic.”

Almost as if to prove his point, Luffy sways to the song, and joins in on the next line with his awful but undeniable energetic singing voice. 

Then Kinoko joins in like a periodical whistle of percussion, evidently having heard this song from Usopp at least once before. 

Nami and Usopp’s smiles grow wider, almost as if it didn’t matter how terrible it sounded.

Shanties were like that-- you didn’t need a beautiful voice or a strong melody-- you just needed to have fun. Luffy got that spirit down pat. 

O'er across the ocean's tide; rays of sunshine far and wide. Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by .”

Usopp leans into Nami’s side, his other hand on the bow as he stands, enjoying the wind against his cheek.

Laboon’s cries morph into something more even, and almost seem to meld in with the song. The boundless sorrow was stifled by the slightest grace of hope, and Usopp could breathe again.

 

“Wait. There is something singing back!” Sanji yells, leaning over the bow to get a closer look. 

“There’s like a mountain or something ahead!” Zoro hollers from the crow’s nest.

“Huh? A mountain?” Gin finds that suggestion incredulous, “no no, that’s not possible. It’s all open sea after this point-- oh.”

There’s a moment of silence. Then “What did that ‘oh’ mean?!” Sanji snatches him up by the collar, “Gin?!”

Gin stares into the distance, too exhausted to care at this point.

Meanwhile, the three stooges and bird have made it to the second verse of Binks’ Sake. They’re headed straight downwards, the most exciting part of the song-- and even Whiskers was happy to be rolling down the tides of this stream.

“We’re on a fish, so it should be okay if we crash, right?”

“NO?! Do you know physics, mosshead? We’ll go flying!”

“...but I'm strong.”

“That’s not what physics means!” Sanji is ready to rip his hair out. He throws half of himself over the bow, at the mudfish sea king that was quite literally dancing to the tune, “HEY! You shitty fish! Stop singing and get us out of the way, we’re gonna crash!”

Of course, no one listens to Sanji because in the next moment, Whiskers skids down edge of the valley like a trembling toboggan, and everyone holds on for dear life (though Luffy is laughing because of course he’s enjoying this ) as it whirls right around, drifting like a car on a narrow highway curve.

They’ve barely maneuvered to safety by spinning right around a huge, fucking, whale.

A huge fucking whale that’s bigger than the mudfish sea king they’re riding on.

 

Sanji lost his cigarette somewhere in between and he has a feeling he’s gonna need a lot more for the journey herein. 

He’s, if he can say so himself, scared shitless right now. 

Whiskers is looking up at them, eagerly waiting for the ropes to be released because she’s done her deed and wants to go home, but Sanji could care less about the murderous fish under them.

Whiskers was a thousand times Merry’s size. This whale? This whale was… Sanji can’t math right now. But Merry’s like an ant in comparison and Sanji has never felt so much like a mite in his life.

At least it doesn’t seem to be hostile? But looking at those scars, it might just be a matter of time.

“Are we dead?” Gin mutters, almost sounding hopeful. “We’re dead, right?” he asks, as if he didn’t understand why hell had a sea. Or maybe hell is the sea and he’s never getting out. 

“Holy crap that is huge ,” Zoro looks up, hand above his eyes as he looks up to the hulking figure beyond them. “Is that a whale?”

The whale bellows.

 

Compared to the previous rounds of boisterous singing, there’s uncomfortable silence. The whale considers the mountain, wondering why the noise has stopped, and not quite noticing the new creature beside him just yet. 

Then Luffy laughs.

“WHALE!” Luffy cheers, as loudly as he can because apparently he needs the whale to hear that it’s a whale too. Then he says, very necessarily, “HEY NAMI, THAT’S A HUGE WHALE! LOOK, IT’S HUGE!”

Sanji bonks him on the head with his foot, “Shut up! Do you want it to attack us?!” 

Usopp’s hair is wind-swept to one side, and Kinoko is in his arms, frozen like a wet chicken that has no idea where the hell she is anymore. 

Nami is beaming at the sea. “We’re here, the Grand Line!” she declares, her flesh arm lifted high into the sky. “Luffy, this place is called the Twin Capes. See the lighthouse over there?” 

Luffy looks. “OOOH!!”

Usopp finally lets go of Kinoko, who perches on the bow and starts grooming herself up from the drenched mess that was the rain and everything else salty. 

“Okay Whiskers, we get it, you want out,” Usopp heads toward the horns, climbing up the bow to get to the knot, “gimme a second, okay?”

And the mudfish sea king bellows impatiently. 

 

Sanji can’t help but smile at that. 

Well, huge whale aside, Sanji turns toward the open sea behind them-- and the wind really doesn’t fail to impress.

The sea doesn’t look much different from any other sea in the world-- startlingly enough, there are only calm waves in the horizon, not an island in sight. But the blue against blue is serene, harmonizing against the wind of something more.

It’s hard to really let it sink in that this sea is different. There’s a large wall behind them and nothing before them yet-- but Sanji can feel the pressure of the air on his bones, promising something unmistakable fearsome ahead.

And it excites him.

All Blue is somewhere out there, hiding in this same deceptive manner. 

“Sanji?” Gin asks. 

Sanji turns to Gin to see him watching the sea too-- Gin had been clutching the railings thus far, holding on for not dear life, but for some semblance of reality. 

Sanji takes another moment to realize his hand is in his hair. He lets go, resting his hand on the bow and turning to Gin with a grin. 

“Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Gin scoffs. “The hardest part isn’t even here yet.”

“Sure, whatever you say, shithead,” Sanji says, turning around. He points at Gin and Zoro in succession, “now, mister shitty muscleman and shitty other muscleman. Help me get that meat on board.”

Zoro beams at that. He doesn’t even care about the insult, he’s more interested in the large sea cow they’ve gotten for lunch. 

He leaps off the ship and onto the sea mudfish, making his way over already. 

Gin rolls his eyes in a way that Sanji swears is audible. 

“The thing is bigger than Merry, you idiot, get it on the shore.” 

 

-

 

“Hey, Laboon! Remember me?” Nami hollers to the loud whale, “it’s me!”

Laboon has his eyeline on the cape, happily whistling at the sight of Nami.

They set the sea mudfish free. Luffy waves at it happily as it returns to the Calm Belt, and Gin is only glad they're not on top of it anymore.

“What kind of crazy people ride a sea king past Reverse Mountain?” Gin says, finally able to voice that out to Nami because they’re now on even seas. 

“There wasn’t much of a choice, I didn’t want Merry to get hurt, and Luffy wanted to go up the mountain,” Nami argues, like those were the most reasonable things in the world. 

“How about we ride up normally?” Gin says, defeatedly.

“You think Merry can handle that kind of updraft?”

“You mean she can’t?”

“Of course she can,” Nami clarifies, “but that’s with a capable boatswain and rigger and, most importantly, a helmsman. In this ship, that’s you and me. Do I need to explain why that’s not enough?” 

Gin groans. She has a point. 

“Sorry about that,” Usopp says, holding the rope in his hands as he binds it back together, “if I could see, I’d help. And Nami really shouldn’t do any rough work with that arm in the rain.”

Nami rolls her eyes, “I said it’s fine ,” she groans, “you saw me swinging the axe.”

“That had gravity to help,” Usopp says. 

Gin has a headache at this point. Usopp and Nami dissolve into an argument of who is or isn’t useless, which is fucking stupid if you ask Gin, so he jumps out of the ship and onto the shore, noticing the nice large space that could be used for quite a feast. 

 

Zoro and Luffy are nowhere to be seen, and Sanji is butchering the sea cow. The large whale is watching them warily, and Gin is trying his hardest to ignore it.

He’s been here once and the whale didn’t kill him then, it probably won’t kill him now. But where’s the lighthouse keeper?

“Wait,” Gin realizes something, “if you guys could tame the sea king, why didn’t we just go straight through the Calm Belt?”

Nami and Usopp are too focused on their own conversation to hear him. Kinoko lands on his head and caws twice, whatever that means.

Right.

Because Luffy wanted to go up the mountain.

You’ve got to be kidding .

“Is my captain a kid?” Gin grumbles into the air in disbelief. He’s witnessing something he could never have dreamed of, ever. Because right now, their captain is the youngest of the group, and Nami and Usopp certainly love to think so. “They’re spoiling him.”

Kinoko caws once. 

Gin thinks he’s starting to understand bird language.

 

-

 

Zoro has no idea where he is, but he hears Luffy in the distance so that's reassuring.

“Hey, Luffy. Wait up. If we get lost and end up back on the other side of the red line or something, it’s not gonna be my fault.”

Luffy laughs in the distance.

“Hey Luffy, where are you!”

“Here, Zoro! Oh, found you,” Luffy appears in the next turn. His arm shoots forward and grabs Zoro by the shoulder. “I found something cool! Let’s go!”

“Wha-- Wait!” Zoro’s dragged forward, but Luffy keeps running. The next contract of his arm sends Zoro smashing into the wall, and Luffy stops running, turning back to laugh at him.

“You’re so clumsy, Zoro. It’s this way, c’mon!”

“I swear, Luffy, I will murder you one day for this.”

Zoro groans, getting up slowly. Man, if this was rock instead of a flat wall, that really would’ve hurt. He gets up, tidying his swords at his sash.

 

Man, why is it so dark in here? Did the sun set?

He sets a hand on the wall.

 

“Huh? Why’s there a metal wall on a rock mountain?”

 

Chapter 24: if you don't chain Luffy down, he's probably causing trouble.

Summary:

The crew docks at the Twin Capes for a short break.

This entails having the blind man check the ship for repairs, getting lost inside a whale because Zoro is the one leading the way, capturing a suspicious pair of bazooka-wielding bounty hunters, forcing said bounty hunters to eat lunch before leaving, and finding a Buggy ball inside your ship's money pouch... wait, wait?

Notes:

Hiya everyone! ❤❤ It's been a while hasn't it? Heheh, sorry about that. I'm alive and well and this chapter didn't exactly want to be written. But anyways I got through it so it's okay now.

Anyways, I just wanted to say that I love each and every one of you so much T^T nothing makes me happier than getting a whole load of reviews and I feel so, so blessed. I even got fanart!!! from the amazing PorterHawk and I have been staring at this for the past few months crying because I love it so much please I pray for your eternal happiness you deserve it.

Chapter Text

 

Nami met Laboon while she was travelling with the Whitebeards. She had always crossed the Calm Belt into the Grand Line, so they’d brought her here with sightseeing intentions. 

She was very happy to see him, but there were things she couldn’t say.

‘Brook is alive’ is one of those many things. 

That’s information she can’t bring up without explaining in half-truths, because telling someone the truth would flip the world on its tide and create a completely different world from before. 

 

So she can’t tell anyone the full story just yet. At least, not while Blackbeard is still in the Whitebeards.

 

(Even if he weren’t, there was no telling how they might begin to doubt her allegiance when they find out legitimate time travel is possible outside of the Toki-Toki no Mi. And that was the thing-- they may suspect Nami to be the new holder of that fruit, or that Nami knew who the new holder of that fruit was.)

(And that complicates things, a little too much for comfort. She wanted to change the future-- but not to an uncontrollable degree. Misunderstandings can be used to her advantage-- but trust is to be gained honestly, and she can’t lie to the Whitebeards after swearing her allegiance to them.)

(Most of all is Blackbeard-- there’s no telling what he could ever do if he realized Nami might know of his future plans.)

 

She sang to him, and the Whitebeards joined in. They drank and partied, but Laboon continued to cry the next day. 

It was joyous, but it just wasn’t the same. 

Nami sings to him anyways, every time she sees the whale, because the familiar music staves off the pain, just a little. 

She knows-- she’s like that too, sometimes. 

 

(The Whitebeards had adopted that habit too, to sing Binks Sake as each time near the Red Line-- but Nami wouldn’t know that. She left so quickly, after all.)

 

“I’m glad you’re doing better, Laboon-chan,” she says, running a hand across the tender scars on his head. There aren’t as many new wounds as she’d thought-- which was, bitterly enough, a good thing.

Getting over the loss of a crew is no easy feat, and despite Nami’s efforts, it's not quite enough to pull Laboon over to healthy habits again. 

But it's progress, and Crocus was beyond grateful.

 

“This is my crew. I hope you like them,” Nami says. 

 

"Hehh…" Usopp waves a hand carefully over until it reaches the whale's snout. "Hey, Laboon. I'm Usopp," he introduces himself. “Nice to meet you.”

 

(He half contemplates telling the whale something about their past life experiences, or even giving a promise that they’ll help it reunite with Brook as soon as they can-- but he decides against it.)

(If Nami hadn’t said anything, he shouldn’t either.)

The whale hums slowly in a sort of greeting. 

“How long are we staying?” Usopp says, taking his hand and turning away from the whale. There’s plenty of work to be done-- it isn’t time to exchange pleasantries. 

(He loved Laboon and all-- but he didn’t need to go for it this time around. He was content with the brief ‘pirate that once passed by’ sort of relationship they shared.)

 

“Right after lunch, but it’s Luffy’s decision to make,” Nami says. “Can you do a once-over of the Merry? Just check for any damage.”

Usopp stares at Nami silently.

Nami takes an embarrassing moment to realize the problem. 

She sputters, “alright, alright! I’ll do it myself!” A flush to her cheeks, she swirled around and marched toward the Merry.

Usopp can’t handle it, he laughs. “I’m joking, I’m joking! I can use my Haki to tell!” he goes after her, careful to keep in step with his bare feet on the rocks. “Don’t be mad, I’m just kidding, I’m sorry!”

“Go to hell, Usopp!”

“Okay,” Usopp chuckles. “But I’m blind, so you’ll have to lead me there.”

Nami blushes. “Shut up!” 

 


 

Zoro opens the door, holding Luffy by the scruff.

“Ah, look, Luffy, we’re out,” he says, looking amazed at the deep blue ocean that brings a strangely sour breeze, the oddly, claustrophobia-inducing sky, and the unnervingly still clouds-- “wait, where’s the Merry?”

Luffy laughs, looking out at the amazing view. “Look at that, Zoro! An island and a house! Huh? There’s a huge flower on it. Zoro, let’s go check it out--”

“With what ship, moron?” Zoro holds him firmly and away from the surface of the sea. At this point, he reckons this idiot would seriously drown for two minutes before he even remembers he can’t swim. “Look, I think we got out on the wrong side. There’s probably another exit somewhere else--”

“Shishishi! Are we lost again, Zoro?”

“I am NOT lost! The ship just disappeared without warning us!”

“You’re dumb, Zoro.”

“That coming from you?!”

 

They simultaneously freeze when the huge flower on the strange island just turns around where it stands, revealing an old gangly face and a glare as their eyes zero in on each other.

Fierce glare against a pair of shocked gazes, the air goes still.

 

Maybe it was the huge spear gun that man held-- hell, it’s definitely that-- that made him uncomfortably menacing. Zoro didn’t know if he could handle an attack from that with just Kogatana. 

(Dammit, he might need to use his actual swords again.)

(He’s been trying to swear off using them until he got stronger, but his will was so flimsy he’d broken that rule a couple times already. That totally sucked.)

 

Luffy keeps a firm, wide-eyed look on the strange old man-- even he can sense the tension in the air, it seems-- and they stand, waiting for any sign of hostility. 

Zoro, trusting Luffy’s authority in this situation, simply waited for his captain to give the order. To attack first, or to head back the way they came?

And so the silence continued for ten full seconds. 

Then Luffy screams, “Dammit, I lost!” squeezing his eyes shut. The old man cackles in response. Luffy whines, opening his slightly teary eyes again. “No fair! One more time!”

“Don’t underestimate this old coot, ya brat!” The old man calls back.

Zoro whirls on them, looking back and forth. What on earth is this unexpected, wholesome energy they’ve got going on?

Then he realizes. “Were you two having a fucking staring contest?!” 

They laugh boisterously at him. Zoro wants to bash them both over the head, and he’s willing to let himself use his katanas for it.

 


 

"Where's Luffy?"

Nami let's the question hang in the air for a second. 

And where's Zoro? Oh god, they really shouldn't lose Zoro on the Red Line-- what if he ends up on Mariejois?

(Seriously. That actually happened last time around-- there were whole articles of witness accounts depicting his stroll through the gardens. There was one particularly shaken noble that absolutely swears they saw him order drinks from the bar, take a nap, and then walk straight down the wall. People are convinced it was just a fever dream.) 

At least she can tell that they were most recently together, but that doesn't mean much when both of them are pants with directions, doubly so together. 

 

"Well, how far could they possibly have gone?" Sanji shrugs dismissively, taking a drag of his cigarette as finally finishes butchering the sea cow they'd caught. "They'll be back when they're hungry."

 

Usopp sits at the deck, the net sprawled out over the wood and on his lap. He’s untangling the edges, and though Gin was helping him at some point, the latter got tired of helping and walked away when they were almost done.

Kinoko flies around freely, landing on the head of the whale, perching atop one of its many scars. She seems to enjoy being on an abnormally high altitude again-- Merry was high as well, but Laboon was just much, much higher. 

Sanji considers the whale’s wounds, then hums, dismissing it as one of the many gruesome mysteries of the Grand Line. (A man shouldn’t ask about another’s scars if he doesn’t want to be pried for his own, after all.) 

The whale and the bird exchange soft caws and booming whistles. Sanji listens to it, and the noises meld together like a rather pleasant cacophony.

 

Meanwhile, Gin inspects the meat. 

 

It’s a huge sea cow-- the whole thing definitely can’t fit on the Merry. At most, they’d be able to fit a third of it anywhere, and even then, they don’t have space to store large amounts of fresh meat for a long time. If they exclude the weight of the inedible parts…

Ah, this crew is pretty small, so he has to calculate passenger weight in different roundups to his usual measurements.

"We could probably ration half of it," Gin concludes to Sanji, who tilts his head in acknowledgement. "Make jerky or something for Luffy's snack time."

Because they definitely need extra provisions for that. 

With a ship of so many huge appetites, food and rations probably can’t last long. It’s convenient in the sense that they have less worry of food going bad, but they have to hunt and restock much more often. 

Oh well, won’t be much of a difference from Don’s ship, except for the lack of discipline. Gin can handle that much. 

 

“Alright,” Sanji says, rolling up his sleeves. He’s received similar instructions when he’d worked on Baratie, so he trusts Gin’s confidence enough to know it’s for the best of the crew. “I’ll get to work, then, we’ve got plenty of salt. Mealtime is in thirty minutes, don’t be late.”

 

Gin, however, groans at the suggestion. 

He thinks he’ll pass on the food. His nerves have been everywhere and especially his stomach for the past hour, and all he wants to do is fight something. 

He’s barely gone back into the habit of three full meals a day-- he still can’t eat large, filling meals just yet. Well, Sanji’s regulating it, so Gin knows he should be capable of eating-- but he still has days where he doesn’t feel up to a heavy meal. 

(He coughs, a sharp pang stinging his chest.)

He clears his throat, deciding to go check on the workings of the ship. 

Nami and Usopp already worked it out, but he probably has more years on them when it comes to ship parts.

 

"Guys, what if Luffy's under the sea or something?" Nami asks, seemingly the only worried one of the group. 

 

“Don’t worry, Nami, they’ll be fine.” Usopp nonchalantly gathers the net in his arms, neatly folded. Stepping carefully bare feet around the Merry, he makes his way to the storage chest to keep it away. 

Nami grimaces at that. 

(She has to admit, she’s way past the point of being paranoid of Luffy’s disappearances, and he’s right. Plus, Usopp’s Observation Haki is stronger than hers, so if he’s saying this, he must know where they…)

(...wait a minute.)

 

Nami stares at Laboon.

“You are kidding .”

 


 

“So it’s all stomach acid?”

“Yeah.”

Luffy doubts that, hard. After all, it looked just like the sea!  

They rowboat over to the little metal ship island, where Flower-ossan and Zoro break out barrels and start a drinking contest, for some reason. Luffy doesn’t join them-- he’s more hungry than in the mood for a party right now. 

Plus, he wants to know what the mysterious liquid is.

So of course, like a genius, he sticks his hand into the water. 

He immediately deflates with a whimper, and Zoro whirls around to bark, “why are you touching the water, you idiot?!”

Luffy groans, “but you said this wasn’t sea water! It is !”

“It’s a mixture of the swallowed seawater and hydrochloric acid,” Crocus says, knowing full well Luffy may not understand it when referred to by its chemical name. “But that doesn’t matter much-- it’s still a large body of unmoving water. Devil Fruit users are affected either way.”

“Huh? What’s that mean?”

“You guys don’t know the difference yet?” Crocus says, refilling his mug. “If all sea water affected your Captain, you’d have to keep them indoors every time there was a storm. How did you guys get so far without noticing that?”

 

Zoro looks offended. 

But yeah, he had a point-- Luffy was still active as a rubber monkey during storms-- if he wasn’t running around for the sails, he even stayed right on the figurehead, at the forefront of the waves and the sea-soaked winds.. He didn’t lose energy and get swept away any easier than a normal man would.

 

Luffy, who for some reason still has a hand in the water, mutters that “Nami is the smart one,” because he’s right, and that “and Gin and Usopp.”

Crocus laughs at that. “So an idiot captain with a decent crew, huh? How nostalgic,” he says, a fondness in his smile that Zoro doesn’t miss. His mug is filled, and Zoro drinks. 

“Hey Luffy, get your hand out of there before it dissolves.”

“I have… no strength...”

Zoro groans, plucking him out and tossing him over to sprawl across the other edge.

“Thaaaanks, Zoro…”

 

And then they begin to talk about the situation. They learn about the whale, about the crew that’s left it behind, and about the way he’s crashed against the wall splitting the seas countless times, desperate to reach the other side. 

He also mentions how Nami came about a few months ago, and began to let Laboon know the joy of a song again. He’s getting better, his song of lament now laced with just a bit of newfound hope. 

By the end of it, Luffy takes a mug of beer himself, taking a careful sip.

 

The bitter sting of an unfulfilled dream is a pain he knows, after all. (Let’s go out to sea when we’re seventeen!) Luffy drinks and he sighs. (We’ll live our lives without regrets.)

‘I promise’ are words that mean a lot to Luffy.

 

“Well, if they broke that promise, then we can just make another!” Luffy says with a wide grin.

“Huh?” Zoro says, “what? With who-- Luffy, those people are gone, were you listening?”

“So what?” Luffy huffs. “We can’t help that they’re gone. Right, Flower-ossan? If you’re a crybaby for too long, everyone’s gonna hate you!”

And Crocus stares back, his eyes wide with pleasant surprise. 

 


 

“Well, would you look at that, Miss Wednesday,” the man says, peeking warily over the edge of the rock. “A group of pirates.”

“Yes, Mister Nine,” the lady replies, in the same flairful, over-pronounced tone, “a paltry group of just four… how incredulous. Are they after the whale as well? How troublesome… we might need to regroup and ask for backup.”

Sifting through a book of wanted posters, the man in the gaudy royal costume hisses. He shows the name to his partner, and the girl yelps in horror. 

“Twenty-five million and eighteen million?!” she exclaims, shutting herself up a moment too late. “Those are dangerous numbers for just the two of us.”

They glance over, but the blond-haired cook just a few meters away gives no reaction. He gleefully flips the sticks of meat on the grill, humming to himself. 

The sigh in relief.

“The woman with the metal arm and the man in silver are bad news,” Mister Nine concludes. “But neither of them are around the whale. We should take the long way around and sneak in-- they won’t even notice us passing by.”

 

“Sneak in where?”

 

“Inside the whale, obviously,” Miss Wednesday hisses, looking on the other side to see Laboon. “The lighthouse keeper must be there, as usual. We need to take him out.”

“We need the whale for the sake of our city, we can’t afford to delay this mission any longer,” Mister Nine elaborates, tucking the cannon to his back. “Alright, the coast is clear. We need to be stealthy, Miss Wednesday! Stealth is key!”

It’s honestly humorous that he emphasizes that with a golden fake crown on his head. 

“Understood. I’ll be right behind you,” Miss Wednesday nods.

“Don’t look around, no time for any delay,” Mister Nine emphasizes. “Straight ahead, focus on the path, don’t get distracted-- understood?” A nod. “Alright then...”

He takes a breath, mentally charting the route forward. 

But before he can take that very important step forward, a voice interrupts.

 

“Not looking around is a solid plan and all, but looking up might be a good idea,” Usopp offers his very timely advice, casually sitting on the rock the two agents were hiding by. 

He’s peeling an apple in his lap, carefully spinning the fruit around the blade. 

 

The noises they made at that moment could be likened to bunnies dying of shock. 

Usopp doesn’t bother lifting his eyes to them, he just squints at the apple in his hand, trying to make sense of the blotted ball of colour. He’s not even sure if he’s skinning it or shredding the knife through the flesh, he just roughly feels around for that measurement and it’s not going well at all. 

Ah well, Sanji gave him the job, Sanji can handle the consequences.

“So you guys want the whale?” Usopp asks, as if the two weren’t struggling with their hearts in their mouths or anything, “what do you need it for? Need its meat to feed an island of people or something?”

A yelp, “how did you know?!” 

A wail, “don’t say that, you’re confirming it!” 

Usopp accidentally nicks his finger in his exasperation, and he winces. He lifts the bleeding appendage to his mouth, holding the apple and the knife in his other hand. 

Meanwhile, the Baroque Work agents are doing a magnificent show of establishing the fact that they are terrible actors. From a loud clearing of throat to the obnoxious fake laughter, and then the very audible nervousness in their throats.

“Hah! What island? We don’t come from an island or anything! Definitely not here to kill the lighthouse keeper that’s protecting the whale!”

“No no definitely not! This whale is uh. Our islands’s sweet honey darling , after all! It’s important to us and we are uh! Saving it from that accursed lighthouse keeper!”

“Yeah yeah that. See the wounds on the head! Lighthouse keeper did that! Definitely not its mental illness and it consistently self-harming itself.”

Well, that’s a half-decent cover story, to some degree. Now if only they sounded even the slightest bit convincing… Usopp gives them approximately half a point for that miserable excuse of a story execution.

There was a misunderstanding like this last time, wasn’t there? Because Old man Crocus kept messing around or something? 

 

“Apple, Usopp.”

“Yes, here you go.”

He doesn’t even glance over as he sets down the clumsily-peeled apple into Sanji’s waiting hand. Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine squeak at the new presence.

 

“So, you’re trying to save the whale, huh…” he tones his voice a little lower than his usual note, raising the dagger in his hand and spinning it lazily between his fingers, “I don’t know… you two sound very suspicious to me.” 

They tense. 

“Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine, right?” Usopp says, prodding the knife tactfully, keeping his eyes on the two. “You saw the wanted posters, didn’t you? Then you know… if our captain notices you two skulking about here, they may not be as merciful as me.”

They squeak. A fraction of light reflects off the surface of the blade, and Usopp lets his bleeding thumb trail a single droplet of blood onto the rock under him.

It’s a simple, ominous action-- but the agents were familiar with these subtle threats. Their faces lose all colour immediately, and they back off, horrified to reach the edge of the platform so soon. They’d chosen this spot to hide as it was near the sea to escape-- but now, they were sure that the sea was blocking off their escape instead. 

If this man can find them in hiding, he can certainly pursue them into the sea. And their cowardly instincts warned them, very well-- that this man was to be feared.

Usopp smiles menacingly. “So I’ll give you twenty seconds to tell me the truth.”

Needless to say, they caved instantly.

 

( And that , Usopp hands the knife back to Sanji, is how you lie .)

 


 

After tormenting them, tying them up, and then laughing as Sanji finally comes over to investigate their intruders-- Usopp tries not to let the disappointment show.

It’s her voice-- that one yell (“I am a Strawhat Pirate!”) still ringing in his head to this very day, one of the last things that were burned into his eyelids. 

He breathes in, breathes out, and tries not to cry.

It’s fine that this Vivi isn’t theirs. 

Nami will be disappointed-- but she’ll get over it. They have six more to go, after all, and it’s highly unlikely any of them came back.

(“We are nakama and nothing can change that!”)

(Saying so, she smiled, and closed her eyes.)

 


 

Nami takes a trip down the whale’s head hatch to find an idiot, a drunkard, and an older drunkard laughing as they bump the bottle and chug down barrels of booze.

She sighs. 

One of the many ways to completely hide from Observation Haki is to hide in another, louder voice. This proved through in their Skypiea escapade, when Luffy was swallowed by that giant snake and no one knew where the hell he went. 

This time, the two and even Crocus had been inside of Laboon. She sighs. Usopp must’ve immediately realized and chosen not to tell her. She’ll smack him later.

 

“ZORO! LUFFY!” she yells, delighting in the way they all jump in surprise-- even Crocus, whose Haki should really have warned him of his presence-- “LUNCHTIME!”

 

Luffy jumps up in delight, “Nami!” he cheers, stretching out an arm to the door and instantly flicking forward, rocketing right toward Nami. “Yay! You found us!”

(Nami sidesteps. Luffy goes crashing right past the door and into the metal wall.)

Seriously, sometimes she feels like she’s the mom of this crew.

(She would say it’s actually Robin, but everyone knows their resident chaotic neutral enabler is further from the responsibility scale than most believe.) 

“How on earth did you manage to accidentally find your way inside a whale?” Nami exclaims, still exasperated. “Are you some kind of genius?”

Zoro blanches, “oh shut up , woman,” he mutters.

Luffy dusts himself off. “Yeah! Food time, let’s go! Hey, Flower-ossan, you should join us outside? Sanji’s cooking is amazing, y’know?”

And then he tries to run, but Nami’s metal arm comes up immediately, snatching the captain by the vest while he’s still running. 

“Oh no you don’t! If you get lost again I am not going to look for you!”

In the end, their trip outside is ridden with trying to keep Luffy still, yelling at Zoro every second he takes a step in the wrong direction (which was something that happened every five steps,) and trying to entertain Crocus’ annoying sense of humour.

If Nami decided to Gust sword them out in retaliation, she’ll pretend it was an accident. 

 


 

“Why are you drenched?”

Luffy mutters something inaudible, and Zoro hasn’t stopped glaring at Nami ever since they got hurricaned out of the whale mouth. Laboon’s also feeling terrible from effectively projectile-vomiting humans, so he now looks at Nami with fear in his eyes.

Nami, spotless and sounding the happiest in a long while, grins. “Nothing much!” she says, in the tone that might mean she’s just blackmailed a country into debt, “Sanji-kun, Gin-kun! Usopp-kun! Come meet Crocus, the lighthouse keeper!”

“Oh, Luffy! You’re back? Lunch is ready.”

“What’s the ruckus?”

 

They sit around a large plate of barbeque, meat, and stew, passing around the plates happily. Luffy devours a whole shank on his own, and everyone struggles to save enough for themselves. 

 

“Huh, so you were inside the whale?”

“Yeah!” Luffy answers for Crocus, “there was this sky inside! And the Flower-ossan was there, there was this house!”

“There was a sky inside?”

“A house?”

“Yeah, there’s a whole pool of stomach acid in there-- thought it was the sea.”

“Ah, now that I see it, Luffy’s pants cuffs are slightly dissolved.”

 

In the slight distance, Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine sit on their knees, bound by ropes with their hands before them. There's a small bowl of stew before them, and the way they were bound allowed them the liberty of clumsily grabbing a spoon. 

(Sanji was going to feed them whether everyone liked it or not. Gin had glared, but Sanji knew very well how to glare back.)

They didn’t touch it, though. It might’ve been poisoned as far as they knew and they weren’t taking chances.

“So, what about those two bozos?” Nami asks. They weren’t there when she went into the whale.

“Weird-looking people,” is Luffy’s only remark.

Usopp hums, “we can ignore them.”

"Do I need to torture info out of them?"

"Guys, Gin just said something horrifying without hesitation."

“Don’t worry, Usopp did that already.”

“That sounds so many times worse, what the hell?”

 

And so began the spiel of ‘they’re trying to kill Laboon but Crocus was always in the way so they were trying to kill Crocus, except now they’re caught’ and now everyone’s wondering what they were going to do with them. Boil them? 

Well, it’s not like the two agents didn’t have a plan. Miss Wednesday always had her Peacock Slasher tucked in her sleeves. 

Wearing loose, grand coats was part of their theme, but it really came with its perks. The intimidating man with the long nose didn't bother checking them for weapons other than the huge bazooka. 

She slips the blade into her palms. Alright--

“SQUAWK!” came a bolstering shriek from beside them, and they could swear their hearts stopped for a horrifying amount of seconds. 

They swirl around to find a small island bird behind them. And for some reason, the bird was giving them a very stern look, its eyes darting to the blade in an almost accusatory way. 

Miss Wednesday has dealt with enough birds in her life to know this is the ‘ohh are you up to something bad? Yeah, I’m gonna tell your dad’ look. 

And before Miss Wednesday could properly react to the situation, her Peacock Slasher is taken out of her palms. 

 

“Wha-- return that!”

 

“Oh, that’s dangerous,” Sanji says, holding it away, “You shouldn’t hold a weapon by the blade, dear Miss Wednesday. You may cut your palms, and that would be terrible. Nice call there, stupid bird.” 

Mister Nine groans. So the bird is on their side too? Come to think of it, there were strange metal contraptions on it. Probably a ship pet. 

Miss Wednesday hisses. To her, such gentlemanly care from the enemy was nothing short of sheer mockery. The smile only made it worse.

“What should we do, Miss Wednesday?” Mister Nine whispers, inching just a little closer if only to put up a brave front, “even if we go back now…”

And he didn’t need to finish the sentence for her to know the consequences. If they came back without the whale again, it would be deemed a failure… and they would be promptly punished.

Miss Wednesday can’t let her espionage end here. 

 

“C’mon, you two, if you don’t eat, Luffy’s going to take it,” Nami approaches them. “Are the ropes bothering you guys? Zoro, if you would please.”

Zoro hums, retrieving his dagger from his chest and in one swift motion-- cut them free. The agents’ surprise is accompanied by a distant whine of how that was a waste of perfectly good rope.

 

“Wha-- what are you planning?!” Mister Nine demands. “W- We’re not obeying your demands, nor are we eating your food! Just kill us already!”

Miss Wednesday follows up quickly, getting to her feet. 

“Y- Yeah! We’re not telling you anything else!” she says, knowing full well that pirates like these have much better uses for a woman than information. She didn’t have her weapons anymore, but if push comes to shove… she can’t let herself die here.

“It’s not poisoned!” Luffy appears, latching onto the navigator, “but Sanij’s food is awesome! You really should eat it or it’s such a waste.”

Yeah, hell no. Why were they so persistent in getting them to eat if there weren’t any ulterior motives? They work in the underworld, for god’s sake. They know the underhanded tactics.

Sanji sighs. 

Then he snaps, “just eat it, you shitbags!” with a slam of his foot. The two agents squeak, hugging each other in fear. “My pride as a cook won’t let you morons starve yourself for no good reason!”

 


 

“Luffy, if you’re done eating, go somewhere else! You’re not allowed to eat these bowls!” Sanji says sternly. “Hey, stupid bird, follow Luffy and make sure he doesn’t get eaten by the whale again.”

“Boo,” Luffy pouts. 

 

He glares at Kinoko as the bird lands on his shoulder, and he broodily walks away. 

Well whatever with those stingy people-- he’s got better things to do, like... “Oh, that’s right. Hey, Nami, Flower-ossan said you made a promise with the whale?” 

Nami lifts her head from the large pot she was about to clean. “Huh? Ah, yes, I did,” she says, “we sing to each other every time we meet. Laboon’s a good musical accompaniment, you know.”

“Heh,” Luffy says noncommittally, because he’s not sure what a musical accompaniment even is. Kinoko jumps to his head, the bird masterfully attached to the boy’s head even as the monkey tilts sideways in his thinking. 

Nami nods. “Well, it gives him something to look forward to when he hears someone come over the mountain,” she says. “Why are you asking, though?”

Luffy blinks at that.

Then he grins. “I’ll show you!” 

Then he scampers off. Nami watches him run toward their ship, survey the landscape as if he was trying to find a nice short path to dash upwards on-- and Nami heaves a sigh.

(Usopp is gonna be mad. Oh well.)

 


 

“There’s nothing suspicious in it,” Gin says, sounding irritated that their food stock was getting lower than he’d intended it to be. 

Kinoko lands on his shoulder, looking warily into the bowl. Gin grunts at her. She makes a clicking sound in response. 

“We’re just passing sailors sharing some food. Right?” he says, glancing up at the prompt of a question. His gaze was sharp, and spelled only one thing-- shut up and do as we say, or you’ll regret it. “Nothing suspicious at all.”

Seriously, none of them are helping the agents trust them at all. Well, not that they had any obligation to, but Sanji was trying to get them to eat so it was pretty important.

So Sanji and Gin continue to goad them-- angrily-- into eating. 

Mister Nine and Miss Wednesday try to leave midway through, but Sanji was absolutely not letting them go anywhere without eating. Mister Nine’s stomach began to growl, a testament to their long stake out and countless attempts at the whale mission-- which only made the situation worse. 

 

Usopp sighs. He taps around his bowl, making sure he’d eaten everything, before putting it down. 

“All that’s left is to get a Log Pose and we can go,” he says. “Well, I’m sure Nami’s got one somewhere if we know her well enough.”

“We’re leaving already?” Zoro says, picking up Usopp’s utensils to stack them together. He speaks in a yawn and stands up. 

“Yeah-- wait,” Usopp’s stomach fills with dread. “Where’s Luffy?”

Scaling up the whale, according to his Haki.

“Scaling up the whale, I think,” Zoro unconsciously parrots exactly what Usopp was thinking, looking out into the distance. “Hey, is that our main mast?”

There’s a huff, and a waft of smoke that was Sanji taking a drag of his cigarette. “Nah, I think it’s the mizzen, not the main,” the cook corrects, “still right off of our ship though.”

 

Usopp screeches .

 


 

Needless to say, Luffy got pummeled until his face was black, blue and completely unrecognizable. Nami had spared him because she didn’t stop him so she was part of the problem, but Usopp and Gin were merciless. 

“A’im Sowwy,” he says, although Usopp knew that he was absolutely not regretting it. As they’ve already seen from history repeating itself, Luffy would absolutely do it again. 

He had plunged the broken mast into the whale’s forehead, thrown a few more stones and got thrown into the lighthouse (it’s still intact thank god), and then loudly declared their impromptu duel a draw. 

 

(The next time we come down that mountain, let’s have a rematch!)

(So don’t go bashing your head against the wall again, got it?)

(Oh, and we’ll sing when we come too! Can’t forget about the singing, cause we’re pirates, so we sing! So we’ll sing when we get here, right, Nami?)

 

And he paints the large, colourful abomination of a jolly roger on the whale’s forehead. Laboon cries, and he laughs, and he wears the mark with pride. 

Kinoko had the gall to land on Nami’s shoulder and glance back at Sanji in a “Hey, he’s not getting eaten by the whale,” manner. 

Sanji muttered bird stew recipes for a good long minute after that. 

 

(In other news, Mister Nine and Miss Wednesday had snuck off in the ruckus. They did finish their food, so Sanji decided not to go after them.)

 

Crocus laughs boisterously. “You remind me of Roger, kid!” he says, “reckless, dumb, and doing whatever the hell he wants!”

It’s not a comparison that people often make, so it takes them by surprise. 

“Huh? Flower-ossan, you’ve met the Pirate King?” Luffy asks. 

Crocus hums, “of course I have! I’ve met everyone that’s come around these parts. I even made my way onto his ship as the doctor a couple times.”

“You sailed with the pirate king?!” this time the exclamation comes from everyone.

Usopp and Nami already knew at some point in their past lives, but it really is something that's awfully surprising. It's not bragworthy information either-- it just puts a target on your head, which is troublesome if you don't exploit it like Buggy did last time around. 

 

Just a second later however, Luffy realizes, “wait, you’re a doctor?!”

 

Crocus blinks, “yeah, did I not mention that? I’ve been treating Laboon from the inside this whole time, as I’ve said.”

And yes, he did say. Luffy just didn’t connect the dots, or he'd forgotten in the span of less than an hour. “That’s so cool ossan! Hey, we need a doctor for Gin, so join my crew!”

“I refuse.”

“EHHHHHHH? Why not?!”

“Because I’m old and rotten and tired of it now,” Crocus says, his answer straight and simple. Then he tides back to the previous statement, “what do you mean, you need a doctor for your crewmate?”

“Oh I knew I was forgetting something,” Nami says, setting a hand on Gin’s shoulder before the man walks too far away. “Dr Naho told us to refer him to a better doctor once we’re in the Grand Line, didn't he? You see, Gin here…”

...

“...WHAT!?” Crocus chokes on his drink, “I knew I’d seen you before! You were that lad on that armor brat’s ship a couple months back!”

 

Gin flinches at that. He didn’t expect to be recognized. 

They'd passed the lighthouse, but the Don had looked down on the measly lighthouse keeper. He demanded the space to fix their ship and trashed the house. Though it was all fixed up now, Gin only felt embarrassed for what happened before. 

In fact, he'd been actively avoiding looking right into Crocus' eyes until now for this very reason. 

 

“Dammit, knew he was up to no good… using poison on his own crew, huh?” Crocus looks Gin up and now, squinting specifically around the blue freckles and the bony fingers. 

He sighs, grabbing his booze and marching toward the lighthouse.

Gin shuffles uncomfortably. He appreciates a proper doctor's lookover and all, not that it would be able to completely cure him immediately, but it's hard not to feel awkward when you laughed at this same man a while back.

He doesn't exactly get a choice. A second later, Crocus barks loudly at him, earning a startled jump. “Hurry up! Gas is no fucking joke, so you better get in here so I can give you a full checkup!” 

Gin turns around, but Nami grabs his hand with her metal one and Kinoko lands on Gin’s head. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll go with you-- I need painkillers anyways,” she smiles assuringly at him, “Crocus’s a brutish old coot, but he’s nice, promise.”

(Why are you consoling me??)

Sanji catches the drift, grinning obnoxiously. "Hey hey Gin-kun," he says in a jeering tone, "need me to go with?” 

Gin sputters, finally realizing what they were doing. “I’m not a kid that doesn’t want to go to a doctor’s appointment!” he snaps, blushing, “I can go alone!”

 


 

Zoro helps Usopp cart the retrieved mizzen mast back to their ship. 

Crocus had extra lumber to spare, because there are plenty of shipwrecks that are washed down by the mountain, so with a lot of feeling around and Zoro doing the precision work, they managed to replace the more brittle parts of the wood and hold the mast together with steel plates with proper splints this time.

 

“Ideally, I’d want to get a proper shipwright to make us a whole new mast to replace it, but we’ll have to wait till we get somewhere with the service,” Usopp admits. He’s learned enough from Franky last time around to make one for a caravel, but without his eyes… “Small mercy that Luffy didn’t take the main mast.”

 

Honestly, thank the lords for that. 

Usopp reaches for the small pouch of beri that was hung on the main mast. There’s not much in here, but if they’d lost it, Nami would’ve kicked up a fuss…

...huh?

 

“Hey Usopp, I just have to stick this back on now, right?” Zoro asks, but doesn’t get a response.

 

Usopp has his hand in the pouch-- and he retrieves a small red orb that definitely wasn’t a beri coin. The man squints hard on it, but alas, he couldn’t make out anything but the dull red fog before him.

“What’s this?”

Nami wouldn’t place random things in this bag-- they know Usopp can’t tell coins apart, and it wouldn’t do if he gave the News Coo an object, because they can count, but they sure as hell don't barter. Only the correct coins are placed in here, so there shouldn’t be stray objects inside.

They’d only started putting the pouch here after their visit to Oykot, so if anyone put this inside, it’d be during Loguetown.

 

That’s strange. Kinoko was watching the ship, wasn’t she? Not that she could do anything if she was against a proper pirate-- but the ship wasn’t ransacked or anything. Who would come in just to leave this weird thing and go?

Actually, what even is it? 

 

Usopp feels around, feeling faint carvings on the surface. It's not a deep enough indentation for Usopp to tell what's on it, so after trying for a moment he gives up on that. 

“Zoro, is anything written on this thing?” he asks, reaching out to where he senses the swordsman to be. 

And when Zoro picks it up to inspect it, he hums. “It’s a pirate flag,” he says, “uhh, I think I’ve seen this somewhere before. It’s got three eyes-- wait no, it’s a nose.”

 

(A nose that looks like an eye? Or just a big nose in general?)

(Oh, because it’s a carving on a plain-coloured stone, so it’s got no additional colours in it to distinguish the nose from the eye.)

(So, a flag with a big coloured nose in the center.)

(...wait.)

 

“Buggy’s flag?!” he yelps, surprised. 

Zoro hums, now recognizing where he’d seen it before-- Nami’s flown that one for a bit, on the way to Syrup or something-- but that thing meant a lot more to Usopp. 

“Holy crap, it’s a Buggy passport,” he whispers. He can’t suppress the grin on his own face. “I’ve never seen one before.” Not that he’s seeing it now either, but details. "I heard it's the hardest one in the world to get. This is amazing."

Zoro looks at him weirdly, “a what?”

“We need to tell Nami now ,” he says, picking up his walking stick. He’s way too excited for this, “on the Grand Line, there’s no better weapon in your arsenal than an information passport, Zoro. We’ve struck gold here.” 

Oh lord, they’ve got Buggy to thank for this. Viva la time travel, Buggy is a great person.

 

“Stop being cryptid and tell me what the hell’s a 'passport' for, Usopp!”

Chapter 25: troublesome teens all around.

Summary:

Exhibit A:
"Tashigi, you JUST realized Nami was at Loguetown?"

Exhibit B:
"Stop spoiling Luffy, he says. And then he walks around with Luffy on his shoulders."

Exhibit C:
"You are not going to a desert, Nami. You want third degree burns? That is how you get third degree burns."

Exhibit C #2:
"Marco, is Nami in her rebellious phase?"
"No, you just need to do about three miles of mental gymnastics to understand her. You'll get used to it."

Exhibit D:
"I'm not dying, Izo. I'm just seeing my dead brother's ghost. Nothing new."

Chapter Text

“Eh? You met Namizo-kun?”

“It’s just Nami now, apparently. Don’t refer to her so personally.” 

Tashigi is honestly a very slow individual, and Smoker groans longsufferingly. Their ship was en route to the Grand Line, and ensigns were all working to catch as much wind as they could on the ever-quiet Grand Line. 

“Were you too obsessed with chasing Roronoa, you didn’t even see Burglar Cat and Man Demon jaywalking across town?” he says, irritated. 

Tashigi sputters, “I- I’m sorry, Captain Smoker sir!” because honestly, she didn’t, and she’s baffled by that too. 

Smoker looks as if he’s contemplating some sort of murder, but he always looks like that so Tashigi just looks down and hopes for the best.

They’ve all seen her wanted poster-- apparently, she was a pirate now, all the way through. But Tashigi found it difficult to see anything but the one she looked up to so much in her budding days on the ship. 

She respected Namizo, even after what she’s become. 

 

(“One day, I’ll leave. You’ll want to leave too, one day. Away from these confines, to pursue the true Justice that you really think is right. You’re a good girl after all, I’m sure you’ll be able to go for it.”)

(“Me? Unfortunately, I don’t think Justice is quite my thing. Rules, confines-- they’re necessary, I don’t deny. It’s just where on the scale you want to stand on that depends.”)

(“Liberty is more my drift, if you get me. And if I want to follow a Captain, I want to chose it-- I don’t want to be assigned to one.”) 

(Saying so, the crossdresser sets a hand on his bandaged shoulder, looking far away-- at something unattainable, at least for now.)

(Tashigi wouldn’t lie and say she empathizes. But she wrapped her arms around him and held him close-- because she couldn’t bear to see him crumble under the weight of the secrets he didn’t want to disclose.)

 

Tashigi had suspected, from that day and that strange conversation, that Namizo wasn’t going to remain a Marine under a deck. She didn’t expect the whole other extreme, however… but she’d agonized about this for weeks. It was time to move on. 

(She wonders if Namizo had found the liberty he-- no, she sought for.)

Prodding nervously at her sword, she tries her luck, “uhm… is Namizo-kun doing well?”

Smoker immediately slams his hands against the desk with an explosion of “Tashigi, you are NOT getting friendly with a damn pirate I don’t care about the history!” so Tashigi, terrified for her life, scampers out.

“Y- Yes sir!” she squeaks, “I’m sorry! Very sorry! Please excuse me!”

She gets as far away as she can (mentally apologizing to the ensigns that have to deal with his temper now) and slumps to the ground, exhausted.

But she finds herself giggling at the image after the adrenaline runs out.

If Captain Smoker is that temperamental… Namizo must be doing well, then.

 

(They’re enemies now, so of course she’ll have to draw her blade next time they meet.)

(But secretly, just secretly though… Tashigi is relieved to know Namizo is now free of the chronic weight on his shoulders.) 

(The snide smirk she sports on the bounty poster assured as much.)

 

-


-

 

“So, according to this, you’re going to die in a year.”

“Huh?”

“I’m just kidding, you’ve only got five months left to live.”

“HUH?!”

Crocus’ sense of humour is not appreciated here, so after three consecutive back-and-forths of a similar nature, Nami stands up and smashes his head in with the Seastone bracelet. 

 

Then they finally have their explanation.

So it goes like this: 

The poison has flowed out of his system-- not completely, but all that remains is the remnant weakness that sticks like a scar, clumped and congested within the veins, unable to leave the flow.

And that means the weakness can’t be cleared through natural means. 

It’ll only get worse as the work becomes more strenuous, and eventually, it’ll begin to cause muscle weaknesses and trigger organ failures. 

For a sailor in the Grand Line, that’s already one hell of a red flag. 

All this along with Gin’s crumbling mental health, already compromised physical stature, and the oncoming strife of the Grand Line? A normal man would last about five months at most, and that’s a generous prediction that assumes the patient gets plenty of rest.

 

“But if you’re a monster of a guy, you’ll probably make it to half a year,” Crocus says, feeling generous. “I mean, Roger’s crew was like that too. Bunch of crazy fools, a hurricane can’t stop them if they laugh it out, apparently.”

 

Gin doesn’t find that funny at all.

Nami hums at that. “Is there any way to cure this?” she asks. It’s a blood disease at this point, after all-- surely surgery or medicine of some sort should be able to…

“No,” Crocus says, the words filling Nami with dread. The doctor immediately elaborates, “not as far as my knowledge goes, at least. But the Grand Line is vast.” 

(There is no illness without a cure. Out there in the Grand Line, it’s only a matter of time, endurance, and knowledge.)

Gin sighs. “I was already prepared to die,” he says. 

 

Of course, he’s frustrated. 

 

“Don’t give up so easily!” Nami says, sharply. “We just have to get a doctor as soon as we can, don’t we. If we can’t find a cure immediately, there are definitely ways to delay the effects. Blood diseases are common, after all. There’s plenty of ways to relieve the symptoms, even if it’s chronic.”

Gin sighs. So he’s going to be an invalid forever?

“I’d rather not be a burden,” he says. He’ll probably be down for days at times, and finding a doctor may be important, but if they don’t find one in time…

“Gin,” Nami speaks up, her voice stern. 

She makes sure the man turns to her before she continues. 

“I can barely lift my arm right now,” she confesses. “The pain gets worse each second, and honestly? I ducked in here because the breeze really, really hurts.”

And that’s when Gin notices the faint crease in her brows. She kept her wrist rested on her lap, but nothing else touched it. Her breath comes out just a hint shakier than the previous one-- but she takes a quick breath, and it’s stable again.

“It’s not just me,” she says. “Usopp is blind. We forget about it all the time-- but he can’t see a gun if it’s fired right in front of his face. He can sense it, but catch him in a crowd and he’s the easiest target you’ll ever find.”

And that-- is honestly debatable, but true. 

“So don’t you dare think an illness is enough to be considered useless on this ship,” she says, her voice low enough to be a threat. “We go through it together. Luffy chose you for what you were, understood?”

 

Gin takes a moment too long to answer.

“Yeah, I get it,” is all he manages to say. 

 

He bites his lip and he can’t let them go enough to give any more than a grunt, because the tears are spilling from his eyes and he lowers his head, hoping no one looks at him.

But he can’t help it. 

Illness isn’t uselessness? Then what on earth is it, because Gin has never done anything except shove a sick crewmate off a rowboat in his life. 

If you don’t work, you don’t eat, you don’t earn, and you don’t live. That was the law of the lower world, and Gin’s lived his whole life like that.

 

(“We go through it together.”)

 

He doesn’t know how to do that, though.

“Well, for starters,” Nami sighs fondly, “how about you go outside?”

And he does, after wiping away his tears. 

He does, and Luffy squeals at the sight of him, barreling into him with all the force of a Gum Gum Rocket that shouldn’t have been used in this narrow piece of land. Gin goes crashing backwards into rock and stray wood pieces, and damn that hurts, but Luffy’s bright smile expels all of the anger that he wanted to let explode.

“Gin!” Luffy cheers, “hey listen to this, Sanji’s being a total asshole! He’s not letting me eat anymore food even though we still have a lot of the cow left! You’re in charge of the storage so tell him I can eat more!”

Gin’s arms are wrapped around Luffy’s-- his captain’s -- back, and just a little, he lets his eyes soften as he squeezes back.

 

(This crew is childish, and never takes things seriously.)

(But maybe that’s fine.)

 

"Hey, Captain," he says, and by the way Luffy tenses, the uncommon referral was important to him. "Why did you ask me to come on board?"

Luffy leans back so Gin can look him in the eye. He’s pouting.

"Because I need you on my crew, of course!" He says, even though the only times he's seen Gin are times when he was a traitor, a coward, and a man dying of lethal poison.

For what, he doesn’t ask. 

"This ship can’t work without you!" Luffy says, with startling confidence. "You're the nakama of the future Pirate King, you know?"

That’s bullshit, and Gin knows it. The ship would work fine-- well, not at all, seeing as they’re a crazy crew of just six people and a bird and they’re already past the Red Line-- but Gin was not essential.

He didn’t believe he was essential. 

But he’s the nakama of the future Pirate King, huh?

That sounds almost foreign to his ears. Yet… it rolled off his tongue so much better, and felt so much more sincere than it had ever done for Krieg’s name. 

 

( Ah , Gin thinks. He feels like crying again.)

(He doesn't though. He just chuckles, and hugs back.)

 

“No, you’re not allowed to eat more food,” Gin finally says, and Luffy whines loudly, so he snaps back harshly, “you already ate a ton, you idiot."

Luffy whines louder, but he doesn’t let go.

A quartermaster’s role on a ship is to keep the crew in check. If Luffy’s given him the title, then he guesses gotta do his job. 

(Huh? When did he officially begin to consider himself the man for the role?) 

Gin doesn’t throw his captain off of him. The hug is tight and a little suffocating, but the warmth it brings isn’t unwelcome.

(And maybe-- just maybe-- Gin can let himself enjoy it.)

“Hey Laboon! You want some food too, right? See, he wants some! Let’s share!”

“I said NO!”

 

-

 

Miss Wednesday sighs. They’d barely managed to clamber onto their boat and get some distance-- but this was bad news.It’s been much too long since their assignment-- the Unluckies should be here soon. 

“For now, let’s go back to Whiskey Peak and--”

She freezes.

Her log pose wasn’t in her pocket.

 

(When--?!)

 

“What’s wrong, Miss Wednesday?” Mister Nine asks, unnerved by the awkward pause. Then his jaw drops. “M- Miss Wednesday! Your shoulder!”

She blinks. A look to the side and-- she shrieks .

The Strawhat’s armor-wearing bird flutters carefully from her shoulder onto the boat, pruning herself for a moment before turning back forward to consider the two agents. 

“W- w- w- when did it get here?!” they yelp. “It’s a spy! It’s gonna kill us!”

“No, Mister Nine, calm down, it’s just a bird,” Miss Wednesday says, her exasperation breaking her character briefly, “but it’s this bird’s fault we got found in the first place!”

Kinoko caws, because she’s very well aware of that. 

“What are you doing here anyways?” Mister Nine says, carefully approaching it. His hand is pecked sharply when he gets too close, so he has no idea what the bird wants. 

They’d lost their bazooka to the sea in their panicking scramble, and it was almost embarrassing to know it was because of such a small bird. They’re used to working with a larger one, after all. 

“Is it surveilling us and just waiting to report back to its owners?” Miss Wednesday wonders. Kinoko caws twice, and Miss Wednesday quickly notices the problem, “oh, sorry. Are you a she?”

Kinoko nods. 

“She might be just watching us for our movements--” Miss Wednesday corrects herself and continues. 

“Did you just ask for the pronouns of an avian creature like it was a normal thing to do?”

“Well look at the point here,” she turns the situation back. “She’s an East Blue bird, and they’re naive East Blue pirates, so I think that’ll work against them. We can capture this bird and use it as a hostage. We just have to tell them we’re going to Whiskey Peak and they’ll follow us somehow!”

“That’s a great idea!” Mister Nine says, joyful. “That’ll be something efficient to report back on! We’re in luck… alright, Miss Wednesday, which way?”

 

Pause.

Miss Wednesday’s face loses all colour.

 

“I uh,” she fiddles with her fingers, looking anywhere but at her partner right now, “think we lost the Log Pose. Sorry.”

“EH?!”

Miss Wednesday buries her face into her hands, “I’m sorry! I think it was the long-nosed-- I knew it was suspicious that he didn’t search us for weapons…”

“Miss Wednesday, how could you!” Mister Nine wails, though the blame is mostly half-hearted. “Now we’ll have to double back. The unluckies will find us soon if we don’t-- Stop laughing, bird! Go back to our owners already!”

And he grabs the bird (it’s the perfect throwball size, there was just this perpetual urge to baseball it across the horizon), chucking it into the air in one smooth motion. 

Kinoko spins in the air for a startled bit, then spreads her wings and easily balances herself again. She stays just out of reach this time, continuing to make those choking laughter noises just to annoy the living daylights out of the agent. 

“Dammit! If I had my bat with me you’d be minced, I tell you!”

“What are you even doing here, anyways?! Go away!”

Kinoko scoffs. She looks up for a moment, impervious to Miss Wednesday’s screech of irritation. Seemingly catching sight of something, she carefully starts flying again, making her way back toward the Twin Capes.

“Wha-- it’s going back?!”

“It’s a she, Mister Nine,” Miss Wednesday says, absolutely exhausted at this point. “But that’s a relief, we have to change our plans now--”

She turns around just in time to see what looks like a paper parcel dropping in from the sky. There’s a lit fuse attached to it. 

Her mouth is still agape.

Mister Nine turns around just in time to scream, “GET DOWN!!”

 

Kinoko watches the scene from just far enough, glaring pointedly at the large vulture and sea otter in the sky. They stare at each other in animalistic silence, their hostility evident even without any obvious movements. 

In disinterested unison, they part in their separate directions to report back to their owners on the happenings.

 

-

 

Crocus watches silently as the man leaves the room, his shoulders sagging with the fear of his impending death.

Roger never once let his illness take over his expressions. He smiled through all of it, and only faltered behind closed doors, and only in the dead of the night where no one would know. 

Gin would get to that point one day. Crocus could see it.

 

He takes a drag of his cigarette and extinguishes it by the table. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way…” he lifts his gaze toward Nami, “you need something?”

She had said that her arm hurt. That was normal-- phantom pains, weather sores-- there wasn’t much that could be done for it. 

He reaches for the painkillers though. He always keeps plenty of that in his shack for these situations. 

Nami nods, straightening her back. She doesn’t reach out to receive the pills, she just considers them with a gratified nod and continues, “we’re making a stop at Drum--”

“Without a doctor or a physician?” Crocus interrupts before she even gets past the name, “do you want to die? Forget it. Why did you come into the Grand Line without a physician to begin with? What’ll you do if it snows?”

Nami can’t help but bark out a laugh. “Knew you’d say that. But listen to me until the end, we’re probably going to drop by Alabasta after that.”

Crocus sputters at that. “That’s suicide!” he says, exasperated. He pinches the bridge of his nose-- man, he’s had to deal with someone like this on Roger’s ship too. History really repeats itself, doesn’t it?

 

To begin with, prostheses were the worst things to have on a sea journey. Metal as they were, they were obnoxious conductors of the heat and cold.

In a desert, they would overheat and cause severe burns on her skin. If the heat permeates into her core, it could even cause permanent nerve damage; In the cold, the frostbite would be agonizing, and the oil that geared her movements would fail similarly.

Special steel cultivated from the hottest island and the coldest islands on the Grand Line-- that was what the most durable prostheses are made of. It allowed for a certain degree of resistance against the most extreme of both weathers, but nothing could really be a perfect countermeasure. 

(After all, it could be refined to resist scorching heat all it wanted, but it’s still going to go wrong with wear and tear and they’ll have to remake it again. It’s just part and parcel of having prostheses.)

 

So hopefully, he says, “did your brothers at least give you proper New World Models?” 

It’s not often that someone calls the Whitebeards her brothers-- so it takes her a moment to register it. But when it does, it blooms happily in her chest. 

Nami chuckles bashfully, “well, they insisted, even though I said Paradise models were fine,” she tells him. “I’m wearing the Winter model now--”

“That’s a bad habit to do on summer islands.”

“I know, I know,” she says. “But I’ve been in the Blues for a while, so no extremes there.” 

 

Winter models were lighter, but could really easily go wrong in extreme heat, so it’s not good to make a habit of wearing it perpetually. New World Models weren’t weak enough to fall to some normal summer heat, but it’s not great to be complacent. It’s really been awhile since there was someone around to tell her off about it.

 

“Back on topic, back on topic,” Nami says, deciding that they needed to steer back to the subject at hand. “We’re crossing Little Garden before then, so I’ll need to change to the Heat model now, and back to the Winter model before we get to Drum. And, as you know, I can’t do it myself…”

“Get a doctor,” is Crocus’ response. “As soon as you can.”

Nami sighs, “it’s on our agenda. But until then, I’ve only got you, and if you’re willing to teach one of my crewmates how to do it…”

Reattaching a prosthetic arm and screwing in the nerves is a delicate, painful process. It doesn’t take long at all, but one thing was clear-- you wouldn’t be able to do it to yourself if you want it to be put on right. 

Nami has had Dr Nako and the Whitebeards help her with it thus far, but no one on the Strawhats had that sort of experience with prosthetics. 

Except perhaps Usopp. He may have the qualifications on all grounds, maybe even experience-- but some things shouldn’t be done sightless, and he can’t always set his Haki to maximum output. 

“Who in the crew do you think can do it?” Crocus asks her. “Your captain’s a fun, charismatic sort-- but I’ll say it for you, he ain’t up to it. Reattaching a prosthetic is hard-- I think you know the gist.”

Nami feels a little offended on Luffy’s behalf, but unfortunately, Crocus is right. That’s what she loves about Luffy, though… He’s dumb and hopeless in way too many things-- but if there’s something he can undeniably do, it’s to hold his comrades in his arms so they don’t go astray. 

Sanji seems like the smart choice, but he wouldn’t be able to handle it if Nami so much as winced in pain. Nami had a feeling he’d lock himself in his room out of guilt or something, and that’s not something she can count on in dire times.

 

(You may trust your crew, but who do you depend on ?)

There was just a subtle difference in the meaning when you put it that way. 

 

Nami turns toward the door with a smile. 

“Yeah, I know who can,” she says.

 

-

 

She steps out and is greeted by a very bumbling sharpshooter. 

“NAMI!” Usopp’s using that overly excited voice she honestly hasn’t heard in a while so hearing it again filled her with conflicted joy and utter confusion, “look at this for me and tell me what you see.”

And then he hands her a small bullet-sized red orb. She held it carefully, noting the intricate, almost annoying detail of the Buggy Pirates flag, and frowned.

“It’s a Buggy Ball,” she observes, “the really mini version.”

But the size is a little bigger than what she’s used to seeing. Buggy Balls were made to be minuscule, after all, this was still a little big. Right about the size of a bead necklace-- she rolled it around her hand, confused as to why Usopp would be so exhilarated by it. 

 

Actually, how did Usopp even acquire this?

 

“I said look at it, Nami.”

“I am--” Nami stills. “Oh, you mean haki.” 

So Usopp’s definition of ‘look’ is different now? Alright then. She closes her eyes and focuses. 

A pulsing, undeniable strength, so faint, it would be there until you tried to see. And among that sound, there’s a word carved in with sheer will. 

 

‘For the New World’.

 

“Oh, tell me I’m not dreaming,” she gasps, holding the Buggy Ball against the sun. “Is this an actual Buggy passport?” 

Usopp’s smile grows. “It is!”

Nami could’ve cried right there.

 

An information passport-- well, that’s the blanket term, at least. Information comes at a high price in a world like this, and Nami got to know that in the later part of her past life. 

The four devas of information control all those channels in the Grand Line, and in order to survive alone, you need to gain the backing of at least one of them. Of course, in exchange you’ll have to be their source of information as well, as a tradeoff. 

(Ivankov was a big factor to why Nami lived as long as she did last time around.) 

Information doesn’t discriminate. It’s valuable to every side of the war, including World Nobles, Marines, Revolutionaries and Pirates alike-- and it goes without saying that the devas are people of significant power themselves. 

It’s a much more political and psychological side of war that always goes on, and Nami was at the center of it for a good part of her past life. 

Their identities are mostly unknown, but passports were like their emblem-- a mark that signifies to the world that you’ve gained their influence. No one has seen all of them at once, but those who can read Haki will recognize it immediately. 

That’s why, in the later parts of the Grand Line, most of the big names have connections to at least two devas to avoid any chances of a loss of information. 

 

(The ‘passports’ were always different. From a declaration to the world, wearing their mark on their bodies-- or as a physical representation, like Buggy’s.)

(A solidified bead of the man’s own blood, made with technology of the New World combined with his own Devil Fruit power. If it ever changed hands into someone untrustworthy, it would probably dissipate.)

(And before it was called the Buggy passport, it was called Roger’s, for the nameless information gatherer of that crew .)

 

“Woah, Buggy’s?” Crocus whistles in amazement behind her. “Haven’t seen one in about two decades now. You guys must have done something crazy for it.”

Usopp snickers, “well, not us exactly. You’ll probably see it in the newspapers tomorrow.”

“Well, I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Ah, I see, that’s what Coby’s trying to do,” Nami realizes, fiddling with the Buggy Ball in her hand. “Even back then, the Revs didn’t have too many devas on their line, so he’s trying to become the fifth. Makes sense.”

She hands the ball back to Usopp with a smile. 

“Love it. We’ve got to treat that guy to a meal someday,” she says. 

Earning Buggy’s favour is the same as earning the favour of all other owners of this specific passport-- and hell, Buggy’s connections are scary

 

“What exactly is a passport, dammit?” there’s Zoro, running along with Usopp’s walking stick in his hand. “And dammit Usopp, don’t run blind along a cliff! At least bring your bird with you!”

He looked like he’d just gone through three separate heart attacks and was still trying to recover-- Usopp had, after all, lunged over the ship, landed on a suspiciously tiny piece of rock, and then geppo-ed across to the bank. Zoro still has no idea what half of that is, but he was almost ready to jump into the sea if that idiot fell. 

Nami snorts, but she tries to hide it.  

“Ah, you brought my walking stick! Thanks,” Usopp says, like he didn’t just defy the laws of being blind for author convenience, “and well, it’s hard to explain, but basically we’ve got connections to the underworld now.”

“The underworld? Why’d we need that?” Zoro frowns at it. Did Usopp seriously get all excited just for that? 

“Well, Luffy definitely wouldn’t want any, but information is valuable,” Usopp explains simply. 

 

He lets Zoro chew on the rest of that himself-- Zoro’s smart enough to understand the big picture on his own, after all. 

Zoro sighs. In the distance, Sanji and Luffy are still fighting over the last piece of meat, and Gin is carting Luffy around the place to make sure he tactically goes nowhere near the rest of the meat. 

“Whatever then,” he decides. “I’m gonna go take a nap--”

“Wait, wait, Zoro.” Nami says, setting a hand on his shoulder. Her metal arm reaches behind her and retrieves a Log Pose, which she hands to Usopp. 

Usopp stares at the Log Pose, “ah yes, let me go chart the course. Excellent idea.”

Nami whacks him over the head with a metal arm. She succeeds, but she also bowls over in incredible sores right after. Usopp’s head is bleeding, but he just holds it and cringes, because he definitely deserved that one.

Regardless, Nami composes herself, wiping away a pained tear in her eyes to face the swordsman.

 

“Great timing actually, I’ve got an important favour to ask.”

 

Zoro glances back, confused. 

 

-

 

Happily, Usopp takes the Buggy passport back toward the rest of the crew. 

He has his walking stick again, so he taps around the area slowly, easing the strain on his haki. He’ll need it at full blast for the starting storm at the exit, so first, a break. 

Luffy is still arguing because how dare they not eat all the food they have, Sanji is working the meat smoker, and Gin is helping, while carting around his monkey of a captain like a very noisy article of clothing.

He senses Kinoko coming from the sides, and raises an arm to receive her on his elbow. 

“Hey, girl, had fun out there?” he asks. It takes him a moment to smell the new scent in her feathers, and Usopp smiles sadly, reaching over to rub her under the wing. “I did tell you to mark her a little, but I guess the other way around worked better, huh.”

A little scent of powder, like a dust of makeup. The sour wisp of chlorine at the tips, tainted with gunpowder and berries of an unknown origin. It’s a familiar scent, not unlike the earth and oranges that spelled Nami to his senses. 

The blood solution would’ve worked better, so he could track them with his Haki-- but a second ago, they’d fallen into the sea, so that was a bust. The smell was a nice tradeoff, though.

 

Speaking of idiots falling into the sea… 

 

“Gin, have you used a log pose before?” he asks, approaching the crowd. 

“A what?” Gin does not know. No wonder Don Krieg’s ship crashed and burned so quickly, they’d have died even before Mihawk got to them, what the heck. 

Luffy is more curious about “a Rock? What rock?”

Usopp sighs, raising the log pose in his hand. It’s back to Nami being the only capable one again, huh… he can at least give Gin a rundown, then. Even Usopp knows by theory how it works, after all. He just doesn’t know how to read the wind and that stuff. 

“We can use the map of Reverse Mountain Nami’s drawn before. Most of the starting seven islands are charted on it, after all. Do you have it?”

“It’s on the ship, gimme a minute.”

 

And then he begins walking, and not for the first time in this life but possibly for the strongest urge in a while, Usopp desperately wants his vision back just to see Gin casually making his way up the ship with Luffy humming Bink’s Sake on his shoulders. 

It warms his heart, in a bitter, so sweet, and so painful way. He can feel it so well with his Haki, but it was a sight that just remained in the dredges of his imagination. 

He was always so proud of his imagination, but now… now, it’s the only thing he has left. 

He can still make those things come true one by one, and he can still feel them around him. But he’ll never see it. And that still hurts, sometimes. (All the time. It never goes away, it just dulls.)

But get used to it, Usopp , the voice in his heart tells him. (Do I have to?) Of course you do. A brave man doesn’t cry for things that can’t be helped-- he finds a way out of it. 

And he nods to himself, bringing a smile to his face.

He finds a rock, and sits down. 

 

-

 

Somewhere in the distance, Sanji takes a step for ‘your hand, Miss Wednesday’, and the girl, choked in smoke and the aftermath of a parcel explosion, decides to take it because otherwise she’ll just straight up lose her mind at this point.

Mister Nine is much less composed, clutching the edge of the cape as curses spill out of his throat to such a passionate degree, Sanji had to take a moment to be impressed. 

“Damn those Unluckies! Didn’t even give us a chance to explain!” 

Miss Wednesday gets up, biting her lip tightly. She looks around-- but the Unluckies were already too far in the distance, no chance of providing any further explanation. Were they headed back to Whiskey Peak?

...but that makes no sense. To the executioners, Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine had failed and thus were declared defects to the organization-- that’s how it worked. 

So why wouldn’t they make sure she and Mister Nine are dead? They’re never this sloppy.

 

(Unless they want her to make it back to Whiskey Peak and regroup with Mister Eight and Miss Monday? Is this a second chance? Yeah, that must be it.)  

 

She crouches down beside Mister Nine in a pretense of helping him up. She whispers to him, “well, since they spared us, I’m guessing we still have hope. We should hurry and regroup, and proceed with Plan M-8.”

Mister Nine meets her eyes-- and nods.

Immediately, they get on their knees, “Mister Chef, we have a request! Please allow us to speak to your captain!”

Sanji blinks at them, taking a skeptical drag of his cigarette. 

 

(They need to draw these chumps to Whiskey Peak. But why… why does she feel like something just doesn’t add up?)

 

-


-

 

“Oyaji? We’ve got an advanced notice,” Marco enters the captain’s quarters with a paper in his hands. “Getting a visitor soon.”

“Ho?” 

“Yeah, it came through the Buggy line,” he says, waving the paper around nonchalantly. He closes the door behind him, half of the commanders already inside the room, having been called an hour prior. “As usual, I have no idea how he gets a hold of this info.”

Thatch hums amusedly at that, leaning over the edge of the table. “Is it trouble? Like Akagami suddenly wants an audience, or something.”

Marco scoffs, “That guy doesn’t care to be subtle, so no way.”

“What, if it’s Shanks, let’s have a party!” Ace says, cheerful. 

“Ace, no. For the last time, we cannot do that casually. There’s a routine to this.”

“Awh, we have to fight really badly first?”

“That’s what we did with Roger, yes.”

“Thatch, no. That is not how it works. Stop putting ideas into Ace’s head.”

 

Whitebeard rests his chin on his arm, looking aside in thought. “Do we know what our guest wants from us?”

Marco shakes his head. “But it’s from the Revolutionary Army.”

Izo hums. “I reckon they’re finally going to fix the problem with Ivankov’s passport going offline for years. It’s been a real nuisance these days...”

“But just a representative? Who do they think they are? Bring Dragon, dammit.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“We ain’t got time for that nonsense.”

“Just asking, but we don’t have to serve tea, right? Just asking.” 

The Strongest man of the seas raises his hand, and his children fall silent. “I don’t believe Dragon would strike needless conversation. He’s always been the more resourceful sort, after all. I suspect it has something to do with Aladine making a sharp turn in our direction as well.”

 

And that was true. They’d gotten Nami’s new bounty poster a few days ago (they had celebrated intensely) but they had also heard that Aladine was making a rush trip back. 

They had guessed their youngest sister had an urgent message to send, and were eagerly awaiting the fishman’s arrival. 

Now, it seemed much more urgent than before. Was it something that threatened the crew, so much that a revolutionary had to get involved if Aladine didn’t make it in time?

It was hard to guess. 

 

“Wait, Marco-- how soon is this ‘soon’ you’re talking about?” Izo realizes. Information over a few Red Lines always came with a time delay, after all. They were expecting Aladine in two days, so what about the Revolutionary rep?

Marco seems to need a moment to think at that. Then almost regrettably he concludes, “uh, tomorrow, give or take a couple hours?”

“Marco!”

“That’s way too little time to do anything!”

The Phoenix raises his hands in his own defense. “Hey, don’t blame me! It’s hard to do the math when you have to account for the speed of the wind and waves!”

Everyone gets on Marco’s case for that either way, but most of them just laugh out loud. 

 

“Wait, how the hell does the Revolutionary Army get here faster than a Fishman?” Ace asks, genuinely confused. 

“Well, the Revolutionaries can travel through air like Marco, so depending on where you’re coming from, it’s quicker,” Thatch says. “For example, instead of following the sea route that lands you in Paradise, you can get straight into the New World from Reverse Mountain if you cross over the top in the other direction.”

“Huh?”

“Aladine can get into Paradise through the Calm Belt, but he can’t cut through to the other side of Reverse Mountain cause there isn’t an opening like the one on Fishman Island. He has to go the longer way through Fishman Island to get into the New World.”

“Wait, I don’t get it.” 

Everyone stares at their youngest in an exasperated moment. Then Marco sighs, “meeting is dismissed. Someone get a map in here, we’re giving Ace an impromptu geography lesson.”

“Eeeehh?!”

 

-

 

The Revolutionary Representative arrives around daybreak.

Ace was on watch with Izo when they spotted the figure in the distance. 

“Showing up without a disguise, huh. That’s quite bold of them,” Izo hums. 

“Is there a real need for that on the open sea?” Ace asks, reaching over the crows nest for the bell that alerts the commanders of incoming visitors. He hollers, “one small vessel approaching, Oyaji!” 

“Of course. I told you about the information channels, haven’t I?” Izo says. 

 

With his roots in the seclusive land of Wano, Izo had made it a great point after becoming a Whitebeard to learn all about the information lines of the outside world. He’s quite literally the professional on this topic, at least on this ship. 

Ace had only started learning about them a month after becoming the Second Commander, out of necessity for meetings. 

(Come to think of it, he still owed Nami a drink for that one time they made the bet about whether he would accept Commandership of a division… She left before seeing him actually take it, huh.)

(Wonder what she’s doing now.) 

 

“Ah… the News Coo, right?” he remembers now. One of the four information devas gained their information through the eyes of the newspaper delivery birds-- that was a real pain in the ass when going incognito, especially because everyone relies on them for the public news so you need to interact with one every day. 

But here this Revolutionary Army guy was, glaring and obvious and without a disguise. What happened to their staple greenish coats? I guess it's still early for News Coos to show up yet, but it's still a risk. 

“Are they trying not to appear as a threat?” Izo wonders. “Or is it the opposite, and this means they’re currently fully armed?” 

It was hard to tell, with them. 

 

Ace squints. Something about the obnoxious cravat-top hat-goggles combination just rubbed him the wrong way. 

 

The commanders were waking up now, making their way out of the chambers into the deck to greet their quite uninvited guest. Ace joins them below, waiting patiently for the rowboat to come close enough.

Two knocks against the hull.

“Permission to come aboard, Captain Whitebeard?”

 

Ace freezes. 

(No.) 

 

“Come on up and state your business, young one.”

 

And the figure approaches, the hat on his head a painfully obvious replica of something that still sits in Ace’s family home, dusted every day. He looks up, the slightly curled blond hair framing his face, shadowing the large remnants of an awful burn on his left. 

“I request a private audience with the Captain,” he says. 

And that voice, that irritatingly polite tone of voice, confident in a way that could only be a birthmark in his mannerisms-- Ace clenched his fists tight, turning away immediately.

“Ace?” Izo asks, his voice softened. 

Ace doesn’t look up. Izo sighs and turns his attention back to the crowd. 

Uncannily similar, from little quirks to general idiosyncrasies. Ace could throw up right now, because he hasn’t felt so much sinking pain in his chest since he saw his world burn before his eyes. 

It’s boiling, like some sort of incurable illness that has been in his blood since the day Sabo died out there, somewhere he couldn’t see. 

(You’ll never be rid of this pain called grief , Makino had told him. It occasionally dulls, and sometimes it fades to make way for laughter, but it’ll come back. That’s why you have to hold tightly onto all your precious things-- they’ll help ease the pain.)

 

The conversation between the Revolutionary and his Captain continues, despite his internal turmoil.

 

The Revolutionary has a piece of paper in his hands now. It’s a letter, apparently, written in their code. “Apple Cider,” it reads, followed by the sketch of the Whitebeard’s mark. 

A simple cross and crescent-- that was the specific caricature only the Whitebeards were allowed to wear. If this was fake, the revolutionary representative would be killed, Dragon be damned. 

“If you’re trying to say this came from Nami, I will have to call bullshit, unfortunately,” Marco says, not quite believing it just yet. “To begin with, this isn’t her handwriting.”

The Revolutionary nods. “I believe it was one of her crewmates that delivered the code to me, under her orders. It came with orders of urgency.”

That makes sense. 

 

Nami can’t write with that metal arm of hers (lines and scales were feasible with her left hand and maybe even her teeth, but actual writing was impossible if you sought legibility in any form), so she had the habit of making someone else write letters for her. 

The drawn Whitebeard Mark was definitely Nami’s handiwork, though. Marco recognized the strokes.  No one outside the Whitebeards should know these details, so this was quite good confirmation that this is in fact Nami’s work.

But it didn’t make sense that Nami would go out of her way to contact a Revolutionary, who knew enough to code a conversation with the Chief of Staff of all people, to send a message twice. 

(Unless Nami already had a Revolutionary friend even before they met her, then they couldn’t complain, but still.)

 

Marco wasn’t going to falter yet. “Then say it right here.”

 

It could still be a long-running trick, after all. Aladdin was most probably on his way to deliver the same message, and there’s no need for two letters. 

“With all due respect, Marco the Phoenix,” his tone is sharper in annoyance, and the crew tenses in the preamble of a battle, “I am not a delivery man that can bend the rules of customer privacy. I simply came because I believe this affects both our parties.” 

The two of them glared pointedly at each other. Thatch had a hand on his blades, though the nonchalant smile was still on his face.

The Revolutionary should be aware that he was on enemy grounds. So the only reason he would be acting impatiently-- would be if he was a fool, or if he was actually in an urgent situation.

Finally, Whitebeard relents. “Into the meeting room,” he decides. Marco tries to protest, but Whitebeard adds on, “Marco will participate. That is as far as I will compromise.”

The Revolutionary lowers his head. “It will suffice. I appreciate your understanding.”

They enter the room, and the commanders remain outside. None of them have quite eased yet-- because if this was real, something terrible had come up, so much that Nami had to send two messengers instead of just one in Aladine. 

It was definitely cause for alarm, if nothing else. 

The urge to eavesdrop was incredible, but Whitebeard gave his word for a private conversation. No one is allowed to jeopardize that.

 

“Hey, Ace, you alright there?” 

 

Ace jumps in surprise. Izo’s staring at him, but Thatch was the one that touched his shoulder in concern.

“Is this a hungry thing, or a tired thing?” the chef asks, genuinely concerned but slightly skeptical in case it was just something dumb. “I know you don’t like being nagged about it, but did you take your meds yet?”

“Probably not,” Izo sighs, “night watch, after all. How about we get breakfast settled?”

Narcolepsy, right, Ace thinks. Maybe he’s just hallucinating. Maybe his head isn’t clear, that’s why he’s seeing things like a boy that’s got unearthly similarities to his dead brother all grown up.

“Yeah, maybe I’m just sleepy,” he yawns. “I’ll go take a nap. Call me when Pops and Marco are out. Or when Aladine arrives.”

Under their watchful eyes, he walks away. 

“Did Ace just say no to food?” Thatch hisses, a little too loud but Ace ignores it in favour of settling down by a sunny spot on the deck. 

Izo is similarly unnerved. “Once Marco is out, let’s ask him to give him a checkup…”

In a normal day, Ace would be yelling, chasing them in all sorts of offended (and maybe carrying a pie to smash their faces in,) but not today. 

 

Today, he finds himself a quiet spot, and pretends to sleep.

When he wakes up, things will be better.

 

-

 

“Well, the code’s pretty simple. A rotten apple spoils the bunch-- our contact is insinuating that you’ve got a traitor in your midst.”

Of all the things they expected to hear from the Revolutionary once they were in private, it was not this. 

So when Marco lunged over the table to grab him by the cravat, the Revolutionary held up his hands in surrender, not defending himself, but not pleading mercy either.

“Marco,” Whitebeard reminds him-- and Marco begrudgingly lets go with an irritated huff. 

The Revolutionary fixes his collar, unfazed. 

“I do not appreciate this insult to my family,” Whitebeard says. “But if this is truly my daughter’s claim… I wish to understand why she chose to have an outsider send the message to the Revolutionaries as well.”

Marco’s glare was perpetual at this point.

Because that still didn’t make sense. Of course they would trust Nami. But why didn’t Nami just tell them personally? Even if her Den Den Mushi couldn’t reach the far distance, she had plenty of time to make her way out to the New World. 

“The Girl with a Metal Arm, Burglar Cat Nami,” the Revolutionary says. “I believe she has joined hands with the Man Demon Gin and Pirate Hunter Zoro to form a crew of her own. They now sail under the name of the Straw Hat pirates.”

Their eyes widened.

 

(“I have a seat saved for me, by the side of the future Pirate King.”) 

 

Come to think of it, that was always her dream, wasn’t it? So she’s found him after all… that Straw Hat imagery sure does bring up some old memories. But is that it? Because of that, she stayed in Paradise and risked such dire information in the hands of a complete outsider?

No, she isn't such an ice-hearted person. She wore the mark, after all. She swore by it and smiled by it, toasting to an oath for life. She wouldn't do something so irresponsible. 

Ah… that’s why she sent two messengers. 

It’s a long winded message-- one to ensure it is trustworthy information, and the other to indicate the urgency and the scale of damage if left unchecked. 

It’s not because she no longer wanted to involve herself in the matters of the Whitebeards-- it’s the opposite-- it’s precisely because she trusted them enough, that she could be assured to stay in Paradise and let her big brothers deal with the problem.

Now he understood. 

 

(Something still doesn’t line up, though. Like why would the Chief of Staff show up for such a matter? They could have sent anyone.)

 

“A traitor, huh… it’s hard to take in,” Whitebeard sighs, the disappointment showing in the sag of his shoulders. “Any clues on that?”

The Revolutionary shakes his head. That was probably what Aladine was going to tell them. “But we were told to send someone reliable as the messenger, so I came here.” 

They frown at that.

Whitebeard sighs. 

“Sometimes, I wonder why my daughter has to be such a crafty little lady,” he says, in the tone of an old man worrying as his child goes into their rebellious stage. "I never understand much of what she does.”

Marco and the Revolutionary share a tired chuckle.

“Maybe you should ask her when you meet her again," the Revolutionary suggests. "I really want to find that agent of mine and slap him a couple times in the face too. I've got no idea what he's planning, interacting so closely with pirates."

“Heh, you guys have your share of problems too, huh," Marco sighs. "Come to think of it, why the 'Straw Hat' pirates? Nami didn't have something like that."

The Revolutionary's shoulders sagged completely at this point.  "You won't believe it, really," he says, like he's in for a world of paperwork once he gets back. "I mean, you'll get this information when the newspapers come by today, but this random kid in a Straw Hat just goes up to the execution platform in Loguetown and..." 

 

For some reason, they were chatting like tired old friends now that they got their tense talk out of the way.

Well, until Aladine comes by with the other half of the information, there was nothing really they could do. So Marco decides to indulge in it, if only because he empathizes with having to deal with idiotic youngsters causing lots of trouble for everyone. 

Chapter 26: uninteresting events (yeah no, what the fuck)

Summary:

Ace realizes he isn't hallucinating, so he does the very logical thing and initiates murder. Meanwhile, Usopp is being a cryptid asshole, so Gin initiates mutiny, to Luffy's vehement protests.

All in all, a normal day in the Grand Line. Nothing out of the ordinary, as you can see.

Chapter Text

Ace actually does fall asleep, which is surprising to him. Someone wakes him up, because it’s almost time for lunch, and Ace is actually quite surprised by how well-rested he feels. He hasn’t had such a good nap in a while.

Now he’s in a great mood. 

So he stands up, eager to get some food (he skipped breakfast. He’s famished,) from the galley when he realizes Marco is frowning down at him.

 

“Izo and Thatch told me you were acting weird.”

(Huh? Didn’t Ace ask to be woken up when Marco was out of his meeting so he could get the Commander update of whatever went down? Or was that part of his dream as well? Whatever then.)

“Well you see, Marco,” he starts spinning the tale, “I just had this really weird dream, and it’s been making me lose sleep all the time. In it, your hair is a literal pineapple, and Thatch’s head is literally bread, and ouch OUCH THAT REALLY HURTS I’M SORRY PLEASE STOP”

Marco releases him from the noogie of doom, pinning him with a glare that promised a real skull-drilling if he continued being obnoxious. 

And Ace has to admit, big brothers are kinda very scary sometimes. Makes sense why Luffy would listen to him. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Except I’m hungry enough to eat the ship,” Ace dismisses again, because if there’s something he doesn’t fear, it is death, “see ya in the galley, bye.”

 

And he phases away in a wisp of flames, to Marco’s indignant squawk of “hey ACE! This conversation isn’t over!”

 

Ace opens the galley door and declares, “Thatch, got any food left for me?” while pretending that Marco isn’t already right behind him with eyes that promised murder. 

“Oh, Ace! You’re finally awake?” Thatch looks over in the midst of tossing fried rice in a large wok. “Geez Marco, warn me! I’ll make something, so just sit there.”

“Yay! Thanks, Thatch!”

“I did warn you. You just didn’t hear me.”

They settle at the table, where a few of the other night shift takers and infirmary staff are having brunch. The only team on the ship that doesn’t seem to ever get breaks seem to be the cooks… but anyways.

 

“Anyways Ace, you didn’t wake up so here’s the update on the situation,” Marco says, deciding he would drag the teen to the infirmary for a checkup on his narcolepsy episode, but only after the meal.

“About what?”

“We’ve got a guest on board. All commanders on standby until Aladine shows up tomorrow,” Marco says, ignoring the question on the assumption that Ace’s brain will catch up to his mouth. He keeps the next order short and simple and very stern-- “Do not engage, he’s trustworthy. Nami sent him.” 

Ace squints. “So we’ve got an intruder?”

(His brain did not catch up with his mouth. In fact, his ears are apparently offline too. )

“You didn’t listen to anything I just said.”

“Yeah I didn’t, I’m too hungry I can’t hear you.”

“That is not a mutually exclusive sense-- Thatch, don’t spoil him!” Marco snaps when Thatch gleefully sets down two large plates of spaghetti, effectively interrupting the conversation and turning all Ace’s concentration out the window.

 

Thatch, because he’s such a nice brother, sets down another plate of food for Marco, humming to himself as if he can’t hear a thing. Seriously, are they both doing this on purpose to drive Marco out of his mind?

 

“Thanks for the food!”

“Ace, LISTEN TO ME!”

Marco groans. Why does he have to suffer like this? 

He does relent, however, and turns to his meal. He was planning on spending the rest of his afternoon doing paperwork, so an early lunch would do him some good anyways.

As long as everyone else behaves, it should be peaceful until Aladine arrives. 

 

-

 

Marco spoke (thought?) too soon.

Because almost immediately after they were done with their meal, the Revolutionary walks into the galley with Izo, who was in charge of guiding him around. 

(He has a guide, because they weren’t going to leave a guest unsupervised, after all.)

And that’s when Ace dramatically chokes on his food and proceeds to scare the living daylights out of everyone by almost dying.

He recovers, though, (probably because he’s a fire Logia,) and he points at the Revolutionary, who confusedly points back at himself, waiting for Ace to say something.

 

Ace, as much of a fluster as he’s in, struggles. 

 

“Wha-- I- Wait. You-- Ma- M- Are you--” he struggles very hard , looking everywhere like he deserves an explanation for this bullshit. Eventually he yells something wordless in an attempt to release his frustrations.

The Revolutionary provides a very unimpressed look. 

“Please,” he says, gesturing in a very sarcastic and pompous manner just to be a dick, “take your time.”

Marco stifles a laugh. Izo shrugs with a contented sigh. 

Then in an attempt to avoid conflict, Marco reminds Ace loudly, “that’s our ship guest. From the Revolutionary Army, if you forgot. He’s not an enemy so get along now.” 

Ace looks away. Then he stares at the Revolutionary again.

“Oh fuck Marco,” Ace says, ignoring the distant Haruta who chirps up with ‘go ahead we’re waiting’ , and Thatch that pipes up with ‘not in the galley you aren’t’, to which Marco insists it is ‘metaphorically you sick fucks’, Ace rubs his eyes, “I think I do need that checkup. I’m still hallucinating.”

“I am very glad you are volunteering, Ace, that is almost so unheard of I already know you’ve gone crazy,” Marco says, sipping on his coffee just as Thatch drops it before him. “But if you’re hallucinating, please-- do tell me what you see. Haruta is very interested in getting blackmail material.”

Haruta has already moved closer, almost right beside them at this point. His eyes are glinting with the inspiration of a new hot piece of news to scream and spread to the entirety of every ship in their alliance. 

The Revolutionary just stands there, looking very uncomfortable with the situation. 

Izo, deciding this was entertaining, just chuckles as he brings around a cup of tea for himself and their guest. 

 

Ace starts, almost too seriously. 

Without even looking up at the Revolutionary another time, even-- “I’m seeing an idiot dressed like a noble in this godforsaken heat. Stupid tail coat looking thing. And he’s got a top hat. There are goggles on it because his fashion sense is fucking terrible.”

“Excuse you?! You have emoticon badges on your hat!” the Revolutionary retorts, very offended. “And at least I wear clothes!”

“And he’s got a pipe on his back,” Ace adds smoothly, because pretending not to hear is clearly the running gag of today with the Whitebeard Pirates. “Don’t laugh, but this noble-looking guy in a cravat and gloves uses a pipe as a weapon.”

“Is he picking a fight?” Sabo asks Izo, exasperated at this point. His free hand feels incredibly testy, itching very close to his pipe. “Can I take it?”

The roaring laughter in the galley is answer enough. 

Sabo almost empathizes with his friends back in the Revolutionary that has to put up with his own shit every day. He’s going to treat them to a meal when he gets back.

“Well unfortunately, Ace,” Marco tiredly gives his diagnosis, “we’re all seeing the same thing. And he’s taller than you.”

Ace’s jaw drops. “So I am seeing Sabo on the Moby Dick?”

Marco sighs, “yes, you are--” he freezes, lifting his head. 

 

At the same time, Sabo’s hand stiffens around the teacup. The air immediately goes cold in the galley as the words sink in-- and even Izo has his eyes widened in surprise.

Ace doesn’t seem to realize what he’d done just yet, so he just stares blankly, still trying to figure out if this is a trick of the light, a devil fruit, or another quirk of the Grand Line. 

 

“Hold on, Ace--” Izo speaks first, trying to speak some sense into this still not-so-lucid brother of theirs. “--how did you know his name?”

 

As confidential as revolutionary activities are, his identity was to be kept quiet unless necessary. All they had to know was that he was a representative, after all. The only people that Sabo had properly introduced himself to are Pops and Marco-- and Izo, who asked after building up a short friendship as guide and guest. 

Ace blinks.

“Because he’s the spirit of my dead brother that I’m hallucinating?” he says, like it’s obvious. He doesn't notice everyone's gobsmacked expressions, he just leans in to observe Sabo closely. “He died seven years ago and we never found his body. First time he’s shown up as an adult though. And the scar is new.”

He looks around, finally realizing that they’re all staring at him, stunned.

“What?” he has the oblivious gall to ask.

Marco raises a hand, “Ace,” he says, very very patiently, “that is not a hallucination,” he explains, slowly. “It is an actual human being.”

Ace takes a moment for that to sink in.

Then Sabo, looking very pale, nods. “Uhm,” he says, “yeah, I am a real person.” Then he sets his hand on Ace’s shoulder, just to prove that he’s a physical figure and he can use Haki, because he’s touching Ace without phasing through the flames.

 

Ace’s jaw drops.

“Huh?” he yells, looking at Marco. “Wait, what the hell does this mean?”

 

-

 

They sit down, Ace opposite of Sabo-- and every other commander flanking their situation in complete awe. Mainly because they have no idea what was going on here and Ace acting like he was a civil human being by sitting down and having a serious conversation was a thing you only see once in a blue moon. 

“Alright, so you’re an amnesiac.”

“This is far more than our protocols allow me to reveal, but yes, I am.” 

“And you were recruited in East Blue.”

“Yes, that is what I said.”

“Goa Kingdom?”

“I believe it was around that area, yes.”

 

Marco was going to give Sabo a checkup if he had to-- amnesia was always one of the most delicate of medical conditions, after all. It interested him, as far as a doctor's instinct went. Now if only this guy was a crew member instead of a guest he wasn’t supposed to touch… 

"So, what's the conclusion, Ace?" Marco prompts, because they were questioning him just to get things straight, after all. 

 

Just making sure if Ace needed a counselling session about grief and mourning, too. 

He hadn’t told anyone about hallucinations before-- granted, he had a right to his own past, but still, if this temper-ridden brother of theirs had mental difficulties, they would have helped. 

Everyone had occasional counselling sessions for various trauma on this ship, and Ace definitely needed some. 

(Come to think of it, he could ask Deuce. He probably has old medical records.)

 

"Well, the story lines up," Ace says, looking a little conflicted. "There's a very high chance you are the Sabo I know." 

Sabo shrugs at that. 

He wouldn't know for sure, after all. And even if he did, it would be awkward to suddenly try and restimulate their old relationship while he doesn't remember a thing. 

 

(Brothers, he called it? But there's no way a D would be a noble. Maybe Sabo just looked uncannily similar in appearance and personality and that was it. Things like these do happen in the world sometimes, it's not impossible.)

((Somewhere, Tashigi sneezes.))

 

Ace had a very important question, though.

“First of all,” he says, raising a finger, “ what was Dragon doing there?”

Sabo blinks. “That’s classified information, but I believe we recruited a lot of members around the same time,” he says. “I wouldn’t know, since it’s before I joined.”

Ace purses his lips. 

“I'm gonna guess they found your name written on your belongings,” he says. “And they were clothing that looked like noble clothing, which is why you still retained your clusterfuck fashion sense from then.”

“I’m starting to think you’re deliberately issuing a declaration of war, but I will give you the benefit of doubt,” Sabo says, his calmness finally showing a tear of irritation. 

Ace nods, like an obnoxious piece of shit. 

“And what about the hat?” he asks. “It’s really weird you have the same hat.”

Sabo had to think about that. “Well, someone just gave it to me one day. They mentioned I had something like it before that they couldn’t retrieve… The goggles were just an impulsive addition one day. Is this interrogation over yet?”

Ace squints at the vague answer. But whatever, that’s enough. “So you don’t remember anything about your life before then?” he asks.

Sabo nods in annoyance. It’s the third time he’s asked and answered this specific question. “Nothing except for the fact that I did not want to go back ever again.”

 

Ace nods sagely. “Yeah, that place was a shithole, so that makes sense,” he acknowledges. "Speaking of which. Can I borrow your pipe?"

 

Sabo backs away, a little put off. "The pipe? Unfortunately, it is important to me, so I’m not comfortable with someone else holding it," he admits, in an almost admirably polite manner. 

“Understandable,” Ace hums. He reaches over and grabs one of the practice bo staves that Haruta carries around but never uses. "This will do, then. I'll borrow this for a second."

Haruta doesn’t really get a chance to say no, unlike Sabo. "Ah yeah. Sure? What are you using it for?"

Instead of answering, Ace stands up. He rolls his shoulders and cracks a few knuckles.

 

"Nothing much, it's been a while since I used a weapon of any sort, so I'm a bit out of practice."

Then, he swings straight down toward Sabo's head, without any warning.

 

The Revolutionary dodges, but the weapon shatters the table right into the floor, splintering the wood into innumerable pieces. 

The Whitebeard Commanders’ response is immediate. 

"Hey! Ace, dammit! I said he's a guest!"

"Someone stop Ace!"

“Ace, you know your division is paying for the table, right?”

"The table! Are you trying to kill him, Ace?!"

 

Ace tuts. "Don't dodge!" He yells, like the guy was obviously supposed to stay there and get brain damage. "You're an amnesiac, so one good hit on the head should make you remember everything! Be a man and take it!"

"That is NOT how it works!" Marco and Sabo yell synchronously, shark-teethed in sheer exasperation. 

 

"Restrain him! He's an idiot!"

"Why did you give him the weapon, Haruta?!"

"I underestimated his stupidity! I regret it now I promise!"

"Ace! Stop trying to kill the guest! ACE!"

 

Whitebeard and Whitey Bay walk into the galley, greeted by a situation that could only be described as utter chaos. Ace is blindly swinging a bo staff in the general direction of their guest. Rakuyo and Vista are holding him back, while Haruta frantically tries to retrieve the staff without getting hit. He isn’t succeeding.

Marco looks like he’s experiencing an aneurysm, and Thatch is mourning over the broken furniture with Jozu. Izo is standing beside the Revolutionary in a placating manner, and Sabo had his own pipe held before him, preparing to fight.

“I want some sake with my meal today,” Whitebeard says, casually making his way toward the largest table.

Whitey simply nods. “Yeah, I’d like some too.” 

 

-


-

 

Even for Zoro, watching Nami get her arm replaced was difficult. 

It was like being made to sit there and see someone plunge a knife into her stomach, slowly gouging out her organs as she tries her best not to scream.

If he was a lesser man, he’d turn away, nauseated. 

But Zoro looks on, eyes hardened and taking in every detail he could, listening closely as Crocus told him the little things about it. 

Nami lay on the bed, resting on her stomach without her shirt on. 

 

“It’s important she doesn’t move when I do this part, so strap her down if you need to,” he says, and that unsettling calmness in his voice really made Zoro think again on the mental strength required for a doctor. “Do it in one quick move. Double back and it might loosen in the long run.”

 

Even Zoro had to flinch when Nami whimpered, biting harshly into the base of her thumb to stifle her own voice. Crocus had wrenched a particularly tight screw in the center of her shoulder blade, and it was obviously the worst bit of the whole process.

And just like that-- it was over.

She takes a deep breath, and it’s the most exhausted Zoro has ever seen her. No-- exhausted wouldn’t be the accurate term. Exerted, perhaps.

She took a long breath-- and held it for five seconds, before letting it out. She opens her eyes slowly, raising her metal arm again, curling and uncurling the fingers carefully. 

 

“All good?” Crocus asks. 

 

Nami rolls her shoulder, making a noise akin to a stretching cat in daylight. She sighs contentedly, getting up (making sure the blanket covers her chest,) and she pulls her feet over the edge of the bed so they would rest on the floor. 

“Man, these Heat models are so heavy!” she says. They were made to be much more durable, after all. “But yes, it’s perfect as always. You always know just how to perfectly screw them, don’t ya?”

(She gives Zoro a smile. He immediately catches the combined look to her top, and he turns away so Nami could get her shirt on again.)

(Oh, Sanji can not know of this.)

“I’ve had a ton of years more experience than any other doctor out there, of course I do,” Crocus says, almost offended. He then turns to Zoro, “it’s delicate, don’t break the arm trying to fit a screw in, got it?”

 

Zoro is not confident he can do that. Why didn’t Nami just ask Usopp instead-- oh.

Zoro doesn’t really get why he has to be the one in charge of this. In the trust scale, Nami definitely has Usopp in first place. Of course, Luffy is up there too, but not for things like these. So if Usopp is out because of his blindness, Zoro doesn’t get why Nami asks him instead of Sanji or Gin. 

Sure, one of them is a womanizer and the other was a… alright nevermind about that. But either of them would definitely be more delicate with something as important as a girl’s arm. 

(In hindsight, maybe it’s exactly because they would be more careful with it.) 

(Nami doesn’t want them to hesitate, not even for a second. She wasn’t that weak-- and Zoro definitely can see that. And she needed someone like that around.)

Nami had entrusted him with the role of keeping her in action. Without her arm, she couldn’t do a thing-- and here she was, entrusting Zoro with the most important part of her physical being.

It’s just like stepping onto this ship and having Luffy call you one of his-- here was a comrade, declaring her wholehearted, selfless trust in him

Zoro understood how important it was. 

 

“It’s better to do both prosthetics at once, just to get it over with,” Crocus wipes away the sweat at his brows, crouching down to Nami’s feet and raising her metal foot onto a stool. “But if you do it one after the other… well, it turns into psychological warfare.”

“Wait wait wait Crocus,” Nami says, her voice sounding strained, tired, and her smile an incredible effort forced out of her features. She was clutching a pillow to her chest with her flesh hand, so tightly the fingers were going white, “please give me a five minute’s break. Or three. Two will be fine please just give me a second .”

Crocus gestures at her complaining spiel, as if proving his point on the situation. 

Zoro has never seen Nami like this. It’s very refreshing to know that Nami is , dare he say, actually scared of something. 

Then Crocus flexes his hands. “Okay your second is up. Time for your foot.”

“No please just WAIT.”

“The foot is a lot more delicate, since it starts at the ankle,” Crocus starts explaining, like Nami isn’t freaking out at the moment. “You start here when you detach it…”

 

Zoro suddenly realizes the startlingly obvious reason why Nami didn’t ask Sanji to do this for her. 

 

-

 

“Sure, they can come with,” Luffy says, to the utter despair of Gin.

After an intense session of begging to be taken along for the ride, Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine were allowed to board the Going Merry until Whiskey Peak.

“You cannot be serious, Luffy,” Gin says, exasperated. “They’re obviously plotting something.” 

He pointedly does not mention how Usopp had already told him their next destination would be Whiskey Peak regardless, as per Nami’s orders. 

He just doesn't like the idea of intruders coming onboard, free for all. He knows this next part is the hardest part of the beginning-- the adaptation-- so he wants as little interference as possible, especially not from people they can’t trust.

“It’s along the way, right? Same thing,” Luffy says. “And Nami did steal their stuff.”

Gin scoffs at the two agents. “It’s your own fault if you get stolen from.”

“Ah, you’re right,” Luffy acknowledges. He’s got bandit in his upbringing, after all, he definitely knows the law of dog eat dog out here. 

“Plus, they’re not even telling us where the hell they’re from,” Gin says. They had vehemently insisted that their organisation was mystery coded , “what if they’re leading us back to their base of operations?”

 

No one misses the way they both stiffen up in panic. 

 

“Isn’t it fine, we can come back around if we don’t like the way,” Luffy says. He then makes a very great point, that “it’s better than leaving them here with Whale, too.” 

(Ah, that’s right-- they’re trying to kill the whale, aren’t they? That throws a wrench into everything.)

Sanji doesn’t really care about that though.  “Well, I don’t mind bringing Dear Miss Wednesday with us. The male species with you can find some other way around.” 

“Please bring me along too! I beg you!” 

“If leaving them with the whale is a problem, can’t we just drown them right now?” Gin suggests, entirely serious in his decision to find the simplest solution to this problem. Heck, it doesn’t even need to be so complicated-- why was this taking so long? “I’ll go get my tonfas. I haven’t used them in a while.”

Panicked screaming ensues. 

 

Finally tired by the endless debating, Usopp sighs. “What will happen if we leave you here?” he asks, directing his question toward the two agents. “Back to the top with you-- why are you so desperate to get out of here?”

 

He isn’t particularly asking that because he wants to know, of course.

Evidently, it’s because they want to get their mission done and go report back to their boss immediately. They’d be deemed failures and executed if things stayed as they are, so they need to hurry, and get a letter out to the Boss and make up for their mistake somehow.

(To put it simply-- they just fear for their lives.)

“That explosion just now-- hmm,” Usopp leans into Kinoko for a second, and the bird coos in response. A little behaviour reading can go a long way with a bird you’ve known all her life, so he gathers that, “two predators? One of them is a big bird. You acted like you knew them, so it was an expected attack.”

They stiffen. 

They had been far enough that the Strawhats didn’t see them when the Unluckies blew them up-- but Kinoko had definitely reported back on the situation. 

“I knew that bird was spying on us!” Miss Wednesday hisses sharply to Mister Nine. 

“Y-y-y- You can speak bird?!”

Usopp doesn’t answer that question. “I’m thinking you had a mission to do. Kill the whale, probably.” 

It’s an obvious conclusion from everything so far. But to the two agents who had no idea they weren’t being subtle, it was a jaw-dropping moment of shock.

“And you failed,” another obvious conclusion that earns him a gasp, “so your oh-so mysterious organisation sent some cleanup crew to check if you’ve done the deed. But you haven’t, hence they tried to kill you. They might try again, so you want us to give you a ride, so you can get away from here.”

Simultaneously, Sanji and Luffy gawk in disgusted realization. 

Like ‘how could you?’ but in more dramatically betrayed sentiments than anything actually serious.

“You guys got blown up by a bird?” Luffy offers his very important opinion, and that’s simply, “are you guys idiots?”

 

Kinoko gives him a very pointed look. She does not remind him of the many times Luffy has lost a random duel against her. She is not that petty, after all. Definitely not.

(The next moment brings them to the other corner of the cape, where Luffy yells loudly at the bird, who squawks back passionately in response. They race to the top of Laboon and down, but can’t decide on who won. Laboon says something, but in the unintelligible language of old island whales that none of them can quite decipher.)

 

Sanji pulls off a very unimpressed, disappointed look at the two agents. “What’s with the ‘our organisation’s motto is mystery’ thing, you’re both gonna get killed by that very same organisation, you shithead,” he hisses at Mister Nine, quickly changing gears to clarify that “of course you’re fine, Miss Wednesday, I didn’t mean you.”

“Wha-- don’t insult us!” Mister Nine snaps. “The Unluckies didn’t finish the job-- we were spared! That means we’re getting a second chance, we can’t fail to lead you guys to our base now--” his voice dies out and Miss Wednesday shrieks.

“Mister Nine, SHUSH!” but it was too late. 

“Oh, so it was a trap,” Luffy pouts, disappointed. He’s covered in wounds now, and Kinoko is angrily lying in a defeated pile somewhere further out (Usopp looks over, briefly wondering if he’ll need to get a new seeing eye bird.) He dusts his pants, humming sagely as he decides, “guess we actually have to kill them now.”

He’s probably not serious. Like, maybe only eighty percent serious, because Gin really wants to kill them and Luffy’s starting to get influenced. 

Terrified shrieking ensues once again. 

 

It’s an endless loop at this point. 

 

“Well, jokes aside,” Usopp says, using his walking stick to hold back Gin from approaching with his tonfas, “let’s listen to Nami’s opinions on it before deciding for real, alright? Until then, let’s have some tea. I’ll tell a story.”

The general reaction is a dumbfounded: “What.”

 

-

 

Sanji does in fact get the water boiling for tea, because Nami and Zoro show no signs of emerging from the lighthouse yet. They can’t set sail for another while. 

Luffy spins back onto his seat, happily awaiting the story. “Usopp’s stories are interesting, you know!” he promised, like that’s something the agents would want to know.

In fact, they’re still seated on the floor, mutedly awaiting their impending doom. 

“Seriously?” Gin deflates, upset that he isn’t allowed to murder a human right now. He folds his tonfas back to his side and begrudgingly settles down opposite of the captain.

Sanji groans, running a hand through his hair. “You guys better decide if you wanna come clean. Honestly might just win you points, since our captain is stupid like that,” he bargains. 

Then he sets tea on the table, of course serving one to Miss Wednesday as well. 

 

Usopp had retrieved Kinoko in the time it took to brew the tea. He’s glad the bird isn’t dead-- she’s having her post-defeat depression at the moment, so Usopp is giving her some time. Seriously, what the hell with her. 

Regardless, he lets Kinoko have his tea while he closes his eyes to begin talking.

(It’s not like it makes a difference vision wise, but after losing his sight, it’s become easier to gauge human reactions this way.)

“Well, have I told you about the time I infiltrated a mysterious organisation to save my country of followers?” he starts.

He smiles a little when Miss Wednesday’s voice spikes in alarm.

“Well, I was working my way up the enemy ranks little by little-- for uh, ten years, I was playing the long con!” he chuckles at that. “Man, espionage is pretty hard, right?”

 

“Ain’t that right up your alley, though?” Sanji says. “You suck at it, but it’s what you do best. Sneaking in and telling lies to get places.”

“You could phrase it nicer, Sanji.”

“Really?” Gin doubts, “sounds more like Nami’s thing to me.”

 

Usopp simply smiles and continues. “Then a little birdie told me-- yes, like you, Kinoko,” he scratches the bird under her wing nonchalantly, “I realized they already know I’m a spy, so what I was planning to do next just leads me straight back into a trap!”

 

The way he dramatized the story was amusing to Mister Nine-- but Miss Wednesday only paled further as the words trailed on.

Her eyes were wide, and her posture had frozen up.  Is it a coincidence? Evidently not. Even she wasn’t that stupid-- this man was telling them, right now-- this man was telling them her story, like it was nothing.

She didn’t want to know what it meant.

Instead, she realized that the future of that story-- dramatization and clear exaggerated heroics aside-- was probably going to come true. 

 

“I followed them anyway, pretending I didn’t know they knew! A little mishap like that doesn’t make the Great Usopp falter, after all!” he says, smug. “Then when I finally got close to the boss, I tore out the ropes bonding my arms, and defeated him in one punch! Then I cleared out every other ambusher, of course!”

 

Luffy awes at it, eyes sparkling-- but Sanji and Gin just scoff, the latter leaning his chin into his palm in an exasperated manner.

“If you could defeat them all so easily to begin with, why did you even need to infiltrate their base?” Gin mutters

Usopp yelps, because you're not supposed to point out plot holes in Usopp’s stories.

Sanji doesn’t get the drift though, he adds on. “And was there ever a need to play a long con if getting found out made everything easier for you?”

Usopp wilts, “just enjoy the story, dammit!”

“But it’s so cool! Then you saved all your followers and had a big party, right?” Luffy cheers. For a guy that hated heroes, he sure liked a good hero story. And banquets-- banquets were key ingredients for making Luffy happy. 

Telling stories was always fun because there was a Luffy around to fall for it. And Chopper, of course. “Of course I did!” Usopp boasts.

 

Mister Nine sighs disinterestedly at them. “Are they changing the subject to ignore us? What do we do, Miss Wednesday?” he asks, crestfallen. They might fail their mission now, and they were really going to get it this time… 

But his partner gives no response. 

“Miss Wednesday?”

She had bitten her lips, looking down in something short of anger. Of pure fear-- and sheer disbelief. 

 

“Right, right,” Sanji refills the cup of tea, scowling at the way Kinoko burps after drinking it all again. He’s had his fill of cryptid shitheads for today, so he’s not in the mood to tolerate one more. “We get it, Usopp. What was the moral of the story?”

(Because, just like the story that he’d told in the Baratie-- there was definitely an underlying point to the story. That was just how Usopp said things, like a quirk of his own that they always had to work around. )

Usopp takes a moment to appreciate the way they all turn to him in full understanding. Luffy loved the stories, Gin permitted them, and Sanji entertained them.  But at the end of the day-- they understood that he only turned to this format of conversation when he had something he wanted to say but couldn’t concretely prove. 

Yet, they waited patiently, never doubting the information he could weave together. So even if he didn’t have any proof, they could find some later.

(It made it easier for him, because they could go on without worrying about needing to explain the time travel nonsense.)

 

Usopp turns toward Miss Wednesday with a sad smile.

“The point is, you two aren’t leading us back to be captured,” he says. Mister Nine tries to protest, but Miss Wednesday stops him with a raise of her hand. Her expressions darken. “I actually think the opposite.”

(She had a bad feeling, after all. The Unluckies didn’t have a reason to spare them or give them a second chance to do anything.)

(They must have retreated on the Boss’ orders, because they weren’t just ‘executing agents that failed their mission’ anymore-- their job was being handed off to another party that could better handle the threat.)

(Their target had been changed, and it was on high urgency. So higher level agents must have been deployed to take over.)

 

“Well, to say this frankly--” Usopp tells her, and all her nightmares immediately come true. “--your position has most probably been compromised up the chain of command, Princess Vivi.”

 

-

 

Usopp will admit, he didn’t know what to expect after he said that. 

Will Vivi scream? Deny it? Jump off and swim away in a panic?

So take him by sheer surprise-- when she chucks a Peacock Slasher at him, scraping his cheek just barely enough to not draw blood. He does feel the burn against his skin, though-- and Gin is already standing. Luffy’s aura spikes in hostility, and if it hadn't been a woman that struck, Sanji would have kicked their teeth out.

Usopp traces the trajectory of the weapon-- and grabs it out of the air by the string. 

Miss Wedneday’s too surprised at the moment to let go, so Usopp tugs it forward, wrapping it around his fist so she couldn’t back away without releasing them.

Usopp then raises a hand before Sanji, just in case. The chef glares, but holds on at the understanding that Usopp probably has things handled. Luffy is already standing up and facing them apprehensively-- so if anyone was going to strike first, it would be Luffy.

 

Gin is different, however. 

Mister Nine attempts to, in his confusion, aid his partner-- but the Man-Demon appears behind him, planting a firm foot on his shoulder. The sheen of a weighted metal ball rests on his head-- and he knows that only mercy allowed him to keep his head.  

There was no vocal threat needed. The sheer silence of that action was enough to scare him wisely into a state of obedience. 

 

“Attacking me won’t do you any good, you know?” Usopp says.

“Y- You fiend!” she snaps, her tone finally approaching the more proper speech that was out of character for her Wednesday character. “How did you know? How long have they found out? Are you one of them too?!”

“I’m offended you think so,” Usopp blanches, and with a sharp flick of his wrist, he detaches the Peacock Slasher from her elbow, and she shoots back. He then proceeds to untangle it from his hand, “well, call it a hunch. But I’m quite sure, in your perspective, it’s not all that impossible at this point, right?”

Miss Wednesday bites her lip. 

If her position was really compromised, then he’s right, no matter what side he’s on. They’ve been seeing this coming ever since they found out Mister Zero’s identity, after all. Miss All-Sunday’s actions as they were, it really was only a matter of time. 

 

“Uhm… what’s going on?” Mister Nine asks.

 

Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette, his foot still planted on the man’s shoulder. “Yeah, we have no idea. Share with the class, Usopp?” 

“I don’t get it either,” Gin says. “If we aren’t concluding this damn situation in the next damn minute I might just kill you myself, Usopp. Then I’ll kill these two.”

“Okay, Gin. But let the poor man go before he wets himself, alright?”

“I’m sorry, I think I already did.”

“Hey, no killing my sniper, Gin!” Luffy protests. 

“I will not let you kill me either!” Vivi raises her voice. “Change of plans. I’m sorry for lying to you this whole time, Mister Nine, but I…”

“Well, if it’s story time, can we have some tea again, Sanji?”

“Enough with the tea already! I’m sick of this roundabout bullshit!” 

 

And that’s the scene Zoro, Nami, and Crocus walk out of the lighthouse to see. Gin and Sanji are apparently fighting over who gets to strangle Usopp, Luffy is protesting because ‘no killing my sniper! Guys, no killing each other!’ or something.

Meanwhile, Miss Wednesday is telling a solemn story to Mister Nine, and Mister Nine’s expressions are shell-shock horror before he proceeds to bury his head on the ground in worship. 

“You’re a princess, Miss Wednesday?!” is heard among the noise, and they have no idea what's happening, and Zoro isn't sure if he wants to know.

 

 

A bloated-looking Kinoko flies over, having had her fill of tea. She lands in Zoro’s hand as the swordsman raises his palm to receive her. Then she immediately starts snoring-- and Zoro resists the urge to hurl it to the ground.

“I’m gonna go take a nap,” Zoro says, casually making his way toward Merry with the bird still in his hand. 

Nami just nods. “Yeah, have a good one.” 

 

Crocus pinches the bridge of his nose in resigned silence.

Chapter 27: promising pawns and teachers of trust.

Summary:

"This is taking too long, let's just go," Nami urges them. "We've spent way too many chapters on the Twin Capes now. It's gonna get boring, y'know! People are going to stop reading!"

Usopp's new handicaps give them new problems in storms, but they make up for it with extra manpower. Gin struggles to separate from his stigma as a member of the Don's crew-- but he's essential, and that won't change.

Vivi realizes that she isn't alone. Nami takes a moment to realize that again, for herself.

Notes:

I'm on a roll! might as well make the most of the inspiration spree. Lots of love to every single one of you that reads this! I'm sorry I can't always find time to reply to you guys, but just know I read every review twice or thrice while tearfully cradling my phone to my face like an idiot because I love you guys so much.

Enjoy!

Chapter Text

“Anyways, I’m just saying, but you could really hire us to help save your country,” Usopp suggests, to the loud protests of his crewmates. “It’ll be en route if we head down Whiskey Peak, and Luffy needs a bounty anyways.”

To say Miss Wednesday is shocked by this would be an understatement. Yes, she and Mister Nine are the ones that begged to come on-- but that’s exactly why it’s so incredulous to suddenly have them readily agree now. 

“Bounty? Ah, right, yes!” Luffy agrees, “I want to get a bounty! The Marines are being idiots so I don’t have one yet!”

“Wait, Luffy, this is too suspicious!” Gin immediately shows his dissent. “This has nothing to do with us! We don’t have to involve ourselves! Say something, Sanji!”

Sanji hums, taking only a moment to decide that, “well, I don’t know what’s going on yet,” what else is new seriously, “but I can’t ignore a lady in need.”

“Sanji!” Gin and Luffy exclaim, in despair and joy respectively. 

“No no no!” Miss Wednesday quickly denies in a panic, “you don’t know who you’re up against! The boss is a terrifying man. Even if you are some abnormally Good Samaritans, I cannot subject you to this battle I have to face!”

“Wait, you know the Boss’ identity already, Your Highness Lady Miss Wednesday?!”

“Mister Nine, do not call me that! It’s embarrassing!” she snaps, blushing as she turns away. 

And so begins another spiel about why this isn’t a good idea, except they’re going around like a bunch of old aunties trying to refuse money repayment from each other. It’s honestly getting annoying. 

(Can they go already? We all know where this is going to end up.)

 

-

 

Crocus, deciding his job here is done, returns to his lighthouse. He has a newspaper to read. Meanwhile, Nami decides to finally approach the group. 

“Hey, Usopp,” Nami greets him, ominously cheerful. 

Usopp doesn’t get a greeting out before he’s unceremoniously bashed in the head by a haki-inforced Clima Tact. She actually lands the hit, so he swears his skull is shattered. 

“What was that for?!” he whines, tears in his eyes.

“Uh yeah, I was expecting you to dodge it, my bad,” Nami says, but she isn’t beyond threatening another punch with her new, heavier metal arm. “What are you doing? You’re overcomplicating things, you idiot!”

“Says you and then goes to make an alliance with the Whitebeards.”

“That is besides the point!”

Usopp looks away, because it is what it is and even if she doesn’t like it, she’s gotta deal with it. As a Strawhat, she should have plenty of experience with annoying situations, after all. Usopp regrets nothing. 

 

-

 

“Anyways, this is my problem!” Miss Wednesday insists, noble to the very end. “I can deal with it on my own! I--” she pales as it suddenly sinks in. “I have to go get Igaram and Carue, oh no, what do I do?!”

“Igaram?”

“See, you do need our help,” Usopp says, “and if Luffy beats up your bossman, he’ll definitely get a high bounty. It’s a win-win situation.”

“B- But! But that's impossible to begin with!” Miss Wednesday says exhaustedly. “Even with the Burglar Cat and the Man Demon on your ship, you can’t be hoping you can actually defeat one of the Seven Warlords of the sea! And it’s Crocodile , of all people. He’s got an incredible Devil Fruit ability, you know!”

 

Immediate, bone-breaking silence descends on the entire cape.

 

Utter horror strikes. 

“Oh no no no forget I said that! PLEASE!” 

 

She’s hysterical at this point, desperately fumbling in tears, knowing it was much too late to fix her mistake. 

Usopp can’t handle this. 

He actually bursts out laughing, and he hears Nami join him in the distance. 

Gin’s shocked enough to actually be petrified, hands loosening against Sanji’s collar, flabbergasted expression plastered on their faces. Sanji actually drops his cigarette. 

“A warlord?!” Luffy says, absolutely excited now, “hey! That’s like the Hawky guy, right?! That sounds amazing, Usopp, hey!”

“Don’t be excited about it!” Gin snaps, throwing down his tonfas because if he w as going to murder her now, he was very much going to use his hands for it. “Dammit woman! Why did you tell us that?! Now we’re definitely going to have to get involved!”

 

(“Oh, so Gin can recognize event flags,” Usopp mutters to himself.)

 

“I’m sorry!” she pleads, tears in her eyes, “I didn’t mean to!”

Small mercy, the Unluckies aren't around. They can still turn around and pretend they didn’t hear it, and nothing would be wrong.

 

(The News Coo lands on Nami’s arm, and trades a few beris for a newspaper.)

(Usopp nods. There goes all their chances of escape-- in a couple days, Crocodile heading an organization will probably become available knowledge high on Morgans' information channels. Their fate is sealed.)

 

Sanji swoons, already resigned to their fate because Luffy is sparkling three ways into the sun, “Miss Wednesday is beautiful when she’s being a dork, too!”

“Please stop!”

“W-W-Wait, what am I supposed to do?!” Mister Nine squawks. “Your Highness Miss Wednesday-- That's right. I can still pretend I don't know anything, right?"

Yes, yes he can. But for the rest of the Strawhats, that isn't feasible as long as Luffy is apparently way too eager to get involved, and no one is actually trying to stop him except for Gin. 

The resulting panic is more amusing than anything else, but Nami sighs in resignation, picking up the Log Pose and strapping it to her wrist, holding up the map with a wide grin. Well, at least the route is nicely charted. As expected from Gin-- though Usopp probably taught him how to do it. 

 

“Well, nothing we can do about it now,” she says, turning cheerfully back to the crew. “You’re in trouble, right? Then what’re we waiting for? Full speed ahead to Whiskey Peak we go!” 

“YEAH!” Luffy cheers, and Usopp and Sanji give their similar yells of agreement in slightly differing ranges of enthusiasm.

“Ehh?!” is everyone else’s reaction. 

“You know it’s a trap, but we’re still going?!” Miss Wednesday has no idea what is going on right now. Is this a pirate crew, or what? On second thought, maybe it’s because it’s a pirate crew that they’re not thinking about the consequences...

Gin also disagrees. “Nami, you can’t be serious.”

Nami gestures at Luffy with a shrug. “Well, we can at least get her there. And then if we change our minds, we can turn back.”

“You know that’s not how it’s going to work!” Gin snaps, “if they label us enemies, they’re going to chase us down!” 

“It’s fine, Gin!” Luffy wraps his arms three times too many loops around Gin, “it’ll be fun!”

“This is not a ‘have fun’ situation! Usopp, say something!”

 

Usopp doesn’t, because Luffy isn’t going to understand if he just says that. 

(They can’t play it nice and easy here if they want to grow. It’s going to hurt, but that’s unfortunately how Luffy learns best. So Usopp and Nami have already agreed on letting these things happen without change.)

(They internally apologize to Gin, though.)

 

The Captain's ecstatically jumping about, way too eager to get on the ship and set sail right now. Nothing they can do about it if the Captain is the most excited to get there.

“We’re going to fucking die,” Gin mutters, burying his face into his hands, for about the hundredth time that week. “Two minutes into the Grand Line and our goal is a fucking Warlord. History, bloody hell, it repeats itself.”

Sanji pats him on the back. “Shithead, it’s not the same as it was with Krieg,” he says, “ we’re heading for the Warlord this time, not the other way around.”

“Exactly the problem!” Gin groans.

Luffy grins. “It’s the exact opposite of a problem, Gin!” and the man makes a dying noise in response.

“He’s right, you know,” Nami says, folding up the map after making sure they were set on a heading to Whiskey Peak. “Recklessness isn’t the problem here-- it’s the solution!”

“Nami, I thought you were the rational one on this ship!”

 

-


-

 

After Nami got involved with the ‘hey we found a princess that’s working undercover, let’s help her’ discussion, it only took a few more words to sort-of convince everyone to allow them onto the ship.

In a ‘fuck it, I’m tired of talking common sense into idiots, let’s just go’ sort of way. 

Gin and Zoro were the only voices of reason on the ship-- but Zoro was asleep, and Gin couldn’t win an argument alone. 

Sanji is in agreement with everything that has to do with Miss Wednesday’s wellbeing, and Usopp and Nami were already in the process of getting there, as if the decision was obvious from the start. 

Something is wrong here (are they on crack?) and Gin doesn’t know what.

(Goddammit, he likes this crew but sometimes he just wants to strangle all of them slowly in a dungeon.) 

 

For Miss Wednesday and in her defense, she really didn’t have a choice. She had to get back to Whiskey Peak regardless, and if she had to ride the road of a pirate ship to get there-- well, it’s the least riskiest thing she’s done so far.

(Why did they even believe that she was a princess, anyways? Just because the long-nosed said so?)

“But this isn’t any of your business!” she insists, even as they board the ship. “I know I’m speaking this ironically-- but I could steal a weapon and stab you guys in the back when you aren’t looking!”

“Well, are you?” Luffy asks.

“Uh. No, but--”

“Then that’s fine, you can stay.”

“Don’t trust so easily! Are you really the captain?!”

It's probably a statement to their disorganization that Miss Wednesday feels genuinely concerned for this ship's workings.

 

Gin, for one, isn’t going to retort anymore. 

This is unfortunately his captain now and he has to live with it. It’s okay, the stress can’t possibly make his life any shorter than it was already fated to be. 

Mister Nine sighs. He sits on the deck (I’m going with you, Miss Wednesday! We’re partners, after all-- I can’t just leave you now!) and simply watches everything go on. He’s very out of place here and he’s aware of it. 

“What are you talking about, Miss Wednesday? Of course it’s our business,” Nami says, raising her finger. “It’s business , period. I’ll have you know our prices aren’t cheap.”

Miss Wednesday’s jaw drops. 

That was a complete game changer for the situation, as ridiculous and unsensible it already was. “You’re charging?!”

“Bodyguard fees, mercenary fees,” Usopp counts off the top of his head. The bird on his shoulder adds her own input, but goes ignored. “Beggars can’t be choosers, unfortunately.”

“Wha-- I wouldn’t be on this ship if I weren’t desperate…” Miss Wednesday despairs, suddenly realizing the anchor has been raised and she only has two more minutes to hesitate, “you guys are so dishonourable!”

“We’re pirates!” Luffy gleefully reminds her. 

"Last I recall, we were trying to kill a defenseless whale," Mister Nine notes the hypocrisy, to which Miss Wednesday hisses for him to be quiet.

“You’re a princess, right? You should have cash,” Gin points out. Regardless of whether that’s true or not, they were a bounty hunting organisation. They literally run on the premise of cash, so there should be a monetary benefit for them somewhere.

“No, we’re kind of in the midst of a civil war, as I’ve said…”

“Then we’ll put it on your tab.”

“Is this a bar?!”

“No, this is a pirate ship.”

 

At this point, Miss Wednesday wanted to jump off. 

But alas, all her brain cells have curled up and died in the process of the absolutely appalling conversation, and she realized it was much more to her own benefit that she stayed here and hitched a ride. 

 

“Plus, this isn’t done without reason,” Nami finally admits, to everyone’s surprise. “While I agree-- it’s dumb to lead two of you onto our ship, we need the manpower right now to make it through the starting storm. So basically, you gotta work your cab fee.”

“Ah,” Miss Wednesday looks up, rather appreciative of that one factor that allowed her to breathe with a little less guilt, “I see. That’s fair… I suppose…”

“Come to think of it, this is an abnormally small crew,” Mister Nine admits, “I’m rather surprised you made it here at all.”

“Hey,” Luffy takes offense.

“He’s right, in a way,” Nami pats Luffy on the straw hat. “At least for now, we need more people on hand, even if they’re just there to pull some strings or fix holes that show up in the hull. And trust me, we’ll never have enough hands around here.” 

 

-

 

(Just like the other side of the Red Line-- there’s always a storm that greets them in the entrance. It’s the factor that wipes out most of the unprepared pirates in Paradise.)

(However, it’s not as straightforward on this side of the wall. It can range from heavy snow to thick fog on a sharp spin to strong winds and icy paths, but the fact remains that it’s dangerous to go on unprepared.)

(Usopp’s patch jobs have always been notoriously shoddy, but they were always quick when the times called for it. Now that he was blind, he could do neither. That was, before they get a shipwright in Franky, a big loss.)  

(Which is why they went out of the way to get a sea king to ferry them across Reverse Mountain. Even in the first time around, the ship would have capsized much earlier if the crew did not have the particularly patchwork-competent Usopp with them.)

(And that was really ironic to think.)

(Though Usopp was bitter to admit it, he was no longer competent in the same way, and thus they had to make new adjustments accordingly.)

 

-

 

“Bye Whale! Don’t rub out that mark now!” Luffy loudly warns.

The whale sings back, the crudely-drawn Strawhat jolly roger clear and bright on his head. Crocus stands at the pier to see them off with a hum.

They wave goodbye to Crocus and Laboon as they parted from the Twin Capes, finally making their way toward the first stretch of the Grand Line.

Zoro lays asleep at the corner of the deck with Kinoko flopped across his belly. They were snoring quite loudly, but they were out of the way so it was fine. 

(Nami contemplates punching him awake, but she decides against it.)

 

As entertaining as it was to see them coerce an unwilling princess onto their ship, Gin did not like the situation and he was making that clear. He was going to watch her like a hawk-- and everyone had agreed to that-- so any suspicious moves would be interrogated. 

Even if Usopp swears that she’s an actual princess, Gin could care less. Royalty and nobility are things he never bows down to, after all. 

“Here’s the deal, Luffy,” Gin finally speaks up as they face the horizon. His captain sits on the figurehead, and they were away from the rest of the crew. He lowers his tone, speaking seriously. “I’m tolerating this until we get to our destination. If for a second I think we shouldn’t do this-- you’re listening to me, understood?”

Gin isn’t going to let them walk right into a suicide situation, idiots or not.

 

(As the oldest and most experienced member of the crew, he’s responsible for at least this much.)

 

Luffy looks over, his expressions neutral. Despite the childish eagerness he had displayed, he looks at him with a degree of gravity in his expressions, willing to listen to those words in consideration of Gin’s feelings if nothing else.

“The Captain of this ship is me , Gin,” he says, his tone laced with just a hint of whininess. He even punctuates it with a light smile, like a lighthearted reminder rather than a stern warning. 

But it didn’t seem that way to Gin.

 

Gin stiffens, face steeled, as if the words had hit him a little hard. Luffy notices the way he goes paler, fingers tightening around his forearms in fear. 

The Captain had failed to catch until now, that his Quartermaster wasn’t used to their ways yet. But the Quartermaster, too, had forgotten that the nature of this new crew was far more complicated than this. 

To Gin, this was the precognition of something dire. A slap to the face, a swing of a blade, and immediate regret. 

(Men are killed often on the Don's ship.)

(It's the natural order, after all. What were those men thinking, going against the Don's orders? Did they think they had the right to express their disagreements directly up the chain of command?)

(Perhaps, Gin has grown complacent too.)

(For a moment, he had forgotten that he didn't have any authority on this ship. What was he thinking, complaining constantly about everything and even justifying it in his head that it was for the crew? Has he gone mad?)

The Don was authoritative and unforgiving. Gin had always been careful when working under him-- and this would be his first fuck up. He pales, feeling the churn of another round of blood making its way up his throat. 

 

But none of that happens. 

 

Luffy simply adjusts his hat on his head and turns back toward the sea. 

Picking up after his mistake without an apology-- because they didn’t need those things-- “I trust you, Gin!” he staples it on with a resolution and a wide smile. “So if you think we really shouldn’t, then we won’t. Alright?”

(I decide where we go. And you make sure it doesn’t go too far out of control.)

And it's another phrase he's heard plenty of times from Don-- but from Luffy's lips, it sounds beautiful. It sounds genuine, and it fills him with so much confidence, he might have cried there. 

Maybe it’s the pain of the poison in his chest-- nah, he’s used that excuse too many times. Maybe one day, he can admit that these warm feelings are joy. 

(What was he bracing himself for? Luffy isn't Don Krieg.)

(He thought he knew that.)

 

On this ship, he could complain as much as he wanted. He was allowed to. There will, of course, be people that deny his denials, and things will never go the way he wants them too-- but that’s fine.

Because order is something only done in moderation on a pirate crew. His job was essential-- but sometimes, moderation can run wild. Moderation can be a nag. And they would love him and need him all the same. 

“Alright, captain,” Gin manages to say. Then, more for himself than for Luffy, he adds that, “I trust you, too.”

 

-

 

It’s snowing. 

Which Nami actually despises for the irony-- she had just changed to the heat model, dammit. Grand Line weather, curse you!

(And of all things, Zoro is asleep, so it’s not like she can ask him to change her limbs again. She’ll kick him later. With the metal foot.)

 

Luffy had been building snowmen for a long while, until he threw a snowball at Mister Nine who had been criticising his art skills. Except, he missed and hit Sanji. 

So now Luffy and Mister Nine were running for their lives while Sanji, who had a shovel, was trying to bury both of them. Mister Nine has no idea why this is happening to him.

Zoro now had snow covering him in a layer. Kinoko, seemingly registering the cold but not willing to rouse, squeezes herself under the belly warmer and continues sleeping.

Gin had been out there shovelling with Sanji, but after the chaos occurred, he decided to stand there and contemplate his life decisions again. 

(Then the three stooges pelted him with a snowball and he takes that as a personal insult, so he proceeds to join in, but that was of course beside the point.)

 

Nami wraps a shoulder guard, layered with heat packs, around the core of her metal arm. It won’t help out much near the elbow and finger joints, but it prevents frostbite at the core and that was enough for now. 

She hid out in the galley with Usopp and Miss Wednesday, wrapped in blankets. 

Usopp was working on the Buggy passport they had acquired, trying to transform it into an ornament that they could carry around without it getting in the way of battle. 

“They’re freaking out about Luffy’s crazy stunt on the execution platform,” Nami tells Usopp. They’re seated by the table, the former reading the newspaper. 

The front page was plastered with Luffy’s face, a shot of his smile as the execution is shown in shambles behind him. A second picture depicts him exchanging sake cups with a cloaked man, moments before lightning struck. 

There were accompanying pictures as well, mostly civilian shots of Nami and Gin getting along as they made their purchases around town. Zoro, another prospective Straw Hat member in Marine opinion, also had a picture displayed in the corner.

Usopp chuckles at the descriptions.  “But no bounty yet?”

“No, but I think that’s more out of confusion than anything else,” Nami surmises. “They’re putting a large warning on ‘Straw Hat Luffy’ with this article, though. He leads the two highest bounty holders in the Ease-- and he can apparently contact the dead.”

Usopp snorts.

 

All the while, Miss Wednesday gives them a strange look. Nami describes every picture they find, and reads it out to him as if he couldn’t read it for himself. 

(Is he illiterate? That’s not uncommon... But then there wouldn’t be a need to describe the pictures, would there?)

Gradually, as they ignored her and continued to speak-- Miss Wednesday realized that the long-nosed craftsman was blind.

(But her hand shivered at the realization that this was the same man that found them behind a rock, exposed their intentions-- and knew her secret.)

(Why did he know so much?)

(It was, just a little… incredibly, incredibly terrifying.) 

(They say that those who are blind are the ones that have seen the most in the world.)

 

“But they don’t know just how much damage he can cause yet, so his bounty is still tentative,” Nami summarises. 

 

Which makes sense-- the platform event could have been a skit or a prank for all they knew. Pirates loved flashy things and the more experienced marines were willing to bet the situation on a loud publicity stunt if nothing else. 

But they got news coverage, and that was all Nami wanted. 

On a smaller scale, they also covered the Revolutionary event on Tequila Wolf, (which was penned down as a ‘rebel base found in an abandoned country’ instead of the ironic other way around.) 

Even if the World Government was unaware, someone involved in that outbreak would definitely remember the straw hatted boy. Rumours will spread about the revolt possibly kicking off from that little jailbreak. 

(It won’t be a big deal, but it will certainly ring some bells in future conversations.)

 

“They don’t know how to gauge the wanted amount because this is a confusing sort of threat hailing from the East sea, of all places,” Usopp shrugs, “well, he’ll definitely get one after Crocodile, so it’s only a matter of time.”

“I’m betting on a hundred mil starter,” Nami grins. “We’re hyping him up, y’know!”

“That’s impossible,” Usopp denies immediately, “the highest starting bounty recorded in history is eighty million, you know. They won’t go any further than that for an outset. Also, Nami, where the hell did you pick up that vocabulary?”

“None of your business. But if you’re in such denial about it, wanna bet ?” Nami repeats herself, her voice slurring in an almost cheeky, seductive way that made Usopp rethink every decision in the world. 

(When Nami makes a bet, she never loses-- even if she does, she’ll find a way to make you miserable about it, to the degree where it doesn’t even feel like you’ve won. It really, really sucks sometimes.)

He groans. “Just read the rest of the article.”

 

-

 

“Why?” Miss Wednesday speaks up. 

They turn to her.

“Why are you two so sure you’ll defeat Crocodile, just like that?” she finally brings up the courage to ask. “I don’t think you understand just how fearsome a man he is!”

She couldn’t handle this anymore-- this nonchalant nature. 

(It was mockery to her.)

She’d suffered for five years, just to get anywhere close to this progress and a bunch of pirates are just going to waltz in, take care of it, and that would be it?

 

What makes them think it’d be so easy?

 

(She almost doesn’t want them to help her, but that’s her pride talking, so she would never vocalize it.)

(But the emotions stay there, churning in her impatience.)

 

“We understand,” Usopp says, his tone stern and serious. “And Miss-- Vivi,” he uses her name, and that makes something in her shrivel. “We’re sorry that there was no one that could give you this same degree of help before now.” 

 

(Huh?)

 

“It’s a political problem, after all,” Nami says. Her words were to Vivi, but her heart seethed in the memories of Arlong Park’s dark ages. “The World Government is at fault-- sometimes, a girl has to stand up for her precious people. I was the same, too.”

Miss Wednesday bites her lip. 

“There are things we can’t do alone, even if we risk our lives and spend years in hell for it,” Nami tells her. And she inches, just a little closer to the princess. “And I realized that a company of ragtag pirates is better than having no company at all. The only thing in my way was my confidence that now had no pillar, and my pride.” 

And Miss Wednesday resists the urge to shout.

 

(Pride? Confidence? Is that what they’re summing up her internal conflict into?)

 

Of course, she wanted someone to share the burden with. She had Igaram with her, Carue always by her side. But loneliness always prevailed, for the sake of her kingdom.

She couldn’t trust a single one of her fellow agents. 

(So when Mister Nine vehemently declared his desire to stay on the ship with her, because they were partners -- she had internally marked him an idiot.)

(An idiot, because didn’t you know? I don’t trust you nearly as much as you do me.)

(I was tricking you this whole time. Don’t call me your partner-- I’m a terrible, terrible person that deserves none of your compassion and trust!) 

 

She feels a hand at her cheek and she immediately backs off, sharply slapping it away. It takes her another second to realize it had been Nami-- and she was holding a handkerchief.

And Miss Wednesday had frustrated tears trailing down her cheek.

 

She wipes it away, furiously pretending they never existed. 

“I’m not overconfident!” she insists, her anger overtaking her. “All of you are! The situation is hopeless, and we’re all going to die once we reach Whiskey Peak… and yet… and yet all of you are still here, bringing me there…. Why?”

Her voice broke at the end of it, and she dissolved into tears. 

There are Officer Agents waiting for her at Whiskey Peak. It was stupid to even bother going there-- but Igaram and Carue were there, and she needed, needed to get them first. If she didn’t go, they would definitely die. 

And yet…

 

“Vivi,” Nami calls, but she doesn’t look up. “Vivi, look at me.”

 

She does, and she finds Usopp sliding a cup of warm tea in her direction. Nami hands her the handkerchief-- but Vivi doesn’t take it.

“You’re right. Whiskey Peak is a trap, so there’s no reason we should go there. You have friends on that island, but if we’re choosing the lives of those two or the lives of your whole country-- it’s easy to see which is more important,” Nami challenges her.

Vivi snaps at the implication, “I am not leaving Igaram and Carue to die!” She slams her hand on the table.

“So you’re just going to die with them instead?” Nami says, raising her voice.

“No! I--”

“That is exactly what you’re thinking,” Nami says. “Deep down, you know that it’s impossible to save both of them. But here we are, giving you a slim chance for all of you to make it out alive. And you trust it, that’s why you’re asking us to go there.”

“That isn’t what I’m doing!”

“It is!”

 

And she fell silent, biting her lip. 

(She’s right.)

(Right now, Miss Wednesday is trying to use this crew to her benefit. It’s not as if she has a choice in the matter, and they were willing, after all.)

 

“You don’t have to think about it, Vivi,” Usopp tells her. “You’re not a nice girl, and your years in Baroque Works is proof of that. You might as well make the most of it, you know?”

Use us , they were saying.

Use us as your pawns to save your country.

We’re volunteering.

“Your strongest suit is spearheaded leadership, as a princess of your country,” and those words struck her, almost too well in her heart. Usopp grins, though. “Take the reins, and we, the idiots, will follow. And you’re going to make sure we all make it out alive.”

“Not too literally, of course,” Nami quickly adds, “Luffy’s still the captain of this ship. But we’ll take your words as the advisor, counsellor and strategist in this war. And in return, we get prestige, and your skills for the duration of the voyage. Is that fair?” 

 

Almost too fair. 

 

Vivi could see the thinking line behind the pretty words. 

They were just ferrying a princess over like busybodies-- but they were trying to involve themselves, to turn this into something else. 

To turn this into future investment, so they can plant their seeds of connections into the roots of a royal kingdom once they liberate it. 

Everything else was something short of a convenient excuse, that was obvious. 

(Is this as bad as what Crocodile is doing?) 

(...maybe not.)

 

“That’s fair,” she admits. She wipes her tears, picking up the teacup and taking one soothing, warming sip. “But… but we’ll negotiate the terms in detail at a later date.”

Nami extends her flesh hand, to which Miss Wednesday takes in gesture of contractual agreement. “You can be assured of our skills at the next island,” she promises. 

 

“The incredulity of this crew has assured me as much, but I will keep that in mind,” Miss Wednesday says, breaking into a resigned smile. 

 

-

 

“Everyone! Storm coming south-southeast!” 

Everyone jumps up at the same time to put their full point of attention at the navigator. Usopp and Miss Wednesday leave the galley, the latter padding gently at her raw and reddened cheeks, trying to get her energy back. 

(Zoro stays asleep, but no one notices yet.)

 

“Usopp, take the jib sail! Sanji, on the rudder-- wait sorry, the other way around!” Nami orders. Usopp doubles back, abruptly remembering despite himself that a blind man shouldn’t take the damn jib sail, because that doubles as aft lookout. “Gin, tighten the sails!”

“Aye, sir!” 

 

It was finally time to face the chaos, and Nami had the most excited smile on her face. Maybe that was why everyone else couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Iceberg at eleven o’clock!” Miss Wednesday yells loudly. 

“It’s huge!”

“Usopp, rudders hard to starboard! Sanji, rein that in!” Gin yells before Nami could order it. The two obey immediately, and the synchronous action prompts a smooth, wave-compelling turn that Nami has never come close to experiencing without Jinbei on their side. 

They avoid the iceberg almost too perfectly, coming close but never grazing the surface. 

 

It surprises her, so she takes a moment to meet Gin’s eyes-- and she suddenly realizes that she wasn’t the only one with navigation knowledge anymore. 

In fact, Gin had sailing knowledge that surpasses hers-- he knew, not perfectly, but enough for a caravel, how to turn ships. And he could do it so much more naturally than Nami could ever hope to emulate. 

Nami’s specialty lay in the direction and the weather-- and that’s where she should put her attention on. Gin had skills everywhere else-- and for a highly specialized crew like this one, a member like him was vital.

(I do what I can do, and you do what you can do.)

(That’s a crew, right?)

Gin nods at her, not quite registering her thoughts but prompting for her to ensue the next command. He was the responder of the situation, after all-- not the commander. 

(Nami didn’t have to do everything on her own anymore-- that was such a crazy thing to think about. She might have been underestimating all of her crew until now.)  

She laughs. 

(Oh, what to do? She’s so happy.)

 

“Ooh, there’s a dolphin in the distance!” Luffy announces, ecstatic, pointing at something none of them have the liberty to look out for, “it’s huge! Nami, let’s go find it!”

“Luffy, sit down and be quiet!” Nami snaps, though the smile is so, so wide on her face. 

She looks at the log pose.

“Usopp, angle our course thirty degrees northwest! Strong winds coming in from the starboard, so Sanji, hold your spot!” she orders. Then as an afterthought, “Gin?”

Gin holds tight to the ropes of the sails, nodding sharply, “Hey, Mister Nine! Get off your ass and take the other sail!” then a second later, “Usopp, pull back!” 

Usopp pauses there, careful not to turn them too sharply across. He could only gauge, after all-- he couldn’t clearly tell from orders and feeling alone. 

 

“Zoro, wake up, we’re in an emergency!” Usopp yells. “And Kinoko, stop ignoring us and get out of the haramaki!”

“Are you fucking serious?!” Gin exclaims, not having noticed the swordsman a nd the bird still being asleep this whole time. (Come to think of it, roads were abnormally free of bird face-hugs today.) “HEY! We need another hand on the sails! ZORO!”

 

“Rocks! Nami, Rocks!” Luffy yells out urgently, “they came outta nowhere!”

That definitely happened a lot on the Grand Line, didn’t it? Nami takes it in immediately-- crap it’s impossible to dodge all of them! “Twenty degrees, Sanji!”

“Too late! We grazed it!” 

“Water below deck!” Wednesday yells, rising from under the deck, carrying the oars in her arms. 

“Damn it!” Gin swears. The Merry was such a fragile vessel. “Nine, go fix it!”

“Wha--” Mister Nine falters, but flinches as Gin gives him a death glare. “Okay, okay!” He goes after it immediately, knowing from his prior ship tour where the supplies were.

“Winds rising fast!” Nami raises her voice, alarmed, “raise the sails now! Ship hard to port, it might be a cyclone!” 

“The sails are going to tear! Luffy, help me out here!”

“Sanji, keep the jib out but hold it tight!”

“Usopp, I’ll take the rudder! Help out with raising the sails! Luffy, go up and get it from the crow’s nest!”

“Another leak in the lower deck! I need larger planks!” 

“Wednesday, there are spares in the women’s room! Get them to Nine!”

“Could you at least put the Miss and Mister before it?!”

“Is this the fucking time for naming conventions?! Wait a minute-- ZORO, WAKE UP!”

“Kinoko! I know you’re pretending, GET UP!”

 

-


-

 

Of course, once they were out of the storm and sprawled out in pure exhaustion, Zoro got an inglorious slug over the skull with the Clima Tact.

“Can’t believe you would actually do it again,” Nami hisses.

“What do you mean, again?”

Nami pointedly doesn’t answer that.

Needless to say, Zoro is just as confused as the first time as to why he got hit over the head. He’s swearing colours into their ears and everyone is too tired to explain to him just yet.

 

(Meanwhile, Usopp is sitting by the bow, holding his bird upside down by the legs as if it was a chicken about to be gutted. He’s giving her the most unimpressed look in the world, and the bird expertly avoids meeting his eyes, not that he can see or anything.)

(Everyone averts their eyes.)

 

“Huh? What are these bozos doing on our ship?” Zoro asks, as soon as he recovers. 

Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine lay on the deck, out of breath and absolutely gratified for the decent springtime sun. “You just noticed?!” even they’re exasperated. 

“Come to think of it… what were you guys’ name again?” Zoro crouches down, “Mister Nine? Miss Wednesday?” he hums, tilting his head quite contemplatively-- “now where have I heard of that before?”

The two agents sweat nervously. There was no way this swordsman of the East Blue could know about their organisation, could he?

“Uhm, actually… it’s a long story at this point…” Miss Wednesday tries to fill in, but her hesitation gives her no time to explain anything. 

 

Nami checks the Log Pose one last time-- and turns her eyes to their heading.

“We’re here, everyone!” she declares, just as the clouds part to reveal the grand, charming silhouette of Cactus Island in the distance. 

“It’s an island!”

“We got here alive!”

Luffy bolts up from the dead, beaming in fascination at the abnormally mountains that were the island’s namesake. Sanji takes it in similarly, his excitement palpable in the view of the very first island they would encounter on this monstrous sea. Gin is much more tense, but among the crew, he lets his shoulders ease.

Zoro keeps a hand on Kogatana, his other hands resting against the swords around his waist. 

 

“We’ll reach shore in an hour, in this wind,” Nami says. “Now sit down, everyone-- it’s time to talk about the plan.”

Chapter 28: [EXTRA] profiles.

Summary:

not a chapter. but just to catch up to all the time travellers we have so far, I made some profiles for fun.

Chapter Text

Important Note:

These photos are edited from official art and various other sources, cause I can't draw. They're just meant to look a little closer to what they should in the fic, mainly with Nami's metal arm and stuff, but they are by no means the 'set in stone' appearances of the characters now. I can't alter everything after all-- but I did what I could.

Mainly the point of this chapter is to just sum up most of the large changes for now. (As of Loguetown)

Since imgbb suddenly killed my account, here's the reupload. Lengthy image descriptions included this time in case imgbb acts up again. These are all outdated by the time of the latest chapter, so keep that in mind! These only profile up to Loguetown. 

BURGLAR CAT NAMI

Image Description: An edited collage of Nami from One Piece, featuring her with long orange hair. Her right arm has been superimposed with a metal prosthetic arm. There are two images of her. In the forefront, she wears a blue halter-top dress and a sign points to her reading 'Girl with a Metal Arm'. In the background, she has her back turned, and the symbol of the Whitebeard Pirates (visualized as a cross with a U-shaped crescent that represents Edward Newgate's moustache) is tattooed on her lower back. She also wields a large, red-tinted scythe. A sign points toward her reading 'Whitebeard (Pirate)'. The background features bright oranges and bold blues, with faint overlays of a compass and the strawhat logo behind her. There is also a filmstrip featuring manga panels of post-timeskip Nami. There is text in brackets on the top left and lower left of the image.

Bounty: 25,000,000 beri

  • Affiliated with the Whitebeard Pirates (honourary member)
  • Known to steal from pirates, nobles, and marine bases in a robinhood manner.
  • Current working with the 'Man-Demon' under command of a mysterious pirate who wears a straw hat.

Comparisons vs Canon Nami: (as of Loguetown)

  • Metal Arm prosthetic and foot. (Right arm is incapable of delicate work. Drawing maps is manageable, but she cannot write or pen signatures with it.)
  • Longer hair (middle of back)
  • Whitebeard mark. (Now addiliated with the Whitebeards. Nami has about a hundred siblings now, she's still the cheekiest, though.

 

SNIPER KING USOPP

Image Description: An edited collage of Usopp from One Piece. The image's backgroun dcontains inverted black-and-white manga panels, overlayed with gradients of colours in large flowing shapes. There are two images of Usopp, both featuring him drawing. In the forefront he's scribbling on a stained book where two bird footsteps mark the edge of the page. In this one he struggles, wearing sunglasses. In the background, he has sketched a perfect Strawhat Jolly Roger, but has coloured it in out of the lines with the hat in green and orange rather than yellow and red. The center of the visual has a crosshair and a speech bubble with Usopp's name on it. There is text in brackets on the top left and lower left of the image.

Comparisons vs Canon Usopp: (as of Loguetown)

  • Almost fully blind in both eyes. (Brought over from the past. He can only feasible see colours. In exchange, he's trained his Haki up.)
  • Longer hair (shoulderlength)
  • Seeing-eye bird Kinoko. (Raised by Usopp and Kaya from the egg, she knows how to survey locations and people. She has a golden ring around her foot.)

Blind Sniper: No bounty yet.

  • His lost senses are made up for with Kinoko, Observation Haki, and a nuanced form of echolocation.
  • His current Kabuto is made with Grand Line techniques, but without the Pop greens and Dials. Similar can be said for the Clima Tact.
  • Worked as a waited for the Baratie for a while.
  • Has knowledge of Revolutionary workings and secret codes.

Chapter 29: preparation is key (that's why we're losing)

Summary:

The party begins on Whiskey Peak. With full stomachs, drawn swords, and muted urgency in the background, it all goes well.

And then it goes wrong, and then it keeps going wrong.

Chapter Text

Whiskey Peak, the only town of Cactus Island, had only one routine. If you see pirates, invite them in for a banquet, get them drunk, and then collect bounty heads. If they don’t have bounties, send them off to auctions or marine bases. 

For years now, Igaram has been stationed in this very spot, sending off countless pirates onto a life of agony his conscience could never allow him to atone for.

 

(He does occasionally ‘allow’ a few to escape, but to keep up the act, he must crush his own heart, and be the one that seals their fates more often than not.)

(Neither his hands nor the princess’s hands were clean anymore. He will bring this regret with him to the grave, for the sake of the kingdom.)

(It hurts, so much. But he will do this, because his princess is suffering even more.)

 

So he had been greeting the pirates this time around. A jolly, young boy who ate like a country, a swordsman who could drink them dry, a womanizing chef who swooned over every woman that looked his way-- and then, the real threat of the crew-- the Girl with a Metal Arm, Burglar Cat Nami. 

(She was red-listed at first, because she was part of Whitebeard’s legion and thus reckless to be harmed-- but Igarappoi had done his research. According to reliable sources, she was now a free target.)

Despite her notorious prestige however, Igaram (oh eks-- ma ma MAA~! Excuse me. I meant to say, Igarappoi,) was relieved to know that she was careless and loved to party, similarly to the rest of her crew.

Getting them drunk and tired from the party and feasting wasn’t easy (on their resources,) but when they fell asleep, the town was more than eager to strike. 

 

“Quite a philosopher, aren’t you, Mister Eight?” Miss Wednesday and Mister Nine address him from their spots on the roof.

The man is unfazed. “Ah, it’s you.” 

“We’ve struck gold on this capture, Mister Eight,” Miss Wednesday smiles, in the sinister way that she only saved for taunting the grunts they were deployed. 

Mister Eight looks over-- small talk was something irrelevant to their code-- so such a mundane topic of conversation was not something Miss Wednesday would purposefully initiate. It was part of their plan to not be associated with each other, after all.

Miss Wednesday tucks a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and sets her hand in the center of her collar. “Though we’ve fallen behind on the race for prestige and the scourge of our mission, I believe their bounties would far make up for it. They can’t possibly see this coming.”

Mister Eight’s gaze narrows.

“These pirates sure can drink,” Miss Monday sighs, tearing off her nun garb as she leaves the bar full of sleeping patrons. “So Mister Eight, was this banquet necessary after all? I was under the belief that Burglar Cat was to be left untouched.”

“That was only the case if she had ties to Whitebeard,” Mister Nine interrupts, showing himself from one of the many roofs of the city. He tosses them a sheet from a larger newspaper, “as it is public knowledge now-- she’s clearly defected, and is now working under the boy with the Straw Hat.”

“The boy with the Straw Hat?” Miss Monday says in disbelief. That boy was the least impressive one of the lot. “Understandable, then. Shall we strike now?”

“Yes,” Mister Eight only kept his eyes on Miss Wednesday for a moment, turning to the hundred of their grunts that have assembled in their moment of conversation. “First, we must seize them. Tie them up, and then we raid the ship--”

 

“Sorry, but they’re a little tired from the journey. Mind letting them take a bit more of a nap?” 

Zoro stands at the roof of the building overlooking the crowd. 

 

It’s just then that bounty hunters run out from the buildings-- because one of their crew members had escaped while they weren’t looking. “Mister Eight, it’s an emergency--!!”

“Wha-- he’s up there?!”

“Wasn’t he passed out just a moment ago?”

And really, it’s quite a bold underestimation. Zoro’s appalled to know that his reputation, which was useful for warding away weaklings, is completely looked down on in a place like this.

Well, at least it puts into perspective just how much of an underdog Easterns are. Time to prove them wrong, then. 

Zoro scoffs. “A true swordsman never lets alcohol take control of him,” he says. 

Actually none of them should have seriously fallen asleep from the banquet after the warning, but there Luffy and Sanji were, snoring. Let's hope they wake up from the noise. 

“About a hundred bounty hunters, one island into the Grand Line,” Zoro says, biting Kogatana so he had hands to tie his black bandanna over his head. “So basically if I defeat all of them, I’ll be one step closer to Mihawk’s level, right?”

“Don’t be overconfident, Zoro,” here came another figure, wielding steel tonfas, “give me half of them. I’ve been itching for a fight, you ain’t taking it away from me.”

“No, eat my dust.”

 

The crowd whirls on the newcomer.

Gin tightens his grip on the tonfas, looking over at the crowd, surveying his targets. The strongest ones would have to be the agents, one of which they were ordered by Nami to not touch. No helping that one.

His eyes meet Miss Wednesday and Mister’s Nine’s-- and they subtly nod at him.

“Wha-- there’s another of them?!”

“They must have been hiding on the ship!” Mister Nine yells, his voice laced with feigned panic. 

Mister Eight quickly fills in on the leadership role. “That’s the Man-Demon, Gin! But he is nothing we can’t handle-- everyone, we have three targets! Kill them if you must!”

The sound of rallying gunfire and shattering bricks, tinged with howls of pain and the screech of metal against flesh-- those harrying noises fill the night as blood soaked into the ever-menacing frame of the Cactus Rock.

 

What happens next can only be described as a showoff slugfest. 

 

Gin and Zoro are brawlers, above everything else they do on the ship. They thrive in combat, on the field. So when one after another gets struck down by either a mallet or a butter knife-- well, that’s better than accidentally shooting each other. Some weren’t as fortunate.

Zoro runs around to lead the crowd, and Gin spears straight through. 

They’re different, but no one would dare think they weren’t equally terrifying on their own.

 

-

 

Almost immediately as the fight begins, the agents fade out of the scene, save for Mister Nine who leads them tactically away from the other Strawhats.

"I'll keep watch. All forces, split up!"

Miss Monday remains on standby on her ambush spots-- but Mister Eight takes a run down the street with Miss Wednesday, under the guise of reaching their ambush spots. 

 

(She had, after all, used the coded hand sign just a moment ago. That meant an emergency-- and that she had information to share in relation to their core mission.)

 

"We're leaving with the pirates," she says as they reach a junction. "The Log Pose takes half a day, so we need to buy two more hours before we can set out."

"With the Pi--?!" Mister Eight doesn't get a word in edgewise.

Miss Wednesday whistles, and Carue shows up. Mister Eight turns unhesitatingly into the next building, and Miss Wednesday moves on forward. 

That was it. An order, prompt and silent-- and he obeys, because he knows that she knows what she’s doing. 

 

Two more hours. 

They need to keep up the enemy act for two hours-- and then they'll have to turn right into the pirates for help and run. 

 

Vivi’s impulses are always worrying-- sometimes it isn't her fault, really-- but one thing, Igaram knows-- is that he's very much an enabler of all the reckless things his princess has ever done. It isn't going to change now. 

(So he'll trust her-- and go with the plans even if he only knows a smudgeon of it now.)

Igaram takes a step toward the window. 

And the carpet explodes under his feet.

 

-


-

 

Usopp and Gin hid out in the welcome. 

Usopp did so, because it’s much more viable for them to remain unaware of his existence than for them to realize he’s blind. Gin would be too suspicious to enjoy himself in the banquet like the others, so he opted out of that part. 

They had two jobs-- Gin had to help Zoro (though he vehemently denied the need for aid,) and Usopp was to locate the Unluckies and take them out. 

He had stayed away at first, but buildings had to be approached, even by a sniper. Usopp didn’t have the ability to scout out a group of strangers for two specific, unfamiliar auras-- so he had to approach it, and sense it out bit by bit. 

Nami would do the same, but in her direction. Usopp could already feel her in the distance, making her way through the other end for those signs. 

Someone shoots at him, but he swerves aside. Usopp dodges a sword attack in the same manner, and casually sticks his cane just a little too far under someone’s feet, to which they trip and bowl over boxes and tools. 

All they need after that is a spray of Usopp’s probably -poisonous fumes from a mushroom that probably won’t kill them from just one inhale, but will certainly knock them out, and then Usopp is free to go. 

(Spywork kinda suits him.)

 

Not a lot of people notice him, since they’re all so wary of the next person that shouts ‘hey, Pirate Hunter is over there!’ that they don’t even notice the casual tap-tap-tap of his walking stick. 

His Haki spreads out, carefully mapping out the location using the trajectories of the humans in the area. It’s convenient when they’re everywhere, because he doesn’t even need his special devices to get a sense of space.

He’d locked on to the auras of the four agents for now, sifting through all the grunts to find his crew. Then he reaches out further, upward.

 

“See them anywhere, Kinoko?” Usopp asks.

 

Kinoko doesn’t respond. She flies around, surveying from upward, but never quite making any vocal notice back. The Unluckies don’t seem to be around.

So Usopp has to sift through the crowd, gradually trying to pinpoint which voices are even slightly stronger than the rest. 

(It’s hard to do, but it’s the perfect opportunity to massage the precision of his Haki. He hasn’t been leaving it unattended, but it’s still so, so far from his best state of observation. He needs practice.)

He dodges another sword, deflects a gun too close to his head-- and freezes.

(He found them.)

Two clear and strong voices, one a little higher than everyone else, and one standing still by the crook of a corner. Those must be the Unluckies, so it’s a relief they’re nowhere near the crew, or the four agents.

Huh? If one of them is in the air-- Kinoko should have notified him by now, and the two birds would have started fighting. That was her job-- to distract the faster of the two executioners, long enough for Usopp to shoot it down. 

Something isn’t right. 

 

(Where’s Kinoko?)

 

Abruptly, Usopp realized that there was nothing up there. There was nothing in the sky. What was the presence he’d felt a second ago, then?

And how did he lose sight of Kinoko? She must have descended at some point-- but now that she’s in the crowd, he can’t find her without focusing.

(Or maybe she got taken out in the air and Usopp didn’t even notice because that’s how much of a tunnel vision his Haki gives him right now.)

His Haki was in disarray-- crap, breathe, Usopp. You know you Haki fails you when you panic! You can’t panic now, look for Kinoko! You know her voice, you definitely do! She’s definitely there somewhere. Just lost. 

(What if it wasn’t the Unluckies? What if it was an actual, stronger enemy?)

But it’s too early for Mister Five and Miss Valentine to show up. Last time around, according to what Nami remembers, they only made themselves known after Zoro was done beating up a hundred men.

The timing should be the same, since they acted in the same way and even had a similarly long banquet. Luffy’s appetite was always the best indicator of time, after all. It doesn’t make sense for Friday and Valentine to have arrived on Whiskey Peak earlier than they had the last time. 

 

...no.

Oh no.

 

That’s it.

 

That’s where Usopp’s thinking is wrong. The timing isn’t set in stone-- in fact, it’s already run apart from the rails of the original, even before they got here.

(Because their timing isn't off. Our timing is.)

 

Usopp’s eyes widen, and his Haki falters. 

“There’s someone there! You’re not one of us, who are you?!”

A bullet grazes his ear, drawing blood. 

He cringes, hiding by a ladder as his ears begin to ring. Usopp falls against a ladder-- so he grabs it and swings, hearing it shatter against the ambusher’s figure. 

They don’t make another sound, but Usopp hits him one more time to make sure he’s out cold. Cradling his bleeding ear, the thoughts finally catch up on him. 

 

(This time around, the Straw Hats stayed on the Twin Capes longer than before to get Nami’s arm replaced.)

(They were off schedule-- but the Baroque Works agents would not be..)

 

Usopp and Nami had been too overconfident about their past life knowledge, not realizing that things were changing in the most minuscule, insignificant ways.

How could they have overlooked this?

 

(They fucked up.)

 

(Vivi and Igaram are in danger.)

 

He runs forward, quickly making his way around, and around-- where is he going? He doesn’t know either. But it’s faster to cut through the crowd than to keep trying to sense voices he doesn’t recognize. At the very least, he can use his ears if he’s close enough.

He sets a hand on the wall, his breath coming fast and quick.

He hates this-- being so uncomfortably weak. 

His body isn’t his own, and his senses don’t listen to him. His eyes are frustratingly out of tune with everything he wants to do, and his Haki stretches far, but doesn’t pick up enough to be useful when there’s so many unknown elements involved. 

That’s why he was happy when Kinoko came by. She was often absent and many times obnoxious-- but if there was something she never failed to do, it was come back to him,

Why wasn’t she coming back to him?

 

(Because he lost sight of her. Yet, that is only one mistake among many.)

(When did he become so complacent?)

 

An explosion interrupts his thoughts-- and he lifts his head to the bright explosion not too far away from him. There’s only one person that can make such a huge explosion here.

Usopp rushes forward, walking stick held beside him rather than before him.

If he had been careful for just a second longer, he might have been able to detect the sparks jolting sharply against his soles, rubbing against the strange water under his feet. 

He doesn’t see it though.

And the liquid bomb detonates under him. 

 

-

 

When her careful tracing of Igaram’s aura suddenly cuts off with the sound of a loud explosion, Nami’s blood runs cold. 

(Unlike Usopp, she didn’t have the range or the ability to recognize voices in a crowd of more voices. So Usopp was the Haki finder. Nami was just scouting the normal way, only using Haki to follow Igaram’s voice as a form of mental training for her own benefit.)

(But then, it flickered.)

(There aren’t many situations where an aura flickers.)

She spins around, immediately making a run for the explosion. Why would anything explode? There was only one reason-- and that was the fact that their enemies had come early.

“I expected things to go wrong when I laid out the plan in front of Luffy,” she says, trying to smile in the irony of the situation, “I guess we can say this was expected.”

It was, after all, a threat they could handle. If they were early, then that was what Usopp and Nami are around for-- to scout them out first and come into contact early. 

But she’d underestimated the butterfly effect, maybe a bit too much.

“So they were early enough to set traps and lie in wait?” then that changed everything.

Nami’s bounty isn’t as high as Luffy’s, but her prestige is twice as worse, and was much better known in the Grand Line. Whatever that might mean in the eyes of Baroque Works agents-- she would have to find out now.

 

(Stop!)

 

She skids to a sharp brake, managing to halt in her advance in time for an invisible bullet-- felt only by the incredible gush of sonic force passing through her bangs-- shoot forth from the alley just a step ahead.

“I thought I had you.”

Nami looks aside to find Mister Five, his revolver in his hands.

“Pulling a gun on a girl? How ungentlemanly,” she teases.

Mister Five scoffs. “The Girl with a Metal Arm, Burglar Cat Nami,” he says-- and really, Nami is starting to hate that extensive epithet. Stick to the latter, would they? “As if I’d let my guard down around someone with your notoriety. I’m not an amateur.” 

Nami whistles, charmed. 

So they do have their professional pride after all. 

 

(He already has his revolver out, which means he’s not underestimating her at all-- now that was incredibly fresh. It’s almost annoying.) 

(She’ll have to respond in kind.)

 

She assembles her Clima Tact and rests it horizontally across her shoulders. Upon seeing something beyond his figure, her eyes widen into something short of rage, and she lifts her shoulders, glancing morbidly at her opponent. 

Behind him on the cold ground-- laying uncomfortably still, with wisps of awful-looking smoke rising from her body-- was Kinoko. 

She had been shot down.

“Oh, was the bird your friend?” mister Nine asks, almost mockingly. “It was a menace to the nighttime view, so I cleared the air a little. Found a little something for my troubles, too.”

And he flicks something into the air in absent-minded admiration.

It’s a ring-- made of gold, from the reflection that beams from it, shining even in the moonlight. 

 

“I’m not one for jewellery, but Miss Valentine would surely appreciate a good chunk of gold,” he muses to himself. “It’s a good tradeoff for this effort, since your bounty will be going into Whiskey Peak funds instead of our wages.”

 

So their mission here is to capture Miss Wednesday, not specifically to take out the pirates. That’s why they aren’t together. 

He regards the ring for another moment-- then, almost in jest, he strings it through his pinky. 

Nami sees red.

She splits her Clima Tact into two-and-one, tossing the latter part further beyond as she swings the baton forward.

Mister Five pulls the trigger of his revolver at her foot.

Deftly, she avoids it by stepping back and quickly twirling to land with her metal arm on the floor. She catches her loose section of the Clima Tact as it returns.

“I see… your weapon functions like a boomerang with magnets,” Mister Five observes. 

“And you’ve used two of your six shots,” Nami returns, easily recognizing the model of her gun. 

 

(Chew had always been strangely obsessed with human artillery, and a drunk Chew would go on for years about the various models. Nami found herself with more worth as a sounding board this time around-- because, really, this was useful info.)

 

“Saving bullets?” she taunts, despite knowing full well that Mister Five didn’t need a second to reload.

(But he didn’t need to know that she knew his Devil Fruit powers.)

(Keep the misunderstandings coming, because she thrives on them. As long as it doesn’t involve allies, of course.)

They were in a narrow, building-prone location. If we’re comparing a gun to a throw-weapon, it’s obvious who would win.

Nami splits off the Clima Tact once more, letting it ricochet off a wall before spiralling forward with all the force of air pressure that could break glass.

Mister Five is taken by surprise at the change in direction, but he doesn’t need much to dodge, gathering his arm forward to fire all his remaining shots at once.

Nami ducks behind a wall-- but she doesn’t expect the cement building to actually shatter when the bullet hits. Dust and splinters rain down on her, and she barely has time to protect her head.

Her jaw drops-- her memories betray her, because she doesn’t remember Paradise enemies being this dangerous. The wall had been utterly blown to pieces by the force of an explosion that could only be a sonic boom.

 

(But is that the best he can do with his devil fruit?)

 

“The next shot won’t be destroying just the building,” Mister Five warns. 

Nami grins. “Too bad you’re not getting another, then,” she grins, raising her hand just in time to catch a baton just as it swings back. 

Mister Five scoffs, raising his gun toward his face, reloading it with one hard breath before clicking it back into place. “You underestimate me.”

Nami nods. “Same to you.”

 

Before the man could register the words, the last baton spins back, catching Mister Five by surprise as it smacks the gun right out of his hand. 

Nami reassembles the staff.

“With drearily-despondent deals and a bleak, unsatisfying beatdown, the weather on Whiskey Peak is morose yet again tonight,” she points upward as Mister Five scrambles to get his revolver back into his hands. 

(What, did you think she was seriously using her Clima Tact as boomerangs?)

“What?” Mister Five looks up as a suspicious flash of light comes overhead. “A-- A dark cloud?! When did that--”

Nami beams.

“Tonight’s weather forecast is a sudden squall, delving quickly into a furious storm!” she declares, tucking the pieces of her Clima Tact into her belt. “Watch out for lightning overhead, and refrain from wearing metals that are conductors!” 

Mister Five had a second to realize the golden ring on his pinky is a conductor.

 

-

 

Sanji isn’t asleep. 

He gets up a moment after Nami does, and skulks somewhere away from the crowd. 

“Now, where do they keep the food,” he mutters to himself, trying to recall the paths the suppliers took when bringing in more food for Luffy to eat. “I think they were coming from this way...” 

He nonchalantly walks past screaming humans and mass destruction.  Just another, normal day in the world. The restaurant was like this too.

 

“Kyahaha! If it isn’t Miss Wednesday.”

“M- Miss Valentine!”

 

Sanji freezes. Approximately three miles away north-northwest of where he’s standing-- he can hear… a woman. 

(Two women.)

 

“Now don’t try that fake smile on me, you very uncute little dearie,” the former teases, “I’m sure you know why we’re here. The boss sent us.”

“Where’s Mister Five… Igaram!” she realizes in horror. 

“Oh no you don’t!” 

 

There’s a sound of a strike, and a pained scream. A squawk that sounds faintly avian can be heard as well-- but Sanji knows that isn’t Kinoko’s voice. It’s got a deeper intonation. Is it the one Usopp was warning about? The uh, Unlucky or something?

(Seriously, there are too many birds to keep track of now.)

But the bird aside-- oh lovely Miss Wednesday is in danger! So Sanji starts sprinting. He might even brag that he made it there in three seconds.

 

But, a new problem.

 

Sanji runs in just as Miss Wednesday is fiercely kicked off her steed. Sanji isn’t quick enough to catch her as the ornament binding her ponytail shatters, and she tumbles harshly against the ground, her duck calling out in alarm.

The opponent lands, her heels digging in as she crouches down on the duck’s very convenient saddle. 

A smile.

In an instant, the duck crumbles under its own feet. Multiple kilos of weight grows and inflates on its spine, crushing down on its back.

Miss Wednesday is getting attacked… but the opponent is a lady, too.

(A very, very lovely lady, if he may-- no no focus-- she’s an enemy--)

 

Sanji steps forward-- Miss Valentine looks up, parasol by her shoulder in curiosity-- and kneels. He gets on his knees and, despite everything, swoons -- “oh, lovely lady!”

Miss Valentine blinks, because what the heck?

“Oh, how you have charmed me! Your beauty surpasses the stars!” Sanji woos, “would you like some tea, mademoiselle? I quite recall a great blend in the storage. I shall go fetch it immediately.”

He stands up, extending a hand in offer.

“Now, it’s not very modest to crouch in such a manner. Please, if you would give me just a moment, I shall lay the table for you.”

Miss Valentine takes it, if only out of sheer exasperation, and lets him stand her up, gracefully stepping back onto solid ground. 

Sanji then swirls and picks up Miss Wednesday, bridal style. “And of course, my lovely Miss Wednesday! I’m so sorry your prince did not catch you in time. No no, I mustn’t make you stand. Please, bear with this box as a seat for now.”

And he sets her, almost too gracefully, onto a wooden box on the side. 

Miss Wednesday and Miss Valentine are left to stare, almost awkward and incredulous, as Sanji dashes off. In less than a minute he produces a table, two chairs, a tablecloth, and a whole damn tea set.

Like, in the middle of the road and everything. 

 

(Carue lays, foaming at the mouth but uh, probably not dead? Behind them, ignored and forgotten in the midst of everything else.)

 

They found themselves being served tea-- lemon tea, with honey and ginger, Miss Valentine knows immediately-- and her grip on her parasol tightens in anticipation.

“Bon appetit, mademoiselle,” Sanji says, as they find themselves seated, parasol and weapons laid aside-- is this a chocolate sponge cake? Miss Valentine cannot believe her eyes right now.

(She hasn’t had cake in a while. This was an emergency mission, so they didn’t get a break in between. Plus, Mister Five was never a gentleman. He had his moments, but their relationship was professional above all else. And that was fine and all… but this.)

(Being treated like a princess? A lovely table, chocolate cake, and lemon tea. Oh, just take her heart with it, will you? She is figuratively head over heels.)

She takes the fork, takes a bite, and-- and well, she’s gone.

 

“Is it to your liking, dear mademoiselle?” Sanji asks, with all the toner and splendor of a butler in a high class restaurant. 

She hums in pleasure. “Oh, pretty boy,” she looks up at Sanji with love in her eyes, cradling her chin in her palms alluringly, “won’t you become mine?”

Sanji surprisingly doesn’t falter. 

“It pains me, mademoiselle--” he dramatizes, “but forgive me, for my heart belongs to every lady in the world. I cannot allow myself to be monopolized.” 

“Awh, what a shame,” Miss Valentine sulks. “Please? Pretty please.”

 

Miss Wednesday sits stiffly at her seat, wondering if she should stand up and bash them over the heads now that she had a chance-- or would it be better to let this play out?

(She has no idea. This is the first time she has ever been in a situation like this.)

 

“Another, please?” Miss Valentine asks, demanding another cake when Sanji miserably rejects her again. She sips on her tea, apparently having forgotten all about her mission.

“Of course,” Sanji complies. Finally noticing Vivi’s shocked expressions, he turns his attention to her. “Ah, Miss Wednesday my dear, do enjoy your tea before it gets cold.”

“Ah, alright,” she takes it in her hands quickly, her polite instincts going straight for the ‘go with the flow’ plan for some reason. 

 

(She’s not going to remember that they’re supposed to escape until an hour of teatime later, but that’s also besides the point.)

 

-

 

Luffy, for one, woke up to go to the loo.

A couple people jump him with swords and guns, and god they were annoying, what’s with them? He’s too sleepy for that-- they’re almost as persistent as those monkeys back on Mt Corvo.

It’s nice exercise, though. He digests all his food with the workout and finds himself wandering the town, not so sure where he is anymore. 

 

“Oh, found Zoro,” he approaches the pirate hunter.

Zoro, currently with his hand on a ladder about to chuck twenty people off a building, looks over. “Oh Luffy, you’re awake.”

“Yeah,” Luffy says, “what’re you doing?”

Zoro tosses the ladder off the building and gleefully listens to them scream. He dusts his hands, “nothing much. Just cleaning a little around the area,” he says, pulling Kogatana back around his neck. “See Nami around anywhere?”

Luffy scrunches up his face in thought. “No…” he slurs the word, honestly unsure of himself. “Where is everyone anyways?”

Zoro shrugs. “They’re probably lost somewhere. Hopeless, the lot of them.” 

“Heh…” Luffy considers. Then he looks at Zoro doubtfully.

 

There’s a loud scream, and they both whirl around in alarm to see two men wielding large swords, swinging at them with a warcry.

 

Two simultaneous punches to the face later, Luffy and Zoro breathe out in relief.

“Scared me there,” Luffy says, annoyed, “what’s with all of these people? They were nice before. Did they eat a weird mushroom or something?”

“No Luffy, they are bounty hunters.”

Luffy gawks in disbelief, “no they aren’t! They gave us all a ton of food and sake!”

Zoro stares blankly at his captain. He raises his arm and-- grabs an ambusher by the neck, kneeing him in the face. He straightens. “You weren’t listening to a single bit of the plan, were you?” 

Luffy digs his nose, “what plan?”

Zoro groans, pressing his fingers into his eyes in irritation. “Now that explains why there wasn’t a part where you had to do anything important…”

 

But Luffy’s already got his attention elsewhere.

 

A little further from here, there’s a trail of black smoke rising steadily from a house. Zoro and Gin were fighting in this area, so there’s no reason there would be explosive damage over there. 

Zoro catches his glance. 

“Think it’s Nami?” They have seen the storm ability utilized, after all. 

(Luffy had wondered how he survived the Loguetown lightning before Nami wisely demonstrated, but that’s a story for another time.)

Luffy shakes his head. “It doesn’t feel like Nami’s.”

Zoro looks at him strangely. “What the heck does that even mean?” he asks, then takes it back immediately, “nevermind. Don’t answer that.”

“Maybe it’s Usopp!” Luffy says, delighted to have possibly found someone else in the crew. “I’ll go check it out. See ya!”

“Huh? Wait--” Zoro responds a little too late.

 

A hand reaches out from under, smashing him straight into a thick cement wall. 

Miss Monday cracks her knuckles in annoyance, stepping forward. 

 

She was covered in dust-- seemingly having been caught up in the chaos under. When she throws another punch, Zoro flips into the house to avoid it, regaining his balance for just a moment enough to swerve aside from the next. 

Zoro looks back to note that Luffy was already gone. 

(He let his guard down, that was his mistake. Maybe he should just be happy that Luffy trusted him enough to come back and check on him.)

 

“So, who’re you?” he asks, as if he doesn’t already know. “Let’s hope you’re a better fight than every other bounty hunter on this island.”

“Of your caliber?” Miss Monday asks. “I’m the only fight you’ll get.” 

Zoro doesn’t draw Kogatana. 

In a battle of strength, he knows he’ll win easy.

 

-

 

Nami’s nervous. She manages to take out Mister Five, but Igaram’s aura in the distance is quickly weakening. Something must have happened-- it flickered, after all. 

She’ll need to hurry. 

Snatching the ring back from the man’s hand, she quickly surveys the location. Noting a new presence abovehead, she looks up--

--to come straight in the face of Mister Thirteen, the otter of the Unluckies pair. 

 

“Wha--!!” 

 

The otter nods at her, simply sketching something out onto a piece of paper. Knowing immediately what that is, Nami assembles her Clima Tact to quickly deal a strike in.

Honestly not to her surprise, the otter leaps easily out of the way. The otter produces a match from his pocket dimension, tossing it straight down at Nami. She swerves aside to dodge it, not quite seeing the point of that attack. 

Then the realization strikes.

Mister Five lay at her feet, his entire body a bomb that only needs a little bit of friction to cause a spark that people would regret facing.  And a match, a flare, a definitive light for an explosion-- was heading straight for him, far too low for Nami to catch before it reaches. 

Nami hadn’t bothered preparing for large explosions-- she had made the area damp with the squall, after all. No sparks are going to happen as long as she was careful.

But a lit match, on a perpetually explosive substance-- that’s different.

 

Nami’s gaze swirls in horror to Kinoko, her prone body shivering just two paces away. In this alley, there’s nowhere an explosion of that caliber can hit. 

(She can’t handle another hit.)

 

“Kinoko!” she yells, diving forward. She discards her Clima Tact, encasing the bird’s so, so fragile figure under her own. 

The blast that meets her is not the largest she’s experienced in such close quarters-- but it’s certainly the first one for this life. 

(All she can think about is that she’s grateful she changed her arm into the Heat Model before getting here.) 

 

“NAMI!” 

 

She doesn’t expect to hear Gin’s voice, but when she does-- she’s horrified for a completely different matter entirely. 

There's a sharp clatter of steel against the ground, and Gin’s larger body swoops in between them, arms coming around in a semblance of a hug as his figure covers her own. 

(No no no, don’t watch, don’t just watch, there’s something you can do, there’s something you can--)

She reaches her metal arm behind him-- and shoves his head down. At the very least, she can protect his head. This arm can handle it. 

His arms shielding her head and her arm shielding his. The explosion engulfs the entire alley, setting the world on fire around them. 

And there's nothing else she can do. 

 

(Because she's still so, so weak.)

(In the midst of flames, she can't even use her weather science. And though Gin is burning, she can't think of a better way to protect her fellow nakama.)

(She's always being protected.)

(Nothing has changed.)

 

She bites back the tears. 

For what reason did she come back here?

Things were only different because of her newfound notoriety. If she wasn't so infamous now, then nothing would have been different and Gin wouldn't be suffering. 

But she did.

She made things change, and that's why this is happening. 

 

-

 

When Luffy finds Usopp, the sniper is barefeet, dusted slightly with chars of an explosion. Breathing heavily, he walks carefully-- but he doesn’t notice that he leaves footprints in his path-- made of blood, red and growing denser the further he went. 

That immediately makes every nerve in Luffy’s system pull tight in alarm.

The smell of smoke is only in this place. Which is strange, because Luffy can’t smell any of the sand-like odor you would find in the wake of explosions.

(Of course, he doesn’t attribute that smell to gunpowder just yet. He only knows it as the smell of Dadan House’s mysterious back room that explodes every time Ace sneaks in. He always thought it was a mystery place.)

Usopp’s next step is met with a startled stop-- and the sniper barely manages to shove himself out of the way before the wall he touches explodes on contact. 

Swearing under his breath, the sniper pulls out a pair of gloves from his bag, strapping them on contemplatively. 

 

Then, almost as if the sniper has realized something, Usopp lifts his head, turning in the general direction of where Luffy was standing. 

“Luffy!” Usopp calls, and the boy straightens with attention. 

 

(Luffy swears that, though it isn’t his strong suit, he was quiet all the way here. The explosions didn’t really make it all that hard. It couldn’t have been his smell either. Luffy’s downwind-- he knows that much-- and there’s smoke everywhere.)

(So how did Usopp know he was here?)

(...hey, what exactly is Haki, again?)

(Somehow-- he’s suddenly realizing just how important it was, not only for Usopp, but for everyone else, and most probably, himself.)

(Because that would explain why Benn Beckman always knows exactly when he’s snuck on their ship, and even which barrel he’s hiding in before they set out.)

 

“Luffy, there are bombs around!” he warns. “You can’t see them, but they’re everywhere and activate when you step on them and touch-- nevermind, rubber won’t cause sparks-- but they'll blow up if you step on them, so be careful!”

Luffy nods. So it’s a mystery exploding area, got it.

It also explains why Usopp is covered in injuries. Maybe Luffy could stretch an arm over to get him back? 

There doesn’t seem to be any enemies around, though… 

“Luffy, break the building under you!”

Huh? Luffy takes a moment to return to reality. Then oh, break the building under him. He throws a foot into the air and-- “Gomu-gomu no…” Shatter. “AXE!”

 

Oh wait, he forgot to ask for what. 

And, ow.

 

Luffy gathers himself from the rubble, dusting off his stomach and putting his hat back on. He contemplates going out to ask what the deal is, but Luffy sees the answer for himself just a second later. 

The man with the chikuwa-looking hair-- he’d greeted them when they arrived, so Luffy remembers him--  lay on the ground, right by the partially broken wall-- and the blood that pooled under him was not a good sight.

From the ragged-looking breathing, to the way he obviously seems to have dragged himself two paces forward only to give up-- then Luffy looks aside and spots the leg.

Or the lack thereof.

HIs breath stills. “H-” he has to take a second, but he’s down and shaking him. “Hey, Chikuwa-Ossan! Hey! Are you alive?”

He is. And his hand, with strength that even Luffy winces at-- maybe it’s the nails, maybe it’s the desperation, but Luffy felt it-- grabs Luffy’s wrist. 

And he looks up, his lips bitten to bleeding and his eyes bloodshot with vigor.

“Vivi…” he croaks, and he tries to push himself up.

 

Luffy’s eyes widen as he notices that his chest was seared badly, his clothes burned and red from the blood that was just carved into flesh. 

Luffy’s seen wounds like these before. And he knows these things don’t heal. 

(Dadan still has a large, tender wound on her stomach, remnants of protecting Ace in the Gray Terminal Fire-- though she would never let it show.) 

(But Luffy knows these are worse.)

 

They need a doctor. They need a doctor for this guy now or he’ll--

 

“P- Please,” he chokes out, looking at Luffy with the eyes of the most desperate, most distraught man in the world. He talks through the agony in his entire being-- and throws his head to the ground in plea. “Please... save the princess.” 

(And Luffy’s worldview crumbles.)

“What?!” he exclaims, “wait, Chikuwa-Ossan! We need to get you to a doctor now. Just wait, alright?!”

“No,” he’s firm about this. “Right now, the princess is of priority. Please.”

And Luffy’s eyes widen. 

 

(This is familiar. Familiar in a way he doesn’t like to think about.)

(This is like Ace, and like Shanks-- a wretched, desolate sign that things didn’t matter as much as it looked. They just wanted to protect the one thing they treasured, and they were going to do it.)

(Luffy has always been on the protected side of the situation.)

(This would be the first time he’s seeing it from this direction.)

 

And there’s so much blood. There’s the sickening smell of burning flesh and wood and steel and… and the grip on his hand is warm but growing colder. 

It makes him dizzy.

It makes him remember things he doesn’t want to. It makes him count in his head because that’s what Ace always told him to do when he feels like this. 

But all he sees is Igaram’s face swollen with tears, in a way that Luffy knows-- Luffy knows it’s the face people make when they hate themselves-- and he hates it, so much.

(These things always end up the same way, after all. It doesn’t matter if he barely knows this guy-- he resents this situation and every factor that leads up to it.)

 

“Yeah, I’ll help her,” he says, despite not fully understanding the situation. Maybe it doesn’t matter, because he can catch up later. “I promise.”

 

(“I promise.”)

He promises.

 

So when the man lets go of Luffy’s hand, a relieved smile on his face-- Luffy picks him up over his shoulder-- and leaps upward.

There’s still a bit of breath, but it’s weakening with each second. 

 

“Usopp!’ he calls, and throws an arm forward. 

Usopp stands there, shocked-- but thankfully, he doesn’t need to avoid or catch it. Luffy wraps his arm around Usopp, and slings him right back to his side.

With screaming in between.

“Luffy!” Usopp yells once he’s snapped to Luffy’s side, secured and limp from the literal jet coaster. “Ah, did you get Iga--” 

 

Usopp freezes mid speech.

Luffy doesn’t say anything about it. He turns back toward the fighting in the distance, noting that it has visibly dwindled since. 

 

“Are there bombs around here, too?” Luffy asks, his voice more solemn than it has any right to be. The body on his shoulder grows colder, but he doesn’t look at it.

Usopp bites his lips, but he strangles out an answer, trying hard to compose himself.

“Yeah,” he says. “But you’ll be fine. Just take off your sandals.”

Luffy steps off his sandals, which Usopp picks up noting his lack of a free hand. The captain then shrugs his straw hat off his head, allowing Usopp to catch it. 

“Hold onto that just in case,” he says, almost without thought. “We gotta go now.”

 

Usopp covers his face with the hat so the frustrated tears could fall, but Luffy pretends to not notice.

 

-

 

(Mister Five’s ability to create intangible explosives never had an opportunity to shine last time around. The pair were always chasing after the Strawhats and coming one step behind, so he was reduced to head-on attacks, never utilizing his ability otherwise.)

(But he did so in the alcohol last time around, didn’t he? He bombed the sake they gave to the giants. Mister Five has always excelled at preparing traps like that, and Usopp had forgotten that.) 

 

(Usopp hasn’t underestimated an opponent in ages.)

(He grew overconfident, and that’s why this is happening.)

 

(They fucked up.)

(They fucked up, and they don’t know if Igaram’s going to make it.)

Chapter 30: of birds, burns, and broken compasses.

Summary:

They drag themselves back together-- though a little charred and full of injuries much too early, the Strawhats regroup and get their next course of action planned out.

Meanwhile, Zoro has bad luck with birds.

Notes:

Have I mentioned how much I love yall recently? T^T I love yall so much. Anywayyys! The absolutely lovely Perfusion has bestowed upon me this glorious fanart of Nami and. And just look at it and try not to fall in love. It is beautiful and I cry in joy.

This chapter is a beast that is 8k words long, just to wrap up Whiskey Peak. Next chapter we're spinning back to where we left off with the Whitebeards!

Chapter Text

Zoro sighs. After defeating Miss Monday and cleaning up every other bounty hunter on the island, he found some booze and was just about to take a break. 

He ties his bandanna back around his arm.

Then he turns around and meets eyes with a large vulture perched two buildings away. 

 

For a second, he wonders if Kinoko got a growth spurt and found sunglasses. Then he perishes that thought as dumb, because this bird’s not exactly the same colour. 

 

Then the bird caws, loud and shrilly and-- damn that pierces his ears-- it takes flight, coming straight for Zoro. 

He notices the holsters on its back, round and like cannon barrels-- shit, are those machine guns?! Zoro drops onto the ground just in time to avoid the gunfire.

He draws Kogatana, but the bird is too far away. A ranged fighter, huh . Troublesome one, since Zoro’s disadvantage has always been range. 

Swiftly, he runs past two more attempts at shooting him, and leaps off the corner of a building, swiping wide forward into the air.

But alas-- the butter knife is a butter knife. It didn’t have the range to fight a bird in the air. With a single flap of its wings, she’d gained even more height than before. 

 

And that’s when the bird drops something.

It’s a paper package, with a lit fuse at its end. 

 

Falling, his instincts scream. So he throws Kogatana, straight forward like one would a dart-- he blade sinks into the bird’s wing, and holds up an arm to block the explosion.

It’s not too damaging at all-- in fact, he’s passable as unharmed. A little burned, but just as bad as a sunburn, to be honest. 

He lands on the ground, coughing. 

The bird falls down beside him, rolls, and after chucking Kogatana out of its wing, it flies off in a hurry. It leaves behind the sack it was carrying, only focused on escape. 

Well, that was fine. 

“Yeah, you better not come back, you damn bird!” he spits. He’ll punch that thing the next time he sees it. If it wanted a drink, he could’ve asked! Not that Zoro would have shared or anything.

Zoro picks up Kogatana, wiping away the blood with the edge of his shirt. Heck, that was more effective than anything else he’s tried. Maybe he should just throw it from now on.

 

(“Swordsmanship without grace is a weak sword.”)

(He scoffs. This is more like clownery than grace, though.) 

 

“What’s with my luck with birds these days?” he mutters, irritated. 

Something gleams from the baggage it was carrying around. Curious if it was another weapon of some sort, he looks through it.

“What’s this? An hourglass? Oh wait, there’s no sand in it…”

He frowns.

“Some kinda weird compass?”

 

-

 

“Why did you protect me? You idiot!”

As soon as she could, Nami made a rain cloud. The buildings in the area were charred and licks of flame still peppered the area-- but the worst was over. So she was going to force a cloud into existence and douse them, and make sure they didn’t ignite again.

Then she pulled Gin off the ground and began to walk.

Her metal arm was now a colossal of heat, so Gin had to reach down and pick up Kinoko, cradling her within his arms in the gentlest way he has ever held anything. 

 

She sees his wounds-- which, strangely enough, weren’t as bad as she thought they would be-- and she quickly ran the first aid details in his head. 

“Seriously, all the boys in our crew are reckless! Do you even think?!” she snaps. 

“Yeah...” Gin mutters, his voice weak, “...ruined the jacket Sanji got for me.”

“That isn’t the--!!” Nami bites back her words, turning away. As idiotic as he was, Gin had always been the most careful of them. 

(And that jacket, though seemingly insignificant, meant a lot to Gin.)

“We’ll get you a new one,” she promises. “As long as you stay awake until we get somewhere safe.”

 

Gin scoffs at that. He holds Kinoko close to his chest, the bird’s unmoving figure much more worrying than his own state. She was breathing, though, so that was a relief. The stuff she was wearing is all broken down…

This was such a mess.

But if he didn’t jump in front of Nami…

“Your mark…” he says, and Nami looks over, not sure if she’d heard right. “Your Whitebeard mark would’ve been burned away.” 

 

He doesn’t see Nami’s expressions. 

But her voice was shattered as she spoke again. 

It’s a heartbroken voice he hasn’t heard her use, ever-- and he almost looks up, wondering if she was hurt after all. He dismisses it, the numbness taking over as his mind struggles to remain conscious.

“Yeah,” a sniffle she tries and fails to hide. “Thanks, Gin.”

 

-

 

The explosions interrupt tea time. 

“There’s an awful lot of them,” Sanji notes, “think the gunpowder stores are blowing up? I’d say Gin’s up to something but he’s not the wasteful type.”

Miss Valentine sips on her tea again. “No, my partner just spent a lot of time setting up traps over there,” she informs, mindlessly, “he’s a Devil Fruit User.”

 

Vivi stiffens. 

(Traps?)

 

“A Devil Fruit User?” she asks, her voice cold.

Miss Valentine smiles, “yeah, Mister Five, the bomb human,” she says, “y’know, everything about him blows up? From a booger to spit to sweat. Leave that on a wall or a carpet, give it just a little scratch, and BOOM! Kyahaha!” 

“So if you’re here…”

“Then Mister Five should be cleaning up on Mister Eight, right?” Miss Valentine suggests. Her eyes weigh down strangely, as she watches the teacup on the table, tracing the edge with her nail almost in fascination. “I’ll have to deal with you soon, too, but I suppose I’ll wait for… huh? For some reason…” she sways, “I’m a little… sleepy.”

When she collapses unconscious on the table, Sanji panics.

“Huh? Miss Valentine??” 

 

“It’s fine,” Vivi says, her face steeled. “Don’t lean over, you’ll breathe it in too.”

 

And she stands up, pulling her coat over her clothes to mask the perfume until it wears off. A combination of truth serum and sleeping intoxicant always worked wonders in these situations, and she almost hates that she took this safe route this time. 

Because it took too long to knock her out. 

“Igaram’s in danger. We need to go,” she bites her bottom lip, looking down. She can’t falter, this is important. Too important. “We need to go, now . Carue!”

In danger was the optimistic outlook here. If he’s already been hit...

Sanji drapes a blanket over Miss Valentine. “Understood, Miss Wednesday. The meeting spot Nami-san decided on is just up ahead. Shall we go?”

The hastened steps were answer enough. They begin running, Sanji carrying a bag of pilfered food as they make their way forward.

And what they see isn’t great in any sense of the word.

 

-


-

 

Luffy had brought them out to a clearing right by the pier. It’s out in the open and hard to miss, so they had decided on this area to be the meeting spot rather than the Going Merry itself. 

Luffy didn’t particularly know this was the meeting spot-- it was just an open area that seemed convenient and lacking bomb traps, so he made his way over. 

Usopp immediately lays Igaram down, and begins working on the worst of the wound-- the leg. The possible wood and glass shards blown into his burn would have to come later-- Usopp couldn’t see enough to even dare try with those.

 

(He ignores the ever-growing burn under his feet. A bit of char won’t faze him.)

 

Usopp had just been done binding up Igaram’s leg stump when Miss Monday and Mister Nine shows up.

He’d immediately raised his slingshot-- because he’d left Kabuto on the ship like an idiot-- but he pauses when Luffy’s figure comes in between them.

“She’s fine! She’s not going to fight us,” Nine warns quickly-- “I’m sorry, but she’s got medical knowledge. Please let her help.”

Usopp slowly lowers his slingshot. Any help now is better than none. 

“I heard the situation,” Miss Monday says, sounding more out of breath than she should be-- she must’ve been running this whole way, then. “Please let me help.”

From a slight rustle in her hands, and the smell of something distinctly chemical-- Usopp guesses that she’s brought medical supplies. 

 

(Is she worried for Igaram? Well, they were partners.)

 

“Help Usopp too,” Luffy says, to the sniper’s surprise. 

“Wha-- Igaram’s in more danger right now!” Usopp snaps.

“Usopp!” Luffy raises his voice, and Usopp winces. Miss Monday rushes forward, and crouches down before Usopp to look over Igaram’s wounds. “Just stay there until everyone else gets here.”

There was really no way Usopp could have said anything but a weak “yes Captain” in response. 

Mister Nine takes Usopp’s hands, warning him before peeling off the gloves to reveal the burns underneath. 

“Damn that Mister Five,” he hisses, retrieving the burn salve. It’s not as bad as Igaram’s so it should be fine. “He’s the biggest menace in this situation. Who knows how many more traps he’s got laid out for us all around the island.”

“There was a particularly big explosion over there just a moment ago,” Luffy points out. “Did this Five guy cause it too?” 

“Most probably.”

 

Mister Nine moves to wrap Usopp’s hands with bandages, but Usopp refuses.

“Save it for Igaram,” he says. 

Luffy doesn’t say anything. His voice is solid, resolved-- and deep in contemplation. It’s a stark difference from the jolly atmosphere from before, and Usopp hates it.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Frustrated, Usopp punches the wall. “I’m sorry. If only I saw this coming a little earlier and prepared instead of playing along--” 

 

“No… this oversight was mine.”

 

“Nami! Gin!” Luffy’s eyes widen, running forward as they emerged from the alley. He takes over to shoulder Gin forward. “Hey, are you alright-- Ennosuke’s hurt, too! Hey, Nine and Buff lady! Help them!”

Usopp looks up at the mention of Kinoko-- and his voice pulls toward Nami’s. 

Nami sees them-- and she winces terribly. “Igaram,” she whispers, the horror seeping deeply into her voice. “Is he…?”

“He’ll be fine,” Miss Monday says, “but he’s not waking any time soon.” She then steps forward, walking past her to take Gin and lay him down so she could see his injuries. 

“I’m fine. Weren’t you trying to kill us just a while ago?”

“Yeah, things have changed. Stay down!”

 

Gin is almost too easily coaxed into getting treated, and Mister Nine scrambles quickly to get the bird into his arms. 

All the stuff Kinoko used to wear was charred, bits stuck in fur and flesh. Nine winces, knowing it’ll be tough-- but he’s had to treat Carue’s injuries before, so he knows how to go about this to some degree. 

(This was all in all, a terrible situation. It was supposed to be quick-- slam some agents down, and run. There weren’t supposed to be casualties like this.)

All of these injuries are from land mines around the area, but the perpetrator, Mister Five himself, is already taken down. This was a battle won but war lost, and Nami and Usopp only had themselves to blame. 

(After making that confident proclamation to Vivi, this is what happens? What a joke.) 

Her knees losing all energy, Nami falls to her knees, swearing under her breath. 

“I’m sorry,” she presses her hand into her face, “damn it, if we’d just-- if we’d just spent a moment taking this situation seriously, then this wouldn’t have--”

 

“Nami!” Luffy interrupts, almost furious. “And Usopp too! You just listen, both of you.”

When they turn to their captain, his eyes are wide and stern. Usopp couldn’t see it-- but he felt it. The wave of something more authoritative than that, in the way Luffy always spoken to them in the most important of situations. 

“A pirate doesn’t regret what he’s decided to do!” Luffy says, “so don’t you dare feel guilty about it!”

 

Somehow, they feel like they’ve heard this before.

So, so long ago-- at some point-- it was common sense to their cause. But Usopp and Nami had both forgotten it.

(Maybe that part of them died along with Luffy back then.)

(And here, Luffy was giving it back to them.)

“He’s right,” Gin says, already sitting up, to the ire of Miss Monday who was still trying to get the bandages around his shoulder. “Last I heard, this is the future Pirate King’s ship,” he says, gesturing in Luffy’s direction. “If a dozen or two bombs are enough to take us down, we wouldn’t be here.”

(This is the ship of the future Pirate King.)

(We go forward, no matter what happens. You know that.)

(Remember it now, you idiots?)

 

Nami’s smile is shaky, but it’s not at all false. “Yeah,” she says, picking herself up. “I guess I’m just being stupid. My bad.”

When she looks at Usopp, there’s that half-smile on his face as he buries his eyes behind his forearm with a dry laugh.

“Yeah. Sorry about that captain,” he promises, feeling dumb all of a sudden for even being frustrated at something so superficial, “won’t happen again.” 

 

(The crew may never understand the weight of the guilt that plagues Nami and Usopp.)

(This burden is theirs to carry and theirs to hold.)

A pirate doesn’t linger on their regrets. They take them, haul them forward, no matter how many fingers they lose and how much blood they cough up on the way. They take everything in their lives and carry them onward, believing.

Usopp and Nami will have to learn how to do that all over again.

But really, everyone’s learning. They’re not alone.

(They’re not alone anymore .)

 

Usopp cradles Kinoko in his lap, the bird’s wings bandages and her breath shallow but stable. The ring hung around her other foot now-- the one it used to be on was broken, the poor girl-- the gold was a little charred, so he’ll have to apologize to Kaya one day. 

But Kinoko’s alive. Igaram is alive. Everyone’s a little battered, but they’re alive

And that’s what matters the most now.

 

(Forget about everything else and just move on forward, because they will have time to cry when it’s over, right? And then they’ll have a banquet and they’ll laugh, and things will move on. And the world will go on.)

(With everyone in it this time.)

 

-

 

 

“Nami-san!”

“Everyone!” 

All attention turns as more people come by, the most unharmed of their group. It’s great news, but not from their perspective.

Vivi comes in on Carue, Sanji right behind them. She gasps at the sight of her guard, “Igaram!” she runs forward, crouching down quickly, “Igaram!”

She doesn’t touch him, in fear of hurting something , anything.

 

“He’ll be fine, Miss Wednesday. He’s stable,” Miss Monday assures her, finishing the wrap on Gin’s injuries.

 

Vivi’s shoulders ease a little-- but she bites her bottom lip, her demeanor strained.

“Nami-san! Are you okay, are you hurt?” Sanji says, quickly finding Nami first-- then his attention swirls. 

“No, I’m fine,” Nami says. 

Usopp sighs. Then, with his best imitation of a deep tenor, he goes, “oh Usopp and Gin! Are you alright?” then back to his normal voice but in a happier pitch, “of course we are. Thanks for worrying.”

Gin fixes him a judgemental look. Sanji’s similar look is unimpressed in all standards. “If you can joke around, then I’ll assume you’re fine,” Sanji concludes. He then finds Kinoko and cringes, “even the shitty bird got hit? She’s not dead, right?”

“Nope.”

 

Luffy laughs at that interaction. Then he notices the super spot-billed duck. “Ooh! Ennosuke got all big!” he exclaims, excited. Carue stares at him, completely offended. 

“Luffy, Kinoko is over here,” Usopp deadpans. 

Luffy looks at Kinoko, then at Carue. Then at Kinoko, and at Carue again. Like he needs another moment, he looks at them again.

Then he realizes, like a genius, “Ennosuke’s mom?!”

Nami smacks him right over the head, and Carue does so with his bird wing a second after that. Vivi watches them, and a resigned smile lifts her spirits just a little.

 

It was so ridiculous. 

She holds Igaram’s hand in hers, and holds it close to her face in prayer. He’ll be fine-- he’s breathing, he’s alive-- he’s injured, but it’ll be alright. 

Now, there’s something more important to do.

“Please take care of him, Miss Monday and Mister Nine,” she says. They look at her, and she lowers her head. “I’m so sorry it’s come to this. And thank you so much for still helping us. We don’t deserve your aid in the slightest.”

 

To her surprise, they smile back at her.

 

“Well, we were going to be killed anyway, since we failed our mission,” Mister Nine says. “I’d much rather go down helping you, you know?”

Miss Monday is much the same. “I owe Mister Eight a great deal from our starting days. This is barely enough to make up for all he’s done for me.”

Vivi feels like crying. How is it that these people, working for a criminal organisation, are making themselves sound like the best, most kind-hearted people she’s ever met?

She sniffles, but wipes away the tears immediately.

 

“So you’re Vivi right?” Luffy asks. When she nods, he hums in acknowledgement, “Well, I kinda promised the Chikuwa-Ossan that I’d take you home. It’s what we were planning anyways, but we’re serious about doing it this time, alright?”

He aims the last part at Gin particularly. 

It’s a clear callback to their previous conversation-- and Luffy was asking for his approval. No-- Luffy was asking for his acknowledgement , because he wasn’t going to accept any form of a refusal now.

Gin shrugs. “I’m reduced to this, Captain,” he says, making a show of all the bandages on him. “Go to hell if you think I’m running before I get them back tenfold.”

“I already took down Mister Five, though,” Nami reminds him.

“Then I’ll take down whoever's higher up, obviously,” Gin seethes. 

Luffy grins at that. Looks like everyone’s on board now, at least in the crew! Their aim now was clear-- they were going to bring Vivi to Alabasta, no matter what. 

 

For some reason, when Vivi sees Luffy’s smile, all her worries seem to fade to a back-burner in her mind.

She looks at Miss Monday, and then Mister Nine-- they’re resolved, having nowhere else to go. Of course they would stay-- they would take care of Igaram. And they were, wordlessly, assuring her that Igaram would be safe in her hands. 

Finally, she turns to the captain. 

“I’ll be counting on you, Luffy-san,” she says. “And everyone else on the Straw Hat crew as well. I’ll pay you back however you would need me to-- but please take me back to my kingdom.”

She would go on without Igaram, because that is what she should be doing now. 

The crew grins back at her, determination rising in their hearts. After being injured this far, there was no way they were going to go down without a fight.

 

“We’re already targets, anyways,” Nami says in a teasing manner, “if you still weren’t willing, we’d have just kidnapped you!”

 

Vivi stares back in horror as the navigator giggles.

“Can we go now?” Gin asks, as if he isn’t mortally wounded, “we’re still being chased.”

“Of course we’re being chased, Gin,” Usopp says. “We’re leaving openly on purpose so they’ll come after us. We’re drawing them away from this island.”

Because otherwise, they would attack Igaram. So they had to escape in haste and make them think all they had to pursue was Vivi. There’s a great chance they think Igaram’s dead, anyways. What better way to throw them off the rails? 

 

“Since Gin looks medium rare now, I’ll go steal a jacket somewhere. Gimme a second.”

“Who did you just call medium rare you asshole?!”

“Ah Sanji-kun! Get some medical supplies too if you find any!” 

“And sake, please.”

“I only listen to Nami-san’s orders. And since when were you a sake drinker, Usopp?”

“It’s a painkiller. Don’t overestimate my pain tolerance. The adrenaline is running out.”

“Usopp, no.”

“Well then Sanji-kun, no smoking either.”

“Ehhhhh?!”

Luffy laughs at the crew’s bickering in the background, and Vivi can’t help but sigh. They were so nonchalant that it was frustrating, but she supposes it helped her calm down, so she couldn’t even be mad. 

 

“Ah, please take this,” Vivi says, taking out a compass and setting it on the ground. “When Igaram awakens and becomes well enough to sail, he can use this to return to our country.”

“Ohh, an Eternal Pose!” Mister Nine says, “I’ll take care of it for sure.”

“That won’t be soon, though,” Miss Monday says. “And how will you guys make it there?”

“It’s fine, we’ll follow the log. I’ve heard from Igaram before, that it should be just a few islands away,” Vivi assures, “please make sure he’s fully recovered.”

 

(And hopefully, the war will be over by then, too.)

 

Luffy beams at that. “Chikuwa-Ossan’s a strong guy, so he won’t die from just this!” he says. “Hey Nami, can we go?” 

Nami, who was in the middle of bickering over how recovering patients shouldn’t drink sake and burn victims shouldn’t be near cigarette smoke, gets distracted. “Oh right, the log is set, so we can set off any time!”

Luffy raises his hands happily.

“Alright men!” he declares, “time to set out!”

With a proclamation of agreement from all of them, and a fond look of slight envy from Miss Monday and Mister Nine, they get ready to go.

 

-


-

 

“We’ll take Mister Eight to the safehouse,” the two former Baroque Works agents say, turning toward the now-ruined town. “Godspeed, Miss Wednesday.”

Vivi bows in gratitude once more. “You as well, Miss Monday and Mister Nine.”

They turn around, and they walk away.

 

(They have nowhere else to go. That’s the kind of organisation Baroque Works is, after all-- you don’t run away, you work there, die there. There’s no quits.)

(They failed, so there’s no helping it. They would’ve lost their place someday.)

(But in hindsight, if Vivi was never an element of this situation, they would still be working, and succeeding. So Vivi’s responsible for their failures, in a way.)

 

“If--” she speaks abruptly, desperation in her voice, “once all of this is over…” 

Her voice is stuck in her throat. But she braves through it.

“Come to Alabasta, when the war ends,” she tells them, the promise and authority seeping through her voice. “I will do everything in my power to repay this debt to you.”

They face her, a confident smile on their faces.

“I’ll hold you onto that, then,” Miss Monday says. 

Mister Nine cheekily adds, “a warm meal would be nice. You’re a princess, so I expect one grand feast at our welcome!” 

 

Vivi chuckles at that. It was so obnoxiously optimistic, but it was fine. As low as they were on the luck scale, there was nowhere to look but up. 

“Consider it done,” Vivi promises, more hopeful than anything she’s had the liberty to say recently, “come on at any time. The gates of the palace will always be open for you.” 

 

Almost like a dam on the other side of the road had finally broken, they sob, running forward for a parting hug.

“Stay safe, alright?”

Vivi doesn’t cry, but she holds them as close as her small arms can bring, and prays.

 

-

 

“Wait, where’s Zoro?!”

Almost like whiplash, everyone synchronously realized that they were missing a member of their crew. No wonder the anchor wasn’t raised. Where’s Zoro?!

“Do we have time to go look for him?” Gin mutters defeatedly. He was sitting down by the stairs, too numb to move. Kinoko lay on his lap, because he’s immobile and thus sentenced to bird perch duty. 

“Can’t we just leave him?” is Sanji’s unheard input from the crow’s nest. 

“He’s probably lost again,” Nami sighs. She can’t sense him anywhere at all-- where did Zoro go? Where even can he have possibly gone? And what the hell was he doing instead of coming back to the ship? “Usopp, can you find him with Haki?” 

The sharpshooter makes a whining sound, “can’t, I’m at my limit,” he presses his face into the bow, seemingly in the midst of a very bad migraine. 

Nami pinches the bridge of his nose. Guess they have to do this the slow way. 

“Uhm, if possible,” Vivi offers, “Carue can run really fast.” The bird looks at her, scandalised at the aspect of being nominated for work. 

 

Instead of taking that suggestion, Usopp beckons his captain over. “Luffy?”

“What?” Luffy looks over, along with every other curious head in the crew.

Usopp doesn’t even look up as he points in a random direction toward the island. “Just run really hard that way,” he says, “and keep yelling something.”

Luffy blinks for a second. Then he jumps off the ledge, “okay!”

 

“Okay?!” Nami and Vivi echo at the same time. 

 

But Luffy is gone in a whirlwind and a trail of dust, screaming “ZOROOOOOOO!!!!” as he went, “ZORO WHERE AREEEEEEEEEE YOUUUUUUUUUU?!”

Nami deadpans, very impressed, “well, that works.”

Gin doesn’t bother to retort. “What were you trying to do there?”

Usopp finally stretches and stands up, ready to face the world again as his headache dies down and he gets used to the dull throb. “Well, haven’t you heard?” he says, exuding the air of more regality than he has any right to be, “the easiest way to find a lost child is, to become a lost child.”

 

And he leaves that sentence there to explain itself. 

 

Gin manages an exasperated, “ah.”

Sanji makes a face. “It makes so little sense, that the unbelievability is exactly why it works.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Usopp returns. 

“Well, you know what they say,” Nami shrugs, resigned, “let the blind lead the blind and you’ll find your way to Raftel and back.”

Gin judges her very hard. “I have genuinely never heard of that idiom, Nami, and I do not want to understand what it means.” 

They already have no idea where the captain is. Look away for a second and he’s already vanished, not even a speck in the distance. Usopp had told him to run in a vague direction, so why did he make turns?

 

“Huh? Luffy-san’s not shouting anymore,” Vivi notices, turning to the city.

 

Right on cue, Luffy’s very loud screaming starts again. “EVERYOOOOONE!!! I FOUND ZOROOOOO!!”

 

Jaws drop.

“You are kidding ,” Gin denies reality.

Nami pinches the bridge of her nose for just another long minute. Then she turns away, deciding she’d rather not think about it. 

Sanji, already tired of this, follows to help her as they begin to navigate along the cove.

Vivi and Carue, for one, are absolutely speechless. 

 

“What are you guys waiting for? Go get him,” Usopp says, “why do you think I told him to keep shouting? He doesn’t know the way back.”

 

-

 

“Oh hey, Ennosuke Mama!” Luffy greets as Carue finds them.

The spot-billed duck, seemingly at the end of his-- HIS -- patience for this awfully deliberate misnaming, smacks the captain right across the head and into the pavement.

“Ennosuke Mama?” Zoro echoes, confused. 

They both flinch back when Carue hisses sharply, expressing his very specific feelings with large wing flaps and threats of a body slam that would probably hurt a lot more than Kinoko’s ever did. The boys are not a fan of that idea. 

“It’s a huge Ennosuke!” Luffy explains.

“It’s an ostrich,” is Zoro’s very confidently wrong statement. “They’re like, cousins.”

 

Carue, seemingly giving up on explanation in the rush, hurriedly points at the ship, which is already sailing away in the distance.

 

Luffy and Zoro gawks, “they’re leaving without us!”

So they start sprinting again.

Carue, realizing they don’t know he’s here to be a steed, has to chase after them with an undignified squawk of ‘you’re not supposed to be faster than me?! HELLO?!’ but in bird.

(Then a second later, Carue has to double back and grab Zoro because for some reason he turned left on a straight road.)

The next, furious part of the race is a loud and screaming mad dash for the ship between Luffy and Carue, who has Zoro in his beak. Like rabid animals, they just screech and run like there’s nothing else they know how to do, at an abnormally equal pacing-- then they kick off the harbor and try to jump their way thirty feet onto the ship.

 

Obviously, they don’t make it. 

Bird and monkey (plus one Zoro along for the ride) smack right into the side of the hull, and in idiotic tandem, they fall into the sea.

Two minutes later there’s a fuming, very annoyed Zoro on the deck as he drags two near-drowned cretins out of the water. There are little things that make him feel more humiliated in his life. 

The crew’s next trial is finding ways to stop Zoro from slicing them to utter bits.

 

“Move aside Nami I swear to hell gonna make bird stew out of it!”

“No Mosshead, you’ll ruin the meat,” Sanji says, “just butcher it. I’ll do the cooking.”

“We are NOT cooking Ennosuke Mama!” Luffy protests.

“His name is Carue, and he is not a mother bird!” Vivi corrects him, because that misnomer is really getting on Carue’s nerves and she would like her bird to be respected, thank you very much. 

“Emergency food supply,” Gin offers vaguely, to which Carue makes offended noises.

And the banter goes on. Nami checks the log pose, wondering when would be a good time to tell them to cut it out so they can actually start adjusting things to start sailing toward their course. 

 

She doesn’t need to, though.

A new voice interrupts their atmosphere, speaking in a suave, feminine tone that sounds painfully familiar for her, and strangely foreign to the others. 

 

“Try to watch out for the rocks on the way out. The fog makes it rather tricky to navigate, I hear.” 

All movement on the deck freezes. 

Nico Robin smiles down at them from the ledge. “And of course, congratulations on your successful escape. I must say I’m rather impressed.”

Nami thought she was prepared to see her again.

(She wasn’t.)

 

-

 

Things only went wrong after Luffy’s execution. There was a moment of peace, of course. Then chaos burned through the ropes that held the balance of the world, and everything began to turn.

(More than half of them were lost to the waves of the new era, and each step was only a bigger ripple in the endlessly growing madness of the world.)

(Countless times, Nami wondered if some being up above could just throw the rains over the sea for years, until the world was rid of life. That would be preferable, wouldn’t it?)

 

The only Strawhats all had places they wanted to be in. 

 

Jinbei stood firm at the gates of Fishman Island; Zoro lingered in suburbs of Wano; Usopp led the troops of Elbaf; Robin planted the seed to a new Tree of Knowledge, and watched it grow with a tribe of people she had grown to love. 

But in the new era, the existence of those that could read the Ponegylphs were even more of a threat than before. Needless to say-- they couldn’t allow her to live. 

Robin was burned, like a witch hunt. 

The civilians of the very island she had proudly spoken of each time they were in contact-- the people she gave her very scarce love toward, and spent the last of her life with-- they were the ones to do the deed. 

 

(Robin had probably seen that sort of ending to her life from the start.)

(Just like how Sanji never managed to escape the stigma of Germa-- some things will always haunt you, even if the nightmares have long gone away.)

 

-

 

The interaction with Miss All-Sunday is cathartic. 

Nami finds herself listening. And listening-- and, for some reason, she didn’t feel like she was there at all.

 

“She’s Mister Zero’s partner…”

“It’s one hell of a pretty lady!”

“Huh? So she’s a good guy?”

 

She was just listening, and things were happening, and she wasn’t responding to it at all. Her eyes were fixed on the young and cheerful, carefully masked expressions on Robin’s face, and Nami’s breaths were suppressed by a pressurizing weight.

 

“Oh, so she’s not a good guy.”

“Miss All-Sunday! What a beautiful name.”

“Sanji, be quiet. Someone get me my tonfas.”

“Medium Rare should just sit down.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Miss All-Sunday… what are you planning?!”

“This sure is one lively crew, isn’t it?” Miss All-Sunday chuckles at the sight. “Now, now…  Miss Wednesday, it won’t do for you to get so worked up. I don’t come here on orders, nor do I have reasons to stop you here or fight.”

 

Robin’s smile was pulled firm, and yet it held no joy at all. Just the amusement of things going well or not, and the even stable look in her eyes that always meant she was internally calculating the advantages and disadvantages of a situation.

From all the time she’s spent with Nami and all the time she spent screaming for Luffy from beyond the grave, she wants nothing but to run forward and engulf her in a hug. 

(Hold her close and tell her to promise, emptily, that she’ll never lose her place to be again. That she’ll stay with her to the end of time and she will stick to that vow this time.)

(But Nami can’t do that now.) 

(She has to wait, again.)

A gun clicks behind Miss All-Sunday, and all eyes turn in horror to see Usopp, standing by the open door of the galley, a pistol pointed right at the woman’s head.

 

Nami snaps back into reality.

 

They have no idea when the sniper got around them or where he acquired the gun, but there was genuine alarm in all of them, almost more so than for the intruder herself. 

(If that had been anyone else before the barrel of the gun, would Usopp have hesitated?)

“Common pirate code has it that you should always ask for permission before you board a ship, miss,” Usopp says. His finger isn’t on the trigger, but the barrel is still aimed right at the back of her skull. “You’ve got terrible manners, if I might say. Don’t you think so as well, Nami-kun?”

Nami is almost taken aback, then she realizes what he’s doing.

(The deep, confident snark, just a step away from sarcasm-- and the honorific, of course-- those were plays of Sogeking.)

(Usopp, too, wanted nothing more than to have her by their side again. Like Nami-- he couldn’t hold back. But in the off chance that this wasn’t their Robin-- they could ruin everything forever. So they had to make sure, first.)

(And as always, turning to his alter ego was his way of acting strong.)

 

Miss All-Sunday, understandably, is entirely unimpressed. 

“Would you mind not pointing such dangerous things at me?” 

 

Usopp knew it was coming, but nothing could have prepared him for the way the gun was slapped out of his hands, soaring high into the sky and landing somewhere-- judging by the crunch of leaves-- in the midst of the tangerine trees.

And then, his arm is taken, bent-- and his feet leave the ground.

A moment of frightening vertigo, a horrifying loss of his bearings-- and Usopp crashes awkward and painful against the deck right by everyone else. 

 

“A devil fruit!” Zoro realizes immediately.

“What sort of power is that?” 

“It’s not like Luffy’s or that Marine’s back in Loguetown…” 

 

Nami is less concerned about those things. “Hey, Usopp!” she hurries over.

Usopp clambers quickly to his hands and feet, fearfully orienting himself with the horizontal line of the deck once again. He doesn’t look up for a moment, having been completely thrown off his acclimatization. 

“Ah my,” Miss All-Sunday says, lightly surprised, “I was expecting you to break your fall. My apologies, I didn’t mean to do that.” 

 

To anyone else, that would sound like the sarcastic snark of a witch. 

(And perhaps, that isn’t far from the truth at all.)

 

And Luffy doesn’t take that lightly. “Hey!” he says, voice raised, “I don’t know what you’re trying to do or who even are you, but--”

He doesn’t finish that sentence. 

In the next moment, his hat lifts from his head, and flings over the air, landing smoothly in Miss All-Sunday’s hands. 

Something inside of him snaps, but he suppresses it, feet planted firmly on the ground as a glare tightens around his eyes. “Hey! Give that back!” he yells, fists tight against his side. “Are you trying to pick a fight?!” 

“No, not at all,” she says, contradictorily placing the straw hat on top of her own in jest. “In fact, I came to warn you. If you follow the direction of that Log Pose, you and your ragtag crew will never reach Alabasta. I won’t have to do anything at all.”

“Wha-- that’s not true!” Vivi exclaims, “if we follow the log, we should reach Alabasta in due time. Even if the road is tough--”

“Tough won’t be enough to describe the island just ahead of you,” Miss All-Sunday tells her, amusement rising past her lips, “it’s called ‘Little Garden’, and I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”

She directs the last part specifically at Nami. 

“Little Garden?” Vivi asks. She hasn’t heard of that place at all.

“It doesn’t sound so dangerous,” Sanji says, “little and all.”

“Somehow, I feel like I’ve heard of it before…” Gin mutters. 

 

Nami stands up. Usopp holds her forearm in a way to get himself back to gravity, and he’s careful as Nami hands him off to Sanji. The Navigator, hands on her hips, sets her eyes firmly on the woman above. 

“Sure, I’ve heard of it. It’s more trouble than it's worth taking now, so we’ll definitely meet some trouble. We might even die,” she says, to the horror of a few crew members who react loudly. 

Luffy, however, fixed a stern eye on her. He’s not afraid-- he’s patient, waiting for her next words.

So Nami delivers, knocking a fist at her own chest. “But if we weren’t prepared for that much, we wouldn’t be pirates! One scary island or a dozen is nothing to be afraid of!”

She’s well-rewarded by Luffy’s responsive grin. 

“Uhm Nami, I think I’ll be scared of a dozen,” Usopp supplies, to which Nami hisses at him to be quiet. 

Gin sighs in the distance, and Zoro scoffs. Sanji is mere steps away from proclaiming his undying love once again-- but Vivi looks on, in awe.

 

(She doesn’t think she'll ever stop being impressed by these pirates.)

 

Miss All-Sunday’s expressions, just a little, mirrors Vivi’s. Muted awe, a faint hint of doubt-- and a stunned demeanor. Unlike the princess however, she gathers herself, retrieving an Eternal Pose from her side. 

“Well, here is a token for your rather daunting performance,” she says. “A penny for your troubles. This leads to Nanimonai Island, located just two logs before Alabasta.” 

Vivi catches it with surprise. She hadn’t heard of this island either, but if this was a shortcut-- then it was vital. They needed all the time they could get, after all.

She looks hopefully at Nami, who, upon catching her gaze, simply shrugs in a rather impartial manner. 

 

(She’s right-- Nanimonai Island, according to Nami’s future charts, would only need one more checkpoint to reach Alabasta’s waters. If they followed the Little Garden route, they would need a few more, not including the year it takes to even set from there.) 

(But the objectively correct matters don’t count here.)

 

Zoro hums. “Sounds like a trap.”

“Like hell we can trust that,” Gin hisses. “You have nothing to gain from giving us anything that could help us. For all we know that could just send us somewhere with more traps laid out than here.”

“Oh, I wonder?” Miss All-Sunday challenges. “I’m sure the girl in the metal arm might have something to say about your doubts.”

They click their tongues. Nami, for one, shrugs in defeat. She isn’t wrong, after all, and she tells them all the same.

Vivi bites her bottom lip. Maybe they should eat their pride here and--

Luffy doesn’t hesitate. Snatching the Eternal Pose from her, he makes a show of proving its position within his hand-- before shattering it.

As every other man on deck reacts with sheer aghast horror , Nami bursts into laughter. Usopp chuckles as well.

 

(“Huh?! You broke the Eternal Pose to Raftel?!”)

(“Yeah, I did!”)

 

“Wha--!! Luffy! What are you thinking?!” Sanji exclaims.

“It doesn’t matter!” Luffy declares, his glare spinning forward and firmly burning into Miss All-Sunday’s figure. “I’m the Captain of this ship-- don't for a second think that you have a right to decide our course!”

 

And it’s just like the first time they’ve heard it. Well, for Nami, this felt like the first time, since she never really appreciated it the first time around.

His proclamation spills a warmth right into their chests, filling them with a bursting sense of joy that they can’t help but reciprocate.

It’s so addictive, and yet people wonder why they stay with him.

(Who wouldn’t stay, really?)

 

“Well, I don’t dislike bold men,” Miss All-Sunday returns, highly amused. She takes the straw hat off her head and tosses it back toward Luffy, who catches it with controlled anger. “Let us meet again, then, if you should survive.”

“I don’t wanna!” Luffy says, annoyed.

And so, Miss All-Sunday leaves the ship, riding on the back of a large sea turtle as they casually make their way across the vigorous seas of the Grand Line.

 

-

 

“That woman… I have no idea what she’s even thinking!” Vivi despairs. “She’s so unpredictable, I”m just losing my mind!” 

“Well, sounds like someone I know,” Zoro scoffs.

Nami chuckles at that. “Well, it’s probably a waste of time to try and think about it, then.”

“Hey Nami, is Little Garden really dangerous?” Gin says, slowly sitting down again. 

“Yeah, but the island itself shouldn’t be a problem,” Nami checks the Log Pose. “There’s a copy of Brag Men in the women’s room if you want a refresher.” 

“Brag Men? You mean, Louis Arnote?” Gin asks. Then it clicks. “Wait a second, that book only has logs of outrageous islands!”

Usopp nods, “that's why we call this the Grand Line, Gin!”

Gin stares for a moment before he slumps against the railing, “she was right. We’re all going to die.”

Usopp smiles, “now that’s the spirit!”

 

Vivi, collapsing to her knees, breathes out in a conflicted mixture of relief and weak-kneed fear. “I… I’m sorry to have gotten you guys caught up in this. I’ve done nothing but cause trouble.”

“We don’t care about that, Vivi!” Nami grins at her. Shrugging in the general direction of Luffy, “look at our captain. It’s the last thing on his mind.”

Luffy huffs, not even registering the conversation as he makes his childishly angry way up the steps toward the galley. “It’s morning! Sanji, food!” he demands. 

“Right, right,” Sanji says.  

“Let’s at least get out of the islands perimeters, everyone!” Nami announces, “don’t forget that we’re trying to lead them out of the island before we lose them.”

“Aye Nami-swan! Heard that rubber bastard? Get the sails first.”

“Ehhhhh?! Okay…” 

Zoro sighs, leaning against the mast in a sort of resignation. “What a day,” he mutters, looking as if he was ready to go right in for another nap.

Seemingly remembering something, he retrieves an object from his sash. It looks identical to the thing Luffy just destroyed, so do they not need this either?

(Hm? There’s something written on it. Ala… ba…)

 

“Wait wait wait WAIT!” 

 

Nami’s sudden loud exclamation catches the entire ship off guard. 

Zoro looks up, only to flinch back as Nami marches, wide eyed and stiltedly up to him like some sort of long-legged zombie. 

Then she points, arms trembling so hard it’s jumping, “wha-- ZORO!” Her hands, both of them, juts right out and grabs Zoro’s with all the determination of a shrewd businessman finding an unheard-of antique. 

(Zoro will deny that he flinched.)

 

“Where did you get this?!” Nami barks.

 

That’s when the rest of the crew sees it, and they all let out similar exclamations of shock at it. “No way!” is Sanji, “is that a--?!”

“What is it?” Usopp asks, but no one answers him. “Guys, I’m blind,” he reminds the air, to which no one replies again. A second later, he mutters defeatedly, “okay then I’ll just stay here and be confused. Don’t worry about me.”

“What are you so heated up for?!” Zoro exclaims defensively, absolutely not because Nami is freaking him out. “I fought some bird on the roof and it dropped it! That good enough an explanation for you?”

“Yes you absolute glorious bastard,” Nami grounds out, in the most impressed sailor slang Usopp has ever heard her use. It sounds more like something Sanji would say. “Consider this half of your debt to me paid.”

“Huh?” Zoro doesn’t think he heard it properly. “HUH?!”

 

And she takes the object from him, happily showing it off to Vivi, “look! Zoro found us an Eternal Pose to Alabasta!”

“Woooah!” Luffy exclaims, awfully impressed.

“The stray moss actually did something useful?!” because Sanji obviously sees this as a chance to pick a fight.

“Wait, WHAT?!” Usopp yells, equally confused and shocked all at once. “An Eternal Pose to-- wait, what?!”

“You are kidding ,” Gin hisses to the background. “What the everloving fuck kind of luck is this crew blessed with?’

Vivi, however, is tearfully over the moon. “I can’t believe this! We can make it to Alabasta after all…”

“Seriously, why didn’t you take this out earlier?” Nami asks, though she’s not expecting an answer. “Now we’ve got our route problem fixed! All that’s left is to lose our pursuers, and we can head straight to Vivi’s home!”

“YEAH!” 

 

It was splendid news. 

 

“Wait, how are we going to lose them?” Usopp asks. “They can’t know that we have the Eternal Pose, right? They’d just head straight to Alabasta if they knew.”

“Yeah, we have to actually defeat them or we’ll never get anywhere,” Sanji sighs. “Not here though. Too many bombs.”

Vivi nods. This would be an away game for them. “And they’ll be sending stronger agents after us, too.” Making a chase would give them time to convene, but would also give us time to recover. “We can’t just head straight for Alabasta-- we’ll be surrounded and outnumbered instantly.”

(Even last time around, they only made it there safely because Sanji did something to throw them off their rails. If they skip Little Garden, none of that can happen.)

“Obviously, we’re going to go to the next island and confront them there!” Luffy declares. “We’re following the log, everyone!” 

Terror befalls the ship for, not counting anymore how many times that hour, Gin’s a second away from fainting and he's not sure if it’s just the pain of his wounds anymore. 

“But we just found a way to avoid going there!”

“Isn’t it like, super dangerous? We might die!”

“So?” Luffy challenges, “it smells like adventure. Let’s go!”

“I give up…”

 

Nami punctuates with a loud laugh. “Well, you heard our captain!” she says, taking the Eternal Pose and setting it aside. 

“Captain’s orders!” Luffy declares, almost cheekily at this point. Everyone despairs, but the smiles that grace their faces right after is fond, even from Gin.

Vivi finds herself joining in the resigned smiles as well, if only out of exasperation than anything else. Maybe just a little, she found herself enjoying the madness of the situation, too.

 

(And that was fine.)

 

Usopp leans against the mast, and the ease in his shoulders is strained, but full of fondness. The words escape him like a breath after a run, his head tilting just a little in Nami’s direction, his haki curling toward her almost needily. 

“Terrible, isn’t he?”

Nami looks over, and her eyes soften in an almost bittersweet way.

“No,” she says, the words they both had been starved for, yet probably won’t have the chance to hear much of ever again. “He’s the worst .”

 

(“I’m here with you.”)

(And though it's hard to remember sometimes, everyone else is with you, too.)

Chapter 31: some parallels of brotherhood.

Summary:

Aladine arrives at the Whitebeards' ship, and learn the identity of the apparent 'traitor' in their midst.

They don't confront him.
They lure him to them.

Chapter Text

That night, just before the Straw Hat crew left Arlong Park, Nami approached Aladine with an important message that sent Aladine on a long swim across the seas. 

(“I have a plan.”)

Aladine surfaces, knocking twice on the hull of the Moby Dick. It’s fair weather in midday, where most of the crew should be present on deck. 

 

“Captain Whitebeard. Permission to come aboard?”

“Come on up, Aladine. We’ve been expecting you.”

 

(“The Commanders, the members that have been in the crew for decades, the alliance captains that are present… make sure as many people hear you.”)

Aladine gives Marco a cursive nod, and meets eyes with the unfamiliar yet not at all unrecognizable figure on the ship-- with a top hat, blonde hair, and haki of great notoriety-- Aladine is surprised to see the Revolutionary’s second in command.

She only mentioned she had a contact down the line-- she didn’t mention he was the chief of staff, of all people. 

But he composes himself. 

 

“Nami has contacted me with a request,” he says, carefully phrasing his words as he brings up a casual smile onto his face. “She says it’s very urgent.”

“A request?” Thatch echoes, curious. “That’s rare.”

 

Rare indeed. It’s almost unheard of, and for those that knew her personally, it was almost strange to hear. 

Everything they’ve ever done for Nami was quite literally coaxed onto her, from the mark to the arm to the occasional help in physical therapy, everything except the initial request for Jinbei to save her island. 

For her to send such an important message, only for it to be something as simple as a request? Now this better be some world-breaking help.

 

“Gurararara!” Whitebeard laughs, the incredulity the least surprising thing in the world, as far as he knows. “Well, that’s alright. I’ll always be willing to go to extreme lengths for my daughter.”

Someone scoffs, probably Whitey, “well isn’t that true.”

 

The crew erupts with laughter. 

Sabo stays still and patient. His shoulder is caught by Ace’s arm, and he still rubs moodily at the large bump on his head. 

(“It’s better for you to ascertain for yourself than for me to tell you,” Nami had said. “You’ve always been more sensitive to wavelengths and intentions than the average person. Koala’s like that too.”)

(Aladine had to whirl back in alarm, the sake leaving his lips, immediately sobered. “Wha-- how do you know that name?”)

(No one spoke of Koala in the presence of Nami. Bringing up their similarities would be poor conversation, so they agreed on only spilling at a later date.)

(And yet Nami snickered, as if she knew so much more. “That’s beside the point, Aladine! Now, back to the plan.”)

 

“She’s looking for a Devil’s Fruit,” Aladine says, closing his eyes. His arms are crossed before him-- and subtly, so subtly-- he expands. “It’s called the Yami-Yami no Mi, and she knows where it is.”

 

The reactions in the crew are a spectrum. 

“Nami wants a fruit, huh…”

“Girl with a metal arm, a Whitebeard mark, and a devil fruit! She’s brewing up to be one crazy individual alright.”

“What next, challenging a Shichibukai?”

“Hey hey, you read the news. She’s not the captain of her new crew, so she can’t do that.” 

“Unless her new captain is even bigger of a nutcase!”

“Yami-Yami no Mi, huh… sounds like an eerie one alright.”

“Think it’s like the Kage-Kage?”

Some are wary. The name indicates a possible logia, the direct  juxtaposition of Kizaru’s-- but that was just an assumption. Mostly, it’s curiosity, and confusion. Nami had never expressed interest in fruits before-- she was a navigator and lone sailor, after all. She valued her ability to swim greatly. 

 

And yet, just one voice flickered sharply. 

So, so sharply, Aladine had to resist the urge to flinch.

It’s so sudden, someone who had been paying less attention would have dismissed it as someone being briefly surprised at a familiar term. But this is different.

(Aladine felt it hundreds of times, back on Mariejois. The flare of a good (bad) idea, a lick of a heart that could only be darker than darkness-- an evil desire.)

(On a pirate ship, that shouldn’t be a strange thing. They are pirates, after all. Murder and pillage are things that happen on a day-to-day, it’s almost frowned upon to go against that cruel demeanor when things don’t necessitate it.)

(However, this is Whitebeard’s ship, and there are strict rules. It’s already gone, doused by the mask of an ever-perfected act-- but the timing confirmed every suspicion he had.)

 

“Well,” Aladine speaks up, feigning his smile so the perpetrator wouldn’t notice his strained shoulders. “Let’s talk about the details in the mapping room, shall we? I have the coordinates, but I have no ideas where that could ever be without the skills of a navigator.”

Marco steps forward. “Of course. All Commanders, with us. Everyone else who’s here using their time to gawk instead of doing their chores, you’ve got a second to scram!”

In mere moments, the deck erupts in chaos, and all hands either return to their brooms, pretend to look out into the horizon, or go under the deck.

Including the voice that flickered.

 

-

 

Aladine finds himself in the navigation room, arms crossed and brows furrowed. 

The door closes on them, and all commanders turn their eyes to Aladine.

“So Nami wants a fruit?” Whitebeard asks to lead.

“No, that was a lie,” Aladine says. 

None of the commanders are at ease. They are all aware, with clear context clues, that the story of Nami wanting a Devil Fruit is clear bullshit. A clearly crafted story only meant to subvert the attention of the target of Sabo’s message-- the apparent ‘traitor’.

 

“It’s Teach.”

 

When he finally breaks the news, he braces himself for some sort of backlash. And it does come, in the form of Ace’s furious exclamation.

“Wha-- that’s impossible!” Ace slams his hands against the table. 

“Ace,” Marco warns him against lashing out, because they’re in a particularly burnable room at the moment. “I’m sure he can explain himself.”

(Nami had really given him a risky job, hasn’t she?)

Aladine sighs. “Her exact words are as such:” he decides to start from the beginning. “There is someone on this ship that has his allegiances set a step below his goals. In the case of either coinciding, there’s no doubt which he would cast aside.”

Ace’s gaze is sharpened in the most heated of tempers. 

As disbelieving as this is-- he can’t find himself thinking past his anger to even try to acknowledge it. Teach has been on their crew for much longer than almost half the crew! There’s no way he…

 

(But Nami has no reason to lie.)

(He knows her. They all do. Someone whose life has been carved with selfless devotion for her family, even if none of her families share blood in any way , she was the last person in the world that would ever lie about something like this.)

 

“You’re implying that Teach would betray the crew if their goal is in reach?” Marco asks. “What kind of goal would that be?”

“Oh,” Thatch realizes, “the Yami-Yami no Mi, is that it? It was strange that you led with that out there. So it’s actually a thing?” 

“Yes, and it is under Nami’s suggestion that I mentioned it in the presence of the crew,” Aladine explains, mirthful. “I was keeping a close tab on his Haki as I spoke. I can tell-- Teach knows exactly what the fruit is, and his desire to acquire it is clear.”

They’re all abundantly aware that for a pirate of Aladine’s caliber, his instincts should not be dismissed. 

(The problem lay in the fact this was Teach, a Whitebeard pirate and one of his valued sons-- and Aladine did not have the right to cast doubt into their opinions of his allegiances. Nor did Nami, for that matter, even if she was a daughter.)

“I… I actually felt it too,” Haruta admits, to everyone’s surprise. “I was right by him, after all. And for a second-- only a second, I swear-- it just felt all prickly and disturbing and--” 

He shivers, looking away.

“Reminded me of old things,” he finishes, lame and weakened by the lack of words he could find for the situation. He doesn’t elaborate, but they all knew what he was likening Teach to.

(Haruta, like Aladine, used to live on a certain wall.)

(Living on the edge of that sort of lifestyle tended to sharpen someone’s senses for judging people up to a life-riskingly high degree.) 

 

“But wanting a devil fruit and being willing to betray the crew for it are different matters,” Thatch disagrees, “I mean-- if he just asks, I’m sure we’d give it to him.” 

“Yeah, this is a little flimsy of a theory,” Jozu agrees, “What’s the basis on her belief that he’ll actually betray the crew, to begin with?”

“She sent two messengers, isn’t that already an indication of how sure she is?” Aladine returns. “The way his Haki spiked in that moment-- I just don’t like it.” 

“Wha-!” Ace interrupts, “hey, you’re just saying that because you don’t know him well!” he insists. “Teach wouldn’t betray Oyaji just for a damn fruit!” 

 

“No, he might,” Sabo finally speaks, gaining everyone’s attention. “The Yami-Yami no Mi… depending on what kind of a fruit it is, one could gain enough power to rival even you, Whitebeard. In that case, there would be objectively no reason to be working under you-- one could grasp the title of Pirate King for themselves.”

 

And sure, that sounded incredibly enticing.

Especially when Whitebeard himself held no interest in taking the King’s title.

But then again…

“But it makes no sense!” Ace yells. “Why would Teach--” he stops himself, because the other question struck even more glaring in the situation-- “why would Nami even know that? She’s known Teach for even less time than me .”

And that really was the question. 

(How did Nami know so much?)

(Who is her source of information?)

 

-

 

After being bashed in the head by Ace and unfortunately not magically regaining his memories (he then bashed him right back and, in an attempt to stop them, Thatch’s pompadour was sacrificed,) Sabo was left confused.

He remembered nothing, but Ace was undoubtedly a link to his past. 

When Aladine revealed the name of the traitor, Sabo, for one, simply pinpoints the name of ‘Teach’ as a man that he had crossed briefly on his ship tour just earlier that day. 

He was a little murky in his demeanor, a little sinister in his subtle behaviors-- but that was nothing out of the ordinary for a veteran member of such a notorious crew.

(Sabo had always been able to distinguish the worst of the hoodlums from the other, peace-main thugs they interacted with. It’s like an old, danger-sensing instinct for him, though Inazuma can’t for the life of them know where he cultivated it from.)

(Sabo had dismissed it, initially. It was normal for the crew to be wary of him, and Teach was far from the only one that mistrusted him greatly.)  

 

So, is this his mission done? He sent the message, waited for Aladine.

 

No, that didn’t sound right either. Now he had to aid in taking care of the threat-- and there had to be a reason they requested him specifically. 

“It just doesn’t line up that she wanted me to come here. It’s an inside matter for you guys, after all,” he says. 

To begin with, the Whitebeards wouldn’t want outsiders butting into their business. So Nami must have sent him as a little more than a messenger-- as a delivery?

 

(“Send your best brew.”)

 

Knowledge-- that was something Nami had, beyond everything else. To an almost unnatural degree-- and they were beginning to see it. 

Which begs the question.

 

“Wait,” Marco seems to have realized it as well-- “did Nami send you because she knew about your connection to Ace?” 

 

Now that. 

That was fucking ridiculous .

(But there’s no better explanation.)

 

“This is starting to make no sense,” Thatch groans, running a hand through his hair. “And I'm not talking about the traitor stuff.”

“The fact that it makes no sense is what makes it uncomfortably believable, though,” Whitebeard admits. “Nami wouldn’t go to such lengths only to deliver such a poorly constructed lie. She’s much better than that.”

 

That, everyone could agree on. Though mirthful, they might have to at least accept it for now, at least on an observational basis. 

But Sabo is still reeling.

(If she knows so much about him-- even things about himself that neither him nor Ace were aware of-- then it’s no stretch to say that her use of the Revolutionary code was part of her information arsenal, too.)

(No wonder he didn’t know who that agent in Loguetown was.)

(No wonder he used a code that only the higher ups would know.)

 

“The Burglar Cat…” he says, fists clenched tight, and fear plaguing his mind-- “who on earth is she?”

 

(The information she might have on her hands is dangerous.)

(Dangerous enough, she might be a threat to the every party if this comes to light.)

The Whitebeards are known to be proud brothers and family members. They would never hold back on a chance to boast about their fellow siblings.

But now, none of them could say a thing.

 

“We can only trust her,” Whitebeard says. “Chart the course.”

“Understood, Oyaji.”

 

-


-

 

When Ace, Sabo, and Thatch return with the fruit in their hands, happily declaring their obtaining of a Devil Fruit on their scavenge, Teach is present. 

And Marco sees the way his eyes widen, his Haki spikes with excitement-- but that isn’t proof. Anyone would be excited at the aspect of a new fruit.

“Sweet!”

“Now we just have to deliver it to Nami, huh?” 

As far as the crew knew, Nami had found a lead to a fruit in the New World, and though she was desperate to attain it, she was nowhere near the area. So she asks her loving brothers to secure it for her, and she’ll compensate at a later date. 

That was easy enough. This island, uninhabited and full of jungle, was a perfect spot to rest and restock for their huge crew. It was like a vacation spot. 

Finding the island and pinpointing the location of the fruit, according to Nami’s instructions, was easy enough.

 

(How did she know where this fruit would be?)

(If this is Teach’s target, and he’s a traitor-- why would Nami lead us right to it? It’s better off remaining nowhere near him, right?)

 

The questions just kept stacking up, and at this point they were hesitant to do anything at all anymore. But there was no better way to ascertain if Teach is actually a traitor (or confirm his undying loyalty for the crew) than to dangle it before him.

 

(“Is this part of Nami’s suggestions too?” Marco asked.)

(Aladine nodded. “She didn’t tell me what the fruit could do-- but she told me that, no matter what, I can never let the fruit fall into the wrong hands.”)

 

The fruit is then wrapped up, and given to Sabo.

“I will handle the delivery back to her,” he says. “It’s been nice to enjoy your hospitality--”

“Whaaat,” Thatch whines, “you’re already leaving? Stay for the party!”

Sabo, despite knowing the plan, is still surprised. Because he didn’t hear anything about a “party?” The plan was supposed to be for him to stay one more night. 

Ace slings an arm around his shoulder, happily declaring that “of course! We’re on a deserted island, and we have so much food! You and Aladine aren’t going to leave without a party!”

Because the only ones that needed to focus on the situation are the commanders. There’s no better swing-by and distraction than allowing the whole crew to have fun. 

Marco will be the one in charge of keeping watch, after all. They can all lose themselves for a moment. 

Sabo suddenly realizes, “you guys just want a reason to drink!”

“Exactly!”

“Don’t confirm it!”

Thatch laughs, “Well, time for a great feast, Fourth Division!” he declares loudly. A crowd of people cheer back, some in exhausted determination and the others in a spiteful fuel of energy. 

 

“Anyways guys, I didn’t tell you before, but this is my brother!” Ace happily announces to the crew, grabbing Sabo by the arm. 

“No I am not!” Sabo denies. He barely realizes he’s been swung right into their chaotic pace. He would despair about this later. 

Ace pretends not to hear it, “he was dead for a bit, and now he doesn’t remember me, but don’t kill him!” 

 

The crew reacts explosively. From general oohs and aahs to disbelief in all corners. The only part of them that was similar was the unnatural tone of politeness Sabo had, that Ace often sported in different situations. 

Someone observes them amusedly, “but you don’t even look alike-- oh, that kind of brotherhood, alright I can get behind that.” Then he raises his mug and cheers, for some reason. 

“Sucks to kind die, huh. I feel ya,” said a man with a terrible scar across his forehead. 

“I hope he remembers you soon, Ace!” another exclaims tearfully, because of course someone’s already in tears from the story that was barely told. 

Another gleefully suggests, “have you tried giving him head trauma?”

To which Ace whines, “yeah, but it didn’t work!”

 

Sabo is entirely sure that this entire crew is insane, and he hates that he kind of likes it. It’s the exact sort of idiocy a part of him inside feels very much at home in. 

Maybe, inside, the part of him that was the brother for Ace still exists. 

Maybe they can coexist, and Sabo isn’t sure how to feel about it.

(But he shakes away the thought, knowing he has to focus now. Tonight is his last night on the ship-- Teach would strike today, and he will have to keep watch for the moment.)

 

“I’ll leave the fruit in Ace’s room for now, with the rest of my things,” he says, gesturing at the Devil Fruit, raising his voice so Ace who is already at the other end of the deck, (along with everyone in between) can hear him. “Is that fine?”

“Yeah!” Ace hollers.

Now it’s just the waiting game.

 

-


-

 

For Marshall D. Teach, life was finally looking his way.

A series of strange, coincidental events-- a convenient little sister that’s earned apparently everyone’s favour, of which he knows almost nothing about because he didn’t bother interacting last time around-- and suddenly, the Yami-Yami no Mi is right there, laid out and defenseless, where he could reach it.

But he couldn’t pounce just yet. He’ll be caught and he’ll be questioned. Running away from Whitebeard unnoticed would be very difficult on the blue sea, after all. 

So he was careful.

The party was such a clear invitation for an attempt, he just had to tr y, if only to see what would happen. He parties until the moon is high in the sky. Marco’s nowhere to be seen, the deck is quiet-- and the road to Ace’s room is silent.

 

Then he opens the door and their Revolutionary guest stares back, sitting lackadaisical to indicate he’s been waiting all along.

Ah, so it was a trap. 

 

As practiced, Teach croaks out a laugh. “Oh! Wrong room,” he says, burping before moving to close the door.

“No no, it’s the right room,” Sabo interrupts him, his demeanor cheerful. And the man raises the Yami-Yami no mi in his hands. “You were looking for this, weren’t you?”

 

Teach’s expressions fall for just a second.

 

“Yeah, it’s interesting! I was thinkin’ I wanted to get a closer look,” Teach admits, “I’d rather look at it when I’m sober, you know.”

“So, now?”

“Do I look sober to you?”

“Well absolutely,” Sabo’s response is immediate, and Teach knows he can’t keep up the act any longer. 

Not that it would matter-- this is their guest, this isn’t a crewmate. 

 

(Maybe he could just kill this one guy and if he plays it off as innocent everyone would trust him. Yeah, that would work.)

 

Teach laughs. 

“Saw right through me, didn’tcha? Well don’t mind if I take a closer look then.”

He steps forward, a hand reaching behind him to the blades he always keeps under his sleeves. The Chief of Staff won’t be easy to take out, but he can handle this much. 

“Do you know what the fruit does?” Sabo chirps up some small talk. “None of us can quite figure why Nami would want it. And I heard from Ace that if anyone on this ship would know about the fruit, it’d be you and your archaeological knowledge.”

That makes Teach feel a little smug. “Course,” he says, “I don’t hold a candle to some of the others in the scholar division, but I know what I need to. It’s in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia, this one.”

Sabo makes an amused noise. “So is it a Logia, or a Paramecia?”

“It’s a logia,” Teach grins, knowing this is far more than tactically advantageous to share, but it doesn’t matter. “Not just any logia-- it’s a Special logia. Like that guy from Big Mom’s crew with the Special Paramecia-- this one’s fabled to be the strongest of the Logias. In fact I joined this crew because I wanted to find it.”

Sabo holds the fruit up to the light, slightly fascinated. “Tough case, huh. It’s what you wanted, but since we’re giving it to Nami, you can’t have it. That’s a shame.” 

Teach shrugs at that. “Sometimes, a big brother just has to tough it out for the happiness of their younger siblings, you know.” 

 

They chuckle awkwardly in unison. 

 

Then Teach strikes.

He thrusts his blade forward, colliding sharply against Sabo’s pipe, deflecting off the surface and narrowly missing its target. His other dagger comes forth, and Sabo kicks up his pipe to swat it out of his hand.

The blade whirls, embedding onto the roof of the cabin. 

Sabo whirls out of his spot, expertly maneuvering past the blade and regaining his balance, Devil Fruit still in hand. He straightens his posture and gains some distance. 

 

“So,” Sabo inquires, in a way that meant he anticipated it perfectly. “What was the meaning of that?” 

 

Teach laughs. “I mean, it would be a shame if our Revolutionary guest turned out to have heinous intentions,” he says, constructing his story on the fly. “Let’s say that I ate it out of desperation in an attempt to retrieve it, shall we?”

Sabo makes a disgusted face, “well, fair point.”

“You ain’t dealing with a saint, you revolutionary scum,” is Teach’s rebuttal. “You’re dealing with a pirate here.”

And Sabo has to admit, that was true. 

“Unfortunately, my orders were specific here,” Sabo sighs. 

 

(There’s someone there that can hurt our cause. Do everything you can to stop them.)

He didn’t elaborate fully to the Whitebeards. Obviously, you don’t reveal the full extent of code words to another party, after all. 

(“Nami warned me, very closely, that this fruit should never land in the wrong hands at any point of history. Revolutionary Army-- you know the importance of such a thing.”)

(And Sabo did.)

 

Slowly, he turns the fruit around, so Teach can get a clear look at the one section that was quite specifically bitten out of.

“Well, my boss will probably be mad at me for this,” he shrugs. Gripping a fist before him, it erupts into black wisps. “But when I do things. I like to be thorough.”

Teach’s stomach plummets.

Then he explodes with rage-- “you-- how dare you!” he snaps. “I spent twenty years getting this far! How dare--!!”

He freezes mid-rant.

“But it’s fine,” he grounds out, the smile on his face lunatic above all else. “I can just kill you here, and it’ll be reformed as one of the fruits in the pantry, or even on the island. Then I can seize it for myself and say goodbye to this damned crew once and for all!”

 

Sabo tosses the fruit aside, rather amused. 

“Heard that, Marco?” he asks.

 

Teach’s eyes widen.

 

“Yeah,” the door opens, and Marco ruffles his head mirthfully. “Loud and clear, unfortunately.”

 

-

 

When the door bursts open, people jerk awake in alarm.

Marco winces, unhesitatingly tearing out the knife embedded in his eye. It erupts immediately in blue flames, and people cry out in horror.

 

“Hey, Marco!” 

 

“Stay back,” Marco orders. “Get Oyaji here right now.” Though he’s probably already on his way, not having stayed far to begin with. 

Ace arrives in the next moment, fire licking his forearms as he prepares for further attack. “Where’s Sabo?” he demands, and Marco gestures forward. 

Right on cue the doorframe shatters, and Sabo is thrown out of the fray. 

Spitting out a broken tooth and cringing, the revolutionary quickly straightens. The Devil Fruit tucked securely under his coat, he keeps his hat on his head and joins Marco and Ace by the rest of the crew.

“So we’ve got our answer, huh?” Ace mutters, looking disgruntled. “I hate this.” Someone from his own division, too...

“Was he always this strong?” Sabo asks.

“Obviously, since he’s one of our oldest members,” Marco mutters, his eye healed fully now, “but I’d be lying to say I knew he was this strong.”

 

“What’s going on?!”

“A fight?”

 

Some of the drunkards are waking up now-- and seeing as the first thing they recognize is Marco getting stabbed, they’re going to panic. The commanders step forward, holding the crew back from addressing the threat before they understand what’s going on. 

 

“Situation, Marco?”

 Izo asks, though all commanders are quite sure of it now.

 

Teach steps forward, his fists coated in a black sheen. Emerging from the shadows, it was hard to see his face. But it was low, his brows twisted together in a furious gleam. 

His infamous smile was nowhere to be seen-- and the only attention emanating from his features was a sheer, uninvolving rage that didn’t have elsewhere to go but out .

Marco fixes an eye on the man he once called brother. 

 

“We should hear it from Teach.”

All heads turn to meet Edward Newgate as he arrives-- and the startling presence of his Haki told them everything they needed to know.

“Right, Teach?” The question is more patronizing than inquisitive. “Do you have something to say to me?”

 

The sound that comes from Teach is a mocking scoff.

“Yeah, I bet you want to hear all about it, going into the theatrics,” Teach sings sarcastically, utterly disgusted by this display. “Well, I’m done playing this charade with you buffoons. I’m leaving the crew, Oyaji.

The last word is spat out with such disdain, Ace instantly bristled. 

“Teach!” he roars, lighting up in a fury of red and orange. “You cannot be serious here! Explain yourself right now!”

Teach raises his hands in a placated manner. “I joined this crew for one reason and one reason only,” he says, “now that the reason’s gone, I have no reason to play this retarded family game any longer. Dumbed that down enough for ya, Ace?”

“Ret--” there was no better fuel for the dismay that coated everyone’s faces. “Teach-- are you saying everything was just-- was just stupid to you?”

 

“Where’s the Yami-Yami no mi?” Whitebeard asks, though there was an underlying, suppressed ire in his voice, threatening to break through. 

 

“I ate it,” Sabo says, to everyone’s surprise. At the pointedly offended looks from a few people, he defends himself. “What? It’s not like Nami actually wanted the thing. If she made me her gopher boy, she sure as hell can’t complain when I eat it.”

“You ate a devil fruit, which makes you unable to swim, on a ship full of pirates you don’t trust,” Thatch asks, incredulous.

Sabo rolls his eyes in response. “Priorities change depending on the situation.”

“Awh man, now there’ll be no one to fish us out of the water when Luffy falls in again,” Ace says. “Are you an idiot? I thought you were the smart brother.”

“Be quiet, Ace.”

“Stingypants,” Ace retorts, like a child. 

 

Then he immediately lets the smile fall, turning to Teach with a deep, burning breath-- before stepping forward. No one stops him, but there are looks, and a few hesitate. There was no way they were letting him go alone here.

Teach had nowhere to escape, unless he really fought his way out of it in the confusion amongst the crew. Whitebeard would be impossible to face-- but Ace?

 

“What do you want, commander?” he says, the title coming off in jest. “Gonna pretend a punch can turn me back into a nice guy for you?”

Ace pauses for a moment.

Then he sighs. “So you’re serious, huh?” he steps back, flames churning in his elbow. “Everyone stay back.” 

At his request, protests arise. “Hold on, Ace! This is a problem for all of us!” and “Oyaji’s the one that decides what to do with him”, but Ace wasn’t having any of it.

Teach was outnumbered here. 

 

For Ace, Teach was one of the first few to acknowledge his ascension to the position of Commander. Aside from Thatch and Marco, Teach was the one that showed him the ropes of the division, cemented his bond with the rest of the members, and helped him feel belonged.

To Ace, Teach was an important brother.

And yet, here they were.  It hurt a lot to have to face him with anger in his veins, long-forgotten foul words threatening to rise form his throat once more. 

 

“I’m the commander of the second division-- I’ll deal with my misbehaving members on my own,” he says.

And no one could rebuke that.

 

Except one.

 

“Hey, that’s a little selfish, don’t you think?” Sabo mutters, crossing his arms. “I have a bone to pick with him. Almost literally, because you know, he knocked out a tooth of mine and I can still taste the blood. It’s fucking gross.”

 

Ace almost facefaults from that. 

“Can’t you tell this is a dramatic moment? Butt out already!” 

“Don’t wanna. In fact, you’re the one that came in between my fight.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Yeah, dramatic bitch . I fought him first.”

“He’s in my division! I have a responsibility!”

“Responsibility? You know what responsibility means?!”

 

There, side by side with their fists in line-- it was almost like the old days. Even when Sabo still didn’t remember a thing, they turn and strike in tandem. They were still arguing, but it was almost like they’d practiced this same move a hundred times before. 

Teach dodges the first strike, but doesn’t avoid the next. When he’s engulfed in flames, the pipe is always two steps behind him.

None of the Whitebeards interfere. 

 

 

 

(If there were still any doubts on Sabo being Ace’s long-lost brother, they were all gone now. There was little more fascinating than watching twins battle together.)

But Teach is not so simple a man as to be defeated so easily.

 

-


-

 

Teach escapes. 

Like a duel rather than a banishment, they battle on the shores of the island, away from most of the crew. The fight lasted for three days and ended with Teach embedding a haki-infused blade in Sabo’s stomach, before escaping into the sea.

He wasn’t unscathed, of course. Those burn wounds would scar him forever, and if he didn’t get most of the bruises treated, he would most probably lose most of his right arm’s functions from now on. 

 

Sabo remained in a coma for the next week. 

 

“They can’t turn intangible,” Haruta reveals, reading out of the Devil fruit encyclopedia they’ve managed to dig out of Teach’s old items. “Apparently, it’s quite the opposite, and pain is amplified.”

Marco soaks in the new information contemplatively. Ace has already mostly recovered, and he now spends most of his time watching Sabo in hopes he’ll wake up soon. 

“It’s his own fault for eating the fruit without knowing what it is,” Ace rationalizes, chuckling though his expressions are strained. “But he’s tougher than that. He got blown up by a cannon and survived-- he can probably live through being fucking impaled.”

“That doesn’t sound like a great track record of injuries,” Marco remarks. 

“But everything else this says about the fruit is pretty terrifying,” Haruta hands the book to Marco so he can look for himself. “I think I’m quite glad Teach didn’t get his hands on it after all.”

 

It still stings to think about the fact that Teach had jumped ship. 

Ace hasn’t been able to look his division in the eye. People have been staring dazed instead of doing chores, and a few have walked around with their clothing inside out. Even Oyaji has been indulging in more alcohol than reccomeneded nowadays, and Whitey can’t quite force him to reduce the consumption. 

(They all needed time to let it sink in.)

 

But the problem now was Sabo. 

For Ace, Sabo was always the first. From the very beginning, there was no one else he opened his heart to first. He's also the first he learned to lose and cry for, but that was now history that could be forgotten because he's here, with him again. And that meant more than anything. 

To Ace, there could only be Sabo, but once you took Sabo away, he learned to let other people into his heart again. 

It was an important change in his life. But now he didn't need that trigger again, he just wanted Sabo back by his side, giving him those snarky remarks because he's a pretentious bastard and Ace doesn't hate that at all, though he would always say otherwise. 

(He just lost a brother in Teach.)

(He doesn't want to lose Sabo, too.)

 

There’s no telling how long the Revolutionaries will leave the Whitebeards alone if their Chief of Staff stays out of contact for so long. There’s no easy way to get in contact with them, either, so it was a stressful wait. Let’s hope misunderstandings don’t occur.

What’s more, the injuries he sustained were dire. 

 

 

Counting in the extra pain factor-- they had pain medication, but it only went so far. If he wakes up with severe chronic pains, trauma, or other mental repercussions-- as a doctor, Marco was incredibly worried for him.

(He wasn’t a brother, not directly, but Marco knew how much he meant to Ace.)

 

Now, they could only wait.

(They’ve been doing a lot of that recently.)

Chapter 32: moving on together (we haven't grown at all)

Summary:

Sabo wakes up. Ace finally gets his long-awaited hug and cry, though it's later filled with loads of teasing and bullying all around.

Meanwhile on the Strawhat's ship, Vivi and Carue settle in.

Notes:

Hey guys ❤ it's the author that appears once in a while to direct my undying love in your direction and then proceed to fade out for a dozen chapters. Yeah. Anyways, I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH PLEASE KNOW THAT. Thanks so so much for all the support you've given to the story! I'm having so much fun writing every bit of it and nothing makes me happier than knowing it's being appreciated so far. It's what cheers me up in these days. ❤

Off topic-- I have a tumblr where I post rambles of this fic and some other of my fics sometimes. Like, I only drop stuff there every once in a while, but it exists. If you ever have anything to ask/spot plot holes/have criticism about this story, please feel free to ask away! or comment here is fine too. They really help me write better, no lie.

Anyways enough of me. Onto the awaited SaboAce hug.

Chapter Text

In the darkness of his own mind, Sabo suffers. 

He’s never been a fan of such complete blindness, but everything was made worse by the consistent plunge of despair that consumes his chest, like a growing lump that burns, burns, and keeps burning

He could throw up, but he’s not nauseated enough for it.

He could scream, but he’s out of strength.

He could struggle and writhe, but he was paralyzed, forced to bear with the agony eating him alive, crawling across his body like mounds of carnivorous mites unable to be settled until he was dead.

 

Could he even die?

 

He can’t even think straight. He can only bear with the pain, try to bear with the pain, fail to bear with the pain-- and rinse and repeat without a choice.

Eventually, he realizes that this is the fruit he’s eaten.

And in the endless agony that feels like an eternity, his mind begins to find ways to cope. His instinct for survival rises out of his mind as he reaches the ends of his ropes.

He almost succumbs to the pain.

But his mind refuses to give up, and he begins to think hopefully of the things he’ll see when he finally finds his way out of the sweltering darkness.

He sees Koala, the Revolutionary Army-- and he’s reminded of the things he can’t forget yet. He can’t lose to this pain-- he can’t forget them, he can’t die here.

 

(And in the crest of his mind, he finds it.)

(He finds the memories of the brothers he used to have, the vision of red sake cups knocking against each other-- and the promise they once made.)

 

Suddenly, he’s awake.

 

The world is bright-- and above him is a ceiling he doesn’t recognize. 

“M- Marco! MARCO! HEY, MARCO! He’s awake!”

He’s not in the darkness anymore. There’s a mess of voice and movement as his vision is blurred, so blurred, he can’t make anything out.

He groans, a sharp pain shooting up his head. The little movement reminds him of the dull throb-- that instantly crecendoes into a drill of sheer agony in his side.

He struggles to-- he can’t sit up. 

Heck, he can barely move. He hasn’t felt like this since the time Kuma accidentally swatted him to the end of Baltigo. 

Ace is hovering over him, and as Sabo’s eyes clear up he can make out the panicked expressions, the wide eyes, and the tears brimming the corners. 

 

(Oh, Ace is crying for him? He’s kind of flattered.)

(...Ace?)

 

“You idiot! You didn’t have to take that s trike for me! I’m fucking fire and your reckless idiot head forgot, of course--”

 

(“Ace…?”)

 

Sabo’s eyes widen in horror.

The freckles. The hair, dark and curled in just the right ways, framing his face in an almost uncharacteristically innocent image. He always showed his concern through aggression, and his affection through displays of violence.

Sabo knows this because… because he does .

“Ace?” he croaks out, and he’s not so sure if that sounds like a word at all-- but Ace freezes at the call, and Sabo takes a moment to blink-- and really rake in the features. 

He remembers. 

Shit, Sabo remembers.

 

Sabo suddenly remembers anything and it’s trippy-- it’s like nothing’s changed-- but everything’s changed and there was no way to ignore this except--

 

“Shit,” Sabo whispers. “Shit,” because there was no better way to describe the burst of emotions in his chest. He tries to cry, he thinks he does, but it hurts so much he doesn’t know why exactly the tears are in his eyes. “Shit… Ace.

Ace freezes where he stands.

“Sabo?” that one word is full of hope.

No response is needed. 

It’s right there in the way Sabo said his name, a habit that the noble couldn’t break, the whisper-like drag at the end of the syllable that he started out doing from a childhood accent brought from the High Town of Goa.

He fixed the pronunciation later on with Makino’s help, but Sabo never changed the way he said Ace’s name. It was important, almost like a little nickname just between them. Luffy later adopted the same way it’s spoken, but that was because Luffy said things however he wanted, always.

(But in that moment-- they just knew .)

 

Ace’s face was filled with tears.

He collapses forward, careful not to manhandle Sabo-- but he buries his face deeply in the man’s chest and he just sobs .

 

“You-- fucking ,” he certainly hasn’t lost his potty mouth, “ fucking idiot of a brother I--” a choke, and something that sounds like a sniffle, “Sabo, I hate you so much.” 

 

Sabo can’t hug back. It hurts too much everywhere to do that-- but in that moment, he just wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

“Yeah,” he says, his voice still raspy. “Good morning to you too, Ace.”

Right now, nothing else mattered.

 

Sabo breaks the silence and the ambience a long moment later.

“Seriously though,” Sabo chuckles, a tear at the edge of his voice, a burn of amusement rising in his tone. “Did you seriously get my jolly roger tattooed on your arm?” 

Ace shoots right up, his cheeks blooming red. “Oh shut up! You were dead, okay?!” 

He pulls his brother’s cheeks apart as wide as they would go as Sabo whines in a mixture of pain and defiance. There are tears in the former nobles eyes as he grins, cheekily waxing poetic about, “I’m so happy that you love me so much--” 

Ace is seriously going to die of embarrassment, “Shut up! Stop talking! I’ll punch you!” 

The childish roughhousing ends with a tight, tight-- and almost suffocating squeeze as Ace wraps his arms around Sabo’s shoulders, rounding over his figure to clasp him as close as he can even by the head. 

 

He holds and he clings and he doesn’t let go because--

--because he doesn’t want to be even an inch apart. He doesn’t even want to breathe, he just wants to feel Sabo in his arms and never, ever let him go again.

(Because he’s sorry he never did this enough.)

 

“Dammit, if I ever find Dragon, I’m going to punch him,” he says, ignoring the husky whispers of the tears clogging up his throat. 

“Yes, go ahead,” Sabo clenches back, refusing to let go from the warmth that has never hugged him so tightly before but still feels like the most familiar, most homelike thing he has ever received. “But me first, alright?”

He’s here and they’re together and he doesn’t care that this is more touchy-feely than they’ve ever been. Ace is the only thing right now between Sabo and the insanity of the chronic agony in his veins. 

Right now, there’s nothing else he wants to do but cry about the years they’ve lost together. 

 

-

 

Haruta runs Sabo through everything he’s found out about the Yami-Yami no mi, from the encyclopedia to research notes and to the extra information they found down the information lines in this short time frame. 

It’s not until Sabo touches Ace and he failed to change, that they realize the horrifying nullifying properties of the fruit. 

“Isn’t it ironic that Ace gets the bright and fiery Devil Fruit while I get the dark and edgy one?” Sabo asks. “Ace was the living representation of edgelord back when we were kids. Tried to kill me a hundred times and everything.” 

 

Haruta puts his book down.

 

Then, “please,” he says, approaching the revolutionary with the most serious expression in the universe, “please, do tell me more.”

“Haruta don’t you fucken’ dare --”

Ace is held back, literally, by a hand shoved to his face. Marco steps forward, just as interested as Haruta. “Does he try to kill everyone? ” he asks, incredulous.

Sabo nods. “His love language is murder,” he says, his face comically serious. “Did that with me, with Luffy-- our other brother by the way-- and with Gramps too at some point. Only person he didn’t do it to was Makino and that’s cause he had a raging boy-crush--”

“Sabo, shut up!

At this point, Haruta’s eyes are sparkling, Marco is incredibly amused, and Thatch, who came in with a tray of food, stayed for the tales and misadventures of jungle boy Ace and trash noble Sabo. 

 

-

 

It’s only after a day of extensive checkup and a very angry phone call from ‘my partner that’s on standby about three miles from here in case I get killed on this ship’,  Sabo is finally able to go out on deck. 

(Actually, he shouldn’t be, he should still be a walking epitome of agony, but for some reason he just says it’s okay and he’s active. Marco is worried and horrified.)

(But seeing as he’s on a ship full of equally thickheaded morons, he isn’t very surprised.)

 

“Tell me honestly, do you pain sensors actually work?” Marco asks, mostly out of incredulity. 

“Of course they do. I feel like dying right now,” Sabo says, cheerfully. “Except--”

“You are NOT allowed to die again!” Ace snaps, interrupting him as Sabo gestures in a ‘as you can see’ manner. 

 

The fire Logia is still clinging to Sabo’s side, more reluctant to leave him than ever. It’s honestly getting annoying.

After hearing the good news and deciding it was a great opportunity to have an excuse to drink their sorrows about Teach away once and for all, the crew had another party yesterday. They were going to be in trouble for stock soon, but it was hard to combat it.

Ace was happy and sad and hungover and so was the rest of the crew.

“Anyways, I cleared things up with my contact,” Sabo finishes his report to Whitebeard. It was just the basic situational update about the Revolutionary Army’s concerns in regard to Sabo’s prolonged stay here. “Sorry for intruding, and our leader extends his words of gratitude.”

Whitebeard had been amusing himself with the way Marco and Ace squabble over nothing, but the news was at the very least, easing to his ears. It’s not much of a relief to the overall situation, though. “I see, that’s great to hear.”

He was, however, eager to distract himself. 

“Now that you’ve regained your memories, does that mean I can call you my, by extension, son?” he wonders to the air, rubbing his chin contemplatively. 

 

Sabo’s jaw drops.

 

“New brother?!” Thatch bursts out of the galley door, how the heck did he even hear the conversation? With a hand still holding a large tray of fresh baked bread. “Did I just hear that?”

A few heads immediately lift. 

Whitebeard nods. “Looks like we’ll need another party to get you settled in,” at Sabo’s gobsmacked expressions, Whitebeard iterates, “well, Nami was like this too. The more the merrier on this ship, you’ll grow into it.”

“Did you just say ‘you’ll grow into it’ like we’re talking about a new pair of shoes?” Sabo can’t believe his ears right now, “wait, I’m not your son--”

“New brother indeed!” Ace cheers. He immediately spins and declares, “hey everyone! This is Sabo and he’s our new brother now! Get along!”

“Listen to me!” 

"Awh man. Another supply trip soon. We're seriously having too many parties this month."

"Then STOP having them!"

 

Promptly ignored once again, Sabo is swung around and handed off to the next person that deposits a mug of booze in his hand and initiates a toast. Apparently, their hangover no longer exists. 

 

“Hey, call your partner so they can join the party,” someone suggests. 

“Excuse me? I’m not compromising her position.”

“Oh it’s a girl? Then all the more reason not to leave her out there!” Thatch declares. “She must be hungry if she’s been waiting for you so long. And Whitey would kill me if she learns about this. C’mon.”

It’ll be awhile before Sabo finally gets to go back to Baltigo. 

 

-


-

 

“On the sea, send it up with the albatross. On land, lead it down with gold,” Nami flips a coin into the air, catching it in the back of her hand. “In times of strife, listen to the party in the wind. When things come through, cast your bets on the fires of chaos.”

It’s a rumour on the waves, whispering to the world of the four devas that control the flow of information in the Grand Line and out. 

Coby will become the fifth-- no, by default, he already is. And so is Usopp and Nami, who have already begun using future knowledge. Buggy’s a wild card, so they don’t know what on earth he’s planning, though. 

 

Vivi hums at the knowledge. “So the News Coo is part of one of those information lines as well?” she says, at least understanding the first part. 

Nami nods. “It’s the most accessible form of information, and at the same time the least,” Vivi has no idea what that means. 

The navigator chuckles, standing up from the steps to arrive at Usopp’s little deck workshop, where the outer shells of her metal arm lay on the mat.

After being slightly toasted, Nami needed to let it air so it could cool properly. Usopp, finding the chance, decided to add improvements to the structure while he could. 

“I thought your arm needed to be set together by an experienced physician,” Vivi questions, remembering the need to ask Crocus as a doctor back on Whiskey Peak. “Is this different?”

“Yeah, as long as this part stays on,” Nami gestures at the only remaining part of her arm that was still left on the shoulder-- a protruding, glowing section connected by a plug of wires and sockets. 

“Ah… I see.”

Now, returning to the talk about information.

“So the reason you knew about my identity was due to one of those four lines?” Vivi asks, finally arriving at the reason Usopp even knew she was a princess. “But if it was exposed already…”

“No, the information we’re getting is from a different, highly classified source,” Usopp fills in before a misunderstanding sets. “There is no line in the world that knows about your involvement with Baroque Works, or our crew, as of now.”

Vivi only ends up more confused than before, and she doesn’t quite have the motivation to try asking again. She’s been attempting to weedle this piece of information for thirty minutes now, she doesn’t think she’ll ever get any closer. 

 

Promptly, she turns her head to watch Luffy chase Carue around the deck.

The rubber idiot latches onto the bird, and Carue kicks him crudely. It’s the most vulgar thing Vivi has ever seen her gentle and domesticated boy do, so it stuns her. 

“C’mon, Chachamaru!” Luffy whines, and who the hell is Chachamaru, that’s actually kind of cute for a name, “you’re huge! Give me a ride!”

Carue responds with a still-offended SQUAWK! And kick to the face, Luffy goes flying overboard, as he should.

Zoro immediately stands up and jumps after him.

 

Vivi finds herself wondering whatever would happen if one of the Baroque Works Officer Agents fell into the sea while sailing. Do they just let each other die? She hasn’t been briefed about Devil Fruit user protocol yet.

(Wait no no, it’s not ‘yet’, it’s ‘before now’. Gotta get back to normal lifestyle.) 

 

“It’s teatime my lovely ladies~!” out comes a dancing Sanji, carting a huge tray of strangely reddish drinks. 

Luffy cheers sleepily from his waterlogged spot on the deck, and Zoro groans, squeezing the water out of his sash. Carue sits down, apparently satisfied with chucking him out of the deck once today. 

“Here you go, Nami-san and Vivi-chan,” Sanji sings, daintily handing them a glass each. 

He had only begun to use her name a moment ago, but it feels great to be called by her name again. She hadn’t really affused to it yet, but now-- now she has a right to call herself by her name again. For real this time.

“Are you sure we can relax this much?” she asks with a defeated sigh.

“It’ll be fine. They’ll work hard when a storm comes,” Nami sips on her drink and hums in absolute delight, “this is really good! Thanks as always, Sanji-kun!”

“Of course, Nami-swan! Nothing makes me happier than knowing it pleases you,” he bows. Then a holler to the rest of the deck, "alright, you hooligans, whoever wants a taste of my special drink gather round!”

 

Sanji then saunters away. 

Even Carue makes his way over, where Sanji teaches him out to drink out of a straw. She wonders if he should even drink anything remotely alcoholic, but she holds herself back, realizing that complaining would do nothing. 

Usopp, leaving the arm parts where they were, is handed a drink as well as the group gathers around him instead of making him convene the other way around. 

“Hey Usopp, think we can get the net out and fish another sea king?” Luffy asks, excited on the aspect of their first real, sea voyage on the Grand Line. 

They were already thinking of what they could do to while their boredom away.

 

(Wait, what do they mean another? )

 

“Fishing huh? Not a bad idea,” that’s Zoro, and Vivi thought he was the sensible one of the ship but apparently she was wrong. “How are we going to lure one out, though?”

“Let’s not go for sea kings right away. I want to dismantle the net for supplies anyways,” Usopp takes a moment to find the straw, and Sanji has to reach over to help. The action is so casual, Usopp simply continues talking, “I’ll make you a fishing rod, okay?”

“Oh! You can?!”

“Of course. Who do you think made Nami’s Clima Tact?” came the boasting once more, “I may be blind now, but thirty years ago I used to be called Usopp, the Master Craftsman of the King’s entourage!” 

“Oooh!” 

Luffy sparkles, but Sanji just scoffs, fixing him an unimpressed look as he remarks, “so you’re more than thirty years old?”

Usopp sputters, “no! Well, actually-- I mean--”

 

He doesn’t even know how to begin explaining himself, and as everyone starts teasing him for being an old man apparently, Nami lets out a chuckle beside her.

And Vivi turns around to see a beautiful smile.

(That’s what Vivi wants to do.)

(Living a mundane life, telling dumb jokes-- these things ultimately build up into a beautiful smile on everyone’s faces. That’s the ideal world in Vivi’s heart, and she wants nothing but to make her country fit the bill.)

 

“Being on this ship sure makes you lose the will to worry, huh?” 

 

When Nami says that, Vivi almost wants to say something back in annoyance. She wants to focus on her country-- she’s still worried about Igaram, and it can only be trouble herein.

And yet, when she sees the joy that radiates from every single member of this crew, genuine and solid and unbreakable, Vivi finds herself wanting to assimilate, if only to be free for once in her life. 

The wind blows through her hair, sending it dancing across her back, barely held together in a ponytail by the band at its crest.

“Yes, it is quite relaxing,” she admits.

And she might be fine if it stays like this for a while longer. 

 

-

 

Kinoko wakes up a few hours later, weak and active and hurt in all places. The first thing she does is leap out of her cot-- Gin has to lunge over in his half-awake state and catch her-- as she frantically checks for the ring around her casted foot. 

When she notices it’s there, she sighs in relief. 

Gin groans, slowly getting up. Wrapped in bandages and sleeping stomach down on the only bed on the ship for hours is not ideal, but Sanji was a strict nurse when times called. 

The bird, sluggishly getting squirming in his hands, looks around in confusion. She finally notices the way her wings are bandaged tightly, and she makes a cooing noise, slumping disappointedly.

“You’re finally awake.” At least she didn’t just die-- birds are much more fragile than humans, after all. He doesn’t know what to make of the huge duck though, “c’mon, let’s get you to the others.”

Usopp would be happy to see she’s awake.

Cradling his injuries with a grunt-- ugh, he can feel a fever coming. He might be getting an infection, which isn’t hard to guess seeing as they left all the medicine and antibiotics for Igaram. Usopp had salve, but that only went so far. 

Shrugging on the spare jacket Sanji snatched for him over his shoulders, Gin staggers up the steps and out into the deck.

 

“Hey,” he says, calling attention to him in all sorts of exclamations of his name, “the bird woke up.”

 

Kinoko is then handed off to Usopp, who shows her off to the crew as they begin reprimanding her.

“Geez, one blow and you’re out?” Luffy whines. “Now I look bad cause I keep losing races to you.” Then a moment later, “what does that face mean?! I’m not admitting defeat yet! HEY!” 

“That’s right. Stay somewhere we can see you,” Zoro crosses his arms, “you’re the guide bird, you’re not supposed to get lost.”

Kinoko then makes a very defiant noise back, and though none of them can quite understand her language, they all know exactly what hypocrisy she’s pointing out. 

"It's fine," Nami defends, "hey Noko-chan. Want to know how I paid that guy back for you?"

Kinoko perks up, interested. 

Gin leans against the railing, “next time, go for the eyes,” he says. “You’re good at that. But stick your claws forward and they’ll scream.”

“That’s terrifying, please don’t,” Usopp deadpans.

 

The birds are then introduced to each other, which is a strange sight, considering how little Kinoko is in comparison to the large spot-billed duck. 

Vivi says an awkward greeting to Kinoko, who gives her a silent, acknowledging nod and nothing else. It's one of the most awkward interactions she's ever experienced. 

 

“Here Ennosuke, that’s Chachamaru,” Luffy introduces.

“This is Kinoko, and that’s Carue,” Usopp corrects.

“That’s confusing,” Luffy says, to which everyone gives him an exasperated look he promptly pretends not to notice. “Anyways Chachamaru, don’t eat Ennosuke! She’s tinier than you.”

 

Carue gives him a pointed look, to which Kinoko croaks back her own incredulous caw. 

The birds then dissolve into a conversations of quacks and chirps that none of the humans can ever imagine understanding. But it’s filled with mutual laughter and occasional glances in Luffy’s direction, so they reckon it’s a fruitful little talk.

Luffy, though, gathers enough that they’re dissing him.

“You two are assholes!” he snaps, “that does it! I’m catching one of you and using you as fish bait! Wha-- Why are you running?! Get back here!”

When Carue starts dashing across the bow with Kinoko hugging his neck-- well, let’s say the rest of the strawhats simply laugh as their captain is stepped on along the way. 

Usopp simply smiles, hearing their captain squeak and yelp each time. There’s a splash, Zoro curses, and Gin sighs in the distance. Nami is giggling now, and Vivi is slightly worried. Sanji hands Gin a warm drink, and Merry sails on smoothly in the wind

It’s peaceful.

 

-

 

Sparring with Nami is wildly different from sparring with Usopp. 

Unlike the sharpshooter, Nami’s movements are clunky, with big swings and large movements that result in impacts many times stronger. 

And she applies many more theatrics to her movements. If Usopp was a force that you could easily hit but never injure-- Nami was impossible to even get close enough.

Kogatana is snapped out of his hands for the fifteenth time-- and he yells out in frustrations. 

 

Nami leans against her axe, smiling in an almost snarky manner. “Wanna go again?” she taunts, and Zoro contemplates the pros and cons of-- nevermind.

“Well, it’s hard to blame you, since you’re not used to using one sword as opposed to three,” Nami reckons. “You could stand to be a little less tough on yourself-- how about you use just one longsword. With Kogatana, I mean.”

Zoro picks up his dagger from the deck-- oh sorry, did it give you a heart attack Carue? At least it didn’t land on you-- and looks over, confused. 

“As in, one katana and one dagger? That’s dumb,” he says. And imbalanced.

Nami pouts at that, denying it completely. “You’re the weird one for using two full length swords. People usually have two swords of uneven lengths so one could be used for parrying, you know.”

(That, and people usually aren’t ambidextrous enough to wield them equally, so they’re uneven to compensate.)

Zoro simply raises a brow at that. “That can be done with two swords of the same length,” he denies. “In fact, if it’s not the same it throws me off.”

A scoff. “A devoted dojo kid you are, Zoro.”

“Stop insulting the dojo, viking witch!” 

Nami actually sputters. “Vikin- what ? Okay, that one is new,” she admits. “But you could try, you know. It could get you somewhere.”

Zoro groans at that.

 

It’s not as if he’s incredibly stubborn to uphold the rudimental, practiced motions of kendo that he’s learned from Koushiro-- but breaking out of it would be a gamble. And he's right-- he’s just been reluctant to take that step for now, and that’s why he’s at a standstill. 

To use Kogatana as a parrying blade-- would be the equivalent of deeming it unworthy of cutting anything. 

(“There are swords that can cut anything, and swords that can cut nothing.”)

No… Kogatana isn’t a sword that can’t hold its own. 

(He did manage to hit the vulture Miss Friday back on Whiskey Peak, after all.)

Kogatana is simply a blade with potential that isn’t found in Zoro’s traditional style. He has to find that line of skill-- and Zoro can’t do it while staying in his shell.

 

Drawing Wado Ichimonji from its sheath, Zoro holds them forward. 

The lengths and differing weights are awkward against each other, but he tries not to let it bother him.

“One more time,” he prompts.

Nami lifts her axe. “With pleasure.”

 

Zoro didn’t defeat a hundred bounty hunters on Whiskey Peak. Not alone, at least-- so i f Dracule Mihawk was a hundred times that effort, now he needs two times as much of that. It’s still far, far away from where he’s at right now. 

(He has to rush ahead as quickly as he can, even if it's clumsy and imperfect on the way.)

(Or he’ll fall behind.)

 

-

 

Vivi gets alone time with Gin.

Which is incredibly stressful seeing as Gin was the one most against her joining their trip up until very recently, but there wasn’t much of a choice. 

Gin needed to be watched so he would stay rested. 

For a long while, all he did was read the copy of Brag Men in the women’s room-- to which Vivi began to soft through the cupboards as well, reminded of the little shelf they had in the King’s office in Alabasta.

And there she finds it. 

 

“The Emerald City?” she picks it off the shelf immediately, amazed. “There are only a handful of copies in the world! How rare it is to find one here…”

 

Gin has to admit-- he’d literally only moved it over from the boy’s dorm yesterday because he was moving into this room-- but damn, she’s got taste. 

Emerald City, unlike Brag Men, Scarcity Value, or A Living Thing, wasn’t mass produced. 

In fact, Emerald City was such a fabled, constricted tale, that at some point, production of it was banned by World Government law. 

The copies that exist today were copied by hand and passed down in hiding. Which is why Gin found such joy in discovering that in the basements of Oykot.

(Some say it had links to the Void Century, but none could make such a claim without questioning the censorship of knowledge by the World Government.)

(Well, Gin isn’t too interested in that.)

 

“You know of it?” he asks instead. Small talk isn’t his thing, but he’s been forbidden from going out for a while now and he’ll take what he gets. And it’s also not common for him to be able to talk to someone that even knew of his dream, anyways. 

“Of course I do!” Vivi says, holding herself back in embarrassment as she realizes she’s gotten excited. She looks away, briefly admitting that, “my mother used to tell me stories about it. It was one of my favourites.” 

Mother? That would be the queen, wouldn't it?

 

Gin has always seen the story as the treasure of the civilians, of those hoping for a better life. It was strange to think that a member of privilege, of royalty, would look upon this story with the same fascination as she did.

(It was a dissonance.)

(Didn’t royalty already have everything Emerald City promised?)

 

Gin takes the book from her. 

Vivi looks surprised, so he scoffs, “the books on this shelf mostly belong to Nami, but this one belongs to me.”

Kinoko caws disapprovingly, glancing side-eyed at him. Gin hisses at her. 

“Oh…” Vivi steps back. “My bad. I apologize for not asking permission.” 

She bows her head-- she bows her head , which takes Gin by surprise-- and fluidly transitions into sifting through the other books. 

“May I borrow this one, then?” she gestures clearly without touching-- and she waits, patiently, for his answer. 

 

She doesn’t show any signs of being repulsed by his obvious rude treatment. There’s just a subtle, polite smile on her face-- it’s not mocking. It’s almost… almost full of understanding

It annoys Gin. Very much so.

 

He looks aside, irritated. “Do whatever the hell you want.”

Pretending to ignore Vivi therein, Gin returns to reading. Emerald City is still tucked by his side, forgotten but not unimportant. 

Vivi sits by the couch, pouring herself a drink from the mini bar. She settles with a book on her lap, and they read in silence.

It’s awkward, but Gin pretends it’s not his fault.

 

-

 

Usopp is working on carving wood by the mast when Luffy slowly lowers himself to his side, glancing curiously at the object he was working on. 

Usopp doesn’t need to look over, he simply blows aside the sawdust and hums. “Did you need something, Luffy?”

Luffy snaps back into his actual size, capturing his straw hat as it bumps out of place before standing up and crouching to get a closer look. “Hey Usopp, what’s the hockey thing that you use to see?”

 

It’s the first time Luffy has expressed actual, serious interest in it, so it catches Usopp off guard. He then accidentally nicks himself, which causes a short panic.

 

“What are you idiots doing?” Sanji snaps. “And you, how many times have I said? No using your hands!”

“No using your hands, no using your feet,” Usopp mutters sarcastically, “I need my hands to work. I can handle this.”

“I don’t care if you can handle it!” Sanji slams a foot on his head, though not as hard as he would usually hit, “if your hands don’t heal well and you lose feeling in those fingers, it’s all the worse for your already shitty sensitivity!” 

And he does have a point. 

Touch is an important part of how Usopp gets around-- if his fingers get too calloused, he wouldn’t be able to tell when things are hot, or sharp, or the other way around. Usopp’s first days on Baratie were filled with clumsy ways of how not to hold hot soups. 

The rough work of inventing and machinery have already brought his fingers to a thick padding-- but burns are a different matter entirely. He got some while waitering and sometimes cooking for staff meals, but never to this extent.

Usopp concedes and puts down the block.

 

“Haki is something essential in the Grand Line,” he begins, deciding that explanation is prompt here while Sanji is listening for once. “For the normal people like us, it’s the only way we can stand up against most Devil Fruit users in the world.”

Luffy doesn’t say a thing about how he’s being indirectly called an abnormal person. He simply listens, and waits for the rest.

“Remember the smoke guy in Loguetown?” Usopp prompts, “his devil fruit makes him intangible, doesn’t he?”

“Smokey, right?” Luffy nods. “He could touch me, but I couldn’t hit him at all!” he says. Then he remembers-- “how did he know I didn’t have Haki?” 

 

(He had, after all, specifically grumbled on the fact that Nami was following a chump like him. Luffy was going to prove him wrong next time.)

 

Usopp responds by pulling Luffy’s cheek-- to which the rubber captain whines loudly.

Sanji-- this is the first time he’s seen it used this way-- blinks amazedly at it. “It can bypass rubber properties?” he wonders. “So even a Logia?”

Usopp nods. “It’s the power to enforce your will outwards,” he says, describing it as vaguely as it can. “And when you achieve that peak-- it shows as a physical representation.” 

Luffy and Sanji’s attention is sucked right in as Usopp’s eyes gleam a bright red against his usual black sheen. 

Then they fade out, and Usopp picks up the slab of wood again. 

“Freaky,” Sanji notes, and Usopp shrugs. 

“Knowing how to utilize Haki is one of the requirements to become a Marine Vice Admiral,” the sharpshooter says, just for scale, “it’s not enough to just know how to use it, but it’s the starting point.”

 

And that, to Luffy, meant a very startling revelation.

(So, in the opinion of the two Grand Line veterans on his crew, Luffy wasn’t even at the starting line yet?)

(Usopp and Nami are both there, waiting for him to get to their level?)

As a captain-- as a captain, this shouldn’t be how it is.  He’s supposed to pull them forward together. Not the other way around-- this doesn’t sound right at all. This doesn’t sound right at all .

 

“Usopp!” he says, almost immediately. “Teach me Haki!”

 

Usopp is more than happy to comply.

“I’m not a master or anything, so it's not going to be easy, alright?”

Sanji clicks his tongue at that. “Well I bet you aren’t, being blind and all. I’ll overtake you as soon as I figure it out,” he mutters. A moment later he clarifies that, “Nami-swan is perfect as she is, though!” 

 

And he’s right. He, and subsequently Zoro and Luffy, will definitely overtake him and Nami in a flash. Once they unlock Haki, they can only go up from there.

(But what about Nami and Usopp?)

 

Usopp falters at the thought.

 

(No, no,) he shakes his head. (He’ll be strong enough once he gets his Pop Greens, and once he masters his Haki in different, more advanced ways.)

Deep inside, something whispers to him, a grim and dark realization.

(You’re in a stalemate, aren’t you?) It taunts him. (When are you going to get stronger?) He crushes his hat over his head and tries not to let it bother him.

Chapter 33: don't throw knives at giants (don't shoot a booger at my bird)

Summary:

And they reach their second island in the Grand Line.

Featuring gross bug spray ("if you die from bug poison, you are a bug!" Usopp once said), Nami just casually walking through the island with an axe (maybe that's why the dinosaur's aren't coming to her...) and Vivi being a damsel in distress a couple times in a row (she's gonna be annoyed by that later.)

Notes:

Ahhh fanart!! Thanks so much T^T ❤❤❤ what's the key to my heart? All of you are glorious and I cry in joy every time I gain any sort of feedback from y'all. I love you guys.

That aside. Hey guys! ❤ I'm alive! And here's the start of Little Garden. ^^

Chapter Text

“There it is! Our second island in the Grand Line!”

They make it to Little Garden, but it’s far from a swell and relaxing trip to town. Gin emerges from the room just to see the ruckus, and he has to falter at the grand sight before him. 

Larger than necessary wildlife, narrow rivers, exotic greenery. 

 

“Oh hey! Look at that!” Usopp exclaims, pointing upward to something shivering in the hanging trees. 

All heads turn up. They don’t find anything-- but they do realize the implication, so they shoot dirty looks toward him. 

“I’m just kidding.” Usopp simply hums, still looking upward at nothing with a smile on his face. “But that’s how it’ll sound like when one of you guys spot something strange.”

Sanji axe-kicks him and makes sure he doesn't get up anytime soon.

 

“This is a prehistoric island and giants live on it,” Gin says. “Get us a dinosaur or two, the meat will last us a while. Don’t talk to the giants.”

Usopp has the sudden urge to reply ‘yes dad’ to that, but he doesn’t think they’ll appreciate the joke. 

“The quartermaster has spoken,” is Sanji’s dry response to that-- which, works just as well. 

“Yay! Dinosaur meat!” Luffy cheers. Jungle boy as he is, the looming threat of a huge jungle with large animals was just Tuesday for him. In fact, he was all set and excited for adventure already. “Oh! And Sanji, one Pirate Lunchbox!”

“Pirate Lunchbox?” Zoro has to ask. 

“High protein and lots of meat,” Gin translates. 

“It’s actually a thing ?!”

 

The groupings went as such-- Usopp, Kinoko and Gin had to stay on shipwatch, because their injuries may get infected. Nami, Sanji and Zoro, the latter two of whom started some sort of fight over who could hunt better, are to go and acquire foodstuff. Finally, Luffy, as well as Vivi and Carue, were going to explore the island and try to scout for their enemies.

The Baroque Works members were coming, but there was nothing they could do except keep an eye out until they showed up. Everyone was supposed to be on high alarm, which is why Luffy was going with Vivi whilst the others went alone. 

“Hold on, everyone!” Usopp declares, right as all the groups step off the ship. Wielding a can of suspicious-looking spray, he points out in the swordsman’s general direction, “that’s including you, Zoro! Hold it!” 

There’s a tut and a disbelieving mutter of “is that guy actually blind?!” but Usopp shakes the can tentatively, making his way forward. 

“This is a prehistoric island, so we have no idea what extinct species and bugs are out there,” saying so, he blows Luffy a faceful of-- according to the captain’s absolutely repulsed reaction of shrieking and coughing, absolutely disgusting-- spray. 

He douses the rest of the monster trio in the spray before they hack disastrously and yell, “HEY! WARN US before you do that!” 

Well, just blame his blindness that he can’t tell where their mouths are, but seriously, “if you die from bug poison, you’re a bug.” 

So Usopp promptly ignores them (and Nami’s annoyed mutter of “that isn’t how it works…”) to hand the spray to Nami. 

Chemicals shouldn’t go near Gin’s wound right now, so Gin is spared. 

“We don’t want you catching any prehistoric viruses,” Usopp says, pointing the last part to Nami who, though he can’t see to tell for sure, is definitely pouting and mouthing something cheeky. “We’ll be in trouble if it’s a long-extinct disease without a cure.”

It doesn’t quite satisfy the boys and their new grudges, but Vivi is very appreciative of it. 

“It’ll repel bugs and most vermin, but it’s not the same for large animals,” Nami says. “So don’t worry about animals avoiding you or anything-- and Luffy,” a swat, “stop licking it.”

“It’s bitter,” Luffy gags. “I hate it.”

“So your solution is to eat it?”

Luffy seems to realize that is dumb, so his next course of action is to wipe it on Carue, who cawks really loudly before booting him into a tree. Seriously, when will he learn?

 

“One more thing,” Nami takes off her seastone bangle, handing it to Vivi. “Wear this. It’ll come in handy against Devil Fruit users.”

Vivi doesn’t quite understand, but after a moment of hesitation, she pulls it through her wrist with an obedient nod. 

“I will keep that in mind,” she says. 

She didn’t know very well what Seastone did, but she knew this was an important object for Nami. Nami did, after all, wear this bangle daily. She wouldn’t do that without reason. 

“If you guys encounter the Baroque Works agents that have come after us, be careful when dealing with them. Though I don’t think I have to remind you about that.” 

Luffy grins at that. “You bet!” he says. “We’ll beat them up and come right back, Usopp! So you and Gin stay here, alright? Burns are nasty in a forest, after all.”

Well, wouldn’t he be the prime person to understand that. 

“Plus, giants!” Luffy’s eyes sparkle. “We get to meet GIANTS! How cool is that?!”

Gin sputters. “The first thing I literally said was don’t talk to them! ” he snaps, to which Luffy continues to look into the distance with eyes of pure exhilaration.

 

One day, Gin will understand how to withhold the necessary information from the resident overexcited captain idiot, but today is apparently not that day. 

Usopp and Nami, however, know the importance of that. Which is why Usopp pulled Nami to the side when their captain was distracted, and spoke in sign regarding the two voices his Haki has found. 

Sanji does glance over strangely, but alas, he couldn’t eavesdrop on a non-verbal conversation. 

 


 

Regardless, they finally filed out into their separate directions after lots of goading. 

Gin returns to the cabin, because he’s got a book to read, some rest to get, and an appointment with another anxiety attack to get to. 

Usopp is left behind on the ship to get some progress on his workshop. Kinoko isn’t quite ready to fly around yet, but she’s well enough to watch the ship with him. So he spends most of his time fixing her fit. He strings the Buggy Passport around her wing, tucked just beside the armor shell so it wouldn’t get in her way when she flies. 

She may be the undeniably weakest member of the crew, but she’s also the member most versatile as a checkpoint in regard to passing information through the line. 

(Speaking of the information line, they’ll have to come in contact soon. He might want to call in some favours from them, now that they have access to it and all.)

 

Usopp sits down and continues carving into the wooden block. He’s been working on for weeks now, scrapping too many failed attempts to be comfortable. 

Kinoko narrates on his shoulder, but he’s carving as carefully as he can, feeling around the patterns and making sure they’re exactly how he wants them to be. 

(If anyone asks, he’ll say it’s part of his coordination training. The ability to be precise is vital to a sniper, after all-- this is part and parcel.)

(But in reality, it’s just a hobby. A little part of him that just wants to prove to himself that he can still do his simple crafts, like a wooden sculpture, a print stamp, amateur gears and wooden planks…)

(It’s the little things that make great effort worth it in the long run.)

(This is just his portion of the little effort he wants to make.)

It’s peaceful, for the most part. Aside from a number of strange vultures looking on curiously, there was really nothing of note right now.

...Usopp has a feeling he’s forgetting something.

 

“Oh, I see we have guests.”

 

His Haki zeroes right on the Giant that had made his way beside them. Okay, Usopp will blame the lack of hostility for why he didn’t notice them, but he was so startled he actually instinctively chucked his carving knife in that direction. 

It doesn’t hit its target, mainly because it hits a tree on the way. Brogy-- because he knows that’s Brogy, he spent too many years on Elbaf with this guy to not recognize it now-- simply laughs at it, parting the tree, possibly tearing a few at the trunks as he came closer. 

“Feisty! My fault for startling you, little human,” he says, amused and good-natured. “Anyways, you guys got any rum?”

Usopp knows that’s only because female vikings would stab people if disturbed in a similar way, so Brogy knows very well an alarmed warrior when he sees one. 

Kinoko is shrieking in horror, and Usopp barely remembers to set a hand around her back to ease her. 

Gin, however, hurtles himself right up to the deck in alarm. 

Then, “GAH!” he definitely shrieks at the sight of the giant, “wha--” he swirls on Usopp, pointing loudly in a panic as he made his way over, setting himself before the sharpshooter with his tonfas in hand. “Hey Usopp! Stand back, it’s a giant!” 

Usopp appreciates the gesture very much. “Yeah… I can see that.”

“No, you can’t!” Gin snaps. 

Usopp tries to deny that, but he realizes he’s right. 

Instead, he clears his throat, and sets a hand on Gin’s arm. “Don’t worry, he’s just curious,” he assures the quartermaster, to which Gin makes a noise of disbelief. 

Usopp thinks it’s endearing how much Gin is freaking out. Kinoko is frozen solid. 

“Ah, little human, you seem injured there,” Brogy comments idly, brows furrowing at the sight. “You shouldn’t be about. A warrior should know when to sit, they ought.”

Gin winces. 

Usopp mildly chews on the sheer hypocrisy of the sentence, because this is the guy that walked around with his severed hand in his other hand because he couldn’t find his hair tie -- but no, no. Usopp should stop thinking in future terms. This isn’t the idiotic best pal Brogy he knows. He can’t chew him out right now. 

“He’s right, Gin.”

Usopp sets down his things and steps forward, but Gin is stubborn. He lets Usopp move, but he doesn’t let him go too far. Maybe that’s why Usopp feels calm-- someone else is evidently more freaked out than himself right now.

 

(“For us giant warriors, our long lives mean it matters not how we live. But our deaths-- we hold that in very high value,” Brogy had told him. “Let us go out in battle, Sogeking.”)

(Usopp hated the way they viewed life there. That’s why he spent his years on Elbaf achieving great things, pulling civilisation forward, creating things that changed history forever-- all to prove to them just how a man can live their life to the fullest, and more time isn’t a sign of dull longevity, but of immense, unending opportunity.)

(But that is also why, along the last of their generation, Usopp allowed the aged giants to go and fight to their ending. Sacrifice was sacred and exalted, and that’s how they should be remembered.)

(That, in some way, was the end of an era for the giants’ way of life. The surviving giants from the purging massacre lived on with Sogeking’s ideals.)

(Life should not simply be the precedence to a grand death. It should be the grand epic, a saga that leads into a marvelous, beautiful ending.)

(“You are a brave warrior of the seas, are you not?” Dory had challenged, even though Usopp had earned that title from every giant on the island long ago. “Go forward, and don’t look back. Believe in our pride as warriors one last time, just as we believe yours.”)

(Those were their parting words.)

 

Usopp can’t deny that he has to take a few moments before he can speak, pretending nothing of their past has ever happened. Because none of it has happened. And as things went-- he may or may not ever have it again. 

He will still try, of course. He just has to start over again. 

Kinoko, ever the perceptive one, finally snaps out of her trance long enough to nuzzle a little closer to the crook of his neck. 

“Sorry for throwing that knife at you!” Usopp says, speaking up loud and bold, as he’d learnt was an indication of a friendly greeting in the giant’s culture. “We’ve got plenty of rum to spare!” 

“Wha--!!” Gin yelps, surprised at the sudden volume. He doesn’t expect Usopp to suddenly speak boisterously-- but then again, Usopp has always been unnaturally bold toward inhuman creatures… “Wait, we do not have plenty of rum to spare!” 

Rum was precious on a voyage-- it lasted longer than water, and god knows any form of replenishing liquids are important. Yes, Sanji got them a few barrels from Whiskey Peak, but who knows how much a giant drinks, they’ll be empty in a second! 

“Awh, no rum?” Brogy asks, sounding quite disappointed. 

“That’s right, Gin. Awh, no rum?” Usopp asks. “If we don’t give the big scary giant some rum, he might kill us and make us into rum, you know?”

“Stop talking bullshit!” Gin snaps, not falling for the childish scaring tactic. He does turn to Brogy with another raise of his tonfas, though, growling. “Hey, giant! If we give you rum, will you leave us alone?!”

Usopp immediately pouts at that. “That was what I was suggesting,” but Gin hisses at him to be quiet .

Brogy grins widely at Gin’s offer, though. 

“I’d be overjoyed!” Brogy says, “please, let me entertain you as my guests. It’s been years since I’ve been visited-- would you allow me to treat you to a meal, at least? You’ll have time before your log pose sets, after all.”

 

Gin hesitates. 

They don’t need to wait for the log pose-- but it’d be impolite, or even a clear show of distrust, if they didn’t accept this offer now. 

 

“I can handle this, Gin,” Usopp says. 

“But--”

“Gin,” Usopp repeats himself, a proud smile on his face. “Just trust me, alright?”

And perhaps, for the first time-- Gin has to stop himself from taking charge. Just trust me were words he still faltered at-- he’s getting there, step by step, but he evidently has much further to go-- this was one of those times he had to bite back the urge and let it happen. 

He had to trust

“We’re really sorry, Mister Giant-- as you can see, some of us are still injured from our last voyage,” Usopp indicates toward Gin and Kinoko. “Humans are a lot more fragile than giants, so if possible, could we remain on our ship?”

Brogy blinks at that. 

“Of course you can!” he beams, “just wait a sec-- oh, a dinosaur!” 

 

When Brogy swings his axe down and lops the creature’s head right off, Kinoko’s flight or fight instincts respond as a frantic scramble for freedom. But she couldn’t fly well, so she made about two inches off Usopp’s shoulder before she plummeted straight down.

 

Usopp winces when she hits the deck with a loud SPLAT. 

Gin is clinging tightly onto Usopp’s shoulders, “oh fuck. Usopp, whatever you do… don’t make this giant angry,” he hisses sharply. 

Sure enough, seeing a giant lop the head of a dinosaur off like a twig was definitely alarming-- it would be enough to freak anyone with a shred of sanity out, to be honest. 

Even Gin is freaking out, his grip on Usopp’s arm tightening sharply as he shoves the shorter boy further behind him. 

(Seriously, Gin and Zoro have ‘big brother’ ingrained in their veins or something.)

But that fright is a little hard to sympathize with when Usopp can’t see what’s going on. 

Yeah, maybe the gore will make him a little sick if he actually sees it, but primitive carnage is something he’s very much accustomed to by now. Alright, maybe if it was a human… nah, he shouldn’t acknowledge his crippled morals. Don’t put it in words. 

Anyways, let’s start by calming Gin down before he aggravates his wounds and raises his blood pressure too high. 

(Should I knock him out?) Usopp perishes the thought. He isn’t Nami, after all. 

“That’s fine, dinosaur meat is delicious,” Usopp says.

“That isn’t the probl-- has anyone told you it’s exhausting to talk to you?!” Gin snaps. “He just cut a dinosaur! It’d probably take a sneeze to destroy our ship!” 

 

Usopp laughs dryly at that. Well, he isn’t wrong…

(Maybe he should knock him out.)

 

Brogy points the severed dinosaur jaw in their direction. 

“I got us lunch!” Brogy reports, cheerful. 

 


 

Nami’s sign language is rusty, but she understood what Usopp was trying to tell her back on the ship. She almost signs back in response before she remembers he couldn’t see them either way. Guess that’s a plus. 

She can’t even remember who it was that taught them sign language last time around anymore. It’s been so long since anyone used it. 

 

( “Two foreigners,” no, strangers? Or perhaps intruders? “South-southeast, near,” ah, she understood that one. For some reason, she remembered signs for directions better.)

 

“Usopp’s definition of ‘near’ is pretty skewed, too,” she mutters, wandering through the forest with her axe in hand. “I can’t even sense them yet,” and she could sense pretty damn far, really. Not as far as Usopp, but seriously, her range is nothing to scoff at either.

Seriously, Haki is a cruel power system for the people on the average scale...

She spots a broken branch right before her hands could brush against them. In a trail, there’s a short uphill, and leaves had been cleared away from the soil in an attempt to find a stable foothold. 

There weren’t footprints or smudged soil, but there were plenty of subtle traces all over, including the loose hair of a very huge brush-- and even if she didn’t know it came from a paintbrush, it was bleached horse hair. You wouldn’t find it in a jungle like this one. 

These guys were complete amateurs in a jungle setting and gods, was it obvious.

 

“I don’t even need Haki to find these guys, do I…”

 

It doesn’t take too long at all. She cuts through about a quarter of the island (Usopp’s sense of what is large or small doesn’t make human sense. Is he measuring things in Elbaf perimeters now?) before she finds them. 

The garish, obnoxiously out-of-place candle house. 

“If this place wasn’t so huge, this shelter would never have worked.”

Her axe curves from shoulder to shoulder, gracing the air with a bright silver sheen-- she brandishes it before her, smiling. 

“Well then,” a pure black sheen coating its surface. She lifts it overhead with both arms, “sorry for the intrusion!”

And severed the building into two clean halves. 

 


 

Nami will forever remember the gobsmacked expressions on their faces as she brought down the axe and split their shelter right down the middle. 

She hefts the weapon back across her shoulders, resting her hands on them as she grinned, leaning on one leg with pure roguery in her eyes. 

“Mister Three and Miss Goldenweek, am I right?” she asks, rhetorically, “do you accept commissions of personalized wax statues, by the way?”

Miss Goldenweek, seemingly mid-slumber, had jumped right to attention with a brush in her hand, eyes sharpened with alarm. 

Mister Three is much less graceful, however. He stumbles out of his chair, smacks his face against the ground, and has to shove aside a chair to lousily grapple for what remains of his pride as he gets up. 

 

She spots a couple sketches on the table-- Gin’s and Nami’s wanted posters aside, there was a picture of Vivi as her princess self, then a sketch of Zoro and Usopp. 

(None of Luffy or Sanji? Awh, their captain’s going to be upset.)

Then again, Usopp showed himself to the group of bounty hunters at the start, while Luffy hung around in random spots and avoided the big noise, like Sanji. Coupled with the fact that Zoro shot down the culture, it makes sense the Unluckies didn’t notice them. 

 

Nami finishes her little observation by eyeing Dory’s and Brogy’s wanted poster, conveniently left out right before her. 

“Wh- Burglar Cat! You’re already here?!” he exclaims, moments before realizing his mistake, “I mean-- of course, we expected you!” Then finally, he sputters out a response, “of course we don’t take commissions!”

“Awh,” Nami pouts, “Usopp would be so happy to have a wax figure of Kaya, though.”

“Ah, sorry to disappoint. I can’t make lifelike figures of people I haven’t seen.”

“Oh. Bummer.”

Pause. 

Then, “why am I answering you casually?!” Mister Three yells, “don’t lead me on! What the hell are you even doing here?!”

Nami feigns a hurt look, “I’m uninvited?”

“Ah no, of course, you can come in for some tea-- no!” Mister Three barks out in frustration, “ah, fuck everything! You know we’re after your life, right? Stop playing around!”  

 

The two Baroque Works Officer Agents glance at each other testingly, before poising forward in preparation of battle. 

 

“You’re overconfident if you think you can come alone!” Mister Three snorts. 

With a wave of his hand, the fallen candle house dissolves, and swamps around Nami’s feet, solidifying in a hardened wax shackle around her ankles. 

“Now you can’t escape,” Mister Three boasts, “my candle trap may just be wax, but it’s harder than steel if you pile it on thickly enough.”

Miss Goldenweek takes the chaos to heft her large bag over her shoulder, raising a brush over her paints contemplatively. She only takes half a moment to decide Yellow-Green of Friendship is the colour to use, and the symbol takes form under Nami’s feet. 

Nami shrugs, unimpressed. 

“And Miss Goldenweek’s hypnotic Colours Trap has sealed your fate,” Mister Three grinned, “I don’t know why you came right to our doorstep, but it’s working in our favour. Now that their strongest player is on our side--”

 

Nami laughs, raising her axe once again. 

Her feet are still on the ground, after all-- this is nothing compared to the large candle cake she was trapped in last time around. 

In fact, she didn’t even need to try and cut it. 

When she brings the axe down, it’s blunt edge downward with a loud roar-- shattering the candle and the earth under it with the same, wide-swung motion. 

"You are kidding!"

Mister Three and Miss Goldenweek scramble for safety that can’t be found, the earth breaking through under them as they clung on to anything. The fissure brings down the ground, pierces through the earth, and cracks through the trees nearby. 

When the shaking finally stops, Nami chuckles. 

 

“Sorry,” she sticks out a cheeky little tongue, “your hypnotism thing works better on people with a weak mental fortitude, right? So it won’t work on me,” she approaches Miss Goldenweek, who squeaks in fear as she steps forward. 

Miss Goldenweek yelps, tears brimming through her eyes in pure horror when Nami touches her with a cold, metal arm. 

She isn’t used to someone breaking out of her Colours Trap so easily, huh. It was a cinch to Nami, however-- mind-control tactics are common around the New World, and as a manipulator herself, she couldn’t falter in that regard. 

(Nevermind the fact that her entire prosthesis surgery took more mental fortitude than anything else, really. This much is nothing to her at all.)

Nami smiles. 

 

When she turns aside, however, she finds Mister Three replaced by a white, candle statue. Loudly, she swears under her breath. 

 

“So if he puts enough desperation into a wax figure, it retains his voice for a while, huh?” Nami mutters, observing the structure. It’s also colourless if Miss Goldenweek doesn’t paint it, good to know. “I let my guard down.”

She swirls back around before Miss Goldenweek manages to crawl too far away in her escape attempt. Nami grabs the girl by the scruff, and, in a show of impressive strength, lifts her up with her bag like one would a kitten. 

“Nuh-uh, sweetie. You’re coming with me.”

Miss Goldenweek sobs, shrinking away in real fear. “I’m sorry, please let me go!” 

 


 

Meanwhile, Luffy and Vivi have found themselves in the care of Dory, the other giant. 

The volcano erupts, and he sets off toward his fated battle. 

“Man, he’s so cool!” Luffy sits by the fire, picking up a piece of really huge meat and gnawing on it while he waited for the battle to begin. 

Vivi, however, sighs in visible relief. “And Mister Man Demon even warned us…” 

 

She has suddenly realized that she’d chosen the wrong group of people as her escort on this adventure, but what can she do except despair, really? Of course the first thing Luffy will do upon finding a giant is call out to it. What was she expecting?

She definitely wasn’t expecting them to get along so well, though...

(Did this crew come with an instruction manual? She makes a mental note to ask later.)

 

“See that, Vivi? It’s a warrior’s fight!” Luffy points excitedly as the blade comes down on the shield, and the shield thrusts forward on the blade. “It’s so awesome! Usopp would be so jealous he doesn’t get to see this!” 

“Well, that is a bit of a high order,” Vivi says. “I’m sure he can still feel the tremors of battle, though… now that I think about it, are we sure it’s fine to leave Mister Longnose as the only able guard on the ship?”

Oh no, she hadn’t thought about that yet-- the excitement of adventure had consumed her, what an oversight. 

“Hm? Why wouldn’t it be fine?”

Luffy’s question genuinely stumps her. 

Did he seriously ask what wasn’t wrong about leaving a blind man and a heavily injured man on the ship when there are clearly highly hostile forces coming after them?

Now she is incredibly worried.

“I mean… Mister Longnose can’t exactly keep ship watch can he? Would Mister Man Demon be doing all the lookout work, then?” she wonders, not quite expecting a serious answer from Luffy anymore. “I suppose it’s not an ideal rest, but in our circumstances, it can't be helped.”

Luffy giggles at that.

“You worry about strange things, Vivi!” he says. “Usopp’s our crew sniper, you know! Of course he can be a lookout.”

Vivi doesn’t understand this crew at all. “But he’s blind, Luffy-san,” she reiterates, “sure, if he isn’t light blind, he can still make out colours and see movement. But that’s not exactly enough to defensively secure the ship on his own.”

Luffy’s brows furrow, and his lips purse in a way that probably means he’s trying hard to use his head. 

“Uhhh, I don’t really get it, but Usopp can handle it,” he assures once more.

Vivi gives up. 

Well, then. “Let’s hope Nami-san and the others make it back to the ship soon.” Don’t want Mister Five blowing up the ship or something, after all.

 

Dory returns, three barrels of rum tucked between his fingers. He comes back with bits of dried blood between his lips, dust and dirt caked around his ears, and a large, growing bruise at his chest-- but his smile is wide, unfazed by it all. 

“Oh hey, those are ours!” Luffy notices quickly. 

“It seems we have more guests!” Dory reports cheerfully, “they’re with my buddy Brogy right now, by a ship. I suppose that’s your crew?”

 

Of course it is. When he sets down the barrels, Luffy tells Vivi about the clear markings peppered across the center, noting the flaws of each barrel and what they could or couldn’t store. 

“So Mister Man Demon is your crew’s cooper as well?” Vivi asks. “There’s a lot of multitasking in this ship, I see.”

Luffy beams, “yeah, my crew’s the best, right?”

And he sets a hand in the corner of the lid. He doesn’t expect it to pop open as easily as it does, however-- when he feels the corner edge off without resistance, he looks back in surprise. 

“Huh?”

 

Dory looks over, curious. He’d been waiting for Luffy to open it with his little human hands, after all-- if he tried cracking it open himself, he'd be drinking wood chips. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Vivi comes over. She tries her hand on the next barrel over, and she’s surprised to find it doesn’t open easily, like it had been sealed inside. She would need a tool for this.

“Ah, I’ll do it,” Luffy says, gripping the side and-- with a small amount of effort, pulls it right open. On the inside, there was a strip of paper glued on just one part of the inside, a thin defense acting as a lid joint. 

(Ah, that’s what made it difficult to open.)

Luffy peels it off, turning to Carue just to cheekily stick it down the side of his beak. Carue yelps in surprise, not expecting the sudden harassment. He flaps his wings desperately, trying to get it off of himself. 

Carue, in a fit of anger, pries his beak open, tearing apart the paper in the process. If he goes to bite Luffy, let’s just say Vivi pretends not to see. 

 

(What’s the point of that? It’s definitely not meant to seal the lid-- something like that would be on the outside. Much more, it’s just one strip-- a strong person can tear it off easily.)

(Ah, not tearing it off is the point, right?)

 

“So it’s there to ensure that only the quartermaster and the chef touch the barrel, I see,” Vivi considers, “that’s quite a handy idea.” 

If it was torn, they would know that someone stole food at night. Especially in a crew as gluttonous as this one, it’s important to keep a strict check on the stock, after all. 

“Yeah, cause Zoro keeps stealing it,” Luffy says, ignoring the giant duck chomping on his head. His eyes then narrow, turning to the barrel he had found open a moment ago. “But this one was already open. I wonder why?”

Vivi freezes at that. 

(She hadn’t seen Mister Bushido drink even once since she got on the ship.)

There’s no way it’s Nami or Usopp, either-- they were smarter than to fall for a convenient trick like this one, even if the latter was blind.

So if it wasn’t Luffy, then who?

“It looks the same amount as the others, so it probably wasn’t Zoro that drank it,” Luffy hums. “Well, whatever. Giant Ossan--”

“No!” Vivi sets her hands on the barrel. When the three others around her flinch at her sudden volume, she looks over them with horror. “I have a really bad feeling about this, Luffy-san. Let’s not drink this one. Please.”

 

If she was just overthinking it, that would be fine. But with all the explosions that happened back on Whiskey Peak-- they had forgotten that they had left their ship unattended on that bay for a while too long to be assuring. 

They would be lucky if this rum was the only alcohol trap Mister Five left behind.

Luffy tries to respond, but Carue, in his fit of trying to eat Luffy, accidentally swings by a little too wide-- and knocks the barrel over with a vigor. 

Vivi tries to salvage it, but it’s too late.

The sparks flare-- and Luffy yells, “VIVI!” moments before he lunges for her and the explosion rips across the field. 

 

Dory gets up in a panic, definitely not expecting the sudden explosion-- it grazes his feet, but he gets it out of the way so the worst of his problems are splinters near his heel. 

He brushes his hand through the smoke, careful to only use the force of wind from his swing so he wouldn’t accidentally hit one of them. “Hey, are you alright, little ones?”

“Hey, if the Ossan drank that, it would’ve been bad!” Luffy’s voice rings out in the remnant of the chaos. Covered in soot and something damp, he gets up with a grunt. 

Vivi gets up from previously under the boy, a little muddy but otherwise completely unscathed. “Dory-san!” she hollers, “you should go to your friend and stop him before he drinks any! Some of our other barrels may be similarly poisoned!” 

Luffy holds out a hand, looking warily in the direction of the mountains as the volcano suddenly erupts, signalling the next round of the giants’ battle. 

Carue quickly joins Vivi, worriedly looking over his girl all teary-eyed in concern. Vivi reaches up to pat him soothingly, her eyes never leaving the shreds of the barrel wood on the ground that would have split her to pieces. 

Dory looks down upon them and smiles assuringly. “I’m simply glad the two of you are alright, regardless,” he says. “I will extend your warning to your friends by the ship, but my pal is probably fine.”

 

Ah-- that was true. He had probably taken a drink or two before giving some to Dory, after all. He may have luckily gotten an untouched barrel. 

(Gin and Usopp were there, after all. Gin would definitely know which ones have been tampered with, and be more wary with them.)

 

“Gin can deal with things over there, Vivi, don’t worry,” Luffy tells her. “But I’m angry-- that Five guy, first he blows up Chikuwa Ossan, then he blows up Ennosuke and Gin, and now he almost blows up the Giant Ossan? I’m pissed!” 

Vivi stares, baffled. “Uhm, Luffy-san, that last one is actually our fault, not theirs…” but he isn’t listening, so she wisely quiets down. 

Well, at least that gave her heart time to stop beating like a horse race. 

(She’s been in plenty of life-or-death situations before, but never any so close to her face. Being saved is also a relatively new feeling.)

“Besides,” Dory laughs his strange notes, “if I avoided the bomb, then the warrior god Elbaf is surely watching over our sacred duel! Brogy and I-- we are blessed by his divine protection-- gegyagyagya! Keep watching, young ones. This next battle will be one worthy of Elbaf’s honour!”

“Wha-- you’re still going?!” Vivi asks. “You’re still injured from the previous bout.”

 

(Mister Five-- he is definitely coming after them, even if Nami said he was incapacitated.)

(What ‘took him out’ was an explosion, after all. And if there’s something Vivi know about fruit users, it’s the fact that they are always immune to their own element.) 

 

“Of course!” Dory boasts, confident as the last time he went out to end in a draw. “I may be injured, but it’s the same for Brogy.”

Luffy laughs, “okay then! Good luck, Giant ossan! Go get him!” 

“I will, little one!” 

And he goes. 

Vivi sets her hand on the Seastone bangle Nami had given her. Removing it from her wrist, she lets herself have a breath. 

The explosion was like a jarring reminder that they weren’t here to explore and have fun-- they were here, simply to draw their opponents out into an extended battle. 

And instead of grouping together, they’ve split into groups or one to two, which is a terrible idea in her opinion-- but she had no authority in this crew, so she didn’t want to push her luck. But she trusted them to get her to Alabasta, and she had nothing else to believe in. 

 

A loud click of the tongue interrupts them, and they swirl on the pair that emerges from the wood, dusted, battered, and looking furious. 

 

“Only two of you, huh,” Mister Five mutters, evidently irritated. His loud coat is nowhere to be seen, and his clothes-- what’s left of it-- is charred, his sunglasses cracked. 

Miss Valentine is seething , “Miss Wednesday!” she says, her words boiling with sarcasm, her lips curled upward, “how nice it is to see you again.”

Yeah, Vivi is not going to get anywhere near her and her stilettos. 

“Huh? Who’re you guys?” Luffy looks over. 

“They’re Mister Five and Miss Valentine,” Vivi explains quickly, abruptly realizing Luffy hasn’t met them yet. 

“Oh,” Luffy’s dry response. Then, “OH, you guys are the ones that messed up Chikuwa-ossan, Gin, and Ennosuke!” he yells. 

To which Mister Five groans in annoyance, “this sucks. Not only did we fail to slip the giants some spiked booze because the sniper stayed on the boat, but now I don’t even get to fight the Burglar Cat?”

“The blond dandy isn’t around, either,” Miss Valentine sighs, “I wanted to claw his face out for trying to deceive me. I’ll have to compromise, I guess.”

(Wow, thank god. Sanji might’ve let her.)

 

“Hey, where’s Chachamaru?” 

Vivi’s eyes widen as she swirls around in alarm, abruptly realizing Carue is gone. 

 

“Ideally, we wanted to separate you two,” Mister Five tosses before him a burnt, bloodied gargle of feathers and flesh-- Carue, heavily injured-- “but our bait wasn’t exactly being cooperative. But no matter. We’ll just deal with both of you and get on with it now.”

Mister Five flicks something forward-- a booger. 

Vivi’s heart stopped.

Luffy freezes, but he doesn’t move before Vivi surges forward, “Carue!” 

The explosive lands right before the bird, the explosion taking them off the ground and erupting in a short fuse of flames. 

It chars her slightly, blows her back-- but she presses on, only worried for her bird companion. 

 

She doesn’t remember to be careful until the laughter is overhead. 

“Kyahaha!” 

A heel-- sharp, heavy and painful-- swipes across her cheek, ripping apart skin. It doesn’t end there-- her face is knocked out of the range after the first hit, but the second squares her in the center of her left shoulder, nailing her to the ground in an agonizing weight. 

“Now, stay still, Princess,” Miss Valentines teases her, crouching down with a heel in the shoulder and the other in the middle of her back, her parasol still open over her head. “If I lose my balance just a little, my heel might just accidentally go ka-chak on an important bone, you know? Kyahahaa~!”

 

“Gomu-gomu no…”

Neither of them realize that Luffy’s a Devil Fruit user until the rubberman’s foot comes slinging right into their faces. 

“WHIP!” 

Needless to say, they’re not very happy when they’re slung off a rubber leg and flung right into the large skull walls that made Dory’s home. 

 

“You alright, Vivi?” Luffy asks as Vivi coughs, holding her shoulder in clear remnant pain. 

She’s clearly more concerned by her duck, though, as she immediately regains her bearings and heads for him. “Carue? Oh, Carue-- thank god, he’s still breathing. Did they seriously shoot a booger at you? How dare they shoot a booger at you.” 

Carue grumbles weakly.

"What, you mad about that?" Luffy asks. "When we beat them you can spit on them or something if you want."

Carue raises his hand in frustrated approval. 

Miss Valentine screeches, “I'm covered in dust! No one told me there was a brat that could stretch!” 

In the same way, Mister Five groans, picking himself up. “Oh this fucking does it, I’m murdering them both. I don’t care what Mister Three says!”

“Mister… Three?” Vivi whispers, horrified. “Oh no! I forgot!" she gasps, "other officer agents might have been assigned to us and are after us now! I should've warned all of you before we split off," she realises, "Mister Three has been deployed to this island?!”

Luffy looks over, “three?”

“He’s bad news! He’s a candleman, and he’s not even in Mister Five’s caliber!” she exclaims, the urgency overwhelming her. “Luffy-san, we have to--”  She’s interrupted by a loud, devastating crash in the distance-- and the sickening squelch of steel against flesh, ripping open a gash from face to chest.

 

In the distance, Dory the Blue Ogre had been cut down. His posture was off-- like he had slipped on uneven footing of some sort-- but there was no real way to tell. 

 

“Heh, I'm glad we still managed to do that part of the plan right,” Mister Five mutters. “Guess we didn’t need to spike the booze after all.”

“Kyahaha!” Miss Valentine dusts herself off. 

“You-- you guys-- what did you do?” Vivi demands, infuriated “Why are you interfering with the giants’ duel? They shouldn’t have anything to do with--” 

She pauses when Luffy’s straw hat is tossed into her hands, and Luffy grips his fists, stepping toward the two officer agents. 

 

“Hold that for a bit,” Luffy simply says. "This might get a bit messy."

 

His voice is cold as he bends, stretching out his heels, getting warmed up. They didn’t have time to demand answers from these bastards, and Luffy knew that much. 

Punch first, questions later.

Chapter 34: no one takes anything seriously in here, huh.

Summary:

"We're damsels in distress, save us."

"I'm not a damsel."

"We're manly men in distress, please save us."

Chapter Text

Mister Three runs, swearing under his breath. 

“That Cat Burglar is insane!” he mutters, irritated, “it shouldn’t be so easy to shatter my wax… it must be that axe!” 

His wax wasn’t indestructible, of course. But it was damn near that point. 

He was never one to let his guard down, of course (doubt) so if he tactfully secured wax shackles in the right, muscle-restricting spots-- which is what he focuses on most of the time-- no one could escape them.

(To be restricted by the ankles like that and still throw down that axe with as much strength as she used-- that was impressive.)

(In a bad way but yeah.)

 

He tries to find an excuse for his oversight. It’s definitely true that monstrous strength alone usually isn’t enough to destroy his wax figures, but that was also because he’d never come across something stronger than he can imagine. 

(Like Haki, for example, if he knew what that was.)

 

Steel couldn’t cut through his wax. Seastone may be able to counter his wax in a ‘diamond-can-carve-diamond’ sort of way, but that still required some monstrous power behind the armor. 

That axe might be rimmed with seastone… I’ll have to keep an eye out for it. Miss Goldenweek, your sacrifice will not be in vain. But for now… he’ll have to regroup with the Mister Five team.

No, Mister Five went ahead to retrieve Princess Vivi. Calling them back for his mistake would be embarrassing. Out of schedule or not, he’ll have to go through with the plan alone. He’ll have a lot more to do without Miss Goldenweek’s colours, but it shouldn’t be too hard to do hit and run tactics.

 

“Huh? I have a feeling I’ve seen this tree with vines before…” 

 

Mister Three turns around, baffled to find a green-haired, three-sword-wielding moron standing right by a tree, lugging a huge triceratop behind him like one would a sack of uninteresting goods. 

Okay. Stroke of luck. 

With an ol’ tap-and-bash over the head and a single Candle Lock to the feet, he’d nabbed himself one target. 

The giants were battling. The lack of bloodshed wasn’t a nice sign.

“The Mister Five team screwed up the drink spiking, didn’t they? Knew we couldn’t count on them…” he mutters, irritated. 

He waits a beat. 

Then, “oh, Miss Goldenweek isn’t here to call out my hypocrisy,” he notes dryly. Then, “anyways.” Encapsulating the swordsman in a wax pit to make sure he doesn’t run off, Mister Three makes a break for the giants’ battle. 

And when Dory the Blue Ogre isn’t looking, he slips a puzzle of wax under the giant’s feet, just enough to make him lose his footing and tilter backward. Brogy the Red Ogre doesn’t notice the interference-- only the mistake. 

The resulting slash through the face was a very exhilarating sight. 

 


 

“Ah, Sanji, welcome back,” Gin says. 

Sanji looks over the cooked meat and bones by the shore, as well as the shoddily-skinned carcass that was probably done by a total caveman-- just looking at it and all the leftover ruined meat made his skin crawl-- he determines that something happened while he was gone. 

Usopp probably didn’t do that (despite being blind, he was great at this detailed work, the larger the meat was, the better he butchered.) So was it Gin? Nah, the bandages are pretty clean. 

So, “did we get a guest?” he reckons. Gin’s miserable noise of response confirmed his suspicions. “Will they be staying for dinner?”

“I sure fucking hope not,” Gin mutters, leaning over the edge of the boat. Then he sees the haul that Sanji brought along, “you seriously caught something that huge on your own? Butcher it before you get up here.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

Then, silence. 

 

“Where’s Usopp?” 

“I’m here,” Usopp lowers himself down by the anchor’s rope, his bag by his side, his walking stick clutched under his arm. “Didn’t you see what just happened with the giants? I’m going to head out and see if they need medical attention.”

Kinoko calls out obediently from his head, a wing raised like a greeting. 

There’s a moment of silence. 

Gin and Sanji do a simultaneous double take, “oh hell no you aren’t!” they exclaim. Sanji groans, “I thought we agreed that burnt meat stays on the ship?”

“I’m better off than Gin, and we can’t exactly skimp on manpower when we’re dealing with enemies here,” Usopp explains, raising his walking stick as a statement. “Plus, Brogy gave us some food. It’s warrior’s code to help them out in return.”

Sanji had a lot more complaints to give, but he let it go. 

“How are you gonna get back?” he asks, belatedly realizing how parental that fucking sounded and regretting it entirely. 

Usopp just smiles. “I’ll meet up with Luffy and Vivi,” he says. “Don’t worry about me!”

To which Sanji very offendedly retorts, “I’m not worried!” in a much louder volume than necessary. 

Gin mutters something incoherent from the top of the ship. “Just go if you’re going,” he groans, “I’ll watch the ship on my own.” 

 

Usopp takes that as permission and heads on forward, giving a dismissive wave back in response. Sanji and Gin stare wordlessly as he goes. 

 

“Why do I feel like we shouldn’t be letting him go on his own into a forest of mysterious plants and enemy agents?” Sanji asks. “Oh right, he’s blind.” Then, “why did that seem more impairing than literally everything else in that sentence?” 

“It’s the sound of your sanity dying, Sanji,” Gin says, like the answer was obvious, “I try not to think about it too much.”

And once again came the awkward silence. 

Sanji is going to lose his mind. Despite him getting along better with Gin than Zoro, Sanji never seems to be able to strike up a casual conversation that lasts with him. 

“You can go look for Nami or something, you know,” Gin says, as if reading the mood. “Usopp already said nothing’s coming this way for a while.”

“What is he, a seer now?”

Silence. 

“Right,” Sanji sets down the dinosaur and heads in the direction they last saw Nami go. “I hate talking to you, so I’m going now.”

 

Gin hums as he leaves, relieved that he’s finally alone. 

He turns back to the storage room, inspecting the barrels. Something was wrong here-- he realized it just now, but they had been in too much of a rush to get some barrels out that he neglected to check. 

Opening the lid of the barrel at the forefront, his breath holds. 

Just like he’d suspected, the failsafe paper marker had been torn. He should’ve checked these right after Whiskey Peak, dammit. 

Shit, did Usopp check the barrels before giving it to the giants? Luckily nothing happened. 

There’s no smell indicator-- if there was, Usopp would have noticed. But if he had to guess, these would be the bombs Usopp was talking about. 

There might be more. 

He stretched, careful not to jostle the tender wounds. 

(Time to do a whole ship check.)

Let’s just hope the rest of his crew don’t die before they get back.

 


 

 

Luffy yelps when his fist explodes on contact. 

The force of his punch does send Mister Five flying, but it’s not enough to deter the major explosion that leaves scarring burns in his knuckles. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Luffy-san! I forgot to tell you,” Vivi says in a fluster, holding the straw hat close to her chest. She was entrusted with it, after all, “Mister Five is a bomb human. You can’t hit him directly since he’ll explode!”

Luffy responds with a “say that earlier!” right before he lunges to the side, avoiding the pointed heel of a very infuriated Miss Valentine. 

She sinks into the ground, leaving a crater and a cloud of dust. She clicks her tongue, frustrated. “Well aren’t you a quick little monkey?” 

 

“Gomu Gomu no…” Luffy has started winding his arms up like a spring, keeping his feet tied securely by the skull wall. 

“Huh?” Valentine can’t attack with a velocity unless she’s launched into the air by Five’s explosions, so she spends a vulnerable moment staring in confusion. 

Vivi doesn’t understand what Luffy’s doing until she realizes his hands have grabbed onto a large dinosaur bone, three times the size of a human. 

“FIDGET SPINNER!”

 

Vivi shrieks, ducking down as a rapidly gyrating bonemerang whooshes right past her head, taking Valentine right out before plunging in an unholy shriek toward Five, who had barely gotten up before getting pounded in again.

They are chucked into each other and then the trees, shattering trunk after trunk until it came to a stop when Luffy’s rubber body ran out of wind-up. 

Vivi winces at each impact. 

Luffy huffs at himself, returning to his normal size with a sense of accomplishment. 

“That was for Gin and the Chikuwa Ossan!” He declares. Then, “hey Chachamaru!” Carue lifts his weak head as Luffy approaches, picking him up by the wing and torso, “c’mon! I’ll let you hit him last.”

Luffy lifts Carue over his head, and then, he starts running at the two agents, yelling indiscriminate feral noises. 

This time when Mister Five and Miss Valentine get up, groggy and horribly battered at this point, they come to face a half-burned boy carting around a giant duck, charging right at them. 

Vivi stares incredulously. 

Both Luffy and Carue are enraged, fiercely gnashing teeth and snarling like absolute beasts as they chase the two terrified agents in circles. 

Mister Five and Miss Valentine are actually scrambling away, which, in another situation, Vivi may burst out laughing. But now, she can’t do anything but stare in a deadpan, her heart conflicted by the anticlimactic outcome.

“Hey, Igaram?” Vivi monologues, “it’s been a few days since I went off without you. Unfortunately the next time we meet, I may no longer retain my sanity. I pray you will tell the country that I fought bravely until the end.” 

She wants to go home. Like, screw the rebellion, she just wants her papa right now. This is so stupid.

“Wha--” she lifts her head. “Where are you going, Luffy-san? Carue!” 

It seemed Mister Five and Miss Valentine were making their way into their forest, suspiciously in the direction of where Dory and Brogy had been fighting. 

Come to think of it, she hoped they were alright. 

“I’m going too!” she hurries over, “hey, let’s not get separated! Luffy-san!” 

 


 

 

“Seriously, they worry so much for nothing,” Usopp mutters, “I know it’s a forest, but it’s not like I’ve never been here before.”

Sure, the surroundings change in years and he hasn’t literally been here blind before-- but it’s no big deal. Kinoko will warn him of his surroundings, he can sense animals, and his walking stick will take care of everything else. 

Kinoko snores, and Usopp sighs. 

Probably. 

He sets a hand on the tree to his side, a finger scraping against the bark. It leaves a faint dust on his hands, and he rolls it around his palm for a moment before gathering that it might be wax, dried and chipped. 

But he can’t feel Mister Three nearby. He’s pretty far off, where the giants are. 

(Luffy and VIvi are headed that way as well. They’re going to meet, so Usopp should hurry on. Nami is… with Miss Goldenweek? Sanji is headed somewhere as well. Huh, where’s Zoro? How did that guy get so lost Usopp can’t sense him?)

 

Kinoko suddenly cawks, alarmed. 

Usopp flinches back, but his foot falls with a wet squelch. 

 

“What, did I step in poop?” he asks. It doesn’t stink, so it isn’t. He looks down and-- oh no, why is everything white here? There’s only one thing that can be this white in the jungle--

He can’t move his foot. 

Fuck. 

“Kinoko!” he scolds. 

The bird yelps, afraid, flying a little closer to ascertain the situation. Of course, poor birdie has no idea what’s going on, so when the wax moves, she shrieks, gaining distance as quickly as she can. 

 

He jabs his walking stick into the white blur, but it just sinks in, as if swallowed by quicksand. 

 

Sentient wax traps that will capture anything that steps on it, huh. Usopp couldn’t sense a thing-- and that’s the nature of Paramecias, to be honest. Easy to deal with if you know what you’re dealing with, but if you don’t, you lose, because unlike Zoans, you don’t know what to expect, and unlike Logia, Haki isn’t a surefire. 

“Nami’s gonna be mad at me again,” he mutters. Whatever. “Kinoko, head back to the ship. I’ll be fine, don’t get caught too.”

Kinoko hesitates, her voice fluctuating with worry, but she eventually leaves. 

Usopp can’t move. Can he break the wax? 

He attempts to reach in with an Armament-coated fist, but the wax just eats it up, too. Dammit, can’t do anything unless it's solid, huh? Paramecia is annoying. 

Nothing to do but wait for Mister Three to show up, then. Usopp sits down and broods. He just assured them he would be fine, and here he is. 

 

“Man, Sanji is never gonna let me live this one down.”

 


 

 

Later, when they’re pulled onto a huge candle cake with a spinning pumpkin at the top (or so Mister Three’s helpful description goes,) Usopp finds himself beside a similarly embarrassed and infuriated Zoro, and their feet are solidly secured in wax. 

“Where’s your bird?”

“Vacation.”

“What?”

Brogy and Dory are beside them as well, the former secured in layers of wax and the latter fallen, severely injured. It’s the same situation as last time, except Usopp’s the one in the statue, and Mister Three is alone here when the pumpkin starts spinning. 

 

(Seriously, where’s Mister Five, Miss Valentines, Luffy, Carue, and Vivi? Mister Three isn’t supposed to do all this already. Can’t people stick to the script? Have some consideration for tie travellers just trying to do their shit around here!)

(Anyways.)

(Did getting beat up by Nami (he’s been going on about how he wasn’t beat up by her for a while now) really hurt his ego so much?)

 

His bag, where all his ammo is, is also confiscated, so he has nothing to light a fire with. 

 

“Seriously, how did you fall for that trap?” Zoro asks, incredulous after hearing the story. 

Usopp snaps right back, “speak for yourself, three swords losing to a candle head with a hairstyle that literally spells three on his head.” 

“I was ambushed okay-- wait a fucking minute , how did you know exactly how his stupid hair looked?”

Usopp doesn’t answer that. Out of spite. “Look at us,” he instead says, “we’re the damsels in distress of this arc now. Can you believe this?”

Zoro absolutely isn’t pouting. “I’m not a damsel.”

Usopp scoffs, “what’s the opposite of a damsel in distress? Mansels in distress? Dudes in distress? Distressed dudes?”

“Can we get away from the ‘distress’ part already?”

“Why? Are you distressed by it?”

 


 

Miss Goldenweek sighs.

She did not expect this woman to cut right through Mister Three’s Candle House like butter. Nor did she expect her to shatter the ground underneath with an axe. That is not how bladed weapons worked, last she learned. 

Now the Cat Burglar had the little girl hooked back over the shoulder, unsuspecting of anything.

People always looked down on her, being tiny and unsuspecting and unexpressive as she appeared-- but she wouldn’t be an Officer Agent if she didn’t have a hidden knife in her paintbrush to take off a few fingers when she was caught. 

Miss Goldenweek manages to grab her largest brush before being captured, clutching it to her chest. She stayed as stiff as she could. That was how a frightened child would act, right. 

Her bag was held in the Cat Burglar’s other (metal) arm, casually over two fingers on the strap like it wasn’t a ton of weight or anything. That was honestly terrifying. 

The Cat Burglar had a metal arm-- that’s the biggest threat. 

One punch from this woman and a concussion was guaranteed. That would be inconvenient.

But her other side-- the hand holding onto Goldenweek-- is completely flesh, which means they were on equal grounds in that regard. So if Goldenweek were to strike, she would have to go for this one. 

 

“Goldenweek-chan,” Nami says, and the girl makes the mistake of flinching in surprise. “We’re almost there, so wait a little, okay? No stabby stabby.”

 

Did she just say that with a straight face? 

She definitely knows this brush is a hidden knife. She wouldn’t make that suggestion if she didn’t know. Okay. Her cover is blown, but that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. 

What an annoyance. 

Cat Burglar isn’t taking away the brush, but any suspicious movement and she’ll most probably get judo-thrown over the head-- if she’s lucky. Any veteran would break her neck immediately. 

But the Cat Burglar isn’t doing any of that. 

That must be because they still have a use for her-- as a hostage? How meaningless. Or are they just softies and don’t want to kill a child? Then she should keep the harmless act up. 

(Stay calm, that’s what Goldenweek does best. She was in this theme to balance out Mister Three’s overly readable emotions and antics, after all.)

 

“Don’t need to think so much,” the Cat Burglar says with a casual chuckle, and Miss Goldenweek tenses up once more. “We’re not going to hurt you or anything.”

 

(Lies.) 

Miss Goldenweek is going to-- has to-- kill the Cat Burglar. If she doesn’t strike now, she’ll lose any chance she has-- but what is this confidence?

Why is the Cat Burglar so blatantly confident? 

Everything in Miss Goldenweek’s head was telling her that this was the perfect chance to strike, and yet-- every instinct in her being was warning her that if she struck now-- she wouldn’t win. 

She didn’t know which to trust-- her instincts, or her experience.

 

“You’re not planning something back there, are you?”

Miss Goldenweek doesn’t move. Her expressions haven’t changed at all, still stuck in the stoical poker face she was cultivated to maintain. 

“Of course not, miss,” she says, her voice stoical, “I can’t even move well. How could I be planning anything of worth against you?”

“Heh,” the Cat Burglar considers, her tone unreadable. “I see.”

Miss Goldenweek knows the Cat Burglar doesn’t believe her. But that’s fine-- because if the older woman tries anything, Miss Goldenweek will be prepared to strike. 

It’s not time to fight yet. 

Patience will pay off. 

 


 

 

Nami follows the route toward the giants, coming to a clearing to hear loud obnoxious exposition going on while Brogy sobbed into the ground, knives planted into his palms in place of shackles, seemingly a punishment for attempting to escape. 

Mister Three is in the middle of his loud speech about his magnificent candle statue thing when Mister Five and Miss Valentine burst out of the forest in terrified screams, a rabid shrieking Luffy and Carue hot on their heels. 

 

“GET AWAY! I SAID GET AWAY!” 

“Why are we the ones getting chased?!”

There’s a hasty reload and fire of a breath gun, and when six explosions go off, Luffy emerges from the smoke, unharmed aside from louder screaming and slightly more charred clothes this time. 

“Oh no he’s coming faster! Mister Five, your aim sucks!” 

“No, I’m not missing! Is he just ignoring the explosions?”

 

Mister Three gawks. “What are you two doing?” he exclaims, “why have you not dealt with that brat? And where’s the princess, you useless bunch?”

“How about YOU try dealing with this savage monkey!” came an offended retort. 

At this point, all eyes are exasperatedly following the three (+bird four) stooges as they scamper around in desperate back and forths. 

 

“What are those idiots doing?” Zoro asks. 

“Zoro, I literally don’t know,” Usopp retorts. 

 

Nami groans when she catches sight of their sniper on the candle cake. Why on earth is he up there? Like, Zoro probably just repeated history, but Usopp, you are a New World level pirate and you’re playing around?

(The pumpkin is already spinning. They don’t have much time.)

 

A distance away, Vivi is peeking out warily from the jungle with Luffy’s hat in her hands. Nami doesn’t spot her first-- Miss Goldenweek does. 

 

Nami yelps when a sharp pain digs into her forearm, dropping Miss Goldenweek in alarm. 

Nami recovers, trying to back away-- but to her own horror, she can’t move. Looking down, a Black symbol lines underfoot, and a red symbol marks the bark of a tree before her. 

Miss Goldenweek lands on the ground in a huff, a paintbrush between her teeth as she brandishes her largest brush-- revealing a hidden blade that Nami had already noticed before. 

Nami curses, but she’s surprised when nothing comes out of her own mouth. 

She’s left frozen, physically unable to tear her gaze away from the red symbol on the tree-- Miss Goldenweek dashes to the right, toward Vivi-- with the large brush blade in her hand. 

 

(No, no, no.)

(That isn’t supposed to happen.)

(Why are the symbols working on Nami now, when it didn’t before? Why can’t she move? She needs to go warn Vivi, right now--) 

(Fight it. Fight-- Why can’t she break free from this one?)

 

Black is under her feet. Betrayal Black-- isn’t this the one that’s selective and dependent on having allies around to turn against? There’s no one around for Nami to defy, so what is making her unable to move?

Ah, that’s it.

She’s being willed to betray her own thoughts.

Shit. 

(She lets her Haki spike, and spike, and spike a little more in sheer frustration.)

(Nami had underestimated her opponent, and now she’s stuck, useless, unable to even verbally call for help.)

(What an oversight.)

 


 

 

“VIVI!” Usopp raises his voice, snapping Nami right back into reality. “Beside you!” 

Miss Goldenweek charges forth, and though Vivi swirls around in alarm, she doesn’t manage to shield herself in time before the spear-like brush swings upward, tearing her forearm apart with the sleeves, leaving a large gash.

Vivi falls back with a pained howl, landing harshly on her uninjured arm and the straw hat she was clutching. Luffy turns, finally realizing her predicament-- “hey, Vivi!” 

Miss Goldenweek stands before the princess, spear before her face to prevent further resistance. 

 

“Ah, Miss Goldenweek! What took you so long?” 

 

“Vivi! What’s wrong?” Luffy lifts his head, finally dropping Carue to pay attention. He gathers the situation-- and stretches out an arm, looping an arm around Vivi (Miss Goldenweek freezes, not expecting that,) to drag her right back to his side. 

 

Mister Five and Miss Valentine huff in annoyance, dusting themselves off as they rejoined MIster Three. Miss Goldenweek returns to where Nami had been to retrieve her bag before convening with the rest of her team in the center of the field. 

“What the-- that’s some freaky hair! It’s a three!” Luffy gawks at the man, “it’s on fire!”

“Be quiet, brat!” Catching sight of the direction Miss Goldenweek had come from, he asks, “what’s with the Cat Burglar?” 

There’s a slight bit of hope in his tone-- if she’s under Miss Goldenweek’s spell, perhaps...

“Can’t use her,” Miss Goldenweek explains, to Mister Three’s disappointment. She sits down, retrieving some senbei from her bag’s pocket. “Leaving her there is the safest option.” 

“What are you doing?” Mister Three asks, incredulous. Just when he’d thought Miss Goldenweek was being active for once!

“Setting up a picnic,” is her very obvious answer. Because duh ? “I am tired. Would you like some tea with me, Miss Valentine?” 

“Oh, of course!” she’s overjoyed. “Do you have anything sweet? Oh, mochi. Dibs!”

“Take this seriously!” Mister Five snaps, “what is wrong with you two?!”

Carue, who has finally gotten up, nudges worriedly at Vivi. Luffy retrieves his straw hat, planting it back onto his head. Vivi stands up shakily, hand held tightly on her bleeding wound as she tears off her coat sleeve to make a temporary bandage.

(Miss Goldenweek had ambushed her-- it wasn’t a deep wound, but Vivi knows-- if she wanted to, she would have killed Vivi there. But she hesitated, only injuring to incapacitate because the mission was to capture . Vivi is lucky to have escaped.) 

 

“Hey, Luffy, where’d you come from?” Zoro voices his question, “why’re you so burned? Is everyone trying to be Gin today?”

“Oh, Zoro and Usopp! And the giant guy, too,” Luffy brightens up at the sight of them. “Huh? Usopp, what are you doing here?”

“Uh, long story.”

“Okay,” like it was nothing new, “are you guys in trouble or something?”

To which Zoro replies, his face half solidified by wax particles, “no, not particularly.”

“Wha-- Mister Bushido, that doesn’t look like nothing to me!” Vivi runs up to them, “what’s going on? Oh--” she looks over the situations and ascertains it pretty quickly, “are you turning into wax statues, perchance?”

“I mean, yeah,” Usopp shrugs, “oh. Vivi, you’re a princess so you might know-- what’s the masculine form of ‘damsel’?”

“Are we still on that fucking thing?!” Zoro snaps. 

Vivi stares incredulously for a moment before she actually starts thinking. “Uh… bachelors, I believe? Uhm, do we not have more pressing matters?”

“What could be more pressing than not having a punchline, Vivi?” he says, the picture of an absolutely serious man. “What should we do? Bachelors in distress don’t sound as funny as I’d hope it would be.”

 

Vivi buries her face into her hands. Why does she ever bother with this crew? 

 

Usopp crouches down, though. “Nami is southeast of here and she needs help,” he whispers, tilting his head a little to the right-- Vivi spots a long green slingshot. There's a faintly blinking light near the hilt, a little red dot flickering on and off at set intervals.  “Think you can get that to me?”

Vivi immediately clamps her lips shut. 

In an instant, Usopp had switched from dumb jokes right into an active mindset. He had ascertained the situation, and was setting up the stage for his next move. 

 

(The slingshot, she could guess-- the light was there to be spotted easily. Usopp could still see colours, after all. But how did he know where Nami was?)

 

“We’ll leave this to you guys then,” Zoro says, directing his question toward his captain. “Hurry up now. I need some booze.”

“Oh, sure,” Luffy says, flexing an arm, “food, too!”

“Not so fast!” Mister Three declares, immediately snapping back into battle and attention. A lob of wax is shot in his direction, locking his legs together. “Candle Lock!” 

In the distraction, Vivi lunges to the side, dashing for the Kabuto on the ground. Without thinking much of it, she grabs it-- and, like a javelin, tosses it high over in the direction of the tower. Zoro snatches the slingshot out of the air with ease.

Then, Vivi continued running. 

Carue dashes in the other direction, catching sight of Nami from afar and quacking in alarm. The rest of the agents don’t let it slip past their sight. Mister Five pursues the bird, and Miss Valentine goes for Vivi. 

 


 

 

“You don’t have ammo, what’s the point of that?” Zoro asks as he hands Usopp his Kabuto. 

And sure enough, upon realizing there were explosives in Usopp’s bag, Mister Three had it sealed in a wax cube somewhere. There was no way Usopp was getting any oil or fire from there anymore. 

Usopp turns his Kabuto around and reveals a hidden compartment hidden in the build of the rod. Inside, there were about half a dozen pachinko pellets. 

“I have spares, of course,” he says. Nothing that can cause an explosion, though. 

He loads one bullet up, and takes aim for something in the distance. Directly ahead of him, there are trees-- and 

“Help me, Zoro,” he says, oddly serious. “How many meters am I from the tree right ahead? How hard should I pull this string, to reach it?”

Zoro frowns at that. “It’s behind two other trees, and about five steps into the trail. About three hundred meters in, but since the angle’s down, I’d add thirty degrees down to your aim,” he says, then, “I don’t know about the wind resistance or anything-- but if you want it to reach, you’d need enough strength to toss two tons fifty.”

Zoro’s measurements are mostly indecipherable, and mostly based on personal opinion. But strangely enough, they sound mathematical somehow. 

Usopp adjusts his aim, stretches back the sling just a little, and breathes in. 

 

(He’s the sharpshooter, after all. Every gun has its own quirks-- his crewmembers are the same. What kind of sniper would he be if he still hasn’t mastered them all?)

 

“There are leaves in the way, Usopp,” Zoro warns him. “It’s not going to hit-- what are you even trying to do, anyways?” 

“Thanks,” he says, then pulls back a little further. “Zoro, sometimes, if you can hit nothing, you’ll become capable of hitting anything.”

Zoro freezes at that. It sounded familiar-- but he couldn’t place it. 

“Let me show you,” a faint yellow light gleams in his arm, pulling strength from his elbows, and coating the lead ball in a sheen of pure black. “The power of the Armament.”

 

He releases.

 

The ball jets through the air, velocity curling through the forage with just a little shove, never breaking the leaves. 

It hits the forecenter of the tree trunk-- barreling in with a deep, caving force-- before a shattering crack breaks through layers of wood-- and the pachinko ball eats through the trunk, plunging right into and through it.

From his spot, Zoro’s jaw drops. 

The simple, untampered lead ball had drilled a large hole ten times its size into the trunk of an ancient, huge tree-- it didn't make it fully through, but the crater took away half its girth. The tree creaks, unstable-- and begins to fall forward. 

The tree was tall-- insanely, tall. 

 

Carue notices it first, and with a line of very quick thinking, he squawks out in resolve, leading his chaser, Mister Five, right into the fall zone of the large timber. 

 

He huffs proudly when it works , Mister Five busying prepping another load of his breath bullets when the tree takes him by surprise. 

“Ooh, Chachamaru, you won!” Luffy celebrates, arms up and cheering.  

Carue grins smugly at that. Because of course he won! He’s only the fastest super spot-billed duck of Alabasta, after all. If he could speak he would be declaring, worship me and apologize for all former disrespect, you mere human!

Then Luffy, because he’s busy clapping, forgets that the tree is still falling and gets squashed as well. There’s a dying yelp before the strawhat-wearing captain disappears under the century-old tree trunk. 

Celebration abruptly stops. 

Carue bursts out laughing, and there’s a series of exasperated looks from those around, including a very exasperated Mister Three.

 

“What happened?” Usopp asks. 

“You just killed our captain,” Zoro remarks dryly.

Usopp blinks at that. Then, “reigning champion of mutiny leaderboard, the Great Usopp,” he raises his Kabuto like a pro-wrestler would a golden belt. “Awaiting new challengers.”

“Hey, the Great Usopp,” Zoro deadpans, “stop screwing around. Teach me that.”

“Well, I guess we don’t have anything better to do now while we’re turning to wax,” Usopp says, seeing Zoro draw a sword. “Oh. Brogy,” he calls, “any tips on learning Armament Haki?”

“Huh? Oh, right,” is Brogy’s primary comment. He can’t really see well, one eye completely coated in wax. “But I learned it so long ago, I don’t remember how I got there anymore.” Then he laughs. “Just try your best, swordsman!’

 

Captives should not be so nonchalant, nor should they be literally having a training session to while away time, but if Miss Goldenweek had any opinions about it, she sure didn’t voice any of them. 

Mister Five is, as checked by a poking duck foot, unconscious. So one enemy cleared. Carue, deciding it’s time to go back to serious mode, (he’s so braggin this to minier bird later,) scouts out the area for his princess. 

 


 

 

“...is that your sword?” Usopp asks, reaching around to ascertain that Zoro is lifting his blade to the sky, like some sort of pose. 

“Oh, don’t mind me. It’s just that, if I’m turning into a wax statue anyways, I wanna be in this position,” he says.

A moment. 

“Wait, you can hear the Wado Ichimonji?”

“Gimme a moment, Zoro, I need to decide on my pose before my arms harden.”

“Why are you two so nonchalant?!” Mister Three exclaims, completely baffled. Now that Luffy is squashed and isn’t chasing him, he’s back before the candle tower to watch his wax figures take form. “Be terrified!”

“Hm, maybe this pose would be fine,” Usopp raises his slingshot in a cool shooting motion, “this doesn’t work if I can’t move my legs to crouch down a little. Maybe the Sogeking pose--” 

“Whatever, can you explain the hearing thing already? I can only hear Kitetsu. Is that part of the Haki thing?”

“They’re ignoring you, Mister Three,” Miss Goldenweek helpfully informs. 

“I know!” Mister Three snaps. He breaks into exhausted tears, “hey, did I perhaps pick the wrong people to be hostages?”

 


 

“Miss Nami! Miss Nami?” Vivi takes the girl by the shoulders, looking back hurriedly to find Miss Valentine almost catching up, “what’s wrong?”

Nami isn’t speaking. She’s staring straight, visibly frustrated-- at a red sign on the tree. 

“Miss Goldenweek’s--!” Vivi barely lifts her uninjured arm up in time to shoulder a heeled kick from Miss Valentine. The blade along the stiletto scrapes sharply against the Seastone bracelet, parrying off with a sharp screech. 

Vivi is unharmed. 

(The seastone bracelet was harder than steel?)

 

“That’s one interesting bracelet you have” Miss Valentine says, amusedly lifting a heeled foot. She clicks her tongue, knowing now that the bracelet was impenetrable. “You’re not behaving, princess. But I’ll have that bracelet once we capture you.”

 

She charges forth again, and Vivi panics. She can’t defeat her on her own!

Red paint, black paint-- it’s Miss Goldenweek’s doing. What do the strange symbols mean? Vivi doesn’t know what that agent’s powers really are, but-- without thinking, she turns her back against Miss Valentine, and heads for Nami. 

Helping Nami is priority right now. 

Without thinking twice, Vivi draws from a bottle of perfume in her pocket. Her injured arm unable to do much, she plucks it open with her teeth, hastily tossing it forward, splashing it wildly in Nami’s direction and then the tree, hoping to hit a bit of the symbols and hoping the viscosity was enough to wash off the paint. 

“No pesky tricks!” 

Vivi turns around to see a blade inches from her eye. 

A cold, clunky arm drags her back, wrapping around her shoulders and tugging her off her feet and toward a warm body. Vivi squeezes her eyes shut, and a spin of wind breezes past her ears. 

There’s a loud scream-- Miss Valentine’s-- and a dull clunk, of blunt impact. 

 

“Now now. I can’t have you harming our delivery package now. Don’t you know damaged goods get price deductions in the receipt?”

 

Vivi opens her eyes. She was by Nami's side, held securely in the navigator’s solid steel arm. She held her Clima Tact in her other hand, pointed forward. 

(Vivi barely remembers to be offended by the damaged goods remark.)

Miss Valentine was on the ground, a heel broken and bleeding from the head, her hat having been knocked off by what had most possibly been a section of the long baton. 

 

“Thanks, Vivi,” Nami says, “Miss Goldenweek’s circles have hypnotic powers. See the next chance, yell that out so we don’t get stuck like me again.”

“Okay,” Vivi says, her voice still stunted by her awkward position. 

Carue comes up behind them with a resolved quack, to which Nami gestures for Vivi to get on and “get somewhere safe.”

Vivi honestly doesn’t know a safer spot right now than within these arms, and she feels a little reluctant to part from it.  (That was an embarrassing thought. She will not say that out loud.)

“A-alright,” Vivi decides it’s not time to have a internal gay panic. “Carue! Get back to the candle cake, we need to find out how to save Mister Bushido and the others.”

 

Miss Valentine hisses as Vivi escapes, but Nami is quick to shut her up, picking up her battle axe in the corner, disassembling her Clima Tact, and stepping closer until she’s almost directly above the officer agent.

“Now,” Nami rests the axe on her shoulders, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “You’ve been a bad girl, I heard. How shall we deal with you?”

Miss Valentine shrinks. “Uhm,” she whimpers, like she’s just remembered why they didn’t want to fight Cat Burglar Nami, “I’m sorry?”

 

And no one ever heard of Miss Valentine again.

 


 

 

Sanji turns around when he hears the sound of a loud shriek. 

“Huh,” he realizes, but turns his focus back to the tea before him. It’s nice and cosy in this unfortunately only half-standing candle house. “Well, whatever.”

Then he wonders if it’s time to enjoy tea right now. 

“That might’ve been a woman,” he decides, opening the door of the building with only half the amount of standing walls it needs and exiting normally, “they might need Prince Charming to save them. I should hurry.”

 

“Purupurupuru…”

 

He turns around to the Den Den Mushi on the table. 

It continues to ring as he approaches it, noticing the Mr.0 emblazoned on the side of the shell. He watches it for another ring before abruptly deciding he should pick it up.

The man on the other side doesn’t speak first. That means they’re expecting an address, and a quick one, or they’ll probably hang up. 

 

“Hello, this is the Shitty Restaurant, may we take your fucking order?” 

Oops.

 

“Stop screwing around. You’re overdue on the report, Mister Three.”

 

A low voice. A man’s, shaky in the way that means it’s gone through some sort of voice alteration. Judging from the extra devices on this snail, Sanji supposes it’s the same. 

(Oh, Mister Zero, you sure remind me of assassination classes in Germa.)

No, no, let’s not call it that. 

 

“Oh! Mister Zero, of course, of course. My bad, we ran into some complications,” he says. Judging from this house, the tea, and the drawings on the table-- this Mister Three guy is not the bomb planter, and in contrast, he’s probably much more lackadaisical, and much more minimalistic than Miss Valentine. 

(In his head, he profiles the information, and acts accordingly. 

“I didn’t ask for small talk,” Mister Zero was curt, “what is your status? Have you eliminated the targets or not?”

A no-nonsense superior. Should he speak seriously? No. 

“Ah, yes, of course!” Sanji feigns cheerfulness, leaning back nonchalantly. “Those who know of your secret are no more. There is no need for further pursuit.”

“I see, good work. The Unluckies are headed your way now,” okay, gotten past the hard part. “Once they confirm the success of the mission, they’ll hand you an Eternal Pose to Alabasta. Head to the destination with Miss Goldenweek immediately…”

 

(The Unluckies? What’s that again?)

 

What follows is a long explanation to await further orders at Spiders Cafe, wherever that was. Sanji turns his head to see a polka-dotted otter and a sunglasses-wearing vulcan standing by the rubble of the fallen wall. 

The strangely-dressed otter picks up a claw-lined shell, and Sanji stares. 

 

“Well, that’s one weird fuckin’ dog.” 

Chapter 35: where there's fire (we have a barbeque)

Summary:

"I was gone for half an hour, guys," Sanji says, somewhere that isn't in this chapter. "How the hell did all of you shitty men in the crew get at least three times more cooked while I was gone?"

There's a moment where Luffy, Zoro and Carue stare at him in exasperation.

"Petition to throw Sanji into the campfire," Usopp says.

All hands went up.

Notes:

oops, I accidentally gave Gin an extended backstory, whatever should I do.

oh no! anyways.

Chapter Text

Gin walks out of the ship to a faceful bodysmash of very frantic bird. 

He, of course, grabs it right out of the air and chucks it against the ground with a loud roar and very heated vigor. 

“What the hell was that for?!” he raises his voice, “stop doing that!”

Kinoko caws back with equal annoyance, because well, how about you STOP throwing me every time, then?! 

Gin then realizes the problem.

“Wait, what are you doing back here?” 

 


 

“That is all. Godspeed, Mister Three.”

And, Kachack.

Sanji sighs, setting down the receiver and taking a drag of his cigarette. There’s an oversized chicken under his feet, but he doesn’t quite care about that. The otter collapsed a little further away, but Sanji doesn’t really care about that one either. 

“Oh, there it is,” he spots the Eternal Pose to Alabasta. 

There’s two of them in the bag, presumably one to be delivered here, and one for their own return trip back. Since Zoro stole one too, perhaps the Mister Five team were meant to have a separate one?

Well, whatever. It’s always great to have a spare, so Sanji takes one, and smashes the other underfoot. 

Anything else he can steal?

“Sweet, a gun,” Usopp will find this useful… wait. Why does he never use a gun anyways? Sanji finds a whetstone, some medical supplies, and something that looked like a mobile explosive. 

 

After pillaging the bodies like Thieving Tuesdays in Baratie, he once again ignores the entire open wall and heads for the door to leave.

“Ah. I guess I’ll take the tea set,” he doubles back, picking it up and wrapping it securely in the tablecloth. Can’t pass up on some good china, after all. 

Humming a tune, he makes his way back to the ship. 

 


 

Luffy emerges from under the tree, howling loudly. 

Apparently, after being squished flat, he fervently dug until he got enough space to squeeze himself out. He’s muddy and incredibly moody now, but that’s probably a good thing when it comes to this.

“Oh yikes, he’s back,” Mister Three says. “C’mon, Miss Goldenweek! Time for my Candle Champion!” 

When Mister Three brings out the huge golem-looking candle sculpture, Luffy’s eyes sparkles with sheer excitement.

“SO COOL!” 

“Stop gawking and fight it already!” Zoro snaps. They’re about ninety-percent wax now. “Can’t you see we can’t move anymore?!”

“Luffy, this spinning thing can be burned, so when Vivi comes, try and set this thing on a lot of fire, okay?” Usopp says, like he’s already resigned to becoming a wax statue, “you should be able to melt us out if you’re quick enough.”

“What, really?” Luffy asks. That’s when he noticed the half-solid crewmates standing awkwardly on the platform. “Ooh, that’s a cool pose, Zoro and Usopp!”

“Thanks.”

“This joke doesn’t work because we’re not a manga, Luffy. Let’s just move on.”

 

Miss Goldenweek turns the Candle Champion into a colourful monstrosity (in comparison to a colourless monstrosity) and sits right back down. 

 

Luffy faces Mister Three, fists raised. 

Mister Three scoffs. “You think you can win against the Candle Champion, kid?”

Luffy huffs. “Champion? You ruined the giant-ossan’s duel, and now you’re turning my nakama into wax statues! There’s nothing Champion about that!”

“He’s right, you know.”

“Don’t agree with him, Miss Goldenweek!” 

Luffy winds up an arm. “We’ll see about that!” he throws it forward, “Gomu-Gomu no Pistol!”  

“Bullfight Red,” Miss Goldenweek declares, spinning out a mark on the ground. 

Luffy immediately whirls, striking the target instead. “Huh?”

“Having fun there?” she asks, as Luffy tries again to no avail. 

 


 

“Hear that, Carue?” Vivi whispers, looking out of the forest. 

With Miss Valentine and Mister Five out for the count, she can hide safely now. Can’t let her guard down though-- this is exactly how Miss Goldenweek found her the first time and tore a gash in her arm. 

She can’t go out there right now, even if it’s urgent. Not without a plan. 

(She needs to cause a big enough fire to burn the whole Candle Service Set down. A simply flare isn’t enough.)

(She’ll need something flammable. Usopp should have something like that in his pouch, but it’s sealed tightly in wax and impossible to retrieve.)

 

“If only we didn’t spill that barrel of explosive rum…”

 

“You mean this?”

 

Vivi and Carue whirl back around in alarm, only to come to face Gin. 

The Man-Demon is still wrapped in his bandages, and he’s carrying a huge barrel over his shoulder, carefully binded with ropes so he could carry it like a rucksack. On his other shoulder is Kinoko, cawing out a greeting. 

“M- Mister Man-Demon!” she says, her voice slightly above a startled hiss. 

“Usopp was apparently dead, so I came,” he explains, gesturing at Kinoko as if that explained Usopp’s supposed murder case. Then, “what’s the situation?”

Vivi doesn’t know why he carried a barrel of a bomb out with him, but she doesn’t ask. She’s actually relieved that another sane person has come to cooperate in the efforts. 

“Oh. My bad,” is all the apology he spares when Vivi tells him about the spiked rum Dory almost drank. “Anyways, I found another in the storage.”

Which is a great thing, since now they can use it against them. 

 

Vivi quickly catches him up to the situation, keeping her words prompt. She didn’t get along with the Man-Demon, but with the circumstances as they are, she’s relieved that cooperation comes so naturally to both of them.

 

“Miss Goldenweek is that child over there with the pink hat and paintbrushes?”

Gin’s question is softly phrased, and his eyes were fixed on the girl in the distance, calmly chewing on her rice crackers. 

His gaze was stern-- and Vivi didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. 

Miss Goldenweek may be dangerous and quick-- but alone, she would not stand a chance in a frontal fight. The Man Demon could take her out easily-- hell, even Vivi might have a chance, since she already knows Miss Goldenweek’s powers and how to counter them. She still has some bottles of perfume to use, after all. 

“Yes,” Vivi confirms. “Her Colours Trap can hypnotize people, according to Miss Nami.”

 

(Gin doesn’t seem too interested, or surprised, by that new information.)

 

“If possible, don’t fight her,” his request was surprising. But he looked Vivi straight in the eye, and he was honest-- sincere-- and spoke with words of a resolved man, “try knocking her out. Find a chance and ambush her when she’s distracted.”

Well… that makes sense. 

She’s sure that Gin does not fully trust her. They’re only setting aside affiliates and working together for the moment, because they had to. 

So when he looks into her eyes, like he’s asking a genuine favour and providing honest advice-- Vivi found herself needing to trust him, if only for the part of her nature that willed her kindness to the surface.

 

“I don’t really get it, but…” Vivi bites her lip, “I can do that. It’s what I excel at.”

 

Gin actually seems surprised at her response. “Thanks,” he says, looking awkwardly away. “I appreciate it. I’ll deal with everything else after that, promise.”

(‘Promise’ was not a word Vivi expected to hear the Man-Demon use.)

 

He takes in the situation with relative ease, and they begin their strategy meeting. Vivi, for once, is incredibly relieved to have someone that can take charge here. 

 

Untying the barrel and setting it on the ground, Gin stabs a hole near the top before tossing it over, spilling it sparsely. 

“Chachamaru, right?” he turns to Carue, who is too confused to retort about the name. “Know how to play roll the bottle?”

Vivi reaches around Kinoko’s various sacks, finding a bottle of what smells like gear oil. It’s not much, but it’s something. She pops it open immediately and Gin holds out the rope, soaking it through. 

They can’t just blow everything up, after all. They have to make sure the statues themselves are burning , not bursting apart. 

She puts the end in Kinoko’s beak, refastening the other pouches in a haste. “Okay, Kinoko-san. Spread this over the statues without being noticed. Can you do that?”

Kinoko nods, and her eyes meet Carue’s, a competitive glint crossing their gazes. 

Carue starts running, rolling the barrel of explosive rum fervently forward. He’s beginning to catch attention, and there’s no time to lose. 

Gin and Vivi run into the fight.

 


 

 

Luffy winds up both arms far behind him just as Gin emerges from the foliage, steel tonfa pounding against the oncoming punch, a buffer against the impact.

“Ah-- Gin!” he realizes. 

“What the-- the Man-Demon!” Mister Three exclaims, “I’d wondered where you were-- but no matter! Your weapon is no match against my Candle Champion!” 

Sure enough, the iron ball didn’t seem to counter well against the equally tough wax fist. He needed both hands to even remain standing, and he was on the defensive end. 

There aren’t many things Gin’s tonfa cannot break. He’s the strongest int Krieg’s ship, save for the Don himself-- he even shattered Pearl’s dumb armor. And yet, here he is, losing to a wax structure?

 

(So easily, he’s losing in strength. Is this how far he is from the Grand Line?)

(Well, that would be more of a concern if he was still on Krieg’s ship.)

 

“What are you waiting for, Captain?” Gin turns around briefly, stifling a chuckle. “That Bazooka’s taking a long time.” 

Luffy grins. 

“BAZOOKA!” 

He launches his arms forward, narrowly missing Gin with the space between his hands-- and blows, the force shoving the Candle Champion right off its feet, knocking the air right out of Mister Three along with it. 

 

“Hey, nice timing!” he cheers, retracting his arm. 

“Not nice enough,” he gestures at the Candle Service Set, where Usopp and Zoro, as well as Brogy, are all solidified. “The Princess told me what’s happening, and you need to stop fooling around.”

“Oh no!” Luffy yelps. “Zoro! Usopp! Crap. What do we do, Gin?”

Gin hums, “did Usopp say anything about how to get out?” he asks, even though he already knows the answer.

“Oh! He did,” Luffy says, like he just remembered, “he said to burn it!” 

“Then let’s hurry and find a way to burn it.”

“Alright!” Luffy says, looking suspiciously in Mister Three’s direction. 

Gin stares at him, slowly coming to realize why Usopp and Nami always treat their captain like a child. It’s not intentional, nor is it out of condescension-- it’s just how the conversation tends to steer with him.

And maybe because their Captain’s the youngest and is perfectly fine acting like the youngest, so the course of events will always naturally roam in that direction.

 

Geez, Luffy has too much little brother energy. 

 

Carue is still running, kicking the barrel high into the air and rolling it up onto the cake like a dog with a new ball toy. He abruptly skids mid-step, petrified by an unknown force. 

“Tranquil Green,” Miss Goldenweek says, and all eyes turn to spot the symbol on the Carue’s fur. “Second print, Bullfight Red .”

The colours mix, producing a brown symbol. 

“The Red-Green of Inner Conflict,” she declares. 

Carue can’t move, but the barrel is still on the candle cake, leaking as time goes by. The spot-billed duck is definitely trying, sweat creasing down its brows as it quacks in frustration, unable to even take a step further. 

“Chachamaru!” Luffy runs up to her, but he’s stopped when Goldenweek rushes forward, a spin of black imprinted on his back. 

“Betrayal Black, huh,” Gin mutters.

 

Gin swerves aside from his hit, tonfa slamming down hard against the brush, deflecting it far from the girl’s hand. 

 

Unhesitant, Goldenweek reaches back for her extra-large brush, and swings, fighting as if it was a spear. Gin parries the attacks effortlessly, unfazed even as Goldenweek picks up her brush with her left hand and spins out the symbols in mid-air. 

“Hold on, hey!” Gin clicks his tongue when a splash of ink makes it to his temple, dripping toward his eyes. He spares a moment to smudge it aside, only to be slashed in the side. “I want to talk!”

Miss Goldenweek pauses for a moment. 

Vivi finally emerges, her Peacock Slasher in hand. Miss Goldenweek doesn’t turn-- she only swirls her spear back, deflecting the hit off.

She doesn’t expect the wave of liquid that spills over her, drenching her completely in the sick, sweet-smelling substance. Her eyes widen-- and then she flinches in realization, holding her breath immediately. 

Vivi doesn’t stop there, regaining her balance in a moment to smash away her palette, her spear, and slicing apart her outer clothing to the other hidden brushes beneath. Finally, Gin grabs her by the throat and shoves her down, tonfa held to pin her down by the neck.

 

“Luffy, get Carue out of there!” he yells. No time, no time. 

 

“Huh? Don’t wanna.”

 

Vivi swirls, flabbergasted. Then she notices the symbol, goes oh , and runs over to hastily rub out the black paint with her sleeve. 

 

Luffy immediately snaps out of it, and his gaze immediately narrows. 

“Dammit, she did something again!” he snaps, setting his straw hat on the ground as he looks around, ascertaining the situation once more. “But nevermind, no time for that. Vivi, can you get Chachamaru?”

Vivi blurts, “yes?” then, “what about you?”

“I’ll light the fire!” he declares, rushing off in some direction. Is that Mister Three getting up?   “Uh-- Ennosuke! Take care of my hat!”

The bird comes, right on cue, to land on the hat with a complying caw. 

 

On the candle cake, the soaking oil rope trails around the statues’ feet, leading toward a trail of explosive liquid to the side.

 

Vivi panics as Luffy scrambles off, and yeah, they’re kinda on a very narrow deadline here. Miss Goldenweek is struggling, but Gin can subdue her on his own, right? 

So Vivi’s role here is to--

“There’s a trail of bomb liquid! Just light that one fire and it’ll lead to the tower!” Vivi yells out before Luffy gets too far. Then, she breaks out in a dash, rushing forward to retrieve her duck. 

“Gotcha!” Luffy yells back.

Swearing under her breath, Vivi braces her arms against the candle cake. 

Her injured arm bleeds a little more, tender wounds throbbing as she brings herself up to the platform, brazenly rubbing out the green markings on Carue’s fur before quickly climbing on. 

“Okay, good boy,” she whispers, “do what you do best.”

Vivi clings onto Carue for dear life as they run, scrambling to safety. 

 

Mister Three lifts his head woozily as Luffy grabs him by the wick, “huh?”

Then, realization. 

“HUH?!”

 

Luffy scoffs at him, looking visibly annoyed at everything that wasn’t going well today. How did island exploration turn into this anyways? “I’ll punch you later,” he declares, for too many reasons to list now, “for now, we need fire!” 

Mister Three pales. 

And then the dragging-screaming-apologizing began as the captain, with ease that shouldn’t be, swung the Candle Champion and Mister Three along with it into the air, sprinting for the Candle Service Set. 

The fire touches the oil-- and flames roared to life. 

 


 

Gin and Miss Goldenweek watch from a safe distance away, the girl heaving a sigh as she doesn’t bother resisting any longer. 

It was a waste of energy, and the sleep-inducing perfume was getting harder to combat. 

It’s not as if they were actively trying to take each other down, anyways. It’s not like they could, even if they tried. 

“Man-Demon,” Miss Goldenweek hisses, “let me go.”

Gin doesn’t tighten his grip on his tonfa-- instead, he sighs. He looks down on the girl, and he can’t bear to look her in the eyes. Seemingly in understanding, Miss Goldenweek turns her gaze away as well, biting her lip in the only show of emotion she could muster. 

 

“...You’re not going to say you can’t kill me, are you, Egin?”

 

The name is foreign to his ears, even though it’s almost the same as his current name. 

Gin doesn’t answer. 

“Take a breath, Marianne,” Gin says. And the name flows from him, more familiar than anything has in the past decade. “Call it a favour. From me to you or vice versa, you decide.”

 

Their eyes meet. 

“I’m going to die if I fail this mission,” she says, her voice soft, her eyelids falling. “I hope you take responsibility for that.”

Gin snorts. “When have I never?”

As if she had no further questions or suspicions, her eyes flutter close, and her breaths evened out. 

Gin releases his grip on the tonfa, and stands up, taking a breath of fresher air. He looks over to see Kinoko staring at him skeptically.  He scowls at it, because no way was he explaining himself to a bird. 

 

“What was that about?”

 

He turns around to Vivi. She seems to have heard most of the conversation, if her horrified expression is anything to go off on. 

“You guys have history?” Vivi says. 

And she takes a moment, as if just realizing that yes , just like her-- the rest of the Baroque Works agents had a story as well, outside of the organisation. And they were antagonists now, not for some personal vendetta-- but it was just something she would have done (and has done) before, for the organisation. 

Gin turns around, picking up a paintbrush. 

“It’s none of your business,” and it will never be.

Vivi turns away with a nod. “I understand. I will not ask,” she says, because that wasn’t even a case of trust-- that was probably common sense. 

 

And now, she realizes that her target here was Crocodile, and Crocodile only. 

(There was no reason for her to fight the other Officer Agents.)

 

Mister Three escapes from the flames, rushing off into the woods for his escape. Luffy pursues him, a frustrated yell leaving him. 

“No way I’m letting you get away!” he yells, “I haven’t punched you yet! For a lot of things!”

Gin and Vivi watch that play out, and decide to just let it happen. 

“I can’t believe this,” a sharp growl sounded behind them, and they turned in unison to a very irate Mister Five. “Melted the wax, have you? You think you’ve won just with this?”

(When did he get out from under the tree?!)

He held his gun before him, and Vivi, one hand on Carue’s leash and the other injured-- couldn’t respond in time. Gin scrambles to get up, but the tonfas slip from his hands.

The trigger doesn’t go off. 

 

“Hissatsu, Lead Star!” 

 

A pachinko ball nails him in the shoulder with all the force of a rifle, and he howls, losing his grip on the gun. 

“What the-- why didn’t my explosion go off?” he hisses, holding his injured shoulder and quickly reaching for the gun again. 

This time, Gin spins, kicking the gun clear out of the way. 

 

“Yaki--” a flaming figure emerges, three swords ablaze, “--Onigiri!”

Mister Five was made quick work of, and Zoro huffs, dusting the fires out of his swords before returning them to their sheathes. 

“Huh,” he says, checking Kogatana for any fire damage. “Flaming swords are kinda nice.”

“Mister Bushido!” Vivi addresses, surprised. She hurries down from her duck, looking out as Usopp emerges from the flames as well, a little charred but nothing too serious.

 

“Anyone see my bag anywhere? It’s probably sealed in a wax cube, and I wanna melt it out while the fires are still going,” Usopp says, miming ‘looking around’ actions. 

“It’s uh, somewhere in the forest,” Gin points behind him, “passed by it on the way here.”

Usopp deadpans, “very helpful.” 

Kinoko immediately greets him with a tearful, overexcited hug. 

Brogy wakes up with a resigned huff. “Looks like we all made it out alive, at least.”

 

There’s only one enemy left, and Luffy had run off after him. It shouldn’t take long to deal with it anymore, so the fight was over. 

Vivi collapses to her knees beside Carue, muttering some distant prayer to the gods of Alabasta to protect her mental stability in the journey herein. 

 


 

“Usopp, found your bag,” Nami says, emerging from the woods. “We shouldn’t burn it when there are explosives inside, so I cracked it open with the blunt end of my axe.”

Cue Usopp’s horrified noises as he lunges for the bag and checks for damages. 

“Consider it karma for being an idiot. You should have just stayed on the ship,” Nami says, “same to you, Gin!”

Gin groans. “That’s what I said.”

Usopp grumbles something under his breath. 

“Where’s the Cook?” Zoro asks. “Did he get lost?”

No one answers him. 

 

And then Dory wakes up. 

 

“HOLY SHIT he’s alive!” Zoro freaks out. 

“Didn’t he get his face sliced off or something?” Gin gawks, “you’re telling me that only hit too shallow on the chest?”

Vivi’s flabbergasted, “you’re kidding!” 

 

“Ah, now I remember why there are medical supplies in my bag,” Usopp says. “Great news, Nami. You didn’t break anything important, since I brought the whole box.”

“Oh, great,” Nami says, casually taking the first-aid kit and retrieving the clearly marked bottle of disinfectant. 

Kinoko stays on the hat, uninterested in anything else.

 

“Yeah, of course you two aren’t surprised,” Vivi holds back tears, “what did I expect?”

 


 

Luffy emerges from the forest, declaring that he’s ‘kicked the shit’ out of Three-diot and left him there. Everyone pats him on the head for a job well done, and Kinoko returns his hat. 

Sanji then finally finds them (and gets chewed up for being much too late to the damn party) and presents a spare Alabasta Eternal Pose and all his other pillage goods, citing his conversation on the Den Den Mushi with Crocodile to bargain some mercy. 

After an intense cry and hug from the giants, a heartfelt word of gratitude, and more hunting, the crew and the giants gathered for a shared-- teatime? Food session.

There’s not much time to eat, but they tie up Mister Three, Mister Five and Miss Valentine in a corner, set a fire, and started barbecuing. 

 

“Uhm, Luffy,” Gin approaches the captain, his entire posture nervous. Luffy looks over from his attempt to steal meat off the stove, and Gin swallows. “I might… have something to request of you.”

To which the rest of a crew share an ear. 

(Gin’s asking for something? That must be important, then.)

“It’s about Mari-- Miss Goldenweek, you see,” he says. He’s obviously reluctant to ask this-- as if he’s expecting a rejection to some degree, but he’s asking anyways in some vain sort of hope. 

They didn’t tie the girl up, on Gin’s request. Carue and Kinoko are watching over her at the moment, but she was still an enemy, as far as the crew was concerned. 

“I uh,” he rubs the back of his head, “she’s…”

 

Zoro and Nami seem to be getting impatient about the roundabout sentence, but Luffy lights up with recognition almost immediately. 

“Ooh! Are you friends?” he asks, and a few surprised gazes turn to him, then back at Gin.

 

There’s disbelief and shock in everyone’s faces-- and Gin can understand. Of course they’re going to react like that when you suddenly tell them you know the mysterious girl in the enemy team. 

“...Oh thank god, Usopp and Nami are actually surprised,” Vivi says. 

Usopp and Nami have their jaws dropped straight, and the rest of the crew are savouring the sight. Looks like it’s still possible to catch their veteran duo unaware with new revelations, that’s a relief. 

Wait, not the point. 

 

Gin flusters, “no, we aren’t!” even though that’s untrue, “we’re uh… not friends! Just--”

Luffy laughs at that. “Why didn’t you say that earlier?” He sees right through the denial so easily, as if Tsundere speech is something he’s had to deal with all his life. “If we knew, we wouldn’t have fought her, right?”

“Eh?”

 

(There would usually be a ‘but you’re enemies now. Steal your heart,’ talk at this point.)

(But it’s the exact opposite here, and Gin is more surprised that he was actually hoping for acceptance instead. He knew that Luffy wouldn’t deny him a little selfishness, and somehow-- somehow that was really, really nice.)

 

“Yeah, you should’ve said so earlier,” Vivi agrees, “or did you not know until you saw her? ‘Miss Goldenweek’ is a codename, after all. Makes sense.”

Hold on, even the targeted princess is okay with sparing her? 

Gin must be dreaming right now.

This is too good to be true.

 

“Wait, you guys knew each other?” Nami is still in disbelief. “ How? ” She turns between them a couple times, “Since when?”

“Yeah, since when did you know such a cute girl, Gin?” Sanji says, scowling, “you must’ve been a bad crowd in her development years. You’re ugly, after all.”

“My appearance has nothing to do with this!” 

Gin didn’t intend on telling the story, but somehow-- when he’s being goaded by the rest of the crew like this, the story comes to him almost naturally. 

“How do I say this… we uh, got stuck in the same place. Had to depend on each other for a couple of years,” he explains. “I haven’t met her since we parted ways back then.”

 

(They also agreed to never associate to prevent being identified by the Society and recaptured, but look how the situation has changed.)

 

“What, so you guys go way back? What a small world,” Sanji says, amused. “You want her to join the crew or something?”

Gin panics, “no! I mean, uh, yes. Not join the crew, not necessarily, just...” he did not prepare for the direct words, “...but I mean. Failure is death in this organisation. So I just want to get her away from Baroque Works until it all calms down, that’s all--”

He looks away. 

Why is he asking such a selfish favour from the captain, anyways? He’s just the quartermaster, he doesn’t have that authority. Gin has been pushing his luck a lot lately on this ship, and he’s not sure if he’s at the edge of the crew’s patience yet. 

 

(Don Krieg would’ve said no and told him to fuck off a long time ago.)

(But this is Luffy, he reminds himself, Luffy is different, right? )

(...right?)

 

Gin looks up to see Luffy stare at him, expressions blank and disapproving. His stomach drops in dread, fearing the worst. 

Then Luffy stands up and smacks him over the head. 

“OW!” Gin holds his head. 

Luffy huffs, annoyed, “of course you can!” he says, like he’s furious, “what, did you think I was going to say no? It’s obviously important to you, so why would I?”

 

Wait, what?

 

Sanji snickers behind him. “You don’t need to be so awkward about everything, Gin,” he says, “with the book and with this, too. We’re pirates, not a dictatorship.”

And that actually hurts to hear.

(Because pirates aren’t a dictatorship , and that’s supposed to be true. So why doesn’t it feel right?)

How can Sanji say that to Gin, who’s been living under a dictator of a captain half his life? He’s never been able to comfortably ask for anything, he’s still trying his hardest. 

 

“We’ll be fine with it,” Usopp says. “We may not trust her, but we trust you .”

Gin looks at him, a sort of embarrassed joy filling his chest. He’s been told he was trusted many times before now-- but hearing it from this crew just sounds… so great

“I can’t say I’m comfortable with the idea,” Vivi says, “but I am intruding as well. It is only right that I respect the crew, if only to earn the right to be respected in return.”

“But you gotta make sure Miss Goldenweek behaves on the ship, alright?” Nami tells him. 

Zoro doesn’t have a verbal opinion, just a stern look, a dismissive nod, and a silent indication that he’ll go along with everything. His hand is on his sword-- perhaps a warning that if anything goes wrong-- Zoro will make a move. 

It’s an approval, though. More approval than GIn has ever gotten in his life. 

 

Luffy is still fuming. 

Of course you can , he had said. Because it’s an of course thing. And for some reason-- it hurts, but it’s still so liberating to hear. 

(Because of course the crew is going to respect your wishes. Of course, and it should have never been otherwise.)

 

“Did you hit me over the head because it’s a stupid question?” he asks, nursing the new bump on his head. 

Luffy clarifies, “I hit you because you were taking too long to ask it.”

When the rest of the crew smile, Gin can’t help but smile back.

“I promised someone a long time ago that I’d take care of her when she gets into trouble,” he admits. “So can we bring her onto the ship, Captain?”

Luffy huffs, grinning out a very confident, very easy, “of course!” 

And Gin’s heart blooms. 

 


 

Usopp takes a large bite of meat.

“Did you know that was going to happen?” he asks, his face a mix of horrified and serious.

Nami throws back a whole mug of booze. “What, are we talking about the absolute fucking bombshell that just dropped? Of course not. What the fuck. What the everloving fuck .”

Usopp buries his face into his hands. “Okay, thank god. I thought I was going crazy,” he says. Then, “why did we not know this before?”

Nami didn’t know how to answer that.

 

They crouch down and speak in hushed whispers, like two evil goons chatting up their evil plans in broad daylight.  They were just two people, confused and tired, having an identity crisis and questioning everything. Zoro gives them a curious look and promptly walks the other way. 

 

“No seriously, did these two never meet in our knowledge last time around?” Nami asks, “heck, I don’t think we saw Gin in the Grand Line.”

“Sanji did, I think.”

“And I don’t think we know what happened after we left Goldenweek here.” 

“According to Bentham, they opened a cafe somewhere. I think some of the CP9 guys that didn’t go zero worked there, last I heard.”

“What the fuck?”

“I don’t know, Nami, stop swearing.”

 

They made equally despaired noises into the fallen tree trunk that was their makeshift bar table. 

 

“I know we saw this coming, Usopp. Like, we knew our future memories aren’t going to be useful in the long term,” Nami says, “but this isn’t even part of that. This is just mindfuckery that came out of nowhere.”

“Looks like we’re going to have to get used to it,” Usopp groans, defeated. “Hey, we can still be mortified by new information. That’s nice.”

His celebration is sarcastic and weak. 

Nami took another swig. “I forgot how it felt to be horrified by new revelations.”

 

They’ve spent so long knowing everything, after all. The last time their minds had this much of a shock applied to them, Sanji was getting married. 

 

“You know, if the future’s too derailed at this point, I don’t think I care anymore.”

Usopp agrees. “After we confirm the Blackbeard situation, we’re going with plan ‘go with the flow and try not to die’, right?”

Nami stifles a laugh at that. 

“Look on the bright side,” she says, though they both are smiling anyways. “Maybe this adventure will finally feel like our unpredictable home again.” 

 


 

The first thing Miss Goldenweek says upon waking up is, “I stink.”

Vivi almost bites her head off for that, because no my perfume doesn't stink, it’s just like that because I threw the whole bottle on you , but Nami holds her back and brings her to the rest of the barbecue, where the giants were going off on some stone-age flavouring options they’ve found over the years.

“It’ll go away,” Gin assures her. 

She groans. 

 

Somewhere further off, the rest of the crew discuss if they have any spare clothing on the ship. Usopp, Zoro, and Luffy’s clothing are completely burnt to crisp, and Vivi’s was ruined by blood. Nami only had so many clothes to go around, and they weren’t sure if they had anything for Miss Goldenweek’s size. 

Sanji makes a comment, something about 'maybe don't get burned, you shitheads', and there's some sort of wrestle as Luffy and Carue try to chuck his face into the grill. 

 

She stares at Gin’s plate of skewers, watching the man grab one of his own and take a large bite. 

“What?” Gin questions. “It’s not poisoned. If we were going to kill you, we would’ve gone for something more efficient.”

“Yeah,” Miss Goldenweek turns back to her own plate. Miserably, she observes that, “it’s just that your skewers look a lot bigger than mine.”

Gin snorts out in laughter, nearly choking on his food as he doubles over laughing. 

Miss Goldenweek takes that chance to steal two off of Gin’s plate, taking huge bites out of it before the Man-Demon could realize. 

“Hey!” he snaps.

She finishes half of one immediately, eyes twinkling at the great, juicy meat before wolfing down more. She points the stick at Gin like a weapon, daring him to steal it back. 

“It is survival of the fittest,” she declares, in a complete monotone. 

 

Gin groans, stealing skewers off Miss Goldenweek’s plate instead. She doesn’t seem to mind as much, quickly finishing her food but keeping the sticks in her hands. 

Gin meets her in the eye. 

“Are we not pretending anymore?” Miss Goldenweek asks. “It was you and Chaser that insisted we not talk to each other ever again.”

 

(It was you guys who decided that, and left me to fend for myself and end up in this corrupt organisation.)

(But no, she no longer holds a grudge for that. She’s over it now.)

 

“I know what I said,” Gin says. “Well, I changed my mind. Come with us.”

The girl doesn’t seem surprised.

“You’re selfish,” she says, as a jab. “You want me to betray my organization?”

My’ organization, huh.

“They important to you?” Gin questions. Miss Goldenweek doesn’t answer. “Do you want to stay with them, then? On this island.” She doesn’t answer this question, either.  Gin leans back against the tree with a deep sigh. 

And he thought he was bad at being honest about things he wants. 

 

“Well then, I’m not asking,” he says, “come with me.”

 

It’s a good sign that Miss Goldenweek only continues chewing, a simple nod in response and without a word of protest. She was always like this-- she just did as told, and it was all Gin’s responsibility to try and figure out whether she really liked something or not. 

It was hard to tell, but Gin’s used to it. 

 

“It’ll cause trouble,” she warns instead. It’s still not a protest. “For this crew.”

 

(They were safe as long as they were alone-- that’s why they separated, changed their names, their identities, and began to live freely out of the way.)

(As long as they stick together, the past will resurface someday.) 

 

“We’re literally fighting a Warlord for a Princess we barely know,” Gin shrugs, gesturing at the crew, where Usopp and Vivi are trying to stop Sanji from eviscerating meat-cheeks Luffy. “Isn’t it nice to think that we won’t be alone when it happens?”

It’ll be hell, all over again.

“Just stick around. We're strong enough to deal with things if it all goes to shit again,” he promises. It will probably be safer that way, anyways. “What’s Chaser gonna do, hunt us down and say no?”

Miss Goldenweek scoffs at that, a faint smile rising at the corner of her lips. But she takes his hand, and nods. “Gonna ask him to come with us when we find him?”

Gin hesitates, “no,” then, “unlike us, he’s on the right side of the law. He’s got no reason to leave.”

“You’ve seen him around?” 

“No.”

“You have. How is he?”

“I haven’t.”

“You know you can’t lie, Egin.”

“...I didn’t talk to him, alright? I literally went around, bashed him in the head, and ran without a greeting.”

“You couldn’t do that with me?”

“Shut up.”

 

When they sit down and continue eating in silence-- somehow, it was comfortable. It’s something as simple as a meal together-- and yet, it’s an important form of companionship that they were painfully deprived of for a long time. 

(They’ve missed this.)

 

“Just Gin now,” the man tells her. 

An obedient nod. “Just Anne for me, then.”

 

When they stand up with their empty plates to ask for seconds, their hands are joined. They make their way toward the rest of the crew, and they’re welcomed with cheerful laughter, peaceful banter-- and lots of warm, warm food.

Chapter 36: here and there (it's all a mess)

Summary:

Leaving Little Garden is easy enough.

The things that happen in between fills their schedule up to a crank, and when Gin collapses-- that just spills their duties up into overdrive. There's too much to do and too little time.

But well, they can only go on and keep going.

Notes:

*shoves this in your direction and dies*

do you know why I'm writing so much of this story? It's because my assignment that's due next week is staring at me and I don't want to do that.

Chapter Text

“I don’t know how to be a pirate,” the newly-dubbed Anne says in lieu of a greeting. 

Luffy grins at that. “That’s fine!” he says. “Zoro was a bounty hunter and Sanji was a chef, and Vivi’s a-- uh.”

“A mercenary-bounty hunter-princess.”

“Yeah! So you’ll probably do better than them.” 

There’s a chorus of offended, ‘Oy’s around, but Luffy pays them no mind. 

 

“So, just Anne, right?” Vivi asks with an awkward nod. Anne nods back. It’s strange to get a jump from codenames into actual names-- because, in Baroque Works, that was a form of taboo that could get you killed-- but she’ll have to get used to it. 

(Discarding names, living in a new identity. They didn’t know who the boss was, so that meant they had no liability and no accountability, too. That was how this organization worked, and that was why it was so appealing. This was a place where people went to disappear, after all.)

“She has a bounty,” Gin says, matter-of-factly, “it’s higher than Nami’s.”

“Huh? HUH?”

“What?!”

All of them whirl around horrified at her. Anne jumps back at the sudden attention, a startled squeak leaving her as Luffy charges up to her and grabs her by the shoulder, “no way! No fair!” 

 

Almost immediately, Luffy is seated by the picnic mat with tea in his hands. 

“Ah, this is good tea.”

 

Gin glances accusingly at Anne, who quickly hides the brush and palette behind her. She looks away, as if there was any chance she could feign innocence there.

 

“I’ll chalk that up to invasion of personal space, so he deserved that,” Vivi deems.

Anne immediately likes the Princess a little more now.

 

“That’s a cool power,” Sanji says, smiling down at her from behind. Anne looks up to see Sanji holding a familiar set of china. “I’m guessing this tea set was yours?”

Anne blinks at that, carefully receiving a cup as Sanji elegantly begins to serve her. 

“Hey, do you think the green one will be useful during mealtimes?” 

“Hey, what does blue and white do?” 

"The black one was the one that made Carue stop moving, right?"

"That was the red and green one-- wait a fuckin' minute Usopp how did you know--"

 

Anne tries to answer all the questions to some vague degree, and when told to demonstrate, she does so as well. 

It’s like a whole array of party tricks, and for some reason, she doesn’t feel like a clown.

They’re all so honestly fascinated by her Colours Trap that when Anne says her exasperated, “are you guys having fun or something?” the muscles on her face are strained, like it’s trying hard to smile. 

She doesn’t notice the way Gin watches, endeared.

 

“How long is Luffy going to stay like that?” Zoro asks, hefting the barbeque set over his shoulder to bring back to the ship. “Aren’t we in a rush?”

Usopp walks right by with some lumber, “it’s probably faster without him.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

The rest of the group joins their Captain in a cup of tea as Luffy speaks happily of his crewmates and their ambitions. Even Carue is there, and Kinoko is on Usopp’s head.

“Shouldn’t we be hurrying right now?”

“But it’s nice tea…”

 


 

 

Nami had gone off toward the abandoned shipwrecks on the other side of the island, Brogy’s hand a very quick travel option as she hunts for anything old sailors might’ve left behind.  

It’s a relief that they’re not as much in a hurry this time around. Sure, they are-- but they settled the fight a little quicker and had lunch with the giants. Last time around was just a rush and go, after all. 

She enters the first ship, smashing aside a fallen log with her axe. 

Sky Island taught her how important it was to check shipwrecks for useful objects. If it’s in Little Garden, there must be some valuable things around. 

“Are you alright in there, little viking?”

Nami calls back out an assurance. There isn’t a lot of money left, and most fragile items are shattered or ruined by overgrowth. 

 

She picks up a broken conch shell with a grin. 

 

“Jackpot.”

 


 

“Zoro wants to beat this Hawky guy, you see,” Luffy says, like a tired parent, probably the effect of the green paint, “like, be the greatest swordsman in the world or something.”

“What do you mean, or something ? I am!”

Anne chews on her rice cracker. “Dracule Mihawk?” 

“Yeah, that’s the one. Zoro got monk’s robe sliced. He was a very great man.”

“I didn’t die !”

"Sometimes we can still hear his voice."

 

“To think the highest bounty in our crew right now is also our youngest,” Usopp comments from afar, almost disappointed in himself. “How times have changed, huh.”

“Would it be a problem?” Anne asks. 

“No,” Gin immediately says, “our Captain is just... quite... a jealous individual.”

"Putting it very mildly."

“I’m not jealous,” Luffy says, though his face is incredibly strained and his fingers are shivering on the cup. “Not. Jealous. At all. No.”

 

Sanji reaches behind him and smudges the paint on his back.

 

Luffy immediately explodes, “I’m SO jealous! This isn’t fair! Why does all of my crew have a bounty before me?!”

Gin points at him in a ‘as you can see’ gesture.

Anne hums, lifting her brush and reaching for the yellow paint. 

 


 

They bid the giants a loud and joyous goodbye.

“You guys should head on back to Elbaf sometime soon!” Usopp hollers, “I’m sure your pals back home are all worried for you!”

To which they laugh, “they know we’re living proudly, little warrior.”

And well, some of them don’t, but Usopp supposes it’s fine. 

“Hey, if we make it to Elbaf one day, give us a welcome, alright?” Luffy says, loud and happy. “Maybe we can fight that day! And have another, better party!”

With a chorus of Gababas and Gegyagyas , the giants take him up on the promise. 

 

“See ya! Don’t die anymore, giant-ossan!”

 


 

“My rhino is bigger!”

“No, obviously, my lizard is!”

“Isn’t it fine, they both look yummy,” is Luffy’s opinion.

“You stay out of it!” 

 

“So you guys are just gonna pretend those aren’t dinosaurs, huh,” Gin mutters, “just hurry up and butcher them so we can go already.”

 

Gin stands guard outside the door of the bathroom, a familiar-looking hat and a whole handful of accessories laid out on the ledge before him.

Vivi hustles in and out of the girls’ rooms for something Anne could wear. 

Usopp hauls himself on board, along with his bag, his Kabuto, Miss Goldenweek’s bag of paints-- did he forget something? “My walking stick!”

Carue and Kinoko hop on with a whole horde of paintbrushes. They had gone around trying to salvage all of them, after all. Carue caws annoyedly at Usopp, and Zoro retrieves the walking stick from Carue’s backpack to hand it off to Usopp.

“See, even a bird is chewing your blind ass out,” Sanji says. “Don’t carry too much if you’re going to forget where you left them.”

Usopp hugs Carue in thanks, and the duck accepts the gratitude. 

Usopp disagrees with Sanji’s point, though-- he can bring as much stuff as he wants to. Everyone will always pick it up for him, right?

 

“Time to set sail, everyone!” Luffy declares, “to Alabasta!”

 


 

They set sail, hastily lugging up piles of butchered meat on board and then sailing straight ahead-- and only straight ahead, even as they’re eaten by the notorious humongous goldfish and succeedingly shot right out in an instant. 

“Woah, they split the sea! Do you see that, Usopp? They’re so cool!” 

Usopp and Luffy stand at the head of the ship, the captain holding his hat down as they soar, laughing boisterously. 

“I don’t, Luffy,” Usopp says, trying to hide his mild disappointment. But he grins. “I can feel it, though,” he assures him, looking out. “And it feels amazing.”

If he could see, he would notice the way Luffy’s eyes are fixed on him, even as Usopp’s eyes are lost in colours and sensations. 

“We’re definitely gonna go to the Giants kingdom one day, too!” Luffy says, and Usopp can hear the joy in his voice. “Elbaf!” 

 

Usopp takes his hand and they join in an idiot’s dance, cheering foolishly for the island they can’t help but be excited to visit in the future. 

“Elbaf! Elbaf! El~ Ba-fuu!”

 

“Moron duo, can you get your HANDS on the damn sails already!” Nami snaps. “Flying is nice, but we have to LAND if you remember!”

 


 

“Any bug bites? Please check!” Nami calls. “I’m serious!”

Sanji calls out a “none, Nami-swan,” chorused immediately by Zoro and Luffy, who also agrees for Usopp. Vivi and Anne are the same as well. 

“Looks like the bug spray worked well,” Nami deems. 

“You’re welcome.”

 

Clothes are changed and bandages are applied. Zoro and Luffy only have enough to just walk off (they’re monsters. They’re monsters ,) but Usopp’s agitated wounds needed a new coat of salve. 

While Zoro, Luffy, and Usopp had identical pairs of their outfits in the closet, the same couldn’t be said for the girls. 

Luckily, the girls’ room closet was stacked with clothing, from Nami’s Loguetown shopping trip to some of Kaya’s things, left behind from old days. 

Anne hustles on a shirt, one that was probably one of Nami’s crop tops, since it fits quite well aside from the loose sleeves. There were no pants that fit her waist, so Vivi altered one of Usopp’s overalls into a dress.

(Usopp didn’t know what happened until Zoro explained it to him, by then it was too late to protest, because Vivi had some very quick sewing skills and she was incredibly proud of her latest work.)

She then grabbed one of Sanji’s incredibly obnoxiously flowered holiday shirts as an overcoat, and Vivi had to nod approvingly at her own genius needlework. 

(Sanji is over the moon, though. Everyone has no idea why this man in a business suit has that garish shirt and when the hell did he think he was going to wear it, but they don’t ask.)

 

“Did you have to throw your old clothes overboard, though?” Gin asks, thinking that the summery fit she had on before was, all things considered, perfectly okay as an outfit. 

“It stank,” is Anne’s response. Vivi tried not to show how guilty she felt about it now-- ruining a girl’s clothes is a crime but it was an emergency she swears-- but Anne assures her that, “it’s okay, I like these, there are a lot of pockets. Thank you, Princess.”

And Vivi brightens up immediately. 

 

“She’s like a dolled up Usopp.”

“But like, ten times cuter?”

“A million times!” 

“Now you’re Usopp mini!” Luffy declares.

Anne cast a curious look at the sniper, who didn’t seem to notice her staring. He was busy fiddling with the gear that was on the avians onboard, and though Nami pointed out the same thing, Usopp only pouted at the loss of a pair of overalls. 

Anne hums in acceptance. He’s not a bad guy. 

 

She smushes her hat back on her head when Gin hands it back to her. 

From the string of beads to the pendant, to the cuff bangle on her right and the hololith bangle on her left-- she had a lot of accessories, and she took the time to wear them properly before showing herself to the crew again. 

“Where’d you even get all of these?” Nami asks, very impressed. 

The pendant was a fascinating opal-- the beads pearl imitations, the hololith a purple jade, and the cuff bangle stemmed with topaz. These weren’t the purest quality by any means, especially in the way they were slightly worn out in age, but they would certainly be worth something on a market. 

“I… bought them,” Anne answers halfway before ducking behind Gin. “With money I earned from the job.”

Nami stares, a little upset. “You don’t have to be scared of me, you know? I’m sorry about uh… whatever I did back at Little Garden that terrified you so much. Forgive me?”

“Okay,” Anne says, as she very visibly shrinks back further, clearly unconvinced.

 

Gin stands awkwardly between them, not so sure how to deal with this. 

 


 

 

“So, what did you find anyways?” 

When Usopp asks, Nami snickers happily, cheerfully showing off her pouch of salvaged goods she’s pillaged from the abandoned ships. 

“You know I can’t see, Nami.”

“Wise up, whinypants. Hands out.”

 

The crew glance over curiously.

 

“Shells?” Zoro asks.

There are only a handful, all in varying shapes and sizes and colours. They’re rather unique compared to shells you would find in normal seas, so Sanji reckoned they were Grand Line exclusive things. 

Luffy picks one up to his ear and strains, but he can’t hear the sea. “Oh, it’s broken,” he says, noticing the multitude of cracks along its side. 

Vivi doesn’t know what they are either, looking over from a distance. 

 

Usopp’s breath however, completely stills. 

“Nami,” he raises a shell, “is this a dial ?!”

 

“Trust me, I searched every ship to get as many as I can, and I still only found four that were intact enough to be used,” Nami says, and she’s so excited, the sharpshooter can hear her smile in her voice. “But they’re enough, right?”

There’s a moment of sheer excitement before Usopp and Nami squeal, cheering right into the sunshine with all the joy of children getting chocolate for dinner. 

The rest of the crew rear back in alarm, not expecting or understanding the exuberant excitement from the two veterans. 

“Nami, Nami, I love you so much,” Usopp says, entirely honest.

“Don’t propose just yet, Usopp,” Nami says, “you haven’t seen our best haul just yet.”

The crew has no idea why Nami and Usopp are geeking out about seashells, but when Usopp presses the center of one and it starts screeching bloody murder, they get very worried.

“Oh god, this one works!” Usopp beams, which is not the reaction a man should have after hearing a dying cry come out of a shell. 

 

Nami then hands it to Luffy, because he's evidently glittering with interest.

Luffy, though bewildered at the Tone dial at first, keeps pressing it. Carue starts crying when the dying screams are played for the sixth time in a row, and Luffy starts running around to show everyone the cool dying screams coming out of a shell. 

Yeah, Zoro is going to go stop him. 

 

“The Flavour dial and Breath dial have got nothing in them, but they’re intact,” Nami says. They’re made to contain high pressure gas, so these survived the wreckage. Being in boxes or treasure chests probably also helped. The Tone dial, however, was probably sheer luck. “Now, this.”

Usopp receives a pale yellow shell, swirled with green. 

“There’s only one, even though it’s supposed to be damn durable! Can you believe that?” Nami whines, “but hey, better than none, right?”

 

Usopp didn’t need to press it to know that it’s an Impact dial. Unlike the slightly cracked Flavour and Breath dials (he’ll seal them with glue later), it's perfectly intact, due to the nature of its function.

He swoons, “dear lord, please marry me, Nami.”

The girl laughs, sending a wink that the sharpshooter can’t see. “You’re engaged, Usopp. Plus, I would take Kaya before you any day.”

“Excuse me?!”

 


 

Luffy takes Anne to the center of the deck as tea is served, paints and brushes are returned, and Usopp begins to structure an easel out of the scrap wood they’ve gathered from Little Garden. 

“You like painting, right?” Usopp had asked, “then we gotta make you something to paint on. Don’t worry, Nami’s got plenty of papers to draw maps, and I’ve got unused sketchbooks as well. We can get better supplies at the next island.”

Anne had just stared in shock, mouth slightly agape. 

They're making her an easel? For real? Out of nowhere? Is this a tactic to make her cosy up, because as simple as it is, she can't deny that it's working.

 

“Hey, so it is read Anne as in ‘An-neh’, or is it ‘End’, or is it ‘Ann’?” 

“Are there really that many ways to pronounce ‘Anne’?” Vivi asks, genuinely taken aback. 

“In that order it’s Eastern, Western, and Linian,” Nami explains. “Are you Linian, Anne?”

“Ah, yes,” she says. 

“Then it’s Ann with an E. Like A-nnu, Luffy.”

“Okay, gotcha!”

 

Finally out of the vicinity of Little Garden, Vivi gives Kinoko and Carue a much needed bath. They’re covered in soot from the explosions, after all. 

Zoro settles down immediately for a nap, and Sanji saunters out of the galley with mini tarts and new tea, ready to serve his beautiful ladies (your portion is in the kitchen, Luffy) with his usual gentlemanly demeanor. 

Gin watches from the second floor as Anne awkwardly nods at offers of favours, gets introduced to Luffy’s precious hat Boshi, and watches nervously over Usopp as he adjusts the new easel, asking repeatedly if this was an alright height, if she wanted more brush holder space, or if the paper quality was fine. 

She’s soaking in all the attention with a sort of happiness Gin has never seen on her before, and she evidently has no idea how to take it all in except with flustered nods. 

Gin enjoys the sight. 

At least he’s not alone in this awkward business now.

 

He slumps down against the ledge with a contented sigh, head leaning against the cool wood. Now that the adrenaline’s wearing out, he’s getting a little dizzy. 

Maybe he should head back into the room and take a nap. He gets up with a heavy breath, and his next step comes with a wave of nausea. 

(--huh?)

 

The world tilts, and there’s a sharp yell of his name in the distance.

 

 

-


-

 

 

“This is bad,” Nami tells the crew.

Gin is tucked into the bed, laying prone on the bed as wet cloth is laid over the burns in his back. His temperature has only risen drastically since they left LIttle Garden, and it’s honestly a miracle he was standing as long as he did. 

Nami had a lot of things to say. This is why I told you not to leave the ship! Why didn’t you guys listen to me? But it would be insensitive to chew him out for that when he’s the reason they even won the fight as smoothly as they did. 

“His burns are infected,” she reports, and even Luffy understood how dire that word was. “It’s a huge wound, so this isn’t good. We need to take a detour to an island with a proper doctor. He needs antibiotics, for starters.”

 

“How bad is that?”

“If we don’t treat it, it’s either sepsis or shock from there. He could die from the pain.”

There’s a hollow pit in their stomachs. As if the world didn’t already know that Gin was suffering-- here’s a whole new, truly lethal way to go about it. 

“Why is it always Gin?” Sanji mutters, annoyed.  (And isn’t that the question of the year, really.)

“Think we could get a doctor in Alabasta?”

Vivi’s face falls, unable to lie. “Yes, but I… I don’t know if we’ll make it in time.”

 

Anne had been the first one to run to his side, and even now she sits by his bed, watching in visible concern as he lay unconscious. 

“...What are you all, all of you, doing down here?”

Heads spin. Gin is up, and the entire crew converges on him in a panic. 

“Who’s manning the fucking ship?” he demands, but no one knows how to answer him. “We don’t have time to waste, right? I thought we were hurrying?”

 

“Gin’s better now!” 

Luffy celebrates.

“No he isn’t.”  

Bonk.

 

“Stay down already! Do you want to die?” Nami reprimands him, “we’re going to look for a doctor. Your wounds are infected and you could die from toxic shock if you keep this up.”

“If I was going to die, I would’ve already,” he says sharply.

“Don’t act tough. We’ve got painkillers so just take your damn pills and conserve your energy until we get somewhere.”

“Stop screwing around!” Gin snaps. “We are saving the damn kingdom, aren’t we? You think you can spare a fucking vacation turn to slowly look for a doctor? We can’t find another island without a Log Pose, I thought we established that forever ago!”

 

Sure enough, without a Log Pose, they would be sailing blindly. 

People usually never find an island that way, and they drift into the worst currents and wander forever. It’s a waste of time, and Gin knows that, even if he only experienced the worser version at the start. 

 

“Well, you’re right, but,” Sanji is at a loss for words, “you’re fucking suicidal.”

“I can live,” he insists. 

(Through an infection? Possible. An infection as bad as this one? Adding to the MH5 residue already flowing in his veins? It’d take a miracle.)

“No you can’t,” it’s Anne that tells him this. “You’re being an idiot right after you promised not to leave me. Don’t be a liar, too.”

Gin winces at that. 

 

(He didn’t turn the conversation to Alabasta because he cared, not specifically. He just didn’t want to talk about himself-- and everyone had seen right through him, like it was nothing. It was so dumb, he would laugh at himself if he had the strength.)

 

“You can’t die yet, Gin,” Luffy says, annoyed, “we barely got into the Grand Line! Did you forget you’re still poisoned by that stupid gas thing?”

“Gas thing?”

“He breathed in toxic gas back in the East. It’s chronic.”

“He’s immunocompromised? How is he still alive after all this?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m half convinced he’s a zombie.”

“Gin, don’t be stubborn and just rest. We’ll get you to a doctor, alright?”

 

“I said I don’t need one!" Gin snaps, tired of this fucking coddling. "We just need to rush to Alabasta, we have no time to waste! Are you guys even taking this Warlord battle seriously?”

 

“We are taking it seriously, which is why we need you to be in top form when we get there!”

There’s a startled silence when Luffy declares that. 

 

Immediately, Vivi interjects, trying to quell the tension. 

“There’s no need to worry about our route to Alabasta right now,” Vivi says. And her words are pointed directly at Gin. She bites her bottom lip, evidently conflicted as well-- but she pulls through. “Without the quartermaster, this ship would be in too much of a mess to sail. It’s not efficient to go on like this.”

When she speaks, she’s calm. She’s composed, even as a farce. 

Gin snarls, “you’re risking the lives of all your people,” he says. “You sure?”

To which Vivi immediately responds, “it’s because of it, not despite it.”

They all saw the papers about the rebellion gaining more forces. Alabasta’s war is at its peak, and Vivi really can’t spare anymore time for this. 

And yet, she speaks in a picture of maturity, handling herself with all the regality of a humble ruler, coming to the most viable conclusion withholding her own heart.

“Doctor first,” she insists, because she knows that’s the right choice. If they’re going to Alabasta at full speed, they need every member of this much-too-small crew to be active and capable.  “Mister Man-Demon is priority right now, I believe so as well.”

 

Vivi is a princess, and she is a politician. 

In a situation like this, her selflessness shines, and her words are the truth. This is a woman doing everything for the people important to her, putting even this little crew before her own selfish emotions. 

There was everything to respect in those words, and no way to look down on such sheer, undaunted willpower. 

 

Gin lays back down-- and he had no words to say. 

(How could he say anything, when Vivi’s words were true?)

 

Sanji voices out how he’s totally falling in love all over again, and Zoro manages to crack a smile at the Princess’ unexpectedly gutsy words against their stubborn Quartermaster. Nami and Usopp are smiling warmly, and Carue almost looks proud. 

Luffy nods, grinning wide. 

“See? Even Vivi gets it!” he says, undeterred and stepping in to replace the damp cloth on his quartermaster’s back. “we can’t work without you, Gin! So sit still and we'll get you better in no time, alright? Promise.”

Gin’s eyes flutter shut in defeat, and he sighs, deeply. 

 

“Understood, captain.”

 

Luffy grins, and he turns back to the crew. “Alright, everyone! Full speed ahead to a doctor for Gin!” he declares, and all hands quickly return to deck with a loud call of affirmation. 

“Aye, captain!” 

 


 

“Vivi, I’m sorry to trouble you, but do you think you could write the log?” 

When Usopp asks that of her, Vivi agreed, but in hindsight, she didn’t understand why it had to be her of all people. She’s a passenger on this ship, and it doesn’t make sense to trust her with something as important as the log. 

But when she reads the previous logs, she thinks she might understand.

 

Luffy’s entries are surprisingly eloquent. They unfortunately don’t bear useful information most of the time, but he writes better than Zoro. His handwriting is far too messy, however, and he doesn’t know how to spell half the words he uses.

(They are correctly used, however, and that surprises Vivi a lot.)

 

Zoro’s are surprisingly the neatest, but they’re written top-down and right-to-left. His words are vague and the bare minimum, but the information is where it needs to be.

(Did Nami call him a dojo kid? Whatever a dojo is, Zoro sure upheld the traditions.)

 

Nami’s handwriting was startlingly messy-- which made sense, considering her metal arm. It’s strange, how her cartography was so impeccable, yet letters were lost to her. 

(Even her signature was blistered, only discernible by the tangerine drawn at the end.)

 

Usopp has written only a handful. They often run from the lines, a stroke would miss the word it belonged to, and they were in a list, perhaps to keep a semblance of a format. 

(They were written slowly, Vivi can tell. He paid a lot of attention to the details.)

 

The most consistent yet saddeningly scarce entry, Vivi finds, is Sanji’s. His writing is well articulated, clearly the sign of a boy with an education-- but his signature is hasty and often missing, as if he was hurrying for better errands. 

(What a shame.)

 

Gin seems to have written most of the entries-- and Vivi can understand why. It’s by far the most useful, a testament to his long years of sailing. 

(Now that he’s out of commission, though…)

 

Vivi picks up a pen and begins writing. Perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad to be the ship’s acting chronicler. It’s unconventional, but they definitely need the help.

 


 

“Any island would be fine,” Nami says, setting the Eternal Pose and Log Pose next to each other, “but let’s head to Drum.”

“Drum?” Luffy asks. 

Nami spreads out a map, the cubes and coordinates drawn out but no islands sketch on just yet. She fills in the numbers quickly, picking up a pen with her left hand and penning out the borders of Little Garden with naught a little hesitation. 

Anne watches, very impressed. 

The rest of the crew convene around them, either peeking in from the windows (Zoro and Vivi) or listening in from the other side of the open door (Sanji and Usopp). 

“Uh… why Drum?” Vivi asks. 

“You’ve been there, Vivi-chan?” Sanji asks, “oh… it is a Kingdom, after all. Do you think we could use your connections to call in a favour or something?”

Vivi vehemently shakes her head, “no, no, I’m supposed to be a missing princess,” she says. Sanji threw Crocodile off their trail in Alabasta, so she can’t risk their location now. 

(Plus, she only knows Wapol from one traumatic memory and she doesn’t ever want to remember it again.)

 

“It’s not because it’s a Kingdom,” Nami says, “it’s just-- well, the only one I know along this road. Something happened and now doctors are scarce, but I know a woman.”

That’s a white lie and Usopp knows that.

So he helps. “If you want connections, Nami’s got some,” Usopp speaks up. “I’m sure if we pull some strings, we can call in a favour.”

There’s a string of ‘oohs’ as everyone suddenly remembers that Nami is a bigshot. She’s hiding the mark most of the time, but Whitebeard still has claim to her, after all. 

“I’m not throwing Oyaji into a fire, Usopp.”

“The great Whitebeard, taken down by one old lady,” Usopp says, sarcastic. Then, “hold on, it’s entirely possible. I take my sarcasm back.”

 

“I don’t want to understand what they’re talking about.”

“Same.”

“Can we get back to the map already?” Zoro groans. 

 

Nami broods, but okay, he has a point. 

 

“Let’s put aside the why for now, because I’m not lying when I say it’s the only place I can feasibly navigate to without an actual pose,” Nami says. “We’ll figure it out when we get there, alright?”

She draws more islands on the map. 

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to navigate some distances without a Log Pose-- that’s how most people get to Sabaody, after all. 

“There is still a way to navigate on the Grand Line, even without a log,” she says, to everyone’s surprise. “The seas and skies mess with us, but the islands don’t change. Alabasta is ten days 282. Drum is about two days a sharp 046 of Little Garden.”

“Uhhhh?” Luffy side-eyes Sanji, who looks just as confused as everyone else. 

“She’s not speaking a language we know, just nod and go along with it, guys,” Usopp tells them. Zoro scoffs at that, amused. 

 

“Basically, I can get cardinal directions!” Nami says, “with the Log Pose stuck on Little Garden and Alabasta, we’ll always know which general direction we’re in.”

 

“Okay, I’m completely lost from this conversation,” Usopp says. “I have a feeling you’re talking sense in some universe, but I have no idea what you just said.”

“I’m sorry Miss Nami, but me too,” Vivi admits. 

Luffy’s brain explodes. He doesn’t even manage to say anything. Anne is similar, blanking out and admiring the blue sea.

“Uh, I think I get it?” Sanji says, “like… they’re bearings… right? I uh. Sorry, I give up. Nami-swan is amazing to be able to understand all this so easily, though.” 

 

“It’s just math,” Zoro says, and Nami regains a bit of hope in humanity. 

 

“Oh thank Davy Jones, yes, thank you,” Nami says, relieved that someone understands, but she’s immediately very, very horrified that the only one that understands is the directionless buffoon. "But why did it have to be you?"

"You picking a fight, witch?"

"No offence of course, Zoro."

"A lot taken!"

 

(This ship is a lost cause.)

(She underestimated just how hopeless they are.)

(God, she fucking loves these morons.)

 

“We’re all idiots here, but luckily we have Nami, right?” Luffy says, beaming, “Nami’s the best navigator in the world, after all!” 

Nami’s face heats up slightly. 

“Oh, don’t flatter me!” she turns away, smug, “what would you morons do without me?”

“Thank you, Nami!” 

“We love you, Nami-swan!”

 

Anne watches them as they pile on with the swarming session, fawning over their navigator’s admittedly impressive skill set with increasingly obnoxious energy. It's too lighthearted for the dire situation they're in-- and yet, when she turns to Gin, he's smiling. 

He smiles, honest in a way he never used to do.

(And Anne finds herself liking that sight very much.)

(This crew is a nice place to be, and each minute here convinces her even more.)

 

“Anyways, Zoro, you’re going to be my calculator for the next two days. Stay awake.”

“Huh?! Why me?”

“No complaints! Navigator’s orders!”

“Make that Captain’s orders, too!” Luffy cheers, to the swordsman’s increased ire.

 


 

It’s calm waters when Usopp suddenly stands up, beelining toward the deck in a walk of purpose. He rushes, doesn’t even reach for his walking stick, and makes his way outside. Kinoko is surprised, but he doesn’t ask her to come. 

Eyes catch on. Luffy follows him in curiosity, and Zoro awakes. 

Usopp lifts his arm, tugging up his sleeve and making space against the bandages-- and a large bird descends, strong wings catching a draft against the deck, loose clothing scattering in the wind.

It’s large-- larger than Kinoko by far, but not quite in Carue’s league. 

 

“Nami,” Usopp hollers, “it’s here!”

 

Luffy watches on with great interest. It’s not common for anything other than News Coo to drop by pirate ships-- and this one seems to be acquainted with Usopp. Is it an old friend, perhaps? Is it Kinoko’s mother?

It’s a hawk. 

The varying shades of its skin emboldened a mark that resembled a large star at the side of its face, covering one eye like a birthmark. It had a bag strapped to its side, and when it perches, a little squirrel monkey peeks out from under the flap. 

Similarly to the hawk, the monkey’s fur patterns seemed to form a star on its back. 

 

Luffy beams at that, “ooh! It’s a monkey!” he scampers down the steps, coming closer to give the little monkey a high-five, though the tiny hand was so small, Luffy switched to a finger-to-palm tap instead. 

You’re a monkey,” Sanji mutters, looking over from the steps. It seems curiosity was the trend today, because everyone is outside now barring the sleeping Gin.

“No no, a real one! Like Monstar!”

“Like what ?”

“It’s a bird with a monkey?” Zoro seems to still be in his sleepy haze, rubbing his eyes as if he wasn’t sure if he was seeing this right. “That’s not our bird.”

 

The little monkey greets Usopp with a cheerful squeak, happily handing him a bundle of envelopes from the stack inside the pouch. Usopp receives it with a word of thanks. 

“It’s here?” Nami emerges from the mapping room, “that’s quick.”

 

Usopp nods out a greeting as Kinoko lands on Usopp’s shoulder, sneering. The hawk only scoffs at Kinoko, inciting an angry squawk as Kinoko swats, establishing his territory. 

“Hey, hey,” Usopp holds her back. “What’s going on with you? Be nice.”

 

Kinoko does not take well to her boy being enchanted by a new big boy apparently, because she starts hissing at the little monkey that hisses right back. And that was apparently some declaration of war, because t he monkey immediately fiercely lunges at Kinoko, and they start wrestling in a mess of sharp shrieks and torn feathers and fur. 

Carue hastily goes to break up the argument. 

 

“Vivi, write a letter addressed to your father,” Usopp says, deciding against entertaining the animals now. “Like, right now, everything. And if you haven’t already, tell him there might be spies in the army itself, so take caution on that.”

Vivi blinks.

Then, “we can send a letter to Alabasta now? Are you sure?”

 

They can’t use a Den Den Mushi, since they only have a normal one. Although it can probably reach Alabasta from here, it will most definitely get tapped.

But a hand-delivered letter-- that would definitely be beneficial.

 

Usopp nods. “This will make up for the time we lose in this detour, right?”

Vivi doesn’t question any more than that. Usopp is right, and the more time they waste, the less they have. She hustles, because she’s already got a letter pre-written anyways. 

Usopp takes the letter from Vivi, rolled and sealed with not an emblem, but a button and a strand of her hair. The opposing pouch of the bag is filled with letters just like this, all addressed to different people around the line. 

This is, after all, the boasted line of Gold. There’s no way to send private letters that’s more secure than this. 

 

Luffy and Anne are watching the ultimate bird versus monkey battle of the century, Luffy loudly cheering for Ennosuke to ‘beat the monkey’s ass’ while Anne munches on her rice crackers, absorbed in the battle. 

“I guess we’re eating the loser for dinner,” Sanji says. 

“No we are not.”

“How could you even think of eating that baby monkey, Sanji?” Luffy whines, “look how cute it is!” 

“It’s a squirrel monkey, Luffy. It’s supposed to be that small.” 

"So are we cooking Kinoko if she loses?"

"Uh..."

“No fighting, you two. C'mon, Noko-chan, and Babystar, be nice,” Nami interrupts the conversation, putting herself between the two fighting animal. She allows the monkey scamper up her arm, the monkey angrily huffing at Kinoko one last time before reemerging victorious. 

 

(Kinoko, absolutely shellshocked at losing to a baby monkey, proceeds to throw a tantrum on the ground.)

(Anne picks it up, cradling the bird in her arms as it sobbed (can birds sob?) over a lost match.)

(Luffy laughs, “better luck next time, Ennosuke!”)

 

Nami ties a little orange ribbon around the monkey’s neck, complete with a rolled-up letter. “And this one goes to Buggy. You can do that for me?”

Babystar grins big and wide and Nami’s heart inflates with the precious energy.

 

“Its name is Babystar?” 

“Because it’s a baby and it’s got a star?”

“Is that its actual name or did Nami just give it one?”

 

Babystar the squirrel monkey climbs back onto the Hawk, and with a nod at Nami and Usopp, it flies off once again. 

 

“Alright,” Usopp says. “If BigStar comes by again, whoever’s around has got to receive him like that. Got it?”

There’s a chorus of ‘okay’s from the ship.

 

(“...BigStar?” Zoro asks, but no one acknowledges the question.)

 

Luffy snickers, already missing the mini-me, “that monkey was really cute! I want one! I should've asked it to join the crew."

"Luffy no, what the heck," Sanji says, "we're becoming a damn zoo on this ship." He ignores Carue's offended voice. 

"Isn't that fine?" Luffy grins, "i t'll be just like having a Monstar on the crew, right? I loved him too!”

“It's like having a miniature you and we’ve got enough of those," Sanji mutters, "unless we're using it for emergency food."

"And pets are a lot of work, Luffy," Nami contributes to the discussion, because why not, "are you sure we can trust you with a real, breathing animal? We already have Noko-chan and Carue." 

Luffy pouts, "of course I can!" he's very offended. "I'm gonna tell Gin all about you guys being mean to me."

"Go on, he'll agree with me!" 

 

(All Usopp can imagine though that conversation is a mother yelling at her son about not being allowed to keep a stray cat they found.)

 

“Seriously, what is a Monstar?” Zoro asks, to which Luffy responds very happily that, 

“It’s a monkey that was on Shanks’ ship!”

No one wants to know why Red Haired Shanks had a fucking monkey on their ship or why he was acquainted with that Emperor (spoiler: they asked. They got the story. Again. Damn it Sanji, you know he always goes on a tangent when it comes to Shanks!) but that was beside the point. 

 

“Which crazy bastard named a monkey that, anyways?” 

“Benn!”

“...hold up. Seriously?”

 


 

Anne catches Usopp’s attention with a tug on his overall pockets, because there was really nowhere else to grab, and the sniper takes a moment to realize the girl was probably gesturing at the bird in her hands, unsure of what to do with it. 

It was a whole lump of sad. 

“Should I use Laughter Yellow?” she asks. 

“No no, it’s fine,” Usopp immediately says. “She’s just upset. Just give her some time to come to terms with it, and she’ll come right back. Right, girl?”

Kinoko makes a sharp, irritated chirp in response. 

 

“It’s fine to just leave her sad?” Anne asks, and she genuinely didn’t understand why Usopp had said that. 

 

(And that, Usopp realizes, is irony.)

(Anne, a hypnotist that wields other people’s emotions-- didn’t have any of her own.)

 

She wasn’t just bad at emotions-- she genuinely failed in them, like she had never gotten the opportunity to learn about them at all. 

For people who didn’t yet know haki, the flow was the most honest part of themselves. So when Usopp listens in and hears nothing but the waves of a still lake that didn’t know how to find a breeze or compose a current, his heart aches. 

 

“Yes, it’s fine,” Usopp runs a hand across Kinoko’s hide. “Not all negative emotions are bad. It’s just a part of who you are.”

Anne’s voice bubbles just faintly, as if she was confused-- but then it quelled, like nothing had ever interrupted. 

“I don’t get it,” she says. 

Usopp nods, “that’s a part of who you are, too. And it’s perfectly fine. We can work on it.”

 

Usopp doesn’t see her response, but her haki flickers, and she walks away, a soft hum at her lips. She doesn’t return Kinoko, and Usopp thinks she might have been nodding. 

But well. What would a blind man know? 

 

“Hey, Anne,” Usopp calls, and he fiddles around his pockets for something. A wooden cube-- a yet-unfinished stamp. “Are you good at carving or sculpting?”



Chapter 37: you're okay (always) we'll be alright (together)

Summary:

Snow begins to fall on the sea.

Gin's condition deteriorates, and the crew arrive at Drum Island.

Luffy just wants to give everyone hugs, Zoro is the only one on the ship that can unrepentantly give Nami a lecture about self-preservation, and Anne learns the horror of having an impatient captain with his arms three loops around your waist.

Chapter Text

“Catch the winds from the portside. We’re taking a hard turn, everyone!” she yells.

“Eh? But the winds are so nice…”

“I said NOW!”

 

Surprisingly, Anne is good at the ropework. Not anymore than the average person, but she’s quick and she doesn’t question any orders, which, if only a little, makes up for the lack of Gin. 

(She may have been an enemy less than a day ago, but she was probably more conscious about sailing and listening to orders than the rest of the crew.)

(Except that time she neglected to tell everyone the News Coo came and went, but that was, in her defense, her very important tea time.)

 

Zoro gets up and, with Luffy and Sanji’s help, the crew gets the ship turning. 

Satisfied, Nami returns to the mapping room.

The letters they received from the Buggy line were written in a simple code, which wasn’t too hard to decipher, but it wouldn’t make sense to teach it to anyone else in the crew at this point, so Nami was the only one that could understand them. 

(Usopp was always far better at this, being from the Revolutionary Army and all, but alas, blind men cannot read letters.)

 

Nami was now working overtime, hustling between watching over Gin’s injuries (no one else had the barest minimum of medical knowledge,) making sure they were on course, and sifting through the letters for information. 

 

“Doflamingo’s opened up another slew of auction houses… Sabaody in unrest,” she moves past the sentence. “Sightings of an ability that resembles the Ope-Ope no mi. Torao’s on the move too, huh… these two are put next to each other, so it’s a warning to someone that knows their relationship.”

Who would know that at this point, though? And which one of them would be connected to the Buggy line of information?

(...Sengoku wouldn’t happen to have connections to the Buggy line, would he?)

There was a whole slew of information that would never show up on the newspapers. 

They were much more vague, much more speculative than the repeatedly sensationalized news printed on the World Economy Newspapers-- and that was fine. Knowing the gossip chains is just as important. 

 

“Nami, what are you doing?” Luffy peeks in from the top of the cabin, Kinoko on his head. “You’ve been reading those and talking to yourself for a while now.”

“Don’t worry about it, Luffy,” Nami says. “I’m just a little busy.”

And then she flips to the next page, clearly expending much of her focus on this. Luffy watches her, understanding that any further conversation would be a distraction. Nami only read things aloud when she was thinking too many things at once to keep it in her head, after all. 

“Ah, here it is,” she says, instantly more alert. “Blackbeard attacked Drum Island-- this is quite a while ago now. I haven’t gotten any new information since then...” she chews nervously on her nails, “sightings of Revolutionary activity near Whitebeard seas? Did he not go disguised, that idiot? This isn’t too great. They obviously also know how quickly Aladine rushed back, too… it’ll be bad if we catch the attention of the powers in the area…”

 

Luffy is getting dizzy with all of that. He catches Kinoko’s equally confused look and they share a (hushed) little laugh.

He doesn’t ask if he can help. (He knows he probably can’t.) So instead, he takes Kinoko and heads off to find Gin. He makes sure to catch a look at Sanji, too, just to make sure he’s cheerfully singing as he makes tea just like usual. Zoro is lifting that insane-looking weight they got from Whiskey Peak, muttering something about needing to get stronger. Luffy doesn’t disturb him. 

(There’s little he can do as captain when things are like this.)

(But he can promise to always stay by their side, and that’s what he does best.)

 


 

Gin isn’t doing so well. 

He isn’t sleeping well either, the painkillers doing almost nothing to stave off the agony. His fever’s getting worse, and there’s little they can do except watch over him, feeling useless.

Kinoko stays by their bedside, sleeping off her own wounds. When Luffy leaves the room, even only for a second, Kinoko will look after Gin in his place. 

Luffy’s unable to work up much of an appetite. 

He takes a book from the shelves-- Emerald City, because that's Gin’s favourite book-- and tries to read it to him. 

He doesn’t get very far, even when Sanji comes and helps him get through some tougher words. But Gin would sometimes wake up, watching him through glazed eyes-- and he will assure Luffy that he’s still listening.

So Luffy continues to read.

And when Gin zones out, Luffy will repeat the parts he’s missed, even if it’s the whole page one more time. 

Luffy will do it, as many times as he needs to.

 


 

Usopp is working on something, Carue and Anne by his side watching curiously. The girl had been hovering around Gin a little too close, so after being hustled out of the sick bay, she came to the one she felt secondly most comfortable around-- Usopp. 

(Usopp still has no idea why, but he doesn’t question it.)

Usopp sets down the brush-- it’s for glue, not for paint-- and carefully lays the shell down on the deck. Anne checks the next shell, and in as much detail as she can, she describes it, from the shape to the number of whorls, to the many cracks around it. 

So when Usopp takes it, he knows exactly where he has to mend it. 

“Are you really blind?” Anne asks.

Sure, she described it, but that couldn’t possibly be enough to have such confident strokes. He did overpaint some spots, (not that it mattered,) but he never missed any. 

“I am,” Usopp says. 

She found it hard to believe.

 

Later, when he spins the shell a few times and presses the apex to release a gust of fair wind-- Anne found herself very absorbed in what could come of this. 

He then had her secure the shells to Carue’s back, and had the duck scamper around the deck as much as it could. She wondered if the shell Usopp had given to the currently weight-lifting swordsman was for a similar purpose. 

 

“You asked about sculpting?” 

That was always Mister Three’s expertise, but one didn’t work with a guy for years and not pick up similar skillsets. (Some say that Mister Three only drinks tea when he’s with Anne, after all. He was never that laid-back until she came around.)

“Oh,” Usopp tosses her a wooden cube, along with what looked like a slip of paper. “I’m trying to make the stamp look like this. Think you can manage it?”

It’s a signature, she finds. 

Its strokes resemble the stylistic curve of Nami’s tattoo, so she would’ve realized whose it was even without the tangerine as a final dot. 

Then she compared it to the stamp. 

He got the basic shape down, perhaps. It’s not nearly as smooth, had jagged edges, and didn’t quite spell right. 

 

How did a blind man copy a written thing?

Or did he already know by heart how this signature look, and this was made from memory?

 

“Anyways, keep that a secret, alright?” Usopp tells her, and Anne nods. Then she hums, remembering that a nod isn’t enough of a response. “Nami hasn’t been able to write her signature smoothly, not since her arm became like that. So she’s been upset.”

Anne doesn’t quite care for the members or dynamics of this ship yet-- but she didn’t have a better thing to do.

And well, she can agree with the sentiment of just wanting to make someone happy when they’re working really hard for them. 

 


 

Usopp’s sketchbook is quite enchanting, in Anne’s opinion. 

There’s a sketch of Nami. 

It’s not composed of clean strokes, unlike Nami’s maps-- instead, it’s a mess of scribbled lines, layering over each other to darken the pages, features revealing themselves in shadows to form a figure against clean backgrounds. 

It’s messy, chaotic-- but it perfectly captures the ever-elegant way Nami holds herself. In this figure drawing, she leans against the edge, her arms flesh instead of metal, and she seems to sing, her hair dancing in the wind, a little longer than it seems to be in reality.

“Are you sure you’re blind?” Anne asks once more, and Usopp chuckles, telling her that he is, in fact, legally considered so. 

Anne would continue to flip through those pieces-- past the high, gallant jump of an excited captain, past the figure of a man with swords meditating, past the silhouette of a chef in the kitchen, a clear ease in his posture-- 

--and Anne thinks it’s incredibly sad that their faces are never drawn in. 

 


 

“Nami! Nami, it’s snowing! HEY!”

 

It’s a testament to just how busy they are when Nami doesn’t come to Zoro first. She had definitely known from her usual senses that it was going to snow-- it just didn’t register in her head why it would be relevant enough to report ahead of time.

Zoro has to scramble around the ship, cursing we don’t have time, dammit, hollering for her with dismembered limbs in his hands. 

Then they find her in the crow’s nest. There was snow all over her hair, but her eyes had been too stuck in her letters to notice. 

Which is some sort of miracle, considering she was wearing a little more than a tank top. 

 

“Oh!” she whirls around in a whole flustered mess. “I forgot.”

“You forgot?!”

 

Needless to say, they made a very interesting sight when Zoro tugged Nami out onto aft deck and sat her down in the chair he had dragged all the way from navigation.

Usopp was working with the Clima Tact, desperately trying to get it done before the cold made it dangerous to handle metals barehanded. He could definitely work with gloves, but being blind made him prefer the skin contact.

Carue stood beside him with a winter jacket in his beak. He had been handing them out to ‘the morons outside’ as per Sanji’s instructions, and Usopp wasn’t noticing him at all.

(Carue just tossed it over him and called it a day. Usopp didn’t even react.)

 

Anne and Vivi, both of which had been picking out winter jackets, peeked toward Zoro and Nami with interest. Carue joined them, curious.

And they were then treated to the sight of limbs being taken off and reattached, Nami howling in near pain at certain intervals as Zoro chewed her off for not staying still. 

“But that stings really bad, Zoro!”

“That’s because you delayed and now it’s snowing into your damn nerves! Blame yourself!”

“At least Crocus would have the decency to soak the tools in warm water before doing this…”

“Maybe next time if you told me earlier we would have the time to do that!”

 

They were not prepared to see Sanji saunter right out with hot chocolate and the roundhouse kick of glamorous decapitation gets sent Zoro’s way. 

 

“Think about how you’re treating a suffering lady, marimo!” 

“What the hell was that for, swirly?!”

Though sent flying at first, Zoro retaliates immediately, chucking dumbbells. Sanji catches them flawlessly, save for the little one that bonks him in the head as he gives Anne and Vivi their drinks.

“Ah, Vivi-chan and Anne-tan, please have some of these to warm up,” he says, smiling as if blood isn’t leaking from his head or anything. 

And Vivi, still in shock, takes the tray from him. 

Zoro, meanwhile, finishes the last screw around Nami’s foot. He takes the much heavier heat-model legs and sets them aside.

“Working alright?” he asks. 

Nami stands up, flexing her arms for a bit and stretching them out-- “perfect!” she beams. “Thanks, Zoro. Owe you,” she blows a kiss in his direction, grabs a jacket from Carue’s saddle, and happily leaves. 

 

Zoro sighs. Then immediately, like he's switched settings from 'serious' to 'fuck you', he spins with a loud sneer, drawing his swords to face Sanji. "What the hell is your problem?!"

Sanji, holding the dumbbell and clicking his tongue, approaches Zoro with a raised foot. 

“You shithead, don’t you think your attitude is too much? You’re talking to our incredible Nami-san, you know!” Sanji argues, “she’s got enough on her plate without you being a dick!” 

“I can treat her with respect without needing to grovel at her feet, idiot,” Zoro snarls right back. “You got a problem with that? Huh?”

 

Vivi, deciding against entertaining this stupidity, decides to drag Anne away before they start fighting.

(They did. They also cleared quite a bit of snow in the process, so no one was complaining.)

 


 

Nami burns the letters at night, watching it crumble in her hands before tossing the ashes into the sea. The rest of the ship was sound asleep in the sick bay with Gin, but he hung around, blanket draped around her shoulders. 

“So?” Usopp asks, coming up to her with a mug of hot milk. 

Nami receives it, unable to help the smile that crawls its way up her features. She hums, and shrugs a little despite knowing Usopp couldn’t see it. 

She doesn’t say anything-- she just extends her Haki a little, curling it wide and comforting, resting warmly around Usopp’s frame. 

And Usopp embraces right back, his Haki a gentle flow of reassurance. 

(It’s all going well.)

They don’t need words to understand the subtle message.

 


 

The journey through snowy seas continued for a day, and another. 

Usopp was tinkering with something in the galley-- Gin was currently sleeping in his usual indoor workspace, that is the girl’s room-turned-sick bay, because it’s the ship’s only bed-- and Vivi was watching him work, having nothing better to do. 

It was quite interesting, how Usopp worked with his hands, eyes squeezed shut as if he was trying to construct a mental image of the very uniquely-designed contraption while feeling around with his hands. 

(Which-- is probably exactly what he’s doing. But it’s hard to remember, sometimes.)

From her angle, Vivi catches sight of the other things in Usopp’s work bag-- including the paper package explosive set and the gun that Sanji had found on Little Garden. 

It was startling, how the one handling the most dangerous materials on this ship was the blind one, and no one except her seemed to wonder if it was a safety hazard. 

 

Barely a moment later, the entire ship rocks, sharp and turbulent. 

 

“What the-- what’s going on?!”

 

Sanji and Nami are in the sick bay, but Luffy and Zoro should be outside. Vivi takes a look outside the window, gasping at the sight of several gunmen surrounding them on all corners, guns loaded and aimed. 

They don’t seem to have noticed the members inside the galley yet, so Usopp tells them to stay away from the window, ascertaining the situation with his Haki. 

Just then, Sanji slams the door open from below. “What’s going--” he trails off, the situation screaming right back at him. He sighs, casually lighting a cigarette. “So, the situation?”

Luffy shrugs, “we were ambushed.”

“Yeah,” Sanji turns to the huge metal-coated ship-submarine thing that seemed to have just surfaced, judging by the sheen of water still clinging to its sides. “That’s what I figured.” 

An obnoxious tin-jawed man that calls himself the Wapol is demanding a Log Pose or Eternal Pose to Drum Kingdom, apparently. The Monster Trio outside proceeds to truthfully admit that no, they don’t have an Eternal or Log Pose to Drum Island. 

They’re not lying. 

 

Long story short, a fight is picked, a portion of the ship is gnawed on (“he’s eating the ship,” Anne dryly remarks, and Usopp loses his shit , slamming the door open and chucking a bottle of pepper at him because holy crap he forgot that happened) and then, after a couple melee attacks from the crew, Luffy gets eaten by an oversized jaw.

 

“Gomu Gomu no… GET OFF MY DAMN SHIP!”

 

And then Wapol becomes a twinkle in the sky. 

 

Vivi watches him vanish into the distance, his pitiful pseudo-pathetic crew running off after him. She’s sheerly exasperated.

And then she realizes. “Wait, was that...?!”

“Oh, Vivi-chan, you and Anne-tan are alright?” Sanji says, turning to her, “that’s great.”

“Ah, yes… no I mean…”

 

Usopp, very furious now, marches to the damaged portion of the ship, inspecting the thankfully not bitten out but harshly chewed on bits of their poor, poor Merry. The wood was gnarled, gouged out partially-- but intact. Thank the seas, it’s intact. 

He still lay his head on it and sobbed, though. 

“Oh nooo, how dare they do this to you,” he wails, “your beautiful bow.”

 

Anne calmly makes her way down with a toolbox from the galley, Carue behind her with lumber at his sack. When Usopp begins annoyedly nailing the splintered wood back into wague place, he automatically starts teaching her how to make patchwork repairs. It's not good, but it works, he says. 

And Anne, setting down her picnic mat to have senbei, listens with an occasional hum. 

 

Nami finally steps out from the sick bay, “could you guys get any louder? You woke Gin up and everything! What were the gunshots?”

“Oh, nothing at all, Nami-san!” 

“Nothing. Is Gin alright?” 

Nami didn’t see anything last time around. This time around, she’s similarly confused. But whatever-- if no one’s telling her, it must not be important.

 


 

When they arrive at Drum Island, the citizens aren’t cooperative at all. 

Which makes sense. Nami had told them of the information she’d gotten down the information chain-- a notorious pirate, Blackbeard, had attacked and run off with quite a bit of the island’s national treasury. 

 

“Wait-- we're here for a doctor!” 

“Those lies won’t work on us, pirate-scum! Raise your anchor and leave!

 

It’s inevitable that the citizens are on edge. 

They open fire when Sanji so much as snarks back at them, the bullet piercing the wood and splinters ricocheting alarmingly close to Anne’s ear. 

Vivi reacts immediately, coming before Sanji, “no, don’t lose your temper!”

When the next shot whizzes by and draws blood against Vivi’s arm-- it’s a gunshot that rings out, loud and painfully silent. 

That’s when tension on the ship skyrockets. 

Everyone on the ship immediately sees pure red-- and the citizens, evidently realizing they can’t talk this out anymore, all raise their guns. In an all-out fire, they would have the higher ground.

“Enough!” Vivi raises her voice, grabbing Luffy desperately despite the bullet in her shoulder. “This isn’t something you can solve by fighting! I’m fine!”

 

She isn’t.

(But that doesn’t matter.)

Usopp didn’t tell Nami much about this-- just that it was fine, and to not do anything.  

 

Nami doesn’t have her Clima Tact or even her axe, but she raises her hands in a mark of meaning no harm. She gives Zoro and Sanji a pointed look, and they immediately back off, Zoro removing his swords to set them on the ground and Sanji looking aside, setting down his foot. 

Usopp had a hand on Anne's shoulder, and the girl was scowling, hand held at the ear that was scraped a moment ago. It didn’t break skin, but it still stung. 

Luffy’s watching Vivi as she drops to her knees, head firmly planted on the ground in no way a princess should ever be. 

And then, Vivi begs.

 

“We promise we won’t step foot on your island,” she says. “So please-- would you call the doctor? Our friend is in critical condition and he could die at any moment. Please.”

 

(“A true leader knows when to bow,” Vivi had said, and it’s something that has stuck with Luffy forever. Nami knows, because it meant enough to Luffy that he wrote it in the logbook last time. It’s the most meaningful thing he’s ever written in there. )

Luffy’s greatest strength was his ability to fight for his nakama.

But sometimes-- like now-- violence could not solve anything. Right now-- violence could only waste time, and it could only make things worse. 

Being pirates warrant violence in many things-- they’ve gained freedom, but lost their moral rights, after all. But fighting isn’t the only way they can ask a favour and get what they want-- and people often forget that.

Pirates aren’t synonymous with ‘villain’. 

Luffy might have known that already, but this is the first time he truly realized what it meant for him, and for his journey as a Pirate Captain.

 

“I’m sorry. That was my fault, and I was wrong.”

 

He drops to his knees and, with a little more force than necessary, knocks his head against the ground. 

“Our nakama is in danger. So please-- let us see a doctor.”

No matter if you were a pirate, a marine, a civilian, or a World Noble-- there was one common language that promised full understanding, no matter what.

And that was sincere humility

 


 

Usopp takes one step in the thick snow and immediately turns back around, hissing a sharp ‘no’ to himself as he hobbles back onto the ship..

“What?”

Zoro was supposed to watch the ship with Carue, but apparently Usopp didn’t want to go anymore either. 

“No uh just,” Usopp says, stepping really far into the ship and clinging onto Carue and his bird. He folds his arms, standing up straight, “well! I just figured that I could use this time to spar with Zoro! And I still need to do last adjustments on Nami’s Clima Tact and my Kabuto, and I just figured that--”

“You’re just scared because the ground isn’t level, right?”

“...yeah. I’m not scared, but the ground isn’t level, yeah.”

 

Luffy chortles heartily at that, “that’s fine! You can stay on the ship with Zoro and Chachamaru, right?”

“Yeah, the blind bastard will just slow us down anyways,” Sanji says. 

 

Gin is on his back, somewhere between unconscious and unable to fall asleep. 

His wounds have only gotten worse. 

Blisters would break, skin would fester, and portions that were bleeding just seemed dangerous to handle between every part that was tender and charred. Nami was queasy just looking at it-- but Luffy would watch silently each time she came to change his bandages, never breaking gaze. 

Honestly, no one knew how Gin was still hanging on, and they didn’t think they could ask.

 

They managed to wrap bandages on him, not too tightly, just to fit the jacket onto him-- it couldn’t have hurt more to be jostled than it already was, anyways. 

 

“Here, take Kinoko with you,” he signals, and the bird (now decked out in a tiny winter hat and very fluffy cape) flies to Anne’s shoulder. 

“She’s got the Buggy Passport on, so if the Whitebeard Mark fails, you can try to bargain with that,” Usopp says. 

Nami hums at that. It’ll certainly be useful. 

When they leave, Usopp reminds Anne to keep her hat on, so Kinoko could find them easily.  Anne finds it strange to be saddled along as the bird’s new perch, but she figures, cosying up against the rather warm feathers, that it’s probably not too bad. 

So she nods at Zoro who nods back, clutching her canvas bag to her size as they hurried along, headed for the town. 

 


 

Apparently, the witch lives on top of a castle on one of the most ridiculously high mountains she has ever seen (which doesn’t make sense because tall is cold and this is a Winter Island with a blizzard coming through).

Apparently again, she only comes down once in a blue moon. 

They learn about the apparently 140-year-old witch that was the only doctor left in the now-nameless country. They learn of the raid by a five-man crew that occurred a month ago, and the king that deserted them instantly. 

 

Anne makes a snow sculpture of a demon hag to match Luffy’s snowman. Sanji comes out and smashes it because it’s in the way of the view, but he leaves Anne’s intact while she paints it. 

And because they are both easygoing children, Luffy makes another snowman, this time a little more cubish than before, and asks Anne to paint it for him. 

Anne stares in silence.

Then she asks him what colour he wants it to be, because why the hell not at this point.

(Sanji sees the silver snow robotman, and he doesn’t smash it this time.)

 

“We’ll need to hike, huh…” Luffy says, considering it mildly. “That’s okay. I can carry him up all the way.”

“What the-- that’s reckless!”

“Hey, Gin,” Luffy approaches him, to everyone’s utter horror, and wakes him up. Their quartermaster is still delirious, but he croaks out half of a response. “We’ll need to hike to get to the doctor, so it’s gonna be a rough ride. That okay?”

“Of course not, don’t be dumb,” Sanji sneers, “it’s bad enough we’re bringing your burn into such a cold climate. A blizzard’s almost coming, you know.”

And Vivi agreed. There was no way Gin could survive a trip up that-- it might take perilous hours even for a normal person, much less someone this weakened. 

 

Gin simply chuckled-- a shaky hand reaching up from under the covers to touch Luffy’s hand lightly. 

“...if I was going to die...” 

His words are grated-- so husky, it could barely be made out. 

“...then… I would’ve died, long ago.”

 

And he grinned, not in a good way. He grinned, in sarcasm-- the pessimist as he was, he knew he was a dead man talking. He was simply citing the incredulity of the situation, in disbelief. 

 

Those were words Sanji remembered, all the way back to the days they met, when Gin was juggling his life between the clutches of the MH5. 

(If the poison was going to kill you, it would’ve already.)

(If this infection was going to kill him-- then he wouldn’t have lasted this long.)

 

Like some sort of placebo effect-- maybe this blind, unsensible belief was the only thing keeping him going at the moment.

“We need to hurry,” that fact was further emboldened. 

He can’t last any longer than this. 

 

Nami, who until now had been standing by the window, tapping a finger against her arm in contemplation-- suddenly lifted her head. 

“Found her,” she says.

Immediately, all heads in the room turned. 

Haki, they remembered at once. 

“You found her?!” Luffy lifts his head, standing up and holding his hat, ready to take a sprinting run at any signal. “The doctor? Is she nearby, Nami?” 

Nami nods, to Dalton’s confusion.  “Next town over-- east. Northeast of here,” she reports, “Dalton-san, it seems Doctor Kureha came down the mountain. Can you lead the way?”

“Wha-- how would you know that?” 

Nami doesn’t explain. “Call it a sailor’s instinct. Can we hurry?”

Dalton highly doubts anyone in this dire situation would give themselves any reason to waste more time, so he has to believe them.  “Northeast… Cocoa Weed, then,” he says. “Let’s take a reindeer carriage.”

Nami nods toward Anne, who quickly picks up her bag and whistles for Kinoko, who lands on her shoulder as they hurry toward the carriage rentals. 

Luffy nods. “Sanji and Vivi, take care of Gin,” he says, a trusting glance back at the two, who call back a resolved affirmation. 

 


 

The reindeers run, as quickly as they can through the snow. 

Nami knows nothing about what goes on from here. She didn’t talk to Doctorine until she was recovered-- knew nothing about what went on in the majority of their previous trip to this island. 

She’s uncertain, leading this charge. 

(But it’s not a bad feeling.)

 

Cocoa Weed comes into sight, and Luffy steps onto the edge of the carriage, an arm looped around Nami’s and Anne’s waists. 

“Straight ahead, Nami?”

“Yeah,” she says. “Don’t hit any buildings.”

“What’s this for?” Anne asks, looking confused. 

 

“Gomu-Gomu no…”

 

“Close your mouth, Anne. Don’t wanna bite your tongue.”

“Huh?”

 

“ROCKET!”

 

Anne screamed really loudly, and then when they landed, started crying.

It takes a promise of new paint tools and Sanji’s handmade dango for her to calm down, but Luffy is already scampering off, screaming ‘DOCTOR’ at everyone in the vicinity. 

Kinoko had been on Anne’s shoulder when they went flying, but when they did, they didn’t swing the bird along. She had been flung off and collapsed into the carriage, where Dalton is currently absolutely flustered.

About three feral rounds of shrieking later, a frustrated civilian finally pointed him in the general direction of a restaurant. 

Luffy is still screeching ‘DOCTOR’ as they barge into the establishment. 

(He does stop to say ‘ooh. Reindeer wearing a hat!’ at the creature before going in, though. Everyone is giving him a very wide berth.)

 

“Oh, is it you, old lady?”

“Who are you calling old lady, you snot-nosed brat?! I’m still in my very young 130’s, excuse you!”

And then Luffy goes flying out of the building.

 

By the time a very horrified Dalton and Kinoko catch up to them, Kureha is threatening to castrate Luffy, Anne just wants to sit down and have tea, and Nami is trying to talk over everyone so someone would listen-- 

--and yeah, it’s all a mess. 

In the chaos, Anne sniffles, still trying to calm down from the unsolicited high-speed jet coaster she was just forced on. She grabs her canvas bag from the carriage (it was also left behind in the sudden rocket. 

Carrying Kinoko (everyone’s therapy bird apparently) in her arms, she meets eyes with the strange, blue-nosed reindeer that was saddled to Dr Kureha’s carriage.

There’s a staring contest. 

 

“Uhm,” Dalton interrupts, “I believe we were in a hurry?”

Silence. 

And then everyone started talking really loudly over each other. 

 

“Our friend is--”

“Bad! Very bad! He’s going to die!”

“He’s in Big Horn right now.”

“We’ll pay you anything so--”

“No, do not tell her that! She’ll put you in debt for ten years!”

“But Nami, Gin’s going to die!”

“Anyways, please help us! Our friend is in really bad shape!”

 


 

“What are you doing with the shell?” 

Zoro spent the whole of yesterday trying to shatter that shell to no avail (no seriously, he tried all day yesterday to smash it and broke Merry’s deck instead. Usopp was so mad,) so when he finds Usopp attaching it to a glove, he finds it strange.

Usopp tugs on the glove, seeming to flex his fingers to test out the comfort for a bit. 

“Making a weapon,” he says. 

“As a shield?” Zoro asks. That thing was sturdy, so perhaps. “Why on your hand, though?”

 

Carue, shivering even under his blankets, watches with concern. Just a second ago, he had to stop Zoro from taking s topless swim down the current. He’s traumatized. 

“Well… wanna test it out?”

Usopp stands up.

“Like, now?”

Zoro draws his sword. 

 

“Ahhh! It’s the pirates from yesterday, your majesty! The ones with the straw hat! There they are!”

“What?!”

 

Torn out of their mood to battle, Zoro spins to attention. Carue squeaks, and Usopp quickly scrambles for his Kabuto. (Carue hands it to him with frantic calls, perhaps asking them to do something, humans!

Wapol and his entourage showed up over the coast, exclaiming loudly as they pointed at their ship.

“I knew it! You guys were lying!” the one with the afro exclaimed. 

“It doesn’t seem like all of them are here. Where’s the brat with the straw hat?” Wapol demands, riding on the back of some huge white hippo-looking creature. “How dare you step foot on my country!”

“There are footsteps going toward Big Horn, your majesty! They must’ve headed that way!” the one with checkered-looking clothes reported loudly. 

 

Zoro curses. Weren’t there like, a bunch of the town’s guards over from that side? They might have to go help them later…

 

Wapol huffs. “Just great. Deal with these intruders, guards! Kill them a--”

His words fall short when something flies right past his side, a projectile shooting forth and landing in the snow behind him, right in the midst of his soldiers. 

“...huh?”

It’s a round, box-like capsule, about the size of a coin.  Usopp was in the crow’s nest, no one had any idea how he got there so quickly, and Zoro just realized the sniper was no longer beside him. 

Just when Chess approached it to inspect the nonsense, teal-coloured gas began to, very audibly, spray out of its many orifices. 

There’s a loud, alarmed shriek from many soldiers, but one breath-- and they were collapsing, knees giving, and faces plummeting straight into the snow.

 

“Poison gas!” Kuromarimo declares in alarm. 

“Your majesty! You must get away!” Chess runs up alongside Kuromarimo, headed for their king in a panic. 

 

But that was too late.

Zoro had taken off from the ship, one sword on each side, still in their sheaths. He leaps over them-- directly overhead-- and he draws.

“Two Sword Style, Draw and Resheathe...” 

Blood sprays on either side of Wapol, and his two most loyal guards had been cut down, a deep wound on either side, from shoulder to side in nearly parallel lines. 

“...I haven’t come up with a name for that one yet,” he mutters belatedly. “Whatever, I guess.” 

A rain of pepper stars soar overhead, nailing each of the still standing guards in the head. Those that weren't immediately taken out choked and sputtered-- and were taken out by the sleeping gas that had by now filled up the entire vicinity. 

Zoro lands behind them, approaching the Flavour Dial and using his foot to flick up the gas capsule like one would a fallen football.

Wapol’s jaw was on the floor, and so was his hippo’s. 

 

In less than a mere minute-- they had systematically taken down every member of what was once his, rather small but still they are soldiers , army. 

 

Zoro was even casually walking past him with the weird capsule object, “hey, you still need this, Usopp?” he then winced, “what the heck? Is this Vivi’s perfume stuff? How di you get it to stink this much?” 

“It’s concentrated with a sleep-shroom concoct-- how the hell are you still standing?” The sniper’s already climbing down the cargo net. “Hey, Gorilla,” he ignores Zoro’s offended voice, “press the middle button and it’ll stop. Did I miss any of them, Carue?” 

 

Carue quacks. Yes, you missed the biggest target in the area. 

 

“Oh, I forgot.”

Wapol did not like the faceful of tabasco he received. 

 


 

Vivi holds Gin’s hand.

“Mister Man Demon-- you can’t fall asleep now, you hear me?” she talks to him-- and it’s a whole testament to how delirious he is that he can’t even muster enough strength to tear his hand away. 

Usually, he only allowed Anne or Luffy to even get this close. 

If Gin fell asleep now-- there was no doubt he would die. His breaths were getting weaker, Vivi was holding his wrist to desperately find that pulse-- and she kept losing track of it.

 

Every now and then, he blinks. It’s slow-- but it happens. 

 

“Let’s talk about something else,” Vivi says, not expecting an answer. “Emerald City. I told you before that my mother told me the story, didn’t I?”

She’s often told her heart bled for the people that didn’t deserve her kindness. She didn’t think that was true-- everyone deserves kindness. Everyone deserves forgiveness.

Everyone deserves to be loved. 

(If she couldn’t give her all for one person, how could she do the same for her country?)

Sanji watches from outside, smoking anxiously. 

“The truth is… the Nefertari Family was once in the league of the World Nobles. But we denied that right,” she told him. “That’s why Emerald City, the island of true freedom-- is a place we can only dream of. It’s the type of land we wish for Alabasta to become.”

 

She doesn’t know if Gin is listening-- but she speaks anyways.

She continues to speak until the doctor arrives.

 

Chapter 38: sleep for too long (and you'll forget how control feels)

Summary:

"Where's Luffy?"

"Harassing a reindeer, why do you ask?"

Nami is watching the baby, Sanji is guarding the ladies, and Gin wakes up to the utter mayhem that was left in his absence. In other news, Anne defeats an army by serving tea.

Chapter Text

Doctor Kureha is a strange old bat. 

(Sanji is then yoited into the fifth dimension for that.)

She sees the situation and, in a very quick second, kicks everyone out. Including Dalton, out of his own house. Her reindeer then turns into a raccoon dog (Luffy’s eyes immediately sparkle ,) and joins her in there.

 

“It talked!” 

“And it turned into a tanuki thing!” 

“Yeah… it’s probably a Devil Fruit. A Zoan Type.”

“Zou-One? Elephant?”

“No, Luffy.”

(Dalton was suspiciously looking everywhere except at Chopper.) 

 

“Royal Guards are traditionally Zoan Fruit eaters,” Vivi explains, deciding it’s better to break the silence with any sort of information, “in some countries, at least.” 

“So in Alabasta, too?” 

“Yeah, we have the Falcon and the Jackal.”

“Falcon… uh, so people grow wings?”

“Yes! Pell often took me flying. It’s very fun.”

“...speaking of, Chachamaru can’t fly, can he?”

“Carue is a land bird. He can run really fast, though!”

 

They’re unceremoniously interrupted when Doctorine slams the door open. If everyone ducked a little behind Nami in surprise, well no one mentioned it. “We don’t have the right supplies, and we can’t move the patient,” she declares. “Chopper, go get everything we need from the castle. I’ll give you five minutes.”

The reindeer-tanuki thing salutes with a word of affirmation, quickly saddling himself back into the sleigh.

“You young’uns seem free,” she looks pointedly at the strawhats. “Go with my boy, he’ll need more hands to get everything.”

 

“Go with… as in, up that crazy-looking mountain?” Sanji asks with a grimace. “So we are hiking after all.”

Luffy huffs, cracking his knuckles. “I’m all ready!” he boasts, turning to Chopper with such vigor the animal flinches at his energy, “Let’s go, reindeer!”

 


 

Nami crouches down, finally taking the time to see Chopper eye to eye.

(She swallows down the sting in her eyes, bites down the bile of the memories threatening to gush forward, coming forward with such raw need-- she chews it down.)

“Sorry about Luffy,” she begins. “He’s terrible when it comes to making good first impressions, but he’s not a bad person.”

Chopper only shrinks back a little, as if he was still trying to hide the fact that he could speak. 

 

Then, “you don’t need to talk to me, human.”

 

So cold. 

(So wrong.)

 

Nami breaks into a smile that is nothing but agony in her chest. “But I want to. You’re adorable,” she says, and Chopper flushes bright red, “plus, you’re doing us so much for us right now. I want you to know that we mean no harm, and we trust you.”  

 

(‘We trust you,’ and not ‘ you can trust us’ -- that was what Chopper wanted to hear.)

(When they first met, his faith was broken. He didn’t want to know who he can believe in-- he wanted to learn how to believe in someone again. Why he should.)

He wanted a reason, not a promise. 

 

“So please take care of us on our trip up,” she lowers her head. 

 

(She’s trying so hard not to cry.)

(All she wants to do is hug him and promise to never leave him behind again.)

(But he wouldn’t know what she was talking about.) 

 

But Chopper’s half-embarrassed argument of, “c- complimenting me will get you nowhere, you idiot!” swells her heart with sheer love, “anyways, get on if you’re coming, you idiots! We need to hurry already!”

 

 


 

“Wapol is back?!” 

Dalton is sent running immediately at the news. 

They hurry toward the port. Former soldiers were unconscious, and there were blood tracks nearby. Much further away, the civilians that were on guard duty lay injured and barely holding on-- but they were being tended to by a squad of doctors. 

A very familiar squad of doctors. 

 

“You guys are the Isshi-20!”  

 

Dalton’s eyes widen. The notorious group of doctors, gathered and monopolised by Wapol all those years ago-- and yet, here they were.

Here they were, and Wapol was nowhere to be found. 

“Kuromarimo and Chess went off after him, I think. Along with some of the soldiers that could still move.” 

“Wapol ran,” they say, looking ashamed of themselves. “They were in such a rush, they didn’t think to call on us to make sure we followed.”

“And I don’t think he’ll come back-- not as long as these two are around, that is.”

 

The doctor gestures at Zoro and Usopp, both of which were tinkering with weapons on the deck. Zoro was polishing his blade, and apparently guiding Usopp on how to polish Nami’s axe. Carue was watching them from a distance, sipping on some tea on his little heated cushion Usopp had constructed for him. 

“It’s dangerous though. To do it blind.”

“Well if I lose a finger, we’re on an island with a doctor.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Dalton did not want to retort to that. 

 

It’s startling-- to think so many years of tyranny could be so easily thwarted, and their doctors could come back with such ease. 

(Of course, it wasn’t that simple.)

(But this minute of leeway allowed the doctors to move on their own-- and their emotions were clear. They wanted nothing to do with Wapol, just like everything else.)

Zoro and Usopp sit on the deck, barely even noticing the crowd coming toward them until Sanji hollers at them, exasperated. 

“Could you guys be any more easygoing?” 

Zoro lifts his head. “Huh? What are you guys doing here?”

Sanji groans, “the stupid tin-jaw shithead came back. What have you morons been doing this whole time? Why is there a trail of carnage?”

Gesturing at said wake of blood. 

“Experiments,” Usopp says, very calmly. Then, “Lots of shouting. I threw a tabasco bullet. Zoro couldn’t decide if he wanted to name his new move after sushi or not.”

“For the last fucking time Enbima Yonezu isn’t Shrimp and Mayonaise! And I already said I was naming it Rashomon, okay, what else do you want from me!”

Sanji is never asking these guys questions ever again. 

“Oh. Is this the perfume you borrowed yesterday?” Vivi looks around. Usopp raises a capsule-looking object, and Vivi inspects it with some interest. “I guess that explains it.”

“Hold on,” Dalton interjects, “you guys fought off Wapol so easily? With his Baku-Baku fruit and everything?”

“If you mean that thing with his huge mouth and eating dumb things, he ate some of Usopp’s tabasco so he ran off,” Zoro said. “Were we supposed to go after him? I told you we should’ve followed them.”

He directs the last part at Usopp.

“Well I didn’t want you to get lost!” Usopp retorts. 

“I won’t! That huge mountain thing is literally the hugest thing on this island, how can I possibly miss it?”

“You’ll find a way, Zoro. The wrong way on a one-way street, but you’ll find it.”

“One day I’ll knock you on the head so hard you’ll regain your sight, Usopp. Mark my words.”

“Onto more important things, how’s Gin?” Usopp asks, “did we find the doctor?” 

 

The citizens are, understandably, completely exasperated. 

“...Onto more important things, he says…”

Dalton had only briefly spoken about the country’s dark history while they were on their way here-- but it was still surprising to know how nonchalant their two ship watchers were being about it. 

“It’s a long story,” Dalton says, “but your friend will be fine. I will be headed for the castle now-- will your captain and navigator be fine? They were headed that way as well.”

“Huh? Why did they--”

 

There was a lot of explaining to do from here. 

 

Vivi catches them up to speed while Dalton rushes toward the tower, shifting distantly into something a little less human as he went. Sanji kept an eye in that direction-- but he knew better than to pursue it. 

The Isshi-20 are frantically helping the injured guards.

“Hold on. Wouldn’t you guys be able to help Doctor Kureha with our crewmate?” Vivi realizes. 

A confused blink from Doctor #1. “What sort of illness would Doctor Kureha not be able to fix on her own?”

Apparently, Doctorine was quite well-known for how amazing she was. 

“Uh… Third degree burns,” Sanji says. 

“Lung inflammation from toxic gas,” Usopp adds. 

Carue gives his verbal input, but no one understood duck, so they simply nodded as if he made a viable point, and moved on.

Zoro makes a confused noise, “I thought it was because it got into his bloodstream?”

“They’re interrelated, since it was an inhaled poison that got into his system,” Vivi explains. “I’m more concerned about the burn infection...”

 

The Isshi-20 didn’t listen through all of it. 

By the time Usopp got a word out, they were five shades paler and yelling orders at each other. They scrambled madly, all running as fast as they could. 

 

“...I’ll take that as a ‘it’s one hell of an emergency’,” Sanji mutters dryly. 

Carue snorts. You think ?

“Which is the right reaction,” Vivi says, honestly thankful for that. See? There are still sane people in this world. It is this crew in particular that’s just very weird. “Ah, we left Anne behind, didn’t we? I’m going to go back as well.”

“I’ll go with you, Vivi-chan!” Sanji calls back. Then, pointedly at Usopp and Zoro, “back to watch duty, you shitheads.”

 

And then, Sanji went off, turning around briefly to dodge a random snowball from Zoro. 

 

The doctors were stepping over each other, yelling for, well, everything. 

There was a frantic yell of ‘where?!’ and a helpful civilian leads them back to Dalton’s house, and the rest of the Isshi-20 were very loudly and enthusiastically declaring that they were born for this moment -- whatever that meant.

“They sure seem enthusiastic,” Zoro mutters. 

Usopp shrugs. “What, have they been deprived of healing people for ages or something?”

Carue doesn’t retort. 

 


 

Wapol grunts, furious and humiliated. 

He’s chewing a mouthful of snow he’s scooped off the ground, still munching angrily, trying to pretend the tabasco isn’t bothering him anymore. 

Beside him, Chess and Kuromarimo march on, nursing wounds that barely staunch against their thick clothing. It’s not as deep as they’d initially thought, but it still hurt to walk on it. Not that they would tell Wapol about that, though. 

Behind them, a trail of soldiers march on weakly through the snow. Those that didn’t breathe in as much of the sleeping gas managed to wake up, but the nausea and lethargy that struck was no joke. They were falling behind, and Wapol was starting to notice. 

“Enough, you useless mutts!” he snapped. “I’ll return to the palace on my own. You guys go find Dalton.”

“D-Dalton-san?” a frightened pause. “I mean, just Dalton.” 

“The former chief guard?

“The one that turned against us, yes,” Chess says. “If I recall, he comes from Big Horn. It’s nearby. You guys, go find him and deal with anyone that resists.”

“The other Strawhats might be here as well. They must have left their strongest in the ship-- well, they don’t have the element of surprise anymore! Go and kill them all.”

“Ah-- yes, Wapol-sama!”

Surely, there can’t be anyone stronger than that insane swordsman on the ship, right? The rest of them just won the first time due to luck. Luck, he supposes!

 


 

Chess, Kuromarimo and the two dozen or so soldiers are barely halfway toward Big Horn when Dalton stops them in their tracks. 

“Ah, if it isn’t--”

“Cut the crap,” Dalton sneers. “You guys have the gall to wander back into this country after abandoning it?” 

Huh. Guess this isn’t the time to fancy villain speeches. Well, none of them are in the mood, anyways. 

The soldiers raise their weapons. 

“Well great, I’m not patient enough to entertain any of this anyways,” Chess and Kuromarimo mutter. “We’re going to kill you, and then Big Horn is next.”

 

Dalton grinds his teeth, shifting quickly into his bison form.

“How dare you--!!”

 

The words are cut short when a large white rabbit-- a Lapahn?!-- lunges right out of the snow, diving right for a soldier’s face. 

Instinctively and with a loud shout, the soldier spins, firing at it.

It hit. 

The Lapahn-- clearly a kit, tumbles in a whimper over the snow, bright red blood staining the snow. The soldier breathes a sigh of relief.

 

Then, he realized what he did.

A collective “oh, shit,” was fearfully whispered by every soul in the vicinity. Faces go three shades paler. 

Then the screaming began, everyone breaking off into a mad scramble. They were all running before the adult Lapahns started roaring and chasing. Fight be damned.

 


 

Gin is stable, apparently. 

With the help of the Isshi-20 and all their state-of-the-art supplies, they managed to get the things they needed, and Gin was out of the fires for now. 

All the Strawhats breathed a collective sigh of relief. 

“Can’t do anything about the poison yet, though,” she says. When their faces fell, she elaborates, “not saying there’s no cure. Just saying things take time, y’know? This young’un has got time more than vitality right now.” 

It takes them a moment to realize what that meant. 

“He’s curable, though?”

“There’s nothing that can’t be cured. Try looking down the line if you’re curious.”

She says so, gesturing at Kinoko and the red bead hug around the avian’s wing. She doesn’t miss the way they all grow confused, though.

“What, Little Blue gave you a passper and he didn’t even tell you how to use it?”

She seems surprised. It’s not like it’s the rarest passport in the Grand Line, but it’s usually owned by most of the older generation. It’s rare for Buggy to like anyone in the newer generations, though. 

(Huh. That kid with Roger’s straw hat… was he a D?)

“Well, Nami-san is the one that handles most of this… information… business,” Sanji explains. “Are we talking about BigStar and BabyStar?”

“Oh, so you do know,” Doctorine scoffs, already picking up a bottle of liquor. “Well, I suppose that girlie’s got it handled.”

(She was Newgate’s, after all. Gotta have guts to play that man’s family game.)

 

The Isshi-20, the two that were helping Doctorine with Gin, exit the building completely exhausted. The rest of them were scattered over the country at this point, returning to their former homes with great news. 

“So… Luffy didn’t need to go up the mountain?”

Simultaneous spittakes.

“Come to think of it, they’re taking quite a long time… wonder if they’re caught up by something,” Vivi says, a little worried. 

Anne hums. She’s still looking in from the window at Gin’s sleeping figure. He’s much calmer and sleeping much more peaceful than he has in the past days, and she’s very glad to see it. 

“Anyways,” Sanji speaks up, “how long will it take for him to be discharged?”

To which Doctorine scoffs, “what kind of question is that? Any later and he would be dead, leave without the follow-up checks and he’ll also be dead. He’s staying here for a week.” 

“What?!”

“No, no, my country will be dead if we delay that long!”

“Like I care!”

“Excuse you Granny, please care!”

“Who are you calling Granny?!” Smash goes the bottle on a head.

 

Anne continues to mindlessly stare into the window, Kinoko perched on her head. Behind her, Sanji and Vivi are chased down by a demon hag with a flaming bat. 

The civilians and the Isshi-20 simply turn away, faces buried in books or hands. They have seen this enough times, and, unfortunately, the culture here is that if you don’t see it, it’s not happening.

 

“Uhm, guys? There’s a group of people being chased by Lapahn coming down the mountain.”

 

Someone, the city lookout, speaks up. 

“Huh?”

They turn to see Dalton, Kuromarimo, Chess, and a whole group of soldiers, rolling down the hill. Lapahns ferally chasing after them from behind, a whole colony of them headed straight for Big Horn. 

There were many, many voices screaming now.

 

-


-

 

“You’re a really strong, reindeer, huh, being able to pull this whole cart like this.”

“Shut up, human! Flattering me will get you nowhere, you hear?!”

“You’re so coooool! You can taaaalk!”

“Be quiet !”

They’re on the sleigh, running up the rope toward the mountains. Nami takes the time to explain what Zoan fruits are and how they work to Luffy, but Luffy only understands part of it. And Luffy only gets more amazed by Chopper as the minute goes by. 

“Luffy also has a Devil Fruit,” Nami says, which catches Chopper’s attention. 

“Yeah!” Luffy pulls his cheeks out. “I’m a Rubberman!” 

There’s a light in Chopper’s eyes. Something that seems like enchantment-- something that’s a barely-suppressed desire for camaraderie. 

 

“Hey, reindeer! Join my crew!”

 

It’s the natural course of events, but Nami can’t help but watch on, endeared, as Chopper vehemently refuses, Luffy hauntingly insists, and they start bickering.

“I said I won’t!”

“Okay. So are you joining?”

“You aren’t LISTENING!”

 

She listens. Luffy starts telling Chopper about the members of the crew. About the swordsman that could hold back ten swords with three, that could somehow speak with a hilt in his mouth. He then talks about the sniper, blind, yet his fingers can create magic.

(See? Aren’t we a group of just so interesting creatures?)

(You’ll fit right in.)

“Aren’t you cold without a coat, Luffy?”

“Huh? Oh. BRRRH!!”

“Could you be any slower?!” Nami snaps. But that's alright, she brought it along. She was just wondering why he wasn’t wearing it.

 

They arrive at the castle, and it’s as cold and decrepit as she remembers. 

Chopper pops right back into tanuki form, (Brain Point, Brain Point,) hustling up toward the main room. Nami follows him at a slower pace, but Luffy is beaming at everything. He declares that he’s going to explore before rushing off who-knows where.

“Your captain is a weird human.”

Nami thinks that’s a good sign.

“Normality is overrated,” she grins.

 


 

The castle group barely had a second to really gather all the things before Chopper freezes, and Nami’s Haki picks up something familiar. 

“Wapol!” Chopper breathes, rushing outside immediately. 

Luffy spins in frantically, realizes the reindeer is gone, and heads right back out. “Hey, that weird mouth guy is back!” he says. 

“That’s nice. Go punch him or something.”

 

Chopper left a list of the things they need, and well, Nami can at least read the labels. Oh hey, cold-resistant machine oil. She should steal some of these.

(Steal? Oh.)

She has an armory key to steal. Almost forgot about that.

 

“Gah! What are all these intruders doing in my castle?!”

“Your castle?! This stopped being yours when you abandoned it, Wapol!”

“Why is a tanuki talking to me, you monster?”

“I am NOT a tanuki! Go away, Wapol!”

 

Nami walks toward the argument, the picture of nonchalance as she shrugs on her jacket. “Ah, sorry,” she says, when they stare, “just gimme a minute.”

She stops in front of Wapol, lifting his coat and easily reaching for the armory key in his inside pocket. 

“That’s all, I’ll be taking my leave, then,” Nami says, beaming, “keep fighting, you two!”

A thumbs up, and she’s gone.

 

The shocked silence is quickly broken by Wapol. “You’ve got to be ki-- she did it so casually I was too shocked to even respond!” he yelps, incredulous, “that’s the key to the armory! Give it back, you bitch!”

Luffy’s eye twitches. 

“Hey, don’t go calling my navigator mean names!”

 

 

Nami retreats into the castle, but she does hear the violence going on outside. Quite a few gunshots as well, and an explosion. There’s a loud, gutsy declaration, and a loud sob, like a plea. 

“Gomu-gomu no…”

Nami smiles. At this rate, by the time she gets everything and leaves the castle, they’ll probably be one member up.

“BAZOOKA!”

 

-


-

 

Those Lapahns were ferocious, but they certainly recognized the soldiers by their coats. Only the soldiers got directly targeted, mauled to (not literal) pieces. 

They weren’t exactly merciful to the civilians either, though-- anyone that got in their way were either knocked over or pelted by mounds of snow and a very intimidating roar. The other villagers had all frantically dragged each other into houses, leaving the slowpokes and pirates out to danger.

 

Sanji gets smacked over the head by two Lapahns. He’d slipped on the snow and lost his balance, so no, that was not fair, he swears. 

Kinoko soars over a particularly huge group of Lapahns, dropping a paper parcel into the midst. It explodes, and everyone in the vicinity stops to gawk.

“What the-- how the heck-- shit, where’d Usopp get the explosives-- oh right,” Sanji gapes.

The cook himself was the one that picked it up in Little Garden. Kinoko, however, doesn’t seem to notice the attention she’s getting. She just spots Sanji, and as ever the opportunistic asshole, flies circles around Sanji’s head, cawing. 

“Stop that!”

Sanji shoots up to grab her, but his hand catches a Lapahn instead, because the bird swoops out of reach. Kinoko starts jetting further-- Sanji makes pounding meat out of the rabbit before pursuing the asshole of a bird. 

Kinoko laughs. Sanji swears it’s becoming tonight’s dinner. 

 

A ways away, Anne is holding her paint brush, where she has tamed one Lapahn with her Yellow-Green of Friendship. She’s making it fight against any that comes her way, and so far, it’s working. 

“Can I kill them?” Anne asks, but only Dr Kureha is around to answer her.

And the old lady says, “no, honey. You’ll wreck the food chain and everything if you kill too many of them at once.” 

Anne hums. That makes sense. “But can I kill some ?”

“No.”

 

Vivi trips over a snow-covered fence, coming straight into the trajectory of a Lapahn’s swing. Her eyes widen, and a scream is at her throat.

But the impact doesn’t come. 

With a loud THUNK and pained yelp, the Lapahn is knocked out by what seems to be a thick steel projectile-- it’s one of the soldier’s swords, and it hit hilt-first into the gorilla-rabbit’s skull.

“Wha…?”

Vivi looks over. 

Gin is standing by the open window, eyes still downcast and arm still outstretched. 

Vivi’s eyes locked on Gin’s for a long moment. 

How did he get that sword? Oh-- it’s the one that they brought down from the ship, not one from these soldiers. They were using it as a hike while carrying Gin, weren’t they?

 

“Hey, who said you could get up?” Dr Kureha snaps, opening the house door to yell, “down, boy!” 

 

Gin obediently lays back down, but he growls, “Anne, take care of the Princess,” to the girl by the window. 

Anne, immediately perking up at his voice, rushes over to deliver a nod. “You’re not dead.”

“Oh thank fuck you’re telling me, I didn’t know ,” Gin seethes, like the entire world has offended him today.

Well… “thanks, Mister Man-Demon,” Vivi says, approaching him though Gin has already laid down at this point.

Gin only grunts back in response. Then he’s out, like a light.

 


 

After quite some determined resistance from the soldiers, the Lapahns left back toward the mountains, roaring loudly and picking up their injured baby, walking away with some very curt, very angry warning at them. Sanji can kind of guess what happened to cause all this. Were those soldiers morons, or what? Why would you enrage the gorilla rabbits?

“Vivi, if anyone asks, I did not get defeated by a pack of wild rabbits. Okay?” 

“You’re bleeding, Sanji-san.”

 

Sanji immediately straightens, “Where’s Anne-tan?!”

 

The two were appalled to see Anne still in the same spot as before, eyes permanently glued to the now closed window. Snow that was shoved around now rose up to her knees, but she didn’t even seem to notice. 

Like, not even the huge splash of blood to the right of her head. She didn’t even glance.

“Well, they say ignorance is bliss.”

 

Kinoko turned around to look, but only scoffed mockingly when she saw Sanji’s state, bleeding head and all. Sanji whirled back around. He’d lost sight of her a while ago, but now he could reach for the really glorious kitchen knives in Dalton’s kitchen--

Vivi had to hold him back. “Usopp-san will be mad if you kill his bird!”

 

Doctorine was completely unharmed. Apparently she had hid. (Or was she just too terrifying for the Lapahns to even try coming into her vicinity?) 

In the distance, a large Bison creature in a familiar coat roared, charging forward against Chess and Kuromarimo. Kuromarimo wielded these strange afro-looking sticky balls, and they were all over the Bison at this point. 

“That’s Dalton,” Doctorine says. 

“That’s Dalton-san?” Vivi says with a gasp. 

“And those are the two idiots that attacked our ship,” Sanji observes. “Is that a Devil Fruit too?”

“Yes, that’s how it usually is,” Vivi says, speaking of her own royal guards in Alabasta. “Ah… would the Little Reindeer happen to be an animal that ate another animal fruit?”

“Oh. It was an animal squared ,” Sanji says in awe, as if it all made sense now, “no wonder it was kinda weird.”

“It was the Human-Human fruit, you cretins. So he's an animal-human. But I guess humans are animals as well...” 

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

A flaming arrow is shot. Every afro ball bursts into the flames at the same time. Sanji and Vivi jerked to attention, the latter with a loud curse. 

“Shit, he’s outnumbered. I’m going to help him,” Sanji puts out his cigarette, spinning forward to land a heel on a soldier that was coming their way. 

 


 

But that didn’t mean Vivi and Anne were safe. Now that the threat of the Lapahns were gone, the soldiers were completely free to do what they were supposed to come here to do in the first place-- that is, deal with the Strawhats. 

“The Head of Staff and Strategy can deal with Dalton,” the soldiers ground out. 

“Those two girls! They’re not Drum Citizens. You can tell by the hair colour.”

“They must be the remaining Strawhats, then.”

“Doctor Kureha is there as well!”

The soldiers, though injured and exhausted-- were coming towards Vivi and Anne. Their declaration is desperate-- like they feared the consequences more than death. Maybe those two things weren’t mutually exclusive. 

“We’ll clean up the Strawhats!” 

There’s a charge, and Vivi draws her Peacock Slashers at the same time Anne turns, picking out her paints. 

 

“Hey, everyone. I know Wapol is ordering you to do this, but you really don’t have to do it,” Vivi says, holding her weapons before her warily. It’s obvious none of them want to do it, anyways. Why were they so stubborn?

“Can I kill them?”

“NO! Anne, no. No murder.”

Anne deflates. “But they’re trying to kill us .”

“Still!” Vivi doesn’t think it’s wise to annoy the soldiers. She hurriedly tries to quell the marching force. “We can talk this out! Please?”

“Over tea?” Anne asks, even though Vivi obviously isn’t talking to her. 

“No, Anne, not like that--” Vivi trails off, seeing the green paint in Anne’s hands-- “...actually, you know what? Why not.”

 


 

Sanji bashes in Chess’ skull, looking over at the girls in concern. He knows they can probably take care of themselves, but he…

“What the shit? They’re having a bloody tea party over there!” he yelps, barely dodging an arrow to sock in another blow. Then, “I wanna join! Vivi-chan, Anne-tan, let me serve you-- oh would you QUIT IT!” 

He whirls back to sock Kuromarimo in the arm-- only to receive one sticky afro on his shin. He swears. 

“Be careful! Those things are persistent!” Dalton warns. He’s charred, clothes partially torn. He doesn’t tell Sanji he doesn’t need his help-- he’s not so overconfident-- but the apology is literally at the tip of his tongue. 

 

Sanji creates distance from the two enemies, joining up beside the Bison Zoan. 

“Hey, sir,” Sanji says, referring to Dalton. Chess pulls back his bowstring once more. “You’ve basically got strength and speed, right?”

“...pardon?”

Dalton is not used to being called Sir.

Sanji elaborates, pointing at Dalton’s horns, “so like, if I smack them together, can you just charge them into a tree or something? Skewers on a barbeque stick?”

Dalton eyes him anxiously. “...Yes?”

“Great,” Sanji says, raising a leg. “I happen to specialize in rounding up idiots. Just give me a second and I'll line them right up.”

Dalton has a feeling this conversation should not sound as nonchalant as it does. 

 

“Hey, Stupid bird!” Sanji hollers at Kinoko, who quickly flies in from Anne’s side to land on his shoulder, “you got more of those parcels, yeah? Make yourself useful, then.”

 


 

Nami was just about to head outside when Luffy runs in, his face covered in soot and his jacket torn in just one sleeve. He’s clutching this huge pirate flag, along with its slightly burned pole, in with him.

Behind him, a slightly roughed up Chopper runs in, in his Brain Point again, and he looks ready to cry. 

“Hey Nami, help us!” Luffy hurries in, “so we just blasted off this stupid jawface, bazooka’d him, but he kept shooting this flag off and now there’s nowhere to stick it!” 

 

Wow, that was fast. We’re already done fighting?

 

Luffy and Chopper are both watching her expectantly, and who was she to let them down, really. How did they fix this flag problem last time?

“What happened to your sleeve?”

“I tied it to the flag! Then he exploded it again!”

Nami heads outside to survey the tip of the palace roof that’s been blown off by a cannon of some sort. “So, how did you guys beat tin-jaw?” she asks.

“Oh! He had this huge hippo-looking bear thing!” Luffy says, “it was white and fluffy!” 

“It’s called a White Walkie,” Chopper explains. 

“It had loooong legs!” 

“That’s how it’s adapted to the snowy terrains,” Chopper says, “it’s-- ah, it’s quite rare around these parts. They usually hide.”

“Really? Then we can find one?” Luffy’s eyes twinkle, “hey, Nami, let’s find one!”

 

Nami chuckles dismissively. Yeah, no. Gin would lose his absolute shit when he’s coherent enough to complain. 

 

“Oh! And Reindeer here--”

“My name is Chopper!”

“He could transform ! He turned like really big, and then really small, and then he turned all fluffy! He could jump, too! And then--”

“Wha-- don’t carry me! Hey! Human, let me go!”

“And it was SO cool! World’s coolest reindeer! He’s got SEVEN forms!”

“Wh- You! You-- you think complimenting me is gonna work? S- s- Stop it, you idiot! It won’t work on me, you moron!”

 

Nami can’t help it. She laughs, and Luffy continues rambling about how cool Chopper is. He only increases in intensity when Chopper continues to deny the affection like it’s a poison he can’t admit loving doses of. 

 

Nami brings the flag in to mend the little holes in the fabric. 

“It’s a little clumsy,” she admits a little sadly. “Sorry about that.”

Chopper doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. Instead, all he looks at while Nami works is the way she wields the needle, struggling to sew with her non-dominant hand while her metal arm overcompensates. 

“It’s fine,” Chopper says, “from afar, it looks perfectly okay.”

Nami smiles.

“We really would love to have you on our ship, you know,” she tells him, and he freezes. “If we had a doctor on board, we could leave immediately, too. Gin and Zoro tend to get hurt really often-- ah, and Usopp still has some burns too.”

“You guys sound like you’re in a lot of trouble often,” Chopper says, softly.

Nami smiles. “Are you interested in pirates?”

And Chopper shoots back right into shelves and test tubes and books, “WHAT? Of course not! Obviously! NO.”

“Yeah, of course you’re not. My bad. Do you still wanna come with us though? To the seas, I mean.” 

“D- Don’t be stupid! I’m a reindeer, how could I possibly sail with humans?!”

“Well, we have a bird and a bigger bird on board as well.”

“Oh?” he’s caught. “Oh,” looking away slightly, “oh…”

 

Chopper doesn’t say anything after that. He seemed deep in thought, and Nami smiled, deciding to leave him to his own considerations.

 

Later, they scale the palace walls to build a new flag pole. It’s fashioned from cold-resistant steel this time, improvised materials from some of the frozen piping that can no longer be used in the basement. Chopper turns into Heavy Point to get the knots secured.

“Hey, is that your flag?” Luffy asks.

Chopper shakes his head. “It belongs to Doctor.”

The three of them sit out there, in the snow-- listening to the story of a doctor that was scorned by society as a quack. 

The jolly roger whistles in the wind, in its rightful, proud place. 

 


 

“Crap! We forgot we were supposed to bring the supplies down for Gin!” 

“Wha-- OH NO!”

“GIN’S GONNA DIE!”

 


 

The Strawhats reconvene at the scene of what looks like half of a massacre, where Isshi-20 were trying to fix the wounds of the soldiers who were now apologizing. 

(After some Sadness Blue mixed with Betrayal Black, also known as ‘the Blue-Black of Honesty’, it seems all the soldiers had some intense ire regarding Wapol’s repeated cases of worker exploitation. They started sobbing about near-slavery and abuse and all sorts of problems, to the fury of the civilians who were now starting to sympathize with them. It was a cry fest.)

(“It’s useful for interrogations, but it works better when it’s to find out their traumas.”)

(“Anne, sweetheart, please,” Sanji says, “never use that on any of us.”)

(“But wh--”)

(“Just don’t, okay?”)

Apparently, they were now figuring out a system of who should stick around and how many of them should escort Wapol outta here. 

 

Anne continued to sit on her picnic mat with Kinoko and Dr Kureha, snacking on warm tea, hot sake, and senbei. Doctorine was trying to give the bird some alcohol, too. No one wanted to ask how they could handle sitting there in the snow.

 

“...Ace?” Sanji asks. 

One of the civilians nodded. “We’re not sure, but he was here a couple days ago. You’d just missed him.”

“I wonder why he was looking for Luffy-san, too,” Vivi says. 

Apparently, on a day of surprisingly sparse snowfall, a man in a coat and an orange hat came to Drum, seeking out Blackbeard. After eating and running, and asking around for some whereabouts, he left a message and scurried back out to sea.

“To be specific, he was looking for ‘a kid wearing a straw hat’.”

Vivi sighs at that. “That’s definitely Luffy-san,” no one else would be wearing a straw hat, it’s not the weather for it in the Grand Line, “but I’m just concerned about how he knows about him. It’s not like Luffy-san has a wanted poster yet…”

“He’ll be waiting in Alabasta for ten days, huh…” Sanji lights a cigarette, taking a heavy drag. “Then we’ll most probably meet him, whoever he is.”

It’s only been a couple days, and it takes another couple to get to Alabasta from here. The numbers cancel each other out.

“It might be bad news,” Vivi says. “But Alabasta is a big country, so we might miss him.” 

 

“Hold on.” Gin is up again, leaning heavily against the window to see everyone outside. He’s shirtless, covered fully in bandages, but feeling a hundred times better than before. “Did you just say Ace ? As in, Whitebeard Commander, Second Division, Fire Fist Ace?”

 

“Oh, he’s a big name?” Sanji asked.

Then Vivi reacts, “wha-- now that you mention it--!!” she says, gawking in realization just who that name belongs to, “he’s a huge thing! One of the more notorious pirates in the Grand Line. What is he doing all the way in--”

“What would a Whitebeard Pirate want with us, though?” Gin asks.

Immediate silence.

Then, “weren’t the Whitebeard Pirates like, a family dynamic or something?” Sanji asks, “you think they’re looking for Luffy as revenge for stealing Nami-swan away?”

“That absolutely makes sense.”

Gin buries his face into his hands. “Guess Alabasta is where our crew all dies… I hope they’ll at least let us punch Crocodile first.”

“Why does this keep happening to us?”

“I thought Miss Nami said she quit, though?”

“Who cares, now some bigshot is out for Luffy’s head. That idiot.”

“We’re all going to be decimated by the strongest man in the world… what a way to go.”

“Think it’s about time for a coordinated mutiny?”

“Nah, Usopp isn’t done making the mutiny ranking board yet. And Vivi-chan is still thinking up the ranking system, so we won’t know where to place it.”

“The what board?”

“Zoro’s first place right now. Dropped Luffy into the sea with the anchor last night because we weren’t paying attention.”

“Miss Nami is on the list as well. She buried Luffy-san up to his neck in the tangerine grove… but I suppose it’s his fault for overpaying the News Coo?” 

“What the fuck have you guys been doing while I was sleeping.”

 

They would continue whining if not for the screaming reindeer on the sleigh charging straight at them. For some reason, Luffy is running alongside the carriage, and Nami is yelling “slow down, slow down! You’re going to break the things we’re carrying! BOYS!” and it doesn’t seem she’s being heard. 

“Ohhhh hey it’s SAAAnji wait GET AWAY!”

One unceremonious crash later and a very loud stream of cursing later, Chopper skids to a very safe stop right before Vivi. Let’s just say that a new name up on the mutiny leaderboard is expected very soon now. 

 

“Doctorine! We’re bac-- huh? Why are there soldiers?” his eyes land on the old lady doctor. “Doctorine?!”

“Welcome back, Chopper.”

 

“Hi, Luffy,” Gin grumbles, sinking into the windowsill tiredly. 

“Gin!” the way Luffy just sprouts out like a beaming sunflower makes Gin squint as if he’s been flashed with a bright light, “you’re not dead? You’re not dead!”

“Oh sunshine, I’m always dead inside.”

Luffy bubbles with joy, “you sound perfect!” then, acknowledging the man he’s sitting on, “Sanji! Hi. I found us a new crew member! He’s a super cool reindeer seven transformation monster thing, and--”

“I understood nothing in that sentence.”

“You went and picked up something strange again ?”

 

Chopper is currently being berated by Doctorine because hey, look, we treated him already. You slowpoke. And his jaw is still dropped at the sight of the Isshi-20 just casually sobbing over the villagers at the moment. 

Vivi, not hearing much of this talk, goes straight for Nami and the sleigh. 

“Nami-san! Are you alright? I heard Wapol went up to the castle and--” her frantic worrying is shushed by a gloved finger at her lips.

 

Nami chuckles, “if you’re talking about the guy with the tin jaw, Luffy can tell you all about how he and his,” she clears her throat and raises her voice, “ super cool new reindeer friend , helped defeat Wapol and chase the asshole out of here! Aren’t they just incredible?”

 

Every head in the village turns. 

Chopped is immediately petrified in place. There’s a moment when everyone gawks, and then points, and then realizes who Chopper is, and then…

“You’re the abominable snowman creature thing!”

“What the-- a blue nose! It’s the same one!”

 

...and then well, there was the screaming and the chasing. 

 

“Hold on, everyone! Don’t go after--” Dalton isn’t able to stop them before they’re essentially running desperate circles around Big Horn. “Just leave him alone…” he weakly calls, to deaf ears.

“NO! We haven’t apologized to him yet! Right?”

“Hey, you! We’re sorry about everything! He can’t hear us.”

“Yeah, all soldiers, get that monster!”

“Abominable snowman!”

“I’m pretty sure it was a reind-- it turned into a tanuki!”

“Hold on, stop running! Heeeeey!! Let us apologize!!”

 

“What the-- HEY!” Luffy snaps, bolting right upright. “What are you guys doing, scaring him off?! That’s my new crewmember, back off! HEY, COME BACK HERE, MONSTER!”

And then Luffy joins the chasing circle, and madness ensues.

 

The crew watch, not bothering to muster up the energy to retort to anything. Anne was trying to help Kinoko unchoke from a too-large senbei chunk, so she didn’t even register the chaos going on. 

“Is that our new crewmember?”

“Still in the denial stage, I see.”

“Hey, don’t go recruiting my son while I’m not looking,” Doctorine approaches them, frowning. “You guys sure cause a lot of mayhem the second you came in. This island’s supposed to be quieter than this, you know.”

Nami smiles, “oh, I wasn’t aware a lady needed permission to practice her seduction.”

“Hah. You're not wrong,” Doctorine laughs, good-natured. “Well, not that it really matters-- take him if you want! Though you can probably see that’s not going to be easy. That little reindeer of mine's got a long way to go before he can open his heart again-- think you kids are up for it?"

 

There’s a resigned smile shared between the Strawhats, and a faint smirk makes it way up Gin’s face. There was just something so warm about this overwhelming noisiness. Stupidity at every turn, unexpected events in every moment--

--just a little, it makes Gin forget about his dreams of peace, and rediscover the comforts of rogue jubilee. With them around-- it feels as if he could live anywhere in this world.

(His burns don’t hurt anymore, but the poison still does. And it still will, for quite a while longer. And maybe, he would be willing to breathe a little more painfully if it meant he could spend more time with these morons.)

 

“...I missed this.”

 

Sanji bolts upright, “I heard that!” and immediately gets a pillow to his face. Gin obviously didn’t mean to be heard, and he was already rearing away from the window, hiding his face as furiously as he could.

“Missed you too, Gin!” Nami beams. 

“Shut up, I didn’t say anything!” 

“I missed you too,” that’s Anne, peeking in from the window a second before Gin slams it shut. Kinoko stays there to stare obnoxiously through the glass, and Gin cranks it open just to grab the bird and attempt to shove it into the fireplace. His throw doesn’t reach far enough.

Sanji grins from the window and earns himself a fist, which he gladly defends against with a foot. The to-and-fro continues, Gin apparently well enough to give Sanji a decent workout.

Vivi loses herself, simply churning out into laughter at the sight. 

 

“Anyways,” Nami lifts the key to the armoury, “is this enough to pay for Gin’s treatment, all these supplies for future treatment, and allow us to set off right now?”

Doctorine’s eyes widen. “That’s a surprise, where’d you get that?” 

 

Gin can’t help but smile.

(Maybe, just maybe-- this crew is worth living for.)

 


 

In a second, Doctorine is yelling for all the louts chasing after her reindeer to get their asses in gear, because she’s going back to the castle and needs some manpower and they better help her.

Everyone comes to attention at her call, because no one wants a kitchen knife to the head. They are very wise.

Doctorine then kicks the wall down with a loud, “CAN YOU FUCKING REST ALREADY!” earning a very high-pitched scream from Gin and Sanji. 

(A noise that both of them will vehemently deny making later.)

 

Anne watches them scuttle terrified into a corner, muttering ‘demon hag’ in hushed whispers to each other. She doesn’t mention their half-hug, but she will paint it later. 

“Where’s the brat and my brat?”

“They uh. Chased each other back up to the castle, I think?”

“Listen here, you brats!” Doctorine turns to the Strawhats. “I’ll be gone for a bit. I left the medical report by the fireplace, and there’s a spare coat the villager brought over because the old ones the burned brat was wearing are ruined.”

Everyone takes note of Gin’s still topless state. 

“Don’t you dare take it and leave while I’m not looking! I said you needed at least three day’s bedrest,” Doctorine warns sharply. “And don’t you dare take any of the very essential burn treatment supplies in the sleigh. Got it?”

 

With a scoff, Doctorine leads the villagers, Dalton included, up to the castle and the armoury, leaving the Strawhats in Big Horn. 

 

There is about a minute where none of the Strawhats do anything.

Then, at the same time, they all stand up and start packing.

 

“I’ll get the medical report,” Vivi says. 

Anne, without a word, hurriedly begins gathering her stuff back into her canvas bag. This includes some swords and arrows from the soldiers, and some food and alcohol from Dalton’s storage. 

“Found the spare coat. Put in on, nudist,” Sanji says, chucking it at Gin. Gin’s swears are lost in the surprise of fabric slamming him in the face. 

Nami laughs. Everyone knew exactly what Doctorine was trying to tell them, and the prompt action was just glorious. 

“Noko-chan, go get Zoro. We’ll need help with all these supplies.”

The bird soars right off. 

 

Gin scoffs, shrugging on the coat in his attempts to hide the faint flush in his cheeks. “Sorry to make us take a detour like this.”

Vivi hustles up to hand him a pair of gloves. The smile she has on is warm, and for some reason-- Gin doesn’t feel the ire in his chest anymore.

“It’s a necessity, not an inconvenience,” she tells him. “Don't think otherwise-- ever, okay?” 

 

Nami has Sanji and Zoro carting out all their medical supplies-- carefully, she reminds them-- as she takes only one small blue bag of tools with her. 

Kinoko hovers around, holding a burlap sack of some of Anne’s load between her beak. Anne watches it fly, whispering some words to it every now and then.

When they walk back toward the ship, Gin and Vivi side by side-- there’s a comfortable silence between them. One that seeks to be broken-- in all the most natural of ways. 

“You were talking about your mother?” Gin prompts, and Vivi immediately goes red. “Before Granny got here, I mean.”

“Y- You were listening?!” she squeaks, embarrassed. She had probably thought Gin would be much too delirious to remember a word of it.

Gin only hums. “I didn’t hear the end of it.”

Vivi tries to make herself seem just a little more unaffected, but her attempts are miserable to witness, “oh. Oh, uh. I see, that does make sense,” she looks away, “so… where was I with it?”

“The time you set a national treasure on fire while testing flint stones.”

Okay, that was an embarrassing story. Vivi looked ready to die, “well, you see… after that, Mom caught Papa and Igaram trying to hide the evidence, because they were three feet away and didn’t stop me in time…”

“They were three feet away watching you play with fire in a treasury?”

“...my father was… kind of an enabler.”

“Kind of? Kind of ?”

“Okay he was maybe very a lot of an enabler.”

 

Unbeknownst to them, the rest of the crew steal minute glances toward them, smiling warmly as they bicker about what was supposed to be prompt behaviour for royalty. Vivi insists she does not need to be chided for this by a pirate, to which Gin reiterates that at least he’s supposed to be a pirate and he’s good at it.

The biggest smile of all came from Anne, though.

She watches them, eyes twinkling in the same way they did before she met Bigstar and Babystar, moments before bringing out the easel and painting them on the spot.

A moment later, she reaches up, almost curiously, to her own face, as if she was surprised by the strain in her facial features. Her face would soon sink back into her neutral mode-- but the moment of genuine, uncontrollable amusement she felt would be a thought that lingers in her mind a little longer.

 

“Strange, isn’t it? That Man-Demon can make those childish expressions, and the constrained Princess Vivi can act like such a little rascal,” Sanji teases, approaching Anne.

 

Anne looks up, her smile faded but the spark still not lost from her eyes.

“I like it,” she says. “When Egin is honest. It’s different.”

 

Sanji doesn’t point out that the name isn’t the one their quartermaster goes by anymore. He doesn’t point out the faint, grateful smile Anne makes.

(Sanji knows how it feels, to have to suppress common instincts, to forget and erase them-- until your body rejects the very notion of trying again.) 

Anne never notices herself making expressions-- it’s something Sanji has picked up on, and has learned to never mention, because the moment Anne realizes her own emotions is the moment they’re snuffed out. He doesn’t want that to happen. 

He wants Anne to eventually notice, and eventually learn how to acknowledge her own emotions without the sudden, fearful need to hide .

 

“Different in a good way?” he asks. Anne nods. 

 

“It means he loves it here,” she says.

 

In Sanji’s opinion, at least-- there really aren’t any words that can possibly describe the beauty of this crew any better than that.

It’s praise, in the highest form.



Chapter 39: [EXTRA] episode of coby.

Summary:

In a festive island in East Blue, a boy wakes up unable to hear.

And then, he begins to scream.

Coby cries until he can't cry anymore-- beg until it no longer works-- and then, he begins to move. In this world, there are things you must discard to achieve your goals-- and maybe, being a coldhearted Fleet Admiral for too long has made those decisions come too easy.

It still hurts, though, sometimes.

Notes:

Happy 200,000 word milestone! Have another six thousand, ya glorious angels.

Taking a break from the events of the canon story, here is the Coby epic that no one asked for. Featuring a hearty amount of side characters, gratuitous world wandering, and well... a bombshell, I guess.

Check out my Tumblr for the gorgeous, gorgeous fanart I've been graced with!

Chapter Text

Coby was small again.

Small, weak, and helpless. (Well, that’s nothing new.)

He wipes away his tears, and the screech in his ears is loud, loud, loud-- no, it’s not loud. It doesn’t sound like anything but his thoughts clouding over his head and choking him up, threatening to gouge his brain out.

 

Someone’s talking to him.

It’s the fishmonger down the street, worrying about him since he suddenly crouched down and began to cry.

But strangely enough, there was no sound.

His lips were moving.

But there was no voice.

No… there was a voice. A dull, distant echo, almost inaudible in the cacophony of everything else and the loud ringing in his head. 

Well, that’s been the only thing he’s heard for years, so Coby’s never really registered it. Except this time-- he doesn’t hear the world in the cacophony-- he just hears the incessant chatter of nothingness.

Something’s wrong. (Well, that’s nothing new.)

Ah. Right.

He’s dead. 

(Then what is this?)

 


 

Coby is five, just hearing the news about his parent’s deaths at the hands of some pirates, when he walks toward the Marines giving the report and begs for a hearing.

He doesn’t care about his parents. He did, but not now. 

He doesn’t think about what he’s doing-- he spent all of the past few hours thinking about when and where he was, why he was here-- and all he could think about when he found a figure of authority was the whole bucketload of things he wanted to change. 

 

Bogard is here.

Bogard, Garp’s right-hand man and Coby’s tutor in the sword and in conduct and in everything he has ever lived by-- Bogard was here. 

 

Bogard is but an Ensign at this point, but Coby speaks of things that couldn’t have been known, and Bogard knows better than to ignore him.

(He finds out the child can’t hear.)

He talks to him slowly.

Coby can’t convince him he’s from the future. He can only convince him about the things he thinks he’s seen. Is it from a nightmare? No, but it’s too specific to not be a true dream.

Is he a Clairvoyant? Bogard doesn’t know. Bogard isn’t sure if he should believe him. 

Coby begs for only one thing before they leave. The citizens apologize for him, citing his current state of mind-- he’s a child, he’s not thinking straight. He’ll calm down soon. 

Bogard thinks otherwise. 

 

(“R- Ros- Roci. Nante. He’s. He’s-- he is in danger.” Coby pleads, “G- Fleet. Fleet Admiral. Sengoku-san he, he never never ever gets over it. No one does. Law and-- They’re looking. Minion Island. For the Devil Fruit. Devil Fruit, Devil’s fruit. He’s going to die. Save him.”)

 

What child would know those names?

Most people in the East don’t even believe in the existence of Devil Fruits-- and yet, this child declared it three times.

His pronunciation was butchered. He says it repeatedly, like he wasn't sure if Bogard heard him or if he heard himself, or if he was saying it right-- but Bogard gathered the pieces. 

Bogard knows of Haki being awakened at birth, and he knows of people who have been plagued with visions as a result.

 

(“Please, help him.”)

 

Bogard doesn’t have the authority-- but he does happen to have a training session with Garp that evening. 

He supposes it wouldn’t hurt to bring it up to the Vice Admiral.

 


 

Coby sits before his parents’ graves, watching the flowers in the vase sway to the wind.

They spent two days running tests, and apparently he’s deaf in both ears. And some other thing in regard to understanding words and focusing, but he didn’t really get it.

They don’t know the cause, but everyone ruled it out as stress and trauma. He was then put on mental health watch for a while, the villagers helping him through every moment. (Though honestly, he’s gotten over their deaths something like a decade ago.)

The fishmonger he was under the care of, that he was apprenticing under, gave him the rest of the week off. There were strict orders of rest. At least he’ll get more time to recollect himself like this. 

 

(So he can’t hear, huh.)

(Ironic, since he used to be known as the man that could hear everything.)

 

His town, a nameless little place in East Blue, was always full of music and market. It’s got lots of people, and Coby always woke up to someone fighting outside, or fishermen hollering to each other. 

Now, he hears none of that. Just the occasionally numbing rings and sounds that don’t quite sound like anything. 

In a way, it’s a relief.

He no longer has to spend sleepless nights listening to the poisonous, poisonous hearts of everyone around him. Here, he can live in relative peace once more, never to be bothered again. 

He didn’t have to hear anything, and that was fine. 

 


 

A few weeks later, Bogard comes and tells Coby, calmly, that they were grateful for his warning. Bogard writes him the little things and they speak, of Rosinante’s state, of the boy he saved, and the lives Coby has changed forever. 

And Coby realizes that no, nothing is fine

Things have changed. 

Things are malleable, things can be changed-- so what is he doing?

It’s not okay to stay here, waiting his days out, doing nothing and living as if he was never involved. What he did for Rosinante was

(He has to go.)

(He has a lot to do.)

 


 

He waited for himself to grow up, a little more. 

Then, Coby tugged on a bandanna, packed his things, and left the island before the fishermen even woke to sail. 

He couldn’t stay there. 

He wasn’t the cowardly Coby anymore-- he wasn’t even Fleet Admiral Coby, he was just Coby -- but he didn’t know anyone’s names, couldn’t remember anyone’s voices, and he had no idea how to act with them. 

He’s lived for so long after losing every friend he once had-- he could no longer grasp the concept of living amongst people as an equal.

He didn’t know how to breathe when people were around.  

So he couldn’t stay there. 

Coby finds himself marooned on an uninhabited island (he didn’t have the strength to make it through storms on his own, how stupid is that?) and he throws himself past his own limits many many times over until he feels like himself again.

He doesn’t quite get there, but not for a second did he stop thinking that he could.

 


 

And then, he begins to plan.

 


 

He doesn’t have a lot of years to work with (especially not with his lack of hearing dragging him down) but he makes it work. 

He knows where Baltigo is. 

He knows they’ll point weapons at him as soon as he tries to make an appeal, a child with no known background somehow knowing their whereabouts-- he is a problematic existence to them. 

And that was fine. 

 

(He stares Dragon in the face and smiles.)

(He doesn’t remember how to be a coward anymore.)

 

“I will be your Informant,” he says, because Coby doesn’t deserve the name anymore-- his name doesn’t deserve to be spread. Just the informant , a messenger, a link to the future that never was, so it would never be. 

Not Coby.

His name means nothing to him anymore. 

 

(He can always find another one, and toss it away just the same. He does not need an identity in this world. His name had spread far enough in the last.)

 


 

His expressions have always been his most obvious points-- so when he finds his flowery bandannas again, a keepsake of his parents-- he wears them around his neck like a loose scarf, so he can hide beneath them. 

In the absence of the headwear, his bangs fall forward, hanging over his eyes in a mildly obtrusive fashion. Helmeppo would have frowned, with how much he prioritised a good field of vision in battle. 

Coby no longer sports the scar on his forehead, but he hides it all the same. 

(Helmeppo isn’t here to lecture him about it anymore, after all.)

(He might never be, ever again.)

 


 

He is Steady, the little cabin boy. 

Sailors, Pirates, Marines-- if you talk passionately enough, they’ll let you on, thinking you’re an ambitious little one eager to learn. Just show the right respect for the right ship-- remember the traditions, and act like you belong-- and they’ll welcome you. 

Hitchhikers aren’t too common in the present, but they were commonplace much further in the past. Of course, you avoided pirates when you could (there were much more mercenaries back then) and take better care of meeting unsavories. Coby learned all about it when he spoke to Luffy’s strange skeleton friend. 

It’s nice, how most sailors know Eastern Sign Language. 

They usually only know the basics, words that could be signals in an ambush, words that can’t be shouted over the turbulence of a storm, words that are used in cannon deck, because those that work there are usually hearing impaired anyways. 

They know a lot of dirty talk, though. He needs to remember not to make those signs or Drake would be so mad at him. 

 

(He hums Bone to be Wild as he makes the deck spotless. He barely remembers how it sounds now, but he likes to try. If they think he sounds tone deaf, they’re right.)

 

Steady mops the floors of a Marine base for three days before Headquarters receives an anonymous tip on the captain’s alleged sabotage of funds. Investigations occur, his rank is suspended-- and when they take roll after, Steady is nowhere to be found. 

 


 

He is Cotton Candy, the strange little waitress in a bar in Sabaody.

He doesn’t know how he ended up here, and how his clumsy pigtails and lipstick count as a disguise, but Koala and Sabo are in the same boat. Apparently, it’s the fastest way to get some real neat pocket money when Dragon doesn’t feel like entertaining the children.

(It’s a hotspot, though. And if Cotton Candy sweet-talks government secrets out of the way-too-drunk official-- well, who’s to blame?)

Cotton Candy? Oh, absolutely not. She’s just a new girl that’s too naive for her own good. Please, forgive her. If you pay a little more...

Koala (Cocoa Flakes) adores the entire plan. She helps, because not having ears is a tricky thing to work around, and Koala has awesome hearing.

Sabo, (or Maple Syrup as the other two keep shoving the name on him but it makes no logical sense he wants to go home ,) just keeps watching. If he comes out of it with a few too many wallets, let’s just say the ramen store down the street is really good. 

 

Dragon sometimes walks into them putting on makeup for each other. 

He stares, exasperated, for a full minute. Then he closes the door and walks out. 

(Ivankov would be really proud of them, but Dragon is kind of glad he’s in Impel Down right now. It would be a nightmare .)

 

“Even our leader thinks we’re terrible , huh.”

 

“Nah, I’m sure he loves us!” 

No one notices Cotton Candy crumpling his lips a little as Koala and Sabo continue bickering. He tries to smile, and he manages. No point mourning about it. 

He’ll soldier on. 

 


 

He is Little Pink when he finally meets Trafalgar Law.

Apparently, Bogard left a tip about him to the Heart Pirates (a very newly formed crew, they don’t even have their submarine yet,) and they came to meet him. 

Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin are all very enthusiastic and thankful, but their words are all lost on him. He grows quickly tired of trying to catch what they say, and abruptly, they pause, as if confused why he doesn’t respond. 

“Haven’t you heard of hearing aids?” 

Law is exasperated when he finds out. 

 

“You’re fucking terrible. All of you.”

When Coby reflexively mutters, “nah, I like to consider myself the worst ,” he looks very hopefully, very closely, at his reaction.

 

The general eye-roll and sarcastic scoff is a normal Trafalgar Law reaction. 

(Not the reaction of someone that spoke it knowingly.)

 

Trafalgar begins going on a spiel, but he’s turned away, and the words are spoken in too many mutters and too quickly to be caught by Little Pink’s meager lip-reading skills. 

Shachi has to tug Law back into attention, and then some sort of embarrassed apology is said. Little Pink assures him it’s alright. People forget all the time. 

(In the future that’s no longer, though, when Penguin loses his hearing due to long hours between loud machinery, Law is the one that makes sure every interaction knows and respects. Coby almost got bisected once, because he didn't know yet. Penguin was always apologizing for his much-too overprotective captain.) 

 

“...Optima dies, prima fugit,” he says, just to try again. 

Because he wants to be hopeful, but reality is leaning towards the fact that this hope will never be realized. He wants to have hope, just a little-- but true to his painful expectations, the Heart Pirates only look at him, completely confused.

Little Pink smiles and finishes the phrase on his own. “The best days are the first to flee-- it’s a really old Linian saying, you know?” And he doesn’t elaborate further. 

 

Evidently, Law isn’t interested enough to pursue either, so he dismisses it as strange ramblings. 

They don’t find the problem in his ears (he actually cut him apart to check) and hearing aids help, but they will eventually, inevitably deteriorate. So Law spends quite a while trying to find a feasible solution for him. 

He doesn’t have to do it, but, as he very pointedly expresses-- “I don’t like to owe people.”

 

Little Pink is very happy to spend time with them, slowly working his way through Northern Sign Language together. Bepo teaches him morse code, including how to read sonars, a skill he learned from his big brother Zepo. 

(“It’ll be more useful if you could hear, but uh-- oh, sorry. Sorry, nevermind.”)

 

Eventually, Law finds a solution. They try to attach new ears on him, but it doesn’t work. They transplant a whole new set of cochlea, but it just wouldn’t cooperate. 

Law decided to just stick bat ears on him out of frustration. 

It was a very weird time to be a deaf child. Echolocation was suddenly three times more literal and Little Pink flinched away from everything that moved for the next couple of months. 

Law eventually took them off, and used ‘I’ll stick cat ears on you’ as a threat.

He did. 

They didn’t work, since he stuck it to the head and it’s not the actual place the organ is supposed to be-- “well, if you stick a separate pair of horse legs on someone‘s back, the horse will still be sentient. But if you connect it to the spinal cord or bone structure you can move it like it’s yours!” Penguin happily explained. 

Law’s fruit is complicated sometimes-- but that was a thing that happened. 

 

He tags along when they raid a facility for their submarine, stays as they paint it yellow and marks it with their jolly roger. 

Little Pink even gets a complementary boiler suit for his efforts. 

And then he leaves, because he has a lot to do.

 

“Come visit every once in a while,” is his general farewell.

 

It’s not the crew he expected to join, honestly-- but it feels awesome, and he doesn't regret anything at all. 

He buries his lips in the warmth of his bandanna, and smiles. 

 


 

 

He wears the boiler suit. He leaves the top folded down, though, sleeves hanging around his waist and barely hiked up by a heavy work belt. 

(His belt sports a Den Den Mushi, a Buggy Passport, knives, lockpicking tools, some Eternal Poses, Vivre Cards, and Seastone cuffs, among other things.)

(His Log Pose is around his wrist.)

He’s a busy person, but somehow-- somehow, he wonders if this is what it’s like to be free.

He’s wearing whatever he wants, taking whatever he wants-- and working with whatever he wants. Gone is the familiarity of the Marine uniforms, gone is the need to stay empty handed in case of required stealth (the other seamen carry mundane items like the Den Den, after all,) and Coby has never felt so much enjoyment. 

He has hearing aids now, courtesy of Trafalgar Law. But they can unfortunately be tapped by Black Den Dens in close distances, so he doesn’t turn them on very often. 

Black Den Dens are demons, he swears. They can do anything. 

 


 

He is the Brat when he’s found by Garp, because of Bogard again. 

Needless to say, it’s been... fun ... training against Garp. Haki mastery is still shaky on his end, but Garp wants to make him a marine. 

(No, no.) 

The Brat does stay in the headquarters for a while, though. And there, they talk about things. About justice, mostly. And about how they really view the naval forces-- about where their allegiances lie, and about the world they are forced to protect. 

It’s a long, quiet conversation. 

Well, the Brat honestly didn’t know that Garp was so fluent in sign language. He says something about an associate with an underling that’s selectively mute, or something. The guy also took care of his grandson sometimes, so Garp learned it for easier communication.

 

(“How do you know his sign name but not remember his actual name?”)

(“Oh shush! It was like, Mascara or something. Not Dogra. Dogra is the smaller one.”)

 

Garp never asks the question, do you predict the future , or why do you know these things-- they’re too specific. You should not know Dragon’s full name, Garp never asks. 

And so, the Brat never answers. 

But it’s still the most fulfilling, most honest conversation he has had in this life. 

Garp never says anything about Dragon’s work. He has plenty of complaints about Luffy and Ace-- but never Dragon. 

(Some say he avoids talking about him to avoid connections being drawn. But those that know him understand that he has no complaints, because he simply, legally, wasn’t allowed to vocally approve.)

(All he wants is for his child to pursue his own brand of justice. And Dragon did.)

(All he wants is for his children to be safe. That’s why he tried so hard to half-heartedly convince his grandkids to become marines, to stay within arm’s reach. And when that wasn’t possible, he made sure they could survive out in the world on their own.)

 

If he truly wanted to enforce their allegiances to the marines, he would’ve chased Dragon down himself. 

If he genuinely wanted Luffy and Ace to become marines, he would’ve brought them in much before they could turn seventeen and sail out. Boys could be enlisted in Marine Academy as soon as they turned thirteen, after all. 

Those were things Coby realized last time around, much after the man’s death. 

(Is he a shitty father and grandfather? Yeah. But that’s… probably because he spoils them rotten.)

 

The Brat bows before he leaves. Gets on his knees and expresses his heartfelt gratitude for the years he’s never experienced yet-- of the growth he achieved, all thanks to Garp. 

“I barely did anything,” Garp signs, confused. 

And the Brat grins back. “I appreciate it all the same.” 

This life and the last, Garp will always be an inspiration to him. Even if they stand on opposing sides, their eventual conflict is something Garp will have to face. 

(The Brat sincerely prays that this time, the decision will come easier to him.)

 


 

He is Gifter, when he offers to tell Sabo the memories he so lacks. 

He is from the Kingdom of Goa-- in Dawn Island, to the East. Unfortunately, the Gifter himself doesn’t know the deeper history between it, only the fact that he eventually befriends Portgas D. Ace and Monkey D. Luffy before parting ways and going incognito. 

“You have a stepbrother, and he is slated to marry the princess soon.”

Sabo straight up grimaces

“Don’t tell me more, I’m not interested,” he says. “I have a family here now-- it’s the only one that matters to me now. I don’t know if I’ll ever change my mind on that.”

The Gifter realizes that Sabo will not remember, and there’s nothing he can do that will evoke those memories so soon. 

“One day, you will,” he instead promises. 

“Is it really important?” Sabo wonders.

When you’re dealing with history, you have to really cherry pick which parts of the world you keep the same, after all. Portgas D. Ace’s first years of piracy are much too important to interfere with-- and so are Sabo’s establishing years of Revolutionary activity.

“Yes,” there’s nothing he’s more sure of. “Don’t worry-- I’ll make sure you know before it’s too late.” 

 


 

He is the Wanderer when Donquixote Rosinante shows up at Baltigo, brought in by one of the veterans, one that was once a marine, as a former associate. 

Rosinante doesn’t speak a lot, but he speaks to him. 

They write. They sign. 

Rosinante expresses his heartfelt gratitude, a promise to do better and do everything to make up for it-- it’s a friendship, an acknowledgement, and a desire to protect. 

The much younger child simply smiles and tells him that it’s fine, and he’s just glad to know that he’s alive. When asked for his name, the Wanderer shakes his head. 

Rosinante doesn’t chase. Doesn’t question a thing. He simply admits that he has no name as well, and they can be the two nameless folk together. 

It warms his heart. 

 

Law was the one that told Rosinante about the pink-haired boy. Told him where he could find him, and told him to go this way if he didn’t want to keep being a hermit that hid in a corner of West Blue to hide. 

The Wanderer wonders just how many know him just like this, as an identity but never a name.  He wonders how many lives he’s going to affect, unexpectedly, just like this. 

He wonders if that’s alright.

The world he knows is changing, and he wonders if he’s leaving it behind-- or will he be the one left behind? 

He’s not sure. 

 


 

He is Hero Hopeful, a paying passenger on a cruise ship in the Grand Line, when it is raided by notorious marine-turned-pirate X Drake.

Except, Hero Hopeful had been so invested in this particular account of Boyn in his book, he didn’t even notice he was being raided until his book was snatched out of his hand by a very frustrated Drake just trying to establish his fearsome persona. 

“Hey, I was reading that--”

 

Oh. Not a nice way to reunite with your former colleague. 

 

Things quickly took a downhill from there, however. Drake was now a pirate-- albeit a farce, but a pirate nonetheless. And he had a new reputation to uphold. 

Hero Hopeful held back a scream as his back was cruelly dug out by the claws of an ancient beast. By the time there was a blade in his shoulder, he realized he had to fight back or be killed here. 

He was being used as an example. The other passengers were watching in horror, and the workers of the ship were hauling out as much gold as they could in an attempt to plead mercy. Hero Hopeful couldn’t hear any of it, but it’s clear that was what was happening. 

But Hero Hopeful knew what this was-- this was an event that drew a lot of notoriety in the past, the very event that gave Drake his new starting bounty. 

(No one on this ship would survive.)

 

Drake didn’t know who he was. Obviously. He wouldn’t be doing this if he did. 

Hero Hopeful couldn’t die here.

So he spun, swinging his legs out and under Drake’s feet, sweeping him out of balance. With his arms and ignoring the agony of the blade still embedded inside, his arms gleamed a sheen of black so pristine it startles the former marine. 

Drake doesn’t see the elbow to the jaw coming. 

 

It goes terribly from there. Hero Hopeful’s ears are ringing, and he’s fighting back. 

 

He only sees Drake before him-- hears nothing. Earns himself a slam to the shin and barely manages to scratch upward, breaking those sunglasses he knows Drake loves more than anything.

(It was like a spar, right? Just like old days.) No, it wasn’t. It was rough, it was brutal-- and though Coby faltered and pulled his punches in hesitation, Drake had no such compassion. 

Then the next second something slams him in the head from behind, and he’s back on the floor. 

And then something is burning and it’s going through his foot and he’s screaming but he can’t even hear anything .

Just the dull thrumming of an eternal fog in his head, and the agony. 

He lets adrenaline do the rest of the talking. 

 

Hero Hopeful digs something out from his pocket-- seastone handcuffs, poached from one of the many marine bases he wandered into in the past-- and slots it right over Drake’s arm. 

The former marine doesn’t even see it coming. 

Hero Hopeful dragged him by the collar, and with a loud roar-- flipped him right off the ship. 

One of Drake’s crewmates was already jumping in after him. Hero Hopeful takes the opportunity to pull the sword out of his shoulder and the molten iron pick out of his ankle. He uses one as a walking stick and the other he tosses into the sea. 

None of Drake’s current ragtag crew stand a chance against a Rokushiki Master or a Haki user at this point, so chasing them off is easy.  

 

(Very humiliating, for Drake, though.)

 

Hero Hopeful watches Drake as he’s taken back toward their pirate ship. Drake’s eyes are furious-- filled with frustration, and a promise of a future encounter to settle the score. 

(This cruise ship’s passengers survive, and Hero Hopeful’s wounds are treated. Two weeks later, Drake raids another ship, and this time, he succeeds in his initial plan, and his bounty still gets published. Because of course it does, that’s the plan.)

 

His foot hurts. His ankle’s busted, but it’s nothing that can’t heal. It'll scar, though, physically and mentally. 

But he never stops having the nightmares. 

And Hero Hopeful realizes that the bond he used to share with Drake-- their undaunting trust, their unbreakable connection in SWORD-- it will never happen again.  It will never come close to that point, ever again. 

He doesn’t mourn.

He knew what he was getting himself into when he decided to change the future.

(He does spend many quiet, unfeeling moments watching the sky, though. He gets used to limping short distances, practices walking and makes sure the brace is on as tight as it can go, so he can smile and pretend it never happened.)

(Well-- at least he can’t hear anyone making fun of him for trying.)

 


 

He is the Informant when he begins investigating Tequila Wolf. 

The endless bridge is just as endless as he remembers. The Revolutionary Army has overcome this once before, so he knows it’s possible.

He just needs to go through them one by one to get the information he needs, so the Revolutionary Army knows where and how to hit without being overwhelmed by numbers.

It took too many years last time. He wants to make sure it’s solved quicker this time.

He is the Informant when he works with Hack, infiltrating base after base. He is the Informant more than any other name, and it’s the one he’s grown accustomed to the most. 

 

‘On the sea, send it up with the albatross. On land, lead it down with gold. In times of strife, listen to the party in the wind. When things come through, cast your bets on the fires of chaos.’

 

Those are the Four Devas of Information, but even Coby never came to know all of them. 

The Marines primarily operate on the albatross, but it’s an open secret that higher-ups of the navy listen to different chains on a personal line. 

So he sets off to find them all. 

(He is the Informant when he realizes the albatross’ news is too controlled. Morgans has indoctrinated the minds of the world. It’ll take a very long while to recover from this.)

(He is the Informant when he finds a trail of string in the air and is almost caught by Donquixote Doflamingo in the fires of chaos.)

(He is the Informant when he wanders down the walls of Impel Down, and listens very intently to the party in the wind hosted by Emporio Ivankov.)

(He is the Informant when the line of gold approaches him in Shakky’s Rip-Off bar. He has one underage drink before he’s out of money for the month.)

He is the Informant when he realizes the world needs a Fifth Deva, and that must be why he was sent back here. 

 

‘For the moments you’re lost, place your trust in the friends you have.’

 

He hopes one of them finds him soon.

 


 

He cannot remember the details. 

He doesn’t know anything about Ace and Blackbeard, beyond their confrontation at Banaro Island and a feud that occurred prior to that. Internal affairs like that was the business of the pirate crew and far from the minds of the marines, after all. 

He does not know of Luffy’s adventures, not in detail at least.

 

(He wandered into the Forest under the Sea once, attempting to seek out the remnants of the crew’s legacy. But the doors were bolted shut, the sails ratty and intrusive, and when he stepped foot on the deck-- the sail came soaring down, a long-unused string of rope clattering down on his head, full of moss.)

(Coby knew then, that he was not welcome on the ship.)

(He apologized, not that the soul of the Thousand Sunny would accept such an empty word of mouth, and left.)

 

He does not know enough.

He witnesses Arlong’s siege on East Blue-- but at the time, he had still been too weak. He was too busy hiding, praying, that Arlong wouldn’t find him in the foliage-- he didn’t even consider what else could have come of the situation until years later. 

He learns of Tom’s execution in the papers, just as before-- and remembers of the cyborg shipwright that sang that man’s praises to his death. It’s much too late now. 

He hears a song in the Florian Triangle, but never quite brings up the courage to listen closely. He thinks of Soul King too often now, but he never brings up the courage to visit. You wouldn’t, too, if you knew of the things that lurk in there. Brook will be fine for now. 

He belatedly connects the dots of Princess Vivi’s disappearance, Nico Robin’s current inactivity, and Crocodile’s suspicious decision to use Alabasta as his mainstay-- but he can’t recklessly do anything without information. 

He seethes at the news of Punk Hazard’s explosion, but it’s not until too many years and too many inconveniences en route to the New World that he remembers Caesar Clown and the atrocities he will commit there. He still isn’t strong enough to defeat him, so he relents. 

 

(To know, but to not do anything--)

(--he’s become such a disgusting creature, hasn’t he?)

 


 

He cries, the day he reads the news of the Arlong Pirates’ disbandment. 

It’s niche news, and Shakky is the one that tells him about it. About the day they bowed down and apologized to Whitebeard’s newest daughter, and the way they mourned for the wrongs of the surface world, ending the chain of hatred between them with forgiveness. 

He cries, because he knows he’s not alone.

(He wants to meet them.)

(He wants to meet them, so much.)

And so, he goes.

 


 

“Who’s the most beautiful lady in the world?” was apparently the only question in the interview to enter the Love Pirates’ ship.

Coby smiles. “Well, Boa Hancock, of course!” he answers immediately, and the entire ship doubles back in horror at the gall. Coby immediately pretends to think. “Well, but if we’re talking in the four blues, you’re definitely up there.”

After you eat the fruit, of course, he doesn’t say. 

Alvida scoffs. Coby does wonder where her spiked bat went in the future-- he sort of misses her signature smashes. 

“Cocky brat,” Alvida says, but she seems to accept it, begrudgingly. “Go sweep the deck. I want it spotless by sunset!” 

 

He is, for a brief respite-- nothing but a young deaf boy, seeking familiarity. He’d craved it, just so slightly for the past years so much, he’s going crazy. 

So when he finds Monkey D. Luffy in a barrel, he has to physically hold himself back from engulfing him in a tight, tight hug. He does cry a little though, which he passes off as Alvida’s tyranny and Luffy dismisses as ‘you’re a crybaby, huh?’ and Coby loves that. He loves that a lot. 

He introduces himself. Luffy, happily responding with crude signs of his own, begins a conversation about dreams, journeys, and One Piece. 

Finally, Coby uses his words. 

 

“So you’re the captain, gathering your own crew? Seems like you were off to a terrible start, with that whirlpool and all.”

 

He holds his breath. 

“It’s fine, it was just a dinghy anyways.”

Luffy clumsily signs through a slight pursing of his lips, as if miserably agreeing with his bad luck. It’s not as if he has ever been on good terms with Lady Luck anyways, both in this life and the previous.

But it’s not- - Coby’s eyes narrow, and he quickly closes them in an attempt to hide the disappointment-- not the words he wanted . If he’d scratched the wood under him, he quickly brushed it away too. 

He can’t quite hold back the sigh the come out, but the smile is genuine. 

“Well, I’m glad I met you,” (I’m sorry I can’t be genuinely happy to see you again.) “After all, you’re the man who’s gonna become the Pirate King, right?”

 

(But if you’re not the one I’m looking for, then I’ve got more important things to do.)

 

And Luffy grins, “yep, that’s me!” Then, “what about you? You’ve got something to do out here too, that’s why you’re on this ship with the weird hag?”

Coby snickers. Let’s hope Alvida didn’t hear that. “Well, I’m playing the waiting game, for now,” he tells him. “I’m helping Uncle Gon right now… don’t know how long it’ll be till I’m able to sail out wherever I want again.”

Luffy doesn’t quite get it. “You’re playing a game with Uncle Gon?” he asks.

Coby barely stifles a snort. 

 


 

He leads Luffy to Shells Town, gestures toward the Marine Base-- and watches him leave. 

A flowery bandanna around his neck and prescription glasses he no longer needs resting on his head, Coby decides to stop by the tavern and order a simple, nostalgic plate of ham and eggs. 

The daughter of the tavern greets him politely, nervously hands him his order, and goes.

 

(Coby remembers the day she threw a plate at him, furiously sobbing, demanding, pleading for the why of it all.)

( “Why did you execute Big brother Luffy? I thought you owed him everything you have as a marine? Is this how you repay him for saving us all?” )

(And Coby can do nothing but listen. Rikka never called him Big brother Coby ever again-- and if Helmeppo ever talked to her in his final days as a Marine, Coby would be the last person to know.)

 

Coby does not talk to Rikka, beyond paying for his food, thanking for the meal, and bidding a polite goodbye. 

Can’t lose a sister if you don’t become one this time, after all.

 


 

The Informant is sixteen and in the midst of a Tequila Wolf breakthrough when Luffy bursts through the vents, greets him happily, and Coby’s in love with that smile all over again. 

The Informant is sixteen when someone’s Haki wraps him in a warm, comforting hug-- but lets go as he comes too close. He barely misses Usopp as he goes, and he knows they won’t meet again. 

 

[ I.O.U a Dream. -Sogeking. ]

 

He reads, and he laughs, wide and happy and the first time since he’s come into this world-- honestly, and joyful, and so-- so relieved.

If Hack sees or hears him crying, the Fishman says nothing. Or maybe Coby just didn’t hear it. 

(“When I get out… come with us,” Usopp had promised through the bars last time, and he had said it with such fiery resolve, Coby wanted to break him out right then and there if only to plead for them to take him away, just like they took Vivi so many years ago for a journey she never regretted.)

Oh, how Coby wanted to be the damsel in distress this time-- to just be saved by them, one more time. 

(Oh, how Coby wished for a dream by their side.)

 

“He owes me a dream, apparently,” Coby says, mildly amused. He tucks his face back under the bandanna, folding the note and shoving it inside his belt, to be read again later a few hundred more times. 

“A dream, huh,” Hack says. “Strange thing to incur a debt on, but who am I to judge.”

 

Strange, indeed.

(But Luffy has helped him realize one dream before.)

(Maybe this time, he’ll realize his dream by their side.) 

 

“Well… it doesn’t matter for now,” Coby says, picking up the papers and surveying every piece, skimming for the information they need with a pleased grin. “Let’s call Uncle Gon! We’ve got what we need!” 

“Uncle what .”

 

A hearty laugh, and another step forward.

 


 

I'll come meet you guys when I've come a little closer to taking down the world.

But for now, I 'll trust that you'll do everything I'm still too weak to do,  and I'll do all the work in places you guys can't reach.

 

"For moments you're lost, place your trust in the friends you have."

Chapter 40: cherry blossom viewing (the reprieve before Alabasta)

Summary:

The ship gets one reindeer fuller, and they party into the night. Life on the seas is calm-- and it's the calm that Nami has yearned all her life. Alabasta is almost in the horizon, but their days in this gap is what she loves the most.

This sea is home, she realizes. Even if it's not her old one-- it's home.

She hopes everyone else in the ship sees it that way, too.

Notes:

A chapter to chill before Alabasta! :) Also because I'm hulked by the mass of the arc and about halfway done shoddily plotting the sequence of events as per emperor butterfly effect's demand. Future me is going to hate me with the details.

As always, love you all, and hope this chapter brings a smile to your face.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

 

Usopp is honestly feeling a little left out here. 

“They’re very late, aren’t they? Did they take this long last time? It’s almost sunset! I warmed up the stew and everything, it’s going to go cold by the time they get back.”

Carue pokes him in the arm. 

“You will understand me when you cook, Chachamaru,” Usopp frowns, but not particularly at Carue, “some children don’t appreciate hot food sometimes. Have some sympathy for mommy who spent hours simmering the soup! You gotta drink it warm!”

Another quack. 

“Yes, I know technically Sanji made it, not me, but still .”

Carue gives him a very unimpressed look, but Usopp can’t see it, so he is invincible in the ego department. Don’t blame him for this, being stuck on ship watch for hours is bound to make you find ways to amuse yourself.

 

A barrage of explosions raid the airline, and Usopp sees nothing but bright, joyful pink. 

It’s barely a moment later that an entourage of noise blasts through the treeline, cheering to “SET SAIL!” as feet and hooves gallop across the snow.

There’s a way of frantic feet and ropeways being climbed, clunky luggage being set down-- Usopp fumbles around confusedly, not so sure what was happening and what was all this paraphernalia they were bringing in.

People were moving, racing across the deck happily. There’s gentler footsteps moving from one end to the other, and someone opens the galley door. The subtle singing of blades is mixed with a feral gnashing of teeth-- ah no, that’s just Zoro’s swords-- and Carue cheers, going to greet his little princess. 

 

There’s so much (a little too much) going on. 

 

Usopp had the urge to cover his ears and sink back into the darkness for a little. It was so quiet, now it’s much too noisy. It’s overwhelming.

Kinoko lands on his shoulders, and Usopp snaps back to attention, immediately setting a hand on cold fur for comfort. 

He takes a breath, and calms himself, counting the voices he feels. 

Sanji is thanking him for heating up the soup, bringing out bowls and mugs for the inevitable party to come. Gin whines, because Carue is dragging him somewhere-- oh, a heated mat. This is nice.  

Zoro is lifting the anchor, and Luffy is higher up, probably by the sails. Nami is shouting orders and asking someone to get to the helm, but no one’s quite free enough. Vivi is trying to drag a barrel out of storage. Anne is talking in soft whispers to Chopper at the bow, presumably admiring the gorgeous sakura blooming in the snow. 

(And Chopper. Oh, Chopper.)

“Oh, Usopp! Look, look! Isn’t that super pretty?!”

 

Usopp’s startled by Luffy slinging an arm around him, and he’s quickly dragged to the bow, where Luffy gesticulates wildly.

 

“Usopp-san can’t see it, you know?” Anne reminds the captain, who visibly deflates like it’s the end of the world. 

“Huh? You can’t?” Chopper turns. Then, he realizes, pretty easily. “That’s sad. Everyone deserves to see Doctor’s cherry blossoms.”

There’s a light sniffle, like Chopper’s been crying for quite a while and hasn’t fully stopped crying yet. Well, from how important his Doctor is to him, it’s a perfectly fine reason to cry. 

It’s a warm, light voice-- so innocent, so gentle-- Usopp just wants a faceful of that fur right now, but he knows he probably shouldn’t. 

 

Instead, Kinoko makes a series of very stern chirps.

Then, “eh? That’s not good,” Chopper hurriedly gets up, racing for the cluster of objects around the center of the deck and shuffling through things, to everyone’s confusion. 

(Did he just converse with Kinoko?)

Usopp soon finds himself enveloped in a warm, weighted blanket. 

“Sorry, we’re all so noisy. Must be a sensory overload,” Chopper says, voice hushed. “Luffy, shh!” he snaps, and there’s a noise as Luffy literally clamps his own mouth shut. 

 

For a moment, Usopp thinks the whole ship has gone much, much quieter. 

It’s warm, and the world darkens just a little as tender little hooves drag the blanket over his head like a hood, so all he can see is the warm brown of soft, fuzzy fur, slightly gleamed by a luminescent pink glow. 

“Are you okay? Just breathe slowly until you’ve calmed down.”

Usopp’s already forgotten all about the way his brain blanked out. He’s already forgotten the little pain in his head, the overwhelming way everyone came back to the ship at once-- he’s already forgotten it all. 

Instead, the tears are already burning in his eyes. 

 

Usopp throws all reason to the ditch and simply wraps Chopper in a tight, desperate hug, savouring every inch of that fluffy goodness and nuzzling into the warm, slightly snow-dusted fur. 

Chopper makes this very startled, strangled squeak, and Luffy bursts into laughter beside him.

“What the--! Let go of me, human! I mean, if you’re using me as a grounding system then okay but if not then LET GO OF ME! Don’t hug, human! HEY!”

Usopp doesn’t.

He does, however, spin Chopper to one side of his shoulder (the side Kinoko isn’t perching,) and takes a mug that Anne hands him. 

 

Then they toast, loud and happy, to their new nakama, to Gin’s recovery, and to the beautifully blooming sakura in the sky.

 


 

It’s a long night of partying on the Merry. 

Luffy decided to stick chopsticks up his nostrils, so Usopp decided why not. Chopper soon joins them, to everyone’s ire. 

Zoro gorges on drinks with Nami, watching Carue drink more than he’s supposed to while Kinoko takes more regal sips beside them. Gin eats. He eats as much as he can, after being deprived of an appetite for so long. Sanji is more than happy to serve him. 

Anne stands by the bow with her easel, painting an image of the kingdom of Sakura against the full moon. Vivi admires the work, cheerfully jotting down the recent happenings in the log book. 

The crew is cheerfully introduced to their newest crewmember. Luffy frightfully recounts how Doctorine chased them down the mountain with kitchen knives and everything, and everyone unanimously agrees they got the cuter doctor option. 

 

They quickly find out Chopper can speak to animals. 

“Your impudence baffles me! You dare, you imbeciles? Ladies are to be worshipped!” Chopper gives his best mistress impression, complete with the hiked nose and perkish huff at the end. “The mastery of this ship belongs to this me!” 

Apparently, Kinoko speaks in miffed Victorian spoiled brat. 

 

(Usopp has a very, very horrifying epiphany two hours later, that maybe just maybe, Kaya has something to do with this.) 

 

Nami has to try really hard not to laugh, but Luffy just gasps like he’s been offended in the highest order. Zoro chokes on his booze, and Sanji just stares, slack-jawed. Gin is similar, pausing in bewilderment halfway through his soup. 

Anne and Vivi however, were incredibly fascinated.

Kinoko looks ready to swat Luffy in the face once more. 

“But Ennosuke--!”

“She says that’s not her name, but she will allow it if you add The Great Captain at the front.”

“Hey, I’M the captain!” Luffy argues, slapping the deck in emphasis. Kinoko makes a scoffing noise that needs no translation, and Luffy pops right up to his feet, blood boiling. “That does it, Ennosuke. This means a battle! Winner gets the Captain title!”

 

The next moment sees Luffy jet himself into the sky, apparently trying to beat a bird in a height flight. 

He splashes into the water, earning a horrified shriek from Chopper. Cursing, Zoro dives in after him. Gin wordlessly hands Nami a sack of coins, and Sanji doesn’t even falter, simply refilling drinks and soups around the area. 

 

Somewhere behind them, Usopp nails a corkboard to the wall, Anne immediately coming by to pin a freshly-painted mushroom-shaped wooden pin as current first place on the mutiny leaderboard. 

 

“...So does this mean we have a new captain now?”

 


 

“Sanji! Roast chicken!” 

Luffy holds up the very, very vexed bird between his hands, the feathery figure wrapped around his rubbery cage of fingers. 

Sanji stares for a moment, then reaches for the large crockpot. 

“Gimme a second, I’ll get the water to boil.”

Vivi smashes a broom over their heads for that. Later, when Usopp and Luffy use Carue as fish bait, she does it again. By the end of the day the broom’s her staple utensil, and Luffy is starting to be scared of it. 

Gin could stop her, by why should he? He’s a little busy trying to get his earrings back on. The holes closed while he was recuperating from the burns. 

(When Luffy whined to Nami, Nami simply gave Vivi her Clima Tact and told her to keep up the good work.)

 


 

Vivi jerks awake in the middle of the night to find Nami by the bar in the women’s room, a little lamp lit by the counter..

Gin had been moved into a lighter mattress setting in the galley (where Chopper’s station was quickly built and set up by Usopp) so the girls finally had the room back for themselves. 

Still, Vivi inches quietly toward them to find Nami fiddling with a needle and a bundle of cloth. Blacks, whites and yellows, in a small, rather unique shape--

“...is that the jolly roger?”

Nami squeaks , everything in her hand jumping three feet. There’s a moment of sheer horror as Nami reaches for it, doubles back as she remembers there’s a needle in there, then seems to abruptly remember the existence of her metal arm as she lunged to catch it. Then there’s the sigh of relief.

“I uh, didn’t mean to sneak up on you, sorry?” Vivi tries. 

Nami glares for a moment, but eases. “No no, I was just too absorbed,” then a chuckle, “what about you? Can’t sleep?”

Vivi shrugs, leaning against the bar counter to inspect the work. 

 

It’s the makings of a little pillow of sorts. Stitching together pieces of cloth to make a cover, to be stuffed with something later-- the needlework was a little clumsy, as all detailed work went for Nami (maps excluded), but Vivi could tell she had been taking as much time as she could, to make it as perfect as possible. 

 

“You’re making a separate piece for each pattern?” Vivi asks. One new portion for the hat, one new portion for the blacks of the eyes, one new portion for the crossbones-- even the cuttings were a little clumsy, and now that she looked around, there were cloth scraps all over the ground. 

Vivi couldn’t help but chuckle. It was nice to see Nami struggle in such mundane things, when she was perfect everywhere else. “Should I help?”

Nami smiled warmly, and then nodded. “Please?”

Vivi doesn’t take off the crumpled stitches-- just works on the rest, making sure it’s well-sewn enough to last. Some flaws are beautiful, after all-- these definitely were. 

 

“Why the sudden plushie impulse, though?” 

 

Nami receives the question a little bashfully. “Well… I’ve actually been working on that since way back in the East,” she says. “Ah, keep it a secret, though. Until it’s done?”

There’s a moment of awe as Vivi quickly finishes up the stitch of one portion, moving on to the next in less than half of the time Nami would’ve taken. 

Nmai smiles, but there’s a tinge of sadness. “Usopp can’t see the jolly roger, even though it means just as much to him as it does for the rest of us,” she says. “So he’s been upset for a while now. And well…”

 

Ah. 

Nami wasn’t always a girl with a metal arm, was she?

Vivi allows the thought to sink in-- and her chest fills with a sort of undauntable sadness . All those things Nami struggled in-- weren’t struggles that happened before. 

That’s why she always looks on, so forlornly, as Vivi writes the log and sews broken fabric to perfection in her place. 

 

“You and Usopp-san really care a lot for each other, huh?” she says. 

Nami smiles, and it’s the most honest thing Vivi has ever seen. The way her features bloom, the way her eyes narrow, in a promise none of them has ever heard, for a view none of them has ever seen. 

“Well, we go way back,” she says. “So far back, it’s almost like we’ve been attached by the hip since our last life, y’know?”

Vivi doesn’t quite understand that, but she lets a chuckle leave her lips. 

“Like star-crossed lovers?”

“No no,” Nami flusters, “more like uh, star-crossed brothers!

"Even though you're a woman?"

"Yes. But whoever said you had to be a boy to be a brother?"

 


 

Chopper is easily drawn right into Luffy’s pace. 

He had been tending to Gin’s wounds under Vivi’s supervision (they had both been arguing, something about spoiling the captain or how the captain can be spoiled however he wants,) when Luffy intrudes and steals Chopper to the front deck. 

(They were still arguing in there , so Chopper was riddled with the anxiety of having overexcited idiots as his patients.) 

Their new doctor is then held like a teddy bear and made to greet every member he hadn’t formally met yet. 

 

“Here’s Zoro. He’s grumpy and everything, but he’s nice,” Luffy says, like he’s introducing a lion in a zoo. 

Zoro bench presses weights that are twice his size, and doesn’t say a thing about the Captain and Reindeer currently using his dumbbells as a seat. Chopper isn’t sure if he should mention it, but he’s a little too terrified of this monstrous strength to ask. 

 

“This is Nami’s tangerine grove! You can’t take any though, she’ll be mad,” Luffy, however, is brilliantly unaffected. He then gestures at a pile of upturned soil, “and that is where Nami buried me yesterday.”

Chopper yelps, horrified now. That nice lady will bury you if you’re bad? Oh no!

Luffy snickers. 

 

“Next! To the dining room!” he cheers. Slamming open the door to one startled Carue and a near dish drop, “that’s Sanji! He makes the best food in the world, you know!”

“Ah, nice to meet you,” they shake hands, and Sanji smiles. “Any allergies and stuff? Or anything in particular you want me to make? I can do anything, if we’ve got the supplies. Just say the word, alright?”

Chopper nods, shaking the hand with a hoof nervously. Hey, this man seems pretty nice--

“Y’know… honest question, does this mean venison’s off our table? We still eat chicken meat even though we’ve got Ennosuke and Chachamaru on the ship,” Sanji says in contemplative wonder. 

Chopper immediately takes that back.  

“Hey, no cooking him!” Luffy whines. “But we can cook your cousins, right? Can we?”

Chopper isn’t sure if he wants to go down the cannibal route just yet, but Sanji assures him he doesn’t have to if he doesn’t want to. He respects everyone’s dietary preferences, after all-- and he’ll smack anyone that doesn’t. 

 

The reindeer had barely begun to talk about how he doesn’t want to be carried around like a baby (but you’re nice and fuzzy and warm!) when they got to the topic of ages, somehow. 

“Fifteen? Oh! Anne’s sixteen, right?” 

The painter looks over from her easel and new sketchbook (“Usopp’s limited edition special Nami-map-paper-composed sketchbook! Or the Ultra Paper Sketchbook, for short!” “So many words, so little information…” “Anyways! You can loosen the binding, don’t worry,”) to find Luffy holding up Chopper’s hand like a teddy bear’s wave. 

She’s at the bow, where the sunshine is plenty and the view is ideal ambience for painting.

“Ooh! That’s Doctorine!” Chopper exclaims, enthralled . He’s jumping almost out of Luffy’s arms, coming closer to gander at the half-complete painting. “That’s really pretty!” 

“Ah… yes,” Anne responds stoically. 

“Anne’s so cool, right?” Luffy beams, “she can paint anything! Like the world’s biggest meat, or the most delicious rainbow-coloured steak, anything!”

“Is rainbow-coloured steak delicious?”

“It is! Usopp said so!”

“Really?! I wanna see it, too!” 

 

There’s a bare curve in Anne’s lips as she sets down her brush and reaches for the rest of her drawings, showing her everything she’s painted thus far in her journey. The cotton candy seas, the great coffee and tea war, the senbei city-- Chopper always wanted a story out of them, but Anne’s always left at a loss of words.

(But it’s nice.)

(No one’s ever been so invested in her paintings before. She and Mister Three were both artists, but their creative differences were palpable. There was respect, but never mutual fascination-- just a professional need to get things done.)

 

“Y’know, let’s go find Usopp! Maybe he can tell us a story about the island where every colour is wrong!”

There’s the huffy laughter of a prestigious, otherworldly sage, and Usopp makes himself known beside them. 

“Ah, I see you have invoked my esteemed name. Now, behold , young one, the might of the greatest Sharpshooter in the world, Usopp the Great!” The sniper punctuates his sentences with grand, exaggerated posing. 

 

“Usopp! Great timing,” Luffy grins, “Usopp tells the best stories, you know!”

That’s the vaguest description thus far, and Chopper quickly realizes why. 

There was a lot one could say about Usopp. 

That he can’t see, for one-- that he can make anything even so, for another. There was a lot one could say about him, but the only part Luffy wanted to highlight was just something that was self-explanatory. 

 

“If we must speak of the island where all colours are wrong, you must know the tale of the hero who sees no colours, Colorimotone Prisma!” Luffy’s eyes sparkle, and Chopper settles in just a little more on Luffy’s lap. Usopp continues, gesticulating wildly, “well well, it was a story of just so, so long ago…”

The way he weaved stories, the way his voice fluctuated at every turn, the way he described things, so marvelous and imaginative-- it just draws them in, over and over again. 

Anne continues to stare wordlessly at her painting, not so sure if she should use the retort of ‘no, I just painted this because I was in a whatever mood’ that she has in mind. Maybe not, she’ll break poor Chopper’s heart. 

 

“Eh? So they didn’t need to go save the princess after all?” Chopper asks, shocked, “then wasn’t it a whole wasted journey?”

“No no, naive, my little one!” Usopp dramatizes, then, with the most profound, faraway gaze into the sky-- “it is not the destination, but the friends we made along the way that matters.”

The tearful glitter of admiration is so damn worth the cheese. 

 

And so is the absolute riot that occurred when Anne displays her artistic interpretation of Colorimotone Prisma’s design a moment later. 

 


 

Chopper watches in full attention when Zoro changes Nami’s limbs. He’s the doctor, but active prosthetics are so risky in extreme winter islands like Drum, no one ever had any. Normal prosthetics, a few, but never the metal, nerve-connected technology. 

Doctorine once gave Chopper a run-down on how to do this, but without live subjects, there was only so much he could learn. (She could go and make one of those retired guards come and be a test subject, but alas, Kureha isn’t a technician.)

“They’re heavier than I thought they would be,” he says, clutching Nami’s metal foot.

 

(Wouldn’t this stunt growth or increase pressure on ligaments? Doctorine once told Chopper that metal limbs are made as light as possible in Winter countries, prioritising functionality over durability.)

 

“That one’s made to resist intense heat. The winter models are much lighter,” Nami explains, a purse at her lips as she considered it. “Well, I guess we could even out the loads when we make improvements-- Usopp is doing all the maintenance for me now, but eventually, we’ll have to find a mechanic that can give me better upgrades.”

And then Zoro disconnects the final screw and she howls . Tearfully, she bolts back up.

“Be gentler!” she whines.

“Rip the band-aid, witch. It’s gonna hurt either way,” is Zoro’s very curt response. Then, a hand toward Chopper, “give that.”

And as Nami continues to bury her one flesh arm against her face in agony, Zoro gets comfortable on the ground, lifting the two metal pieces and trying to get the right angle.

 

“You’re almost done, Nami-swan,” Sanji comes by, a cup of ice cold tangerine tea on a tray, “fight-o, fight-o.”

 

Nami stares at him incredulously. She thought he’d pick a fight again, because Zoro was, fair enough, ‘hurting a woman’. Even last time around, Sanji would be some sort of sobbing mess if the girls had to get stitches, because he regretted not protecting them. She didn’t know his chivalry held out when it was necessary pain. 

(She will accept the coddling, though. That was always the best part of all this.)

 

“Now, now, Miss Nami,” Vivi comes by behind her on the chair, gentle hands carding through her hair. “How about a distraction? You don’t really tie your hair up, do you?” 

Oh, Vivi. 

Nami chortles, “well, it’s hard to get the high angle I need for a ponytail with this arm, so…”

And it’s heavy, too. It’s not anything Nami can’t handle, but the hassle bore an eventual habit to leave it down. 

Vivi is holding a comb. It’s not the one from the room-- it’s a new one, carved carefully from wood and its handle carefully enraptured by the sculpt of Adenium blooms-- huh, Usopp can sure still make some pretty things. 

The princess catches her staring. “Usopp-san just finished sanding this down, he told me to come test it out,” she says, sheepishly. 

 

Usually, it would be Usopp spindling through the ginger locks of her hair-- he would be the one to compose complicated braids at her request, even if it was something incredibly contrived. Usopp would whine, but his hands would move, weaving flowers and jewellery into the bundles and creating something magical.

(But that isn’t possible anymore.)

(He can try, but it will never be the same.)

 

Nami leans back, warm brown eyes meeting. 

“Surprise me, princess,” she offers. 

It still hurts when Zoro starts tightening the screws in place again, but this time, Nami sinks back into the soft fingers in her hair, and it’s for some reason-- the pain is much easier to tide through. 

 


 

Vivi didn’t quite know what to think when Usopp fashioned her a dreamcatcher-like contraption to be attached to the end of her peacock slasher. The center was a round gear-like capsule, with an array of holes around the edges. 

“There’s a button near the base of the ring. Press it and--”

Vivi threw it high into the air and did as told, alarmed when a coloured gas spills from the box, spreading pungent perfume into the vicinity. 

“--the Flavour Dial activates. Let’s not waste your perfume, yeah?” Usopp says, evidently straining from the strong smell now. “Fill it with the more lethal of your collection and you can take care of enemies from a distance.”

 

Vivi thinks she might jump and hug Usopp right now. Her weakness with her hypnotic perfumes have always been range-- how did Usopp know? Was it just a coincidence?

 

“This is-- impressive,” she says. “It spins like a yoyo when I throw it out, which definitely helps the gas spread... This is genius, Usopp-san. Thank you so much.” This was fashioned from the shell Nami had brought up, wasn’t it? Usopp mentioned it was valuable and they were scarce on it, and yet he’d used it for her. 

It was too nice of him. 

Plus, the dial was bulky, but he had made sure the blades were fashioned around the edges. Right now, if she spun it-- it was probably more lethal than it had been before. 

“What, it’s nothing much. Just use it with care, okay?” he tells her. He picks up the Clima Tact, now fashioned with a detachable Breath Dial pump-- and tucks it into his bag. 

 


 

“Huh? A Whitebeard rogue is after us, aiming to kill Luffy?” Nami asks. 

“Yeah,” Gin tugs on his jacket carefully, grabbing his bandanna before making his way up the ladder to Nami. “Heard the news in Drum. Your former crewmates must have a vendetta for losing you to a no-name.”

 

Nami is very, very confused. 

 

“They’re waiting for us in Alabasta. Kinda warned us that we’ll only have ten days to live,” Sanji says, suppressing a shiver. “Morbid.”

“Ten days-- but won’t it take us a few to get there?”

“But how did he know where to find us?” Vivi wonders. “I’m quite worried if we’ll still be able to deal with the rebellion while trying to hide… oh, not to blame you for any of this, Miss Nami! It was your freedom to join Luffy-san’s crew after all--”

Nami is very, very, very confused. 

“Okay first of all, what ,” she can’t bring herself to voice it as a question. “But I left the crew willingly and with a farewell party.”

 

Did something change because of all the interference? Did the Blackbeard plan go awry after all? No one should be at Drum at this time… definitely not so close to their arrival. 

(After all, if someone came by to look for Luffy last time around, surely, they would’ve been told before they left.)

(...right?)

But the information said otherwise-- Blackbeard’s chased away, no casualties reported, even Sabo was there on Whitebeard’s ship. So why was someone after them right now?

Ace? No, Ace found them on Alabasta. Drum’s further than that, why would he double back? Something just doesn’t line up. Hold on, is this Ace they’re talking about and they’ve just jumped three hoops into weird conclusions?

 

“Did they say who they were?” Yeah this is probably a misunderstanding.

“Who cares, we’re all gonna die,” Gin mutters, walking into the galley to pick up the tangerine-shaped pin and placing it in first place. 

Nami balks, “hey!”

 

“Huh? Did something happen?” Zoro asks, walking in to grab some alcohol. 

Gin was holding the tangerine pin high above his head, and Nami, curse her height, was desperately trying to reach it. 

“Miss Nami’s family-- the Whitebeards, I mean-- is coming for us,” Vivi explains, casually watching their sailing master and quartermaster bicker, “they think Luffy-san stole her and are here for revenge.”

“Yeah, so the Whitebeards are gonna blow up our ship when we get to Alabasta,” Sanji says, as if that isn’t terrible news. 

 

“Hey, the story changed a little!” 

 

“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll spare the ship. They might just kill all of us one by one instead,” Gin says, as if that’s any better news. “We’re all gonna die in Alabasta.”

Vivi sobs, “my country…”

Nami jumps, but Gin moves the pin away just in time. What happens next is a strange air snatch juggling battle of give-me-that-no-you’re-too-short, a marvelously childish sight incredibly unbefitting of the two worst pirates in East Blue.

(The marines will never believe this.)

 

“Dammit, Gin! Give that back!”

 

“So why Nami?” Zoro ignores them. Gin was being more active than he had been the whole week, and no one was gonna take that away from him, even if he’s using his energy to bully Nami. 

“Indirect attempted murder is also mutiny, I guess.”

“Huh.” Makes sense. “So we have to fight Whitebeard before we fight Crocodile?”

“Nooo!” Vivi finally breaks down and wails, “Crocodile is a Warlord, but Whitebeard is a Emperor , you know! We won’t stand a chance and I’m not half-sure this time, please!”

“But I mean if he’s trying to kill us--”

“No no, it’s just one of their commanders, right?” Sanji says, “maybe we’ll be fine.”

“I thought it was a rogue Commander coming at us?”

“They’re aiming for Luffy, right? Gotta be some vendetta because of what he pulled at Loguetown. The hell was that, anyways?”

“Loguetown?”

“Oh, Vivi-chan, you don’t know yet, huh. Luffy got declared the successor of the pirate king on the execution platform. We don’t know who the hell the cloaked guy was, but it made the front page and everything.”

“Honestly, the next chance they get to prove it wasn’t a prank, our crew is going to be crazy targeted for everything.”

“Hey, wasn’t Roger Whitebeard’s old rival or something? You think they hold a grudge for trying to taint his rival’s legacy or something?”

“Or is he eyeing us because he wants to see if Luffy matches up? Then will he kill us if Luffy sucks?”

“Can we stop talking about things on a crazy scale?”

 

Nami grumbles mildly to herself, finally retrieving her pin as Gin heads off to argue with the rest of them about why their captain is a dumbass. Seriously, did they go off on a whole new tangent already?

 

“Okay, but how about this. We offer up Luffy for a trade and the rest of us go save Vivi-chan’s country. Quick and easy solution.”

“Alright, Sanji goes up one spot on the mutiny leaderboard.”

“HEY!”

“It works, though.”

“Zoro, right back to first place.”

“HEY.”

 

Nami sighs. This is all such a whole mess. 

 

Vivi is struggling to place Zoro as high as she can, but Zoro is fighting for the mossball-with-a-knife-stuck-in-it pin while Sanji (naruto fishcake) shoves him aside for being rough with a lady just doing her job. 

(...Nami has a feeling there’s this convoluted misunderstanding going on.)

 

A dying, disgruntled noise leaves her throat.

Who ,” Nami asks one more time, “did they say they were again?”

 

“A Whitebeard commander that wants to kill us all?” Gin questions, as if that was obvious. He managed to retrieve his angry-wolf-with-eye-bags pin from the board and away from the other idiots. 

 

"I give up," Nami groans. It's Ace, isn't it? This is exactly the sort of dumb misinformation that can happen on this ship. How did ‘a flame-brained doting brother looking for a Strawhat-wearing rookie’ turn into a revenge plot and attempted mass murder notice?

She's convinced this is irredeemable. It might be funnier to just watch it all happen.

 

She picks up her tangerine pin and willingly places it in first place. 

“You guys would be terrible partners in a game of telephone, just saying.”

 


 

“Anne, come here?”

Gin hollers for the girl, and she immediately rushes over, not-so-carefully setting down her palette on Carue’s head and dropping the brush into its holster.

A hustle down the steps and a hasty drying of her paint-stained hands on her overalls later, she smudged a splash of paint across her cheek and made it to the storage, where Gin stood in the doorway. 

“What?”

“No, you didn’t have to literally run over.”

“I didn’t.”

“Are you seriously trying to lie about that when I watched you-- alright, whatever,” Gin leads her to the men’s room, where Usopp was already between the planks, opening up the floorboards to the in-between space of the hull and the keel.

 

The Going Merry was made as a passenger ship, not a cargo ship-- so there was plenty of crawl space be tween each essential floor, as extra padding for structural integrity. 

 

“Think you can fit in there and see how much space we’ve got?” Gin asks, though it’s more rhetorical than anything. 

It’s not impossible for Usopp or maybe Luffy to fit through, but it would definitely be faster for Anne to do it since she’s much smaller. Chopper could try as well, but he had horns, so that was a minus.

If they can find routes through the internal workings of the ship, they’ll be able to use it as storage space and shortcuts-- or at least, Anne will be able to. 

“If you’re claustrophobic, I can do it,” Usopp offers, handing her a helmet fixed in with a head bulb. 

Anne is already taking off her outerwear. “It’s not a problem.”

 

(She’s done this plenty of times, after all. Being small meant you had to do a lot of the running work, because you could fit in tight spaces and you could get around easily. People just expected that of you, and she, with her naturally smaller figure, lived along that unspoken rule. She’s spent enough time in vents and attics to find herself a denizen of it.)

(And if Gin’s knowing look was an indication, he’d deemed, as quartermaster, that she was most fit for the job. Because of course she was.)

 

Anne quickly disappears down the crawlspace, and Usopp hums. 

“Cabin boy?” Usopp asks, impressed as he turns, seeing her already finding a quick route upward, approaching the galley. He might need to make hatches all over the place now. “Oh wait, I mean girl.”

“Cabin Boy’s a title, not a gender,” Gin says. “You know how people say kids are rambunctious no matter the gender when they're young enough? It's like that. Not Marines though, I’m talking pirates and mercenaries.”

Huh.

“And no,” Gin clarifies, “she’s too lazy to be a cabin boy.”

 


 

“Usopp, Kinoko wants me to tell you she’s very disappointed you’re cheating on your mate.” 

Usopp spits out his tea. 

“You misunderstand, Noko-chan,” Nami says, lifting her cup to her hands, “you see, Usopp here has the if-he-sees-Nami-as-anything-other-than-a-sister-he-will-die disease.”

Her expressions are impeccably stoic as she speaks. Completely natural, as if talking about the weather.

 

“Wha-- really?! That sounds like a horrifying disease!”

Chopper immediately, reasonably, panics.

 

Usopp is still trying to recover from his coughing fit. Choking on thick matcha tea (Anne was in a tea ceremony mood and had Usopp make the tools, so in their tests for the perfect brush they made a lot of tea) was not a good feeling at all. 

(But hell, Nami’s improv skills have levelled up, huh. What next, Usopp gains the ability to haggle prices down to a fraction?)

“I know, right?” Nami says, “if you do find a cure for it someday, maybe you can try curing him-- but unfortunately, I also have a serious case of the G-4 Y’s, so a romantic relationship between me and Usopp is a lost cause.”

 

“G-four--? Huh?” 

Kinoko is starting to look really exasperated-- the bird definitely knew exactly what bullshit Nami was spouting, but she was probably smart enough to briefly read between the lines. 

Chopper, however, bursts into tears, “that’s so sad!” he wails, looking like he’s got a lot more strange symptoms he’s going to aim to cure now-- Nami will correct all of this one day, but not today. 

 

Nami pats him on the head, “don’t worry, Chopper. We’re really happy as we are, and Usopp is engaged to a wonderful young lady in East Blue! It’s wonderful news.”

Usopp sighs. “There’s no need to worry, Chopper. I’ve also got the if-I-cheat-on-Kaya-I-will-be-castrated-by-Merry disease, so it’s impossible.”

“Usopp, that’s not a disease, that’s a consequence--”

 

“Why do you have so many strange diseases? That sounds dangerous, Usopp!” Chopper freaks out, rushing over to grab Usopp’s hands in his little hooves, “are you sure you’re okay? Don’t need me to give you a checkup? What if one of them’s dangerous and causes complications in the future?!”

It took way too long to get the reindeer off their case after that.

 


 

Anne sits with Carue, taking the night watch. 

Carue is dependable and all, but it’s basically taking the shift alone, isn’t it? She’s not quite sure, but Carue is quite a warm companion so she’s not complaining. 

It’s dumb. She’s the least trustworthy member on this ship, and yet, they’ve entrusted her with guard duty. They’re not sailing now-- unfavourable conditions ahead, it seems-- so it was quite mundane.

She spends most of her time exploring the ship, Carue following her every step in their quest to find unique things. They find a loose floorboard and spend a while admiring the squeaks-- that’s how bored they are. 

At some point, she brings out a glowstick and starts playing fetch with Carue. The duck’s ability to catch it before it goes too far is strangely fascinating. When they draw pictures in the air, their amusement is mostly silent, yet incredibly palpable. 

She finds a nest (Kinoko’s House?) near the yard, and spends a while finding things from trinkets to screws to coins. Kinoko is not a very smart nest builder, is she?

 

“Oh, Anne and Chacharmaru! Bet you’re hungry!”

 

Luffy emerges from nowhere, hoisting a roll of cheese and offering her some dried seaweed. Anne does not shriek, but she does startle and jump quite a bit further in an attempt to fuse with the mast. 

Carue however, half-squawked before slapping his wings over his beak, hoping that didn’t wake anyone. 

 

“O- Oh,” Anne recomposes herself, “Luffy. Why are you awake?” 

“I got hungry.”

Of course.

Carue sighs in resignation. What did they expect from their glutton anyways-- isn’t that part of their stock to reach Alabasta? Oh my. 

“Sanji will be mad about you stealing food again.”

“It’s fine!”

Carue sighs deeper this time, seemingly given up and resigned to his fate tomorrow morning to the mercy of Sanji’s foot. 

Anne sets a hand at her chest, catching her breath. The glow stick set in front of them like a lamp, Luffy’s eyes zero in on the light twinkle of the pendant, and his head stretches forward to look closer. 

 

The elongated neck sends just the worst chills down her spine.

So Anne does the very logical thing-- she straight up, no holds barred, punches him.

 

Carue’s jaw drops. 

Luffy’s unaffected, though. Laughing as he settles down on the picnic mat, he plates the cheese and seaweed over each other, happily presenting a bottle of soy sauce he’d also pilfered from the fridge. 

“Midnight snack!” he declared. “You can have some too, Chachamaru!”

Anne sighs, relenting. Carue is already settling down, demanding some cheese. The girl makes herself comfortable, leaning against the warm fur of the spot-billed duck. 

 

“That pendant is pretty, huh?” Luffy says, reaching for the tea as Anne pours him a cup.

Anne shrugs in response, “not as important as your Boshi, though.” 

Her mind wanders to her own hat, but she’d left it in the room. It wasn’t much, anyways-- just something she’d gotten whilst on missions with Mister Three, due to their tendency to frequent summer islands. 

But her pendant…

“I like it better than my other stuff, though,” she admits, turning to her bracelets. He hand came up naturally to her pendant, unlatching the gem like a locket to reveal the slight blob of black paint inside. It was for emergencies. 

When Carue leaned in for a look, she padded a finger in the ink to poke a mole onto the duck’s beak. His frantic and mildly horrified reaction was quite entertaining. 

Luffy hums. “Someone give it to you?” he asks. When Anne only looks at him curiously, he sets a hand on his hat. “Have I told you about Shanks?” 

 

Anne isn’t sure, honestly. There’s been a lot going on, after all. So she prompts him to tell the story again, whatever it was. 

And so, they continued talking. 

Anne picks up the cheese at some point, taking small bites to go with her tea as Carue attempts to clean his beak with the edge of the picnic mat. Luffy’s story grows grander-- it’s not as well articulated as Usopp’s stories-- all over the place, he forgets details and has to round back-- but it’s obvious he loves telling it. 

She isn’t sure why she’s eating this food in this weird combination, but it’s there, and she’s been taught to just eat when you can.

Well, after learning that her former Boss of a Warlord, Miss Wednesday was a princess, and there’s a former Whitebeard on their ship-- their captain having Red Haired Shanks’ hat is a pretty decent gradual culmination of ridiculous revelations. 

 

“Chaser gave this to me,” she eventually reveals, fingers tapping considerably at it in thought. 

 

(The sun was scalding that day-- but it wasn’t like before. Her clothes-- new and bulky and cleaner than her skin felt-- sat heavily on her figure. They walked speedily through the cobblestone, pretending to look normal, pretending their feet weren’t chapped and their hands weren’t soaked in blood.)

(And then, Chaser had asked, his tone dry and tired as it usually was, but in a patient, prompting way-- “you guys want anything?”)

 

“It was…” it felt strange, to tell this story to someone. “...The first thing I owned.”

 

There was no real reason it had to be jewellery-- they just didn’t quite know what they were supposed to want. Even now, Gin still wore those red earrings.

Luffy’s response is a bright grin-- so honestly, so innocently, simply happy for Anne for something so simple, because he knew it was important to her-- and that makes Anne realize she’s been smiling, too. 

She thinks she might like this-- this emotion. 

When they continue speaking, Anne sinks down, comfortable. They speak of dumb things, like which condiment went best with senbei (Anne preferred them as they were, like every sane human being,) or the specific colour of the moon, anything. 

 


 

Zoro wakes up to find them asleep on deck, Anne curled up against Carue and Luffy with an arm splayed over her stomach in a half-spoon.  

“Some night watch you guys are,” he groans, heading back into the room to grab a blanket.

Notes:

Mutiny leaderboard pins:

 

Luffy: Straw Hat
Zoro: Moss Ball with a knife (Kogatana) sticking out of it like a toothpick
Nami: Tangerine
Usopp: Kabuto slingshot
Kinoko: Mushroom
Sanji: Naruto fishcake
Gin: Wolf with eye bags
Vivi: Crown with a peacock feather at the end
Carue: Duck footprints and barrel mug.
Chopper: Pink hat and horns
Anne: Paint palette
Merry: The figurehead

Chapter 41: regarding white breads and family trees.

Summary:

Arrival at Alabasta, and a ton of other things.

Usopp reveals some suspicious sketches in his book, Vivi has to make a sudden, fate-turning decision to split up their forces-- and the crew finally meets Fire Fist Ace.

-

"Anyone have any other shockingly bigshot acquaintances to share with the class or are we supposed to keep having heart attacks like this?"

"..."

"...Sanji, what does that face mean?!"

Chapter Text

Bon Clay’s arrival was just as they remembered. 

They fish him out of the fog (somehow), they get a show of his powers, and they become best pals in the pursuit of dramatic men’s romance. 

(This time, Sanji and Anne are inside the galley when it happens. Which is a relief, because Mr 2 would definitely have recognized Anne.)

“What an idiot,” Zoro groans. 

“What is this, drama queen auditions?” Gin grumbles. 

“Okay, party pooper duo, have some fun sometimes?”

But well, Luffy and Chopper seemed to be enjoying themselves, so why not. Even Kinoko seemed to be enjoying herself, as Bon Clay even bowed to her and offered companionship as fellow miffed ladies. 

Seriously, what.

 

“Usopp, join us!” Luffy whines.

 

Usopp shrugs. He wants to join and be dumb all he wants, “but I mean, that trick’s a lot less cooler when you can’t see, but the voice change is pretty cool.”

“You can’t see?!” Bon exclaims, horrified. The waterworks immediately came, “oh brother! Brother, you are such a tragic man! But no matter, we can still share the joy!”

Usopp is surprised when Bon brings Usopp’s hands to his own face-- to feel the very moment it switches from Luffy’s face to Chopper’s furry visage, and straight into Nami’s. 

And now Usopp is amazed. 

“Cool, right? We all gotta share the love in the world!”

Usopp thinks he might cry, and he does. “You’re such a good guy!” he wails, and Luffy and Chopper echo the sentiment. 

Bon’s face blooms into a smile. 

 

Needless to say, his first impression this time is just as glorious as the last. The dramatic sobbing of men fares him well, and they sail off tearfully into the horizon to the chants of his gallant, inspiring name. 

 

Then they realize. 

“Wait, Mister Two?!”

 


 

It’s a little late into the last time around, but they did see him again. 

It was after Impel Down was taken out, and the Newkama Land finally joined their surface brothers and sisters in Kamabakka Kingdom. 

They had first made official contact with the Revolutionaries on their ground turf, when they reunited with Bon Clay in a celebration filled with food, sake, and tears. 

It’d be nice if they could party like that once more. 

 


 

“Family meeting, family meeting!” 

Nami knocks her Clima Tact against the metal shell of one of Usopp’s inventions, making a loud, sharp noise for attention. 

“All of you, get your asses on deck!” Nami declares, raising her voice. She briefly turns to Usopp, who’s still fiddling with the Impact Dial, “need to make an alarm or something for these.”

Usopp simply gestures at Kinoko and Carue, who were echoing her tone of call in their bird noises like the parroting obnoxious brats they were. 

“All-natural, reusable,” he states, a shopkeeper selling his new merchandise. “Biodegradable, too.”

“Lazy arse.”

 

Once everyone gets on deck, though, they start a briefing about the Baroque Works agents they’ll be facing, the details of the Alabasta map, and their general plan to head for Yuba first thing. 

“What about the Whitebeard Pirate trying to kill us though?”

“Huh? White Bread’s trying to kill us?”

“Nothing you need to worry about, Luffy,” Nami immediately responds. Nami, Gin, and Anne have bounties, and Vivi’s the princess-- which leaves-- “anyways, Sanji and Chopper-- if you go in any other form-- are the only ones whose faces aren’t known. Everyone else, lie low.”

“Why not Zoro or Usopp?”

“You’re asking the blind people to go unsupervised in a new environment?” 

“Oh, right.”

“Excuse me?” Zoro is very, very offended. 

“What about Luffy?” Usopp asks. A second later, “nevermind, forget I asked.”

"Hey!" Luffy whirls over, offended. 

 


 

The hierarchy chart is drawn up as Vivi reveals the names of the Officer Agents, crossing out the ones they’d already beaten. 

“You don’t know any of their faces either?” Gin asks, looking toward Anne. 

“We only know the grade below us,” she says. In case Mister Four and his partner fail, it would be Mister Three and his partner cleaning up the mess, after all. “If they’re meeting at Alabasta, though, they will probably be meeting at Paula-san’s place.” 

“Paula-san?” Vivi asks. 

“It’s a place called Spiders Cafe,” Anne tells them, pointing to a spot around Erumalu on the map. “She’s a really nice big sister that tends the bar.”

“Spiders Cafe?” Nami asks. “Paula?”

Usopp grimaces. He knows that name. He knows that name too well, and he’s definitely not imagining the slightly excited tint to Nami’s tone.

 

(There’s a Spiders Cafe too, in the future. Everyone was working there. Mikita, Zala, even Anne, too. Nami went there once, and after a bit of a shocked entrance sequence, they became fast friends.)

(Zala (or Paula, the name she went by to avoid her bounty,) even went on girly outings with Nami, if robbing a Marine base was a girly outing.)

 

They didn’t know there was one before they destroyed Baroque Works, though, so this is a surprise. 

“Ah…” Sanji speaks up, “That’s where Mister Zero said to convene. I almost forgot.”

“In that conversation you had over the Den Den in Little Garden?” Nami asks. Man, if they’d asked Sanji about the details last time around, they’d have gotten plenty of information, too. 

“Yeah. He said everyone from One to Four will be there,” he says. 

“One to Four, huh… that’s eight people?”

“Minus the Mister Three pair we took down in Little Garden, six.”

“Mister Two Bon Clay doesn’t have a partner, so five.”

 

“Are we gonna do anything?” Nami asks. “Like, bomb that place?”

“If they’ve got Devil Fruit powers, bombing isn’t going to work,” Usopp adds. Too many powers can thwart or resist explosive damage, after all. 

“No,” Vivi says, “we need to hurry to talk to the rebel forces. Plus, they might already be gone by the time we get there. We don’t have the edge timewise.”

They shouldn’t blow their ‘supposedly dead’ cover either.

 

“Hey, everyone,” Usopp finally talks, standing up and retrieving his sketchbook. “If we’re done with the basic information, there’s some more information we have to tell you.”

 

He stops on sketches on men and women, varying in size and figures. It’s scribbling, as all Usopp’s drawings go-- but the figures are clearly doing something, taking action-- and using certain powers. 

And one of them looked distinctly like the flamboyant ballerina they’d just seen. 

“The Officer Agents,” Nami picks up from where Usopp leaves off. “I need all of you to remember these people, because we’re going to have to fight them.”

Eyes widen. 

On one page is a man, dripping like his arms were melting-- the 3 on his head was a clear indication of his identity. Even Anne was there, her hat and her kneeling, tea-drinking posture clearly encapsulated in figure. There was even a recreation of her Colours Trap Symbol, wide on the page. 

“What the-- Usopp-san, where do you get this information?” Vivi asks, horrified. There was no way he would have known any of this, much less enough to draw them. 

“Hey… is this guy supposed to have blades for arms?” Gin asks. 

“Blades for arms?” Zoro asks, and he gets a closer look. 

“And this lady-- her elbow’s a spike?” Sanji questions. “Wait… are these devils fruits? You even know their devil fruits?!”

 

Nami and Usopp allow them to take it in.

 

“Did you get this information down the Buggy Line, too?” Luffy asks. His voice is stern, his expressions pulled tight in a sort of inner conflict. 

 

Nami shakes her head. 

“No, we got this from a separate, highly classified source,” she says. 

Vivi freezes. She’s heard that before. 

“The same one that told you who I was?” she demands. “But this is-- this is incredible information! If there was a source that could identify so many of them so quickly… I would’ve--” I would’ve saved my country long ago, not needing to infiltrate Baroque Works for so long. So why-- 

Eyes are on them, full of skepticism. 

Usopp and Nami are undeterred.

 

“Information is our strongest weapon now, Vivi,” Nami says. “I know you did all you could when you could. But don’t cry that you didn’t meet us sooner-- be happy because we’re with you now, and we’re going to help you with all we have.” 

 

They came back in time for a reason. 

(They’re going to make the most out of their strongest weapon-- their knowledge-- while they can.)

 


 

A fiasco of almost eating a Sea Cat later, (Vivi is getting really good at using that broom,) Alabasta finally came in sight. 

“Huh? He can’t copy Nami-san’s metal limbs?” Sanji asks. He’s still trying to untie Carue from the mess of bandages the duck has gotten himself into. 

“Yeah, he can’t imitate anything that isn’t naturally part of the body,” Usopp says, “clothes, piercings, and additional body modifications, not including biological ones. And obviously, Devil Fruits, too.”

“You get that much just by meeting him a minute?” Sanji asks, skeptical. “Or as this part of your,” he accentuates the tone, “ highly classified source?” 

 

Usopp balks. 

 

Nami takes over with a splendid save, “you can get that much by observation,” she says. “Notice when he copied my body, he only used one arm to lift his coat?”

At that new revelation, Sanji looked really jealous for having missed that. Luffy and Gin were looking away, burying their faces in shame. Zoro had been in the wrong angle, so he didn’t see.

“Well,” Nami ignored them, “and when he copied Gin, the piercings weren’t there.”

And that was true. Gin didn’t want to be touched in the first place, but he’s ultimately glad that paid off in some way. They had a lot of information on one of their opponents, and that pretty much made up for it. 

 

“What about your sensing thing?” Sanji asks. 

Usopp shakes his head. “It bypasses,” he says. “I can recognize Nami’s, but for now… that’s it.”

That was the true terror of the Mane-Mane no mi, after all-- it copied everything down to tone, physique, smell, and body language. It was this same reason that Bon Clay couldn’t use his Okama Kenpo in anyone’s body but his own-- it just didn’t have the same flexibility, the same instincts. 

Haki could be differentiated, if the user themself used Haki-- but at this point of no one quite utilizing it, it was impossible. Unconscious, uncontrolled haki signatures were still capable of being imitated, after all. 

“No sense in complaining about what we can’t do,” Zoro says, tying the bandage around Chopper’s arm. “People in the stone age didn’t whine about not having a stove, they just made fire out of sticks and stone. Gotta work with what we have.”

Dramatic gasping, “Zoro said something profound?!”

“Who are you and what have you done with Zoro?!”

 

Classic, tried-and-true tactics of the weak has never failed the human race. That’s how people lived in this maddening world, how the civilians soldiered on despite the monsters in their midst. 

(“Cowards always lived the longest, because they learned how to survive like the weak.”)

 

Anne watches with an undeterred expression on her face as Gin ties the mark around her arm. Kinoko is on her shoulders-- she seems to prefer being around Anne more than Usopp, and she couldn’t figure why-- with a bandage around her wing as well. 

Anne hesitates. But when all the hands were up and Gin set a warm hand on her shoulders in reassurance-- she felt a surge of confidence. 

(Can she really be a part of this?)

(She hasn’t felt like this in a long time. She doesn’t know what it means yet.)

(But for some reason, she puts her arm up, like her body knew what she wanted much more than her mind did. And putting it down again seemed like a pain, so she allowed it to stay where it was, completing their circle.) 

 

They stand, Xs drawn and bandages tied. Convening at the deck and bringing their fists to the center in one circle of fellowship, Luffy grins. 

“Don’t worry about all that,” he chuckles. “Alright! From now on, no matter what happens-- this left arm is the proof of a nakama!”

 

When Anne sees Vivi warmly caressing the bandage a moment later, she realizes that this feeling is elation , and she’s not the only one that feels that way.

 


 

Luffy jets away the second they hit land. “FOOOOOD!!”

“Oh no, what should we do?” Vivi sighs, honestly upset at this point. “It’s going to be impossible trying to find him in a town as huge as Nanohana.”

Her worries were mostly unfounded, though-- Sanji’s entirely confident he’ll be in the noisiest part of the city, wherever that is. Zoro was much more interested in actually getting some food before they had to set off again, and Carue agreed with him. 

 

“Huh? You don’t see Mister Three’s ship?” 

Eyes turn to Nami and Usopp’s rather worrying conversation. 

“Yeah, it’s strange,” Nami says, “I don’t think we did much different here-- he should still have headed this way. He came alone, didn’t he?”

“Well, even if you ask me, I don’t know much more than you do…” 

“Nami-san?” Sanji prompts, approaching them, “is there a problem?” It was never a good sign when their two veterans looked serious and spoke hushedly to each other, and it really wasn’t too hard to pick up on that over the weeks they’ve sailed together.

 

It was like they were talking about something they both knew, in a bubble of only themselves-- and didn’t want to share it with the rest of the crew.

(It was frustrating, sometimes.)

 

They all see the moment Nami’s face wipes right back into her casual smile, and Usopp’s hands easily move back into the natural motion of retrieving his walking stick, getting ready to make a trip into town. 

 

“I can sense Luffy with my Haki, so I can go find him,” Usopp volunteers, feeling Kinoko come to land on his shoulder. “Chopper, would you come with me?”

“Eh? Ah… It’ll be a bit tough finding his smell in such a big place, though…” the reindeer turns to his walk point quickly, taking a quick sniff before grimacing. “Plus, this place smells kinda weird…” 

“You’ll get used to it,” Usopp assures. 

 

(They don’t chase the issue.)

(They already know that Nami and Usopp won’t say a thing they don’t intend to reveal.)

 


 

“Usopp, something over there is really noisy,” Chopper says. 

He’s beside Usopp, leading him forward. It’s the more common job of a guide animal-- except Usopp has both a bird and a reindeer to help him through it now. 

The steady taps of his walking stick urges the crowd to give him a berth, and Usopp feels like he can breathe a little better. 

“We can ignore that for now… tell me if you smell anything strange, alright?”

And Chopper does. They’re in a rush, but he’s sure Usopp knows what he’s doing. 

“But this whole town smells strange… I’ve got a headache and everything…” he whines. The odour of perfume and chemicals was just too thick. He droops onto Usopp’s body, whining. “Even your smell is better than it.”

“I thought you said I smell like gunpowder and oil?”

“Yeah, but it’s better than whatever this is…” Chopper mumbles. “Huh? There’s somewhere around here that smells a little like you…”

 

Kinoko interrupts them, taking flight for a moment before soaring off in some nondescript location. Though surprised at first, the two didn’t have to wait long for her to return, chirping something in Chopper’s direction. 

“She said she’s found what you’re looking for.”

Usopp immediately follows her lead, carefully maneuvering forward with soft apologies to the crowd as Kinoko’s wings clear a path. 

It’s a Den Den Mushi breeding store.

 

“Hey, could you keep your bird in check? You’re scaring the babies,” the shopkeeper hisses, and Kinoko seems to be squawking, the loud thumps of wings flapping seeming to indicate a sort of bird-chasing sequence. 

Usopp whistles, to which Kinoko begrudgingly returns to his side, landing on the back of his one-gloved hand.

“Sorry about that,” he says. “Could I have some Baby Den Dens?” 

The shopkeeper scoffs , “not if you’re gonna have that bird on board, no. I don’t sell them as food, you know?”

“Of course not, Kinoko only eats mushrooms,” Usopp lies immediately, “hence the name.” 

He ignores the offended cheek pull by Kinoko and Chopper’s confused noise beside him. 

“She’s just startlingly territorial, but we’ve got a full-sized one on the ship that this birdie is kinda scared of. That one’s a mean mommy, so Kinoko doesn’t dare do anything like that. One time she did, she got bit real bad!”

Usopp laughs, and the shopkeeper gives an amused snort. 

 

(Now, how to haggle as subtly as possible…)

 


 

“By the way, Chopper, where did you say you smelled gunpowder again?”

“Uh, from you?”

“Anywhere else?”

“...no? Wait. Yes. That way-- uh, Usopp mind if we run a bit?”

 


 

Meanwhile, somewhere in a restaurant, a loud, overexcited child bursts into the establishment, crashing right into one Logia after another, barreling through wall after wall with a loud demand for a meal. 

And beside them, a man with ginger hair watches, slack-jawed and horrified. 

“Hey, ossan! Food, hurry, hurry!” he demands, somehow getting his hands on the cutlery Ace had left behind before his unsolicited departure into the third building down the street. 

“Uhm… you might want to run for it.”

“Huh? Why?”

 

Oh, he can’t take this. Unsuppressed and explosive, Whitebeard Commander Thatch bursts into laughter, hitting the table in his fit. 

 

“You’re awesome, kid!” he pats him on the back before gesturing, “hey, owner. Get the poor lad some food, it’s on me.”

“What, really?! You’re such a good guy!” Luffy gawks. 

Then he notices something. 

“Your chin’s a triangle! That’s so cool!” 

“It’s a beard. Ah, and don’t eat too much, yeah? I had to pay for another black hole already so I’m a little skimp,” Thatch warns. “I've never seen someone catch two Logias off guard at once! Funniest thing I’ve seen all year, really! Wish I’d caught a picture.”

“Logia?” 

“What, you didn’t see?”

“See what?”

 

Luffy pauses in his face-stuffing endeavour to see where everyone is gesturing-- at the large hole in the bar, the wall, and in about five buildings down the street. 

“Wow, strange archer texture here, huh.”

“YOU’RE THE CULPRIT!” came the retort. 

“You mean architecture ,” Thatch calmly corrects. 

“That’s what I said.”

“Huh. Your good-vocabulary-but-bad-spelling quirk is alike, huh.” 

 

“STRAWHAT!” came a bellowing yell, followed by the loud thump of a face against pavement. Thatch grimaces. Is that Haki, or just Ace being taken off guard again?

Either way, he was so gonna tell Marco about this when they get home. 

“So you did come to this country, after all...” Smoker clicks his tongue, cigars back between his lips and his jutte-- on second thought, maybe it was the jutte that disallowed him to change back to smoke just now-- “you’re just leisurely chatting it up, huh.”

Thatch beams, raising his mug and taking a new sip. 

Luffy chews.

Then he spits. 

“You’re the Smokey guy from Loguetown!” he says over a mouthful of food so it sounds more like Se-bow-key gayd from Bogton , “what’re ya doing here?!”

Smoker very reasonably fumes, barely avoiding a nasty gunk of meat right in the face. He doesn’t manage to avoid all the spit, though. 

 

“Hold on.”  Luffy’s jaw widens like the loose strap of a rucksack, then he scoops all the food up in his arms and literally inhales everything.

Thatch is left horrified and, in mortified wisdom, incredibly impressed. 

 

Luffy then lowers his head, and humbly states, “thanks for the meal.”

Then he breaks off dashing, Smoker hot on his heels. 

“Bye, Triangle chin guy!”

 

Thatch falls off his chair laughing.

“Oh my god Ace, that is definitely your younger brother! Dude, he is just like you!” He staggers to his feet, dropping a bag of coins on the counter, wiping a tear, “I love him already!” 

Ace, cursing up a storm, stands up from the rubble to grab his hat and bag. “Stop laughing, you asshole!” he snaps, “why didn’t you stop him?! After them!” 

 


 

“You look great, Anne-tan,” Sanji says as he sets down the few beris on the counter, watching the shopkeeper pack the rest of the clothes into the bags. 

Anne finally got herself fitted into clothes for her size. 

Following the dancer theme Sanji seemed set on dressing the girls up for, Anne now sported comfortable shalwar pants, a light tube top, and a coloured vest.  Pretty standard Alabastan wear, to be honest. They would usually wear colourful saris or shawls over everything, right? But she got a vest instead. 

She was very much willing to just have an outer coat over her usual clothes, like the boys, but Sanji insisted she needed to get a set of clothing. 

“It’s not as if I have assets to show off anyways, so I don’t see the point,” she admits. 

“No, no,” Sanji insists, taking her hands in a ballroom spin, showing her off to herself before a mirror, “all girls deserve to look cute, and not every appeal is a sexual charm.”

She looks away, trying to hide a faint flush in her cheeks. She’ll admit these clothes are more comfortable in this heat, though-- the overalls trapped way too much heat for the scorch of a desert, too. 

“If you’re really not fine with it, I’m also getting an outer layer for later on.”

Anne shakes her head. “I’m fine like this for now.”

 

She supposed this was the better option, compared to the gaudy exotic tops he was getting for Nami and Vivi. She is incredibly interested in the shawls and costume jewellery, though. She wondered if she could have one of those.

Sanji looks around outside before calling for her as they leave. 

“Anne-tan, let’s go.”

“Ah, yes.”

Anne hurries along, tearing her eyes away from the displays, tucking her hat back on, and following him. 

They hurry back to the meeting point-- a little crest of ruins in the outskirts-- to find the crew gathered around a mat of food and a Den Den Mushi. 

 

It’s the communal Den Den Mushi that used to be Nami’s, now decorated with the mark and colours of the Strawhats rather than Nojiko’s likeness. 

“Huh? You found the Rebel base in Katorea?” Vivi exclaims. “No way! They were supposed to be in Y--”

She freezes. 

Then, a sinking realization. 

“...unless Yuba has already been destroyed,” she mutters. There was a hollow, painful crack in her voice-- “it can’t--” she looks away, burying a palm in her eyes, “no.” A deep breath. “We need to talk to them, then. Thank goodness you found that out, Usopp-san.”

“Wait, Vivi, what about Crocodile?” Zoro questions. 

“Yea, but the Rebel forces are priority now… if the war breaks out in Alubarna before we get to Crocodile, there’ll be too much bloodshed. We have to stop them, first.”

 

Sanji quickly sets down the news clothes, tossing outer garments to the boys while picking up a chunk of meat to stave off his own hunger. 

Anne hurriedly hands the girls’ portions as the girls, hidden behind a curtain improvised by Sanji and Carue and a half brick wall, quickly shore off their layers for the new clothing. 

A huge explosion interrupts the whole order. 

 

“What was that?” Usopp asks. 

 

“Don’t know, the Marines. Probably some idiotic pirate got himself caught by making a ruckus or something.”

Pause. 

“...Shit, is that our idiot?”

 

Nami emerges from behind the brick wall, sporting quite an elaborate dancer’s fit, her hair draped over her shoulders. Her metal arm and boots stuck out in a strange juxtaposition to her aesthetic, but Sanji was over the moon with her look. 

“Talking to the rebel leaders and taking down Crocodile,” Gin says, already fitted with the new hood over his head, hefting up a barrel of water.  “Why can’t we just do both?”

“You mean--”

“Oh, Zoro!” came a certain obnoxious voice, “So that’s where you guys are! Heeeey! The Marines are here!”

Loud cursing filled the air as everyone scrambled to get their things together. Even Anne seemed honestly peeved, her brows furrowed at the sight.

“No Luffy, fuck, stay away, go the other way, the other way -- fuuuuuck they spotted us,” Zoro groans, drawing his swords before Nami drags him back, because no, they shouldn’t be fighting here, what if Crocodile gets reports of them and comes?

“Well, saw this coming a mile away…”

“Doesn’t mean it’s great!” 

“Didn’t say it was!”

“What a mess. Can I just kill him to ensure this doesn’t happen again?”

“Anne, sweetheart, the answer is no.”

 

There’s a laugh, as if the captain heard every word. “Everyone, run!” Luffy declares, beaming brightly and sprinting in their direction, gun-toting marines hot on his heels. 

 

“Goddammit Luffy!” 

“What is it called when the Captain keeps trying to get everyone else killed?”

“Uh, tyranny?”

“Oh, like Don Krie--”

“Hey, we discussed taboo words a long time ago, I thought we agreed to not invoke that goddamn name in this household!” 

 

Anne picks up the Den Den Mushi, climbing onto Carue’s back with it as they all break off running. 

“Can we just hand him i--”

“No, and I’m raising your mutiny ranking when we get back.”

Anne pouts.

 

“Luffy! There’s been a change of plans!” Nami hollers as soon as Luffy is close enough, “hurry up!” 

“Wait, we shouldn’t--” Vivi interrupts them, “it’s reckless to split up here! We can head for Rainbase without a plan or a reliable way of communi--”

“I got some baby Den Den Mushi. It’ll be tapped along the way, but it’s better than nothing,” Usopp speaks over. “Chopper’s nose isn’t taking this city well, so he’ll be headed back that way, be ready for an exchange.”

“Huh?!” Luffy hears it this time, “what about you, Usopp?”

 

The Strawhats come to a startled stop as a haze of fire bursts right behind Luffy, barely catching him in the blast. 

“FIRE FIST!” 

A blaze churns to life before them, capturing Smoker in his tracks and deterring the Marine with a fiery eruption.

“Hey hey, give it a rest, Smokey,” Ace huffs, regathering his pieces in a wisp of flame. “With your power versus mine, this fight will go on forever.”

“You…!”

“Ace!” Luffy brightens up, “hey, Ace, that you?” 

“Run along now, Luffy, I’ll catch up,” the older brother dismisses him, “I’ll buy you some time with these guys.”

“Ah-- alright!” Luffy spins back around, “let’s go!”

“What the-- who is he, Luffy?!” 

“Shit, that’s the Whitebeard Commander?” Gin swears, “fuck, forgot about him. We gotta-- wait, Luffy, you know him?”

“Ah yeah, he’s my big brother!”

“...WHAT?!”

“Anyways--”

“No no no, we are not anyways -ing this! Explain!”

“Luffy’s brother is trying to kill us?”

“Shit, we were supposed to avoid him! Why did you bring him to us?!”

 

It’s madness. Gin is halfway strangling Luffy, Sanji is losing his mind, and Anne is very, very confused. Vivi is still shellshocked, and Zoro’s jaw is dropped. 

 

“Your brother is a Whitebeard Commander? Then what about Nami? What’s Nami?”

“Nami is Nami? I don’t understand the question,” Luffy says in return, “you guys are being weird. Who’s a White Bread Commander?”

“Your brother?!”

“Huh? He’s a White Bread Commander? Since when?!”

“That’s what we’re asking you !”

 

“Enough, children!” Nami snaps, fist slamming down on Gin and Sanji’s heads. “Luffy, the rebel forces are in the city right next to this one. Crocodile’s in Rainbase-- what should we do?” 

“Huh?!” another jaw drop, “wait, so we don’t need to go to Upa anymore?”

“Yuba, Luffy.”

“Vivi needs to stay here and talk to the forces,” Usopp says, “I won’t make it back in time to the ship, so I’m staying here as well.”

Luffy is silent for a moment, turning to Vivi.

Vivi looked stricken. “Wait, like I said-- the rebel forces are priority now. We can’t just go straight for Crocodile--”

 

“Vivi,” Luffy says, and she shuts up. “Can you handle the rebel army on your own?” 

 

Vivi freezes at that. 

(It’s true-- she’s the only one that can convince the army on her side-- she didn’t really need anyone else with her, aside from protection.)

(Sending the whole Strawhat crew with her, to find the Rebel Army-- would just be a waste of the little time they have.)

 

“Y-” she hesitates, but the truth is there. “I think so, yes.”

 

Luffy nods. 

“Then, I’ll leave it to you!” he says, grinning. “Zoro, go with her. You and Usopp, make sure Vivi is safe, alright?”

Vivi’s jaw drops.

 

(Just like that?)

 

Zoro hums, “got it, Captain.”

 

“Wha-- wait!” she finally stops. They’re in sight of the ship now, and the loading quickly begins. Vivi’s near tears, “I can’t just--”

“Vivi,” Nami sets a hand on her shoulder, draping the dark blue overcoat over her shoulders. “Take this with you.”

“What’re you so worried about this time?” Luffy says, lips pursed like he’s incredibly miffed. “We’re nakama , so trust us a little.”

Vivi didn’t know what part of that sentence made her want to cry.

 

( Trust, like it was so easy to just recklessly send these guys out to face a Shichibukai.)

( Nakama , like the bandages around their arms-- she belonged here. She meant just as much to them as her country meant to her-- and they were willing to risk just as much.)

(Maybe this is what it means to find a family.)

 

“You go talk to the Rebel Army, we go fight Crocodile. We’ll be done before you know it, really!” Nami assures her. 

“We’ll be fine, Princess,” Gin says, raising his left arm and the bandage maker as an indication, “your country won’t be if you’re late to stop the Rebel Army, though.”

That was true. 

 

“Oh, Chopper! Glad you made it!”

“Are those the Baby Den Dens?” 

Chopper skids to a hasty stop before them, breathing heavily. He’d run all the way from the other end of the port, to the greeting arms of Luffy scooping him up to the ship. 

“Usopp’s at the Southeast exit, the one with the skyward sign,” Chopper says, “he said Vivi’ll know where it is.” 

Vivi nods. She does, actually … The crew quickly convene, quickly move in unison-- as if nothing was amiss, and their plans hadn’t been abruptly derailed. 

 

“Okay... “ she relents. Quickly throwing on her overcoat including the hood, she turns to the crew, eyes meeting firmly.  With a hand set at her chest, she manages a feigned, but no less mischievous, smile.  “Thank you,” she says it with all her heart. “May the winds be in your favour, and may we meet again.”

It’s the phrase she’s exchanged with Igaram, plenty of times before. 

Disguised as a standard passerby farewell of the eccentric Miss Wednesday, with a hand where a locket of gold would usually sit-- it was an assurance, a promise , of fair journeys and eventual success in their shared motive. 

( I am with you always , it means, I hope the day we return home together is near .) 

 

The smiles she earns, and the arms held out before them, is a promise on its own. She doesn’t let the tears fall-- instead, she smiles-- and their promise is a declaration of resolve, lasting for just a second before the magic breaks and their eyes rip away to the blaze behind them. 

Fire Fist Ace is making one hell of an impression, and the Marines are still coming. 

 

“Alright, men!” Luffy yells, hat returning to its place at the top of his head, “make sure you get Vivi there!”

“Aye, sir!” all voices respond, including Usopp’s and Kinoko’s from the other side of the phone. 

 

“We’ll meet in Alubarna,” Nami reminds them, snatching the rope to quickly tug her way up as Gin retrieves the ladder. 

 

“Hurry up, Vivi,” Zoro says, grabbing a bundle of clothes and provisions. 

 

“Ah, right-- Carue!” Vivi calls out, “lead the way there, alright?” 

 

The duck onboard salutes loudly, and Vivi nods, reaching out to grab Zoro by the collar (nearer to the middle of his back, actually,) to steer him back in the right direction. 

“Mister Bushido, how about I lead the way?”

They don’t look back, only forward. 

The Den Den Mushi hangs up, and the anchor is raised. The sails are done, and Nami gestures that they’re ready to go, any second now. 

 

“Alright, set sail!” Luffy declares. 

 


 

They’re just a little out of the sea, going back through their plans, and setting up the Den Dens in their new nest, when two knocks against the hull draws their attention. 

“Whitebeard Fourth Division Commander, Thatch speaking,” the voice calls out, and all figures on deck draw their weapons in alarm. “Addressing the captain of this vessel. Permission to come aboard?” 

 

“Wha-- ooh! Triangle Chin guy!” 

Luffy hulks over the edge of the bow, looking for the source. He beams at the strange, ginger-haired man, clapping his feet in excitement. 

 

Nami holds him back, looking down as well. 

“Triangle Chin guy?” Nami questions, partially suppressing her laughter. 

“Yeah! He treated me to food just now. He’s a super good guy!” 

"Oh darn, I was betting on Bread Hair," she says, slightly troubled. Then, taking a closer look at her senior Whiteboard crew member, she grimaces, "oh wow, what happened?"

 

Thatch’s hair was in a bit of a mess, pulled back instead of forward in a pompadour-- did something give him an unprompted haircut again?

Under his Alabastan robe was clearly a chef’s coat. He had a sword strapped to his side, but his hands were held up in a mark of no hostility as he smiled up to meet the captain’s eyes. 

 

“Luffy, your response here should be a clear yes or no,” Nami tells him. “Name yourself, and say it loudly. Alright?”

Luffy huffs. 

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of this ship and the man who will become the Pirate King!” his arms are crossed, and his declaration is as proud as Nami tells him to make it. Gin has to grab Anne before she can attempt mutiny, and Sanji chokes very harshly on his cigarette. “Come on up, come on up!” 

“Luffy, NO!” shrieked the crew. 

“L-Luffy, that’s a Whitebeard Commander we’re dealing with!” Chopper freaks out, “he’s trying to kill us!”

“Huh? He’s trying to kill us?!” Luffy freaks out, “you’re trying to kill us?!”

“No, I’m not," Thatch hollers his answer. 

“Oh, alright then.”

“Stop taking everything at face value!”

 

Nami, meanwhile, casually waves at Thatch, who waves back happily, impervious to the madness happening on the ship. 

 

“I can’t believe this shit’s happening already,” Gin mutters, “not just one, but two commanders on our ass? We’re all gonna fucking die. The guys in Drum didn't tell us there were two of them.”

“We’ll be lucky if we just fucking die,” Anne adds. 

Sanji gasps dramatically, holding his chest in fatal heart damage, “Gin, you shithead! Look what you made her say! You’re a terrible influence!” 

Gin’s middle finger of response has not much defense against the incoming heel, but it was worth it, because Anne immediately imitates him, making Sanji crumble in a spasm of yet another bout of dramatics. 

Chopper rushes over, because hey, he heard something crack. “That better not be the finger bone, Sanji! How many times do I have to fix Gin up this week?!” 

“We’re going to die, I can handle a broken bone.”

“I am running out of bandages!" 

 

Luffy watches his crew erupt in chaos, laughing wholeheartedly at the sight. “What’s with you guys today?” he says, completely oblivious to their past week of intense anxiety. 

 

“So Ace is your big brother, huh?” Nami asks rhetorically, throwing down the “excited to see him again after so long?” 

Abruptly stopping in the middle of their fight, the rest of the crew look over. Nami’s leaning over the bow-- and in her dancer costume, her Whitebeard Mark was in full display on her back. Her hair, tied up in an elegant bun, only accentuated the sight. 

“Yeah!” Luffy beams. “It’s been so long since I saw him! I really didn’t expect to see him here again.”

Gin groans. “Look, Luffy-- this is probably hypocritical of me to say, but you didn’t think to tell us that your brother was a pirate?”

“I had to tell you?” Luffy looked incredibly confused by the question. 

“Yeah, figured,” Sanji mutters, looking away. 

Seemingly ignoring that, Luffy went on to explain proudly, “he’s also looking for One Piece! He’s three years older than me, so he left a lot earlier. He’s super strong! Didn’t stand a chance when I fought against him, and that’s before he ate that Devil Fruit!”

 

He didn’t know Ace became a Whitebeard, and didn’t even know he’s eaten a Devil’s Fruit. Hell, Luffy claims to stand no chance against a non-fruit-eater Ace. 

 

“Brother of a monster’s an even bigger monster, huh,” Gin mutters. “And of all things, a Whitebeard Commander…” 

“Huh? But where does Nami fit on the family tree?” Chopper asks, “Whitebeard is Nami’s dad, right?”

Nami chuckles at that, still holding onto the rope ladder as Thatch begins making his way up. “It’s complicated, Chopper.”

“Does that mean you and Luffy are cousins?”

"We try not to think about it too much."

 

A curdle of flames churn up the hull-- extinguishing right as black boots clatter against the wooden bow. Portgas D. Ace lands behind Luffy, shoving him forward with a startled squawk. 

“What’s this about a damn family tree? You wanna draw up a hundred-person family tree this time, Nami?” Ace teases, hand holding down his hat. 

(Nami snorts at that. If she used the Red Line as a canvas, she could try.)

Then, addressing Luffy’s bright grin, “yo, Lu.”

“Ace!” Luffy cheers, leaping and engulfing his brother right into a stretchy-armed hug. Almost proudly, he lets go and swings by his crew, declaring happily, “this is my crew! Oh uh, not all of them are here. But aren’t they cool?”

Nami takes Thatch’s hand, tugging him onto deck with the rest of the crew. The chef nods curtly, a polite smile on his face. 

 

“Once again, I’m Thatch,” the chef introduces himself, “this is Ace. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and Captain Whitebeard sends his regards.”

Ace immediately follows up with a bow of his own, “ah, nice to meet you, and thanks for taking care of my kid brother. I know he’s a handful.”

“Yes, he really is,” unanimous agreement.

“So, what’s with the weapons?” Ace asks. 

Immediately, Gin tucks his weapons to his back, Anne hides her paintbrush, and Carue hastily puts down a huge rock. Sanji looks away, taking a strangely long drag of his cigarette, and Chopper also not-so-subtly hides a paper explosive behind him. 

“No, it’s nothing,” it seems like talking in unison is today’s trend.

“Sure?” Ace raises a brow.

“No, it’s nothing,” they were very sure in unison. 

 

Nami decides she has no mercy, leaning back against the ledge and chuckling to herself. “They thought you guys were out to kill us, so they’ve been freaking out all the way from Drum.”

“Shh, Nami, SHHH!” 

“How the hell did that happen?” Thatch wonders. 

 

Nami chortles, watching as Luffy attacks Ace with another hug, and Ace tries to shrug him off because that’s enough, you

 

“What are you doing here, anyways?” Luffy asks. 

“Huh? You didn’t get my message in Drum?”

“Drum?” Luffy doesn’t see the simultaneous horrified-but-slightly-interested glances of everyone on the crew. 

“Nah, nothing important.”

Everyone deflates. 

“Well, a lot’s happening, and I was passing by.” Ace chuckles at that. “I did say I’d come see you when you made your name, didn't you? I’m still waiting.”

Luffy fumes at that, “I’m working on it!” 

Ace laughs heartily at that. 

 

“Well, I’m mostly here as Ace’s chaperone,” Thatch says, gesturing at the brothers. “Nami,” his eyes narrow sternly, “we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Nami looks away, nodding. They came for answers, just as expected. 

It was a lighthearted meeting-- but there was a deeper layer to this. They weren’t looking for them for any nefarious reason-- they were simply searching, to send an important message in a way no one could share or detect it. Personally. 

 

Gin’s eyes meet Anne’s, and they decide to step away, leaving the group to their privacy in their conversation. They knew a lot about needing some time to catch up, after all. 

They quietly gesture for Chopper and Carue to come with them, as they begin charting their course toward Erumalu down the stream. A single meaningful glance is enough for Nami to nod out a passing of responsibility, and Gin takes charge. 

 

“Well, let’s take our time,” Sanji suggests, opening the door to the galley. “I’ll make us all some tea.”



Chapter 42: talk to me (any way, as long as we understand.)

Summary:

Information can be passed in various ways. Letters, conversations, negotiations-- even brawls, depending on the person. As long as you understand-- you can communicate, even shakily.

Nami struggles with sharing.

Luffy shares his struggles.

Notes:

Hey guys! Did a minor retcon on the first couple chapters regarding the pre-canon present timeline of this fic, mainly how many years went by from 'waking up in the past' to 'meeting luffy'. It's here but if you don't want to bother reading that, here's what has changed:

1. Nami came back when she was 13 (about 5 years pre-canon)
2. Usopp came back a year later (so 4 years pre-canon)

The first five chapters has been fixed to reflect this.

p.s this is just a timeline clarification, it's nothing serious that will change the whole pic or anything.

Chapter Text

In the palace of Alabasta, Pell raises his arm to receive a large, star-marked bird.

Guards follow along, alarmed by the presence of an unidentified avian-- but Pell waves them aside. The little chimp around its neck delivers them a letter-- and Pell’s eyes widen at the familiar lock of hair around its binding. 

Quickly, he sends the bird on its way-- it was not a patient sort, Pell can tell. It will certainly not deliver a return message -- and rushes to the throne room. 

“Your majesty! King Cobra, it’s dire news!” 

The doors are closed and the messages are silent. 

“It’s Vivi-sama! She’s sent us a letter on everything she and Igaram-dono found out!” 

 


 

“Ace! Ace, look how cool she is! Nami’s got a metal arm!” 

“I know, Luffy.”

“Be more amazed about it! Nami is so cool!” 

Luffy has been trying to emphasize on the charm and wonder of his awesome crewmate for the past hour, but Ace just isn’t impressed enough to satisfy him. 

Luffy is very, very miffed. He’s gotten to the point where he’s bragging about his talking reindeer for the third time. At some point, Luffy began brooding in the corner, and Sanji had to begrudgingly walk up to him to apologize for not being impressive enough to brag about. 

(Then Luffy began bragging about his fighting chef, and the cycle went on.) 

(It took a while to make Luffy stop, Chopper resorting to distracting their captain with some of the things in Usopp’s box of inventions.)

 

-

 

“Purupurupurupuru…”

“Kachack!”

Nami picks up the Transponder Snail.

“Belle’s Tangerines, how may I help you?”

Eyes turn to her, and Nami raises a finger, indicating for everyone to be completely silent. They’re all stuffing their faces, Thatch and Sanji exchanging recipes in the kitchen as Ace marvels at the mutiny leaderboard. 

“Hello, this is Pop Greens. I’m calling to confirm that I’ve received my parcel,” Usopp speaks through, “I was devastated to hear it got lost in the shipment, but the contents arrived in pristine condition. We will be forwarding the parcel to our beneficiary from here, and will contact you for any further enquiries.”

Nami smiles wryly, “we apologize for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your continued patronage. There is a waitlist as our house is full, but the line will remain open.”

“Speaking of which, I’ve heard there’s a dust storm coming through your area. Do take care not to inhale too much smoke.”

Nami chuckles, “I appreciate your concern. It’s not too severe upwind where we are. Our bread’s baked fresh from the oven, and it came out perfectly fine.” 

“You sure it’s not the fire from your oven causing all the smog in the first place?”

Nami laughs. “Maybe!” 

 

She hangs up.

 

“Bread?” Luffy asks, turning his attention from the tart in his hands, “where? Sanji, we’ve got bread?!”

“Where? I can’t smell any!” Chopper says, running up to Sanji in confusion. 

Sanji almost feels bad that he has to break it to them that there’s no bread in the oven. 

“Looks like Vivi and Zoro have successfully met up with Usopp, and they’re headed to the Rebel Base right now,” she reports. “And it looks like Smoker-san is here in Alabasta with us as well.”

Gin and Anne lift their heads at that. 

“Coded conversation, huh,” Sanji observes. Nami and Usopp had gone about it so casually-- it was almost flawless. “You seem quite accustomed to it.”

Nami nods at that. 

“In the Grand Line, Den Den Mushi are almost perpetually tapped,” Thatch explains. “It’s alway better to keep sensitive information out of the phone conversation. By the way, am I supposed to be the bread?”

“Am I supposed to be the oven?” Ace mutters, then, “shit. I did cause the smog.”

Nami chuckles at that. “Enough. Let’s talk business.” 

 

Sanji washes the dishes while Nami and the Whitebeards sit at the table, talking over tea. Gin and Anne are with Carue outside, manning the ship’s course. 

“You dropped by Drum, so I’m sure you know-- but Teach is loose, so watch out for him. He might hold a grudge.”

“Why were you guys looking for him anyways?” 

“Well, we’re just making sure he doesn’t get any damn ideas.”

Nami frowns a little at that. She already knows this much from the Buggy line, but that’s fair-- she’s no longer an acting member of the Whitebeards, so she shouldn’t be sharing information lines as well.

“I appreciate the warning, but I can take care of myself. I have a new Captain now,” Nami pouts, cheeks puffed up in annoyance. 

“That’s right!” Luffy says, slightly annoyed, pointing at them with a pseudo-fishing rod-looking thing, “I'm not giving her back!” 

Ace sighs, “we’re not stealing her from you, Luffy, chill.”

“You better not!” 

Nami smiles warmly at that. “So? How did Teach escape you guys anyway? You didn’t deal with him?”

To which Thatch raises a confused eyebrow. “What exactly did you expect us to do? He dueled Ace for the right to leave and well, he won. So Oyaji let him leave.”

“I didn’t lose!” Ace snaps. 

Thatch shrugs at that. “He didn’t get the fruit, though. That’s what you wanted, right?”

Nami groans into her palm. 

“...yes, that was ideal,” she admits. She was wondering why Blackbeard was free even after sending Aladine to the Whitebeards… 

 

(For denizens of the future, it would be common sense to deal with Teach early. Permanently-- completely, fully.)

(He caused too much trouble, chased too much fire, and ruined too many things.)

(But for people of the present, Teach was nothing more than a selfish bastard.)

(He did not kill a comrade. He did not commit mutiny.)

(He simply lost his goal in that Devil Fruit, and thus, demanded to leave the Whitebeards. He had every right to leave, even in their terrible terms and the shaky breakup.)

(If Nami had gone personally, would they have been able to kill Teach? No one knows.)

 

“Go with the flow and try not to die, I guess,” she mutters to herself, her words only barely heard by the others in the room. 

“Well, we were just keeping an eye out,” Ace says, “good thing, I think he just barely missed you guys. Try changing courses after this, though.”

“I know, I know,” Nami waves them off, “it’s not my choice, but I’ll do what I can.”

“What’s this about changing courses?” Luffy asks, “we need to go somewhere else?”

Nami simply taps at her Log Pose. “No-- it’s just that if we continue on this path, someone following us might be able to trace our next destination.”

“EHH?!” 

 

“Wait, really?!” Gin slams the door open in alarm. Look at the eavesdropping piece of shit forgetting how to be subtle. “No wonder you guys knew where we were!” 

 

“That, and we just listened to the radio.”

“...the radio?”

“Ace, that’s top secret information.”

“Oh. Forget I said it, then.”

 

“Oh, come on!” Gin throws his arms into the air. “You cannot be serious!” 

 

“By the way, is someone supposed to be listening in on us under the deck with a knife?”

“Ah, that’s Anne. Don’t mind her.”

Sanji groans. “So we are being chased by something? It’s not Whitebea-- Whitebread, but it’s still Nami-san’s fault, right?” 

“Sanji, why did you correct yourself to the wrong name?”

Sanji simply lifts Nami’s pin to the top of the board. “Back to the top with you, then.” 

“Oh come on !”

 

“Oh god, that thing is hilarious.

“I was actually wondering, how is your ship not the last on the ranking?”

“Luffy fell off the figurehead,” Chopper says. “His wounds were all from being run over by the keel and then he somehow got caught in the rudder, so we counted it as Merry’s.”

“And Luffy’s rank goes up when we have no one to blame it on.” 

“And the doctor?”

“Luffy ate something he shouldn’t have. It’s Chopper’s fault for leaving it somewhere Luffy can reach it.”

“But Luffy can reach everywhere .”

“Exactly.”

 

Thatch gapes. “What sort of insane situation do you need to blame something on Luffy himself, then?”

Everyone made the most annoyed grimace, looking away in unison. 

Fortunately for Thatch, no one answered him. 

Ace bursts out laughing at that. If Luffy looked very irritated by that and started climbing all over Ace in his childish attempt to get back at him, no one else cared enough to tell him to behave. 

 

“Speaking of knowing information on a line we weren’t aware of,” Thatch immediately prompts, voice liting in a way to draw more attention to his change of topic, “Nami?”

Nami cringes .

“Oh, not so fast now!” Ace slams his hand on the table before the girl can stand up and quietly leave. “ Nami ,” he says, smiling in a stiff, horrifically strained way, “I would like to know about the, well, guest , you invited onto our ship.” 

Ah. 

Nami chuckles nervously. 

“First of all… how much do you know?” Ace leans in, his questions getting louder with each one that comes in succession, “about everything. How much are you still hiding, and how the hell did you find out any of it?”

“And why you did it, why at that specific time, and why these specific people in particular,” Thatch adds. It seems like they spent the better of their journey listing the questions they were going to hound Nami with. “And,” before he forgets, “what else you plan on doing.”

Nami grows paler with each question, and by the penultimate one, her flight or fight meter was highly tuned to the ‘F U C K’ zone.

 

His questions make her crew lift their heads curiously. 

Evidently, a few weeks of being left in an obvious dark has worn down on the crew’s patience, and Sanji’s lack of deterrence for Ace’s interrogation is a testament to that. 

 

“Nami, I swear, if you give us another cryptid clue Marco might just lose the last of his hair,” Thatch says, “what else did you learn-- is it how you found us in the first place? Who’s your source, and why did you never tell us about it when we were sailing?”

“Did you already know this when you were sailing with us? Or was it later than that?”

“Is it an information source you can’t talk to Oyaji about?”

“It’s not just who’s your source it’s how’s your source,” Ace groans, “it makes no sense how you would know things I don’t know about myself!”

“Sanji, save me,” Nami immediately says. 

Sanji opens the door, taking out a cigarette. “I’m sorry, Nami-san, but I think you should just listen to your big brothers today.”

“I agree,” Chopper reports, quietly picking up a paper explosive and leaving the room, closing the chest of inventions as he goes. 

Luffy just laughs, following them out. “Good luck, Nami!” and then the door closes. 

Nami might just cry. 

 

-

 

Nami runs out of the galley and buries her face right into Anne.

The younger girl was too busy being surprised by the sudden affection to react with a warning stab. But Nami nuzzled in so earnestly, she missed her chance either way.

“Seriously, why’re you so desperate to not say anything?” Thatch says, following her out. Behind him, Sanji notes that Ace had fallen asleep facefirst on the table. Luffy sees it too and beams , hurrying toward the cartography room for some reason. He comes back with a marker.

“Please, just take my word for it and believe it won’t be used egregiously?” Nami pleaded, hiding behind Anne fully now. 

“At least tell me who else knows sensitive information.”

“I don’t know who else knows!” That’s a lie, “you know the code with information lines.”

“Nami, the Whitebeards are only not in contact with one information line and I don’t want to think you made contact with fucking Joker ,” Thatch emphasizes, “I’m just worried for you, alright? Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”

“I’ll be fine!” 

“Yes, Nami, I trust you will be,” Thatch clarifies. “I just don’t trust the people you’ll come in contact with in the future.”

 

Nami makes this groaning noise into Anne’s back. 

It was awkward, being stuck between the two as they argued. Gin pondered on interfering, but Sanji was already keeping an eye on them. 

Meanwhile, there’s a loud shriek in the kitchen before Luffy screams bloody murder, scrambling high hell out of the room with Ace literally hot on his heels. 

“CHARYBDIS UP MY ARSE! LUFFY!” 

And fire and rubber churn across the deck in a mess of limbs and expletives and screams of pain. Luffy had apparently decided to play a game of find-the-constellations along Ace’s freckles, and he’d been caught red-handed. 

Muttering a chain of tart curses, Sanji goes after them, hoping those flames wouldn’t sear the deck. Gin calls for Anne’s help, and the girl quickly excuses herself. 

 

Thatch and Nami are left, still two meters between each other-- and the man hasn’t been distracted in the least. He doesn’t even spare a moment to entertain the ridiculous situation. Doesn’t take a moment to make fun of Ace-- so Nami knew then that she couldn’t get out of this willy-nilly. 

“It’s me,” Nami says. 

Thatch’s brows furrow just a little. 

“I don’t have a source-- I’m the source,” Nami elaborates. “When I first met you guys, I was just a girl, a reckless rookie trying to save my island. You trusted me, but I lacked seniority or proof-- that’s why I never told you guys.”

And when she smiles, the curves are strained and it doesn’t reach her eyes. 

 

Thatch finally breaks eye contact, sighing into his collar with an expression that could only be interpreted as sheer, undeterred disappointment

“So you’re saying, you won’t tell us the details now either-- because you still don’t think we trust you enough? Because you don’t trust us to trust you?”

 

Nami fights the urge to deny it.

(Because he’s right.)

(The only people Nami can truly trust in this world-- they’re scarce. She loved them-- would die for them and run across the seas for them-- but she cannot give them this.)

(She cannot give them the power to topple the balance, because right now-- it’s the only edge she, and the rest of the time travelers, have against the world.)

(If she shared the information carelessly-- they could lose it as a weapon.)

 

Finally, Thatch huffs, hands on his hips as his face twists to a scowl

“Oh come the hell on, Nami!” he snaps, and all motion on deck stops. “You’re seriously selling us so short like that? After all this time?” Nami tenses sharply, shoulder bracing as Thatch fiercely, powerfully steps forward--

--and wraps her in a hug. 

“For such a bright girl, you’re such a fucking idiot.”

 

(Huh?)

 

“How am I supposed to stay mad at you when you look like you’re going to cry?” Thatch holds her close-- cradled her head, and makes sure she feels secure in his arms. “You’re not talking to an enemy, you know?”

Nami chews on the inner lining of her lip. “It’d be easier on me if you just got mad.”

“Well thank goodness, absolutely not,” Thatch says. “Look, Nami-- it’s okay if we’re not the first ones you turn to when you’re in trouble. That’s not the intention in our relationship, and we definitely aren’t going to monopolize you when you leave,” he tells her. “But you can’t just forget we’re on the list. And we don’t care what you do, what you hide, or where you come from--”

He stops there, but Nami picks it up.

“--Oyaji will split the seas to save me if I need his help,” she says. “I know.”

(Did she really?)

“I don’t need help,” she breathes out, shoulders easing in a way to recompose herself, and just a little-- she leans into the hug, her arms coming up to return it as tugs on the back of his coat. “I’m fine.”

 

This time, Thatch is the one that breathes out deeply. 

“Liar,” he says, “you haven’t been fine since the day we met you.”

 

(You’ve always been there, trying your hardest with all that weight on your shoulders.)

(And we’ve always been waiting here, for you to ask for a shoulder to cry on-- but you never asked for it.)

(We’re still waiting.)

 

“It’s fine if you never tell us,” Thatch says. “It’s okay if you leave us in the dark, we’ll still love you all the same. But we don’t want you to be alone when you cry.”

Nami isn’t crying.

But she buries her eyes into Thatch’s shoulder, and neither mentions it when they come away damp.

No one mentions how the rest of the Strawhats have gone quiet, and were all subtly looking away, pretending not to see as well.

 

-

 

“Thanks, Ace. Tell Triangle Chin that for me too?”

The older brother whirled around in alarm.

“And when did you learn manners?” he asks, flabbergasted. He can’t take the sincerity too seriously when Luffy’s face is still splattered with ink and scribbled over with permanent marker. 

Maybe that green paint the little painter girl used just now was messing with his younger brother…

“No, seriously!” Luffy says, irritated. “I can be polite when I want to, okay?!”

“Oh my god, this is so weird. Are you feeling okay, Lu?”

“Stop making fun of me!” 

They pick up their cups of tea, Ace in particular perusing the green symbol at the back of his palm as he does so-- and settle into relative comfort on the crow’s nest.

“I’m talking about Nami,” Luffy finally elaborates. His voice is uncharacteristically dull-doned, and his spirits are a little lower than Ace remembered him to be. “She and Usopp are always like that.”

 

Ace pauses mid-sip, but continues. 

(This means, simply enough-- that Nami does have a comrade after all.)

 

“She doesn’t tell any of us anything,” Luffy says. It’s not as if he would’ve asked for it anyways, “and she always seems so sad about it.”

Ace mused on that. Luffy would definitely be the first to take note of people’s emotional states. What surprised him here-- was that he didn’t do anything, even knowing. 

(Why, he wonders.)

“Nami’s your nakama , right?” 

Luffy nods. Of course she is. “But…” he slumps into his arms, pouting just a little, “sometimes, when she looks at me… it’s like she’s looking at someone else.”

Luffy was definitely not the sort you could call ‘insightful’. But he knew things-- and he was thoughtful. He rarely put it into words-- but if there was someone that could empathize better than anyone else in the world-- it was Luffy. 

“At first, I thought it was that Whitebread guy,” he says, “but it’s different.” 

 

Almost, Ace can hear it.

(Nami’s lonely, but Luffy knows he’s not capable of filling in that void.)

(And the thought crushes him.)

 

“Nami and Usopp are strong,” Luffy says. “Of course they are. All my nakama are strong. But Nami and Usopp are different. I don’t… feel like I’m their captain, sometimes.”

 

Ace’s breath holds. He had been a captain himself, but never would he ever be brave enough to admit such a thing. 

( “Am I a captain worth following?” is a concern all leaders have. But “I feel like they deserve better,” is a thought no captain should be forced to feel.)

It’s an inevitable question. 

Nami is a pirate hailing in the standards of the New World-- famed and notorious. And this crew is decked out in similarly notorious names, from Pirate Hunter to Man Demon, the biggest names in the East. 

(The pressure a man must feel, to lead all these big names on his thin, rubber shoulders.)

Ace brings him arms around Luffy, leaning in close so the sides of their heads touch. 

 

“Maybe you should tell her about it,” he says. Then, with a short chuckle, “she’s a girl, but she’s strong. You can punch her once and tell her that you want her to stop being so sad, you know? You’re captain, after all. Your authority is highest.” 

Luffy snickers at that. “But Nami’s punches hurt, so it might be tough.”

“Yes, but it’ll feel better once you’ve fought about it once, right?” Ace says, and Luffy agrees readily. 

 

(If he had been Sabo, he would be suggesting a mature conversation, not a brawl.)

(But it’s the only way Ace and Luffy have ever honestly communicated-- and sometimes, it’s what works. If punching is what it takes to make your tears be heard-- then that should be it. There’s no shame in being a bunch of emotionally constipated morons together.)

Luffy leans into Ace’s arms, gently rubbing against the crossed-out S engraved into the skin-- and for a while, they simply reminisced. 

 

-

 

They’re almost at the shores of Erumalu when Ace and Thatch get ready to leave. Tossing Luffy a thick paper, Ace smiles. 

“Leaving so soon?” 

“Yeah, this was just a clock-in to make sure you were doing alright,” Thatch says. “Teach doesn’t have the Yami-Yami no Mi, but he’s still pretty dangerous. So don’t fight him, alright?” 

“No promises.”

The rest of the crew snort at the rather honest answer from Nami. 

“That paper will allow us to meet again,” Ace says, “it’s called a Vivire Card, and well-- Nami can explain the rest to you, I guess.”

“It’s just a blank piece of paper, though?”

“Don’t want it?”

“I’m keeping it.”

 

Luffy peruses it with a confused demeanor, but he doesn’t let Anne take it when the girl glances curiously toward it. Even if it seemed like strange scrap paper, Luffy evidently held any sort of gift as a treasure of their own kind. 

 

“Well, good luck staging your uh, coup. Crocodile’s a tricky one to fight,” Thatch says. “We’ll be heading home. Come visit us someday.”

“You sure you don’t wanna join us Whitebeards?”

“Absolutely NOT!” Luffy snaps immediately, and Ace’s words fade away into laughter. 

Hat on his head and a smile on his face, Ace says his goodbye with words of a worried brother and a hopeful bid to meet again on the blue sea. 

Thatch even ruffles Nami’s hair a little, complimenting her dancer costume (and earning shy word of gratitude before immediately receiving a kick to the shin,) before hopping down to the Striker. 

 

“Ah, before I forget,” Ace turns back, briefly remembering something, “by the way, Luffy-- Sabo’s alive.”

 

There’s a moment where the world seemed to stop for a second. The clouds didn’t seem to move, the wind didn’t seem to travel-- it was just a confused stare, a blink-- and then:

“...Huh?”

“Like I said,” Ace says, turning to face his brother, rucksack slung over his shoulder, “Sabo’s alive. He’s busy with work right now, but he says he’ll come meet you as soon as he’s done picking something up? Dunno with that guy. But yeah.”

Luffy sputters for a second, “Huh?!” Then, when Ace just raises a brow, Luffy snaps to Nami and goes, slack-jawed eyes wide and tongue somewhere the hell else, “HUH?!”

 

Nami has to turn away and desperately transform her laughter into fake coughs. 

 

“Well, you’ll meet him someday.”

“Wait, Ace! WAIT!” Luffy lunges but fails to catch his brother when he hops off and lands on the Striker, “you’re just gonna leave?! HEY!” 

Ace grins. “Oh, and he ate a Devil’s Fruit too, so don’t throw him into the ocean or anything! You can ask him all about it next time you meet him.” 

This time, Nami is immediately wrenched from her laughter right into the gallery of horrified faces, “wait! He ate a-- is that what happened to the-- ACE COME BACK AND EXPLAIN THIS!” 

Instead of a response, all they can hear is laughter and the churn of flames as the Striker zooms away across the sea. 

“Goddammit, ACE!” 

 

-


-

 

Usopp hangs up and sighs. 

“So,” He turns to the very out-of-breath Zoro and the half-sobbing Vivi, who was already on her knees and never wanting to do this again, “need a break? Kinoko found this neat nananut juice stall a little east of here, and I’ve already bought three before you guys managed to make it here.” 

“Be q--” Zoro tries to maul Usopp, but the sniper dodges, and Zoro has to take another moment to catch his breath again before hacking up his words, “quiet, you arse.”

“There was so much sand everywhere… I know Alabasta is huge, but I can’t believe I got lost on my own home island…” Vivi whimpers tearfully, struggling to compose herself, “for a second, I thought we were going to end up in Alubarna…” 

(...by walking along the port?!)

“No no, don’t worry about that, Vivi,” Usopp quickly assures her, “it’s definitely not your fault. Zoro is just a monster.” 

“Oh fuck you, Usopp!”

 

Next time, Usopp might have to ask Kinoko to lead them around. She might make a better guide bird for Zoro, instead of him. 

Seemingly sensing his intentions, Kinoko plucked at Usopp’s ear in retaliation, earning a mindless swat and a half-hearted sort of apology. 

 

Usopp is handed new clothes, and Kinoko is given a new little cap to match. There's a distinct ruffle of clothing as everyone seems to get settled in their new robes, weapons tucked carefully away. 

“We need to meet with the Rebel forces first,” Vivi says, tugging her hood over her head. The seastone bangle-- which, apparently, became Vivi’s weapon at some point-- hung around her wrist. 

Usopp picks up his walking stick, and they begin to move. It’s systematic, the way they don’t question why or how Usopp knows the way-- if anything Vivi was tempted to make a comment on trusting him more than Zoro, but she kept it to herself. 

Kinoko takes flight, rounding their supposed destination overhead before descending nearby. Usopp knew exactly where she landed each time, making slow progress forward to follow her road after road, alley after alley. 

Vivi and Zoro don’t say a thing.

Sternly, they keep an eye out. True to their suspicions, they were being stared right back. The stench of Katorean perfume filled the air, not too pungent but just enough to barely mask the hollow, grainy scent of gunpowder Zoro instinctively recognized. 

 

-

 

“You can’t get lost from here,” Usopp says, abruptly coming to a stop. “Vivi-- there are Baroque Works agents within the Rebel Army as well. Be careful, alright?”

And then he turns away, taking a clear right turn while Zoro continued to take forward strides. Vivi hurriedly catches up, a question at her throat but unable to voice them in fear of the eyes around them coming too close. 

“Wait, why are we splitting up!” she hisses, warily eyeing Kinoko’s new direction and trying not to act too panicked-- she turns, but Usopp’s already gone.

(How did he disappear so quickly?)

“Usopp’s weapons aren’t made for short-ranged battle,” Zoro simply says, moving on unfazed. “Let the blind bastard go wherever the hell he wants.”

“Emphasis on the ‘blind’ part,” Vivi sighs, then, “wrong way!” she grinds her teeth, grabbing him very firmly by the wrists, and quickly moving so their hands were firmly intertwined. 

Zoro balks, first at the invasion of space then at the extra warmth as Vivi worms her fingers through his, making it harder to tear away. “What?!”

Vivi doesn’t look the least bit embarrassed. “If this is what it takes to not get lost again, I will be willing to spare some dignity for the sake of my sanity.”

Zoro was very, very miffed by her sheer gall, but there was nothing he could do except try and hide his face while Vivi dragged him forward like a very demanding little sister.

 

-

 

Smoker wasn’t one to stalk quietly, (he preferred confrontation,) but Vivi’s presence had piqued his interest just a little too much. 

When Fire Fist led the Strawhats to the shore and they began to sail away-- Smoker deemed them a lost cause and inevitably found himself following the two that split away-- Roronoa, and the supposed missing princess of the country.

Now, he stood by the roofs, just out of sight-- watching them go by slowly.

Hey, he could be subtle when he wanted to.

And then, his attention was drawn away by the longnose they convened with-- his walking stick indicating a blind man, his Haki solid-- wielded with confidence. 

 

(Haki was rare enough in Paradise-- much less someone that used it to establish his own position in a crowd. Smoker could feel it-- this man didn’t need to spill his haki in this manner. He was doing it on purpose-- to keep the weak-minded instinctively away from him and clear his path.)

(It was like looking at Issho.)

(This was a man that had seen , and now sees without. He looked Nami’s age-- and presumably, was also part of that crew. It made Smoker grimace at the thought.)

 

Tashigi was heading the rest of the troops, so he couldn’t split his own forces. So when the longnose decided to part ways with the other two, Smoker knew he had to decide one to follow now, or--

The tap of a walking stick behind him makes him jump -- but before he could whirl around with his jutte-- Usopp was there, a hand at his elbow, holding his back mid-swing.

“Are you really going to attack a defenseless, disabled boy, Captain Smoker?” Usopp challenges, smiling mildly. 

 

Soru. 

Fuck, that was definitely Soru.

 

Smoker tries not to let his own haki flare up too briskly. 

“I know better than to trust a blind man acting innocent,” he says instead. Issho was one hell of a spartan when people looked down on his sight, after all. “I don’t trust a pirate that confidently approaches a Marine.”

(Nami, Ace, and this one, too-- being able to strike casual conversation with someone in a Marine coat is the sign of a veteran fighter.)

Usopp pouts, stepping back just a little-- Soru -ed just out of reach as Smoker swipes at him with his jutte-- and poised his walking stick before him. 

Smoker stood straight. 

He could tell, from a glance-- that unlike with Nami-- this boy’s Observation Haki was superior to his own. It wasn’t some monstrous thing, Smoker could definitely take him in a fight, it just wouldn’t be worth the damage it might cause. 

That’s why he was slightly relieved when Usopp didn’t try to attack. 

 

“Can we talk?” 

 

Well, that was honestly ideal. 

Smoker allowed the other two to leave the range of his Haki-- and leaned back, taking a drag of his cigar as he faced the boy. Evidently already sensing his intentions, Usopp eased as well, a laugh escaping his throat. 

 

“What a relief! I was scared shitless thinking about fighting you, man,” Usopp says, collapsing to his knees. “Ah, right. I’m sorry about all the trouble our Nami has caused for you, by the way.”

A curt little bow. 

 

“Cut to the goddamn chase and just tell me what the hell you guys are doing here in Alabasta!” Smoker doesn't have a lot of patience, evidently. “And about the stupid phonecall we half-tapped while we’re at it!”

 

Usopp pouts, “not even gonna let me introduce myself? Rude.”

 

-

 

Kohza lifts his head at the foreign birdcall. 

He’s not sure what species this is-- the colour was a little uncommon, so was the size-- but the armor-like contraptions it spotted were the signs of a domesticated upbringing. It definitely wasn’t local-- but his breath caught at the sight of a glinting object around its beak. 

An earring-- just one, gold in the hoop and jade in its ornament. 

 

“Kebi,” Kohza orders, sharp and quiet, “clear the meeting room and the entranceway. Now.”

 

His friend speaks up to chase an answer, but Kohza doesn’t entertain it. He steps forward, dismissing other questioning calls before lifting an arm-- meeting eyes firmly with the avian-- and allowing it to perch strongly against his arm. 

Closer inspection confirmed his fears. 

Gold and jade, the hoop engraved in the ancient script of Alabasta-- this was Vivi’s earring. One she wore only during the most official events and when she went missing, word went that the jewellery disappeared with her. 

There was a letter sticking out of the bird’s pouch. 

Kohza brings the bird into the hut-- Kebi had cleared the room, but now he was frowning really hard, expecting a very prompt explanation now-- but he didn’t know how to answer it. 

 

All the letter said was I need to meet you, Leader. And, much more grimly, don’t trust too many people .

 

Ah, how much he wished for this to be a terrible dream. 

“Guess who’s finally home,” he can’t suppress the resigned smile on his face, and Kebi finally shoves forward to get a look at the letter too. 

The way his jaw drops straight down is honestly very amusing. 

Kohza nods at the bird, quietly nodding for a coast clear before allowing the bird to fly off and lead their guests back into their tent. 

Kebi hasn’t moved on from the ‘frozen shock still’ phase just yet, so Kohza has to whack him over the head with the heel of his palm. Kebi groans, but recomposes himself.

“Let’s see what sort of crazy our pain-in-the-ass princess took two years to find,” Kohza sighs, sitting down. 

 

“Okay but like,” Kebi recovers very quickly, “I know you’re going to tell me I can’t set up the betting pool, but I just know the first thing she’ll do is break your damn nose.”

 

Kohza makes a non-committal, strangled-sounding noise, burying his face into his hands.

“I know.

 

Chapter 43: how to stop civil unrest (by causing civil unrest?)

Summary:

Vivi decimates a legion of men. (Zoro and Usopp just watched.)

Nami brings the crew to Yuba, (Luffy's hallucinations redacted.)

In the palace, Pell fails to whack the mole. (Hammer not depicted.)

Chapter Text

“This is Birdless Stickman, transmission to Unlabelled Compass. What’s your status?”

“Do you want to die the next time we see each other, you bastard?!”

“...well, luckily for me--”

“Kachack!” 

 

Smoker scoffs at the brief exchange, the baby Den Den Mushi going back to sleep as the very infuriated Pirate Hunter hangs up on Usopp. He didn’t even bother giving the status report, which left Usopp at a loss. 

“You make a habit of driving your crewmates insane?” Smoker asks. 

“Not always,” Usopp answers, tucking the walking stick under his arm to adjust his goggles before tapping the transceiver once more. “Sorry, can you call back please?” 

This time the call takes a decidedly long time to be picked up, (Zoro must be pretty mad, huh,) so Usopp sets the Baby Den Den Mushi on his shoulder and sets down his bag.

“Well, not my fault my shipmates tend to forget I’m blind sometimes,” he says, picking out the head of his Kabuto from his bag and slotting it to the top of his walking stick like a bottlecap. And, done. Kabuto MKXIII.

 

A reasonable man as Smoker tends to be, it only took Usopp a ‘Vivi asked us for help because our enemy is Crocodile doing his corrupt ruler shit’ to get him on their side. Yeah no that's not normal, Smoker must either be too fucking exhausted to care of patiently plotting murder while Usopp rambles. Usopp isn't sure which.

 

“Anyways, uhm,” Usopp speaks up, still slightly nervous, “you really sure you’re just gonna, uh, trust me like that? I mean.”

Smoker would’ve usually either strangled him or knocked him out by now, for the amount of bullshit he’s spouted in the past couple minutes against the government.

“If I punched you right now, you’d just dodge,” he says, knocking out the ash on his cigar and going for another drag. “I’ve got more sand in my jacket than I have nicotine in my fucking lungs and I haven’t breathed clean air for the past ten fucking hours, if you guys are gonna enlighten me on why you brought your asses here before I go batshit--”

“Stop stop stop,” Usopp quickly ushers, “you’re about to go off and I’m not sure if the narrator has the vocabulary range to do you justice.”

Smoker clicks his tongue and hissed sharply about mothers and octopuses. 

 

Kachack!"

 

"Give us a second, Lady Airhead is busy right now.”

The sounds of a loud crack and clutter and some really loud semi-explosion erupted in the background of the call. A desperate-sounding ‘Leader!!!’ was quickly followed by the clatter of wood and bricks coming down haphazardly against not-so solid ground. 

Then, a hollow clunk.

The snail falls silent.

“Would that be a concussion?” Usopp suggests.

“That would be the concussion,” Zoro agrees, dryly. “Whose idea was it to give her the seastone bracelet again?”

Usopp could only bury his face into his palms in dread as Vivi’s voice, slightly muffled but chaining out a clear string of very amusing expletives, began to fill the air. 

 

“--smite you! From the air and let the sand-swellers eat your rancid arse!” a clear sound this time, probably a slap, “pray for a desert jawlion under your tongue, you spider-brained--”

“We’re sorry, Vice Leader, but please stop! He’s already dead!” 

“--morons!” came the final exclamation to the skies. “What in the four blues and depthless sand dunes were you dungheads even thinking?!”

“Not the nose! He still needs to make a speech in front of a crowd! Not the nose!”

 

“Okay, we are separating the girls on the ship from now on,” Usopp says, affirmatively. “Nami is evidently a terrible influence.”

“...Agreed.”

 

Oh, how much Usopp would pay to see Smoker’s face right now. Last time around, Vivi was much too overwhelmed to chew out Kohza for his nonsense, but apparently, when you put her in the right situation, she can talk great smack. 

(As expected from ‘Miss Wednesday’, she has the toughness to match her corporation’s reputation…)

Usopp places the Den Den Mushi by his feet.

 

“Lady-- I am not calling myself an Airhead-- to Birdless Stickman,” came the girl’s voice once again, and apparently her nickname changed, “as you have heard, negotiations went well.”

Negotiations that ‘went well’ do not usually entail beating the opposing leader senseless, but Usopp doesn’t quite have the courage to tell her otherwise. 

“Report: Lady Hardhead is bleeding from the forehead.” Zoro deadpans. “Do I do something?”

Neither does it usually entail a literal headbutt to get their minds in the same place, but apparently Vivi thought otherwise.  Usopp thought Vivi was the reasonable one in this crew, but apparently he was wrong. What in the actual hell is going on here?

“Yeah uh, make sure she doesn’t murder our only chance of success?” Usopp asks. “If possible?”

“Back to the handholding, then.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing of note. Hey, Lady Hardhead, get over here. You’re grounded.”

There’s a distinct chirp from the other end that was Kinoko giving her two-cents of similar exasperation, but Usopp deigns to simply sigh at it.

“Oh hey, I like that name better. I dish out the hardest headbutts in Alabasta.”

This is the princess of Alabasta, everyone, what the hell happened to her in Baroque Works?

 

“Alright, whatever works,” Usopp decides this isn’t worth his sanity and turns to the Marine Captain. “I found uh… what codename do you want?”

Smoker seems surprised for a moment.

Then, “Chaser’s fine.”

“Chaser here, as an ally,” Usopp doesn’t falter, “so yeah, you can focus on your end. Take as much time as you need, we’ll call you when the ducks start dancing.”

 

“Un...derstood,” Vivi says, sounding confused. “Wait, are you sure you’re alright there? Who did you find? Should we be worried, U--”

 

And, sharp end call. 

 

“I’m going to get scolded once this is all over,” Usopp observes, very calmly. Finding Smoker wasn’t a plan or anything-- he had honestly just come up here because he found the Marine stalking them and thought it’d be nice to start talking. 

He has no idea how to go through the rest of this journey.

Smoker hums. “I’ll believe you about the princess, but I need a reason why I’m not immediately reporting this to the higher-ups.”

Usopp chews on that. 

“Well, first of all, you need to get to Rainbase right now to chase down Crocodile,” he says, “but uh.. would ‘you were distracted by the fascinating tales of a wandering bard’ suffice?” 

 

There’s a moment where Usopp can feel the silent, unimpressed stare boiling into his face. 

He can even imagine it-- Smoker just slumped there, leaning lazily, taking a very rough drag of his cigar, fiddling with the hilt of his jutte. 

(It’ll only take half an impulse to smash the blind bastard’s face in at this point, haki or not. Usopp will probably let himself be hit because yeah, that was just an exasperatingly dumb thing to suggest in general.)

Then, a soft, noncommittal noise of amusement.

“You know what,” Smoker says, “why the fuck not. Start talking.”

 

-


-

 

“Luffy, what did I tell you?”

Luffy sniffles, nursing the five-layered bumps on his head. He’s on his knees before Nami, trying really hard not to look up at the demon queen. 

“...Don’t fight the Kung-du Fugongs,” he repeated, the strict words drilled literally into him by now.

“And what ,” Nami says sharply, “did you do?”

Behind him, a colony of dugongs cheer loudly, lining up to get their portraits painted while Chopper fervently talks to them about staying here in exchange for this incredibly artistic opportunity.

Luffy holds his head and meekly replies, “I fought the Kung-du Fugongs...”

Nami lifts her Clima Tact just a little, and Luffy violently flinches away. She settles with crossing her arms. “Will you do it again?” 

“No, absolutely not!” Luffy pleads. “I promise! I won’t!” 

“Good.”

 

Taking pity on the situation, Gin sets a hand on Nami’s shoulder and subtle directs her attention toward Carue, who was perusing the map for a way to explain the route to the humans. 

As a super spot-billed duck, he’d only ever navigated by animal instinct, after all. 

 

Sanji alights from the ship with Luffy’s straw hat, inspecting the stitches on ribbon shoddily binding it to the Vivre Card for one more moment-- before tossing it back to the captain. 

“There, it’s sewn on,” Sanji says, “it’s a little frayed cause of the material, so when we see Vivi again ask her to fix it--”

“Ooh! Thanks, Sanji!” Luffy says, unquestioning and not even the least bit bothered by the clumsy needlework. He stuffs it back on his head and beams. 

Sanji sighs. “You’re welcome.”

“Anyways, time to go?”

 

Carue inspects the grounds, taking a quick lap around the shore before quacking for attention. Nami notes down the scribbles Carue has drawn-- it’s basically a ‘go straight here until you see palm trees!’ sort of map, but it works for them.

 

“Thanks, Seals!” Luffy calls out to his army of new disciples as they raise their new self-portraits of incredible muscle-flexing visages and wave goodbye. “Take care of the Merry for us, okay?!”

They call back words that were probably confirmations.

Anne and Chopper already look exhausted, Anne more so as she hurriedly collapses her easel, packs her tools into her canvas bag, and hustles along. 

The crew hike up their supplies to their shoulders, get dressed in their hot-weather robes-- and set off toward Yuba. 

“Kung-fu Dugongs are surprisingly photogenic,” Anne says, inspecting her sketchbook for the new sketches she didn’t give out. 

“Did you seriously have to draw a new one, with new poses, for all of them? They basically look the same, so you could just…”

Gin doesn’t get to finish his sentence. Anne’s cheeks had puffed up in annoyance and she was staring up at him with the most miffed expression that Gin swears he saw on Luffy two minutes ago-- is Anne imitating Luffy?! Holy shit. 

“...right. Of course, it is important to put sincere effort into every drawing. I’m just dumb. Excuse me.”

“Anne, close that. The white paper reflects the sunlight and it’s a laser .”

 

Meanwhile, Chopper inspected a small sleigh-looking contraption that Carue was wheeling. They’d found it in Usopp’s workshop with a note that read ‘for desert travel’, though they didn’t quite understand why exactly. 

For now, they’ve stuffed it with their heavier items, Gin and Sanji having one hand on each end of the bars to help Carue trudge it along. 

 

Nami tugs her robe over her figure-- and braces herself for what would definitely be a perilous journey ahead for her. 

“What’s wrong, Nami?” Luffy had turned around, his eyes fixed on Nami’s expressions. 

“Oh noth--” Nami falls silent.

(It’s a bad habit of hers, to hide like this, as if it was the natural thing to do.)

“--actually,” she chuckles, “as a warning, if any of you start smelling burnt flesh, that’s probably my arm, okay?”

 

Everyone whirls around. 

“WHAT?!”

 


 

“No no no Nami you are staying UNDER the umbrella!” Luffy snaps, “no getting out! This is the Captain's order!” 

“You’re seriously evoking the captain card for this?” 

 

Nami has been reduced to walk-like-a-lady duty, crowded around by a hysterically guarding Luffy and Sanji while Gin contemplates his life decisions. Chopper is too exhausted by the heat to give more than a stern glance every once in a while. 

(Because sure, her arm can handle the heat-- but it’s still metal, it’s still going to burn when it’s so close to skin. Its boiling point is high, but Alabasta is among the driest countries in the Grand Line, barring the ones with active volcanoes. It’s still a risk.)

“There’s nothing you can do to the sun, so chill,” Nami says. Seriously, they even fashioned a sun umbrella from Usopp’s inventory for her. 

“With all due respect Nami-san, we would fight the fucking sun for you,” Sanji says.

“I know that and I love you with all my heart for it,” Nami responds, “but please don’t.”

(Nami remembers a day when an evil orb of flames laughed down at them, blazing through the sky toward them with ominous laughter. She shudders at the thought-- she still has nightmares of being chased by crazed women demanding cake sometimes.)

 

Well, it felt nice to be treated like the princess of the group. 

(Ah, she already misses Vivi.)

 

Carue leads them through the path, and they trekked through the desert, under the scorching sun. It’s strange to be here without Vivi-- but Nami takes over the explanation role, leading them through each day with a smile. 

They cuddle up against Carue and Chopper at night, whine about the sun together in the day-- they watch Luffy drink strange cactus juice and start hallucinating, and continue trekking on when Luffy goes missing midway because if he can get lost between the trek, they’ll just bet on the fact that he can just get lost back to them. They were lucky Zoro wasn't in their group. He would be a nightmare.

(Nami makes sure Luffy doesn’t get tricked by birds that feign injury to steal provisions, because hell no she is not risking any loss of water when her arm is literally killing her. She hasn’t even mentioned the foot yet.)

(Eyelashes the camel also shows up midway, to which Nami happily gives him his name once more and lets Anne be its passenger.)

 

“You sure you don't want to ride the camel too?” Gin asks, peeking out from under his hood and leaning in just a little to share the shade of Nami’s umbrella. “You’re taking this as hard as Chopper, aren’t you?”

No one approached Nami’s right side. The metal arm was sort of radiating some heat, even from under the robes. 

Nami chuckles. “Do you have any idea how much I weigh? I could never subject this cutie to that,” she dismisses, “really makes me wonder how you and Zoro lug those metal clunkers around all the time with no problem.”

Zoro’s swords and Gin’s tonfas are, after all, pretty damn heavy themselves. 

“I don’t know, Nami, maybe the fact that it isn’t literally attached to our skin is helping us out,” Gin mutters. 

“And, you’ve got more muscle mass,” Nami adds. 

“Not my point.”

“Were you making one?”

“...yeah, fuck, I wasn’t.”

 

Nami laughs good-naturedly. The heat was taking its toll on everyone, in different ways. 

Sanji drags on with increasing effort, taking his steps almost irritatedly. He grinded his teeth every once in a while, trudging on forward robotically until he sensed a change in the monotony. 

Anne has been sitting in the same exact dead-eyed position for the past how many hours now. She seemed to be overheating in her spot, but simply staying as still as she could in order to conserve her own energy. Gin was similarly dead-eyed but he trudged on with surprisingly more resilience than the other two. He didn’t seem dragged down in his steps at all-- though his nonsensical speech spoke volumes of his exhaustion. 

Carue and Eyelashes are doing just fine, but Chopper and Luffy look near death. 

 

Which is why the sight of Yuba in the distance made Carue leap with new joy, gaining the energy to quack loudly like an alarm and charge forward, dragging Chopper in the sleigh behind him. 

Luffy, spinning into attention, swirled back and forth between Nami and Carue-- slightly surprised by the attention, Nami juts out a nod-- and then Luffy screamed, charging ahead right after the duck. 

 


 

Toto doesn’t recognize any of the Strawhats, but he definitely recognizes Carue. 

When Nami explains the situation to him in depth, he believes them. (She has to shove a glaring Gin away though, since he was scaring the man.) 

They stay at the inn for the night, finally getting the rest they so needed. 

 

Before journeying through the desert, Nami had shrugged on a shoulder brace for both her arms to offset the tension created by the heat and the exhaustion. She didn’t need it on the daily anymore, unlike in her chore boy days-- but she didn’t want to risk fatal muscle strain in this environment. 

Before retiring for the night, Chopper transformed into his larger form to help her remove it, inspecting the muscles before scrutinizing the metal arm itself, just to make sure nothing really went wrong with it. 

 

Anne brushes Carue’s coat with a thick brush Usopp had made for this very purpose, trying to get out sand that lay between each feather before they settled in. She also took the time to inspect her sun-damaged paints, and the other things Usopp had entrusted with her before they parted ways at the shore. 

“Hey,” Anne holds up the Tone Dial in Nami’s direction, “is this anything useful?”

When Nami demonstrates, Anne and Chopper marvel at the device. 

 

Sanji and Gin sat like civilised, responsible adults, making plans for what would happen tomorrow (“okay so first, we are going to NOT let Luffy run into the city--”) while Luffy stayed outside with Toto, whatever they were doing. 

It was peaceful for now.

 

But Rainbase is tomorrow, and Nami thinks this will be their last break before all goes down to shit.

But well... they'll cross that bridge when they get there.

 

-


-

 

“You are kidding me,” Kohza whispers, burying his face into his hands for a mirthful moment. “Shit. Sir Crocodile he was-- he was right there, this whole time…”

Vivi had taken much too long (and a bird-smash-face-hug of CALM DOWN courtesy of Kinoko,) to sit down and actually converse about the diplomatic situation. The sun was about to set, and the Rebel Army camp was still in a fuss over their leader being hung up in this long talk. 

“I understand your feelings, Kohza-- but we can’t waste anymore time,” Vivi says. “The Rebel Army has grown too much. There are too many Baroque Works officers all over Alabasta now-- it’ll take too long to cull them all. That’s why--”

“Yes,” Kohza says, “I’ll have to cut off the Rebellion right away. As the leader.”

 

If the Rebel Army stops-- the Royal Army will, too. 

 

Zoro watches them talk-- keeping a minute eye on the curtains that made the entrance of the tent. His swords by his side and his back against the pillar that held the structure up-- he closed his eyes. 

So far, so good.

 


 

In the evening Rebel rally, Kohza stands before the crowd again. 

“Wha-- delaying the charge? You’re giving the Royal Army time to mobilize, Kohza!” 

“That’s right! We cannot delay any longer!”

“If it’s about the weapons--”

 

“Right now, if we go in, it’s suicide!” Kohza says. “We may have numbers and we may have the anger in us to take it to the palace-- but they know all of that! They know that we are nothing but miserable townsfolk who stand no chance against them in battle!” 

Silence. 

“I accepted just anyone who bore the same hatred for our king. It was my mistake,” he declares. “Right now, there are spies in our midst! And while they are still among us, there is no way we can move on forward!”  

 

The shock was palpable on their faces. 

“Spies? It must be part of the Royal Army who joined us recently!” 

“I knew it! It was strange for all of them to join us at once!” 

“Wha-- don’t sell us short, Kohza! We’re genuinely against King Cobra!” 

“That’s right! I’d say it’s one of you hooligans instead!” 

“The fact that you’re calling us hooligans isn’t making you any more convincing!” 

“I was a guard at the chamber. I know the most out of anyone how little the king fucking cares for us! And you’re telling me I might be a traitor ? Have some respect!” 

 

Kohza raises an arm, and the noise quells by a fraction. 

“Somewhere between us, there are spies. But I will accept resignations. I will accept volunteers who don’t want to go on the charge with us,” he says. “You have until daylight to get the fuck out of here.”

And then, he turns away-- and the crowd erupts into riots between each other once more. Only a fair few noticed that this was very unlike Kohza. To throw the army into violent disarray like that-- it just wasn’t something he did. 

But the few that did-- the people who have known Kohza the longest-- knew something was up. 

 


 

Near midnight, when the fights were quelled and people returned to their bunks-- Kohza entered a tent at the edge of the base, a large outpost for the weapons that people usually didn’t go toward. 

Kohza doesn’t go through the front entrance. He wanders through a hidden entrance that opened up in a crevice of the armory.

About twenty people were already waiting inside, including the night guard for the day and his second-in-command, Kebi. 

 

“I haven’t heard that phrase for a long time,” one of them says as Kohza enters. Then, in the most dramatic tone still mildly hushed for the time of the day-- “ you have until daylight to get the fuck out of here!”

Hysterical laughter follows, “man, remember when King Cobra found out we taught Vivi that?” well that was a nightmare, “well, I mean, it was Dr Quack that did, but…”

“Stop laughing, Erik, I still have trauma from the lectures he put me through. I think that’s like 85% of my motivation in this army,” Kohza admits, earning another chorus of laughs. Kohza manages a weak smile as well. 

 

This impromptu Suna Suna Clan reunion was already going better than he thought.

 

“So, straight to the point,” Kohza says, “Sir Crocodile is framing the king to usurp the throne. We have spies from Croc’s organisation in our midst, and we’re doing a purge tonight. Pick your weapons and tunnel of choice, and let’s go.”

All of them gave him flat looks. 

One of them opens their mouths, but they don’t manage to articulate the question. 

“Trust me,” Kohza tells them, “you‘ll get the explanation soon.”

Slowly, the crowd begins to notice the white patch of gauze around his head. It was hidden during the speech with a bandanna, but he’d taken it off now. 

 

The blood drains from their faces. 

 

Finally, Farafra raises his hand. “Uhm, permission to run like hell toward Alubarna to try and get Pell as a shield?”

“Don’t try,” says Kebi, and now that people get a look at him, there was a huge bump on the back of his head. A tear of sheer manly effort shone in the corner of his eyes. “Just get it over with while she’s being nice.”

That’s being nice?!”

“We’re going to die, aren’t we? If I die, put ‘I died gloriously for our cause’ on my grave.”

The curtain draws, and all movement in the tent seize. 

A cloaked figure steps in, quickly removing her hood to reveal bright blue hair and the smile of an angel. She sets down a huge bag of what appeared to be fabric, and Kohza was casually inspecting the materials.

 

“Long time no see, everyone! It’s been a while, huh?”

 

They did not scream, but they sure as hell crumpled right back like frantic geckos in a desert eagle den. Someone scrambles back, trips over a barrel of magazines, and topples right two meters onto the ground, a load of firearms burying him under. 

It was unfortunate, that this meeting tent was walled in by weaponry and the only exit was through the barrier of the smiling seraphim of doom. 

“Oh uh-- HEY uh, Vice Leader, didn’t expect to see you again uh--”

“Did you enjoy your trip? Disappearance? ...actually there were rumours of kidnapping or something but that’s not true, right?”

“Right! How’s the weather outside of Alabasta? Wait shit that's a sore topic. Uh--!”

 

Vivi’s still smiling when she removes the thick stone bracelet from her wrist and holds it like a brass knuckle, rolling up her sleeve to give herself more space. 

“I missed all of you so much!” she says. She takes one step forward and every strong and mighty member of the Suna Suna Clan is backed up as far as they can into whatever surface they could find. 

 

“Please stop smiling! We’re sorry!” 

“I beg you, anything but the smile!” 

 

Kebi makes his way beside Kohza, who hands him a lolly candy he’d sourced from outside. It’s the kind that has whiskey in it. It’s the closest thing they have to chugging a beer right now. 

They pray that enough of their friends will live to see the daylight. 

 


 

Zoro is (not) lost. Kinoko is with him and the bird hasn’t said anything yet. 

There are people leaving the Rebel Army, despite the harsh accusations. People who don’t think their cause will go through anymore-- not with all this unrest-- and thus, are leaving to give up, possibly to run away from the country. 

Then there are people who are going to gather their own forces, those originally in the army that do not want to be in alliance with the Royal army heel turners anymore. The other way around was prominent as well. 

 

Zoro finds himself in alleys where people are hushedly discussing who to send out, who to go back- - “we can’t use the Den Den Mushi. We need to send a letter out.”

And Zoro draws his sword immediately, cleaning them out in a second. 

 

“Hey, Ennosuke,” Zoro tilts his head a little to disturb the bird on his shoulder, “find me more of these guys. I’m gonna run wild.”

 

And well, try to rejoin Vivi while he’s at it. He’s supposed to be her bodyguard, after all. 

(Nah, he reckons she’lll be fine. She’s the scariest thing in this camp.)

 

Kinoko nods in resignation, taking flight. It’s hard being a guide bird for an unlabelled compass, but she’ll deal with it. She’s patient.

Zoro turns up to a shadow above him-- only to raise his hands and catch a piece of fabric-- a large hooded cloak, with a strangely familiar logo on it. 

It reads Baroque Works. 

(And the one that threw this to him was Usopp, wasn’t it? What’s he even doing?)

 

“Ah,” Zoro understands immediately, sheathing his swords, throwing on the extra layer. “I see.”

 


 

Locals of Katorea were boarding up their houses in a panic, drawing curtains and barricading their doors. Children were hidden, and the adults grasped their most weapon-apparent object, standing guard. 

Outside, there was a violent riot. 

The peacefully hiding Rebel Army had suddenly struck against each other at the stroke of midnight, blades and guns drawn and firing. 

 

All the other weapons were gone from the armory.

People were fighting, screaming-- running, as hard as they could. 

The only ones with weapons were a group of people in cloaks, all marked gloriously with the emblem of Baroque Works. Many were taken down at once-- and others, suspiciously left alone. 

 

Some, when they saw the emblem, smiled for who they thought was a fellow of the same company. They joined in-- only to be taken down in tandem, then tied up.

 

“Kohza-san!” someone barges into the main tent, “we’re under attack!” 

“By who?” Kohza feigns surprise, quickly rising and reaching for his gun. 

“O- Our own…”

“You were right, Kohza! There are traitors in our midst!” 

“Now that you called them out, though, they’re revealing themselves!” 

“It’s neither us or the Rebel Army-- it was a third party this whole time! I can’t believe this-- what have we been fighting each other for?”

“Hey! I got a closer look-- some of the guys with the tattoos aren’t even local Alabastans!” 

“Wha-- why are they in our rebel forces?! What are they trying to do here?”

 

Kohza nodded firmly. 

“Give everyone the order!” he raises his voice, stepping out of the tent so as many people in the vicinity could hear him. “Find everyone who has that emblem on them-- clothes, tattoos, anything! And kill them on the spot!” 

 

There’s a loud cheer as everyone in the vicinity valiantly gets to work.

 

Kohza hides a smirk behind his fist.

Hearing the loud cheer in the distance, the figures in cloaks smile. Almost immediately in the next moment, they escaped the chaos, threw their cloaks aside-- and blended in with the rest of the Rebel Army once more.

“Nice work, Suna Suna clan. Mission accomplished,” Kohza acknowledges. Behind him, a wall beyond-- Vivi stifles a giggle.

“Knew I could count on you guys,” she says, and Kohza’s smile warmed. 

 

Tonight will be a night of unrest in Katorea. But once the sun rises-- there will no longer be Baroque Works agents in the Rebel Army-- or any Rebel Army, for that matter. 

And that’s perfectly fine.

 


 

Usopp perches on a high tower-- a Den Den broadcast station, actually, for news from the palace and stuff like that-- and surveys his surroundings. 

Now that it was dark out, he could comfortably look around with his eyes open. The blurry scenery doesn’t get much clearer, but when he spreads his haki around, it’s easier to tell what’s where. Might just be a physical habit, though.

Smoker left for Rainbase after exchanging pleasantries and Denden numbers. 

 

It was surprising, honestly-- the man had first asked about Nami-- how she became a chore boy on his ship, what she had been after, and why she left.

And Usopp told him. It wasn’t his story to tell, but an outline of the situation was fair. He didn’t speak of the mark that once marked her, just why and how desperate she was to find someone that could help. 

 

(“Her mother was a marine?”)

(“Ah, yeah. She picked up Nami and her sister after some war and retired to raise them, I think.”)

(“Huh.”)

 

Smoker admits-- he would’ve zeroed in on all those suspicious habits Namizo had (he did notice some of them, contrary to popular belief) he just wasn’t in the headspace to care. And neither was his partner, Hina, for that matter. 

Their acting Captain of the voyage had no excuses though, he was probably just some incompetent bastard. Smoker doesn’t even remember who he was.

There was a reason they hung around the Calm Belt so often in that period of time. 

 

(“I don’t know what Hina was up to, but I just got back from Dante’s Inferno, so I just wanted to sleep and smoke. Don’t blame me for missing out on a crossdressing chore boy. Tashigi was on the ship too, y’know. One would be interesting, but we had two.”)

(“What, tough mission or something?”)

(“Or something.”)

 

Smoker alluded that he only wanted to know so he could find a reason to ‘shut Tashigi up, she’s pirate-hating but Namizo’s her personal hero or something’, and he’d been fairly disappointed to find no dirt he could smear Nami’s name with. 

Then he made his way to leave, promising that the next time they meet (after they deal with Crocodile, role of importance, you know,) he would be arrested.

And Usopp expected that much.

Even last time around, Smoker never quite got to the point of arresting any of the Strawhats. He would find them coincidentally on an island-- end up getting dragged into their antics-- and then, when time came to arrest them, he would snap, grab the villains of the week, and promise that “there will be no next time! Now fuck off!” to which Luffy would just cheer and call for the toast so they could have a banquet first.

Usopp didn’t expect the next question, though. 

 

(“About the Man-Demon. I thought he was working for Don Krieg?”)

(“Eh? Oh, you mean Gin?” Usopp had been a little flabbergasted, but came to the conclusion that Smoker was just wondering how Luffy got two big names to hell-face turn for him, “Krieg tossed a gas bomb at him, so no way was he staying there. The side effects are chronic, y'know! ”)

 

Usopp still wonders if that slight falter in the man’s Haki meant something. And he swears he heard the sound of a cigar being crunched into two halves, but surely that had been his imagination, right?

 

“There’s another one up there! A man in a Baroque Works cloak!” 

There’s a loud clunk of blunt object meeting head before an unsuspecting Baroque Works agent approaches Usopp, hissing desperately, “psst! Hey, comrade, help me out here!” 

Right, back to work.

“Alright,” Usopp says, drawing his Kabuto and aiming downward, “but I’m not your comrade, so go to sleep for a bit?”

 

-


-

 

It was barely sunrise in the palace of Alabasta. Pell sits in the medical hall, the doctors hurriedly binding his wounds. The Royal Guard’s cloak-- which was laid aside by the table in pieces because they had to be cut out of burned skin-- was charred, only a testament to his actual wounds.

“Pell!” Chaka rushes in-- then, swears at the sight of him. “I heard. Is the king--”

“The king is fine,” Doctor Ho tells him immediately. 

 

King Cobra stands beside them-- a little charred, a little bruised. and his arm bound in bandages-- but he was fine. And present. 

 

Chaka takes a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. “We found the tunnel they’d dug, and we’re working to seal it right now,” he says. “We’re currently working on sealing all the old tunnels except for the emergency one for Vivi-sama to use.”

Just barely an hour ago-- two people had invaded the main chambers of the palace, unearthing themselves like moles. Luckily, Pell had been on standby as per Vivi’s letter demanded-- and he managed to drive them away albeit not without any critical injuries. 

 

“I’m lucky I got off with this much. The royal chamber is in shambles,” Pell says. “That baseball they threw out was like a missile. I’m lucky it only hit my wing.”

“Your wing is your entire arm, Pell.”

“Yes, so minor injuries?” The man seemed honestly confused.

 

Chaka makes a miserable noise. “Anyways,” he says, “I’m glad you’re alright. I’m really sorry for not being by your side, your Majesty.”

“No, no, that’s fine. You were guarding the entrance,” Cobra quickly says. “Pell did a fine job, but he’ll be out of commission--”

“--I can still fight once they’re done dressing my wounds, sir--”

“--he will NOT be fighting,” Cobra reiterates sharply, turning to Chaka, “so you’ll have to hold down the fort with the Tsumegeri Guards, understood?”

“Understood,” Chaka says. “Speaking of them…”

“Yes,” King Cobra sits down on the single couch, taking a cup of tea from the maid, “how goes the efforts to detail and purge unsavories from the Royal Army?” 

“Well,” Chaka straightens. “We did a background check on everyone-- some weren’t locals, not even migrants. That was against Alabastan law, so they were purged. Others had tattoos of Baroque Works-- dumb, if you ask me-- and we had them captured and kept under the dungeon for now. There are more of them than we suspected.”

King Cobra hums contemplatively. 

The Tsumegeri Guards were really best for the ‘smoke out the rats’ sort of job, since they were cruel, strict, and looked terrifying. He was right to leave this to them, after all.

 

“Now we just wait for Vivi to get here, then.”

 

“With all due respect, sir,” Pell lifts his hand, wincing a little, “I can still fight, really. The painkillers are working and I am one of the guardian spirits of Ala--”

“You will NOT be fighting!” King Cobra and Chaka snap at him in unison, with the former adding a ‘you brat’ and the latter adding a ‘you punk’ at the end of their sentences respectively. “Obey the king’s orders, dammit!” 

Pell honestly has to take a moment. 

He tries to say something more, but this time, two fists come down right on his head, much harder than it really should be for an injured man.

“You think we don’t know how to deal with brats with no self-preservation?! I’ll show you how seventeen years of dealing with the princess trains one’s ability to not take suicidal bullshit!” 

“You are sitting on your bed or I’ll give you a reason to!” 

 

"Alright, alright, I get it, stop hitting me, I have a concussion!"

Chapter 44: when things go wrong (just go wild, it's always worked before)

Summary:

Things go wrong and then they go right. (And then Zoro will probably go left, because he will find the wrong way in a metaphorical situation, somehow.)

Plans change and the world adapts to follow it. And somehow-- nothing really changes, except the fact that Nami gets to flaunt exactly what being an honorary member of the Arlong Pirates means to her this time around.

Chapter Text

“Huh?!” Mister Two Bon Clay gawks at the Den Den Mushi in horror. “Mister Four and Miss MerryChristmas failed to secure the king of Alabasta?! What are they, useless?!” 

“There’s no helping it,” came Miss Doublefinger’s voice from the other end. “They’ve gone into hiding, now that they’ve failed. We’ll have to deal with them later, but there’s nothing we can do now. We need to change plans.”

Mister Two sighed, gesturing for his legion of lovely ladies and slightly upset he had to break it to them that they didn’t need to masquerade as guards anymore. 

What could they do now? 

It sucked, honestly, that one failure meant death in this organisation. Granted, it was a way to keep all agents strong and accountable, but in a situation like this where everyone was supposed to work in tandem, it backfired. 

(After all, now that the Mister Four group failed, there was no way they were going to try and fix their mistake. They’d be taking this chance to hightail right out, leaving Mister Two and Mister One’s group to deal with it all.)

 

“There’s still yesterday’s riot to worry about, too,” Mister Two sighs, “how could all our forces be taken out like that? Everyone that was left just ran away, too. I wonder if they’re headed back to Rainbase or something...”

“Oh, I know the answer to that one.”

 

Miss Doublefinger retracts her fingers from their spikes, eliciting a weak, pained whimpering from the agent as he collapses in a bloodied heap, in his dying breath.

“We cleaned up all the cowards that ran to the port,” she says, almost amused. “The rest of the Billions are coming ashore to march Alubarna, though. They’re ready to join you if you can seize the rebel forces.”

“Seize them?” Mister Two asks, incredulous, “they made a whole big deal about Baroque Works being in their ranks yesterday. What insane negotiation skills do I need to get them back on our side now? They’ll be checking us for tattoos first.”

“Oh? Negotiation?” Miss Doublefinger questions, “I said seize .”

“Huh?” Mister Two asks. Then, a smile curls onto his face, “Oooh,” he grins, “Gahahaa! I like that suggestion. I like that suggestion very, very much!”

 

-


-

 

It was daylight when they arrived in Rainbase. 

While Anne stayed in the crests of Eyelashes’s fuzzy side, Luffy had jetted off immediately, happily squeaking for “FOOOOODDD!!” while Sanji and Gin shout over each other, sprinting after him. 

“I told you we should’ve chained him the fuck down!” 

“And tie the other end of the chain to what? You know only Zoro can hold him down! If you could’ve spared some of the fucking alcohol to reactivate Anne’s paints--”

“We needed the alcohol for your fucking infection?!”

“For the last fucking time they are sixty-five percent healed! That means I’m basically in perfect condition!”

“Humans don’t work like that, you suicidal piece of uneducated burnt meat!!”  

“I'm only forty-five percent burnt!” 

“YOUR MATH IS WRONG, SHITHEAD!!” 

And off they went, screaming all the way. Nami reckons they’ll be fine, so she hikes up her bag of supplies to her shoulder and heads on her way. Chopper and Carue had gone off to find a washroom, presumably. 

 

Sanji has a Den Den, Nami has another, and Anne has the last. 

 

One knowing glance in her direction-- and Nami smiles. “Meet at the casino in an hour, and stay out of sight. I think you can do that amazingly.”

Anne nods. “Fair winds.”

“And great waves,” Nami finishes. “Stay safe.”

“I’ll try.”

 


 

Finding the Marine forces was easy. They were all gathered on the edgeside of the city, having been sent here by Smoker ahead and awaiting new orders. 

Master Chief Petty Officer-- aka the Sergeant Major, Tashigi, sets a guard duty around the perimeters, scouting out more of these ‘Baroque Works’ goons that Smoker told her about over the Den Den the night before. As of the moment, they’d caught quite a few of them.

“Stay on high alert,” she said. “Remember, these guys won’t hesitate to kill their own to prevent a loss of information. We need to protect our prisoners as well.”

 

“Woah, you’re so nice,'' a younger girl’s voice comes from behind her. “That’s why you’re such a sweetheart, Tashigi-chan.”

 

“We’re Marines! Even if they’re criminals, they deserve a fair trial--” she trails off, realizing there are no young girls aside from her in the squadron. 

Almost excitedly swirling around, face flushed in embarrassment of not noticing sooner, she lights right up. 

“Namizo-kun!” 

She seems to be trying really hard to not outright seem too happy to see her. 

 

Nami grins, “hey ho, been a while, Tashigi-chan. I see you’re in a high enough rank to not wear the fully assigned uniform. Doing well?”

 

“Namizo?” a Petty Officer looks over. Then, “oooh!! Namizo! Guys!” he calls out to the rest of the squad who are carrying wreckage caused by their prior fight, “guys, it’s Namizo!” 

And everyone around them stops, turning over. 

Nami stands there in all her elegant lady glory, raising her metal hand in greeting as they all turned to her in surprise. “Hey guys!”

They’re all the same crew she sailed with as a chore boy, after all. 

 

“Woooah!” they exclaim, jaws drop and eyes wide, “I knew you were pretty already, but Namizo you are gorgeous !” 

“Wait, isn’t it just ‘Nami’ now though?”

“You look well!”

“She looks better you mean. Not all skin and bones and bandages anymore, unlike before. Still rocking the metal arm, though. Awesome.”

“Man, we weathered storms terribly after you left. We sailed right into two typhoons! We miss you! Please stay with us part time again?”

The boys quickly crowded around her, chatting it up casually like old friends. One even started dishing out the latest marine gossip, which Nami ate in and contributed like she belonged there. 

“By the way, the kid you’re following now? CRAZY. Knew it was in your blood!” 

“Oh you have no idea,” Nami groans, nursing a headache, “he never follows the plan, goes with his gut, and has to rely on the rest of us to pick up the slack!” 

“...but?”

Nami snorts. “But he’s awesome and crazy and once you get a whiff of that--”

“--it’s addictive. We totally get you! We followed Smoker-san instead of Hina-san because of that, actually.”

“He’s strict, but his fierce impulses are nice, you know? It’s never boring around here.”

“Speaking of Hina-san, she’s in charge of this area, isn’t she? Maybe I should go say hi.”

 

Tashigi was surprised at first-- but now she was bewildered. 

 

“What the-- guys, all of you, hold up!” she snaps, drawing their attention. “I know we all miss Namizo-kun-- I mean, Nami… -kun? A lot! But he-- she? She’s a pirate now, so don’t go talking to her like you guys are friends! We’re supposed to arrest her!” 

“Awh, spoilsport,” one says, and Tashigi balks.

“Don’t lie to yourself, we know you want to talk to her the most!” 

“Yeah, you guys were best buddies, after all!”

“Are you jealous we’re stealing your bestie’s attention from you?”

 

At this point, Tashigi’s face was beet red. The teasing made a whole round with the rest of the boys before she exploded, drawing her sword and declaring, “that’s it!” 

She launches forward and grabs Nami by the wrist. 

“Yeah, I'm jealous!” she admits, really damn loudly, “Namizo-kun is my best friend, damn it! None of you guys paid any attention to her until I did! You guys don’t get to talk to her now either! As your commanding officer right now it is an order when I say leave us alone!”

The boys rioted at that. 

“Boo, tyranny!”

“Down with the abuse of power, Sergeant Major!” 

“Be quiet!” Tashigi yells. “Back to work, all of you, or I’ll tell Smoker-san all about you guys slacking off while he wasn’t here!” 

“Blackmail, blackmail! She’s blackmailing us!” 

 

Nami laughs as they start sneering at each other, absolute children despite their standing as the police force of society. And well… their positions aside, she might have actually missed this a little. 

She’ll wait for them to calm down, first. Then she’ll start telling them all about Crocodile.

 


 

Smoker has a huge bucket list. 

‘Murdering Monkey D. Luffy’ just made its way to the top.

The terrified barkeep hands him a clean rag, and Smoker proceeds to rid his face of what was hopefully not too dense a mixture of water and saliva. It’s turning the sand on his clothes into mud and he’s growing dangerously close to being in the mood for a public evisceration right now. 

He turns around just in time to catch the Strawhat pirate struggling with water down the wrong pipe, freaks out-- and then Man-Demon Gin barges in and grabs him by the collar. 

 

“Goddammit Luffy! What part of ‘lie low’ did you not undersss-- SSSHIT?!” 

 

The man’s speech transitions right into the loudest rendition of that swear word Smoker has ever had the pleasure to hear in broad daylight, and the way he just freezes up, half-spun in his direction with his jaws dropped-- was just one hell of a sight. 

There’s a moment when neither of them knew what to do. 

Smoker had half an intention to go with the ‘hey there, person I’m not supposed to greet’ that Nami and Ace had subjected to a while ago, but he doesn’t manage to do it before Luffy regains his composure enough to move. 

Luffy scrambles up the barrels the innkeeper gave him, scrambles up Gin while he’s at it-- and then--

 

“Gomu Gomu no…”

 

Smoker witnesses the whole five stages of grief pass through the Man Demon’s eyes before they whizz right out of sight, taking half the doorway with them.  

“Wha- wait, no. This is not happening. This is. Luffy FERFUCKSAAAAAAKE--!!” 

 

“Emergency Escape ROCKET!”

 

Smoker takes a comforting drag of his cigar. 

“Must be hard to live with a captain like that,” he mused to the barkeep, who, in their stupefied daze, half-heartedly agreed. “Right. I’ll get Hina to compensate for all this at a later date, have a better day.”

He stands up, finishing his drink in one chug.

And then he jets right out of the building, “COME BACK HERE, STRAW HAT!”

 


 

Gin is having a bad day. 

Well, that’s actually been pretty obvious thus far, but right now, he’s actually willing to commit self-murder if it means he’ll be out of this fucking situation. 

So, a lot happened. 

They run into Rain Dinners screaming for Crocodile (that was Luffy), then they’re led to a VIP room that held a crossroad and went right into the obvious trapdoor (also Luffy)-- so now, seated in the huge Seastone cage of the underground, Gin finds himself at the mercy of a very infuriated Smoker. 

Luffy is grabbing the seastone bars and wondering why he’s feeling incredibly weak, Smoker is seated at the far edge on the bench, distancing himself from every side of the cage-- and Gin is seated to the right wall, trying not to meet the man in the eyes. 

Seriously, Smoker might just burn a hole in Gin’s new coat with that glower. Gin’s run through too many of these coats now, and he’s awfully susceptible to burns these days. He’d rather not be in one of those again. 

 

(Ahh, Sanji, why did you have to have self-preservation and duck away once Smoker was in sight? Gin wants whatever sixth sense that chef has to avoid this situation again.)

 

“So,” Smoker finally says, “brings back memories, huh?”

Gin flinches.

 

(Well… not nostalgic enough, really.)

 

“Hey uhm, there’s a-- very… liable explanation for all of this,” he mutters weakly, eyes darting about just everywhere and anywhere, arms conflicted between for his tonfas or raising defensively over his face, “you’re, uhm. Are you mad?”

Smoker taps his cigar, letting the ash fall against the ground as he glares down bitterly at the younger male. “ Not at all, why do you ask?” 

“Yep… gonna die,” Gin decides, turning back to Luffy. 

“Hey, Smokey!” Luffy pops back up, grinding his teeth right back at the Marine, “don’t be threatening my Quartermaster! You’re freaking him out!” 

Smoker scoffs at that. 

Gin sighs as attention is averted from him. 

 

“If you’re thinking about me and Director, we…” he pauses a moment, contemplating his next words, “she’s under my care for protection purposes.”

Smoker hums. “I have no opinion on the actions of outlaws,” he says, coldly. “My target here is Strawhat Luffy. As long as you work under him… you’re all on my hitlist.”

Gin nods solemnly, managing an exasperated sigh. “You can try.”

 

Luffy swirls his head around the two, back and forth in a horrified manner-- and then, he realizes what’s going on, and lunges at Gin to envelop the man in a multi-looped hug. 

“Oh no. No, no way!” he says, “you’re not stealing my super cool undead crewmate away from me either! Not even if it’s you, Smokey! Go away, he’s my nakama now!” 

“I’ve been called a lot of things, Luffy, but undead is a first.”

Gin, for one, knows he can’t get out of there, so he doesn’t struggle. Though Smoker looks taken aback at first-- he scoffs in a contented way. 

“I don’t know what manner of misunderstanding you’ve just conjured in your dumb head, but I’ll get straight to the point now,” Smoker takes a drag of his cigar. “About that Sniper of yours…”

 

“Well, aren’t you three getting along better than I thought you would.”

 

All movement froze in the cage-- and head swirled to the voice, where Crocodile spun around on a chair to smile grandly at his new prisoners. 

“C- Crocodile!” Gin gapes, “shit. He was over there all along?!”

“I must say… I’m not surprised Mister Three was incompetent after all, but to hear you were still alive,” Crocodile muses, “at least Princess Vivi seems to be unaccounted for.”

 

Gin pauses at that. 

(He shouldn’t have known at all-- but he heard?)

 

“Huh? Wait, you’re the croc?!” Luffy shouts, snapping right back to normal shape and reaching right for the bars, “HEY YOU! Fiiiiiighttt m-- I’m feeling weak for some reassssooon…”

“Let go of that, you moron!” Gin snaps, grabbing him back from the area to his side, holding onto him while constraining his limbs, like a huge body pillow. 

“Does this idiot not know what seastone is?” Smoker mutters, “is he an idiot?”

“I wonder that every day!”

“Him aside…” Smoker grinds his teeth, “Crocodile.”

“Hey, White Chase Smoker,” Crocodile greets, “now that you’re privy to information you really shouldn’t know, I suppose I’ll have to keep in mind to list your name down on the necessary sacrifices in this war effort. You have the nation’s preemptive thanks.”

“Cut the bullshit, pirate!” 

Government-approved pirate,” Crocodile corrects. “Well, I’ll make sure the lot of you die for good this time. I’ve already sent Miss All-Sunday to locate the Burglar Cat. It’ll only be a matter of time before all my obstacles disappear.” 

Gin’s eyes widen, “wait! You-- how do you--” 

(He shouldn’t even know that the Strawhats were alive, so how would he have already sent reinforcements to fight Nami? Something wasn’t adding up.)

 

“How do I know exactly how many of you Strawhats are in this city?” Crocodile smirks. “You think we’re idiots, don’t you?”

 

The sharp crack of a rice cracker reaches their ears. 

Descending from the stairs, with one hand around her senbei and the other around her canvas bag-- Anne shows herself, with not a hint of emotion on her face. 

That’s when reality shatters, and the gravity of the situation falls like bricks upon them.  Chopper and Carue followed right behind her, their chests marred heavily with a Yellow-Green symbol. 

Anne makes her way beside Crocodile, where the man sets a hand on her hat in silent praise for a job well done. 

 

Luffy’s eyes were wide in horror. “Hey… Anne?” he asks, but the girl doesn’t answer. “Hey, Anne! What are you doing there? That’s Croc guy! He’ll hurt you!” 

 

Crocodile snorts, mocking him with a snarky grin. “You really think you could convince one of our agents to double-cross us so easily?” 

 

There was no colour left on Gin’s face-- and he couldn’t even bear to tear his eyes away from her. Couldn’t stop the muted shock that reverberated through his very being-- at the painfully, soullessly cold eyes that stared back. 

“...Anne?” he calls weakly-- but he knew that he wouldn’t get the response he wanted. 

She sets down her canvas bag. 

“It’s Miss Goldenweek,” she corrects him. 

In a stark contrast-- Smoker’s eyes were set in a fierce glare-- the anger palpitating far through his eyes, boiling through in a rage that made his body churn just a little, smoker rising in agitation despite the seastone. 

 

Smoker stands before her, bars between them-- a burning rage against frosty indifference in the wake of a moment of broken trust. And between them, Gin sits-- conflicted, hurt-- and filled with desperation. 

Gin lifts his head, just slightly-- and finds that Anne isn’t faltering-- not even a little. 

And that could only mean one thing.

 

( Huh, he thought, musing despite the situation.)

(This really does bring back memories.) 

 


 

Something was wrong.

When Smoker runs through the city and catches the attention of other marines, Nami realizes that none of the other Strawhats are in range to be chased. Smoker doesn’t order any action, so Tashigi remains where she is, not compromising any of the guards for the prisoners. 

(But there are no Baroque Works agents here-- none looking out for them yet.)

The Burglar Cat herself stayed in the alleys, just out of sight. 

 

“Something’s strange. Is it because you guys arrested a lot of Baroque Works agents around? No one seems to be after us,” she says. Last time around, those agents surrounded them in the chaos in seconds, with caricatures of their faces. 

 

But now-- there were none of those.

Did Mister Two not tell Crocodile about them? Why?

Shit. 

(This means that if Luffy goes to Crocodile now, they’ll really lose all anonymity!)

 

“What’s wrong, Namizo-kun?” Tashigi notices her discomfort. Nami shakes her head immediately, taking her Clima Tact, assembling it-- and looking past the alley for a clear road forward. 

“No uh just-- I have a really bad feeling right now. Like, Luffy-going-up-to-Rainbase-and-screaming-for-Crocodile sort of bad.”

Tashigi gave her a flat look. “I’m horrified to hear your captain will and can do that, but I’m conflicted that you are more worried about that instead of the Captain Smoker that was chasing after him just two seconds ago…”

“Yeah, in a normal person’s mindset that is bad, but like-- this is Luffy. You don’t know what he’s going to… do… that should be common sense for me, why am I worried?”

 

Now that she thought about it, they went into this Crocodile confrontation with no care for their anonymity last time, too. In fact, wasn’t it Vivi who said it didn’t matter because a full-frontal is all they could do anyways?

Nami really didn’t need to be worried. Crazy or not, Luffy is made to fit that spectrum. 

She didn’t need to control every weave of the turn of events. In the back of her mind, she knew that. But in action, here she was-- trying to stop it from going off the more convenient rails. 

Things going out of order was common for the straw hat lifestyle. 

(Ah, once again, Nami wasn’t too sure if she knew how to live like that anymore.)

(But well…)

(...what better way to adapt than to let herself be thrown in?)

 

Nami raises her Clima Tact to her shoulder. “Yeah, you’re right. If Luffy can’t live without me babysitting him for about an hour, he wouldn’t be my captain.”

Tashigi scoffs stubbornly at that. “Well, I disapprove! I mean, what he pulled at Loguetown was… impressive… but he’s still the most reckless thing I’ve seen in my life! I can’t believe you would follow such an immature captain, Namizo-kun!” 

“Oho? And Smoker’s any better? Remember the time he forgot he was still in the ship and tried to walk through the seastone hull to get out? And he got so confused because he couldn’t phase through it?” 

“That was one time!” Tashigi argues-- then falters-- then crumbles, “okay, maybe more than one time.”

“Seven times just when I was there, Tashigi-chan. Is the dent still there?”

“We changed ships, but if you look for the old ship in the base… probably…”

 

Nami chuckles at that. Well, she’ll put aside the factor of their anonymity for now. Crocodile should have his hands full with the marine intervention by now-- so what can they do with their anonymity now?

“Do you guys have one of those huge broadcast Den Dens, Tashigi-chan?”

“Huh? We do, I think… but it’s back on the ship. Why?”

“Well, to the citizens of Alabasta right now, Crocodile is the ‘hero’ and the Royal family is the ‘tyranny’, right?” Nami says. 

The Dance Powder scandal has only fed the anger toward the palace in the last few years, after all. 

“So we’re going to have to make sure the whole country knows who's on the right side…” 

 

Nami trails off, fingers folding over the Clima Tact in tension. 

She hadn’t notice because of the large town and all the voices around-- but there was something there, right above them. A voice filled with hostility.

(They were being watched.)

 

“...what’s wrong, Namizo-kun?” Tashigi looks around, but Nami hisses for her to stay still.

“Wait, you’ll give us away!” Nami grabs her hand-- but realizes her mistake. 

 

“Oh? You noticed me?” Miss All-Sunday muses, seated at the edge of the roof, looking down rather sweetly. “Well then, if you don’t mind.”

Her arms spiral into a cross before her-- and Nami lunges for Tashigi far too late.  Hands sprout from shoulders, and with a gasp, Tashigi’s arms are caught in a hold, her waist twisted at an angle to inches away from a fatal pop in the spine. 

“Let’s not be hasty, Burglar Cat. I’m only here for you, so how about we have a civil conversation.” 

Nami grinds her teeth, wisely not moving. Tashigi’s eyeing her with a look of fear-- her shoulders protruding strangely, and it’ll take a little more than an uncomfortable twitch to pop the left one right out of its socket. 

(And Nami knows-- for a swordsman, losing arm mobility in a fight is among the most terrifying things in the world.) 

 

“Then let her go,” she bargains. 

 

(Robin should’ve been going after Vivi, but she’s not here.)

(How did she find out Nami was around?)

(What happened to the other group?)

(...where’s Anne?)

 

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly,” Miss All-Sunday smiles. “Wouldn’t want you running off and calling the rest of the Marines, after all.”

“Alright!” Nami drops her Clima Tact, raising her hands. “I surrender. I’ll go with you, I’ll do whatever you want. You can bring her along as well, just don’t harm her further.”

“Now that’s a pleasant place to bring the conversation,” Miss All-Sunday smiles. "I'm glad we could come to an understanding."

And immediately, the arms on Tashigi dissipates, and new ones grow to bind her wrists like cuffs around her back. The same happens to Nami, though the action is decidedly more awkward with the need of extra arms to hold down her metal arm. 

Tashigi swears. “Fuck you!” 

“Now now, sweetheart, have a prettier mouth on you,” Miss All-Sunday, flicks a hand, and Shigure topples from her belt, dropping to the ground. “No weapons too, since you won’t be needing them. Let us go, shall we?” 

 

Nami sighs, and they begin walking. They’re led through the more hollow streets of Rainbase, opening right into Rain Dinners. Where a legion of Baroque Works agents were already active. 

 

Nami’s ear twitches slightly-- and she carefully glances around, taking in the scenery in a farce of awe. “Woah! Is this all made of gold?” 

“Ah… Yes,” Tashigi responds, though she’s a little more subdued. “It’s quite a rich part of the country, after all, with the casino and all.”

 

Nami’s eyes brim past a particular figure in the shadows, sporting blond hair and a blue robe, a cigarette at their lips. 

Nami quickly averts her eyes with a sigh. 

 

“Sorry about dragging you into this, Tashigi-chan,” Nami says, “I swear I was being pretty careful. I think the boys messed up again.”

“Oh! No no, not at all,” Tashigi flusters quickly, “I’m sure we were bound to come into conflict with Crocodile either way, since Smoker-san apparently went and got himself directly in their base…”

“Well yes, but it’s ultimately the fault of my captain, and he is my responsibility…”

“No worries, Namizo-kun! It’s not your fault! We both know the pain of being roped around by our superiors! I sympathize!” 

“You’re too nice, Tashigi-chan…”

 

“Very nonchalant, aren’t you two?” Miss All-Sunday muses, turning around with a light chuckle.

Tashigi hisses annoyedly at her as they come toward the connecting bridge. It sure was strange, to have such a huge lake (oasis) bordering the casino when the rest of the country dried up in the drought. 

“Now, I’m sure you get it too, Nee-san!” Nami chuckles, stopping at the center of the bridge. “for Mister Zero’s partner, you sure get strung around for errands really often, don’t you?”

Miss All-Sunday smiles, humouring her. “You have quite the point, but I am quite fond of traveling under his protection,” she says, “I’m sure you have similar interests when you flew under a different flag as well?”

 

And Nami’s smile grew bitter. “Yes,” she says, “very much so. But I now find myself exactly where I need to be.”

“Oh?” MIss All-Sunday huffs. 

“Yeah,” Nami says, tottering just a little closer to the edge. Then, with a grin-- and to Robin’s and Tashigi’s wide-eyed horror-- she leans and lets herself fall back. “Oh.”

 

Sanji bursts out of the woodwork as Nami drops into the lake with a dynamic splash, the arms around her giving way to petals as she sinks, hovers-- and begins to swing strongly.

Spinning with all the force of a Fishman, calling the waves to her side, she kicks forward with a strong propulsion, bringing the waves with her in a tight roar of effort.  And then, she drags it forward, launching it like a spear to the surface. 

“Yarinami!”  

 

Sanji grabs Tashigi by the arms, slinking smoothly into a bridal carry, before running right off before the waves flood the fields in a tsunami, eliciting alarmed shrieks from the crowd and the surrounding Baroque Works agents. 

“What the-- who are--!!” 

“Shh, excuse me milady, please, call me Prince ,” he expertly launches off a palm tree and reaches a platform high enough to avoid the floodwaters. “Here’s your sword, are you injured, milady?”

“Wh--?!” Tashigi blushes, “prince?! I didn’t need saving! Don’t treat me like I'm fragile!” 

“Oh, my apologies. I promise I didn’t intend to offend you,” Sanji gestures toward the floodwaters, to the single ginger-haired lady crawling out of the receding waters onto the bridge, unbuttoning and wrenching aside her robe. “However, I would suggest you remain out of range for what will occur next.” 

 

Drenched, Nami smirks, brushing her now-loose hair to the back of her head.

Miss All-Sunday is gone. She was definitely not swept away-- she had escaped far too quickly toward the crowd for her to be part of that mess-- but Nami now finds herself surrounded by the hundreds of Baroque Works members who are infuriated, recognizing her, and yelling for backup in their drenched anger. 

Nami reaches up to catch her Clima Tact as Sanji tosses it toward her. Slotting in the Breath Dials to a rapid churn of Heat Balls, she takes in the situation with relative ease. 

“Breaking news! Notorious lady kicking ass in Rain Dinners casino, demands monetary compensation in the form of the hefty gold lining the building’s walls!” Nami narrates to herself with a snarky smile, “and now, the weather report...”

 

“Oh man,” Sanji mutters, “we forgot to bring an umbrella.”

Tashigi glances at him in confusion. “But it hasn’t rained in years?”

 

-


-

 

Daybreak in the Rebel Army base in Katorea is interrupted by an explosion at Kohza’s tent. The crowd of alarmed, exhausted rebels had fought the night away, and had no rest--

--so imagine their horror, seeing Kohza thrown out of his tent in a mangled heap, blood protruding from his many wounds that visibly included at least two gunshots. 

 

“Kohza-san!” 

“Leader?!” 

“Shit-- get help! One of you, go get the medical team, now!” 

Kebi rushes to his side first, yelling for the medics. But his movements come to an abrupt stop at the sight of another Kohza emerging from the tent, 

His gaze swirled back and forth in confusion. 

“Don’t bother,” the Kohza that came out of the tent told him, pointing a gun at the fallen, heavily injured doppelganger. “That’s a fake. I don’t know how-- but they found a way to emulate my whole face! They captured me yesterday and used you guys to cause that mayhem! And we all fell for it!”

“What?! Then…”

 

Vivi rushes forward, gasping as she takes in the scene. Zoro holds her back before she shows herself, right in time for Farafra to step in and shield her presence with his larger figure. 

“Mister Two…!” Vivi hisses sharply. “How did he… when did he?” 

“Clam down, Vice Leader,” Farafra reminds her, “if you show yourself now…”

“But Leader is--!” 

“He’ll be fine.”

 

“What do you mean? Yesterday's efforts were right! We found spies and purged them!” Kebi argues, careful to approach the injured Kohza by his feet. “Our forces diminished-- but it was for the better!” 

He swears lightly, noticing the bruise near his chest, leading up to his neck and ending in thick wounds at his jaw. 

There was no way Kohza was speaking anymore. He was barely even conscious.

“For the better, you say?” The false Kohza says, “of course this isn’t better! You’re delusional!” he claims, roaring out despite the horrified looks from the people around him. “The rebel army has to be huge! It has to have volume-- there must be more of us so we can stand a chance against the Royal Army! Who cares if they weren’t locals?”

Kebi’s jaw drops. “What the hell are you saying, you imposter?!” he yells, “you have no idea what we’re even fighting for! Stop wearing that face and spouting such utter bullshit with it!” 

 

“Bullshit, nay! I mean,” for a moment, the false Kohza bursts into an uncharacteristic grin-- but he quickly composed himself-- then, deciding against it, let his cheeks widen once more. “Ah, I tried. Who cares at this point, yanno? We just need you guys to make a mess of things, don’t sweat the details!”

And the men behind him raise their guns, one lifting a bazooka upon his shoulder. 

The false Kohza grins. 

“Alright, business is over. We just need the rest of you Alabastans out of it now-- leave it to us Baroque Works from here, y’know!” he declares, “FIRE!” 

 

What ensued in the Rebel Camp was an eruption of panic. Explosions lined each building-- and people were getting killed, including civilians who had peeked out and wandered just a little too close for comfort. 

 

“What’s going on--?!”

“The Rebels have gone mad! We need to escape, now!”

“They’re still trying to kill each other? It’s been the whole night and day!” 

“We don’t know! Get out, they’ll attack you, too!” 

 

The reputation of the Rebel Army was going right down the gutter, but really-- that barely mattered. An unfamiliar army decked out in Alabastan garb marched into Katorea-- proclaiming their cause to avenge this country, badly acting out their desires to destroy the corrupt royalty-- and went wild. 

They collectively watch as the false Kohza morphs right back into Mister Two, sauntering proudly with his ballerina legion. 

“Say goodbye, because the Rebel Army is ours now!” 

 

Vivi watches as a boy, braving the chaos, is mercilessly struck down by Mister Two’s unrelenting feet and mocking laughter. 

“Wha-- What are you doing! STOP IT!” Vivi shouts, but she can’t move on forward. “KOHZA!” Vivi yells, but Farafra is firm, even as the cannons are fired in their Leader’s way. “Let me go! Please!” 

 

“Calm down, Vivi!” Farafra snaps, “think about what you really need to be doing now!”

“I have to--” she’s interrupted by a loud scream, and another-- a barrage of bullets, and the mad laughter around them. Her eyes fill with tears, and she realizes, “I have to save everyone. I need to--”

There’s a sharp clash of blades as one Baroque Works agent spots them, sword swinging down. Loudly, they declare, “I found her! It’s the traitor Miss Wednesday!” And a dozen more turn their way. “Ticket to promotion’s right here, Billions!” 

Zoro curses, drawing his blade and dealing with them in a quick motion.  “We need to get out. Now!” he hisses sharply, and Vivi realizes he’s right. 

 

(They came here to stop the deaths of the people-- and they only managed to bring the violence up so much earlier. What a mess.)

(But it’s not without hope just yet. She can’t do this alone.)

 

“Gather the Suna-Suna Clan!” she quickly tells Farafra, “evacuate every ally to the tunnels! Kohza will be fine, since Kebi’s there! And-- and…”

“And we’ll see you where the sun sets,” Farafra says, knowingly. It seems they were both thinking of the same place. “Understood, Vice Leader. Now go on to Alubarna and tell the king what’s happening!” 

 


 

Vivi drags up her hood, and Zoro quickly pulls her away, running barely a few inches apart. 

They cut through the crowded alleys, quickly becoming surrounded by the Billions that had been alarmed by the initial discovery of their main targets. 

“Shit--” Zoro reaches for his other swords, but Vivi holds him back. 

“No-- just hold your breath!” 

Vivi throws her Peacock Slasher forward, activating the Flavour Dial right in their faces, a plume of indigo smoke churning forth is waves. Dragging their coats over their faces as makeshift masks, they quickly dash through, stepping over rapidly dropping bodies. 

 

Overhead, the caw of a familiar bird catches their attention, and they lift their heads to see Usopp leaping across the buildings-- headed their way with astounding clarity. 

Vivi almost calls out to him-- but Usopp simply draws his slingshot, taking aim toward them-- and Zoro curses, quickly drawing up his coat to cover the both of them as Usopp fires. 

The projectile shatters as it’s launched-- and strikes every nearby assailant in significant spots, one crying out for his burst eyeball. 

The next shot comes as a smoke bomb, and Vivi reaches out just in time to receive Kinoko, who is holding a rather strong rope. It wasn’t as if Usopp was at any angle or had enough strength to pull them up or anything (he wasn't Luffy,) so why?

 

“What are we supposed to do with--”

“What else?” Zoro grabs it, wrapping his wrist around it twice before holding out a hand for Vivi to take. “Hurry up, Lady Hardhead!”

 

Vivi takes the hand out of instinctive intelligence but she doesn't expect to be grappled as close to his body as possible-- to which her instincts immediately warn her to hold on-- and Zoro proceeds to challenge the fortunes of the world by playing blackout parkour against every vaguely horizontal platform in the area, with only that single rope as a lifeline. 

Needless to say, Vivi did not think that a person could literally leap off the walls of an alley like a ninja to reach the roof, much less none-handed. 

Usopp tugs them up the final stretch, tossing them back in an almost flip onto the roof.

“Been a while, ladies!” Usopp greets immediately, “no time to rest now!” 

“Wha--!” Vivi’s still flabbergasted, stuck with her arms around Zoro’s neck, “okay I’ll admit that was cool but-- stop! Mister Bushido! Let me down!” 

“I didn’t get any sleep so don’t make this harder than it has to be,” Zoro groans, “just stay still until we get out of town.”

“Wrong way!” Usopp snaps, tugging on the rope they’re both still holding. Kinoko on his head is screaming bloody chicken, “hey! Unlabelled Compass! This way!” 

“Y’know, Usopp-san, saying he’s an unlabelled compass implies that he does know which way he’s going--” Vivi notes, chilling with her head on Zoro’s shoulder, “--which is inherently false, as we all know.” 

“Agh! All of you be quiet!” Zoro snaps. 

 

Zoro is leading the way, because Usopp can’t safely traverse the rooftops at high speeds without knowing where and when to jump and drop. He is still holding the rope though, and Kinoko is making sure they get the roads right. 

 

“So, what’s the plan, princess? All routes are sealed, no way out to sea,” Usopp says. “What about the rebel leader guy? He’ll be alright?” 

“Kohza will be fine,” she says, unhesitantly. “We know this desert better than anyone else. They’ll come to us as soon as they’re active enough.”

Zoro clicks his tongue. “If Luffy was here, we could maybe clean up these guys here,” he curses. “There’s way too many of them!” 

 

From noise and vision alone-- the rampaging Billions numbered just as many as their qualification name, (alright maybe not that much, but it was still a few hundred thousand and more,) and that was just way too many to realistically fight. 

 

“It’ll be too much even if we had the whole crew,” Usopp says, and he knows what he’s talking about, “especially if we’re considering the civilians around.”

Vivi visibly mulls over that, but she hasn’t changed her mind at all. 

“We head back to Alubarna and meet up with my dad, and wait for Nami-san and the others,” she says. “I don’t know if they’ve dealt with Crocodile or not… but Baroque Works is going to finish up here and lead the charge to the castle, and we can’t fight this many Billions without the help of the Royal Army.”

“Tch. I’m sure they’ve already beaten the croc guy in Rainbase, don’t you think?” 

“That’s impossible, Mister Bushido.” 

“It doesn’t matter, because Luffy’s going to beat Crocodile eventually, anyways,” Usopp says. “We don’t have to worry about him even if he’s still there.”

“Why are you guys so optimistic?!” Vivi exclaims, exhausted, “here I am, stressing myself out to seventh Valhalla and…”

Usopp laughs heartily. “Luffy’s the man who’s going to be the PIrate King, Vivi!” he says, and it’s the truest thing he’s ever said. “He can’t be losing to a Warlord now.”

If he could see-- he might have known the way Vivi smiled, anxious and discouraged. But the curve she put upon her lips was warm, because his words had comforted her, filling her with confidence in a way no other promise has ever done before. 

"I believe in Luffy-san, too," she says, and Zoro smiles at that. 

"Then we better get you the hell back home as soon as possible!" Zoro says. 

"Yeah!" 

 

“By the way, Mister Bushido, could you run smoother? This bumpy ride is rather unpleasant on my spine…”

“And who taught you to be picky, Princess?!”



Chapter 45: live wise (it's not dumb if you protect me.)

Summary:

Director (n.)
the person in charge of managing a situation.

 

"Anne is the director. That means she's always In control of the situation she sets in motion."

Chapter Text

“Sanji-kun!” Nami reconvenes with him in the midst of rainfall where people were struggling to secure their things, and townsfolk were in an uproar about the sudden weather change. 

Tashigi joins them, marvelling at the light squall over their heads as the marines around her scurry forth, arresting every member of Baroque Works that didn’t have time to hide. 

“I thought you were with Gin and Luffy?” 

“Well, the thing is, our dumb and dumber got themselves captured so…”

 

Nami grimaces. “That’s strange.”

“Not very. The marine guy that can turn into smoke went in with them too.”

“Not what I meant,” Nami corrects. She collapses her staff and tucks the Breath Dial back into her pocket. “Anne was supposed to meet us here, it’s way past our due time.”

(Chopper and Carue she digresses, she has no idea where they went last time too. Did Anne go with them, then?)

 

“Oh, if you’re talking about Anne-tan, I met her before she went in,” Sanji says. “She went in there after Luffy, Gin, and Smoker.”

 

Nami does a double take. 

“She went in where ?”

 

Sanji shrugs. “I mean… she insisted.” 

 

“S- Oh my god, Sanji,” Nami lets out a string of curses, “dude! Anne’s a traitor in their eyes, going in there is suicide for her! Why did you let her go?!”

“She’s worse than you in persistence, you know?” Sanji says, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Said she had to go in because if the marine captain wasn’t out yet, there was probably seastone wherever they’re keeping him.”

Nami sputters. Sure, there was , but that was no reason for her too--

She groans really loudly. 

“Why did you let her go alone?” she asks again, because she just can’t believe Sanji let this happen. 

“She’s not alone,” Sanji says. “Chopper and Carue went with her. But either way-- she’s a smart girl. She can take care of herself.”

Nami did not feel assured at all. 

 

Letting out a defeated sigh, she straightens. 

“Alright then, if she’s injured, you can consider yourself rising in the ‘irresponsible babysitters’ ranking,” she dismisses. “We have our parts to play here too, I guess.” 

“I don’t think we have space on the Merry for another board,” he says without missing a beat, “but what do you have in mind and how much of it entails me kicking the shit croc in the dick?”

 

-


-

 

“You see, Miss Goldenweek here reported to me ahead. Told me exactly how many Mister Three failed to defeat, and how many are still coming here to make a mess of my plans,” Crocodile says. “Commendable, isn’t she? She’s always been the best infiltrator in the Officer Agents.” 

“Anne, what are you doing?!” Luffy snaps from behind the cage, “what did you do to Chopper and Chachamaru? Let them go!”

“Sorry, Captain,” she says, the title coming out emptily as she directed Chopper and Carue into the corner, making them stand aside like statues against the cage. “In Baroque Works, you have to do everything you can to survive. I’m just being wise.”

Gin clicks his tongue. 

Smoker barely falters. “Well,” he shrugs, “pirates, after all. This is typical.”

“Shut up, Smokey! You don’t know her!” Luffy snaps. “Anne wouldn’t betray us!” 

Smoker doesn’t respond to that.

 

“So,” he instead addresses Crocodile. “This Baroque Works nonsense. It’s your organisation, isn’t it?”

 

Crocodile hums. “It’s been a long road, all these years. Recruiting bounty hunters to get the materials to make Dance Powder, sabotaging irrigation canals, and gaining the citizen’s trust by playing hero, all the while watching their faith in their king wither away with the droughts… and finally, we’re reaching the finale.”

“The finale…” Gin’s eyes widen in realisation, “that’s why you assembled all the higher-ups of your organisation? To set the stage for the war in this country?”

Crocodile chuckles hollowly. “Princess Vivi was such a naive child. She really thought she could infiltrate my organisation and get all the information out in time?” he scoffs. “For one that made the numbered rankings, she underestimates me.”

Luffy grinds his teeth, “we can still make it.”

Gin, however, picks up something else. “... was? ” he whispers to himself. 

 

(His eyes catch it at the same time Smoker does. Pried out under the hem of Anne’s coat was a hidden paintbrush, and a fresh dollop of pre-mixed brown paint was clutched in her right palm.)

 

“No matter. Once Miss All-Sunday cleans up the Burglar Cat, your whole crew will be as insignificant as the specks of sand in this city,” he said. “You guys can try catching-- or you guys can drown here and meet Princess Vivi in the afterlife, try your best.”

 

He turns his eyes toward Anne-- and his hands reach out. 

“Now…”

 

Smoker reacts first, “don’t--!!”

“SABLES!”

 

Anne snaps forward, ink and paints swirling forth in practiced motions-- but Crocodile was just a second faster, wisps of bladed sand crawling past her figure-- slicing upward through her coat, tearing it to shreds along with her skin, ripping apart a braid and cutting through her hat in a spray of blood and loose jewellery.

Luffy lunges forward, but the cage stops him. 

“ANNE!” he grips the seatsone bars so firmly the veins popped, but he didn’t give in. “CROC! Damn you! Why did you do that?! Anne!” 

“I might say Princess Vivi was gullible, but you are another thing entirely, Strawhat,” Crocodile sighs.

 

Anne stumbles, knees buckling-- her fingers were sliced through until the bones showed, and she couldn’t keep a grip on the paintbrush any longer. 

 

“See that? She turns sides at the drop of a hat, the moment she thinks her situation is compromised.” 

“That’s because you--!!”

“Because of what, Man-Demon?” Crocodile challenges. “She’s the moron who thought I’d seriously forgive her if she did this much to gain my favour. Of course I was planning on killing her anyway.”

Luffy’s grits his teeth. “You bastard .”

 

“I’m sure you would know that feeling very well, Man-Demon,” Crocodile smirks. “As a double-crosser yourself, I can imagine you’ve had similar challenges with loyalty before.” 

And that was a fucking low blow .

 

“Don’t put Gin on your level, stupid Sand Croc!” Luffy yells, and his words blow Gin away, both literally and metaphorically. His shout reverberates through the hall, echoing deeply through the halls many times over. 

Gin fails to find words for the churning heat in his chest. 

As if you know anything about me and Don Krieg. As if you could understand. As if you even want to-- and yet, he’d brought it up.

Like a manipulative bastard .  

 

Crocodile scoffs, turning away dismissively, his sand curling around Anne’s figure to pick her up-- 

--but this time, he’s sharply interrupted by a roar. In Heavy Point, Chopper launches the table filled with exorbitant amounts of food right at him. It phases right through his body, of course, but it’s enough to make him drop the child. That’s when Carue dashes forward, catching her right before she falls, and scampering out of the way. 

 

“Chopper and Chachamaru?” Luffy turns his attention to them, “I thought you were-- huh?”

 

“Ugh, I knew it was weird they had Yellow-Green instead of Black,” Gin curses, drawing his tonfas out to bash it against the side of the cage. “HEY! She’s alright?” 

Chopper drops into Walk Point, hurriedly rushes over, “yeah! Didn’t hit anywhere vital!” he exclaims, “as far as I can see, at least! But those wounds weren’t shallow, I need to-- AGH! Wait… water?!”

Chopper’s scamper for life is interrupted as he trips over a trapdoor, immediately bursting through with overflow of water from the tanks around them. 

 

They glance over to find Crocodile at the top of the stairs, watching them with a sigh.  

 

“What a pain. You brats can all go drown in these depths for all I care,” he mutters. “Where did Miss All-Sunday go, anyway? She’s awfully late...” 

“SAND CROC!” Luffy yells, his eyes burning , “COME BACK HERE, YOU BASTARD! Don’t touch Vivi’s country! Fight me fairly, we’re not done here, you coward!” 

“You wish,” Crocodile simply replies. “I have better things to do. Like going to King Cobra and stealing the throne of this country, for instance.” 

 

And he walks away, impervious to the gradually increasing volume of Luffy’s demands.

Or he would have-- if not for the Den Den Mushi ringing in his pocket. 

 

“Purupurupurupuru… Kachack!”

“What, is this Miss All-Sunday?” he mutters. “I’d be disappointed if you lost against the Burglar Cat.” 

“Ahem. Hello there, it is not Sunday, but this is the Shitty Restaurant’s limited-time Rain Dinners Wednesday service, how may we help you?”

“What the--” Crocodile’s eyes widen, swirling back to see Anne lift her head, discarding her hat in a huff as the reindeer-looking animal companion rushes to give her aid. 

(Now, finally-- he recalls the conversation he’s had from Little Garden.)

Mister Three didn’t make it out of Little Garden, so that must have been-- the Unluckies aren’t around, either. They must’ve escaped, too. He swears under his breath. “That wench … she had the gall to lie to me about how many Strawhat members were left?”

“Ah, I gather you will be ordering a platter of manners? Will that be all?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Please, call me Mister Prince,” the obnoxious voice drones on. “If you’re dissatisfied with our service, we’ll be pleased to accept refunds with an extra fee of give my nakama back, you shithead anytime within the next five minutes.”

 

Almost immediately, Chopper and Luffy made enthusiastic squeals from the other end of the room. “PRIIIIINCE! MISTER PRINCE!” Luffy yells, “Save us! We’re trapped!” 

“There’s water coming in the cage is locked and Anne is injured HELP US! There are huge alligator-looking bananas around and they’re gonna eat us!!” Chopper adds desperately. 

Carue quacks with some sort of retort, attempting to gesticulate an explanation that these were banana-looking alligators, not an alligator-looking bananas.  

 

“You’re outside,” Crocodile grimly observes. “Stay there and you’ll get what’s coming for you, you fucking Prince .”

“With pleasure!” Honestly, Crocodile might just crush the Den Den at this point, “oh, but friendly warning-- you might want to bring an umbrella.” 

That made Crocodile pause. 

“...what?”

 

-


-

 

“And, hang up,” Sanji puts the receiver back down. “Remember the number?” he asks his own Baby Den Den Mushi, which nods. “Alright, if you can keep sending him spam I’d be grateful.”

The Den Den gave him a look , but Sanji only grins back. 

“Listen, everyone!” Tashigi declares to her troops before Rain Dinners. “Our mission is to protect the citizens, and take down Baroque Works-- without Smoker-san around, we can only focus on one thing at a time! That is why, now that the Burglar Cat is working in our favour, we leave her alone! Understood?”

When Tashigi had told them about this before-- the troops were skeptical. But there was little they could do. Most of them were very well aware of Nami’s strength-- and it has only grown recently. Now that their hands were full with the real threat in the bounty hunters, they weren’t so sure they still had numerical advantage anymore.

Plus, she just waterbended. They weren’t going to try and fight the fucking oasis, they’re not that dumb.

Much less when that was happening.

 

“Seis Fleur.”

Nami yelps, her grip on the Clima Tact wrenched away and twisted behind her-- wisely, Miss All-Sunday had gone for the flesh arm first-- and then, quickly, transitioned to the more vulnerable parts of the metal arm, capturing her joints and leaving her unable to move an inch.

“Clutch.”

In the last moment before the bones crunched-- Nami flicks the elbow of her metal arm in the wrong direction, loosening the emergency blade slotted in the elbow just enough to pierce one of the arms reaching forward. 

With a sharp hiss, the arms dissipated, and Robin holds her newly bleeding arm with a grimace. 

“Whew, am I glad I asked Usopp to add that…”

Nami removes herself from the field of view, scooping up her Clima Tact and spinning down sharply, causing a mild eruption of--

“Fog Tempo!” 

 

“Now, Tashigi-chan,” Sanji appears beside her and the squad of marines, earning sharp squeaks from mostly the other boys as he coolly fixes his sunglasses, “Shitty Croc is coming out any moment now. We should scatter while the fog is up.”

There was still a light drizzle, but it was definitely letting up now. 

“No, I’ll stay,” Tashigi says, “if Sir Crocodile wants to retaliate against us, he’ll have to explain to the Baroque Works agents as well. He’ll have no choice but to deny any allegations and let us do what we want.”

Sanji hums. That’s quite a good point. “Then I guess my job here is to secure our escape?” he mutters. Or should he head in to see if the morons inside needed help after all?

“That’s a great idea!” Nami emerges, grabbing him by the arms, “we need a way to cross the river, after all!” 

“What river?”

“Worry about that later. Could you go find Eyelashes--” Nami chuckles when Sanji gives her one hell of an impressive grimace, “--and see if he has any travelling crab buddies?”

“Huh?”

“He’ll know. Just hurry on now.”

 

-


-

 

“Banana! Banana!” Chopper shrieks, running off with Carue, “save us! Eeeep!” 

The bananagators have come onto the surface, growling at the variety of fresh meats in the display. Chopper clings to Carue, both trying to scamper away as far as they can get while Anne, still bleeding from the many awful-looking cuts on her body, casually staggers around, locating her jewellery. 

Anne picks up her broken opal pendant, making sure the gemstone wasn’t dirty before tucking it into her pocket. Her pearl necklace was broken and scattered around the place-- well, they were cheap things anyways… she salvages the bracelets, and mourns her now misaligned hair. 

 

“Anne? Anne?!” Luffy yells, “hey! Are you okay? Croc cut you up!” 

“Yeah, I think she knows,” Gin says, “what the hell did you do all that for, Miss Goldenweek?” 

 

And she actually turns to him, visibly pouting. She reaches under her robe and reveals a huge key-- earning shocked looks from every person in the vicinity. 

 

Finally, she corrects him. “It’s Anne .”

 

Retrieving her canvas bag, she takes out the Baby Den Den Mushi, which was active and connected to a rather familiar shell-looking device. 

“So, think we could use this recording somehow?” she asks, shutting off the record function of Tone Dial and playing it right back just to see how much voice she caught.

“What the--!”

“You did not, you marvellous little shit!” 

And while Chopper and Luffy whine in pure relief, trying to smother their crewmate to death with gratitude, Gin massages the bridge of his nose in the misery of a headache.

 


 

“Remind me what the fuck just happened,” Gin mutters defeatedly, sitting down and needing a moment to just calm the hell down. 

“Nami said to meet up here in one hour, but then we found that you guys were captured,” Chopper explains, “so Anne came up with a plan to get you out. It was scary, though.” 

“Can you stop being suicidal for one jailbreak in your life, Anne!” Gin raises his voice. 

Anne doesn’t falter, “but that’s my job?” she asks, genuinely confused. “How about you? Can you stop falling for it every time? Even Chaser noticed.”

Smoker grumbles, “I’ll give you an eight out of ten for that performance,” he says, earning a V sign pointed his way as Anne brims into something resembling a toothy smile. “Hurry up and get us out, Director. Our turn now.”

 

“Hm?” Luffy looks over, irritated, “hey! No stealing Anne from me too! What’s with all these former nakama bastards trying to come for my nakama these few days?!”

 

Smoker snaps over with a “I’m not a--” at the same time Gin goes, “it’s a long st--” and they both freeze in their spots. 

Anne helpfully supplies, “we’re not nakama, but we like Chaser a lot.” 

“Hm? Alright fine, Smokey is okay,” Luffy says, “but no stealing them from me though!” 

“Like I’ve said, I do not care for the affiliation of outlaws--”

 

“Hi, I do not like the implication that this isn’t her first rodeo! And can you sit still? You’re still bleeding and the alligators think you’re food!” Chopper raises his voice, tightening the bandages around the girl’s arm, swearing at the realization that most of these would need stitches once they get somewhere calmer.

Then he screams, morphing right into Heavy Point to grab Anne and Carue and bolt out of the way of a bananagator, leading to a huge chomp against the seastone cage.

 

To their slack-jawed horror, the cage repelled the maw fiercely, fangs shattering before stone broke. 

“What the hell is that cage made of?!”

“Stupid sea thing!” 

“Ah I see-- Anne! Can’t you use your paints to tame those things?”

“Hm? No, they’ll just go back into the water and wash it out again.”

 

Smoker sighs as Carue drops the key in their vicinity and Gin retrieves it, the only one who can reach safely outside of the bars to head toward the keyhole. Finally, the cage opens, and Luffy roars with delight, bouncing right out. 

 

“HEY! STUPID BANANA! STOP BULLYING MY CREW!” 

 

“I’ll murder you all later,” Smoker promises, taking out his jutte. 

“You say that every time,” Gin says, taking out his tonfas.

 

With a huff, Smoker rests a hand on Gin’s shoulder, before settling it on his head, ruffling it against the bandanna. 

“Wha-- what?!” Gin whines, but Smoker proceeds to use his head as an armrest. Anne hustles herself off of Chopper to come up to him as well, and Smoker takes a moment to crouch down and take her hair in his free hand. 

“There it goes,” he says, almost sadly. “That’s what you get for always going in without a plan, you know? You’d think a girl would learn.”

Anne shakes her head, “I did have a plan,” she insists. “I knew you two were in there.”

 

She was the Director, after all. She was the leader of the charge-- the one that drew the progress, and triggered the events, just how she wanted it to go. The rougher work was always left to the other two. 

Gin knocks her on the head for that. 

Smoker pats her on the head once-- and then, turns away. 

 

“Well then, take care,” he says, lifting his jutte to his shoulder, “whatever you call yourselves now.”

“It’s Anne,” she says, for the second time. 

“Don’t pretend to not know my name already,” Gin says, slightly spiteful, “you’ve called me Man-Demon like, how many times now. My name is Gin.”

Smoker hums. “Well, I don’t particularly care what I’m called,” he says. “I just do my job.”

And then he goes, pursuing Crocodile in a burst of smoke. 

 

“Shithead,” Gin says. 

“He hasn’t changed,” Anne nods, but there’s a smile on her face. “Your turn, Berserker,” she says, pointing toward the bananagators, where Luffy was already trying to pluck bananas off their heads. 

“What did I just say about my name?” he hisses, but doesn’t stop her when she returns to Chopper's side, where they’re working to tie her bag to Carue’s satchel. 

“That it’s Gin, I know,” she says, smiling. “Fix my pendant later?”

“Yeah, yeah, just stay back.”

 

-


-

 

Crocodile exits the building to utter mayhem

“Sir-- Sir Crocodile! Thank god you’re here! Bounty hunters and pirates have started wreaking havoc and the marines are moving but--” 

He stops the poor casino manager with a stilted raise of an arm. 

Thank god the building itself is intact-- but what in the holy hell happened to everything outside ? He expected the piles of unconscious (and that he hopes are dead because fuck the Billions, really,) bodies, but he doesn’t expect the waterlogged lands, the crushed trees, and the army of Marine standing guard toward him. 

It looked like a tsunami came and went-- and judging by the water streaks, some rain, too. There wasn’t a dry spot outside, and he cursed to himself. 

 

“What is the meaning of this?” he demands. 

 

The girl with blue hair and glasses-- that Smoker’s little lady. She stands before the army of alert soldiers, rallying up the Billions and arresting them all. 

(How inconvenient.)

He looks around, but he doesn’t see the Burglar Cat anywhere-- not even anyone that could be the supposed Mister Prince, because the Marines are all he can find now that aren't a guest or a Billion. 

He concentrates, feeling around a little further with his Haki. 

(Where did Miss All-Sunday go? Did she escape?)

He scoffs when Tashigi glares, fixing him with a stern, knowing look. Crocodile stifles a laugh, realizing that her hostility mean that she knew exactly what was going on in the Rain Dinners basement. 

 

“You’re not with your sugar daddy today?” he mocks, enjoying the way Tashigi flushes brightly and sputters, almost in too-desperate denial. “I don’t see why the marines have business here, outside my-- a Seven Warlord of the sea, if I should remind you-- establishment, causing extensive destruction of property.”

“We apologize, Sir Crocodile. Captain Hina will provide financial aid for damage control,” Tashigi says, composing herself and pulling her expressions tight. “Our sources caught sight of Burglar Cat Nami, with a 25 million beri bounty, walking into the building with Devil’s Child Nico Robin, who has a bounty of 79 million. I’m sure you can understand our immediate congregation here.”

Crocodile frowns. That bitch was spotted? He expected better of her. 

“This mess you now see is a product of the battle between those two outlaws,” Tashigi continues to say, her hands tightening around the hilt of her sword, “we have received information that alludes to a coup occurring in the country. I must ask you to cooperate with our investigations.”

 

“I owe the Marines nothing,” Crocodile says immediately. “I am not obliged to help just because an Sergeant Major tells me to. Know your place.”

 

Tashigi bites her lip, knowing he was right. 

But she smiles instead. 

“I know,” she says. 

 

And then Nami leaps from the roof of Rain Dinners, Clima Tact shattering Crocodile’s form to an explosion of sand. 

She curses. But something she sees in Crocodile’s still formed arm makes her pause. 

Crocodile’s particles of sand reconvene, gathering into a body beginning from his arm. He chuckles dryly, “Haki huh?” he gains some distance as Nami leaps back, edged toward the river. “You forget. If I know you’re coming, I can still turn myself to sand before you hit me.”

 

Immediately, Tashigi moves. “All troops! Secure the perimeters! Seven Warlord Crocodile, you are arrested for malicious attempts to subvert the authority of Alabastan Royalty.”

Crocodile curses, an arm shooting out to grab her by the neck, lifting her into the air. 

“Absolute bullshit,” he sneers, “you have no proof, woman. Try what you might, if anyone’s looking suspicious right now, it’s the marines, for siding with a criminal like the Burglar Cat.”

Right then, a blue rod swings through the air, gyrating rapidly before drilling right into Crocodile’s arm, forcing him to let go of the Sergeant Major in a hiss of pain. 

“What the--” 

It didn’t turn into sand?

And that’s when he noticed the blood on his coat. 

Was it from when he cut Anne up? But it shouldn’t have reached him. He curses, taking a closer look at the splash-- no, the pattern drawn in, little but so clearly of Miss Goldenweek’s Colours Trap, painted in with the red of her blood. 

 

Nami smirks. 

 

“Leaving the rest to you, Captain Smoker!” she hollers, catching the Clima Tact in mid air before leaping through the grounds, hooking Tashigi over by the arm as they crossed-- bringing them both behind the crowd of marine soldiers.

Behind her, at the entrance of Rain Dinners-- is Captain Smoker himself, seastone jutte resting on his shoulder. 

This cannot be. 

Searching his own pockets-- he finds the key-- the real key, not any of the false ones he had on hand-- was gone. When did it go? Was it when Burglar Cat touched him? Or was it before that-- Crocodile mutters a line of incomprehensible curses. 

(If he sees Miss Goldenweek again, ever , he will fucking murder her. )

 

-


-

 

Gin emerges from the river with Luffy a little further downstream from Rain Dinners. Carue emerges with Chopper and Anne, and Gin works to pull them onshore. Anne had finally succumbed to sleep, her injuries and the blood lost deeming her senses with a need to conserve energy. 

Quickly, he takes in the situation.

Marines, bounty hunters, and Crocodile and Smoker are at Rain Dinners. Judging by Sanji’s obnoxious phonecall, he probably hightailed it out of there because he has self-preservation. Then where’s Nami?

 

“Chopper, we need your nose.”

 

Groggily, the reindeer points in a random direction away from Rain Dinners. Carue stands up as well, but he’s breathing heavily. He’s not good at swimming, unsurprisingly, and that dive took a lot out of him. 

So Gin hikes Anne’s canvas bag around his shoulder before he grabs all of them, Anne on his back, Luffy and Carue under each arm and Chopper held by the scruff on the freer hand-- and then he starts running

 

“Alright, we’re going to Alubarna, Luffy!”

“Wahhhhh? But I haven’t punch Croco bile yeeeet.”

“You can punch Croco -bile when we’ve got Anne treated and Zoro by your side because he’s the only one that enables your fucking bullshit ,” Gin hisses right back. “There are marines everywhere right now, we’ve got no chance in that mess.”

“Well yeah that’s not fair!” Luffy’s much more spirited now apparently, but Gin is too preoccupied to let him down, “why does Smokey get to fight him? He’s stealing my target!” 

“We need to save Vivi’s country did you forget ?!”

“I’m only here to fight Croc!” 

“You can do it when I’m not the appointed fucking babysitter of you!” Gin shouts. Then he barks, “Chopper! Where!” 

 

“I’m here, I’m here,” comes Nami, turning around an alley holding a flustered Tashigi by the hand. The Burglar Cat had retrieved her coat and everything, her drenched hair pulled to one side. “Geez, what happened to you g-- WHAT happened to Anne?!” 

She bolts forward, forgetting Tashigi to take poor Anne by the face, cringing at a particular bed of bandages that went across her right cheek, past her nose. 

“Geez! How could you boys let this happen?!” Nami snaps, smacking Luffy over the head. “C’mon, we’re going to meet up with Vivi and the rest! We’ve got a country to save.”

 

“Nooo I wanna beat up the croc!” Luffy whines. “You guys can go do the other thing!”

 

Nami meets Gin’s eyes with a tired groan. 

She supposes that should happen, but she isn’t sure if Crocodile would let Luffy live this time. Hell, she’s still not sure how Luffy lived last time, she doesn’t think it’s fine to let something as important as her captain’s life go up to chance. 

(But the truth in the matter is that Luffy won last time because Crocodile underestimated Luffy. This time, if Crocodile was truly serious about killing them-- Luffy may not be prepared to really face him.)

Luffy gets back on his feet, but he’s still mulling, arms crossed in a perpetual brood even as Carue hands him back his jug of Yuba Water to cheer him up. 

 

Luffy stares her through with a firm look, and he finally breaks out the words. 

“I want to go!” he says, “and I don’t need either of your permission to go!” 

 

Nami winces at the same time Gin does-- both balking internally at the realization that he was right . Sure, Nami was the voice of reason, and Gin was the final puller of the brakes-- but that ultimately didn’t mean anything in the lane of ‘captain’s orders’. 

 

Luffy doesn’t even register Tashigi there-- just his crewmates, and just the two that held the most authority after himself and Zoro. 

“I’m your captain ,” Luffy says, and somehow-- Nami felt her throat constrict. “I’m less experienced than Krieg or Whitebeard or even--” he trails off, recomposing himself immediately, “but I’m your captain! Treat me like it!” 

Nami and Gin found themselves standing straight, their arms weak and their eyes pulling shut. Finally, their heads bowed-- and they have never felt so humbled in their life. 

“I’m sorry,” Gin says first. “I was out of line.”

Nami nods grimly, “I won’t do it again, Captain.” 

 

Under his hat, Chopper peeks up, confused-- but Tashigi was speechless. 

(For a moment, the Marine Sergeant Major felt like she was intruding on something horribly private among this crew-- and she turned away.)

 

Luffy huffs, mildly satisfied as he turns back toward Rain Dinners. “You said you liked that guy, right?” that was directed at Gin. “Then he better not steal my prey, cause if he does I’ll have to beat him up too!”

That earns a laugh from Gin and a short bark of laughter from Nami. 

“Well, I’m going!” Luffy’s finally warning. “You guys go meet up with Vivi, Zoro and Usopp!” he says. “Go get Vivi home!” 

“Aye, Captain!” Nami hollers as Luffy takes off running. 

“We’ll meet in Alubarna!” Gin adds, “please ask for directions if you don’t know how to get there! Don’t be like Zoro!” 

Luffy actually stops running to angrily bark right back, “I KNOW, OKAY!” in a furious fit before charging away once more. 

 


 

“Meet Tashigi,” Nami turns around to see Tashigi, all bristled and horrified and with her sword held drawn before her, glancing fearfully between the two men, “she’s my old friend. Be nice.”

“Yo,” says Gin, and Tashigi squeaks

Nami chops him in the face. “Turn that off.”

“What, my face?”

“Everything.”

“My life ?!”

 

“Huh? You’re the marine lady!” Chopper squeaks, as terrified of Tashigi as Tashigi is terrified of the talking raccoon, “Nami, why did you bring her? She’s gonna arrest us!” 

“A talking-- the tanuki just--!?!” Tashigi swirls to it, hands trembling. “Oh no. No I’m NOT scared of you!” 

“I’m a reindeer !” 

“Oh. Oh, okay, that make-- no that does not make sense either you’re a reindeer why can you talk oh my god--

 

Nursing a headache now, Nami takes Tashigi by the arm, leading the boys toward the outskirts of the city. 

Sanji finds them there, sunglasses and all, with a new pack of cigarettes. Behind him, a giant leering crab the size of a building and the length of three smirks lopsidedly at them. 

Hasami the desert crab grins, and everyone’s jaws drop straight down. Chopper, for one, has eyes that are glittering with amazement. Atop the back of the crab, Eyelashes the camel growls something incomprehensible, but the message was clear-- it was an indication to ‘get on, losers, we’re going to war .’

 

(Nami didn’t honestly think Sanji could find the same crab so easily, but well-- guess the universe tends to do its own somersaults for conveniences to happen, huh?)

 

Sanji beams, “greetings, mademoiselles! And the rest of the extras too I guess,” he says, ignoring Gin’s hollow mutter of ‘glad to know we’re loved, Sanji,’ to sweetly hold out a dry coat for Nami to change into. “Shall we depart?” 

“Always a charmer, Sanji-kun,” Nami swoons. 

 


 

Crocodile doesn’t come chasing.

Tashigi looks on toward Rainbase as the city grows smaller in the distance-- and her heart sank with worry. 

“They’ll be fine,” Nami says, though she isn’t too sure herself, “they don’t seem like they’ll cooperate… but if you put them together, they actually make a cool duo, don’t you think?” 

(At least, that’s what she thinks from her experience in the previous time around.)

“I believe they will be, but…” Tashigi fidgets anxiously, “I don’t think I’ll be able to truly be at ease until they contact us again.”

Nami nods. That’s fair. 

(They could only believe, now.) 

 

Seeing they were finally in the clear, Chopper took the opportunity to set up a temporary tent with Sanji’s and Eyelashes’ help, the camel being a wall for the wind while Sanji held the tarp as stably as he could. 

And under the shade, he began the arduous stitching work for Anne’s many injuries. It was a bumpy ride, so it was hard getting them neat (they would definitely leave scars. He hated that this would definitely leave scars,) but it had to be done. 

“We need a blood transfusion! What’s her blood type-- argh, no time for that!” Chopper sticks his head out of the tarp. “Sanji! You’re a universal donor! Get in here!”  

“Anne’s an XF if you want to know,” Gin says.

To which Sanji gives a mortified, “why in the hell do you know that?!”

“Ah… Smoker-san is an XF as well,” Tashigi says, somehow distracted, “if I recall from the records, Namizo-kun is X, right?”

“Yes, but why were you looking at my blood type in the records?” Nami shrinks a little. 

“Alright, nevermind the fact that some of the people here might just be obsessive stalkers that we just found out about,” Chopper says, coming out of the tent after connecting the transfusion, “anyone else has injuries?”

 

They check each other over. Gin stays on one side of the tent, with Carue on the other to act as a windshield from the sides. In his hands, Gin's rethreaded Anne's pearl necklace, tying a knot between each pearl so they wouldn't scatter again when broken.. Hung against his wrist is Anne's opal pendant, the old string knotted awkward where it broke.

Tashigi takes the tarp from Sanji’s hands to keep the wind guard up.

Nami reaches into Anne's canvas bag, retrieving the Tone Dial. She clicks the apex, and Crocodile's voice begins to speak, loud and clear. 

 

"...I have better things to do.  Like going to King Cobra and stealing the throne of this country, for instance..."

 

Nami's smile widens. 

"Oh Anne, you crazy little sweetheart. This is perfect.

Chapter 46: fighters, saviours, (head to Alubarna)

Summary:

Crocodile demonstrates his powers. There's plenty this man hasn't shown the world yet-- and it makes sense. There's no way this man is going all out on some people without an adept mastery of Armament Haki, at least.

In other news, Nami strip-teases for a crab, and Usopp drives a royal guard crazy with his dumb stories.

Soon, all forces will convene in Alubarna for the final face-off.

Chapter Text

Smoker isn’t exactly doing great. He orders his troops to retreat immediately, taking the arrested members of Baroque Works to Hina’s base. 

He didn’t think he could face down Crocodile here, after all-- he was just stalling. 

But now he was faced with surge upon surge of pelting sandstorms that cut like razors. 

 

Sure, he had Haki-- but Crocodile had it too. And when two incomparable powers pitted against each other-- the superior Haki won, no matter what. Man he fucking hated that. 

 

He winces when another gash opens over his shoulder, and a swing of his jutte diverts Crocodile’s arm from another attempt at his neck. 

What were his weaknesses again?

(The floor was covered in water. Not enough to deter a Devil Fruit user, just a few nasty puddles of splash potential. And then there was the coat he discarded, where Anne had painted a dull red Colours trap upon it.)

And flight

Right now, Smoker was the only one flying-- which meant that Crocodile’s aversion to water was much worse than a usual Devil Fruit user. 

 

“Gomu-Gomu no…” 

Smoker and Crocodile whirls back simultaneously, a mirrored horror on their faces as they witness Monkey D. Luffy sucking up water from the river like an inflatable anteater. 

“Water Gun!” 

Smoker bails the hell out of there, but Crocodile isn’t so lucky. With the humidity around him limiting his ability to fly, he gets splashed with a hearty amount of water before Luffy stands proudly before him. 

 

“CROC!” the moron declares, “I still need to punch your face in! Don’t think I forgot!” 

 

“Strawhat…” the Warlord seethes, and Smoker takes the chance to plunge jutte-first, the rock beam whipping forth-- contacting, firmly against Crocodile’s shoulder-- and he threw his entire weight to the sight, throwing Crocodile off his feet. 

Smoker huffs, gathering himself back to his feet to see half-bloated Luffy glare at him. 

“Am I supposed to thank you?” he asks. 

Luffy doesn’t hear it. “HEY, I’m the one that has to beat him up! Get in line, Smokey you cheater!” 

“Are you a child.”

Smoker’s exasperated, but he isn’t naive. Reaching for the seastone cuffs on his belt, he verges forward to Crocodile’s prone form--

--only to get backhanded by a golden hook, slamming face first into solid brick. 

“Cheap tricks,” Crocodile hisses, reaching for the seastone cuffs himself, taking it by the chains. He grounds a muddy foot into Smoker’s face, pinning him down by a Haki-coated hook. 

“Whip!” Luffy yells, and Crocodile leaps away in time to away the swing of a rubber foot. 

 

Smoker gets up in a rush, but Crocodile moves first. In a swirl and spin only used by trained swashbucklers, Crocodile launches the seastone cuffs forward, sending it gyrating across the field like a boomerang, right toward Luffy. 

With a surprised yelp, Luffy dodges-- but it spins back like a boomerang, and by the time he noticed it coming, he’d raised his arms in an instinctive attempt to block it. 

The cuffs closed taut over his forearm. 

“What the-- ACK! What is this...?!” Luffy immediately expelled all the water in his belly, flopping onto the ground in weakness. 

 

Smoker curses, glaring up at the Warlord. 

Crocodile scoffs. “Thought you could take me in with seastone, huh? Don’t think the world government’s the only ones with lots of Seastone in their arsenal.”

“Well wouldn’t you know, jack of all trades,” Smoker spits. He gets up, but his wounds rag him down, the bleeding in his shoulder isn’t stopping-- and his sight is blurring, just a little. “Come down here and fight me for real.” 

 

Crocodile rolls his eyes. “Unfortunately, White Chase, I’ve got better things to do,” he says. “That wench Miss Goldenweek… if she was lying about Miss Wednesday being dead too, then I’ve got to get to Alubarna before my plans are ruined.”

Right then, Nico Robin emerges beside him in a flutter of petals, and Smoker grows completely horrified. (Why in the holy hell is Crocodile working with the Devil’s Child?)

“Huh. So you lived,” Crocodile mutters. 

“I’ve called a ride,” Miss All-Sunday simply informs. 

“At least you’re still useful for something, then,” Crocodile grumbles. 

Smoker curses, leaping in a plume of smoke-- but the sand of the ground, damp as they were-- pulled forward, enveloping him in vines of solid sand. He tries to tear away-- but the Haki was throwing him off, and he’d scattered himself too far to avoid it. 

“Fuck you, Crocodile!” 

 

The next moment he’s plunging downward-- and downward, and he keeps going down. The floor had vanished, the brick and stone perimeters of Rain Dinners was gone. The oasis-- the oasis, not the whole lake, just the majority of the tunnels and the river around the building which was still a ton-- was completely dried up. 

(The Sand-Sand fruit could dry up water, if he tried.)

(But this much? It’s ridiculous.)

Smoker could already see the water filling back in, pooling shallowly near the channels-- but for him to take away that much just to use his powers again? This was bullshit

Smoker was sinking in the clutches of the sand that wrapped around his form-- and there was no end under his feet. Just sand-- and more sand-- until he hit the end of the earth. 

(He needed to get out, get out, now .)

 

“Smokey!” Luffy yells, “crap, where’d he-- why’s there so much sand-- where did all the water go?!”

Luffy gets up with a groan, but he doesn’t get further than his elbows before glaring angrily up at Crocodile. 

“Don’t touch-- Vivi’s country, you bastard croc!” he hisses effortfully, “goddamit this dumb thing is… making me weak! Get it off me!” 

Just then, the sand around him crumbles.  Crumbles-- and begins to sink, a cave of endless sand dragging him down by the limbs eating him whole. 

He yelps. “What the-- the sand is--!!” 

 

Crocodile huffs. “Should’ve done that from the start,” he mutters, regretting his waste of time. “Pests, all of them, underestimating me.” 

 

With an uncharacteristic curse, Luffy swings the hand that was still half bound by the seastone shackle, and the other end latches onto the railing of the river. With some effort, he drags himself up-- but the ground the railing itself was on was beginning to sink as well. 

He spins himself over so his feet are on the railing-- and then, he grabs onto an almost falling tree, unlatching a coconut with some feet expertise. Tossing it in the air, he whirls and kicks it, grinning widely when the projectile clocks Crocodile right in the head, shattering on impact. 

“COME BACK HERE, YOU SHIT CROC!” Luffy shouts, but Crocodile pays him no mind. 

“You have a death wish,” Crocodile hisses, reaching out. He doesn’t come at Luffy like he’d hoped-- instead, Luffy looks up to see a wave of coarse sand towering over him like a tsunami from all directions--

--and then there was nothing.

 

Crocodile turns away, following Miss All-Sunday to their nearest ride toward Alubarna. 

 


 

The very moment after Crocodile turned out of Rainbase-- Kebi rushes out from the alley, whistling for the rest of the Rebel Army to emerge. 

Quickly, they dove into the sands, grabbed shovels, and dug. 

“Hurry! They’ll suffocate soon!” 

“Get the Marine Captain before he hits the water source! The oasis is filling back in now, he’ll drown!” 

 


 

Smoker wakes up to the ceiling of what seemed to be a huge tent. There were people-- a lot, maybe a dozen or two-- fumbling around everywhere, carting around medical supplies, shouting orders over each other, and talking in hushed chaos over each other. 

He gets up abruptly, wincing sharply at the tug of the wound around his shoulder. 

It was bandaged. And so were his other wounds as well-- that means…

 

“Oh! The Marine guy’s awake!” someone hollers, coming toward him with a bucket of water and damp cloth. “Wait for the IV to end before moving.”

 

Smoker curses. “I appreciate that you’ve saved me,” he says, “but who are you guys?”

“Oh uh--” the man smiles, sitting down, reaching out a hand. “Nice to meet you, sir! We’re the Rebel Army of this country, I’m Kebi.”

Smoker pauses. Hold up, what?

“Well, former now, since those Baroque goons came in, impersonated our leader, and then kicked us all out so they can take over and fight the war anyways,” Kebi sighs, “we weren’t planning on saving you actually, just the strawhat guy. But then we realized you’re probably our best chance of actually getting Sir Crocodile arrested, so Kohza ordered us to save you-- uhm, are you following all we have so far?”

“No,” Smoker says, “but don’t reiterate. Anyone got a cigar?”

“You’re not allowed to.”

“I don’t care.” 

Kebi beams, but he still doesn’t hand him a cigar. “If you’re worried about the strawhat kid that was with you--”

“I’m not.”

“He woke up a while ago and is currently eating our entire hideout’s worth of rations in frustration. Do you know a way to stop him?”

 

And that’s when Smoker sees it. This tent connected to another that looked like a mess hall. Inside it, the brat, coat and straw hat and all, was wolfing down his hundredth meal. There were plates stacked beside him and the rebels around him looked in slack-jawed horror. 

“Uhm. Is there a reason he’s stacking his plates like that?” Kebi asks, “all it’s doing right now is making our rationsmaster terrified.”

Smoker hums. “He’s Eastern.”

Then, “ah.”

Then Smoker finds the seastone cuffs by his side-- ah, they got his keys, didn’t they-- and picks it up. “You can try locking him back in these.”

“Uncouth.”

“It’ll fix the problem, won't it?” 

 

All matters aside, this is quite a place despite being an apparent last minute base town. He’d thought everything south of Rainbase was considered dilapidated. 

Smoker nods out in a greeting when Kohza, the Rebel Army Leader, settles down beside him. It seems he’d been involved in a scuffle as well, with his torso all bandaged up like that. 

He wonders what happened after he left them in Katorea, but he could also guess. 

“Where are we now?” Smoker asks, because introductions aren’t needed. 

“Well, easternmost Yuba, two miles from the river now, but if you’re asking exactly where on the map, this city used to be called Melias,” Kohza says, “we’re using it as a recuperation point.”

Smoker raises a brow, “all the way from Katorea?”

Kohza shrugs, “you’ll be surprised how fast sand sliders go. We had associates,” he says, not elaborating further on that, “where else would grant us rebels refuge?”

 

Smoker scoffs. Fair point, but he’ll accept it. Surely, the blind sharpshooter couldn’t have predicted that he or Strawhat would’ve needed medical attention or anything, right?

 

“What do you want from me?” Smoker demands, because there’s obviously a condition here. “I know you guys are cooperating with the Strawhats due to the Princess, but I’m not obligated to--”

Kohza sets down a Den Den Mushi, and Smoker balks , recognizing that very same snail as the one he’d talked into in Katorea. 

“I’m sure we’re all on the same side if we’re fighting against Sir Crocodile,” Kohza says, sounding mildly put off. “We just lost all of our forces and I got shot like two times in the gut. We’re desperate right now, and if cooperating with your ass is the only chance we’ve got, I’d rather do it than get punched by Vivi again.”

Smoker gives Kebi a look , but he only received a noncommittal shrug in response. Not helpful at all. 

Then, “fair enough. You want information, I need information, and I also need to contact my men…” he looks aside, grumbling mildly, “they do know the way to Hina’s base, right?” then turns back to Kohza, “...and we both want to defeat Crocodile. I don’t care about the Rebel Army of this country, and you could care less about the marines.”

So it makes perfect sense for them to team up right now. 

“All in agreement?”

“All in agreement.”

 

Smoker immediately grabs the Seastone cuffs, grasps it by the chains like a sling-- and launches it, spinning across the air on a curved path toward Luffy. It bashes through the curtain of the tent, but only manages to slightly alarm Luffy before the cuffs slot right into his wrist. 

And like a dramatic idiot, he immediately falls straight down like a broken toy. 

“Aaaeeergh whhhaat the--” then Luffy lifts his head. “OOH! Smokey, you’re awake! That’s good, Doctor Quack Guy said you might be dead so I wasn’t sure!” He beams, then scowls, “wait, what is this? Get it off me!” 

“And that’s how you capture someone with seastone cuffs,” Smoker says, “Marine basics. Revolutionaries know how to do it too, have you ever tried throwing shoes onto huge Den Den lines?” 

Kebi’s eyes are sparkling. “We throw them onto clotheslines here. Can I try?”

“Hey, don’t learn weird things now,” Kohza chides him, unlocking the handcuff from Luffy’s wrist when the boy comes over whining about the thing.  

Luffy, once the cuff os gone, immediately recovers. Smoker has to wonder if he's truly that weak to seastone or he's just being a dramatic brat. 

 

“How the hell did Vivi travel with someone that has so much energy, anyways?” Kohza grumbles, “you’re worse of a troublemaker than Vivi ever was, and I’m talking about a cyan-haired princess wandering around bandit-infested ruins to meet up with a group of boys every afternoon.”

Smoker huffs. He’s interested, all things considered.

Luffy grins, but only clarifies, “she was killing a whale so we stole her huge cannon, fed her, and then kidnapped her after some guys blew up the Chikuwa Ossan.”

“I talked to him for two seconds and I never want to talk to him again,” Kohza says immediately, while Luffy settles on the stool beside them, still holding handfuls of pita bread for some reason. 

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Kookaburra?” Luffy asks in a mouthful of food.

 

Smoker has never seen a better depiction of the ‘I’ve been dealing with this bullshit for the past hour and if I have to deal with it alone another second I will murder everyone in this room before I do the country’ face than Kohza’s in that very moment.  

(And yeah. Mood, really.)

 

“Also, what the actual fuck is a kookabura,” Kohza grumbles. 

“A rare fish from South Blue!” Luffy answers cheerfully. At horrified, disbelieving looks, Luffy clarifies, “what? It’s a word that came up a lot in those stupid word puzzles!” 

Is that the real reason Kohza wants to create an allyship with Smoker despite only half-trusting him? Alright, that’s fair. 

“Let’s just get this over with,” Smoker decides, reaching around for his-- oh, his jacket’s hanging by the wall. “I’m not looking forward to this conversation.”

 

-


-

 

“Purupurupur… Kachack!” 

“Stickman with a Bird to Chaser of the Clouds, what’s your status?” Usopp picks up the receiver.

There’s a moment of silence before the very low, defeated grumble of “I said just Chaser, for fuck’s sake,” was heard. Usopp beams. 

“That’s great! Is Free-ranged Monkey there as well?” 

“HEY USOPP!” came the overexcited cheer, “Listen listen I fought sand croc and he did this thing where the WHOLE RIVER dried up and--!!” 

Haha, there goes their anonymity. Well, he wasn’t expecting it to hold up when Luffy got the phone anyways. 

“And well, yeah… I went and lost… sorry…” 

 

When the snail deflates, evidently miming Luffy’s own expressions-- Zoro and Vivi’s eyes meet. Usopp could only hear the slight disappointment in his voice, but the meaning was not lost on him. 

But he didn’t speak. 

He let Zoro have that privilege. 

“So what?” Zoro says, “you said he walked away without fighting you, right? Then he ran away. Next time you fight him it’ll be fair and square and you’ll win, obviously.” 

There’s a mild pause before Luffy snickers. “Shishishi! Of course!” 

 

Beside Usopp, Vivi and Zoro look out into the distance. They were approaching Alubarna any moment now, the Desert Axolotl they bullied into being their ride ferrying them across the fields in a quick but not very comfortable ride. 

It’s quite hard to see, though. The sun had set, and the forward route was too dark to make out. Usopp and Vivi were wrapped up in the thickest clothes they could find, and Zoro was braving it as best as he could. It was a shit idea to brave the desert night in such frigid speeds, but they didn’t exactly have the liberty of time. 

Kinoko, who couldn’t handle staying in the wind without clawing Usopp’s shoulder out, is now tucked under the flaps of Zoro’s coat like a chicken nested under a curtain. 

Vivi and Usopp already know they’re going to have headaches once they get off, but Zoro spent most of the journey asleep. 

 

Connecting another Den Den Mushi to another line, Usopp hums. “Wait a moment, alright? Let's hear everything else once I get connected to the other group.”

“Can we stop using the stupid names now,” Smoker mutters. 

“Nah, what if the Marine Base picks up this conversation? You’re going to be in trouble!” Usopp replies immediately. “Only unknown names are allowed right now.”

“I don’t think it matters much, context wise,” Vivi says. “Ah- anyways! Is Leader alright? Like, seriously?”

“Leader?” Luffy asks.

“She means me,” Kohza says. “Yes, I am fine.” 

“What the-- another former nakama bastard?! How many of you are there! Are you going to steal her from me too?!”

“Huh? I got her first. It’s more like you guys should be returning her to me .”

“Excuse you?! Wanna fight?!”

“Could you both cool your heads!” Vivi snaps, “don’t start stupid fights! Kebi! Punch them both for me!” 

“Aye, Vice Leader.” And then two loud bonks. 

Then, “Hah! That won’t work on me cause I’m rubb-- OW! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, SMOKEY?!”

“Seastone cuffs.”

 

Zoro groans. “Why is there never quiet outside of this group?” he wonders rhetorically. “But at least, from the sounds of it, they’re doing fine.”

“Yeah,” Vivi says, sighing in relief. “But it does sound a little insane to have all our leading figures in one place…”

 

The other Den Den in Usopp’s hand finally connects. 

“Station Cloud Nine to Five-star Child Traumatiser?” comes the response, “what’s your status?”

“We do NOT talk about that incident in this household!!” Usopp snaps back on instinct, before composing himself in embarrassment for an, “all accounted for. We’re en route to the capital on the fastest ride we can get. Monkey and Chaser with--”

Just then, from the other Den Den Mushi, Smoker who has apparently been paying attention, pipes up with a quiet, no-context saying of “Kookaburra, apparently”, while the chaos on the other end is still happening. 

Usopp rolled with it, “Monkey, Chaser, and… Kookaburra? Man, leave it to him to come up with the weirdest ones. Are on standby. Back to you?”

“I don’t think I want to know,” says Nami, exasperated. “Anne is compromised,” Usopp stills in surprise. “But everyone else is doing well, we’re approaching the Sandora River in ten. Lady Longsword is with us as well.” 

“Captain, sir!” Tashigi’s voice cut in, “Smo-- oh I can’t say his name? Okay but-- I’m glad you’re alright! I was worried!” 

“Huh?! Who told you to? Why the hell did you go with them, you moron!” Smoker snaps right back, “stop being friendly with the criminals!” 

“Says you but you’re talking through the snail too! Hypocrite!” Tashigi’s immediate rebuttal catches everyone by surprise. 

“Circumstances!” 

“Well I’m just helping out a bestie of mine too then, it was just the happening of the situation at hand,” Tashigi hisses, “no criminals I see here. You’re just imagining things.”

“God fucking damn it.”

 

Knowing that Smoker’s given in, Tashigi continues with the more serious topics. “Where’s everyone else, are they fine?”

Smoker’s response is slightly more chastised, “I sent them to the nearest base.”

And Tashigi breathes a very visible sigh of relief. 

 

“How bad is Anne?” Usopp speaks up, and everyone’s attention whirls back. 

“She’s stable, but not for combat,” Chopper’s voice comes through, “at least, I don’t want her to be any more involved. She might lose the ability to write every again.”

There’s a sharp hiss at that. If Chopper was saying that much…

“Looks like we’ll get there first,” Zoro says, looking forward. Vivi turns as well-- and through the darkness, Usopp finds the light, too. 

 

The city of Alubarna, gleaming in the nightline-- phosphenes in every colour known to man, surely forming a glittering sight to behold. 

 

“Well, that’s it for status updates, I guess,” Nami says. “Just remember to stay on the down-low. Crocodile is behind us.”

“The Billions are behind us ,” Vivi adds. “We’ll get about half a day’s leeway.”

“I’m heading down to the bay,” Smoker says, to everyone’s very vocal surprise. “The troops in Alubarna are yours, Sgt. Major, do what you must.”

“What the-- what ?! Alone?!” Tashigi struggled to register the sudden turn of events.

 

“I'm out,” Smoker stands up, and there’s a shuffle of clothes indicating he’s getting dressed, picking up his things, and actually moving away. 

 

Then Kohza speaks up, surprised. “Oh wait you are actually physically leaving?”

“Where ya goin, Smokey?”

“None of your business, I’ll have my own backup so do your own thing.”

“Oh. Okay! Bye, Smokey!” 

“Stop calling me that.” 

“You’re really leaving me alone with this? Does my mental health not matter?” says Kohza, his tone stretching out into a plea.

“Bill the marine base for health insurance,” came the dry response. 

And the other Den Den Mushi goes quiet, a great contrast to Tashigi who is screeching “CAPTAIN SIR YOU OWE ME AN EXPLANATION” without ever getting an answer. 

(Come to think of it, where did Smoker go last time around? He was just missing after Rainbase. If he’s going down to the bay… According to what Nami says about the current Marine outposts in the area, Usopp reckons the backup he’s speaking of is Captain Hina?)

 

Right now, there was still a squad or two of Marines in Alubarna, those who Smoker sent ahead to scout out. So Tashigi’s job was to meet up with them. 

Vivi had to meet up with her father, so the palace was where they had to go next. Usopp needed time to get used to the new environment, while Zoro was perfectly fine on the stalling team that deals with the Officer Agents they’ll come across. 

Usopp doesn’t know what Nami has in mind on her end. Why is she with Tashigi, what specifically went down to lead to that situation, and why is Luffy so active instead of being halfway dead like last time? Why is Anne the one injured instead?

(And how, exactly, did Luffy make his way over to Alubarna last time again?)

Well, none of those details mattered. They didn’t matter last time-- they simply rolled with it, even without contacting each other like this midway. So it wouldn’t matter this time either-- they just had to work with it. 

(Usopp is just glad they’re all active, lively, and just as chaotic as ever.)

 

“So, Captain,” Usopp turns to the snail. “Ready to wreak havoc?”

The Den Den Mushi pulls into a grin. Usopp can’t see it-- but it’s contagious anyways, because he can feel the resolve-filled excitement anywhere. 

“Yeah!” Luffy says, “you guys go on ahead! The rest of us will catch up!”

The ‘aye captain!’ in response was liberating.

 


 

“No! Mister Bushido! Wrong way!” Vivi hisses sharply, her hand clenched tightly around Zoro’s as the latter clicks his tongue , groans in annoyance, and lets himself be tugged back. 

Behind them, tapping carefully on his walking stick with a hand on the alley wall and his bird on his shoulder, Usopp meanders his way forward without confidence. 

“This sure is a huge town…”

 

The officer agents weren’t here yet, so they weren’t there to stand guard at the front gates. All they had to do was watch for patrols, and sneak in with the rest of the late-night travellers coming into the country. 

After that, they just had to let Vivi lead them through the city. 

 

“Oh wait, Usopp-san, watch out to the left of you there’s a--”

Vivi gets cut off abruptly when Usopp and Kinoko get simultaneously smashed right in the face, hard, when someone swings a nearby window right open. The edge of the windowsill clucks him right in the note while the screen swats Kinoko to the far other wall, eliciting a sharp squeak from both of them. 

Vivi and Zoro wince at the sight. 

“--window, and people start getting ready for the market at this time so it might open, yeah.”

Usopp topples back in muted agony as the storekeeper glances over, “whoops! You okay there, lad?” she leans over, “need some ointment for that bruise?”

Usopp bolts up in time for Kinoko to recover and assault Vivi with the bird hug of doom. “Warn me earlier, dammit!” 

“I’m sorry, I forgot!” 

 

Groggily, Usopp gets up. 

The sun hasn’t risen yet, but they were certainly nearing the palace now. They apologize to the kind store owner (who gives them some of her freshly baked Baklavas as a ‘don’t dawdle near windows anymore!’ well wish) and continue on their way. 

“Alright, Usopp-san as well, I guess,” Vivi takes the man by the wrist. “Come on. I can’t bring you boys anywhere I swear.”

“I would be fine even if you let me go,” Zoro grumbles, but Vivi simply scoffs in disbelief. “What, I would !” 

“Yeah, this would be faster,” Usopp sighs in defeat. Nevermind the way Kinoko was murmuring discontentedly at the hand-holding, that bird can mind her own business seriously. 

 

And that was how the three of them waltzed up the steps of the royal palace, wolfing down armfuls of Baklavas and Nananut Juice. 

It took about two knocks on the huge gate, a confused guard asking what the hell they were doing there, and a beaming Vivi greeting him by name-- for them to panic and swing the doors wide open, screaming for ‘royal guards! Get Pell and Chaka! And the king! HURRY UP--’ 

A lively morning indeed. 

 


 

Vivi heads in to catch up with her father, Zoro accompanying her just in case. Usopp stays in the courtyard-- feeling for presences in the distance. Kinoko took flight from the palace, surveying the landscape to better identify the amount of people in the city. 

(“Ah, right! Hey, Super Spot Billed Duck Squad, could you guys go meet Carue? They’re straight west of here, they’ll be at the river. Love you guys and have a safe j-- oh, they’re… already gone. Okay, I guess they missed Carue a lot.”)

It seems the country was almost done being evacuated. Efforts began right after Vivi reported home, and because alarms were sent days ago, people were prepared when the royal declaration came. Citizens were being led to underground safehouses, fortified essential buildings, or refuge centers just outside the walls. 

(And of course, they were being checked for identification before entering.)

(Huh. Looks like there will definitely be less casualties this time around than the last. Good for Vivi.)

 

“Haki, I suppose?” 

 

It’s Pell that comes to talk to him. From the faint scent of blood and chemicals, Usopp can tell he’s injured. More injured than he’s supposed to be-- and the damage…

“Bomb attack?” he supposes. 

Pell takes a moment. 

Then, “impressive.”

“Ah, no, I wasn’t trying to… nevermind,” Usopp fumbles awkwardly. “You know about Haki?” That was also a terrible question, how the hell won’t a Grand Line Royal Guard know what Haki is, at least slightly?

“I have heard of it,” Pell says, settling down beside Usopp as they both surveyed the streets-- the town square, now empty but will soon be filled with war. “I’ve attended the Reverie more often than Chaka has. I have seen it in action. I know, at least, that it’s the only thing that allows us to stand a chance against Sir Crocodile in a feud.”

Usopp hums. So maybe Alabasta is quite behind on Haki knowledge, after all. 

“Not always,” Usopp instead says, to his surprise. “Logias aren’t immortal. In the New World, there’s a saying that goes like this--” he smiles, “--Logias who become overconfident in their powers are the first to go down in battle.”

Pell simply hums back at that. 

 

Usopp settles down, his hand resting against the wall. “There are already Billions stationed around the palace.”

Pell straightens immediately at that. 

“What?! Then we must--”

“No,” Usopp says, “don’t let them know we’re aware. They won’t move until they’ve gotten an order from above.” So they can be left alone. 

What Usopp was worried about was Mister Four and Miss MerryChristmas. Usopp recognized this smell-- the bitter gunpowder, the sourness of bodily fluids-- he knows exactly what chemicals the medicines and bandages were staunching, because he’s been in the same state before. (Albeit more critically injured, but details.)

“The people that attacked you are Officer Agents. If they failed such an important part of the mission, they’re probably hiding out somewhere, attempting to try again. But they’re nowhere in the palace right now, so where…?”

Usopp sighs. 

 

Pell stares. Usopp was deep in thought, going off on his own tangent, speaking mostly to himself as he explained his train of thought for Pell’s benefit. 

 

“You’re saying they might be targeting the king again? Then I don’t see why they haven’t tried again before sunrise. I did not wound them too terribly to truly incapacitate them,” Pell admits. “Could they be reconvening with their allies, then?”

Usopp shakes his head. “That’s a death sentence for themselves.” 

Pell grimaces at that. 

“Well, whatever. No point worrying about that,” Usopp rubs the back of his head in frustration. “Since I can’t go anywhere alone and you’re not allowed anywhere outside, wanna hear a story about how we went to an island with humongous goldfish that had feces the land mass of an island?”

“...pardon?”

“Yeah. And then I, the Great usopp, defeated the goldfish with just a rubber band and my trusty teddy bear! Hey don’t judge, it was three AM, I was on night watch, I couldn’t see anything! And there was this huge dynamite thing set to blow up in the middle of the island, as is the routine cleanup service by the official giant-goldfish feces-removal crew. Speaking of dynamite, there’s a bomb set up to blow in this town square in a couple hours, but I can’t for the life of me remember where it’s supposed to be. In my defense, I broke every bone in my body and I was more tenderised and cooked well-done than Gin--”

Pell’s expressions grow from slightly amused, to conflicted confusion-- before he whirls right back, stays at the edge of horrified and disbelieving, before he does a double take to say, “wait-- wha, oh scylla, why-- WHAT was that last part?”

“Huh? The official giant goldfish feces-removal crew? Yeah, they sound so damn specific, but you won’t believe how much profit they make as an organisation when there's a whole school of those mega goldfishes coming from South Blue--”

“Not that part, the part after that?!?”

“Ah, I exploded a couple of times. It’s okay, I was still better off than Gin…”

Pell’s hand meets his face in an agonized whine. 

 


 

“The citizens won’t believe me, even if I say that Crocodile isn’t to be trusted now,” Vivi says. “But the Rebel Army are no longer fighting! It’s now an all out war between us and Crocodile!”

“Even so, I cannot allow you to lead the charge of the army, Vivi, please-- be reasonable,” King Cobra says, irritated. Honestly, they all expected at least a hug for this long overdue reunion, but it seems Vivi has her priorities sorted out. “Can’t you see your poor father is currently injured?”

“Yes, which is why I’m volunteering to command the forces in your place.”

“Not how it works, Vivi.”

“Then make it how it works.”

“That’s not how that works either.”

 

Beside her, Zoro looks around the throne room, admiring the well-maintained carvings on the pillars, the pretty colours of the tapestry-- man, are they not done yet?

“If you’re going to take a while, I’m going to go on a walk.”

And then he just walks out, Vivi failing to notice him leaving in her heated argument with her father over how their army’s troops should be utilized in these trying times. 

Zoro will later find himself exactly where he needs to be, but that is a story for the next hour.

 

-


-

 

“What the-- you can’t swim?! You’re a crab though?!” 

Back with Nami’s group, they have just figured out that the crab they’re riding can’t cross the 50km river between this piece of land to the next. 

Anne wakes up, though she’s still groggy, and watches the chaos with mild fascination. 

“How about we just swim?” Gin asks.

“Salt in your wounds, morons, We are not putting Anne-tan through that,” Sanji says. “Hey, shit crab. Where’s your inherent manliness, huh? Have some determination!”

“Is determination supposed to help him run on water for 50 kilometers straight?” Tashigi asks. “Or is it manliness? Testosterone? Do crabs have that? Honest question.” 

 

“Hey,” Anne speaks up, prodding at the huge rip in her hat with her less injured hand, “did you know? Crab shells float.”

 

There’s a horrified pause. 

Then, “we are not killing the crab!” Nami snaps, just in case they actually need the reminder, holy shit why the hell did they actually look ready to do it for a hot second? “Geez!” 

 

With a sigh, Nami decides to show them how it’s done. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we'll make it,” she says, and there’s a confused exchange of looks. Then Nami sit down before Scissors’ eyes-- and began to, very coyly, undress. “So--” she lifts her hair away from her nape, leaning forward as she winked. “Scissors, sweetie, would you be a dear and go just a little faster?”

The crab’s eyes light right up in fractals of hearts , and they jet right off like a horizontal rocket into the sunrise. 

 

“HOOoly that worked!” Tashigi squeaks, clinging onto Anne and Carue’s saddle at the same time, with Chopper in his heavy point anchoring them down as they blitzed across the horizon. 

Then she looks over to see Sanji and Eyelashes conked right out , hearts in their eyes and blood flowing steadily from their noses, Behind them, keeping a hand on Sanji’s foot before he flew away-- is Gin, covering his maddeningly red face behind a hand. 

Tashigi reiterates. “Too well! It worked too well! It worked on all the other animals too! Namizo-kun are you listening to me!”

 


 

For about ten seconds, Scissors defied the laws of physics and ran on top of the water.

“Oh Cleopatra--!”

“YEEEEAH!” 

“Miracle! A miracle!” 

“No! Don’t call it out! Don’t you know? Gravity only works when you acknowledge it so ”

And then immediately, they sink. 

 

When Scissors inevitably sinks, Anne finds herself seated on Carue’s delightfully floating figure. Who knew Carue could float like an actual duck, despite the added weight of his saddle? Well, Anne is enjoying herself so who cares. 

With Chopper on Gin’s shoulders-- they were going to have to swim from here. 

And that’s when the unprecedented problem arose. 

Nami had sunk with the rest of them-- but she didn’t surface. Gin immediately dove back down once he noticed, but he only found Nami clutching her metal arm, trying to swim upward-- but only falling further down. 

“Sanji!” Gin breaks out of the water to shout, “go get her! I don’t think she can swim with her heavier limbs!” 

Cursing loudly, Sanji shoves Tashigi’s glasses in her direction (gently), before plunging right back down, trying to catch up with the unprecedented hammer of the group. 

 

Usually, Nami could swim. Even in her heavier Heat Model limbs, she could tread the water, maneuver, and with a little help from her Fishman Karate, she could handle herself. 

But that wasn’t without reason. When she fell into water, she always had to be prepared. 

She had to be positioned right-- arms in a motion she could swing with, so she could will the waves just right to bring her back up. She practiced for that so many times, so she’d never get pulled under by the weight of her own limbs- and yet here, she fumbled-- and her strength couldn’t hold out in the water. 

Nami was better in shallows-- this was deep-- so far deep, Sanji would sooner see darkness than any semblance of a footing. What’s more, her arms weren’t good in rough currents like these-- couldn’t even move in the right directions for her to wield the waters. 

She didn’t fuck up like this often. She hasn’t made a mistake like this one in a while. 

All she could do was take Sanji’s hand, try to ignore the grunt of effort he made as he hiked her arm to his shoulder-- and tried to stay as still as she could while Sanji dragged her deadweight back toward the surface. 

 

“Nami! Nami, you alright?”

“Hey, breathe!” 

“Shit-- Hey, Eyelashes, you better carry her right! Back to the shore--”

“I’m fine!” Nami yells, her flesh arm clinging onto the camel’s back with a sort of desperation. She coughs, but she didn’t swallow much water, she was fine. Just-- nauseated. “Just let my guard down. My bad. Let’s go on.”

Sanji winces, his hand still set on her back, halfway holding her up against Eyelashes. “Nami-san, you’re in no condition to be taking this long swim right now--”

“I will never be, Sanji,” she says immediately. “That’s not the point of this. Let’s just go.”

 

Tashigi clutches Shigure and the Clima Tact in her arms as they begin swimming, silent. There was really no other choice, was there? It’s not as if they had time to wait for Nami to comose herself. 

(Everyone had weaknesses on this ship. Sometimes, it was better to just let them act tough through it, and they all acknowledged that.)

 

And then the Sandora rarecat fish sea monster thing roars out of the river, jaws large and wide as it zeroes in on the crowd of very juicy, very delicious-looking little humans. 

They all stare, horrified. 

Carue make a quack. 

Chopper translates, “it’s a very rare fish. Seven years of good luck when you see one, according to local folklores.”

“Is this the time for fucking national geographic RUN!” Gin shrieks, and there was a lot of loud screaming while the fish engulfs a whole hundred gallon of water, gnarling loudly as it pursued them. 

“QUACK- QUAKCCKK!”

“And it eats humans, he says!” Chopper shouts, clinging to Gin’s face.

“YES WE CAN TELL!” 

 


 

After that, the Kung-fu Dugongs came to the rescue, killed the rarecat, and then used it as a raft to ferry everyone the rest of the way through. 

“They want more sketches,” Anne figures, when some of them come posing in groups now. They even roped Carue and Eyelashes into it, posing like superheroes or boy bands, using the bigger animals as makeshift pedestals for more varieties of poses.

She smiles, taking out her sketchbook, pleased that it’s still delightfully dry. 

 

“What the-- NO!” Chopper yells, “your hand got sliced into five pieces just a while ago! Absolutely NOT!” 

 

Anne pouts when Gin snatches the pen and paper away from her. She retaliates by stabbing him in the thigh with a fountain pen, but the sketchbook is handed to Sanji instead, who does a better job at playing juggle-the-sketchbook. 

“I’ll use my other hand!” Anne finally whines, turning to Chopper all teary eyed when her twentieth attempt at stealing the sketchbook from Sanji ends in vain. And she hasn’t had her tea for two days! This is child abuse!

Chopper hisses, “unless you spontaneously learn how to draw with your feet , the answer is NO!” 

Anne looks like she actually considers it for a moment. 

 

The Kung-fu Dugongs don’t get their sketches, but Anne promises to draw them later, which they are all very solemn but eventually relent to. Carue and Eyelashes even seem to have formed a brotherhood in the meantime, talking hushedly and patting each others’ backs in sympathy. 

“Somehow, she seems to have earned half of Luffy’s disciples as her fanatics,” Nami whispers, exasperated. “How even?”

Gin scoffs at that. “It’s her magic power,” then, “agree to never tell Luffy because his jealousy is going to get fucking annoying?”

Nami nods. “Absolutely.”



Chapter 47: battle of bad matchups (and good ones too)

Summary:

Fights happen. Sanji tries his best to flirt with an older lady, Gin finally gets the chance to beat up his fellow crewmates, Nami takes an explosive baseball to the face, and Zoro gets conveniently lost.

In other news, Chopper fanboys about superhero story scenarios with Anne.

Meanwhile: "I stopped looking at Mister Bushido for TWO MINUTES and he's already gone?!"

Notes:

Hi guys! Have I reminded you guys of how much I love you recently? I love you guys with all my heart! Please, I wish you a lovely anyday ahead! You're awesome, and stay awesome. Hope you enjoy the chapter! <3

Chapter Text

The Super Spot-billed duck is waiting for them when they reach the shore. From there, it was just the matter of getting on and running straight back to Alubarna. 

“The Officer Agents will probably be standing around to ambush us. At this pace, we’ll probably get there just a little before the Baroque Works army,” Nami says, “there are three ways in-- West, South, and Southwest.” 

And there were six of them, including the injured Anne. She shared a ride on Carue with Chopper. Nami, Sanji, Gin, Tashigi, (and Eyelashes,) had one duck for themselves. 

“Chopper and Carue will go with Anne,” Sanji immediately says, earning an annoyed whine from Anne at the suggestion that she needed extra protection. He finishes his stitch on the hat and frowns. “Sorry, Anne, I don’t think this is fixable. It’s all lopsided.”

Anne takes it when Sanji tosses it over, and she grimaces. She’d also gotten her hair a slight trim on the way, honestly just for the sake of being able to pull it back into a ponytail and out of her face for now. 

The hat was, as Sanji had said-- lopsided. The brim didn’t make a flat circle anymore, the hole too big to be hastily stitched together without new padding in between. 

“It’s fine,” Anne decides against wearing it. “I didn’t really like this hat anyways.” And then she crushes it over her head and frowns, “my head is small, so there aren’t a lot of hats that fit my head.”

Carue turns up, quacking up a suggestion. 

Chopper leans over and translates, “oh, really? He says this lady in the palace is a master at finding the perfect hats for people! Or ducks,” Chopper grins, gesturing at the cowboy hat his own duck was wearing with pride. “He’s sure she can find a perfect one for you too!” 

Anne blinks at that, looking genuinely interested. She finds herself looking through all the spot-billed ducks and their adorably colourful range of hats. 

“I want a comfortable one,” she says, and Carue huffs in a ‘well, leave it to me!’ gesture. Another chides in sharply, a clear indication of ‘you’re not the one doing it, you know?’ but Carue doesn't pay it any mind. 

 

While they spoke, Tashigi works to dry off her sword while Nami struggles to tug a leather shoulder brace over her flesh arm, trying to lessen the strain on her muscles today. 

“So I’m thinking Sanji-kun should go with Tashigi-chan to the Marine outpost,” Nami says, “he’s the only unknown face, and he’ll definitely handle the talking better than Gin.”

Surprisingly, Gin doesn’t take offense to that backhanded remark. “So I’ll be with you? Not to underestimate the rest of us, but don’t you think that’s a little bit of imbalance on the part of our fighting forces?”

“I can go on my own!” Tashigi insists. They gave her the tone dial and everything, even taught her how to use it. She could do it once the marine soldier she sent on that DenDen fetching errand came back. 

“Yeah, I don’t doubt it,” Nami clarifies, “but that’s only in case you need any help getting the boys in line. Sanji’s good at that.”

“I can handle my own troops,” she insists. 

So Nami relents, “well, that's fair. But the main reason we’re going in groups of two is to split the enemy up evenly as well,” she explains, turning to Gin, “once we’re past the front gates-- we need to split up. And then, we go for our targets.” 

This time, they didn’t have the incentive of Vivi among them-- Baroque Works isn’t going to aim specifically for any one of them. 

But if Luffy’s stunt was any indication-- Crocodile probably wanted all of them killed now, so they may be targeted either way. 

Eyelashes give a quiet grumble, and while eyes turn to him, they don’t prompt an explanation from Chopper. 

Instead, they all synchronously turned back to Tashigi, “you know, he makes a good point.” 

“What?” the marine asks, “are you guys pairing me with the camel?"

 


 

“Huh. So first Miss MerryChristmas fails, now we hear Miss Goldenweek’s turned against us and Princess Vivi is alive? What a trainwreck! And it’s not even a beautiful one!” 

Mister Two Bon Clay mulls over it, alighting from the tortoise-pulled wagon. 

“We went through all the trouble to get a fake army coming for Alubarna too, now the farce isn’t going to hold up,” Miss Doublefinger sighs, similarly upset. 

“I’m miffed! Very miffed!” Mister Two whines, “so uncute of them! Absolutely uncute of Miss Goldenweek! I was supposed to kill her back in Little Garden!”

“Enough, you’re being annoying,” Mister One grumbles, and Mister Two deflates. 

 

Crocodile had said ‘fuck it’ to not using Den Dens yesterday, and had straight up called all of them to give them an update on the situation. 

(They unfortunately didn’t have a Black Den Den in hand, but hey, what could those miserable pirates do even if they had the benefit of communication? If they never make it to the royal city, they’ll never make a dent in the plans.)

 

“Oh well. We’ll leave the castle guarding to Miss MerryChristmas in the meantime,” Miss Doublefinger says. That old bat would certainly be looking for ways to curry favour from the boss now (especially because she’d failed the most crucial part of the mission thus far,) “they should be here soon.”

“But something is strange,” Mister One says. “The Boss said that the Princess wasn’t with them in Rainbase, Miss All-Sunday couldn’t find her. And if his guess is right and that no Strawhats were actually killed in Little Garden-- where is the Pirate Hunter?”

An uncomfortable silence settles between them. 

“Hey hey, it can’t be…” Mister Two turns toward the royal city. “Did we barely miss them?”

 

There’s no time to dwell on that realization-- because in the next moment, the march of the Baroque Works Army dawns upon the horizon. Royal Guards stand around the perimeter, cannons loaded and swords out. 

“That’s a lot less army than I’d thought we’d get,” Miss Doublefinger hums, “you think the Billions might get to the castle before the boss?”

“Nah,” Mister Two muses, “it would be hilarious, though! Hehee!” 

And that’s when they spot it. 

Coming from the west-- a squad of-- “ducks?!” Mister Two exclaims, “are those ducks ?! Running at us! Leaving dust trails?!” 

“Super spot-billed ducks, fastest creatures in Alabasta,” Miss Doublefinger muses. “And that’s a lot more company than I thought we’d get-- there’s four of them.” 

“Four? So among them’s the Burglar Cat, the Man-Demon, Miss Goldenweek, and the rumoured Mister Prince-- now, I definitely know Missy Goldenweek’s face so...” Mister Two squints, then balks. “They’re all wearing large cloaks! That’s unfair!”  

It seems they came prepared to stay obscured. In the distance, they could only see billowing capes atop the dashing duck figures, some larger than the others, but none with telling features. 

 

They split off into two, taking hard lefts and rights right before the Officer Agents-- a clear taunt to lead them away. 

 

“They’re picking a fight,” Mister One surmises, and Miss Doublefinger sighs. 

“No choice but to take it, I suppose,” she says. “Us to the South, you to the West, does that sound good to you?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Mister Two declares sauntering right off, “now HOLD IT, you duck-riding bastards! How dare you swipe left in my face!” 

Mister One hurries on ahead of her-- but Miss Doublefinger lingers for a moment, her eyes fixed on the ruins in the distance. 

“Mister One,” she says. 

He turns around. 

She strides forward. “Go on without me.”

 


 

Tucked behind a taller segment of the ruins, Sanji clamps a hand over Chopper’s face, shushing him. 

“Shit, she noticed us,” he hisses, and Anne sighs. 

The plan was for them to sneak inside once they were all gone. Guess Nami didn’t expect Mister One and Miss Doublefinger to split up? Or did she, and this was part of the plan? Because if it was, it was a severe miscalculation because is she expecting Sanji to kick that woman ?

“That’s fine… at least it wasn’t Mister One,” she says, taking out her brushes, to the ire of Chopper who struggles out of Sanji’s hold to complain. 

“No fighting, Anne!” 

“Oh lord, she’s one hell of a pretty woman,” Sanji whispers, “we need to run.”

“What?” Anne says, “no, we just gotta fight.”

“No, you are not fighting,” Chopper hisses. 

At the same time Sanji mutters, “I can’t fight such a beautiful woman!” 

 

Anne’s expressions deflate magnificently. “I don’t understand,” she says blankly, and Sanji seemed honestly conflicted for a moment. 

He reaches for a cig, and then remembers they’re in a pressing situation and refrains. “It’s my code,” he says, “I don’t fight women.”

Anne squints. “That’s stupid.”

“I know, Anne,” Sanji says, “but I’d rather die than not live as who I want to be.”

Anne felt the need to retort with another mention of the inherent stupidity of that statement, especially when the death scenario could be literal at the moment-- but she found herself opting not to go for it. 

(What did she know about ‘living as who I want to be’ anyways? She can’t judge.)

 

She then looks through her paint tools, dryly muttering to herself, “where did I leave my Emptyheaded White?” 

“Anne, sweetheart, for the last time, no .”

“Found it.”

“I said -- wait, you haven’t told us what it does yet!” 

 


 

“Are you kids going to stop hiding anytime soon?” Miss Doublefinger prompts, taking a drag of her pipe. 

She was right behind them now-- somehow having noted exactly which broken wall the humans were hiding behind. She paid no mind to the two ducks hiding off on separate corners a little further away. 

Sanji leans back, hefting an arm casually over the broken brick wall with a shaky smile. 

“Oh, dear lady, sorry to keep you waiting,” he swoons, “and oh are you more beautiful in close quarters. Consider me enamoured.”

“Thanks, but I’m not interested in younger boys,” she says, smiling politely.

“What a shame,” Sanji says, “would you be willing to humour me for one meal, though? I’m quite a skilled chef, if I do say so myself.” 

Miss Doublefinger hums, crossing her arms, “I tend to skip heavy meals, unfortunately, so a highly-rated chef doesn’t quite appeal to me the way it would others,” she says, “want to try again?”

“Well-- we do have something in common,” Sanji mulls, rubbing his chin in thought. “Some tea together, perhaps? With snacks and dessert to go.”

 

Beside him, just out of sight-- Anne was climbing onto (Walk-Point) Chopper as quietly as she could, waiting for the signal to go. 

 

“Now that’s a charming suggestion,” Miss Doublefinger smiles, very pleased, “I suppose you’re the rumoured Mister Prince? I’ll say you live up to my expectations.”

“I aim to please, mademoiselle.”

And that’s when she struck-- but not at Sanji. 

Her leg rapidly inflated into sizable spikes, and she didn’t even have to move for the protrusions to shatter the brick wall before her, exploding into shards of debris and nearly hitting Chopper and Anne if not for Chopper’s immediate instinct to bolt for it. 

Sanji curses, leaping back to avoid the spikes nearing-- but Miss Doublefinger stretches out an arm-- and the heel of her palm shoots forward with a spike headed straight for Sanji’s face-- and only sheer luck allowed him to swerve aside in time, the weapon scraping him in the cheek, drawing blood. 

“Get on the ducks and run !” 

He leaps back, but Miss Doublefinger doesn’t exactly stop there. Her fingers come up, and five spikes extend their way toward Sanji, enveloping his figure in near misses, barring a spike that goes deep into his shoulder. 

“Miss Goldenweek!” she notices, “headed for the entrance, are we…”

 

“Just giving them a headstart,” Sanji says. “They won’t make much of an opponent, will they?”

“No, but it’s common sense to take down easier targets first.”

Sanji hisses, but he leaps back, using the debris as a footstool to lift himself further away. He backs away in a curse, knowing he can’t fight here. Code or not, the weaponry matchup just isn’t working out. 

“Shit,” he mutters, “you can turn every part of you into a spike?” 

That was what Nami told them at least. 

Miss Doublefinger smiles, “why yes. I’ve eaten the Toge-Toge no mi, making me a spike human. I see you’re mainly a martial artist.”

A terrible matchup. It’s not like it’s with Zoro, where Sanji could aim for hilts, hands, and blunt ends-- every part of this lady was a sharp edge. 

“Well then, I suppose I’ll be taking my leave as well,” he says, lighting a cigarette as he sees the duck carrying Chopper and Anne reach the Southwestern stairs. 

Miss Doublefinger watches them in the corner of her eyes with a hum. “I suppose I'll chalk that up to my personal incompetence, but no matter, I’ll catch up,” she says. “Unfortunately, that means you won’t be going anywhere.”

“I’ll try my best,” Sanji beams. “Humour a younger boy, would you?” 

Miss Doublefinger cracks out a chuckle. “Cheeky boy.”

 

Miss Doublefinger surges forward, forearms bulky with spikes as she shatters the debris and breaks apart the sand under their feet. Sanji leaps back in a somersault-- and then keeps going, when Miss Doublefinger pursues. 

Sanji parries the edge of a spike that comes his way-- only to hiss sharply when another spike grows right out of the side, piercing right through his shin. 

Quickly, the spike is removed, and Sanji rolls , scrambling back to his feet, hopping on one foot for two agonizing steps before resolving himself and walking with the pain anyway. 

He curses. Looks like he wouldn’t get anywhere blocking , either.

Sanji finally reaches a dead end, by which he kicks off the side on the wall and leaps overhead, landing behind her once again. 

“Can you do nothing but escape?” Miss Doublefinger says, slightly irritated. 

Sanji uses his foot to fling a particularly large piece of broken wall at her, which she smashes with ease. He whistles. 

“I love all women, but I think one that can benchpress me might not be my type,” he admits. “Guess there’s a first for everything I guess.”

 

The dust settles, and Miss Doublefinger sees him heft himself over a wall right onto a super spot-billed duck, hissing “go, go!” as they start sprinting. 

She curses. “So there was another duck?”

She’d been careless. 

“I’ll still take you out for tea, though!” Sanji hollers at her in the distance, and Miss Doublefinger feels the unrelenting urge to facepalm. 

“Is that man mentally alright?”

Wasting no time, she runs after him. There was no way she was catching up to one of those things, but she can follow them just fine. 

 

-


-

 

Nami curses, turning around on the wall of the kingdom to the scene below her. 

“They split up? Why did the Mister One team split up?” 

“I think they noticed the others,” Gin mutters, pausing only for a moment, “Sanji will be fine, and Anne’s good at running. Hurry up! That ballerina’s crazy fast!” 

Mister Two was already right behind them, sauntering up the steps like no one’s business, dodging bullets, and stepping on faces. 

Nami curses again. “Wait, that means Mister One went after--!!” 

“Nami, we’ve got no time!” Gin hisses sharply, “Carue! Stop watching and go !” 

And Nami was wretched away when her steed, Carue, started running. She casts Gin a resolved look before the two of them splitting up sharply at the next intersection. 

 

“What the--! You can't just split up! That's unfair!” Mister Two yells, very offended. “HEY! This is NOT graceful at all!” 

 

She bites her lip. 

“I miscalculated,” she says, “Miss MerryChristmas wasn’t there, either. I should’ve known better. I’m sorry. If something goes wrong...” 

Carue grumbles something loudly, and Nami leans down, burying her face in his cap. 

“I know. I know.”

She’s just gotta trust them, even if it didn’t seem physical. 

Things will work out. It’s always worked out for them, even when they never knew what was going to happen-- why can’t she just get that in her head already?

 


 

Gin alights from his duck when Mister Two catches up, the annoying pair of feet swinging much too close to his face for comfort. 

Gin removes the cloak, his tonfa drawn. 

Mister Two grins with acknowledgement. “Owh!” he winks, “I remember you, laddie! You were absolutely my type! Such a shame, such a shame!” 

Gin grimaces, “no thanks.”

“Oh, rejection is harsh!” he dramatises, swinging back-- then straightens again, raising a foot, “but we are enemies now! Witness the glamour of my Okama Kenpo , yeah?”

 

The first hit is parried, but Mister Two swirls right back the other way, arm twisting at an angle that shouldn't be possible -- and Gin gets his arm caught between a leg-- half an inch away from a wrong-sided elbow crunch. 

Gin yelps as he’s thrown painfully into the air and slammed down on the ground, his arm blissfully intact, but his entire senses thrown off. 

He has no idea how he got thrown, just that he did. 

 

Goddammit this is why he hates martial fucking artists. 

 

The obnoxious ballerina pirouettes, laughing loudly. At least he isn’t kicking Gin while he was down, but he’s such an annoying guy.  

Gin stifles a cough in his sleeve, standing up and drawing both his tonfas. 

(Alright, he won’t let his guard down this time.)

The next exchange is smoother-- Gin reacts to every swipe of the leg as he would Sanji’s, parrying as many as he can and trying to find a vital spot to hit on this man’s seemingly jointless figure. Seriously, this guy’s got no damn knees with how round his leg bends.  

Mister Two swings back, a heel hooking sharply upward to sock Gin right in the jaw. Gin staggers, disoriented-- but Mister Two only takes the chance to spin right in for strike two. 

“Hah-hahhh!” Mister Two grins, “you’re helpless! Helpless, I’d say! Give it up now, geez!”

Gin curses. Mister Two was too fast. Gin’s always been better against power types, so maybe he should’ve insisted harder on getting to fight Mister One instead…

(Heck, this was Sanji’s job. Why is he stuck with this?)

 

He raises his arms just in time to block an arm, throwing back a tonfa and watching as it spun in the sky-- before landing, steel-ball first, right on Mister Two's head. 

The unholy screech in return was almost not worth it. 

“EEEEK OWW! OWH!” Mister Two complains loudly, “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”

Gin stares at him blankly. 

Then, “oh, right,” he nods. “Yeah, fair,” Mister Two admits. Then he immediately explodes again, “IT STILL HURTS LIKE A BITCH! Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to drop blunt projectiles on people’s heads! You could kill someone!” 

To which Gin replies, “I’m a war orphan.”

Immediately. Mister Two crumbles, “oooh! Oh, oh my, oh dear,” he gasps, horrified, rearing away, “I”m so sorry. That was insensitive of me.”

Gin nods, “it’s fine, it was a very long time ago.”

 

Is this guy an idiot?

Gin might now understand why Nami wanted Sanji to deal with this guy. But with their similar fighting styles, the fight might’ve been tougher for Sanji…

 

“Wait! You’re just buying time!” Mister Two finally notices, “unforgivable!” 

Gin continues to give him a flat look as he declares about the chivalry of a fair fight, how he regrets needing to fight a comrade!!! Or something, and how it hurts him so. 

Then, “I’ll show you!” His face morphs into Nami’s face, smiling widely, “my trump card!” 

What. 

“Haahaaah! Now you can’t attack me!” Mister Two declares, pointedly standing on one foot and hiding her missing arm behind the large pink clothes. Then, swooning seductively, “oh, Gin-kun!” he sings, “won’t you go easy on poor little me?” 

Gin immediately smacks the tonfa into his face, not even bothering with the handles and just marching up to him to use it like a glorified bat. 

“Wha-! THe--! St--! HEY! OW! O! OKAY--!!” Mister Two had to punctuate each word unwillingly with a smack to the face, “STAWHP! NYOT DA FACE!” 

And then he morphs back to his normal face. 

“HOw crUEL!” he wails, “that was your friend, wasn’t he?! And she was a girl!” 

“That was,” Gin says, unrepentant. “Not Nami. Absolutely. The fuck not. Okay first of all! She doesn’t hide her arm from anyone, second of all! She’s the one that should be fucking going easy on US! FOR ONCE!”

He devolves into a sort of rant at the end, kicking a crate in frustration. 

“God fucking DAMN that woman!” he yells, throwing his arms into the air angrily. He swings back to Mister Two, earning a scared ‘meep’, “THIRD of all, if she’s acting all coy, she’s aiming for your money. She’s aiming for your money, even if you don’t have any money on you ! Alright! She’s gonna ruin your financial life if you so much as indulge for a moment! She’s the demon! The absolute DEVIL !” 

Even Mister Two looked mildly horrified by the spiel. “I’m uh. Sorry.”

 

Seems like he pushed the wrong buttons. There should be some other button Mister Two can push that can still use the faces of his other friends to his advantage, right? 

 

So Mister Two morphs into Luffy’s face. “How about this?”

And Gin immediately freezes. 

Mister Two reads that as a good sign. “Hah! Found it! Can you attack me , your Captain? NO! You wouldn’t want to commit mutiny again, would you-- former commanding officer of Don Krieg?”

That was, unfortunately, a fatal misread. 

Gin stoically picks up his tonfas. “Yeah, I’ll have a breakdown about the mutiny aspect of this later on. I’ve got my priorities sorted,” he says. Then, “can you stay like that for a bit?”

“...huh?”

“Yeah uh, you see, Luffy’s usually made of rubber, so nothing I hit him with can realistically hurt him,” Gin says, the picture of pure honesty, “so this situation you have presented before me right now is, frankly, a dream come true.”

“...HUH?!”

 

-


-

 

Nami wasn’t too sure how to feel when Mister Two went after Gin instead of her. Well, it worked out anyway, and she threw off her cloak to reduce wind resistance as soon as they were out of sight. 

They skid past the city, guards occasionally calling out in alarm only to notice that it was Carue charging toward them. 

The Central City Square was blissfully empty, aside from the four hulking figure situated at the entrance of the palace. 

“I see… there aren’t as many people in the army as last time, so they thinned out their forces near the perimeters and the center of the city, leaving this place to their strongest soldiers,” she says. “Sounds like a Vivi thing to do.”

She, after all, didn’t value the castle of Alabasta as much as royalty should. 

In Vivi’s art of war, the aim was never to protect the king or the main base-- but to capitalize on the advantages of the stronghold-- having lots of empty space and fighting in home ground, in this case-- to win with as little casualties as possible. 

“She might be wildly underestimating how many enemies there are.. But no matter,” she says, beckoning for Carue to head toward the clock tower. 

 

A loud roar reverberates behind her, and she swirls around. 

“The Billions have arrived!” she realized, hearing cannons fire, people cheer, and explosions ring out. The war had begun-- there wasn’t much time left. She needs to get to that bomb now.

That’s however, the moment the four guards at the front gates notice her. It made sense-- all civilians were evacuated now, so anyone in the vicinity would be an intruder or a fighter. 

“Who’s that? An enemy?”

“No… that’s a super spot-billed duck. And that hat-- it’s Carue!” 

For a moment, Nami stiffens, wondering if the four guards at the palace would stop her for being suspicious. Surely, Vivi would have told them about her, right?

 

Nami’s thoughts are sharply interrupted when Carue trips , harshly against the ground. Nami shrieks, flinging forward sharply and unprepared, landing on her arms before clambering back to her feet-- only to realize Carue didn’t trip-- he was made to fall. 

There was a hole in the ground, a few inches back-- and from Carue’s confused expression, that hole hadn't been there a moment ago. 

“Carue, get up, we’re running!” Nami yells.

But mid-speech, another tunnel opens up behind her-- and a figure leaps out of the ground, sharp claws forward. 

In the nick of time, Nami assembles her Clima Tact, deflecting the claws just enough to leap out of the way. She swirls around in time to catch a large woman slink back into the hole. 

Miss MerryChristmas , she realizes, horrified. Why is she so close to the castle, instead of outside?

 

“What happened?!” the guards were taking notice. 

“She’s being attacked!”

“Call for the princess now! And her companions!” 

“Miss!” they holler in Nami’s direction, “do you need support? We, the Tsumegeri Guards, will be willing to assist you!” 

Nami looks up at them, surprised at the sudden offer. 

“No!” she hollers back, “I can handle this! You guys stay there and protect the palace!” 

 

If the Mister Four team was here-- that means they were planning on attacking the palace. Or they already have, whichever it might be. But the only reason they weren’t trying again might just be the four men at the gates, so Nami wasn’t willing to compromise that. 

Nami inches in beside Carue, looking around warily. This sucks-- her Observation Haki worked terribly at high speeds, and though she could sense the woman drilling through the ground, making new tunnels-- she was too fast for Nami to realistically understand where she was until she popped out. 

She hears a sneeze, coming in the direction of the city. 

She turns just in time to take herself and Carue away from the range of a baseball, the projectile shooting far over their heads. 

Her sigh of relief came too soon.

Mister Four emerges from a new hole, two meters behind them-- and his baseball bat swung hard, sending it right back at them.

It collides-- and explodes right in her face. 

 


 

Miss MerryChristmas guffaws, poking her head out of one hole to laugh. “Haha heehee ! Ah, mybackhurts for fucksessake, good aim there Mis-Ter-Four!” she laughs. “Ah! That feels great! Much! Much easierthanthat Pigeonman upthere’s he’s stup--! STUP--!” 

“Yeeeeeeeeeah,” went Mister Four, “the Rooooooyal Guuuuaaard, he suuure waaaas touuuugheeer…”

“HUH HEWASn’t TOUGH and whendaheck did-I eversay THAT, you stup--! You Stup--!!”

“Your personalities are a lot more obnoxious than I heard,” Nami mutters, her voice shocking the two agents. 

Nami coughs slightly as the dust clears, showing her slightly charred figure, but with no major injuries. Carue was completely unharmed, but shivering in the wake of a near-death scenario. 

Her metal arm was burned by the explosion, evidently having been used as a shield. It wasn’t broken or charred, maybe just a little toasted, but no big deal. 

Nami huffs, straightening. “That was a little less dangerous than I thought it would be,” she removes the baseball skin from her hair, grimacing. “What, were you going easy on me?”

 

“W- w- w-” Miss MerryChristmas chokes and coughs and sputters, then, “WHAT? How th-- howtheHE-LL areya, howdy hellyoualive missy you--! Course we ain’t go’ng EASY onyayou stu--! You STU--!!”

“Woooooah, yoooouu’ree aaaaliiive…” Mister Four’s eyes widen, very slowly, “thaaat’s aaa suuuuuurpriiiiisee…”

Nami turns away, sighing. “You guys are tiring to interact with.”

 

Nami’s Den Den Mushi rings, and she picks it up. Smiling, she picks it up to Anne’s voice, reporting a firm, “will you be tagging out?”

 

“What the--! You’rejustgonna ignore, IGNORE, us youabsolutely absolute of an ingrate!” Miss MerryChristmas yells, “I’ll show you! I’ll showyouyouingrate! Come Mis-Ter-Four! One-more!”

“Ooookay,” the man slurs, carefully waving for his dog in the distance, “Laaaassooooooo… yes… onee moooooore… oooook--”

He gets smacked by Miss MerryChristmas, “HURRYUPYA STU-!! YA STU--!!”

 

Nami watches them, a rather mild expression on her face, “you know, this is actually a little amusing, so I’ll say urgency is fair.”

 

Miss MerryChristmas vanishes under a new hole, growing claws and a snout as she drills into the dusty fissures of Alabasta. Mister Four raises his bat just as Nami hears five consecutive pops and sneezes in the familiar direction. 

“Run, Carue,” she says, grabbing onto the saddle to throw herself over it, “don’t mind them. Do you trust me?”

Carue quacks loudly, immediately sprinting forward with a resolved roar. 

Nami grins, “of course you do.” She spins so she’s sitting backward on her steed, assembling her Clima Tact and slotting the Jet Dial in one compartment. 

 

All at once, Mister Four bats four of those explosive baseballs right into Nami’s and Carue’s direction-- and Nami holds the tact before her. 

 

“Gust Sword!” she declares, a turbulence of wind bursting from her Tact, not quite enough to push back the heavy baseballs, but strong enough to nearly throw Carue off his feet. 

Startled by the sudden velocity they’re gaining, Carue stumbles at first, then started taking larger steps-- until he leaped in surprise-- gaining unexpected air time. In his shocked moment of sheer airborne horror, he starts flapping his wings in desperation. 

Nami bursts into laughter as Carue-- doesn’t quite fly, but-- glides about a meter above the air, desperately surging forward on the jet in Nami’s hands, getting quickly out of the range of the bombs as it exploded all at once. 

The force of the explosion propelled them further forward, and when they land, it’s clumsily, rolling into the dirt covered in soot and sand. 

 

Nami hasn’t stopped laughing, but Carue is breathing heavily, not quite over the unsolicited rollercoaster ride yet. 

 

Anne emerges from the alley, collapsing a large bag from her spot-billed duck to reveal their sand sleigh. She doesn’t waste the moment of distraction brought by the explosion dust cloud, strapping it over Carue’s neck. 

Chopper comes in, in Heavy Point, scooping Nami right back onto her feet and very, very, very frantically, fussing. “Nami. NAMI are you okay you’re showing fatal symptoms of the can’t-stop-laughing disease that Colourimotone Prisma got when he accidentally got blasted by the can’t-stop-laughing ray and I am very worried--” 

“Oh what the hell is that,” Nami retorts, chortling in amusement.’

“Is it Cackle Bastard? Are we fighting the Supervillain Cackle Bastard?!” Chopper shrinks right back down to Brain Point, “this is bad! Even Colourimotone Prisma couldn’t defeat him! We need to create a special Depression Beam! Made from the tears of our enemies!” 

“Chopper,” she says, completely seriously, finally calming down from her laughing bout. “Please never change.” 

“Huh? Why are you hugging me?”

Nami might need to ask Usopp about the saga of Colourimotone Prisma after this.

 

Nami climbs back onto Carue, who, though very teary-eyed, took a large gulp of his water and calmed down, ready to run again. Anne rubs his wing, helping reassure him. 

“Anyways, you guys deal with these two,” Nami says, raising a thumbs up. “Usopp told you all about them, right?”

When they were assigned targets and individual missions back on the Merry, Chopper and Gin were assigned the Mister Four combination. They were then given an in-depth briefing on how to deal with them. Now that Gin was assigned to something else, though-- Chopper was left with Anne, which wasn’t as assuring.

Chopper pauses for a moment before nodding solemnly. “Yes, but…”

(But he doesn’t believe he should be trusted with this alone, it’s a fair anxiety.)

“You have Anne with you,” Nami assures him. 

“Anne shouldn’t be fighting!” Chopper insists. But he deflates, admitting that, “okay, this isn’t the kind of situation where we can be picky…”

“I’ll be fine,” Anne says, already holding a brush and palette. Her hand trembles on the brush, unable to hold a firm grip against the bandages-- but she tightens, bearing the pain. “Winning takes priority.”

Chopper still doesn’t seem satisfied by that, but he relents. “Just go, Nami!” he says. 

Anne stands beside him, “Usopp said there’s a really good quote for this situation.”

Chopper’s eyes light up immediately with determination, “oh, I remember it!” he says, and they turn to Nami at the same time as she prepares to leave. 

And in unison, they declare, “leave this to us, and go on ahead!” 

Nami smiles. 

“Usopp really needs to stop telling you guys those superhero-like stories,” she says, amused, “love you morons. Go all out, run wild!” 

“YEAH!” 

 


 

Carue knows the way toward the big clock. 

They scamper up the steps, taking exactly two minutes to make it all the way up there. 

“Terrible, terrible!” Nami yells, winding the corner to the huge space, immediately coming to a huge cannon with the Baroque Works emblem on it. 

What she doesn’t expect, however, is the very startled Royal Guard with a sword, who draws it and yells in her direction, “who goes there!” 

Nami shrieks, rearing back in surprise as Carue does the same. 

 

“Here, here, it’s the worst”! Usopp hollers, his voice coming from inside the barrel of the cannon. There’s a shuffle and a “wait, wait…” before Usopp makes his way out, landing on the ground with a huff. “That’s my pal, Mister Pell! She’s good!” 

 

Royal Falcon Pell eases just a little. “Oh…” he blinks, then, “wait. Aren’t you Carue? I wondered where you were, when I didn’t see you with the princess...” 

Carue cheers, hobbling up to the bandaged man and nuzzling up warmly in greeting. Pell returns the gesture with an arm around the feathers. 

“I’m sorry about that. I was informed we would have intruders to sabotage,” Pell says, sheathing his sword and bowing in apology. 

Nami raises her hands to assure him, “no no, it’s alright! Should’ve knocked before winding in all of a sudden.” She knew he was here-- just didn’t expect the reaction. 

(Also, why is this man so injured?)

 

Nami looks him up and down-- bandages all over, charred skin under fresh clothes-- “oh, bomb attack?” she asks. 

Pell blinks, taken aback. “Is it very obvious?”

Nami shakes her head, brushing her bangs back, inspecting a burnt edge. “No, just uh, had some personal experience. Are you alright though?”

“Ah, yes, I am fine. Thank you for your concern. Are you?”

“Peachy,” she says, smiling. Deciding that was enough small talk, Nami turns her attention to the cannon, “how’s disarming the bomb going, Usopp?”

“Not good. I can’t see what I’m doing.”

“And that is surprising because?”

“Stop being a smartass and give me the tools.”

Nami takes the bag of tools that Anne had slung over Carue’s neck. Making her way inside the barrel of the awfully huge cannon, she inspects the timer mechanism that Usopp had partially removed from the bomb. 

 

“No Kinoko?”

“Nah, she wasn’t much help here.”

 

The wiring was complicated, colour-coded, and sheerly indecipherable-- but Usopp had actually gotten the clock portion out of it, if only to see the wires better. How Usopp got this far without accidentally blowing it up made Nami shiver. 

Is this really the scaredy cat that couldn’t talk to a marine without having three breakdowns afterward?

(Nah, not really.)

Nami chuckles, “man, wouldn’t it be great if we had a cyborg right now.”

 

-


-

 

“I can’t find Pell anywhere!” Vivi was near tears at this point, “wasn’t he really injured? What if he went out and--”

“D- Don’t worry, Vivi-sama! I’m sure he’s just hiding somewhere and sulking because the King and I chewed him out for his recklessness a while ago!” Chaka says, flustered, though he looks similarly frantic. 

Vivi gets no rest, however-- because just then, another guard comes by to inform her, “Princess! Your companions-- the blind man and the swordsman-- they’re both gone as well!” 

Vivi thinks she might just cry now. “How?!” 

“Well uh-- we don’t know!” the guard admits, hopelessly, “the Tsumegeri Guards say they might have spotted Sir Pell and the blind man leave through the tunnels--”

“WHAT?!”

“--but they have no idea about the swordsman. He did not leave through the front, and no one’s seen him, even though we have the whole palace barricaded!”

Vivi’s jaw drops. 

Then, her hand meets her face. “Mister Bushido, why .”

 

-


-

 

 

Tashigi yelps, braving a new cut to her cheek. 

She can’t stand, but she's seated backward on the super spot-billed duck as it scampers forward. She desperately parries the bladed hits by Mister One-- but they still cross her blade anyways, the force going right through her defenses. 

She screams when a hard slash rips through her clothes, slicing upward from her stomach right onto her face, flinging her glasses right off, missing her eye by mere centimeters. 

She could barely hold onto Shigure, her arm covered in similar deep gashes, the weight of the sword only supported by her other arm and desperate tenacity. 

Eyelashes had accompanied her-- but she had shoved the information to him and told him to run the other way twenty seconds ago. Mister One wouldn’t attack an unsuspecting camel-- and she was glad that she could at least be a decoy in this situation. 

(She just wasn’t sure if she’d survive.)

 

The duck is running as fast as it can-- but it can’t exactly bring Mister One to the Marine outpost-- he’d kill all the soldiers at once and he can do that. 

Finally, Mister One swings a bladed arm up, and Tashigi loses her hold on Shigure. Tashigi’s eyes are fixed on her airborne sword-- and there was no way she could dodge the next strike that came. 

(So she squeezed her eyes shut-- and prayed.)

 

The piercing screech of metal on metal reaches her ears, and she hesitantly opens her eyes to a figure of green. 

 

The duck whirls around, surprised-- and Tashigi takes the chance to spin the right way around the duck, grabbing on firmly. 

Roronoa Zoro parries Mister One’s sword arms with two of his own, and as they deflect off each other, the buildings around Tashigi shatter in clean slices. 

Shigure clatters noisily against the floor. 

“Roronoa…” Tashigi whispers, unable to truthfully admit the gratefulness that welled up in her chest. For a moment-- she forgot about the pain in every wound on her body-- because it was filled immediately with relief at the aspect of being saved

(She was alright. She was alright.) 

“Are you seriously crying over this,” Zoro mutters.

Tashigi has to hurriedly wipe at her face to realize that yes, she had been crying, no she will not admit it, and “be quiet!” You’re not the one that nearly fucking died. “ What are you doing here?!” 

“Huh. Yeah, I was looking for something to eat. Man, this is one huge palace.”

“You’re in the city, you moron!” 

“...there’s a city in the palace? Crazy.”

“Tell the truth, Roronoa, did you actually manage to spite some god in your past life--”

“Huh? I'm an atheist.”

“Yeah. Yeah that’ll do it.”

 

Tashigi briefly notices the wings flapping before her-- and when she reaches out, Kinoko sets her glasses-- they’re a little cracked, though-- in her palm.

 

“So you’re Mister One, huh?” Zoro grins, facing the man with a determined smile. “Don’t mess with that girl, she’s not worth your time.”

Mister One scoffs, “you have a point… but you are implying you would make a better opponent?”

To which Zoro hums, “well, of course.”

 

Tashigi felt unimaginable anger boil in her chest. 

She was being spoken of as if she weren’t here. She was being so casually shamed over her own weakness-- and she couldn’t even deny a word of it. 

(She was weak.)

(So weak-- she had to be saved by Roronoa Zoro, and now she had to rely on him to buy her time to escape.)

 

“Get out of here already!” Zoro barks at her, and she jumps. “You’re in the way!” 

“Don’t order me around!” Tashigi argues. 

“Just fuck off !” Zoro shouts again-- and Tashigi stops. 

 

(This isn’t the time. She knows this isn’t the time.)

Zoro isn’t provoking her on purpose. She knows, because Smoker has done this before, too-- it was just their way of reminding her she had to get her priorities sorted, because this wasn’t her battle to fight. 

She had to eat her pride here. 

Kinoko brings Shigure to her hands, and Tashigi clumsily sheathes it again. 

She doesn’t bid Zoro a good fight. She doesn’t even look back. She just lets Kinoko settle on her shoulder-- reaches for the leash of the super spot-billed duck-- and beckons for it to go, because they have no time to waste. 

(She bites her lip, so hard, it may have drawn blood. But she doesn’t cry, not yet, because right now-- she had a mission to get to.)

 

Tashigi is weak, now. 

So the only thing she can do… is obey orders, and do as told.



Chapter 48: we've been waiting (light of the revolution)

Summary:

Tashigi meets Doctor Quack. (Oh darn, it's someone we know?) Miss All-Sunday has a conversation with someone that really should have found her earlier, and Sanji finds himself in way too many scenes in this chapter.

Meanwhile, Anne proves that her position as Mister Three's partner wasn't just for show.
(And Mister Two finally finds Gin's weakness.)

Notes:

Me: so yeah, I should update 'bitter' because I left that thing on a cliffhanger.
Also me: so anyways!

Chapter Text

“Sergeant Major Tashigi!” 

“Sarge Major! You’re hurt!” 

Tashigi hurries into the marine outpost. It’s just a huge tent, and she closes the opening behind her, seeing the numbers were significantly lesser than she had hoped. But that was fine. Cradling her bleeding arm, she frantically looks around, head swirling from one way to another, hoping to find-- “Eyelashes!” she yells as soon as she sees him, hurrying to his side. 

It seems the marines have greeted the camel and duck with quite some hospitality, because they were now draped in nice shock blankets, coupled with juice and a fan for the heat. Kinoko flies in after her, to the alarm of some soldiers, but they receive it with only a slight apprehension, knowing it came in with Tashigi. 

“Another animal?!”

“Uhm. Does it want water too?”

“Wait! Sergeant Major! You’re injured badly! Please, let us treat you--!”

“I know, I know!” Tashigi says, retrieving the papers and the Tone Dial from Eyelashes’ pack. “Has the Den Den Mushi I’ve ordered been retrieved yet?”

“No-- it’ll take a while longer!”

“We don’t have a while longer--!!” Tashigi bites back a curse, composing herself. Alright then, next thing to do. “Ensign! How many do we have, squads and otherwise?”

 

Tashigi allows a doctor-- he’s not a soldier, is he from the country’s medical aid? Damn is he tall-- to cut away her sleeve, observing the large gash. She hisses when the disinfectant hits, but remains focused on the report of their army numbers. 

There’s a few soldiers who look a little queasy, but Tashigi figures they’ll have to deal with it. She tries not to look at it herself when the doctor pulls out the needle and the thread to stitch the wound shut. 

Kinoko comes by, curling up to her shoulder. 

The warm fur eases her, just a little-- and the way she’d instinctively come over to become a distraction-- Tashigi wondered if Kinoko was truly a therapy bird, instead of a guide bird. It made more sense. 

She takes a deep breath-- and lets it out. 

 

The searing pain fogs her mind, but she grips her other fist tightly, knowing she has to get a grip on herself now, or nothing would be right anyway. 

(Smoker left her in charge, after all.)

 

“Send a bomb team to the clock tower,” she orders first, “Namizo-kun and one of her companions is there.”

Immediately, a squad stands up, but Tashigi stops them. 

“Just one or two of you!” she calls. “Ride that super spot-billed duck, he’ll know how to get there. Can we call the palace?”

“No… the existing Den Dens on palace grounds have been sabotaged,” someone reports, “the guards said something about a raid in the night.”

Tashigi nods. Unprecedented, but it’s no big deal. “Send a new one, then, We’ll need them on the line.”

“Wait… what are you planning, Sergeant Major?” the Ensign asks.

 

“Yes, Sergeant Major…” comes another voice, gentle and mischievous, “what are you planning, if I may ask?”

 

No one could blame Tashigi for flinching, but at the moment, she wasn’t too sure if it was the needle in her skin, the pain everywhere else-- or the sight of Nico Robin , coat and all-- just sitting there between the soldiers, smiling.

Collectively, all soldiers whirled away in horror, spinning around, drawing their weapons. 

“What the-- Who are you?!”

“When did she--!”

“Oh no,” one breathes, “oh no. I recognize that face, she’s--” 

“Run, now!” Tashigi yells, and two soldiers, no questions asked-- leaps onto the duck, scrambling out of the tent, along with Eyelashes and Kinoko.

 

“Treinta Fleur,” she declares, and Tashigi panics . The doctor is trying to finish the stitch-- but arms sprout from the bodies of her soldier, snaking toward the weapons-- turning them against their faces. “Grapple.”

 

“NO!” 

 

Triggers are pulled. The collective gunshots were punctuated by only her horrified scream for mercy-- and startling, horrifying silence. 

 

“I cannot allow you to interfere with Sir Crocodile’s plans here,” Miss All-Sunday says, “it might be unfortunate for you… do understand,” she smiles, but it’s anything but kind. “We’re all just trying our best to survive here, aren’t we?” 

Tashigi’s lips are bleeding from how hard she bites down. 

(At least-- at least the bomb squad managed to leave.)

The doctor cuts the thread in her arm-- finally done-- and Tashigi lunges forward, screaming. “You-- YOU!” she draws her sword, throwing herself forward in a fit of rage.

“In my defense, they pointed weapons at me first.”

In a flash, Tashigi gasps, her injured arm forced behind her, and her sword arm pinned to her sides. From her own wrist, a new set of arms reached out, taking Shigure from her-- and pointing the blade at her own neck. Her mouth was clamped shut by another hand, and she couldn’t find it in herself to move. 

“I might find trouble with the Burglar Cat, but you are no problem,” she says. “So? Will you promise to stop whatever it is you’re planning-- or should I kill you here?”

Tashigi seethes

(Why can’t she ever do anything right?)

 

No one expects the black leg to dive right in, digging right into the hand, spinning it out of grip and chucking the blade into the air. 

Miss All-Sunday hisses in pain, the hands dissipating from Tashigi as the girl collapses, regains her breath-- and looks up. 

Sanji catches the sword-- by the hilt, upright, on his foot, somehow-- and frowns. 

“Another beautiful lady?” he mutters, slightly exasperated. He tosses the blade upward and catches it in his hand. “I’m really down on luck today, aren’t I? Oh hold it-- kicking those hands hurts you too? Oh darn, please kill me now.” 

 

Kinoko was on his shoulder. It seems that the bird went out to call for help, and found it rather quickly. 

 

He turns to Tashigi, dusting off the sword and handing it back to her, holding it by the blade as if it were a kitchen knife instead of a katana. 

“Here. I hope I didn’t dirty it,” he says. 

(Well, it was already dirty anyway.)

“Greetings, oh lovely lady,” Sanji twirls back around to Miss All-Sunday in a sort of bow, lifting his head just slightly at the end to take in the situation around him. 

There was a lot of blood. Lots of injuries, mainly in the face. Some were still alive-- others, no such luck. He blinks the realization away, and straightens. 

“Greetings to you as well,” Miss All-Sunday humours him. 

“Well,” Sanji hums, “I don’t suppose you’ll spare us and allow us to leave?” 

Miss All-Sunday frowns a little, “what would be the point?” she gestures around them, “you will die, regardless of how long you drag your situation out.”

Sanji swoons. “Can’t say I dislike the idea of getting murdered by a lady like you, but…”

“What the-- Take this seriously!” Tashigi snaps. 

Sanji deflates, “...yes, that,” then, he spins , bringing his foot up to the lightbulb overhead. Light could still seep through the gaps in the tents, (the films were thick, but it wasn’t well set up,) but the plunge into relative darkness was a huge difference. 

 

Tashigi feels herself picked up-- but not by Sanji. 

It’s the doctor that had been stitching her up, and he shoves her behind the curtain, leading to another smaller tent, and shushes her sharply. 

 

Sanji follows them immediately in alarm. He shouts something-- but Tashigi strangely hears nothing. Sanji looks surprised, too, speaking something-- but with no voice. Kinoko flaps her wings confusedly, but only knocks into the tall doctor in surprise. 

Finally, the doctor retrieves something-- handcuffs? And tosses it in Sanji’s direction. 

Sanji stares at it for a moment-- and then, quietly, he leaves. The bird remains by the doctor’s side, fussing curiously into the blond hair. She earns a frown, but she doesn’t get swatted off. 

Tashigi doesn’t ask questions-- but in the mild darkness, the doctor wraps her arm up in bandages, before pulling cloth over the area, fixing a temporary brace on the most vulnerable parts. 

 

“What?” the doctor prompts, slightly irritated. 

 

Tashigi flinches. She could hear again?

“What the…” she cringes when he goes over a hurting part. “Who are… you? Why are you so... calm? What was that just now-- the quiet, thing...” 

 

She’s literally seen her soldiers shoot themselves in the head, one of the most notorious bounties coming at her head-- and this man had just gone on with the operation, not even a flinch in the barrage of gunshots. 

“No one important,” the man grumbles. “Be careful with this arm. If you’re trying to be a swordsman, you’ll want to keep movement in both arms. You got close this time, but any deeper and consider your career gone.”

Tashigi gulps, nodding. She’s heard enough stories about swordsmen who had to quit because of fatal arm injuries, even in their non-dominant hands.

(Like Red-haired Shanks. He could still fight, of course. Prominently unbeatable across the board. But as a swordsman of skill, he was dead.)

“Thank you,” Tashigi says. “You’re not a native, are you?”

He pauses. “No,” he admits. “But I’ve been here long enough. I’m not really a doctor either, I only know field first aid. Get that looked at by a real doctor when Smoker sees you again.”

“Huh? Wait-- how did you know we work for Smoker-san?”

There's a grin. The tall, blond man doesn't answer, his eyes shielded behind the shades-- but he pats Tashigi on the head, and stands up. 

 

He picks up his things-- lights a cigarette-- and steps out. “I have to go.”

 

“Wait-- sir!” Tashigi calls after him, standing up in a fluster. The man stops for a moment. Just long enough for Tashigi to yell, “you set the tent on fire!” 

He turns to the side and blinks. Kinoko, still on the man’s shoulder, has her eyes wide in muted horror. 

“...oops.”

 


 

Well, it goes like this. 

Rosinante is saved, Rosinante settles down, and Rosinante is sent into hiding from the world. He couldn’t exactly go by his name or identity anymore-- he couldn’t show his face, not to Marines, Pirates, and World Nobles-- so Sengoku sent him to Alabasta, where none had enough influence to notice him. 

And Rosinante makes himself a vacation home in the sandy dunes of Alabasta, just off the shores of the Sandora river, a mile or three away from Alubarna. 

Then one day, children come in to raid his home. They’re wielding anything resembling a blunt object (is that a desert gecko?) and accusing him of being “the big bad warlock that eats children and turns into a werewolf on the night of the full moon!!!” because clearly they couldn’t decide on just one story. 

And then somehow, his hut is burning, his dinner is overturned, and he’s got thirty children in his house.

 

Oh dear Doffy, this is why I hate children. This is why I hated children. How do you deal with them? How did I?

 

“You fucking BRATS are sitting down-- no you, girl over there, you are SITTING DOWN and I am coming over with the medical kit DO NOT MOVE,” he snaps at all of them, pulling up a carpet because no way were these kids getting seats

All of them scream. “I thought he didn’t speak!” 

“He’s speaking! He’s speaking!” 

“He’s gonna eat us!” 

“Don’t worry Vivi, we’ll protect you! Run away and don’t look back!” 

“No, Leader, I would never leave you behind!” 

Fucking dramatic, these children. 

“You are going to behave, I’m going to make dinner, and then when I’m done with all this bullcrap you have until sunrise to get the FUCK OUT!!” he yells. 

 

For a moment, he thought he went too far, because all the children were frozen shock solid, eyes wide and petrified. 

 

Then the blue-haired girl asks, “who’s ‘ the fuck’ ?”

The resulting panic of noise from equally confused children (and some children who knew and knew it was a bad word) was so loud, Rosinante resigned to just setting up a calm over them for the rest of the night. 

They were gone by morning, but then they came back the next night. 

“Doctor Quack, Doctor Quack! Vivi’s dad says he’s really mad at you for telling her about the bad bad words. Kohza got in trouble.”

“Kebi you bastard, don’t tell him that!” 

This time, they brought warm meals cooked by their parents, tools to help patch that one hole in the house, and they carried their own chairs to sit on and their own pillows and blankets to sleep on. 

 

“How do I tell my son that I accidentally adopted thirty children?” he mutters grimly to himself one day. 

 

Igaram just laughs in his face. 

“I’m going to move to the other side of the river,” Rosinante threatens. 

“That’s fine! I heard Young Kohza’s father is going to move to Yuba soon.”

“Do I have no escape?!”

 


 

 

Sanji panicked when he suddenly couldn’t hear himself speak-- but he dismissed it in lieu of the set of Seastone Cuffs handed to him. 

He knows what he’s supposed to do with these. 

“Man, do I have the worst luck today,” he grumbles. He would honestly rather die than fight that lady, but if he doesn’t right now, Tashigi would be in trouble to, and by extension, the rest of Alabasta. 

(Nami did say it was fine if he just led Miss Doublefinger around and then lost her, but she didn’t say anything about Miss All-Sunday. So Sanji just wanted to go to a cafe right now and treat all these beautiful ladies to some tea, who cares about the war-- argh!)

“Sorry, Milady!” 

He lunges forward, just out of sight of Miss All-Sunday-- before running across, maneuvering behind her before she could catch full sight of him. 

(Her weakness is that she needs to see you to get you. That’s why Nami made all that fog and used all that water in Rainbase.)

Sanji clamps the cuff right over her forearm right as she turns, and though she hisses in alarm, Sanji’s quick to snatch and keep a firm hold on the other end, keeping her in his vicinity. 

“Captured,” he deems, grinning. “I suppose this is ironic to say-- but, you’re under arrest.”

“Oh, am I?” Miss All-Sunday sings, moments before the cuffed hand falls apart in a wave of petals and another hand emerges from under her cloak, knife barred toward Sanji’s eye. 

 

(It would have been fatal.)

Sanji knows it would, because he could swear he saw his life flash before his eyes before Tashigi drags him back by the hair, sword coming up to slice-- almost through-- Miss All-Sunday’s fingers, deflecting the dagger and making her drop it all the same.

 

“Seastone doesn’t always work!” Tashigi yells, snapping him right out of it as she tosses him the key. “Paramecias are trickier. Don’t let your guard down.”

Sanji swallows, quickly taking it to unlock the shackle. “I understand,” he says, grimly.

 

Miss All-Sunday had her hand in her other, the blood seeping through her sleeve, the cut deeper than Sanji had initially thought it was. But that was fair-- Tashigi couldn’t exactly gauge well on how much to cut when it was so dim in this tent.

 

“That aside…” Tashigi says, standing before Sanji with her sword drawn in Miss All-Sunday’s direction. “Uhm. We uh. Are kind of in a predicament.” 

For a moment, Sanji wondered why the dim lighting was flickering. Even Miss All-Sunday looked slightly baffled at something directly behind Sanji. 

Then he turned around to see half of the tent right behind him, burning. The doctor was flapping hurriedly at the material, stomping out the flames but unable to tear out everything-- and then he spread the fire instead and panicked .

Meanwhile, Kinoko, who was not helpful at all, flew flustered circles of panic around the scene, cawing out like an irritating crow just fluctuating the madness. 

Sanji’s cigarette fell from his mouth. 

“Alright,” he grabs Tashigi by the uninjured shoulder, “I’d say this is a good time for an abort mission, evacuate now!”

Sanji grabs the nearest injured soldier, one after another-- and Tashigi sheathes her sword, hefting one up her back as well. 

 

They were injured-- most weren’t alive-- but she had to get them out, didn’t she?

 

Doctor Quack couldn’t do anything to injuries this severe. She had to get them to the safehouses underground-- or to the palace. The palace was her best bet right now.  

Sanji shoves Tashigi outside, peeking his head back in for a moment to say, “Miss All-Sunday my dear, may we reschedule this deadly encounter to a less incinerated portion of the city?”

This time, Nico Robin, a little paler than before, simply nods, “I believe we may.”

 

She turns to leave a different way, deeming this encounter worthless and biding her own presence-- but she finds herself staring into the eyes of the self-proclaimed doctor, who had stopped trying to fan the flames to address her. 

“Hold on, Nico Robin,” the man says. 

She frowns. 

“I’m from the Revolutionary Army,” he adds, and her face immediately changes. “We’ve been looking for you-- for years, now. If you’re ever in trouble-- please contact us.”

And he tosses her a military dog tag, with the name of an unknown man, but labelled with enough figures in the serial number and fake address to compose a Den Den number. It’s a simple trick, one Robin does not take long to figure out.

She looks up-- and he’s gone. 

 

The tent is still on fire.

Her head swirls with a culmination of poisonous, poisonous hatred-- and for a moment, she considers throwing the tag into the fire. 

(What took you guys so long?)

But she holds onto it, closes her eyes-- and breathes out. 

Rococo Naranja , the tag read. She supposed it was the name of a dead soldier, so it wouldn’t be traced back even if she threw this tag away. 

(Not that she would, though.)

 

A moment later, Sanji reenters the tent, worried that Miss All-Sunday wasn’t coming out-- but she was gone by then, too.

“...wait, where’s the shit mushroom bird?”

 


 

There were still Marine soldiers around. Not everyone had been at the outpost when the fight occurred-- and Tashigi breathed out a sigh of relief when she realized that. 

She collapses to her knees, and reminds herself that this isn’t the time. 

“Sergeant Major! Are you alright?”

“Put out the fire! Call the doctors--”

“We can’t! The war is entering the city, we need to get out of here now!” 

 

Tashigi stands up immediately, gripping her fists through the shivering in her limbs. “Ignore the fire!” she commands, “I want all the injured into the nearest safehouse, before the war reaches!” 

 

The soldiers stiffen. “Wha-- but Sergeant--!”

“The rest of you, come with me, we’re going to the palace!” she continues. “Work with the Strawhat pirates, am I understood?”

That earned a shocked round of questions. 

“Wait. With the pirates ?!”

Sanji pipes up with a “hi, folks” and everyone balks at him judgmentally. “If you see a man who looks like he’s going to kill you, another man who looks like he’s going to kill you but he’s got green hair, a gorgeous lady who can also kill you, a reindeer-looking raccoon and a little lady, they can... probably also kill you, honestly... I’m the only sane one in this crew what the hell-- don’t fight them, yeah?”

“What? WHAT?”

“Pirate?!”

“Wait, Sergeant Major--”

“Oh and uh, a pinocchio-looking guy,” Sanji says, “and a moron with a straw hat. Those are my comrades. Don’t touch them, yeah? Alright. I’ll be going then.” 

 

And he runs off, leaving completely baffled silence in his wake. 

 

“I don’t think I want to know,” one guy admits. 

“What did Namizo-kun get himself into?” another speaks up, “I can confidently tell you I have no idea which one of those is supposed to be Namizo-kun.”

“Why did he emphasize so much on how they can kill us?”

“Because he’s a dick, I think.”

“Please, you'll never get anywhere if you question everything those madmen do!” Tashigi snaps, a little more exasperated than actually infuriated, “we need to move, now! Is the Broadcast Den Den Mushi here yet ?!”

“Yes!”

“Great! Moving on!” 

 

-


-

 

Chopper cries at the third baseball sent his way. 

“I hate treating explosion wounds!” he yells, dodging them desperately. “They get infected easily, things get stuck inside, and let’s not talk about burnt metal on flesh; it is a nightmare for all parties involved. I hate it! It’s worse if you have fur!” 

Anne watches from her spot, setting up a picnic. “Is it the yelling that lets him dodge all those perfectly?” she wonders.

Miss MerryChristmas pops up and yells, “wait a minute! HEY Mis-Ter-FOUR! Aimhere, you STUP--!! You STUP--!! She’s just sittin’righthere like noone’sbiss-ness!”

“Ooooooookaaaaay…”

 

Anne takes a sip of her tea, setting it down. Then she picks herself up and runs forward , right toward the baseball, and slams the edge of her biggest paintbrush against it, like the baseball it was. 

She grimaces when the baseball doesn’t budge, much too heavy to be flung back-- and she gives up, letting go of the brush and letting it fwick into the sky. The baseball whirls a meter behind her before exploding. 

Chopper joins her as she begins running, picking up her brush again. 

 

“So it doesn’t explode on impact, it’s timer based,” Chopper observes first. 

“And it’s too heavy to be picked up and thrown back,” Anne adds. “Miss MerryChristmas is always in the tunnels. Can you chase after her there?”

“I’m a reindeer!” 

“Don’t you have a tanuki form?”

“Oh, you mean my hybrid fo-- I AM NOT A RACCOON DOG!” Chopper raises his voice, “and they’re hardly the same as raccoons! You’re thinking about raccoons, right? The ones that dig through trash?! That’s not a raccoon dog! They climb trees!”

“...they’re not the same?”

“NO!” 

“...then why do they both have ‘raccoon’ in it?”

“That’s obviously because--!” Chopper stops, “wait. I actually don’t know. I think it’s an uh. Eastern thing,” they pause in the middle of the road to have an identity crisis. “Wait a minute. Raccoon dogs are like foxes, actually. I’m a-- I don’t know?!” Chopper freaks out, “what am I?!”

“You’re a reindeer, Chopper,” Anne replies. “Can we go in the middle ground and call you an abomination?”

“I am NOT an abominat--”

 

Their argument is loudly interrupted by five baseballs shooting toward them from every direction-- and they all exploded at once. 

 

“HAH!” Miss MerryChristmas laughs, pointing at them, “you stup--! STUPS!! Payattentionto us or ya’re gonnaget-it! Die! Boom! Lessonlearnedornay? Ingrates!” 

“Haaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” went Mister Four, “theeeeey iiiiignooooored uuuuus aaagaaaaaaiiiin…” 

“Quiet! Mis-Taar-FOUR! AGH Ma’backhurts! It hurts! Gimmea massage, Mis-Ter-Four!” she demands, “AHhh, it hurtsso! Ingrates! Ruined, ruined myday!”

“Oooookaaaaay.”

 

A burst of wind-- and Anne leaps past them.

Breezing past their eyeline is Anne, colours soaring in the sky as she twirls them into just the right symbols. She lands behind them in a crouch, paintbrush between her teeth and tubes of paint between her fingers. 

 

“What…?”

Miss MerryChristmas balks, seeing paint plastered all over her body. White covered the most of her, but there was red, green and blue around her, too, splattered but not mixed, drawing a sort of symbol she couldn’t quite discern. 

The same symbols were drawn on Mister Four, who, in his slow stupor, hasn’t gotten over the shock yet to notice the marks at all. 

 

“The Motley of Confusion,” Anne declares. She turns around, staring at her targets blankly, removing the brush from her mouth. 

 

“What is this? WHATisthisyou littlegirl howdare! MYclothes! My tie! HOwdaRE--!” Miss MerryChristmas screeches.

“Ahhhhh, I reeeemeeember youuu…” Mister Four mutters. 

“Miss Goldenweek! Goldenweekyou Miss! You’re just a traitor!” Miss MerryChristmas declares, “you may be a rankhigher, but you’rejust a CHILD! Don’t underestimate us!” 

“Laaassoooo,” Mister Four calls out-- and in the dust clouds, where Lassoo is supposed to be-- he hears a sneeze and a pop. 

Anne sighs, taking her largest brush, dipped in red paint-- and hooks it over her arm, running to the side. 

This doesn’t deter the Mister Four and Miss MerryChristmas duo-- because the latter dives under, and hands emerge from under Anne, taking her by the foot and keeping her in place. 

Anne grins, to the older woman’s surprise. 

And that’s when Miss MerryChristmas realized that among the mess of colours, the Red Colours Trap was right on the back of her palm. 

 

The baseball stops, shockingly still, in mid air-- before plunging right down into the hole where Miss MerryChristmas was in. 

“Bullfight Red. You should run.”

Anne ducks aside as a horrified Miss MerryChristmas lets go of Anne-- and the baseball explodes in her point-blank range, inside the tunnel. The eruption makes the entire earth shake, and Anne rolls, trying to lessen the damage form the fall-- but it still jostles her injuries terribly, and she groans. 

 

Mister Four’s jaw drops. 

Anne dusts herself off, taking off her shoes before dragging her red-dipped paintbrush along, continuing to run along the perimeters. “I may be a little girl… but I was still higher ranked than you. Don’t forget that.”

Mister Four pales. 

“Lassoooo…” he calls, turning around-- only to be horrified when he finds Chopper there, in Arm Point, dragging the bazooka dog forward. 

 

“Whaddaya waitingfor Mis-Ter-Four!” Miss MerryChristmas screeches, charred but evidently still alive, “Shecan’t getme when I’m downhere SO KEEP SHOOTING!” 

 

“Secret Attack,” Chopper grabs Lassoo by the side handles, roaring loudly before spinning, and-- chucking the dog-cannon into the air. Immediately morphing into Brain Point, he retrieves a paper parcel. “Usopp’s pepper bomb that I totally didn’t steal!” 

He chucks it right into the dog’s face. 

 

“Oooooh nooooo…” Mister Four slowly grows mortified. 

 

And then, Chopper turns right around to bolt. 

Anne finishes her hurried lap around the vicinity, twirls another half circle, and draws a perpendicular line around the edge. Sighing in relief at the huge red Colours Trap symbol she’s managed to draw-- she drops the brush, looks up-- and screams, running away as well. 

“Get out! Get out of here! NOW!” Chopper screams in his Walk Point, grabbing her by the collar and heading toward the front gates of the palace. 

Lassoo starts sneezing. 

(When all of this is over, Vivi will tearfully ask WHY there’s a huge crater in the middle of the City Square. Neither Chopper nor Anne will have an answer to that.)

 


 

“Uhm, Anne?”

“...yeah?”

“What does white paint do?”

“...ah no, that was bleach. They were annoying.”

‘What the-- ANNE!” 

 

-


-

 

 

Gin sighs at his very dented tonfa, and wonders if he went too far. 

“Sorry,” he says, to the very much half-dead ballerina, “I uh, went too far?”

“You think?!” moans the quasi-corpse, furious for a fraction of a moment before deflating once more. “Aaaaagh I can’t become a bride anymore.”

“Don’t worry, that was never a problem.”

“You are VERY rude!” 

 

Mister Two bounces back up for another heel right to the elbow-- and Gin hisses sharply when it bends in the wrong direction, sinking in, crunching bone-- but he’s flung into a wall before he could maneuver around it. 

Gin clutches his arm as he reemerges, biting his tongue to hold back a groan of pain. 

His elbow was rapidly purpling, and he knew-- it wasn’t fully broken, but that elbow was not going to be right ever again, even if he set it back. 

Gin sighs. While Gin landed more hits, Mister Two probably landed harder hits. He was a furious hit-until-it’s-dead sort of fighter, but Mister Two actually knew where to hit to hurt and incapacitate the most efficiently. 

(So he's a trained fighter, and Gin was someone who has only ever fought to survive, huh.)

 

“Any other trick up your sleeve?” Gin taunts. “Not that it’ll matter, anyway. It looks like you can’t copy their techniques either-- does that mean you can only fight when you’re in your actual form?”

Mister Two gapes, “Whhhhaaaat?!” he looks away, nervously, “absolutely not. What would you think that hahaahaaa--” he whistles, “not at all, of course not.”

Gin clicks his tongue, “am I seriously struggling to fight with this moron?”

Mister Two spins back around angrily, “AGH! Who cares if you found my only weakness!” he shouts, “I still have other copies to utilize!” 

 

And this time he morphs into a figure of Anne, little and flooded by the large coat, smiling mischievously.

“How about this?” Mister Two says, “I can’t use Okama Kenpo in this body… but that doesn’t mean I haven’t learned how to adapt to new styles. I remember how surprised I was, to be in this body for the first time and finding out just how interesting she was.”

Involuntarily, Gin freezes .

 

(He regretted that moment of visible weakness, very quickly.)

 


 

Sanji separates from Tashigi to find the rest of the crew. He sifted through his mind to remember who else there was to fight-- something about a sniper duo? Ugh, where would they be? For now, he’ll have to meet up with the rest...

“Hey!” 

He turns around. Gin was there, nursing a painful-looking black eye and staggering on one foot. He makes it to Sanji, slightly out of breath. 

“Oh, Gin!” Sanji brightens slightly, “you look like shit.”

“Shut up about it, I don't exactly spend time trying to look charming like your dumbhead,” Gin grumbles, covering his black eye slightly self-consciously. “Screw that. I had to fight that Mister Two guy-- he was a pain to deal with.”

Sanji scoffs, “it’s your own fault for taking my target, shithead.”

“I didn’t exactly plan on it, did I?” Gin grumbles. “To begin with, I don’t think you’d do any better, anyway. That guy’s a master martial artist or something.”

 

Sanji pauses for a moment, taking a drag of his cigarette. 

 

Then, “well then, let’s go meet up with Nami-swan. She said she’ll be in the palace with Vivi-chan,” he says. “We can decide what to do from there, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Gin says. 

 

Sanji leads the way, taking them down one street to the next. Gin follows behind him, silent-- and strangely obedient. 

Then Sanji stops, swinging a foot sharply backward, striking Gin right in the jaw, sending him flying right into the adjacent wall. 

 

When Gin gets up, he’s infuriated, “what was that for?!” 

Sanji scoffs. “Prove your identity, shithead,” he demands. 

(From blindly accepting wrong information to passively listening to orders even though he’s the order-giver-- this guy just didn’t have Gin’s personality down at all. Also, what the fuck was that dry as shit conversation? Make a joke!)

“The actual hell is wrong with you!” Gin stands up, dusting himself off. He pulls up his sleeve, showing the line of bandages. “See?”

Sanji rolls his eyes. 

“Well would you look at that. I get to fight my target after all,” he muses. Then, immediately grimacing unpleasantly, “drop the shitty disguise, Mister Two. What the fuck did you do with Gin, and if I don’t like the answer, you’d best be prepared for retaliation.” 

 

‘Gin’ blinks back, bewildered for a moment. 

Then his lips stretched out into a wide grin. “Awh, I wonder how you found out! I thought the bandages were the clue!” he mulls, slightly-- but snickers anyway, morphing right back to his original face. “Oh well, time for round Two !” 

 

Sanji curses. Gin couldn’t possibly have lost to this moron, did he?

 


 

Gin lay on the ground, aching and covered in numerous wounds-- his head ringing nauseatingly, his body throbbing in agony. 

"Ahh, for fuck's sake."

 

He could only lie there with his own thoughts. 

Mister Two had made quick work of him from there-- then while Gin was blacked out, he’d stolen his desert robe and left him bleeding out. He was probably now using his visage to deceive a fellow Strawhat, and Gin didn’t know if he could live that down. 

Finally, he brought his less injured arm up to his face, and covered his eyes. Biting his lip, he tried not to yell out in frustration. 

 

“You won’t ever beat me,” Mister Two had said, with Anne’s voice, in that stoical tone-- and using that stone-cold demeanor. 

(He had no right to resemble her so uncannily.)

 

“I know, for fuck’s sake,” he mutters, rolling into himself in misery. “I know I can’t beat her.”

 

(I’ve never been able to, anyways.)

(...that’s why I brought you out of that accursed place, so you’d never have to fight again.)

 

He coughs, and there’s blood. He’s not too sure if it’s the remnant poison finally acting up again, or if that’s just the broken ribs. It could be either, at this point. 

He struggles to get back up. 

“Oh-ribb-it? Ribbit, ribbit!” a voice sings, from a building above him. “Do you see that, Mister Seven?”

“Hoh- hoh! Ohoho! I do, Miss Fathersday!” the other voice chimes, and Gin whirls around to see two dumbly-dressed agents, standing atop the roof of the building right behind him. “It’s the Man-Demon, Gin! Eighteen million beris, wanted dead or alive!” 

(Fuck.)

“Confirmed Strawhat pirate, isn’t he, ribbit!” the woman laughs, “well then!” 

She cocks her frog-shaped pistol forward, and the man does the same with his oddly-square gun. “Well then! Ohoho!” he echoes, “only one thing to do, oho!” 

Gin scrambles for his tonfas, but his shattered elbow makes him stumble. 

“Adjust! Ribbit-ribbit Gun!” 

“Adjust! Yellow Gun!” 

“Ready? Smash, GO!” 

 

-


-

 

Crocodile arrives in Alubarna palace. 

Despite Vivi and Chaka’s best efforts-- Miss All-Sunday captures King Cobra, and the confrontation occurs. 

“You sure made a mess, Princess Vivi,” Crocodile seethes, “but no matter. Once I seize the Poneglyph, this country will be mine either way.”

“The Poneglyph?!” Cobra exclaims, “you--! Where did you hear of that?” 

Crocodile scoffs, “even if I hadn’t, your reaction just confirmed you’ve got one,” he says, ignoring Vivi’s increasingly confused expressions. “That’s what I want.”

 

He steps closer to the king-- but Vivi reacts immediately. 

“Don’t touch him!” she shouts, drawing her Peacock Slasher, spinning it forward. The bladed dial at the front churned-- and immediately, she activates the spray of the Flavour Dial, showering the area with perfume. 

Crocodile’s eyes widened. “A water-dispensing weapon?!” he curses, deflecting it with his hook before throwing his arm down. “Desert Spada!”

A blade of sand rose forth, whipping forward like a fissuring torpedo. Vivi dodges, but her Peacock Slasher falls between herself and the range of attack. The wire snaps, loud and sharp, against the breaking sand. 

 

“Cheap tricks,” Crocodile slams a foot against the dial, surprised when it doesn’t break in one stamp of the foot. He reaches down-- and shut it off manually. “A dial, huh. Must’ve been the Burglar Cat.”

 

Easily, he thrusts his hook forward-- and seizes Vivi by the neck, lifting her into the air. 

King Cobra panics, struggling against his arms that were nailed to the wall by the elbows. “Don’t touch her!” he yells, but it only earns him a grin from Crocodile. “I’ll show you the Poneglyph! Let her go!” 

Crocodile scoffs. “I expected you to be a better negotiator, but I suppose that’s asking too much from you,” he doesn’t let Vivi go. “Miss All-Sunday, go ahead.”

 

Vivi could do nothing but watch helplessly, her father taken away from her. 

(She curses. Curses and curses-- but there was nothing she could do except hold back the burn of the tears in her eyes, not willing to give Crocodile the satisfaction of driving her to shame.)

 

“Gomu-Gomu no…”

Her eyes snap open. 

“MUNCH!” 

 

Vivi was treated to the mildly horrifying, slightly baffling, very impressive, incredibly stupid-- sight of Luffy as his jaw widens and expands-- and then he chomps right into Crocodile, sand and everything.

He then started to chew, oversized mouth and all. 

Of course, Crocodile drops her, but Vivi wasn’t exactly in the state to do anything other than gawk. She falls right into Kohza’s arms as he scoops her right up and starts running-- presumably back toward the front gate. 

“What the-- Leader!” she recognizes first. Then, “Luffy-san?!”

“Don’t question it, don't question it,” Kohza mutters to himself, holding Vivi close to him as he just runs, not looking back, “for the sake of my sanity, I am not looking. Vivi, Don’t look.”

And yeah, words of a wise man, clearly. 

 

(Where did they come from-- ah, Leader is here, so the tunnels?) 

 

Luffy seems to attempt to chew another time-- but Crocodile’s very angry sand particles come bursting right out of his mouth in a (very likely) very painful explosion. 

“You’re gross, Croc!” he whines, as if he expected any other taste in his mouth. There actually looks to be some tears in the corner of Luffy’s eyes. Yeah, that might teach him not to eat weird things from now on. 

“Then don’t EAT a human being, you fucking moron! I’m not even a consumable element!” Crocodile snaps, “what screw is loose in your head!”

“Well, Usopp said that Cololomotone Prince Mask also ate his enemies when he didn’t know how to fight them, so I thought I might as well try…”

“Who the fuck are either of those!” 

 

Vivi gawks. Talk about arriving in the nick of time… for stupid reasons. Luffy was carrying a huge barrel of water, and he grinned, confident this time. 

 

“Luffy-san!” Vivi calls-- but somehow, she doesn't know what else to say. 

Thank you? I’m so glad you made it? I’m sorry, I didn’t hold him out better, so he got my father? No… none of those were right. 

“I do what I can do, and you do what I can’t do!” she instead screams. Clinging onto Kohza’s back as the man brings them out of the palace, to safety. “So beat him up for me, alright?! Don’t die!”

The palace gates open and close, so she doesn’t catch the wide grin on Luffy’s face. 

Instead, she hears the loud, “OF COURSE!” in response, resolved and so-- so damn assuring. She smiles into Kohza’s shoulder, and breathes in, at ease. 

 

“You sure trust him a whole ton,” Kohza says. 

Vivi straightens a little in his hold, blushing as she remembers her rather compromising position. “Put me down already! I can walk on my own!” What’s with all the men she knows just casually carrying her off when they need to run?

“You’re a slow and clumsy runner, and you’re light. It’s the obvious thing to do.”

“I am NOT underweight! I’ve built muscles! I'm stronger now!” 

“Tell me that when you become less easy to pick up.” 

 


 

The Tsumegeri Guards were gone. The Billions were nearing the city square now, and the King had sent them off to back up the army a while ago. 

(Vivi doesn’t see Anne and Chopper, riding the shoulders of one particularly tall Tsumegeri Guard, being commanded like a horse as the two youngest in the crew enthusiastically pointed in the direction they wanted to go, glamouring at how tall they were right now . Their feet were burned and chapped and they were apparently so tired they could cry, so the guard just complied.)

Kohza and Vivi come down to Carue, who arrives just in time. They then ran straight to their rendezvous point with Tashigi.

 


 

The Den Den Mushi rings-- every snail on the island ringing with the news of a country-wide broadcast. 

“Citizens of Alabasta, my name is Nefertari Vivi!” 

Her voice rings out, loud and clear to every soul in her country. 

She stands, the visual Den Den taking her visage to be shown in the screens in the town. She gets on her knees-- and bows, head on the ground. 

“And today, I-- in the name of the royalty of Alabasta-- plead for your forgiveness. We’ve neglected to ease your hearts in this drought-- we’ve only seeded the hatred you’ve held for us. But please… believe us now when we say that we were not the ones to steal the rain from our beloved country!” 

 

That day, the citizens of Alabasta broke out into tears-- of relief, of joy-- or of grief, no one could quite tell. Were they upset that things came so far? Were they grateful, to finally have an ease of heart? Or were they enraged, finally having a target to direct their anger toward?

The voice of Sir Crocodile, declaring his involvement with the criminal organisation that ruined everything-- was broadcast all around the city, and citizens took up arms. 

 

They mobilised, as one, once again-- toward Alubarna, to support their army, and defend their own country.

Chapter 49: rain falls in Alabasta.

Summary:

wrapping up the rest of the fights in Alubarna.

ft apparently everyone either raided Usopp's toolsbox or Usopp raided their weapons, there's no inbetween.

Notes:

I keep misspelling doublefinger as doubelfigner so if you spot a soublefinger or something don't tell me. I'm losing my mind and autocorrect isn't helping. Love Zala though, she's gorgeous.

also, I'm really glad that the story progress is enjoyable for you guys! I usually do terribly in writing stories with canon divergences because eh, they're hard to handle without losing a person or two in the crowd (I keep losing the birds, like Kinoko keeps doing her own thing why is she like this,) so I hope it's been alright. Usopp didn't end up doing much in this arc unfortunately, but ngeh. We'll have more of him in the next arcs perhaps.

Chapter Text

(Approximately ten minutes before the broadcast.)

 

“Namizo-kun!” 

When the super spot-billed duck arrives at the secret room of the clock tower, Nami hurriedly goes out to meet the two Marine soldiers. 

“You guys!” she gasps, “what brings? Did Tashigi-chan send you?”

Of course they did. She and Usopp had brought the bomb out of the cannon, utilizing the big space they had to make more room to disassemble the bomb. 

“Oh! You’re the Alabastan Royal Guard. Good day, sir!” one of them said. “Oh hey, sweet dancer costume. Looks lovely on you.”

“Loving the new hair, Namizo! Holy shit that bomb’s a limited Jan-Jan Island Custom Edition,” another immediately freaks, crouching down, eyes sparkling, “ dude can I keep this when we’re done?”

“What.”

“Like, just the parts! Just the parts, I swear! These are collector classics!”

“If you sell it you’ll be rich instantly.”

“What the-- we’re not selling these! These are treasures !”

 

Come to think of it, when she was a cabin boy, there were some people who were strangely fascinated each time she disassembled it for maintenance. She thought they were perverted voyeurs and beat them up, but… uhm… they were just gear maniacs?

(Okay, makes sense.)

 

“One wrong move and we die along with the whole city square,” Usopp says in lieu of a greeting. “Did you bring your brown pants?”

Instead of being intimidated, the two in the bomb squad beam , “awesome! Can we start now?!”

“Absolutely,” Usopp says, resigned, handing them a wrench.

“Ah wait!” they bolt up, “this isn’t the time! The marine base! Sergeant Major and the rest are being attacked by a strange woman!” 

Nami and Usopp perk back up to attention. 

“It’s Nico Robin!” the other reveals, and the room freezes. “They’re in danger!”

“Nico Robin--?!” Pell reacts, “you mean, the devil of Ohara?”

“Miss All-Sunday!” Nami gapes, “she shouldn’t be--” she curses. Reaching for Usopp’s glove, she tugs it over her flesh hand. “Right. I’ll hurry over. You guys focus on the bomb, we’ve only got an hour left!” 

 

“Nami!” Usopp calls, and she turns around. He’s standing up now-- eyes hidden behind the goggles, but the gaze as firm as it has always been between them. “Heading brazenly into battle isn’t your style.”

(Don’t be reckless, it’s not what you’re good at.)

Nami holds her Clima Tact in her hand. 

“I know,” she says. “That’s why I didn’t bring my axe.”

 

And then, she leaves, not another word exchanged between them. Usopp sits down, impervious to the gazes from the marine soldiers and Pell. 

 

“Will she be fine on her own?” Pell prompts.

“I know she’s strong-- but Nico Robin is a 79 million beri head, you know?” the soldier says, a little concerned. “That’s nearly three times Namizo’s current bounty.” 

Usopp doesn’t tell them that strength isn’t the problem. 

“Impossible or not,” he sighs, picking up the bomb’s timer once again, “it’s never stopped her before. It won’t start now.”

 


 

While Nami was perfectly prepared to take on Miss All-Sunday for the second time-- she didn’t get that far. 

The army was getting pushed back. Explosions were near, and the streets near the wall were already breached. Nami’s run through the less crowded alleys is interrupted by an explosion of spikes bursting through a wall to enclose her in a cage. 

Nami only notices it the second it embeds into her flesh arm-- and she reacts immediately.

 

In the split second before she was fully enclosed, she steps on one spike, using it as leverage to twist her body through the gaps, encasping just in time for the spikes to extend two around like a messy branch of deadly protrusions.

 

“That was a close one,” Miss Doublefinger says, smiling as she reveals herself. 

“That was dangerous,” Nami returns. “What’s got your panties in a twist? Did our resident princey boy leave you unsatisfied?” 

“He wasn’t my type,” she says, appearing just a little irritated. “Well, he does run quite fast, I’ll give him that.”

(Oh, so Sanji managed to escape.)

“I apologize for him,” Nami chuckles, assembling her Clima Tact. “You might be able to tell-- he’s not the best advocate for gender equality around.”

The conversation isn’t entertained. 

Nami leaps aside, spikes tearing into her long skirt as she narrowly avoids injuries. It’s when she ends up with a spear in her hair that she grimly wonders how the hell she survived this last time.

 

(Did Miss Doublefinger really underestimate her that much last time around?)

 

Nami threw the baton into the air, catching it as it flew back. “Okay…”she grins. “I’ll have you know, Usopp just gave me a ton of upgrades!” She points her baton forward, “Tornado Tempo!” 

She clicks the button-- and a bouquet of rich magenta flowers pops right out. 

There's a horrified pause. 

Miss Doublefinger hums, considering the odd Alabastan flowers with a needle-shaped finger. “I prefer desert marigolds, to be frank. Gorgeous colours though.”

Nami chucks the weapons to the ground, “for fuck’s sake, USOPP!” 

 

-


-

 

Usopp sneezes. 

“Bless you?” someone says, and Usopp scowls. “Okay, unbless you then.”

“No, no, I’ll take the blessing, I’ll take it.” 

 

-


-

 

Nami curses. “Last fucking time I’ll let him do my upgrades,” she grumbles, though she also knows she says that every time and gives it back to him anyway. Seriously, Usopp knows what Nami wants and doesn’t want now, he should know better!

(Like, the extra knife in her elbow was sweet. Flowers and magic tricks? Oh come on, not again!)

 

She presses a second button on another Tact-- and a hook shoots out from the top, spearing into the wall, connected by a thin wire. 

Nami swerves aside from a spike, stumbling to her knees before rolling aside-- pulling the wire taut from one wall to the other. 

Miss Doublefinger catches her foot on the tripwire, but she doesn’t falter there. 

“Hedgehog!” she brims, her entire body morphing into a little more than a choicely-coloured porcupine. 

Nami doesn’t have space to dodge, cornered into the edge of the wall-- she screams when it pierces her shoulder, digs into her lower abdomen, scrapes through her ribs. 

She grabs a handful of spikes, leveraging it against her Clima Tact to yank the woman away. With a Haki-coated metal hand, she grips the elongated spike, tightly-- and with a loud grunt, she twists

Miss Doublefinger yells out in pain, and they quickly split apart, gaining distance from each other. 

 

Nami retracts the grappling hook from her Clima Tact, releasing Heat and Cool balls into the air. “By your reactions, I’ll guess that no one’s been able to hurt your spikes before,” she says, and Miss Doublefinger’s glare only cemented that suspicion. 

“I’ve underestimated your strength, Burglar Cat,” Miss Doublefinger frowns, holding her shoulder. There was no blood-- but by the way she stiffened at a twirl, there was a heavy bruise lining that area. “I must say, I’ve dealt with armor before, but none have come close to your arm’s caliber.”

“Of course!” Nami boasts, “it’s only made of the best metal in the Grand Line.”

She hums in response. “Well, I must say I’m impressed, then. The outside layer is solid-- I can’t get it to budge at all.”

Nami chuckles. “If you’re trying to buy time by talking, allow me to warn you how it’s only working better for me. Thunderbolt Tempo! ” 

Miss Doublefinger gives the sky a glance before leaping back, somersaulting a few more paces, the lightning missing her by mere inches. 

(Huh. Too slow to feasibly hit her, huh.)

 

Nami doesn’t miss the moment. She leaps forward, swinging her Clima Tact down. She only hits a layer of spikes-- and Miss Doublefinger spins, the spikes catching the Clima Tact and wrenching it out of Nami’s hands with a yelp. 

Miss Doublefinger sighs. “That thing was getting quite annoying,” she says. 

Nami hums, creating distance again. She was a mid-ranged fighter, and Miss Doublefinger was a close-ranged fighter. So without her weapon, Nami might have some serious trouble. 

 

(What was Miss Doublefinger's bounty again?)

(Crap.)

(It’s thirty-five million.)

 

If only her Haki was strong enough to shield against bladed weapons… but alas, Nami couldn’t be despairing about what she can’t do right now. She can’t fight close-ranged when her enemy is a many-bladed edge. She needs a weapon. 

Nami looks between her hands-- metal on one end, thickly gloved on the other. 

Alright. 

 


 

The back and forth goes on. Nami grabs a chunk of Miss Doublefinger’s hair-- only for it to transition straight into a spike. It doesn't penetrate her metal arm, but it brings the rest of her body in range to be hit by the spikes, too. 

Nami bends her arm sharply, releasing the hidden knife in her elbow. She stomps on the woman’s back with her metal foot-- and runs her back through with the Haki-coated blade. 

The Clima Tact is abruptly kicked away, Miss Doublefinger swiping a foot over to fling it away from reach. Miss Doublefinger may be slower than Nami, but she was careful.

Miss Doublefinger pulls back, cradling her injury and keeping it out of sight. Nami could see the blood from where she stood, dripping down her back, down her leg, to the ground. Nami grimaces, noting how her metal arm was now coated in Miss Doublefinger’s blood as well, leading from the knife. 

She was bleeding too, if only a little worse than Miss Doublefinger herself. There was a hole in her stomach, her thigh, and her ribs-- agh, Chopper’s going to be mad.

 

“Looks like whoever succumbs to blood loss first will be the loser,” Nami says. 

 

“If you’re so sure, then,” Miss Doublefinger raises her hand, “I might need to prove you wrong.”

 

For a moment, Nami didn’t know what happened. All she realized was a piercing pain in her body-- an array of thin, blue spikes were suddenly stabbed in and through her shoulder, protruding from the other end. 

It misses her torso, but another set pierces through her thigh, cutting straight through flesh and bone into her flesh foot, before stabbing into the ground. 

She didn’t scream, despite the pain. 

She tried to stand, but the needles jostled under her skin, drawing more blood as she put strength in-- and that’s when the whimper escaped her.

 

“Oh, be careful,” Miss Doublefinger says.

 

Nami curses at her. 

 

“I can make any part of myself a spike,” she explains, “that of course includes my hair as well… and my clothes are made of synthetic elastics, weaved from skin and hair cells. So here’s a question… what else could I possibly make into a spike?” 

 

Nami looks down at the blood on the ground. She isn’t sure whose it is-- but she quickly looks at her metal arm, seeing the faint coat of red on the edges, inside, running down from the blade--

Her eyes widen, but it was far too late. 

The blood explodes into a mine of splinters, bursting forth from inside her metal arm-- breaking it apart and flinging metal pieces in every direction. 

 


 

“Strong from outside, weak from inside,” Miss Doublefinger says. “That’s usually the case for machines like those. It’s not about the strength, it’s about the screws. Once you slip in, you can pry it out, easy.”

Nami scowls, nursing the new cuts around her face, grimacing at the miserable port of where her arm used to be. 

“So you removed the arm before the spikes could reach your body,” Miss Doublefinger says. “That’s a bummer. I would’ve been interested to see what happens when you injure the core of those prosthetics.” 

 

With a flick of Nami's remaining hand, the Clima Tact twirls from the ground-- and flies, pulled back by an invisible force, right back into her hand.

Miss Doublefinger looks around and back-- what was that?  

Her face scrunched up in displeasure, Nami pushes a button, releasing a jet of water from either end of one baton. 

“Sprinkler Tempo,” she mutters. “I no longer enjoy talking to you,” she dryly remarks, “please, all due respect, Miss Doublefinger, go fuck yourself.”

 

Then she swings her Heat Tact down, the world exploding in a cloud of fog. 

 

“Cheap tricks again,” Miss Doublefinger growls, inflating her hair into a shield of spikes, “if I can’t see you, neither can you see me!” 

“And that’s where you would be wrong,” Nami says, standing behind her. 

Miss Doublefinger throws a spiked forearm down-- but Nami’s figure dissipates in a mirage, her smile wide and mischievous. 

“You can try and find me,” Nami says again-- Miss Doublefinger turns around and gasps, seeing the girl, three heads too short-- younger, having both arms, a tattoo that doesn’t quite look right -- standing before her, innocent and sweet. She smiles, spreading her arms welcomingly. “Or I can leave you in this dream, forever.”

Miss Doublefinger kicks it, but the illusion vanishes once again. 

“What sorcery is this?!” she demands, swiping blindly at the fog. “This-- this alley wasn’t this wide before. Where did the sky-- the sky is gone?”

 

Abovehead was only a gray fogginess, nothing left of the bright sun of the Alabastan afternoon. Miss Doublefinger runs forward, but the wall that was there was gone

She was in the center of an endless fog-- and there was nothing around her. 

 

“It’s science,” she says, “do you know what Desert Wineglobes are?”

Then Nami emerges, seated in the air. Her hair was long-- shaved on one side in an undercut, bound in a high ponytail. She had young wrinkles on her face, new scars around her shoulders-- and a few more tattoos, including one that ran through her face, encircling one eye as a peacock’s feather.

(In this illusion, she had the metal arm back on her, but it was less bulky-- and was partially hidden by a shoulder brace and a bowman’s arm guard.)

“They look like Desert Winecups, but unlike their cuter cousins, these are hallucinogenic,” she explains. Then, “they’re the flowers in that bouquet I had earlier! Pretty, aren’t they?”

 

Miss Doublefinger pales drastically. 

 

Nami sighs, “that Usopp, he really should warn me before putting stuff like that in my weapon! I got pollen all over my metal arm with that one use! Though I’ll reckon as usual, he didn’t expect that to happen.”

Her enemy hisses, “you-- you tricked--”

When the metal arm had exploded-- it must have spread all that pollen around. And Miss Doublefinger never noticed it in the air. 

There’s a frantic swipe of a bladed arm-- but once again, the figure in front of her is a fake. No-- no, it was real! Miss Doublefinger finds a wire before her-- this is what Nami must’ve been sitting on. Was it from the grappling hook?

(This is what she used just now, to pull the Clima Tact back to her.) 

(That thing-- that’s right, clouds! The gray sky wasn’t an illusion-- those are clouds!)

(She was buying time for the hallucinogen to work!)

Miss Doublefinger’s eyes are bloodshot, and her head spins-- nausea taking over her mind. “Curse you, Burglar Cat!” she yells, “I can’t lose here!” 

 

She turns around to see a gloved hand. 

 

“Well, we both fucked up at some point in this fight, let’s call it even,” Nami hums, “Impact!”

 

-


-

 

The clock was open, giving them all a view to the city square, which was slowly starting to fill in with soldiers. (Well, everyone except Usopp had the view, at least. Usopp had more presence to feel.)

He’d left the bomb dismantling to the marine soldiers a while ago-- now he was building something at the entrance of the clock, nailing solid sticks on the ledge and winding a long elastic around it, stretching it as far as he can go. 

“Uhm… are you making a slingshot?”

Pell was mainly here to watch them as a guard-- not that he was allowed to do much with his injuries, but his sentiments were appreciated-- but evidently, he was getting a little restless. 

“Ah, Mister Pell, could you grab that bomb over there for a second? No, not all of them, just about… one? Yeah, one sounds right.”

They had broken the bomb down to its mere parts, made it inactive-- and then separated the bits into smaller batches with lesser firepower. The whole batch could nuke the country of Alabasta, but just 1/20th of it? Maybe a building or a street.

Usopp had hiked the slingshot elastic up furthest he could go, seated between the barrels of the huge cannon if only to get some sense of levity. 

Pell picks up one bomb part, climbing atop the cannon so he could hold it overhead of Usopp, right where the leather pad was-- “here?”

“Yep, let go in three, two--”

With a sharp SWIIIP! and fling, Usopp launches the bomb in the direction of the city-- to Pell and the Marine soldiers’ belated horror. 

The explosion takes a large building with it, bursting right into flames and taking the building next to it, too. 

 

-


-

 

Gin opens his eyes, hesitantly removing his arms from where they’ve come up to shield his face-- but surprisingly, he’d received less damage than he’d thought. 

When the explosion came, he was thrown off, and rolled quite harshly into the next building over-- but nothing really hit him.

He opens his eyes to find-- the two assassins, in a burnt heap. The building they had been standing on was on fire, and both of them were wholly knocked out. 

“...What?”

He gets up quickly, ignoring the aches in his whole body to pick up his tonfa. 

 

“Was it a misfire or something?” he didn’t see. 

 

With a sigh, he reaches for their weapons, pocketing them immediately. These random bozos were fucing weird, and their guns looked like toys-- but hey, Usopp could make something of them. 

“Darn it, where did Mister Two go off to?” he grumbles. 

Stepping on Mister Seven and Miss Fathersday on his way out, he makes his quick exit.

 

-


-

 

Usopp hums, lifting his goggles to get a better look at what he can’t see, “hmm, I’ll call that a eight out of ten, I’ll digress.”

Pell smacks him over the head, “what the hell was that for?!” 

Usopp groans, “come on, there aren’t any civilians around, a building or two is no big deal. And hey, you helped me do it!” 

“In my defense, I have a concussion.”

“Those are HOUSES! That are LIVED in!” the marine soldier yells, “I didn’t dismantle the bomb so you could take them for a joyride! This is why Pirates are a pain in the arse!” 

“Yeah, and where were you aiming, anyways? You’re blind! What if you hit the palace?!”

Usopp settles on crossing his arms, pouting miserably. “Hey, just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t see! That’s very ableist of you.”

“What the actual fuck .”

“Ah, I apologize,” Pell says. “I was assumptious.”

“Don’t fall for it!” the Marine soldier snaps back, “I didn’t come here to be the straight man! Stop it, all of you!”

“Wait, so can you see or can you not see? Do blind people see? What do blind people see? Are you a blind person that can see?”

“I’ll punt you off the clocktower, buddy!” 

 

Pell tries to calm the two marine soldiers down, because this clock tower is a sacred, memorable place. Please don’t put a memorial in front of it, but the marine soldiers have resorted to shoving dynamite down each others’ pants and he wasn’t too sure when was the last time he had to deal with literal children.

 

“At least my slingshot works, this is a nice place to put a sniper,” Usopp says, knocking on the cannon barrel pensively. “It’s kinda a waste to have such a huge cannon and not fire it at least once. Hey, any of you ever tried being shot by a cannon?”

“What?”

“It’s fun, you know.”

 

-


-

 

“One-Sword Style, Draw and Resheathe…”

Gin finds Zoro in the backstreets-- and he’s just in time to be utterly confused by what he was witnessing. 

“...Lion’s Song.”

 

The world went silent as Zoro’s blade cut through the very fabric of the world, ripping through not just the metal body of Mister One-- but the air of the surroundings, the sound of the very wind-- and the silence itself. 

Gin stares in awe as Mister One collapses in a pool of blood, chuckling mildly to himself. 

 

“Will you try cutting diamonds next?”

“Perhaps,” Zoro muses, collapsing to his knees. He pulls off his bandanna, but doesn’t muster enough strength to tie it back around his arm. 

 

Gin curses, rushing forward. 

“How in the actual fuck are you alive,” that’s not phrased as a question, so Zoro doesn’t answer it. 

Instead, Zoro groans in acknowledgement, “when’d you get here?” his voice is croaky, like he’s trying hard to balance breathing and talking and dying. Then, “so I was thinking… about what Usopp said about the Haki stuff.”

“I could care fucking less about that shit right now Zoro, are you delirious?”

“And well, he said shit like… cutting everything and nothing…” Zoro mutters, “well, not exactly. My old master said s’mthin’ like it too and--”

“Fuck. He’s losing his mind,” Gin says, taking Zoro by the arms and hauling him up to his back. He curses very loudly, feeling the sticky soak of blood form Zoro’s chest permeating his own clothes. “Shit dude, half your blood is outside your fucking body right now.”

“That’s where the blood is supposed to go.”

“Right joke, wrong situation!” Gin snaps back, “you better not die!” 

“...it’s not like I lost my fight or something,” Zoro grumbles back weakly as Gin starts running, “don’t be dramatic.”

“You’re literally fucking dying-- Zoro I say this with all my remaining fucking sanity, are you okay bro?!”

 


 

The war had reached the city square. Zoro was snoring on his back, but Gin didn’t think he minded. At least snoring meant he was asleep and not unconscious-- is that how it worked? Whatever-- and Zoro was more resilient than to die like this anyway. 

(At least they defeated their target.)

(Unlike Gin, who let Mister Two escape.)

(But whatever... it doesn't matter anymore, anyway. They already won the war.)

 

“GIIIN!” 

He stops. That was Chopper’s voice.

“GIIIIN! Over here, HEEEY! Hey, Anne, do it with me.”

Then, a slightly softer, still very deadpan voice, “Giiiiin, we’re over here.”

“You need to be louder or he can’t hear you!” 

 

Gin turns around and looks up. A way behind them is a-- huge-- person-- holy shit is he like three meters tall or something -- who had Anne and Chopper on his shoulders. 

From the armor and the cape, Gin could gather that these guys were Alabastan army-- but from the additional turbans and war paints, they were probably higher up the ranking. 

“What the-- What are you two doing?!” he gawks, then yelps when a stray bullet soars past his face. 

 

In front of him, the Tsumegeri Guard grabs a Baroque Works agent by the wrist, twisting the machete out of his hold before flinging him a mile away. 

 

Gin’s jaw drops. 

“Gin, meet Hyota,” Anne says, brutishly holding onto the head of the man who could crush her in his palm, “he is nice.”

Gin swallows. “Uhm, hi,” this guy can probably step on him and he’ll die, “uh. Those two are with me. Sorry to bother you with them.”

“You seem to have your hands full,” Hyota says, “I have the responsibility of taking care of the Princess’ comrades. Allow me to help you.”

“Ah no, it’s fine,” Gin backs away, avoiding the offered hand. 

 

“What the-- IS THAT ZORO?!” Chopper shrieks, “IS HE DEAD?!”

 

-


-

 

When the broadcast rang through the city, the country-- the battle ceased. 

“It’s been a long road, all these years. Recruiting bounty hunters to get the materials to make Dance Powder, sabotaging irrigation canals, and gaining the citizen’s trust by playing hero, all the while watching their faith in their king wither away with the droughts… and finally, we’re reaching the finale.”

The country listens as Crocodile admits to years of fraud and manipulation, and they weep. 

Baroque Works fights back, confused by the newly-revealed identity of their leader-- but the soldiers, fueled by something more than fury now-- only hit harder. 

(Some of the Billions were running now.)

(They didn’t sign up to die like this. This wasn’t worth it, was it?)

(Was it too late to run?) 

 


 

People are marching forward, into Alubarna. 

Vivi is gathered in a hidden rooftop tent with Carue, Tashigi and the rest of the Marine soldiers, when Pell comes flying at them. 

The marine soldiers scream right back at him. “HOLY SHIT IS THAT A BIRD?”

“Is that a plane,” obligatory follow-up.

“No, it’s a human being!” 

“Wait no, that’s Pell!” Vivi yelps. 

“WHAT?!” 

“Shit. Catch him! Catch him, everyone! If he crashes--!!”

 

Pells comes flying at them, screaming his head off-- then at the last second, he remembers he has wings, transforms, spreads them apart-- and barely avoids a horrific collision with way too many soldiers and rubble. 

He hits the roof, slips from the momentum, crashes into Carue who was trying to catch him-- and then they skid against the ground, stumble-- and collectively falls flat, very disgracefully on the far end of the roof. 

“I’m okay!” he says, raising a weak thumbs up. 

Carue raises a wing after him, imitating the call with an obligatory “quack!” 

 

“Oh uh, yeah, forgot to tell you he could do that,” Vivi says. “Fly.”

“Don’t forget , Princess!” came the annoyed reprimand. 

Pell stands up, dusting himself off. He carefully rewraps the bandages around his arm, wincing, before slipping it back over the sling. Carue dusts him off with his feathers, before dusting himself off similarly. 

“What are you doing here, Pell?” Vivi questions him, pouting, “you’re supposed to stay indoors! I thought Papa made that clear with you?”

The Royal Guard chuckles. “Yes, but I was intrigued by Usopp-san’s work, you see. I assure you I was fine. We were in the secret base.”

“The secret base?”

“Yes, Crocodile had planted a huge bomb there.”

“WHAT?!”

Vivi swirls to Tashigi, who gapes, “wait, you didn’t know about it?! Namizo-kun told everyone from my team!” 

Even Carue nods, because of course he knew, and Vivi groans defeatedly. 

“But anyways, we disarmed it,” Pell says, “we didn’t know what to do with the cannon, so Usopp suggested we take a joyride in it, and since I could fly, they sent me to test out if a normal person would die when launched.”

 

He received a whole crowd of blank stares in response. 

 

He laughs nervously, “I know, I know! But well, why not?”

Vivi finally says, “I’m telling Papa.”

“Please no! Don’t! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, I swear,” he panics, “don’t tell him, anything but that!” 

Vivi turns to Tashigi, “shall we head back to the palace? I have urgent news to tell my father and I would like to rendezvous with him as soon as possible. As soon as Luffy gets him back for me, alive, of course.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Tashigi says in all seriousness, ignoring Pell’s complaints. But she turns to her troops, actually giving proper orders. “You guys, go find the rest of the Strawhats-- if you find any fallen Baroque Works officer agents, arrest them on the spot!”

“Yes, sir!” 

 

The war was almost ending. Alabasta’s backup forces lined the horizon, and Baroque Works were evidently, clearly, losing. 

(All that was left was Crocodile.)

Vivi looks up at the sky, and closes her eyes to pray. 

 

-


-

 

Sanji makes quick work of Mister Two. Or as quick as he can get, at least. 

“You’re seriously using the body of a child to fight, you human disgrace?” he scowls, and he feels completely gratified when Mister Two actually looked incredibly hurt by the words. “Like, there are limits, you know? A woman is one thing, that’s just a chivalry problem. A friend is another thing, that's just a loyalty problem. But a kid ? Oh you shithead, you’re a problem.”

When Mister Two curls up and wails a little at every new insult, Sanji wonders if he can just defeat this man with insults. 

“Okay, okay! I’m sorry! I won’t use Miss Goldenweek’s face anymore!” he whines, turning back into his usual ugly mug, “what a bummer. Disgraceful of me. Totally not the Okama WAY! I have disgraced my legacy!” 

He then sobs with unnecessary heaps of drama.

 

Sanji axe-kicks him in the skull.

 

“OW! HOW DARE YOU KICK A LADY WHILE HE’S DOWN!”

“Holy shit you lived it. I thought I cracked your skull for sure .”

Mister Two responds by drilling a square foot in his shin-- and Sanji yelps , feeling the bone itself crunch and give way under him and “SHIT, shitshit motherfu--!” he rolls away, holding his broken foot with all the fury he has ever garnered in his life, “you aimed for the fucking shin, you shithead!” 

“Eye for an eye, Miiiiistar Prince!” Mister Two declares.

“Oh you’re asking for it!” 

“Oh come my way, you mean?”

“The actual fuck does that even mean?!”

 


 

They fought until they were too tired to stand, too exhausted to bother trying again.

(And then came the rain.)

 

They lay on the ground, battered and bloody and wondering where the hell all this water came from-- they took a moment to look up at the sky.  Sanji sits up first, feeling the rain in his palm, creating mud under him and quickly, surely-- soaking through his suit. 

It wasn’t heavy-- a little more than a drizzle now, light and pleasant. 

“It’s raining,” he says.

“It is,” Mister two replies, his flamboyant tone pulling through to something a little more solemn. “Well then, I guess we’ve lost the war either way.”

 

The drought was over. 

Crocodile had lost his greatest edge against the country. 

From where they lay, they could hear the roar of the citizens of Alabasta, rushing in from every other city. They roared Crocodile’s name, down to Crocodile, leave Alabasta, screw the Shichibukai, and marched in, in droves. 

Sanji lights a cigarette somehow, taking a meaningful drag. 

Neither of them felt like fighting anymore. It was-- well, disgraceful , anyways. There was really no point anymore, and it wasn’t as if they had personal vendetta against each other. 

 

Just as Sanji ponders on what to do next, the flap of wings catch his attention, and he sees Kinoko come to him, landing on his shoulder. 

“What the-- stupid mushroom bird!” he calls, “where were you? Why am I your babysitter? Do you know that Anne will cry if you’re missing? Start being the guide bird you’re supposed to be and stay by Usopp’s side for fuck’s sake.” 

“Oh, if it isn’t milady Kinoko of the East,” Mister Two lifts his head, reaching out and cooing at the bird like it was the cutest thing in the world. “Come here, pretty thing. Ohhh look at you. What monster did this to your feathers? I’ll kill them for you.”

Sanji grimaces. Usopp did say that these two became friends in their brief meeting.

 

“You two ought to get out of there before the mob comes.”

They lift their heads to Doctor Quack, smoking a joint himself. He’s wearing a doctor’s labcoat that seems a little more than decoration over the heart-printed button-up he wore. 

“You…” Sanji remembers him, realizing now where Kinoko had gone. 

“You too, Mister Two Bon Clay,” Doctor Quack tells them. “You’ll want a moment to talk, when your bosses aren’t around to hear it.”

Sanji scowls immediately at that, “I don’t know what you’re implying, and I don’t speak for this moron-- but if you’re questioning our allegiances for some shit, you’re out of luck. Who the fuck even are you?”

Sanji and Mister Two catch the dog tags that are tossed their way. 

“Someone seeking to recruit,” the man says, “part-time basis is fine.”

“What?” Sanji asks. 

“I’m currently unemployed, so I’m interested,” Mister Two admits immediately. 

“What?!” Sanji reiterates, whirling back toward him in horror. 

“What,” Mister Two pouts at Sanji, “I’m not like you, you know! I gotta put food on my table, do my manicure, feed my disciples, and dance!”

 

-


-

 

Luffy runs through the streets of Alabasta, taking a hard turn toward the Royal Tomb. Losing another matchup against Crocodile again was frustrating-- but he can do it now. He figured out the trick to fighting with water against him. He can do this. 

(He has to. He can’t lose again, he promised.)

 

The broadcast makes him smile. Crocodile also said something about a bomb, after they fought-- but Luffy thinks it’ll be fine, even if he doesn’t tell the others. 

He knows they have it handled, because of course they do. 

He makes his way down to the chambers, in time to see Crocodile plunge a hook into Miss All-Sunday’s back. Something about not needing her anymore. 

 

(And all he sees is red, and confusion, and red again.)

(He did that to Anne too, didn’t he?)

(Isn’t it lonely, killing everyone just because you don’t like them anymore?)

(It seems like a very lonely thing to do. Somehow, he thinks Crocodile knows that too. He’s a pirate, but he has no crew-- just a business. That’s lonely isn’t it?)

 

(Did he have to disband his crew after becoming a Warlord or something? MIhawk didn’t have a crew either, but maybe that was just his choice. Maybe Crocodile didn’t have a crew so he could build his stupid bounty hunting business instead.)

(Maybe Crocodile had a crew too, once upon a time. And Luffy wondered what happened to them.)

 

“Huh. So you found me,” Crocodile muses, seeing Luffy there, covered in blood, fists clenched-- yet, living and full of fighting desire. “That’s odd. I left no traces. Even closed the statue on my way in.”

Luffy rarely has a pensive moment, much less one that bleeds into his activity. He tends to hate quiet moments like these, where his head runs wild and confuses himself. 

He remembers the things Usopp and Nami have told him about haki. 

 

(Maybe it requires him to use his head, and that’s why the smarter ones are all doing better at it than him. Not Zoro though, Zoro’s an idiot. Sanji, too.)

 

Somehow-- just for a moment, he was actually trying to understand Crocodile. It was such a stupid thing to do, that Luffy chuckled out loud. 

 

“You’re laughing? Have you gone delirious from the blood loss?” Crocodile wonders. 

Luffy raises his fists and smiles bravely. “No, you just stink because you’ve got Vivi’s perfume all over you.”

Somehow, when Crocodile attacks, Luffy knows how to dodge. 

He knows where Crocodile will hit. He knows where to hit, with his blood-coated fists. He gets nicked by the poisoned hook a few times, but he also knows, just how much he can take before collapsing. 

And it’s a lot he can take, because no way was he going down yet. 

 

(Somehow, his head is clear, even though he’s thinking so much. Things were moving slowly-- the world was so quiet-- yet so loud. It didn’t make sense. He wonders why it doesn’t make sense.)

(Somehow, using his head so much didn’t feel as awful as he’d thought it’d be.)

(Huh. Is this Haki, then?)

(He’s not so sure either.)

 


 

“Don’t save me. I have nothing left to live for.”

Luffy only briefly hears Miss All-Sunday insist that when he hauls her and the king out of the tomb. 

“Shut up,” he says back. She saved him, giving him the antidote to that stupid poison. He’s just returning the favour because that’s-- polite, or something, he doesn’t know-- “you don’t decide what I do.”

If you wanted to die, then you should have done it somewhere I can’t see.

 

“I have nowhere to go,” she admits. 

“Then find somewhere, I don’t care,” Luffy mutters, leaving her by a tree before collapsing onto his back to face the rain again. 

 

In seconds, he’s snoring. Robin finds herself staring, exasperated-- and King Cobra returns her gaze, equally bewildered. 

“A strange young man, isn’t he?” King Cobra says. 

Robin tears her gaze away. “He is,” she says. 

There’s a moment of silence, where they only had the rain to live in, the quiet to breathe in-- and collectively, they realized that there was never a reason they should have been at odds with each other. 

“What truly happened that day in Ohara?” King Cobra asks. “Why does the world hate you? Why do you seek the Poneglyphs, if not for the weapons?”  

Robin closes her eyes. “What makes you think you have a right to that information?”

King Cobra pulls Luffy to his back, the young boy’s chin resting on his shoulder as he stands up.  “I don’t,” he admits. It’s dry, and honest, and true. “You owe the world nothing, just as I do not owe you any sympathy.”

Robin grimaces, but she says nothing.

“I’m just delirious from blood loss,” Cobra’s brows ease, and he lets out something akin to a sigh. “I must be spouting some nonsense, since so many surprising things have happened today. Luckily for me, the shock may mean I won’t remember any of this when I get home.”

Robin looks at him, and Cobra manages a warm smile. 

 

(She owes them nothing. They owe her nothing. Neither do they begrudge her for anything, because they know nothing about each other.)

(She has nowhere to be.)

(But people have been looking for her, and there are people who are willing to save her. People who are willing to listen, for no reason.)

(Passersby, who will be the sounding board to a fellow drunkard, a fellow loser.)

( They don’t have to care, she realizes. Maybe it’s fine if they just listen , because she’s never even gotten that much before.) 

 

Finally, Robin chuckles, dry and amused. 

“Then I suppose I am delirious as well,” she says, finding in her pocket the military dog tag the doctor had given to her before. “Would you lend an ear to a tale that no one would believe was true?”

 

(Maybe it’s all she really wanted. To one day say all of this to someone.)

 

And in the rain, they began to walk. They began to speak. 

And when Robin vanished into the alleys at the end of the story, Cobra pretended to not notice. 

 

(Vivi would later ask him why he looked so saddened even though they won the war, and he would have no answer to give.)

Chapter 50: we'll wait for you (X marks the nakama.)

Summary:

"8k of pure strawhat domestic fluff? challenge accepted."
- me, when literally no one asked.

(alternative summary: attempting to tie up all the loose ends of Alabasta.)

Notes:

questions you might be asking me at the end of this chapter may include "so are they fucking married" and the only answer I can give you, as an insanely dense and aromantic author, is that I don't know man, do what you will with declarations under the moonlight.

also, happy 50th chapter! you guys have been the best thing to ever happen to me, and nothing makes me happier than knowing you guys are enjoying what I write. Lots of love, have an awesome day!

Chapter Text

Usopp finds Nami, sitting by the wall, quiet, solemn-- and missing an arm. 

The Marines came to take Miss Doublefinger away a while ago. She refused their help, saying she was exhausted, and just wanted some time alone. 

When Usopp stops before her, his walking stick tapping at the spot right before her foot-- Nami moves without thinking. 

She grabs him by his overalls, catching a finger at the pocket. 

She needed a moment to remember to speak. She had been biting her lips, not wanting to say a single word-- she thought eye contact would make Usopp understand-- but she also belatedly remembered that Usopp couldn’t see. 

(Ah, she might cry.)

 

“Carry me,” she says, “I’m a poor, injured, weak, fragile little lady who needs the help of a big, strong man, to carry me out of this rain. You’re going to leave me here?” 

It’s her usual coy act. She even forces a smile back onto her face, because it’s true. 

She doesn’t feel like walking, so she’ll ask someone to carry her. It’s usually Zoro, but since Usopp is here, she’ll compromise. 

Usopp won’t ask questions. 

(Won’t ask things like ‘what happened to your arm, did you let your guard down?’ because the answer to that is yes and they both know neither of them want to talk about their failures.)

Usopp whines, “I don’t remember any part of you ever being fragile, I’ve always been the weakest Strawhat,” he bites back, heatlessly.

Nami can’t help the smile on her face. “No, I’m the weakest,” because this debate has been going on for ages and they’ll only relent for Chopper if he wants to be, “Stop being a bitch and carry me. Like a princess. You’ll do a better job at this than Zoro.” 

And she buries her face into Usopp’s shoulder, holding on with her remaining arm, listening quietly to the rain as they made their way back, to wherever everyone else is. 

 

“You’ll walk for me when I lose my leg, too?” Nami asks. 

Usopp hums, and she feels it rumble in his chest. “Only if you’ll be my eyes.”

 

-


-

 

That day, Alabasta rejoiced. 

Civilians marched into Alubarna, roared out of their safehouses-- and they caught every last one of those Baroque Works agents, seizing them in the name of their country. 

They had won their country back with their own hands, and the rain was falling to prove it. People would continue to hail this day as a miracle, and no one disputed that this rain was real. 

Kohza, Vivi, Carue, and King Cobra stood at the gates of the palace, speaking to their country of the horrors that have occurred-- and declared, therein, of how they should begin to heal. 

 

The Strawhats rec onvene in a small alley downstreet. 

Chopper greets Usopp and Nami tearfully. Anne lets her hand leave Gin’s, coming up to them with Kinoko in her arms, if only to assure the sniper that his bird was around. Luffy was sprawled out with his head on Zoro’s lap, evidently the most comfortable place to sleep. They were both unconscious.

“Oooh! My lovely Nami-swan, you have returned!” Sanji dances over, getting immediately on one knee to escort the lady from her horse’s back. 

Everyone pauses, noting the missing limbs, but Nami smiles bashfully, “sorry! I messed up a little. But that’s fine, right?”

They only needed a moment before more than one voice spoke up at once. “Obviously!” and “Of course!” clouded most of the words, but there was something like a “why would that be a problem” and “you still look cool” between the sentences as well. 

Nami smiles. 

 

They got Vivi home. They sent the enemies flying. They beat up Crocodile. 

“You sent Vivi off?” Usopp asks, and they all nod, with only a few remembering to give a vocal answer. “Then I guess it’s fine now.”

 

Sanji catches Nami before she falls back, immediately asleep. But in the process, he painfully jostles a broken leg, and stumbles. He manages to get Nami settled, her head on his stomach safely as he lays down, unable to get up again. 

Gin stumbles off to the side with a groan, grumbling annoyedly when Anne lifts his arm to get a pillow. Zoro cracks an eye open when Gin accidentally jostles his foot, but he simply closes his eyes again, setting a hand on Luffy’s shoulder. 

Chopper curls into Usopp’s arms with Kinoko, nearly falling off when he droops in the wrong direction and Usopp nearly slips in his attempt to readjust the hold. 

With a soft chuckle, Usopp sits down. 

“Right, leave the blind man to be the last one awake,” he leans back against the wall. “Alright then, you dickheads, I’ll take the first watch.” 

 


 

Tashigi comes by, but she simply stands-- and salutes. Her soldiers renounce her for it-- friends or not, showing respect to pirates was hypocrisy -- but she refutes them. 

“There should have been no honour in pirates either, yet they’ve done this much.” Tashigi says, “if you arrest them after all this-- where is your honour as a Marine?” 

No one defied that. 

They arrested the Baroque Works agents-- and promptly left.

 

“Are you really alright with this, Sergeant Major?” someone asks her later, when they solemnly march back to Nanohana, where the ship awaits. 

And Tashigi chuckles, but it’s dry and sad. 

“We did what was right, Ensign,” she says. “The next time we meet Namizo-kun, I mean, Nami…” she corrects herself this time, because she keeps forgetting it. She keeps forgetting the difference. “...we have to arrest them all. Do you guys have the courage to do that?” 

(Do you have the courage to really end our relationship with our former friend?)

No one responded. 

Tashigi nods mirthfully. “...right?”

 

(This time was a special case. They pretended to ignore it, defied orders when their superior wasn’t around-- and well, had fun, somehow.)

(Next time, though…)

She can’t imagine ever putting those hands into chains. She doesn’t think anyone on this ship can ever do that-- it just wasn’t something they had signed themselves up to ever do. 

 

“Why did she have to turn pirate?” someone says, their voice barely discernible in its low volume. “We had a lot of fun, living as marines.”

And well-- when have the actions of pirates ever made sense?

“Agh, who cares!” Tashigi yells, throwing a fist into the air, “we’re arresting her next time!” she declares, “then we can hound her for all the answers we want!”

“Oh-- yeah, that makes sense! YEAH!” 

“Just you wait, Namizo! We’re going to bully you so much you’ll answer us!”

“And come back here!” 

“Or maybe we’ll go join her instead--”

“Please don’t.”

“We’re capturing Namizo next time! She owes me like ten drinks and thirty thousand beri!” 

“YEAH SHE OWES US MONEY! I FORGOT!”

“She had a tab, didn’t she…” 

 


 

“You called an emergency and used Hina’s troops for a wild goose chase. Then you ran off and hid in here. Hina is very disappointed in you.” 

Smoker sighs, lounging at the helm of the ship he’d freshly seized. He’s glad he managed to find this Dance Powder-producing ship and all, but seriously, Hina needs to be a little less of a total miser. 

“It wasn’t a wild goose chase, I found it.” 

“Not the point.”

Hina settles down noisily in the seat beside him, brooding very visibly. Smoker sighs, heavily again, knowing he was in for one hell of a prudish conversation if Hina’s annoyance was anything to say. 

“You’ve mellowed, White Hunter,” Hina says, “I heard you let the pirates go.”

Smoker scoffs. “Your ears have gone bad, then. I did nothing of the sort.”

Hina scowls, but she rests her hands against her cheek and glares, “Hina may have gone slightly deaf after her HSUM five years ago, but she hasn’t been blinded,” she tells him, crossing her arms, “they were with you, five years ago, when I found you. So who are those two to you?”

At that, Smoker grimaces. 

( How much did she hear? She had no reason to zero in on those two specifically unless some nosy soldier blabbed more than they really damn should.) 

 

“You got a broken eardrum, I got myself some kids,” he taps the ash from his cigar, “souvenirs from the stupid suicide mission, same thing.”

“Do not call it that,” Hina hisses, “refer to it by its proper name.”

“HSUM. Higher-ups-go-fucking Suck an Ulcer, Motherfucker, mission,” Smoker returns immediately, “oh sorry, there’s an extra M. Omit the motherfucker, then.”

“It’s the High-risk Solitary Undercover Mission, Smoker.”

“Hey-just-go-and Suicide Undercover Mission.”

“Stop it.”

“No.”

 

They spend an annoyed moment in silence, reconsidering their friendship and all their reasons for ever interacting with each other ever, before Hina sighs and holds out a hand. 

Smoker, knowing what that means, quietly hands her a cigar.

 

(She doesn’t smoke.)

 

“Don’t be too impulsive. You haven’t been yourself since then,” Hina says, lighting it and taking a heavy, hearty drag. “Hina is concerned.”

Smoker was reckless, impulsive, and spiteful-- but it wasn’t always this way. There was a time, so long ago-- when they laughed and had fun, like teenagers. Nowadays, all the empathy they could share was exhausted. 

They weren’t old enough to have thoughts like that yet, but here they were, disasters. 

“They only send you on a HSUM when they don’t think you can make it out of there, Hina,” Smoker says. She knows it, but he says it anyway. “No one expects either of us to be alright, whatever they think that means.”

“Hina disagrees.”

She massages her temples with a deep sigh. 

 

(She didn’t used to speak like this either-- in third person, in that slightly childish, inevitably self-grounding way.) 

 

“Hina is better now,” she says, “not perfect-- but she’s better,” she insists. And Smoker knows it’s a lie. “Why can’t you pretend you’re better, too?”

Smoker immediately stands up, moving to leave. 

“You’re going to run away again?” Hina asks, before Smoker can slam the door shut behind him. “You’re too kind, Smoker. That’s why you picked up those kids. That’s why you’re still not over the deaths of some people that died almost a decade ago.”

Smoker grinds his teeth, his fist slamming hard on the steel door, leaving a dent.

“Belle and Rosi aren’t dead, Hina,” and that’s a threat. He glares, boiling and furious , and Hina actually stiffens. “It’s a fucking cover up for something else, and you know that.”

He marches out, throwing the door so harshly shut it bounces back open. 

 

Hina whimpers into her next drag, resting her head against the wall of the ship. 

“Hina wants to believe that as much as you do, Smoker,” she whispers grimly to herself, closing her eyes. “She really, really does.”

She doesn’t stand up until she’s done smoking. 

 

-


-

 

“You broke the arm?!” Zoro screeches upon waking up. 

Nami is still crying into her pillow, laying face down with her face buried into the cushion as she self-depreciates. 

“She’s been like that for the past twelve hours, Zoro, don’t make her stay there longer,” Usopp says. He’s tinkering with the Clima Tact, promptly removing all the unnecessary ‘upgrades’ he’d made as a practical joke. 

“You broke the ARM?!” Zoro repeats, more hysterical this time. 

 

Meanwhile, Vivi is cutting Anne’s hair, giving the corners a trim. Crocodile had ruined it like the shithead he was, so now they barely reached her shoulders. 

“Hmm, you can still make tiny pigtails,” Vivi says, bunching them up with her hands to show Anne before the mirror. She giggles, “I think it’s cute!” 

Anne smiles a little. “Okay, then. Thanks, Princess.”

“You’re welcome! By the way, you wanted Terracotta-san to make you a hat?”

 

Gin lays asleep on the couch, a book over his face. Carue drags a blanket over his body, patting it twice with his beak before settling down beside him and then conking right over him, feathers sprawled out comfortably to sleep noisily. 

Sanji and Chopper were out getting groceries and supplies, Kinoko accompanying them. 

Nami and Zoro had been in the worst states, with all the holes in their bodies-- but Chopper had assured them they'd be alright because they were monsters anyways. While Usopp didn’t particularly have any injuries, Chopper and Anne had burns, the latter in addition to her gashes from Crocodile, while Gin and Sanji had broken bones. Vivi only had a couple scratches and fractures-- the most prominent injury being the hand-shaped bruises around her neck-- but she was alright after a few days, though her neck was still covered in bandages. 

Luffy, however, wasn’t even awake yet. 

 

“Seriously, all these fights could’ve gone a lot worse,” Usopp says, “Nami’s got a spare arm, anyways. Let’s get a mechanic or a technician soon, get them to make you a new one, alright?”

In response, Nami only wails, gripping the pillow tighter. “That’s not the problem!” she whines, her voice muffled by the feathers, “Haruta and Jozu made that arm for me! And I destroyed it! To unsalvageable bits!” 

Darn. That arm definitely had quite a bit of sentimental value in it, and Usopp could honestly imagine that. It was the first gift her brothers had given to her, after all. 

He sighs. Alright, maybe he’ll make her something nice later to try and make up for it. “Strictly speaking, it was Miss Doublefi--”

Nami cuts him off, raising her head, puffy eyes and stuffy nose and all. “Do you have any idea how expensive that arm could’ve gone if I sold it instead?! Like, even a chip, even a tiny intact sheet was precious rare metal! It was even dyed orange just for me! It could’ve made us billionaires in Paradise!” 

Usopp immediately face-faults. 

“--FOR FUCK’S SAKE NAMI NOT THE MONEY AGAIN!” 

“I KNEW IT, YOU WITCH!” Zoro shouts in tandem, “be more worried about the fact that you’re NOT going to have a goddamn arm until we get back to the Merry!” 

Nami stares back flatly, “what, you guys were worried about me not having an arm? People have two hands for a reason, you know.” she huffs, like that’s supposed to sound like a proper argument. She lays back down, this time pouting, “plus, I don’t need my arm when you guys are going to be with me. Just protect me then.”

 

All eyes turned to Nami. Even Gin and Carue woke up just to stare. Luffy snored, though.

 

“What?” Nami asks, not knowing why she suddenly had all the attention.

All eyes turned away. 

“Nothing, nothing,” they all speak in tandem. Then a little more messily, “of course we’ll protect you. Leave it to your very dependable nakama to protect you with their life-- we would die for you Nami-san -- Vivi what the hell-- what I’m not wrong -- okay no you’re not-- yeah, just leave it to us.”

 

Usopp smiles warmly. 

Nami laughs, and she bolts right up, launching a pillow at Zoro’s face to commence a pillow fight. 

 


 

“Is it really fine?” Usopp asks, once everyone’s asleep. 

“No,” Nami admits, leaning against the window, “but I've cried enough, don't you think?”

 


 

Chopper grimaces as Sanji exits the salon, a bagfull of products in his hand. 

“Do we really have to get all that,” Chopper whines, holding his nose, “everything in Alabasta is too pungent for me.” 

“It’ll be fine when they’re used, Chopper, I got the stuff that doesn’t smell too strong,” Sanji assures him, “except Vivi-chan’s of course, but that’s because it’s perfume. Our ladies had a lot of requests for this shopping trip, so who am I to not deliver?”

“For Vivi too? But can’t she get some from the palace?”

“She prefers the civilian brands unless she’s really getting dressy, apparently,” Sanji says, holding up a rather delicate-looking bottle. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? She was undercover, after all-- wouldn’t want people to trace your lingering perfume down to specific Alabastan royalty brands.” 

“But they can still tell that it’s an Alabastan brand either way, can't they?”

“You’re right, but Alabasta’s civilian perfume is a merchant good, Chopper. People buy them all over the world,” Sanji says, “you won’t be surprised to find someone all the way in North Blue having it as their preferred brand.”

Chopper mulls over it. “My nose is going to fall off.”

Sanji just laughs. 

 

They make their way through the city. They hear people complain about a line of broken walls through the city (Sanji subtly turns away) and city workers blaming terrorists for the huge hole in their sacred city square (Chopper hurriedly changes the subject). 

It was so peaceful out here. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Sanji,” Chopper turns to him as they near the palace, “did you change cigarette brands for a bit? You smell strange.”

“Strange how?” he asks, “I only smoke King Ground because Nami won’t buy Death for me anymore. They’re expensive.”

“Huh, really? Cause I’m sure you-- oh, nevermind,” Chopper turns around, “now that I think about it, I think what I’m smelling is just that scary marine’s cigars. I thought the rain washed it out of everyone.” 

Sanji blinks at that. 

“You mean Smoker?” he asks. “I didn’t get close enough to him to-- oh wait, nevermind.”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind.”

“...Okay?”

 

The differentiating smell of tobacco brands, huh. That’s certainly another way to trace people that are supposed to be undercover. 

(So that Revolutionary guy was smoking Smoker’s brand, huh.)

(Maybe he did it to blend in with that Marine Captain, then? Sanji honestly couldn’t understand anyone that would be willing to change brands just for an undercover mission, though.) 

(Plus, Smoker didn’t even end up coming to Alubarna, so it was weird either way.)

 

“Urk,” Sanji grimaces, “I didn’t even talk with him for that long, but you’re saying his smell got on me? What is he smoking, Heart Attack? Oh hell no, I’m taking three showers today. Ugh.”

 

-


-

 

Rosinante sneezes, choking immediately on his cigarette and coughing for the greater of a long minute. Robin looks toward him, chuckling. 

“What the-- when did you wake up,” he snaps up, “Nico Robin. You’re not healed yet.”

In a town once called Melias, they recuperate in the oddly quiet tent that had been Rosinante’s home for the past decade or so. The Suna Suna Clan were either in Alubarna or in Yuba, so he was alone. 

“I’m fine enough,” Robin says, removing her hand from where she was cradling the injuries just slightly. She takes a book from her bedside-- she had been reading it during her recovery-- and places it back on the bookshelf where she’d found it. She smiles, “I thank you for your help. I’ll take my leave, then.”

Rosinante gapes, surprised. “Wait--” he gets up, unable to hide his surprise, “you’re not coming with?”

Robin chuckles, picking up her cowboy hat and resting it on her head, deciding against the ruined coat. “I know better than to bite off more than I can chew,” she says. 

 

(Biting off more than she can chew?)

 

“You don’t trust us,” Rosinante notes grimly.

 

If Robin were to be betrayed by the Revolutionary Army, she would not be able to escape. There was no reason she shouldn’t trust them-- but then again-- neither did the last dozen people she pretended to trust. 

“You guys work for the betterment of the world-- and I don’t care about things like those. I live for myself, and only myself,” she says, drawing the flap of the tent to the sunlight. 

(She’s lived alone for so much of her life-- she can’t fathom the idea of it-- she can’t imagine, can’t handle the gravity of living in a society again. She’d rather be alone, would she? Find someone else to take advantage of, hide between the pages-- and disappear, once things get too complicated.)

“You’re part of the world we’re protecting, too,” Rosinante says.

For a moment, Robin stops. But she continued on forward, and there was no way to tell if she heard his words at all. 

 

“You have our number,” Rosinante tells her. “It’s a secure line-- we have a White Den Den. You don’t have to call us if you don’t want to, just-- just know you have it.”

 

Robin turns around and she catches a book in her hand. 

“You’re not done reading it, are you?” he asks, rhetorically. “Take it with you, I’m burning this house. Honestly, you’ll probably find page 215 to have a really interesting story.”

Robin blinks, surprised. 

Rosinante grins. “It’s about my son, you see.”

 

She opens the book-- Stray Voices, by S.Gaban -- and finds the mentioned page bookmarked with the cutout of a news article. 

She reads while she walks, learning of the stolen submarine from a very pointedly government facility, and how the yet-unknown perpetrator had a strange Devil Fruit ability. Then she reads the story of that page that spoke of a beautiful town in the North, and the white that poisoned their veins. 

(She spends a while, considering what the man was trying to tell her. What dots he was trying to tell her to connect.)

(Then, oh, she remembers, Flevance isn’t marked in the North Blue map, either. )

(They’d been erased, just like Ohara.) 

Further in the book, she finds an account of Ohara, with her first bounty poster folded into the page as a bookmark. 

Rosinante had used this book to find and track down all those who were wronged by the government. Most of them were alive-- most of them were completely unknown, but Rosinante wrote theories down in scribbled notes. 

 

“So you’re trying to tell me I’m not alone, are you?” she settles on a lawn chair, on a ship that decidedly isn’t hers. She smiles, warmly. 

 

Well, it does make her feel better. 

Because at least somewhere out there, someone had been keeping tabs on her (on all of them) for a non-nefarious reason. 

It was nice to know that someone thought of you kindly. Robin hopes that someday, she’ll find someone like that for her that isn’t just a pity party.

 

(“I have nowhere to go.”)

(“Then find somewhere, I don’t care.”)

 

The boy in the straw hat had said it like it was so easy-- so obvious of a thing to do. It made her angry, really.

 

(“I’m exactly where I need to be.”)

 

The Burglar Cat had said it confidently, meaningfully-- she was a vagabond too, just a robin. A ship wanderer that used crews for her own benefit. 

Where exactly does Robin need to be right now?

With the Revolutionary Army, aiding their cause as the best example of a soul crushed by the tyranny of the world? Or out in the sea-- free, and seeking her solace, like Saul would’ve wanted? 

Maybe the Revolutionary army is the family she has been waiting for, but Robin was never one to stay in a single place for too long. 

(Robin doesn’t know how to live among people that trusted her completely.)

(So she won’t go into the Revolutionary Army. Not yet, at least.)

 

But they will be her failsafe, if things come to it again.

(She's glad she found one.)

(She's glad she was found.)

 

-


-

 

“The war is what .”

“It’s over, sir,” Kohza says, chuckling, “I'm glad to see you’re alive.” 

For the past day, Kohza has stood at the gates of Alubarna, seeing off his fellows in the Suna Suna Clan and former Rebel Army as they headed home their own ways. 

He certainly wasn’t expecting Igaram to arrive, with company no less. 

“Then-- the sands are damp. The air is sweet-- you’re saying, these are real traces of rain?” Igaram asks, breathless. 

He was still heavily injured-- though evidently ailing well-- the very buff lady and the very scrawny man holding a baseball bat beside him are looking around, frantic and confused. 

“Please,” Kohza says, “how about you go see Vivi? Say hi to her for me, I’m going home to Yuba now.”

 


 

Igaram comes home to a diving hug, a lot of tears, and a hearty pat on the back by the Man-Demon for living through burns without dying.

“Miss Monday and Mister Nine are here too!” Vivi cheers, taking mister Nine by the hands, “I’m so glad you two made it! Come on in, I’ll show you around!” 

He hasn’t seen Vivi so cheerful in years, and evidently the other Royal guards shared his joy. They smiled warmly, greeted him with a relieved hug-- and brought them in. 

It takes a little less than a day for them to join the Strawhats in their communal room, reuniting, resting, and sharing the stories of how they made it here. 

They’re introduced to their new doctor, the reindeer-raccoon thing, and their new member, Miss Goldenweek herself. She’s mellowed out much more than before, a gentle smile on her face despite the bandages and the ailing scar on her face, running halfway across her nose in some half-hearted imitation of Crocodile’s signature wound. 

 

“I’m happy for you,” Miss Monday says.  But when asked about her real name, she shook her head.  “I may have turned, in the end-- but I don’t regret a day of what I’ve done to live, as a member of Baroque Works,” she admits. “I came a long way compared to what I was before. So I will continue being Monday. It’s who I was, and who I am now.”

“Ah-- me too!” Mister Nine says, slightly flustered. “I… Well, yeah. I was no one before I was a bounty hunter. It’s the only name I have, anyway, even if it’s just a number.”

Sanji reaches for a cigarette, but Chopper is there first, casually taking it out of his hand before he could open it. He didn’t even look over, and Sanji looked mildly horrified at the reindeer before sighing in defeat. 

“But you guys are going to quit bounty hunting from now on, aren’t you?” Zoro questions. When they nod, he huffs, “good. You guys sucked.”

“Excuse you?!”

“Wanna fight, Roronoa?! Wait no, nevermind, you beat Mister One.”

 

“Speaking of Mister One,” Usopp chimes up, “how many of the Officer Agents had an actual bounty and real name and how dangerous were they in hindsight?”

 

There’s a moment of silence. 

And then Anne raises her hand, “Miss Goldenweek, twenty-nine million.”

“Miss Valentines and Mister Five had some too,” Nami says, “don’t remember the amount, but they couldn’t have been higher than ten million. How much was Mister Three?”

Anne takes a moment before saying, “twenty-four million?”

Several people do spittakes. “Your bounty is higher than Mister Three?! Talk about a dark horse, what the hell!” and then “is that why he never seriously stopped you from having all your impromptu tea times?” 

“Well, Anne’s surprising qualifications in the top five aside,” Sanji says, “how about the bastard I was fighting? And that Gin decided to miserably lose against?”

Gin yelps when all attention turns to him, not everyone having known about that before. “I didn’t lose! That shithead just escaped when I wasn’t looking, that’s it!” 

“Bon-chan had a thirty-two million bounty,” Anne says. 

“Bon-chan?” came a few questions, but she didn’t give an answer. 

“And Miss Doublefinger had it up to thirty-five. I’m actually surprised Zoro isn’t dead,” Nami turns to the swordsman, who just looked confused, “Mister One, Daz Bones, is pretty infamous, you know? His bounty is up to seventy-five.”

“WHAT?!” 

“Ooh,” Zoro says, “yeah, shoe fits.”

“Luffy is one thing, but Zoro is insane, too…”

“And Miss All-Sunday is at seventy-nine,” Chopper counts the last two, “with Crocodile’s previously-inactive bounty sitting at eighty million. Huh? Was the whole hierarchy bounty-based?”

That made some people blink in realization, “dude it might have been.”

 

“Well, either way,” Miss Monday slouches back, smiling slightly, “I guess we don’t have to care about any of that anymore. I’d be pleased, settling down in such a lovely country.”

Mister Nine huffs in agreement. “Comfortable living, stable jobs, no dangers! What else could a man want?”

 

The Strawhats smile at that. 

Some people live their whole lives seeking peace and complacent happiness. And these two have just found that joy for themselves. 

One could only be happy for them. 

 

“So, did you guys really sail all the way here on your own?” Gin asks, still disbelieving of that, “like, three people? Were you alright?”

Mister Nine chuckles dryly, “of course not! But then we met this guy, you see.”

“Speaking of him… we had been wondering where you went, Miss Goldenweek! I mean, Anne,” Miss Monday smiled, “we stopped by Little Garden, and you weren’t there. Three was worried you were kidnapped or something.” 

Anne blinks. “He was… worried?”

“Yes,” Miss Monday says, “and Valentines was crying, citing horror stories of what the Burglar Cat might’ve done to you. She was terrified.”

Nami pouts, “I’m not that bad.”

Anne sits there, completely unreadable as she goes through a complete system error as she tries to comprehend the idea that her old colleagues cared enough for her, that they would be worried when she left without telling them. 

 

“Could we wind back to the part where you said you met the, uh, guy ?” Usopp returns to the conversation, “what’s his relevance?”

 

“Oh, right,” Mister Nine picks it back up. “He tried to recruit us! Into his crew. We said no, since we promised to come back and all-- but he still helped us get here on his ship! We were treated like kings! I mean guests , the whole way here! It was a delight.”

Nami turns to Usopp in a sort of horrified realization. Usopp doesn’t return the gaze-- he was too shocked to even notice Nami looked his way-- but he was first to voice the question. 

“Uhm. So someone gave you a ride here. Tried to recruit you on the way,” he says, “was it perhaps a pirate ship?”

Mister Nine nods, “yeah! Buggy Pirates, apparently. A fun group they were! They matched our performance theme perfectly, Miss Wednesday!”

Vivi beams at that, “really? I would’ve liked to meet them!” 

“I wonder how Mister Three, Mister Five, and Miss Valentine are doing, though,” Mister Nine continues to reminisce, impervious to the horrified looks on Usopp’s, Nami’s, and Zoro’s faces. “Hear this! We even brought the Unluckies with us! Sure it was scary living with people who were literally trying to kill us a couple days ago, but like, they had this huge lion on board…” 

Sanji didn’t know much about Buggy, and Gin was tired of being surprised, so they were less visibly mortified at what they were hearing. Kinoko had her jaw dropped as well, but Carue just looks confused. 

Anne and VIvi were completely unaware of their crewmates’ bewilderment, only listening intently to know of their former colleague’s current whereabouts. 

 

“They decided to stay on the ship when we arrived here, so I’m sure they’re back on the seas, enjoying themselves,” Mister Nine assures. “Oh, and in case you’re wondering, they decided they’d go with their real names--”

 

“Wait wait wait wait wait ,” Nami holds up both her arms in a surrender, “back up, back up please . Start from the top. From all the way back when the clown showed up in Whiskey Peak and shanghaied everyone away.”

“Oh, is this why Mister Three never showed up on Alabasta after us?!” Usopp yells, suddenly sinking into one hell of a realization. “Dude, does he think of the butterfly before taking the chess pieces off the board?!” 

 

"Butterfly and chess pieces?"

"If you're being metaphorical, I must say you've lost me there."

 

Needless to say, they had a lot of catching up to do. 

 

-


-

 

Zoro grumbles, holding Anne’s arm as he writes on it with the henna ink. They sat on the bed, Zoro trying hard to get himself in a comfortable sitting position, one arm and a half hiked up to his chest while Anne lays sleepily upside down with her feet on the bedboard, hugging a pillow with her free arm. 

“Stay still, dammit!” 

Biting his bottom lip in the effort, Zoro draws on another stroke in the word Gold , leading it down in calligraphy before he squeezes the henna cone too hard and makes a too-bold stroke. 

He yells out in frustration. 

“People can’t write in this shit!” he snaps, then turns back to it with a breath. “Okay, I’m getting the hang of it. I can fix this.”

 

Anne chuckles. Her dress sleeve was rolled up all the way for Zoro to write on, and now it was covered in failed splotches of ink, all trying to write the same word until he got it perfectly down. 

 

“Well, strictly speaking you’re supposed to draw with them,” Nami chuckles, “are you sure you were fine being the test subject? Your arm is covered in failed letters now.”

Anne nods, “they’re nice.” 

Usopp takes her other arm from the floor, squinting at it (it’s a habit, to do that when he focuses even though it doesn’t change much) before drawing on it as well. He instinctively runs a hand through the painted part to feel where he’d drawn, before realizing he wasn’t supposed to do that and cursing out loud. 

Anne bubbles out in laughter, swinging her legs lazily, rolling over so she lay on her stomach, arms splayed out before her to the ire of Zoro who had to start over, again. “Ugly arm crew, someone join me.”

“You can ask Luffy when he wakes up, I’m sure he’ll be happy to join you.”

Usopp grumbles, “stay still, I can’t precision draw-- argh! I forgot where I was in whatever I was drawing. What the hell do I do now?”

 

Nami chuckles, sitting adjacent to Vivi, their legs intertwined. Vivi did Nami’s nails, painting them over with the turquoise of the ever-gleaming skies. 

“I wonder when Luffy-san is going to wake up,” Vivi wonders, looking toward the snoring boy. 

Chopper changed the damp cloth over his head while Gin watched over him from the opposing bed. There were books around their beds (the ones nearest to Luffy), all from Cobra’s shelves, as they tried to read through their reprieves. 

“Maybe tomorrow,” Nami reckons, with more confidence than she really should have. 

 

Sanji saunters in with Carue and Kinoko, and their evening snack. Miss Monday and Mister Nine were settling down in what would be their new rooms, resting after their long journey, so there were only the Strawhats in the room today. 

“Tea and Cakes, everyone! Specifically the ladies honestly but you guys can have some too I guess,” Sanji sings, “dished out in bite-sized cuts, so everyone can keep their hands occupied, of course. Would you like me to feed you, miladiiiiiiiessss?”

“No thanks!”

“No thanks.”

“I want cake, so yes.”

Nami savours a bite of the fresh butter cake, considering her new manicure with a smile. She waits for the coating to dry, glancing carefully at Vivi’s forearm. 

 

They’d scrubbed the Xs away in their baths, though the ink of the permanent marker would linger in faded smudges a while longer. 

(It was such a shame to let it fade like they did last time, though.)

Nami takes something from the shopping bag of henna ink Sanji had sourced. Honestly she asked Sanji for one specific type-- who knew he would have enough fun to buy enough for everyone to play with it?

 

“What the-- Nami-san?! Where did you get that?”

 

Nami grins when Vivi balks at the sight of the special henna tube-- the packaging was gold, unlike the others-- and Vivi immediately knew what they were. 

“Won’t you let me draw some for you, too?” Nami asks, meaningfully. “You can draw some on me too. Not like Zoro and Usopp’s abstract art though. Show them how it’s really supposed to look.”

Vivi’s face was red. “I--” she composes herself, clearing her throat, “maybe with the normal ones. Those are temporary.”

“And this isn’t?”

“This lasts for months, Nami-san,” she emphasizes, “they’re--” she looks away, “mixed with gold dust. Meant to look really gorgeous, stains your skin for up to five or six weeks.” Then, very much quieter, “they’re usually only used in... bridal... cosmetics.”

 

Sanji and Nami’s smiles don’t falter. Gin, Zoro, and Usopp look over in a ‘seriously?’ manner, but Chopper and Anne beam with interest. The two birds looked slightly proud.

 

Sanji lifts a thumbs up, “that’s the intention, Vivi-chan.”

Nami plays along, “yeah. Give me your hand in marriage, Princess,” cradling her arm gently where the X mark used to be. “So you’ll belong to all of us forever.”

And that’s when Vivi really blushes, bright red and embarrassed and overwhelmed but oh no, she’s the one that painted her nails in those colours first and--

King Cobra slams the door open, “OH HELL NO, you savages!” 

Igaram, bandages and all, come in second to contribute, “NEVER, Burglar Cat! You can’t steal the actual princess of a country!” 

 

“Oh yeah, wanna fight?” Sanji grins, unironically ready to take on the country. 

Zoro sighs, “is there like, an honour battle we need to go through or something to get it,” he mutters, “if there is, then just sign me up for the swordfighting portion and tell me when I need to show up.”

“No no, let’s just steal her in the moonlight. Elope like Romeo and Juliet,” Gin mutters. 

“Didn’t they die though,” Anne remarks dryly. 

“Two birds with one stone.”

“Gin. Gin do you hate us.”

 

“Huh? Is Nami gonna marry Vivi?” Chopper asks, very confused, “oh no! Nami, you don’t have your arm, how are you going to fight off all the other mates coming for her? We need to get you geared up quickly or you won’t stand a chance!” 

“Fight off all the m--” Usopp pauses, “Chopper. Humans don’t butt antlers to assert dominance in order to attract females-- oh wait. Nevermind. They have done so before in history. I'll take it back.”

When Vivi bursts into laughter at that, everyone in the room can’t help but join in, Vivi wiping a tear from her eye as the conversation darted back and forth, heading from implications of marriage to reindeer mating routines that humans don’t share. 

 

King Cobra leans against the edge of the door. He’d barged in fuming, but found himself smiling warmly at the sight. 

Vivi was comfortable in this group. 

So comfortable-- she hasn’t been this comfortable in ages. 

 

(So when Nami began painting over Vivi’s arms, drawing intricate patterns, florals and spirals, tracing over the X and expanding the design all the way to her fingers, to her shoulder, and ever trailing up toward her face-- Cobra didn’t stop her.)

Nami’s drawings were shaky, but she obviously knew what she was doing, shapes stable and gorgeous, confident even with her non-dominant hand. She took her time, taking care of the details, pouring all her heart into the many swirls. 

Once Vivi’s henna had dried, she picked up the pipe herself-- and began to work over Nami’s body as her canvas. 

The princess drew much prettier, expanding upon Nami’s windmill-tangerine tattoo down into her arm. Of course, she’d highlighted the X as well, but Vivi stopped near the wrist, then drew through Nami’s back, making it as high as Nami’s collarbone, trailing a heart over the bone. 

That was all the golden-dusted henna they had, though-- the others had to compromise with the normal ones. 

 

“Luffy will be so mad he missed this,” Nami chuckles. 

“That’s fine. We’ll give the captain all he wants when he wakes up,” Vivi says. 

 

By the end of the night, everyone was painted, at least an arm’s worth. Anne insisted Gin needed to have a huge ‘silver’ written on his back, so Zoro, who finally got a hang of the writing, was put to some serious work. 

“Seriously guys, don’t just use it for whatever you want. At least make it look like henna.”

Anne beams, “okay, I’ll add flowers and stuff around the lines. Fill his whole back up with them.”

Usopp’s drawings weren’t too bad either. He was the best at it, knowing exactly how to put little or more strength to create subtle patterns where it mattered. It was just the parts he went out of the lines, or the drawings didn’t line up, that looks awry. 

Anne definitely wasn’t regretting anything about being the test canvas, seeing him trace over her new face scar and blooming it into elegant petals. 

They even managed to paint through Chopper’s fur, and Kinoko and Carue’s feathers, using darker-toned henna. Theirs wouldn’t last as long, since fur and feathers tended to shed faster than dead skin cells-- but the sentiment was all that mattered, and they were covered in patterns before anyone knew it. 

 

And when Vivi looks around the room, everyone has their sleeves rolled up. Among the innumerable patterns on their skin, one symbol stood out in undeniable clarity. 

(X marks the nakama.)

 

-


-

 

Luffy wakes up, loud and hungry and looking for Boshi. “I missed fifteen meals?!” 

“Five meals a day?” Gin retorts, “Sanji, stop spoiling him what the fuck.”

“Shit pot, fuck kettle,” came Sanji’s dry as dust response.

Luffy’s heat whirls around three thousand degrees in the wrong direction before Sanji finally points out to him exactly where his hat was-- on the bedside. Zoro walks into the room then, followed quickly by Mister Nine, Miss Monday, and Igaram. And Terracotta too, carting in a wheel of fruits. 

“OOoh! Chikuwa Ossan! You’re not dead!” he greets, bouncing right back up. “And you guys are fine too!” Then, “Chikuwa Ossan, you MULTIPLIED?!”

Terracotta just laughs, “no, I’m his wife.”

“AN OKAMA?!”

Sanji and Gin simultaneously whack him over the head for that. “Don’t be rude!”

 


 

The banquet was louder than anyone had expected it to be. While Usopp’s plate was not spared in the captain’s scavenge for a meal, Usopp does manage to launch a Tabasco Star into his mouth using only his fork as a makeshift catapult. 

Somehow, Eyelashes made his way into the building. 

Kinoko was just being the bird she was, soaring down to grab something off a plate before retreating to her higher perch (a crevice in a pillar or something) and enjoying her meal in silence. Then, Luffy reaches all the way up there to snatch her fish out of her claws, and it was straight up war

Carue angrily steps on Luffy when his food is stolen, and they had a whole wrestle before Carue won and ran off with half of the steak.

Nami enjoys her meal one-armed and in peace, and Sanji kept trying to juggle tasting everything, stealing recipes, and making sure Chopper didn’t choke to death on noodles.

Anne had to be coaxed to try everything that didn’t look familiar, and Gin was protecting her plate, his own plate falling prey to Luffy’s grabby arms. Zoro’s swords were just one inch away from Luffy’s hands every time, and he was the loudest voice coming to yell at Luffy for thieving food. 

Mister Nine had the greater idea, hiding under the table and reaching up to get his new servings. Beside him, Miss Monday sighs contentedly, eating only the veggies that Luffy didn’t like, which she was plenty happy with.  

Vivi laughed. And the guards joined in, and the palace was filled with joy. 

 


 

It’s right after dinner, when they’re getting ready for their baths that Luffy finally confronts his nakama, because now that he’s full of food, he can focus on the utter betrayal he’s seeing in front of his eyes. 

“HEY you guys! No fair! You guys went and got all pretty without me!”

All of them stare at him, baffled, but Usopp simply, systematically, takes out the remaining henna cones they have. 

 

“As you command, captain,” he says, turning to everyone else, “what are we waiting for?”

 

Luffy is drawn all over with pretty patterns in some parts (by Vivi and Anne), jokes in some (Usopp and Nami drew fruits and food, Chopper kept drawing symbols and math equation), strangely aesthetic in others (Zoro tried to write pirate king as well as he could), and dumb in the blank spaces (Gin didn’t know how to draw anything other than emoticons. Sanji kept drawing swirls.)

Then they take a picture to commemorate their personal stupidity. 

 

Later, when they run across the bath (and slip and fall because they’re idiots) Cobra is quick to point out that they’re really not supposed to use the cultural art in that way, because they look like dumb tourists. 

“Dumb tourists we are, then!” Luffy declares. “Ah wait, I mean dumb pirates. Dumb pirates! Wait, we’re not dumb!”

Then Zoro and Gin watch as Nami’s Happiness Punch takes a whole row of victims, the crowd of horny morons falling down about ten feet in a bloodied heap. And into ten million beris of debt, probably. 

“I learned my lesson already,” Gin says. 

“Hah,” Usopp says, proud and busying himself with Carue’s unholy cloak of feathers that needed to be scrubbed, “can’t debt a man for peeking when he legally can’t peek!”

“Usopp! Ten thousand beri for having lewd thoughts!” 

“EXCUSE ME?!”

“You imagined it! Don’t even deny it!” 

 

Zoro scoffs. Sanji and Nine he can understand, but why the hell did Luffy and Chopper get involved? 

 

“Seriously, Anne is over here too, so don’t do that again!” Vivi yells, warningly. Her flustered voice probably means she’s been victimized. “I’ll gouge your eyes out and Miss Monday will help me with that!” 

“Don’t worry, I have nothing worth seeing,” Anne says, scrubbing through Kinoko’s fur in her lap as Miss Monday washed her hair. 

“That’s not the point, sweetheart.”

They rested in the huge bathhouse, relaxing. 

 

King Cobra thanks them, from the bottom of his heart-- as a person, as a father-- and the Strawhats enjoy their moments of reprieve, warm by each others’ sides. 

 

-


-

 

“You know, Vivi. I wasn’t joking when I said we wanted your hand in marriage,” Nami says. 

They’re on their way back to the room now-- just the two of them, because they lingered to dry their hair first. 

Vivi turns around. In the moonlight, her new henna tattoo shone, golden in blue. 

 

(Last time, they left her here. And though it was the reasonable choice, it was always saddening to leave her here, knowing the next time they’ll meet would be much too far in the future, in much too undesirable conditions.)

(Nami just wanted her by their side-- to keep going on.)

(Especially now, when Vivi was much more of a missing piece to their broken puzzle than she ever was before.)

 

“I’m flattered, Nami-san, I love you guys too,” she says, “but I love my country, too… and…” she faltered, looking away. “What should I do?”

This decision always came hardest to Vivi. 

Leave her country, go for the call of the sea? Or should she stay here where she belongs, to live out her wonders in the place she shines best? She doesn’t want to leave the crew. And yet-- this was where she was meant to be. 

Nami takes Vivi’s hand in her own. 

 

“Come with us, Vivi,” Nami says-- and it’s a plea. She begs her-- burying her face in those gentle hands, desperate. “Run away. Leave with us-- to the seas, and sail with us as a member of our crew.”

 

(I don’t want to lose you again.)

 

“You belong with us on the seas. You know that.”

 

(Please.)

 

It had the opposite effect. Nami’s desperation-- as sincere as it was-- only solidified Vivi’s personal fears, her personal desires. 

(What does she, as Nefertari Vivi, truly want? The seas-- or the country?)

 

“I’m sorry,” Vivi admits, brokenly. “Please give me some time.”

 

(She can’t choose. Not when they’re equally as important to her-- not when she has both to think of, both to love. She can’t say she loves one over the other.)

(As a member of royalty, for the country of Alabasta to rise again… Nefertari Vivi cannot be identified as a pirate.) 

 

“My country needs me right now, Nami-san. We need to rebuild. We need to be here for them, as we grow again,” she says. “But if I leave you guys alone… I don’t know. Who’s going to write the log? Who’s going to make sure Kinoko doesn’t end up as fish bait one day? Who’s going to do your hair, when the day’s hot? Who’s going to teach Anne how to read and write? Who’s going to talk Gin down when he’s being a moron again?”

There’s a dry chuckle. 

“I guess you guys can ride through without me, honestly,” Vivi admits. She knew that, already. But the tears fell from her eyes anyway. “I’ll still miss you, though.”

 

“Vivi-- Vivi,” Nami leans forward, making sure their foreheads touched, “we would want you onboard even if you did nothing but smile all day. We want you because it’s you, Vivi. Not because of what you can do or what holes you fill. We want you .”

 

(Usopp and Nami were incomplete, too, but no one complained about those things.)

(No one was going to complain about Vivi, were they?)

 

Vivi finds it in herself to shakily nod. “I guess,” she says, “but… I’m still needed here. In my country,” she takes a slow breath, “I’m necessary , to build the country back up again.”

 

That was something neither of them could dispute. 

No matter how much Vivi wanted it-- there was no way she, in her personal conscience, could leave her country like this and go off on a journey toward the seas. Her father wouldn’t say no-- but she would hate herself for it. 

So Nami concedes. 

 

“How long do you need?” she asks. 

Vivi chuckles, “I won’t be too optimistic. But if these tattoos fade before I get back to you… will you draw them in for me again?” 

 

And Nami finally smiles. 

“Of course. Anything for you, princess.”

 

-


-

 

“Eh?!” the news comes as a surprise to most of the crew, “Vivi isn’t coming with us?!”

Vivi shakes her head. 

They were in their room. Anne stops midway in trying out her new apple-shaped beret. 

 

“Well, that was to be expected,” Gin says, “the whole reason she came along was to reach Alabasta. Now that it’s over, there’s no reason for her to come along.”

 

Luffy whines , “you don’t need a reason, come with us, Vivi!” 

“Yeah, come with us!” Chopper wails, coming up to her and touching her arm gently, pleading, “don’t leaaaave!” 

Even Kinoko came up to her shoulder, curling in. 

“See? Even Kinoko doesn’t want you to leave!” Chopper adds. 

“I wouldn’t mind if you stayed,” Anne adds. “I like it when you’re around.”

 

Zoro and Gin share a look, wondering if they should stop them. Usopp doesn’t particularly react, and Nami was looking away, evidently having spoken to her about this already. Carue just looked upset, but didn’t participate in the conversation. 

 

And Vivi actually looks near tears, “stop it, you guys,” she whines, looking away, hiding her crying face, “you’re going to make me want to go with you, stupid.”

 

“Then come with us already, I don’t get you! You wanna come, right?”

“Well yes, but…”

“Then just do it!”  

“I would if I could but--”

“You can!”

Vivi grabs a book off the shelf and chucks it at the captain. “Oh would you just listen to me for a fucking minute!” 

 

There’s a moment of silence as everyone watches the book soar through the air, clonk right into Luffy’s face with an oof , and Luffy slams into the windowsill in his lost balance.

 

“Ooh, nice.”

“Nice throw Vivi, want to go again?” Nami asks, handing her another, much thicker, book from the shelf. “I suggest you aim for the wound. That’ll actually hurt him.”

“Stop it!” Vivi whines, but she instinctively aims the book at Luffy when he bounces up to complain about the mutiny. 

“HEY STOP IT!” Luffy yells. “Geez! I don’t want you to go, Vivi!” 

 

No one is ever happy about needing to say goodbye, and they all knew that. All eyes in the room are on her-- waiting for the inevitable need of a farewell. 

Sanji was joining Chopper and Anne in the puppy eyes crew, while Luffy just looked really hurt. They were both incredible in making Vivi feel very guilty. 

Gin was trying to look like he didn’t care, but Vivi doesn’t miss how he’s holding that book upside down. Zoro has also strangely been polishing that same portion of his sword for the better of the last two minutes. Usopp isn’t any better, he’s filled the bullets in that gun barrel from the barrel instead of the magazine.

(God, she loved them.) 

 

Vivi crumbles, “I know,” she admits. “But I promise you guys this, at least. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

She holds her arm, where the X lay. 

“So will you wait for me?”

 

The answer comes with a loud breath from Luffy, and the other ten immediately join in time with him to shout “OF COURSE WE WILL!” 

They throw their arms into the air, the Xs decorated much too messily now, but it only makes them laugh. They throw on their coats-- and run off into the moonlight. 

 

(Vivi will never forget the days they spent on that ship.)

(And she can’t wait to get back on it again.)

Chapter 51: come back to my side (go do what you believe in)

Summary:

They come back to the ship. Anne realizes after long deliberation that she's still got something she wants to do before officially joining. In complete juxtaposition and probably on a whim, Robin joins the crew.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“You met up with a Revolutionary?” Usopp asks, disbelieving. 

Riding on the Super Spot-billed ducks, Sanji shows the rest of the crew the dogtag he’d received. They were still trying to get caught up on everyone’s sides of the war, and Sanji was only about halfway through on his own. 

“Yeah. Didn’t give me his name, and I kinda refused his recruitment offer,” Sanji says, “well, it was a shit offer anyways. We don’t want anything to do with them, right?”

“Yeah!” Luffy yells. “Damn it, people stealing my nakama AGAIN!” Then, in a much more confused tone, he turns to Nami, “what’s a rebel illuminate sanitary?”

“Revolutionary.”

“Revolving-illusion-sanctuary.”

“Luffy,” Nami pinches the bridge of her nose, “I genuinely can’t tell if your vocabulary range is great or terrible. What the hell.”

 

Luffy scrunches up his nose at that. Folding his arms in thought and chewing on a hunk of meat, he listened in some pensive form of probably concentration as Nami explains what the revolutionaries were.

Beside them, Anne and Chopper, who were on the same duck, listen intently.  

 

“So what did they want anyway,” Gin says, “whether we want to be involved or not, it’s insane that they’d show themselves at all.”

The revolutionary army was, after all, pretty much a damn myth in East Blue. (But then again, even Devil Fruits were a myth there, so yeah, Gin needed some time to understand the world.) They knew about the madman known as Dragon, but nothing much else.

“Keep the number, Sanji-kun,” Nami tells him, “we’ll need it.”

Sanji relents at that. “Well, if you say so, Nami-san, I guess we’ll string it up on our mushroom bird like the rest of our important stuff.” 

“We did take down a tyrannical king or something,” Zoro mutters, “maybe we earned their respect or something.”

“No way,” Gin says. 

“Actually, that’s exactly what happened,” Sanji says, making both of them (yes, Zoro included,) balk in surprise. “They sought me in particular cause… alright, this is embarrassing. They had a black Den Den and they heard everything. Was particularly interested in the Mister Prince shit.”

Usopp and Luffy burst right into laughter, and Zoro looks slightly confused. Nami stops mid-explanation to choke on laughter, and Anne smiles, but Gin just facepalms. 

Kinoko slept between everything in the sand sleigh, safely secured under a cloak. 

“What?” Zoro asks, confused, “what am I missing?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing.”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Goddammit, I know that look, Nami,” Zoro mutters in realization, “I’m missing out on some supreme blackmail material, aren’t I?”

“Oh yes you definitely are.”

“Do NOT tell him, you cretins!” Sanji warns, “I’ll hold the seasoning on all of your dishes if you do, because I’m petty like that!” 

“No you won’t!” 

“You wouldn’t dare, you monster!” 

“Watch me, shitheads!”

“...just the seasoning?” Usopp asks, “like, that's the furthest you’ll go?”

 

The run to Merry was joyful, sprinkled with stories and encounters and new findings-- like how Anne realized she’d met Bon Clay (and actually, the other Officer Agents too,) before all this, actually, in Spider’s Cafe. They just didn’t know who each other were until moments before the war itself. 

(Which explained why Mister Two had Anne’s face, and knew to use it against Gin and Sanji in their fights. Seriously, is Vivi’s forgetfulness contagious or something?) 

“I think Officer Agents always visited that cafe after eight,” she admits, “like, she opens anywhere we’re around on a mission, so when we spot it, we always go into it. No wonder all the customers were so weird.”

“Wait,” Usopp needed a moment, “you literally saw a ballerina drag queen sauntering in a cafe with followers that sang his praises, and you questioned nothing?” 

Anne hums. “Well… I didn’t know where to even begin asking,” she says. “I think they liked that I didn’t ask anything? So Daz-san gave me candy sometimes, he is nice.” 

“The f-- oh, okay. Okay,” Usopp sighs, “that’s fair. Okay.”

Daz-san you mean Mister One,” Gin pales immediately, groaning into his palm, remembering how Anne and Chopper were riding on the shoulders of that huge Tsumegeri guard during the war, “Anne how do you do this.”

“Do what?” she asks. 

Gin is afraid to rephrase his question, so he just lets it hang.

 

“By the way Usopp, fuck with my weapon again and I’ll fuck you up,” Nami hisses, clutching her Clima Tact to her side. 

“Rated ‘probably shouldn’t bring near the bright-eyed adults either’,” Usopp mutters dryly, “coming soon in theatres, October-- OW! How the hell did you manage to hit me with a flying projectile from over there when we’re running on ducks?!”

The one baton of the Clima Tact had soared over the front like a boomerang, whizzed right back and over the duck’s head to smack straight into Usopp’s nose. Behind them, Zoro launches a hand out to grab the Clima Tact before it vanishes far into the Alabasta desert.

“Bullseye!” Nami cheers, “hah! That proves I can aim even without Zeus! Beat that!” 

“Hey Nami! This is important, right? Don’t drop it, we’ll never find it!” 

“Ow ow ow,” Usopp groans into his hand, “I thought I could get through this island without breaking my noseeeee!” 

“Don’t be a baby.”

“That’s not broken, I think it’s just a bruise.”

“A dislocation maybe.”

“I’ll reset it for you later, Usopp!” came Chopper’s input.

Usopp wails, “you’re the only one that cares about me, Chopper!” 

 

Luffy laughs at that, and when the others join in, Usopp can’t help but feel like that’s worth the pain. 

 


 

The Bon Clay confrontation doesn’t really change. 

They take exactly thirty seconds to transition from ‘HEY GET OFF OUR SHIP YOU ASS’ to ‘FRIENDS! WE’RE FRIENDS!!’ and dancing that weird marching dance thing to Bon’s happy Okama tune. 

Usopp joins in the happy dance (though all his steps were either the wrong leg, beat, or direction,) as they laugh and celebrate. Anne follows Zoro up, clutching all her things before approaching the okama with a meek greeting of her own. 

 

“Oohh, Missy Goldenweek!” Bon cheers, “been a while, sweetie! Love the graffiti look. And the apple beret! And the new hair!” 

Anne nods, “hi, Bon-chan. I like my new hat too. I’m naming it Berebo.”

“Adorable name for an adorable hat!” Bon nods, with Luffy, Usopp and Chopper nodding along sagely. “I approve!” 

Anne did not know she needed to be approved by the headwear alliance when she got a new hat, but alright, she’ll take this. “Thanks.” 

 

Gin hauls the sand sleigh up, not taking much note when a sleepy bird pokes her head out from under the covers in a ‘wait, are we here?’ manner, looking utterly confused before flapping its wings in a stretch, and going back to sleep. 

“Ah mushroom, take this,” Sanji tosses the dog tag at her, “and go let down the sails.”

Kinoko takes it obediently, tucking it into one of her many pouches before flying up to her nest, shedding her armor disgracefully and hopping over the mastyard to untie the sail knots. 

 

“Hey, Nami!” Zoro hollers, a chair on one shoulder and Nami’s extra limb under his other arm, “get over here!” 

Nami lifts her head from where she was discussing escape routes with Bon’s navigator and helmsman, “Oh! Okay, just give me a moment!” 

 

Life was suddenly spilled back onto the ship, and as the dugongs peeked out of the waters to see what was up, the nearby wildlife began to rouse as well. 

 

Luffy proceeds to give a dramatic farewell speech to his dugong disciples. “Live strong, eat meat!” he yells, like that’s saintly advice.

Chopper pipes up with, “Luffy, she says she’s pescatarian,” pointing at one specific dugong that spoke up nervously. 

“Don’t worry, bugs are gross anyways!” 

“Luffy, that’s pesticide.”

“Then what, do you eat kids?!”

“That’s pediatrician-- seriously Luffy, I don’t understand your vocabulary range!” Chopper snaps at him. “Pescatarians only eat fish!”

“What?! It’s all meat anyways!”

“Respect the dugong’s dietary needs or I’ll respect a new hole in your head, Luffy!” Sanji threatens.

“Oh okay. Sorry.” Luffy immediately, calmly, apologizes to dugong #22. “You can eat fish too I guess. As long as you look cool doing it.”

“I don’t even fucking know what the hell that means,” Gin mutters. Chopper looked similarly baffled, but he was much too tired to try again with their captain. 

“Honest question, do pescatarians eat sea cow? It’s a fish, right?” 

“No, it’s a cow?!” 

“But it’s a FISH?!”

“It’s a sea king! Sea kings are classified as their own thing! Which is more in the meat category than the fish meat category!” 

Sanji stops in the middle of his attempt to lift the anchor to hound the dugongs on complicated dietary phrasing in the Grand Line. It was different in East Blue, since Sea Cows weren’t exactly staple food there to make these questions realistically liable.

 

“Nothing in the Grand Line makes sense?” Gin mutters. “Fuck. We fit in.”

“Hah, you’re finally catching on,” Zoro mutters, downing half a mug of booze before handing it back to Nami. 

 


 

 

“I thought they captured all of you,” Anne says to Bon, handing Nami a mug of alcohol to stave off the incoming pain, Zoro preparing to slot her arm back in. 

“Oh, you were worried?” Bon swoons, “well, no need to worry! I am stronger than that!” he cackles, “though, I think they didn’t manage to get All-Sunday as well. But that’s to be expected. She’s been avoiding the government for twenty years. This ain’t the place she’s gonna fall, that’s for sure.”

Anne perks up at that, “Miss All-Sunday managed to escape?” she asks, before recollecting herself in confusion, “I’m not… particularly worried? I’m just curious.”

“But you care, don’t you?” Bon says, beaming, “that’s enough to qualify as worrying in my book! We were comrades, weren’t we? You’re so nice, Missy Goldenweek!” 

Anne remains confused when Bon takes her by the hand and saunters off, spinning happy circles around in a childish dance. 

 

(Worried, huh?)

(Mister Three, Mister Five, and Miss Valentine had been worried for her as well.)

(Is that how this felt?)

 

“I don’t like everyone all that much,” she says. She doesn’t quite care as much for them as she does anyone on this crew, “but I guess I was relieved to hear that Miss All-Sunday escaped.”

 

Because, to Anne at least-- she was just the same as they were. 

They were vagabonds that found a place under Mister Zero’s protection, and they did it to live. They weren’t wrong for trying to survive, were they? They found each other in it, after all-- they found partners that wouldn’t betray them, if it was for the sake of the mission, and they found solace in Spiders Cafe, together. 

She shakes her head from the thought. 

(She’s not… worried for them, is she? She owes them nothing.)

(And yet… they were worried about her enough to care.)

 

“Awh, are you worried for everyone else that got captured?” Bon says, lifting Anne to sit on the bow before leaning over it thoughtfully, “you know you have to bide your own skin in times like this, right?:

“I know,” Anne says immediately, because logically, she does. But she fiddles with her fingers, “I’m just curious.”

 

(She’s just curious. She doesn’t care , does she?)

(...what’s the difference?)

 

Bon chuckles at that. “You’ve changed, Missy Goldenweek,” Bon says. “You understand curiosity now, huh?” 

Anne blinks. 

 

(That’s right. When did she start using that word?)

 

“That's fine!” he lifts a thumbs up. “Anyways, I’m going to go save them after this, so if I succeed, you’ll probably find Spiders Cafe around someday again! Good old mind-yer-own-business, sweet and tolerant Paula-chan to serve you your favourite tea to your preferences, right?” 

Anne finds herself blooming into a smile before she could stop herself. 

(She’d forgotten to do that, these few days.)

“Now that’s one for the books!” Bon exclaims, dramatically miming the motion of getting shot in the heart, “I’ll miss you, sweetheart!” 

 

Anne takes Bon’s hand before she could stop herself. 

“Can I go with you?”

 

Her next words were also said on an impulse-- much too unlike her-- but that was the trend now. That's what she should do now, isn’t it? It’s what Gin and Smoker have always wanted her to do. 

(Follow her heart, since she learned how to have one now.)

She didn’t care much for the rest of her Officer Agents. They became enemies, after all-- tried to seriously kill each other for quite some time, too. But that was part of the job in Baroque Works. It was just how things were, and how things went. 

(Anne remembered the ways Doublefinger brewed the best tea, and Valentine baked the best cakes. While Five and One never quite showed up to socialize, they were the first to deflect a drunkard’s nearing hand, and the ones to clear the road so she could make her way through a crowd. Four was slow, but he was always cheerful, and they enjoyed each other's silence. They would wait at the doorway, and they wouldn’t leave until their partners arrived to pick them up.)

(Two and MerryChristmas were noisy, had too much energy, and never got along-- but they would fight for approval with Anne between them, because obviously, if the kid approved, they were right.)

(Then there was Three, her partner. In Baroque Works, there wasn’t a soul that understood and tolerated her better than him. And while Gin was perfect to fill that gap in her life, it just wasn’t the same without the noisy way he tended to mess things up.)

There weren’t even a lot of encounters like those. But they happened, sparsely and meaningfully. It was just little things like that, that made the reprieves between their jobs so much better. 

 

“What the-- am I hearing this right?” Bon asks, confused. “Wait, stop joooking around, yo! I haven’t even told you what I’m doing yet! It’s risky for any bandwagon jumpers, yeah?”

“Then work around me,” Anne insists. “If you had a plan to help them escape, you’ll have a plan to help one more that’s helping you already.”

Bon pauses, looking aside. 

“Well… I don’t know…” he looks aside, evidently trying to find a way to say no again. “Right! Captain, a captain,” he says, “you’ve got a new captain, sweetheart! You can’t just do things without his permission!”

Anne doesn’t falter. That’s an inevitable hurdle for later on. “I know. But I’m part of the reason why they got arrested in the first place.”

 

(Mister Nine and Miss Monday said something like this too, didn’t they?)

 

“--I don’t regret my days as a member of Baroque Works,” she says, determine d. “That includes all the connections we’ve made on the way. And until we find some sort of closure together--” she hesitates. She doesn't know why. “They’re connected to me, and I can’t just cut them out of my life like they never mattered.”  

 

( Ah , she knows now.)

(Five years ago-- that was exactly what happened. Smoker and Gin left her alone, told them to forget each other-- and that's how they went on to live, pretending never to know each other even if they were in the same sea.)

(Maybe she still hated them for it after all.) 

 

She doesn’t notice the other eyes on her. Everyone was listening in now-- and they were silent, hearing her voice her thoughts. 

Anne just sees Bon’s eyes light up with recognition-- soften, in a sort of understanding-- and then gleam right up again, enthusiastic once more. 

“Alright then!” Bon declares, standing up, “leave it to me!” he poses dramatically, “your big sister here will do all he can to help convince your captain to let you come along! Tis’ the O-ka-ma-WAY!” 

 


 

“HELL NO, STOP STEALING MY CREWMATES, YOU FORMER NAKAMA BASTARDS!” 

Luffy was suddenly three times more hostile toward Bon and five times more clingy toward Anne. His arms were enclosed twice around her little figure, and Bon was just as determined. 

“Well, you gotta respect the HEART! Straw-chan! The Heart! Don’t you hear her heart crying out for desire and dreams and DREAMS?!” he dramatises. 

Sanji hums, “does he know he said dreams twice?”

“He also said heart three times, but does it matter, man?”

“Well, in an argument against Luffy, that’s good enough,” Nami says, flexing her newly-replaced arm with a grunt before turning her attention back to them. “But are you sure, Anne? They did all that to you.”

 

“Oh uh, I,” Anne admits weakly, “I don’t really care about that anymore. I mean, we won.” 

 

That makes everyone turn to her, contemplatively. She looked unsure about herself-- not for her decision to go, but on the why of the matter. 

Would this be a matter that she would soon change her mind about? She didn’t know yet. 

 

“I’m your captain now, Anne!” Luffy insists, “you can’t just do whatever you want. Plus, Croc gave you all those new scars! Sure they look cool, but he stabbed you! I don’t want him doing it again!” 

Saying so, he tightened his hold around the girl, hissing at Bon who sneered right back. 

Gin sighs at the sight. “It’s not that I don’t understand your feelings, Anne, but you should just forget about those guys,” he says. 

Chopper immediately agrees, “Yeah! Your hand could’ve been permanently damaged, you know! And they tried to kill us with all those bombs from that weird dog-gun thing.” 

“I agree,” Zoro says, “there’s no point. There’s no way to completely save all of them, and they’re better off somewhere they can’t come after us for revenge.” 

Anne mulls at that. 

“I know. But,” she bites her lip, looking away. “I’m free now.”

 

When she says that, it sounds like an unsure question. And the levity of that sentence-- that freedom she has earned with the victory of this war-- finally sets in. 

 

“I think that’s all we ever wanted,” she says. And that we , no one quite knew exactly who she was referring to-- the Baroque Works agents? Did that include Miss Monday and Mister Nine? Did it include some other people, too? “To be somewhere we can live freely. Without being wanted, somewhere we can live peacefully .”

A moment of silence. 

Then, very much softer, “like Emerald City, you know.”

 

(Some people spend their whole lives wishing for peace. Most of them never get it. Some get stuck too deeply in a world of notoriety to ever gain it in their lifetime.)

(Anne has found a place where she can call home. Mister Nine and Miss Monday have found a place that accepts them, a peace they can hold. Mister Three, Mister Five, and Miss Valentine have found themselves a spot on another crew.)

(Surely, the other Officer Agents had something like that they wished for too.)

(Something that wasn’t a prison for eternity.)

 

No one spoke.

And then, Gin steps forward, unlatching Anne from the captain before readjusting her beret on her head. 

“How about this?” he suggests, sighing in some sort of resignation. When Anne looks up, slightly surprised, he smiles, warmly. “I’ll go with her. We’ll go settle all the loose ends she’s got with her old Boss, cut off all ties after that. Then she can come back with a peace of mind.” 

And when things were said like that-- there wasn’t anything anyone could say to change their minds. This would be Anne’s first time ever asking something selfish, for herself-- and Gin respected that. 

 

(Luffy knew then, that he had to respect it too. Because he trusted these people to be his crewmates, and they trusted him to respect their wishes.)

 

Luffy’s looking at him, a stern gaze fixed on his Quartermaster. 

“Then promise me this, both of you,” he says. Very sharply, “come back to my side.”

 

(Because Luffy’s been worried, this whole time-- that so many people have been trying to take his comrades away from him. From Vivi to Nami to Gin-- now Anne, too.) 

(He needs to know that they know he’s their captain.)

 

“We will, Captain,” they say, and there’s nothing they’ve ever been surer about. 

“Where else will we go?” Gin chuckles.

Anne nods, “I like this place.”

And Luffy finally pouts, in his non-serious way, “geez, all of you!” he complains, one hand on his hat as he angrily marches away to the figurehead, “one after another, leaving temporarily or whatever! Now we can’t even have a banquet until you’re back! What’s a pirate gonna do without a party, huh?!” 

 

This time, Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp join in on the short laughter. 

 

“Didn’t you eat enough in the palace already,” Zoro mutters. 

“You guys better bring back souvenirs to feed this monster when you’re back,” Sanji says, “and Two,” a sharp address that makes the ballerina freeze. “Treat them properly and return them intact or you’ll die , shithead.” 

“What the-- you’re so cruel! Stop joking around, yo!” Bon whines, offended, “of course, they’ll be treated like QUEENS on my ship! Ah wait, as long as the plan allows, of course.”

“Hey, are we forgetting the main problem of how we’re going to meet up again?” Usopp asks, “do we have an eternal pose anywhere in the same direction?”

“Hmm,” Nami mulls, reaching around her pockets, “well, we do have this spare Eternal Pose to Alabasta that Sanji stole from the Unluckies, back in Little Garden.”

“Oooh!” 

“That’s it! That’s it!” 

“What’s the stop after this, according to the Log Pose?” Gin asks, “you guys don’t have to wait for us here, we’ll meet you at the next one?”

“It’s an autumn island, Akibana,” Nami says, “but the marines probably have that locked on already. They know we’re following the Log Pose.” 

“Oh, right. Your brothers said something about these routes being trackable…”

“Then how are you guys going to avoid that?”

“We’ll find a way,” Nami says, “I’m an expert navigator, after all.” 

“Right.”

“How long will the henna last again?” Gin asks rhetorically. Vivi’s and Nami’s will last around two months. Theirs would fade in … “give us one week.”

“Would one week be enough for your breakout plan?” Nami asks. “Tell us the details later, by the way. And get Anne to revise every flawed part of that nonsense.”

“Have some faith in us!” Bon retorts. “If we don’t do it in one week, they’ll be in Impel Down already, geez, of course we can do this in that amount of time.” 

“Does your plans take you onto another island? Or just to Hina’s outpost?” Nami dismisses Bon’s spiel to continue asking, “we might be able to get onto another log route from there… agh, this would all go so much easier if we just had a Vivre Card.”

 

Usopp sighs, “so we’re going to split up another time? Looks like we’re not getting a full crew anytime soon.”

“Well, it’s just how things turned out. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Well, adventure’s not on hold or anything!” Luffy insists, “Gin and Anne can just tell us all about their side of it when they come back!” 

“Oh, if they’re leaving, then I better go prepare a lunchbox,” Sanji realizes, “you guys, don’t set off yet. I need to speedrun two Pirate Bentos for a bit.”

“Did you just say ‘speedrun’--”

“We are ready to set off, aren’t we,” Zoro says, looking upward, squinting toward the crow’s nest. “I’ll go check the aft sail… Usopp, did anyone lift the anchor?”

“Zoro, I’m blind.” 

“Oh shit, forgot. Sorry.”

“...but yes, Sanji did that already.”

“YOU PIECE OF--”

 

“Alright!” Nami says, slamming a hand on the ledge to make a noise loud enough to catch everyone’s attention. “I’ve decided where we’re meeting up. We’ll find our own way, but you guys should follow the Eternal Pose to Alabasta.”

“Back here?” Gin asks, “what do you want us to do, get help from Vivi again?”

Nami shakes her head, before whistling for Kinoko to come down from her nest. The bird does a little more than collapse sleepily against Nami’s hands as the girl takes off the Buggy Passport from her wing. 

“We’ve been friend-coded by Bigstar and Babystar, so we don’t need the marker while we’re on the sea,” she explains. “Listen well now, because I’m going to tell you how to use this in the city.” 

 


 

The farewell from there is hasty. 

They’re cornered by Black Cage Hina, but with a mixture of expert diversions, a well-timed cannon shot from Usopp, and Luffy’s untimely attempt to toss some javelins out of their ship-- yeah, don’t ask-- they bid a little more than an arm in the air and a meaningful gaze before they’re gone in the horizon. 

“Farewell, comrades!” Bon declares. 

Luffy and Chopper sob dramatically at him, “WE’LL NEVER FORGET YOU, BON-CHAN!!” as if he were going to death instead of a temporary farewell-- but, oh well. 

Gin and Anne raise their arms forward, before retreating, throwing on coats to hide their identities as they scramble under the deck, rushing to continue their escape from Black Cage Hina. 

 

(“Make sure you come back to my side.”)

 

No one had any doubts about that. 

 


 

Once they were in the clear of the horizon, far from the Marines again-- they all sighed. 

Zoro and Chopper were patching a hole in the hull (thank god, there weren’t as many this time,) while Sanji and Luffy checked their surroundings for any ships in the horizon. It was all clear for now. 

Usopp and Nami couldn’t quite feel at ease. 

 

“Now this is one uncomfortably nostalgic combination,” Nami mutters. They were back to the original crew now, the only addition being Kinoko. 

“It should be nice, not uncomfortable,” Usopp says, “but yeah, I get it.”

 

The familiarity didn’t put him at ease. It only made him worry-- like things weren’t real, because the biggest changes they’ve made aren’t here.

 

“Shit, we’re not going to have Gin around for a while, so I’m going to have to do the rationing on my own again,” Sanji realizes, “crap. Nami-swan, do you think you could--”

“Yes, yes,” Nami says, sighing contentedly, “there’s no need to panic, Sanji-kun. I’ll help you anywhere I can.”

“Oh, that’s why I love you, Nami-swan.”

“Speaking of old jobs that need filling,” Usopp says, “we’re going to have to cycle the log-writing again. This is going to suck.” 

At that, everyone gave a tired groan. 

“I want Vivi baaack!” Chopper whines. “And Anne and Gin, too! I miss themmmm!” 

“I miss them too…” Nami admits. And apparently it’s a deadly infection, because she’s quickly echoed by Luffy and Sanji, and then Usopp, too, who realizes he’s going to have to meander around all of the precision work all over again. Kinoko purrs out her own upset opinion, because according to Chopper, Anne’s hands were more comfortable to lay in.

 

Zoro groans loudly, “you guys are so damn annoying! If you were going to whine, you should’ve firmly disagreed when they asked to leave!”

“You’re so cruel, Zoro!” 

“The audacity of this cold-hearted swordsman!” 

“Ugh. You’re just a shitty mosshead.”

“Three-sword style.”

“Luffy, that’s not an insult.”

“... Four -sword style.”

“Oh fine,” Zoro groans, “cry me a fucking river for all I care.”

 

The ship felt rather empty without four members. It was almost lonely, and that was palpable when they found a reprieve in their escape, where there was no sound but the wind around them. 

Zoro had almost found himself taking a nap before he stood back up, not quite at ease enough to take his usual breaks. 

It just didn’t feel right to have a break when Gin wasn’t around. He was always constantly moving, doing something-- what did he have to do that he never had time to take a break? Zoro didn’t know, and not knowing if the ship was running right without him was a little unsettling. 

 

“Oh, we made it out. Well done.”

“Uh, yeah,” Zoro turns around, and freezes.

 

Sanji trips right over a raised plank, bringing Kinoko down with him as he grabs for something to balance himself, Luffy smashes facefirst into the banister, Chopper tumbles down from the second floor to scramble behind the mast, Nami nearly drops her map in the collective shriek that everyone lets out, and Usopp already has the megaphone in his hand. 

“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!” Usopp yells in a loudspeaker monotone, because he loves chaos, “ALL MEN ON DECK! ENEMY HAS INVADED!” 

Zoro swears out loud, “here to avenge your organization?! Shit, just after Anne left, too!” 

“Oooh, you’re so much more gorgeous now that we can see your face clearly, mademoiselle!” Sanji swoons, spinning right down the stairs to dramatically bow down to the new lady. 

Chopper screams. Like, just one long scream.

“Oh, it’s you!” Luffy’s reaction is much more sublime, “so you were alive, huh?”

“Yes,” Robin smiles, a hand emerging from Zoro’s side to disarm him, “please don’t point those dangerous things at me, I’ve already told you before, haven’t I?” then, she turns to Nami, “I hope you don’t mind, I borrowed some of your clothes, Miss Burglar Cat.”

Nami smiles at her. “That’s fine. As you may have noticed, I’m not too fond of shirts with long sleeves. Help yourself.”

“Oh? That’s a relief,” Robin smiles back, ''I will forgive you for my torn coat, then.”

“Enough of this casual chit-chat, Nami!” Zoro snaps, “goddammit, Gin isn’t around, so I have to do twice the amount of tsukkomis than I usually do! I can’t juggle that and common sense all at once, give me a break!” 

 

Robin casually sets up a lawn chair on the deck while the madness continues to propagate on the ship. 

Sanji is more than happy to entertain a new lady, Usopp has found a panic comrade in Chopper as they march around the ship screaming in terror (though Usopp’s just playign along and Chopper is seriously terrified,) Luffy is still confused, Zoro is fucking exhausted, and Nami is watching in amusement. 

 

“So uh, who is she?” Chopper finally asks. 

 

“Monkey D. Luffy. I hope you haven’t forgotten what you did to me,” Robin says, sitting down, “I hope you’ll take responsibility for your-- well, unforgivable actions toward me.”

“Goddammit Luffy! What did you do to the gorgeous lady?!”

“What the-- I didn’t do anything!” 

“Disembark immediately or we will call the marines!” Usopp continues marching circles in the main deck, punctuated by Chopper’s song-like yelling and Kinoko’s caws of percussion. “This is your final warning! This is your final warning!” 

In complete synchronicity, Luffy, Sanji and Zoro whirl on the moron crowd, “YOU’RE NOT HELPING, SHUT UP!” 

And Nami bursts into laughter. 

Zoro clocks Usopp over the head, earning a soft ‘ow’ as Sanji closes Chopper’s mouth with a little more than a hand-gag. Luffy also grabs Kinoko out of the air before she could escape, eliciting a sort of squeak. 

“Sanji, bird stew!” Luffy declares, “shame that Gin and Anne can’t eat it! But BIRD STEW!” 

“Hear that, Chopper?” Sanji looms threateningly over their youngest, “it’s bird stew today. If you don’t want me to make that into bird and venison stew instead…”

“I’ll shut up! I’ll shut up!” Chopper wails. 

“For fuck’s sake, Usopp! You already knew she was on the ship, didn’t you?!” Zoro yells, suddenly realizing, “don’t deny it! I know what that fucking Haki feels like now!” 

Nami cheers from the second floor, “go for it, Zoro! His weakness is the nose!” 

Robin watches the interaction in mild bewilderment, but Nami only smiles knowingly at her when their eyes meet. 

“So,” Nami turns the attention back to Robin, “what do you want from us, Miss All-Sunday?”

Robin nods and smiles gratefully, in her usual confident but undeniably dishonest way. It was the smile of someone that was playing on, because it had to be done-- and someone who had no doubt she would be able to take herself out of the situation if it turned uncompromising. 

 

“You made me live when I wanted to die,” she begins, turning to Luffy. “That’s quite a daunting crime for you to have committed.”

 

(Because letting the Devil’s Child live was, according to the world government… a terrible crime indeed.) 

 

"I have nowhere to go, nowhere to return to,” she says. “You told me to find somewhere, did you not? Well then, I would like to stay here. Let me join your crew.” 

 

“Huh?”

“HUH?!”

“Aww shucks, I guess there’s no choice then,” Luffy mulls, deciding that was, all things considered, fair. “Fine by me.”

“LUFFY, NO!” Zoro yells. 

“Luffy, yes!” Sanji cheers, “Mellorrriiiiine!” 

Luffy laughs, “don’t worry! She’s not a bad guy!” he says. Then, turning to Nami with a bright grin, “you guys are fine with that, right?” 

Nami’s raises a thumbs up, and Usopp shrugs, earning Zoro’s increased ire that led to him grabbing the blind sniper by the collar in annoyance. 

“C’mon, man,” Usopp says, “she’s completely at our mercy on this ship. She’s a devil fruit user surrounded by water, and we’ve got Nami with us. We can respect that bravery at least?”

“She’s one of us now!” Luffy says, cheerfully, picking up Chopper, “captain’s orders!” 

 

Zoro finally sighs, letting go of Usopp’s collar. 

“Fine,” he grunts, “I’m not trusting her anytime soon, but I’ll let it go. And you guys are dealing with telling this to Gin when he comes back.”

 

Everyone urks , but Luffy just laughs. 

“Gin’s always missing out, too bad for him! Alright guys, breakfast!” 

 


 

And just like that, Nico Robin was part of their crew. No further discussion required, no attempts of mutiny to throw the witch overboard, nothing. There weren’t even revenge calls from Nami or Sanji for her attempts at their life. And in the case of the chef, it was like he’d completely forgotten it’d ever happened.

Robin was honestly baffled at this. Was this an act, and they were just acting for the right moment to get her to leave? This was all too good to be true, and she knew where those sentiments always got here. 

Here, she had acceptance, resignation-- and well, a warm meal. 

Robin smiles. 

 

Well… she’ll stick around for a bit.

Notes:

next chapter: a mashup of "Movie 4: Dead End Adventures" x "Miss Goldenweek's Operation: Meet Baroque Works"

Chapter 52: throw flour (and paintballs) at your enemies.

Summary:

The Strawhats joins a death race-- or try to at least, Nami notices the tampered Eternal pose and decides a revolution is in order. Meanwhile, the Mister Two team have terrible plans and terrible disguises, but it works anyways because Hina is too sick of this shit to care. And Anne gets to throw paint at the people that annoy her, which is a plus.

(aka: Movie 4 x Miss Goldenweek sidestory speedrun, let's go.)

Chapter Text

“What the-- THIS ISN’T FAIR!” Luffy wails, pounding the ground in his tantrum, “your bounty is so high! That’s not fair!” 

Robin blinks at that, “ah… my apologies?”

Behind her, Nami observes the mutiny board, picking up a spare wooden piece that hadn’t been painted in yet, “well, I guess making the captain cry should count as mutiny of some sort.” She scribbles Robin’s name on it as a placeholder design, “welcome aboard, Nee-san.”

“Huh?” Robin whirls around, slightly shocked, “I did not mean to…”

“Don’t mind it, you’ll get used to it,” Sanji assures her, coming by with a fresh plate just for her, “anyways, do tell me if anything is unpalatable to you. I won’t be offended.”

 

“Are you guys seriously making that our rite of passage,” Usopp asks, steeping the tea leaves as Sanji continues bringing out the dishes. “You’re giving her culture shock.”

“HEY Usopp! You’re not allowed to pour the tea, we don’t have a liquid indicator!” Sanji snaps at him, “I’m not dealing with any more burns this month!” 

“You mean I’m not dealing with any more of them this month!” Chopper retorts. 

Usopp grumbles something incoherent, chastised into sitting down quietly beside Robin while Chopper pushes a book into his hand, telling him to sit still and wait patiently, because Chopper is more than willing to help Sanji bring the dishes out today.

Usopp stares at the book, very quietly. 

“You guys are just being total dicks at this point,” Usopp says. 

 

Nami hums in acknowledgement, plucking out a chalk to scribble on their blackboard of to-do lists. Zoro’s on watch outside, Luffy is still having his tantrum, but Nami deems this an ideal environment to start laying out their current plans. 

“Well, since Gin isn’t here, we’re going to have to lay out our plans systematically like this so we don’t forget anything,” Nami says, “listen up closely, first the chores are going to have to be split more sparsely now, since Usopp can’t do the stocks, and Chopper can't do the night watch…”

“I can do the night watch! I can stay awake this time, I promise!” 

“...and Luffy can’t do the shopping.”

“What the-- I can!” Luffy whines, “I can do groceries!” 

“...and I can’t go anywhere without catching all the eyes in the city, and Zoro can’t get anywhere without getting lost--”

“I heard you!” Zoro yells, from outside. 

“Anyways, anyways,” Nami says, “first, we’re going to have to find a place to restock on everything we couldn’t do in Alabasta,” she says. “Starting with medical supplies, new clothes, and of course… We need to do some serious maintenance on the Merry.”

That made everyone pause. 

“We didn’t get much time to get her looked at ever since Reverse Mountain, have we?” Nami says, “she’s been through a lot too. We’ll need an expert to come and see if any parts need to be changed.”

“Ooh! That’s true!” Luffy chimes up, clapping his feet, “so, what’re we gonna do?”

“She’s sailing fine, isn’t she?” 

“Hey, don’t overestimate her. Like Nami’s arm, she needs to be carefully maintained too.”

“Ugh, speaking of Nami’s arm, we need to get you a new one before we find another summer island, don’t we?” Zoro says, from outside.

“Ehh, I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine, let’s focus on Merry, yeah?” Nami tries to dismiss the situation, but that only seems to solidify the need for everyone else. 

“Hey, Usopp, put that on the list,” Sanji says. 

“Sanji, I’m blind.”

“Put it on anyways, I don’t care what you accidentally write over.”

“Alright, if you say so--”

“What the-- no!” Nami yelps, snatching the chalks from Usopp’s hands, “we don’t have a lot of money, and an arm like mine’s going to need custom sizing, which will take time! We don’t have either of that to spare, you know? We need to meet up with Gin and Anne in Jaya next week!” 

 

“Ugh, do we really have to do so much without Gin and Anne? Can’t we just wait until they’re back?” Luffy whines, “having to have responsibility is just annoying.”

“WE’RE ONLY STUCK WITH SO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT DOING AS MUCH!” the crew collectively yells, smacking him over the head. 

“Ack! Sorry!” 

 


 

“We’re going for the Dead End Race?” Usopp asks, slightly surprised, “c’mon, Nami, I know you’re-- were, I mean-- the reigning Queen of the Dead End and all…”

“What’s with that tone, of course I’m going for it again!” Nami says, “my legend’s gotta start somewhere. Though I don’t really remember if we participated in it this year actually.” 

Usopp hums, handing the newspaper and the hidden flyer for the Dead End race to Robin to read to the children. He carefully threads his fingers through Nami’s hair, bringing them to her back for a ponytail. Kinoko lands on his shoulder, holding in her beak a beaded hair ornament, which Usopp takes to weave through the strands. 

“But since it’s such perfect timing, I’m pretty sure we did,” Usopp says. “But with everything else that happened here, y’know, I don’t really remember.”

“Shucks,” Nami says, “all that future information and we forgot it. You’re worthless.”

“Fucking rude,” Usopp hisses, weaving it down in a braid, “but you still remember how to go to Han’nabal?” 

“Well if our log pose is pointed at Akibana... it’s a piece of cake for me,” Nami says, holding one of her maps and looking toward the compass on her wrist. “Where’s my calculator?”

“Hey, heard you were talking shit,” Zoro grumbles, suddenly behind her. 

Nami beams

 

Meanwhile, Robin reads out the little note that indicated the race was happening this year. It was a small note, only given by the News Coo to pirate ships. While Luffy and Chopper seemed fascinated, Sanji seemed skeptical. 

“For pirates, by pirates, the anything-be-anything-goes Dead End Race,” Robin says. “I’ve participated in one before, on a ship before I joined Crocodile. I suppose we are going for it as well, Miss Burglar Cat?”

“A race?!” 

“Does that mean there’s a prize at the end?”

“An adventure! That smells like an adventure!” 

 

Nami giggles at that. “Well, first, we’re going to give Merry a makeover,” she says, “then, we’re going to win the race, and win the money, and bolt out of there richie rich!” 

“YEAH! That sounds fun!” 

 

And as everyone celebrates, Usopp can’t help but wonder just what he’s forgetting. Surely, they participated, didn’t they? But Dead End Races tend to meld together over the years, especially since he and Nami participated in so many over the years…

Agh, whatever. It’ll work out somehow.

And if it doesn't, they'll make it work.

 


 

Han’nabal Island is known to be an island of former and current pirates, and Nami wasn’t taking any chances right now. As much as Usopp would be the best man to watch over Merry’s repairs, he’d get swindled as long as he couldn’t see what they were doing. 

Usopp had one hand on Luffy’s arm, the other on his walking stick, as they made their way through the crowds. It was a long, long road, with narrow paths, countless stairs, and lots of crowds.

It made him dizzy, and it definitely showed on his face, because Luffy seemed to be rushing through every crowd he had to go through, and kept distracting Usopp with something else. 

 

“Look, Usopp! That guy’s got fifteen scoops on his ice cream!” Luffy cheers. 

“Huh?” Usopp would say, but Luffy would be going over already. 

“Two, four, twelve-- ah, there’s actually fifteen. How the hell did you count that so fast,” Sanji would mutter, but they would be all the way on the other end, Luffy ordering three of every flavour to get the fifteen and show it off. 

“It’s so cool! Chopper, here,” Luffy hands it to him, “you want one, Usopp?”

“Ah no, I don’t exactly have a free hand…”

“Then I’ll hold it for you! Hey ossan! Two more!” 

 

They went around like tourists, Robin cheerfully keeping up, comfortable in a den of too many pirates for anyone to be hunting for her head. Sanji sighs, making sure they’re all around him, and pulling them back when they wander too far. 

 

“Ooh, that guy has a bird that looks like Ennosuke!” Luffy says, earning a curious squeak from Kinoko who was stealing Usopp’s ice cream. “Usopp, Usopp! It’s even the same colour! Though it’s got less armor and it’s like, twice as huge.”

“Ah, okay?” Usopp mutters, confused, “so is it like a hawk or an eagle?”

“Hmmm,” Luffy seems to think for a second, “like a hawkeagle!” 

“Is that a thing?” Chopper asks, genuinely curious. “And what is Kinoko anyways? Usopp, she says you never told her so she doesn’t know.”

“I mean, I don’t know either.”

“Ooh! That guy has a cool axe! It’s like Nami!” Luffy beams, already interested elsewhere. “Usopp! That axe is bigger than Nami’s! But Nami’s axe is cooler though.”

 

Chopper clings to Usopp’s other side as he and Luffy bring each other across the roads. 

Somehow, even without seeing much-- Usopp felt like he could experience this town, just as well as before. Strung along chaotically, he couldn’t help but smile.

 

“OOh! Mysterious tunnel!” Chopper declares, when they spot a storeside with stairs that led to a basement. “Are we going down?”

“It’s a hole in the wall,” Sanji says, “underground bars, second floor storefronts… restaurants come in many forms, you know. It’s usually where shady things happen.”

“OOOh! Mysterious tunnel!” Luffy agrees. 

“I just said it’s not a--!!”

 

Usopp smiles in resignation as they hurriedly make their way down. Robin giggles behind them, following along as Sanji grumbles about unruly children. 

“Wanted posters! This is all so cool!”

“Look, Gin is here! And-- here, Nami! See?”

Usopp doesn’t tell Luffy that well, he can’t . It’s just how Luffy speaks, how he makes sure Usopp’s included.

(Because Usopp’s see and look mean different things, and Luffy understands that he doesn’t need to tread on eggshells with him.) 

“Well it feels like a piece of paper,” Usopp mutters dryly, a hand on the wall, “oh hey, it’s kind of greasy. Gross.” And he rubs his hand on Chopper’s fur, earning a furious shriek. 

 

Luffy laughs as they enter the establishment-- a lively bar-- and find a seat, demanding food loudly to the confused gazes of a few bar patrons. They’re quickly dismissed, especially after Sanji gives them all a threatening glare and Robin helps him, providing a very sinister smile. 

Usopp meanders his way to the bar instead, signalling for the rest to come over as he subtly places two coins on the counter. 

“Sorry about the rowdy crowd,” Usopp says. 

The bartender pauses in his glass wiping, and lets out an audible sigh. “You’re a rather young group, aren’t you?” he frowns, and Usopp only chuckles. His voice goes grimly lower at the next words-- “and you’re blind. Are you sure?” 

 

Usopp suddenly notices the sheer emanating bloodlust seeping out of Sanji behind him. 

 

“You got a problem, mister?” Sanji says, his voice near a low growl, “would you a fancy a conversation on basic fucking manners instead?”

Oh, he takes it back immediately. These guys are fearfully protective in the most annoying we-can-do-it-not-you way . Usopp winds back, alarmed. “It’s not a big deal, you guys, geez--”

“That’s different. You stay quiet,” Sanji hisses back menacingly. 

Ignoring the sheer hypocrisy of that treatment, Usopp stays quiet and smiles in what he thinks is either apologetically or uncomfortably he's not sure, because Luffy has also been strangely quiet beside him for the past minute, and well-- this was kinda nice. 

“Hey now, I apologize, didn’t mean to offend,” the bartender is quick to pick himself back up. “It’s just that this race tends to be unforgiving on the ones that lack the peripherals.” 

“Hey, changing how you phrase it doesn’t make it any less--”

Sanji stops when the bartender retrieves a key from under the counter, making his way toward a door on his right. 

“Come on,” the bartender says, opening the door. “The quicker we get this done, the quicker we can pretend we’ve never interacted.”

 


 

Getting people that were willing to work for them was quite easy. Being an island with near zero pirate prejudice, they were more than willing to help reinforce the ship, if only because they felt sorry for such a little ship to have to brave the Grand Lines without a shipwright. 

“You’ll probably have to replace the ropes, too,” the shipwright says, frowning, “don’t worry about the mizzen, we’ve got some that are around the right size, we’ll work it down from there. As for the time it’ll take-- well, how much are ya paying?”

Nami sighs. 

In a second, she has the man pinned to the wall with a raised foot, the look of sheer murder in her eyes as she leans down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Money?” she asks, “oh, no, mister, you can’t possibly be trying to get an expensive charge out of me, are you?”

“EEeeeep! No, I can’t possibly, milady, but--” 

“Name your discount, first. And maybe I’ll step on you if you do.”

“What the-- oh hell that doesn’t sound too bad actually NO I MEAN-- okay. Okay maybe I’ll give you 10% off, maybe--” 

“And get it done by daylight.”

“What the-- but it’s evening now! That’ll be an all-night--” he freezes when Nami glares, “--I mean! Of course! Of course, milady! We will get it down before then!” 

 

Zoro watches from afar, nodding in approval. “Man, she’s useful in times like these.”

 

He watches over the shipwrights currently on the ship, taking down the sails to fortify the yards. Somewhere below deck, there were people working to patch some of the holes in the hull that Hina had left behind in her harpoon assault. 

Nothing seemed odd for now. 

He sighed. Once they were done here, he was going to get a drink, whether Nami liked it or not. And hell he is not going to get lost. 

“Did we seriously have to hide our ship all the way around this side, though?” Zoro mutters, “the town’s so far away it’s kind of a pain.”

One of the shipwrights chuckled at that. “So you guys are the kind of pirates that are ballsy and would just pier into any civilian port like no one’s business, huh?” he says, “well, I guess if you take the flag away, this girls’ quite an unassuming caravel.”

The man--lithe and tall-- wore a bright yellow coat, tailored to fit. He was clearly a mercenary, a huge contrast to the lightly dressed shipwrights that were coated in a day’s worth of sweat. 

Zoro turns to him, a hand on his sword. 

“You think you can talk? Were you seriously trying to blend in with the rest of the shipwrights wearing that?” he questions, keeping wary of the huge log of timber the man had effortlessly hiked up to his shoulder. 

The man laughs. “You have a point!” 

 

Zoro’s eyes narrowed. “I know you,” he realizes, “Pirate Executioner, Shuraiya Bascud. You after some of our heads or something?”

 

Tilting his hat cheerfully, the man smiles, “I’m honoured you know me, Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro.” 

 

“Well, you’re definitely more notorious than me, but we’re fellow victims of the same dumb nicknames,” Zoro mutters, his hand not yet leaving his sword, “hurry up and get off our ship. I’m not saving you if the witch catches you here.”

“Oh, don’t be so cold, I’m doing a real part-time job here, you know,” Shuraiya beams.

“What, shipwrighting of all things?”

“Information gathering, since this seemed like an easy target with this cute ship and all.” 

“Fucker I knew it!” Zoro snaps, swiping at him with Ichimonji. “Get off our ship, you asshat! OUT!” 

 

Shuraiya laughs, setting down the log before leaping onto the bow, past the figurehead, and back onto the shore. 

 

“You better wish you didn’t sabotage the Merry!” Zoro yells, “I’ll murder you, got it?!”

“Alright, see ya! I didn’t see the Man-Demon around, but I’d suggest you go for the lower bounty, might be easier! Women are scary!” he says, like anyone asked for his shithead opinion. “All the luck on your own hunt!” Shuraiya bids, cheerfully. Then, as a hindsight, he turns around to holler, “hey, Roronoa! Saying this as a fellow bounty hunter--”

“I’m a pirate now!” Zoro yells back, “why are you being so friendly? Fuck off already!” 

“--I’m not going to steal your target--”

“What the-- wait a minute, you're misunderstanding something! I’m not targeting anyone on this crew, I’m a member of this fucking crew!” 

“--sure I’ll believe you! But yeah, the real thing is, there’s a bigger bigshot on this island too, so watch your head!” Shuraiya hollers, “you know Gasparde, right?” 

Zoro freezes. “Gaspa--” but Shuraiya’s already leaving. “Hey, you’re not aiming for that head are you-- ah, fuck this.” 

 

Shuraiya’s already far away, and Zoro didn’t think it was worth the effort anymore. It’s not like he cares for that dumbass, anyways-- but seriously, Gasparde? That guy’s about as dangerous as Crocodile in notoriety alone.

(But well, if that guy’s going to die, Zoro would just have to say ‘oh well’ and let bygones be bygones.)

 


 

Luffy’s group returns much after dinnertime, hulking along a huge sack of food and booze for Zoro and Nami, sharing some with the working shipwrights for good measure. 

“I’ve never been treated to food by pirates before!” one of the shipwrights sob into their meat, “you guys are good people!” 

“Really? Well, shame we can’t share too much sake with you guys though, our two heavyweights aren’t too willing to share,” Sanji says, “but well, eat right up! It’s not on our dime either anyways.”

Nami stares skeptically, “you’re not supposed to bring food out of the pit, you know,” she says, “it's free only if you eat inside the premises.”

“Don’t worry,” Usopp assures her, carefully making his way around the lumber and ropes on the ground, Kinoko bringing an Eternal Pose to the navigator’s hands. “Luffy started a fight with the giants Bobby and Pogo, and well, everyone around us started a mini betting pool.”

“He started a fight with who ?!”

“They almost drank my hat!” Luffy shouts from somewhere on the other end of the ship. 

“Maybe make sure your hat doesn’t fall into peoples’ booze next time!” came another yell from Sanji. “You did laugh and make up after that though, so I guess it was fine.”

 

“And well, General Gasparde too, but he didn’t stick around to duke it out,” Usopp says, “Everyone was so sure Luffy would lose, so we just won everything. Got enough food to feed Luffy thrice and this was the leftover.” 

“Luffy, good!” Nami cheers. “But wait, General Gasparde? The bigshot?”

“Wasn’t he already reported missing long ago?” Usopp wonders, “huh? When was that again? Was that now?”

 

Robin seems to be keeping herself to the quieter parts of the ship, but a mouth opens beside them to give her two cents. 

“I believe his bounty has risen to ninety-five million as of a month ago,” she says, “he’s the favourite to win this year’s Dead End race. Luffy has caught his eye.”

 

At that, Nami immediately deflates. 

“Leave it to that idiot to get us caught up in something like that. I guess we’re fighting him now,” she mutters, inspecting the Eternal Pose. “Oh, this year’s goal is Partia? A gentle southeast from Akibana, a sweet spring port town. Nice place.”

“I don’t remember if we did this before,” Usopp says, for the third time, “that guy's bounty is higher than Crocodile’s, you know? I mean, Croc’s was the inactive bounty and all, but it’s still a huge leap. Can Luffy handle it?”

“Well, he’ll be fine. Probably. Will you be jumping ship if we don’t win, Robin?” Nami teases, the mouth on the deck immediately wrenching into a sly smile before vanishing in a wisp of petals. 

“I wonder,” Robin says, “I’ll consider my options, that’s for sure.” 

 

Nami hums at that, pointing the Eternal Pose to the sky, watching the needle change direction. She pauses, realizing something. 

“Usopp,” she says, her tone lowering dangerously, “was Sanji with you when you were given this Eternal Pose?”

 

“Huh? Uh.. sorry, I think he went off to stop Luffy at that point.”

“I see.” 

Nami immediately stands up. 

“Luffy~” she calls, the oddly sweet tone catching the captain’s attention, and all individuals on the ship simultaneously stop everything they’re doing to turn their attention to her. “Get ready, we have people to murder.”

 

Nami lifts the Eternal Pose, smiling mischievously-- before plucking out a knife-- and yanking the fake name plate out of the top of the Eternal Pose. 

The jaws that dropped, including the shipwrights’, were very vocal and incredibly horrified. 

“The-- the Eternal Pose--!!”

“Holy shit.”

“Wait what-- why was there a-- what ?!”

Nami tosses it back to Usopp, who, in his confusion, runs his fingers across the base of the wood-- and gasps in horror. 

“Shit,” he says, genuinely crushed to realize he’d fallen for something so obvious-- hell, to New World pirates, this was basic merchant ploy, “oh no. I’m so sorry, Nami-- I thought I was careful…”

“Don’t worry, Usopp,” Nami says, turning around to smile at her crew. “I’m sure this wasn’t the only tampered Eternal Pose that was distributed today. But well, if anyone was trying to sabotage anyone, for a reason or not… I think I know who would be capable of this.”

 

Luffy hops to his feet immediately, “THAT BASTARD!” 

 

Zoro slams his barrel mug down, standing up with his swords by his side. Sanji crunches his cigarette in annoyance, and Chopper yells out, annoyed. 

“Now now, wait for a bit,” Nami says, putting a hand on Luffy’s hat to ease him for a moment. “If we’re going to cause chaos, might as well cause as much chaos as we can, shouldn’t we?”

She turns to the galley doors, where Robin was perched. The older lady smiles, crossing her hands and closing her eyes. 

“I suppose this is a job for me, then?”

 


 

One by one, on several ships all across Han’nabal island, mouths and eyes emerge from the wall, scaring the living daylights out of the crew. 

“This is a message from the Strawhat Pirates,” the cold woman’s voice reports, like a recording, “check the Eternal Pose you’ve been given. It may have been tampered with.”

For people on the streets, Chopper flew around on Kinoko’s back, carrying a mother Den Den Mushi to communicate with the babies in the area via an emergency wavelength that caught them all at once. 

In mere minutes, people were noticing the fake Eternal Poses, the news was spreading wildly-- and a furious raid occurred in the underground pit. The host of the race was seized-- and tortured, by some of the more unforgiving pirates-- for information on the mastermind. 

Many left the cause once Gasparde’s name was revealed-- but most of them crowded around the Strawhats, sieging their steamship with all the vigor of pirates cannibalising each other for profit. 

Usopp and Nami observe the madness from the Going Merry-- well, Usopp was listening, at least-- and listen as Luffy screams out barrage after barrage of attacks. 

 

(“What the he-- HEY, Roronoa! I thought we agreed not to steal my target!” a very familiar voice yells out.)

(“It’s a free-for-all now, Bascud!” came the returning yell, “or what, do you want this Needles guy instead?”)

(“Fuck you, I’m killing you first!”)

(“Oh, bring it on!”)

 

This was nice. If they deal with all of this and get the real Eternal poses properly distributed by daylight, they can all make it in time and have a Dead End Race, fairly this time. Ah, the joys of being nice people. 

 

(An explosion in the distance.)

(“NOT THE BOILER! NOT THE BOILER!” cries an old man and a child. “I’LL MAKE YOU GUYS PAY FOR THIS! THIS IS MURDER! SHE WAS A GOOD BOILER!”)

 

Very peaceful indeed. 

Nami and Usopp share the last of their supper over tea, to the noise of the hardworking shipwrights getting Merry reroped and her mast replaced. Kinoko munches on cookies happily, loafing on her mat. 

Robin had also gone to join the fray, not to fight, but because a former Marine vessel had to contain some interesting documents.

“Speaking of which, we need a specialist in machines,” Usopp says, “your arm and everything, and we could really upgrade our gear, too. Zoro aside, Gin and I, and Kinoko too I guess, need it.”

Nami hums, “just be patient, we’ll be at Water 7 before you know it.”

“No, I’m talking about earlier than that. You think we can wait that long to get you a new arm if this one breaks too?” Usopp stresses, “Franky’s an awesome mechanic and all, but he’s not exactly the scientific power-and-elegance-in-subtlety sort that you like, is he? That’s why you always come to me for repairs and upgrades instead of him.”

Nami mulls over that, because he’s got a point. 

“Well, Franky likes to make everything automatic, you know,” she says, raising her metal arm, “he's an expert at making engines and big, technological masterpieces and all-- but what I want is something as close to personal I can get, that I can use with my natural skills, rather than fighting with whatever enhancements that are added.”

Usopp crosses his arms contemplatively. 

Nami was never a gun or laser sort of person-- she controlled the weather with science and all, but she wasn’t one for the intricacies of explosions, gunfire, or anything like that. Despite her long-ranged weather science, she was a close-combat fighter with her thunder lance and mirages.

“So I think we’re in agreement that we’ll need someone other than Franky?” Usopp questions. “I would love to do your enhancements on my own, but making an actual arm is beyond me, and there are limits to things I can make without vision, so…”

If Franky was a mechanic, a shipwright--

“What we need is a technician , right?” Nami says. “Someone with better mastery at tools and mechanics than you and me, but more functional than Franky’s extravaganza.”

“Where are we going to find someone like that?” Usopp says, “plus, I was thinking about the time we get to Sabaody this time… argh, they’re so loud over there. Can’t they cause chaos quietly?”

 

(In the distance, there’s a loud yell. “GET AWAY! His devil fruit is impossible to beat! It’s nearly a Logia, you moron! We’re going to die!”)

(“Wait, but Strawhat’s hitting him! We can get him if we catch him off guard!”)

(“But if everyone’s trying to catch him off guard, no one can!”)

(“Hey uh,” this voice was distinctly Sanji’s, “sorry if this ia a kinda dumb thought but… he’s made of candy? Am I right? Can I give a chef’s opinion here?”)

(“What?!” all heads turned to him, all annoyed at the interruption. They were bleeding and losing the fight, dammit, no time for nonchalant conversation!)

(Sanji seems slightly apprehensive, placating the very angry men, “well uh, heat makes it malleable, and flour makes it harden?”)

(There’s a moment where absolutely no one spoke.)

(Then all at once, “GO RAID THE BAKERY! THERE’S ONE RIGHT THERE!”)

 

After the Rock-Paper-Scissors match of hell, Shuraiya Bascud wins the right to claim Gasparde’s bounty. Not that anyone else could have shared the money, since they were pirates, but they won anyway.

Luffy comes back wailing really loudly, because Boshi got ripped apart in one clash when he’d attempted to save Shuraiya. He wasn’t even bothered by the hole in his gut or the missing chunk of his palm, (though Chopper was very worried about that,) he was just mourning for his hat.

And anyways, a very infuriated Adelle Bascud spent the next couple hours helping him sew it back to decent shape.

 

(If she added a tiny flower stitch hidden under the ribbon, let’s just say everyone except Usopp noticed, but no one told Luffy.)

 


 

Robin returned with quite a haul of books to fill the shelves of Nami’s mapping room and even Gin’s little shelf in the boy’s room. Everyone was nursing injuries, so they didn’t exactly stop her there. 

“They’ll still pay us the prize when we get to Battalia, right?” Luffy asks, holding out his hand for Chopper to bandage. 

“Partia, Luffy,” Nami says, looking over the map with a lamp between them, “and yes, the prize should already be there, in the hands of the mayor of that town.” 

“Yosh! Then we’re getting it, let’s go!” Luffy cheers, accidentally taking his hand out of Chopper’s reach mid-bandaging and earning an angry bark. 

“Aye, I want a fridge with a lock on it, Nami-swan,” Sanji sighs.

“Where’s my booze?” Zoro demands, grabbing Kinoko, “did you drink my booze? You smell like my booze!”

 

Nami hands Zoro her leftover beer, which seems to placate him. “It doesn’t start until daybreak, you three monsters. Go sleep.”

 

“You’re calling us monsters?” Zoro grumbles. “Then what are you two? Insanity squad ?”

“Shut up, mosshead, she’s not the one that cut down a hulking mast ,” Sanji returns.

“Kitetsu does that on his own!” Zoro hisses, “he’s learning!” 

Luffy ignores them, declaring, “Okay, first we sleep! Then 300 million!” 

 

And immediately, the three boys conked out in a pile, asleep in an instant. Chopper grumbles, something about the inconvenience of treating them when they’re piled up like that, but he continues to angrily patch them up. 

Nami and Usopp share a smile, and Kinoko scoffs at the sight. 

 


 

Citizens of Han’nabal would mark this day as the Great Flour Fight of the century, where history was made and an asshole everyone hated was taken off his pedestal. People witnessed the great Gasparde, feared in these seas, systematically taken down in less than a couple hours. With flour. 

The marines to arrest Gasparde weren’t called until long after the Dead End Race began and all ships had set off, aiming for the real destination. 

In the years that followed, the Great Flour Fight Festival would continue to be a tradition, where children and adults threw bags of flour at each other in the plaza, until only one was left standing. 

 

-


-

 

“Okay so first we go in!” Bon declares. 

 

They’re all seated on the very fluffy carpet in the captain’s room of the Swanda Express, nursing a cup of tea in their hands. Bon has a slideshow pulled up, caricatures and all, with the step by step to brief their newcomers on the plan. 

Anne and Gin nod. 

“Yeah, infiltrate their ranks,” Gin says, deciding this was fair. He would have rathered a reckless punch-and-run tactic, but against someone like Hina, even he knew this was wiser. “You guys are the masters of disguise or some shit, right?”

“Will I be a cabin boy?” Anne wonders, “and can I kill anyone?”

Pointedly, no one answers her. The rest of the crew happily kick a door open to reveal a glorious walk-in-closet full of clothing, from glamorous to simple to governmentally assigned coats definitely custom-made and pillaged. For a moment, Gin wonders if defeated enemy pirates have to sail off naked or something. 

 

“And then, we’ll find the keys and the brig!” Bon says. 

 

Anne and Gin nod again. 

“Hina’s known for the Black Cage and all, but she can’t do that with Crocodile, so they’re probably in seastone instead,” Gin says, “well, jailbreaks are kind of Anne’s specialty, so she’ll head that section of the operation.”

“Do you think they chained up Lassoo too?” Anne wonders, completely on another wavelength, “oh, maybe they netted him instead. Shackles can’t fit him, after all, he doesn’t have hands.”

 

“And then we’ll get out!” Bon says, cheerfully, “easy, right?”

 

Anne and Gin don’t nod this time. Anne actually stops between bites of her senbei to frown at the man’s easygoing smile. 

“...Is that it?” she questions. 

Bon beams, answering nothing. 

Gin stands up, tonfas in hand. 

“Stop stop stop! I was joking! I was joking! STAWPH!” 

Wisely, the rest of Bon’s crew divert their gazes when Gin smashes the metal ball right onto their queen’s skull. 

 


 

Infiltrating Hina’s ship honestly isn’t hard, especially when the first thing they do is get blown up and then caught by her anyway. 

“It’s a shame we let the Straw Hats escape, but I suppose you will suffice. We just need to get the Baroque Works agents back to base,” Hina says, tossing Mister Two into the brig with the rest of the Officer Agents, who scoff at his arrival. 

She leaves soon after, ordering for a guard to watch them over. 

 

“Look who’s here,” Miss Doublefinger says. “What’s this we hear about the Straw Hats?”

“Arrgggh he could’ve held back,” Bon whines, still in agony with the slight fracture Gin gave him before. “Oh! Boss!” he looks at Crocodile, “I heard Straw-chan gave you a run for your money!” 

“You wanna die, Bentham?” Crocodile immediately hisses at him, slamming a foot down. 

“Oh no! It’s the real names! He’s pulled out the real names on me!” Bon dramatizes, wriggling about to Mister Four’s side for solace and comfort, “I’m terrified!” 

“Noooowww nowww…” Mister Four pats him with his shackled hands. 

“Aarrgh! An annoyingannoying annoying! One has come, thisissooo unpleasant! UNpleasant!” Miss Merrychristmas snaps, kicking, like a child in a tantrum, pointing in the far direction with her foot, “go the o’er corner, ya skank!” 

“Excuse you, what didja just call ME?!” Mister Two bolts up, furious. 

“Skank!” Miss Merrychristmas repeats, “ninny! Yagot caught! LIkeanidiot! HAH!”

“Oh, quit joking aroooound, yo! I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart!” Mister Two yells, annoyed, “show some gratitude!”

 

That earned him some pause and a few raised brows. 

“For what?” Mister One asks first, but the door opens before they could get an answer out of him, and they glare in unison at the poor guard that comes in for duty, earning a terrified squeak. 

 

The no-name grunt is immediately splashed in the head with a huge dollop of Blue paint, and he falls to the ground, sobbing something incoherently. 

The Officer Agents watch mutedly as he’s dragged out by the foot until he’s out of sight, and a much smaller figure walks into the cell, quietly closing the door behind her. 

 

She’s wearing an oddly-small Marine uniform. Who would tailor a seaman recruit’s uniform to that size? Yeah, that’s a dead giveaway, if the multitudes of brown ink staining her skin, all clearly bared against the short sleeves, wasn’t obvious enough already. 

The girl lifts her cap and smiles. 

“Hi, Boss,” she says, and right on cue, a loud yell roars from the deck. 

 

(Distinctly, it sounded like ‘PAINT FIIIIIIIGHTTT!!!’ followed by a heavy splashing noise and a gurgle of screams.)

 

“I caused a distraction,” she says, searching her pockets and then revealing a set of keys. “Shall we have some tea?”

Jaws drop.

Mister Two swoons, “you’re one capable girl, lovely!” 

 


 

Hina is having a strange day. Transporting so many bounties at once is quite an ordeal-- nothing much for her, but Crocodile’s still a special case. 

Well, all that aside… 

 

“Captain Hina, Mister Two Bon Clay has been detained with the rest of the prisoners,” the soldier says-- or well, the man that was wearing a soldier uniform, at least .

 

All the henna painted over his arms and hands were kind of telling. 

Hina takes a very long sip of her drink (Fullbody knows how to make a good cocktail, surprisingly,) staring very intently at the man as he lifted his head and she instantly recognized him as the Man Demon Gin. 

(Is that a biohazard symbol on his face?)

 

Hina almost forgets to respond, “very well, soldier, you’re dismissed.” 

“Understood, Captain.”

Then she realizes her mistake-- why is she dismissing this very obviously not her soldier man? There was just so much going on in those few seconds that she’d forgotten to react to any of them. What a blunder, Hina’s a disaster. 

She clears her throat, “h- hold on. Hina wants you to wait,” she says, taking a moment to set down her drink, pinching the bridge of her nose as she reconsiders her life. “A moment, please. Hina is-- baffled. Bewildered. Confused. Utterly speechless. Your flimsy disguise is quite low-effort for some of Mister Two’s work, Hina digresses.” 

“I said so as well, but my better ideas were all outvoted in favour of fun, apparently,” came the very tired rebuttal. “I didn’t exactly come into the room expecting to pass as a soldier, I guess. Am I going to die now? Please kill me so I can prove those idiots wrong.”

“Uhm. Are you okay?”

“No.”

“No really,” Hina sighs, holding a hand up, “a distraction? Is this a distraction?” Does he have companions elsewhere doing something else to get the prisoners out? But why? “Hina can’t make sense of your actions.”

The Man Demon hums, shifting from one leg to the other, “sounds tough.”

“Hina is glad you empathize,” she says, dryly. 

 

Okay, the Man-Demon is here. She hasn’t been this close to him since before he got his fearsome bounty, something like five years ago when she caught sight of him and Smoker (and Miss Goldenweek, too,) in that place. 

If Gin was here-- were the Strawhats around? No, she would’ve gotten a proper report. This was a small-scale infiltration, they probably snuck in with Mister Two earlier while the rest of the crew escaped. 

But why would they-- ugh, if she captures this guy, would Smoker get on her case? He would, wouldn’t he? That man hasn’t been so protective over anything ever since Domi and Sadi were around and Hina doesn’t want to see any of that ever again. 

 

With a loud groan, she leans back, taking a sip of her cocktail once more, “done,” she says in defeat, “Hina is exhausted. Very exhausted-- she will be resting now. She will not care.”

 

Gin blinks at that. 

“Uhm. I don’t really get it, but I’m sorry? And thanks?” he offers. “Oh and uh, in case you want to know, that Jango guy started a paint war with Anne about… twenty minutes ago now? And they’re now having a mass paintball water balloon fight on the main deck.”

Hina sits up, horrified.

“And uh, we’re leaving. Oh uh, you’re Smoker’s friend, right? Please don’t tell him we were here, he’ll say we’re suicidal again,” Gin is halfway out the door, looking in warily. “I mean, I am, but Anne is here, so we don’t tell him that.”

 

Hina chucks her leftover cocktail at him, watching it smash unceremoniously into the door when Gin hurriedly closes it to run.

 


 

“Whadda’rya planning, yer traitor?” Miss MerryChristmas hisses first, “have some shame! shame-I-say! Comingatus afterwe lost! Here ta rubbit in our faces, are’ye?”

“Hiiiiii,” Mister Four greets slowly, “suuurprriiising... youuuuuu’rrree allll rrrriiiiii--”

“There’s no reason you should be here,” Mister One says, “with Mister Two, no less. Whatever you’re planning, it’s better you leave and cut contact with us.”

“Hey, be grateful, she came to save you guys!” Mister Two yells, “out of the goodness of her heart! Because she’s such a good girl! She still loves you even if you’re an asshole!” 

 

Crocodile scoffs at that. “Idiocy,” he grumbles at Mister Two, “just a warning. If you set me free, that scar on your face isn’t the only thing I’ll be giving you this time.” 

 

Anne stares back blankly at that, her hands continuing to work through the keys to find the right one for the lock. 

“What the-- you scarred a lady’s face?!” Mister Two yells, “that’s low even for you, Boss!” 

“I agreeeeeeee,” Mister Four frowns. Beside him, Lassoo makes a whiny noise, staring at Crocodile judgmentally. 

“They’re uglyuglyUGLY!” Miss MerryChristmas snaps, laughing, “servesyaright! Serves! Ya! Right! Defyingtheboss! Screwya, wench!” 

“Quiet, small fries.”

“Scars? All I see is that mess you call a pattern on your face,” Miss Doublefinger questions, grimacing at the sight. For good measure, she repeats, “they’re a mess.”

 

Anne immediately brightens up at that, though her face remains impressively stoic, “Usopp drew them for me!” She’s clearly proud of them, “I'm joining the Straw Hat pirate ship and sailing the seas with them after this.”

 

Crocodile groans. “Yeah, we figured.”

Anne nods, “but I didn’t properly say it,” she says, finally getting the door open. “Boss--” she begins, but Crocodile sharply interrupts her. 

“Stop calling me that, you brat!” he snaps. “You’re the entire reason our plan fell apart, you’re no longer my subordinate!” 

“Yeah! Scram, scram, Goldenweek!” Miss MerryChristmas yells. 

“She’s riiiiight,” Mister Four says, “noooooot friiiiiiends...”

“You guys are rude!” Mister Two yells, “she’s got conscience in her heart! Her HEART, yanno? Stop joking around, ya disgraceful uglies!” 

“Who ya callin’ ugly, UGLY?!” Miss MerryChristmas retorts. “You stu--!! STUP--!!”

“Those things are empty words,” Mister One says, “she’s betrayed us first. We have no right to hear her now, and she has no right to save us. It’s mockery.” 

“I can’t say I hold a personal grudge Miss Goldenweek,” Miss Doublefinger says, “but you don’t belong here.” 

 

Anne bites her lip. 

And-- she pouts. Puffs up her cheeks, frowns, and just-- sulks, really hard, looking down, her fists balled up in frustration. 

That earns surprised looks from everyone in the room. It’s the most expressive thing they’ve ever seen from her, and there were a few baffled eyes in the room. 

 

“I hate you guys,” she declares. “I don’t have a colour for hatred, but it’ll probably be red,” she considers. “Can I throw the red paintball at you guys, since I’m mad?”

 

None of the Officer Agents know how to react to that. Because in the next second, Crocodile was just splattered with bright red paint. 

Anne picks up another water balloon from-- nowhere, really, maybe inside her coat pocket or something-- and starts chucking them full force at the others in the room, sparing only Mister Two. It wasn’t a Colors Trap or anything-- it was just paint, in its purest, most annoying form. Because of course she would weaponize globs of colour. 

The ballerina bursts out laughing at the sight, but Anne only dusts her hands and kicks a stone at the wall, still annoyed. 

 

“What the-- hey, Anne!” The door opens hastily, and Man-Demon Gin, also decked out in marine soldier uniform, comes in, grabbing her by the shoulders. “What are you doing?!”

Anne points at them accusingly, like a child tattling on their siblings, “they were being assholes.”

“You’re playing the blame game now?!” Gin yelps, “that’s not the point. C’mon,” he turns her to face them, “you came here to say thank you, right? Say it properly.”

 

That earns him some very confused looks, Crocodile swiping his hand over his face to remove some paint enough to see. 

 

Anne looks away, very placated and very annoyed, like a child being scolded by their mother. She then says, “thanks for taking me in these five years, boss. I owe you a lot.”

Crocodile grimaces, “...what?”

Gin shakes her a little, “go on now. Don’t be a child.”

 

Anne picks up the keys, broodily working through Mister Four’s shackles. 

“We liked being bounty hunters,” she says, “it was a place. Not a nice place, it was competitive and mean and scary, but it was a place and we liked it. So thank you for protecting us under your authority. I hate you, but I didn’t hate that.” 

She made her way through the shackles with stunned looks from everyone, before stopping before Mister One and Crocodile, keys held before her. 

“I wanted to make that clear, that’s all,” she admits, “this isn’t nearly enough to make up for five years of protection. But it’s for my own peace of mind, not yours. So I came here.”

 

Their shackles were off, but no one attacked her. They listened-- and maybe, they agreed. Maybe they thought her spiel was stupid. Maybe they thought this wasn’t like her, and were wondering if this was all an elaborate trap. 

 

With Gin standing there, looking about as proud as a young father-- well, it was just hard to not realize this was actually real. 

“You’ve changed, Miss Goldenweek,” Miss Doublefinger says, after a moment. And Mister Four and Miss MerryChristmas nod at that. 

Mister One takes the keys from her, unlocking himself immediately.  It’s only when the keys are handed to Crocodile that the man sighs, in content and resignation rather than his previous annoyance.

“It’s Anne,” she corrects.  

 

Mister Two massages his wrists with a sigh. The rest of the newly-freed prisoners do the same, swiping globs of paint away from their skin and hair in vain attempt to get cleaner. 

“So,” Bon smiles at them, “are you running with us? Or are you sticking with your pride and staying?”

 

Crocodile stands up, immediately stepping forward, reaching toward Anne.

Gin whirls back, alarmed, reaching for Anne-- but Crocodile only snatches her hat off her head and tosses it aside, patting her on the head twice before moving on. 

“Get a better hat,” he says. Then, “let’s go. I don’t wanna spend another second looking at your traitorous mug, you little brat.”

 

And Anne blinks, slightly put off by that, but also sort of satisfied. “But you’re the one that destroyed my old hat,” she grumbles. 

"Hurry up. Once we're out of here, you're never to call me Boss ever again." 

 

Miss Doublefinger smiles at her when she follows. Mister Four hauls Lassoo in his arms and hulks along, but Miss MerryChristmas makes loud faces at Anne, who, in her petty attempt to get back at her without causing a scene, started imitating the dumb faces right back. 

Mister One only shares a glance with Anne before glaring very firmly at Gin, who clutched Anne by the shoulders in a mildly ‘acclaiming his territory’ manner. 

Mister Two beams really brightly at the whole sight. 

 

“This is it!” he wails, overjoyed, “the ohana and beauty of the nakama word I’ve been shouting! Don’t you think it’s beautiful? The beauty of a family borne from an unfortunate situation, who hate everything about each other while still appreciating unconditional companionship? It’s lovely! It’s romantic!” 

“Shut the fuck up, Mister Two,” everyone says at once. 

 

“Wait, why did you set him free?” Gin realizes, “that’s not part of the plan. Lock him back!” 

“What the-- you guys are mean!” 

 


 

“Let me get this straight,” came Sengoku’s voice from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. “You lost all the Officer Agents you captured inland, and Crocodile , because your entire crew was too engrossed in a water balloon fight ?!”

“It was a paintball waterballoon fight,” Hina says, dryly, “a very automotive and incredibly effective tactic. Miss Goldenweek is to be feared. Hina is terrified.” 

“CAPTAIN HINA, I EXPECT BETTER OF Y--” Sengoku’s voice abruptly, very tiredly, died down. “You and Smoker are doing this out of spite because they’re making you guys take false credit, aren’t you.”

“No, no,” Hina says, in a tone that absolutely meant yes, yes, “it has nothing to do with the coverup that the higher ups are concocting, nor any of the past cover ups that have given our hearts major respite in the past. Hina is the picture of honesty.” 

 

Saying so, she twirls the cords of the Den Den Mushi receiver, smiling reassuringly at a terrified little babyden at the side. 

 

There’s a very exhausted groan on the other end. 

“Hina has managed to recapture and detain Mister Two Bon Clay, however,” she quickly adds, if only to make sure Sengoku doesn’t pop too many blood vessels today. “As well as the rest of his Okama crew. They are currently en route to base.”

“OH THANK GOD,” Sengoku yells out, sounding more devastated and sarcastic than he should be at the fairly good news that they retained custody of one of their prisoners, at least, “just--” a sigh, “--get him to Impel Down and please don’t let this one go too.” 

 

Hina hums, taking a sip of her new cocktail, dismissing the soldier that’s covered in three different paint colours.

She smiles. This was fun. 

 

“That will depend on Hina’s mood.”

 


 

(And yes, the paintball war also became a periodical thing on Captain Hina's ship.)

(Her ship then infected Smoker's, and then some other ships and bases began to pick it up over the buzz of the fun, stress-relieving game, and eventually Garp threw a paint balloon at Sengoku and so began the first Ultimate Paint War of Marineford history.) 

Chapter 53: don't see you again (the things we have to tell you)

Summary:

Anne and Gin live through bootcamp with murder croc and his legion. In other news, the terrible disguises are a Baroque Works thing, not just a Mister Two thing, apparently.

featuring new bounties (for some) and other revelations (for the rest)

Notes:

Happy 300k words! I'm officially an elite no-lifer, awesome milestone, love you guys. Also I hate needles. That had nothing to do with anything, I just wanted to say it. I'm really happy to have made it this far and am looking forward to making it further, even though recent canon events have been making me hesitate to add details in fear of becoming officially canon inconsistent. Anyways.

(p.s I changed the summary of this story, so, hmm)

so as some may have noticed, I'm tapping into quite a few theories and headcanons with this story, such as the theory that suggests connections between smoker, hina, rosinante, and bellemere in their marine training days. There's another theory being played in this chapter regarding crocodile and his life before being a warlord, and well, you'll see.

Now for the important stuff. unfortunately, after long deliberation and sheer confusion, I have to say that I'm probably not going to bring anymore characters back from the previous timeline. Throwing another link in here that is also running wild will be much too difficult to make sense of between canon events, and I'm not in the favour bring an antagonist back to cause chaos in the bad direction. Like, it'll be interesting, but I want joy and happiness here, y'get me?

also because four wise monkeys. idk if anyone noticed but four wise monkeys.

Chapter Text

Igaram, as the Royal guard, usually isn’t delegated to do groceries-- but here he is today. 

A crutch on one hand and a special shopping list on the other (there were still a ton of things their little princess wanted that she couldn’t order through the main channels of the palace because buying weapons and maps was unbecoming for a princess or something, Igaram agreed,) he makes his way through the streets. 

“Ah, Igaram-san!” a shopkeeper greets him, “how’s your foot today? Doing well?”

Igaram smiles back, “I’m getting rather used to how it works,” he says, testingly stamping on the ground with his prosthetic. 

“Igaram-san, Igaram-san!” the lady from the herb shop calls, “won’t you fancy some salves and creams? It’ll help the aches!”

“Ah, I’m fine,” Igaram says, “there’s quite a stock in the palace.”

(Chopper did, after all, leave a ton after inspecting the foot. It’s a common mobility prosthetic, unlike Nami’s automatic, nerve-connected gear-- so Chopper was well aware of how to look out for these.) 

 

Igaram wanders the streets, happily in the presence of the liberated, peaceful Alabasta--

--and then, he sees Mister Four at the counter of a cafe, decked in layers of coats that didn’t fit the desert weather, wearing sunglasses and the most jarring hat he has ever seen. His dog was beside him, dressed as a huge cake or something, sleeping. 

And Igaram’s entire system short circuits. 

 

Clumsily, the hulk of a fancy-haire royal guard hustles into the nearest bush, tucking his crutch under his arm as he grabs two thistle branches to be his disguise. 

 

(Oh no. Oh no, he has to call Lady Vivi now! They’re back! They have returned! They’re going to destroy us all again!)

(He simply must watch this go on for a while more, to see what they’re planning.)

 

A moment later, a little girl in a-- very huge afro-- and an oversized sweater scampers along, dragging a bag of what appeared to be food. 

Mister Four smiles at her as she crouches down to greet the dog. 

 

(Hold on, is that Miss Goldenweek?!? Wasn’t she with the Strawhats??)

 

They speak, but Igaram is too far away to hear what they’re saying. They point in a confusing direction, and someone else points the other way, evidently teaching them directions. 

Apparently, they decided against going anywhere, because Miss Goldenweek just hustles herself onto a chair that’s taller than her, and the bartender hands her a non-alcoholic drink. 

Igaram inches closer. 

It made no sense for them to be back here-- Hina left two days ago! (So did the Strawhats, of course.) Did they come back for revenge after Vivi-sama’s coming of age ceremony? How uh, considerate?

 

“You guys look like tourists,” says a voice behind Igaram, and the royal guard flinches

The woman is tall-- wearing a thin T-shirt, ripped jeans, and a long Alabastan coat over everything. Her blue hair was tied obnoxiously into high, curly twintails. Her sunglasses are even more jarring than mister Four’s hat. 

(Miss Doublefinger, what have they done to you!)

“You look like one too,” Anne says.

“I do not.” Miss Doublefinger sharply denies this. 

“Well, since we’re here, Sanji says to give you this,” Anne picks a note from her pocket, “says he knows a lot of light meals that you might like? Because he can’t take you out, so he just wrote recipes. Huh? How did he know you can cook?”

She takes it, mildly enamoured, “wow, what a charmer,” she hums, “he still owes me a date, though.” 

 

Igaram, very grateful the woman didn’t seem to notice him, carefully inches over the bushes, shifting until he’s behind the other wall and glaring very inconspicuously at them. 

(What are they planning?! Did Anne defect?? No way, right? He must report this to the princess immediatel--)

 

“Oh hey, you’re the Chikuwa guy,” Gin greets him, earning a very loud scream from the man, who absolutely did not shriek and throw everything into the air like a girl seeing a mouse, “hey. How’s the Princess?”

Igaram needed a moment to metaphorically recollect his heart from the ground and catch his breath. 

“Ah, M- Mister Man Demon. The Princess is well,” he says, slightly horrified, “uhm. I did not expect to see you here today, so it was quite a surprise.”

“I’d figure,” Gin says. 

 

He’s holding an armful of what appeared to be groceries and paint tools and even Alabastan herbs and scented items, all in one bag. 

(Gin readjusts his hold on it, mindful of the moment his bracelet, strung with just one red bead, falls out of his sleeve. He tucks it back in without missing a beat.)

Igaram however, has a moment of horror. Who on earth carries food and non-consumables together! Some of those things are poisonous when ingested! He can immediately tell that this man doesn’t usually do any shopping at all. 

By all the conscience of a man that has to take care of children, Igaram takes it from him to separate the food items from the fragrance items as he descends into a spiel. 

 

“Things have been going well in Alabasta,” he says, arranging the many fragile herb bottles and wrapping them in newspaper, “Vivi-sama has restructured the communication system and reorganized the architectural efforts by employing the army to each location…”

“Heh, she’s pretty capable,” Gin says, handing Igaram one of the extra bags so the man can repackage them, properly separated this time, “so uh, what’re you doing out here?”

“That’s right!” he abruptly realizes his position, whirling around to see the group at the bar-- right behind him, looking over curiously. 

He screams again. Louder this time. 

Anne waves at him, sweater paws and all, while Mister Four looks between them, still trying to figure out who this man was. Lassoo follows along, a little confused and a little runny-nosed, but mostly just confused. 

Miss Doublefinger smiles at him, “well, if it isn’t Mister Eight,” she says, “it’s nice to see you. I heard Mister Five blew your foot off. Is it alright now?”

Igaram yells, very loudly, “it is NOT alright on the account that it is GONE!” he yells, “you fiend, you came back for more? Enemies! Plotting to destroy the country again!”  Igaram has jumped to about three conclusions here, but he hasn’t realized yet, “assist me, Man-demon, for the sake of Princess Vivi!” 

“Oh uh, okay?” Gin asks, looking between them and then setting his groceries on Lassoo before drawing his tonfas. “We have nothing to do until tomorrow.” 

“Oh?” Miss Doublefinger hums at that, her fingers morphing a little sharper as she considers the sight before us, “that’s fine. I’m still quite irritated by my battle with the Burglar Cat, so if you would be willing to be my anger dummy…”

Anne looks between them. “Can you two behave?”

 


 

After receiving the explanation on exactly what was going on, Igaram relents to his pursuit of revenge. He’s not completely at ease, since they weren’t telling him where Crocodile was right now, but a bit of it. A bit. Just a bit.

“I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I told Vivi-sama about all this?” he says. 

“Yeah, go ahead,” Gin says, handing off the paint supplies to Anne, who cheerfully, sorts them back into her canvas bag. “How’s she doing?”

“Nine and Monday, too,” Anne prompts.

 

Monday had apparently found herself a place in the forces as a division officer, and Nine had worn his new role in the kitchen like a snug glove. 

Igaram was, as they’d seen already, doing great. He would return to his duties as Royal Guard in about a month or so, when his rehabilitation is over. 

 

“After her coming-of-age ceremony, Vivi-sama herself is getting settled with Kohza-kun,” Igaram says, “he is next in line to be king, after all.”

There’s a horrified pause. 

Then, “ what ?!”

Miss Doublefinger and Mister Four, who had previously been enjoying their teas on an adjacent table, lean over to be a busybody. “What’s this I hear about Lady Wednesday getting hitched?” MIss Doublefinger taunts, smiling snidely, “settling down and finding love, huh? How lovely, this is youth.”

Anne actually looks blatantly horrified, dropping her cup as she comes to the inevitable conclusion, “ she’s cheating on Nami .”

“Cheating? Blasphemous!” Igaram retorts immediately, “don’t insinuate that! I was there to witness their meeting, I will tell you? Their relationship is well and healthy, thank you very much. Kohza-kun and Nami-kun correspond via the star-marked bird quite often.”

“What??” Anne inquires once more. 

Gin groans, “please don’t use that bird for dumb things.” 

“Ah, I understand now,” Miss Doublefinger says, setting a hand on Anne’s hat before turning his attention to Igaram, “I don’t think these children know what polygamy is. East Blue is notorious for being culturally monogamous.” 

“What? That’s the dumbest thing I”ve ever heard,” Igaram says. 

Beside them, Mister Four nods slowly, “yeeeeeah…” 

“Huh?” Gin questions, and Anne looks even more confused-- but somehow, none of the adults felt like explaining the concept of human relationships to them. 

So, resisting their curious, shiny-eyed gazes, Miss Doublefinger looks away. 

“You’ll know when you’re older,” she says subversively, while Igaram and Mister Four nod, coming into unspoken agreement immediately. It’s an occurrence that would have been considered a miracle three days ago, but here they were. 

“Just know that Nami-kun knows what’s happening,” Igaram says, “and you guys have nothing to worry about.” 

 

Anne gives them a very disgruntled look, but she doesn’t pursue the topic further, reaching for her sketchbook instead. 

“Don’t treat me like a kid,” Gin says, but he doesn’t ask further either. Instead he changes the subject. “But they’re going to marry or something?”

“For political reasons, yes,” Igaram says, “once Kohza-kun has legitimacy of the throne, Vivi-sama can leave the country to pursue her dreams, whenever she wants. But there’s still the problem of her identity being an international headline in and of itself--”

“She travelled fine as Miss Wednesday, didn’t she? She can just do that again.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, I guess it doesn’t really matter if the king just disowns her or something?” Gin says, turning to Anne who had begun sketching something out, “we’ll cross the bridge when we get there, I guess.” 

 

The conversation then transitions into the current state of affairs in the country, and how much time they’d need to rebuild fully enough to not need Vivi driving the force anymore. Yuba’s still far from the great oasis it used to be, but they’re working on it with the Suna Suna Clan, and things are going well. 

 

“Here. Give this to the Princess?” Anne says as they part, bringing their things back to where they were camping for the night. 

Igaram receives it with a smile. 

It’s a rushed portrait of Vivi, halfway into a laugh, her hair framing her blooming smile. Her eyes were filled with a gentle elation-- it was a perfect moment stuck in time. Anne had even detailed the many henna tattoos onto it, capturing her likeness perfectly. 

“I must say-- the citizens were rather shocked to see those during her speech,” Igaram admits, referring to the henna. “For royalty to have those before marriage is quite a scandal, after all. And when they asked, who she had sold her heart to-- Vivi-sama told them everything about the journey-- and how much she would do it all over again.” 

 

When Anne and Gin heard that-- they turned away, a little embarrassed. 

It wasn’t as if they were always on board with the idea of transporting a princess back to her home and fighting Crocodile for her-- so this happy feeling felt sort of dishonest.

 

“And she promised the crowd that day,” Igaram says, “that one day, she would leave again. But when she comes back--”

 

(“...but when I come back again,” Vivi had said into the receiver, her heart warm and her eyes teary. “I’ll tell everyone another story. It’ll be the greatest story in the world...”)

(“...it’ll be the story of the man who will become the Pirate King.”)

 


 

Crocodile and Mister One (Daz), decked in thick Alabastan garb, hid out in a cave far in the desert. Miss MerryChristmas (Drophy) was asleep at the back of the cave. 

They were much more notorious than the rest of the group, so they stayed here while the others went to get supplies. 

 

Crocodile waited at the entrance until a large hawk descended on his arm, the large star pattern emblazoned on its side. Daz watches on, confused, but Crocodile simply nods as the Squirrel Monkey hops onto his shoulders, setting a package on his head, balancing it like a baby would a tower of chess pieces on their sleeping human, before snickering mischievously. 

“I’ll fry you alive,” Crocodile threatens, which allows the monkey time to squeak and leap right back onto his bigger bird companion for safety. 

The monkey then salutes cheekily at him before they fly away. 

 

Crocodile sits before opening it, not addressing the very intent look from Daz. The man doesn’t ask a question-- so Crocodile doesn’t answer, either. There are letters in the package, notes, newspaper clippings, and folds of new wanted posters. 

“That punk’s sending me so much unnecessary shit,” Crocodile grumbles, finding a folded Vivre Card marked-- oh fucking hell, not this place -- “who does he think I am? Brat.”

Crocodile tosses the Wanted Posters at Daz, who unfolds each one of them to lay on the ground by ascending order of price. While the other agents didn’t get too much of a raise, Crocodile’s was inflated on account of it becoming active again. 

“You’re at two hundred million, Boss,” Daz says, “that's quite a price for this part of the Grand Line.”

Crocodile scoffs at that. “I’m pretty damn sure I’m worth more than that.” 

They don’t mention it again. 

 

Gin and Anne seemed to have a plan beyond here to rejoin with their crew, but Crocodile and his legion of Officer Agents that won’t leave him alone don’t. With Hina occupied, sailing out of here would be easy-- but it was the matter of ‘where now’. 

 

“Are we not going to try and take over this country anymore?” Daz asks. “With Pluton, and all. You aren’t the kind of man to give up on it so easily.”

Crocodile grumbled at that. He really wasn’t.

“There’s no point in seeking out Poneglyphs and ancient weapons when the only person in the world that can decipher any of it wants nothing to do with it,” he says. 

“We could force her to work with us, it won’t be hard.” Daz suggests, “we know her weaknesses. I’m one of them, you’re another.” 

(Because Robin can’t attack Logias, or inherently offensive properties that put her own limbs at risk.)

Crocodile just groans dismissively, poking at the fire with a stick, “nah, leave her,” he mutters. “Now that I’m no longer a Warlord, that girl’s going to be doubly targeted by the World Government. I want no part in the shit she’s going to stir.” 

 


 

“Who hitched a ride with who ?” Crocodile grumbles, not believing what he’s hearing. 

Gin’s looking through the paper in his hands, squinting in the dim light. “Three, Five, and Miss Valentine, with the Buggy Pirates, apparently.”

“Oh fuck this,” Crocodile mutters, standing up immediately. 

Gin blinks. “Bad blood?”

“None of your business,” Crocodile sneers, and Gin glares, reaching for his tonfas. “I’ll be heading my own way from here, and you guys can fuck off. I’m only sparing you because Anne’s around.”

“Says you, as if you wouldn’t be killing Anne the second I look away,” Gin hisses back, “you haven’t recovered from all the beating Luffy gave you. That’s the only reason you’re not doing shit.” 

“Huh? You think this much is enough to stop me from killing you?” Crocodile raises his hook, the sand around him swirling, “you’re just a greenhorn that doesn’t even know what the fucking New World is. Know your place.” 

“I know what the fucking--” Gin pauses, looking away. “Nami and Usopp throw that word around a lot. Fuck is it, a title?”

“I’m not answering you,” Crocodile gives him a smug, victorious grin. 

Gin briefly juggles his options. Fight him and die, or snark back and run as fast as he can. Either way, he’ll die. Well, that doesn’t sound too bad, maybe he should just go for it.

 

Anne serves up tea, handing one to Daz before munching on her senbei, watching the interaction with a blank look on her face. Miss Doublefinger (Zala, but she’d prefer Paula apparently,) fixes up some food for everyone else, cooking in a small pot. 

“Anne, sweetheart, don’t eat too much senbei before dinner,” she says. Like a mother. 

“Okay,” Anne replies, like a good daughter, like there weren’t two people who tried to kill each other minutes ago and two people who look ready to peel each others’ heads off any second because they can’t stand each other. 

And Mister Four (Babe?) walks in with a stack of firewood, arranging them neatly to the side, as if nothing was out of the ordinary as well. In the distance, Drophy is still loudly snoring, Lassoo joining her side.

 

Crocodile, Daz, and Gin wondered if they understood the mere concept of situational awareness. 

 

“Nami said we can trust this Buggy guy, but I honestly don’t,” Gin mutters, “sure we were active in the same sea and all, but all I know about him is how good he is at leaving no traces and running before Don Krieg catches him.” 

At that, Crocodile barks out a laugh. “Sure, without Red-Haired by his side, Buggy would live up to his joke of a namesake. But you’ll need more than a fleet from East Blue greywaters to even catch a glimpse of him.” 

 

Gin-- and Daz, too, pauses right there. Anne and Paula remain silent, and Crocodile notices the attention immediately. 

“What?” he growls. 

“No just--” Daz is first to fumble, “this is the first time I’ve heard you praise anyone you considered weak.”

“Was that supposed to be a compliment?” Gin questions in a stage whisper, and Paula nods. 

“Quite high praise, actually,” she stage-whispered back. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Crocodile snaps, slamming his hook into the fire, sending sparks everywhere and earning yelps from everyone, who hurriedly rescued flammable objects in the vicinity to avoid an untimely fire. 

“What is he, a Tsundere?!” Gin hisses, looking in from the entrance of the cave at the very infuriated warlord. Paula’s beside him, but she isn’t trying to hide, she’s just keeping her distance. 

“Maaaaaaybeeee…” Babe says, standing over Gin and similarly, fearfully, peeking inwards. “Droooophy is liiike that toooo… sooomettiiiimeess…”

“You have it tough, buddy,” Gin mutters. 

“Noooo it’ss oooookaaaayyy…”

 

Anne was the only one still around the fire, nursing her tea calmly. Then, she raises her hand. 

“What?” Crocodile turns to her, his hand still outstretched as the sand under Gin’s and Babe’s feet start eating them in like a swamp, “if it’s another stupid question, I’m stabbing you.”

“Red-haired?” she questions. “You mentioned him.”

“The Emperor,” Daz adds. “Shanks, if I recall.”

“Huh?” Crocodile thinks back to his previous words. “Something like twenty years ago, Red-haired Shanks and Red-nosed Buggy were on the same crew. They split up, and now Shank’s an emperor and Buggy’s a loser.”

“Buggy’s epithet isn’t Red-nosed,” she says, as if that was the main point.

“Huh,” Crocodile says, taking a sip of the soup as Paula hands it to him. “I wonder why.”

 

“Anne! Anne, save us!” Gin yelps, buried up to his waist in sand, “he’s trying to bury me alive!” He grabs onto a rock nearby, but the sand takes it too and he squeaks

“Heeeeeeeeeeelpppp…” Babe wails, not struggling or anything, just screaming monotonously. 

Paula watches them from the side, “I’d help, but the soup is almost ready, so nah.”

“You bitch I swear I’ll kill you!” 

 

Meanwhile, Daz dryly stares at them, watching the show while taking stoical sips of his own soup, impervious of the death-promising look Gin was shooting at him every now and then. The Man-Demon didn’t say anything about him, though, probably because he knew he wouldn’t win a fight there. 

Anne blissfully ignores all of them as Paula hums, dishing up a bowl of soup for everyone else. Well, this is peaceful, sort of. She wonders if she’ll be able to find time to meet Vivi for a bit. They spent all the time buying supplies and settling in, after all. 

“So, you don’t like this Buggy guy?” Anne asks instead, ignoring the shrieks from Gin that are slowly muffled by the sand. 

Crocodile bites into an apple, grumbling a soft noise that might have been a yeah. 

Anne continued to stare, so he spared her a short addition to that answer. 

“Shanks was always clinging to Marco. Fuck knows why, Buggy liked me better,” he reveals, with all the annoyance of someone that wanted nothing to do with these past nuisances in his dark history. “Unlike Red-hair though, he gave up a while back. But I ain’t taking chances.”

Anne cracks her senbei with her teeth. “Sounds tough.”

“You have no idea.”

 

Gin emerges from the ground with a loud, explosive burst of sand. “I’m not gonna die that easily, you bastard!” he screams, hooking the metal ball of his tonfa on the nearest solid object-- Paula’s foot, actually, and quickly heaping himself up just enough to grab her by the ankle. 

“What the-- Let go of me!” she demands, kicking furiously, but Gin’s grip is death-clenching, his grin wide. “I’m a thorn-human, don’t think I won’t fill your hand with holes! Why are you so heavy-- are you literally grabbing onto Babe right now. What’s in your other hand?!” 

“What am I supposed to do, let him die?!” He snarks, “oh stab me all you want, I’m not letting go until you get me and Babe out of here, you cold-blooded porcupine!” 

What did you just call me!?”

Gin’s grip only tightens further, even when Paula delivers on her promise by piercing his palm through with spikes, protruding from the skin of her ankles like a wicked anklet. 

 

Anne puts down her bowl of soup. “Paula-san, I want seconds,” she calls, pointing the bowl in that direction. 

“Me too,” Crocodile says, turning to them. 

 

“We’re a little preoccupied here IF YOU HAVEN’T NOTICED!” Paula and Gin finally shriek in unintended unison. 

 


 

Crocodile leaves at dawn, bringing Daz and Paula with him. 

Babe and Drophy were going to rendezvous with Buggy-- because they wanted the peace and fun he promised-- the protection, and the ability to live as they did before-- freely, quietly, and as eccentric as they ever could be. 

As for Paula… 

“I’ve grown attached to these two,” she admits, smiling down at Anne as she expresses her want to travel with Paula for longer. “And, while not necessarily right by their sides… I want to be there when they find a new town to burn.” 

She has, and always has, been someone that loved the thrill of the dangers. There was a reason she could work so seamlessly with anyone-- not limited to, but more specifically Mister One, who was the hardest to work with. She could cope with anyone’s quirks, annoying or not, and she served with the greatest patience in the world. 

If anyone among them now knew what ‘love’ meant, it would be Paula, and her wholehearted devotion to her own craft. 

 

“Don’t look so disappointed, Anne,” she says. “I’ll open Spiders Cafe again, wherever I am. You know my doors are always open after sunset.”

At that, Anne blooms into a smile. “I’ll look out for it,” she promises. 

Daz only nods at them, but Crocodile scoffs. “Don’t ever let me catch another sight of you, brat,” he threatens, “you better be prepared to die next time we cross paths.”

Anne’s smile doesn’t falter. “Thanks.”

 

And then, Crocodile raises a middle finger at Gin who immediately gives one right back, they turn away from each other and walk in opposite directions. 

 

The next Gin turned-- they were gone. Even on the horizon, there was no sign of them. Anne and Gin were alone together again.

Their hands were in each other’s, and their hearts were light. They wordlessly began their trek toward the Eastern shore, and go on with their journey-- not as vagabonds, but as Straw Hat pirates. 

“Was that alright with you?” Gin has asked. “Did you talk enough?”

And Anne smiled. A genuine one, like the many she would give from now. 

“Yeah.”

 


 

“So,” Daz says, once they were out of sight, “where are we going, Boss?”

“What, you ‘re going to change my mind if I say something unfavourable?” Crocodile says, chuckling dryly in disbelief. 

Daz and Paula share a look before shrugging, “there’s nowhere else to go, Boss,” they say, with absolute certainty. “Nowhere else we’d rather be.”

“Loyal to a fault, you morons,” Crocodile says, in the most appreciative way he could’ve possibly spat those words. “Well, I’m going to go find some old friends first.” 

Saying so, he holds up a Vivre Card. 

Written in the corner, in neat handwriting-- were the words, Rouge Pirates .

 


 

When Gin had arrived in Alabasta, the first thing he did was approach the nearest bar-- which, when he knew where to look, was quite clearly marked with the same Buggy Passport he wore around his wrist. 

And there, he exchanged information. He was given an Eternal Pose to Jaya, a tip-off about a certain trade ship that was headed in the right direction. There were miscellaneous things within them, including news articles about this incident, and a Vivre Card, for some reason. 

There were also bounty posters. Theirs. 

News travelled slow in the Grand Line, sometimes. While royalty got access to news via overseas Den Den faxing, the papers only reached civilians a day or so after the deed. And this most likely would have been in tomorrow’s papers for Alabasta. 

 

“Are we looking at them now,” Anne asks, “but it’ll spoil the surprise.”

“Don’t be dumb, Anne, I’ll die of the anticipation if we wait until we’re reunited,” Gin mutters, unfolding the wanted posters while counting the pages-- “aren’t there too many for just the three of us-- shit.” 

Anne catches one piece before it falls to the ground-- and she blinks in mild disappointment, “they didn’t change my name. I wonder why.”

“Leave it, it’s easier like that,” Gin says, frowning at his own paper, looking through the news articles for comparisons. 

It seemed like they were completely covering it up, no mention of any of the Strawhats in the articles at all. But with the raise in pieces, perhaps the marines have already come to their own conclusions on the matter and raised the prices accordingly. 

That, coupled with Luffy’s Loguetown stunt…

“Oh, we’re going to fucking die,” Gin mutters, kneading a hand into his face. 

 

While Gin’s and Anne’s had been doubled, making it a delightful 30 million and 50 million respectively-- Nami had seemingly taken the brunt of the blame, being raised all the way to 81 million in light of her predetermined notoriety as a Whitebeard. 

He was almost too glad that his bounty was so damn low. Maybe Smoker pulled some strings for them in particular? He’s very grateful. But also kind of sad because his bounty is the lowest but that’s already insane by East Blue standards and--

Then came the new bounties. 

 

“Isn’t it fine, Captain will be happy he finally got one,” Anne says, raising Luffy’s 75 million and Zoro’s 56 million side by side. 

 

“No it is not,” Gin sounds near death, “our cumulative bounty is insane ! Where the hell will you find a crew with so many members that have bounties? Even the Sun Pirates were only notorious with their Captain and Vice Captain!”

“Well, we’re kind of a special case,” Anne says, half of us already had bounties, but none of us are Captain or Vice Captain. I thought they’d forget Zoro, but here he is.”

“...I have a feeling that the marine girl with blue hair might’ve had something to do with this…”

 

Judging by the bounty amounts, the story probably went like this-- Nami was the perpetrator, Luffy is her new captain on a different level of insanity and he defeated Crocodile , Zoro took down Daz Bones of all people, and the other identified member of the Strawhat crew is Man-Demon Gin, though he didn’t seem to have much involvement this time around so they can’t gauge his threat level beyond his East Blue notoriety. 

(And Miss Goldenweek was probably raised because of the whole ‘Baroque Works revealed’ thing and she’s still considered part of that, at least in crime level.)

Yeah, that sounds right. These are all insane bounties when you consider that most of this crew comes from East Blue, so Gin honestly isn’t complaining.

 

Anne squeezes Gin’s hand, catching his attention. 

“We’ll be fine,” she says. 

Gin watches her a moment longer. She adjusts her beret, and when she looks at him, the permanent slight curve in her lips make the flower on her face wrinkle. 

He sighs. 

“Yeah,” he promises her. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Anne promises right back, “and I won't let anything happen to you, too.” 

 

(Never again.)

 

-


-

 

“I went through Gasparde’s collection when everyone was destroying the ship,” Robin says, showing off the books she’d found, “there are logs and maps as well, though I’m not sure how accurate they are.”

“They’re plenty!” Nami sings, “I love you, Nee-san! You’re the best.”

 

The Dead End race starts in madness, the dawn-time great draft breezes them up the mountain, and launches them right into a parade start and into the open sea. 

Half the crowd splits up immediately, heading into different directions depending on where each navigator deemed the best route. Nami kept with the main crowd, heading in a straight line. 

Luffy is cheering into the horizon, Chopper is guiding the helm in a panic, Sanji is helping with the sails, and Usopp is still recovering from the great fall. 

(Nami hasn’t seen that guy cry like that since-- heh, she’s not sure. But he’ll be fine, right? It’s just a 1000m drop, no big deal. Sky Island's ten times of it.)

“Look, Usopp! That’s the giants’ ship! It’s so fast!” 

“Luffy, Usopp’s a little busy. You can tell Kinoko, though.”

“Ookayy!” Luffy whirls back halfway, stretches out to grab Kinoko out of the air, and snaps right back (the bird gives a long, unholy shriek,) “look, Kinosuke!”

 

Zoro pokes him with a foot, and Usopp takes that opportunity to immediately latch onto Zoro by the arm muttering horrified whispers of how he will die if he does not feel solid ground in the next ten minutes. 

 

“Hey, we haven’t even encountered a sea slope or sea waterfall yet,” Nami says, “don’t freak out from just a free fall.”

“Nami, you cruel, cold-blooded witch, I hate you,” Usopp mutters back dryly, clinging onto Zoro’s back with his face buried in his neck and his legs wrapped around the swordsman’s torso. 

 

 

 

Zoro just looked incredibly done with this shit, opting to go about his part of the steering work without much attention to the limpet on him. He rolls the cannon out onto the aft, loads it, and watches in slight awe as Usopp robotically reaches for his arms and readjusts the cannon as if Zoro was a marionette he was controlling. 

When they fired the cannon, it hit the main mast of the ship behind them and shattered it immediately. It crashes into the deck and explodes, erupting in a mess of fire and debris and loud curses. 

“Wooo! Nice one Zoro!” Chopper yells. 

“Ah no,” Zoro says, “that was Usopp.”

“Oh, he’s still active. Cool!” Chopper adds. 

 

With Merry nice and reinforced and fixed, Nami commands the crew to sail. It was tough, with the lesser amount of people-- but with Robin around, it was all fine. She was always willing to help if it was for benefit, after all. She barely needed to get up from her lawn chair to do half of the work. 

 


 

They didn’t get the three hundred million. 

But they did throw another banquet there on the winner’s dime. They made a whole wreck of the town (to the villagers’ resigned acceptance,) and left happily before they caught the attention of the marines. 

 

“It’s a shame we didn’t get the money,” Nami sighs, taking apart her arm to let it air in the Grand Line wind. 

“Well, there’s no helping that,” Sanji says, “your tea, milady?” 

They had their lunch at the deck today, a meal of sandwiches and pies. Robin entertains herself with a book while Zoro sets down his weights, making his way to the front deck. Luffy wolfs down his food, Chopper imitates him, and Usopp takes the time to set some out for Kinoko before he retrieves his portion as well. 

“It’s fine, Poppy and Bog treated us to food and all,” Luffy says, “oh, this is yummy.”

“Poppy and B-- Bobby and Pogo , Luffy,” Usopp corrects him. 

“Yeah, that’s what I said?”

 

Zoro hums, uninterested, stuffing his face with pie. “So, where’s this Jaya place we’re going to meet up with Gin and Anne? Are we following the Log Pose there or something?”

Nami chuckles at that, “don’t worry! I don’t need my calculator from here,” she lifts her flesh hand, “I just need-- yep, bingo! Got it.” 

 

The crew’s eyes widen as they took in the sight of the log, tilted distinctly upward. 

Nami beams. “The power of fate, Usopp! Praise illogical consistencies!” 

 

Usopp frowns in confusion, “oh, you caught the log. Cool,” he says, in a complete deadpan. “Guess we’re… going to… fall… again…” 

He looked dead by the end of that sentence. 

“Nami, my chronic if-I-fall-off-anything-taller-than-my-bed-I-will-die disease is coming back,” he says immediately. 

 

“Huh?!” Luffy yelps, and Chopper chokes on his food. 

“Doctor!” the reindeer yells, “Usopp’s gonna die!” 

 

Nami, however, is delightfully blissed , “I know!” she says, her voice swooning, “but come on , Usopp, think of all the gold we’ll find!” 

“I have trauma related to that gold as well. I’ll pass.”

“Awh, spoilsport.”

 

“Gold?!” Luffy’s brows furrow in confusion, “where??”

 

“Wait a minute, you two,” Zoro speaks up, his voice stern-- and when Zoro taps his sword twice against the deck-- even Usopp knew the expression on his face. 

Sheer irritation, serious and stern. He wasn’t patient. 

“You do know you owe us explanations before you go on a spiel, don’t you?” he questions-- and it’s not an exasperated one-- it’s a tired, frustrated one. “It’s getting fucking annoying. You know that.”

 

Silence fell over the deck, like a thick, damp blanket, drenching the entire crew in sheer, mood-breaking emptiness. 

 

“Oh come on, Zoro,” Nami says, a little playfully, “you got the mood all weird now. You’ll spoil the meal, right, Sanji-kun?”

She turns to the cook-- but he hesitates, instead of coming to her defense. 

Then, “well…” he grabs a piece of his hair, put in the spot, “sorry, Nami-san… I’m curious, too. I want to know what you two are talking about, for once.” 

 

(For once.)

 

Nami was a little hurt, when she realized Sanji wasn’t chewing Zoro out for the language this time. Maybe she’d gotten too comfortable now, being so used to the White Knight by her side. While Chopper hung back, confused by the sudden shift in the tone of their meal-- Luffy swallows everything in his mouth and pulls his lips into a quiet frown. 

(It’s a long overdue conversation.)

(If they don’t bring it up everytime it happens, even if it’ll break the mood-- when will they ever bring it up?) 

 

“We can find time for that when Gin and Anne are back,” Usopp says, trying for a second time to change the subject into something he could improvise through.

 

“Do we have to know it?” Luffy asks immediately. “I just want to know that.”

(Don’t drag it out. You can’t avoid it forever.)

And while the instinctive answer was no, because some secrets just aren’t the business of the rest of the crew-- this was different. 

“It’s one thing if you’re keeping it away and to yourselves,” Sanji says. And Nami knows, by his voice, that he’s saying this, eating every word, but meaning every bit of it. “It’s another thing if we’re getting involved in it, over and over again, and you guys still aren’t telling us a thing.” 

 

(They’re not.)

(But they don’t know that.)

(Because for some reason, Usopp and Nami just don’t want to say it.)

 

Nami and Usopp were completely silent. Neither of them were looking anyone in the eye. Usopp clung to Kinoko for comfort-- but even the bird didn’t seem too enthused, fluttering irritably when Usopp grabbed her.

Robin hides her face behind her book and under her cowboy hat-- and for a moment, considers leaving the area. She felt like she was intruding on something she didn’t have a right to witness. 

Chopper tucks himself behind Luffy-- and none of them were eating. Zoro and Sanji, and even Luffy-- was staring at them intently, waiting for an explanation they couldn’t avoid. 

And so-- and so, Usopp relents. 

 

“Yes, it’s something you have to know,” Usopp says. Nami tries to protest, but Usopp continues, "there really wasn’t a point for us to ever hide it, really. We just didn’t know how to say it, I guess.”

Nami bites her lip, looking away. 

“It’s fine if they don’t know for a bit longer,” she insists. “It’s not like we don’t have it completely under control.”

“Hey--” Zoro takes that dismissive notion with hostility-- but Luffy raises his hand to stop him. 

Usopp wasn’t done talking.

He reaches for his head, removing the bandanna and the goggles along with it. “Well, the first time I went on this journey, I wasn’t blind,” Usopp says. “Nami had all her limbs, and we didn’t have Gin or Anne. We don’t have them right now either-- but we weren’t supposed to have them at all.”

 

It's quiet. 

Nothing he’d said made sense, and it was a strange place to begin the conversation. It laid out more questions than it did answers-- and he was fully aware of it. 

“What… does that mean?” Chopper asks, a little fearful. “When you and Nami sailed before... but… from the age of your injuries, that would have been more than four or five years ago. Maybe, maybe much earlier.”

“Were you cabin boys or something? Pirate apprentices?” Sanji asks, “I mean, it wouldn’t be unusual, even in the Grand Line-- but didn’t you guys pick Usopp up from his village, and he had never left before?”

“What do you mean, we’re not supposed to have them?” Zoro says, “we’re not talking about us --” 

Finally, Luffy puts a palm on his knee, making a loud noise. 

“So are you telling us, or are you not,” Luffy says, his tone low. “Hurry up and decide already.”

 

Nami takes in the looks she got from everyone. 

Zoro hadn’t let go of his sword yet. It’s not a threat. It’s a warning. The same warning they got from him, all the way so long ago, back in Water Seven. A reminder of authority, and what that meant in a ship. 

Sanji was confused-- and Chopper, even more so. No one could touch the food at this moment, but most of all-- Luffy was glaring . Not spitefully, he was just irritated-- and he wanted to know. 

(Luffy never ‘wanted’ to know things.)

He never asked. Never pursued, never chased. 

He never cared about things that didn’t matter, because it was fine as long as they were happy together. But he always wanted to know things that were important to his nakama. 

(And he knew, right now, that this secret was important to his nakama.)

 

When Nami looks over-- Robin’s no longer on the lawn chair. No signs of extra eyes or ears, either. She had given them privacy, because she didn’t feel like she had the right to listen to whatever was revealed. 

 

Nami’s eyes finally land on Usopp-- who doesn’t look back. Instead, he closes his eyes, and runs his hands across Kinoko’s feathers, soothingly. 

(Long ago, a mutual glance would have been enough.)

(Now, words were needed.)

“Tell them,” Usopp says, not as a command or even a suggestion, but as a vote, thrown into a pot that couldn’t be valid because there were only two people to determine its value. 

 

Nami bites her lip, and nods, in defeat. 

“Okay,” she says, leaning back, defeated. “It was about time, anyway.”

Chapter 54: it's about time.

Summary:

the talk.

(and the talks after.)

Notes:

half of you guys in the previous chapter:

me: okay you know what

Chapter Text

“Once upon a time, there was a boy who went on a journey to become the Pirate King,” Usopp begins. 

 

No one interrupts him. 

Sanji sits down-- and Chopper comes to his side, clinging on in his not-hiding way. Zoro kept his hand on the handle of his mug-- but doesn’t take a sip. Luffy takes periodical, quiet bites-- his eyes never leaving Usopp as the blind man continues to speak, his hands running through Kinoko’s feathers. 

 

“He gathered a small but powerful crew of his own, amassing a grand fleet of allies headed toward the same destination-- the One Piece,” Usopp dramatises, bloating the emphasis on some words, despite the clear indication that Chopper and Luffy weren’t going to be childishly impressed about them right now. 

He simply continues, without any regard for the audience reception. 

“It took years. The journey was long, perilous, and hard-- but they never gave up. And at the end of their voyage, they achieved their dreams.”

But that’s when Usopp’s expressions sank, and that didn’t miss anyone’s eyes. 

“And then, the dream ended,” he says. “Pirates, you see… aren’t supposed to be hailed far and wide. They’re not heroes, they’re outlaws. And the ones who were supposed to be on the side of the ‘good’-- well, they didn’t take kindly to that.”

His fist tightens. 

“So they drove them out into the sea,” he says, bitterer than he ever knew he could sound. “Along with anyone that was deemed their allies. Even families, or villages that used to be under their protection. If they revolted, they were cleaned out. It was a purge.” 

 

The crew freezes in horror. Chopper covers his mouth in disgust-- and Snaji crushes his cigarette against the ashtray-- no longer comfortable for another drag. 

 

“Anyone they found, they killed. Every town they sheltered, they burned,” he says, “every pirate they found-- they tortured, or executed.” 

 

Maybe it was an instinct, that Usopp’s hand chose that moment to reach toward his eyes, covering them in memory. He feels the very moment Sanji and Zoro’s haki freeze right up, abruptly realizing what that meant, and he regrets it. 

Nami reaches over, a flesh hand curling around Usopp’s. 

Usopp instinctively blooms into a smile, and his next words are sunny in tone. 

 

“But it was fine!” a pause as he conjures a story much more in line with his usual fairy tales, “the sea responded to the cries of her children. And sent the survivors into the past, where they could finally go home.”

(Everyone is a child of the sea… or something, right?)

“We weren’t perfect, and things aren’t the same,” Usopp says, not realizing he’d changed into a personal pronoun, “but we’re not going to let it happen again.”

 

Recognition suddenly lights up in their eyes-- but before anyone could get a word in, Nami claps her hands loudly, twice.

 

“Alright! Story’s over. Wasn’t even a good one!” She says, picking up her sandwich and taking another bite. Her smile this time is much sadder-- but it’s not anymore honest than before. “Let’s eat, shall we?” 

 

For a while, no one moved. 

 

They didn’t know how to quite react to that new revelation. It was an abrupt weight in their chests-- one they wanted to know more of, but slightly regretted knowing at all, since they couldn’t-- couldn’t possibly imagine the scale of it. 

So they didn’t bother. 

Zoro finally lifts his glass, and immediately started chugging, all the way until it was empty. He slams it back down with a contented groan, reaching for the riceballs next. 

The noise seems to break everyone out of their stupor, and Luffy is next, blooming into a grin before stretching toward the meat, demanding loudly that it now belonged to him. Chopper wails when Luffy grabs a pie that was specially made super sweet and reserved just for him, and Kinoko nabs an onigiri out of Zoro’s hands, earning a loud shout. 

“Well, looks like you two were insane after all,” Zoro says, in the nicest way possible. It earns a short chuckle from the rest of the crew, all coming to the same agreement. “Does that mean the rest of us have a lot of catching up to do?”

“That doesn’t matter!” Luffy says-- and when he grins, he means every word of it, even more so than the few times he’s done so before. “I’m going to become Pirate King. I already knew that.” 

“That’s right,” Sanji says. He’s much softer than his usual aggressive acceptance. “Thanks for telling us, you two.” He doesn’t light a new cigarette, but he’s smiling warmly when he picks up the pitcher, offering refills for drinks. 

“But, that all sounds so cool!” Chopper’s eyes are twinkling, “hey, does that mean time travel is real? That’s awesome!”  

 

Nami thinks she might cry-- but she turns to see Usopp was already past that point. 

 

Really, did he think sniffling into the corner with his hands buried in his face would look any less convincing? His habits really haven’t changed at all. 

Nami wipes a tear from her eyes-- and laughs.  She laughs, miserably, clumsily smearing the tears across her face before she settles with burying her eyes in her forearm, looking into the sky in a vain attempt to stifle herself. 

(The explanations weren’t over, of course. Not even anywhere near that point. But this was a start-- and this was where she would continue to ease into it. So the gaping wounds in their hearts can finally begin to mend, for someone other than each other.)

 

“I…” her voice escaped her, and she knew-- she knew she had to say it. “I missed you guys,” she admits, her voice torn up and bubbled with what might have been a cry in between. “I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

 

The deck goes quiet for a moment. 

Then, Luffy grins, “don’t be dumb, Nami!” he says, and he hands her an orange-drizzled scone from the far end of the mat. “We’re all here, can’t you see?”

And that’s when Nami really bursts into tears, sniffling loud and hard and gross and-- and she turns away, trying to hide her sniffles. 

“I- I know, geez!” she hurriedly wipes those tears away. “It’s just…” her next words come as a plea, “I swore to high hell last time. That if you died before me, I’d kill you,” she says, faintly feeling a warm hand on her shoulder, and a furry hoof coming to her lap. “But when I saw all of you again, I…”

She didn’t finish that line. 

 

It wasn’t right to blame any of them for what she went through. And she didn’t. She truly didn’t. And yet, when her eyes burned and her head spun-- it was all she could mourn for. 

(She couldn’t ever see them again, so she’ll never be able to say this to them.)

(Because they no longer existed.) 

(So who can she blame, now?)

(Who can she cry to, about their deaths?)

(She finally had the chance to remember them, but when will she ever have the chance to talk about them? They’re gone now. Are they forgotten?) 

 

Luffy wraps her in his arms and Chopper clung around her waist, even as she buried the heels of her palm into her eyes and began to sob, incoherently. She dug into Luffy’s chest, clinging on. 

 

“Everyone left me alone,” she cried. “How could you guys just do that? Do you know what those bounty hunters did to me?” They tore my arm off. Put a knife to my hair, “I couldn’t find anyone. I couldn’t even go home, and I couldn’t swim. You guys were supposed to carry me through, protect me, you know? Because I’m the weakest. And then you guys up and left me alone and then when I finally got the news all I heard was how they killed --” 

She stopped, choking on something between a sob and a sniffle, clinging pathetically to Luffy. The Captain hugged back, tightly, desperately-- but he didn’t know what he could do. 

“Sorry,” he could only say, quietly, and as sincerely as he could. 

“You guys left me,” she whispers, like an accusation. 

He feels Nami move her hand to his back, clawing at his shirt and holding on, as if she feared he would get even an inch away from him and vanish if she loosened up even a little. 

And there was nothing Luffy could do but rest his chin on her head, s queeze her in his arms, and whisper another, “I’m sorry, Nami.”

 


 

Nami cries herself to sleep, there. 

Usopp hums in resignation, a smile curving onto his features. “Ahh, I knew we wouldn’t be able to finish our meal today,” he says, slightly sad. “It’s such a shame, too.”

Curse his instincts, that he felt the need to fill up the silence with words. Now all the attention was on him again, and Usopp wanted nothing more than to sleep and run away, too. 

But in the rare calm of the open sea-- when else would they get an opportunity like this?

 

“Last time around, Gin and Anne didn’t join,” he says, and this surprises the rest of the crew. He chuckles, “I honestly don’t quite know how we managed so far without them. Maybe it was because I could still see, or that Nami still had both arms… well, luck, too.”

 

“Usopp,” Sanji speaks up-- and Usopp flinches, not expecting that voice to come from so close. 

(Where was Kinoko? His hands were restless.)

“How long?” he asks, and for a moment, Usopp didn’t know what he was asking for. 

 

Then, Chopper comes to his side, clinging tearfully to his arm-- and Usopp knew he had to say something, at least. 

“I don’t know,” Usopp admits, bringing Chopper into his lap, “I’m a wimp, so… Well, I did manage to run for quite a while. They did eventually catch me. I don’t…” he pauses to take a shaky breath, “I don’t really know time from there.”

 

Sanji takes a sharp breath. 

Usopp doesn’t tell them. 

He doesn’t tell them that sometimes-- he wonders if he’ll wake up, and he’ll be down there again, realizing all of this was just a long, dreadful dream, of something he can no longer have. But dreams are supposed to be full of vision, full of colour, aren’t they? Surely, it wouldn’t be a blurry, foggy mess. 

 

“I didn’t want to escape or anything. All I really wanted, when I was down there...” he carefully reached around Chopper’s antlers, settling his hands on the brim of the hat. “...was to see everyone again.”

 

(Huh, ironic.)

 

Usopp feels a hand reach toward him-- pulling at his cheek-- and he realizes it’s Luffy. 

Nami’s in the Captain’s lap, he can tell, but Luffy can reach him anyways, to pull him over and make him come closer.  Luffy brings Usopp’s hand to his face-- and grins, bright and wide.

“Well, is this better then?” he asks. “You could’ve asked, you know!” 

Usopp’s heart melts. 

(Bon had done that, too. It’s still the best thing anyone has done for him this time.)

 

“Seriously, you should’ve told us all this earlier,” Zoro says, sounding miffed. “A lot of things would’ve made a ton of more sense. I thought I was just going crazy.” 

“Well, I don’t fault my lovely Nami-swan for anything,” Sanji turns right back into loverboy mode, which was a relief, because that was an indicator of how much they weren’t mad at him, “though, this explains why you knew about Vivi-chan back then.”

“And how you knew what some things looked like--”

“And all the Haki stuff--”

And why you said yes to joining. Immediately. I don’t think sane people do that.”

“Hey!” Luffy calls out, offended at the implications. 

“Ooh, then,” Chopper turns around in Usopp’s lap, trying to grab his attention, “when you said you had an island sailing under your name with statues made of bronze for you, was that true?! Sanji said it wasn’t but--!” 

 

That made everyone pause in sheer horror , because now that they knew… 

 

“What the-- no fair!” Luffy yells, “ I want a bronze statue!” he whines, “it’s not fair that you got one before me!” 

Usopp, finally grinning genuinely, puffs up his chest to boast. “Haha! Don’t underestimate the Great Captain Usopp, hero of the Dwarves and commanding legend of the Giants! I’m hailed fair and wide as--”

“'Captain'?” Sanji questions. 

Usopp removes his hands from Luffy’s face to make a show of a long thought, “ah well, this might sound terrifying to you guys, but in reality, last time around, I was the esteemed Vice Captain of the great Straw Hat Fleet--”

“Okay, that’s a lie,” Zoro immediately says, ignoring Usopp’s offended hack. “Someone go get a hangman. We’re going to guess which one’s the lie and which one’s true.”

“You mixed up the games, you moron,” Sanji grumbles, but he’s retrieved the chalks from the blackboard in the galley, ready to draw on the deck.

Luffy bursts out into wanton laughter, and Chopper tug at Usopp’s shirt, persistently asking for “ so wait, was Colourimotone Prisma a lie?? Was he?? Tell me he’s real, Usopp!”

(“He’s real, Chopper. He’s in your heart, and all of ours.”)

 

Usopp is happy. 

He’s so damn happy that no one’s asking for any more of the depressing details. 

 

He closes his eyes, treasuring the beady ache from the tears that burned through-- but he smiles to himself and realizes it’s a pleasant feeling. 

He doesn’t see the way Chopper is smiling brightly, the way his hooves clench tighter than they should against his coat, and the way the reindeer doesn’t pull away despite always making it clear he didn’t like to be treated like a plush toy. 

(Chopper knew that Usopp needed something to hold onto.)

Kinoko sighs contentedly, listening quietly. And stuck to Usopp’s side, never leaving. Promising to never leave. 

Usopp doesn’t see the way Luffy runs his fingers through Nami’s hair, gently cradling her head and making sure she was comfortable. Doesn’t see the way Luffy is so much closer to him than anyone else, making sure his knee touches the sniper’s.

Usopp doesn’t see the way Sanji and Zoro give each other a knowing look-- reminding each other of all the questions that hadn’t been answered, and all the questions they didn’t need to ask.

But Usopp still feels loved, either way.  

 

“Wait, so this means you knew Krieg was gonna attack Baratie?!” Sanji chokes on his cigarette, “there was a shit ton of damage, you asses!”

“What the-- that means Hawk-Eyes too!” Zoro snaps, “you knew I was looking for him!” 

“Hold on. What about the Loguetown bullcrap,” Sanji jumps back in, “the lightning shit! Was it god?? What do I do to make him hesitate when he’s gonna smite me??”

Usopp flusters, “ahh, those were-- necessary evils-- hey c’mon, would you have joined if Luffy didn’t do all that crap?” he defends himself, “and uh. He’s gonna smite you either way, I’m sorry. I’ll be there too if it makes you at ease.”

“Did you just imply we’re going to fight god?”

“As for the Loguetown stuff uh,” Usopp says, ignoring Sanji’s theistic confusion, “I guess it’s better than witnessing a sick replay of Gold Roger’s execution?” 

“A what?”

“Hey, Usopp!” Luffy raises his voice, slightly annoyed, “stop saying so much! You’re spoiling all the fun we’re going to have!” 

“Oh? Okay, Captain’s orders, I’m no longer answering questions,” he promises.

“YOU ANSWERED NONE OF THEM!” Zoro and Sanji snap. 

Usopp beams. “Don’t worry! I won’t spoil the journey,” his fingers ghost around the deck until it finds Nami’s, taking hold while she gives a sleepy squeezes back, “we want to relive this, just as much as you guys are seeing this for the first time.” 

And Luffy cheers out a very satisfied, “you’re damn right you won’t be! I’d punch you if you did!” in a strangely half-serious way. 

 

The verbal agreement being over, Sanji stands up, “come to think of it, Robin-chan’s been gone a long time,” they know why, “I’ll go tell her she can come back out now.” 

 

And that-- drew another question to the forefront of everyone's thoughts. Miss All-Sunday, the outlier in all of their plans, or so they thought. Usopp can feel the burn of their gazes, so he just raises a thumbs-up. 

“She’s one of us,” he says-- and he feels the moment Zoro tenses, before easing. Luffy and Chopper also pause, but quickly go on, undeterred. 

 

Zoro sighs. “I’ll take your word for it,” he says, still clearly unconvinced. “But if she earned my trust the first time-- she’s going to have to do it this time too.” 

Usopp snorts. “The other way around is also true, Zoro.”

“Huh?”

“Spoilers, spoilers,” Usopp dismisses. “Who wants to hear about Colourimotone Prisma’s adventures in the fortress of endless candy?” 

“Candy?!” Chopper beams. 

Endless candy?!” Luffy repeats, similarly intrigued. 

“Yep! Wanna guess how he escapes and wins?”

“He eats it!”

“He eats it, right?!”

 

They eased into their usual routine, even though the food was cold. 

Usopp told a story, and Sanji refilled the plates of food until everyone was full. Robin returns to her lawnchair with a new book, and when Usopp asks about it, he leads the story to merge into a full, made-up epic in a similar trope. 

When Zoro snores against the mast and Luffy decides to move Nami to the swordsman’s side, things look completely normal for the crew. Completely routine, even when Sanji barked out in jealousy while furiously finding a blanket for the lady. 

Things were the same as usual. 

(But something has definitely changed, for the better.)

 

-


-

 

“How do we measure up?” 

Zoro was supposed to take the night watch alone-- but Usopp couldn’t quite find sleep, so here he was, sitting by the steps toward the aft, listening to the routine swish of Zoro swinging the dumbbells. 

 

Usopp didn’t quite know how to begin. 

“It’s different for everyone,” he says. “Me and Nami are still far from our peak-- but right now, we’re far stronger than the level we would be without the intervention.”

But then again, it’s two thirds of the ‘weakling trio’ they’re talking about. 

“Nami and I, we were the weakest links,” he says. “Always were. It’s why we survived until the end, because our best skill was running.” 

 

Zoro stops. That was enough of a scale for him to know just how far apart they were. Nami and Usopp were the weakest? They wouldn't even call Chopper that right now.

“You’re barely anything like that,” he says. 

Usopp chuckles, “that’s how far behind we were, last time around .

Right now-- in the crew-- they were mostly equal. It was strange to imagine any power gap between the members, when all of them were exceptional in their own ways. 

“You’ve seen Mihawk,” Usopp says. “You take two years to still fall short for a bit. By three, you made it there.” 

Zoro makes a scoffing noise. “I’ll get there faster this time.”

Usopp smiles. “I’m sure you will.”

 

Usopp can still hear it-- the rumbling madness of Kitetsu, craving for blood that Zoro refused to give. Ichimonji’s silent compliance, the regality in its endless loyalty-- and Yubashiri, singing humbly between them. 

Usopp misses their voices, about as much as he misses everything else. 

“You guys are growing-- but me and Nami, we’re-- displaced ,” Usopp says. “I worded it as a blessing that we’ve managed to come back after our world ended-- but if anything, it’s a curse.”

The rhythmical swish of the dumbbell doesn’t stop. Usopp knows Zoro is still there, and he doesn’t need his haki to do it. 

“The Greatest Sniper in the World can’t see, and the Best Cartographer in the World doesn’t even have her arm,” he says, his voice lilting in almost sarcasm. “Her arm was expensive, you know? Once she completed her map, the price on her head went higher than anyone could imagine.”

It was said in jest, but Usopp could only imagine what happened to it when she lost it.

“If anything… it’s just laughing in our faces. We were so weak, everyone else died to even get us so far. And when we get back here-- we don’t even have the only thing that made us live up to these standards to begin with.” 

(It was hard. It was awkward, trying to keep up like this.) 

 

The swish ing stops. 

 

“Usopp,” Zoro says, and his voice is low and stern. “Luffy chose you.”

Usopp freezes. 

“He still chose you,” Zoro repeats.

 

And he didn't know anything about before. He chose you because you were what you are now, not because of what you used to be.  

(Because no matter where, when, or why-- Luffy will choose them, in every world. And Luffy will never let you go once you’re his.)

 

Usopp thinks he feels the tears coming again, so he sniffs it right back up and breathes out, long and relieving. 

“O- Of course he did!” Usopp feigns, sitting up straight, “I am the one and only king of the snipers, my ultimate aura of godliness can’t be suppressed! Luffy couldn’t bear to miss out the chance to recruit me!” 

Zoro makes a scoffing noise, but it’s his usual resignation, rather than annoyance or disbelief. 

And that’s how they stay-- watching the night, Usopp relaxing against the steps and Zoro working out throughout the time. Kinoko is sleeping in the girls’ rooms tonight, so no one else would come to disturb them until morning. 

 

“That thing you do with Nami,” Zoro says, after a while. “What’s it mean?”

Usopp spends quite a moment being confused, “what are you talking about?”

Zoro’s explanation comes a bit flustered, “you know, the thing where you talk. And expect an answer.”

“Oh, you mean an actual working conversation?” Usopp asks, earning a grind of teeth and a quiet growl that was probably a threat, but his lips curl into a smirk, realizing what Zoro was referring to. 

 

(“Terrible, isn’t he?”)

(“No, he’s the worst .”)

 

“It means I’m here ,” Usopp tells him. “And that we’re together.”

 

“... Nakama?” Zoro asks. 

Usopp nods. “Nakama.”

 


 

The girls’ room was rather awkward. 

Robin wasn’t at ease, so she rested upright, a pillow to her back and her hands in her lap. Her eyes were closed for a while, but every hour or so it would open to see Nami seated by the bar, Kinoko by the counter accompanying her work. 

Robin wasn’t too sure what Nami was working on. 

It looked like needlework of some sort. 

 

“You can come closer, you know,” Nami says, and Robin opens her eyes fully. She turns on the lamp beside them, showing the older girl just what she was working on. 

 

Robin doesn’t, but she smiles, striking up a casual conversation. 

“That’s the flag, isn’t it?” she says, reaching for a book-- Stray Voices, a book Nami doesn’t think she’s seen around before (did Robin get it from Gasparde, or?)-- at her bedside. “A rather cute hobby you have here, Miss Burglar Cat.”

Nami beams at that. 

“My mom taught me how to make them a long time ago,” she says. She doesn’t miss the way Robin turns away a little, her smile uncurling into indifference. “I suck at this now, since my arm is like this-- but I’m trying to keep her little tricks and habits alive in me, if you understand?” 

Robin pauses, and her next smile is much more genuine than Nami expected. 

“Yes,” she says. “I understand that very well.”

 

Nami blooms into a similar smile. And, impulsively, she picks up the lamp, her needle cushio, Kinoko, and the rest of the string-- before making her way back to the bed, settling herself under the covers.

With the light on the bedside table, she leans in, perhaps a little too close to Robin-- and cosies up to her side. She even puts the half-asleep bird at her knee, using it as an armrest despite Robin’s questioning look. 

“You have a lot of hands, don’t you?” Nami says, “help me out here?”

Nami lifts the almost-finished plushie in her hands, showing off the awful mess of knots on one end, chuckling bashfully. 

 

Robin curls up comfortably, drawing her legs a little sideways toward her stomach, bringing the covers up with her. Her fingers tap rhythmically against the book, sonderingly.

“Sure,” she tells the navigator, “but I’m not very adept at anything other than the basic stitch, so you’ll have to teach me the steps as I go.” 

Nami nods repeatedly at that, enthused. 

 


 

Luffy hugs Chopper. 

They were both wide awake, laying on one hammock and staring straight toward the ceiling. They were clearly caught between straining their ears to the guys above deck or the girls in the room next door. 

Nami was giggling now, and Robin was talking softly. Usopp had started joining Zoro in his workouts, and apparently, he was keeping up well, to Zoro’s ire. 

 

Sanji rolls over on his hammock, frowning, “eavesdropping isn’t nice, you shitheads.”

“Hippo-crate,” Luffy immediately says. 

“Hippo,” Chopper echoes. 

“I’ll smack you,” Sanji threatens. 

 

Luffy and Chopper snicker like absolutely children, rolling over to face Sanji as the cook half-rises, lounging over his hammock with a tired frown. 

“Geez, if none of us were going to sleep tonight, we should’ve just done some other chores or something,” Sanji mutters. 

Chopper mulls at that. “Yeah, but…”

 

(But how were they supposed to sleep after that ?)

 

Luffy stays quiet, staring at the gaps of the wood in a rare moment of thought. Sanji and Chopper notice, and say nothing. 

They all had a lot to think about tonight. 

“Nami… she’s looking at someone,” Luffy says. 

Sanji lifts his head at the same time Chopper does. “What are you talking about?”

Luffy doesn’t answer. He just fiddles with Chopper’s antlers and broods. 

 

(Nami has always been looking at someone. It’s not Whitebeard, it’s not Smoker, it’s not even Luffy himself.)

(She’s still looking at the shadow of the man who was her Pirate King.) 

(And Luffy is sure that Usopp’s blind eyes can only remember that back as well.)

 

“This is stupid, I was supposed to be the Pirate King,” he says, pouting. “This isn’t fair. Now I’m gonna have to become something better than that.” 

“Huh?” Sanij asks. 

Chopper is much more positive, “really? But what’s better than the Pirate King?”

“I don’t know!” Luffy hops upright, Chopper in his lap, “but I’m gonna be it anyways! What about the Super Pirate King or something?” 

“The Super Pirate King?”

“How about just the Pirate King,” Sanji says, “let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“But I have to!” Luffy whines, “how else am I supposed to do it? I can beat Smokey or Krieg or even Whitebread--”

“Please don’t.”

“--but I don’t know how to beat myself!”  

 

Sanji stops there, getting up as well, his legs dangling over the edge of the hammock. Just a little-- he thinks he may have taken a glimpse into the insecurities Luffy never slips out-- and he wasn't too sure how to feel about that. 

Luffy is headstrong and confident and reckless, maybe-- but vulnerable, never. 

Sanji’s hands itch for a cigarette, but he reaches for his hair instead, ruffling it in some form of a mild frustration. 

Chopper looks between them-- and only clenches tighter to Luffy’s arm in a hug. 

 

“I think you’re cool and strong enough,” Chopper says. “But… Nami and Usopp know us when we’re even stronger, and I don’t even know where to begin imagining that in a realistic way.”

 

They don’t exactly set out on a journey knowing where they’d be in ten years, after all. 

(But Nami and Usopp do.) 

 

“You’re always the best version of yourself,” Sanji says, his voice a little above a whisper. 

The two turn to him, and he flusters. 

“It’s just-- something the geezer once told me,” he says. “You can’t expect yourself to be someone you’re not. And people shouldn’t expect that from you either, because that would mean they’re not looking at you .”

Sanji pauses, not quite knowing if Luffy understood that. 

(But it’s all he knows-- the days of doubting, the days thinking he wasn’t what he was supposed to be, the days thinking that he needed to be someone that lived up to expectations-- the days striving for insane expectations that couldn’t be reached.) 

“You chose us, Luffy,” Sanji says, his voice soft, his hand clenched tightly in his hair. “Nami-san and Usopp might be confused, for now-- but they still chose you . What you need to do is make them understand that-- not try to change yourself for them.” 

 

Luffy’s hand hangs, just a little before he found Chopper’ antlers to fiddle with. He reaches for his straw hat instead, setting a hand at its base, looking down-- quiet. 

“...yeah,” he says, very quietly. “I get it. Thanks, Sanji.”

 

Sanji finally steps out of the hammock, taking Chopper out of Luffy’s lap to set him right back in his correct spot. He even fluffs up the pillow and everything. 

“That’s enough talking for tonight,” Sanji says. “I need to bring supper for the night watch, so you two should get some sleep. If you snooze at chores tomorrow, I’m going to tell Gin you skipped.” 

At that, the two hastily grab their blankets, laying back down in a panic. 

“Okay, okay!” they say, “napping now. Night, SanjI!” 

Sanji waves dismissively at that. “Any requests for breakfast?” he offers, before reaching for the hatch toward the deck. 

“Pancakes!” Luffy bolts right up with an arm. 

“With syrup and chocolate and cream!” Chopper adds. “Lots of it!” 

“Yes, yes,” Sanji says, “goodnight, you shitheads.”

 

-


-

 

Surprisingly, the next morning, they were the same as always. 

(Everyone ignores Nami’s and Usopp’s slightly swollen eyes.) 

 

“Oh right! We forgot about the Log Pose!” Nami exclaims during breakfast, hurriedly showing it off to the surprise of the unknowing part of the crew. She smiles, smugly, getting all ready to tell the world about the amazing land that was their next destination.

“What the--” 

“It’s pointed straight upward?” 

“That’s weird. Is it broken?”

“What’s the big deal,” Usopp prompts, “just turn the helm skyward.”

“Oh, he’s right,” Luffy says, “alright, everyone! Full speed ahead toward the sky!” 

“Okay!” Chopper says, morphing right into heavy point before Zoro stops him. 

“Don’t lead him on!” he scolds the crowd. 

“Idiot, gravity doesn’t work that way,” Sanji says. 

 

Luffy gasps. “That’s right! Usopp, we can’t turn up!” 

“Really? That’s weird,” Usopp says, his hand ghosting around the table to find the maple syrup to no avail, he doesn't notice Chopper stealing a pancake from his plate, “have we tried flying yet?”

“Good idea! Nami, let’s fly,” Luffy says. Then, turning his attention to Kinoko in the middle of the table, “Kinosuke can do it!” 

Kinoko looked promptly offended in the midst of her pancake tower, raising a bird brow with a jeering scoff. 

“You know that’s impossible, right?” Zoro retorts, “Usopp shut the hell up for a second.”

“We could, I don’t know, stick wings to Merry’s side,” Usopp suggests, absolutely not shutting up, “have I told you the story of the bird that flew too close to the sun and his wings were set on fire and that’s how he became a Phoenix?’

“What? What story is that?”

“Usopp, you mixed up like three different stories in that one.”

“Two actually. But Icarus is a Western myth and the Phoenix is a Southern myth. At least stick to one sea, Usopp.”

“Well, it goes like this…”

 

Nami sighs at the sight, resting her chin in her palm as she stared at the boys who were now completely arguing over Usopp’s story, forgetting about the Log Pose. She tried to ease Sky Island into the conversation easily, but apparently, Usopp wanted to be a menace.

Robin chuckles beside her. “Is it always this lively?” 

“Yes, unfortunately,” Nami says. 

 

Robin hums. “Speaking of flying…” she takes out a book-- Northern Folk Tales, an anthology-- “there is this strange story in here about a man who flew high enough to break the clouds, and word says, he found an island.”

All attention in the galley whirls right onto her, and she actually freezes for a moment, startled by the simultaneous interest. 

“What story is that?!” Luffy asks first, eyes sparkling. 

“An island in the sky ?” Chopper asks next, hurrying up to Robin’s side, “how does that work? Tell us the story, Robin!” 

 

Nami sees Usopp dramatically deflate as the children turn all their attention to Robin, who, slightly flustered, opens her book to find the right page. His bird only gives him a glance before scoffing like he was a weakass for being upset over lack of attention. 

“Ah… well, let me see…” she didn’t expect to actually be asked to retell the story, apparently, because she glances back nervously at those childishly impatient eyes and almost stutters at the expectations. “He was a hero who was looking for his wife, who was captured by an evil King...”

For some reason, Luffy and Chopper were both gathered around Robin’s lap, arms on her and looking up with those innocent, beady-looking eyes. 

Watching Robin grow very confused while trying to keep the story coherent was a very amusing sight to see, especially since the children kept bringing up new questions every time she tried to ask them why they were slouched over her like that. 

 

Sanji gathers the plates, throwing a subtle reminder at the children to “don’t make her uncomfortable,” but he doesn’t do anything except start to work on the dishes. 

Zoro sighs at that, finishing his food quietly and poking Usopp’s food to get him out of that depression episode so he could remember to finish his too. Nami nurses her tea, listening to Robin’s story with full interest. 

Kinoko finds herself in Luffy’s grasp, being mannequinned to fly as Robin told the story and Luffy tries to act it out between sentences. 

 

“Does that mean we have to actually go to the sky now?” Chopper asks, “since the Log Pose is pointed up and all.” 

“Well… I believe so,” Robin says, “but we could also continue on our course toward Jaya. The log can still reset from that island.” 

Luffy makes a face, “eeehhh?! But it’s the sky, you know! The sky!” he whines, “we gotta go there. I don’t wanna go to Jaya or whatever.”

“Luffy, we still have to pick Gin and Anne up.”

“But the sky!” Luffy whines, like that’s a fair argument. 

“The issue remains that we don’t know how to get there,” Sanji says. And then immediately, “if you say ‘aim the helm skyward’ again, I will crack your skull.”

“Sanji, attempted mutiny,” Usopp deadpans, somehow having already made his way to the board with his walking stick, “rank raised by half a centimeter.” 

Luffy pointedly ignores Usopp, “hey, Kinosuke!” Luffy sets the bird on his shoulders and points outside, “fly us there!” 

“Don’t ask the impossible,” Zoro says, “put her down before she scratches you.”

“Then how are we supposed to get there?” 

“I don’t know Luffy,” Nami easily leads, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, “maybe if we get to Jaya, we can ask someone there.”

“Okay!” Luffy says, “then full speed ahead to Jaya!” 

“Aaand we’re right back where we started,” Sanji says in resignation. 

“Can we count manipulation of authority decisions into the mutiny board ranking system?” Zoro grumbles. 

 

And it immediately devolves into a spiel about just how much of a rise in the ranking that would warrant-- Vivi wasn't around, after all, and she was usually the decision maker when it came to the mutiny board’s scoring mechanics.

Usopp and Nami vehemently insist it’s only a 0.2 point raise, since everything is manipulating Luffy’s decisions, including bribing with food. Sanji jumps in to argue that no, it is not, and he will stand by that, while Chopper complains that tricking Luffy into taking vitamins should not be a violation of that rule-- and so it went on, with Zoro chewing everyone out in sheer exasperation.. 

 

Robin watches the entire chaos, bewildered. 

“This is… quite a strange crew, I see,” she says. 

Luffy laughs, “right? They’re the best! ” he agrees.

Chapter 55: falling ships, monkeys, and crickets (not all of them are falling)

Summary:

There are more monkeys than usual in this chapter. In other news, Nami decides she needs help in decoding information, Usopp gets sort of bullied, and the group arrives at Jaya.

(Gin and Anne make new friends.)

Chapter Text

When Bigstar arrives, the large hawk lands on the yard of the mast, a few paces from Kinoko. Immediately, Kinoko spreads out her wings with a loud shriek; and Babystar immediately screeches right back, tail up straight and hostile. 

For a moment, Nami wondered if she needed to go stop that-- then Bigstar the hawk swatted them both like a frustrated parent having enough of this shit, and the two smaller animals tumble right off in a mess of feathers and startled shouts and wrangled animal limbs. 

While Kinoko immediately spun right back and regained her airborne vertigo, Babystar barely avoids tearing a hole in the sails, before he’s caught between the cloth that oddly cushioned his fall enough for him to leap onto the rigging, grabbing on for balance. 

There’s a sigh of relief before the two animals growl one last time at each other-- and then Babystar hustles down the netting to Nami’s side, cosying up to her face before handing her a well-contained package with a wide monkey grin. 

 

“OOhh! It’s Babystar!” Luffy cheers, bouncing over from the bow, tossing his fishing rod toward Usopp (who yelps and nearly falls into the sea when he lunges to catch the fishing rod without knowing where the handholds were). “Babystar, hi hi!” 

The two monkeys reunite like old friends despite only ever meeting once in this lifetime, the little squirrel monkey leaping into Luffy’s arms and cheering childishly as Luffy spins him around, overjoyed. 

The noise catches the attention of Zoro, who rouses from his nap at the bottom of the steps to consider the situation. Robin, who was lounging nearby with a book, also glances over curiously. 

Sanji and Chopper were in the galley, seemingly not noticing the events outside. 

Bigstar remained by the crow’s nest with Kinoko, who apparently made a pleasant conversation partner. 

 

“I’m counting on you, Babystar,” Nami retrieves a folded paper card from her many hiding spots, leaving a print of her lips in lipstick before tucking it into Babystar’s pouch. 

Babystar nods, albeit still held up like a baby in Luffy’s arms. 

 

“Hey, Babystar, Babystar!” Luffy says, “join my crew!” 

The entire crew including the two birds abovedeck whirl around in a ‘hold on, what ’ whiplash, but Babystar seemed just plain confused in the crowd. He gave two chimp noises that Luffy interpreted as a no , so his face contorted into a very upset scrunch. 

“What, but why?” he complains, “you gotta join my crew! You’re a monkey, you know! You’re the coolest cutest thing!” 

“Luffy, we already have one coolest cutest thing ever,” Nami reminds him, “it’s called Chopper. Now give the adorable star monkey back to the angry star bird.” 

Luffy broods, but he eventually lets go of Babystar, if only because said angry star bird was really glaring at him and god knows he knows he shouldn’t mess with protective mama birds when it comes to their children. 

“I’m not giving up though!” he hollers when Bigstar and Babystar get ready to leave, as quickly as they came. “Join my crew next time, okay!! You and big bird both!” 

Babystar grins and waves back, and Luffy huffs in satisfaction. 

 

Nami didn’t quite know if she should tell him that those two were part of Buggy’s crew, so technically they can’t join the Strawhats-- but then again, this was Luffy. 

(Oh well, they’ll cross the bridge when they get there.)

Nami sighs, turning to the stack of a package they’d gotten. The very front of it was a note to tell Nami that Gin and Anne had arrived and made contact with the line of gold in Alabasta-- which was a good sign. That meant they succeeded and were safe. 

But the rest of the package would be where the real answers come. 

 

Just then, Usopp stumbled unceremoniously back onto the deck in a sort of panic, discarding the fishing rods and rushing through everywhere-- nearly crashing into the mast, getting to the wrong side of the hall for the stairs-- and then crashing into the storage hold. 

Everyone stares at him in confusion. Except Nami, who claps and secures the package in her breast pockets of infinite space. 

 

“Well, before we get to any of this…” she sighs, turning back toward the crew, a finger pointed upward. “ALL MEN ON DECK! INCOMING SHIP FROM ABOVE!” 

 

“Incoming ship from-- you mean forward, Nami?” Zoro asks.

“Nami, are you okay? Zoro’s making more sense!” Luffy turns to her-- but then he follows the finger and “OH WAIT NEVERMIND.”

They turn upward and-- Zoro’s jaw drops in sheer horror

A great shadow falls over them. Bristles of light debris fall, like rain. And then-- from the sky, perfectly overturned and in a perfect falling trajectory toward them-- was a galleon, five times the size of the Going Merry. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” 

“GET OUT OF HERE! WE NEED TO RUN! THE MERRY’S GONNA--!!” 

Sanji and Chopper burst out of the galley in surprise, “what the hell is all this noise--” Sanji stops short, “oh no. Chopper. CHOPPER THE HELM.”

 

Usopp scrambles out of the storage hold with rope, quickly making his way up the rigging toward the sails, binding the yard on each end before leaping back onto deck, winding his fists around the rope and creating a manual steering system in the sails, just as Jinbei used to do in high speed escapes. 

(Not that Usopp’s amateur skills really hold up-- but he knows enough of it to control the Merry at least, from all the times Jinbei used to demonstrate it to him.) 

“What the-- Usopp, what are you doing--?!” 

“Nami, what do we do?” 

“Argh, Gin was the better one with all these details!” 

Nami laughs, loud and wide. “Zoro get the oars, Sanji on the rudders!” she commands. “Chopper on the helm! Noko-chan, find the clear skies! Luffy, make sure no debris hits us-- Robin, hold onto everything loose on the deck!” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“And Usopp!” Nami raises her finger-- and a stern silence falls as she concentrates. “Strong winds coming in from the portside! Catch it!” 

Kinoko caws loudly-- twice. 

“Clear skies eastward!” Nami understands immediately, bringing out her Clima Tact to prepare for a Gust Sword, “Zoro and Robin, take one side each on the oars and row like hell! Chopper and Usopp, we’re making one sharp hell of a u-turn! WORK LIKE WE’RE GOING TO DIE BECAUSE THAT GALLEON CAN CRUSH US AND IT’S GOING TO HIT IN SEVEN SECONDS!” 

“YES SIR!” 

 


 

They escape the situation, and the Merry barely sustained any damage at all. 

At the very least, their steering helm wasn’t broken three times over like every other time they tried to brave through every perilous situation with it. They knew the ship wasn’t sufficient for the harsh waters of the Grand Line, and this was just one of the many things Merry lacked in the capability department.

Robin, for one, was carefully restructuring the skeleton they’d found, studying it with Luffy and Chopper and finding out what ship had just nearly killed them all. 

“Seriously, if you could do that, you should’ve done it a hundred times ago!” Nami yells at Usopp, once they were in the clear. 

“Oh come on, that took a lot out of me!” Usopp argues, laying flat on the deck, “you have to be a Zoro to be able to sail a caravel like a yacht, okay? I was testing my limits there! My muscles will die tomorrow!”

“Okay, person that just sailed a caravel like a yacht ,” Nami sneers. “At least we didn’t need to have Mery tank the most of the damage this time.” 

“Nami, Nami!” Chopper calls, showing her the skull Robin had just pieced together, “Robin says that ship is probably over two hundred years old!” 

"Really, that's awesome."

“Wait, I don’t feel our monster three stooges in the area,” Usopp says echoing Nami’s thoughts immediately, lifting his head from the deck, “where’s Kinoko?”

“Oh, if you’re referring to the Captain, Cook, Swordsman, and Little Miss Bird--” Robin gestures vaguely at the ship before settling the skeleton back in its coffin, “they’ve gone to explore the ship before it fully sinks.”

“Already?!” Nami yells. 

 

“Heyyy! Get maps and books that are intact!” Usopp hollers, though not in the right direction, “and any other cool stuff you can find, treasures! Treasures!” 

“GOT IT!” they yell back. 

 

Nami’s face fills with dread, “what the-- Usopp! You know they’re going to grab useless stuff! Don’t encourage them!” 

“Oh don’t be a spoilsport, Nami. It’s a man’s romance,” Usopp says, like that’s the most important thing in the world. “Plus, we need to maximize chances that they grab the Waver. I don’t want to deal with making diving suits for them this time.” 

“You’re just lazy, aren’t you!”

 “And out of energy.”

“Don’t admit it!” 

 


 

They meet the Saruyama Alliance part #1, Masira. 

 

“HEY! Every ship in this area belongs to us! You aren’t trying to salvage it and steal our loot, are you?” 

“No, not at all,” Nami immediately says, “you see, that ship was flailing down like an overturned basket at us. You know what I mean? So all this that fell on us-- it’s debris, actually. So don’t mind us, go on your way.”

“Oh, your logic is sound,” Masira says. “Very well. Sorry to bother you, missy and crew! Have a nice, monkeying day!” 

Nami nods, “you too, whatever the actual hell that means.” 

 

The monster trio sit around the deck, towels around their shoulders (they ended up taking a swim after all) and confused looks toward the dumb-looking ship that decided a lot of noise is to be made today. 

Kinoko rolls around a cloth in the middle of the deck, trying to get dry after Luffy took her for an unexpected plunge. (She almost escaped, but Luffy grabbed her, yelling ‘hey Kinosuke, fly me out!’ and then they both sank.) 

Usopp is asleep. Just straight up snoring, in the middle of the deck. They’ve deigned to ignore him.

 

They found the map to Skypiea and all, but what do they do with all the rest of this mess?

 

Now their deck was filled with antiques, half-ruined books, rusty metal things including swords, plates and vases, and a-- live octopus, somehow. Apparently it was stuck to Zoro’s side and didn’t want to leave. 

The crusted waver was between all of it, so Nami was fine, but she was trying to decide how to crush their hopes and dreams. 

(She slams a foot on the trash.) 

(Zoro and Sanji wail out in horror.) 

 

“Nami, Nami, that guy’s a monkey!” Luffy hisses, overexcited, “he’s a monkey !” 

“What the--” Masira turns back around, and Sanji and Zoro whirl around in alarm-- “did you just say I was like a monkey? Awh! That’s high praise! Thanks!” 

“Ah, right,” Nami turns to Masira, “heyyy! Would you happen to know how to get to Sky Island? We’re looking for more information on it, so anything would be helpful!” 

“Oh, Sky Island, you say?” Masira turns to her, smiling widely. “We do! If you’d wait for us to be done, we can bring you to meet our brother, sister!” 

“What the-- Nami, are you just trusting this weirdo?!” Zoro asks, then. 

“I thought we were going to meet Gin and Anne!” Luffy asks, then, “oh well, Nami knows what she’s doing.” 

“What are the chances the weirdo we just happened to find has the information we need, what the shit,” Sanji mutters, “never doubt the power of the amazing Nami-swan, I see.”

“Are you guys already forgetting what me and Usopp told you yesterday?” Nami asks, rhetorically. “Well, whatever.” 

 

They agree to watch the Salvagers as they work to bring the ship up from the sea, Luffy, Chopper, and Kinoko at some point jetting over to the next ship to watch closer. 

(“And by the way, you look very bear, my good sir. Very good bear.”)

(“I’m a reindeer!”)

(“Oh, pardon me. You’re very reindeer, indeed! Good reindeer!”)

(“Was that supposed to be a compliment or what? I don’t understand!”)

Robin isn’t here either. She’d probably gone to loot. 

 

Nami sighs as a friendship is quickly made between Luffy and the Saruyama alliance. Sanji decides to ignore all of that, for his own sanity, and grabs the octopus that was Zoro’s friend and goes into the galley to make takoyaki. 

Zoro, meanwhile, just picks up a seashell in the midst of all the trash and hands it to Nami. “Here, it’s something you might have wanted.”

Nami blinks. 

It’s a dial. 

She squeals , leaping onto Zoro's shoulders and wrapping him in a hug, “I knew I could count on you to be capable, Zoro! I love you!” 

“What the-- I get it, I get it, now off!”  

The chef bursts out of the galley. “What is happening out there and why is my jealousy indicator going haywire--” Sanji stops for a moment before exploding in flames, “ZORO YOU SHITHEAD!” 

“I’m not the initiator!” Zoro snaps, but he draws his swords right up to an angry foot anyways, and they don’t quite notice themselves using Usopp’s sleeping figure as a foothold. 

 

Nami takes the takoyaki from Sanji’s hands, hollering to the ship nearby while holding it up, “Booooys! Food’s ready!” 

“Ooh, Takoyaki!” Luffy cheers, shooting two arms over to grab it and swoop right back. 

Nami watches Chopper and Kinoko run after him for their portions, and Luffy kicking Masira away when the man asks for a share too. 

 

Nami beams.

“Look bright!” She says, turning briefly to her Log Pose and musing at the way the needle was furiously jittering directly upwards, getting closer. 

She makes no effort to put anyone at ease when night falls upon them and the huge shadows of spear-wielding angels show up upon the horizon. 

“What do you say here again-- right,” Nami points at six o’clock. Luffy yells out, loudest of all the panicked screams in the vicinity. 

 

“Full speed ahead, 180 degrees, RUN LIKE HELL, RUN LIKE HELL!” 

 


 

They escape from the sudden nightfall. They lose the ship they were trying to salvage (but then again, that sea turtle was sort of eating it so whatever,) and they end up broodily making their way to Jaya, still terrified of the ordeal. 

“Seriously, the Grand Line is freaky sometimes,” Masira says, “been living here all my life, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

“Definitely,” Sanji says, lighting a cigarette. “Seriously, what the hell were those monsters?”

Zoro gives Nami a pointed look. 

Nami pretends not to notice it.

“Ah, Miss Burglar Cat,” Robin hands Nami a map of Jaya, apparently sourced from Masira’s ship. “I didn’t take the Eternal Pose, but I have an eye on it if you would like.”

“Thank you, Robin,” Nami beams, “but that’s fine. We can sail together the rest of the way, can’t we, Mister Monkey Man?” she turns to Masira, whose ears perk up immediately at the referral. “We’re counting on you!” 

Masira blushes, grinning like an over-ecstatic idiot. “Oh my lady, you do know how to make a man overjoyed! Do we really look monkey to you? Oh, flattery will get you somewhere after all! Of course we will!” 

“Alright, thanks!” 

 

Luffy pokes at Usopp, who was still sleeping on the deck. He wonders why there are so many footprints on his back. 

Chopper and Kinoko bring a broom and mop around, cleaning the deck and getting rid of the remaining debris (not including the antique things) and brushing them into the sea. 

“Are you sure, Nami-san?” Sanji asks, watching Zoro throw the anchor over to use as a connecting line for both ships. 

“Yeah,” Nami assures him, “we’re already in Jaya’s climate. From here, we’ll get by just drifting along-- but Merry will go faster if we’re being pulled by a bigger boy.” 

“Why are you so harsh to the Merry, she’s trying her best okay,” Usopp murmurs from his spot on the ground, earning synchronous looks and a surprised one from Luffy, who had been in the process of stacking as many items as he could on top of the sniper’s back. 

Nami and Sanji cringe when Usopp lifts his head and the inevitable, unceremonious, sharp-loud-and-very-painful crash occurs. 

The plates hold up for a moment, but the upside down vase above it and the cups teetering over it sways right over-- and the vase is first to flip right over, crashing right into the sniper’s head and breaking into a hundred shards, followed immediately by a ceremony of cups that knock him back flat on the deck-- and then the dishes slide down one after another, breaking itself either on the skull or the shards or the wood. 

Luffy bides his own skin, stands up, and immediately runs away. 

 

“Ow,” is the only thing Usopp says, ignoring the multitudes of shards around him and the blood dripping down his head. 

 

“Are you okay, dude?” Sanji asks, genuinely concerned. 

“What the--” Chopper whirls around, horrified at first by the mess, then at the wounds, “USOPP! What happened to you?! DOCTOR! Get a docto--!!” 

You’re the doctor!” Usopp and Sanji snap at the same time. 

“Oh thank god,” Nami sighs in honest relief, “he just tsukkomi’ed. He’s still functional.”

 

Chopper hurriedly begins to bandage up Usopp as Robin takes over the cleanup. Having a lot of hands in surprisingly convenient when you have a lot of clearing supplies and not enough shits to do anything except throw everything overboard.

Kinoko eventually finds and pulls Luffy back by the cheek, handing him off to Sanji who punishes him with another extended cheek pull and forces a mop into his hand. 

 

(This is really the only ship that will make their captain do mop duty, and Robin still can’t believe her eyes.) 

 


 

Nami takes this time to hand Zoro and Sanji part of the notes she’d gotten from Buggy. 

She grins, “the line of gold is one of the four most important lines of information. All pirate big names have some sort of link to the line of gold-- and if they don’t, well, they probably have links elsewhere.” 

Zoro squints at them, some of them poems, some of them cryptid quotes, and others actual damn puzzles and crosswords, like some sort of childish worksheet. 

“Well, if we’re talking about some big names that utilize the line of gold most prominently… I’d say Red-Haired Shanks is at the top, followed immediately by Whitebeard, , and about…” she thinks for a moment, “...half of the Seven Warlords?”

Their jaws drop at the rather generous estimate. 

“That many?” Sanji asks. “I… honestly don’t know if this means it’s really special, or if it means it’s not as rare as we might think.” 

“Yeah,” Zoro says, a rare moment of agreement with Sanji. “Too many big names have it-- is it really valuable information if a lot of people have it too?”

 

Nami crosses her arms, smiling with pride. She knew these boys would ask the right questions. She’s really happy to talk with the ones that have the braincells for once. Even if these two in particular only have braincells half the time. 

 

“Well, that’s where the most important factor of this line comes in. It’s unique-- in the way that it isn’t fair ,” she says. “Every mail is personalised, and the sender can withhold any information they don’t think you deserve.”

The part in the wind utilizes a radio, broadcasted to everyone at the same time. The Big News spreads information through underground newspapers and the outside world Economic Paper. It’s a simple distribution method that offers no customization and censorship goes across the board to everyone for the sake of generalization. 

But the line of gold takes advantage of its personal distribution, providing specific items for your crew, such as Vivre Cards, Wanted Posters, and even Eternal Poses if needed. In the same way, it withholds information that would be inconvenient in your possession, if the sender deems it to be necessary to avoid major world conflicts. 

Zoro and Sanji chew on that understanding, looking through the notes. 

“This information helped me out a lot, back then. You could say it was why I survived for so long during the purge,” she says. “I’ll teach you guys the cipher.”

They nod in response. 

 

Nami was speaking of the devastation calmly-- not because she was trivialising it-- but because she wanted them to know. And they knew now, how vital these new bits of information were, and how hard it was for her to share them. 

(They’d respect it, for her.)

 

“Well, there will definitely be some details that are hard to understand for you guys, so just ask me or Usopp if you want to know,” Nami says. 

 

Now that they didn’t have to focus on sailing, they had plenty of time.

 


 

“Luffy! You got a bounty!” 

“WOOOOAH!!” 

The wanted posters had come with Babystar and Bigstar’s package, folded up neatly and laid out in a rather amazing array. 

“Oh hey, I got one too,” Zoro grins, “56 million, huh…”

“Seventy-five! Seventy-fiiive!” Luffy grins, holding up his wanted poster like it was a trophy, “look!” he shows it off to Masira, who gapes in horror, “It’s ME!” 

“Usually, people don’t want to be wanted, Luffy,” Usopp says, because unfortunately, he’s the only one who can offset the overwhelming positivity in everyone.

“Oh, but your head is here! You’ll have the most wanted back of your head!” Luffy says, pointing despite knowing Usopp can’t see that. 

Usopp stares back blankly, contemplating the irony of Luffy being so damn proud of something he also used to be so damn proud of for no reason. 

 

“What the--!! Sanji balks, “is that it?! What about me, where am I?!” He looks through all the cards and turns the backpage inside and out and the other way around twice, and finds nothing. He curls up, brooding, “goddammit.”

 

“Hehh,” Nami smiles quite happily at her own poster, admiring the 81 million with a moan of delight. “They raised mine so much! I’m flattered,” she says. Then, “Is it crazy that I love high bounties now.”

“Your self-preservation withered away, Nami,” Usopp says, sounding devastated. “Why? I had faith in you.”

Nami sticks her tongue out at him, only belatedly remembering he can’t see it anyways, “I don’t want to hear anything from the five-star child traumatiser, god Usopp.”

“STOP DIGGING UP MY DARK HISTORY!” 

 

“This is so cool!” Chopper says, “your faces are on them! That means the world acknowledges you as strong and dangerous, right? That’s amazing! I want a bounty too.”

Nami and Usopp synchronously deflate, not so sure how to break it to the reindeer that the World Government’s ill-informed ignorant trend of cute anthromophics having laughably low bounties won’t be changing anytime soon.

Robin observes the scene with a rather bemused expression, coming to a slow realization with a hand on her cheek and a slow blink. 

“How unusual,” she says, “it seems that Miss Burglar Cat and I both have higher bounties than the Captain.” 

 

All activity on deck stops. 

Then, a quick look confirmed the observation that yes-- Luffy, 75 million, still fell short of Robin’s unchanged 79 million and Nami’s new 81 million. It’s very unusual. Even more so when you consider that they were the only two ladies in the crew, in this rather male-dominated sea. 

Luffy looks at his bounty in horror, and looks up in near tears at the horrific betrayal. 

“I was so close,” he whimpers, deflating immediately, crumbling to the ground and punching the deck in despair, “I just want to have the biggest bounty number because I’m the captain, this isn’t fair!” 

 

This makes the entire crew grimace and facepalm in a synchronous resignation of ‘not this again’. When will this end? 

 

“Robin made Luffy cry again,” Chopper observes dryly. 

He wasn’t exactly crying, it was more like one of those negative bouts Nami thought were oddly reminiscent of Perona. But they’d count it anyways. 

“Guess the rankings are changing again,” Nami nods. 

Said archaeologist sweats a little, “I... didn't mean to do so. I apologize.” 

 

“But he has a point. The captain usually has the highest bounty,” Zoro says, “even Gin’s isn’t that high, so Nami’s bounty raise is just ridiculous.” 

“I won’t ask about Robin-chan’s bounty, since it’s been that amount for a while,” Sanji says, not that they had Robin’s poster around to compare, “but aren’t they just scapegoating you, Nami-san?”

“Of course they are,” Nami sighs, “bet they’re in denial over so many up-and-coming scary faces coming over at the same time. They’re really milking the anti-Whitebeard propaganda for my name!” 

“Did that sound better in your head?”

 

Usopp, seemingly realizing something, turns to where he thought the swordsman was. Which was the wrong side, but Sanji helpfully moves the swordsman over instead of saying anything. “Zoro, what’s 81 plus 79 plus 75 plus--”

“371 million beris,” Zoro didn’t need the whole question. 

“That’s... a really big number.”

“I’m glad you know.”

 

“That is amazing !” Luffy loudly disagrees, “it’s awesome ! Ace is gonna be so jealous about it!”

“He would!” Nami beams. 

 

"That's it," Usopp says, "we ruined the crew. None of us have any self-preservation to spare. This is the worst case scenario. I'm devastated."

He knows Nami is smiling widely.

 

The wanted posters are then pinned up to the wall of the boy’s room, slanted and out of place, but there nonetheless. 

Luffy gloats about the bounties to Masira, who only beams and congratulates him as one hell of a monkey himself. Luffy laughs and accepts the compliment, because apparently he knows it’s a compliment now, and they make merry the whole way to Jaya. 

It’s so lively, Nami’s exhausted from just the energy. 

 


 

“So this one here uh,” Sanji stares at the card he’d stuck up the wall while he does the dishes, “Nami-san, this one says that someone’s gonna try to meet us in Jaya? But they’re not sure if they’ll make it?” 

Nami looks up from her own card and her afternoon tea, “isn’t that just Gin?”

Sanji squints, “well, I’d say so, but there’s this weird part,” he dries his hands and slides a thumb over the last line of the weirdly structured riddle. “Laughter’s the best medicine, and sometimes it’s yellow and under the sea.”

 

Nami very visibly, audibly, and loudly-- loses her composure at that. 

She first drops her cup, tries to catch, it, fails, kicks the table under her in panic, accidentally sends the edge jabbing into her ribs, and then in her yelp of pain fails to get up,catching her foot at the leg of the bench-- 

--before Sanji masterfully saunters over, catching her in a ballroom dance fall, a knee on the teacup and his hands catching the cards before they scattered. 

Luffy and Chopper clap exuberantly, very impressed, while Zoro scowls, staring at the extra hands on the table holding up a 10 sign while Robin reads her book. He, very necessarily, grabs a pen to scribble out the 1. 

 

Usopp was outside, on lookout with Kinoko and the rest of Masira’s group. 

 

“Are you okay, Nami-swan?” Sanji grins, very happy with himself. 

“Ah-- I’m, I'm fine. Thanks… Sanji-kun,” Nami doesn’t really know if her blush at that point was just her embarrassment, her panic, or the fact that sometimes Sanji really was a total fucking prince. "I just uhm. Panicked. because I realized I'm an idiot." 

But anyways, she takes the card from Sanji as he sets her back on her feet. 

“Good news, everyone,” Nami says, “I asked around for anyone that could cure Gin’s blood poison disease, and this is-- honestly the best lead we could’ve asked for.” 

 

Immediately, all attention is back on her. 

While Dr Kureha and Chopper’s efforts were commendable in getting Gin back into pseudo top-shape, so much that Gin could even go whole days with no symptoms now, barring a few disturbed nights. 

“There’s a cure?!” Chopper runs up first, “how? Tell me about it!”

“So that’s the guy we might find on Jaya?” Sanji asks. “A doctor? We already have a doctor, so it’s not like we need another one.”

“It’s slightly different,” Nami says. “He’s already a captain of his own crew, so we’re not asking him to join or anything. He’s probably the best--” she takes a moment, “-- surgeon , in the entirety of the Grand Line.” 

Chopper’s eyes sparkle at that, “really?! 

 

Jaya isn’t exactly a place one would set up for a friendly meetup-- but then again, since they were pirates, maybe it was? 

 

“The Man-Demon is ill?” Robin asks. She hadn’t had any interactions with the man, but even if she did, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. It isn’t knowledge available to the general public, though, so it’s still a surprise. 

And Luffy nods, “this Krieg guy blew up this stinky gas thing and Gin almost died.”

“So, who is it?” Zoro asks, turning the conversation back to Nami. “Can we trust him?”

Nami beams, “spoilers, spoilers,” she sings, “but don’t worry-- he’s a nakama , too.”

 

The use of that word felt strange when she’d already clarified that they weren’t part of their crew. It’s this confusion that allows her to bring the card to the lit stove, watching it burn to a crisp before anyone else could get a better look. 

“We’ll split into two groups,” she says. 

It was time to lay out their plans once they got onshore. 

 


 

Meeting Montblanc Cricket was strangely nostalgic. They land on the East shore, Luffy spots a chestnut in the water and gets dragged down, a fight almost ensues as Masira laughs his ass off, and then Cricket collapses and no one is laughing. 

Chopper stays behind with Sanji and Usopp to take care of the old man as Masira and his pal, Shoujou, thanks them tearfully.

 

Robin goes on ahead toward the city. She didn’t get the opportunity to buy clothes or anything domestically necessary in Han’nabal, so she tucks her cowboy hat on her head and takes a quiet leave before anyone notices. 

“What the-- where’s Robin?” Usopp asks, and if you can avoid that man and his haki, you’d have to be skilled. 

“Well, she’ll be back eventually,” Nami assures him. “Zoro, Luffy! Let’s go.”

“Wait, why are you three crazies going together?!” Usopp yells, and Chopper quickly echoes that concern. 

“We saw the shore! There were pirate ships and explosions and scary stuff! Don’t leave us here!” Chopper wails, clinging to Sanji’s foot. "Sanji, you're staying, right? RIGHT?!"

“Ah no, I’m more worried about the town itself,” Usopp says, very dryly, “but yeah! Nami! Leave one of them back here, please , you’re going to pick up Gin of all people! You'll have enough power to take over a country by your side!” That's not an exaggeration. 

 

Nami ignores him, continuing to usher the boys toward the town of dreams and barfights. “It’ll be fine! You two promise not to fight in this town, right?”

They’re both silent. 

Then she repeats, the look of death in her eyes, “ right?” Her voice lowers dangerously, and she raises her fist-- the flesh one-- but it’s somehow more threatening than the metal one. “If you jeopardize the peace and make it so we can’t get to Gin’s doctor appointment safely-- you know what I’ll do, right?”

They don’t, actually. 

But the two very stiffly nodded, and then quietly said, “we swear not to fight in this town.”

Nami blooms, like a sunflower, “that’s great! I knew I could count on you boys. Now let’s go to Mock Town!” 

 

Sanji and Chopper watch as Nami leads them both, and the two boys obediently follow along, flanking her like a pair of hunting dogs in the leash of their owner. 

“A halter top, shorts, with high boots,” Sanji says, speaking in Usopp’s direction. “Nami’s battle gear is cute and terrifying.” 

Usopp, for a moment, wonders about the significance of Sanji telling him that. 

Then, he breaks into a complete panic and yells, “why are you showing off your Whitebeard Mark and metal arm?! NAMI! WE SAID STAY UNDER THE RADAR!" They were already gone, did they sprint or something, they were out of earshot already? Usopp deflates, devastated. "Why did no one stop her?!” 

“Well… I was busy treating Mister Cricket,” Chopper points. 

As for Sanji, “I was busy admiring how beautiful Nami-san was.”

Usopp wants to bash his head into a tree, but he doesn’t know how far the trees are from him, so he can’t. 

 


 

Outside a clothing store in Mock Town, Gin takes a bite of the apple in his hands. He fiddles with his headband, tugging it below his bangs before shoving it collectively upwards so it’s all away from his face. His hair had grown quite a bit, and it was really about time he got it cut. 

“Geez, girls take forever ,” he mutters, irritated. The headache wasn't helping. He could throw up right now, but he didn’t trust the people in this city enough to even go and do that. This sucked. 

His new letterman jacket, shiny silver and black, wolf-printed, even-- is worn proudly against his lean figure, wrapping comfortably across the array of scars on his back and across his arms. 

 

“Tell me about it,” the man sitting beside him, who he has never met before this very moment but Gin had seen him get ordered to sit here by a puffy-haired lady, groans right back. 

 

Gin observes the hat that says ‘Penguin’ on his head and promptly decides he’s not going to ask. Judging by the boiler suit, probably a worker in a steamship near the port. Gin didn’t see any, but he’ll suspend his disbelief. 

“Babysitting?” he prompts.

“Buddy system,” the man says in return, “her usual partner had an appointment to get to. I’m the unfortunate one that wasn’t busy with chores.”

“That’s rough, buddy.”

“And you, babysitting?” Penguin hat prompts back, sounding dead. “You don’t look like someone a parent would trust with their children, no offense.”

Spoken with no fear at all. 

Gin doesn’t take offense, since he agrees with that observation.

 

Gin hums a noise that was probably an approval, briefly looking into the shop to see Anne talking to the puffy-haired girl. “Well, this parent of ours wasn’t exactly what I would call a functional adult… nor the one after it, actually. Now I’m apparently the parent.” 

“Oh, mood,” Penguin immediately says, “would you believe me if I said me and my-- uh, brother I guess-- just got adopted by a kid one day and somehow I’m now a pirate on a weird-ass ship with weird-ass people? And like, I'm functionally the adult of the group but no one really cares?”

Gin grimaces. “I would.”

 


 

Anne is a girl of many colours-- magenta in her hair, pink in her hat (it’s a dark red now, though, apple and all) her old overalls used to be magenta too, with blues everywhere else. Then she wore the olives and browns of Usopp, and now-- now, she had to find a new colour again, this time entirely for herself. 

“Don’t you have a favourite colour?” the lady-- Ikkaku, she’d introduced herself-- asks, as they were trying to figure out what looked best on Anne. 

 

And that was really the first time Anne realized the significance of colours for people, other than in an expression of emotion. 

(It was also an expression of self, wasn’t it?)

(Yellow was for Miss Valentine. Bon-chan was a light pink. Luffy was a bright red.)

People chose their clothes, their things-- on a favourite something. Anne had no favourites. She was good at painting. She was loyal to Chaser and Gin. She respected Luffy. She enjoyed the presence of the rest of the crew. 

Her favourite something just didn’t really exist. 

But she looks out the window and realizes-- “silver?”

(Outside, Gin was talking-- laughing, even, with another man. They gestured in a mixture of annoyance and resignation-- the gentle curve of his eyes, the ease in his shoulders… Anne realized that Gin was happy out there. And somehow, her chest filled with something-- unpleasant.)

(She doesn't pout. Obviously she doesn't. Gin can talk to whoever he wants. Obviously, nothing wrong with that.)

(But Gin doesn't just smile to anyone and-- agh, she's going to stop thinking about it.) 

 

She adjusts the apple beret against her hair, jousting the pigtails out of place for a moment. Quickly, she looks away, but Ikkaku follows her eyes and sees the same sight, whistling with interest. 

“Penguin’s made a friend!” she observes, sunnily. She pauses, noticing something-- then beams, brightly, “who’s he talking to? The man in silver, is that your big brother?”

“Big brother?” Anne asks. Then a moment later, “maybe. Is Gin my big brother?”

"Sure, Gin, huh?" Ikkaku raises a thumbs up. “Silver is pretty, isn’t it? Leave it to this big sister here then!”  she puffs up her chest with pride. “Though, unlike your flashy big brother, maybe a light gray would suit you better…” 

Anne makes a very confused noise. “Big sister?” she asks, but she doesn't get an answer.

 

Before she'd even realized, she’s getting pulled around the store, her canvas bag trailing behind her.

Chapter 56: mock town meetings (poison without a cure)

Summary:

(a reunion, a bar fight, and a man who's only here because he's a softie for his own crew.)

Anne may never quite understand her new crew, but she's getting somewhere. Nami reminisces on the doctors she's sailed with and the way their hearts have broken-- but she's glad they're here.

(+it's been a while since we've had flashbacks to the previous timeline, huh?)

Chapter Text

Gin didn’t really know what to say. 

Anne huffs, tucking her hands into the pockets of her new, magenta overalls, the skirt coming right at her knees where the striped socks began. Gin tried not to look at the rabbit print on the chest pocket. He’s not so sure why she went with that gray-striped shirt-- oh, it matches her socks-- but she’s still wearing Sanji’s stupid blue hawaiian shirt over it why didn’t she just throw that thing away, it’s atrocious.  

Her apple beret and all her jewellery just-- somehow-- completed the look for her. 

Well, at least she looks good. 

 

“Can we set those shoes on fire?” Gin says, staring at her torn and stained red sneakers. 

Anne immediately replies, completely serious, “can I set you on fire?” 

Gin bought those for her five years ago. She’s annoyingly attached to those things. He’s rather surprised she actually agreed to change the overalls, she had been so reluctant to leave it because Vivi made them. It’s probably still in her bag.

Gin wasn’t in the mood for his third arson this month, so he relents. Seriously, she was such a child and Gin honestly didn’t know if he liked or hated that. 

“...did you have enough money?” he asks, because she’s got more clothes in those three shopping bags and he’s a little afraid to ask. 

“Don’t worry, Big sis covered the difference,” Anne says. 

“Big sis?!” Gin asks, horrified. 

 

Beside him, Penguin was still admiring Anne’s new look. Gin will stab him in the eyes in two seconds. Beside Anne though, this alleged big sister huffs proudly, looking very satisfied with herself. 

Penguin raises a thumbs up. “10/10 Ikkaku.” 

“Precisely!” Ikkaku dramatises, then poses dramatically to show off Anne like she was a national monument of cuteness, “my masterpiece!” 

“Can you strike a pose? Please?” Penguin asks, immediately receiving a swat to the face. “What was that for?? I wanna put her beside Adelle and give them all the candy in the world!” 

“You sound like a pedophile, Penguin.”

“How could you say such a terrible thing, Ikkaku?” 

 

Anne does the pose. They cheer. Suddenly Gin realizes this might take a while, and he dies a little inside. He leans back, looking toward the sky, watching his vision swim a little at the movement. 

 

Well, today’s a dizzy day, so he’ll let them be.

 

-


-

 

Nami can deal with Jesus Burgess on the rooftop catching Luffy and Zoro’s eyes. She can deal with Van Auger shooting down birds and freaking Chopper out. She draws the line at Doc Q trailing by with a horse, pretending he isn’t the piece of shit of a man--

“Five people just blew up?!” 

“The guy giving out free apples! These guys bit into them and--!!” 

“The store’s a gorefest! Everyone fucking get out!” 

 

“What the hell is your deal?!” Zoro snaps, swords half drawn toward the decrepit man lying lifelessly upon a snoozing horse-- both of whom didn’t seem threatened at all, unnervingly so.

“It’s fine, Zoro,” Nami says, stepping forward as Luffy tries hacking up the apple to no avail, realizes he’s not blowing up, and takes another testing bite. 

Zoro smacks him over the head, “stop taunting the grim reaper!” 

 

“Oh,” Doc Q smiles weakly at Nami, recognizing her as she tosses her hair over her shoulder with, extending her metal hand in greeting. “I see who you are.”

“Yes, it is I, Burglar Cat Nami,” she says, dryly. “You do know what interfering with me will mean for you?”

It’s a threat, despite her cheerful tone.

“Yes, yes,” Doc Q says, coughing weakly into his horse, “let’s go, Stronger. Captain told us not to interact.”

 

Nami swears not to fight on this island. It would be inconvenient to fight in crowded places, and catching so much attention here would be detrimental to Gin’s appointment with Law, and their attempts to head up to Sky Island. In addition to that-- Teach isn’t to be underestimate here, even without his Devil Fruit. 

Nami swears not to fight on this island. 

Nami swears-- 

 

“Nami!” Luffy yells, leaping before Nami right before a bullet comes toward her-- a meter from her eyes, half-- Luffy’s arm wedges between them, his shoulder tanking the bullet and his other arm coming up to wrap around Nami’s head. 

 

Nami snaps out of it, just in time to see the bullet deflect and shoot right back toward Van Augur on the rooftop-- lodging into a tile by the man’s feet. 

“Quite a vivid bloodlust, Miss Burglar Cat,” Van Augur says, adjusting his monocle. “If you would like to extend a declaration of war to my Captain, Blackbeard-- then I’m quite willing to pass on the message.”

She curses. Erratic emotions dull haki. She should’ve known that already, and yet…

“Hey,” Luffy’s voice is low, “are you picking a fight?”

Beside him, Zoro prods at Ichimonji’s hilt, keeping a flank in Doc Q’s direction. The man and his horse snicker, like they knew better-- and Van Augur scoffs. 

“I believe I witnessed the opposite,” he says. “And I reacted accordingly. You understand the need, do you not?”

 

They can’t fight them now. 

They can’t fight them now, they can’t--

 

“I apologize!” Nami says, loudly. She minds the wide berth people around them have given, and puts a hand on Luffy’s shoulder. “I got a little too excited, perhaps,” she smiles. “Extend my best wishes to Teach.” 

Her grip on Luffy’s shoulder was shaking. 

Luffy doesn’t miss it. 

But Nami turns away, never once looking back-- so Luffy and Zoro don’t do anything either. Their eyes were fixed on Van Augur and Doc Q, the former who had already put down his gun. 

They tear their gazes away at the same time-- and walk away. 

Nami knew what she was doing.

 

(She didn’t. She just didn’t think they would win right now.)

 


 

“Could I have healed him?” She still remembers Chopper crying in those days, sounding bitterer than he ever was. “I don’t know.”

Physically, maybe, Chopper could have. But Doc Q had something far more sinister in him-- a heart that was so black, its only fate was to eventually curl up and rot. 

“He’s not someone that deserves to be healed,” Chopper then tries to convince himself. He’s in denial again. “I did the right thing there, right?” 

He knows this better than anyone-- and he still wanted to save him anyway. Because that was what he should’ve done, as a doctor. But he hated everything about it. 

 

(Why was it so frustrating? He’d won the fight. But he didn’t do it. Doc Q succumbed to his disease, whatever it was-- and Chopper just watched. He watched as Doc Q laughed, and laid the ultimatum before him.)

(Would Chopper heal him, give him the chance to kill the people he loved-- or would Chopper leave Doc Q for dead?)

(Either way, he would lose, as a ‘doctor’.)

He never truly gets over it.

 

“Should I have tried harder?” Chopper asks, no one but himself. “Or was doing nothing the better thing to do?”

 

Doc Q was the juxtaposition of everything Chopper was. 

When Chopper went on to follow Robin, he went to find himself again. He went to do as much of what little he could, healing people, pretending his heart hadn’t died that day with Doc Q’s resounding laughter. 

Nami finds him every once in a while, and while she brings him cotton candy and stories and hugs him warm and loving-- Chopper’s smiles always lacked the excitement that was once there, and his hugs lacked the strength to do anything else. 

And it made sense, really. 

All of them lost something that day. Something little, something overcomable-- something that made them decide to part ways after their journey. 

 

(Nami hated Blackbeard, and everything his crew stood for.)

(But she was so tired of it now.)

 


 

They find each other in the main street, catching each other on opposite ends of a crowd before Luffy rushes forward for Gin, and Anne hustles around the people to catch herself at Zoro’s waist. 

“You guys look well,” Gin says-- catching Luffy on an arm before grinning at Zoro. “I guess all the henna’s gone too.”

“Yeah, apparently the sea breeze made them wear out sooner than they usually would,” Zoro says, “Nami’s is still on, though.” 

 

He turns to Nami, but Nami’s smile is staggered, and she doesn't even seem to acknowledge him, her mind wandering as she glances skeptically behind them. 

Anne notices it as well, and the four lean closer to whisper. 

“Something happen?” Gin asks. 

Luffy nods. “A lot. But we’ll talk about that later,” Luffy pats him on the back and latches on, “before that. You gotta hear this! We’re going to the sky next!” 

“What?”

Luffy giggles, “oh, but first, Nami found another doctor to check up on you so we gotta go there first.”

“You really like leaving me in suspense…” Gin sighs.

 

Nami smiles in greeting, gesturing something that makes Luffy hustle off and allow her to take the man’s shoulders instead, steering him aside.

Gin’s eyes empathically meet Zoro’s, and he groans. “I suppose you guys had quite some time on the ship while we were gone, huh?”

“Yeah! Oh, and Robin’s on our ship.”

“Who?”

“Miss All-Sunday?” Anne asks. 

“Miss WHO?!” Gin immediately puts every ounce of his strength into defying Nami’s attempts to push him away from Luffy’s side. His heel digs into the ground and Nami actually has to stop and struggle for a bit. 

Luffy beams. “Robin! She’s a good person.”

“What do you mean, she’s a good person?! She’s an enemy!” 

“Well, so were you,” Nami says, bracing her foot forward but somehow still not managing to make the Man-Demon budge, “c’mon, Gin, we need to go find your doctor before he disappears. He doesn’t like staying in this area.”

“This is important, Nami, give me a moment to--”

 

“Hey, you don’t need me with you, right? Let’s go get some food,” Zoro says, holding Anne’s hand, “Nami, we’ll meet you there?”

“Yeah, but make sure Anne is leading the way, not you, okay?” Nami says, “it’s on the Southwestern shore.” 

“Okay.”

“Don’t ignore me!” Gin protests. 

Luffy snickers, “I'm also hungry!” Luffy says, “Nami, we’ll leave Gin to you then! Anne’s coming with us?” the girl nods, “okay, onward!” 

 

“Hold on there!” Nami raises her voice, “what’s the promise?”

“We swear to not fight in this town,” Zoro and Luffy say at the same time, sounding slightly disgruntled. “C’mon Anne, you say it too.”

“Oh,” Anne blinks, “I swear not to fight in this town…” she trails off and spends a moment in blank thought, “but is killing--”

“No,” all four of the other Strawhats answer in unison, followed immediately by a very warningly spoken, “Anne,” by Gin. 

 

Nami takes the chance to capture Gin in a headlock with her metal arm, managing to take him off his feet to be dragged off. 

“Okay, good. Anyways! Let’s go!” 

“Argh, Nami!” Gin yells, “that hurts! Let go of-- I can walk on my own! Nami!” 

 

Luffy and Anne wave as Gin screeches for help, brought away into the distance. Anne keeps a hand on Zoro’s, Zoro has no idea why, and Luffy cheers for food. 

“So, Luffy, what’s this about going to the sky?” Anne asks. 

Luffy grins, coming on the other side of her as they make their way to the nearest bar, “well, first Nami’s Log Pose started pointing up…”

 

Zoro sighs as storytime begins. Gin is still choking in the distance, but well, at least it’s not him. 

 


 

Zoro, Luffy, and Anne enter a pub, where Luffy orders food while Zoro orders a drink and Anne goes for juice. She’s seated between Zoro and Luffy at the counter-- but the hulk of a man beside the Captain has her attention. 

That’s why-- when Luffy suddenly picks a fight with that man over cherry pies and drinks, Anne reaches for her paintbrushes, alarmed. They started trying to one-up each other on the amount of food to order to go, and Anne found herself more amused than wary. 

“YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME, YA BASTARD!?” 

It’s sort of a statement that Luffy had to stand on the counter to even size up to this man. 

“How the hell did you get a fight from that?!” Zoro snaps, also reaching for his sword now. “We don’t have enough money for that anyways, drop it!” 

 

“Captain,” Anne tries, “we promised Nami.”

 

The statement immediately makes the large man pause. “You know Nami?” he asks, his tone lowering-- not dangerously, just curiously. “You’re her new crew?”

Luffy’s eye twitches. “What’s it to you?”

The man straightens-- and seems to consider the three for a moment, evaluating them with just a long, hard gaze. 

Then he laughs, turning away. 

“No, nothing much,” he says. “You’ve got a bounty?” 

“Yeah,” Luffy answers immediately, evidently laced with annoyance. “75 million!”

The man whirls back around in disbelief, “for a pipsqueak like you to be higher than Nami? LIKE HELL! Stop lying!”  

“I’m not lying, it’s the truth!” Luffy snaps. “And Nami’s at 81 now, I’m angry at that too!” 

“NO SHE ISN’T!” 

“YES SHE IS!” 

“Could you two cut it out!” Zoro raises his voice, looking a moment before smashing their heads in. Anne simply continues sipping on her drink. 

 

The man scoffs when the barkeep, tired of this, sets up fifty cherry pies on the counter for him. There’s a warning to not roughhouse in the bar and quickly leave before the situation escalates, and the large man huffs, taking the advice. 

“What, did Nami not fill you guys in on who I am?” the man says, before he leaves. “I’m Teach. Marshall D. Teach.” 

 

Luffy turns to him-- but only because he rarely hears someone other than his family with that middle initial. Zoro straightens-- because Nami had said that name, just mere minutes ago. 

(This man was the leader of those others Nami had visibly hated.)

(Did that mean they were enemies?)

Nami did not tell them anything about the pirate Blackbeard Teach. So as of this moment-- neither of them knew the extent of which their future hatred would run. 

“If your bounty is really going to go that high, I’d watch out if I were you,” Teach says, waving dismissively. “Extend my best wishes to Nami.”

 


 

Then Bellamy the Hyena steps in, and things go to shit. 

“So you brats are the Burglar Cat’s boytoys, huh?” he taunts. At the irritated glares, he laughs. “People’s seen her lead you fucking pussies around town like her personal entourage. You’re not exactly subtle.”

 

Anne puts down her drink. 

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” Anne says, because this scene is familiar to her in her own bounty-hunting journey. High-priced ladies always led boys around-- even Valentine did that sometimes, when she worked alone. And this man, obviously, assumed Nami was doing the same. 

Nefarious intentions aside, Nami had walked around town, flaunting her position to the world-- because this was exactly the statement she was trying to make. 

She was showing off her power-- and challenging the world to come at her if she so dared. In a lawless town like this, it was necessary to thwart crook attempts. Unfortunately, there would still be reckless morons like this one. 

“Our captain has a bounty too,” she warns. 

 

Bellamy pauses at that. Zoro leans closer to Anne while Luffy looks back-- understanding that she was asserting their position there. 

“A bounty?” Bellamy questions. “No… that aside-- you’re the Burglar Cat’s new captain? You?”

“Yeah, I am.” Luffy doesn’t seem deterred by his disbelieving tone, simply shrugging as Bellamy steps forward. People whisper, incredulous and skeptical-- but Bellamy simply grins, ordering a bottle of wine and a drink for Luffy. 

Anne stops drinking when the rest of Bellamy’s crew files into the building-- and Zoro does the same, turning around fully, his back to the counter. Anne sighs as Luffy cheerfully picks up his new drink, happy for the offer--

--before Bellamy grabs him by the back of his head and smashes him right through the counter. 

 

Anne has moved a seat away, where she wouldn’t be sprayed by the splinters-- but Zoro’s where she used to be, his sword a mere inch from Bellamy’s neck.

 

Bellamy blinks-- but he scoffs at that. “And what do you think you’re doing, underling?” he taunts, a grin wide on his face. 

“That’s what we should be asking you,” Zoro grinds his teeth. 

 

Luffy fist grinds through the wood as he stands up, dusting himself off and swiping away trails of blood on his face. 

“He’s mine,” Luffy says slowly-- and the two of them share a glance before Zoro recedes. He sits back down beside Anne.

(They swore not to fight in this town.)

(But Nami wasn’t here to stop them, was she?)

“Oh, they’re going to fight?” someone yells out in the crowd. “Go! Fight! FIGHT! Do it!” 

 

Anne moves from her spot on the chair to the counter for a better view. “We didn’t start it,” she claims, and the barkeep only nods at her in understanding. 

 

Zoro sheaths his sword, irritated. “Luffy. Nami’s going to be angry,” he warns. 

“What? You guys are chickening out?” Bellamy grins at that. “Awh! You better not do something to make milady Nami mad, huh? Why? She’s not gonna give you a space on the bed if you do?”

Luffy’s fists are clenched so tight, his veins bulge and his eyes burn with fury. 

But he takes a deep, long breath-- and breathes out, shoulders sagging. 

(This guy is doing this on purpose. He understands nothing, and his words are empty threats, evidently trying to incite some reaction out of Luffy.) 

(And Luffy realizes that.)

 

“Can we just go?” Anne says, though the casual twirling of her paintbrush indicated she didn’t just want to leave. “If we don’t hurry, Nami won’t bring us to Sky Island.” 

 

The obnoxious cheering and chattering in the whole bar abruptly stops. 

Then-- rambunctious, mocking laughter erupts, guffaws and choking jeers spilled from each and every mouth in the vicinity, from loud repeats of her words in funny voices, to people hitting the table in their bellied giggles. 

 

“She just-- she just said it, oh my god.”

“How precious ! She has no idea!”

“We really shouldn’t be laughing at a child, everyone! She doesn’t know!” 

“No one tell her! No one tell her, that’s a rule now!” 

“But she-- HACHK -- KAHAHAH! OH I can’t--” 

“Bring you to sky island, she says! One hell of a hilarious way to dirty talk!” 

 

Zoro’s and Luffy’s eyes blow wide at the sight. Anne’s expressions are blank, but her grip on her juice glass is tight, and she barely blinks, taking in the situation with a confused understanding that right now-- they were laughing at her. 

( Oh, she realizes.)

(So happiness can be used in disgusting ways as well.) 

Bellamy slaps the counter a few times in his sniggering before he wipes a tear from his eyes and turns to Anne, “oh, little girl, I hate to break it to ya, but Sky Island? That’s a lie your mommy told ya, you know?”

“Awh, Bellamy, you told her!” 

“How cruel!” 

 

Anne sets down her glass, grimacing. 

“It’s not a lie,” she says. W hy would someone say something so blatantly wrong on purpose? It’s not like they were Usopp, who was telling a fun story. 

 

“It’s nOT a LiE,” someone mimics her voice in an exaggeratedly squeaky fashion, and Anne felt the sudden urge to throw a punch. 

“What, you’re for real?” Bellamy asks, smirking. Luffy and Zoro stare back, empty expressions on their faces, and he bursts into another round of hysterics. 

FInally, he settles, and sighs out a contented breath in exertion. 

“Haven’t had a good laugh like that in ages!” he chortles. “What a surprise? Where the hell’d you hicks come from, even? You believe those ancient fairy tales?”

 

The next of his spiel-- Anne isn’t sure he hears any of it. 

Something about how people would come up with the most outrageous things if they couldn’t find an explanation for any phenomenon in the world. How those things could always be explained, in some dumb, simple way only the ignorant wouldn’t think of.

 

“What a letdown,” he says. “You’re just a bunch of dreaming fools-- in this era to come, even. Listen up! The age of pirates who dream is over! What City of Gold? What Emerald City? What One Piece? They’re all empty dreams! And do you know what they call these morons who die, trying to find these fantasies? They’re fools! Losers!” 

Bellamy grabs the wine bottle on the counter-- and smashes it in, right across Luffy’s face. 

Anne’s eyes widen-- and Zoro’s eyes narrow. 

Luffy had taken that hit on purpose. 

“You’re just a weak, pathetic baby of a crew, riding the coattails of the Burglar Cat as her fucking harem,” Bellamy mocks. “You think piracy’s a game? You’re a disgrace to us real pirates!” 

The glass mug shatters to pieces by Luffy’s face-- and another soars across the sky, nearly hitting Anne. It smashes against the bar-- staining her new skirt a liquor purple. 

“Get out of here, you maggots!” someone yells. 

“Fucking losers!”

“Weaklings, more like!” 

“You don’t belong here, get out!”

And the jeering continues, bottles and mugs and food being thrown in their direction, scoffing looks shot toward them in disbelief. 

“Hah! Looks like these guys want a show!” Bellamy’s comrades yell. 

Bellamy grins, “well.. looks like they do.”

 

Anne’s standing on the counter, four brushes tucked between her fingers. Her eyes shadowed by the brim of her beret-- she fumed , a boiling red anger like she’d never felt before, threatening to tear through like a howl in her throat. 

They’re asking for a fight. 

“I understand.” She’s not going to ask for permission--

 

“Anne,” Luffy’s voice is sharp-- like a warning-- and his firm look is authoritative, in a way that immediately makes her stop. “Sit there.” 

 

(It was the same look Crocodile had given her-- moments before slicing her through.)

(The look that meant ‘if you dare do anything right now-- you will be a threat to my authority’, and the silent promise of retaliation therein.)

(But something was different.)

(She wasn’t scared, here. Not of him, at least. But… for him?)

 

He’d sat up, his hat on the ground, wine spilled over his face, mixing in with blood and shards of glass, and his words were a solid order. 

“Zoro,” Luffy stands up. “Don’t fight back.”

 

And Anne was forced to sit there, quiet and confused and horrified-- as the thugs brought fists and knives and smashed them through walls and tables and windows. 

And she watched as Luffy and Zoro did nothing-- didn’t even give a verbal response-- as they continued to make a complete mockery of them until they were a bloody mess, lying lifelessly on the ground. 

They don’t touch Anne. Whether it be because she was evidently the child and it would be tasteless to beat her up-- or that they were underestimating her, or both. 

She just sat there, on the counter, her feet on the chair and her chin framed by her palms-- and she waited. She continued to stare at Luffy and Zoro, even when Bellamy and Sarquiss come up to either sides of her, smiling. 

 

“Hah. These bozos were nothing without the big girl Burglar Cat leading them around. Or maybe the Burglar Cat herself was worth little after all!” 

“I don’t fault you, little lady,” they say. “You’ve probably just been strung along as a servant, haven’t you? How about you come with us on our ship, we’d treat you nicer than these weaklings. We’d even give you an allowance, as much as you want!”

 

Anne has identified every member of the Bellamy Pirates, and which ones were the only feasible threat in the group. 

(She would need exactly fifty seconds to clear this bar, and by extension the universe, of their miserable existence. Permanently.)

But she straightens, stands up-- dusts off the edge of her skirt, and hops to the ground. 

“I don’t understand,” she says, picking up the straw hat a nd carefully dusting it off. Turning to the two large, fearsome men-- she says, straight to their faces, “your offer is worthless, so I see no reason to take it.”  

 

Her response earns gapes and incredulous laughter from the patrons of the bar. 

“Haha! You really think you’re hot shit!” 

“Well, what did we expect from a literal fucking child ?”

“They’re beyond saving, these morons are a whole crew!” 

She plants Luffy’s hat on his head, grabs them both by the scruff-- and drags them out of the bar, kicking the door open with a sort of vigor she doesn’t quite understand herself. 

“Get out! Bring these weaklings out of my sight!” 

“And don’t even come back, y’hear?”

 

Anne can kill everyone in that bar in one minute. She won’t need more than a paintbrush to silence them forever and teach them exactly where they stand. 

( “Anne.” Luffy had warned her-- lowly, dangerously-- but she already knew Luffy wouldn’t hurt her like Crocodile did, so why was she so scared of it anyways?)

(Scared?)

(No, she just didn’t understand this emotion. She’s just confused.)

(But she was obeying it anyways, because she knew that if she defied Luffy in this particular instance-- it would be exactly the same situation with Crocodile.)

(Unlike Crocodile, Luffy wouldn’t try to kill her for it.)

(But it would still be mutiny , and Anne knew that, for all they joke about it on the ship, she knew a real mutiny was something none of them would ever laugh off.) 

 

“What are you looking so annoyed for, little girl?” Marshall D. Teach sits outside, gorging on his cherry pies, chuckling at the sight. “They won that fight.”

Anne turns to him. 

(They won? Won what?)

“You can win a fight by not fighting?” she asks, very honestly. “I don’t understand. Can you explain it to me?” 

Teach simply laughs. “Your response was also an absolute win, girlie! You’ve got some balls, for a girl. Zehahaha!” 

 

That wasn’t an explanation, but Anne notices Zoro and Luffy standing up, and she turns to them as they pan their attention to Blackbeard. 

 

“The era of dreams is over? What utter bullshit,” Teach laughs, loud and rambunctious. He slams his bottle on the ground, “A MAN’S DREAM... NEVER ENDS!” 

And just like it was in the pub-- people around them began laughing. People mocked him, saw him as loony, and even jeered to his face. 

And Teach never gave them a reaction. 

Anne watches it happen-- a recognition blooming in her eyes. 

“The road to the top isn’t easy,” he says. “Let them laugh! If you’re aiming for the top, you’re only worth shit if you’ve got the guts to say that much! You’re bound to come across losers who aren’t even worth your fist!” 

 

Luffy lets him say his piece. 

Anne listens-- and only turns when they turn in opposing directions, making their way ahead. She lifts her bag, hustling forward beside them. 

 

“Luffy,” Anne finally asks, when they start walking toward the shore where they were supposed to meet Nami. “Why didn’t you fight back?”

Luffy wipes away the blood near his eye.  “It’s no big deal,” he says, and he smiles widely when he says the next words. “He just threw some things and spilled some sake. It’s nothing to get worked up about!”

Zoro scoffs, and Anne just gives him a confused stare.  “I don’t understand,” she says.

Luffy laughs, not intending to explain it at all.  

 


 

A ways behind them, a tall man emerges from the alleys, watching them go. He taps his sword against his shoulder with a hum, an amused smile curling at the edges of his lips. 

“So that’s Strawhat Luffy, huh?” he muses to himself. 

A Den Den Mushi rings in his pocket. 

“Captain, your appointment is here!” came Bepo’s flustered, forced whisper, “where did you go? You’re late!” 

“Saw something interesting,” he says, ignoring all the other questions. 

He hums, retrieving his spotted hat from his coat and setting it back on his head before opening a Room around him. 

“I’ll be back in a second.”

And then he vanishes, a stone left in his place.

 


 

Trafalgar Law emerges near the portside, in an alley, before stepping out to find Bepo by the shored supply dinghy (because no way in hell was he bringing the Tang anywhere a mile from this damn island), with two rather infamous figures by his side. 

He arrives just in time for Bepo to lift a hand and wave at him, and just in time to see the Man-demon flip out at the sight, screeching ”holy shit it moves!” and he ducks behind the Burglar Cat in surprise. 

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Bepo says. 

(Yeah, that’s what most people do when they see Bepo for the first time. They first think he’s a statue, since he’s right at the head of the sub and he’s a very still individual.) 

 

Burglar Cat laughs at that. It seems they’re introducing themselves right now. 

Law scrutinizes her first. She was much more tattooed up now than in her wanted poster-- ah no, those are decorative, upon closer inspection-- but it was hard to mistake her with the entire portside crowd giving her a wide berth. 

She even had the marker of their meeting-- a yellow bandanna-- around her left wrist, tucked between her Log Pose and a golden bangle. 

Law sighs. He specifically mentioned how he didn’t want to catch much attention here, since it’s Joker’s territory and all-- but well, he’d figured it wouldn’t work out. 

(Seriously, if Chibi-ya didn’t plead for this favour over lots of puppy dog eyes and promises of owed favours, Law wouldn’t have even bothered.) 

In fact, he didn’t want anything to do with these guys he’s never met before. 

 

(“Please, captain, just this once? For me?” Little Pink had pleaded, in a way he hadn’t ever done before, “I promise Luffy-san will be a good investment! He’s the man who will become the pirate king!”)

(“Is that something you should be saying to your own captain?!”) 

Law sighs.

(“Well, what’s in it for me?” Law challenged.)

(And instead of an answer, he had grinned.)

 

“An alliance with the crew with that as a captain, huh,” Law sighs, thinking back to the scene at the bar. “Well, for a small guy, he’s got redeemable qualities. Fucking idiot, though.” 

 

He’s only doing this because Little asked him to do it. 

And maybe, he’ll take this stupid deal just to see what happens herein. 

 


 

Gin finds himself staring at a crew wearing familiar boiler suits and he thinks to himself, “fuck.” Ah, he said it out loud. 

“Scared of the doctor, Ginny boy?” Nami teases. 

Gin would have yelled a ‘hell no’ in any other situation, but right now it’s just a “the last doctor you brought me to threw hacksaws at Luffy and traumatised him. I don’t know if--” 

Nami doesn’t let him say the rest of it. She hooks an arm around his and leads him forward, even if his face is filled with dread. 

 

The crew they’re meeting is shored on a supply dinghy. Gin can’t find the alleged steamship anywhere, but he supposes that’s fair, any wary person wouldn’t shore on this crazy location. 

“Ah-- here he is,” Bepo, the huge polar bear thing that Gin still has no idea what even is it, “Captain!” 

The man, presumably the captain-- he’s not wearing a boiler suit, but he still had that very prominent logo-- comes from the direction of the city, a hand on a sword longer than any of Zoro’s, and an array of tattoos on his visible skin that unnerved Gin.  

Nami steps forward, bowing slightly, coming to a stop right before the rather tall man in yellow. 

She spots the lemon yellow bandanna around the man’s wrist, uncharacteristically marred with magenta hearts-- and Nami shows off her own-- a vibrant orange, decorated with sunflowers. It was the symbol they were using to identify each other. 

 

(Nami’s eyes lingered.)

(She was told to wear a vibrant patterned bandanna-- but she didn’t expect that from this guy. In fact, she recognized the way those patterns were sewn on, a familiar hand-dyed skill she’s seen many times before.)

(...ah, now this meeting makes sense. Buggy couldn’t have gotten this meeting set up on his own.)

 

“Thank you for taking the time,” Nami says, her metal arm behind her and using her left hand to bow politely. “I’m the one that sent in the request. I’m Nami, and this is Gin. We’re part of the Strawhat Pirates.”

Trafalgar Law hasn’t let go of his sword yet, his eyes scrutinizing her with unhindered wariness-- and he doesn’t take her hand when she offers a handshake. 

“Don’t misunderstand. I get to decide if I offer my services,” he says, curtly.

What a choleric. 

Gin straightens immediately, his eyes narrowing. Nami’s smile doesn’t falter. 

“It is nice to meet you, Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law. Your reputation serves you well,” she says. “Then I’ll get straight to the point. This is Man-Demon Gin. He’s critically poisoned, all the damage is internal, and he’s got about half a year to live. We need your Devil Fruit to help cure him.”

Gin pales at all the medical history she was letting slip. If she was so sure he could heal him, he wasn’t going to doubt-- but what if? 

 

Trafalgar Law tenses at the quick overlay of symptoms, but his finger taps surreptitiously against his sword’s sheathe-- and then, “what’s in it for me?” 

Gold? Prestige? No…

“We’re not a big crew, but I can promise our strength in fighters,” Nami says. “We also have information, and we’ll share our gold when we come in big.” 

Gin’s eyes blow completely wide, and Law stills as well, not quite expecting that. Bepo gapes, but Nami just chuckles. 

“Most of your deal is an empty promise,” Law says. An empty promise with levity because he’s speaking to a Whitebeard Pirate and a friend of Coby, “what’s the catch?” 

“Only when it’s convenient for both of us,” she says. “And of course, please cure Gin for us! That’s all we ask, really.” 

Law clicks his tongue. 

 

“Nami,” Gin says, coming up to her, “I’m not so sure about this.”

“Neither am I,” Law speaks up, sighing. “What a joke,” he mutters. “I’m not weak enough to need the aid of a crew of no-names from the East--”

“My captain, Monkey D. Luffy,” Nami interrupts, placing a clean emphasis on the syllables of that name. “He's the man who will become the Pirate King. If there’s anyone worth investing in… it’s this man.” 

 

Law pauses at that. 

(That line again.) 

 

“Plus, if you’re here I’m sure…” she finally lifts her hand, cheekily showing off the little bandanna. It had been the mark for their meeting and all, but Nami recognized those cheesy patterns anywhere, “Coby has told you the same as well?”

“Coby?” Bepo blinks at that. 

Nami hums back, “he’s been called many things,” she chuckles. She then lists it off her fingers, “cabin boy, crybaby glasses, salmon hair, pinky head-- maybe even the Sword of the throne, the Listener…”  her eyes drift slyly across them, “...well, you get the idea.”

Law scoffs, barking out a very dead-sounding laugh in amusement. 

“We call him Chibi here,” he shares, a mild contribution. “Yes, he has. You’re uncannily similar in the rates of which you’ve immediately annoyed me.” 

 

Nami finds herself-- bewildered by that. 

Law almost sounds fond of Coby. And that’s a rare thing for him, especially all the way back here. Then again, if he was willing to come all the way here-- into Joker's territory nonetheless-- for something Coby asked of him… he must really like the kid.

(Nami’s happy for Coby, honestly. She hopes he’s doing well.) 

Beside them and at some point having hidden at least half his body behind Nami’s metal arm, Gin stares between them and begins to remember why he doesn’t like being alone with the Burglar Cat-- he’s always too fucking confused to understand anything.  

Law groans something unintelligible before turning away, handing his sword off to Bepo, climbing onto the dinghy. 

“We’re going to the ship,” he says, “you’re getting your treatment, I’m getting whatever gold you have on your ship, and we’re leaving this place.” 

 

Nami blinks. 

(Just like that? Without even a middle finger for her efforts? She’s sad.)

 

Bepo flusters at the captain’s irritation. “I’m sorry, you’re actually right,” he turns to Nami and Gin in assurance “The truth is, we already agreed to help you… Little convinced him to, but Captain wanted to talk to you guys first,” he says. “Sorry.” When Law glares at him for talking too much, he whimpers, “oh! I’m sorry.” 

 

Nami snorts at that. 

Gin frowns, “I don’t like this guy’s attitude. Requesting evacuation due to patient anxiety.”

“Rejected,” Nami hooks him at the elbow and beams. “I only listen to Luffy, money, and promises of tangerines.”

“Fuck,” Gin says in resignation. 

 


 

Did Law die? Nami wasn’t too sure. She tried to catch news of everyone , but the whereabouts of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet and their allies were foggy. 

(They were first to be nuked out of the world, after all.)

The most vivid memories Nami recalled about them was hearing the last of them-- surprisingly, it had been Ideo and Blue Gilly-- as they found their way onto the moon. 

She remembered being relieved. Almost jealous. 

 

Law protected his territories, but information of his death never quite emerged. Everyone believed he had died, when he had that final battle with former Fleet Admiral Sengoku-- but Nami never believed a word. 

(No newspaper dared to publish the words, HE HAS DIED.)

(So he wasn’t.)

(They were so proud to do it for Kid, after all. So the fact that they hesitated when it came to Law filled Nami with hope.)

(Though, she never met them ever again.)

She still remembered, so vividly, the last time she saw him. The way stood over Bepo as he lay, unresponsive. The way the fuel in Law's eyes were rage and insanity alone-- and the subtle way his voice shook, burning with grief.

And yet, he smiled. He smiled, like he knew his end was coming, and he had nothing else to lose.

 

“You’ve set the world running,” Law had said, spitting in the face of the world. “Go for it. We’ll be laughing at you in hell.”

And saying so-- Law’s sword split the world-- the sky, the earth-- the seas-- into another segment, breaking what was left of the Red Line and ripping apart the tides of the world, creating a new sea upon his blade. 

He grinned, wide and mad

“See if the world stops now.”

 


 

Nami and Gin climb (Gin is a little more forced ) into the dinghy, and Bepo begins to row. The other Heart Pirates greet Nami and Gin and wish their captain a ‘we’ll be back soon!’ before they go. 

(Huh. Penguin and Ikkaku aren't here. Thank god, that'd be awkward.)

Gin groans, feeling the sway of the boat on his back and the waves sending him right back into another dizzy spell. He sits down, exhausted, planting his head firmly into his palm with a soft noise. 

“Y’know Nami, one of these days you’re going to have to give me more to work with,” Gin says, “I don’t always have the head to stay confused.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Nami chuckles. 

 

She looks up to find Law, a hand raised in a gesture Nami doesn’t quite remember. She knows he’s using his Devil Fruit, but she doesn’t see the translucent blue dome, so she’s not sure what he’s doing until he speaks up. 

 

“Bepo. I’ll need a tank of oxygen and the poisonous substance containers,” Law says, and Bepo straightens, responding sharply. 

“Aye, Captain!” he salutes a bit, before hurriedly continuing to row. 

Gin looks up. “You already know what to do?” 

Law smirks. “Yeah. Learned it all on my deathbed so it won’t be yours.” 

Gin immediately grimaces, turning away. “Nami,” he hisses, “Nami, are you sure we can trust this creepy motherfucker with my personal well-being? I still have the strength to swim if you’ll just say we’re turning back now. Please.” 

Nami laughs out loud.

Then, completely seriously, she jabs a thumb at Bepo. “Don’t underestimate how fast a bear can swim, Gin. We’re not getting out of here.”

“Are you trying to scare me Nami because it’s working and I fucking hate you --”

Chapter 57: heart to hearts (and northern folk tales)

Summary:

Heart Pirate shenanigans occur, and Luffy is having fun. Sanji faces his mortal enemy (it's a spider,) and Law meets a fellow survivor of governmental corruption. Some of these things are less serious than the others. (maybe.)

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Nami leans against the railings of the Polar Tang-- and she runs her fingers across the cold yellow, reminiscing warmly of the better days. 

Bepo isn’t the same. She doesn’t need to use the code to know that-- Bepo always greeted her with a hug, and followed it immediately with a question on how her arm was doing, then her foot. Regardless of the answer, he would then check it himself. 

He just didn’t feel like Bepo. Far from it, and Law was even more foreign.

It just drove the wrench into her nerves to really come to realize how small they were, that the man they’d deemed the of course of their allies wasn’t even an element in their pot yet. 

 

“What? Luffy and Zoro got beat up in a barfight?!” Gin balks, halfway up the submarine’s side. “Them? No way in fucking hell.”

“Well, that’s what I saw,” Law mutters. 

(Somehow… they’re getting along?)

“We’re going to fucking die in the next island,” Gin grumbles. 

“Do I still get paid in full if he dies during the operation?” Law asks, turning to Nami. 

Nami takes a moment to think. The moment is enough. 

“Nami, you better fucking not!” Gin snaps. 

“Alright. Can we go already?” Law asks.

“I’m in the middle of recontemplating my value in my crew if you would just give me a fucking minute!” 

 


 

Law helpfully warps an unconscious Gin into the operating room. 

(He’s unconscious because Nami hit him with the Clima Tact.)

Law didn’t mind as long as it was easier to work with, and he didn’t need anyone else in there with him once Bepo prepared the room for him. 

 

Outside, Nami shares a warm drink with Bepo. 

“And this is when we were taking a group photo but he didn’t notice so he walked straight into the camera,” Bepo says, showing Nami pictures. 

Nami’s eyes sparkled. 

This group photo in question even had Law in the center, though he was poised casually unlike his extravagant crew of crazies. Then there was Coby-- wearing a boiler suit with the top half folded down, decked out in colourful clothes, tools, and his bandanna around his neck instead of his head, letting his bangs fall free. Nami even spots something that looks like a hearing aid in his ear.

He’s wincing at the camera as everyone yells at him, seemingly only noticing the device the moment after the flash. 

“It took us so long to get Captain to sit there, too!” Bepo says with a sigh. “He said sorry though, so it’s okay.”

 

Coby’s changed a lot. 

He’s almost a completely different person now-- or is he, Nami isn’t too sure. But his appearance, at least-- is nothing like she remembers. 

In the next picture, everyone’s ruffling his hair, tugging at his cheek, as Law tattoos something on the back of his hand. 

(He’s so… happy .)

(Nami can’t help but smile too.)

 

“So does he come by often?” Nami asks, “he’s not exactly someone that’ll be kind to himself, so I’m glad you guys are treating him well.”

 

Bepo stares for a moment, taking in the new information. He knows, too, that Coby hasn’t been very good at maintaining relations. He comes back once in a blue moon, and only stays long enough to breathe before leaving. 

(It’s like he doesn’t want to get attached, even though he so obviously is one of them now. It’s like he can’t allow himself to, even though there’s nothing he wants more.)

“Ah, sometimes,” he says. Then he beams, “I’m glad, too!” 

 

(He’s glad that there are people around the world that share the same dotted relationship they have with Coby-- and they all love him anyway.)

 

-


-

 

“Hi, Big sis, do you happen to know if there has been a white polar bear wearing orange here?” 

Ikkaku turns, surprised to see Anne at the Southwestern Port. She beams, setting down their supply of fuel and fabrics to Clione before greeting her happily. 

“Oh, Anne-chan! Good to see you here! The polar bear went off a while ago, but if you want to see him, I can bring you to-- WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS?”

Her voice inflates by at least three decibels when she spots Luffy and Zoro, bloody and injured and covered in glass shards and liquor, just standing behind her and curiously looking toward the two girls. 

“Nothing, just a bar fight,” Anne says. “This is Luffy, and this is Zoro,” she turns to her companions and gestures at Ikkaku. “This is big sis.”

“Yo,” says Luffy and Zoro.

“These are your crew, right. Nice to meet you-- I mean,” Ikkaku freaks out, “where’s your big brother? Why are you guys just walking around like that, you’re going to-- how far did you guys walk like that ?!”

Luffy turns around, “I dunno, very far?” 

Zoro shrugs. “It’s no big deal, stop screeching. Where’s Nami?”

“Nami?!” Ikkaku adds, “you mean-- you’re the crew Captain was meeting with?”

“Huh?” 

“Oh hey, Anne-chan, what a coincidence-- oh holy HELL,” Penguin yelps, coming by with a crate and almost dropping it immediately at the sight of Luffy and Zoro, “zombies?! Adelle, get that first aid kit!” 

“Huh? Why-- oh!” came another voice from behind Ikkaku, “Luffy-san and Zoro-san!” Adelle Bascud emerges from the little supply dinghy, setting down a bag of groceries. And then she screams, because really, who wouldn’t at the sight of these two morons. “What happened to you guys?!” 

“Huh? Oh! Hey!” Luffy brightens right up, “haven’t seen you since the Candy Race!”

“What Candy Race, the Dead End Race ,” Zoro bonks him over the head. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story. What happened to you guys?”

“Just a bar fight. Shuraiya’s doing fine then?” 

 

Adelle Bascud had her hair tucked back in her hat, and she wore a Heart Pirates’ boiler suit instead over her usual denim overalls, though they could still be seen through the slightly unzipped front. 

“Me and Grandpa and Nii-chan work with the Heart Pirates now,” she gestures at them-- Penguin and Ikkaku and Clione assembled systematically into an over-the-top pose as they were introduced, and then they immediately dispersed to go fetch medical supplies, “they have a boiler in their submarine and Grandpa fell in love so yeah.” 

“Oh, I see,” Luffy and Zoro both say. 

(They were both very well aware of that old man and his love for good boilers. The old man had screamed to high hell when the two destroyed Gasparde’s beautiful steamship. He was the most dangerous opponent they had to deal with that night.) 

 

“Luffy, Zoro,” Anne tugs at Zoro’s pants. “Who?”

“Ah, we met them when we fought a candy guy, you weren’t there,” Luffy explains. 

“Huh.”

“This is Ikkaku, this is Penguin, and that’s Clione. They let Nii-chan do whatever he wants, so we just ended up joining,” Adelle beams, “oh! And the Captain also healed Grandpa!” 

“Oh, did he now? That’s nice,” Luffy grins. 

“Shuraiya’s here too?”

“He’s off on a separate mission elsewhere but Zoro-san, stop asking. You’re just going to pick a fight with him again, aren’t you?”

“Well, we didn’t settle our shit last time…” 

 

While Adelle, Luffy, and Zoro got caught up, Anne explained the situation to Ikkaku and Penguin, both of which were crouched down to talk to her. 

 

“So your big brother was the one Captain was going to meet today, huh,” Penguin muses, “strange. He didn’t look that sick.”

“Penguin, Captain will smack you over the head for assuming stuff like that.”

“I know, I know, I can’t talk unless I’m a doctor, I know.” 

“Anyways, we should bring these two back to the sub,” Ikkaku says, when Clione returns with the first aid kit they always keep on the supply dinghy for emergencies, “if they got thrown all over the bar and got bottles smashes into their faces, I don’t want to imagine the infections and splinters.” 

“But Captain’s busy treating someone else, right?” 

“Well... I’m sure he won’t mind two more patients...?”

 


 

Law minded the two more patients. With burning fury. 

 

“What on earth did you two DO?!” That was the Burglar Cat, yelling loudly.

A much more cheerful, young boy’s voice, “oh hey, Nami! Don’t worry, we didn’t fight!” then, in sheer awe, “WOAH! A POLAR BEAR! SO COOL!”

“Eh? Ah. I’m sorry?”

“IT CAN TALK! MYSTERY POLAR BEAR THING!”  

 

Law’s scalpel snaps between his hands. He scowls, tossing it in the nearby trash and reaching for another one. Seriously, how is someone supposed to focus with all this noise? 

 

“Seriously? I thought he’d leave you alone since your bounties don’t come out till tomorrow here!” Nami wails, “guys, I was trying not to catch the attention of the big boss…” 

“What the-- You knew this was going to happen, you witch?!” Pirate Hunter snaps, “you’ve gotta be kidding me! Be more specific with your warnings!” 

“I said no spoilers! It’s not like that guy was a big deal anyways!” 

“No no, not him,” Nami groans, “I’m talking about someone further up…”

 

Law sighs. The Man-Demon’s also scowling-- he’d woken up a while ago, but he was a cooperative patient, so it was fine working with him conscious. He was even interested in what was going on, actually. 

“Sorry about them,” Gin says. “They tend to make a lot of noise when things happen.”

Law groans. “Headache inducing,” he nods. What an absolutely pain-in-the-ass crew, terrible human beings, the absolute worst . “I can relate.” 

“BUt I do wonder why Luffy and Zoro lost,” Gin wonders, “they’re the strongest fighters on our crew, usually. Not counting Nami.”

Law huffs at that. “Some people aren’t worth it,” Law mutters, manually cutting Gin’s severed arm open to inspect the inside like it was a fun building block project, “but why the actual hell did Penguin bring him back for, I like to watch interesting things, I don’t like dealing with them!”

Gin stares at him. “Well… you’re kinda allied to us now, so. My condolences.”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“No.” 

Law glares at him. “If I was a lesser doctor I’d just deactivate my Room and trust me, I know how to make it so I can watch you bleed to death.” He sneers, looking utterly disgusted to be doing this right now. 

Gin’s hand is all the way up on the shelf, but it’s not immobile, so Gin moves it to a middle finger position. Law then proceeds to shred his face into about five parts and scatter them across the operating table, which Gin sees as an absolute win. 

 

“What the--!!” that voice was Penguin’s, “you were a Devil Fruit user?! Stay still for a bit. Shachi come help me. We’ve done this with Law before, we can do it again!”

“But that hurts,” Luffy whines.

“Yes but if the glass gets through your bloodstream it’s going to hurt even worse so could you stop?!” 

 

Finally, Law opens the door of the room with a deep sigh, holding his head in irritation. Bepo was carrying Adelle on his shoulders, chatting with Burglar Cat Nami. Shachi and Penguin were chasing Strawhat Luffy across the deck with bandages and tweezers, while Ikkaku and Clione were working on a much more cooperative Pirate Hunter Zoro. 

“Children, please ,” he addresses, a resigned plea in his voice, “I’m trying to operate.”

 


 

When Luffy first met the Heart Pirates, he thought they were cool. Meeting Adelle and her grandpa again was sweet, especially when they helped treat their injuries. Chopper won’t freak out now, so it was nice. 

Nami pulls him aside to tell him about the situation. 

The Captain of the Heart Pirates was a strange guy, but if Nami said he could be trusted-- then perhaps, he would accept it. 

Law was stern, bitter, and he spoke down to Luffy, which annoyed him a little. Neither of them seemed interested in this alliance, but they were doing it anyway and Luffy didn’t quite understand it. 

“If they’re ever in trouble sometime in the future, we’ll help them out for a bit,” Nami explains, “and in exchange, they’ll cure Gin.”

 

Luffy is skeptical. 

“Well, it’s not like we’re going to join their crew or anything, and they’re not stealing you guys from me,” he deems, “okay then.”

 

“Just like that?” Law mutters with a sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, what did I expect, really.” 

 

It’s the kind of offhanded promise Luffy might keep in the back of his mind, but forget until it’s immediately relevant. He shakes hands with the Heart Captain as a sort of agreement, and then he’s no longer interested. 

(He may respect Nami’s requests, but that doesn’t mean he had to be friendly.)

Once Gin is out, they’ll go back to their ship, and they can go. Nami’s giving them some gold as repayment, so it’ll be even from there. 

(That was what Luffy thought, at least-- until Gin actually steps out of the room.)

 

The quartermaster stretches, his shoulders pulled back and his posture straighter than Luffy has ever remembered it to be. He cracks a few air pockets around his shoulders, tenses his limbs, grips his fists testingly, and huffs. 

“You’ll get your energy back eventually,” Law says, “don’t go running miles until then.”

“Alright, alright,” Gin says, and he walks out, trotting easily toward Luffy. 

Gin's steps were light, his eyes were soft, and his breaths didn’t sound weird. He immediately speaks, no longer needing the spare moment before his words where he’d usually brace for a mild ache. 

His blue freckles-- though not completely gone-- had faded mildly, some spots vanishing into red and beige while others remained its hue, like scars. His general complexion was heaps better-- by comparison, he may as well have been a zombie before this. 

“Hey, what happened to you two?” He addresses Luffy and Zoro, the latter of which shrugs noncommittally. Anne and Nami look him up and down, awed at the change. 

Luffy just stares. 

Nami suggests they go for a spar again, once they’re back on the Merry. Now that Gin’s cured, he might be able to fight her properly now. Gin tells her to shut it, he’s never fighting her again. He’s not serious, of course, but he’s tired enough to feel like it. 

“What’s with that look, Luffy?” Gin approaches him, taking his hat off his head to peruse a part that was soaked in sake. “Look what happened here, and imagine if it was wine instead. Take better care of this, would you?” 

Luffy blinks. Then he leaps forward, wrapping Gin in a hug, hat still in his hands and all, earning a startled yelp. 

“What the-- what , Luffy?!” 

Gin shrugs the boy off him and plants the hat back on the captain’s head. Luffy finally turns to Law, catching the surgeon’s slight confusion. 

 

“Hey, Torao,” he says, smiling widely as his head drops in a semi-bow. “Thanks.”

 

Law actually looks surprised at the younger captain’s humble admission. He shuffles uncomfortably, but simply nods back, unsure of how to accept gratitude. 

“It’s nothing much for me,” he says. 

Luffy snickers at that. “You look like an asshole, but you’re a nice guy, huh?”

“I’ll drop you into the sea,” he threatens, then, “wait. What did you call me?” 

 

-


-

 

Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, and Kinoko are at Montblanc Cricket’s house. 

The Saruyama Alliance had agreed to help them get to Sky Island, so now they were reinforcing the Merry. But for now, Sanji decided to reread Noland’s picture book. 

“...even to the very moment of his death, Noland was a liar,” Sanji reads, sitting at the tree stump with Chopper on one side, Kinoko on his head, and Usopp sleeping off his night watch snooze on his other side. “The end.” 

“That’s kind of a sad story,” Chopper says. 

“Well, it’s what it is,” Sanji says, “well, we can always wake Usopp up if you want a cooler stoooohHH bloody hell what the actual FU--” 

 

Sanji bolts right out of his spot, grabbing Chopper as a safety blanket before scrambling away, cursing magically despite Chopper’s confused ears right at his arms. Even Kinoko has her eyes blown wide, cawing fearfully like a situational report of terror. 

“Woah!” Chopper clings on, still not used to being suddenly grabbed but it’s been happening a lot, “what the-- Sanji?” 

And then Chopper follows the direction of Kinoko's jabbing wing and sees it, and joins in the yelping party.

Usopp’s lying on his side, an arm cushioning his head as he snore-- but on his shoulder, crawling across his upper arm toward his elbow-- is a furry, eight-legged, crinkling monster of a creature, skittering across its curious road, pausing to consider its audience with all eight of its beady eyes. 

It’s a tarantula. 

It’s fucking huge. 

 

“WHAT IS THAT,” Chopper is hugging Sanji back now. 

“I DON’T KNOW,” Sanji yells back, but it’s very constrained, like they’re yelling but in lowercase because Usopp’s still sleeping. “AN ABOMINATION.” 

Kinoko is clawing onto Sanji’s head, cawing something frantic in Chopper’s direction. 

“That’s definitely venomous, she says!” Chopper wails. “NOOO.”

“Holy shit in a motherfucking--” Sanji’s filters are completely off today, he’s still clutching Chopper like the only thing that matters, “we need to get it away from him. Shit. Chopper you’re an animal don’t you coexist with these things?” 

“Not everything, I don’t speak arachnid! Animals hate me, okay? I have a blue nose! Chopper hisses right back, “plus I saw someone get bit by one back on Drum and he was dead in seconds! I was sad!” 

Kinoko adds onto that with a probably valid point about how avians and arachnids have a long-running history of long-time rivalry or something, but Sanji wasn’t listening.

“Then what are we supposed to do, and shit, the motherfucker better not wake up now. If Usopp wakes up now and agitates it he is going to die ,” Sanji takes a very wary step forward before the spider turns in their direction and he squeaks, backing right up again, using Chopper as a shield. “We need to get it off. Without waking Usopp up.”

“Gahhh, don’t use me as a shield, Sanji!” Chopper wails.

Kinoko points to their left, and the two follow her direction to find-- “oh, there’s a stick! Usopp’s walking stick. That’s long enough. Let’s use it,” Sanji says, then hurriedly picks up the Noland picture books as a shield. 

“Okay.” He takes a breath. “Okay. Here goes nothing.”

 

And that’s what Montland Cricket sees as he walks back to his hut, the two humanoids and a bird leaning in from as far as they could, trying to urge a tarantula off Usopp’s shoulder with a long rod, yelping at every odd movement the arachnid creature made. 

“I got it! I got it! It’s on! Okay now just slowly. Slowly. Back away. We’re going to go to the forest and drop it off--” 

“The road. Clear the road! Kinoko, get that rock out of the way! Hurry!” 

“Please don’t run up the stick please don’t run up the stick please don’t run up the --”

Cricket almost wanted to go help them, but it was really too amusing. Plus, Masira and Shoujou were incredibly invested in it as well, both similarly fucking terrified of those critters. They were now silently cheering them on, tense as cowards in a thriller movie.

 

“...Hmm, what’s all this noise about?”

 

To everyone’s abject horror, Usopp yawns, stretches-- and sits up. The tarantula was on the stick now, about three inches from Usopp’s face. 

“What’s that-- oh,” Usopp, because he’s a fucking idiot, gently feels around it-- and easily coaxes the the creature off the stick and into his palm, cupping it in his hand, curiously feeling around with his other hand to get its general shape. “Ah, nice to meet you, buddy. Are you lost?”

Sanji flipped . “Usopp, no! Usopp! NO! Blind bastard you STOP THAT don’t touch the murder spider DO NOT TOUCH EVERYTHING FOR FUCK’S SAKE THROW IT AWAY RIGHT NOW you eyeless shithead NO--!!”

“Sanji! Sanji, calm down!” Chopper yells next, “Usopp! Stop that! Sanji’s going into hysterics! That’s a spider! THAT’S A TARANTULA!” 

“HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO TOUCH EVERYTHING TO SEE,” Sanji’s screaming at this point, because of course this isn’t the first time Usopp has, in his blindness, prodded something he really shouldn’t have, “LET IT GO!”

Masira and Shoujou also shriek, “it’s dangerous! IT’S DANGEROUS, YOUNG MAN! It’s deadly! IT’S GONNA KILL YOU.”

Usopp simply chuckles at them, “what, this little thing? Don’t worry, it won’t sting you if you don’t agitate it. There, there, you little cutie,” he takes his walking stick from where Sanji was still holding it out, “let’s get you back to the forest now.”

“USOPP! USOPP NO!” 

“Oh chill, all of you,” Usopp says, “you’re scaring my little friend.”

“THE ONLY ONES SCARED HERE ARE ALL OF US, FOR YOU!” 

 


 

Anyways, Usopp finds himself seated on his knees, receiving a long lecture on why self-preservation is important and why you should never touch things without being sure that it couldn’t murder you, do you not remember the time on the Baratie you reached for that customer’s pot of rattlesnakes and nearly fucking died-- 

“I’m tired,” Chopper sighs, “Usopp. Usopp tell me a story.”

“I would, but I’ll need to focus on making my supercool weapon upgrades right now...” Usopp quickly changes gears, “...how about we find a more interesting story from this?” he fumbles around his bag and retrieves a book.

It’s the same book they gave him and jokingly told him to read this morning. 

It’s Northern Folk Tales, and Sanji takes it, recognizing it very well. 

“Huh. Noland’s story is in this one too. The text version, not the picture book version. Where’d this come from?” he wonders, “did Robin-chan get it from Gasparde’s ship too? Man, this takes me back.” 

“Read something, Sanji!” Chopper whines, climbing onto the cook’s lap while Kinoko settles in by the arm, and Usopp begins working on a weapon of some sort to their side. 

Sanji sighs. It’s not like he could ask Usopp to read it instead. “Alright, it’s not like we’ve got anything better to do.” 

 

And so continues the story session, with Chopper picking out something from the index and Sanji reading it out for the two. Chopper could very well have read it on his own, but there was a novelty about being read to that he quite enjoyed. 

The three monkey brothers look back upon them fondly, listening as Sanji recounted each story and plunged them back into younger days. 

“Which one do you want next?” Sanji asks, leaning back on his arms, leaving the book in his lap for Chopper to flip through. “Last one. I’m getting tired.”

Chopper chuckles at that, “thennn,” he points somewhere, “this one? The man in the iron mask. I wonder what that’s about!” 

Sanji immediately sits up. “What?” 

Usopp also stops everything he’s doing. “What?”

 

Chopper flips to the page, finding that it’s a short mystery-- a simple little refrain, written in the perspective of an anonymous nobody, once upon a time.

Usopp feels the most clearly, how Sanji’s entire spirit trembles at the title, and when Usopp reaches over-- he can nearly feel it-- the subtle way Sanji tenses, clenching everything together so no one would see him shivering instead. 

But Sanji reads it anyways, because this-- this was the side of the story even he has never heard. 

 

“The story takes place in a kingdom to the North. In the accounts of countless servants and passing guards-- a man was imprisoned for several years in the depths of the castle.”

Chopper doesn’t seem to notice the subtle shaking in Sanji’s voice. 

“No one knew his identity, or why he was in jail,” the story continues, “stranger even, no one knew what he looked like. He was never seen without a heavily clasped iron mask that locked across his face.” 

This story speaks of a young servant who was once tasked with bringing a meal for that prisoner. She was told not to speak to them, not to speak of them, and to forget, once the task was done. 

If she broke that rule-- she would be killed, and the prisoner would be starved to death. So she could not die, and she could not quit. And the prisoner was forced to live by extension, unable to ever escape his prison.

Their lives were connected, in a grim way. 

In a few lines, she alluded that the man was not a man , but a boy . Sometimes, she described him as a hostage and not a criminal. Sometimes, she spoke fondly of him, and other times, miserably. She was saddened, because now that she was saddled with such a secret, she could no longer retire from this family. 

“She did not know under whose orders the man in the mask was in custody, even until the day she was pardoned from her job,” Sanji comes to the end of the passage. 

 

“She was pardoned from her job?” Chopper lifts his head, confused, “but I thought she couldn’t-- oh .”

The realization comes quietly. The man in the iron mask probably died, then. Maybe he was executed, or he was released-- but it’s more likely the former.

 

“She doesn't know if the man lived and died with any regrets, and she doesn't know if she was obliged to have listened to them. These words were taken from her diary, retrieved years after she died in her home.”

It’s a foreboding-- inconclusive-- very uncomfortable story. 

“Though no one has been able to find evidence of the man’s identity, none have been able to disprove of his existence, and for what reason he served in prison,” those were the ending words of the story. “The woman’s final words were as such.” 

Sanji took a slow, shaky breath. 

“I lived for him, and he has lived for me. If he has died, may I die too. If he has not been forgiven for his sins-- then neither have mine, for making him live through that hell.”

 

Slowly-- Sanji breathes. In... and out. 

He couldn’t bring himself to close the book. His head hurt, and he itched-- reaching up for his head, and clawing, just a little at his hair, biting his bottom lip and trying his best to restrain himself. 

 

“...The End,” Chopper says. “That was another sad story. This one, and Noland’s, too. The ones about real people are so sad…” 

 

A drop of water falls on the book, and Chopper tilts his head up, surprised to find the stray tears spilling from Sanji’s eyes. 

“S- Sanji?!” 

The cook immediately lifts his head over, sniffling and rubbing it away quickly, standing up. He takes a heavy, very sob-filled breath-- he doesn’t remove his hand from his face, but he chuckles, a farce.  

“Shit. Sorry, must be tired,” he says, quickly shoving both Chopper and the book from his lap to Usopp’s side, standing up, and reaching hurriedly for a cigarette, “it’s time to prepare dinner! I’ll be in the house. Alright.” 

Usopp sets a hand on Kinoko, who immediately takes flight, catching up to Sanji and perching on his shoulder. The cook shrugs in an attempt to brush her off-- but she doesn’t budge, so they escape into the building together. 

 

Chopper is quiet. 

“It was a really sad story, huh,” Chopper says. Sitting down on the tree stump, looking a little crestfallen, “It was the opposite of a happy ending. There wasn’t even a moral at the end, unlike Noland’s.” 

 

Which was true. For a folk tale, this was an outlier, more about regrets and connections and legends and the mystery, than an actual story parents would tell children. 

“That must be one old edition you’ve got,” Cricket comes by, “it was required by law a couple years back to remove that story from its volumes.” 

Which only served to prove that the story was most probably real

“You can only find excerpts like these in… Stray Voices, probably. But that book’s also an outlier in itself.”

“Stray Voices?” Usopp asks. 

“I think Robin has that book,” Chopper says, “I saw it in the bookshelves.”

“The folk tales spin it around,” Cricket says, picking up the book from Usopp’s hands, “tries to spin a tale about them being lovers, and make it something like a Romeo and Juliet type soap opera about true and forbidden love or some shit,” he says. 

Chopper makes a confused noise which is immediately echoed by Usopp. 

“Dumb, right?” Cricket scoffs. “It’s just a poetic account of a woman and what was probably a display slave she was the caretaker for. It’s nothing new in this world. There’s the value of how it’s better to do and regret than regret never doing, or something-- but who knows. I don’t.” 

That was just horrible to hear, and the fact that it was actually true just hurt somehow. 

“They publish her diaries in some parts outside of North Blue,” Cricket tells them. “But not in North Blue itself, censorship. It’s a treasure for history-seekers and archaeologists.” 

Saying so, Cricket hands the book to Chopper, opened to a page of the book’s archives, one that listed the title of the diary in question. 

“It’s quite a good read,” Cricket says. “Though, that’s all it is now. They’re dead, after all.”

 

When Cricket goes back toward the Merry to continue the repairs-- Usopp’s eyes linger on the spot Sanji had gone for, and Chopper’s eyes linger on the title of the book. 

Chopper knew that there was more to it than just a sad story. 

No one would write a diary for an empty message. No one would pass down a tragic suicide letter to no recipient. There was no closure in that. Why did people sustain the diary, make copies of it-- it’s to educate the world, isn’t it? Because it had to be known.

And Usopp knew better as well. 

 

(This story might have existed last time around-- but they had never found it, had they?)

 

“He’s not dead,” Usopp says, very quietly, to Chopper’s very vocal surprise. “The man in the iron mask, I mean.” Subtly, Usopp wondered about Duval. If this story was well-known in these parts-- then perhaps, that had been an attempt to emulate a forgotten hero, playing into a sick form of irony that Sanji only felt further enraged by. 

(The more Usopp remembered that scene in his life, the more it felt bitter to remember, and the less he found himself able to laugh at Sanji's plight.)

(It was humorous, really-- but in a dark way.) 

Chopper whirls around, “really?!” he questions. “Did you meet him in the future before? With Nami and all?”

Usopp nods. “Let’s find the book and deliver it to him,” he says. “He deserves to read the last words of this lady, doesn’t he?”

Chopper nods furiously. “Definitely!” 

“Ah,” Usopp raises a finger to his lips, “but let’s keep this a secret from Sanji, okay?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because, well… he’s so sad about this story. Let’s keep it a secret so we can surprise him when we get it done.”

“Oh! Make sense, okay then!” 

Usopp smiles at that. Chopper closes the book and sets it back in Usopp’s bag, deciding against spoiling their new secret mission for now. 

 

Listening to the sizzle of Sanji’s cooking in the house-- they busy themselves with Usopp’s gadgets, and Chopper watches him fix the Flash Dial Zoro had found undersea to the crossbow Usopp was building. 

Robin comes back soon after that, bringing with her purchases for her new wardrobe, books from the town archives, and maps for new knowledge of Sky Island. 

When she begins explaining where exactly on the map she was, Chopper and Usopp listen intently. Sanji comes out to serve tea when he spots the lady, and they spend the rest of their leisure in each other’s companionship. 

 

-


-

 

Luffy, Zoro, Gin, and Anne don’t come back to the Cricket house. They’re forcefully evicted from a submarine via a big blue sphere, dropped unceremoniously in a pile while cursing up a storm of pain.

Anne sits at the top with her paper mug of hot chocolate, looking very satisfied with herself. 

“Hey, that wasn’t fair! You kicked out everyone except Nami!” Luffy yells. 

“I tried,” Trafalgar Law admits, sounding a little annoyed, “I’m frustrated to say your Haki’s greater, Nami-ya.”

“I’m sure you’ll get better, Torao!” 

“Do not call me that.”

 

The yellow submarine shows itself on the horizon, sailing into shore. Nami alights from there, along with a small crowd of the Heart Pirates. 

Chopper squeaks, then cheers. “Oh! It’s Giin! Aaaanne!” he goes to greet them, jumping into Gin’s arms as the man hurriedly gathers himself to catch the reindeer. 

Gin winces at the effort, “hi Chopper, it’s been a while,” he says, “agh, my limbs are all sore. I want to sleep for three years…”

“Get off me, Anne, Luffy!” Zoro snaps, still at the bottom of the pile as Luffy laughs and Anne dusts herself off. 

“What the-- what happened to Luffy and Zoro?! Why are you so injured?!” Chopper yells. 

 

The Saruyama Alliance turn over curiously, but at a gesture from Nami, they decide against interfering, choosing to leave the two crews to discuss their own thing. 

Robin hangs back a little as Usopp hurriedly gathers his things, finds his walking stick-- and begins to meander forward. She doesn’t offer a hand or even speak up to tell Usopp she’s there-- but Usopp follows her presence as a guide anyways, pretending he doesn’t sense her there. 

Kinoko remains by Sanji’s shoulder, so Anne is the one that comes up to take Usopp’s hand, hurrying him forward to the lineup as they face the Heart Pirates. 

“Hehe. Torao here helped heal Gin, and his crew helped me and Zoro,” Luffy points, ignoring Law as he corrects him about his name, “they’re good people! Nami said we can trust them. And they’re Coby’s friends too, apparently!” 

He directed that last part at Usopp, assuming Usopp would know Coby but wouldn’t know this detail. Which, he is absolutely right.

“And guess who we found!” Luffy cheers, picking up Adelle and putting her on his shoulders. “She’s small!” 

Usopp takes the moment to humour him, making an effort to look like he was thinking really, really hard-- “Uhhh,” it’s a white blob to him, “Colourimotone Prisma’s long lost younger sister?”

“No!” Luffy says, brightly. 

“Who the hell is Colourimotone Prisma?” Adelle demands, angry, “it’s me, me!” 

“Ah, Me-me from the Island of People-people. How are You-you and They-they doing?” 

“HEY, I’ll get mad!” 

 

Luffy takes surprisingly well to children, and the crew were getting a front-row seat to that amazing sight right now. The rambunctious Heart Pirate crew introduce themselves enthusiastically to the rest of the Strawhats, who return the greeting pleasantly. 

 

Gin and Penguin are conversing, and Zoro was asking them about how he’d been identified as Anne’s big brother. Anne is very confused on what exactly Gin is at this point, and as Gin and Penguin vehemently disagree on everything and Zoro insists he doesn’t care since he’s been called aniki before-- well, Shachi is laughing, at least.

Sanji has somehow conjured a fancy drink for Ikkaku, and in the fuss, Nami and Robin join her for a teatime gossip session on how it’s surprisingly not that awful to be on a ship full of boys. 

Law wasn’t really up to the cheerful conversation any more, though. 

“Who’s the doctor?” Law asks, “I need to brief you on the follow-up for Gin-ya’s treatments and rehabilitation…”

He trails off, looking down to find Chopper at his feet. 

“Ah, it’s me! So how did it go?” he asks, “Gin looks tired, but his complexion is a lot better. Thanks! If possible I want to know the procedure and the potential--” 

Law stares. “...it’s a Devil Fruit power of mine, so it’s not repeatable,” Law says. Chopper deflates. “But here are the records in case of future complications. Those blue spots probably won’t ever fully fade, so don’t ask me about those.”

He’s still eyeing Chopper rather intently, even when the reindeer has turned his full attention to the notes instead. 

“Okay, got it,” Chopper says, then he turns up to Law, all sparkly eyed. “Hey, Nami said you’re the best surgeon ever, is that true? Is it??” 

“Ah uh,” Law flusters, “uhm. Yes, by virtue of my Devil Fruit, I guess.”

“That’s so cool! Can you teach me? Can I watch an operation? Pleeeease??”

 

Nami watches in awe as Law immediately crumbles, literally and figuratively, crouching down to pick the very glittery, fascinated Chopper up in his arm. 

Then Law turns to Nami, “Nami-ya, I don’t need your gold,” he says, “give me this.”

 

Nami did not expect that at all. And she didn’t need to for every Strawhats to synchronously whirl around at breakneck speed, “OH HELL NO!” 

Even the Heart Pirates were horrified, spinning around to stare at him, “Captain, don’t replace Bepo, you’ll make him cry!” 

 


 

They have a party at night, setting up a campfire outside (because the house can’t fit everyone) and eat and drink to stories of Noland’s final words. 

Gin and Anne toast to Penguin and Shachi, telling scary stories of how Law once had to reattach his arm after a particularly bad mixup they didn’t want to elaborate on. Gin then shared a similar story, where he described how Chaser once had to sew up Gin’s horrific gut wound so it didn’t look as lethal as it was or they’d get killed. He wasn’t elaborating on that either. 

They both still had the scars to show, though, and while they proudly showed it off like it was the emblem of the coolest shit ever, Shachi threatened to strangle Penguin and Anne called Gin a moron to his face. 

Bepo was listening to the story of Noland and the city of Gold with the rest of the Strawhats, somehow being the security blanket for Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp at the same time. They seriously weren’t letting go of him. The gold was cool, though. 

Nami was toasting with Zoro, Ikkaku, and some other Heart Pirates in a drinking contest, and they were all collectively absolute morons because why would you do that before an important voyage, but no one stopped them so they went on anyway. 

Meanwhile, Sanji was grilling up more food, talking with Uni about something that has them gently laughing about their own crewmates. Kinoko is still on Sanji’s shoulder, and by the body language, Sanji threatens the bird a few times to go into the grill, but he never acts on it, so the bird only swats him every once in a while in annoyance. 

 

Law had been content sitting aside on his own-- but a familiar face caught his eye. Nico Robin was within the Strawhat Pirates, and she, seemingly knowing exactly what horrified Law in that very moment-- approached him with a book in her hands. 

Not just any book, though. 

That’s Stray Voices , and Law recognized that book down to the dents on the corner, the scratches on the spine, and the charred marks across its ribbon. 

“A friendly Revolutionary told me of you, told me we were alike,” she says. 

Law suddenly doesn’t feel like drinking anymore. 

Stray Voices is a book about scandals and atrocities. They’re not written in detail-- just the vague accounts of what could’ve happened, what was reported-- and rumours, coming toward it. It's been widely censored, strictly banned-- and for the copies that couldn’t disappear no matter what, the World Government had spread to the world that most of those tales were blatant fantasies. 

To this day, many people still believe the book to be a hoax. It’s nigh impossible to get a full copy of that book anymore, it’s only ever found in segments, scripts, and as a segment of anthologies. 

But Law knows that none of those stories were fake. 

 

“Is that so,” he simply says, uninterested. 

He knows that in this world, there is no one more like him than the Devil’s Child Nico Robin, the survivor of Ohara, the final reader of the forbidden text, and the one charged with the crime of not dying when the world ordered her to. 

Robin nods. “I was quite happy to hear of your existence,” she says, “I wish you well in your future endeavours.”

 

And then she moves on, like that conversation never happened. She slips the book back into wherever it came from, and turns her attention to Noland’s adventure log, focusing immediately on something else. 

She definitely had a lot of questions for Law. And Law wouldn’t have blamed her if she asked-- he would have been annoyed, but he would have answered her, because he wanted to know more about her too-- but she simply held back and didn’t ask. 

(And as the night went on, Law realized she was doing that to everyone, to everything.)

(Nico Robin was among the crew. She was not a part of the crew.)

Law sips on his sake and thinks, dryly, that this isn’t his business, so he won’t interfere. But he does send a dry prayer to the deity that he stopped listening to a long time ago, hoping that she’d find a place for herself just as Law had found his own. 

He is not obliged to care for her, but he does understand the despair of running away as your world burns behind you. He knows the chronic agony of solitude in a crowd. 

(And he knew that he would never wish that even on his worst enemies.)

 

Law sighs. “Hey, Nico-ya,” he speaks up, catching her attention. He tosses her a Vivre Card, and though he knows it’s in bad taste, he offers anyway. “If things go south… you know,” he makes a vague gesture toward himself. 

(If things don’t go well in this crew, you can come to mine.)

He’s surprised when Robin looks sad at it. 

“Are you sure?” her words are grave, like she’s doubting it so much she dryly expects Law to immediately retract the offer, citing it as a joke. And really-- Law could fucking relate. 

Law ruffles his hair, groaning. 

“Yes, I’m serious,” he says. “You’re no more a target to the world than I am. There’s no harm to me if you hide in my crew. So if you need to…” 

He trails off. He’s done embarrassing himself today. 

“You get it,” he waves her off. He needs another drink. Right now. 

 

He knows Nico Robin is looking at him in disbelief, but he can’t bring himself to care. If she doesn’t believe him to have goodwill (he really doesn’t but his actions are screaming hypocrite back at him) then she can throw the card away and Law suffers no loss either. 

He’s got no room to worry about anyone else in this world. 

(But when her situation is a sickeningly similar version of his own, is it really worrying about someone else ?)

He sighs. He doesn’t want to think about that. It all fucking sucks and that’s all the details that matter. 

But hey, they’re allies now, shaky as this development is. It’ll be useful one day. 

 


 

It’s past midnight when Cricket suddenly remembers they need to catch an ugly bird with a stupid cry and the Strawhats grab nets and charge off into a forest. 

“AHhh, c’mon guys, you can’t just leave me behind…” Usopp whines, both hands before him to feel out his expansive surroundings, hesitantly stepping forward in confusion, “you know I’m twice as blind as usual when it’s nighttime… where’s my walking stick…”

“You can stay there, Usopp! We’ll find the bird and we’ll be back,” Luffy hollers. 

Usopp deflates, sitting down on his knees in the middle of nowhere because no one will lead him anywhere else. His bird lands on his head, like a punctuation on ‘yep, just stay there’, and Shachi pats him on the shoulder. 

“Don’t worry bro, my crew does this to me too, mainly on islands that are flash hazards,” Shachi says, sitting down beside him. “I’ve got arc eye.”

“Oh, you’re a comrade. Nice to meet you, I’m Usopp.”

“Yes, yes indeed I am. Shachi.” 

 

They’re creating a friendship over physically debilitating eye conditions, what the hell. Law huffs at that, picking up his sword and getting up. 

“We’re leaving,” he announces, to the loud wails of the rest of his crew. 

The Strawhats are on some tight schedule, and the party’s pretty much over-- so this is the cue for the Heart Pirates to make themselves scarce. The Saruyama alliance isn't obliged to entertain them as guests, after all. They shouldn’t overstay their welcome. 

“No way, but we were having fun!” 

“Just a little longer! We didn’t even say goodbye!” 

“What’s the rush, let’s wait for sunrise and see them off!” 

“It’s Sky Island, captain, it’s so cool, I wanna see them go!” 

 

After persistent pestering and lots of teasing about his terrible ability at social interaction and maintaining friendly relationships, Law manages to come to a compromise without slicing his crewmates to bits. 

“Only until they come back,” he says. “And you guys help clean up the damn place.”

“Okay!” 

“Okay, Captain!” 

“Love you, Captain!” 

“Clean up, clean up!” 

 

Law contemplates all his life decisions as Montblanc Cricket chuckles at the sight. 

“Your crew adores you, young man!” Cricket says, “you’re quite the spiritual opposite of the boy in the Straw Hat, but I’m amazed to meet two great captains today. It’s quite a rarity on this sea.” 

Law scoffs at that. “If you say so, then.”

 

The Heart Pirates work to clean up the area, some sparing a while of effort to help reinforce the Straw Hat’s ship. There are concerns on permanently harming the ship with their trip, but really-- any ship would suffer damage from that fall, it’s just a concern of how many pieces it’ll be in when they hit the sea again. 

(“Hey, wouldn’t a pigeon fly better than a rooster?”)

(“Eh, who cares about the details.”)

 


 

Then Bellamy the Hyena fucking shows up to gloat.

“Hah! So this is where the Montblanc fool lives now?” he laughs. 

 

Law curses. He puts a hand out toward his crew members, and they barely pause in their work before they see their captain assure them of the situation and continue. 

Meanwhile, Shachi tries to hand Usopp a mug of hot chocolate, but ends up setting it on the floor instead when Usopp doesn’t notice it hovering before him. The sniper was engrossed in the group of people with malicious intentions, inching toward the Merry. 

“Huh, this is the ship of those fucking weaklings we saw earlier today!” 

“Hey, did anyone bring the spray paint? Let’s leave our mark.”

“Who’re these bozos?” Sarquiss groans, looking toward the Heart Pirates. “What’s with that cheap copy of Doflamingo’s logo, you bastards? Do you know who you’re dealing with? Oh wait, you guys are the upstarts calling yourself the Heart Pirates!” 

 

There are a few Heart Pirates looking over now, looking peeved. 

 

“What the--” Bellamy turns, and his eyes meet Law’s. “Trafalgar Law? Aren’t you the kid that used to be--”

“Hey, Chestnut-ya,” Law stands up, slowly drawing Kikoku. “Those your guests?” 

“Huh?” Cricket eases a bit from his tensed position, having been ready for a fight. People are always picking a fight, when they come at him calling him his family name. He’s used to that now. “Uh, no they aren’t?” 

“Great,” Law deems. 

 

He draws his sword. Now that Bellamy’s seen his face-- Law has to make sure no word of his presence reaches Doflamingo’s ears. 

 

“Room.”

Notes:

Fun fact: The man in the Iron Mask is an actual person that existed in France in the 1600s and imprisoned for reasons no one knows, with a mask over his face. People still aren't sure of who he was, but it's most likely one of the few people who were arrested in that time period. There is, however, a popularized theory and a movie that suggests the guy was the king's hidden twin brother.

Though, story-wise, Sanji was only served by those cloned guards, I played with the idea of someone else, a maid perhaps, that could've served in, The kitchen staff knew the food was going somewhere-- they just didn't know to who. So rumours could've propagated from there, people could've noticed, but none of the human workers would've realize it was Sanji.

The idea of someone's diary being passed down as a book? Damn, that really happens a lot in history, doesn't it? Thought of Anne Frank when I was writing to be honest.

Chapter 58: dreamers toward a romance dawn (knock up stream)

Summary:

Exhibit A: Law watches Anne as she happily create a dysmorphic, horrific 3D puzzle out of severed body pieces, and he thinks, ah, she reminds me of Lami. That's cute.

Exhibit B: Sanji has two rules. Luffy should no eat things he picked off the ground, and Usopp needs to PLEASE stop picking up weird dangerous things from the ground.

Exhibit C: The crew is terrible at organising their resources without Gin. Gin finds out and loses it.

Notes:

Ahhh, here we go, Skypiea! Hey, everyone that's still reading! ^^ I hope you're having an amazing day, and I hope you're doing well irl. Lots of love from me, even though I'm just a random that write fanfic a lot, hope you enjoy this chapter I have for you guys!

So okay recently, I've been updating every 2-3ish days, so now I'm gonna slow that down and write my other fics for a bit. Seems like a good spot to take a break right now anyways :)

Chapter Text

The Strawhats come back to see absolute massacre on the shores. There’s a loud slew of cursing as severed not-dead heads scream and bloodless limbs scatter. 

Limbs and fingers spill all over the shore, some floating in the sea. All the men were chopped up into hand-sized pieces, while the women-- Bellamy didn’t bring many women with him on this raid, but the few that were around-- had only been bisected a few times. 

Usopp in particular has Sarquiss’s head-- his mouth is beside them screeching, but it’s segmented, so he won’t bite-- on his knee and a paintbrush in the other, and Shachi was directing him on where to paint next. 

“USOPP I SAID NO TOUCHING WEIRD THINGS!” Sanji immediately yells, and Chopper wails out in similar hysterics. 

“Shachi gave it to me,” Usopp says defensively. 

“STOP GIVING HIM WEIRD THINGS!” 

“I’m sorry?!?” Shachi yelps, hiding behind Usopp, “it’s harmless, we swear!”

Cricket stares at them and thinks, wow, deja vu , while the rest of the crew stare at them in confusion. The Heart Pirates are laughing, finishing up the reinforcements on the Merry and helping the Saruyama Alliance get the remaining materials away. 

 

“Look guys! I found a Hercules Beetle!” Luffy declares. 

“Priorities, Luffy, for fuck’s sake!” 

“WOOOAH, the Going Merry looks so cool! She looks like she’s SO gonna fly!” 

“Luffy. Luffy, chickens don’t fly.”

“And Usopp, you can’t see, but we can’t all be hung up on the details.”

“Ow. OW. ACTUAL OW. I HAVE TAKEN DAMAGE. FROM LUFFY.”

 

“Took you guys long enough,” Law rolls Bellamy’s Head around his foot, his eyes coming to meet Luffy, who gapes at the sight. 

“What the-- what did you do?! You’ve got one weird power, Torao!” Luffy says. “And what the he’d these guys come for, anyways? Huh, where’s his mouth?”

“I threw it in the water. They can go find it later.”

“What?!” 

Bellamy just looked blatantly horrified at the sight of everything. Zoro rolls his eyes at the sight, bringing the South Bird over. Meanwhile, Anne runs around picking up limbs with all the enthusiasm of a child that has found a new toy. 

“Do they stick if I assemble them?” Anne asks, hurrying up to Law’s side with an armful of severed limbs. “Like a 3D-puzzle?”

Law stares back at her, feeling a little nostalgia at the innocent energy, “yeah, they will. Go do whatever you want.”

“Okay!” 

“Why is she so excited?” Gin whispers. 

“Who knows,” Nami shrugs, “don’t mind her. Hey, Torao, this is a mess, at least throw them back toward Mock Town instead of leaving them here.”

“Stop calling me that,” Law says, tossing Bellamy’s top-half of a head to Anne, who catches it and starts assembling her masterpiece sculpture. He turns to Luffy. “You don’t want to get one hit in? I can still reassemble him without his jaw.” 

Luffy just grins, “nah! Why would I?” 

He immediately turns his attention to Usopp and Cricket, loudly telling them about the weird animals in the forest and how Robin easily caught the South Bird after they spent an hour looking for it. 

Nami had gone to the man as well, beginning to chart out their course for the morning and learn exactly what they needed to do to get onto the knock-up Stream. It’s been a while since she’d gone up, so she needed a refresher. 

Luffy and Anne, as well as Usopp and Adelle and Penguin and Shachi, were now trying to build their huge statue of body parts, though Usopp was mostly just sticking new pieces that Kinoko handed him anywhere he could find. 

Sanji wasn’t letting them mess around with the women’s parts, though. Only Ikkaku and Nami and a very amused Robin were allowed to handle those. 

The Heart Pirates were packing up to leave, and Sanji and Zoro were helping them get set. They weren’t getting any gold, the Strawhats were poor, but Sanji did spare enough of their new resources to fill up their pantry with recipes and lunch boxes, which they were enthralled with. 

 

“You’re probably thinking you could defeat us if you were in one body, huh,” Gin says, approaching Bellamy’s face and looking down upon his murderous glares. 

Law stands beside him, watching as Gin slouches back, resigned. 

“Well, keep dreaming, moron,” he says, “you’re not even worth a fucking throwaway battle scene.” 

Bellamy’s eyes blow wide. 

Law cracks out a smirk at that. The Man-Demon hadn’t been there to witness the initial bar fight, which made it all the more ironic. 

 


 

They exchange Den Den numbers. 

Law isn’t affiliated with the line of gold, so they can’t use Bigstar and Babystar to send him messages. But this much would be fine in the meantime, it wasn’t as if they had anything to use their alliance for, anyway. 

“If you see Chibi-ya, tell him to get his ass back here,” Law says. 

Nami takes a moment to remember that was what Law called Coby, and smiled. “I will. And… thanks. For taking care of him. He’s become quite an individualist in the time I haven’t seen him-- but he’s a really sweet boy deep down.”

Law hums. “I know that.” 

They load up the mad sculpture of human parts onto a dinghy, and the Saruyama Alliance would handle delivering it back to Mock Town via the portside. 

“Bye, Anne-chan!” Ikkaku beams, “have fun on Sky Island, alright? Tell me all about it next time we meet.”

Anne nods. 

Sanji gives Ikkaku a kiss on the back of her palm, while Gin and Penguin share a sort of fistbump. Shachi almost tries to high-five Usopp before he reaches to grab a hand for a handshake instead. Zoro and Kinoko are trying to wrestle Chopper out of Law’s very stealthy hands while Robin giggles. Nami smiles at Bepo, and Luffy waves enthusiastically at the entire Heart Pirate crew. 

 


 

“Alright!” Luffy leaps onto the Flying Model Merry as the rest of the crew hurriedly pack their things and climb onto the caravel. “Thanks for doing all this for Merry, you guys! I’ll give you my Hercules beetle!” 

“REALLY?! You’re such a good guuuuyy!!!” the Saruyama Alliance swoon at him. 

Luffy gives Cricket a last glance. 

“We’ll find Sky Island, and we’ll tell you when we do!” Luffy says. “So when you find the City of Gold, tell us too, yeah? Nami would be so happy about it.”

Cricket chuckles at that. 

“When, not if, huh? You sure know how to make a man happy,” he says. A hand on Noland’s picture book, he smiles, reverently. “Go on now, kid. This is goodbye for us now.”

He makes his way to the head of the ship, where Luffy leans over the edge, beaming. 

“You kids have dreams?” he asks. 

The eager looks from all of them are enough to answer, but they spoke up anyways, one after another, each brimming with more heart than before. 

“Pirate King!” Luffy says. 

“World’s Greatest Swordsman,” Zoro adds. 

“I’m drawing the map of the world!” Nami chimes right in. 

“I’m becoming the brave warrior of the seas,” Usopp says, “the bravest, and greatest.”

“Well, I’m looking for All Blue,” Sanji says. “Huh. That’s a Northern Myth too, just like the city of gold. That’s nice.” 

“And I’m going to Emerald City,” Gin shrugs. 

“I’m going to travel the world! See it for myself,” Chopper beams, “and become a doctor that can cure anything.” 

Neither Anne nor Robin give a response, but their eyes dart around each member that says it, each with increasing and equal certainty. It was so strange, to hear them declare it with such confidence-- and yet, Anne didn’t think she had anything like that for herself. For Robin-- the surprise lay in how her words clamped in her throat, refusing the confidence needed to declare her own. Her dream was a crime, after all. 

Cricket was satisfied by just those answers though, and he grinned, wide. “All fine dreams! All honourable, noble fantasies-- but people will laugh, calling it absurd, eh?” 

He spread his arms. 

“The Land of Gold? Sky Island? Emerald City-- even All Blue, and the One Piece itself! People know so little about these things, and so much is left unproven-- but there’s one thing for sure,” he says, “no one has ever proven they don’t exist!” 

Luffy’s smile stretches widely right back. “Yeah!” 

“Dreams and fantasies-- what’s so bad about that?” Cricket laughs, “isn’t that ideal exactly what makes a man’s romance?!” 

Behind them, the dawn rises. 

“Go on now, fellow dreamers,” Cricket grins, and the Strawhats take that cue to break off into their posts, letting down the sails and clambering up toward the galley toward the helm. “Don’t let anyone stop you now! Not even gravity, ya hear?”

Luffy snickers at that. 

“Hey, that’s not funny!” Sanji yells, somewhere on the other side of the ship. 

“What if we fall and smash into a thousand pieces! It’s not funny!” Gin agrees. 

Luffy just continues to laugh. “See ya, Diamond-head Ossan!” he yells, and there are a few echoes of the same call around the ship. 

“Thanks for everything, Mister Cricket!” 

“I’m sure the city of gold exists!” 

“Heyy, Ossan!” Usopp yells, “keep an ear out, yeah! I’m sure you’ll hear the bell too, someday! Watch the sky when you’re sad! ” 

“And don’t go diving so much you ruin your health further, alright? Torao and Chopper already yelled at you for it!” 

“And I’ll yell at you again if you don’t listen!” 

“Why are you brats worrying about me?!” Cricket snaps, “worry about yourselves!” 

 

-


-

 

Finally, they were on their ship, allowed a reprieve before the Knock-up Stream arrived. 

“Are you sure it’s fine? Skypiea’s tropical,” Usopp says, feeling around Nami’s metal arm and oiling the gears where it needed. Kinoko was on his shoulder, a wrench between her beak for easy access. 

They were in the galley, while everyone else was around the ship, tying down the loose items. 

“It should be fine,” Nami says. Her Winter Model arm wasn’t as durable as the Heat Model-- it was working fine for now, but the lack of a familiar amount of weight on Nami’s right was throwing her off at times. “it’s not like we have time for a replacement.” 

Usopp wrapped the shoulder brace over it, and strapped it in to give it an extra layer. 

“Do you already have someone in mind?” he asks, as Nami stands up to flex the shoulder and make sure she could still move it around comfortably. 

“Kinda,” Nami admits, “but well… I’ve got a lot to do in Skypiea. Can you handle yourself?”

“Of course I can, but…”

“Then I want you to investigate something for me. You and,” she pauses for a moment, “our little eavesdropping spy, come out here.” 

Realizing she’d been noticed, Anne opened the hatch toward the underdeck (that the Saruyama Alliance had been kind enough to install for her, allowing her enough crawlspace to traverse like her own passageways) and showed herself. 

“I’m a Spy?” she asks. 

“Well you’re sure acting like one,” Nami says, “you did this when Ace and Thatch were on board, too.”

“Then she’d be a scout, huh,” Usopp says. “You could survey islands before we get on them. Make sure it’s safe, then we go. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to do much, since Luffy always charges first into the island, so…”

“Let’s ask Luffy then,” Anne says, dropping back in and closing the hatch behind her. 

 

A moment later, Luffy is happily shouting into the world that Anne’s the scout of the ship, whatever that means, and everyone else is cheering back in agreement of some sort. 

Anne reemerges from the hatch, confetti on her head. “Luffy said yes.”

Nami blinks. “Yeah, we figured,” she says. “Alright then. Anne, I need you to do me a favour…” 

 


 

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THE STORAGE HOLD?!”

Everyone immediately points at Usopp. Usopp yelps, closing his ears and eyes and yelling out in denial, “I CAN’T HEAR YOU I’M BLIND.”

Gin curses out, as loud as his entire voice bank can go. " And the records are a mess! Sanji, have you been keeping stock of the rations properly?! Why aren’t they arranged?”

Sanji immediately hides behind Nami. “Sorry!” he says, loudly though Gin is about ten steps away, “I got used to you doing it for me! You know I’m bad at this!” 

“Nami, you’re supposed to take care of this!” 

“AAAAHHH,” Nami covers her ears and screams, “I CAN’T HEAR YOUUUUUU!!” 

“What are you, children ?!”

Luffy laughs, “Sorry, Gin! It’s a mess without you!”

 

Zoro is snoring. Masira and Shoujou look down at them, a little exasperated by how easygoing they were in the wake of what was supposed to be a life-risking venture. 

Gin has Nami and Sanji by the ears now, and he was yelling for Usopp, though the sniper was nowhere to be seen. (He’s hiding on the figurehead, sprawled in Luffy’s lap and half-hanging over Merry’s horns.) 

“What the hell happened to our money? To our food? How the hell did you manage to run through most of it in one week?! What if we can’t restock on Sky Island, we’re going to die on the sea!” Gin snaps, “trusting you two with this was a mistake!” 

“In our defense, it all goes toward feeding Luffy!” Nami yells. 

“In our defense, you made a shit deal about it and then you weren’t there to oversee it!” Sanji adds, trying to fight back but damn did Gin have the grip strength of a fucking monster. 

 

Meanwhile, Anne had found herself beside Robin, her picnic mat and tea set laid out neatly on the ground. Robin accompanied her for her tea time. 

“It’s always this lively?” Robin says. 

“Even more so when the Princess was around,” Anne admits, “but Gin’s got more energy now, so I guess he’s also contributing to the noise too.” 

Zoro snores, the noise immediately echoed by Kinoko, the bird tucked in his waistband. 

Anne and Robin share a laugh.

 


 

Gin crosses his arms. 

“I don’t know what you did to convince them to let you join,” he says, “but just know that I don’t trust you yet.”

Robin smiles. “I understand very well,” she says, leaning against the bow. “The swordsman has told me much the same.” 

Gin sighs at that. 

Well, he has no right to say that, honestly. He brought Miss Goldenweek on board, and no one quite wanted to trust her either. All they had to go on was his word, and they trusted it. 

This time it was the opposite situation. All they had on her was Luffy’s word, and Nami’s indifference-- and Anne, who once worked with her, speaking for her integrity. 

In fact, Robin’s joining had a lot more to back up on it. 

“What’s your job?” Gin asks instead. “I’m the Quartermaster.”

Robin blinks at that. “I don’t think I have one. Must I?” she questions-- and yeah, honestly, Gin can relate. You don’t usually need a speakable job to be in a crew. Sometimes a passion and some strength is enough. 

“In this ship, I think so,” he shrugs. “They were quick to give Anne a role. But then again, Zoro doesn’t really have a role either...”

Scout? Isn’t that usually called assassin ? Whatever. It fit. 

“Then… a scholar, perhaps?” Robin decides, “I am confident in my general knowledge regarding the Grand Line, if nothing else.”

And so is Nami and Usopp, but well, Robin’s definitely got years on them. Probably. (Nami’s said before that they need a scholar of the Grand Line to survive out here. She probably didn’t mean herself, then?) 

“Just out of curiosity, is this an interrogation, Mister Quartermaster?” Robin inquires. “On your authority as the second... or third-in-command?” 

Gin blanches at that. “Yeah,” he admits. Who else is going to properly deal with this outlier in their crew? Oh wait, they’re all outliers. “But I’m not the second-in-command, or the third. We don’t really get that in this crew.” 

Strictly speaking, it would be Zoro, but Nami acts like it more often than not, and otherwise, they'd probably rely on Usopp. If anything, it's on the joining order like some sort of I-was-here-first seniority. Honestly whoever could take charge just tended to do it sometimes. 

That seemed to surprise Robin a little. 

“There isn’t?” 

 

Gin blinks at that. No one told her? Eh, it’s not something they usually talk about… but with this crowd of people that either won’t explain unless asked or just don’t bother explaining things-- yeah. She’s probably incredibly lost. 

She probably joined by necessity, and she’s a quiet individual that won’t ask questions to bide her own skin. It made sense that she’s trying to distance herself, but that honestly didn’t mean she had to be in the dark about a lot of things on this ship. 

 

“Let’s step back a bit,” Gin says. “Do you even know all our names?” 

 


 

“Usopp, catch!” 

Usopp is tossed something.

He doesn’t notice it and Nami calls a second too late, so the small cushion-like object just bounces off the back of his head.  Usopp turns around.  Kinoko had gone to the crow’s nest to watch Zoro nail her nest down, so she hadn't been there to warn him about the projectile. 

Nami chuckles, “sorry, forgot. Anyways, that’s a gift,” she says, “we’re finding the stream soon, so get everything secured, alright?” 

Usopp hums, “ah, wait,” he reaches into his bag and finally finds the distinctly cubic object. “Here,” he tosses it in her general direction, hearing her catch it. 

Usopp crouches down, feeling around the deck in confusion-- someone hands the item to him, and he realizes it’s a sewn plushie. 

“Ah, thanks--” huh? Who was that? People ought to stop walking away so quickly. 

 

From the way it feels around his fingers, it’s the same kind of cushion Nami used to make from scrap cloth, boasting how her mother used to make tons of them for her and Nojiko. (Usopp remembers a day Nami made a whale plushie for Brook, it was the happiest they’d ever seen the musician.) 

And Nami takes the slightly cubical object, seeing delicate carvings along one side to form a stamp-- a stamp of something she knows very well. 

“Wait, Nami. What is--” 

“Hold on, Usopp-- is this--” 

They talked over each other. They immediately stopped. 

 

Anne comes over, latching onto Nami’s side. “Me and Usopp made that. Is it okay?” she asks. “It’s the first time I made a stamp.”

“And that’s what our little ladies have been working on for a long while now,” Sanji says, leaning over Usopp’s shoulder to get a better look. “Vivi-chan and Robin-chan both.”

Usopp gently holds the jolly roger in his hands, feeling around the rough edges, tracing across the smile-- and he can’t hold it in. 

He cries. 

Nami immediately runs to him, leaping into a hug Usopp doesn’t see coming. She clutches the stamp in her hand, and Usopp quickly wraps his arms around her waist. 

“Have I told you how much I love you?” Nami asks through Usopp’s curls. 

Usopp chuckles. “Every day, Nami,” he squeezes the cushion in his palm, “but I feel like I’ve just been reminded of it.” 

Nami bubbles out a laugh. “Same here.”

(Everyone notices the plushie of the jolly roger that’s thereafter hung on the handle of Usopp’s walking stick. It always brings a smile to their faces, but no one ever mentions it.) 

 


 

Blackbeard doesn’t show up on the horizon when the Knock-up Stream hits. Nami isn’t sure why that unsettles her. 

“Blackbeard’s not coming,” Usopp says, tying his hand to the bow. “Even if he's on the horizon now, he won’t make it here before we go.”

“I know,” Nami responds. 

She knows why he’s not here-- Blackbeard doesn’t see the worth in fighting Nami now, just as Nami avoided fighting him here. None of them had a high enough bounty to warrant Blackbeard’s full attention (and cumulative bounties just weren’t impressive enough when it’s Warlord you’re aiming for) so it made sense he would just leave. 

She just didn’t like it when Teach went out of script. 

But it'll be fine. They're going somewhere no one can hurt them, at least for now. 

 

“Okay, so, basically we found this map, and that’s why we’re in this situation,” Gin says, finally able to get a full grasp of their situation. Luffy has been a terrible explainer thus far. “Oh, great. We’re actually doing something pirate-like for once.”

“We weren’t thus far?” Zoro questions. 

“Well we took down a criminal organisation, saved a princess, and liberated a country,” Sanji says. “So not at all.” 

“We started a bar fight,” Anne suggests. 

“We lost a bar fight is what they did,” Nami says. “But we picked a fight with two Warlords, so I guess that’s kinda pirate-like?” 

There’s a moment where no one moves, except Sanji who takes a drag of his cigarette. 

Then all at once, “we picked a fight with WHAT?!”

Usopp winces at that, “hey c’mon! I’m sitting right here, guys, no sound bombs out of nowhere!” He yells, and everyone turns to him to mildly apologize. 

“Oh sorry, Usopp,” Luffy says, then laughs. “But who other than Croc?” 

“Yeah Nami, what did we pick a fight with? Who??”

“Doflamingo!” Nami sunnily replies, “former bounty three-forty million. That’s about--” 

“...four times Crocodile’s former bounty,” Zoro says. 

“Thanks, Zoro the Math Bro.”

“Do-fu-ra-WHO?!” Gin whirls around, “WHO ARE WE FIGHTING?!”

Usopp scoffs at that, Kinoko helping him tie his whole arm securely to the bow in a whole array of about five knots, “didn’t you see Doflamingo’s jolly roger all over the city? Bellamy’s like the head goon.”

“I did, but Usopp, you didn’t.”

“Stop being a dick, Sanji, if Usopp says he saw it, he saw it.”

“Oh is that how we’re going about it?”

“Well, to be specific this time it’s Torao that did it but--” 

“Luffy! Luffy we gotta call off the alliance! We gotta call off the alliance! I don’t wanna face another Warlord!” 

“Isn’t it fine,” Anne says. “I drew our flag on Bellamy’s face.”

“So it’s your fault?!”

Luffy just kept laughing. “We can’t just call it off now! Torao’s already gone!” 

“HEYY STRAWHATS! THE KNOCK UP STREAM IS BUILDING UP UNDERNEATH YOU! BRACE YOURSELVES!” 

Abruptly, everything stops. 

 

And then the screaming starts again. 

"Shit. SHIT, we're not done tying some of the things! Get the books, get the books!" 

"Have we raised the sails yet? Boys, get the damn sails!" 

 


 

When the Going Merry’s trajectory went right-angle, everyone abruptly realized why Usopp was tying himself to the bow. 

Gin clings onto edge, holding tightly onto Anne. 

Chopper is screaming. “Luuuufffyy! HEEELP!” he wails, tears streaking upward as he went airborne, his hooves aren’t touching anywhere near anything to hold onto, and he’s flailing about, terrified. 

Even Kinoko has been launched into the sky in dizzy circles, unable to fight the velocity and the previously tied sails break off, creating a cushion for Kinoko to crash into.

Nami notices it from her spot as she grabs onto the rigging-- and her eyes widen at the sight. The sails were folding strangely-- cushioning Kinoko as she rolled across, trying to give it some leverage to grab on, slowing it down just enough for Zoro to run up the mast, grabbing her before she was thrown too far off the boat. Luffy also throws an arm up to catch Chopper, wrapping him tightly to his side.  

But her attention is quickly wrenched away as Sanji yells, “the front is lifting off! We’re tilting! Nami-san!”  

“Right,” she says, “Zoro! Sanji! Let down the sails!” her orders are loud. 

“What? But Nami-san--” 

Nami’s grinning wide. “This is the Grand Line!” she declares. “And what we’re sailing on is the sea of this insanity! I’m the greatest navigator in the world-- there’s no sea I can’t navigate through! DO YOU TRUST ME, BOYS?!” 

No other words are needed. 

“OF COURSE WE DO!” they yell back, Sanji tacking on the oh-so endeared ‘Nami-swaaannn!!’ at the end. 

 

Luffy leaps into work, grabbing the edge of the loosened sails to tie them down. Zoro shoves Kinoko into Robin’s hands before joining Sanji in his climb up the mizzen, And Gin lets go of Anne just in time to run in and grab the rudders, where Nami yells orders to catch wind from the portside. 

Usopp was no help here, when the floors weren’t even. So he holds onto Chopper and Anne, and they, with Robin and Kinoko do their best staying onboard and out of the way. Anne pries her eyes open just in time for the Going Merry to take flight, soaring on the winds of the mighty updraft, all the way to the skies. 

“WE’RE FLYING?!” 

“HELL YEAH MERRY’S FLYYIIING!” 

“NAMI-SAN, YOU’RE AMAAAZING!!”

“ALL THE WAY INTO THE SKY, GO GO GOOOO!”

 

“It’s pretty,” Anne says, looking not just forward, but to the side, to everyone’s faces-- and below them, to the starling, majestic heights they’ve soared into. And now, she says it with reverent determination, “I want to paint this.”

Usopp chuckles at that. 

“You can paint anything you want,” he assures her, a hand on her hat. “You’ll be seeing even greater things from here.”

Anne didn’t doubt that at all. 

“Then I want to paint them all, too.”

 


 

Bursting into the White Sea was a sight to behold-- at least, for everyone other than Usopp. Choking on air pressure and swallowing a mouthful of cloud that never seemed to end-- the crew burst into the skies and landed harshly, hacking and coughing. 

And then they landed with a splosh into the sea of cotton and pure white. 

The Merry’s new wings were broken, the sails were torn, the strings were broken-- but otherwise, it was quite intact. While Nami chokes up a mouthful of water, Sanji tries to regain his vertigo and not throw up-- Gin isn’t doing much better, and Luffy’s still trying to catch his breath. 

Chopper and Anne are clinging to each other, eyes squeezed shut-- and Zoro is first to gather himself enough to look out. 

“We’re here,” he breathes. “Is everyone alright?”

“We’re at the top,” Robin adds, standing up shakily, gently running her fingers through Kinoko’s feathers that were slightly ruffled from effort of Robin accidentally grabbing too hard-- but Kinoko also clawed Robin and left some holes on her sleeve, so it was fair. 

 

Breathing was harder up here, and everyone took a little too long for comfort just trying to catch themselves again. Gin hadn’t gotten up yet, laying on the deck and focusing on breathing for the better of the long minute. 

“Oh-- HEY, look outside the ship, guys!” Luffy yells. “What is this place?! It’s soooo white!” 

Usopp took one look and winced , quickly ducking his head under the arm before reaching to pull his goggles down. 

“Ah, I’ll untie you,” Anne says, “Chopper, something’s wrong with Usopp.”

“Clouds!” Chopper exclaims, not hearing her the first time over everyone else’s excitement. “We’re sailing on clouds!” 

“Isn’t it… physically impossible to sail on them…?” Zoro mutters. 

“Huh? But they’re just clouds? Just sail on top of them, what’s so hard about that?” 

“Luffy, no.”

 

“Oh shit. Gin’s breathing is weird! Chopper!” Sanji calls. 

“Chopper, something’s also wrong with Usopp,” Anne repeats herself. She manages to untie the many layers of rope around the man’s arm-- ugh, it’s left bruises-- but Usopp only falls back, eyes covered by his palms. 

Kinoko leaves Robin’s arms to come and-- very comfortably-- sits down right on Usopp’s face, over his eyes. 

“I didn’t say you could do that, fluffbutt,” Usopp says. The bird doesn’t move. 

“Eh, Gin?!” Chopper yelps, rushing over to Gin first. “Crap! I forgot his entire system is weakened right now! Torao gave us an oxygen tank, Sanji, go get it for me! Hurry!”

“Huh. HUH?! Shit!”   

As the boys ran to get stuff for Gin, Nami and Luffy lean over Usopp. 

“So what’s wrong with Usopp?” Luffy asks, “do your eyes hurt or something?”

Nami takes off the bandanna around her wrist-- they don’t need it anymore since they’re done with that meeting with Law-- and drapes it over Usopp’s head, going over Kinoko like a blanket. 

“Usopp’s eyes are damaged, so they’re sensitive to light,” Nami says, “he’s usually fine down on the Blue Sea, but when we’re here closer to the sun, and with everything being white-- let’s just say things are brighter than they should be.” 

“Oh,” Luffy says, “I don’t really get it, but basically it’s like that sunglasses guy that Torao had, right?”

“What the-- you were listening when me and Shachi talked?” 

“Huh? Was I not supposed to?” 

“Is Usopp okay?!” Chopper hollers from the other side of the ship. He’s just set up Gin with the oxygen mask, laying Gin on his side to slowly recover. “Anyone else with injuries?” 

“The Merry,” Zoro says, reaching for the torn sail and trying to tie the end back. “What a waste. We literally just got her fixed twice.” 

“Our baby Merry is never a waste! Take that back, you monster!” Usopp yells. 

“I didn’t say she was a waste, Usopp, just sit there and be quiet.” 

 

Anne had set up her easel, her eyes twinkling at the magnificent sight before her. Robin comes from the room, handing a pair of sunglasses to Luffy, who jousts Kinoko off Usopp’s face to fit them over his eyes. 

“Hold on, I have a feeling--” Nami turns just in time to see a huge skyshark leap out of the waters with a loud roar. Her scream is immediately echoed by Sanji, Chopper, and a very confused Usopp who just screamed to go along with it. 

Gin’s eyes blew wide, but though he tried to get up, he didn’t have enough strength to shout out. The skyshark is immediately followed by a gigantic octopus, earning another round of shrieks. 

“Nothing to be scared about!” Zoro drew his sword and Sanji hurried to stand up, cleaning up the threat in a moment. 

“There, done.”

 

And then a miniature flatfish with fangs pops right out of the water, landing on Zoro’s head with a mighty chomp. 

 

A moment of surprised silence later, Sanji bursts out into the loudest laughter anyone has ever heard from him. Luffy and Chopper immediately echo, and even Nami and Gin had to fight to hold their laughter back. 

Zoro chucks the fish into the ground, “I’M NOT FUCKING ALGAE!” he snaps, drawing both swords, “all of you that are laughing line the fuck up!” 

“Is this the skyfish that was mentioned in Noland’s adventure log?” Robin wonders, casually picking it up to inspect it, bringing it toward Anne who was already more than halfway through her epic painting, which includes the exploding balloon octopus and Zoro, whose head saved a spot for a fish to bite into.  “The details on the scales are interesting, don’t you think? It’s flat as well. I wonder if it’s an adaptive evolution.”

Anne nods, taking a quick look before Luffy happily takes it away. 

“I sauteed it,” Sanji says, a second later. 

“IT’S YUMMY!” 

“What the-- already?!” Nami whirls around, “I haven’t even started explaining anything!”

“They’re either flat or like balloons. It’s also got carnivorous fangs,” Robin starts explaining anyways.

Nami nods at that. “They have to survive and remain buoyant on the lighter ocean here.” 

“Ocean?” Zoro asks. 

Luffy extends a forkful of fish toward Anne, who nods happily when she tastes it. Luffy grins at that, hustling over to Usopp who had fitted the sunglasses over his eyes and was beginning to adjust. 

“Yes,” Nami says, “all we see right now are actually, in its own right-- a sea ,” she says. “This is the White Sea.” 

 


 

She holds up her Log Pose. 

“It’s still pointed upward?” Zoro notices first. 

Nami nods. “Now, we have to head for the White-White Sea,” she beams. “Well, if we can find something like a super speedy lobster to nyoom us up the highway to heaven.” 

Everyone stares at her in disbelief. 

“You’re pulling our leg, right?” Gin asks, sounding croaky. 

“Alright, Nami is lying to us,” Zoro deems. “That wasn’t funny when Usopp did it. It’s not funny now.” 

“What? There’s no way Nami-san is lying! Even if it sounds crazy!” Sanji snaps, “apologize, mosshead! Come back here!” 

“No. You just admitted it sounds crazy.” 

Usopp chuckles dryly. Nami just keeps smiling. Everyone’s faces immediately fill with sheer dread as they realize that neither of their veterans were disproving their statements. 

 

“I swear, if I had a shot every time I’ve had to face something insane after meeting you guys, I’d already be dead,” Gin says, “and that’s really saying something.”

"But?" Luffy prompts. 

Gin sighs long-sufferingly. "But it's fucking amazing and I regret nothing."

Chapter 59: [EXTRA] big buggy's little adventure.

Summary:

In the midst of rubble in the wake of a small explosion, Buggy wakes up disoriented, alive, and well-- it's a little harder to find his words than before.

He begins to think. And then he begins to do.

And then he rests, because he's tired, and the kids do a better job of running wild than he does. Also, he's too old for this shit right now. If they need his help, it better be a proper emergency.

Notes:

TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide and self mutilation (it's in the first flashback scene, nowhere else,) implied depression, and alcohol abuse.

I just noticed that in all the precious flashbacks I wrote, there was never an actually graphically depicted death. O.o

So I said I was taking a break last chapter. but then again I've been working on this ever since I wrote the Coby chapter and it's finally done, it's a behemoth of a chapter, so I thought, here you go guys. I'm still gonna wait for a bit before the next arc though! gonna plan a bit more first.

Anyways, I don't always say that they 'sign' instead of 'say' so it might get confusing, but every instance of bolded speech (that isn't a flashback or otherwise stated) is sign language!

Chapter Text

Buggy is too old for this. 

He wakes up-- wakes up -- in a mess of rubble, soot, and splinters.  His neck is attached. It’s attached-- almost uncomfortably so, and he can pop it off just to stick it back on, and it’ll stay on. 

There are no shackles on his wrist. 

 

“Captain Buggy!” Mohji exclaims, frantically attempting to clear the debris from his captain. “Dammit! Everyone! Load up the Buggy cannon again! We’re going to decimate the rest of them all the way to the sh--”

“No.”

Buggy abruptly speaks, but the words don’t come.  He reaches out to stop Mohji, though, grabbing at his First Mate’s arm and giving him a stern, chastising look. 

Confused, he separates, freeing himself and getting back upright-- “just let her go,” he tries to say, but the words, again-- don’t come.

 

It takes him another moment to realize his tongue-- though inside his mouth-- just isn’t attaching as well as it used to. 

Consciously-- and consciously controlling his Devil Fruit is something he hasn’t needed to do in a very long while-- he makes sure it stays connected, and tries speaking once more. 

“Just let her go,” he says. 

Ah, there’s his voice.  It usually doesn’t matter if his tongue is outside his body, though. His Devil Fruit and all. So what was wrong here?

His crew reacts explosively, because how could they let that girl go after she made a whole wreck of everything?! “She deserves to be taught a lesson, Captain Buggy!”

“We’re no match for her,” he says. 

Wasn’t that common sense, honestly… one hit of her Olympus Tempo and they’re gone , literally. That is, if her metal arm isn’t the only thing she brought back with her…

...wait, back ? What did he mean back? Back wh--

Ah. 

“Wait, we’re in Orange Town?” 

Oh. 

Fuck. 

“Where the--” he corrects himself as his tongue unlatches and his words go out-- quickly, he fixes it back on and, “WHEN the fuck am I?!”

 


 

Warlord of the Seas and protege of Gold Roger-- pathetically enough, this esteemed Star Clown Buggy stood before the masses, chains around his wrists.

No glory, no prestige-- just shame, and ridicule. And yet, he smiled.

(Laugh!)

(The more you laugh… you know?)

And before the masses, with nothing to live for and nothing else to lose, Buggy grins wide-- his tongue hanging from his lips in the most jesting, mocking manner.

No one expected him to bite down then and there.

"Because fuck you all, really."

 


 

Nami left them a note. 

“I.O.U. a treasure, love, Nami,” he reads out. Then, Buggy folds it and tucks it in the pocket of important stuff, “god I hate that woman so much.” 

His tongue isn’t attached at all. This is such a pain. 

Thankfully with his Bara-bara powers, he can still converse, but it actually takes effort-- he hasn’t had to use effort with his powers in ages and thus, because of how he’s not used to it, there’s a clear strain when he speaks.

He pretends his crew hasn’t noticed his shivering hands and solemnly takes in the wreckage of his base. 

He breathes. 

He listens. 

And he hides under his eyelids, bearing the weight of the world once again. 

“Get me Bigstar and Babystar,” he orders, facing the sea again. “While you’re at it, get the strongest drink you can find in the bar.” 

He needs a fucking moment right now.

 


 

He can’t taste a thing. 

Food, sake, not even the salt of the air and the bitter of bile under his tongue. None of it’s around, and the aches of his hangover just made his mood so much worse. 

(I’m going out for a bit.)

He doesn’t manage to say it. He never knew that talking took so much energy out of anyone. Or maybe it’s just him that has a problem. Whatever. 

He’s all the way back here, after all. Taste buds or whatever, broken voice or however-- it’s a comparatively low cost. 

He’ll get used to it. 

 


 

I want to know who else is back--

I want someone to talk to this to--

I need you back here so you can give me a fucking explanation Nami, but I know you don’t know either so it’ll just turn into a drinking party but I just want someone here okay--

He tears the paper apart. He doesn’t know what to write, or even who to write to.

So for now, he drinks, and thinks. He winces when he tastes absolutely nothing on his tongue-- just the burn of the alcohol, but none of the bitter or the sweet in the blend, not that he's ever drunk alcohol for the taste anyways but the missing is off-putting-- and takes a moment to catch up on exactly where he is. 

He has never been known as a planner, a schemer, or even anything resembling an intelligent individual-- but for fuck’s sake, here they are. 

Mohji and Cabaji watch his actions carefully, whisper among the crew-- Buggy can tell what they’re doing. The usual ‘give him some space, but don’t leave him alone’, that they’ve gotten accustomed to over the years. Buggy conks out by Richie’s side, and wakes up to a blanket over him and only the night watch in the crow’s nest. 

(He’s happy that he has a crew that wouldn’t ask questions, and would still love him anyway. He loves them back very much.)

(So much, that every time his mind drifted back to what happened to them-- he found the need to scream angrily into any surface that could muffle his unrelenting self hatred.)

(Never again. Never again.)

 

He spends the night wallowing in his own sorrows, mulling over his failed attempt to die-- then abruptly, at about three in the morning, he decided that was enough and rose from his bed, turning on his lap and reaching for everything in Big Top’s library. 

Stray Voices, by S.Gaban. 

He hadn’t touched this book in ages. It was only released a number of years ago, and of course he’d gotten a copy, if only because it’s been years without any sign of anyone else. 

Seriously, S.Gaban? Might as well have written your full name there instead.

(That day, they had parted on such sudden terms, shattered so completely. With the navy on high alert for any traces of their connection, they had been in such disarray, they threw their years of family down the drain and suddenly became a little more than strangers to each other.)

(It still hurts to think about it sometimes.)

In hindsight, though, it was probably the better choice. 

The Rogers broke apart immediately, and stayed under the waters right away. Sure, some of them struggled, some were captured-- and people with connections (Tom-- oh, Tom…) were quickly cleared from the rosters of the world-- but most of them have lived even until the next two decades in their peaceful retirement. 

The Strawhats weren’t so lucky. They attempted to stay together, reuniting to save each other only to fall and lose more than they signed up for. They attempted to protect what they held dear, and stood to witness it destroyed anyway. 

Their Grand Fleet continued to spread their prominence, undeterred. (And that was why they fell, so immediately, so cruelly.) In the end, the ones that lived the longest were the cowards that ran and hid.

(Life was such an ironic bitch sometimes, and Buggy knew it best.)

 

Buggy opened the book-- and settled down beside Richie again, a nightlight by his side and the blanket in his lap. 

And he started reading, even though he’d read this more than twice already.

Cowards have their own way of fighting , he whispers to himself, belatedly realizing his detached tongue meant he didn’t say it out loud as he’d intended, but it was fine. 

A ‘coward’ is just a warrior with a little more common sense than most, after all. 

Buggy was going to prove that now.

Flashily, if he can help it.

 


 

“What the-- Captain Buggy?!” Mohji yelps, seeing the absolute mess Buggy had made out of the front deck by morning. “What are you doing ?!”

There were papers sprawled out all over the place, and he’d used Richie’s paw as a paperweight for one particular stack. 

“C- ccc- cheh- this is getting annoying,” he chokes on his tongue at first and tries again, “can’t you see, Mohji, I’m doing a periodical mega update,” he says. 

Periodical mega update, you say, but we only do that when we find something big,” Mohji says, “geez, the crew’s going to wake up soon! Can we clean up please? Can’t you do this in your room?” 

“Well, the moon was a rather flashy and incredibly glorious sight to behold Mohji, I just wanted to work outside. Let your captain do whatever he wants.”

“If we let you do whatever you want all the time, you’d have died of alcohol poisoning thirteen years ago. Listen when your first mate is talking.” 

Despite being the headquarters of the (arguably self-proclaimed) greatest information source in the Grand Line, not everyone on the Buggy Pirates were in the know. Only the intelligence division of this rather small crew was in the know, and the rest of the workload was handled by other branches all around East Blue and Paradise. 

“Up and take a shower, you stink of alcohol!” Mohji whines, “I’ll clean up here so go already.”

“What a nag,” Buggy mulls, taking his book and the set of papers he was working on with him, using a detached body part as a table as he wrote on it with a floating hand. 

Mohji grumbles unintelligibly, nudging his lion awake to be a pack mule. 

 


 

Buggy notices that things are off very quickly. 

For one, the Heart Pirates are twice as notorious, when they’re supposed to have spent much of their early pirate life being frustratingly low-key. 

He would know. Last time around, Joker was quite literally hounding him every moment for any information about the Ope-ope no mi and the Surgeon of Death, and would often exchange risky deals for that information. 

Buggy remembered always being annoyed by them. Sure, he had better information over Paradise, but that didn’t mean he wanted to give any of that to the bastard. Heck, the Heart Pirates had been one of the few pirates with tons of self-preservation, after all. The submarine was genius. Buggy respected that enough to allow them to run under the water (literally and figuratively) for as long as he could.

Well, whoever the bastard was that messed with that, they better be prepared when Joker retaliates and does some shit, because Buggy isn’t going to care. 

(He will care later, because Coby came crying for help, but for no other reason, okay?)

And then there’s Nami, new daughter of Whitebeard. He already had that information filed in, but registering it again made him realize that an island previously discovered by Whitebeards (and would one day come under the care of Buggy’s Delivery Services) wasn’t established until a number of years down the line. 

(Did Nami divert their course or something? Well, she’s a navigator, so he wouldn’t put it past her…) 

For now, he only knows for sure that Nami is back-- but he’s dreading the idea that anyone else has returned. He’s a possessor of information, after all-- he knows firsthand how powerful it is as a weapon. 

He sure hopes no one else has run too many things haywire. 

For now, though, he’ll have to do some heavy censorship. If the World Government finds out how much Nami is historically affecting the world, they might take action. 

(She’ll owe him. A lot.)

 


 

Come to think of it-- that kid that took the straw hat ended up wearing the crown after all, huh. The more he thought about it, the more arbitrarily insane the Monkey D family sounded. Seriously, where do they get all this luck and insanity in their genes? 

...from the very unfortunate Trafalgar family, perhaps? 

Ugh, he’s not gonna even think about that. 

(Buggy spent most of his life hating the kid.)

(The Straw Hat, the smile, the desire, only charging forward, until he found the world in his hands. Luffy had been everything Roger was and wasn’t.)

(Buggy, all this time-- had been so very bitter, that Luffy was given the time to become everything Roger couldn’t.)

(But he supposes that he’s had enough time to get over that.)

 

Buggy spent ten years mourning, ten years trying, and ten years staggering. Now he can’t even drink himself to stupidity, because tasteless booze is… gross, probably. 

What has he been doing all these years? What has he become? 

Shanks takes the forefront, the surface world-- and Buggy takes the backwaters, the underworld. They’re notorious for two different things Roger left behind, and they’re keeping that legacy alive. 

(Legacy.)

(The next generation?)

 

Ah, Buggy realizes, he’s tired of just being Roger’s little apprentice now. 

 

Ace, Shanks, and Buggy-- if there was something they had in common, it would be the curse of Roger’s name permeating into their lives, shaping their worlds and shaping their decisions against their wills. It automatically added notoriety to their name, even when they weren’t doing anything.

(That’s why Buggy spent so long trying to be himself, trying to forget the man he once called his Captain-- and that’s why he’s still so pathetic now.) 

When, oh when, will the seas set him free from the shackles of the Roger Pirates? How will Buggy ever find his way, now that he didn’t have Roger’s shine to follow?

(They had twenty years to find their way. Twenty years to work with the things Roger gave them, and make it their own.)

Huh. 

Right. That makes sense then. 

The reason Buggy is stagnating…

“...is because everything’s not flashy enough for me to take center stage yet,” he grins. Mohji turns to him when he talks, but Buggy doesn’t take notice. 

Buggy smiles. He clears his throat. Finds his tongue. Gathers his pieces and brushes his hair out of his face. 

“Let’s go,” he says. “Mohji, to Loguetown.”

The first mate gapes. “What the-- wait! Captain Buggy?! I thought you hated the everloving shit out of that place? Are we chasing after the Burglar Cat? Is that it? Then I should--”

Buggy stops him, shaking his head. 

“Forget the Burglar Cat,” he says, “we’re going to shake up the entire world, Mohji.” 

 

He hasn’t gone all out yet. 

(He doesn’t think he’s ever gone all out before in his life. He’s never wanted to before.) 

(But he definitely loved doing it. It’s why, after Impel Down when he got involved in too much shit to hide, he went further until he went too far and crashed and burned.)

(Ah, Buggy would love to do it all again.)

(Livening up the party is the job of the clown , isn’t it? He’ll throw a wrench in the world, and bring the information lines up another notch, three times over.)

(Flashily, flashily, flashily, flashily.) 

And it’ll be the government’s fault for driving him mad in the first place. 

 


 

He finds a bird on Strawhat’s ship. It’s a vile thing-- first thing it does is straight up slice his fingers off with those murder claws of hers, the crazy jaggernaut--

“Oh do whatever you want, you dumb bird,” he grumbles, when the bird attempts to claw his eye out to no avail. “Which of the mutts picked you up? One hell of a flamboyant fucking pet they’ve got this time.”

He’s getting used to speaking like this now. He can even ramble, like the speakable drunkard front he so loved to put up when things hurt. But he has a job to do, so he’ll shove that down. 

He keeps his haki locked in. No one else is on this ship-- but he can sense the faint voice of a Klabautermann starting to learn its vision-- guess these kids will be fine after all. 

The most secure place on this ship would most definitely be with that damn bird, and he knows that because Bigstar is more possessive over Babystar than Cabaji with his tricycle. He slips it into the bird’s nest (because the bird wouldn’t let Buggy touch any of its satchels,) and leaves immediately.

He just hopes Nami knows how to fucking say thank you and recontribute. 

 


 

When he finds the Strawhat-- he knows immediately that he’s not the Strawhat of the future. 

(He doesn’t have the quiet maturity, that understanding glance-- and the smile on his face.)

This Luffy looks confused, slightly disgusted, generally unimpressed. It’s the reaction they used to have, but it’s not the same. 

But that doesn’t matter, does it really?

(In Impel Down, moments before Luffy was escorted out to meet his end-- he turned to Buggy in an opposing cell and grinned, wide and joyful.)

(Buggy still very clearly remembered the words he’d said that day.)

 

“I’m sure Captain Roger’s been excited to meet you, too,” Buggy says. Then, softer, “it’s his unfulfilled dream-- to meet you. If only you weren’t born in different generations…”

“Huh?” Luffy asks, his speech muffled when Buggy uses a hand to pull his cheek in the right direction to go.”W’oger?”

Huh. Come to think of it, Buggy didn’t stab the hat this time when they met in Orange Town. That means he still doesn’t know about Buggy’s connection to Shanks.

(Or did Luffy even care, honestly? Whatever.)

“Here’s a thing you might want to know about Shanks,” Buggy prompts, and Luffy’s face lights up in that annoying way he always did that honestly made Buggy want to give him candy and put on sunglasses, “he’s a hypocrite. Hell of one.”

“Oh, I know! I definitely do!” Luffy says, with more enthusiasm than before. Buggy lets go of his face and they walk side by side, Buggy chuckling at his energy. “He’s an asshole!”

“We’re like-minded,” Buggy snorts. “He probably told you some shit like no kids allowed or whatever, didn’t he? Because he’s a big bad pirate and children belong on land?”

(Buggy also has this goldenclad no children allowed rule on ship, but well, no one needed to know that right now.) 

“Yeah!” Luffy says, heatedly. “He said no even though I kept asking! Eventually I had to be the bigger man though, and I told him I was gonna be a pirate by myself,” he crosses his arms and claims proudly. “I don’t wanna be on his ship anyways. He’s an asshole.”

Buggy chuckles. “Whatever you say, man.”

(He’s heard this story a few thousand times over angry Den-Den explanations over a missing arm and recurring dreams of punching the living daylights out of that bastard.)

“Shanks used to be an apprentice too,” Buggy says, and the flabbergasted look he earns is so worth it, “long time ago, us two.”

Buggy reminisces, and Luffy goes through an internal turmoil as that sinks in. 

“You know Shanks?! You were on the same ship as Shanks?!” he yells, entirely blown away by this revelation. 

Buggy cringes at the volume, then points at Luffy’s hat. 

“Shanks got that from our captain,” he says. “Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.”

This is going to be a long storytime. 

(Later, when he toasts to Luffy on the execution platform, where his own captain once laughed to the world-- for a moment, Buggy sees a third cup in the air with them-- and he figures, maybe Roger is drinking to this as well.)

 


 

They find Alvida. They don’t bond over shared hatred of Strawhat Luffy, but they do in fact bond over how fucking exhausted they are of an overexcited crew that doesn’t match their energy, and they somehow become co-captains once again. 

(Just to rule over as many small territories as they can, and eventually expand, to as big of a thing in culmination.) 

 


 

“I have a tab on Shakky’s name,” Buggy mutters to the bartender, who leads him underground and finds him a ride across the seas.

Buggy goes undetected in storage holds, lurks on ships with no owners-- and after a few exchanges and a few loud whispers-- finds out where the Red Force is currently anchored. 

(It’s useful, when you’re the main name of the biggest line of information in the world.) 

He doesn’t know what the hell Shanks is doing in Paradise, but it’s convenient, because it only takes Buggy about a week to find and get to him. 

But alas, there are things that go out of his expectations as well.

 

“What are you doing here, Hawk Eyes?” 

Buggy scowls at him. Mihawk doesn’t give him much beyond a side eye as well. 

“That is my question to you.”

“No, seriously,” Buggy emphasizes, “I got here at the fastest possible damn speed. You, flashy bastard, cannot possibly have made it here at the same time as me. I calculated . It’s not physically possible .”

“I don’t recall being obliged to remain in your expectations,” came the dry response. 

Mihawk marches forward. Buggy’s very flabbergasted. “You’re going to defy logic just to sass me?” he says, incredulous. ‘You and your flashy protege fucking irritate me.”

That makes the swordsman pause. 

My protege?” he inquires. 

Buggy scoffs, lugging along the sake he’d brought. “Keep wondering, Hawk-Eyes,” he taunts, fearlessly stepping before Mihawk into the woods, where Shanks’ dominating aura of the Supreme King sent animals running from their homes. 

 

Fuck this guy, seriously. This is supposed to be Buggy’s very unnecessarily dramatic reunion scene. Why is he showing up and being a total bastard?

(Sure, you survived longer than me. I could’ve done the same, but I had to protect my men! I am obviously the more-- noble-- agh, I’m a pirate. Why does he even bother? )

 

The crew stood by, alarmed-- while Shanks entertained his guest.

Buggy hung back, just out of sight and keeping his haki locked tight and indistinct. 

Mihawk ignores the disorderly crowd, and begins his story about his encounter with a certain rubber-brained brat in the East. Luffy didn’t have a bounty yet-- but Shanks knew immediately who he was talking about. 

That Loguetown stunt did make the news, after all. 

 “It’s not like you, Shanks,” Mihawk says. “I would dismiss it as a passing whim, but is that child really worth it?”

Shanks hums. “Speaking of doing things that aren't like you,” he lounges back-- and turns, right in Buggy’s direction, “What were you doing there anyways? I almost choked to death on laughter just seeing it in the news!” 

Buggy scoffs. 

One of the many members of the Red-Hair crew, who hadn’t yet noticed Buggy, yelps when Buggy comes into view.

“Heh, enough about me,” Buggy sneers, turning to Mihawk. He tries to laugh through the obvious hoarseness in his voice, hoping no one would pay it much mind. “ Hawk-eyes here got himself a protege.”

Immediately all nearby attention is turned to him in awe. Even Benn and Yassopp were leaning over with interest, Shanks eyes were sparkling . Mihawk’s eye twitches. 

“I did not,” he says. 

Buggy clicks on a Tone Dial. 

“Surpass me, Roronoa Zoro!” 

The next Buggy blinks, the Tone Dial is vertically split in three pieces, along with his arm and half of his leg. Mihawk has Yoru in his hand, and the look of death in his eyes. 

Buggy sighs, tossing the shell aside and fusing his limbs back together.

But it was too late for poor Dracule Mihawk, because now Shanks is double the energy everyone needs, and he’s hounding Mihawk for answers. 

“You got yourself a kid you like tooooo?! I wanna hear the story!” Shanks declares, “oh hey, Buggy brought sake. Perfect-- party time, everyone! Also because Luffy made the papers, he’s a joy to the world!”

Buggy doesn’t hear Mihawk’s annoyed answer to that-- it was probably just an immediate note that he was going to leave-- but Buggy watches the redhead’s eyes as Buggy signs something by his side-- and Shanks’ gaze pauses in recognition, his smile drifting downward. 

Buggy lifts his eyes to find Mihawk noticing it too. 

 

The rest of Red-haired’s crew file away to get more booze and food for partying again-- leaving the three captains (if you counted Mihawk as a captain,) on their own.

 

Buggy finally retrieves a wanted poster-- Ace’s-- from his pocket, “for now-- yes, Mihawk, this is relevant to you too. When the fuck were you going to tell us about him?”

Mihawk raises a brow in confusion at first, but Shanks blinks. 

“Ace? Well, he’s Anchor’s big brother apparently but--”

“Not that,” Buggy groans, burying a palm into his face. 

When Mihawk continued to look confused, he started to doubt himself, turning the wanted poster back to him to get a closer look. Okay, Shanks he can forgive, because Shanks is an idiot and Ace always looked more like his mother anyways-- but Mihawk?? You literally have the best damn eyes in the goddamn world--

“Did none of you know Moulin Rouge’s real name or was that something Gaban only told me?” 

There’s a horrified pause. 

Then, “you’re not implying what I think you’re implying,” Mihawk states, fully in denial. 

“Our Captain,” Buggy mumbles, “n’ yours. Yeah I know.”

Shanks' jaw is dropped. “You mean I met the kid and I didn’t notice? Yer’ pulling my leg, Bugsy! I won’t fall for it!” he yells, completely in denial. 

Buggy just stares at him, speechless. 

Shanks explodes. “Captain scored Moulin Rouge?! No way!” 

Buggy has had enough of this. He sits down, flicks open the sake he’d brought-- and chugged , slamming it back down on the ground. 

“You’re not going to explain?” Shanks whimpers. “I’m having an internal crisis here!” 

Mihawk also sits down, taking the sake. 

He never willingly drinks sake.

“I don’t want to hear it, so this is fine,” Mihawk says. And then he throws it right back in a way unbecoming of his entire legacy as a goth king of a man, and Buggy immediately knows this party is going to be wild .

 


 

Buggy doesn’t tell anyone about the future. 

“I know he’s going to be the Pirate King,” he only says, when asked about Luffy and his Loguetown stunt once again. “You thought so too, didn’t you?”

It could be interpreted as a hope, built only on empty promise and a gamble.  But Buggy, like and very unlike Shanks, would never use the phrase ‘I know he’ll be the Pirate King’ for just anyone. He never even says that for himself, when he was truly aiming for it. 

So Shanks realized that something was wrong,

“Yeah, I did,” Shanks responds. And he says nothing else, just clinking his glass against Buggy’s and downing it. 

“Do you still remember?” Buggy asks. “The way to Raftel?” 

His question makes the man before him freeze. None of them really desire the road to the One Piece, none of them desire that prestige. And though Shanks and Buggy have always wanted to find their way there again-- they knew, they could never. 

Shanks takes a sip of his wine and admits, “no.”

Buggy does. He remembers exactly how to get there, the very waves he needs to hear, the very winds he needs to ride. He remembers the shape of the map they had drawn that day, marking out exactly how to reach it. He learned to navigate from the best-- so of course he can draw it again. 

He smiles. “Neither do I.”

 


 

Sometimes, he does a lot. There are days when Buggy sails the crew into the Grand Line, meets an old friend, and they drink, sharing nothing but what they’re doing now. 

 

(“Nothing much. But you don’t mind if I run the line of gold for chaos, right?”)

(Crocus raises a brow. “You’ve never been too enthusiastic about it before, but it's not like I have more to offer. Go ahead. Tell Shakuyaku, though.”) 

 

There are days where Buggy parties with big names until the morning, to the joy of his crew, and they leave their mark somewhere, raising their flag as a claim. 

 

(“Huh? Don’t cause too much trouble for the civilians?” Cabaji asks, “but we’re running short on money for supplies--”)

(“Just do it, geez,” Buggy groans back, “we’ll come into money some other time. No stealing from the innocent.”)

 

Days where Buggy reads and writes the information line all on his own, commands where to give and withhold information, and coordinates exactly when to send it to them. He learns of situations happening a sea away, and keeps track of them with all twenty Den Den Mushi on the ship. 

 

(“Nami’s asking for a doctor?” he asks, incredulous. She was literally prominently allied to the best damn surgeon in the world. “Is she stupid?”)

(Mohji gapes at that crude remark. “Captain. Captain Buggy, I can’t just write that. You know I can’t just write that.”)

(Buggy waves him off, “I’ll deal with it.)

 

And other times, Buggy crumbles and crashes and spends the whole day at the edge of his ship, watching the point where the sea and skies join, unable to work up an appetite for a meal that would taste like nothing on his defective tongue anyway. 

He downs his booze in silence, feeling the burn on his throat and nothing else. 

 

(“Hey, you’re not going to tell him to at least sleep?” Alvida whispers to Mohji.)

(Mohji sighs, “When he’s like that, there’s nothing I can do either. Except maybe tell Richie to go be a cuddle buddy, but Captain Buggy’s already refused so…”) 

 

They take down pirates and marines that come after them-- sometimes a sneak attack on his own, sometimes with his crew. Other times, they just run. He takes one look at the enemy ship and deems their strength with his Haki, and gauges how far they can go without biting off more than they can chew. 

He speaks less and less. Waves people off instead of explaining, and waiting for an explanation instead of asking. 

Sometimes he hums in approval, other times he speaks short lines. Usually a call to action that’s necessary to bring up the crew. 

And the crew-- they have definitely noticed as well. 

The gossip never quite dies down-- after all, the enthusiastic and charismatic Buggy the Clown that they've followed has become so much more downtrodden in such little time. But instead of questioning his psyche, they party hard and they party harder, until Buggy smiles for them once more.

Buggy will still wreak chaos and let them live. He will bring them to places where they have fun, he lets them have the freedom every vagabond of the world would die for-- and he protects them, keeping a down-low on the notoriety in search of seafaring peace. 

 

(“Why a circus?” Alvida asks one day, when she and Buggy drink to a candlelight in the captain’s quarters.)

(Buggy scoffs, shrugging in response. It was just something that had happened, from his red nose to how he’d found Mohji slaving away as a chore boy in a travelling circus troupe. It just became their thing, because there was little else they could do to get food at the start.) 

(“You can put anything in a circus,” Buggy says, simply.)

(Alvida thinks back to Cabaji, whose superhuman sense of equilibrium made an amazing party trick, and nothing much else. She thinks back to the largest man in the acrobatic fuwas, how he only had half a jaw, a forked tongue, and three missing fingers, but all he wanted to do was master the art of ballet.)

(And she thinks, “yeah,” with a smile, lifting her glass. “You really can.”)

 

The crew never falter in their loyalty. 

Buggy may be a weakling, a no-name, a tadpole in the eventual, looming ocean known as the Grand Line-- and they all knew that, very vividly so. 

But he’s still the man that gave them hope, so they will never stop following him.

 


 

They meet Portgas D. Ace. 

“I’ve been getting some weird-ass visits these few days and they keep telling me to blame you if I’m mad about it,” Ace mutters, when the party’s high. “I’m not mad, but I’m just coming here cause I’m curious.”

Buggy laughs. 

There’s nothing much Ace can do about the fact that a few pirates now know his parentage-- not the King part, but about the Queen -- and he’s honestly not too miffed about it. He was interested in his mom, after all. He’s heard nothing ever about her until people started visiting him. 

(And nobody could feasibly figure out who the hell Rouge married, and they didn’t ask for the answer, which was a plus. They were already overjoyed knowing who his mother was, who cared about the father?)

Especially since Buggy made Shanks and Mihawk swear not to reveal the Roger side of the lineage. They all could agree how much of a shitshow it would turn out to be.

 

“Do you know how damn freaky it is to have Dracule fucking Mihawk show up in the horizon just to stare at me?” Ace gesticulates, “I thought I was hallucinating! I wasn’t!” 

Buggy pours him another drink. 

“But seriously, I didn’t know my mom was a pirate,” Ace continues talking, quite impervious to the fact that Buggy wasn’t really giving him any verbal responses. 

“Wait, are you guys talking about Moulin Rouge?!” Alvida interrupts the conversation, “details! Details now!” 

Stories, wanted posters, and old newspaper clippings are dug out of the old Buggy treasure chest. The Big Top is loud today, and Buggy enjoys every moment of it. 

“They’re not a pirate crew,” Ace then says, “they got mad when I said it, actually. Said they were an alliance, not a pirate crew. I still don’t know the difference.”

“Of course there’s a difference, you uncultured swine!” Alvida snaps, at some point having revealed how much of a mega Rouge fan she was, “she is THE Moulin Rouge! She is not some lowly lady pirate! She is THE lady pirate!” 

“I don’t understand the difference?!?”

 

Buggy doesn’t tell Ace that he knows who his father is, either. And Ace doesn’t ask if he knows either. It’s not something that the world needs to know ever again. 

When Ace smashes facefirst into his food in a fit of narcolepsy, Buggy has to drag him to the doctors because no, it is no laughing matter, it is not! And he doesn’t tell everyone where he’d last seen the same narcoleptic fits before and why he knew that it meant Ace shouldn’t be travelling alone. 

(The next time he comes by, it’s after the fiasco at Alabasta and together with Thatch, the Fourth Division Commander that shouldn’t be alive.) 

(And that is when Buggy saw for himself, the ripples their efforts were making.) 

(How poetic is it, that none of them were Ds, and yet, they’re making storms?)

 


 

Buggy finds Coby in the open sea, in the rainy climate of an island neither of them know the name of. Buggy’s not sure if Coby has tracked them down to meet, or if this was just a coincidence. 

All he knows is, from the odd fluctuations of his voice-- Coby can’t quite hear himself when he speaks. And for some reason, Buggy pretty much expected that. 

Coby, the world’s greatest user of Observation Haki (by elimination, really,) had been repeatedly taken out with a simple tactic. 

Sound bombs. 

Of course, the marines created countermeasures, and Coby adapted-- but Buggy knew better than everyone how Coby always strained his ears to hear everything, just so he could cry and mourn as he was strung along and trapped between the lives he failed to save. If they decided to up and collapse on him, Buggy couldn’t blame it, really. 

He smiles, brighter and much more genuine than Buggy has ever seen him before. 

 

(It resembles the smiles of his early days, when he occasionally appeared on the papers as a young and coming marine under Garp’s tutelage, youthful and innocent.)

(Coby had lost that spark, the higher he got on the chain of command.)

(So now that it was back-- well, Buggy scoffs. Good for him, then .)

 

“Terrible weather today, eh?” Coby asks, in the farce of seeking shelter. Buggy’s crew is pointing weapons now, not having noticed him before. He doesn’t announce his presence, address the captain of the vessel, or even ask for permission to board.

“Worst example of buccaneering mannerisms I have ever fucking seen,” Buggy spits, absolutely disgusted. Who raised this child?

He catches Coby squinting through the rain, so he signs out just the codeword for Coby’s eyes to light up in recognition-- and gestures for him to follow, ejecting a hand to call someone to take him inside.

“What the-- Captain Buggy, we’re letting him on the ship?” someone asks. 

Buggy signs. “He’s a guest,” and half the crew immediately change their tune. Buggy’s guests these days have all been insane characters, and they don’t want to give them anything but the best damn hospitality in the world, so they won’t die. 

Coby is pleasantly surprised to find himself with a warm towel and hot chocolate, in the friendly presence of the Buggy Pirate crew. 

 

(He flinches at Alvida, who recognizes him for a moment and goes on some spiel about YOU! YOUUU! YOU VANISHED THAT DAY! And then the rest of the crew were worried for you. They thought you fell into the sea and drowned! They’re on this ship now, go find them and apologize, got it? And then all was fine.) 

(Coby’s very horrified ‘yes, Alvida-sama!!’ surprised everyone, though. It was like he was traumatised.) 

(Buggy has a feeling Alvida’s not supposed to be so nice to this kid, and Coby’s flabbergasted expression fortifies this belief.) 

(Coby has changed things.) 

 

When they notice he can’t hear, they naturally-- too naturally, really, slip right into sign language. Apparently more than half of them already knew, and the other half were struggling to pick it up. It helped that Coby was familiar with Eastern lingo instead of the more complicated Linian Sign Language Buggy used more often. 

Buggy and Coby would have never been friends, last time around. 

This time around, they’re not really friends either. But Coby and Buggy find a quiet moment together in the galley, and somehow, the drinks they throw back are filled with tears and apologies. 

“I’m sorry,” Coby keeps saying, as if everything he’d ever done in his past life was just one big spiral of mistakes. And it really was. It always is, when you ignore all the good you’ve ever done. 

Instead of assuring him, instead of soothing him, Buggy sighs. “I don’t have the right to forgive you,” he says. Because he has not been wronged. 

Even if he has been, it is not Coby’s apology he should be gaining, and Buggy’s forgiveness is not what Coby needs. They were just going for and against the world, they were just strung along, to the whims of the almighty one above. 

“You’re doing great, though, for now,” Buggy huffs. 

And somehow-- that makes Coby cry once more. 

(They exchange Den Den numbers and Vivre Cards before leaving. Coby gets a Buggy passport, and Buggy gets a mint blue bandanna weaved in with emblems of stars and crosses in red.) 

“Ah, help me with something,” Buggy remembers, signing out. “Hat-brats need help from Trafalgar Law. Can you locate him?” 

Coby actually looked thrilled by that. “Yes! Yes, of course!” his entire being lights up when he signs, “where, for what, when?”

 


 

He whirls through Whiskey Peak and gets smacked in the face by a baseball bat because he let his guard down. He will never live this down. Mohji and Alvida are still laughing.

His crew has to do the pacifist talking with the agitated former Baroque Works members while Buggy curses up a nonverbal storm and the doctor tries to figure out if that’s a bruised or broken nose. 

(They then realize Igaram’s missing a foot and they take a sharp detour to the closest medically-inclined island to get a prosthetic done.)

(The ship has plenty of former physical therapists and similarly ailing members, so getting the Royal Guard back to shape from there is easy.) 

“No, no, we’re very grateful, but unfortunately, we can’t join your crew,” Igaram says, bowing. “We can leave, if that’s not alright.”

“It was just an offer, stop overreacting,” Buggy signs out sharply, then, with a sigh, he says, “we’ll bring you. To Alabasta. What about you guys?”

Miss Monday and Mister Nine shared Igaram’s sentiments. 

“This is a nice ship and all, and I think I fit in well,” Mister Nine admits with a hesitant smile, “but I promised to meet Miss Wednesday there. We were partners-- I don’t really know what I’d do without her.”  

“It’s the same for me as well,” Miss Monday says, looking toward Igaram. “I don’t do well on the sea, despite everything,” she almost seemed embarrassed to admit that little fact. “I would prefer to settle down somewhere where my skills can still be utilized.” 

And that was fair, really. 

That was all the conversation they needed, and Buggy never asked them again. He simply continued on his journey, leading the crowd as usual. 

 

He never forces anyone to become his crew. Never forces anyone to stay. 

It just wasn’t his style. 

 


 

They find Mister Three, Miss Valentine, and Mister Five in Little Garden. The former two were sobbing and seemed to have been sobbing for a few days, and the latter was so on edge as the only alert one of the group that he’d set up landmines every three feet of the shore. 

Yes, Buggy stepped on one immediately after getting off the ship. It was embarrassing. 

Buggy had just laughed off his crew’s fear, waving dismissively in assurance-- and then Buggy is exploding and then he’s screaming and then he’s sent flying right into the jaws of a huge dinosaur, to the absolute horror of all his crew. 

They got him out, but the doctor was very annoyed at him. 

“We know you’re weak, Captain Buggy, we love you for that, but can you stop getting taken out in three seconds for the stupidest things?” 

Oh fucking rude.

Anyways, Mister Three and Miss Valentine were all wailing over the apparent loss of Miss Goldenweek. They were convinced the Strawhats had captured her to torture as a hostage and they were terrified for her. 

Buggy certainly had never heard of this in his previous time around, so he didn’t really have an explanation for that either. He does manage to convince them that the Strawhats weren’t child abusers and she was in safe hands. Probably.

Dorry and Brogy were more than happy to see the annoying little humans go. Buggy passed them some booze as a peace offering and they left. 

(Also, Ritchie collected an otter and vulture as emergency food supply friends, so they brought those along.)

 


 

The Little Garden group immediately began shrieking at the sight of the animals, which was not in Buggy’s expectations. 

“They’re the executioners!” Valentine shrieks, “of course we’re terrified!” 

And so began the hourly war of ‘who can secretly kill each other before the other person secretly kills us’ begins. Buggy was having a headache, the Big Top was getting damaged-- “AHHH CAPTAIN! Gem blew up the galley again!” --and yeah. 

Buggy enforced a no-using-devil-fruits-inside rule, which eventually evolved into the not-outside-too rule, and then it was just the no-powers-onboard rule. 

 

(What made them shut up was surprisingly the sight of Dracule Mihawk.) 

(Yeah. The Greatest Swordsman in the world came to the ship. Not to visit or anything, he was just there on the ship one day during a particularly heavy rainfall.)

(Buggy had been staring at him the whole morning, drinking his coffee in the galley as everyone meandered around their day, chatting it up. And Buggy spent a few minutes wondering if he was hallucinating the goth king just sitting there helping himself to pancakes with an insane amount of syrup, because no one else had noticed him despite the comically huge sword.)

(Then Mister Three walks in, shrieks, yells, scrambles-- and then people finally start noticing and mass panic evacuation occurs.)

(Buggy hums. Yeah, he figured that would happen.)

( “So what did you want?” he finally asks, signing because he can’t be bothered to actually talk it, when everyone is outside and peeking in. He’s too tired to empathize with the rest of his crew.)

(“It was raining,” Mihawk says, matter-of-factly. “I was seeking shelter, that is all.”)

(And then he said nothing else, because Dracule Mihawk is an asshole of few words.)

(Buggy thought back to Mihawk’s lack of a crew and lack of a proper damn sailing vessel, and says, “fair enough.” )

(And then they drank their coffee in silence.)

 

From that day on, the newcomers were all just a little more fearful of Buggy’s apparent line of insane connections. If Buggy could treat Mihawk like a casual friend, who knew how strong or fearsome Buggy really was?

He really wasn’t that big of a deal, but the misunderstandings were inflating and Buggy got tired just listening to it and gave up.

So they agreed to stop their war and coexist. Because if Captain’s Buggy loses his temper, who knows what the hell he might be capable of! No one knows! He’s terrifying! He’s amazing, our great Captain Buggy, ruler of the seas!

Buggy also looks at that madness brewing on his ship and just sighs, bec ause man, this is nostalgic. The Impel Down morons also did this to him too. He already knows he can’t fix the misunderstandings, so he’s just going to let it run wild.

 


 

He drops off Igaram, Monday, and Nine a few days after Bigstar tells him the war has ended. Oh well. 

The farewell is loud and tearful and-- seriously, enough already, let’s go before Hina finds us! In fact, Buggy’s more concerned with the immediate problem, that being the bucketload of requests on Luffy’s identity after his wanted poster was distributed. 

He simply groaned and let it be. 

Shanks delivers a letter, and Buggy opens it to see the words ‘MY KID WINS’ and promptly burns it. Mihawk also sends a letter with just a photograph of his middle finger. 

Buggy corresponds with the two idiots, ‘DON’T USE BIGSTAR FOR STUPID SHIT.’ 

He gets two separate letters that just say ‘NO’.  

 


 

Much later, when Mister Four (Babe) and Miss MerryChristmas (Drophy) noisily board their ship, they’re quickly initiated in the nightly talks of Buggy-sama’s terrifying endeavours, and how you should never test him, or he’ll unleash his true power and the world will end. 

Buggy listens in with a Baby Den Den Mushi, and he wonders if he can make a book out of it. It’d probably earn money with children. 

 

Miss Valentines, or Mikita, settles into the kitchen group, often having baking contests with the greatest chefs in the circus. They take out shears and knives when they reach winter islands, making the best frozen sculptures against the piling ice and earning prizes in competitions. 

(She’s always so proud to show it off, and when she makes a whole load of cakes later, Buggy can’t help but lie and tell her they’re delicious, even though he can’t taste a thing. It was full of love and passion and that was the most amazing taste in the world.)

(Huh. Has he told his crew about his lost taste yet? Maybe not. Whatever. It’s just one missing piece in the ship of people with missing pieces. It hardly matters.)

 

Mister Three, Galdino, found himself more comfortable with Mohji, contemplating the stupidity of people. Occasionally he joined in, but he was more likely than not to be in the corner wondering why he joined this dumb crew and why people were so damn stupid. Buggy would sympathize, but one time Galdino made wax boxing gloves for them and they proceeded to destroy everything including their bones just to prove the strength of wax, and Buggy realized that it was pot and kettle with these morons.

Mister Five, and he’d prefer Gem now, found himself right at home in the Superhuman Domingos, where flashy party tricks and unrelenting resilience made for the greatest fun on the planet, provided they didn’t all die out of stupidity for the same pursuit. 

(Though, when they did blow up the deck for the third time and the Big Top had to be sent for repairs, Buggy made them all kneel down and apologize to the ship. And then to the doctors, and then to the shipwrights.)

 

Miss Friday and Mister Thirteen, collectively known as the Unluckies, fit right into this insanity in like a glove that never had a better space to slot into. When they weren’t throwing knives for the acrobats or balancing on a tray of balls and beads to one-up the tightrope walkers, they run errands with Bigstar and Babystar, learning their job to one day split the workload. 

(They have started showing respect to Buggy now, strangely enough. Even though they made it clear they only followed the strong-- in this case, Ritchie-- Buggy has never tried to prove himself stronger than them. But after doing the information work for many, many weeks-- they'd cultivated for themselves a different kind of honour for their new leader. The kind that spoke to their hearts, and not to animalistic instincts of survival of the fittest.)

 

Lassoo found plenty of synergy with Ritchie as fellow dangerous animals that just wanted to sleep and eat and be furniture. There weren’t many people that could lift the cannondog, but damn did their firepower increase after he joined.

Mister Four, Babe, seemed to fit in the least at first-- he was slow and his words were a slog, and he didn’t seem to want to do much other than be told what to do. But the animals loved him and the cabin boys adored him, and once they realized just how insane his arm strength was, the Superhuman Fuwas started volunteering to be batted across the ocean for sky-high diving contests, and Buggy had to step in to tell them they were going to die one day and he was going to let them

Miss MerryChristmas (Drophy) enjoyed being treated like a princess for about a month, and then she started ordering the men around to help her with things. Her selfishness caused tons of trouble at first-- Alvida hated the hell out of her-- and everyone wanted her off the ship for disrespect. Then a Marine Ship came by, way too big to run from, and Drophy proceeded to shred the vessel to utter bits in about a minute. When she demanded tea and a massage after that, people were running to serve her. 

(They joined the latest, and they made a huge inflation to the dynamics of the crew-- but once Alvida turned around and started her angry gossip fests with Drophy, things became comfortable. Babe was put to work anywhere he wanted to, whenever he wanted to-- even if he was slow, he got it done, and the crew were more likely to ask their client to fuck off than to tell babe to hurry up. People adapted, as they always did in this crew. And once they did, they were just a bigger mess than before, with every capacity to grow into an even bigger mess, and they would just repeat the cycle.) 

 

Buggy looked at his crew, looked at what it’s become-- and he knows that this is everything he ever wanted in a crew of his own. And though he’ll never live up to the legacy of Roger and the reputation of his sworn brother Shanks-- he knows that this is the best crew in the world, and no one can ever prove him wrong. 

 


 

Someone burned down the Buggy Flag in Orange Town.

“Who?” 

“Uhm… he’s usually an underground boss, but he’s gone to the seas recently,” Mohji says, “everyone hates the everloving shit out of him, he’s called Bartolomeo.”

Buggy pauses in his drink. 

Then, “curse you, Strawhat!” he yells out loud-- probably his first word in three days, honestly-- tossing the glass over his shoulder, standing up immediately to get the communication device. 

(Seriously, Strawhats’ causing trouble even just in ripples! He remembers, very vividly, about this last time too. Seriously, that Canibal caused so much trouble with his murder maniac sprees of flashy fandomhood!)

 

Mohji watches his captain march away, and he’s absolutely baffled. 

“But I didn’t even mention Strawhat?” he talks to Richie, who seems to agree in his confusion. 

 


 

Then it escalated. 

It happened one day when Mohji stubbed his toe on the cabinet and, very reasonably, decided to shriek all the curses he knew.  “Mother--FUCKer!! Merde! Seas, fucking seas-- curse ye, Strawhat!” 

And in the middle of his spiel, a very unimpressed Galdino turns to Mikita and wonders, “why Strawhat? I mean, curse him too, but why Strawhat?”

Friday the vulture makes some screechy sort of call, but she didn’t seem to know why either. Mister Thirteen had just woken up, and looked very grumpy about everything too.

“Curse you, Strawhaaaaat!” Mohji wails, hopping one footed in absolute agony into the galley, “Curse you!” 

Mikita shrugs, “why not?’ 

“Huh,” Cabaji appears from the other storage, still staring in awe of Mohji’s lung capacity, “to be fair, Strawhat was the beginning of everything that ever went wrong in the East.” 

“Oh, I agree,” Alvida appears, nursing a glass of wine-- she had escaped the galley after Mohji started shrieking in there, “it’s all Strawhat’s fault. Everything.”

“Yeah, Curse him!” Mikita cheers, turning toward the seas, “CURSE YOU, STRAWHAT! For uh,” she turns around, “The late newspaper! I bet you did some stupid shit again and that’s why it’s been delayed!” 

She turns around and grins at Galdino. 

Galdino immediately joins in, “Curse you, Strawhat! That I have to deal with all these morons on a daily basis now!” 

“What the fuck is all this noise?!” someone else yells. 

“Blame Strawhat, apparently!” another yells.

“What? What did he do this time?!” 

“I don’t know, obviously something crazy again!” 

“Okay then. Curse you, Strawhat!” 

 

And so it began, the reign of the inside joke that drove everyone mad with utter confusion. Every dumb thing henceforth was blamed on the Strawhat, and he began the eternal symbol of the Buggy Pirates’ ire, or something. 

We’re out of booze? Curse you, Strawhat!

No islands for a month? Curse you, Strawhat!

Typhoon on the portside? Curse you, Strawhat!

 

Buggy sometimes hears a plate shatter in the galley, followed by a very indignant, “nooo! Curse you, Strawhat!” and he thinks, ah, I love my goddamn crew.

 


 

"Hey, Captain Buggy, you've got another love letter from the Burglar Cat," Mohji teases, and Babystar crawls from his shoulder to his arm, leaping right into Buggy's face with an excited chirp. 

Buggy scowls, but he takes the letter anyways. It was an exchange of information if nothing else, and he'd appreciate that if she didn't keep asking for goddamn favours. 

"What does she want this time," he grumbles to himself, reading through the lines of new information and changes quickly-- ugh, they did what to Crocodile? Thank god Buggy gave the Croc that Vivre Card in the previous package, then. But alright, Miss Goldenweek seems to be doing fine. He'll have to tell the others about that later. Bentham went to prison to meet Ivankov? What is the prison supposed to be, meet-and-greet?

What else?

He squints at the next words. 

"She wants me to look for a Devil Fruit?" 

 

("Any is fine, as long as it's a Zoan fruit! Please? I'll save the golden pillar on Skypiea for you if you do! Love you so much, you're the bestest, Captain Buggy! Love, Nami.")

 

Buggy wanted to burn the paper right now. 

"I had dibs on that golden pillar first, excuse you?!" he stomps on the paper and signs very violently toward it like it would offend the letter if he did it dramatically enough. "And what am I to you, Nami, your gopher? Stop asking me to do things for you!"

 

Mohji watches in horror as his captain has a mental breakdown and goes ballistic over a single piece of paper. 

And then, "so...?"

 

Buggy whirls around and yells, "well what are you waiting for, call our allies and let's go find a damn Devil Fruit!"

Chapter 60: through heaven's gate.

Summary:

They arrive in Skypiea.

Everyone has a lot of fun while they're there, while Gin and Chopper take turns having mental breakdowns over literally everything because Vivi isn't here to be the one that freaks out anymore.

In other news, Nami is a Burglar Cat.

Notes:

Hey ho! Thanks for reading everyone, I always love and enjoy every one of you and your reviews, they make me the happiest person in the world. Bless all ya'll.

So to clarify the things in the previous chapter:

1. Yes, Mihawk was in Rouge's crew, and so was Crocodile. (both of them were cabin boys.) The crew is called the 'Moulin Rouge alliance', because they did not start out to be a pirate crew (a coalition of bounty hunters and vagabonds aiming for Roger's head, and then they ended up getting along instead so the Marines just said okay pirate,) and are still vainly denying it to this day. The crew has split up since then, but their notoriety is still widespread.

2. Yes, the Zoan fruit is for our favourite little crewmate, and
3. S. Gaban is, in fact, Scopper Gaban with a terrible alias.

4. any other questions?

So, obligatory plug for my Tumblr where I rant about one piece, this fic, random ideas, and collect art from the sweethearts of my life. (*cough* yall of course)

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Text

Chopper sees a ship. The ship explodes. 

There is no longer a ship. 

“NAMI NAMI NAMI NAMI NAMI--” 

All men on deck whirl around in shock when the reindeer starts panicking in the loudest, most frightening way possible, pointing sharply in a vague direction. 

“Stop stop stop!” Nami hurriedly swats him in the blue nose thrice, like he was a stubborn alarm clock, “I’m here, I’m here! What’s wrong, Chopper?” 

“SHIP! There was a ship! A ship. There isn’t one anymore! There’s no ship there anymore. There’s a person! A bull! Blow up! It’s on the cloud! Running on the cloud and-- there’s a bull, it’s on a cloud and--!!”

“Calm down, we can’t understand a thing you’re saying,” Zoro grabs him and shoves the bird at him, because of course Kinoko is everyone’s comfort animal, so she can be an animals’ comfort animal as well. 

Chopper proceeds to just hug Kinoko like a lifeline, hugging it like a pillow after a nightmare as he continues to just sputter nonsense in horror. 

 

“Would you believe me if I told you a guy in a mask is running on the clouds and coming in this direction,” Nami asks, handing Zoro the binoculars. “Tribal-looking. Bull-ish.” 

Zoro didn’t need the binoculars to see the guerilla charging at them, leaping into the air with a cannon on his shoulder, flipping around on shoes of steel and cloud. 

“A person?!” 

“What the-- hey, stop! What the hell do you want?” 

“You wanna fight?!”

A steel-plated foot rams right through Sanji’s side, sending him flying unceremoniously to the side. Zoro’s swords don’t come up in time to avoid the kick to the face, and Luffy barely has time to lift his head before he’s axe-kicked into the deck. 

Gin gets up immediately, but Nami stops him. 

Her eyes meet the guerilla’s-- and a metal arm comes up to meet a bazooka’s nozzle, grabbing it right at the steaming barrel and roughly dragging it aside, bringing the gunman with the momentum. She meets his skate-type waver with her own metal foot, dragging his limbs apart and throwing him off balance. 

Just then, Usopp lifts off from his spot, hands on the deck and feet swinging upward-- kicking the mask off the guerilla’s face before landing another heel right in his jaw. 

Wyper leaps back, skidding hastily on the cloud on his skates-- cursing. 

Nami sets down the bazooka beside her. 

 

“What’s wrong with you three?” Chopper hurries up to the monster trio, “you don’t usually do that bad in battle!” 

“Ah, sorry, it’s just--” Sanji takes a slow breath, “can’t move very well up here. I’m not sure why.” 

“Same…” 

“Ugh,” Luffy groans, “ow.” 

“The oxygen’s scarce up here,” Robin says, “it’s why Mister Quartermaster is having difficulties here.” 

“I’ll be fine in a minute,” Gin mutters, “you three, get the fuck up already.”

“It’s not that easy,” Robin says. 

“Actually yeah, I’m getting used to it,” Luffy groans, pulling himself up. “It’s harder to breathe, but it’s no big deal.”

“That is not how a human body works,” Robin deadpans. 

“Don’t worry, Robin-chan, these monsters aren’t human,” Sanji swoons, getting up immediately and not noticing Robin’s absolutely bewildered look, “now…” he leans over the bow, “stop staring angrily at Nami, you masked freak!” 

“It’s okay, Robin,” Chopper says, absently holding Kinoko in his hands, “I’m not even originally a human, and I have no idea how the hell these guys are human by definition.”

 

The interaction breaks the stare-off between Nami and Wyper. 

“Hey, that guy… does he have wings?” Luffy notices. “What the-- that’s cool!” 

Zoro frowns. “Not when he just tried to smash your skull in, Luffy. Wait--” he grabs Luffy’s face, noticing the purpling mark immediately. “He bruised you. He bruised you?”

“It’s just a bruise, geez,” Sanji says, “don’t overreact, Marimo.”

“A bruise,” Gin repeats, because are you daft , “on a Rubber Human.” 

Sanji pauses. 

Then, “wait, what the shit?”

"Probably seastone, then?"

"Up here?"

 

“See that, Usopp?” Nami says, and Usopp absent-mindedly tosses the mask back toward Wyper without giving her a response. “Don’t you think it’s strange that these guys look so tribal and out of touch with modern society--” 

Her words evidently urk the Shandian, who brandishes his mask like a shield. 

“--and yet…” Nami lifts the bazooka by the straps. “...they have such advanced weapons in their arsenal?” 

Robin approaches at that, piqued by the new observation. Anne sets down her paintbrush, reaching for her bag warily. 

To the surprise of her crew and Wyper included-- Nami picks up the bazooka and tosses it back toward the Shandian. 

“We’re Blue Sea dwellers, just here to look for something,” Nami says, “if you would leave us alone?”

Wyper frowns. He lifts the weapon over his shoulder, and turns, making himself scarce. 

“My apologies,” he says, and that actually surprises Nami. “If you’re Blue Sea dwellers, then I mistook you for a bad crowd. But if you value your life, you should leave this place as soon as you can.”

He speeds right off, not waiting for an answer. 

 

Did he think they were Skypieans or Enel’s priests or something? Is that why he shot them the first time too?

Geez, does that man not know how to communicate?

 


 

“It seems I was a moment too late, but I’m glad you are alright.”

They meet the Sky Knight Gan Fall, who comes in right after Wyper leaves. The crew gathers as Gan Fall explains about the whistle and the currency-- when he expresses surprise at the fact that this crew had come up via Knock-up-Stream, Zoro looked ready to commit what-the-fuck-Nami, but Gin did it first. 

“Nami! There was ANOTHER road up here?! I knew all this rush was batshit insane!” 

Nami whines, “oh come up, where’s the fun in being normal? Right, Luffy?” 

“Yeah! Where’s the fun in going the boring way?” Luffy agrees, “it was fun! Merry flew!” 

While Gan Fall is generally baffled by the spirit of this crew, he hands them the whistle, tells them his terms for service, and wishes them well, directing them toward Heaven’s Gate. 

 

And so, the cloud journey continues. 

Gin finally recovered enough to not need the oxygen tank, and he began stretching out, trying to get his body back to shape. 

“Geez, you guys are insane. My body feels heavy,” he mutters. 

“Don’t worry, that’s normal,” Usopp says, tying the orange bandanna on Kinoko’s wing before adjusting his sunglasses, “don’t be too active and you’ll do fine.”

Anne tucks her finished painting into her sketchbook, humming happily. Chopper and Luffy pick out the paint, trying to give themselves war paint to imitate the guerilla they’d fought. Sanji chewed them out on how that wasn’t skin-safe paint, and Robin was watching them with mild concern. 

“I fear we’re not taking this seriously enough,” she admits, “but it’s strange how mundane things are so fun in this crew.” 

Zoro gives that statement a curious glance-- but he doesn’t comment on it. 

“Ooh! Look at those clouds! They’re so fluffy!” Luffy cheers, as they come toward the foam of island cloud dredges, the waterfall of the milky road in sight. 

He leaps onto it before Nami can tell him if it’s safe, and he sinks into the awesome comfort of the fluffy goodness. 

“Chopper, Usopp! Come join me!” 

“Sure, sure!” Chopper cheers, joining their captain in the bouncy land of clouds. 

Usopp, however, refuses. “Sorry, Luffy, my chronic I-can’t-step-on-unstable-things disease is acting up. Maybe some other time.”

“Awh!” Luffy whines, “then Gin and Anne!” 

“Sorry, I think Usopp infected me,” Gin says, grabbing Anne’s shoulder before she went, because hell no you are not going, “Nami, how dangerous is that thing and how quickly do we need to go and save him if he falls.”

“Well, there’s no bottom if he falls in.”

“LUFFY COME BACK RIGHT NOW!” 

“Luffy, Chopper,” Nami ignores Gin’s hysterics, “lead the way for us! There should be a trail forward, so help us maneuver through the clouds!” 

“It’s dangerous!” Gin complains, but Usopp sets his hands on his shoulders, carefully leading him away from the source of his eternal stress. 

“They’ll be fine. Come on, Anne’s making tea,” Usopp soothes.

“Is this the time for tea?!” Gin snaps. 

“Ah, thank goodness,” Robin says, sounding incredibly relieved, “I'm not the only one that thinks this situation is much too laid-back.” 

“Would you like some tea, Miss Robin?” Anne asks. 

Nami waves toward Sanji and Zoro, and they obediently go to retrieve the oars from the storage hold. While she directs the ship through the narrow course, Anne pours out some tea, handing it off to Robin, who reluctantly joins. Gin stops Usopp from pouring tea for himself, and Kinoko goes into Anne’s bag to dig out her own miniature teacup, waiting to be served. 

 


 

“Are you here to sightsee? Or to fight?” 

Amazon the gatekeeper greets them with a camera to their faces. 

Usopp raises his crossbow. “I can hear the clicking. Should I shoot it?” he asks, completely blank-faced and entirely serious. 

“What the hell Usopp, no!” Sanji snaps, grabbing the weapon from him, “where did you even get this?”

“I’ve been working on it for ages, Sanji. Did you never notice it?”

“Who cares! Don’t point it at senior citizens!” 

“Do pirates have the right to destroy cameras of hidden photographers? Do celebrities have the right to stab privacy-invading paparazzis? Let’s discuss.”

“No. Usopp, no. I mean yes, but no!”

 

Ignoring the quarrel, Luffy gapes. “It’s an angel?? She looks like an umeboshi!” 

“Umeboshi,” Anne echoes, imagining it more literally, “...oh, she does.” 

“The guerrilla guy was also an angel, wasn’t he? They’ve all got wings,” Zoro mumbles. “So are we going to heaven or something?”

“The Sky Knight didn’t have wings.” 

“Huh? Now that you mention it…” 

 

“I suppose if we cross this heaven’s gate, we might pass onto the afterlife?” Robin suggests. “I suppose this is what one might call accidentally stumbling upon hell’s gate.” 

“Ah, there was a story like that,” Gin says, “the one about the live woman who wanted to find her husband in purgatory so she rode on the flaming carriage and knocked on the doors of hell to get there, right?” 

“Yes. You’re very knowledgeable, Mister Quartermaster.”

“I know dumb rumours.” 

“Why are you guys cheerfully making this situation ten times more ominous--” Nami wails at the same time Chopper freaks out, “wait, we’re already dead?!” 

Anyways. They don’t pay the tax to get in, because seriously, what was the point? 

“You can still go through,” Amazon tells them, because she’s not going to be able to stop them if they decide to anyway, so she won’t. “Nine of you, right?” 

"Yep! Thanks, old lady!" 

 

“I know we generally don’t have enough money anyways, Nami, but… are you sure about this?” Gin says, “we’re not going to be in trouble, are we?”

Nami doesn’t answer. Her smile just grows. 

Gin’s stomach fills with insurmountable dread, but he just throws his hands into the air in utter defeat. “I’m getting the fucking alcohol, I’m going to aim for alcohol poisoning, don’t stop me.” 

Nami grins wide. “Sorry, Gin! Don’t do it pleeease,” she sings, clinging onto the man, “I promise it’ll be worth it, c’mon, don’t be mad!” 

“I am not mad,” he says, ignoring her despite the clinging, “just disappointed.”

“It’s not like Luffy’s going to stay out of trouble anyways,” Zoro says, “it’s just the usual thing, Gin, give up.”

“Yeah, Gin, let’s go have fun,” Luffy says, “adventure! Think of all the fun we’ll have!” 

“You’re not even going to try and stay out of trouble are you,” Usopp retorts, and Luffy only snickers in response. “Why did I even bother asking?”

“Well… seeing as we’ve already annoyed a native and he gave us a warning we’re ignoring,” Anne says, remembering the guerilla, “it’s… what do you call it?”

“Chekhov’s gun,” Sanji offers. 

“Yeah, that.” 

“The day I give up is the day I lose my sanity and for the sake of the ship I don’t want that to happen yet!” Gin says, entirely serious, “we don’t have enough sanity on this crew! Agh, when is the Princess coming back?! I can’t handle this on my own!” 

“He’s right, though,” Nami says, “Usopp, be the tsukkomi.”

“Eh, don’t wanna. Zoro you do it.”

“No, I’m tired.”

“Then, Chopper?”

“Huh? What exactly does the tsukkomi do?” 

Gin groans in utter defeat. “Why oh why do I live? Just to suffer?” 

 


 

“IT’S A SHRIMP! IT’S AN ACTUAL SHRIMP!” 

“I’m sorry Nami I won’t ever doubt you again! I’m sorry!” 

“AAAAAAAHHH!!”

 

The specialty of the White Sea, the Super Speedy Shrimp Express(!!) brings them up on a milky road toward the higher break of the universe, and launches them out in the White-White Sea, overlooking the pristine shores of Angel Beach. 

The stark greens against clear white clouds, Skypiea was a sight to behold. 

Anne’s eyes have not rested since she got here. She couldn’t help but see everything-- take everything in-- and breathe in the sheer beauty before her. 

She has seen amazing things before-- the larger-than-life plants in Little Garden, the sandy dunes that break way to organized hope in Alabasta-- but nothing like this before. 

 

(“Do you have a dream?” Montblanc Cricket had asked them.)

(Anne did not think she had a dream. She lived her life from one mission to another, one boss to the next-- and now… now that she lived under Luffy and together with Gin, she no longer had a dictator in her life, no longer had a mission to go, a target to kill each day.) 

(All she wanted to do now-- was paint.) 

(Not a Colours Trap-- but the world. People. The sea. Anything. Something beautiful.)

 

“It’s an island!” 

“It said Skypiea! It’s really the same island from the map!” 

 

The moment they shore-- or as much of a shore as you can get on clouds-- Luffy and Chopper, the latter of which has Kinoko on his hat, runs right head into the beach, hollering in excitement. 

Nami gets attacked by the South Bird (oh lord they forgot to let it go) and Zoro lets down the anchor, watching it clink and get stuck on something (wait, there’s a bottom here? Unlike before?) while everyone gets changed for adventuring. 

Usopp forwent his shoes, Sanji rolled up his pants, and Anne found a lighter, puffier shirt to go under her overalls. 

“Ah, Anne-tan,” Sanji catches her before she puts on his shirt as an overcoat again, “enough with that, put it in the laundry, I’ll get you a new one.”

 

Zoro watches as Usopp carefully leads himself down with the rope ladder, distracted only momentarily to hear Robin speak. 

“I didn’t know navigating and landing could be adventurous, too,” she says. 

Zoro’s eyes linger on Robin for a long moment after that. Not long enough to catch her attention-- but enough for a gear to turn in his head. 

 

Usopp, however, pauses at the end of his climb standing up in the ankle-high waters-- and stands, with his gaze set toward the further West. 

“What’s wrong, Usopp?” Zoro asks. 

He wasn’t letting go of the rope. He didn’t even unfold his walking stick to make his way forward. Nami notices him as well-- and she slides her legs over the edge as she follows his gaze to seemingly nothing beyond. 

(Enel’s haki was overwhelming, even from this distance-- Usopp can feel it crushing him, watching him from overhead. It was suffocating.) 

(It’s way beyond what Nami can ever imagine-- but by his reaction-- Usopp knew too, that he was completely outmatched here.) 

“Can’t walk on your own?” Nami asks, and Zoro wisely keeps quiet. 

Usopp shakily nods. “I thought I’d be able to make it,” he admits bitterly. “Didn’t stand a chance. Help me to the shore?”

She drops down, takes his hand, and they go together. 

 

Nami raises a finger to her lips, a cryptid message to watch his words on this island. 

 

“I guess we can relax now, since there won’t be marines around.” Gin sighs, setting aside his jacket. Anne ties a new, checkered shirt around her waist, and because she didn’t want to take off her socks, she demands Gin carry her onto shore. 

Zoro watches them as he alights from the ship with Robin. 

Nami and Chopper have found cushions near the bay made of clouds. Luffy had found some hard pumpkin nut thing and decided that throwing it at Usopp would be funny-- but Usopp dodges, and now they were in a cloud-throwing snowball fight of sorts. Sanji saunters around, fitting a bright magenta flower into the brim of Anne’s hat before dancing off to find another girl. Gin was holding Kinoko by the neck like a chicken ready for slaughter, and he doesn’t want to know what the bird did this time. 

Zoro sighs, but it’s a warm, contented sigh. 

They don’t get moments of such heartwarming reprieve very often. 

 


 

“You’re fine with the ground cloud even though snow’s no good?” Luffy asks, watching Usopp enjoy the fluff of the ground before carefully getting up and making his way around on his walking stick. 

“Hm? Well, it’s a bit bouncy, but it’s not like snow where things sink or grounds change if you step wrong,” Usopp says, “this is just a little less solid. I think I can get used to it.”

Saying so, the curved footing immediately sinks a little too far, and in an attempt to catch himself he sinks further in the wrong direction and then-- with a loud yelp he tumbles and faceplants right into the ground. 

Luffy laughs. 

Usopp groans in defeat. “On account of my can’t-step-on-unstable-ground disease, I’m going back to the Merry.”

“Awh, don’t be like that!” Luffy slings two loops of his arm around Usopp's elbow. “Let’s go look at Anne’s painting instead-- huh?” 

Usopp also takes a moment to readjust his sunglasses before looking about. 

Anne wasn't around. Her easel was set up, the painting freshly completed. 

“Wonder where she went,” Luffy says, looking around, “oh well.”

 

Zoro had found a white fox at some point, and now he, Chopper, and Kinoko were surrounding it in a triangle of doom, deciding if they should dissect it or whatever else they could think of. It’s very justifiably terrified. 

 

“What the-- when did this place turn into a sausage fest?!” Sanji yelps in the corner, a bunch of flowers in his hands. 

“Well, our crew has always been one…” 

“No! Where are my ladies?!”

Nami wasn’t around either, and neither was Robin, to be frank. Where did they go, in such a short amount of time? 

“Hey, Sanji, quiet for a bit,” Gin speaks up sternly-- but before Sanji could compose a retort-- he also stops. The noise gave way to the tunes of a harp, chiming through the beach in a slow, harmonious refrain. 

Their eyes are led to the source of the little music-- and they find an angel. 

She smiles, turning toward them. In a greeting, “heso!” 

 


 

Sanji loses it. He charges forward, dropping right into one knee with a flower in his hand and all the drama of a soap opera in every bit of his everything. 

“Oooh milady, you’re an angel! Descended from the heavens! Oh mademoiselle of the clouds, your beauty has burned my heart right through the endless ever blues of the Grand Line and--” 

Zoro stops Sanji between his third or fourth paragraph of serenading the angel, placing the Cloud Fox over his face as if that was a useful noise muffler. It worked. 

“Ah, Suu!” Conis quickly picks up her pet before cradling it in her arms. “What strange people you are. I suppose you’re from the Blue Sea?” 

“Yes,” Gin says, looking around quickly to register they were all men and gesturing for the others to stand back a little. 

Well, this crew was full of much more well-behaved men than his previous crew, but it was still better to keep their distance. Because well… if a whole group of men were crowding around a lone civilian girl, she would get incredibly uncomfortable and very wary. It made sense. Gin definitely knew what those shithead pirates did when they had free time. 

But if they were trying to be peaceful and restock without causing a scene, or even to gather information, they really needed the trust of the civilians, even for a one conversation’s worth. Gin was so damn tired of reeling in his fucking dickbag of a crew on Don Krieg’s ship, he’d even set up a one-man-to-talk-only rule onshore. 

(...on second thought, maybe it was fine, since the only man likely to cause that kind of trouble here was Sanji, and he’s more of a guy that would say, ‘how about we have a meal tonight’ and would be completely satisfied with literally having a meal, nothing else. He’d probably even walk her home.)

(Seriously, why is this raging hormonal man so unexpectedly pure?)

But anyways. 

 

Gin shoves Sanji’s face aside and tries to look at least a little friendly as he faces Conis. “If you’re local, I’d like to ask. Are there any legal procedures that visitors have to go through when we come ashore?”

“Yes, I live here. I’m Conis,” Conis smiles, her whole demeanor calm and pleasant. “If you’re referring to any taxes you would have to pay to shore upon our beach, then there are none. The entrance fee at the gate covers our hospitality and lodgings as well.”

Gin freezes right there. “The… entrance fee.”

Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette. “Chekhov’s gun,” he says, as a reminder. 

Then Gin walks up to a (palm?) tree and smashes his head into the bark, muttering vehemently  to himself, “Luffy will be mad if I try to kill Nami. Luffy will be mad if I try to--” 

“Oh my! Is something wrong?” Conis flusters, “Mister?” 

Chopper runs up to Gin, angrily yelling that “HEY! You’re not in the physical state to give yourself a concussion, can you stop?!” 

“Oh, nothing at all, nothing at all, Conis-chan! He’s just got the must-hit-head-on-tree disease, it’s common in the Blue Sea but don’t worry it’s not contagious,” Sanji quickly covers him from sight, taking Conis’ hand with a smile. “By chance, would you happen to know what happens if we don’t pay the entrance fee?” 

“That… sounds like a terrifying disease,” Conis admits. “A fine will be issued in that case. I won’t want to doubt you and ask, but…” 

“Oh, don’t worry about him!” Luffy interrupts, suddenly emerging with two armfuls of huge green pumpkin, “hey, what’s this weird nut?” 

 

Conis’ attention is immediately divided again as she helps Luffy to cut open the Konasshu. Luffy falls right in love with it, so Chopper claims the one she opens next (or he tries to, until Kinoko dives into the straw instead,) and Zoro was already elsewhere, opening one for himself in the distance. 

Usopp finds himself sitting down on the island clouds, trying to figure out where Nami had gone off to. She said she had things to do, but what could be more important than rebuilding their friendship with Conis and her father now? 

Speaking of her father. 

 

“Coooniiis-saaaan!” 

“Huh? Oh, that’s my dad. Heso!” 

“HEeeso! I will be stoppppiiing noooooow!!”

Luffy whirls back and forth in confusion. “What are you talking about, what is Heso ?!” 

Zoro turns over just in time to mentally calculate that trajectory. He does a double take when he finds Usopp right in the crash course. “Huh? Wait. Usopp get out of the way--!!” 

Usopp doesn’t notice at first. He leans down to pick up a seashell and the waver swings right overhead, the wind kicking up his hair as he watches it soar right over his head.  Luffy and Zoro, both who were in the process of getting to him-- immediately trip in exasperation. Sanji simply claps, incredibly impressed.

“What was that?” Usopp asks. 

“Nothing,” Zoro grumbles. 

“Is everyone okay?” Pagaya crawls out of the surprisingly intact crash scene, looking around. “Is anyone hurt?”

“No, seriously. Ask yourself that!” 

 


 

As for Nami and her oh-so important prior engagement...

 

“Hehh, so this is how Sky Islands do their harvest!” Nami beams, entering the only field in Skypiea, a stretch of special Cloud-mixed soil that could only be found on sky islands.

Wearing Gin's coat (because he took it off and she was too lazy to get one form the ship,) and some gloves, she hid her metal parts and caught as little attention as she could.  

Though Sky Islands were usually scarce on Vearth, there was still a form of soil that citizens used to grow their harvests. This ‘imitation soil’ was a mixture of Island Cloud, Sea Cloud, and some-- slightly varied version of Vearth-- it’s much more aerated, as plants up here didn’t get as many nutrients or water as plants on the blue sea.

“If the cloud-vearth ratio is more cloud, they grow incredibly slowly. But cloud crops don’t need long to grow anyways, so it works fine. But in contrast, if we had tonnes of vearth on just a slight amount of cloud-- they grow like crazy, which is how we get Upper Yard,” Nami writes that down. “Hmm. Usopp and Robin might be interested in this.” 

Nami wasn't a botanist, after all-- so if you asked her to explain it, she wouldn’t know where to begin. But if different countries could have different soils based on their climate, she suspected this was something of that sort as well. 

But she’d spent years on Weatheria just growing plants. She knew enough.  

 

“Ah, a visitor from the Blue Sea? Welcome,” a friendly farmer smiles at her, “would you like some freshly-harvested Muloon Juice?”

“Can I? I’d love to!” Nami beams. 

“Ah my, your skin is inked,” someone else points out, “how unusual.”

That makes Nami pause for a bit. Tattoos weren’t a thing up here in Skypiea? She had never really noticed. Then what about the Shandians?

“It’s quite common down in the Blue Sea,” she says, “we draw on our skin so people can see what we treasure. It’s an expression of freedom, beauty, and pride!” 

This seems to impress them. “That sounds wonderful! That's just like how we White-White Sea dwellers wear and decorate our wings with honour.” 

She mixes right in with the crowd, and they begin comparing the cultivating methods of the Seas, surprised to find how similar yet different they were. How their methods of cultivation differed, and how Sky Islanders had to plant under a layer of cloud so the sun’s rays didn’t burn their crops, and how rain always came too roughly to drown them.

“You mean people down on the Blue Sea wait for the weather? They don’t alter them to nurture the crops as well as they can?” 

“But that’s so unproductive !” 

“Now, now, everyone,” an elderly farmer says, “Weatheria has a monopoly on advanced weather science. They can’t possibly share their fruits of knowledge to everyone on the Blue Seas as well.”

“Yeah. Even we only have so much in stock,” another says. “They’re expensive, and since there's a strict law on sharing with other Sky Islands, it’s getting harder and harder each year when Weatheria doesn’t make their stop here on time.”

“It can’t be helped. We can only buy from the source, after all. That's honest trading among Sky Islanders!”

“Yeah, yeah!”  

Nami chuckles at that. “That’s nice! The Blue Seas have fairer weathers, so our crops tend to grow safely with little care. But of course, there are plenty of times where rains don’t come, we call it a drought, and...”

 

She manages to pose as a very aspiring little environmentalist, and as they spoke further, they led her down the farms, gave her the opportunity to help with some of the harvest-- and have some Sky Island refreshments during break times. 

 

And then, as a special treat, they showed her the entrancing process of using Weather Balls to create a controlled drizzle. 

“We have to order these specially from the bank each time, they’re that precious!” they boast, “isn’t it beautiful?”

Nami stands under the light showers of a familiar, gentle rainfall, and she smiles. “It is,” she says, smiling. 

They don’t know how to cultivate Weather Balls on their own. They have all the necessary materials-- Cloud Soil, the weather balls themselves-- but since they don’t know the process, they would never be able to mass produce it on their own. It’s a smart tactic by the Weatherians to control their monopoly of this system and ensure no one misuses it. 

(She misses Haredas a whole lot.)

(But with this… she won’t have to wait.)

“Thanks for teaching me all this, you guys,” she beams, “I’m very honoured to have learned so much! You’re so nice.”

“Awh, no need to thank us, little lady!” 

“Come back anytime! We’ll treat you to Muloons again!” 

And Nami leaves with a happy hurrah, waving gleefully to the farmers as she alights to the street again, happily finding Robin by a nearby store. 

 

(“Huh?” one of the farmers says, turning to the Wagon of Weather balls after Nami leaves. “Did the bank shortchange us, I wonder. The rain seems mistier today.”)

(“No way they did,” another chuckles. “Must be the hot weather recently. These things counteract, yanno? The bank woulda warned us about it if it was at a level that would react badly, so no need to worry.”)

(“Well, if you say so.”)

 

Nami disassembles her Clima Tact, suavely hiking her drawstring bag over her shoulder. “So did you find anything interesting?” 

“Ah… quite a bit,” Robin admits, keeping in step. “You seem to have enjoyed yourself?”

Nami grins. “A whole haul!”

 


 

They return to the beach just in time to see Luffy whirl off on the waver, lose control, and get sent flying right off at high velocity. 

“Oh! Nami, Robin, welcome back,” Usopp says, Kinoko on his head. Neither of them seemed bothered by the fact that their captain was just thrown into the White Sea. 

“Wow, he’s flying,” Zoro deadpans. “Nice flips.” 

“Think he’ll float, since this isn’t seawater?” Sanji asks. 

Chopper looked hysterical . None of them were worried?! Gin, however, was already on his way, smacking the two morons over the head with a loud yell. “Have some urgency!” he scolds, marching angrily into the water. 

Sanji takes another drag of his cigarette first, not at all at an urgency. “Oh, he sank. So any water’s their kryptonite, not just seawater.”

“There he goes,” Zoro mutters. 

“I thought we already told you before?” Usopp asks, “but yeah, as long as it sinks him up to the waist. Though Luffy’ll probably sink either way, he’s an anchor.” 

“Huh. He’s sinking faster than usual,” Zoro says, looking out, “does cloud have less resistance?” 

“Maybe,” Sanji says. 

 

A beat. 

 

Then, Nami speaks up, “you remember that there’s no bottom, right?” 

The two of them immediately bolted into the water with loud curses at their lips. 

“And Gin’s in no condition to be swimming, so I think we’ll need to go get the oxygen tank again,” Usopp says dryly. “Is anyone getting Chopper? I think he jumped in.” 

“Yes he did,” Nami says.

“He did indeed,” Robin agrees, sighing. 

“Is anyone getting him?!”

 

“Ah, right,” Nami turns pleasantly to Conis and Pagaya. “Nice to meet you! I’m Nami, and I’m a member of this crew as well. I hope my boys haven’t been too rude to you?”

“Oh! Nice to meet you, Miss Nami! No worries, they’ve been incredibly courteous!” Conis beams, coming up to take a hand, slightly surprised by the gloves but paying no real attention to it. “I’m Conis. This is Suu, and this is my father.”

“I’m Pagaya.” 

“Speaking of which, we might have a broken waver in our possession that we’ve retrieved from a shipwreck on the Blue Seas,” Nami says, “would you happen to know of anywhere we can take for a chance to restore it?”

“Oh? An old waver, you say? Is the dial still intact?”

“I believe it is, but I wouldn’t know for sure without a trained eye. Would you be so kind?”

“Ah, if I must.” 

 

Sanji and Zoro drag Luffy (who is horrified because holy shit his leg passed through the clouds, his leg went through the cloud ,) Chopper ( sky island scary sky island scary sky island scary) and Gin (fuck low oxygen levels. Fuck ,) back to shore, yelling curses and blaming each other for everything on the way. 

Kinoko had flown out as well, returning with their captain’s hat in her beak, since it didn’t sink, unlike everything else. 

“If I may ask,” Robin says, returning from her little detour to the ship to get the oxygen tank for Gin, “does that machine operate on dial technology? I’ve seen numerous of them in the town, but I can’t quite wrap my head around them.”

“Ah, there are no dials in the Blue Sea?” Conis asks. 

“There are, but not naturally,” Robin says, turning to Nami, “I believe Miss Burglar Cat has one in her staff?”

“Oh?”

“We’ve got a few, but only Usopp and I really know how to use them…”

“In that case, we can gather at my house, since there are dials I could show you,” Pagaya says, “we can all have a meal while we explain.” 

 


 

Anne folds her coat and sets it aside with her socks, shoes, and beret. She set her bag down beside it, taking only some tubes of paint and a weaponized brush. 

Briefly, she considered taking her sneakers with her. She rested a hand upon the two lines of six screw-like embedments that ran from her calf toward her heel, and looked around to make sure no one was looking.. 

She dips her foot into the watery cloud substance that made up the White-White Sea, and kicks off, diving in. 

Swiftly, she made her way through the thick waves--- there was no resistance, and she could keep going forward. She cut through the White Sea creatures that came around, and avoided larger schools she couldn’t defeat. 

Surfacing by a Cloud Island that was slightly separate from the mainland, Anne climbed ashore. She saw Upper Yard in the distance, and noticed a road of cloud from the mainland that led in through the sides. 

Loosening the straps of her overalls, she lets it fold down so she could wring her undershirt dry, she sighs. 

 

“Ahh, maybe I should’ve gone with Nami after all,” she sighs. You’d probably get to that road from the city, right? “Guess I’ll have to swim the rest of the way.”

 

But where exactly was this Shandia place Nami wanted her to find? Anne had first suspected it to be that place over there, with the large trees… but it just seemed too obvious. 

The cloud island was rather empty. 

But it wasn’t uninhabited. 

Anne notices a second too late when a hand comes through the clouds, grabs her by the ankle-- and drags her down. 

The cloud gives way to a second layer, and Anne lands harshly against the ground, taking a moment to hesitate only to raise her weapon against the man that’d dragged her down-- but his spear had a better reach, and her weapon was quickly swatted out of her hands. 

She pushes herself up-- but a blade fixes under her chin, and a hand grabs her by the nape, shoving her back down. 

“Don’t move!” the man threatens. 

“Hey, it’s just a kid, so could you chill, Wyper?” 

Anne lifts her head to find the same guerilla they’d encountered before. His mask was nowhere to be seen-- but when Anne looked around, everything around here caught her interest. 

 

While Angel Island was filled with clouds and nature and shells-- this little village hidden in the clouds was full of rustic tents, dyed with nature, and marked with totems painted by tribal significance. Their clothing was less modest and uniform than those on Angel Beach-- they didn’t even have as many colours, and even less had patterns.

But tattoos. Most of them had tattoos. 

She didn’t need too long to gather that the Shandians, despite having wings-- were not at all of the same ilk as the angels in Skypiea. 

For instance-- the incredibly advanced technology aside-- these guys were definitely not fluffy and friendly. 

Wyper stared her down, his eyes locked fiercely downward, his grip unrelenting on her nape and clutching tightly upon the bone, just two whims away from a crack-- and Anne sighed, forcing herself to ease instead of resist.

 

“Oh,” she dryly notes. “I found it.”

Chapter 61: taking without paying is stealing (but we're criminals anyway)

Summary:

Usopp and Anne talk with the Shandians.

Meanwhile, the group gets into trouble and Merry gets carried off by the Lobster Express to Heaven. This is all Nami's fault, but she's adorable, so she is forgiven.

(Gin's sanity slowly shreds away in the process, but there wasn't much left anyway.)

Notes:

oh noʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿ I just dropped so much ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿskypiean-cultural headcanon all ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿover the placeʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿ let me just ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿ pick them up ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿnevermind you'llʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿ just have to deal with itʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿ bye

I'm gonna start pacing my updates because the new semester has started (agh, uni,) but it'll probably still be rather frequent because I'm a terrible person at organizing my time. Anyways, enjoy! ❤

Chapter Text

“You’re from the ship of the Blue Sea dwellers,” Wyper acknowledges. “I told you to leave.”

The other guy-- he was tall as well, but wore a cape of some sort, made of feathers. He eased up on the spear, and stood aside as Wyper scrutinized their little intruder. 

In the distance, Anne could see more of these very evidently well-toned warriors, as well as women, all who have come out, their attention drawn to her. Anne could only spot one child in the midst, however-- and when their eyes met, the girl ducked behind the legs of a tall woman in mauve. 

Huh. No one else was willing to meet her eye. She’ll take it. 

 

“We’re pirates,” Anne said, sitting down on her knees, not at all intimidated by these two. “You don’t tell us what to do.”

Wyper’s brows furrowed. “Pirates? Does that mean something in the Blue Sea?”

 

The concept of piracy doesn’t exist up here? But if there's a tax, there should be law enforcement. And if there's law enforcement-- there should be crime. 

There’s no possibility that the law enforcement only exists to deal with outsiders, right? Surely there exists crime in a city. It’s human nature. 

(But they’re angels. They’re epitomes of sinless living.)

(...but is that really possible?)

(This guy here did say that he thought they were a ‘bad crowd’ when he fired at them. He then backed off when he learned they were from the Blue Sea. So bad people do exist in the White Sea, right?)

(But pirates aren’t black-and-white criminals.)

(They were more like…)

 

“I guess…” Anne was genuinely confused, “we’re like the Blue Sea version of… whatever you guys are?” 

 

(...outcasts?) 

 

She doesn’t notice the way they all froze at her words. She was still trying to decipher what a pirate was, in her own mind. 

“Don’t speak nonsense, child,” Wyper hisses. 

“I’m sixteen,” she says. 

“You’re nothing like u-- wait what,” Wyper does a double take, and so does Kamakiri, “are Blue Sea teenagers usually this tiny?”

“I’m a special case.”

“Right,” Wyper straightens. “Anyways. You don’t know what you’re talking about. And you need to stop snooping around where you shouldn’t go. Stay away from this cloud island-- and don’t go toward the holy land.” 

“I refuse,” Anne responds immediately. 

Hey,” Wyper immediately retorts, “we’ll kill you, kid. That’s not a joke.”

“Why would it be a joke? It’s not funny,” Anne says, “But I'm not listening to you because I’m a pirate.” 

“Oh to hell with this pirate nonsense! All you Blue Sea dwellers are the same up here!” 

“And what’s the holy land?” 

“It’s the large island to the Eas-- what the hell I’m not answering you,” Wyper stands up, grabbing her by the scruff and picking up his mask with his spear. “Enough. I’m tossing you back to the port. Kamakiri, stay on guard.” 

 

Anne sighs, knowing she wasn’t going to be able to stay here. But that was fine, she did find this place and that was all Nami wanted her to do.

 

“The port?” she asks. “There’s a port here?” 

Wyper stilts again. “You’re not telling me you swam all this way.”

Anne stares at him. “There was another way here?” 

Wyper is absolutely disgusted . With everything, seriously. Why are the Blue Sea dwellers just leaving their childre-- oh wait, she’s a teenager-- unattended? But still . Fucking hell. Even the Shandians know better than to leave their children to wander this far out in unfamiliar seas. 

“She swam all this way,” Kamakiri says, nodding solemnly. “Reminds me of another girl that just doesn’t think.”

“Excuse you?!” came an offended squeak from Aisa. 

Anne catches the eye of the little girl in the distance, and waves at her. Aisa yelps at that, hiding behind Laki’s leg again. 

“Escort her back properly, Wyper,” someone says. “She might have just been lost.”

“And don’t kill her before you get there.”

“What the-- I won’t!” Wyper snaps. 

 

Wyper lifts Anne over his back like an annoying piece of luggage, setting his spear aside in favour of the bazooka before marching away. Anne finds herself at least a feet from the ground, looking over her shoulder in confusion. 

 

“If she swam straight here, she probably got here from the Eastern shore of Angel Beach,” Wyper mutters. “Fucking hell where are my skates--” 

“Hey, are these wings real? Can you fly with them?”

Wyper turns around to suddenly notice that Anne was casually perusing his wing within her hands.

“Do not touch!” he snaps. And then when Anne reaches for the bazooka instead, “and don’t touch that either, you want to get a finger blown off?” 

 

Anne decides to just fiddle with her fingers as they go. 

Wyper’s grumbling the whole way there.

 


 

“Hey, mister,” Anne says, as they touch down on Angel Beach again. “That weapon-- it’s steel,” she points to the bazooka, then toward the skates, “and that.” Seastone, but she doesn’t say so since she isn’t sure. “So does that mean you guys interact really often with the blue sea?” 

“Don’t ask pointless questions,” Wyper retorts instead of answering.

Anne pouts at that. “Do you live on that Holy Land place?” 

“Well we fucking wish,” Wyper hisses, tossing Anne’s brush in her direction and turning back toward the clouds. “Next time I see you, I’m blowing you up. That’s my final warning.”

“Oh you don’t? But is your ammo gunpowder? But that’s a blue sea material too, right? Maybe you mined it from that huge island?” Anne wonders, “I don’t really understand the materials and such, but I’ve seen Usopp make it before.” 

“Hell if I fucking know,” Wyper sets a foot on the clouds. “Stop asking questions! I’ll drop you off at Cloud End if you don’t shut up!”

Anne stays quiet for approximately two seconds. 

Then, “why can’t we go to that huge Holy Land place?”

For a dangerous minute, Wyper wondered if ‘sheer fucking annoyance’ was a valid reason to shoot an obnoxious-- no no, it’s not, let’s not go there. 

 

“Anne?”

Wyper whirls around, reaching for the trigger-- but Anne speaks up immediately, tunging toward the new presence emerging from the corner of the palm trees. 

“Are you there, Anne?”

Usopp taps a few inches forward, his walking stick finding the edge of a tree, scoping around, his other hand on the trunk as he meanders forward. Anne’s things, including her easel and the painting she’d just finished, were strapped to his back. 

“I’m here, Usopp,” Anne makes her way forward, picking up her things, slotting her beret right over her head, “what happened?”

“That’s what I should be asking you,” Usopp says, “you went off without telling us, so Luffy was worried. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I did,” Anne says. 

 

She turns back to Wyper-- and he’s eyeing Usopp firmly, a single finger lifting up to his lips, a mild warning to be silent. 

Anne nods. 

(If she says nothing, Usopp won’t even notice the man there.)

(Maybe.) 

 

“So, I have good and bad news, which do you want to hear first?” Usopp offers, and Anne pauses, not so sure what to expect. 

She highly doubts Gin would’ve willingly left Usopp to come find her. He’s not exactly the most situationally aware of the bunch. So she carefully pulls her socks back over her legs, taking some time to be mindful of the line of screws on her calf that always get caught in the fabric-- before responding.

“Are we in trouble again?” she asks. 

Usopp barks out a laugh at that. “No,” he says, signing something out with his hand, “but I remembered something. Do you have Northern Folk Tales with you?”

Wyper didn’t recognize the signs, but Anne did. 

Immediately, she moved toward her canvas bag, “I do,” and while taking out the anthology, she retrieved her sketchbook. “What about it?”

Anne quickly scribbled down a note, and showed it to Wyper. [Listen.]

Wyper had no obligation to. 

 

But right at that moment, a young girl’s yelp was heard, and Aisa runs out from behind a cloud, wailing as Kinoko pecks at her violently, chasing her toward the crowd in a fit. 

“Ahhh! Stop chasing me! You stupid bird! Why are you so small? It makes no sense, who shrunk you? Why are you taking it out on me! Stop!” 

Wyper gapes. 

“Aisa!” he snaps, “why did you follow me?!” 

Aisa immediately halts, paling. “Eek! I’m sorry!” and then she runs, ducking behind Anne, “I wasn’t, Wyper! I’m sorry! I was just curious!” 

 

Anne smiles when the girl hides behind her. It’s not often she’s the bigger girl in the equation. Kinoko lands on Anne’s shoulder, looking behind Anne and scowling at the little girl who whimpers and shrinks under Anne’s other side. 

“Kinoko, play nice,” Usopp warns. 

Wyper grinds his teeth. “Aisa, get back here.” 

“Huh?’ Aisa turns over, looking upwards from under Usopp just to get a good look under those sunglasses. She seems to understand what that means, and backaway immediately when Wyper reaches right over to tug her back to his side. 

 

“What do you blue sea dwellers want,” Wyper grumbles, irritated. 

“Well, before I say anything…” Usopp chuckles, “...nice to meet you, mister guerilla. I’m sorry if Anne has caused you any trouble. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”

Wyper clicks his tongue at that.

Anne hurriedly begins writing something down on her sketchbook, sitting down and hiking the book up to her lap, paints beside her as Aisa watches. 

Usopp takes Northern Folk Tales and hands it to the Shandian. 

“Please, there’s a title in there you’ll find interesting,” Usopp says, “plus, with how the rest of the crew is, I’m betting they’re getting arrested and then carted right off to Upper Yard, which will put us right in your line of fire. I’d like to prevent that.”

Wyper raises a brow. 

“Just stay off the fucking land,” he says, “what the hell are you guys doing, antagonizing the White Berets?”

“Well, we’re pirates,” Usopp says. 

 

Wyper felt an unimaginable sense of rage rise in him at the use of that accursed word again. But he takes the book anyway, if only to distract himself. 

 

“You don’t want us to fight you, is that it?” he says, “tough luck. You’re going to die before we even get the chance, if you’re going through the trials.”

“Now, don’t be so hasty,” Usopp says, chuckling. “I just don’t want us to fight-- because well, we’re aiming for the same thing here.”

Wyper pauses at that.  “What do you mean?” he asks, Anne questioning it at the same time while Aisa lifts her head in utter confusion. 

Kinoko flies over to Wyper’s side, landing on his hand, right beside the book. With a flap of her beak she flips it open, right into a bookmark.

Right into the page of the story of Noland and the Land of Gold. 

 


 

Meanwhile on the other end of Angel Beach, things are taking an awful turn. 

Gin rests against the Merry while Nami takes a joyride on Pagaya’s waver. Gin looks through Nami’s bag, observing the strenge, globe-looking objects she’d found. 

“I’m not one to talk, Nami, but you did buy this, right? Not steal?” 

Nami doesn’t answer him. 

“Nami, if this gets us in international trouble I’m going to empty your fountain pens and arrange them in neat disassembled pieces so I can watch you struggle.” 

“Nooo! Anything but that!” 

“Oh so you are listening!” 

 

After learning more about Dials and cooking up a fresh meal in Pagaya’s house, the group had opted to come back to the beach for a small picnic instead, since Nami was reluctant to leave the shore and Gin wanted to watch the ship. 

Luffy whines, seeing Nami sail so perfectly on the Waver. Chopper’s mainly trying to get as much food into himself as he can before Luffy steals it all. Robin is still chatting cheerfully with Conis. 

“I find it so fascinating,” Conis says, looking toward Nami. “Her arm is made of a Blue Sea mineral, is it not? We do get some occasionally with the Knock-up Stream, but the Shandians usually seize it first.” 

“Yes, hers in particular is a special steel you can only find in the most dangerous parts of the Blue Sea,” Robin says, “I suppose they wouldn’t exist in the White Sea.” 

“Huh? Then how do Skypieans handle prosthetics?” Chopper turns around, very interested now. 

“We carve wood and stone.” 

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“But I think the Shandians are different," Conis says, "they know very well how to work with rather interesting materials, we’ve seen. We're all quite impressed, and terrified, all the same.” 

Robin hums. “The guerillas, you mean? How strange. They look primitive, but they definitely have better technology than the citizens of Angel Island.”

Skypiea had a lot of palm trees for their greenery, but none grew on earth-- only on cloud. That meant they lacked a lot of biodiversity that were taken for granted on the Blue Sea. They don't have metal tools, so did that mean they took trees down with stone as well? 

“It would seen that dials take up most of the technology up here, but what about silks and clothing and dyes?” Robin suggests, “I’m quite interested in how they’ve come to advance here.” 

“Oh, for that,” Conis beams, very happy to keep indulging in their questions, “my father has told you of how the Island Clouds are produced, yes?”

“Yes, though this ‘pyrobloin’ substance is still quite beyond me,” Robin affirms. “I suppose it has something to do with how seastone is the sea in solid form.”

“But it’s not having a lot of effect on Devil Fruit users, so…” Chopper says, “I saw people cutting it back there to make the really soft sofas.” 

“That, and there’s a factory here that processes Island Clouds into threads!” Conis says, “how do people on the Blue Sea weave thread?”

“I see… we have different sorts of fabrics…” 

 

It was a rather calming sight, to see two girls just chat wholesomely in the company of tea and food. It was the sort of peace they wouldn’t get on the blue sea, what with being fugitives and all. 

Gin opted to rest there. Sanji busied himself packing up enough food to save for the currently missing links, and Zoro kept watch around. Luffy was still fussing over Nami, because how dare she be good at the waver he’s jealous.  

Zoro blinks once. Then, he takes another count. One idiot, two idiot, three morons, four-- alright, seven. Anne is nowhere to be seen, that’s eight. Where’s nine and nine-point-five? 

“Where’d Usopp go? And his stupid bird?”

“Huh?” Luffy turns around in the middle of yelling that he hopes Nami drowns, “what the-- Usopp’s missing? Is he lost?”

“I thought Kinoko’s entire point was to prevent that? Do we need that bird, seriously?” 

“What happened to his ‘can’t-wander-anywhere-without-being-a-fucking-limpet’ disease?” Zoro asks. “Did he bring his stick?”

“It’s the can’t-walk-anywhere-without-getting-stuck-lost-and-then-crying disease,” Gin corrects him. “I thought you were keeping an eye on him? I can deal with one lost child, I can’t deal with two .”

“You’re both wrong, it’s the can’t-go-on-uncharted-lands-without-someone-else disease,” Chopper adds. “But I really do wonder where Anne went… maybe Usopp followed her?” 

“I’m quite sure it was the will-die-if-left-alone-on-a-new-island disease, as I’ve heard when we were on Han’nabal,” Robin says, sipping on her tea.

 

Conis looks between them, “uhm, is this another strange Blue-Sea condition?”

“I wonder every day,” Gin mutters back. 

 

Luffy snatches up a huge lobster on his way to look around the corner, “maybe he’s hiding somewhere… HEY USOPP! KINOSUKE! I’m gonna steal all your food!” 

“He’s not going to come if you just call for food, you know,” Sanji says, eating calmly, “he’s not you, after all.” 

“Hey, honest question,” Gin speaks up, “when did Ennosuke become Kinosuke?”

“Don’t ask.”

“Liar! No normal person is going to not come at the call for food-- what the,” Luffy backs away from the corner he’s looked into, quickly hustling over to everyone else with lobster still between his fingers. “Hey guys, there’s weird people.”

“Weird people?” Zoro lifts his head. 

“Luffy, we’re weird people,” Gin helpfully adds. 

“We’re weird people?” Chopper asks, surprised. 

“You’re the weirdest of us all,” Sanji tells him. 

In the distance-- a whole troop of white berets were crawling over, stealthily in their colourful clothes, quietly in their noisy boots, and hurrying in their glacial pace. 

At the sight, Conis and Pagaya lift their heads in slight worry, standing right up to prepare to address the White Berets. Even the Cloud Fox escapes from Robin’s lap to greet them as they arrive. 

“Should we tell them we can see them?” Luffy stage-whispers. 

“No, you’ll hurt their feelings, just keep staring,” Sanji whispers back. 

 

“Heso!”

“Heso, sir!” 

Luffy looks like he’s going to have an absolute mental breakdown over their choice of word for greetings. 

 

“I have heard that there are nine illegal trespassers!” Captain White Beret declares, then pauses-- “huh? There only seems to be six of you?”

“Ah yes, one of them is lost, the other is also lost, and the last one is… also lost,” Zoro offers, adding the last part when he notices Nami’s gone off the horizon, “hopeless, all of them.” 

Sanji and Gin are both staring very intently at the hypocrite.

“Ah, I see,” Captain White beret (“ahem, sorry sir, what’s your name? Mckinley? Okay.”) clears his throat. “I apologize for interrupting your pleasant picnic, however, this must cease so we may address the rulebreaking.”

“Rulebreaking?” Conis gasps. “Oh my, there must be a mistake! They’re such kind people!” 

“Yes, Captain McKinley, I’m so sorry,” Pagaya says, “they’ve been nothing but courteous.”

“If this is about the entrance fee, yes we didn’t pay it,” Gin groans from the ground. “Alright, everyone, time to run.”

“Again?” Luffy whines.

“Huh? But that old lady at the entrance said we could pass!” Chopper asks, very confused. “She didn’t say anything about this.”

“Unfortunately,” Captain McKinley retrieves a picture, “there is photographic evidence, so denying crime is--”

 

The conversation escalates. They don’t have the money to pay the risen entrance fee, and when attention turns to the broken waver and apparent illegal possession of Sky Island articles, Luffy begins to grow annoyed. 

“Plus, there’s been a suspected case of Weather Ball theft in the city right now,” Captain McKinley says, “it is unfortunate, but I must request to search your ship. It is a matter of national emergency.” 

“No!” Luffy says, “I don’t want any of you freaks on the Merry, Usopp would get so mad at me if you moved anything!” 

“What theft now?” Gin sits right up, “dude, none of us have been into the city, aside from dropping by these guys’ house. It can’t be us.”

 

Immediately after he said that, everyone stopped. 

Then, their jaws dropped in realization. 

“Nami, that bitch ,” Gin hisses sharply, “does she want us to be in trouble?” 

 

Zoro facepalms, and Sanji looks toward the food that’s going to go cold. Luffy is still trying to antagonize the White berets, and Pagaya and Conis are desperately trying to get him to not do that. Gin stands up, going to stop him before he makes things worse

Robin sighs, standing up and smiling at Conis. “It seems we’ve overstayed our welcome. Thanks for your hospitality. Shall we go, Mister Doctor?”

“Ah, yes, I think we should.”

“Hey, stop there! Trying to escape would be a Class 5 crime as you’re obstructing our work,” Captain McKinley warns. 

“I understand very well,” Robin says, “however, I am not the authority of the ship, and thus I have no power in this conversation. Do direct your concerns toward the Captain.” 

Gin whistles at that. That’s a good move, but it’s only pissing off the White Berets more. 

“And who is this captain?” he demands, after taking a breath to recompose himself. 

“Me!” Luffy crosses his arms. 

Captain McKinley whirls around in disbelief. 

 

His crisis doesn’t last long-- because in the next moment, the roar of a Waver bursts over the horizon, and Nami steps right on the engine, soaring through the waves with a loud sing of excitement. 

This catches the attention of the figures on the shore. Even Robin and Chopper, and Zoro, who was lifting the anchor, looked over with interest. Nami was really having a joyride over there.

“Hey, Nami!” Luffy yells, “come back, there’s some people here!” 

“Yeah, they’re the Marines of this place!” Nami hollers back, skidding over the waves, making a curve to come ashore, “don’t go against them, alright?” 

To which Luffy immediately yells back, “why?!”

“What do you mean, why? Luffy just be quiet a second,” Sanji groans, “Gin, tell him off.”

“Huh?” Gin looks up, “but Luffy’s right.”

Sanji does a very dramatic double take, because he did not expect Gin to just give in like that, "dude, we have a chance to get in this guy’s good graces right now. We’d have the opportunity to enjoy some relaxing time with Angel-chan.” 

“Sounds nice.”

“Exactly," Sanji pleads, "let me take Angel-chan on a date before we go cause trouble.”

“I disagree, since it involves the authorities that I absolutely hate,” Gin immediately says, pointing forward, “go for it, Luffy.”

Sanji makes a despaired noise.

 

And immediately, Luffy’s entire figure lights right up, brimming into an excited smile, raising a fist. The White Berets immediately realize they’re in danger and brace themselves for battle, alarmed-- 

--and then the waver swings right through the air, heel smashing right into McKinley’s face at full speed, sending him flying into the palm trees before the body of the waver crashes in after him. 

Nami rolls onto the cloud, having gotten out before it crashed. 

“Oh no!” she says, in the fakest voice ever, “I’m so sorry! I’m an amateur! So I lost control of the waver! Are you hurt? I’m so sorry.”

“What the-- that doesn’t count as attacking us, right?” a white beret asks. 

“Captain McKinley?! Are you okay?!” another yells out, awfully concerned. 

“I think we can classify that as an accident, since she looks genuinely distressed,” another mutters, “but anyways, is the captain alright?” 

 

Nami apologizes and then thanks Pagaya for lending her the waver, and then she joins Luffy in facing the White Berets, a hand on his shoulder. 

“Anyways, Luffy-- I saw an amazing place West of here,” she says, “it’s a huge landmass, full of huge trees.”

“Really?” Luffy says, “a forest?”

“That’s right!” 

“Huh-- wha, wait!” Conis interrupts them, flustered, “that land-- Upper Yard-- is somewhere visitors can’t go, no matter what. I hope you hadn’t stepped foot there?”

“I haven’t, but--” Nami smiles, pointing toward Luffy. 

Luffy eyes are twinkling, “we can’t go there, no matter what?” 

Zoro immediately looks away. “He’s definitely going to go,” he grumbles.

Chopper nods. Robin looks between them, sighing to herself that she’s picked an eccentric ship to ride. Sanji sighs. Gin shakes his head, making his way back toward the ship. He’s given up at this point, and he wanted nothing but to get back down to the Blue Sea. 

 

“Look, you seven-- and the other two, whenever they return…” Captain McKinley begins, sounding very hard like he’s holding back the urge to argue with all his might. “...there is little I can do for you if you refuse to listen. Your crimes thus far will need to be judged in court. Please allow yourselves to be arrested for further questioning.” 

At the same time, Nami, Sanji, and Luffy turn around, eyes firmly set and their voices cold. 

“We refuse.”

Zoro lifts the anchor, and Gin slowly climbs up the ship. They sigh in unison. Robin watches from the bow, and Chopper looks on in wonder. 

 

On the shore, battle erupts.  

 


 

Defeating them was easy. Luffy could handle it, all on his own. The problem was being declared Class 2 Criminals and sentenced to Upper Yard, and everything that came after that.  The Lobster Express carts the Merry right off toward the distance in a lane of skysharks, and Luffy, Sanji, and Nami are left stranded on Angel Beach and a very quiet Conis. 

“Well, they’ll be fine, Zoro’s there,” Luffy says. 

“I’m worried about Robin-chan,” Sanji adds. Then, “ah, Conis-chan,” Sanji beams, “if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could I pack the rest of our picnic to go?”

“The only one you need to worry about over there is the Merry herself,” Nami says, “geez, could those lobsters be gentler on her cracked bow?”

“Sorry to trouble you so far, Conis-chan,” Sanji swoons again, “you wouldn't happen to know a way for us to get to Upper Yard, would you?” 

“Ah… I do,” Conis says, evidently reluctant. She cradles Suu in her hands as she forces a smile. “I’ll bring you to the port on the other side.”

 

They head back to Pagaya’s house to pack up the food well in proper packages, and there, they get changed. No way was Nami going into a forest in just her bikini, and no way was Sanji going into one in his damn suit. 

“I guess I’ll have to settle for just a wind jacket,” Nami sighs, pulling the Doskoi Panda tricoloured waterproof jacket-- Gin gave her a whole lecture over not buying expensive things when he found it-- over herself. 

“I thought you had Gin’s jacket?”

“He made me give it back and brought down another.” 

“Well, I’m at least lucky I brought a shirt down,” Sanji mutters, stripping off his dress shirt for a lighter vacation shirt. “Hey Luffy, get over here and put this on.”

“Huh?” Luffy looks over from the fluffy pillow he was bullying Suu with, “whuzzat?”

“A bell,” Sanji says. 

“Why?”

“We lost two children already. I don’t care about the Mosshead, but I don’t want you to be the third.”

“So you’re putting a bell on me?”

“Don’t pout, everyone’s getting one. Nami said so.”

“What, why?”

“Because all of you keep getting lost!”

“How is that supposed to help?!”

Through complaining, Luffy pulls on the little wristlet with a bell over the other wristband he got from Usopp.

“Fine I guess, it’s kinda adventure-ish!”

“How so?”

“Just somehow!”  

And then he went to show it off.  Sanji stares, confused, and then he thinks back to all the jewellery everyone wears on this ship, and he thinks it kind of checks out. Maybe Luffy felt left out or something. 

 

And as they made their way through the city, the citizens avoided them. 

“Hey, Nami-san,” Sanji whispers to Nami, “you sure it’s all a good idea to just let things go like this?” he asks. “Nothing out of the ordinary, even with your--” 

Nami lifts a finger to shush him. 

Then, a single one-handed sign. 

“Someone’s listening.”

Luffy catches it too, and he looks back, all movement between them pausing at once. 

Sanji had been whispering-- and yet, Nami had warned against being heard. That meant any amount of sound was a no-go, in sensitive information. 

“Anne will be fine, since Usopp’s with her. Gin is still weak for now, and Chopper’s scared-- but Zoro and Robin are with them, so they’ll be fine, too,” Nami assures, before snickering, “it’s amazing! Our crew is so strong, huh?” 

(Unlike last time around, where they had to constantly divide their attention between the three weaker links every once in a while.)

“Ah, that's right-- the truth is…” Nami brightens right up and leans into a stage whisper, “you know the guerilla we met in the White Sea? I just remembered something about a primitive tribe with wings. It was written in Noland’s log book!” 

And in perfect Lord Storyteller fashion, Nami draws them into a story. 

A story about the land they were on-- and what it might have in store.

 

 

-


-

 

“We’ve been at war for four hundred years, just trying to get that land back to fulfill Calgara’s promise,” the Shandian Chieftain sighs, deep and heavy. “And for these same centuries…”

Anne works on a painting while the Shandians receive the news from Usopp. They were in the village now, gathered in a crowd. 

“Mister Cricket is still waiting,” Usopp says, “he even knows how to get up here. All we have to do is tell him that you’re up here.” 

“You say that like it’s so easy!” 

“Woah-oh, hey, Wyper, do not--!!” 

Usopp quickly lifts his walking stick in self defense, but the two little bells hanging by the straw hat jolly roger catch too much attention, and by the time he collapses it into a slingshot, Wyper has kicked it away. Luckily though, the other Shandians came up to him before he got mauled. 

 

There’s a whole array of loud yelling before there’s a panic and a “someone get the bazooka away from Wyper!” along with a lot of “no, you do it!” and “you think I wanna die? YOU do it!” and Usopp was left hiding behind the Shandian Chieftain for his life. 

 

Anne had Aisa beside him and Laki on the other side, watching her paint a portrait of Cricket while the boys behind them caused utter mayhem. Kinoko was there on Anne’s beret, watching Usopp suffer while she stares, like it doesn’t affect her. 

“But that’s so sad. They were never able to meet again,” Aisa rubs a tear away from her eyes. “Damn those Skypieans!” 

 

For four hundred years, all the Shandians ever wanted to do was to ring the bell. And yet, the predecessor of the Skypiean god only saw the generous Vearth. They didn’t even know of the existence of Shandora, and the significance it held. 

It was greed, and greed only, that possessed them. 

Now that it was too late to fulfill that promise, the Skypieans are trying to make peace? It was devastating to everything they fought for. It was appalling to think anyone could forgive them now.

“I still can’t believe that it’s up here,” Anne says. “Mister Cricket was looking under the sea for the signs. But it was in the opposite direction all along.”

She was done with the drawing, and now there were a group of people looking over it with interest. Northern Folk Tales was on Wyper’s side-- and a few were leaning over to read it better, frowning at the word choices in the Blue-to-White sea written language differences. 

Anne ties the note she was writing to Kinoko's side, ready to be delivered to the rest of the crew to report on her findings and their whereabouts. 

 

“They call Noland a Liar and put him to death, all because we couldn’t ring the bell that day,” Wyper spits out, giving up on the burn bazooka, “that fucking does it. I’m going to Upper Yard and I’m going to fucking murder Enel today.” 

“Hey hey, Wyper, no!” 

“At least think of a plan!” 

“If it was that easy, we’d have done it centuries ago!” 

 

Usopp picks up his walking stick, mindful of the jolly roger hanging by the handle. There were two bells on it jingling slightly as he moved it, and he removed one, handing it to Anne. 

 

“If the bell rang, four hundred years ago-- would Noland have found them?” Usopp says-- and attention is turned, right onto him. “That is something no one knows.” And then he grins.  “But hey, that only means you gotta do it now, more than ever!” Usopp tells them, “because now, you’ve got confirmation that Montblanc Noland’s descendant is still waiting for you guys!” 

The words struck. 

 

It really was a four-hundred-year legend, that neither of these two idiots have given up on reclaiming that bond they shared-- it’s only grown stronger in Wyper and Cricket, stronger than it has ever been in their lineage since. They were willing to die if it meant the promise was fulfilled. 

And with the statue of Calgara watching upon them, they moved. 

Wyper finally gets a hold of his bazooka. 

 

“Yeah, we gotta go,” he mutters. “But you Blue Sea morons have nothing to do with this. How about you leave?”

“No, Luffy wants the gold,” Anne immediately answers. 

At the same time, Usopp says, “they got arrested, so we kinda can’t.” 

Usopp and Wyper stared at each other-- as well as Usopp can, anyway-- and Wyper just sighed, very deeply. 

“What the fuck do you guys even want up here,” he mutters. “Other than the stuff about telling us about Noland’s descendant?”

Anne closes her sketchbook and steps over to Usopp's side. 

Usopp chuckles, “well, we came here for gold and adventure, which is what pirates do. And then we got into trouble, as pirates do.”

“I didn’t know about this story, though,” Anne says. “Even now, it’s kinda in bits and pieces. Can we start from the beginning? Like, who is Calgara? Usopp talked like we already know, and Noland's logbook didn't mention him either.”

 

“Hold up, hold up.”

Wyper held his head in the crux of a headache. 

“I’m tired of that fucking word,” Wyper says, “what, in this everloving, god-forsaken world-- is a pirate?”

Chapter 62: pirates (n.) people who defy the ruling.

Summary:

"What exactly are pirates? I guess we're like the Blue Sea version of whatever you guys are."

People thrown out by society, people who defy the tyranny, people who desire something so desperately, they take up their weapons and leap out into the world, running wild in the name of liberty.

(And in the wake of the events that have transpired, they lose themselves in their thoughts.)

Chapter Text

Conis is being crushed right now. 

It’s like a knife, right in her chest, labelled with intense guilt, and going deeper with each step she took. She cradled Suu in her arms, but that did nothing to ease the hole sinking in her gut as Luffy and Nami giggled behind her, chatting cheerfully about the city. 

Hoping for adventure, unaware that they’re going right into a death sentence.

She didn’t know them. They’ve been interacting for an hour or less. She could easily go about-- betraying-- these outlaws, because it was the right thing to do. 

She didn’t want to get smited, did she? It wasn’t worth it. She had her father, and her father had her, and they had friends, on Angel Beach. It wasn’t worth it. 

It wasn’t worth it. 

It wasn’t-- 

 

“Hey, Conis,” Luffy finally speaks, and his voice isn’t as light as it’s been for the past how many minutes she’s been dissociating, is it because he doesn’t like the Karasumaru dial boat? Maybe she could convince the shore guard to give out a bigger one, they’d do it if it makes them leave-- “are you breathing? I don’t think it’s good that your breathing sounds like that.”

 

And Conis immediately hitches a breath on something more and makes a noise, sort of like a whimper. She covers her mouth immediately, but while she looks away, only sheer dread fills her. 

(She messed up she messed up she messed up--)

 

“Oh, Conis, your hands are shaking so badly,” Nami approaches her carefully, taking Conis’ hand in both of hers. The cold metal and the warm hand are a  contrast, but both are so much kinder than her own. “Ease up, alright? We’ll be fine.” 

 

(No, no they won’t. They won’t.)

Conis interacted with these people for all of a few minutes. But while there was eccentricity and self-serving innocence between them, Gin had been courteous, speaking only politely and keeping his distance. Nami had been friendly, full of life, and full of joy. Talking to her made Conis naturally smile. And Robin-- Robin had been eager to share, eager to learn, and Conis had never heard more Blue Sea trivia than she’d learned in the past hour, she so desperately wanted to know more. 

Conis had enjoyed herself with these Blue Sea dwellers 

So why? 

Why was she now in this position, keeping her own distance, not meeting them in the eye, and being stuck-- sending them to the fires? 

(Why is Nami holding her hand, so gentle, so tender? Conis deserves none of this.)

(She’s dooming them. She’s dooming these kind, wonderful people and--)

 

“Wha-- she’s crying!” Sanji yelps, hurrying to retrieve a handkerchief, “this is all cause you were complaining, Luffy! Apologize!” 

Luffy panics , “I’M SORRY, CONIS!” 

“Oh, sweetheart,” Nami cradles Conis’ face gently, “ignore those buffoons. Now tell me what’s wrong, won’t you?”

“Are you worried about us? You’re too king, Conis-chan! But rest assured, we--” 

 

People were watching. People were noticing-- and people were realizing what exactly was going on over there. 

And they were worried

“What is she doing ?” one whispers sharply, “hey, isn’t this bad?”

“Someone stop her. Where is Pagaya?” 

Nami paid them no mind, but Luffy was certainly getting annoyed. Nami looks around, similarly confused. Usopp did not tell her about this… all she knew was that they went through a milky road and eventually fought that Dumpling-looking guy. 

And then, Conis finally broke. 

“I’m sorry,” Conis pleads, rubbing away her tears, begging, “I’m sorry. I’m the one that called the Super Express Lobster. You can’t go to Upper Yard. Please, you can’t--” 

People began scrambling. Loud yells, alarms, and doors slamming shut. 

“--people of this island can’t defy the god!” she says, “he’s always listening. We all fear him-- if we don’t send you out, he’ll shoot us right out of the sky-- but that’s where you’re going right now! I can’t-- I can’t let you guys go there to your deaths, please…” 

She can't handle lying to them-- lying to herself--

 

“Wha--” Luffy and Sanji choke up, “you idiot! Then why did you tell us?!”

Conis lifts her head, briefly confused. 

 

And then the light shines from above, and Nami realizes with hollow horror, what was going to happen. She’s seen it happen, one too many times, right in front of her eyes. 

“Usopp, you should have warned me about this…” 

Nami grabs Conis by the arms and runs . There was nothing else to do right now-- there was nothing she could do that could shield them against this-- and she knows the weight of that strike, so she also knows that Luffy wouldn’t help much when the cloud underneath gives way into vapor, shredding through White Sea. 

The large blast swallows the area, and Conis clings hard and tight against Nami’s side. The strike of lightning pierces through half of their bodies, and they both screamed moments before Gan Fall sweeps in, scooping them out of the strike zone. 

It struck most of her metal arm, and parts of the torso. It burned-- crinkled, and hurt like a series of infinite circuits, piercing him one after the other-- until it reached her skin, and boiled

Pierre falters at the weight, and Nami, realizing it, quickly leaps off, landing against the cloud in a roll, holding onto her struck side. She leaves Conis beside them, in the arms of a much stronger warrior. 

She could move, the first few moments of sheer adrenaline-- but now that she’d stopped moving, she could no longer find the strength. 

 

“Nami-san!” 

“Nami!” 

 

(I’m fine,) she couldn’t say, she could only stay painfully, painfully still-- as she breathed, slow and heavy. She might have Miss Doublefinger to thank, that she was wearing the Cold model. It didn’t absorb heat and conduct it as well as the Heat model. The jacket, too, helped insulate the damage. Singing at the ends but not ripped away. 

(The weakness of Enel’s huge shots were how spread out the strikes went-- that it blared through a huge area, but ultimately never became lethal blades unless you were in the center of it, or were exposed for a long time.)

(And they were only in the blast for a mere second, at the very edge.)

(They were lucky. Too lucky.)

She wrenches her head upward. 

“Conis!” she hisses, as Luffy comes down beside her, warily reaching for the dangerously smoking arm. 

 

“She’s safe!” Gan Fall declares, Pierre carefully hovering around them, “my apologies, young lady. I did not mean to drop you.”

Nami doesn’t correct him. Conis was by his side, holding her arm, trembling-- but she didn’t seem more injured than Nami. She was breathing-- stilted, but breathing. 

“You’re the Weird Knight!” Luffy realizes.

“Weird-- no, I’m the Sky Knight,” Gan Fall corrects, “this is a special favour at no cost of a whistle, do not worry. As for this girl, she will be safe in my care.” 

“That’s a relief… Conis-chan, are you alright?” Sanji breathes out in relief when Conis lifts her head weakly, looking incredibly pale as Gan Fall cradles her closer to Pierre’s wing, careful. 

“You’ve seen the truth of the island, and god’s power as well,” Gan Fall says, “you should do what you decide for yourselves.” 

“We don’t care what this country does,” Luffy immediately says, “but we have stuff to do on that god’s island, so we’re going.”

“I see. May luck be on your side, then.”

Gan Fall leaves quickly. The crowd chatters worriedly, but stays at a distance. 

 

Nami refuses Sanji’s hand when he offers. Instead, fearing remnants of electricity building up in her arm, she takes Luffy’s hand. Sanji, not offended at all, picks up her things as they climb onto the Karasumaru, Nami carefully stepping through the unending ache on her limbs. 

“Alright! Onward to Upper Yard!” 

Sanji gives the boat a rushed start by shoving it off the port before hopping on, and Luffy loudly declares their set off as Nami achingly steps on the pedal, her good hand on the steering.

 

“Agh, I can’t move the right side of my body,” Nami whines, resting against the driver’s seat as the two settle in on either side. “It’s all-- stiff.” 

“Would you like a massage, milady?”

“That would be nice, Sanji-kun.”

Slowly, she was regaining her movement. Seems like the strike only gave them a literal cardiovascular shock-- maybe dangerously slowed the heart rate, but she was recovering already. 

As for her arm-- the part where her shoulder connected to the port-- it was tender, raw and red, like a particularly bad day of rashes. She’ll have to find their first possible resting spot to take it apart, just to maintain it well. She doesn’t have any more spares.

“Are you alright, Nami-san? Should I take over? You don’t have to get up,” Sanji fusses.

“No, I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about Conis taking this same hit…” Nami sighs, but Sanji takes out the burn salve anyway. “This boat’s so slow.” 

“I know, right?” Luffy whines. 

 


 

Maneuvering through the traps was easy enough-- or it wasn’t at all, but they managed and Nami had thought up about a dozen different ways to kill Usopp while they were doing it. 

“Usopp. Usopp, that fucker was just pushing the strife onto me,” she hisses with realization, “he’s the worst! The absolute worst!” 

“Why’s Nami so mad at Usopp?” Luffy wonders softly behind her, and Sanji simply whispers back a warning to not get too close, she might accidentally crush his skull on pure anger alone. 

The scenery around the entrance of Upper Yard is rather tell-tale. Among the tropical environment, the clear tribal influences-- there were odd mixtures of monkhood inspirations across. 

The traps were decorated as beasts, similarly to the guerillas masks-- and now, the entrance of the trials were framed by the face of a buddha, clearly man-inspired rather than beast. It was clear what was left by the Shandorians, and what was brought in by the Sky Islanders. 

Seeing it for herself here this time-- Nami realized the signs. 

 

“I don’t know much about this place… so one of you’s gotta choose,” Nami finally says as they come to a stop at the entrance of the trials. “If you survived last time, whatever you chose can’t be that bad.” 

(Nami regretted that immediately when they immediately fell about a hundred meters and her soul escaped.)

Luffy was dying. Dying in the choke of laughter and breath and everything in between as he just bowled over and laughed

Sanji, also sputtering in the search for words and breath and trying hard to act like he’s been shaking up, grinded through a blender, went to the nether and back-- he violently stomps on the moron’s head and demanded for him to stop laughing that was not funny

As for Nami. 

“You think she’s breathing?”

“No.”

Her arms are gripping so hard on the wheel her knuckles were white, and the metal hand had crunched through the wood. Her eyes were rolled to the back of her head and she could be foaming at the mouth any second now, her entire body stiff as a frozen statue. 

Luffy gently touches her shoulder and Nami screams

Luffy screams back, and Sanji jumps , holding his heart in what felt like it could’ve been a cardiopulmonary arrest. 

“I can’t take this anymore!” Nami cries, lunging right into Luffy’s chest to sob, “sky Island’s scary! Sky Island is scary!” 

Luffy sighs, resting his hands on her shoulders in defeat. “Weren’t you the one that told Usopp not to freak out over that fall when we had the race thing?”

“I’m okay when I’m prepared for it!” 

“Yeah, I get you.”

 

Sanji takes over the driving for a bit.

It’s pretty much a straight road, so there was little to do except enjoy the view around them as they caught their breath. They took the time to actually let Nami stretch her limbs out again, properly working out the stiffs the electrocution left behind and were beginning to run out of her. It seemed her hard-cultivated vitality worked for her this time, and the most of the problem lay in her arm, where the nerves were a little stilted in reaction time. 

She breathes out slowly, a cloth over her eyes as she tries to calm down, flexing her metal fingers over and over as a rehabilitation exercise, “I’m going to kill Usopp when we find him. I’m gonna kill Usopp when I find him.”

“Man, how many times is Usopp gonna die today?” Luffy asks. 

Sanji shrugs, “but we sure fell quite a way… it’s not too high when you think of how massive the trees are, though.” 

The cliff they were on was tall-- but the trees they were now surrounded by, the leaves stood just around that tall, too. Now they were surrounded by voluminous amounts of floating island cloud balls, 

“Should I climb a tree and see where the other three roads go?” Luffy suggests. 

“What the-- did a smart idea just come out of your mouth?” 

“Hey, I’m not an idiot!” 

“Yeah… among our crew, Luffy would probably be the master of the jungle,” Nami says, and while Sanji looks on in disbelief, Luffy puffs up his chest in pride. She removes the cloth around her eyes, “listen here, Sanji, Luffy… you know those priests that Conis and the cloud-beret guy told us about?”

“No.”

“No.”

Nami stares at them in silence. 

“I’m thinking that those trials were sending us to one of them for each road we chose,” Nami continued regardless, “so it’s safe to conclude that there are four priests.” And one looming figure behind them, but he was listening, so she kept mum.

“Four, huh,” Luffy hums. 

“Us here, Zoro’s group at the Merry, then Usopp’s group, and then the guerillas… we’re probably outnumbering them for now, but...” Sanji says, and Luffy immediately whirls back to attention. “It’s not that I’ll want to doubt you, Nami-san, but can we really trust those guys? They have some of our most vulnerable right now.”

Most vulnerable, huh. Anne and Usopp certainly fit that bit better than, say, Gin.

Nami nods. “You remember what Noland wrote in the log, didn’t you? Though he was kinda vague about the Land of Gold in particular, he did mention-- the sound of a bell, and the citizens that showed him gratitude when they were given help.” 

Noland had mentioned the tribe, and gave a few names. He didn’t specifically call them Shandians, nor did he call the island Jaya, but the account of gold and the bell made it abundantly clear.

“Well, that’s the thing! If we can find some solid proof-- then you know what that means…” she lifts her fingers in a penny-pinch and her eyes lit up in beris. “We’ve just hit it super filthy rich!”  

 

-


-

 

“That skyshark took Zoro down a while ago, he’s not rising,” Gin mutters. “Is he dead?”

“Ahhh! Zoro!!” Chopper wails.

“If he was, the clouds would be turning red,” Robin says, “perhaps he was eaten whole?”

“Don’t say terrifying things!” Chopper cries, “I want Usopp to be here, he would say something nice!”

 

Anyways, Zoro punches the daylights out of the skyshark before stomping his way up the sacrificial altar-esque structure they’ve been forced on. 

“Damn,” Zoro mutters, “can’t even swim over. What a pain.”

“Couldn’t we at least drag that skyshark over? Emergency food,” Gin says, standing up and lifting the shaft toward the boy’s dorm. 

“Oh are you volunteering, cause I’m not going back in there,” Zoro mutters, irritatedly lobbing off his drenched shirt, right in time for Gin to chuck a new one in his face. "Ah, nevermind, it just got cannibalised." 

They’ve spent the last while trying to make sense of this situation, but nothing seems to make sense around here. 

“It’d have been nice to have Nami or Usopp with us, they’d know what to do,” Chopper sighs. 

“Hey, they’re Grand Line veterans, but they’re not omniscient,” Gin says, and Zoro gives him a look. “What? Did I say something weird?” 

“You and Anne don’t know yet, right,” Zoro sighs. “But whatever, it’s not going to help us now.” 

 

There was no way they could put the Merry back on land in this state, so Chopper and Gin had to try and fix it while they were there. Robin wandered the altar while Zoro looked toward the forests. 

“You’re going to survey the forest?” Gin questions. “You’re going to get lost.”

“I won’t,” Zoro groans. 

“May I accompany you, Mister Swordsman?” 

“What? Okay, as long as you don’t get in my way.”

Gin sighs heavily at that. “I’ll stay here with Chopper to watch over the ship. You guys get back here at your earliest convenience-- but take these with you, one for each of you.”

Zoro catches the object Gin tosses toward him-- and it’s a bell. 

“Why?” he asks, handing the other to Robin. 

And Robin felt similarly put off by the object. “It’s noisy, it’s going to alert the people around us of our presence.” 

“Then tie it up so it won’t make a sound, whatever,” Gin says, “just carry it with you. It’s for Usopp to know where we are.”

Robin raises a brow. “But wouldn’t it defeat the purpose, then, if I make sure its noise is dulled?” She ties a string through it, but Zoro simply strings it around Kogatana without another grumble.

“Usopp has his ways.”

“Ah… I see,” she doesn’t. 

 


 

They leave quickly, swinging on the vines with Zoro belting out a strangely perfect tarzan cry as he goes. Gin hopes he hits his head on the way back. 

“That’s nice, they’re completely fearless,” Chopper says, finding the toolbox and taking it out of the storage. “I wanna have that kinda courage one day too.”

“You’re doing fine, Chopper,” Gin tosses his jacket aside and climbs up on the bow, reaching for the torn-off wing, “come on, get bigger. We need to work.” 

“Ah hey, don’t overexert yourself, you’ll need more time to really get back in shape.”

“I know, I know. I can handle this much,” Gin yanks up a nail  with a plier, “we’re the only ones here now, so if anyone comes to attack us…” 

Chopper looks up when Gin stops talking. 

“So if anyone comes to attack us?” Chopper asks. Then, it sinks right in. 

 

Their faces fell in straight slack-jawed horror

 

Gin runs for the room, and Chopper grabs a hammer, looking around warily while inching slowly toward the whistle. 

Gin emerges with his tonfas. “It’s okay, I’m getting used to the air up here, I can fight,” he says when Chopper hangs the whistle around his own neck, “don’t blow that yet, got it?”

“Got it,” Chopper says, stiffly. 

The flapping of wings catch their attention. 

It’s a bird-keeper, riding on the back of a large, fierce vulture. The mounted warrior wields a lance, held forebodingly by his side, longer than the bird is wide. 

“Oh?” he says, “I get two sacrifices to kill. Better than nothing, I guess.”

Chopper immediately blows into the whistle, loud and hard and using up literally every inch of air in his lungs until it ends, raspy, and he tries again in sheer panic while trying to catch his breath. 

Gin whirls around, “I literally just said DON’T BLOW IT YET!” he yells. 

But Chopper isn’t listening, he’s still screeching into that whistle, running around the deck in complete panic, and Gin is left to hold up his tonfas warily. 

“Shit,” he mutters. 

 

-


-

 

“Go on, girl,” Usopp sets Kinoko aflight, giving her a little boost. “Straight to the ship, alright? No detours, no fighting other birds.”

Kinoko caws back in annoyance, pecking him once. 

Obviously she wouldn’t, every other bird up here was humongous. They’d eat Kinoko whole and barely even notice

And then she left, Usopp turning around in slight hesitation. They were slightly on the edge of Enel’s Mantra right now-- just enough for him to need to bother if he wanted to listen in on anything. He was probably preoccupied with the more interesting things happening on the island, so it should be fine, right?

 

“Hey, uh--” Usopp turns in Anne’s direction, looking down at the smaller figure beside her. “Uhm. You’re Aisa, right?”

“Ah… yes,” she stands up straighter. 

“I think you can hear better than I can,” he says, crouching down and setting aside his walking stick. He doesn’t see the way Aisa blinks in surprise at the confusing phrasing. “So can you help me confirm something?”

“Hear…” Aisa gasps softly, rushing forward, “Mister Big brother, you’ve got Mantra too?”

This catches everyone’s attention immediately. 

Usopp nods. “We call it Haki down in the Blue Sea,” he says. “Your range is quite impressive.” 

“Ehh,” Aisa inches back a little, “it’s nothing big…” 

“Hold on there,” Wyper comes right in, grabbing Aisa by the head and pulling her back three steps (she trips and falls on her bottom, immediately standing up to whine,) “you’ve got what now?”

“We’ve been trying to figure out what this weird thing is for Aisa’s whole life,” Laki says, “Enel and the priests have it, but for us Shandians, she’s a first. Is it common down in the Blue Sea?”

“So you too?” Wyper looks toward Anne, who blinks and shakes her head.

“What’s Haki again?” Anne asks. 

“Huh, we didn’t tell you?” Usopp turns to Anne, who sort of shrugs, because she only half remembers everything anyways. “Uh, it’s not uncommon, but we all train to use it in battle. People like Aisa, who are born with it, are incredibly rare.” 

 

She had the talent. 

Something Usopp would never have. 

 

“So, Upper Yard right now… do you know how many people are there?” Usopp turns attention back toward Aisa. 

Aisa reaches up to tug her headwear a little further over her ears, but she nods. Then she realizes, and she answers verbally. “Yeah,” she jumps when Wyper turns very stern attention on her. “The priests! The four priests!” she yelps defensively, “I always hear them there, so I know there are a lot of other voices too-- can you not glare at me?” 

“This is my normal face, Aisa,” Wyper grunts, but he sits down, and somehow, all of them are in a sort of circle and Anne was brewing tea like a picnic. Wyper picks up a senbei and inspects it. 

“And the rest of my crew?” Usopp says. 

Aisa nods again-- and then makes a flustered noise when she remembers again , answering quickly, “ah, yes! There’s…” she looks aside for a moment, mentally tallying up the numbers, “a lot of them. four... and three... Huh? They’re kinda noisy, with the bells and everything.” 

Anne turns her attention to the bell Usopp gave her, that she’d attached to her pendant. So there was a purpose for it.

Usopp nods, taking out the map of Skypiea and laying it down before them. “So, do you know generally where they are right now?” 

“Usopp, the map’s the wrong way up.” 

Wyper and Laki lean over to see the map, flipping it over as Usopp looked mildly offended by the action. 

“Hmm, I can’t really tell that much,” Aisa crouches down. It was a really old map, but she finds the sacrificial altar on it and places a hand over it. “Some spots are just a bit noisier than most…”

Usopp sits down, getting comfortable.  

 

(Usopp wasn’t nearly as strong as Enel. Not even as much as Aisa, since her range was much further.)

(So he evened the playing field with bells. Now, Usopp will always know where his nakama are, even when the voices meld together to confuse him.)

(Right now though, Usopp’s haki can’t reach far enough to cover enough ground and find his crewmates on that island. So he’ll ask for help.) 

 

“That’s amazing enough,” Usopp says. “Close your eyes, and try to visualise the place you’re listening into.” 

Aisa closes her eyes. 

“Imagine you’re a bird, or a little animal, running across Upper Yard,” Usopp says. And Aisa swallows nervously, breathing out to ease herself. “Go as far as you can, find a place with a lot of noise. And then-- try and see what’s happening.”

Wyper looks between them, scrutinizing skeptically. Anne, meanwhile, sets up her tea set and begins brewing tea, taking out everything including the tea ceremony tools and begins working. She catches the attention of a couple Shandians, who gathered around at a reasonable distance just to stare. 

Aisa nods, but she’s too focused to remember that Usopp can’t see it. “I think. I think these are the guys in the sacrificial altar,” she says. “This is so weird. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I know one of them is scared about something.”

Usopp holds his breath. 

(Emotions.)

(Aisa’s Haki goes emotionally relevant, hearing everything to the highest points of empathy. (Just like Coby, Just like Coby.) And it only needed just a bit of focus to get that far, though unpolished.)

“I think the other two are calm… one is… I don’t really know,” Aisa strains, and gives up. “Huh? Why are they leaving--” her eyes pop right open and she panics , “did they just leave the sacrificial altar?! Why?!”

Usopp doesn’t react to that at first, but Wyper chokes on the tea he’s drinking and continues choking for a long time, because damn is this tea thick and damn does it hurt to choke on it.  Then, “--what are you doing!? If you leave the altar, the priests will attack the sacrifices!” Wyper hisses, and Usopp pales

Anne, meanwhile, calmly hands Wyper a tissue before continuing the ceremony like nothing had happened. 

Usopp tries his hardest to think back. “They will ?” 

 

Nami didn’t tell him about this. Or maybe she did, he forgot. But she isn’t with the altar group, she said she wasn’t going with them this time… then why are they separated? Did this happen last time?

Now he remembers. “Oh crap! The Merry’s in danger!” he gasps, “this is terrible!” 

Anne sips on her tea. “...you know, you could at least pretend to be worried about the others.”

Usopp sputters, “I am worried about them, but you know-- agh, sorry,” he sighs, “let’s just--” 

 

He stops short. 

 

“Did you hear that?” 

Everyone looks confusedly at him. Wyper picks up a senbei. “Hear what?”

Could no one else hear it?

Usopp strains his ears-- “it sounded… like a whistle?”

Then he realized. 

“The Sky Knight!” he says, at the same time Anne speaks up the same realisation, though in a less enthused tone. “They are being attacked, then.”

 

That meant the conflict on the island was truly beginning now. 

Wyper stands up. “Alright, enough fooling around,” he says, as though he didn’t still have a damn senbei in his hand. “No better time to fight than now. Everyone, get ready.”

And they scatter, really quickly. 

 

Aisa scoots closer to Usopp as the warriors leave. 

“Hey, Mister Big Brother,” she catches his attention, a hand hesitantly tugging on his arm, “you know about Mantra, right? What exactly is it? Why do I have it?”

Usopp’s face lights right up. Everyone would be fine for now, and Usopp didn’t think he and Anne would be able to make it to Upper Yard without help from the Shandians, so they were stuck waiting-- so what better to do now? 

“You wanna learn more? Well, let me tell you a story, then.”

“A story?” Aisa asks, leaning into Usopp’s knee as Usopp feels around for the map on the ground, and Anne inches forward with her tea set. 

“Yes. It’s about a really, really cowardly little warrior... “

 


 

The Shandians are preparing for war now, mobilising as quickly as they can. 

Anne and Usopp stumble upon a line of warriors, and find themselves by Wyper’s tent as the man disassembles a bazooka. He’s smoking something that doesn’t smell like anything Sanji takes, and he notices them immediately. 

“What do you want?”

Anne’s holding Usopp’s hand, leading him around. “There was a guy with a steel prosthetic outside,” she said, for both Usopp and Wyper to hear. “Is that like Nami’s?”

 

Sky Island shouldn’t have any of the necessary technology, science, and materials. And yet, they created such incredible weapons.

There weren’t a lot of them-- in fact, there were probably only a handful of the huge bazookas Wyper held. Most others had pistols and rifles, small artillery, while others used spears and bows, tipped with steel.

Which made sense. They spent all they had on a few powerhouses, using the rest to reinforce the other weapons with the little steel they retrieve from Knock-up Streams.

 

“Huh? They do? That’s strange,” Usopp says, “how do you maintain them up here?” 

Wyper affixes a different nozzle onto the barrel of the bazooka, taking a brief moment to remove his cigarette before breathing out a smoky sigh. 

“Like normal prosthetics, how the fuck else,” he grumbles. “I don’t know how that lady on your ship does it,” he says. He’d only seen Nami’s metal arm for an instant. “She can move every finger individually, and it even supports her body weight for maneuverability,” he mutters. “Blue Sea technology?”

With the scarce resources of the White-White Sea, they don’t have the liberty of experimentation and risky projects to advance their own science. 

The Shandians mostly used steel as armor and reinforcements. They made up for firepower in dials. So they don’t have the knowledge of the advanced prosthetics that Nami wears.  In fact, the man with the steel prosthetic here-- it was affixed with a Dials and used as a weapon more so than an arm’s replacement. 

“How do the Shandians create their weapons, then?” he questions-- because these bazookas-- and one guy had a gun, too. These were rather classic designs for a nation that presumably had never owned such resources before. 

“Books, inscriptions, stories,” Wyper says. 

(That’s fucking insane.)

“Who made the bazookas that all of you are currently using, then?” Usopp steps further forward, and Anne stares at him for a confused moment. 

(If they can learn so much from just books and drawings-- how much can they learn from an example?)

(Usopp might just find one here.)

(A technician for Nami.)

“Who made it, you ask,” Wyper mutters, “our predecessors, of course. It’s passed down around here like everything else we have in our lineage.”

 

The way to build them, the way to maintain them, the way to reinforce and improve them. 

Wyper picks up the bazooka he was working on and stands up, handing it to the Shandian outside, who thanks him before leaving. The next one hands him their skates, and Wyper simply inspects it, getting to work again, taking it apart to find a loose piece. 

“You’re fucking lucky you didn’t use this. I’d love to see you fucking trip and sink into the White Sea like a moron.” 

“I’m sorry, I swear I take care of it, alright?” 

 

Usopp doesn’t see it. Doesn’t see the way Wyper works, he doesn’t even see the line of people outside, waiting for him to see their weapons before they go off on their most important battle. 

But he hears it, every turn of the gears, every clink of the components, every grind of gears and mechanisms. He loves that noise-- it’s the noise of Franky, working on something insane. It’s the noise of himself, when he was confident enough to turn gears with his own hands, bringing his wacky designs to life. 

It was the sound of a builder and his workshop.  

 

Anne sees it all, and she watches, with mild, quiet fascination. 

(Wyper just said that it was a skill passed down among their whole tribe. And yet, so many turned to Wyper for advice anyways.)

“Hey, Wyper,” Usopp finally says, when Wyper kicks the guy out with his skates. 

“What?” he grumbles. 

Usopp fumbles around his bag. He had the blueprints somewhere, he knows it. Nami (in a moment of forgetfulness) gave it to him as they disassembled her arm so she could describe to him all the pieces in it, and Usopp had kept it as a joke. 

“So do you, uh, accept commissions?” 

 

-


-

 

“I’m alright,” Conis says, as her father wraps the bandages over her left arm and she tries not to look at the burn that ran through her forearm. It seared through her shoulder, burning the corner of the sleeve slightly-- but she could move the fingers, and though her skin looked strange she was fine. 

As fine as complete seclusion and ostracisation can be, at least. 

They won’t be able to go back to Angel Island anymore, as long as Enel still rules. And somehow… she wasn’t sad.  She was probably fine, living down here, in this lovely pumpkin patch, never to be disturbed by the looming heavens above her again. 

Suu loved the place, too, chasing butterflies around the pumpkins, using them as stepping stones, and colliding into the loose tools in the corner, before hiding from responsibility as Gan Fall came around to clean it up. 

(It wasn’t that Conis hated the aspect of a figure above her head, the figure to rule them, to guide them-- it was just that Enel was tyrannous. Days were great when Gan Fall was the god of Skypiea. As great as the silently steaming tensions between them and the Shandians could be, at least.)

 

“There are people in the Blue Sea called ‘pirates’,” Gan Fall says. “Do you know of them?”

Conis shakes her head, so Gan Fall explains. 

Piracy. Criminals on the Blue Sea, who fly a black flag of a skull and crossbones upon their mast. But were they bad people? Villains? No, not really. 

“They’re more like ‘people who defy the ruling’, not that it sounds much better phrased this way,” he chortles, watering his pumpkins. “But between the two of you and all of them… what exactly is the difference?”

Confidence.

Freedom.

(Maybe.)

“Skypiea has always been a land of unrest,” Gan Fall says. “I really hoped to achieve peace with the Shandians one day… I have let everyone down with my fall. I apologize.”

“No, no,” Pagaya assures him, “you have nothing to apologize for.”

 

The story of Enel, who came here after destroying his own island. The story of Upper Yard, and the song it apparently sang the day it came. 

Conis listens, and she cradles her harp between her hands-- and she wonders. The song of the island… How does it sound? Can she recreate it, with her harp, with her hands? Will these fingers be able to achieve that magic? 

(Does an effort of defiance, from one insignificant little angel-- do much to defy the long age of tyranny they’ve spent in fear of Enel?)

 

Pierre shrieks, hopping right up in alarm. Gan Fall reacts immediately, retrieving his armor and his weapons before leaving, in a hurry. 

“Duty calls, I must hurry!” he says, “please watch my home!” 

In his urgency, he was definitely going to Upper Yard. to the pirates-- to the battle that was inevitably about to erupt from there. 

Conis picks up the cup of pumpkin juice her father handed her-- and takes a hearty sip. 

It was delicious. Things taste different when they were nurtured in Vearth-- richer, full of nutrition, and deeper. It tastes better than anything Sky Island crops could ever create from its own soils. 

 

(Why is Conis stuck here, watching Gan Fall’s home, away from the danger that she put those people in?)

(Why is Conis stuck here, outside the perimeters of Enel’s boundary, fearing to step back in and face the god she defied? She’s such a coward.)

 

“The Vearth is such a wonderful thing, father,” she says. 

And Pagaya nods, working on the Waver that Nami had left him. 

“Can I go see it too?” she wonders, chuckling slightly, and her father misses when he reaches to grab a tool and yelps, nearly tripping. “Oh! Are you alright, dad?”

“Ah, yes, yes, I’m sorry,” Pagaya says, picking up his hammer with a smile. “How unusual! I didn’t think you’d be the one to suggest it first.” 

Conis blinks at that. 

Then she beams, understanding what he meant. 

“Can I do anything to help?”

Chapter 63: when camping, we gotta have a campfire.

Summary:

Gin and Chopper face down Shura until Gan Fall makes it. The thin air gives them trouble, and it's not any easier when the opponent has aerial advantage.

Nami's limbs give her trouble. She's a burden in the current situation-- but there was nothing wrong with that, because she had her crewmates around her to pick up the slack.

And then, when they live to see the night, they party.

Chapter Text

Gin struggles. Very much. 

His shoulder was bleeding, but the intense heat from the lance had already staunched the wound, and now bleeding was the least of his problems. One of his tonfas was shot off and probably at the pit of the clouds right now-- and he crumbles, because the weight was working against him now. 

Priest Shura, or so he introduced himself as, rode on his vulture, and Gin couldn’t keep up. He leaps off and strikes down, and Gin has to brace both hands against it, feeling the burn spread through his weapon and begin to steam at his hands-- but he can’t let go. He can only bite his lip and swear and hope his knees don’t give in. 

“Guard Point!” 

Chopper yells, inflates-- but it does nothing when the vulture dives, sharp claws and piercing teeth shredding right through his defenses, scarring through the Merry on its way back up. 

Gin breathes in and roars, managing to throw the lance off him for a brief moment. He immediately lunges forward to throw a punch right in Shura's face, the force throwing the man right off the ship and the altar. 

His vulture, Fuza, immediately swoops in to pick him up, and regains his distance. 

Gin breathes in, breathes out-- tries again, and chokes, but he can’t falter. He's getting lightheaded but he has to bear it. 

“Fuck, it’s so hard to fight up here,” he hisses, “Chopper, you alright?”

Chopper nods, getting up quickly in his Heavy Point. “But Merry!” he wails, inspecting the damage, “this isn’t just his talons, that bird’s got something on him!” 

Shura groans, recovering quickly from his bruised nose, removing his goggles from where Gin had shattered the glass, “Axe Dials aren’t exactly uncommon knowledge, but I suppose Blue Sea dwellers wouldn’t know about it.” 

Dials. 

Oh, they knew that word alright. 

 

Shura’s next dive drives his lance right into the Merry’s mast, piercing through the thick wood for a horrified moment-- and then Gin realizes his mistake in dodging, the moment the mast bursts right into flames. 

“Shit. SHIT,” Gin grabs something, anything-- his jacket, his hands, “put out the fire! Chopper, we need--” 

No, they don’t have the time. The fire was too big. They don’t have a fire extinguisher. They don’t have enough water in the barrels. No, no, they can do this. They have empty barrels. But the distance. The time. 

(Ah, Nami, why aren’t you here?)

The fire was spreading by the seconds. Running right up the mast, toward the ropes, toward the sails-- no, no, they can’t let it touch the sails-- but it’s already there!

Damn it, he won’t get anywhere being indecisive.

(Nami-- that’s right, Nami left something on the ship.)

(She stole something from the island.) 

“--sorry,” he whispers to nothing, before turning to Chopper, who was still frantically trying to pat it down, “Chopper, buy me some time!” 

“Huh?!”

 

He curses when he hears Chopper start begging the man to stop setting the ship on fire, but Gin doesn’t let it distract him. He runs up the steps and toward the aft. Chopper frantically pats down the bow, unable to look toward the mast, but hurriedly pouring water over in an attempt to douse it, but it’s not enough. 

Shura sighs, standing by the ledge with a sigh. 

“You know, if you would just stay still, it’d all be over quickly,” Shura bargains, keeping an eye on where Gin went, but not chasing. “Same to those two that escaped this area.”

He stabs Chopper in the shoulder. Burns a hole in the deck, sears through the wood-- 

--and then Gin finally emerges from where he’d run to the back, and shatters something against the flaming mast. 

Shura whirls around in alarm-- and sees clouds, gray clouds, bubbling to life around the burning wood, and rain begins to fall around the main deck. 

 

Gin’s breathing heavily, one more weather ball in his hand. 

 

“First time I’m fucking grateful that Nami’s a thief,” he mutters. Then, in full sanity denial, “why did she leave instructions on using them? Why the fuck?”

“Those are--” Shura’s eyes widen, “weather balls! How could you guys have any?!” 

Chopper doesn’t take the moment to breathe out a sigh of relief. Instead, he shifts right into Horn Point-- and scoops up Shura from the back, knocking him high into the sky with a loud, victorious roar. 

Before the bird could react, Gin threw his tonfa, sending it spiralling across the sky and braining it right in the skull with the ball edge, earning a resounding crack. 

Chopper shrinks right back, his Rumble Ball running out of time-- and Gin sighs, falling to his knees. 

Then, they stand up again in a panic. “Wait, the fire’s not out yet! The fire!” 

“Sea Cloud! Sea Cloud, I need to go get some water!” 

 

Chopper scrambles down the steps-- but not before Shura regains consciousness mid fall-- and even without his bird he spins, grabbing onto something in the air, spinning upright and regaining his balance. 

Gin catches sight of him as Shura stands in the air, and leaps forward once more, lance thrust forward right toward the doctor-- Gin lunges over the bow, but he’s too far away-- “CHOPPER!” 

The lance is deflected by another, and the sharp clang of Iron Cloud and Steel weaponry pierces the air. Gin nearly trips down the steps, but he looks up to find the Sky Knight and Pierre, poised for battle. 

Shura is thrown back, and lands harshly in the water. 

Gan Fall turns back toward them. “My apologies for being late. Are you alright?” 

Gin sighs in sheer relief. 

Chopper sobs, “HE’S HEEEEREEE!!! SKY KNIIIIIGHT!!” 

 

The danger isn’t over yet. Shura emerges from the water, riding on his vulture-- and Gan Fall whirls around, taking to the skies as well. 

“I’ve had enough with you punks,” Shura grumbles, soaring forward. “The Trial of Strings is in session! Survival rate is 3%, do your fucking best, Gan Fall.” 

“The tri-- trial?!” Chopper repeats. 

“Three percent’s a stark number,” Gin mutters. “And the trial of strings… I see!” He recalls that moment, where Shura had stood in midair. Nami had shown them how she did something similar in Alabasta. “Hey, Sky Knight! There are probably wires all around the place, watch out for them!”

Shura curses. 

“Is that so…” Gan Fall squint. “I appreciate the warning. Leave this to me!” 

 

“Alright, then!” Gin hurries to grab Chopper out of the way. “Focus, reindeer, we need to put out the damn flames!” 

“Ah right!” 

A barrel interrupts Gin’s way up the steps, and he catches it with a foot, confused. Why would this be falling down now? But that didn’t matter. The rain clouds were staunching the fire somewhat, but it was only temporary, since the fire still spread.

“I’ll get the water! Chopper, grab fire blankets from the storage!” 

Merry first.

 

-


-

 

“Hoh! Ho hoh~ Heso!” Satori beams, “welcome, welcome, to the Trial of Balls, where survival is ten per-cent-o!”

The white ball explodes in Nami’s face, and she coughs, dusting away some of the smoke and trying in vain to rub the soot out of her face. 

Before they even get the opportunity to complain about that, Luffy is blown out by the force of an Impact Dial, and Sanji is thrown off in much the same way. 

Satori heads for Nami next, but she dodges the first hit. Nami’s attempt at launching a kick is parried by that very Impact Dial-- and in her surprise at actually being deflected, she forgets to dodge the next Impact that blows her right off the boat, careening into the ground in a painful groan. 

“Fuck,” she says. 

“Fuck indeed,” Sanji echoes beside her, hand outstretched to gracefully help her up. “What’s with that dango bastard?” 

“You remember that shell thing that Usopp has?” Nami kicks off her shoes, grabbing her bent metal foot and twisting it the right way around. “So remind me, have we hit you with it before?”

Sanji thinks for a moment. “I don’t think so.”

Luffy gets up with a huff, “hey, you guys alright?” he spits out a wad of blood, but recovers quickly. 

“Deals damage from inside the body,” Nami quickly says, getting up, “don’t get hit anywhere vital, I’d say, but everywhere’s vital, so.”

“Don’t get hit?” Sanji gathers. 

“That’s impossible, so just don’t ruin your organs,” Nami says. “And avoid concussions.”

“A little too late for that now--” 

“Ho-hoh! Don’t know what you guys are whispering about, but I think you should stay focused!” Satori sings, and he lands, impossibly gently on the Karasumaru, kicking the engine on and sending it down the Milky Road once more. 

Oh, so that’s why all the Milky Roads here were trailed like a long-winded maze. It was to throw them off on where the exit could be on that one-way Milky Road. 

 

Nami curses. 

 

“I’m going to kill Usopp,” she says. It’s a mantra at this point. 

Ah, Mantra, right.

“We need to get the ship, or we’ll get lost,” Nami says. She wants to stay here and fight, since she’s the only one that knows Haki, but…

Luffy huffs, looking up at Satori. “Go stop the boat!” he grins, “I’ll take the Daruma!” 

Then that’s that. 

Nami runs, making her way through the forest. Sanji follows just a moment later, and Luffy swings a punch at Satori, who immediately dodges and uses the momentum to whirl Luffy right into a tree. 

“Shit, he is predicting our moves,” Sanji mutters, “isn’t it the same thing you do, Nami-san?”

Nami scales the tree with a vine, giving a noncommittal noise of affirment toward Sanji. “It’s the same thing I usually do,” she says, then, “so you guys know exactly how to beat it, right? You’ve fought Usopp a couple times.”

Sanji pauses. 

Then he turns back. “Team up and bully the shit out of him, yes. Luffy, you hear us?”

“Yeah!”

Nami doesn’t have any of the upgrades Usopp gave her-- those were in the broken Heat model-- so she’ll have to strongarm through this right now. 

“Damn this, Usopp’s got better sense of landscaping than I do,” that’s ironic, but it’s because Usopp’s the sniper, “so why do I have to--” she leaps forward and barely reaches the branch, before redetermining the location the boat and trying to figure out her next step to get closer, “I’m so going to kill him when I find him!” 

 

“Gomu Gomu no-- Gatling!” 

“What the-- LUFFY, don’t hit those--!!” 

Nami is horrifically interrupted by a mega pinball chaos of white balls bumping against each other, ricocheting off everything, and activating at every other odd moment. It was impossible to visually tell where they’d come from next, and Nami yelps when one explodes on the tree beside her. 

Luffy gets set on fire, gets his butt bitten by a huge skyshark, and then falls through the Milky Way. Then he grabs a vine and starts Tarzanning. 

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE LUFFY!” Sanji yells.

“Ah, there’s the boat!” Nami finds a straight path to the ship. Great, now Luffy can just grab it from here-- “Luffy, do you see it?!” 

“Oh, okay!” Luffy cheerfully jumps onto another vine to reach a branch, then he loops an arm around Nami-- and they swing. “Let’s goooo! AAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAAAA~!!”

“Huh wait Luffy this isn’t what I meant-- AAAAAAAAAAAHH NOOO!” 

“You’re doing it wrong, Nami, it goes like AAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA~~!! Oh wait I missed the boat oops, let’s go back.”

“UUSSSOPPP I WILL KILL YOUUUUUU WHEN I FIND YOU AGAAAAIIINN!!!” 

"AAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA~~!!"

Sanji sits by the branch, taking a very full-lunged breath of his damn cigarette, before sighing and extinguishing at the trunk. His blood vessels were strained and stressed and exploded at this point, way past his quota of frustrating bullshit he can take in one day.

“Do I have to do everything around here?” 

 


 

“Why did you only beat me up?” Luffy asks, weakly. 

“Don’t ask the obvious.”

His face was covered in huge bumps and bruises and his lips were swollen somehow, a trail of blood trickling down his head. 

Nami side-eyes him in mild horror, still on her knees, and she has never been more grateful for the fact that she was a woman. 

(Also, that wasn’t Armament Haki, so how the hell…?)

“Alright,” Sanji ignores the question, ignoring the way Nami jumps at the sudden address, “I’ll forget what happened, provided you both straighten your shit and I take charge.”

They both nodded. 

Okay, so Sanji isn’t beyond lecturing a girl. 

 

“First, we’ll forget the boat,” Sanji says, “Luffy’s the only one that can reach it anyways. We have to deal with the fucking Dango first. Nami-san, may I ask?”

Nami blinks. “Yes?”

“Usually you’d hit the enemy first,” Sanji says, “so you’re not doing that right now, and I’m a little curious…” He’s interrupted by a series of balls that deflect off each other, sending a collective five coming from all directions. 

They scattered immediately

Nami leaps toward a tree, tripping over a root as her metal ankle twists, and she curses, when a ball comes right at her. It explodes, and she lifts her metal arm up in an instinctive form of defense.

Luffy jumps up, but is immediately knocked right down by a shot of Impact. 

Sanji curses, but when he regains his balance among the roots, Satori emerges beside him-- and an Impact bursts right through his chest, sending him flying right back into a tree. 

“SANJI!” 

“Hohoh, hoh!” Satori laughs. “I’m not a fan of how you’re ignoring me to have your strategy discussions,” he chuckles, bouncing in his somehow dance, “this is a trial, you know? Well, the end is near anyways.” 

Nami grunts, gathering herself, noting her arm and the edges, curving from the heat. 

Satori draws up a chain of explosive and blade Balls, stringing them up to form a dragon, and sics it on Luffy. 

 

Nami quietly stands up while Satori’s preoccupied. 

“Sanji-kun, can you hear me?” she asks, but she doesn’t wait for an answer. Sanji’s probably unconscious, or damn near that point. “I haven’t been able to move my right hand well for a while now.”

She rolls back around and slots her feet back on properly, finally noticing a bent screw which was the reason for this indignant display of footing. The Impact Dial to its mechanisms must have knocked it right off. 

“So if possible, I don’t want to strain it further until we find the ship.”

(I don’t want to risk breaking any more of my limbs.)

And that was fine. She doesn’t need to fight what she can’t, but she has to do what everyone else is too busy to do as well. 

“So protect me, please?” 

(This was something that just went without saying the last time around. Even Luffy had the general instinct to ‘protect’ when it comes to Nami, Usopp, and Chopper-- and he had the opposite instinct with Zoro, Sanji, and Robin.) 

(Now, though… they hesitated, when it came to protection. Nami didn’t need it.)

Sanji lifts his head weakly. 

“A-” he chokes his first word, rolling over to catch his breath, coughing up a lung full of blood, unsure where that Impact Dial hit but definitely still feeling the aftershocks just ruining his internal functions. “Absolutely, Nami-swan. Anything for you.”

Nami chuckles. 

“You look like you’re the one in need of protection!” she teases. But she stands right up and starts running again. “Alright, my prince!” 

 


 

Nami trips when her leg gives in again, but she bounces on her other feet, trying to fit it back on before grabbing a vine and quickly climbing up the tree with it. She makes it up to a branch, hops over to the next, and finally finds Karasumaru in the distance. 

“It’s going left now,” she mutters, “damn this maze. If only we could find our way back up-- wait, up?”

She looks upward, and leaps toward a higher branch. The rest of the way up is slightly clumsy, and there’s one mega explosion behind her that she tries really hard to ignore, but she keeps climbing anyway, finally coming up beyond the treeline, coming into view of a chasm and a singular Milky Road leading further up a cliff. 

“That… should be the exit, right?” she mutters, “it’s really high, just like where we’d fallen in from. Is that how it works?”

Yeah, probably. 

 

 “I’m gonna kill Usopp once we get out,” she says, “seriously, I’m covered in fucking soot and my hair is ruined and my arm’s got heat damage and-- OUCH!” 

Her foot gives way again and this time, she doesn’t grab the vine in time, so she goes falling right down, screaming as she spins in the air at increasing velocity--

“Balloon!” 

--and smashes right into Luffy’s inflated belly. 

She bounces right off and Luffy laughs. “What are you doing, Nami?”

“Sky Island scary, Sky Island scary, Sky Island scary,” Nami mutters incoherently into the soil, “Usopp is dead when I find him.”

“Yeah, let’s go find Usopp, I’ll boil water and you can help me throw him in.” Sanji says, coming up behind them, lighting a cigarette as if he isn’t covered in blood.

“We’re going to eat Usopp?” Luffy asks. He doesn’t receive an answer. "Eh, Ace always told me human meat would taste like alligator, but he never let me try."

Sanji stares at him for a very baffled moment. "I... I don't even know where to begin retorting to that." 

 

Nami turns around to look. 

“What happened to the priest?” she wonders. Are they already done? Did the explosion take him out? They’re already done? So apparently Nami has been underestimating their strength this whole time and she has no idea how to think about it.

“I concasser’ed him,” Sanji says, unhelpfully. 

“It was the Trial of Love!” Luffy adds, equally unhelpfully.

Nami slots her foot back in. “Okay,” she’s not going to ask. “I found the ship, but someone give me a piggyback ride.”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Sanji says, and Nami contemplates the morality of asking a mortally wounded man to carry her on his back. 

“Ah, and Luffy, could you go grab that priest guy’s glove? We could use the Impact Dial,” Nami turns to Luffy, once she’s safely settled on Sanji's back. 

Luffy grimaces , “ehhh?”

“Just go do it,” Sanji sneers at him. “It’s an order from our princess.”

“I thought Vivi was the princess,” Luffy grumbles, but he marches away regardless, going toward the Darume, “geez, I hate that Daruma guy. Even his hat is a terrible hat. ”

Nami smiles at that.

 

-


-

 

Zoro watches from the side as Robin inspects the overgrown well. He’s not too sure what’s so interesting about that, but he does wonder why there wasn’t a lot of wildlife around. 

It was a jungle, after all. Surely, there were beasts. Or at the very least, bugs. 

“Are you done?” Zoro asks. 

Robin doesn’t look up from the well. “Just another moment.” 

Zoro sighs. At least he now knows that there is something that can get that girl so absorbed she loses track of everything else. They’ve been here at least two whole minutes. 

 

Zoro lifts his head when a familiar bell-and-trinket tinted flap of wings approach, and he tosses his bag aside to grab a vine, hurriedly making his way up a tree. 

“Is something the matter?” Robin questions. 

“Just a second,” Zoro says, scrambling high enough to heft himself up a branch, before dashing right across the length to leap-- and throw himself off the edge to catch a falling bird. 

His landing is cushioned by arms weaving under him, stretching out from various tree trunks to intersect a web that slowly eases his falls, slowing his fall until he was high enough to safely land on his own. 

“Huh,” Zoro says, readjusting his hold on Kinoko, admiring the hands, “convenient.”

Robin smiles, raising both her hands, “you’re very welcome.”

 

Then they inspect Kinoko, who doesn’t look injured-- just exhausted. Perhaps the low air pressure has affected her as well, or she’d rushed so much over that she’d overexerted herself. 

There’s a roll of paper around her neck, and Robin retrieves it to find it’s a note.

“It’s Mister Sniper and Miss Anne informing us that they’ve made contact with the Shandians,” she says, handing the note to Zoro, “it appears there is something they want to confirm on the Far North of the island.”

“Far North?” Zoro says, skimming through the note-- how the hell did Robin read it so quickly? There was a lot of information there, including sketches of the guerilla they’d met and emblems of their little village that Anne had discovered. 

Robin was holding one small sketch-- a picture of the statues and totems of the island, that Anne included because ‘Usopp said you might find these interesting’. 

And Robin certainly did. 

“These remind me of the South Birds,” she says. “But why would their likeness be memorialised so high in the sky?”

Kinoko wakes up from her second of unconsciousness, jerking awake loudly before realizing it was just Zoro and slumping right down in relief. 

“You’re so noisy, what’s wrong with you,” Zoro mutters. 

Kinoko immediately launches into a whole tirade of apparent trauma she’d gone through on the way, tearful and frantic, gesticulating wildly with her wings-- but Zoro understood exactly none of it, so he just stared blankly. 

 

(In truth, Kinoko had just gone through a whole lot of terrified escaping, because every inch of airspace in this area was claimed by one gigantic bird or creature that did not like the sight of much-too-tiny birds.)

(Also, some of the larger beasts do find her an interesting meal choice. She’s bite-sized, after all. So for Kinoko, Upper Yard was nothing short of sheer hell. She didn’t even make it to the sacrificial altar.) 

 

So anyways, Zoro was ignoring her in favour of the note. 

“Vearth?” Zoro reads out the strange word. “Is that what they’re calling the soil?” 

And that’s when Robin realizes as well. “That’s right… this island is made entirely of earth, even though we’re in the sky.” 

The gears quickly, quickly turned in her head. 

She frowns at the trees, taking in a suddenly very clear understanding about the greenery around the area. 

(These aren’t new, undiscovered treelife… these were common trees, in fact they were trees she had seen on the Blue Sea just less than a day ago. These up here were just a hundred times bigger, mossier, and more overgrown.) 

“Mister Swordsman, may we meet them there?” Robin says, hurriedly tucking her things back into her note and readjusting her cowboy hat so she could look up, toward the canopy. 

Zoro gives her a strange look, “you don’t have to ask permission, you know,” and then gestures for her to lead the way.

Robin nods. 

 

-


-

 

“For fuck’s sake I am not a damn courier why the fuck do I have to do this--” 

“Wyper, Wyper, please,” Kamakiri says, “I hate this as much as you, but if I have to hear you curse the whole way there, I might drive myself off Cloud End instead. Alright?”

Wyper immediately keeps quiet. 

They’re holding onto either ends of a rope, attached to a sled where Usopp was seated, legs propped on either side of the sled to stabilise the weight. Anne is seated opposite of him to counter the weight and prevent capsizing, with Aisa on her lap. 

The main force of the Shandians were setting out behind them, but this was the advanced unit. 

“Why are we bringing Aisa with us anyways?” Anne questions.

“I wanted to hear more about Coward Warrior,” is the very matter-of-fact answer. Her little pouch of dirt and the burn blade she has in her hands tell of her determination. 

At the very same time, Kamakiri and Wyper say, “go home, Aisa.”

“No!” 

“You’re a burden!” 

“I’m already here!” 

“You’re still a burden!” 

“You’re a dickhead!” 

“We’re going to war!” 

“I can fight! I’m a warrior too!” 

 

Regardless, the charge to Upper Yard is brought up a couple hours, and a quick skim around the far North of Upper Yard finds them a half-house disturbingly reminiscent of Cricket’s down below. 

“It’s really here,” Anne says, fascinated, “ah, there it is! Stairs,” Anne quickly clambers up then, entering the empty half of the decrepit second floor that was previously inaccessible in the one below. 

“So you’re saying Montblanc Cricket lives in the Blue Sea half of this same building?”

 

“Oh,” came Robin’s voice, “that answers quite a bit.” 

Everyone turns to her at once, and Zoro draws his swords in alarm. The two had only just emerged from the forest, still trying to take in the incredibly surprising sight before them. Kinoko was on his arm, sleazy but awake. 

“Holy shit,” Zoro says, “that’s the one from below… why is it up here?”

“Ah, Zoro, and Robin! Why are you guys here, actually don’t answer that,” Usopp says, calling attention to himself as Kamakiri helps him onshore by keeping the sled stable. “Meet Wyper, Kamakiri, and Aisa,” he tries to point at them but gives up halfway, “did you find god?”

“No, how the hell did you know we were looking for god?”

“I just guessed,” Usopp says, lifting a gloved arm as Kinoko flies and lands on the guard. “So… surprise!”

 


 

Wyper scoffs at the sight of them both, and Zoro sneers right back. Usopp’s between them, so they probably won’t fight, and so Usopp turns his attention to the bigger issue. 

Getting them caught up to the situation from there is easy. 

This was Noland’s land of gold, and Upper Yard’s real name was Jaya. The Shandians were the real natives of this land that was taken over by Skypieans, and were then taken over by the current ruling god, Enel. 

Zoro sheaths his sword when Wyper lowers his bazooka. They immediately decide to head back, since it’s clear that the altar group is engaged in combat that they stand not much of a chance in. 

Kamakiri heads back to the village, to take over Wyper’s usual role in leading the forces toward the island. Wyper would join them once they were inland. 

 

“So this would be the first time you’d actually stepped foot here?” Zoro asks, as they hurry their way through the forest, Aisa on Wyper’s shoulders and Anne exploring every few paces of land on her own. 

Wyper hums. “First time without immediately being ambushed by a priest,” he says, “keep an eye out. We’re in Shura’s territory.” 

“No one’s around, so no need to worry,” Usopp immediately says, and Aisa nods. Kinoko chirps happily, because no beasts are around either, and Robin follows behind, keeping a wary eye on Wyper as they both silently follow at the back of the group. Anne eventually comes around to Robin’s side, looking around warily.

“It’s fine, I come around every once in a while and no one attacks me,” Aisa says.

“That’s because you’re too tiny to be detected, probably,” Wyper sneers, and Aisa makes an offended noise. 

“That’s actually another aspect of Observation Haki,” Usopp says, very aware of the way Zoro turns around to hyperfocus, “since we’re aware of voices, we’re more conscious about hiding our own when we want to be quiet.”

Despite their conversations, their path is quick, only slowed down as Usopp maneuvers his way around, following Zoro’s steps up and down the roots with Kinoko’s guidance and occasionally an aiding arm from the swordsman. 

 


 

Wyper is first to emerge when they arrive at the sacrificial altar, skidding right through the clouds on his skates, swinging into the air with a loud roar. 

Gin is in the air, suspended by and standing dangerously on iron strings. His free hand held a tonfa that narrowly parried a lance, but Shura’s coming at him again. Gin’s other arm was clinging onto the strings, so hard it drew blood where it bound. 

“DIE, PRIEST!” 

The Bazooka fires, and Shura is ripped away from his clash with Gin’s tonfa, drawn backward on his bird and right out of range. 

Zoro’s swords are already drawn, rushing forward at full speed as he leaps, and in an impressive show of force, launches a flying force of blade high toward the vulture, rending a gash right into its torso until Shura is knocked off his bird, once and for all. 

Shura doesn’t falter yet-- “damn it, the runaways have returned, and they brought the guerilla with them?” 

Zoro’s next swing is magnificently deflected, and when Zoro falls, Shura follows, both figures plummeting into the waters after each other. 

 

“Curses, he’s not dead yet,” Wyper maneuvers himself back upright, finding the strings catching in his skates before landing harshly on the ship, to the horror of Chopper, who wasn't sure if he was friend or foe yet.

Gin throws his tonfa toward the ship before pointing sharply at his other hand, mildly shredded through by iron wires, “Hey, cut this off for me!” 

Right at his call, Usopp shoots off an arrow from his crossbow in that direction, slicing the string right off. Gin takes the immediate opportunity to dive right into the water, pulling on a pair of goggles before he lands.

 

“USOPP! ANNE!” Chopper wails in the distance, “what took you so loooooong?!”

“Sorry, were you scared?” Anne hollers back. 

“O- Of,” he sniffles, “of course not,” he sobs, “I fought back like a brave man… I think…” 

“I’m sure you did your best!” Usopp yells. 

Aisa’s clinging incredibly hard on Usopp’s head, “did that capybara just talk?”

“Yeah-- wait what,” Usopp turns up, “you know what a capybara is?”

The Merry was charred. The mast was burned deeply in the center, but barely standing through the broken wood. 

 

Gin drags Gan Fall out of the water, and Chopper hurries down to check for a heartbeat. He would live, since Usopp can still hear his voice, but Shura was a different matter. 

Shura faced Zoro and Wyper at once, one under the sea, the other above, on his skates. With Fuza out of the picture and after putting himself into the lake-- he no longer had the strategic advantage. 

Much more-- he was already exhausted from fighting the other three, so it was easy for Zoro to shred through his torso, and Wyper landed the finishing blow. 

 


 

“I’m only here because you said you had materials I could use,” Wyper reminds them all, once they all manage to move onto the Merry. 

Chopper hurries to try and heal three different people at once, but Gin continues to glare really hard at the guerilla. 

“I don’t trust someone that doesn’t wear pants.”

Right after that, Gin snatches up his tonfa with his good hand to block a steel skate, grimacing when it leaves a dent in the iron. Wyper looks ready to just murder him right there, but the guerilla eases up when Usopp offers him an answer. 

“Yeah, they’re in the workshop,” Usopp says, “Anne, could you bring him there?”

Anne nods, and she leads Wyper toward the underdeck, toward the women’s room where Usopp keeps his largest scrap material for future projects. Even without saying, Zoro follows them toward it, evidently not trusting the guerilla alone with Anne in narrow spaces. 

 

“So what’s with the kid?” Gin asks, looking down at Aisa with the most disgusted expression he’s ever made. 

Aisa holds up her Burn Blade, her hands very visibly trembling, “I- I have a weapon,” she threatens. “I know how to use it.”

“Ah sure,” Gin sneers, crouching down, “do it, brat, try me.”

“Gin, you’re talking to a kid, be nice.”

“I hate kids.”

 

The sound of battle roars in the distance, wrenching them all toward the noise. There was a war happening on this island-- and there were people, blowing things up around the priests’ territories. 

“Eeek!” Aisa runs toward Usopp, clinging on, “it’s Kamakiri and the others! They made it to the island.” 

“War?” Robin asks. 

Zoro scoffs, “now that’s a noise we’ve heard recently.”

“Ah, it’s just like Alabasta,” Anne acknowledges, coming out of the women’s room with an armful of materials, including a pillow and some cloth for Chopper. 

Wyper follows Anne up, huffing. “Yeah, you’ve got enough stuff there for me to work with,” he says, setting down his own bag of tools for later. “But your metal arm woman’s not around, so I’ll come back.”

“That was fast,” Usopp nods. “I appreciate it.” 

Wyper scoffs at that. “You better pay me back.” Immediately, he leaps off the ship, right into the Cloud Sea, and skates right off toward the shore where they’ve left Shura and Fuza’s tied up, unconscious forms. He scoops it up by the rope on his way.

“Aisa! Stay right there and don’t go anywhere!” he orders. 

Aisa hollers back, “Okay!” in time for Wyper to probably have heard it before vanishing into the distance. “Please stay safe!”

 

And then the guerilla was gone, going to join the rest of his forces in taking down Upper Yard, rejoining his group before commencing their full march toward Enel’s shrine.

“Alright, I think I get it,” Gin says, standing up. “You found that technician we were looking for, and it’s that guy of all people?”

Everyone was staring skeptically at Usopp now. Sure, he’d briefly mentioned it with Nami a while back, but no one had quite thought about it among the rest of literally everything that was happening at the same time.

“You do know recruitment goes through Luffy, right?” Zoro asks, “not that I think we’ve ever set that rule but I don’t think it’ll ever get through if Luffy doesn’t like him.”

“I know, I know,” Usopp quickly denies, “it’s not a recruitment offer yet.”

“It’s just a commission,” Anne adds helpfully. 

“But we’re penniless, how would we pay them back?” Robin asks, “the idea of owing a debt to someone in the midst of war doesn’t quite bode well for us, strategically.”

“Huh? What are you guys talking about?” Aisa wonders, but no one really answers her.

“It’ll be fine,” Usopp says, confidently. “He’s not a bad person, right?” he turns to Aisa when he says this. 

Aisa juts out a nod, confused. “He’s scary, though?”

“So is Zoro and Gin! What a coincidence,” Usopp says, sunnily. “Oh right,” he turns around, like he’s just remembered something important, “I wonder when Luffy’s group is going to arrive.” 

“You’re just going to change the subject?”

“Usopp, sit down and explain things for once in your goddamn life--!!” 

 

“Darn, the Merry’s taken a beating.” Usopp says, looking upward, though his eyes were closed behind those sunglasses. 

At that, Gin and Chopper immediately clamped right up. 

“Uh, yeah,” Gin looks aside, “we’re… sorry about that.”

“I’m sorry,” Chopper deflates, “if Gin didn’t find that thing that made the rain, I don’t know what we would’ve done.” 

Usopp turns to them, giving a smile. “That guy must’ve been crazy strong, huh? Fire’s a bad match against you two, so I’m really impressed you guys won against him for so long! Are your injuries okay though?”

“Eh?”

“Ah… they’re… no big deal,” Gin says. “We’re really sorry--” 

“Now, don’t apologize to me,” Usopp huffs, setting a hand on the Merry. “To the ship, both of you! She’s seen everything you’ve done for her. I’m sure she’s not mad.”

“Ah, right!” Chopper straightens. Gin straightens as well, but he’s less enthused. They lower their heads to the ship, and speak in unison. “We’re really sorry!” 

 

Aisa sits meekly on the deck with Kinoko in her lap, watching the interaction go around. 

Anne disappears under a hidden latch that Aisa hadn’t seen before, and emerges with enough tools and steel plates to begin their repairs. Zoro helped with the heavier lifting, and Robin, wielding a few too many arms, helped to hold up the materials so Usopp could feel his way around the spots to nail down. Chopper watches over Gan Fall as Gin carries the man into the galley, where the cot for the makeshift infirmary was laid out. 

For a bunch of strange people, they sure were quite organised.

 

-


-

 

Something was strange. 

Luffy is quiet, too, but that’s probably because he didn’t have Usopp or Chopper around to share his hyperactivity. Instead, he’d found himself looking amused as Nami disassembles her arm for maintenance, inspecting the heat-damaged corners and investigating further. 

Sanji drives the dial boat.

The rest of their route through the trial grounds was quiet. Alarmingly so. 

They breeze through the plains of skulls and over the head of the trees, but they don’t find anyone. Instead, the sounds of war were clear in the distance. Nami knows it’s the Shandians, she can feel them just vaguely, but she doesn’t want to prod too close.

Is it quiet because the priests are too busy fighting the Shandians, then? That’s great news for them, since they have to fight less people now. 

It’s so peaceful. 

Nothingness for miles, just the three of them, and nothing else. 

Nami looks between them, sees their smiles-- and almost loses herself in her thoughts. It couldn’t be helped-- just the three of them on a boat, peacefully sailing across little expanses of ocean-- it was so nostalgic. 

She’d loved the noise again, but the silence, that was something she never had the time to sit down and savour yet. 

Not the silence of solitude-- but the silence of tired companionship, just them and the sky as they sat a few paces from each other, resting after a long day. 

Maybe it’s because they’re on a Sky Island. She’s always wanted to show them one, personally bring them around the wonders of the sky she wielded, like an excited child showing off her favourite toys to her best friend. 

They barely got to do that last time around. 

 

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Nami?” Luffy leans over, “you stopped working.”

Nami blinks back to awareness, picking up the pieces of her arm again, slotting them back in place with a dry chuckle. “Oh, sorry, I was just thinking.”

She wishes that moments like these could last forever.

 


 

They finally find the sacrificial altar, and while Luffy’s first move is to run up to Anne and give her a spinning hug, Sanji gapes at Gin’s and Chopper’s wounds and takes over the bandaging work so Chopper could rest his hooves. Nami greets Zoro and Robin, and then immediately clocks her metal fist right over Usopp’s head. 

“OW! What was that for, you witch?!”

“Huh? What was what for?” Nami says, acting dumb despite Aisa’s screaming, oh hey Aisa, nice to meet you , “did you see something happen? Zoro did you see something?”

Zoro gives her a disbelieving look. 

“No, not at all,” Sanji says, and when Gin gives him the exact same look Sanji ignores it. “Did you see anything, Luffy?”

“Huh? No?” Luffy genuinely hadn’t seen anything. “Did you see anything, Kinosuke?” Kinoko moves on to Luffy’s shoulder before cawing twice in denial, shaking her head. Luffy laughs, “she says no!”

“This is bullying!” Usopp yells, sobbing into Aisa’s shoulder as Kinoko caws in contempt. 

Chopper hums, “Usopp, Kinoko just called you a lily-livered skitterbrook. I have no idea what that means.”

“I don’t either and I don’t want to!” 

 


 

They move to the shore, and they begin their little recap session. 

“So this island really is the Land of Gold that Diamond-head Ossan was looking for?” Luffy exclaims over a mouthful of skyshark, fascinated. 

The fire they’d set up was warm, and Aisa quietly chewed on a stick of the meat. Usopp and Gin are by the chalkboard, trying to list down and sort of illustrate everything that’s gone on so far.  

“And the guerillas are on our side now. Don’t engage, alright?” Usopp says, “what we want is the gold. What the Shandians want is their land-- we can fight together. Understood?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Zoro, where’s your answer?”

“Ugh, alright.”

“Luffy, repeat what we just said,” Gin sneers at him, putting down the chalk on the board. “From the top.”

“Huh? What was it again?”

“Luffy!” 

It’s lively, and Anne is sketching in her book. Sanji and Robin are grinding down medicine and food for Chopper to give Gan Fall, and Zoro has Nami’s foot in his lap, keeping it still while he tries to wrestle it off and on. 

“For fuck’s sake if you would just be patient!” 

“No! That’s screw’s in the nerves, it’s gonna hurt like a bitch when you remove it!” 

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have let it get bent inside then just STOP making this harder for yourself!”  

“I don’t choose to get wounded, Zoro, you masochist! Sadist!” 

“Don’t call me that!” 

 

Usopp and Nami (after the torturous leg-changing process, Zoro’s still trying to figure out if the broken portion is salvageable) begin talking about Enel and the Priests. 

“People in the White-White Sea call it Mantra, but it’s Haki for us,” Usopp says. “And unfortunately to say, neither me nor Nami really hold a candle to god Enel’s range. I think he can hear the entirety of this island, along with the entire area of Angel Beach.” 

“And,” Nami adds in, “he’s got the ability to hear everything in that range as well. I’m suspecting it’s got something to do with a Devil Fruit.” 

“Huh? A Devil’s fruit this high up in the sky?” 

“Yep, and it’s a lightning one, too!” Nami grins, “man, I thought I was gonna die!”

“A logia?” Gin mutters, “that’s a pain.” 

“Why is no one reacting to the fact that did you just say you got hit?!” Usopp whirls right over, “where? Bad??” 

Nami chuckles, “it’s no big deal, no big deal. It was only for a second,” she swipes her hair over her shoulder smugly, “and plus, what kind of witch would I be if I couldn’t handle being smited by god at least once in my life?” 

“Wow. I’m terrified and incredibly turned on,” Sanji says. 

“Shut up, horny,” Zoro sneers.

“I’m in love with a brutal and confident Nami-swan. Please curse at me, queen.”

 

He was becoming a distraction, so Nami sends Sanji off to count pebbles by the river. Gin follows him to make sure he doesn’t come back before he calms down.

 

“Anyways, so right now, we’ve got a few things on our agenda.”

Usopp flips the blackboard over, and Zoro spends a moment realizing Usopp has only been waving the marker around, and he hadn’t actually written a single thing. Gin and Nami have been doing all the writing.

“So first up, the war,” Usopp says, turning toward Luffy with his hands held together in a prayerful apology, “sorry, Luffy. I ended up agreeing to help the Shandians in the war.”

Luffy just beams. “It’s fine, it’s fine! That Enel bastard’s the one that attacked Nami and Conis, right? Then I wanna punch him too!” 

Aisa looked horrified by that declaration. Tightening her hold on Kinoko enough for the bird to squeak, “idiot, we just went through the fact that Enel can hear you!” 

“Oh really? Oops! Shishishi!” 

“Luffy!” Chopper whines, “don’t make god any angrier!” 

“Second up!” Nami declares, a peace sign wild and spirited, “land of gold, gold, GOLD!” she cheers, crouching down around the campfire to lay down the map and show how Jaya and Skypiea connected. 

“Wooah! It’s a skull!” 

“Ah,” Robin remembers, “ Gold in the right eye of the skull, I see now.” 

“That’s so cool!” 

“Well, if there’s treasure, then we can’t just let it lie around, huh,” Zoro chuckles. 

“We wouldn’t be pirates otherwise,” Anne nods. 

“What’s this we’re hearing about treasure?” Sanji asks, apparently calm enough to come back now, holding a handful of pebbles. 

“We’re joining the battle? This isn’t war anymore, it’s like some messed up survival game,” Gin says, looking quickly at the blackboard to gather the discussions “oh wait, we’re allying with the Shandians? That sounds better.”

“YOOSH! It’s decided then!” Luffy cheers, “we’re looking for gold tomorrow!” 

“And fighting the war on the way I guess?” Usopp says. 

 

“Hey, don’t just shove the war aside like that, it’s war!” Aisa whines. “What’s with you guys, are all pirates incapable of taking things seriously?”

Beside her, Robin sighs. “Fortunately, or unfortunately, that’s a problem with this pirate crew specifically.” 

 

Later, Usopp and Luffy insist that campfires are a dire need and they very firmly believe that Robin is weird for ever thinking otherwise. Sanji and Zoro pile up logs and Gin emerges with marshmallows from the ship's pantry, because what’s a campfire without it.

Robin glances toward Aisa once more, and she sees the little girl’s overflowing excitement when Gin offers her a smore and Robin sighs again, fondly this time .  

 

-


-

 

“Hehh, so the Weird Knight is the former god of Skypiea?” Zoro says, “sure is strange to have your ruler be called ‘god’, but I suppose it fits Sky Island.” 

“Huh? He’s god? So I have to beat him up?!” 

“No, he’s former god, Luffy. See, you made Pierre mad at you. I’m not saving you if you get pecked.”

They’re gathered around, eating their portions of stew and discussing battle plans. Aisa takes very careful sips, eyes sparkling at the sheer magnifique of this new dish. It was made using Upper Yard plants, Sea King (not sea shark!!) meat, and even steeped with milk from animals only found on the Blue Sea. it’s not something she’s tasted before and it tastes heavenly

 

“Is it weird?” someone asks, “to be called god? We usually use chieftain, but that’s because we don’t have anything to compare it to.”

 

“Of course it’s weird,” Gin says. “Isn’t having a human claim the title of god when he isn’t god-- even just as a metaphorical title-- you know, blasphemy ?”

“Indeed it is,” Robin nods. 

Then they paused, realizing the voice didn’t belong to anyone they knew, and they turned in unison to see a group of nearly twenty Shandian warriors, bearing wounds and weapons and dirt. 

“Everyone’s here!” Aisa reacts first, happily setting aside her bowl to run up to them. 

“Heh, Aisa’s alright.”

“I guess that means these guys probably aren’t going to kill us in our sleep?”

“Hey, don’t count on it, maybe they have standards and just won’t kill kids.”

No sounds disappeared today, and two priests were taken down. They didn’t manage to take down Gedatsu or Ohm, but it was amazing progress. 

They were all alright. 

 

Everyone stood up, putting aside their food as Zoro picked up a sword and Luffy stepped up to meet Wyper. 

“So you’re the guerilla guy huh?” Luffy greets him with a stern look-- and Wyper returns it, equally fierce. 

Luffy is first to break into a smile.

“I’m Luffy! I’m gonna be the Pirate King,” he introduces himself, “so. Usopp said you were going to make Nami’s arm for her?”

Wyper blinks at that. 

He’d definitely expected more ire. He did smash this guy’s face in with seastone on their first meeting. Also, what’s a Pirate King? Pirates he’s given up on understanding, what’s a pirate king ? There’s a royal family?

“Yeah,” he says, and he meets eyes with the aforementioned metal-armed lady, who smiles politely. “Anyway, we’re retiring for the night. Aisa, let’s go.”

“Ehhh?!” the more expressive of the Strawhats react at once, and Aisa has the same reaction. “You’re already leaving? Stay for the campfire!” 

Wyper scowls at that, and Kamikiri behind him sighs, already knowing what’s being implied here. Laki’s slack-jawed, and the others are slightly, very interested in the stew that Sanji is passing around. 

“What campfire , you morons? This is enemy territory!” 

“So what?” Luffy asks, undeterred. “When we’re camping, we gotta have a campfire.”

“You are not camping, you are trapped in the middle of a fucking warzone,” Wyper hisses right back, and he’s horrified to see no one else is agreeing with him, at least not any of Luffy’s crew. “Are all Blue Sea dwellers fucking morons?”

“No, just Luffy,” says Usopp, Zoro, and Gin at once. “But we agreed on the campfire.”

“Then you’re all morons!” 

“Anyways, you guys want food? I’ve got enough for everyone,” Sanji adds. 

“Yes!” one guy in the back of the crowd says, and Wyper whirls around to give him the look of death, but he just hides behind Braham. “I’m hungry, okay?!”

“Yeah, Wyper, don’t you smell that? It looks awesome .”

“It’s the legendary Blue Sea food that’s in all those texts!” 

“Yeah, yeah!” Aisa cheers, running over to tug Laki over by the hand, “the stew that Sanji made is super super delicious! You gotta try some!”

“Ahh… if Aisa insists, then I suppose I must,” Laki relents, and with her, a few others rushed forward to join the Strawhats around the campfire, greeting each member with a surprisingly friendly smile as Gin shares the rum and Sanji serves everyone a plate, even sharing some of their roasted sky shark that Luffy hauled up again. 

“We are in enemy! Damn! Territory!” Wyper yells, but Kamakiri just takes the bazooka away from him, sets it aside, and leads him to an open space to sit, pushing him down by the shoulders like he's got experience with this. 

“Alright, alright. Now let’s deal with that gash that Ohm gave you, we’ll listen to your complaining later.”

“Kamakiri, take this seriously!” 

“Eh,” Kamakiri chuckles, sitting down, but everyone’s already losing themselves to the mood. “I’m trying to, but how do you do that in this situation?”

 

Usopp strikes up conversation that spiels into another of his stories, people are admiring how small Kinoko is, and a drinking contest starts in a corner between Zoro, Braham, and Nami. Someone even notices Gan Fall, and since he was gravely injured, they start whispering about Wyper together instead of immediately antagonizing the former god.

Anne chats with Laki and Aisa, introducing them to Gin. Robin watches from a warm distance, smiling at the sight. 

“This crew makes you lose the will to worry,” Robin says to him, “I’ve learned to just adapt, it’s the easier way to go about it.”

Wyper groans in dread. 

 

Luffy chews on his chunk of meat, smiling as Sanji hands Wyper a bowl of stew. 

“You should eat! Sanji’s food is the best!” Luffy says, confident and proud, and Wyper notices the cook smile just a little wider before sauntering off to serenade Laki. 

Huh. 

Luffy was the leader of this ragtag group of nobodies-- but so far, Wyper has seen no sense of authority from him. Just confidence, evidence of a man that lives in the freedom Wyper has been fighting for all his life. 

Luffy doesn’t seem like a leader-- but from the way each member of this group keeps Luffy in their line of sight, and Luffy never fails to find his crew in the crowd of rambunctious people, gathering a misstep in his hands and a picking up every subtle glance to give out a smile of assurance-- Wyper, somehow, just knows that he is the center of the group. 

“I guess it is,” Wyper says, taking a slow breath, finally easing up the tension of the day of battle and feeling the adrenaline wear through him and the pain of his wounds bite on the dirt that was smeared through his skin. 

Luffy beams. 

 

“Thank whatever, we just found medicinal plants so I restocked my supplies,” Chopper carries his kit over to Wyper, “hey, mister Guerilla, could you get down a little, I wanna see that gash on your back.” 

Wyper considers the chupacabra-like creature for a bit before asking, “sorry, what are you again?”

“I’m Chopper-- wait, did you ask me what , well I’m a doctor.”

No I meant what as in what manner of creature , but Wyper doesn’t know how to rephrase that question, he doesn’t have the energy. 

So just, “okay.” 

 

Wyper watches Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji fight Cloud Wolves and tame them in seconds, and suddenly they’re all dancing around the campfire like none of the war is happening, everyone including Shandians laughing and smiling, like none of their worries ever existed. 

They’re partying, like Enel isn’t listening and they weren’t doing the greatest sacrilege to god by literally partying in his backyard, caring nothing about him. 

It sounded great when you put it that way, actually-- fuck Enel, let’s just have fun. 

And it was fair. 

They were, in fact, officially stepping foot on their homeland for the first time, and they were spending a night here. There was no happier occasion than this, and he almost hoped he could go back to bring the Chieftain and everyone else here, to share in the joy. 

Wyper watches the reindeer stitch his wound shut, and he thinks that just for today-- maybe this complacency is fine. 

Maybe just for today, he can sit three feet away from his mortal enemy Gan Fall, and they will both do nothing. He will not be angry, and they will not antagonize each other.

Everyone’s enjoying themselves. 

Wyper has no place to interrupt them, because he knows that they all treasure this battle as much as he does-- this was just breathing room, and it changed nothing. Once the sun rises, the battle continues. 

But for now, just for now-- he will be just Wyper, not Berserker Wyper and not the descendant of Calgara, just Wyper , a man that sits by the campfire and watches his friends have fun. 

He will not join in today, but maybe tomorrow, he will. 

He’ll think about it. Maybe tomorrow, he will be able to join them wholeheartedly, and he’ll be able to have fun for once in his life. 

 

But for today, he won’t.

 

It’s not like Robin is particularly joining in either, anyway.



Chapter 64: to (live for) (die for) what we hold dear

Summary:

"Hey, Nami. Between you and Usopp, who's stronger?"
“I’m not sure,” Nami admits. “I haven’t seen Usopp go all out in ages.”

It's an innocent question that Nami can't quite answer. They've only ever fought over who was weaker before, it's a debate that never got a conclusion. Even now, full of experience and laden with new skills-- Nami wasn't sure.

“But to be honest… What does ‘all out’ even mean for us, anyway? I don’t think I really know anymore. We’ve never been power-based fighters to begin with. I’ve changed, Usopp’s changed. Maybe one day we’ll see for sure.”

 

(Nami gets a new arm, and the Merry is fixed. They split up into the Gold and Ship team, and their second day on Upper Yard begins with the cries of war.)

Notes:

Trigger warnings this chapter for implied/reference torture, and just straight up murder. Proceed with caution.

Chapter Text

Everyone’s curled up with the wolves and around each other in the dead of the night. 

Luffy is using a wolf as a scarf. Zoro sleeps by a tree, upright and only half resting so he would be alert to any disturbances. Anne is with Robin, Aisa, and Laki in the tent, and Gin is outside of it with Kamakiri, blocking the entrance. Usopp slumps over a random spot in Sanji’s general vicinity. Chopper lay by Gan Fall’s cot, Kinoko right by him. 

Nami keeps the fire going as Wyper inspects the pieces of her arm, shearing down pieces of wood to match the shape. 

 

(“I can’t weld down all the steel in just one day, so you’ll have to deal with wooden parts. I’ll only use steel for the most vital spots, and coat the rest in the same lacquer we use in our shields. It’ll still be sturdy and it’ll be less conductive to Enel’s lightning.”)

(“If we live this battle I’ll make a better one later.”)

 

“They put it through your bones and connect it to the nervous system?” Wyper grimaces, “and you’re saying they have machines that can detect heart rates and blood pressure levels so they can monitor you during surgery?”

“Uh, yeah?” Nami says, “well, medical technology is something you’d have to ask Chopper. We don’t have much of it on our ship so I can’t show you either.”

Wyper’s face is still stuck in that grimace as he carved through the wood to match the blueprints in his lap. “Next thing you’re gonna tell me they have the ability to see through human skin to check inside.”

Nami is silent. 

Wyper curses, “you’re not fucking with me are you?”

Nami shakes her head. “You’re going to have some intense culture shock if you ever find yourself down on the blue sea.”

Wyper scoffs at that, setting down the piece he was working on to start on the next. He inspects the metal plating and tries to mentally calculate where he’d need to shear through-- a Heat-Dial charged dagger would be enough... 

“So you’d have something for nerves as well? Something magical like that and that’s how you guys achieve prosthetics like yours?”

Nami hums, “well, not really. The nervous system is tough to explore, so we don’t have a way to accurately work on the nerves without using human sensors.” 

Wyper looks at her. “And in a language I can understand?”

Nami chuckles. “So basically, I stay awake for the whole surgery, and if they hit something that hurts, they’re doing it right.”

 

Wyper accidentally cracks the metal plate in clean two. 

His eyes are stuck on Nami and he’s very mortified. 

“Shit,” he says. 

 

Nami chuckles bashfully at the attention. “Oh c’mon, it was so long ago. I barely remember it now,” she says dismissively. Her eyes soften at the thoughts, and she glances toward her flesh hand. “I want to draw the map of the world-- I need my hands.”

Wyper had set down one half of the broken piece, beginning to weld down the chipped edge with the Heat Dagger. 

A hand. 

Wyper has maintained prosthetics before-- even built some, to order. But he has never made a hand , much less something made for delicate work, for a delicate purpose. 

Delicate? That wasn’t quite the right word. 

“Are your maps so important?” he asks. He doesn’t understand. He doesn't understand why someone would be so desperate just to get fingers. You could fight without it.

Nami’s answer comes unhesitantly. “Of course they are,” she says, and the sharpness in her voice is tinged with mischief, her smile wide and wild, “I mark the way forward, always. So as long as I’m here-- we’re never stuck in one place.” 

 

Moving forward, is it?

The desire to keep pushing forth, growing, advancing-- that was something she will brave the seasons to overcome.

(She was like a Sky Island. Like Skypiea, like Weatheria, or other standard sky islands that follow the currents of the weather to traverse. She will keep going, finding new places, and never stop evolving.) 

Wyper sets down the metal piece, reaching for the wires, screws and gears that Usopp had set out for him. 

Nami lives her dream. Wyper supposes that everyone on this pirate crew has a dream like that-- something that promises an ever-expanding journey ahead of them, and something they would risk their very lives to do, over and over again. 

Maybe that was what piracy meant-- people that went straight ahead for their dreams, letting nothing, not even human limits or missing limbs stop them. 

 

“What happens when you reach the end?” he asks.

What happens, when you reach the end of your dreams? Surely, whatever they wished for was a goal, and that goal was finite, even if it seemed so far in the future. 

(Upper Yard has always seemed like a distant pipe dream for Wyper, and yet, here he was.) 

 

For a long moment, Nami didn’t seem to have an answer for that. 

“Then we find a new reason to live,” Nami says, smiling gently. “Dreams don’t end. They grow, bigger and bigger-- and for me… the journey, the heart-- my nakama , they’re part of my map too. They’re what makes my maps fill with soul.”

(Her days of drawing maps out of spite are over. No Fishmen will push her down, no punishments will come if she fails to draw one. Her days of drawing to survive are also over. No need to scrounge the black markets for money to keep a night of lodgings, no need to sell her skills for refuge on a merchant’s ship, no longer.)

(She was free under her Captain’s flag, and she will draw because the maps are in her heart.) 

 

Wyper considers that answer for a moment-- and then he says nothing, turning back to the metal piece in his hands, continuing to carve the pieces.

 


 

Usopp wakes up halfway through Nami trying her hardest not to scream into Zoro putting her arm back on. 

“Ah, so it does hurt.”

“Always does, would hurt less if she stayed still."

"That's a lie and you know it Zoro I hate you!" 

 

Usopp finds Sanji’s leg around his arm-- he’d been using it as a hug-pillow and well, he’s glad he woke up before Sanji kicked him to kingdom come, but Usopp looks around for an embarrassing amount of time before realizing why his vision wasn’t clearing up. 

He kneads his fingers into his eyes and after a few blinks he decides to keep them closed. 

“What time is it?” he murmurs, groggily. 

“Ah, Usopp,” Zoro’s voice comes as a response, “too early. Go back to sleep.”

Nami yelps, then in a rushed, frantic voice, “y- yeah, all’s fine, nothing’s wrong-- OUCH!” she hisses very sharply. “Be gentler with that!” 

“Huh. I wonder if I should’ve shaved that gear down a bit more,” that’s Wyper, observing the process like it was an educational sight. 

“Nah, it’s fine, it’s just weird cause the wood’s rougher than metal,” Zoro grunts, and then twists the screw again. “And there,” he says, like Nami didn’t just almost claw his arm out with her flesh one, “done.”

“Huh, that was more complicated than I thought,” Wyper mumbles, “but whatever. I need to assemble the last pieces of the outer shell, so don’t move yet.”

“Sadists. I trusted a bunch of sadists,” Nami whimpers, “Usopp, we’ve made a horrible mistake. Save me.”

 

Usopp hums, feeling around for his walking stick.

“Ah, is that so,” he muses, reminding himself internally that she’s just joking. “Since I’m awake, I’m going to go fix up the Merry. See ya.”

“In this darkness?” Nami turns to him. “It’s so misty out, and there’s barely any light. Why don’t you at least wait till morning?”

“Ah, it’s so dark, it’s so misty, we can’t see anything,” Usopp deadpans, standing up and dusting himself off. Dryly, he adds, “what a nightmare.”

Nami slumps into her hands in defeat. “Oh just go already.” 

Victoriously, Usopp begins making his way through, carefully, meandering through human limbs and tree roots. Zoro follows him, now that he’s no longer needed in the arm-assembling department, and Usopp doesn’t address it. 

 


 

If any sky sharks appear, I’ll kill them. 

 

Zoro’s thoughts were entirely on the lake when Usopp hauled materials and tools over their little boat, drifting slowly toward the sacrificial altar. Zoro even left a hand on his sword, looking everywhere except toward Usopp who was waiting quietly. 

“Hey Zoro, have we ever told you about the third type of Haki?” Usopp brings up the conversation, and Zoro isn’t really in the mood but he hums to indicate he’s still listening. “Well, there’s Observation, Armament, and then there’s Conqueror’s.”

Zoro sees a sky shark slowly, very hesitantly, surface-- but Zoro locks his gaze on the creature and gives it the absolute look of death, because if that bugger dares interrupt Usopp’s storytelling that thing is becoming sashimi in an instant

Meekly, the skyshark sinks back down under the water. 

“It’s super rare!” Usopp says, cheerfully. “It’s also called the Will of the Supreme King-- you can kinda guess from the name, right? Unlike Armament or Observation, it’s not something that can be trained, you have to be born with it.”

Zoro raises a brow. “So you and Nami don’t have it?” he says. 

Usopp nods, “well, we don’t seem much like leaders, do we?”

(They do, actually, and have taken similar roles in the past-- but they weren’t a holder of a desire equivalent to a King , and that was the distinction that mattered.)

“So what does it do?” 

“Well, it’s the willpower part of the whole willpower aspect. Armament is an enhancement of strength and defenses. Observation is an enhancement of senses and awareness,” Usopp hums, “so Conqueror’s is an enhancement of… self? Charisma? Authority?” 

“Sounds superficial,” Zoro mutters, unimpressed. 

Usopp slumps, “I have failed in setting a good impression. I apologize, every Conqueror we meet in the future. I have failed you.” 

 

Zoro’s rebuttal to that is interrupted by the sound of a mallet upon a wooden hull-- and they both wrench their heads around toward the ship in alarm. 

“What the-- someone’s there?” 

Usopp stands up, and his voice is bitter. “I knew it…”

Why would anyone be on the ship? Zoro didn’t see anyone else leave the camp. Nami would’ve told him. Much more, Usopp would’ve said something-- no, Usopp knew . Usopp knew, that’s why he came here. 

Usopp hastily scrambles up out of the boat the moment it hits the sacrificial altar, and Zoro barely manages to stabilise the boat before Usopp overturns it in his hurry, tripping over the space between the dock and the boat and taking a feetful of water before hastily clambering back up, rushing up the altar’s steps. 

Zoro could’ve yelled when Usopp slips there, nearly taking a faceful of rock stairs before finally reaching the top on his hands and knees. 

“Usopp!” Zoro hisses, chasing immediately-- but he stops.

 

Someone stood before Usopp, little and short, barely up to Usopp’s height when the man was on his knees. Almost as tall as Aisa, at most. 

 

Usopp reaches around, and the child reaches their hand out too-- but Zoro sees the very moment the hand phases through Usopp’s. 

Usopp feels it. 

“Merry?” he calls, and Zoro’s blood goes cold. “It’s you, right? Merry?”

The little raincoat-wearing figure also seemed surprised, but that face bloomed into a smile. This time, when they approached with a leap, Usopp gathered the little figure into his arms and hugged firm and tight and full of joy. 

Almost immediately, the figure dissipates again, the grip Usopp manages on Merry goes through her, and she falls, phasing through Usopp’s limbs to land on the ground once more.

She relents a bashful giggle. 

“What the…” Zoro arrives at the top, looking at the little figure that picks up her little mallet and smiles up at him with her little faceless expressions. That made no sense-- but he rubbed his eyes back, unable to really grasp this little figure’s shape either. 

It was like a mirage-- there, not really, perhaps he catches a form, but it fades when he focuses too hard. Even though it was right in front of her.

“Zoro, this is a Klabautermann,” Usopp says. 

Merry hustles up to Zoro’s side, waving a hand at him, and Zoro hesitantly crouches down. He manages to touch the figure, for an astral second, and Merry giggles ecstatically at the contact before twirling back around, heading back toward the ship. 

“What…” Zoro breathes, “what is that?”

Usopp stands up, and gestures toward the materials they’d brought over. Zoro hurries down to grab them, and then they make their way up the ship together. 

“It’s a wood fairy, something of legends. Spirit of a ship, that kind of thing,” Usopp is vague about it as he goes.

 

It comes from a ship that’s loved. It’s the embodiment of a long, war-torn ship, a physical representation of a soul that has sailed as many seas as its passengers, an entity. 

And it only shows up in the coming of disaster. At the end of the line. 

 

“So you’re dying?” Zoro asks, horrified. 

Merry is by the mast, nailing down a steel plate around the most burnt parts. Merry chuckles, stopping briefly in her work to look over. 

“Don’t worry!” her voice rings out in their heads, reverberating, beautiful, heavy. “I’ll carry everyone for just a little longer.”

Usopp stifles his tears. Zoro bites his lip, looking away. 

“It’s because of the damage today, isn’t it?” Zoro says, with a heavy sag of his shoulders. “I shouldn’t have left the altar--” but an apology wouldn’t mean a thing. 

Zoro looks down to see the Merry approaching him, still smiling as she shook her head frantically. She didn’t say a word, but Zoro understood. 

(It’s not anyone’s fault but her own weakness as a ship that wasn’t built to sail these seas.)

Usopp’s eyes are brimming with tears, and his words are laced with the sniffles he refuses to let out-- but he walks up-- and begins to help fix the ship. 

“It’s everyone’s fault,” Usopp says. 

Cricket had already said it-- Merry wouldn’t be enough for the Knock-up Stream, not even at her best, not even if she were a galleon. Even Adam Wood wouldn’t have survived the trip unscathed. It was them that doomed the Merry, and yet, there just wasn’t a way they would’ve forsaken the trip. There was no way Merry would have allowed them to say no, she was as stubborn as everything else on this crew.

“We did our best, and it still wasn’t enough. We’re sorry, Merry.”

 

Usopp holds up the piece of steel, and Merry cheerfully nails it down, undeterred by the sullen words. She smiles, and she sings, and she giggles. 

“It’s okay!” once again. “I’ll carry everyone for just a little longer.” 

Because that is what she will do, that is her job, her mission, her one and only desire-- and she swears that she will do it well. 

 

Zoro pries off the broken wings of the ship to use as scrap material, Usopp takes down the rigging to replace burnt ropes, and Merry follows them in step, fixing herself up, pathwork but she feels brand new. The sails were still a little burnt, but it wasn’t as if they had a way to fix them yet, so they left it be. 

She felt warm, and she felt loved. 

She smiled, and was happy when both Zoro and Usopp smiled back. 

When they were done and the Merry was as fixed as they could, Merry danced happily over the bow, cheering to herself like a little child, running across the bow in her little raincoat, giggling in excitement. She scrambles up the mast, leaps down from the crow’s nest, and looks out from the figurehead, before raising her hands and cheering victoriously. 

Then she drops before Zoro and Usopp. 

“Thank you, guys!” she says, raising her hands so Zoro could give her a double high-five. For Usopp, she leaps into a running hug that actually contacts for just half a second, then she phases through and sprawls facefirst behind him. 

She picks herself up and laughs. 

“Then, you guys go fight and find treasure!” She spread out her arms. “I promise I’ll be here waiting for all of you when you’re done.” 

 

Usopp finally lets that ugly sob escape from him, burying his face in his palm as he cries out, “oh, Merry.” 

Merry chuckles, like she’s laughing at crybaby Usopp, and then she waves at Zoro before turning, and vanishing, right as daylight broke over the treeline. 

Zoro lets out a heavy, suppressed breath. He has no idea how long he’s been holding it, but it hurts. 

“Merry…”

 

There was no way they could tell anyone else about this right now. Especially not Gin and Chopper. Especially not Luffy. Especially not…

“Zoro,” Usopp says, “let’s tell them after everything’s over?” 

Yeah, that sounds best. 

 

-


-

 

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE OKAY WITH SPIDERS?!?”

“NOT IF THEY CAN BITE MY HEAD OFF, SANJI-KUN SAVE ME???”

“NO! NO ABSOLUTELY NOT! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!”

Usopp trips over a tree root and faceplants. He lifts his head and sobs, really loudly, “SAAANJI-KUUUUN?!?”

“MY FUCKING GOD ARE YOU ANNOYING!” 

An arm comes to him, grabbing him by the forearm and throwing him over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes, cursing loud and violent. A furry murder spider arm, the size of a Blue Sea tree, stabs right in the spot he’d just left, and Sanji books it. 

Usopp clings really hard, and Sanji is running like his life depends on it. The huge tarantula, probably bigger than Merry, is chasing after them, all eight eyes blinking curiously in their direction. 

 

It was barely daylight-- only some Shandians were awake, getting ready for the day-- but their screaming had woken up the entire camp and probably the whole forest as well.

 

“I thought you were the big and strong man, Sanji-kun!” Usopp wails. 

“Spiders are out of my league! Spiders! Are a no!” Sanji yelps, and shrieks when he turns around to see it again, “someone burn this sight out of my eyes! Get it away from me!” 

“Ah, my,” the two shrieking men dash past Robin, and Sanji does an emergency stop as she stands by to contemplate the sight before her. “How intriguing. Even animals have grown to an inexplicable size.”

“R- Robin-chan!” Sanji addresses, “wait! That thing’s venomous, we need to get away from here--!!”

Robin smiles. 

“I will be fine, Mister Cook, but there are some ruins ahead, and I would find it troublesome if Mister Spider ran wild there, so...” she crosses her arms before her, and arms sprout from the spider’s appendages, throwing it into disarray. “Cuarenta Fleurs… Clutch.” 

Sanji’s eyes were stuck on the huge arachnid as Robin grabs each limb with five of her own-- and then began to twist, folding it into several directions at once, creating sickeningly loud cracks as she crumpled the massive creature into a blanket roll of what it once was. And then, the hands dissipated. 

The pained, dying cry of the spider was quickly silenced as Zoro emerged from the treeline, taking this as his cue to dive in and dice the beast to pieces. It was still alive until you took the head, after all. 

Zoro huffs. “Shrieking all morning, you’re so damn noisy,” Zoro mutters at Sanji and Usopp, annoyedly sheathing his swords before walking off, like none of this was his concern. 

Robin chuckles at that, “I’ve heard that tarantulas are quite a delicacy. At this size, I suspect we might have to abstain from those venomous fangs, but I have heard they taste like luxury crab. I’m looking forward to breakfast, Mister Cook.” 

And then she sprouts a few dozen arms, slowly carting away the chopped-up carcass with her, back toward camp. 

 

Sanji and Usopp observe in baffled silence.  

“I think I’m in love,” Sanji says. 

“...with which one?” Usopp asks. 

Sanji hisses out a sharp, “obviously not the mosshead?!” but he’s stomping extra angrily when he marches back to ward the campsite, and he’s going to immediately start a fight with Zoro when he gets back to everyone else. “Also what the hell, I have to cook this thing? I have to??”

 


 

In the end, the Shandians did the butchering for them while Sanji whimpered in defeat in the corner. 

“Okay sure , I will eat it, but dude ,” Sanji buries his hands into his face, “what are you guys, barbarians ?”

“Wyper’s the Berserker, so there’s that,” Kamakiri says. 

“But Gin’s the Berserker,” Anne says, confused. Gin pats her on the head and assures her he isn’t using that name anymore, so it doesn’t matter. She’s still confused.

Wyper is snoring loudly over a fallen tree, and Nami is nowhere to be seen. Her eyes had sparkled with a promise of taking her new limbs for a run before she just vanished.  

“Oh heyyy! This is yummy!” Luffy cheers, hugging a huge spider leg for himself. They had boiled one just to test it out and he’d already snatched one. “Sanji, you sure you don’t wanna try?”

“What the-- Luffy, that’s half-raw, you moron! Put that back in the damn pot, you insufferable rube !” 

 


 

“You’re both Berserkers,” Anne says, pulling Gin to Wyper, like they needed to bond. They already hate each other’s guts, especially after Gin’s leaf-skirt remark. “But one of you’s an angel and the other of you’s a demon.”

Gin and Wyper glare at each other, only in proximity because Anne is holding their hands. 

“I’ve seen squid more menacing than your poor excuse of a demon personality,” Wyper mutters. 

Gin grinds his teeth, “huh? At least I’m recognized for an actual reputation, you wing-totting disaster of a fucking character design.”

“Your Blue Sea reputation means nothing up here, demon . You think your fancy clothing’s a statement of some sort? You privileged shithead?”

“At least I’m wearing something, mister angel . Have some shame!”

As they hold their weapons tight to their sides, a twist and helft up a shoulder away from smashing skulls and blasting faces-- Anne looks between them and nods sagely. “Looks like they’re getting along well. I’m glad.”

“No no no,” Sanji has to retort, “Anne-tan, no matter how you look at it, they don’t .”

 

The Shandians are surprisingly willing to share a meal of huge Tarantula (though Aisa is very strategically not told what they were eating,) before they set off, roaring out a battle cry as the ceasefire ends. They even helped the crew get Merry down from the altar before leaving, which was a great help.

In the very same moment, a similar cry sounds from the other end of Upper Yard, and god’s army mobilises as well. 

No one mentions the new bandages on Wyper’s arm. They’re too focused on Nami’s ecstatic reaction to her new limbs-- it seems her leg got an upgrade too-- that they don’t quite register the stern air surrounding the Shandians. 

Aisa nods toward them, but she’s less than convinced. They look at her like it’s their last battle-- and for some of them, it definitely would be. And yet, they leave her on the Going Merry, Wyper fixing Usopp a firm look before they turned around, and to war they went.

Aisa is a warrior, so she will swallow her fears and let them go. 

 

-


-

 

Nami cheerfully inspects her new limbs. 

The Heat Model limbs were incredibly weighty, but in exchange it had incredible durability. The Winter Models prioritised dexterity, so you could always move your fingers-- but in exchange, the durability suffered. 

Wyper had spent the night working on and altering the materials, and by morning, Nami found herself with one hell of an impressive piece of work. It didn’t have the same flexibility in her fingers, since Wyper didn’t have too much time to figure out exactly how to fine-tune the pieces for it, but in exchange, it was durable, and most importantly, it had upgrades. 

“I pop it like this and--” a blade protrudes from the forearm, spanning the length of where her ulna should be. A simple flick of her wrist slots it back in, and another reveals a hidden gun barrel at her carpal section. 

Nami beams when Luffy and Chopper make awed sounds, approaching her with interest. Anne keeps her distance, but she still looks over, mildly interested.  

“Can you fire--” 

“Ah,” Nami says, surprised that she’s also excited to say that, “it’s not quite a laser beam, but I’ve got a flamethrower in my arm!” 

“OOoooh!!!” 

“Do it! Do it!” 

Gin grinds his teeth at them, and all three simultaneously straighten. Robin chuckles, and Zoro sighs. 

“Geez, take this seriously,” Gin says.

“We are!” Nami assures, echoed a little belatedly by Chopper, and then by Luffy, who very seriously runs forward to pick up a fascinating stick. “Taking this. Very seriously.”

Gin sighs. 

Zoro hums, looking around. “I still think it’s a high imbalance to just leave Usopp and the Shit Cook on the ship, Nami,” he says, though it’s too late to fix that now, “is there a reason why you specifically didn’t want us to be split evenly?”

Anne nods at that. “Aisa, Weird Knight, and the Merry-- they have to protect a lot more than they can fight,” she says. “If they get attacked, they might have trouble.”

“It’s fine!” Luffy says, brightly, “after all, Sanji and Usopp are strong, right?”

Gin and Zoro still fix Luffy some skeptical looks, but Anne sighs at the answer, resigned to just believing. Chopper brims with confidence, and Nami smiles warmly. Robin watches, observing the unquestionable faith that Luffy had in his crewmates-- and she hums, filing that information away into the recesses of her mind. 

“Plus, I wanted to find my gold for myself,” Nami says. She didn’t go last time around, so why not this time?

Zoro scoffs at that. “It’s always gold with you.”

 

Anne, Chopper and Zoro were going because they didn’t get to go anywhere yesterday. Robin and Nami were sincerely looking for the lost city. Gin was going, simply because as Quartermaster, he needed to be there in case these utter morons overestimated Merry’s capability of holding gold in her storage. Luffy went without saying, though. 

“Hey, Nami,” Chopper speaks up, approaching her-- Nami notices he’s found a stick too, tapping it along the way like Luffy was doing-- “between you and Usopp right now, who’s stronger?”

Nami blinks at that question. 

She briefly notices how everyone else had gone quiet, looking toward her for the answer as well. It was completely innocent-- but it was foreign to Nami. No one had ever bothered to compare her and Usopp, except for who’s weaker. They would always rather compare Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro, and sometimes Jinbei. Never Nami and Usopp. 

(Did that mean that Nami and Usopp were considered some of the stronger members of the crew?)

Nami chuckles at that. Imagine.

“It depends on how you’re judging us,” she says. She firmly believes Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji can defeat someone of their caliber, even now. Gin, she wasn’t sure. But by experience alone-- she and Usopp came out undeniably on top. 

 

So how exactly do you scale their power? 

(You just can’t. Battle ethics just weren’t something you could firmly rank like that, when it came to fighters like Nami and Usopp.) 

 

“I’m not sure,” she says. “I haven’t seen Usopp go all out in ages.”

But if Nami had to admit to herself…

“But to be honest… what does ‘all out’ even mean for us, anyway? I don’t think I really know anymore. We’ve never been power-based fighters to begin with,” Nami says, chuckling. “I’ve changed, Usopp’s changed. Maybe one day we’ll see for sure.”

 


 

Later, when the huge snake separates them all and sends the Gold team split off in different directions-- Nami finds herself deciding against returning to the ruins immediately. 

She could faintly ascertain their locations. Robin, Gin, and perhaps Luffy and Chopper as well, could probably get there in a while-- but Zoro was hopeless. And since Anne was with him, she was also lost. How unfortunate. 

But, oh well, it’ll turn out fine. 

For now though…

Nami leaps, dodging the attack of a goat-faced member of god’s militia, wincing when the branch she stood upon shattered at a single palm touch. 

“Blue Sea dweller intruding upon god’s land,” the goat seethes, and a dozen more emerge from the treeline, surrounding Nami immediately. “I’m afraid you must die here.” 

Nami looks around-- and her heart rate picks up. She’s not scared. Isn’t it amazing? She’s not scared at all. “Was that an Axe Dial?” she asks instead, “that’s so cool! Can I have it?”

The goatman blinks, taken aback. “Wha-- did you not hear me, you imbecile? I said--”

“I know,” Nami assembles her Clima Tact immediately. “My bad. I shouldn’t need to ask permission, do I? I should just steal it instead, since I’m the Burglar Cat and all.”

Perfect opportunity to test out her new arm, huh?

 


 

“Nami, that bitch,” Gin mutters spitefully, “she could’ve totally curbed the fucking snake but she didn’t She deliberately didn't. I know she deliberately didn’t.” 

Robin walks, a ways away from him, inspecting the wildlife and the greenery. “It seems the crew holds a strange amount of confidence in Miss Burglar Cat. Is it because she holds the most experience among the crew?” 

Gin looks back at her, a little reluctant. 

Man, why did he have to be the one stuck with her? He knows her the least! This is awkward. 

“Probably,” he says. 

 

Nami wouldn’t ever lose a fight-- if she wanted to fight it, that is. Maybe it’s because Gin has never seen her lose one, unlike with Zoro and Sanji. And Luffy just didn’t have the ‘perpetually dependable’ air about him. It was always Nami that stood like an unbreakable stone. 

(Huh? Gin wonders why he doesn’t quite feel the same way for Usopp.)

(He was, by far, the most unassuming figure in the crew. While Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy exuded the air of someone that could handle themselves in a fight-- even Chopper was an element to be wary of, since he was a beast and all-- but Usopp, never.)

 

“Then, why is she not the captain, or even the First Mate?” Robin wonders out loud, wrenching Gin out of his thoughts. “Ah… would that be a rude question to ask? My apologies.”

Gin hums at that. “Not really,” he mumbles. “It’s just how things worked out.”

Robin accepts that as it is. 

“So what about you?” Gin says, after another moment of awkward silence was too hard for him to bear. “Why’d you join this crew? We’re a mess, from authority to hierarchy to even ship roles,” he says. “You could’ve gone with anyone else. Even Croc himself.”

And Robin took a moment to really think to herself. 

If she knew Crocodile could successfully escape, would she have gone back? Definitely not. She stabbed that man, and that man stabbed her in return. If she went back to him… would he still protect her under his wing?

“No,” she says, “I couldn’t have.”

She knew better than to bite off more than she could chew. 

 

Gin didn’t have anything to say to that. Robin worked closest with Crocodile-- she knew him better than Gin possibly could. 

It was like with Krieg. He was ordered to shoot himself-- but if Gin returned to Krieg’s side, there would no doubt be immediate discharge. There was no place for Gin in the krieg pirates, if they ever still existed. 

 

“Then I guess you’re stuck with us now,” Gin says, and if there was a hint of fondness in his voice, he wasn’t too sure what to make of it either. “I do hope you’re getting comfortable, because it’s quite a hell of a ride.”

Robin’s eyes were fixed on him. 

“It’s a little too late for that warning, I believe,” she says, chuckling. 

Gin snorts. “Perhaps.”

 


 

Anne sighs, tightening her belt with all her paint supplies over her wait, pulling one of her overall straps back up. They’d fallen into the river in their hurry to escape, and now her socks were wet. 

“If you don’t like that, they don’t wear socks,” Zoro says, when Anne still looks upset after way too long. “You’re literally the only one on the ship that does.”

Anne pouts at that. “It’s a habit,” she says.

Zoro huffs. 

But Anne considers the situation, and pulls her socks off anyways, kicking off her shoes and hanging them off a long stick she was carrying around (because Luffy says sticks are cool, so of course she found one too,) to dry. 

Zoro’s eyes land on her feet-- and he doesn’t avert his eyes. Anne picks up her shoes, and Zoro counts the screws, six on each leg, lining her calves two by two. She jumps down from a high point-- and Zoro catches her instead of letting her land, spinning her right over his shoulder so her upper body was behind him, her legs right there, suspended where he could see them.

Anne yelps when she suddenly has to grab onto Zoro for leverage, but she looks back, and Zoro is anything but nonchalant. 

 

“What is that?” he asks. 

Anne leans back, lifting her legs just a little, “these?”

It is when she brings attention to them that Zoro properly sees the numbers, black and scarred and imprinted into flesh-- at the bottom of her left foot. 

429

Then she answers, “they’re my serial numbers?” she’s almost confused, like that shouldn’t be all too much of a surprise. “I can’t show them on the Blue Sea, but now that we’re up here, I think it’s okay, right?” 

 

Why?

Zoro doesn’t ask that.

“Is it like Nami’s?”

 

Those screws were sealing something in. Though faint, there’s a straight line like a neat surgery scar between them, giving her feet the appearance of a machine’s seams. 

Anne swings her legs, swaying as she thinks to herself, “no?” It’s not something that needs to be changed and maintained, like Nami’s limbs. It’s just part of her body now, and something she has learned to live with, for a long time. 

“What’s Gin think about them?” he asks instead, because Gin would know. Gin would know what it is. Gin would know, if there’s anything that needs to be done.

“He doesn’t like to see it,” Anne looks around, setting her hands on Zoro’s shoulder and lifting herself up so she can see around her. “Zoro, do you know where we’re going?”

Satisfied at that answer, Zoro huffs. But he doesn't let the girl down as he walks on. “Of course I do. Unlike those other buffoons that are lost, I remember the map. We go right.”

Anne says nothing when Zoro immediately proceeds to walk left.  She just rests her elbows on Zoro’s back, letting herself be carried the rest of the way as she surveys the surroundings, marveling at the beauty of the overgrown wildlife. 

"I can't wait to get back to the ship," she says. "because I want to paint all of this when we have time."

Zoro chuckles at that. "you can't paint everything you see, Anne. You won't have enough paint in the world for that."

It's impossible, unachievable, that's a phrase they've all heard so many times. Zoro realizes what he's saying the moment he says it, so he smiles, like it's a challenge instead. And Anne, understanding it fully, smiles right back. 

"But that's what makes it worth doing, right?" she says, and Zoro grins, proud. 

 


 

“What the fuck are you still doing here.”

Luffy stops in his singing to see Wyper. “Oh heyyy, Guerilla-guy!” he grins, “I thought you went off or something?” 

“We told you to go South so why the fuck are you so far East , you moron!” Wyper snaps. “Also what the fuck’s a guerilla?!”

“Huh, no, I’m going South! This place’s warmer than all the other directions,” Luffy huffs. “Grandpa said so.” 

“Upper Yard is always a consistent temperature everywhere!” Wyper snaps, “why don’t you just climb up and follow the Giant Jack, use some common sense!”

Instead of being offended, Luffy just asks, “Giant Jack?”

“The huge beanstalk,” Wyper sighs. 

“Ooh,” Luffy says, climbing up immediately. 

 

Wyper stares in mild horror when Luffy’s arm stretches-- he didn’t do too much of that yesterday, seriously what the hell even was rubber, was it a Blue Sea material? 

 

“Ah, right!” Luffy leans back and hangs upside down to face Wyper again, his hat hanging by the string, “Nami was really really happy about her arm! So thanks!” 

Wyper raises a brow at that. Nami had already thanked him for it, so why was Luffy saying it too? “It’s not for free,” he reminds the boy, and Luffy just snickers. 

“We know, we know!” 

Luffy spins himself back up to continue climbing, and Wyper sighs in resignation.

“Do you brats really think you stand a chance against Enel in this war? As far as I can see, you’re just a pack of snot-nosed brats,” Wyper says. Sure Nami seemed like she had guts, and Gin and Zoro seemed capable-- but the blind sniper was nonchalant and their captain was easygoing. It was hard to take them seriously.

“I don’t really care about this Enel guy,” Luffy says, not at all bothered. “But if Nami wants me to beat them, I’ll do it.”

Wyper raises a brow. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

Luffy huffs at that. “Yes it does,” then, “I can’t become king of the pirates if I can’t punch a god or two that gets in my way. So of course I’ve gotta beat this guy up.” 

“Your baseless confidence is just appalling-- wait!” 

 

Wyper hisses when a giant snake emerges from the woodwork, looking curiously up at Luffy. Luffy also spots it and grimaces

 

“The master of the Sky?!” Wyper raises his bazooka but hesitates, “what is it doing here?!”

Luffy meeps and swings away when the snake lunges in for a bite, and he barks out a “HEY! That scared me! You’re still here, snake?!”

“Get out of the air, you idiot!” Wyper yells. 

 

Luffy’s vine gets corroded by the snake’s venomous fangs, and he balks , frantically stretching out to get a new hold-- but the snake’s maw closes around his figure with a oomph and a muted second of horror later, there was a swallow. 

The snake panics at first when the arm doesn’t go down, but a frantic scoop-and-swallow again fixes the problem, and he huffs, satisfied as he slithers off. 

Wyper has one arm outstretched, his face fixed in sheer mortified silence. 

Then he raises his bazooka, “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE YOU BIG SNAKE!” 

 

-


-

 

“Eh? A headcount?” Aisa asks. 

“That’s right,” Usopp says, sitting opposite of her, his legs crossed while she sat in a dogeza. “Let’s have a contest. See who can finish counting first?”

Kinoko settles on the handrail of the stairs, beside Pierre and Gan Fall. Sanji makes his way down the steps after ensuring their course. They were travelling at a gradual pace, since all they had to advance was the Breath Dial on Karasumaru.

“Uhhhh, eighty! One! No… three?” Aisa declares, loud in her excitement. 

“Bzzt,” Usopp cuts in, arms crossed with feigned pride, “it’s eighty- four , eighty-six if we include Kinoko and Pierre.”

“Agh! So close!” 

Usopp doesn’t mention that he can’t actually reach so far as the altar on the Giant Jack so he’s just guessing everywhere else. The whole point was to distract her from worrying about the Shandians, after all. 

 

The Ship team consisted of just Sanji and Usopp, Aisa and Gan Fall, and the two birds. A very compromised team, especially considering Usopp’s handicap and Gan Fall’s injury-- but there wasn't anyone else that was willing to compromise on adventure, so they just had to deal with it. 

Usopp had brought Nami’s axe out onto deck. She wasn’t bringing it with her, opting just to bring her Clima Tact for portability. Gin was eager to fight today, since his lungs were finally accustomed to the air pressure and he was full of vigor to battle. Luffy and Zoro went without saying, while Chopper and Robin were genuinely interested in finding El Dorado-- there just wasn’t anyone that wanted to stay behind except Usopp, so Sanji stayed behind too. This was the problem when your crew loved adventure too much, seriously. 

“Seriously, I still think the Gold Team is way too stacked , power wise,” Sanji mutters to himself, taking a drag of his cig. “Man, I don’t even have a lady here. What a bummer.”

Usopp hums, taking something out of his bag. It’s a raincoat, and Aisa drapes it over her shoulders, citing how flowy it was. People of the sky didn’t have rains like the Blue Sea dwellers, so they never had a need for it. She runs across the ship with Kinoko by her side, entertained by Pierre, who chases. 

Gan Fall and Sanji watch the scene, smiling warmly at the sight. It was nice, even in the midst of war, to have a moment of reprieve. 

 

She was so cheerful, Sanji almost missed the moment Usopp reaches toward Nami’s axe. 

Sanji reacts the second Usopp starts swinging, just in time to vault over the steps, snatch Aisa out of the ground, and bring them right out of range of a bolt of lightning that pierced through Usopp’s figure, dissipating inches before it hit any of Merry. 

“U-!!” Sanji lifts his head-- and his words are stuck in his throat. They rip out at the sight-- Usopp, shakily dropping the axe as his clothes are blown through by lightning, the chars searing through his right side, his arms hanging down, painfully still. “USOPP!” 

 

The god Enel sits at the bow of the ship, humming in interest. 

“I wasn’t aware you’d noticed me! That sure startled me,” Enel says, a bite of honesty in his fake surprise. “You sure did well to dodge it partially. It appears your Mantra exceeds my expectations… but it is still lacking.”

 

Usopp curses. 

Enel had definitely been hearing everything they’d spoken about. There was no surprising this guy. In fact-- he attacked first this time, just to test things out. That was something he didn’t do last time until he was attacked first. 

If Usopp’s raw instincts hadn’t kicked in at that very moment, they’d be just as quickly taken out as last time-- and now that Nami isn’t around to take over afterward, they couldn’t afford to do that. 

“You--!!” Sanji rushes forward, but Usopp hurriedly raises his arm, stopping him. 

“Sanji, no!” Usopp yells. “You can’t beat him!” 

The minute those words left his mouth, Usopp regretted just how foreign they felt on his tongue. Even Sanji had frozen at that, seemingly realizing that these were words Usopp had never said before. Not in this life. 

Usopp was implying that someone was out of their league? Sanji couldn’t believe that. Usopp hadn’t been anything but completely confident since he lost his sight. 

Huh. 

How ironic. 

“He was just testing me,” Usopp says. “It was just a warning shot.” That could’ve killed me if I didn’t dodge. “He’s not going to attack anymore for now.” 

 

Behind them, Aisa ducked, really stiffly, behind Pierre and the mast, cradling Kinoko in her arms in fear. She held her breath, and Enel granted her the mercy of pretending to not notice her. 

Enel smirked.

“The longnose is right,” he says, “I am not interested in any of you-- except you in particular, your Mantra interests me,” he muses, turning to Usopp. “Your flaws, however, disappoint me greatly. I suppose, if you survive to the end of this survival game, I will be impressed.” 

Usopp straightens, chuckling nervously, “ah, my eyes, you mean?” 

Enel doesn’t answer. That was obviously what he meant.

“Fuck that, you creep!” Sanji snaps, “what are you planning? Get away from Usopp and get the hell off our ship--!!” 

Enel raises a finger. 

 

Sanji’s entire form is engulfed by the heavenly force of nature, and to Usopp, his voice goes completely silent in an instant, as if someone had extinguished the lights of his candle between two fingers. 

The entire ship goes deathly silent. 

Usopp’s eyes widen-- but he can’t see a thing.

 

“I don’t suppose you can see it-- but I’ll tell you,” Enel says, sounding mockingly benevolent. “I just killed your friend. Now if you don’t want to end up like him…” 

Usopp launches back, lifting a crossbow on one arm and firing forward, diving low with his walking stick in his other arm, arm gripping tight-- 

--Enel phases right through in a beam of lightning, vanishing from before him only to emerge behind him, a finger stretched forward. 

“Impudence,” he simply says. 

And then Usopp launches from the ground, picking himself up, and with his bare feet, he grabs onto the edge of the metal plate around Merry’s mast-- using it as a footstool to begin running up, three steps for range before leaning back fully, slingshot pulled back. 

Enel dodges the projectile easily, but he doesn’t expect Usopp to spin in mid air, using the mast as a stepping stone to lunge right back toward him, aiming for his face with the flat of his foot, connecting sharp and solid as if he were plunging through a football. 

 

The crack of a bone reverberates through the ship, and the shock on Enel’s face only grows as he realizes-- his intangible body-- had just been struck

Usopp’s kick sends him flying to the side until he reaches the bow on the portside, smashing his face into the banister unprepared.  Usopp lands around Sanji’s figure, mildly surprised to find a body there before picking him up quickly, frantically checking for a pulse. 

Aisa’s breath escaped her-- and Gan Fall had never looked as horrified as he had in that very moment. Enel was confused-- very, very confused-- he reached for his face and found blood, from his mouth. The bruise on his face ached, his ears rang, from the impact. 

 

“I don’t understand,” Enel says. 

 

Usopp doesn’t hear him. “Sanji! Sanji, you alive? Hey!” he finds the pulse and sighs in relief, but it’s not over yet. He doesn’t call Kinoko over-- Enel wasn’t someone you could beat, even with the best eyesight in the world-- you can’t see the speed of light, after all. 

“I see,” Enel says, rising-- and Usopp realizes, abruptly when Enel’s presence forms above him-- that he shouldn’t have given Enel even a second. “You are a threat.” 

Usopp’s entire world explodes with pain

 

-


-

 

(“Hey, Nami,” Chopper says, “between you and Usopp right now, who’s stronger?”)

 

Being on the sixth level of Impel Down meant the world was led to forget your entire existence. You would be sealed forever, unless you were to be executed. You were forced to forget the world, only feeling it in bits and pieces through the grapevine that comes down every now and then. 

And much more-- the wardens, the prisoners, and the guards-- they would never let you forget who you were. 

Being reminded of your own disgrace, being tormented for the man you no longer were-- that was the favourite pastime of every person in that prison. 

So when God Usopp, Sniper King and Greatest Bravest Warrior of the Seas, Hero of Elbaf, writer of the Hundred Tales-- the living sensation himself- - was brought down once and for all… his life was hell in the deepest levels of sheer despair. 

The torture chambers of Impel Down never had a more frequent visitor. 

When Usopp closed his eyes, he could still hear them, sometimes. The screams, the begs, and the pleas. They were pathetic sometimes, defiant in others, and eventually, they were resigned, apologetic, if only to get it over with. 

His occasional cellmates always told him those were all his own screams, but Usopp didn’t really know, at that point. His eyes were always closed, after all. 

He didn’t know, when was the torture and when was the nightmare. When it ended and when it began. When the world ended and where he began.

He still isn’t sure, sometimes.

 

(“I’m not sure,” Nami admits. “I haven’t seen Usopp go all out in ages.”)

 

Usopp rouses-- but he can feel it. He’s been out for at least a while, and Enel is gone. Instead there’s Gan Fall and Aisa, and two ball-bodied randos, Hotori and Kotori, fending off the former god and Pierre’s attempts at defense. 

“I- I can fight too!” Aisa insists, when Gan Fall pushes her back behind the mast, “you can’t stop me! You’re going to die, you’re still wounded!” 

“Please, little lady. You mustn’t,” Gan Fall urges. “Pierre. Please take care of her.” 

The bird croons in approval, and Kinoko is there too, evidently two shields of feathers, protecting the girl from any harm. 

 

Usopp can see. Black and white, threads of life and soul and noise, forming through and illustrating the world with his Haki of Vision.

(And all he sees is the anger in his veins, and the desire to fight, fight, fight , his hands are free and there are weapons and the people he needs to protect are in danger.)

 

“Hoh-hoh!” one of them sings, “well, you think you can take us both on alone? While protecting all these deadweights? Think again!” 

“Hoh! You thought it would be a Flame, didn’t you? Well too bad, it was a Flavour Dial!” 

“And then nowww , Flame!” 

“Go and BOOM-- Huh wait wha--!!!”

Hotori-- or Kotori, whichever he was-- yelps, when right before he activates his dial-- the sails of the Going Merry let loose at once, quashing all of them and the loose gas under the weight of tons of fabric. 

“What the-- what is this?!” 

Axe Dials are activated as they cut through and scramble for vision, but they’re tangled between fabrics. 

Gan Fall and Aisa, at the edge, escape easily-- before looking around for the reason all the cloth could have fallen. There was no one who could have set those sails loose. So what happened? The ship couldn't have released her own sails to protect Gan Fall and Aisa, could she? 

Usopp scrambles onto his feet, catching Gan Fall and Aisa’s attention as he grabs the axe-- and just as Hotori and Kotori cut their way out-- he lunges forward. 

 

(“But to be honest… What does ‘all out’ even mean for us, anyway? I don’t think I really know anymore. We’ve never been power-based fighters to begin with.”)

 

The twins were rattled by the situation. Their Mantra in disarray. 

So Usopp didn’t hesitate. 

Gan Fall and Pierre had barely a second to reach for Aisa, wrapping hands and wings around her eyes, pulling her back so she was out of sight-- before Usopp lops their skulls right off, severing their upper heads from their jaws in one clean motion.

 

(“I’ve changed, Usopp’s changed. Maybe one day we’ll see for sure.”)

Chapter 65: always double tap your enemies.

Summary:

Usopp cleans up. Conis and Aisa help, but there's little any of them can do when god decides to smite a guy in front of your eyes.

Zoro's ability to get lost brings him all the way to the ship again, but thankfully, Wyper also brings a huge snake to the edge of the shore, if only in an attempt to pawn the problem off to someone else.

(Meanwhile, Shura and Satori are defeated, but they aren't staying down.)

Chapter Text

“Wha-- What just… what just…” 

Aisa shivers. She clutches, against her own instincts, tightly onto Gan Fall’s chest, feeling the warmth of his body against the bandages and his overwhelmingly soothing voice as she realizes, realizes , what has just happened. 

Their voices-- gone, in an instant. 

It wasn’t like when Enel electrocuted Sanji. She could still hear Sanij’s voice-- the moment of silence only occurred for an instant, and immediately picked back up, slowly, gradually, as he regained his strength in his sleep. 

But those two-- Hotori and Kotori-- their voices were extinguished , and suddenly, Aisa could hear painful silence where voices once existed, a gaping hole where a heart once was. 

There was a wet squelch, a distinct cluck as something hit the bow-- but Gan Fall refused to let her see. Pierre agreed, wings wrapped around them, on guard. Kinoko had flown off, going toward Usopp. 

Aisa almost yelled, no, Kinoko, come back , before she remembered that Usopp wasn’t an enemy or anything, she shouldn’t be this fearful for the bird. The smell of blood assaulted her next, and she curls further into Gan Fall. 

 

“Ah, sorry, Merry,” Usopp says, undeterred. He lays the axe aside to reach for the bodies, grabbing them by the collars to drag them over the edge, “I forgot. These will probably leave stains. On the sails, on the deck… agh, I’ll clean them up later, so forgive me?”

Neither Aisa nor Gan Fall look over when they hear the splashes into the Milky Road behind them. 

Usopp chuckles, like nothing was wrong. “What is it, Kinoko?” he asks, meandering carefully by following the ledge to avoid the sails on the deck. “Ah, right.” Then, they both realize that Usopp’s attention was turned to them. “Hey! Weird Knight! Aisa! Are you two alright? You might have to call back out to me, I can’t really tell where you are?”

 

(Usopp wasn’t too sure, when his Haki pulled into Vision-- but now he couldn’t use Haki at all for the next while. He felt around hesitantly, grateful when Kinoko understood and came to his side immediately.)

 

Aisa clings tighter to Gan Fall, who hesitates. 

But Aisa responds first, in a panic. “We’re fine!” she says, breathing in, and then out. 

“That’s a relief!” Usopp says. “Sorry about this. You were scared, right? But I think Enel’ll leave us alone now, so we’re safe.” 

 

We’re safe. (We’re safe? Really?) 

(From who?)

 

Softly, she says, “I don’t know why I’m scared, Gan Fall,” she whispers, like she was afraid to be heard. She clutches tighter-- it’s something Wyper would scold her for doing, she doesn’t want to turn to Gan Fall of all people for comfort, but what could she do? “It’s not like it’s the first time I’m hearing a person die. It’s not like it’s the first time someone I know has killed someone.”

So why was she trembling? 

(She didn’t know.) 

(She didn’t know that Usopp would do that.)

(She never imagined that Usopp would do that.) 

“You don’t need a reason, young lady,” Gan Fall whispers back. “You don’t need a reason to be repulsed by death.”

Even if they deserved to die-- even if Aisa felt no sympathy for the two that tried to kill them-- she didn’t need a reason to not want people to die. Life was too precious for people to be murdered over little grievances. Enough had already been lost. 

Aisa sniffles. “I don’t want to be afraid of Usopp.”

Gan Fall nods. “He is still the young man you are eased by,” he assures. “You will adapt, won’t you? You are a warrior, after all.”

Aisa nods. 

“I will.”

 


 

The next she opens her eyes, she picks up the courage to look. The blood is splashed over the bow, a streak of rotten red staining the sails on the deck, spilled across the bow, some even sprinkled upon the figurehead, and across Usopp’s figure. 

Usopp had already begun to gather the unconscious Sanji into his arms, trying to haul him to a more comfortable spot, using Usopp’s bag as a headrest. Meanwhile, Kinoko and Pierre try to figure out how to fold the sails away. The torn pieces of the fabric were complicating the shape, and they were too clumsy to get it neat. 

Gan Fall helps Usopp secure cloud water from the Milky road to use as cleaning agent, and Aisa hesitantly inspects the axe, blood still dripping from its blade-- and firmly, she turns away, hurrying into the kitchen where Usopp said she would find rags. 

Later, when Gan Fall leaves to locate his former residence and find his old followers, Aisa would meet his eyes, and she would nod back, assuring him that she was fine and not afraid. Her trembling hands tell otherwise, but she still sat beside Usopp and listened to his stories, just as entertained as before. 

Kinoko would let Aisa hug her, and she wouldn’t complain a single time. 

 

When Conis and Pagaya show up, loudspeakers blaring ‘encouraging music’ as they put it, Aisa would greet them with slight apprehension, but make no mention of what had occurred on this ship. 

She was more interested in the angel girl, who was also wrapped in bandages and moved like her left side was twice as heavy as the right, but acted like nothing was wrong. 

Conis introduced herself to Usopp as someone that met the Strawhat crew on Angel Beach. Usopp seemed taken aback for a moment, before introducing himself as well. 

(“I forgot we didn’t meet yet,” Usopp mutters to himself, but surely, that was Aisa hearing wrong.) 

 

They leave Upper Yard on the new Milky Road Pagaya built, and Aisa will pretend to forget the way the sounds suffocated to a stop. It wouldn’t be the first time she covered her ears and pretended that made the noises go away. 

She was a warrior. She would be strong. 

She waits outside Upper Yard, Kinoko in her arms and Suu in Conis’ arms, and she would pick a fight with the Skypiean, if only to distract herself from everything else she hated. 

She so, so dearly wished that the war would end already. 

 

(Because maybe then, Usopp will stop smelling like blood.)

 

-


-

 

Robin inspects the ruins as Gin follows, waiting patiently. 

Gin, noticing she was absorbed in her thoughts, decides against distracting her. He keeps a distance so she has privacy and simply looks around, a hand reaching toward his tonfas at his sash, looking around warily. 

“Robin,” he suddenly interrupts, and Robin turns around, facing the other direction. 

From the left, a large man-- a priest? No. He’s wearing a large toga-- like the goats they’d fought on the way-- but fancier, more authoritative, like he had a higher ranking.  Gin would suspect that he was the Commander of those goat militia, something like that. 

But on the right was a beaten, staggering, but fierce Shura, standing firm and furious as he adjusted his goggles, looking down on Gin with a vengeful vigour in his eyes. His bird was nowhere to be seen. 

“Ah, Shura. You were still alive?” Yama says, unimpressed. “God Enel has already written you off on the count for the survival game.”

“Survival Game?” Shura scoffs. “I came here to settle a score,” he spits, staring Gin with fire in his eyes, “I’ll deal with his whims later.”

“Ah really. You think you’re capable?” Yama taunts, and Shura raises his lance. 

“I can deal with you first, Yama! Bring it on!” 

“You’re filled with so much hatred. How disgraceful.”

 

Gin and Robin’s eyes meet. They don’t need another word before they break off in separate directions, the two ways Yama and Shura weren’t blocking. 

 

“What the--!” Shura and Yama click their tongues at each other before splitting off after the two pirates. 

 


 

Gin leads Shura further into the forest, away from the ruins. 

“I thought that guerilla bastard finished the job,” Gin mutters. Well, to be fair, Shura does look beat up. Like he’d been spitting blood to get upright again. 

But maybe he didn’t. 

Maybe Wyper thought he killed him. Those Dial weapons seem lethal, but if Sanji was up and working after an Impact to a heart, maybe humans were just more durable than logic gave them the credit for. 

Maybe Shura was just brought back by sheer hatred alone, because that’s what it seemed to be right now. 

“Escaping again, you Blue Sea bastard,” Shura hisses, maneuvering on strings to get closer. “But it matters not. We won’t be disturbed here.”

Gin curses when he realizes his limbs were sluggish, and he stops, taking in the faint, near-invisible threads of wires that had coiled around him in his run. 

“This is my Trial of Strings,” Shura says. 

Survival rate, three percent. 

Gin curses louder when the strings tighten around him-- panics when he feels one around his neck, but he hooks a tonfa around the underside before it closes fully, using the added space to protect his vitals. 

He scoffs, staring at Shura. The birdkeeper was on a high branch. It was clear that he was keeping away from the ground, because all the traps were on running height. 

“What happened to your bird? It died on you?” Gin taunts. “Looks like it was useless anyways-- since you managed to get so damn high without it.” 

 

The strings tighten again-- and this time, bracing his hands on either side-- Gin feels it cut through limbs, but he forces his limbs through them unti l they hit bone-- and with a grunt, he rips the iron apart with the force, immediately freeing himself, snatching his tonfas back to grip-- and hurling it in Shura’s direction. 

 

“What the f--!!” Shura isn’t prepared to be clocked in the jaw with heavy iron today-- but he falls right off his perch and barely gathers himself in his own string trap, his clothes shielding him from injury but his disorientation all the more worse.

Gin walks right up to him, admiring the magnificent tangle he’d gotten himself into. 

Ironically-- Shura was now trapped, in his own trap. 

“Those are iron cloud strings!” Shura yells, disbelieving. 

“And my tonfa is made of full iron, what’s your point,” Gin says. Shura takes a moment to remember how this man threw it, upward, at that stunning velocity, enough to hit him with all the force of a bone-breaking concussion at best. 

If this man hadn’t been burdened by air pressure and the need to take care of a ship yesterday-- Shura didn’t know. Shura didn’t know if he’d have lasted long at all. 

Finally, Shura sighs. “I have lost,” he admits. “I won no battles in this war. I do not deserve to live to see the end of it.”

“Oh, you’re finding closure for yourself? Well that’s fucking great,” Gin mutters, seething. “You think you deserve any honour in defeat?”

“It is resignation, not closure.” 

“Whatever the fuck it is, it’s pathetic.”

Gin’s arms are bleeding heavily-- the strings had cut into bone, but broke before it got far. It was too thin, and they shattered with the tension, as if it were thread. 

What a joke. 

“What the fuck even are you,” Shura hisses instead. “I know the iron in the Blue Sea is sturdier than cloud-- heavier, which contributes-- but I know no one who will do something as reckless as attempting to break the strings with no regard.”

Gin steps forward-- picking up his tonfa, and tucking it safely to his side. 

“My strength is made to break steel,” he says. “Or at least, I’m supposed to.”

Shura closes his eyes, not understanding-- but not believing he had a right to understand. Gin reaches forward-- grabs Shura by the head-- and slams it, right into the ground, wires and all. He earns a stilted scream, but he doesn’t let up. 

“You asked me what I am.” 

 

To begin with, Gin’s fighting prowess never lay in his weapons, strategy, or even his skills. It has, from beginning to end-- been in his raw strength. 

 

“I’m the Man Demon,” he says simply.  The skull crunched against Gin’s fingers, but the noise was drowned out by the loud, voracious scream that ripped from Shura’s throat. 

Then, silence. 

Gin stands up with a huff, locating his tonfa, warily looking around for traps before picking it up and tucking it back into his side. 

“And that’s how you finish a fucking job,” he says. “Fucking lousy excuse of an angel.”

 


 

He meets up with Robin, back in the ruins they started. Some of the broken city was trashed, others barely intact-- and Robin was heavily bruised and injured as well, her arms cradled around herself, like they were tender with effort.

She shows no hint of discomfort as she looks up to greet the Man-Demon as he arrives. 

They don’t mention each others’ injuries, but they take a brief glance and determine they’re no big deal. Gin is already wrapping up the worst in hope they’ll stop bleeding all over the place, and Robin’s bruises aren’t life-threatening. 

“Wasn’t a big deal,” Gin says, unprompted. “Just annoyingly sharp.”

Robin hums, “same here,” she says. “Just incredibly heavy.”

They don’t say another word to each other as they continue to head South, where the ancient city of Shandora awaits.

 


 

Robin and Gin make it to the ruins, and they head downward. 

They find Shandora, and they sit for a moment in quiet awe, just taking in the sights. 

They separate, Gin heading for the outskirts while Robin goes straight for the city center, inspecting the ruins and reading the writings. 

The first thing Robin notices is the history. 

The first thing Gin takes note of is the criminal lack of gold. 

There are places where things have obviously recently been moved. Stains where statues used to be, vines avoiding places where signs were placed. This place was looted -- disgracefully too-- and when Robin directs him to some tracks she's found, of what was definitely a transport cart, it proved his theory. 

So Gin leaves Robin there and follows them down. 

 

The cart tracks go down a mine, into an array of caves-- an open space, with lots of tracks and pulleys and lifts-- Gin sees the metal tools and a furnace and he realizes that what he’s seeing is a factory. 

Which means something is being built.

He runs through it-- finds a spiral down, but he goes up instead, emerging in a large canyon, decorated with symbols of the mitsudomoe. 

“I…” he breathes, “I think I just found god’s basement.”

Before him was a large ship. Labelled with the title of the god, emboldened with gold where it wasn’t wood, precariously formed with gears and intricate curves. A vessel with oars-- and if Gin was looking at this ship right-- its dimensions are that of an ark.

Land of gold. 

That’s all the fucking gold. 

 

“You have indeed,” the voice, coming from right behind Gin-- made him freeze. “So, what will you do now?”

 

Gin didn’t-- shouldn’t-- he couldn’t even dare -- to turn around. 

Enel sighs, his staff held across his shoulders as he inspected the shorter man, observing. 

“I’m impressed,” he deems. And Gin couldn’t breathe. He can’t even fathom how long the god’s been behind him, how long he’s been watching. “But having you loiter around here troubles me. I’d advise you to leave.”

Gin picks up his courage and whirls , tonfa bared strong and rough.

He doesn’t think it’ll work. He knew it wouldn’t work the moment he swung, because he hesitated. But in his one second of hesitation-- he saw Enel sigh, almost in disappointment. 

The tonfa phases right through that astral body, as if it were nothing more than a phantom.

Gin’s eyes blow wide with horror. 

And then-- and then like a complete idiot, he remembers what his weapon is made of.

 

He screams when the surge overflows through his palm, causing a violent, involuntary spasm, his vision blowing white as his entire body seizes , his shirt blows out from the voltage-- and by the time he’d noticed his own screams had ceased, it was all he could do to fall to his knees, feeling himself collapse bonelessly into a heap on the ground. 

“Now,” Enel says, “I wonder what that woman is doing in the ruins. I suppose I will talk to her for answers. She seems to me to be a much more educated company.” 

Gin’s consciousness drifted for a moment, and then all was black.

 

-


-

 

Wyper comes across Zoro and Anne when he’s chasing after the snake. 

Anne is still being carried, sitting on Zoro’s shoulders now to get better height and see where they’re going. Neither of them join the dots of the huge Southbird standing beside them, Zoro because he’s an idiot and Anne because she wasn’t listening when the explanations occurred.

“Ah, great!” he yells, exasperated at this point, not even addressing them, just yelling because he’s tired and he’s got better things to chase, “your captain’s in there!” 

“In where?” Anne asks. 

“In where?!” Zoro exclaims, in shock, but his question is evidently less of a where and more of a how.

“I don’t know!” Wyper yells, aiming his bazooka at it again, “that thing’s notorious for breaking grounds! Fucking bazooka’s doing shit against it!” 

“Well I just gotta try to cut it then!” Zoro tosses Anne right off of him, reaching for his swords. 

Anne lands unceremoniously, sprawled on the ground, slightly offended. She shrugs at the sight of the two lau nching attacks at the snake that’s crying-- for help--? Are they just bullying that thing? And then she decides to just pull her shoes on instead. Her socks aren’t dry yet. 

 

“HOLY SHIT IT’S A SNAKE!” 

“I thought it was a tree root!” 

“AHHHH IT’S THE MASTER OF THE SKY!!” 

 

Zoro whirls in right on time to see the Going Merry-- what the hell? They’re on the edge of the island already? -- with Usopp, Aisa, Conis, and Pagaya on the deck. 

“What’s going on?” Usopp asks, the only one not shrieking or running. 

Zoro swings out, two flying blades soaring across the skyline, right for the snake. It strikes, solid and earning a hiss of pain-- but notably, Zoro notices that it didn’t draw blood at all. 

“Crap, what is that skin made of?”

Zoro lands on the deck of the ship, two blades drawn before him as he spares a moment to look at the crowd. 

“What the hell are you guys doing here?” he asks. 

“Zoro-kun, Zoro-kun,” Usopp says, wisely, “this is the Eastern Shore.”

Zoro considers that. Conis, Aisa, and Pagaya, all three of whom are hiding behind Usopp, nod in exasperation. Suu and Kinoko are standing casually by the bow, undeterred apparently, and they nod as well. 

Zoro sheaths his swords and deems the situation, “fuck.”

 

Wyper rounds the snake, blowing another round of the Burn Bazooka toward the snake-- but it doesn’t even injure it-- Nola shrieks, and, afraid now, begins running back toward the forest. 

Cursing, Wyper lands on the bow as well. “What the-- why are there Skypieans here?”

Conis and Pagaya yelp at the sight. 

“Hey, no fighting. They’re outlawed now because of Enel,” Usopp sums up the situation. “What are you doing here, Wyper? I thought you were headed toward the Giant Jack?”

“I was!” Wyper snaps, yelling, “but your fucking moron of a captain got eaten by that snake on my watch and now I can’t fucking just let him get digested can I?!”

“What the-- woah, you’re a nice person.”

“Shut the fuck up!” 

Usopp chuckles at that, but Wyper scoffs, sitting out his cigarette and giving Aisa one glance, making sure she’s unharmed-- before turning back toward the forest. 

“So what’re you doing here?” Zoro turns to Conis. He spares a hand to rub Suu on the head, earning a coo from the fox. 

“Oh! Uh, I wanted to help you guys too,” Conis says, sounding flustered, “I-- couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. You guys don’t know the way to Cloud End and--” 

“Ah really? Sorry to trouble you.”

“Ah-- it’s no problem!” 

 

“Huh? Where’s Sanji?” Anne emerges from the forest, the Southbird right behind her. 

Zoro straightens, abruptly realizing the fact. He also takes in the chars on the deck, Usopp’s new burns, and the stain of blood splattered across Usopp’s overalls. 

Zoro doesn’t ask. 

He immediately makes a beeline for the galley, where Sanji was resting, his body covered in bandages, the skin peeking from it charred and thin. 

Lightning burns.

“That god fucker came by,” he says, and Wyper whirls right back to attention. 

“He’s not in the god’s Shrine?”

“He’s everywhere, ” Aisa says, weakly. “But we’ve barely got anyone left. They’ve all been defeated by now, no one’s moving. There was this thing just now… a couple dozen people went out at once. Kamakiri too…” 

Wyper clicks his tongue. 

 

Conis and Pagaya awkwardly greet Anne, who nods back. Hearing that Conis was struck by lightning was a worry, but she seemed to be fine. She even had medical supplies, which was a relief when Chopper used most of Merry’s stock last night. 

Usopp-- Zoro takes a closer look at him and squints, confused. He isn’t looking as confidently in Zoro’s direction as he usually would-- instead, his gaze is turned down. 

“We’ll be fine here, Zoro,” Usopp says. Zoro highly doubts that. “And Luffy’ll get out of that snake eventually. He’s not easy to digest.”

“Why do you sound so sure ?” Wyper and Zoro immediately retort. 

“Either way. Enel is probably headed toward Giant Jack. He’s not trying to kill everyone-- he wants entertainment,” he says. Because he’d have killed everyone on this ship otherwise. “So he’ll go where everyone is going.”

“I see,” Zoro says. 

“Why are you so sure ,” Wyper repeats, but he doesn’t receive an answer this time either.

Wyper immediately goes to leave, but this time, it’s Conis that interrupts him. She’d been hiding, but immediately hurried forward now. 

“Just--” she flinches when Wyper glares at her, “we have a Waver!” she says, pointing sharply toward the machine her father had finished fixing. “It’s equipped with a fully-functional Jet Dial, so it’ll probably be faster than the Skate Wavers.”

Wyper gives her a long look-- then turns to the Waver, giving it a skeptic glance. 

“That was ours,” Usopp says, “if you don’t want it anymore once you get to Giant Jack, you can just give it to Nami.”

Wyper grinds his teeth. 

Then, “I’ll take it.”

 

It’s functional, he can tell that much. He trusts his eyes, not the words. Not the words he swears. So if they’re offering-- he’s not going to fucking let them take it back now. 

“Ah, I’m coming along,” Anne says. She jumps down to the Cloud Sea, landing noisily in the back of the Waver due to all the trinkets she wore around her neck and belt. She held onto the sides, avoiding the engine. 

Wyper barely falters, simply revving up the engine one-handed, and zooms right off. “If you fall off, I’m not turning to get you,” he warns. 

"I don't expect you to."

And then they’re gone, Zoro barely having the time to fit in a “wait a minute ANNE--!!” before they’re much too far. 

 

There’s a moment of silence before Zoro notices the Southbird chatting with Kinoko. 

He has no idea what the damn mushroom bird said or promised, but in the next second, Zoro is getting carried off by his bag of food, and he’s screaming bloody murder at it to let him go. 

Usopp calls out some sort of goodbye in the distance, but Zoro is too preoccupied to listen. 

 


 

“These are terrible tears!” Conis exclaims, spreading out the torn sail over the deck once again. “The stain aside, most of it is unsalvageable.” 

Usopp hums from his spot on the bow, a hand on Merry’s figurehead as he rested. Kinoko, Suu, and Aisa help Conis lay the sails flat, mostly to distract themselves from everything else happening inland. 

“Really sorry, Conis. Think you can try anyways?” he asks, “it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just enough to sail.”

“I will do my best,” Conis promises. “It’s the least I can do now.”

 

Usopp never quite got to thank Conis for coming back for them last time around. But they’d be in so much trouble if they didn’t, and that was such a relief.  

“Thanks, Conis,” he says. “You’re a really kind person.”

Conis makes a short squeak. “Wha-- no, not at all! I mean,” she’s evidently flustered, “I just… I’m just… so tired. Tired of living in fear.”

She wanted to live, freely , all this time-- and this is just one, meek step ahead. 

“Even now, I can’t fight with all of you. All I can do is fix the sails, in hopes that once you get here, you can set sail as soon as possible,” she says, and the sadness in her voice was palpable. “Is it worth it? I’m not sure.” 

She’s just doing everything she knows how to do.

Which isn’t much at all, but it was better than curling up and rotting away inside herself.  

Aisa is beside her-- and she, hearing this-- looks toward the fabric in her hands and realizes. “Me too,” she says, her fingers tightening around the cloth. When attention turns to her, she inches closer to Conis, flustered as she reiterates, “do you have a spare needle and thread? I can sew too!” 

If Usopp could see, he would notice the way Conis’ face blooms into a warm, knowing smile. But for now, all he hears is Conis handing Aisa the tools, and though Aisa insists that she knows what she’s doing, Conis carefully guides her through the methods. 

Kinoko and Suu help them with little things, like straightening cloth that needed to be cut, or supervising the reels of thread as it’s being used. Usopp stayed on one side of the ship with Pagaya on the other, keeping watch. 

 

“Ah, should we use the horn to blow away our fears?” Pagaya suggests.

“That’s a great idea, father!” Conis beams. 

“NO!” Aisa yells. 

“Hey, I think it’s fine,” Usopp says, smiling a little, and Aisa gives a scandalised gasp. 

 

Usopp sits by the bow, looking toward the sky with his eyes closed-- and he breathes out. He can feel his Haki coming back to him. 

(Once it’s fully recovered-- once Sanji wakes up-- he will go as well.)

 

He hasn't recovered enough yet, however, to notice the wounded form of a man, crawling weakly out of the jungle, pleading for help. 

Suu notices him first. And then, Pagaya, and finally, everyone else. 

“You’re-- that hair and those clothes,” Pagaya recognizes, and Conis hurries to get her first aid kit. “You’re from the Holy Guards?” 

“Wai-- Wait! Wait!” he pleads, “we don’t have time-- no time,” his voice is tearful, desperate-- like he’s out of time. “My wife-- my son! They’re on Angel Island and… please, we have to-- tell them, Enel is--!!” 

 

Usopp doesn’t hear the rest of it, but he senses it coming.

He senses it coming much too late and he can do absolutely nothing but feel and listen -- 

--as the lance of lightning showers down from the heavens, eradicating a mouth of the island and the man-- and Pagaya-- with it. 

He hears Conis scream. He hears Aisa scream. 

His instincts don’t know how to react when the blast erupts-- thunder-- and blows , a wave of sheer sonic blowing through, rattling the loose sails, nearly taking the two small animals with it into the sky. 

Usopp hears ringing in his ears and his vision is pure white and he sees nothing but he feels the very second the voices vanish, two at a time, the overwhelming despair in all the hearts around him and--

--and Usopp finally realizes what has happened. 

 

(Hey, hey.)

(No one warned me about this.)

 

-


-

 

Nami finds Chopper cheering tearfully into the sky. 

“I’M A BRAVE MAN TOO!” he yells, landing on the rock and taking a moment to really catch his breath. 

From the churn of clouds nearby, newly rustled-- and the unconscious bodies, Nami huffs, a little proud. 

“Chopper,” she calls out, and the reindeer freezes in shock before realizing who she was and wailing, rushing forward for a hug. “There, there,” she cradles him in her arms as he starts wailing about how he thought he was going to wander the forest for the rest of his life if he couldn’t find anyone else. “So what happened here?”

“Oh I uh,” he sniffles, “I!” he huffs up proudly, gesturing at himself, “I just defeated a priest! I’m a man now too! I’m strong!” 

Nami blinks. Then she registers. 

There were four priests. They were equal in strength, and Chopper, Chopper of all people, had just defeated one of them? 

“You did?!” with a gape that genuinely wasn’t exaggerated, “that-- that’s actually awesome , Chopper, what the hell? I’m so proud of you!” She lifts him into the air, “let’s go tell everyone else! Holy crap!” 

“Yeah!” Chopper cheers. 

 

They treat his injuries, eat their lunch boxes as Chopper excitedly recounts his very incredible battle-- huh, he fell all the way down to the Blue Sea? Is he still alive? And then they make their way toward the Giant Jack. 

Nami rolls up the sleeves of her jacket, mindful to hide the parts stained with blood, before ringing the bells at her belt, chuckling when Chopper shakes his head to jingle back with the bells at his antlers. 

She’d fought, she doesn’t know-- a lot of goats back there. It was fun, and she had a great time. It was strange, how she loved to fight just to test her skills now. 

She always considered herself a pacifist, and now, she was sure she still had that in her heart-- but if it was fun sparring, not with the intention of lethality-- then she was incredibly fine with just showing off to herself. 

(Maybe it’s the influence of her vagabond life-- or the change of heart that tore into her as a Whitebeard. She’s a fighter now, and that’s different. She wonders if Usopp would dislike this part of her-- or if he would be different too, and Nami hadn’t noticed yet.)

“The henna’s fading a bit, huh,” Chopper points out, because with Nami’s sleeves rolled up, the marks were more visible now. 

Nami smiles at it, spreading her fingers out to see where they ended, just before her fingers. She turns her attention to her collarbone, where the patterns end in a heart trailing across the bone. They were a rich gold at first, now, a slightly sheeny ochre. 

It had only been a little less than two weeks, but it just wasn’t made for sea travel. 

“I think, at this rate, it’ll only last three more weeks,” she says with a sigh. “Oh, won’t my princess come and give me a new coat?”

“Won’t a tattoo last longer?” Chopper asks. 

Nami chuckles, “of course it will,” then, “but that’ll have to wait for when we’re all together again.” 

Chopper hums, sipping on the tea in his flask before lickign his lips. “Then I hope Vivi comes back soon. I can’t wait to show her all that’s happened.”

Nami nods. “Me too, Chopper. Me too.”

 


 

Nami and Chopper’s ascent of the beanstalk is interrupted by an assault of white Cloud balls, surrounding them in all directions. 

“You’re kidding,” Nami hisses, directing Chopper away from them and telling him to hurry, go up . An accidental nudge on one ball causes an explosion, and Nami’s fears are renewed. 

The laugh that comes from the Priest Satori is bitter and mocking. 

“Hoh-oh, hoh,” it’s dry as dust. He’s standing on one ball, not dancing. Blood still drips from his head, his glasses are still smashed-- but he’s visibly fuming , and the insane number of Cloud Balls just cemented his resolve. 

Nami looks back-- and realizes she has to take him here, right now.

“I thought Sanji cracked your skull,” she says. That was enough to take him out last time around. 

“You killed my younger brothers,” he says, and his accusation is cold. “I will not ,” and the word comes out with so much bite, Nami didn’t think he had it in him, “ not ever , forgive all of you.”

Nami stops. “Huh?” she doesn’t understand. She remembers fighting those two bozos last time, but she’s sure Usopp and Sanji can handle them easily. 

“Do you understand the feeling, Blue Sea dweller? To find the only people that mattered in your life, and find them dismembered, thrown into the waters, like rags?”

Nami blanched at the imagery. “What the-- no I didn’t! We may be pirates, but we don’t make a habit of killing people!” 

They were pirates for freedom , after all. And the ones in the crew that have killed a person before know better than to force blood into the hands of the clean. Luffy never wanted to do something as extreme as kill when it wasn’t necessary , and the crew respected that. 

“You’re thinking of either the Shandians or your fellow white goats,” Nami insists.

“You did!” Satori yells, “your crew did!”

Nami clicks her tongue. 

Sure, Nami knew that must have been devastating, she felt for him a little some, she would never wish the agony of finding your brother’s corpse to even her worst enemies-- but this fucker was such a hypocrite! 

“Then go after them, not me!” Don’t you kill people all the time? You tried to kill us!

“I will, after I'm done with you.”

 

Nami is unnerved .

There were no more jokes and sing-song tones, and his eyes were downcast. He was serious , for a man who’s probably never needed to be serious in his life.  This is bad. This is really bad. 

“Nami, I can--” Chopper speaks up, but Nami shakes her head. Help? He can. But he’s done enough-- he’s defeated a priest on his own-- it’s Nami’s turn to fight.

“I’m fine here, Chopper!” she says. “Go on ahead!” 

She can’t draw Chopper into this fight. Satori had the terrain advantage-- Nami was literally hanging onto the side of the Giant Jack right now-- and with all the surprise mines, Nami was better off dealing with this solo. 

She immediately assembles her Clima Tact. 

She kicks off the Giant Jack-- and Satori swings a hand, a rope-- and a white ball smashes into her side, exploding upon contact. 

“Surprise BALL!”

She sees it coming right before it hits, and she maneuvers, using a supercharged Cool Ball to deflect the explosion’s heat against her, using the momentum of the blast to launch herself further forward, swinging bravely at Satori. 

Satori swerves aside to dodge, but his hand shoots right out to grab the staff, spinning to throw her off her grip. 

“Not so easy! Mantra. ” 

“Oh yeah, fucking try me!” Retaliating, Nami braces a foot against Satori’s chest, clinging on around his neck to force herself stable, struggling to keep a hold of her weapon. 

“Ho-hoh!” Satori sings. “Challenge accepted. Just kidding.”

Nami barely notices the Ball coming toward her before it pops into a death trap of circular saws. She leaps out of the way in the last second, forced to let him swing her right out, taking her on a round after another in an infinite merry-go-round before he lets go, sending Nami flying right into a next wave of Balls. 

Nami let loose a string of curses. 

 

Detaching the Breath Dial from her Clima Tact, she aims it behind her, slowing herself down while simultaneously bracing a foot behind the other, toe fumbling for that one button on her metal heel. The Milky Dial on her prosthetic foot activates just in time to deflect her momentum, and hurriedly, she skates through the clouds, back toward Satori. 

 

“Fucking bless Wyper,” she flips into the air, scattering her Clima Tact into boomerangs, sending two parts flying in opposing directions. 

The final one, she aims it behind her. 

“Gust Sword!” to send herself flying forward. 

Satori swerves aside of the two boomerangs, then steps aside of Nami as she lunges toward him. He doesn’t expect her arm to bolt into a blade, ripping right through his side as she crosses. 

He howls, but the amount of chub on his figure had not, in fact, been his real body, so there was no real injury. 

 

“The weather calls for a Cyclone,” Nami deems, balancing on the platform of the Milky Dial in mid-air, whirling back around to lunge once more. “Strong gales may carry off loose items. So be sure to reinforce the windows, and watch out for flying projectiles. Or people!”

"Huh? You think I can't deal with a head on--!!"

Nami doesn't strike. While Satori's attention is focused on her, the boomerangs of her Clima Tact pieces swing by one more time, two at once clocking him on either side of his head.  She grins, when he falls back, limp and finally unconscious. 

 

“That much head trauma must mean he’ll be down for good now, right?” Nami sighs, hopeful. “Seriously, what’s his problem?”

The sudden silence with the end of the fight makes her notice a distant, cacophonous tick, tick, tock around her. Nami lifts her head, wondering what that sound was. 

Tick, tock, click. BEEP!!

Nami jumps, looking around her. (The sound’s coming from the Balls?)

"You're kidding--!!" 

Her eyes blow wide, and immediately, she reactivates the Milky Dial, rushing up.

 

Satori’s body hits the ground. 

Every Surprise Ball in her vicinity explodes at the same time, sending not just cloud shards, but weapons and loose blades and projectiles shooting in every known direction.

 


 

Nami bursts through the clouds with all the momentum of the explosion that threw her forth. She’s airborne for all of two seconds she didn’t ask for. Her Dial stops. Her ears are ringing, and her back-- she’d let loose a howl when a metal scrap piece shredded through her jacket and lodged right into the shoulder blades. They zip through her arm, lodge into her lower back, into her thighs, and shatter in her flesh. 

(Ah, Chopper would hate this so much, needing to take out each and every piece later.)

She can do nothing but let herself fall, thankfully onto the clouds and not all the way back down, curling weakly into herself as her head spins, and her breath returns shakily. 

Her vision is clouded with flashes that make her dizzy. Her ears hurt, ringing so loudly a migraine sets right in and she can do nothing but close her eyes and groan and try to focus on something else instead. Her head feels like it’s the one that exploded instead. 

What a bummer. 

She’d been doing so well, and here she was… letting her guard down again. 

 

(But she supposed this was fine.)

(She could feel Zoro approaching. That meant safety, always.)

 

So she closed her eyes and rested, simply breathing, trying to regain enough strength as the pain went through her system, and for time to eventually dull the pain.

 

(There aren't that many enemies left, anyways. The rest of the crew can handle it.)

Chapter 66: punching god (warning: not safe for non-rubbermen)

Summary:

Zoro has a bad day, Anne also has a bad day, and Sanji has an even worse day. (But hey, Usopp can just make them shirts to commemorate, so that's something. Won't it be cool to have a shirt that tells the world you got smited by god twice and lived to tell the tale?)

In other words: Time to take down Enel.

Notes:

Ahhh, I wanna say 'expect an update ever 5-7 ish days', but I'm really bad at keeping to schedules so I don't wanna put it in words! X( but yeah that's about how it's going. Skypiea's almost ending, though, so I might have to take another short amount of time to plan out the next events before I go anywhere else. Water 7 is gonna be so much to plan, agh!

Anyways, next chapter's the conclusion of the Skypiea arc! damn, feel like just yesterday we were still in Alabasta. As usual, I love all of you and you're all a genuine blessing to this world. I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Text

Zoro’s having a shitty, shitty day. First the bird carries him off, then it throws him into some fucking ruins, and then this Priest guy with a stupid form-changing sword is picking a fight. 

The snake that ate Luffy emerges right then, quickly followed by Wyper and Anne, on the waver. Gan Fall appears too, enraged because of the state of god’s Shrine. 

And then in the middle of the battle, Zoro finds Chopper half-dead in the middle of the ruins, covered in wounds and his body shredded through. He’d never seen the reindeer covered in so many wounds before and that was just wrong

“Anne, don’t move,” Zoro says, when she approaches and gasps at the sight. “There are traps around.”

Anne nods, completely still. 

 

When they scatter again, Holy the dog turns its full attention on Anne. Anne retrieves her brushes, and a few expert maneuvers allows her to paint a Yellow-Green Colours Trap on the dog’s back. 

“Be my friend, good boy,” she says.

Holy does not. 

Instead, he seems more irked than before, a lancing punch driving right through the ruins as Anne hurries to dodge. 

“Then…” Anne changes tactics, going for Red to make the brown of Immobility. “Red-Green. Stay there until we’re done fi--” She’s interrupted by a swinging paw, socking her right in the gut and sending her flying , smashing hard and breaking right through solid stone pillars, one after another. 

“Anne!” Zoro yells. “Shit--” 

Zoro’s moment of falter gives Ohm a chance to shred right through his shoulder with that Iron Cloud sword, and he hisses , feeling the wall behind him shred with his body. 

Wyper launches his bazooka in Ohm’s direction, but Ohm was always a master of the terrains he’d trapped. Dodging was almost too easy. 

“What’s going on, Wyper?” Braham emerges from the clouds, finally arriving with a handful of surviving Shandian warriors. Hot on their heels are the goat-looking fighters. 

“You’re late!” Wyper barks. 

 

Ohm huffs at that, resting his sword against his shoulder. “Five Shandian warriors,” he counts. When Anne emerges with a grunt from the rubble, making a frustrated noise, he snorts. “Two Blue Sea dwellers. And then we’ve got four Holy Guards left. Then there’s the giant snake, and Holy. Gan Fall and your pink bird, I guess I’ll count you too. So thirteen fighters and three animals are still in the game.” 

“Game?” Zoro repeats.

( “He just wants entertainment,” Usopp had said.)

Ohm has Holy set up a wired cage battlefield, and they were officially trapped in. Wyper drives one of the Holy Guards against it, and Anne gets up, untying the coat around her waist and tossing it aside. She needed easy access to her tool belt right now. 

“Well someone looks fired up,” Zoro mutters, catching sight of her as she menacingly grips two brushes, glaring at the vicinity to locate her opponent. 

“Can I kill it?” Anne asks. 

Zoro doesn’t answer for a moment. Then, “for the sake of continuity, I’m gonna say no.”

Anne very loudly clicks her tongue in annoyance. 

“I am taming that creature,” she hisses, because apparently her paints not working on a dog is where she draws the line on her own limitations, “I am making it my friend or I will murder it and make Sanji cook it for me.”

Zoro has no idea if he should encourage or discourage that. 

“Uh,” he draws his swords, turning back toward his opponent, “well, don’t break any bones, Chopper’s not around to fix that.” 

Anne huffs. “My bones are unbreakable. So that’s fine.” 

Zoro turns to question her with a loud “can you not drop confusing information like that on me out of nowhere to just leave--?!” but Anne is gone, racing right along the path Holy went, just beside it, where there definitely wouldn’t be any traps. 

 

Anne leaps when Holy whirls back to throw a punch, and she follows her leaping momentum into the air-- and draws a Colours Trap, swirling out of the way to watch the paint fall, splashing into shape onto Hoy’s fur, staining a big portion of it bright red. 

“Motley of Confusion,” she declares, tucking her brushes back into her belt. 

She’ll need her biggest brush to fight this thing. That blade is the only thing she has that can pierce this thing’s coat and-- ah. Oh no. She left it in her bag and it’s on the ship. 

Braham emerges behind her, and she whirls around-- but realizing he was aiming his guns forward, Anne turns back around immediately, shielding her eyes. Holy lifts his head and is immediately blinded by the flash bang of Braham’s guns before the bullets embed in a chest and through a shoulder. 

“You need help here?” Braham asks. He’s standing there now, his guns smoking. 

“No,” Anne says, looking over the now-injured dog. “But I don’t have my usual staff. Lend me a weapon.”

Holy whacks out a punch, but Anne sidesteps it, catching a primitive spear as Braham tosses it in her direction. 

She frowns. But whatever. 

“I’ll provide support,” Braham informs her. 

“I’m usually the support, not the other way around,” Anne corrects him. “Just don’t hit me.”

 


 

“Enel! Shit-- Laki what are you doing , run!” 

Wyper’s hands pierce through the iron barbs, but the blood and the pain does nothing to stop the god as a bolt of lightning engulfs the area-- and Laki falls. 

Enel laughs. “She pointed her weapon at me. You should know yourself, that means it’s fair I take her out. Men or women, if they’re an enemy, I will take them out.”

Wyper bites his lip. 

“It’s her own weakness,” he says. 

Laki didn’t want to fight. She was only here because of Aisa, and Wyper knew that. He should have told her to go back today but he knew she wouldn’t, she knew Wyper wouldn’t allow it and-- and Wyper knew that, and there she was on the verge of death or maybe dead because he couldn’t even respect that from her.

Wyper feels the pierce of an Axe Dial on his back. 

He doesn’t honour him with a noise. He tenses, whirls back-- and grabs the Holy Guard by the face-- and smashes it right into the barbed iron cage. 

“I’ll take you down next, Enel,” he hisses. 

Enel laughs. “Looking forward to it,” he taunts, before vanishing again. 

 

Wyper looks around. One goat left, and then Shura, and then the dog and the snake. Braham’s alive, along with one other Shandian. Great. 

Gan Fall is in the air. He swings by on his bird, leading the goat soldier a ways-- before lifting ahead and diving down, taking him out with a lance through the torso. Huh. So it’s worth something to have that guy on their side after all. 

Three left. 

 

“Three-hundred sixty Pound--” 

He looks over just in time to see three blades of light, soaring through the air. He’d seen it happen when the swordsman fought the Master of the Sky-- but there it was again. 

Is he slashing the air? Is that force a blade that flies? A momentum, a razor, a sonic boom? He wondered how it worked, not that it would be replicable. 

“--Cannon!” 

Two left. 

 

Holy whines, bleeding from several bullet wounds and multiple shallow cuts. None of the wounds were lethal on their own-- but it was a horrible state, sheared down bit by bit. 

“Sadness Blue,” Anne declares. The spear is stained in blood, but her bare foot is covered in blue paint. In her fight, she’d smeared it across the ruins, over the ground, in the formation of one huge Colours Trap to surround Holy. “You’ve been a bad, bad dog.”

Holy fails to retaliate to that.

For a loyal, obedient dog-- rather than force its friendship or betrayal against its owner-- it made more sense to express disappointment over its behavior. Because Holy would not bend to orders against its owners’ wishes-- but a bad, bad dog wouldn’t get treats, and that was the end of the world to him. 

“Finally,” she says, and with a murderous glint in her eyes she leaps , and raises the spear-- before smashing it right over the dog’s head, shattering it right into two.

The dog wails , but immediately slumps over, knocked right out. 

Braham sighs, lifting his head from the crater that Holy had smashed him across five buildings into. “Is it finally down?”

Anne groans. She’d been grabbed by the leg and thrown back and forth at some point so she was dizzy enough to stagger on her feet. “I don’t know…”

The dog was unconscious.

“Concussion?” Braham asks. 

“No,” Anne says, and then she doubles over and throws up.

“That’s a concussion, kid,” Braham informs, still in the distance. “But same.”

“Zorooo,” Anne whines, “carry meeee.”

“Just go to sleep!” Zoro responds sharply, “can’t you see I'm covered in wounds too?”

And sure enough-- the swordsman was bleeding heavily on the side, from the shoulder, and he was yanking an iron barb out of his arm, cringing at himself. 

Wyper grimaces at them. That meant their only enemy now was-- his eyes find Zoro’s and they turn synchronously to the giant snake that roars , taking a scrape from Gan Fall’s lance with hostility. 

“One left,” Wyper says. 

Zoro grips his sword tightly and prepares his next attack. “Time to get Luffy.”

 

But they’re engulfed by a magnificent, glaring light, and the ground gives way under them, rupturing by the clouds and fissuring in the earth. 

And among the roars of the rubble, Enel’s voice calls, “SANGO.”

 


 

The debris lands in the ruins of Shandora, and Wyper emerges first from the rubble, throwing off a huge slab of rock that he’d held over. Immediately, he inspects Laki’s unconscious form beneath him. 

He’d broken a bone or two in the fall, but that was a small price to pay. 

Meanwhile, Zoro yells, “fucking hell, I could’ve died!” kicking off a building equivalent off of himself and Chopper. 

“By all logic, you should have,” Robin says, and Zoro is surprised to see her here. 

“Huh? When did you get here?”

“You guys are the ones to come crashing down, actually.”

Zoro cringes at the sight of the Giant Jack, much too far above. Then he takes in everything else around him and goes completely silent in awe. 

“Where are we?” he asks. 

“The Golden City, but...” Robin says-- and then, as if remembering something, she looks around, “Mister Quartermaster went to look for the gold. He hasn’t returned.”

“Gin?” Zoro questions. “That’s strange. How long’s he been gone?”

Robin’s answer comes in a moment, “too long, I believe.”

Zoro tuts.  

 

A little further away, Anne is crouched, both her arms above her, bracing against a huge rock slab three times her side. Braham and Nami were under her, and upon recovering, Braham immediately gets up to help shove the rock aside, allowing her to slump right down in relief. 

“Owwww,” Anne whines, on her knees with her very shaky arms laid out in her lap. 

Braham resisted the urge to retort, “those arms should be broken ,” he hisses in disbelief. “Seriously, don’t catch falling debris you’re supposed to brace for or avoid them. Did no one ever teach you how to survive avalanches?” 

“But it would’ve hurt if it hit us,” Anne mutters, ignoring Braham's exasperated mutter of 'and catching it wouldn't?!' Then, seemingly no longer in pain, she crawls over to Nami, inspecting her state. “Good thing we saw her before we fell. Thanks, Mister.”

“How long has she been up there? At least she was outside the cage,” Braham says. 

 

Anne combs through Nami’s hair with her fingers, taking the strands out of the bigger gashes with a cringe. She calls for Zoro, and a moment later, Robin as well. 

“What the-- why’s she here!?” Zoro hisses, handing Chopper to Robin to carefully pick Nami up. He turns to Robin, “hey, got any place that’s out of the way?”

“Me too?” Anne asks.

“You still wanna fight?” Zoro questions. 

Anne tilts her head aside. “Does that matter?”

Zoro groans. “Look-- just, sit down, drink your tea, take care of these two. Okay?”

Anne nods.  

 

Braham leaves Anne’s side to find his fellow Shandian. “Hey Wyper! Is that Laki?”  

“Yeah,” Wyper affirms, hefting the woman in his hands and handing her right over, “you take her with the Blue Sea dwellers, I’ll take care of Enel myself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m here, so I’ll fight too.”

“Not with that concussion you fucking aren’t,” he stands up-- and finally, finally takes a real gander at the scene around him. “Hey. You seeing this?”

Braham stops-- and he, too, realizes where they are. 

Shandora….? ”

 

-


-

 

“I’ll go with you!” Aisa yells, when Conis grabs her father’s Waver, ready to run back to Angel Island. “We need to go to my village, too. They’ll-- they’ll believe me if I’m here with you, right? The Angel Island people too.”

Conis face scrunches up, trying her hardest, hardest , not to cry. 

Would it make sense to bring a Shandian girl to Angel Island Yes it would. Because it would tell them, without words-- that the situation was so ire, a Shandian girl that hated them so much, still saw fit to come warn them. 

“Okay, come!” Conis reaches out a hand, and Aisa lets go of Kinoko, leaving Usopp’s side-- to take that hand, and jump right into the Waver.

Conis straps the Bazooka behind her, and Aisa clings on.

“I’ll leave things here to you, Usopp-san!” she calls, and Aisa yells similarly to him. 

Usopp nods, vaguely.

 

Once they go, Usopp takes his walking stick, Kinoko depositing it right into his hand. He collapses it, hurrying forward, jumping onto the lower deck. Suu also scrambles, heading into the galley where Sanji was resting-- and the man was rousing. 

“What the-- what happened-- what are you? Oh wait,” Sanji hurries to sit up, “crap.”

“Sanji!” Usopp calls, climbing back out just in time to toss Sanji some gloves and a new shirt. “Great, you’re awake! We’re moving out!” 

“What’s going on?” he asks, pulling the shirt over him and, noticing his very burned very chapped hands, decides the gloves are better worn, 

“A lot! But--” 

Usopp pauses, his haki finally spreading out again-- he takes a breath, two-- and the island is in his range once more. 

“Five bells are down,” he realizes. “Or at least-- they’re not moving.” 

There was no reason any of them wouldn’t be moving right now. 

Sanji jerks to attention. “What?!”

That’s more than half of them. That meant there were four people left. That meant, including the two here right now, only two were still fighting on the island. 

(What the hell have they been doing all this while for it to get to that point?)

“No no, it’s okay,” Usopp repeats, leaning closer to the mast, “maybe I just can’t find it. Maybe they’re just too far away, two of us are here-- the other two are at the Giant Jack, I think.” 

Sanji immediately moves, patting Suu on the head twice. “Watch the ship, you two!” he’s asking Kinoko too, “point me in the direction!” 

Usopp barely notices when Sanji grabs him, first by the walking stick to get it out of the way-- and suddenly he’s thrown over a shoulder and Sanji is jumping, off the ship, onto the grass, and right into the forest, following along the Cloud River. 

Suu and Kinoko gives synchronous calls of affirmation, side by side on the ledge as Sanji assigns them their newest mission.  

“What the-- hey!” Usopp yelps, but Sanji isn’t answering any protests. 

Usopp is backwards, hanging onto Sanji’s back and his walking stick. He closes his eyes, and begins to listen. If they were running fast, Sanji was the only one for it. Waiting for Usopp to maneuver across roots and branches would take too long, after all. 

“You’re headed in the right direction for now. I hear voices around-- these defeated people are still alive, so be careful,” Usopp says. “Ah, I think I sense a South Bird!” 

“Without Kinoko around we’re not going to be able to ask it for help. Forget it.”

Sanji avoids stepping on the fallen Shandians as he goes, climbing trees when they hit rivers, and going the exact direction Usopp points, no matter if a tree or a trap was in the way. 

 


 

Zoro, Wyper, Gan Fall, Robin-- and Enel. 

A strike of lightning takes the Master of the Sky out, and with Aisa and Braham retiring from the battle, there were five left standing. 

“There are two headed this way. Pesky brats, the lot of them,” Enel sighs. “But they have retired once from the battle. I do not like cockroaches that refuse to die.”

“Huh? Two…” Zoro’s eyes blow wide when he remembers what group of two would be headed this way right now. “The guys at the ship .

“Now, there’s this problem,” Enel muses, undeterred, “I, as god, cannot be wrong. And I predicted just five would survive. I cannot let this battle continue with seven survivors.” 

Enel points a finger upward. 

 

“You think you can stop god?”

 

Zoro launches forward, swords swinging forward-- but his attack phases right through the astral being, and a lance of lightning is shot into the sky. 

“El Thor.”

 


 

“Sanji,” Usopp says, suddenly, quietly-- and very hollowly-- and Sanji freezes right where he stands. “Let me down right now.”

Usopp knows this terrible, terrible sink in his gut. 

“Huh?” Sanji question, hesitant, “we can’t waste any--” 

“Just hurry! NOW!” 

Sanji lets go, and Usopp drops back-- and scoops Sanji right up, arms wrapped around his waist-- before stepping back, and then launching right off the ground.

Sanji yelps, but in a moment, he’s distracted by Usopp kicking-- kicking a dozen times into the air, launching right from invisible platforms to keep going further up, and up . Were they flying? No, he was walking in the air. 

(Holy shit.)

And then the command of great lightning shoots down like a laser, barely two inches from him-- and Sanji’s breath holds.

(Holy SHIT.)

 

Usopp’s balance is lost in the gale of the aftershock-- and they go flying, Sanji scrambling to gain a semblance of balance, turning around right in time to brace both of them against the tree trunk they crash into, slide down-- and close their eyes, waiting it out barely two meters from the impact.

They were that close. 

“Oh,” Sanji chokes out, once the light was dim enough to open his eyes and there’s only a crater before them. He doesn’t even have the composure to complain about how Usopp is sprawled over him. “Yeah. No second time for me.”

Usopp scoffs. “When we get out, I’m making us a shirt.”

“Oh? What’s the occasion?”

“I survived being smited by god .”

“Ah,” Sanji needs a cigarette, like, right now. “Yeah, I’d want that on a shirt.”

 


 

Enel reemerges behind Zoro. 

Zoro stands, silent. 

He doesn’t listen to what comes next. Enel was spouting something-- something about his blasphemous godhood again, how he was looking for something more than this little island of Vearth. Fairy Vearth, as Birkan beliefs prophesied. 

(He’ll need Haki to even stand a chance against this guy.)

(But he said only five. That means Enel isn’t counting Luffy-- but Gin’s down, too. )

(Zoro and Robin are the only ones left?)

(...And Luffy is still inside the fucking snake?!)

 

“Ah, what a disappointment,” Enel says, lifting his head, “neither of those two cockroaches died. That’s strange, did I hold back too much, I wonder.”

 

Usopp and Sanji are still in!

And in that very instant, Gan Fall and Zoro lunge at once, lance on one end and katana on the other, swiping right through Enel’s visage once more. Enel phases to the side-- only to be caught in the loops of Wyper’s feet, pinned down by the shells of seastone in his heel--

“If you’re so obsessed about fucking numbers ,” he yells, “then how about you die to bring them down! REJECT!”  

 


 

It didn’t work. 

Robin identifies the Devil Fruit, and Zoro curses. 

As expected, it was a Logia. He’d managed to use Haki in Alabasta, but the fact that it was a Logia this time did nothing to help his visualization. 

Enel restarts his own heart, like a fuckigng cheat-- and easily, he drills through Gan Fall, his bird, and right after, a severely weakened Wyper. When Robin refused to take his proposal of a journey to Fairy Vearth, she, too, was smited. 

Zoro catches her, but his blades are calling for blood. 

Blood he cannot help them sate. 

 

“Why don’t you understand? I am lightning-- I am indomitable, and I am omnipotent,” Enel says, “your will is admirable, but it is vain-- nothing but stubborn foolishness.”

“Shut up,” Zoro growls out, laying Robin down, before turning his attention back to Enel. 

 

He needed to focus, he needed to remember. How did it feel, to get into that state during Alabasta? How did he realize it? He had to remember how to sink in-- how to hear that breath of life. 

Wyper was getting up. 

“I know how to beat you,” Zoro says. “I just need-- I just need to jog my memory for a second. But once I remember…”

(“Once I remember, you’re fucking dead.”)

Zoro doesn’t get to say it. Enel strikes, and he parries-- but the god’s hands take his swords by the blade-- and Zoro is assaulted by a lethal surge of electricity, running right through his veins. 

He falls to his knees, and Enel stomps on his face.

“Don’t think you’ve won with just this, Enel,” Wyper yells, standing right back up. A blast of the burn bazooka does nothing, but a swipe with a seastone-covered foot distracts him just enough to allow Zoro to escape. Enel shatters the seastone, but Zoro picks it back up. 

The exchange continues. 

The thunderbird descends, the thunder beast roars.

And god’s judgement engulfs Wyper and Zoro at once. 

 

-


-

 

“Zoro! Hey, Zoro!” 

Usopp and Sanji finally arrive at the ancient city of Shandora, but no one else is here. They find Anne lying beside Nami, Laki, Chopper, and Braham. Anne and Braham seemed to be asleep rather than unconscious like the other three, so after checking their states, they moved on. 

“Luffy!” Sanji calls, upon spotting him. Luffy is crouched over Zoro, looking around frantically-- fearful. 

“How could things have gotten this bad when Zoro was here?!” he exclaims, completely in disbelief. And really, Usopp and Sanji sympathize. 

 

They look terrible. Zoro didn’t knock out easily-- so it must have been a bolt of lightning. 

 

“Hey,” Wyper groans, hefting himself up, struggling. Luffy hurries over to inspect him-- wincing at the injuries. His own arm looked like it had imploded on himself, barely held together by bandages that were soaked in red. 

“Damn, he got you too?” Sanji grimaces, “how the hell are you conscious? Spite?”

Wyper doesn’t answer it. “Do you… really think that you can beat Enel?” 

Luffy grits his teeth. “Yes,” he says. “He did this to everyone?”

Wyper scoffs. “All of us could do shit against him. You really think… you can even stand before him? You think you stand a chance? What a brat.”

Luffy’s fists tightens. “I don’t think I can, I know I can!” he snaps, standing right up. “You stay right there! I’m gonna go beat him up and prove it to you.” 

Wyper closes his eyes with a sigh. 

“Then do it,” he says. 

 

Luffy heard a challenge. But Usopp and Sanji heard something else. They hear, in those three words-- a single desire, a desperate bet for hope. 

 

So when Luffy immediately turns to Usopp, he was already working on it. 

“Usopp! Where’s Enel?” 

Usopp’s already turning around, in the right direction. “I have him in my sight,” he affirms, and Luffy huffs, satisfied. His haki is stretched out, full and taut and Enel is right there-- in his range. 

“Bring me there!” He punches his fist. “Sanji, you’re coming?” the cook nods, so Luffy turns to everyone else. “Ah-- Robin!” Luffy beams, “you’re awake!” 

Robin lifts herself up weakly, on her elbows. 

Luffy simply grins. “Take care of everyone, I gotta go beat up that god guy for a bit!”  

He doesn’t wait for any answer from Robin, so he doesn’t see her mildly surprised expression either. Usopp heads on first, followed immediately by Luffy, and Sanji gives the two awake fighters one affirming nod before going as well. 

 


 

“Are you Enel?”

 

Usopp doesn’t see the battle, doesn’t join Luffy up there. Instead, he helps Sanji pick up Gin, and once Sanji has quietly left to do something else, Usopp hurries back to the ruins with an unconscious Gin on his back. 

(He almost knocks into a few walls on the way, but Gin rouses just in time to yelp at him, and Usopp is saved from some embarrassment.)

“Holy shit,” Gin hisses, gripping tightly to Usopp’s back, unable to even muster the energy to resist the piggyback now. “Holy shit. Fucking ow. How am I alive.”

“I find it very ironic that you and Sanji keep saying that,” Usopp says, hurrying forward, only stopping when Gin tugs his shirt a little in the right direction. “Holy shit, I mean. Because, Holy and all. The god, and cursing about holy, get it?”

“What-- of course I-- don’t overexplain the-- the joke’s ruined when you do that--” Gin lets out a shaky breath, burying his face into a shoulder, “I don’t have the energy to do this right now, you moron.”

Usopp hums, and the low sound rumbles into Gin’s chest. 

“Stay awake,” Usopp says. “The fight’s only going to get messier from here.”

 

Gin stares hollowly into the distance, only piping up to tell Usopp when to turn and where to stop before a wall. Usopp eventually makes it out of the ruins, running up the beanstalk, to a higher level of clouds where Robin had just transported the rest of the fallen fighters. 

Wyper was seated beside his fellow Shandians, and when Gin and Usopp emerged, the two Berserkers met eyes with a scowl. 

“You’re alive?” Wyper mutters, irritated. 

“I wanted to avoid seeing you in hell, but fuck, I’m already in it,” Gin mutters right back.

“Angels go to heaven, that's common sense.”

“Any heaven with you in it is hell either way.” 

“You picking a fight, Man-Demon?”

“Wanna go, Angel Bastard?”

Usopp immediately interrupts, “dude! Both of you, geez ! Is this really the time to be picking fights with each other over absolutely nothing?!”

 

They were half-dead and still picking a fight. It’s ridiculous. Reminds him of another duo. 

 

“Ugh, you guys are noisy,” Nami mutters. “So where are we now…” she looks around, taking in the surprised looks of everyone around her with confusion. 

“Nami! You’re awake!” 

“So why were you here anyway? Where have you been?”

“Uhh, long story,” Nami grimaces when she accidentally pulls at her own wounds. “Oh hey! Wyper, thanks, I loved the arm. What happened to yours?”

“Shut up.”

She stands up, like her injuries didn’t exist, taking in the sight of Chopper, Zoro, and Anne, all injured and somewhere between unconscious and asleep. Gan Fall and his bird were down too, so were Braham and Laki. 

She takes a headcount. 

“Sanji’s with Luffy, huh?” she assumes. “Then Usopp, we should get ready. You got my waver with you or...?”

“Huh?” 

Wyper lifts his head. 

“I threw it somewhere over there… why?”

 


 

Luffy eventually emerges with a huge ball of gold on his arm, desperately running up Giant Jack. With a sigh, Nami volunteers to bring him up. The ark was rising, and dark clouds were spouting from its chimney, lightning striking down Angel Island and Upper Yard at once. 

“Huh, where’s Bazooka Guy?” Luffy asks. “And oh, hi Gin. Where’s Usopp?”

Robin simply points upward. “Mister Bazooka Guy and Mister Sniper went on ahead.”

“Ah, no fair!” 

 


 

“You’re saying this rubber thing is just completely untouchable to Enel,” Wyper mutters. “Well I’m calling fucking bullshit.”

Usopp sighs. Wyper has an arm looped around Usopp’s as he Geppo s further up the Giant Jack. He has one hand on the side of the Giant Jack, just to gauge his distance between it and avoid crashing headfirst. 

Wyper peruses the raincoat in his hand. It’s child-sized, but it’s more than enough to, say, wrap around a hand and use as a glove. 

“Luffy’s made of it, and he seems to be doing fine,” Usopp says, and Wyper whirls around in surprise. “Honestly, Enel’s smart. He’s doing everything in the book to not fight Luffy. Smartest enemy we’ve had so far.” 

“I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“I don’t know how to feel about the fact that I’m lugging you, who should be dead if I should remind you, up here for round two of battle. But here I am.”

Wyper had nothing to say to that, so he changes the subject to pretend his arm hasn't exploded and his wing is probably charred to bits. “Are you sure the bell is up here?”

Usopp huffs. “Of course it is! Just let me look around, I’ll tell you when I see it.”

“Alright,” Wyper says. Then, a second later, “hold on, you fucker--"

 


 

They reach the highest point of Giant Jack easily, and Usopp loops his feet around the vines, laying slightly over the trunk to gain a semblance of a platform. 

“How am I supposed to get on that ship now?”

The ark was slightly over their heads, but it seemed to be slowing down. A bolt of electricity and Usopp lifts his head, realizing what was happening. 

Sanji is still on that ship . And hell, Usopp is absolutely positive that crazy bastard is engaging the enemy. It’s not like Sanji can hide much on that ship with Enel having Haki. But that also meant Sanji had no way to hit Enel

“HEY, YOU TWO!” Luffy yells. “GOMU GOMU NOO…”

“What the-- he’s already here?” Wyper turns. 

“Wyper, take two steps to the left,” Usopp says. 

“Huh?” Wyper squints. He takes one step, but only manages about a half more as he turns around to ask why. “What’s this ab--”

His question is sharply interrupted by a loud yell of “...GRAPPLING HOOK!!!” 

A giant golden ball crashes right into the crux of his wings, and his yell transforms into a curse and then a scream as he’s shot into the hull of Enel’s ark, the gold lodging right into the mechanism and getting stuck. 

Luffy retracts himself by the arm, shooting himself right over with a loud war cry. 

 

“Why did you--” Nami lands beside Usopp with her Waver, on the cloud, completely baffled by what just happened. Almost fearfully, she asks, “is Wyper still… you know, alive?”

Usopp hums, “I hope so. We need him on the ship as your technician.” 

 


 

The ark was collapsing. Enel fried the fucking pest that ruined it to begin with, but it bought time for Luffy to destroy an even bigger part of the ark and he was frustrated . Now that the ark was up and running, Raigou was ready to fire. 

Lightning was raining down upon the skies, and Angel Island was erupting, shattering-- and dissipating.

“Sanji! You okay?” 

“Huh, oh Luffy,” Sanji groans, looking over from where he’s sprawled over the deck, fried to bits. He takes a drag of his now-lit cigarette. “Yeah, doing great. Thinking of asking Usopp to revise my shirt design, I survived being smited by god twice .”

“Is everyone on your ship an idiot ?” Wyper asks. 

Luffy pouts, “hey, Sanji’s not an idiot! I think he’s just hit his head or something.” 

 

Sanji makes no mention of the huge bump on Luffy’s head. His dumb captain probably did something stupid again to deserve that bonk, he doesn’t wanna know. 

“So, you gonna ring the bell?” Sanji asks. 

“Yeah!” Luffy says. 

“No, it’s a bell that is sacred and only to be rung by us Shandians! And me since I’m a direct descendant of Kalgara!” Wyper snaps, “Hell if I’ll let you ring it!” 

“Don’t be stingy, I don’t care about your Shandaranda thing!” Luffy whines, “I’m ringing it because I want to too, you know!” 

“Disrespect the name of my homeland one more time and I’ll blow your head off, punk!”

“Oh try me, I’m made of rubber so it doesn’t hurt anyway!” 

Sanji sighs, struggling to his feet and making his way to the edge of the ark, tired of everything He looks over the edge and gauges where the right spot to jump is. Meanwhile, the two behind him have devolved into a shouting match.

“I’m going to beat Enel too!” Luffy yells, “I started fighting first, don’t interfere!” 

“Interfere?” Wyper yells back, louder. “ You’re the one interfering! I’ve been fighting for five years!”  

“Well I’ve been fighting for ten then!” 

“That makes no sense!” 

Sanji hums, stepping over the edge and looking down, waving at Nami so she’d know he was coming. Then he leans back over the edge and says, “I’m going now, you guys try to channel your anger toward Enel instead of each other, alright?”

“Ah okay,” Luffy immediately says with zero heat in his tone. “See ya.”

“Tell the longnose I’m punching him when I get back,” Wyper adds. 

Sanji waves a vague OK before jumping right off. Not even bothering to make sure if he’s alright or not, Luffy and Wyper immediately resume their shouting match. 

“Get out of my way, I’m beating Enel!” 

“Hell no you aren’t, your hand is still fucking stuck to the ship!” 

“I-- uh,” Luffy looks back, to where his hand was still stretching out and going toward the lower deck, dangling off the edge and lodged into the hull via the golden ball. He wrenches his face away from his own stupidity and insists, “I can fight without it!” 

“No you can’t!” 

“Yes I can!” 

 

(Enel comes out after a moment and he just wonders if it’s ethical to fry them out of utter disrespect for his presence. He’s a god, so he can, right?) 

 


 

Enel had to stare, completely baffled, when Wyper managed to actually land a solid punch to his face, sending him flying. 

Wyper pumps a raincoat-covered fist. “Five fucking years and I finally get to punch you!” he hasn’t sounded this ecstatic in years, “I feel so liberated .” 

“What is with all of you suddenly gaining the ability to punch me?!” Enel yells, frustrated. “I am lightning! I’m impermeable!”

“Shut up about that already, you god-complex weirdo!” Wyper and Luffy yell at the same time, and Luffy continues, “we established ages ago that I can hit you, stop whining about it! If I continued whining about things I don’t understand, I’d still be eating soap!”  

Wyper stares at that, not so sure if he wants the story behind that. 

Enel glares-- and the raincoat around Wyper’s fist makes his eyes blow wide. 

 

He’d seen that when he went to the ship and took down Usopp. Aisa had been wearing it, and Enel, seeing that she wasn’t a threat, had blatantly ignored her and that strange article of clothing. 

(It was rubber. It was something that threatened him.)

(And Enel had ignored it-- like a wind of ignorant irony.)

 

Meanwhile, Luffy had finally managed to dislodge his arm, breaking it right through the deck to come up somewhere easier to swing.

The next Raigou , ten times the size of the previous one-- hung drearily overhead. 

Luffy lifts his head to the sight, and huffed. 

“Okay, fine, you can have Enel,” Luffy finally relents, and Wyper actually does a double take. “But I’m ringing the bell.”

“Wha--?!” Wyper reacts, but Luffy is reaching for the ark-- mast? Lightning rod? And stretching out, evidently aiming himself toward the dark ball of death abovehead. “What are you planning, you idiot?”

“You’re headed straight for it? You’re ridiculous. Even if you’re immune to electricity, there is nothing you can do to it,” Enel says, raising his staff, “if you’re going to be a menace--” 

 

And then, it sinks in. 

That golden ball in his arm was a conductor. 

 

With a loud roar, Luffy launches himself right out, into the Raigou . Enel yells, “no you don't!” launching his staff of gold forward like one would a lance. 

But the staff is instantly flicked right out of the air, gyrating far across the winds in its imbalance and crashing into the side of the deck, before rolling off the edge. 

Eyes turned immediately to the tip of the Giant Jack, one figure among the three had a slingshot stretched forward. It was little, so minuscule-- he could barely make out the silhouette. Enel hadn’t been focusing on something so far away-- he didn’t even see the shot coming. He barely even remembered anyone was at the peak of the Giant Jack.

And yet-- Usopp had hit the staff, a second after it was launched. 

( “Hey. Don’t get in the way of the captain,” Usopp whispers. And Enel can hear it, because of his lightning, bringing the volumes over on an electric wavelength. And Enel knows that Usopp is staring him right down with those sightless eyes of his, daring him, daring him , to try once more.)

(And Enel realized, perhaps, out of dread , that his next attempt to interfere with Luffy, no matter if it was a weapon or an element-- it would not reach. It would never reach, as long as the sniper was watching.)

“You’re kidding,” Enel says, disbelieving. “Not only am I higher, but a slingshot reached me? And I was caught off guard?” 

 

Enel barely looks down in time to see Wyper, who had run forward. His discomposure had made his Haki completely miss the Shandian's approach, too. 

A raincoat-wrapped dial, two hands braced forward. 

“Thank you, Strawhat,” Wyper says. 

Enel barely felt the pierce of a seastone shard, lodging into his stomach-- before he was blown away by miles of sheer exploding agony, bursting through his entirety. 

“REJECT!” 

 

Luffy bursts right through the Raigou, clearing the skies. 

“Gomu-Gomu no…”

Whirling the gold bullet far behind him, whirling it back in a large, powerful blow. Enel’s unconscious form blows right into the shell of the golden bell-- but he wasn’t conscious enough to compose a proper attack. The seastone Wyper had lodged into him preventing him from phasing through the elements. He couldn’t even regain his own balance. 

He could only watch as Luffy’s arm grew closer, the golden armament he had ironically bestowed upon this weak rubber boy-- being his own downfall. 

(Right, his own downfall, from the very beginning…)

(...had been his own arrogance.)

 

“GOLDEN RIFLE!”

Chapter 67: come aboard and bring along (all your hopes and dreams)

Summary:

A question is asked.

"What did you just say?"
“EH? Did I-- hear that right…?”

A question is answered.

Chapter Text

The song of the island sung out, and Conis can’t help but cry. Aisa’s by her side-- silent, amazed-- and soaking it all, right in. Suu and Kinoko hear it too, and so does the soul of the Going Merry, that brims right into a bright, proud smile. 

“The Vearth… is singing.”

After four hundred years-- finally, the bell rings to signal the end of the battle. 

Angel Island was gone, the Cloud was in ruins-- and the people have lost much, way too much-- but the fight was over. 

The fight was over. 

“Come, Aisa,” Conis says, “let’s go find everyone.” 

 


 

Luffy huffs, landing on the floating Cloud where the Belfry once stood, catching his breath. He’d knocked it over, but they’d get it later. He’s just thankful the gold on his arm is gone.

Wyper joins him, hurriedly vacating the falling ark to collapse beside him, trying to recover from his second Reject. 

The rubber raincoat was in pieces. But well, Usopp will just have to deal with it.. 

“Think he heard it?” Luffy wonders out loud. 

“You mean Montblanc Noland’s descendant?” Wyper asks, rhetorical. He closes his eyes-- and breathes out his first relieved, easing breath of his life. And then he breaks out in a smile. “Yeah, I’m sure he did.”

Luffy grins at that. “Right?”

 

They lay there for a long while, simply trying to recover their energy and their breath. They could figure out how to get down when they were more coherent. 

 

“Hey,” Wyper finally speaks up. “What did you guys even come here for again?”

“Huh? Uh, gold,” Luffy says. 

“What’s so great about that?” 

“It’s worth a lot of money,” Luffy answers, “and more money means we can buy things. Also, adventure is cool, and finding the golden city was a super cool adventure.”

Wyper blinks at that. 

These people really came to his island, cracked a long-sought mystery and found an ancient city that hasn’t been found in centuries, defeated god and his entire militia, and called it a cool adventure?

“Are all pirates this ridiculous?” Wyper asks, exasperated.

“No,” Luffy says, and Wyper almost sighs in relief before Luffy snickers and clarifies, “we’re usually worse!” 

Wyper groans, cursing to himself. 

“What could be worse than this?” he asks, and he dreaded the answer. 

“Hmm,” Luffy curls, rolls over, and lays his chin on the back of his palms. “So there was this time, we went to this island, and all the plants were huge! There were dinosaurs--”

“...what are dinosaurs?”

“What the-- you guys don’t know what dinosaurs are?!” Luffy yelps, getting up. “Then what about Giants? Superheroes? Colourimotone Prisma?!”

“...what?”

“This is stupid!!” Luffy gasps, “how could you not know about superheroes ?!” 

“Dude, they’re just,” Wyper groans. He couldn’t get up, but this was distracting him from his shattered arm bones. “Not a White Sea thing. We only grow up on history and folklore up here. And lessons from our ancestors. In fact, that storybook Usopp gave us was so popular, I think someone from the village still has it.”

“This is ridiculous ! Next you’re gonna tell me you’ve never done an eat-n’-run in your life!”

“...eat and what?”

 


 

Nami rides the Waver down the Giant Jack with Usopp and Sanji. 

They’re immediately greeted by a now-awake Zoro, Gin, Robin, and Gan Fall. Anne and Chopper soon roused, and they headed back down to the ruins, so they could find some semblance of a shelter to rest. 

Braham and Laki wake up as well, but they’re quickly found by their fellow Shandians-- and they go off to deal with the immediate aftermath, beginning with plans to exile the priests and Holy Guards to Cloud Drifting. 

Nami finds the priests’ food storage, and, with Sanji’s help, they lug all the food back to their meeting spot. Everyone was eager to dig in, especially when Luffy came rushing over with Wyper on his back, cheering at the presence of food. 

“How did you even get down?” Usopp wonders. 

“Gomu-Gomu no, Balloon!” Luffy grins, waving a peace sign. “Anyway, can I eat this?”

“Since when were you someone that asked for permission?”

“Nah, was gonna eat it anyway.”

Conis and Aisa find them as well, Conis sobbing loudly as Aisa lunges into Wyper’s leg in loud wails. Suu breathes heavily, slumped down from the hard run, and Kinoko immediately flies to Usopp’s side, snuggling into the crook of his neck in relief. 

“I’m so glad you’re all safe!” Conis cries, wiping her tears, “I was so worried!”

“I thought you were dead, you idiot! What happened to youuu!” Aisa yells, “your voice disappeared twice! How many times do you have to die to stay dead, Wyper?!”

“Oh, shut up already,” Wyper groans. 

Gan Fall and Pierre were led underground by Gin, to the mine factory-- where the old Holy Guards-- his Holy Guards-- were still alive, having been confined to the space for the past six years. They quickly reunited with the Skypieans that came inland, and the newfound peace spread through the land in their new liberation. 

Oh, and Pagaya’s alive. (Conis punched him so hard for it. And then she curled into his lap and sobbed out in relief.)

 


 

“I wonder if the Maxim’s gonna fall into the Blue Sea and someone’ll get a hold of all that gold,” Nami sighs, slightly disappointed. 

“Don’t even try, Nami,” Gin groans, “it’ll be hell to remove from whatever shape it’s in without super strength and I’m not in that mood to do it.”

“Gold should be easier to cut than steel, so I don’t really mind,” Zoro says. “I wanna test out using Kogatana.” 

“Ahh, I didn’t get to see the Ark,” Anne pouts, laying with her head on Gin’s knee. Her head was wrapped up in bandages, and Chopper had strict orders to rest. “I saw the Raigou, though, so I’m gonna paint that next…”

Luffy and Wyper were both asleep-- unconscious, more likely-- sprawled across each other and using rock slabs as either legrests or headrests. Chopper was looking them both over, affixing the bandages on Wyper’s arm, removing the Reject Dial. 

Nami leaned on Usopp’s shoulder, her body also wrapped up in bandages, but with her shredded and blood-stained jacket laid over her shoulders for warmth. Aisa was also in Usopp’s lap, sprawled over and asleep. Sanji was watching over from a distance, smoking, and Robin was watching similarly quietly, adjacent to him. 

“Don’t worry about all that gold,” Usopp says. He’s fiddling with Kinoko’s feathers, “Enel’s still alive and he’s managed to fix the thing, I think. He’s sailing off somewhere out of my range.”

There’s a pause. 

Then a collective, “what?!”

Usopp cringes, “I thought you knew, Nami!” 

“What the--” Nami fumbles, “of course no I didn’t! Why would I have-- oh ,” she groans, burying her hand into her face. “Right.”  

“What the-- Nami-san, you knew?!” Sanji balks. “Usopp, I’ll hit you later, so don’t think about getting away.”

“Why later…?”

“Then do we need to go chase him down?” 

“Don’t wake Luffy up. I can take care of it.” 

“No no Zoro. No,” Nami hurriedly hustles, “Chopper’s glaring at you.”

The reindeer was giving the Zoro an exasperated look of death. The kind of expression that just silently went oh. Oh you’re going? Go then, you moron, I’m the one that has to deal with your injuries after this. See if I’ll stick an unnecessary needle up your arse when you come back you ungrateful bastard-- 

Zoro, wisely, sits down. 

Chopper immediately beams, very sunnily. 

“Chopper knows how to channel that inner Doctor Kureha, huh...” Gin mutters, slightly horrified. “...that aside. What about Enel?”

“We can leave him alone,” Usopp says, and everyone sighs in relief. 

“He’s headed for this Fairy Vearth place-- which, if ‘endless Vearth’ is any indication… it’s probably not this planet,” Nami says. “We’re endless sea , after all.”

“Oh, I see. Wait, what the hell?” 

“He’s going to outer space?”

“He’s going to what?!”

“Uhm. How’s he gonna breathe?”

“Ah don’t worry about that,” Nami says, “Sky Islanders are aliens to begin with, so he’ll have no problems living up there.”

This time there’s barely a pause before “who’s a WHAT?!”

 

-


-

 

Conis follows her father to the other Skypieans, who were settling down by the edge of Upper Yard for the night. 

“So the former holy guards… the ones that have been outlawed?”

“Yes, them. I’m glad to see that they are alive, despite the many years of isolation. They’ve come back now.” 

“So they saved you. I’m glad. I’ll have to thank them personally later.”

“Yes. I’m sorry,” Pagaya says. “I wish I could’ve made it up quicker, but it was difficult to convince Amazon I wasn’t trying to escape. Or being exiled, it was complicated to speak through the camera flashes.”

Conis chuckles at that. 

“So what’s this I hear about you bringing a bazooka to Angel Beach and threatening to fire a White Beret with it?” Pagaya asks. 

Conis flusters at that. “I- It’s not what you think, I swear!” 

(Back then, she had nothing but saving the country in her mind. Fueled by anger and devastation, she wanted to save the only thing she had left.)

(Her home, her neighbours, the people she interacted with, all of them.)

(Because they outcasted her, but she loved them all the same.)

“I was just desperate,” she cradles the bandages on her arm. They could come off tomorrow-- but she knew already, that there would be scars. She wondered how they would look, wondered if it would affect her work from now on. “I wanted to do all I can.”

(She doesn’t ever want to be on the side that stands by while her friends are in danger. She escorted the Strawhats to this trouble, she didn’t want a repeat of it, not even if they refused to believe her.)

(She knew she would regret it forever if she refused to be brave.)

“The honesty of those Blue Sea dwellers have taken to you, I see,” Pagaya says, and Conis pauses, surprised that her father saw right through her. “Now, then, and back when you told the Blue Sea dwellers of the godland, too… you did well, Conis. I’m very proud of you.” 

Conis immediately feels the tears well up in her eyes. 

She’s cried enough today, so she brims it into a smile instead, the tears stinging her eyes so much she knew they would be swollen tomorrow. 

But that was fine. 

Because when the sun rises again, Skypiea would be peaceful. 

 

“They are good people, aren’t they?” Pagaya asks. 

It’s rhetorical, but Conis nods. 

“Yes,” she admits. “When I’m beside them… I think of freedom, father. I think of liberation, and I think of a world where I can do all I want with a truly, truly sincere heart.”

There isn’t a soul in Skypiea that didn’t feel completely released , now that god Enel isn’t hanging over their heads. They have the Blue Sea dwellers to thank for that, and no amount of gratitude is really enough.

“And…” Conis takes a shaky breath, “...And I’ll miss them when they leave.”

Pagaya nods. 

“You sure would.”

 


 

The campfire that night was large, full of laughter, dancing, drinking, eating, and singing. People made merry, running each other ragged with celebration, cheering out for joy. 

Usopp clumsily joins the dance, strung along by one person to the next, never breaking the chain. Luffy joined them, him and Sanji bringing Aisa in, spinning about the largest circle of sheer chaos, spinning to the crackles of the fire around them. 

Even the Master of the Sky hissed and danced and curled up with the people, enjoying the wary attention it was getting, loving the fun and the party as she swayed, and allowed children to climb all over it as a slide. 

Zoro and Braham bumped their beer mugs together. Nami was winning the drinking contest. 

Robin sat by the side with a single cup of tea, enjoying the atmosphere. Gin sat around that area as well, helping the medical and catering team to make sure everyone was fed. Gan Fall and the Shandian Chieftain watched, simply soaking in the sight of his citizens, safe and sound and happy. 

Kinoko was in the circle of animals, with Suu, the Cloud Wolves, and the South Bird they’d brought along. They were laughing, chatting it up noisily with Chopper the only one speaking human language between them. Occasionally Nola would chime in with a drunken hiss, and everyone would laugh like the best joke in the world was made.

Conis sat with Wyper in the medical tent, Wyper nursing his severe injuries while Conis sewed up some braces and makeshift cloaks from the rags that were salvaged from the debris of Angel Beach.  

It is in the far right of this madness that Anne stood, a lone figure in the center of the canvas, her easel set up before her as she marvels at the scene before her, preparing her paints to bring the masterpiece to life. 

 

-


-

 

“You’re kidding,” Gin says. He sieves through a deck of rubble and retrieves a golden necklace from the pool of stomach acid, impressed to see the treasure mostly undamaged. “You and Usopp are what?”

“Time travellers,” Nami answers simply, grinning. 

In the distance, Chopper squeals at the sight of a golden trinket, and Luffy cheers, lifting a rosary made of gold. This place was insane.

Anne lifted a moss-covered bangle to her hands, “so time travel is real?”

“I guess,” Nami says. 

“The time travel part I’m over now,” Gin says, “how long? From when? And how far? You knew everything that was going to happen?”  

“So many questions, you.”

“Well you’re the one that dropped a bombshell I don’t think I’m underreacting!” 

Anne hums, “does that mean you already knew all about this battle before we got here?” She inquired so with an empty expression, as usual-- but she was a little bewildered, and that was obvious in the way her hands hadn't moved to properly inspect the bangle in her hands yet. 

Nami shakes her head. 

“The world I knew… the world we knew, has changed,” she says. “Sometimes, things are so foreign I wonder if it’s the same place.” 

She sets her left hand on her chest, trailing over the faint henna patterns on her collar with a sort of reverence. 

Nami smiles down at Anne. “You’re new, too. And I think it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to us so far.” 

Anne blinks at that.  And then it registers. Her face heats up slightly, and she hustles to cover it. “Wha-- don’t be dumb, Nami. You’re saying weird things!” 

Nami chuckle

Then she turns to Gin, “you’re new too!” she assures. “And well… It's a huge relief that you’re here. I don’t think we’d have survived if you weren’t around.”

 

And then she speaks of their new disabilities. 

How Usopp could shoot through the eye of a needle, and now he can probably still do it, but it just wasn’t the same. How he made tools and weapons and fixed the Merry up with his shoddy but diligent efforts, how they got so far because he carried half of the ship's workings on his own. 

“You’re selling yourself short,” Gin says. 

“I know,” Nami says, “but Usopp really was or Jack of all trades, you know. He still is.” 

They travelled around the seas, reached their dreams and saw it come true-- but things fell apart. Now Nami couldn’t even imagine why they did something that stupid. Sure, at the time, there were conflicted emotions, broken feelings, and broken people. And they knew they couldn’t heal together, so they separated. 

That was a dark time for them. 

This time, though… 

“But it doesn’t matter,” Nami says, “imperfection is where the greatest crews form.”

 

-


-

 

“You’re saying Roger’s name is on it?” Gan Fall muses. 

Robin nods. 

Beside the Shandian Chieftain, Wyper takes it all in. His arm in a cast, his head muddled with lack of rest-- the Poneglyph the village has only heard of, read about, and dreamed of-- there it was. And they will continue to protect it as long as history persists. 

But now… 

“So we no longer need to fight?” Wyper says, and the Chieftain crumbled into tears. 

Shandora’s mission is over. The true history has already been restored-- and it is at the end of the Grand Line, at Raftel, where Roger has fulfilled it. 

(It was… it was all over? Just like that?)

Wyper doesn’t really hear the part where everyone offered the Blue Sea dwellers the broken-off tower of gold. He doesn’t really care much about that. 

“Ah, regarding that pillar, Miss Burglar Cat actually had quite a demand for it,” Robin says, retrieving a piece of paper, “hmm, something about keeping it on hold and safekept for this ‘Buggy’ fellow.”

“Buggy?” 

“You know him, Gan Fall?”

“Well, I did interact quite a bit with Roger’s crew when he was up here. There were these two children…” 

“...I suppose it’s better this way. Our little caravel can’t possibly carry any amount of this golden pillar, unfortunately. The Blue Sea is quite unforgiving with vehicle weight. I’m sure it would serve a better purpose under Buggy’s bigger flagship. We apparently owe them a debt.” 

 

(Just… somehow, Wyper was a little disappointed.)

(Now that the war was over-- the sky islands had no need for Berserker Wyper, who lived and burned for war and his personal justice.)

(There was finally peace.)

(He could finally be just Wyper.)

(...it is selfish that he suddenly didn’t really want to?)

(He’s lived so long as a fighter. A Berserker. A warrior and a bomber and a man who thirsted for blood. It just felt so wrong to settle down now, thinking of a peaceful future. He didn’t think he personally wanted one. He didn’t think he suited that kind of life.)

 

“And..” Robin hands the note to the Shandian chieftain with a hum. “Well, this is a curious development, but if it wouldn’t be too disrespectful to ask, we do require a technician on our crew, and we’re wondering if you would have any thoughts on this.”

Wyper’s train of thought violently derailed and ran harshly ashore. 

“Ah, what a curious request,” the Chieftain chuckles, reading the note. And almost too naturally, he turns toward the man still standing by the belfry. “So, Wyper, that’s the situation. We can’t exactly let our saviours go unthanked, so what do you think?” 

There are more than ten people looking at him when he whirls around to meet the Chieftain’s cheery gaze with a baffled, “ what did you just say?”

 


 

Conis sits beside Zoro. The swordsman was working out, but Conis had Usopp's jolly roger keychain in her hand, looking through a frayed knot and humming as she replaced the stitch. Zoro had found it laid aside, and had approached her for a favour. 

(It was quite endearing, really, seeing the swordsman try to keep the torn keychain a secret from his own crewmates.)

“There,” she says, beaming, “it’s all fixed now.” 

“Oh, thanks,” Zoro says, inspecting it. “I heard you helped fix Merry’s sails too. Thanks for that.”

And Conis nods. “It’s among my better skills. I’m glad they’ve come in handy for something.”

Zoro’s eyes drifted, just slightly, down to her arm. Her left arm had been covered in bandages all of yesterday, but now that she’s removed it, Zoro could see the gnarly array of lichtenberg figures sprawled across the limb, crawling up to her shoulder. 

Zoro and Wyper had some too, along with Sanji, but theirs were less prominent. Chopper had said something about how Skypieans had different skin sensitivity or something. Also, Zoro and Sanji and Wyper were monsters, so they didn’t count. 

(Usopp was also supposed to have some, but he was prominently scarless. It was probably just luck so they weren’t gonna question it.)

“It’s quite helpful, too!” Conis hurriedly hides her limb, “I’m glad my left arm still works well. It’ll recover quickly.”

Zoro nods, respectfully looking away. 

“Now then,” Conis says, suddenly producing Nami’s ripped Doskoi Panda jacket out of nowhere, “I need to work on this! She asked me to fix it as well.” 

“What the-- where have you been hiding that?”

Conis giggles at that. She gets to work quickly. The blood had been washed out already, so it was only the tears that needed mending. After hours of doing things of a similar vein all night and morning, this was easy.  

“So… is the Blue Sea fun?” she asks, noticing the conversation had gone quiet. 

Zoro pauses in his weightlifting. “Uh. I guess?” he says, “what, you wanna come with us to see or something?”

Conis immediately flusters, “no! I mean-- that wasn’t… where I was leading this conversation… huh?” she looks up, blushing slightly. Her next words are soft, her fingers scrunching up the fabric on her lap as she looks around, nervous. “I mean. Uh… can I?”

Zoro shrugs. 

“Would be nice to have a sane person around.”

 

-


-

 

“So that’s the idea! We’re pawning this boy off to you. Take care of him?” 

Braham pats Wyper on the shoulder twice, then smirks, raising a thumbs up. Wyper, despite having an arm in a cast, looks three ways furious over to next week. 

He whirls out a punch toward the other Shandian warrior, who easily just whoops in a swerve out of the way. 

“I said I was thinking about it, I haven’t agreed yet!” 

“Just accept it, Wyper, it’s not like we have anyone better,” Kamikiri says.

“Don’t you turn against me too!” 

“No fair, no fair!” Aisa yells, tugging on Kamakiri’s skirt, “if Wyper gets to go, I’m gonna go too! It’s not fair!” 

“No, Aisa!” Wyper and Kamakiri bark at the same time. 

Aisa immediately runs over to Usopp, wailing. “I wanna hear more about Coward Warrior! Usopp said age doesn’t matter! Coward Warrior conquered a nation at age five!” 

Usopp pats her on the head, “now, now, dear,” he soothes. 

“Hell yes age fucking matters when we’re talking about leaving the country!” Wyper yells, “don’t go putting ideas in her head!” 

Luffy, a bagfull of gold wrapped to his shoulders, just looks confused. “Huh?” he tilts his head aside, “I thought we already decided you were coming?”

“No we didn’t!” 

Luffy laughs, “oh really? Then come, c’mon!” He says, “I haven’t shown you how to eat n’ run yet! And giants! And superheroes! I said I’d show ya.” 

Wyper balks at that. “That-- that conversation I was delirious--” he tries to ignore the smug smirks from all the other Shandians around him, “--and seriously what the hell is an eat-and-run?”

“Yeah, what’s that?” Aisa adds.

“Well, you basically eat somewhere, and then you run out without paying,” Luffy grins. “It’s fun!” 

“Ooh!” Aisa’s eyes sparkle. 

“That’s a crime, don’t teach her that!” Nami whirls back around from where she was counting the gold with Gin, suddenly highly aware of the incriminating conversation happening behind her. “Sky Island’s economy is not like ours, we don’t need to eat the rich here!” 

“What are you talking about, Nami? Rich people taste nasty!” Luffy argues. 

“That’s not what I-- how the hell do you know that?”

“Are restaurants really considered ‘the rich’?” Gin wonders dryly. 

“Luffy’s corrupting the children,” Anne says. 

“Oh, so that’s how you corrupt children,” Chopper says. 

“What in the actual hell is wrong with all of you,” Wyper mutters. “Stop teaching Aisa weird things, she’s already a menace as she is.”

“I am not a menace!” 

“Well, I’d say take him along,” Kamakiri says. “He’s our village’s best technician, but he’s been making nothing but weapons for the past ten years.” 

“What does that have to do with anything!” 

“It means that from now on, we’re going to have to be making tools and machines , not bazookas and bombs,” Kamikiri says. “You think you’re down for that?”

Wyper visibly grimaced

“I mean, if I have to…”

“See?” Kamikiri gestures, and Luffy nods sagely. 

 

“I’m all for it!” Nami grins, lifting her arm in some salute, “this arm is amazing! No sense in getting it if I don’t know how to alter and maintain it. Plus I have no more spares.”

“I told you that was a one-time thing and--” Wyper trails off there. “Okay fair. I’m interested in making a fully metal arm.” 

“Then stop being a fucking Tsundere and go.”

“The fuck did you just call me.”

“Just go, we don’t really want you here either,” Braham says, “you scare the children.”

“Ex cuse me?!” Wyper whirls on him, fully offended.

Laki sighs. When did Laki get here. “Yeah, learn from Genbo, kids love him.”

“I do not want to be liked by kids!” Wyper genuinely can't believe he has to say this.

“Yeah, Wyper, just go already, you’re such a brat,” Aisa says, “you wanna go too, right? Then go already. Dishonest child.”

Wyper immediately grabs her away from Usopp by the skull. “Don’t push your luck!” 

“AHHh!! Child abuse! Child abuse! Save me, Laki!”

“Hey, don’t bully Aisa.”

“You’re all picking on me!” Wyper snaps, loud and defensive. 

 

Luffy and Nami burst into laughter at the scene. Gin sighs, and Anne smiles, Chopper grinning when his eyes meet hers. They know this homey feeling incredibly well. Usopp sighs, taking a crying Aisa back to his side.

“Agh, I get it already! All of you shut up!” Wyper has to be held back from trying to claw Aisa’s eyes out, but the child is hidden safely between Usopp’s arms, sticking out her tongue. “I’m going! I don’t want to see any of your damn pathetic faces ever again!” 

“Now that’s the spirit!” 

“Hey wait, I haven’t given up yet, I wanna go too!” 

“Hell no, Aisa!”

Luffy grins. “You guys are a bunch of weird people, huh!”

“We don’t wanna hear that from YOU!” 

Wyper struggles out of Braham’s grasp, giving up on mauling the child for now. Luffy steps down from his higher spot on the rocks, standing before and looking up toward Wyper with a confident smile. 

Scoffing, Wyper extends his left hand, because his right arm was still in a cast. 

“Just saying,” Wyper warns, “it’s only because I get to continue working. If at any point you guys become a lame party and I see someone else more interesting, I’m ditching your ass. Don’t for a second think I’m your underling, got it?”

Luffy frowns at that. “You sure have a lot of demands, you’re such a pain in the ass.” Before Wyper could sputter and conjure a response, Luffy continues. “But fine! This is gonna be the journey of the Pirate King, you know! Of course it’s never gonna be lame!” 

Luffy takes Wyper’s hand in a firm, strong shake.

Behind them, the Shandians and the Strawhats smile. 

 


 

Zoro eventually shows up with a flustered Conis and a frazzled Suu in tow.

“Oh, just ask already!” he snaps, when the girl sees Luffy and immediately proceeds to hide behind the swordsman instead of braving the confrontation. 

Luffy looks over, confused. “Oh, Conis! What’s up?”

Gin and Nami had gone back to the remnants of the Shandian village with Wyper, and Usopp and Sanji were off doing something else. So it was just Luffy and Anne at the meeting spot. Suu climbs on Zoro’s leg, trying to stop Zoro from walking forward and trudging a reluctant Conis alone, but alas, the Cloud fox was too tiny. 

“I can’t!” Conis says, meek. “I mean… I’m not strong, I’m not a fighter. I can’t possibly intrude, I would be nothing but a burden!” 

“Hah? You’re saying that now ?” Zoro groans. 

“Hmm, oh! Right, Conis!” Luffy perks up, suddenly remembering something. “I heard you really helped Merry! Thanks a ton for that.”

Conis straightens. “Ah, right!” Conis says, and in her hands are the walking stick and Nami’s now-mended coat. “It was nothing, really…” 

“So I was thinking!” Luffy beams, “you’re really good at sewing and stuff, right?” 

“Ah… among other things, yes,” Conis says, “sewing, cooking… women on Angel Island have a lot of domestic duties, so I’m used to it.”

Luffy snickers. “Well, I don’t really know the word for that. But that’s all stuff that everyone on the crew is bad at! Well, except Sanji maybe. But my point is! You should join us!” 

 

“Eh?” Conis immediately short circuits. Suu mimics the horrified expression, flabbergasted. 

“To the sea!” Luffy grins, “the blue sea! It’s super cool down there, y’know!”

“EH? Did I-- hear that right…?”

Zoro snorts. “Well, there it is. You now have no chance at escaping.”

“Eh?” Conis asks one more time, turning to him in muted horror. 

Anne, who had been silent the whole time, beams. “Another girl!” 

 

-


-

 

“Ehh, are these Weather Ball things really that important?” Sanji questions, a little baffled. 

“Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about harvest for now, but losing them is a crime, we might be in big trouble,” the farmer sighs. “I’m sure they’ll forgive us if we explain, but it just eats at our guilty conscience, you know?”

“You Skypieans are really nice people.”

“Ah, we get that a lot.”

Beside them, Usopp wisely does not mention that they still have three of them on the ship. Nami would have his head if any more of them are wasted.

Usopp instead turns his attention to Aisa, riding on his shoulders, and the Skypiean guards, who were inspecting the trees for him. Kinoko was around too, pointing the guards in the right direction. 

“Something like this… is this it?” the guard questions. 

“Gimme a second,” Usopp sets a hand on the trunk, feeling across the bark. Aisa looks between the action and imitates it, trailing a hand over the rinds. Kinoko comes down from the branches with a single leaf, and Usopp rubs a finger across it too. “It feels right, so are the leaves… but the greenery changed with the new atmosphere up here, so I’m not sure. I guess we can try cutting it?”

They were trying to find a rubber tree. 

The tropical atmosphere of Upper Yard seemed right for rubber trees to grow, so Usopp had led a team out to identify as much greenery as possible before the Blue Sea dwellers went out. 

“Is rubber really that useful?” Aisa asks. 

“Of course!” Usopp says, “have I spoken about how Rubberman Supreme took over a land of Giants with just the power of god and rubber on their side?” 

“Stop spouting bullshit that weirdly seems possible, you bastard,” Sanji snaps. 

“Yes, but not in the way you think,” Usopp says, “the god I'm talking about is actually Mister Coward Warrior.”

“Wait, really?!” Aisa asks, clutching closer to Usopp’s head, swingin her legs excitedly. “Mister Coward Warrior isn’t just a king of snipers, an expert magician, a jack-of-all-trades weaponsmith, and a superhero with his own theme song and cult, but he’s also a god?!”

Sanji had to stop smoking. “What in the actual hell are you putting in that girl’s head?”

“Only the necessary scriptures,” Usopp replies, completely serious. 

“I’m going to stop asking.”

 

Sanji came along into the forest too, to forage and replenish their food stock. He was teaching the citizens about the edible plants around, from mushrooms to yams and garlic.  

“We really appreciate all that you guys are doing,” a Shandian says, and Sanji grins. “We’d really be lost without this.”

“It’s nothing,” Sanji says. “You guys have to be fed too. Your crops are all gone, right?”

Behind them, someone cheers, having found the magical white liquid known as rubber.

“Thank goodness! We actually found some,” Usopp sighs, “now I’m gonna teach all of you about how to tap rubber and how to synthesize it to make other things… wait, are you listening? Wait, don’t touch that with your bare hands Aisa--!!”

“AHhh! I can’t get it off!”

“It’s solidifying! Poison!” a Skypiean warrior yells, “Water dials! Water diallllss!!”

“Well yes because you’re oxidizing it so much-- no, not the poison part sorry I phrased it bad! Could you all calm down?!” 

Sanji chuckles at the sight. People were chasing frantically and Usopp was so frustrated by the horde of too-curious adults. There really wasn’t much of a reason they needed rubber, but he supposed, they wanted to glorify the thing that defeated Enel. 

“Ah, right,” Sanji says, remembering the main purpose of this whole trade of information. “If you guys wanna repay us, think we can have some Dials?”

 


 

“What the-- wait a--” 

Sanji thinks it’s a good day in any sea when Usopp is so baffled by a piece of information that he’s completely speechless. It’s very satisfying. 

They finally return to the meeting spot. (Aisa was finally taken away by the Shandians because she needed to help the rest of the villagers. Kids were in a line to help mould bowls and cups out of clay and Aisa needed to do her part.)

“Yes!” Conis has her fists gripped tight before her. “I have. B-b-b-been, permitted to,” she struggles, and finally crumbles, cradling Suu in her hands weakly, “I can’t do it! Can I rethink this again?”

“Stop whining, do you want to come or not?” Zoro groans. “We’ll even let you bring your stupid fox thing, so what’s the problem?”

“Zoro, the fox is not the crux of the problem here,” Usopp retorts. 

“I do! I do, but--!!” Conis wails. “I’m sorry!” 

“Hey, Marimo! Be nicer to the lady, can’t you see she’s scared?!” Sanji yells, whirling right over with a kick that’s easily parried with the back of a katana. “Which is very justified, mind you, we’re pirates! She is making the extremely tough decision to leave behind her normal life into the seas of being an outlaw! Give her time!” 

“Oh come on, it’ll be fine,” Luffy says, “you’re a coward huh, Conis?” 

“I am, aren’t I? I’m sorry,” Conis mutters. 

“Didn’t you threaten to blast a bazooka in a White Beret’s face?” Anne asks. She has a hill of clay beside her, and she was already moulding up a stack of plates and bowls. She was going to make Zoro bring them over to the clay kiln later. 

“Yes, I’m sorry. I was shaking really badly when I did it,” Conis explains. “My legs were trembling and I almost wet myself. It was scary. I thought I would die when I disowned god there. I really did. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, is it just me, or is she adopting her father’s apologetic tick?” Usopp immediately scoops back into the conversation, “ease up on her, guys!” 

“It’s okay, Conis! I’m weak too!” Chopper runs up to her, patting her on the arm, “if you’re scared I can protect you! Because I can be a strong man too if I want!” 

Conis sniffles. “Thank you, Mister Tanuki.”

“I am a REINDEER!” 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend!” 

 

Luffy snickers at that. “You’re a crybaby too?” he says, “well, it’s not like I found my crew because all of them were strong or anything. I just liked them!” he grins. “I like you too, even if you’re weak! Cause you helped us a whole ton!” 

Conis lifts her head, and somehow-- somehow, that was just such a warm thing to hear. She may be a crybaby and a coward-- she may be just one just at the edge of Angel Island, playing a lyre-- but for this battle, she saved people. 

There has been no ceasure of people, Skypiean or Shandian or otherwise, coming up to her, thanking her, for warning them and helping them when it was time to run. 

(What she did was little, but it was huge, and it was not in vain. And that really made her realize-- that this, this is what she wants to be.)

(She wants to be headstrong, significant -- and do all she can to make a difference.)

She’s curled up into herself, hugging her knees to her chest. She manages a small smile, and immediately wipes her tears away. Beside her, Suu bumps her head against her thigh, prompting aggressively for Conis to do what she knew she had to do.

 

Standing up with Suu in her arms, she smiles wide and honest and full of heart. 

“I want to support all of you,” she declares. “My efforts may be small, but I will do all I can so I can continue to help everyone in this journey. If the end of the seas is your goal, then I want to be by your side, mending the tears along the way.” 

She bows, lowly and sincerely. 

“Suu and I will be in your care from now on. We’re amateurs to the workings of a battlefield, but I promise we will do well. Please take care of us.”

Luffy grins. Zoro, Sanji, Anne, Chopper, and Usopp mirror the proud smile. 

“Yeah, leave it to us!” Luffy assures. 

 


 

Usopp proceeds to have a crisis in the corner. 

“It’s different?” Sanji asks. 

Yeah ,” Usopp says, “we just-- we just got two new crew members, Sanji. At the same time. Why aren’t you more surprised?”

“I mean, didn’t we kinda recruit me and Gin at around the same time too?”

“Oh. Wait, that’s different!”

“It’s not. And well, we did need a Technician, but we kinda also needed a Seamstress,” Sanji says, “we had an unnecessary bulk of expenses for clothes because Zoro and Gin kept burning or shredding through them. Adding that to Merry’s shoddy sails and the fact that Adelle had to fix Luffy’s hat for us last time? Yeah we needed a needle-worker. Chopper isn’t perfect with those hooves.”

Usopp almost did a double take when Nami wasn’t even mentioned there. 

Right. Right, Nami isn’t even an option. Even though she was the unofficial official appointed last time around. 

“You have a lot of good points, but we all know Chopper is just stubborn because he doesn’t want to use Heavy Point to do surgeries,” Usopp insists. “He says his fingers are bulky but we all know it’s because he traumatised a kid once so he’s also traumatised.” 

“...I did not in fact know that.”

“Oh sorry, I think that was in the other timeline. But the fact remains!” 

Sanji sighs at that. 

“Well, it’s not a bad thing that Conis and Wyper are both joining, right? Conis-san is a really nice girl and all,” Sanji says. “And Gin might deny it, but he’s getting along pretty damn well with Wyper.”

Usopp pauses at that. “Dude if you know that then-- are you self-aware about your friendship with Zoro?!”

He immediately earns himself a kick in the face for that one.

“I didn’t say shit about the Marimo, don’t bring him up!” Sanji yells. 

“You’re self-aware !” 

“Shut up!”

 

-


-

 

Wyper makes his way through the ruins of the Shandian village. 

While Nami and Gin looked around for interesting things, Wyper took an immediate stop at Kalgara’s statue, sitting down before it reverently. 

And for a long, long moment-- Wyper just sat there, looking up at Kalgara’s statue, saying nothing. Surely, he was communicating. Just, silently, privately. 

Gin and Nami watch from afar, knowing they shouldn’t interrupt there. 

“I never thought I would leave this country,” Wyper finally says out loud. He runs a hand through the base of the statue-- and breathes out. 

He slides his hand under the platform-- and in a hidden compartment, a single book is hidden. Frayed and browned with age, but intact. Nami comes closer, and her eyes shine as she realizes it’s a journal

“Kalgara was loyal to guarding the legacy of Shandora,” Wyper says, and Nami jumps slightly, abruptly noticing that Wyper was talking to them. “But his daughter was different.”

Nami took that as a sign that she could come closer. Gin was also listening, just from further away.

 

(The owner of the journal was a girl named Mousse. )

(And she, despite being loyal to her father, to their beliefs,and to their traditions-- she listened intently to Montblanc Noland’s stories, and in those tales she began to dream of the outside world.)

(She wrote, of all the knowledge Noland spoke of. About plants, about weapons, even about tales of how royalty worked, and the wonders of the Grand Line. There were folk tales, mythical creatures, and various forms of divinity across the world.)

(She dreamed of adventure. She wanted to see what the Blue Sea had to offer, and experience these wonders in a way no Shandian has ever done before.)

(She wanted to be the first Shandian to break the tradition of seclusion from the outside.)

And it is in this one book, in this one dream-filled woman’s ramblings that persisted and remained as a relic of history, that the Shandians have learned all they knew and survived.

 

“Kalgara’s wish is fulfilled now,” Wyper sighs, looking back up at the statue, “I guess it’s about time I fulfilled the wish of this other ancestor of mine, too.”

Nami can’t help but giggle at that.  “A bunch of annoying ancestors you’ve got, huh? Unfulfilled dreams everywhere!” 

Wyper looks back at her, and for a moment, Nami wonders if he took offense. Instead, he snorts, chuckling in resignation.  “They really are, aren’t they? I wish they’d think of their dumb descendants that have to spend their lives fulfilling these lost dreams.”

He picks up the book, and he stands up. 

“Well, fortunately for them, I guess I’m the exact kind of dumb they need. I learned their story once when I was a kid and now it’s all I ever want to do.”

 

Nami smiles at that. Gin laughs, too.

(They really are a whole crew of differently-bred idiots, aren’t they?)

Chapter 68: bon voyage (aiming for the blue seas)

Summary:

(They're sent off with the song of the bell.)

It's time to leave Sky Island, and everything else behind them. The journey down is long, and the crew finally spend a long, quiet day to rest for their next journey ahead.

In simple terms: Bonding!

Notes:

What the-- when did we break 400k? Woah! Happy milestone, everyone! It's me again and I love everyone reading this with all my heart. Thanks so much for always reading, following, commenting-- it means the world to me.

This chapter's a whopping 8.9k ish, so I hope you enjoy this chapter as well ❤ G-8 is coming next!

Chapter Text

“Bunks!” Nami cheers. Anne and Conis echo, and Robin does the resounding applause.

Wyper grumbles as he leaves the room, kicking the door open because he’s got armfuls of planks on either side of his arm. “Don’t jump around them too much, I’ve never nailed things in a fully wooded area before. They might collapse.”

Anne immediately dives into the top. The mattress isn’t as good as the one below, and the platform is a little thin, but it’s enough for her. Conis’ eyes are sparkling, but that’s generally over everything in the room. Robin and Nami chuckle at the sight. 

“I guess Anne and Conis have to sleep up top, since they’re lighter,” Nami says. Then, remembering her manners, she turns to holler, “ah-- thanks, Wyper!”

She’s immediately echoed by Anne and Robin, and Conis a little belatedly. 

Wyper gives some non-committal grunt in the distance. 

 

“It sure surprises me that Blue Sea cotton isn’t very fluffy. I should secure as much cloud thread as I can before we leave,” Conis says, inspecting the cushions. 

“I would love that!” Anne says. 

“I would personally prefer something with a little more back support than the Island Cloud cushions, though,” Nami says, chuckling slightly. “Robin, you too, right?” 

“Eh? Ah, yes.”

“Yes, I can manage that!” Conis beams, “any other requests?”

 

-


-

 

The conversation with Pagaya went down well. He was shocked, of course, but after a few apologies and a heart attack, he gave his blessings. 

“Well, if it’s you kids, I’m sure Conis will be safe,” Pagaya says. “I’ve always dreamed that she would pursue her own dreams one day. I’m glad the day has come.” 

Conis sobs, “fattheeer!” 

“Speaking of which, you should keep these,” Pagaya hands her a pair of gloves, his work gloves, and essentially some of the last that were made of synthetic Cloud Leather until Angel Island figured out how to make more. “I hope they will serve you well.”

Conis sobs louder. “I’ll treasure them!” 

Somehow, a whole crowd of Skypieans came by just to hold her hand and pat her on the head, wishing her well. 

She was definitely much more popular and loved than she personally expected, because even children were coming by, bringing food and accessories and anything, really, as a farewell and have fun gift. 

Some of the fellow young women pointed out her scars. Some were worried it’d be a taint, but others insisted it was cool. Either way, salves and makeup were traded. 

 

“I’ll miss her, of course,” Pagaya says. “She’s the only one I have left, after her mother passed so long ago… but I’m sure this is what she would’ve wanted for her as well.”

Luffy snickers at that. 

Nami was in that group now, talking it up with the ladies, telling them all about how markings on pirates are a super super plus. She even shows off her henna tattoos just to prove her point, and Conis grows interested in the idea of tattoos. 

Anne was showing off her painting skills again, recreating the ancient city of Shandora but in the shiniest gold she can make with just normal paints. The Shandians were going rabid over it. 

Usopp was sketching out construction plans and instructions on how to use their new materials. Gin was helping him, because half of the time he was writing off-line and for descriptions, Gin had to take over. Sanji was working on his own hastily-constructed recipe book, and Chopper was working on a medical one with some doctors, with herbs and plants laid out. Zoro was helping the citizens do some labour to clean up the town, and Robin was talking some history with a few people regarding how to build cities. 

Kinoko was with Suu, being coddled by the Skypiean and Shandian children. 

“I’m sorry,” Pagaya says, “it’s always so hard to see your children leave the nest. It really feels like she’s grown… I can’t help but feel reluctant. My life will be much duller without her around. I hope she doesn’t feel as homesick as I will be missing her.”

Luffy grins. “She’s my nakama now, so you don't have to worry!” 

“Ah, that is assuring,” Pagaya smiles, and he really feels it. There was something in the way he used the word nakama , a way that surpassed family, surpassed anything Pagaya knew. “Very, very assuring indeed.” 

 


 

As for Wyper and his group, they were surprisingly sad to see him go.  Aisa was crying, but that’s nothing new. People kept giving him weapons and tools, and he had to eventually bark back at them to stop. 

“You guys will still have to defend the country from outsiders!” he snaps, “iron is scarce up here, just keep it I don’t need them!” 

“But Wyper, it’s your favourite wrench! You always throw it at people!” cries an adult in the distance, “you sure you don’t wanna bring it with you? You’ll get lonely!” 

“Don’t treat me like a kid!” Wyper’s vocal chords are hard at work today again. “You wave that thing at me again I’ll melt it down to make something that’ll hit harder than a wrench!” 

“See? This is why no one likes you, Wyper! You’re violent!” 

“Violent! Violent!” 

“That’s how I want to be!” Wyper insists.

“Doesn’t mean it’s not a problem! Now I’m worried. You’ll be so much trouble to our saviours! Maybe we should stop him.”

“All of you have lost the right to comment on my qualifications ten years ago!” 

“Hey kid, dude, we raised you , hell yes we have the right.”

“Ah, here!” Aisa approaches him, raising a handful of multicoloured rubber wristbands in her hands, some of them hair ties that were knotted off with beads. “Usopp taught us how to make these. Take some.”

“Huh?” Wyper looks at it, crouching down. “What even is this?”

“Rubber,” Aisa explains. “The others are still getting the hang of it but I’m a genius so I made a lot.”

“Learn some humility. And since when was rubber something so tiny?”

“Just take it already! I rushed to make so many!” 

“Everyone else is also following one of Usopp’s blueprints to make you a shoulder and arm brace, so remember to take that before you leave,” Braham says. 

“What?! I don’t need one!” 

“Just take it, it’s our test product. Plus you’re good at pretending, but we all know those Reject Dials busted your arm, you’re an idiot.” 

“My arm is not busted, it’s just sore!” 

“Who, exactly, do you think you’re fooling?”

 

The crew watches from the side, slightly baffled at the juxtaposition of the two scenes before them. In a way, ‘emotional farewell’ versus ‘violently unemotional farewell’ suited them, but it was still odd to see it play out like this .

“Why is Wyper unexpectedly the baby brother of the family?” Sanji says, a little baffled. This reminded him of his farewell at the Baratie.

“Because his family is huge,” is Nami’s answer. “Luffy’s big brother is like that in the Whitebeard ship, too.” 

Usopp hums. “I think it’s less of he’s the baby brother and more of everyone now has the excuse to bully the crap out of him as revenge for his edgelord phase.”

“I DO NOT HAVE AN EDGELORD PHASE!” 

“Crap, he was listening.”

 


 

They were moving their supplies-- including the salvaged gold, stacks of dry Cloud cloth, Wyper’s weapons and Conis’ belongings-- back into the Merry when Robin presented her finding. 

“What the-- that’s Shura’s Eisen Whip,” Wyper yelps, “why do you have it, woman?”

“Her name is Robin,” Anne says. 

“I found it among the wreckage,” she says. “I also retrieved the bells that were dropped,” she shows three of them, including her own, in her palm. 

And that’s when Chopper notices his bell was missing from his antler, and Gin’s was gone, too. They gratefully take it back. 

“I guess we don’t need these anymore, huh?” Gin inspects it. It’s dented, some of the paint was scraped off, and for Chopper’s the clapper had come clean off. 

Zoro’s and Anne’s were fully intact, despite being in an easy-to-hit spot. 

“Huh? The day I let someone break Kogatana is the day I die, too. Why do you think I put it here?” Zoro says in his defense.

“My pendant too,” Anne says. 

Usopp’s and Sanji’s were a little burned, so it didn’t quite sound right, but they were fine. Nami’s and Luffy’s were a little loose at the hinges because of the rough handling, but they were intact otherwise. Robin’s was in perfect condition. 

Seeing that, the crew couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Bells, huh,” Wyper says. “We don’t have these things up here in Sky Island. What’s the point? The sound isn’t nearly as nice as the golden bell.” 

“Well, nothing really,” Usopp says, “so what’re we doing about the Eisen… it’s just a dial now, right? Eisen Dial.”

Wyper holds it by the hilt-- and with a squeeze, the blade forms, wide and broad. He morphs it into the barrel of a gun, and then into a saw. 

Luffy and Chopper’s eyes sparkle at the sight. Kinoko, who had been woh-knows-where until now, landed on Wyper’s head to get a closer look. She gets immediately swatted away with a loud bark of ‘I’m not a perch!’ Gin, Anne, and Nami watch, fascinated. Robin, Sanji, and Zoro seemed genuinely uninterested, and Conis had seen this before, so she just watched in neutrality.

“Stop making impressed noises around me, I’m getting jealous,” Usopp says. 

Wyper passes it down to-- he hesitates on Luffy and gives it to Nami instead. Kinoko, seeing that, lands on Nami’s shoulder instead. Unlike the rude barbarian, Nami didn’t shrug her off. 

“Hey, Stingy!” Luffy yells. 

“Yeah, I wanna see it too!” Chopper whines. 

“It’s dangerous,” Wyper defends. 

 

The whip shoots out, and Nami’s eyes light up in familiarity. She gets it to retract and does it again, this time aimed toward a tree trunk, piercing it right through the center. 

 

“Huh, you’ve got a hang of it already,” Zoro says. 

“Nami-swan can really do anything!” Sanji swoons.

Conis claps, very impressed, “it’s usually impossible for beginners! Even the iron cloud factory only allows experienced workers to use them.”

Nami can’t suppress her smile. “This is nostalgic!” she sings, “Usopp, Usopp! This is just like my Sorcery Clima Tact! I can freely adjust the length, and it’s not even all that heavy!” 

“Oh?” Usopp takes it, testingly squeezing it with a hand out to stop right before the blade pierces his palm. He tries it again after twisting the nozzle and it comes out with a blunt tip, inflating into the shape of a bat. “Ah, I see… the function is similar to the Grow-Up pop greens. The amount of pressure you put on it changes its shape. But I limited your old one down to vertical extension only. This gives you free reign, are you sure that’s alright without Zeus with you?”

“How in the actual hell did you know all of that without seeing?” Zoro asks, but nobody answers him. 

“What’s a pop green?” Conis asks. 

“It’s a weird Blue Sea plant that only exists on this one blue sea island,” Usopp says. “I want to go there one day.”

Luffy takes the Eisen Whip when Usopp briefly lets it go, and he and Chopper giddily run off to the side to play with it. Anne follows. Wyper groans, but Gin, very alarmed, runs off to stop them. Kinoko follows a second later. 

“I’ll be fine, stop reminding me of Zeus-chan,” Nami whines. “I’d honestly prefer it to be a bit heavier, though. I’m used to leaning heavily right, my balance will stagger if it’s suddenly so much lighter.”

“Ah, because of your arm, huh?”

“How about you break that habit instead? It’s not good for your posture.”

“You can fix the weight by changing the iron cloud solution,” Conis offers. “Island-to-Sea Cloud ratio is something we work with a lot in the textile factory. Iron Cloud is rarer to mix, but it’s essentially working on the same principles.”

“Isn’t Zeus the name of a mythological god?” Robin says, “speaking of…” she trails off, and though Wyper remembers the name of another mythological god on the Poneglyph as Robin has read, he decides it’s better unsaid. 

 

Luffy, the idiot that holds a retractable sword upright and looks down at it, makes a hedgehog of iron cloud explode over himself, Anne, and Chopper. They scream, and Gin immediately wrenches it off of them, tosses it to Robin for safekeeping, and grabs the children by the ears for lecturing. He didn’t have enough hands, so Kinoko drags Chopper over by the ear.

Zoro sighs at the sight. 

 

“You guys sure you don’t want it?” Nami asks everyone, as if the decision isn’t already made. 

“Nah, I’m a long-ranged fighter,” Usopp says. 

“I want it--!!” Luffy is immediately shut up by Sanji stomping a foot on his face. 

“You fight with your fists, you don’t need something like that,” he chides. “Same goes to Chopper, and of course, me too.” The reindeer nods. 

“Me as well,” Robin says, “I believe it’s best in the hands of Miss Burglar Cat.”

“It would be nice, but I can’t paint with it, so no thanks,” Anne says. 

“I prefer heavy weapons,” Gin simply says. “ Very. Heavy weapons.” Iron Cloud could get heavier, too, but those were all about speed and flexibility. Gin didn’t need any of that.

Then eyes turn to Zoro, who insists, “it’s important that my swords are the same length. I don’t need one that isn’t consistent, it wouldn’t be a real katana.” 

When unexpectedly, people look toward Conis, she flusters, shaking her hands in denial before her, “no, no. I’m bad at close combat!” 

Attention was on Wyper this time. He was really the only other candidate besides Nami, since he knew how to use it. 

“Huh? No,” Wyper says, “do I look like I can swing a sword to you?” 

“But you made it in the shape of a gun just now, right?”

“A shape is a shape. Guns don’t work without gunpowder, and you can’t make precisive inside parts with just one Eisen Dial.”

“Then it’s decided then,” Luffy grins, turning back to Nami. “The thing belongs to Nami now!” 

Nami beams. 

 

-


-

 

The farewell was loud, with cheers and tears and a loud salute of “HESO!” behind them. The golden bell rings as they approach Cloud End, and it’s a sound that couldn’t be more befitting of their farewell. 

“Come back soon, ya hear?!”

“Take care!” 

“Stay safe, ya hear?”

“We’ll always welcome you if you come again!” 

It took a while for Aisa to give up, but she did eventually, wishing them well instead, even jumping up to give Wyper a hug that the man somehow didn’t immediately rip her head off for. (He actually returned it for half a second, and then shoved her off while she was in shock. She then ran to Usopp instead and he happily hugged her back.)

Conis salutes the White Berets, who salute back. She goes with a bouquet of flowers, from the child that threw a rock at her and just couldn’t forgive himself otherwise. 

The South Bird returns to their ship for a ride home. Suu runs around the deck happily, serving as Kinoko’s little ride as they scamper. 

 

Wyper savours the last sight of his home island-- and turns his gaze forward, toward the future, toward the skies ahead, and the sea below. 

He was leaving the island, with the blessing of the bell and the Chieftain. There was no better development than that. 

He holds Mousse’s journal in his hand, and an unimaginable excitement fills his chest. Kalgara’s wish was fulfilled in his generation. And in his generation, too… he will fulfill Mousse’s. 

There’s no greater joy.

 

Conis lets her tears flow, watching the last of her island with Suu and Kinoko by her side. She watches it until they descend from the White-White Sea to the White Sea, and her father is the only one left at the gate. 

She doesn’t know what to say. This would be the last she saw her father, for… for much, much too long. Longer than she’s ever been before. So she takes a deep breath, raises both her hands, and she yells --

“HESO!” 

Her father smiles back just in time for Conis to give one back. 

 


 

The crew hastily works. Gin is barking orders with Nami. 

“Is that all of it? I’m tying them down now,” Zoro says, working the knots in a rush. “Put the smaller stuff in the empty barrels!” 

Anne was scooping up most of the loose gold into a barrel, and Chopper was helping her. “We need to tie down the barrels too, right?”

In the other room, Robin was slotting planks between cabinet doors, so they wouldn’t scatter open in the coming rush. Sanji was working the same in the kitchen, hurriedly placing breakable things in a separate box that could be tied down. Pots and pans were secured under already-nailed cabinets. 

“What are we even dealing with? A 7000m roller coaster runway or something?” Gin demands, barking orders for Luffy to draw that sail up faster.

“Or something!” Nami yells, pulling a tarp over her orange trees and nailing down the edges with Usopp’s help. 

“Hey, brats!” Wyper yells at Suu, the Southbird, and Kinoko, “the birds are one thing, but you, Cloud Fox! We’re not catching you if we lose you in the drop!” 

“The drop?”

“I’m excited!” Conis says. “I’ve never experienced the freefall before!” 

All movement on deck stops, except Nami and Usopp finishing up the nailing. Gin freezes, and everyone else has to do a double take, not so sure if they were hearing right.

“The freefall?!?” 

 

(And then the screaming starts.)

 


 

The octoballoon catches them and the bell sings their farewell song. 

Their journey in Sky Island was finally over, and now, all that lay for them was the journey back. It didn’t disappoint at all. The song of the bell sings for them, tolling for the promise of so many years ago, the promise that will continue to be fulfilled in this generation as well. 

“Ow ow ow, my head is ringing for a completely different reason…” Usopp whines, nursing the multiple bumps on his head, curling agonized with his face on the deck.

“Ow!” Nami whines about her own. Robin had taken the liberty to do it, with express permission from everyone including Sanji. “You guys are so mean! It was just a joke!” 

“IT WAS NOT FUNNY!” everyone yelled. 

Just then, a pulley clonked Nami right in the head, and it bounced right off to hit Usopp on the way down. 

“What was that for!?” they snap at the same time. 

“I guess Merry didn’t think it was funny either,” Zoro mutters. 

 

Luffy laughs. He has Kinoko on one shoulder and Suu around his chest, clinging on desperately with all the vigor of a terrified cat. 

Wyper scoffs, lighting up a cigarette. He flexes his hand a bit still not used to the feeling of the secure rubber brace around most of his wrist and shoulder. The rubber wristband (that read ‘Shandora’) and the beaded hair tie jostled with the movement. 

Sanji decides to take a smoke too, and Chopper notices, whining loudly about how there were two of them now. 

The crew took the time to really settle down. The sound of the bell fades, and the octoballoon slowly descends, further and further away from Sky Island. 

“We’re really gone from home, huh…” Conis says, gloved hands held together instinctively. “It almost doesn’t feel real.” Suu squeaks, agreeing. 

Anne had set up her easel, but this time, she was sketching. Gin and Wyper were watching, but as soon as they noticed each other watching, it turned into a glaring match. 

“Hey,” Gin says, “when are you changing out of that fucking leaf skirt?”

“Huh? I don’t see the fucking problem you have with what I wear.”

“The problem is called common decency, you exhibitionist!” 

“What the actual fuck even is an exhib--”

 

“Alright, time to settle down for real, guys,” Nami interrupts the argument to walk right through them. “Man, it’s been so long since we’ve been home!”

“Moments of reprieve are nice, huh…”

 

Sanji prepares sandwiches and tea as the crew gathers in the galley. Nami inspects the state of Usopp’s toolbox, designating the spot around it to be Wyper’s workshop from now on and mentally plotting out the boundary. 

Conis stares at the bulletin board and mutiny board, fascinated by her discovery. Beside her, Zoro picked up Robin’s pin, erasing the scribble of her name and handing it off to Usopp. It was about time they drew in a proper design for that one. 

“We’ll need three more,” Usopp says, pencil already out to sketch a book on the piece he was given. 

“Why are we already assuming they’ll mutiny at some point,” Sanji says, exasperated. 

“Won’t you say that letting Luffy get eaten by the snake counts? Draw one up for Wyper right now.” Zoro says. 

“HEY,” came the offended voice outside, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I don’t like it!” 

“You’ll get used to it,” Gin says. 

“What’s mutiny?” Conis asks. 

“Uh,” Chopper’s a little surprised to be asked, “well, it’s not actually something good. That board is mostly us joking around, but…” 

“It’s when you siege a rebellion against the authority, in this case, it would be Mister Captain,” Robin explains, “but for us specifically, we also use it for mild inconveniences.”

“Just saying, this stays within our crew, okay? ” Usopp says, "if anyone outside our crew ever finds out that we joke about this, we'd get mauled to death."

"Hey, Ace and Thatch were fine with it."

"That's because Ace has a sense of humour. Never tell anyone like, say, Izo, okay? We'll die in three seconds." 

“Eh?”

 

“Alright, gather around boys,” Nami calls out toward them from the head of the table. “Time to distribute the loot.” 

 


 

“So, I’d say all our gold right now should get us 3.5 hundred million,” Nami says. And then, moving right past everyone’s gobsmacked expressions, she sighs. “I wish we could have taken more, but Gin said no.”

“That’s already a whole ton, Nami! And dude Merry would’ve overloaded with all the extra arsenal in our storage,” Gin says. “I don’t want us to sink.”

“Is three hundred million beris a lot?” Wyper asks. 

“It’s 3,500,000,000,000 extols,” Zoro says, as Robin holds up a piece of paper indicating the exchange rate. And Conis gasps , Chopper immediately looking dizzy. 

“Dude, I don’t even know how to read that number!” Luffy yells. 

“Forget the number, we’re rich!” Chopper declares, “We’re RICH?!"

“I-- Nami-swan please , I want a lockable fridge--”

“Books! Buy me books, please, Nami? Please?” 

“I want oil paints.”

“A bronze statue! A bronze statue!!” Luffy yells, raising his hand excitedly.

“Idiot, why are we exchanging gold for bronze?!” Usopp retorts. 

Wyper looked genuinely confused. “If it’s a statue of yourself you want, you can just make a mold and… you know… cast it? With our gold?" 

Everyone falls silent. 

Then Luffy yells, “MAKE ME A STATUE WYPER PLEASSEEEE”

“ME! ME! ME TOo!” 

“AHhh, no fair, I want one too!” 

"No! Not on the ship guys! Not on the ship, we're going to burn it down!"

Even Suu seemed to be interested, climbing up Wyper’s side as the guerilla gave her a skeptical look. Kinoko huffs, disappointed by the level of intelligence in this room. 

 

“Just to clarify!” Nami slams her hand loudly on the table twice, calming the children, “we are not spending any of our money on dumb things.”

“It’s not dumb!” 

“And!” Nami ignores the whines, “two thirds of that money goes to me.”

“HEY.”

“Nami, you bit--” 

“Hell no!” 

Wyper grimaces, “blue sea people are shameless…”

“No no, that’s just Nami,” Usopp clarifies. 

 

Gin stands up to shove the children down from their planned riot, pushing them down by the foreheads back into their seats. Luffy still looked incredibly miffed, while Chopper and Anne pouted into their tea. 

“What she means is,” Gin clarifies, “We’re saving that amount of money for emergency expenses!”

“Ehh, why so much! Stingy!” 

“Hey, it’s a decision me and Nami came to together. You guys get your allowances separately.”

“Down to tyranny! Down to tyranny!” 

“As a captain I want more!” Luffy yells. 

“As the quartermaster I say no!” Gin yells right back. 

“Boo! Boo! Boooo!” 

"Also," Nami says, "we're giving some of it to Torao as thanks for helping Gin, so say goodbye to about 25% of the remainder as well."

"NOoo!" 

"...is this what it feels like to receive your paycheck but immediately spend it all on rent?" Usopp wonders.

 

“Is currency really that valuable?” Wyper asks, turning toward Zoro. Shandians really didn’t need money-- they weren’t big enough to form a town, and they definitely have never visited shops on Angel Island. 

Zoro shrugged. “Can’t do shit without it down here.”

Wyper grimaces. “The blue sea is fucking weird .”

“Sir, you haven’t even seen it yet.”

"That's exactly why."

 

-


-

 

The sun begins to set. 

“It’s simple!” Usopp says, carving the plank of wood in his hands. Anne and Luffy are watching him work, along with Kinoko on his shoulder. “I just need to fix this piece of wood together, and then this sheet, and then this box is supposed to open and close like this so this other piece stamps over the gap like--”

Usopp pauses. 

He’s screwed in the cover the wrong side in. It was vertical over the horizontal bottom. 

“...Why did none of you stop me?” he asks. 

Anne sips her tea. “I wasn’t sure.”

Luffy hums in agreement, also sipping tea. “I understood nothing you said.”

Kinoko caws. Usopp has no idea what she said, but he knows it’s another deferment of responsibility because she couldn’t be darned or something. 

Usopp sighs. 

Two moments later they’re all in the galley, presenting their disaster of a creation and the blueprint to Wyper. Wyper fixed it in three seconds and they all went back outside. 

 

“And now, we gotta make the stencils,” Usopp says, lifting his design over the neatly-prepared wood strips to the side, picking up a carving knife. 

He pauses. 

Anne sips her tea.

Luffy also sips his tea. 

Two seconds later they’re back in the galley asking for Wyper’s help. 

 

“Alright! Now, the next step I’m very sure it’s a job that I don’t need my eyes for!” Usopp continues, picking up the white T-shirt on the side and setting it up. “Anne, yare the paints all good? I’ll leave colour-picking to you.”

Usopp clasps the shirt properly, setting it down. 

When no one moves for the next moment, Usopp realizes, “...it’s upside down, isn’t it?”

 


 

Conis takes one look at the books in the girls room and her eyes go dizzy

“Wha-- what is this? Is this still a language?” she flips through Brag Men, “why are there so many mixed characters? How do you read half of this?”

Chopper retrieves the logbook from the drawer, wondering if he should show it to Conis. Most of the crew wrote heavily in their native tongues-- which wasn't too different in speaking, but in writing, they were very different. Chopper only knew how to read it because Linian generally used all the characters for different situations. 

“Which of these do you recognize?” Nami asks, lifting the books for Healing, Medikament, Iyashi-hon, and Rawatan. “Language-wise.”

“Uh, Healing and Iyashi-hon?” Conis asks. 

“So Northern and Eastern, huh,” Nami says, “well, that’s enough to communicate. We’ll just have to work on the writing.”

“There’s more than one language in the Blue Sea? That’s fascinating!” Conis beams, then flushes, a little embarrassed by her enthusiasm, “ah, sorry. It seems I haven't quite registered the true scale of where I am yet.” 

Nami smiles warmly at that. 

“Linian’s the common tongue down here, so we can generally understand everyone no matter which specific dialect they’re speaking. Cool, right?” Nami says, “Zoro can’t write in anything other than traditional Eastern though, that’s a bit of a pain.”

“Oh, is that why all his words are written the opposite way?” Chopper asks. 

“Yep! I want to say that even his words have a bad sense of direction, but that’s actually how it’s written so I shouldn’t say it.”

“You just did.”

“Ah… sorry, but what is that book?” Conis inquires, looking toward the logbook with mild interest. “Is it like a journal of sorts?”

Nami grins. “It’s a logbook of our adventure. Wanna try writing an entry?”

 


 

“Here are some cake bites, milady,” Sanji says, “I’m trying out a new recipe. Would you offer me your opinion?” 

Robin smiles up at Sanji, turning her attention away from her book to take a little pick of the sponge cake. 

On the table, Suu lifts her head curiously, and Sanji feeds her one as well. Suu squeals, evidently loving the taste. She looks up expectantly, and Sanji gives her another. And then another. At some point she crawls up Sanji’s arm and toward his neck, nuzzling in happily.

“It’s delicious, Mister Cook,” Robin says, and Sanji swoons, appreciative. 

“I’m really glad to hear it!” 

The atmosphere is interrupted by a harsh snore from the resident swordsman, who was leaning against the side of the ship and completely out like a light. 

“He can’t even sleep quietly?” Sanji wonders, irritated. 

Robin chuckles at that. 

On the other end of the deck, Gin was also asleep, a blanket around his lap and his bandanna pulled over his eyes. Sanji looks between them and sighs. He supposed it was fine, since they both sort of had night shifts last night and didn’t really get any extra rest. 

 


 

Anne opens a hatch at the aft. 

A soft squeak catches her attention, and she looks up, searches between the tangerine trees-- and finds Suu, curled up around the soil, resting in the shade. 

Anne’s eyes light up. 

Returning to the hatch, Anne gestures for Suu to follow her before jumping into the passageway. Suu hurries over, peeking down to see Anne with her arms stretched out, ready to catch her. 

She closes the hatch on her way in. 

(No one sees them again for the next two hours.)

 


 

“Hey, Gin,” Sanji comes to the bow, where Gin was yawning, looking out into the distance. He’s holding a tray of pastries. “Have you seen Anne-tan anywhere?”

“I’ve been wondering for weeks but what the actual hell is Anne- tan ?” Gin mutters, but shakes his head. 

“Well, An-chan can mean something else and An-san didn’t sound right, so Anne-tan seemed like a nice middle ground,” Sanji explains simply. 

“Ah, I see,” Gin does not, but he crouches down, reaching for a hatch right around their feet and opening it. “If she’s not anywhere on the ship, she’s probably down in here-- what the actual fuck happened down here?”

There wasn’t much of a space down there-- plenty wide, but heightwise, just barely enough for a girl Anne’s size to crawl around, not that it was very convenient with all the wooden supports and beams. 

But now, it was splashed with colour. 

Coloured powder, that is.

Sanji can tell from the smell that these were pigments Anne used, the watercolour powders she kept for emergencies because they lasted longer than oil-based paints and these could be freshly mixed and activated with water. 

Right now though, they were mostly in powder form, as if someone had taken bagfulls of them and initiated a game of flour tag. 

“Anne!” Gin and Sanji yelled at the same time. 

Two meters away there are two squeaks of surprise. 

“I heard you! What were you doing down there and why are you wasting your paints ?!” Gin yells. “You know we can’t land in the water like this or we’re going to have a mess!” 

“I thought we told you time and again that they aren’t chemically safe to use in large amounts on the ship! Anne!” Sanji adds, opening the nearest next hatch to barely see Anne and Suu scramble away, out of sight. “HEY! No running! Don’t think you can get away for long just because none of the rest of us can get down there!” 

 


 

“Uhm… heso?” 

“What?”

“Heso! I’m sorry to bother,” Conis squeaks, shrinking a little further outside the door. Kinoko was on her shoulder, giving her a side-eye that was probably exasperation. Like geez, you’re here around and now you’re hesitating? Do you require a prince to enhearten your battle, my dear? 

Wyper had tools all over his area, his bazooka disassembled before him. 

His back was to the entrance, his wings in full view. 

Including the badly-charred right wing, so gnarled and lacking feathers, it was half the size of the other. Just seeing it hurt Conis on the inside, and now that they were going to a place where people naturally didn’t have wings… 

(Even up there, the Skypieans had been giving Wyper a look every now and then. The man himself was so unbothered by it, and with the celebrations going on, a single wing was little compared to some other injuries.)

(The Shandians seemed neutral on it, but the Skypieans-- they were bothered. Very bothered.)

(Because for the citizens of Angel Beach-- your wings were sacred. They couldn’t fly with them, they were decoration-- but those wings made them a community, and made them fellows of the same ilk. It represented to them that they were one . They were a symbol of a human-like vulnerability, and their symbol of connection.)

(That was why, when people were appointed into the title of god-- their wings were removed. The god was meant to be flawless, to be the stable authority beyond the personhood of fellow Sky Island natives. They were the lone figure of perfection and protection, and that was how it always was.) 

Now, though…

 

“I was just… thinking,” Conis picks up the courage to stand fully in view, and Wyper’s eyes run to her hands. She wasn’t wearing her gloves. Instead, there was a brush, and clippers. 

“Get to the point already!” he growls at her, and she flusters. 

“It’s not what you think! I’m sorry uh, I--” she tries to turn around but Kinoko has had enough, pinching her in the cheek and tugging her right back in. “Ah! Ow, ow, I’m sorry. I’ll say it now, that hurts, I’m sorry, please stop it.” 

Kinoko lets go of her cheek and Conis rests a hand against it, wincing. 

“I… if it isn’t too discourteous to ask,” Conis finally says, “may I groom your wings?”

Wyper pauses. 

Then “obviously you can’t?!” 

Conis wails, running right back behind the door in fright. “I’m sorrrrry!” 

Even Kinoko looks scared, tucked firmly in the crook of Conis’ neck, eyes blown wide in surprise. Oh, how barbarous! She is dumbfounded by this rude man .

 

(Obviously, it’s discourteous. Actually baffling, to be honest.)

Even for Shandians, who didn’t hold wings in the same divine regard, that much is common sense. It’s still a sensitive body part. It was an intimate thing left only to family, and especially between men and women, it was almost scandalous to be caught helping each other. 

In fact, that’s exactly why Wyper left it as it is, with minimal care so it would heal naturally instead.

(It would be ugly, but it was just another scar in his arsenal. And he would be proud of it.) 

 

Conis almost feels too embarrassed to ask now. 

“But…” Conis peeks back into the room, and Wyper is still glaring. “I just… feel bad leaving it like that.” 

Wyper grinds his teeth at her.  A long moment of just staring later-- because she's scared of him but she sure as hell is stubborn despite it-- Wyper sighs, turning back to his work. 

“Do what you want. Just don’t get in my way.”

Conis beams so brightly then that Wyper whirls around in surprise, thinking the sun had risen again or something. 

“Why are you so happy about something so stupid!” 

Conis is crying, “because it’s such an honour!” 

 


 

Nami inspects the mutiny board, deeming herself worthy of a lowered ranking today. While everyone unanimously agreed that Conis’ badge needed to depict wings, Wyper’s ended up being a bomb with a lit fuse. Usopp designed it to have Wyper’s glare on it, and everyone just nodded while Wyper questioned his life decisions. 

As for Suu, they couldn’t decide on a design, and drawing an actual fox seemed too strange, so they sent the pin off to Zoro and made him write the word ‘fox’ on it in traditional Eastern before carving the figure out. 

Nami pulls Conis’ and Wyper’s ranks up a fair bit before deciding that Conis reigns in first place. 

“I feel bad,” Robin admits, looking just a little reluctant. “It’s not quite her own will that made her bring the crew to Upper Yard.”

Nami grins, “she’ll get over it!” 

Robin takes her own pin-- she had approved of the design too, a book, and a single lily laid over the cover. She inspects it, just a little longer-- before placing her own pin somewhere around the bottom of the board. 

“Unlike everyone else,” she chuckles, “I've been a good girl.”

Nami sticks her tongue out. “It’ll change one day, I bet!” 

 


 

Chopper and Luffy are working on something else at the side. Wyper, after getting a rubber wristband from Aisa, decided to replicate them with the materials on the ship. They looked different, since the one Aisa made for him was a little thicker, and had duller colours due to the materials up there. Now there was a whole array of multiple colours that Luffy and Chopper were sorting out. 

“Why’s this one different?” Luffy holds up a rose red wristband, but unlike the others, this one had a gray string attached to be adjustable, rather than just being made fully with rubber like the others. 

“That’s Anne’s. Because Wyper couldn’t figure out how to make one small enough,” Chopper says. “Mine is like that too.” 

“Do we really need the ‘idiot’ carved on it?” Chopper asks, and then, looking at the bronze ones that Wyper was wearing. One said ‘Shandora’ in Aisa’s handwriting, but the other was ‘idiot’ just like everyone else. Chopper is fairly confident that he was making a ton as a vent project. “He even carved it on one of his own.” 

“Of course he does, it’s the idiot-almost-died band from now on,” Luffy deems, completely serious as he picks up a green one. “I’m giving one to Zoro too.”

“Ah,” Chopper says, “then I’m giving one to Gin too. Sanji gets two.” 

“Hey, if we’re going like that, then everyone will need one!” Luffy whines. 

“Exactly!” Chopper yells, heatlessly but completely serious because he’s sick of all of this, “everyone’s an idiot on this crew!”  

 

Everyone, even Conis, wore one now. (Because she got half-smited, apparently.) 

 

“New rule!” Nami says, “whoever has the most bands at a time has to wear the sign of shame.” 

“Agreed!” 

“Sure, whatever.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Sounds fun.”

Meanwhile, Sanji pouts, standing to the side. The wooden sign hung around his neck was scrawled out with the words, ‘I ASKED GOD TO LIGHT MY CIGARETTE’. 

 

-


-

 

“Hmm,” Nami spins the bottle in the middle of the circle, humming as it lands on Conis. The Skypiean straightens nervously. “You ever drank alcohol before?”

“Eh?” Conis asks. “Uh… no? I don’t believe so, we don’t… ferment things up on Angel Island. We didn’t have suitable fruits.” 

“Then you gotta try some now!”

“Stop it, not when we’re at an altitude!” Gin says. “We’ll get sick if we don’t keep our oxygen intake consistent, Chopper already told us!” 

“Stingy,” Nami pouts.

 

A conversation about Blue Sea casual games turned into a session of Spin the Bottle Twenty Questions. The only reason it was twenty questions was because, with Nami around, ‘truth or dare’ was too dangerous and ‘never have I ever’ was too incriminating. 

Luffy was snoring, hugging Chopper, Suu, and Kinoko together. But everyone else was playing.

 

Anne spins the bottle next, and it lands on Robin. 

“Uhhh,” she slumps on the ground, belly first. “Any hobbies, outside of… assassinating and reading and finding history?”

Robin seems to double take at that. She didn’t expect Anne to list her go-to answers right out. “Well… botany?” she suggests, not so sure herself. 

“Huh. That’s unexpected,” Gin says, spinning the bottle next. It lands on Wyper, so he immediately asks, “why do you wear that leaf ski-- HEY! NO violence!” 

“Ask me that again I’ll use the bazooka, you Demon Bastard!” 

“Do it, coward!”

Ignoring the scene, Sanji spins the bottle next. It lands on Nami. He hums at that. “Well… what’s the best heist you’ve ever pulled?”

“My name’s Burglar Cat Nami! I’ll let your imagination do the rest,” Nami blows him a kiss, and for some reason, that was anything but cute at that moment. The implications set in and Sanji actually pauses because wait--

Conis and Wyper looked confused, so Robin enlightened them. 

“A doroboneko ,” she says, taking a sip of tea Anne served to her. “Commonly refers to women who lead men to adulterous temptations.”

“Why are you phrasing it so nicely just to say she’s a homewrecker that steals husbands and ruins marriages?” Gin adds, exasperated. 

“Nami, you’re barely legal. That’s gross.”

You’re gross!” she responds, beaming. 

“...I’m terrified,” Anne says, in complete deadpan.

“You have every right to be,” Zoro nods. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up crashing a wedding to steal the groom one day.”

Usopp chokes on his tea. 

Nami hisses, a different sort of flustered all over, “I didn’t! It was all Luffy!” she yells, waving her hands frantically, shaking Usopp when she realized she had to do that to prove her point since he couldn't see, “you weren’t there, Usopp, I swear that’s what happened!” 

“I--” he hacks, “I believe you--” he snorts and bursts out laughing, “I swear I do.”

“You don’t!” 

Usopp just dies laughing. 

Everyone stares at them, incredulously. Zoro grimaces and just takes a chug of his booze. “I think we can all agree we’re never going to ask.”

“I disagree. Who was the lucky groom and I’m so fucking jealous,” Sanji says, fixing the bottle pointed toward Nami one more time. 

“Ah no,” Nami flusters, halfway through trying to strangle Usopp, “uh. This is awkward.”

“Huh, why?”

And while Nami hesitates once more, Usopp immediately says, “it was you, Sanji.”

“HUH?” that came from every voice on the crew, to different degrees of shock. Even Robin couldn’t help but pause in her tea drinking to be confused. 

“I’m not even gonna question why the hell I apparently almost got married without myself knowing, WHO WAS MY BRIDE?!?”

“Don’t worry, she’s pretty.”

“Ah that’s a reli-- not what I asked!” 

 

Zoro was tired of this shit. First of all he does not want to know why or how or when this moron gets married in the future he does not care. So he nudges at Conis. 

“Ah, sorry. It’s my turn, yes?” Conis jerks back toward the bottle. She spins next, and it lands on Anne. After a while of thinking, she manages a filler question from the helpful list Nami had written, “uhh, what’s something surprising about yourself?”

Anne blinks at that. 

Gin belatedly hears the question and whirls around, “wait--” 

But it’s too late. Anne is looking at the back of her legs, “well, all my bones are made of some metal I can’t pronounce. So I can’t grow any taller for the rest of my life.”

Complete silence engulfs the deck. Everyone’s jaws are dropped. 

Gin facepalms. “Anne. Anne we said that was the one thing you can never tell anyone,” he stresses, pinching the bridge of his nose in the incoming of a headache. He didn’t even want to continue his fight with Wyper anymore. 

“Huh? But I thought we had to answer the question and that’s the game?” 

“Well yes but no .”

“Well, I want to ask more, but the unofficial rules that no one cares about say you gotta nod and move along,” Nami says. “Who’s next?”

“We’re seriously just moving along it? After I’ve had a crisis for about five years about it?” Gin groans. 

Wyper looks bewildered , “wait, human bones can be made of metal? How does that even work when your arm is made of flesh?”

“I’m honestly more surprised that Anne is so light,” Nami says. “I’m jealous, what metal is it and where can we find it?”

“No no, you don't want that anywhere near human skin,” Gin says. “Anne’s is just an imitation, but you don’t want to touch it, trust me.”

“Ehhh.”

Anne then proceeds to demonstrate by showing off the scars from when Crocodile had shredded her skin through. At the time, Chopper had thought the wounds were deep enough to be worrying on their own, but he didn’t consider the idea that Crocodile could have and would have sliced right through bone if he wanted to. He probably tried. 

“Well, humans down here are a lot crueler than up there.”

“You’re saying this knowing we just fought Enel up there?”

“Yeah,” Gin had no hesitation at all. “Anne’s not the only one. She’s just the only one still alive as far as I know.”

Robin, Nami and Zoro had their faces pulled tight, trying to remain expressionally undeterred, but Usopp and Sanji were just fully grimacing at the thought, disgusted. 

Conis covers her face, “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have asked...” 

“Eh, no, it’s no big deal,” Anne says, standing up to pat Conis on the head, a little flustered at the idea of accidentally making an older lady cry. “Gin is just weird about it.”

“I am not just being weird about it Anne--!!”

 

“Ah, I suppose it is my turn next,” Robin says, a hand sprouting out of the deck to spin the bottle. The deck goes quiet with interest when the bottle lands on Usopp. 

“Hm? No one’s saying anything?” Usopp asks. “Does that mean it landed on me?”

Robin smiles, but her answer comes slyly. 

“Well then,” she shuffles slightly. “I suppose… what do you think is the worst way a person can die?” 

Everyone grimaces. 

“There it is! Grimdark!” Nami whines, like she’s been burned. Gin seems unfazed and Zoro hums, disinterested. Anne and Wyper seem to seriously think about it, but Conis tenses, a little unnerved by the question. 

Robin chuckles at the reactions. “A bad question, perhaps? Should I change it?”

“No, it’s fine,” Usopp says, smiling slightly. “It’s a really interesting question. Just let me think a bit.” 

Because she wasn’t asking what was the most painful, the most heartless, or anything objective in that line. What would be the worst? Everyone had separate opinions on the matter. It would definitely say a lot about the person in question.

“Then, how about everyone else think about it too?” Usopp suggests. 

That was fair. 

Zoro scoffs. “Obviously when you die ashamed,” he says. “When you’re not even allowed to keep your pride in death, you die as a human with dignity, too.”

Nami whistles at that. “You’re such a charmer, Zoro. Didn’t even have to think, huh?”

Zoro huffs, but says nothing. 

Wyper scoffs at that, giving another answer right out of the realist code of unspoken law. “There’s no cruelest way or nothing. If people die, they do. They were weaker, that’s it. And the dead have no place to worry about that shit.” 

“Oh c’mon, think a little more,” Nami teases. “If, you know. If. I know a lot of ways I’d rather not die.”

(Well, if they thought about it that way, it became a little more personal.) 

“Well… Starving’s tough, I guess,” Sanji simply says, humouring the sentiment. 

Gin spins a coin on his finger, an apt distraction to himself. “Drawn out deaths would suck. Like getting tortured for information,” he shrugs, “but at that point, maybe death’s a mercy. Would suck worse if you were doing it for someone that didn’t deserve it, though.”

 

No one said a thing to that. 

No one had said anything against the answers thus far, and no one will. It just didn’t seem right to. Not when these answers sounded so fragile, so important.

 

“What macabre answers,” Conis says. Then, very softly, clutching her hand to her chest, “regardless of what went on before and after, I believe the cruelest death is a muted, quiet one. One without the struggle of humanity. I think empathy is important.”

(Like one where god just smites you out of existence and you’re gone, not a body or a trace left. Not a second left in the world, just gone, barely even knowing it yourself.)

Anne says nothing. She simply sips her tea, not speaking. 

Nami loops her fingers around her knee, thinking to herself. “I think I’d rather die without anyone knowing,” she says. “That way, I’d leave no one behind to mourn for me.”

When she said that, Robin smiled for just a little, in an unimaginably saddened way. Quickly, it morphed back to neutrality, but attention was already on Robin and it was hard to think anyone missed it.  It was, by the circle, her turn to answer next. 

Then Robin relents, “I believe fire would hurt a lot.” 

She doesn’t elaborate. But Nami thought of how Enies Lobby burned, how Ohara vanished-- all the ways she was eventually punished for staying alive-- and she realized, that made sense, after all. 

 

Finally, it was Usopp’s turn. Some of them thought a lot about it, others barely considered options at all, thinking the answer was easy. But for Usopp, he thought it through deeply. 

Unfulfillment? Despair? Mercy? Once upon a time, all of those at once would be his answer. ‘To die a burden, to die a coward,’ would have been his straightforward answer. 

But now…

“Well, I guess,” he shuffles, so his legs are stretched out rather than crossed over each other. “Ever been crucified?”

The curiosity that perked in everyone’s auras made him chuckle so he elaborates. 

“You hang there, nailed by your wrists and ankles. But it’s not heat stroke or dehydration or blood loss that takes you, it’s suffocation,” he says. 

After hours, hours, hours. At some point, you begin to think, how long more? But no one would answer you. And you’re forced to wait there, day and night. Slowly. And the only thing you can do is think , and realize that no one’s going to have mercy and let you down. 

“People usually die of exhaustion, after a really really long time.” 

 

(Alone. Quietly. Hopelessly.)

(Unknown and forgotten, known only as the man who had been hanging for days on end, who everyone’s waiting so eagerly would pass already so the next body could be hauled up. An insignificant, yet so arduously drawn-out death.)

(Sometimes, Usopp wondered if he died on that cross. Maybe he did, maybe they brought him back and locked him back in the cell. It didn’t matter, because the entire imprisonment felt like one long crucifixion anyway.)

 

If anyone thought anything about it, they said nothing. They simply nodded, and the next person took the bottle to spin it again. 

They remembered to ask a light-hearted question next. 

 

-


-

 

 

“What the actual f-- is that Nami’s .”

Gin walks into the boy’s room to accidentally see Wyper in the process of changing, but he does not leave the room. It’s not like Wyper was any less decent than his literal default. 

He was wearing a skirt. Not just any skirt, but a layered white skirt that Gin vividly recognized as the remnants of Nami’s Alabasta dancer costume. It was obviously still torn in some places, but the fabric was altered and restitched to form a sort of asymmetrical design that ended above his knees, held up with a tribal-looking sash and tied to one side. 

“You guys were droning on and on about how my usual clothes wouldn’t last long in sea travel, so I had Conis make something.” 

Gin stares. He desperately wanted to say something But instead he just went “oh fuck it,” came down, grabbed his bandanna, and just left. Wyper scoffs, but Gin only scoffs back, not speaking. 

A few moments later there’s a loud “WHAT THE SHIT ARE YOU WEARING” from the galley and Gin wonders if he can just go to sleep and pretend he isn’t on this ship. 

 


 

“He’s literally an active fighter! It’s indecent!” Sanji yells.

“I agree on that part where you find out he’s commando under that,” Usopp says, “but Nami also jumps around in a skirt. Tell her that.”

“That’s different.”

“Different how ?”

“...okay it’s not that different either. But in the defense of our ladies they don’t fight as actively as everyone else.”

“That’s false for Nami.” 

“She doesn’t wear skirts often.”

“...I mean, I can still wear one. Nojiko just made me promise that if I wear a skirt I have to sit like a lady and that’s annoying to do when I’m disassembling my arm…” 

“Exactly!” 

“Thank you Nojiko, for sparing us the agony of being fined for looking up her skirt,” Usopp says, hands held together in some prayer. 

“Oy,” Nami threatens. 

“No one cares about decency, we’re pirates,” Zoro says. 

“He’s a man!” Sanji yells next. 

“Seriously Sanji? In the year of the holy horse 1522 we’re talking about men wearing skirts?”

“At least wear something a little more flattering on yourself, how about that!” Sanji insists instead, “isn’t it uncomfortable with all that loose fabric and all? You could’ve asked for an intact piece of clothing from literally any one of us.”

“No, nothing you guys have would fit me,” Wyper says. “This is fine until we reach an island to get proper clothing.”

“Dude it’s the flutteriest thing in the store,” Sanji says. “It’s impractical for battle.”

“You say that wearing a goddamn three-piece suit?”

 

Sanji stops, petrified. He looks positively miffed by that straight call-out, biting his lip and his entire face scrunched up in irritation. He strangles the air and bashes his head against the counter, before punching the counter in very invocal defeat.

 

“Looks like he ran out of arguments,” Nami observes. 

"Good, shut up about it," Zoro says. 

“Just let the man wear his skirt, Sanji,” Gin pats him on the shoulder. 

“I thought you were on my side!” Sanji yells, utterly betrayed. Then when Gin only stares back with a dead-eyed look on his face, Sanji wails in defeat. “At least wear some fucking underwear!”

“Absolutely not!” Wyper yells back, louder. And then he straight walks right out of this stupid debate, because he’s over this bullcrap at this point. 

“I will NOT relent on this you shitty exhibitionist GET BACK HERE!”

Chapter 69: welcome to navarone (and all its insanity)

Summary:

The octoballoon begins to deflate.

No one expected to greet the Blue Sea by falling right into the heart of one of Marine's most secure bases, but G-8 is staring back at them and honestly? This is typical Strawhat luck at this point.

Nami meets an old friend. Wyper experiences culture shock. And while all this is going on, Navarone prepares for a long-awaited, breath-bated, devastating battle of the century.

Notes:

Welcome to G-8! Important note: a choice I've made and forgot to say-- I've decided that in the world Nami and Usopp come from, not all of the fillers and movies happened. Let's say they're essentially from manga+movieverse. Only the Oda-involved films, though.

Which means that Usopp and Nami have NO idea they're going to fall into Navarone right now. Fun! Not.

There's... honestly not much a reason for this except that G-8's entire thing was how they didn't know the traps and thus there was a struggle. If they already knew it all, the fun's gone! So yeah, creative liberty, sorry. Coming up soon is the Baron Omatsuri movie, and I'm thinking of making that a 'they've got no idea' scenario as well. Still thinking though!

Hope you enjoy the chapter! ;)

Chapter Text

Apparently, trying to jump to the second floor without using your hands was a fun game. 

Zoro goes first to demonstrate (after being bullied into it, of course,) and he leaps off the wall, kicks off the mast-- and catches the ledge, hauling himself up. 

“Hey, you used your hands!” Luffy accuses. 

“Oh shut up,” Zoro says, turning around and getting out of the way, “I got up, and that’s the point.” Then when the judges Robin, Luffy, Chopper, Conis, and Usopp give grades of 3, 0, 5, a meek, confused ‘?’, and I CAN’T SEE respectively, he balks. “Asses,” he accuses.  

“Serves ya right, Marimo,” Sanji says, “but hey, let the expert show you the real way to get up there.”

Sanji did perfectly as expected, since he was in fact the specialist in this regard. He even did it effortlessly, while smoking. His scores were high across the board. 

“I’m going next!” Nami says, stretching her foot out on a stool before climbing on. 

“Hey, no metal foot! You’ll hurt the Merry!” 

“You’re asking me to get up there with one leg? Don’t be crazy!” 

It takes a bit of effort, and she braces all her strength on her metal foot before going on the same path Sanji went, landing on each point with her flesh foot, doing an extra spin to get there, before hooking herself over the banister, a little upside down but grinning right at the judges, both hands held in Vs.. 

She gets a round of oohs , some applause, and full nearly perfect scores. Usopp angrily changes his board to IF YOU COULD DO IT DON’T COMPLAIN

“Stop showing off,” Gin says. Kinoko caws, agreeing with him. 

“Hey, you only get to complain after you do one yourself.”

Gin refused to participate in this nonsense, and Wyper didn’t see the point, but Anne was going next. She stretches out first, looking from the two points she had to go, and hums. 

Anne takes a different approach. She gives herself some distance to do a running start, and manages to take about five steps up the length of the mast before turning right around, kicking off, going right past the ledge and landing right before the galley doors. 

She turns around to loud cheers and the sight of everyone fighting over the scores. Sanji thinks ten isn’t a good enough score, Wyper thinks everyone is making a shit deal out of nothing, and Usopp still can’t see.

“No, that’s an overreaction…” She looks over the edge, but no one’s paying attention to her. Her eyes meet Suu’s and she chuckles dryly, exasperated. 

Nami hums. “Come to think of it, Anne is strangely nimble. You’re a mid-ranged fighter that uses a paintbrush as a spear... You know, have you ever tried using my axe, Anne?”

“Ah, no, I want to paint with my weapon, too,” Anne says, “cause I can’t dual-wield.”

When people look toward Gin, he just says, “she holds her fork like a shovel,” and everyone immediately understands. 

“Ah,” Usopp says, “if it’s a unique weapon you want to make, then…”

Eyes turned to Wyper, who was in the middle of trying to wrench a literal ankle-biting Luffy off of him. He pauses at the attention and goes, “what?”

 


 

“Shit. LUFFY GET DOWN HERE! GET DOWN HERE, RIGHT NOW!” 

Gin looks up, not so sure what Sanji was panicking about. Sure he’d rather the idiot not bounce around the hot air balloon, but it was nothing to panic ov--

--”the octopus! It’s shrinking!” 

“Huh?” 

“Huh?!” 

“HUH?!?!”

Gin swears out loud, as loud as he can-- but everyone’s screaming, so he can do nothing but scream too, especially when Sanji is thrown off the balloon, Luffy grabs him-- and then the octopus actually starts rapidly losing air. 

Nami is running, looking around frantically over their Log Pose. They’re a far cry from where they’re supposed to land, and much further from Long Ring Long Land as she knows the next log points. 

Something’s wrong. Something’s different . Aren’t they supposed to land safely? Come to think of it, it didn't take this long to land last time. It’s nearly nightfall, but she knows they landed in daytime last time around. So what’s wrong here?

(Usopp doesn’t know either.)

 

“What’s wrong?” Wyper asks. “We can just fall the rest of the way.”

“Gravity is what’s wrong!” Nami yells. She staggers to the second floor, into the mapping room. “And we don’t know if we’ll hit the sea, we might hit a boulder or an island!” 

“Wyper, I need some help!” Usopp yells, scrambling over with a rope and a bag full of dials. “Come help me! And tie a lifeline before you come!” 

“GIN WHAT DO WE DO?!” Sanji is screaming. 

Gin is not calm. Not at all, not even an inch of it. “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW? I haven’t exactly encountered this situation before!” 

“But you’re the quartermaster!” 

“You’re looking for the sailingmaster and we don’t got one of those! I only know the basics!” 

(Not that a sailingmaster would know how to counter this either, but those were the details. Seriously, how the hell do you counter being dropped from about 3000m above sea level?)

“AAAAAHHHh!!!” Luffy yells, barely hiking himself up the ship to start screaming. “We’re falling, we’re falling!” 

“Shut up and HELP!” Zoro yells. He’s handling the ropes. “Tie everything down! Into the storage! Everything loose, get inside!” 

 

Conis struggles to hold on, unable to move in the rapidly increasing velocity. She’s holding tightly onto Suu, Kinoko, and the SouthBird, all of which could do little against the rapidity around them. But that was better than being airborne, so Robin gave her a few arms, bolting her in place. She did the same for Anne and Chopper, creating handholds where they couldn’t get to any in time. Robin herself was by the top of the stairs, holding onto the edge. 

 

Attaching Breath Dials to the bottom of the ship did wonders to slow the fall-- but it was temporary. Usopp and Wyper slot Jet Dials-- they didn’t have too many of them, just two to spare-- at the edges, keeping the force even around the hull. 

“It’s not gonna do much for long! I’ll get the Milky-- what the,” Wyper hisses, “my Milky Dials aren’t working!” 

“You need to remix the pyrobloin solution on that before it can handle the air pressure of the Blue Sea! Or something, ask Nami later,” Usopp hurries to climb back up, “we need to get back on the ship while the fall is slow!” 

Wyper curses, hefting himself back up with fervor. 

 

Nami’s in the mapping room, finally gaining enough balance to look through the chest of Eternal Poses. Perhaps she could use the other locations to vaguely guess their general location.

“Alabasta is distant West? And Partia and Jaya are both Southeast. And this one is…” 

She pauses on the Navarone Eternal Pose. They had it from the Dead End Race-- it was the fake-out they were given that was supposed to lead them to ruin. 

Nami had a very deep, sinking feeling that she knew what this name was. 

Her gut sank further when she clarified that yes . Yes, this Log Pose is pointing straight down.

“USOPP I NEED A COUP DE BURST!” she screams, running out of the room in a panic, to the horror of the rest of the crew, “right now, like, right this instant, somehow! I just need it! NOW!” 

“What’s a coo-de-ba?” Luffy asks, “sounds like those fancy dishes I’ve heard about back home.”

“Back home? I thought you lived in a forest or something,” Sanji turns to him. 

“Well yeah, but sometimes I go into High Town…”

“Not the point! Whatever it is, we don’t have it,” Gin says, “Nami, what are your orders?”

“My orders are we need to run right now!”  

“In the air?!” 

“Gravity is terrifying,” Conis whimpers, “gravity is scary. Gravity is scary. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, gravity is terrifying.” 

Suu mimics that whimper. Kinoko makes some sort of wailing sound, and the South Bird caws , absolutely livid. Probably accusing them of shanghai-ing him and then consistently thrusting him right into near-death situations. Fair, really. 

"USOPP I NEED A COUP DE BURST ON THE DOUBLE!" 

“Don’t ask the impossible, Nami!” Usopp yells, barely making it up to the ship. Wyper reaches over to drag him fully up, unlatching the lifeline while he does. “What’s got you in such a freakout, anyways? The landing’s going to be hard but--” 

“We CANNOT land!” she yells. “Reinflate the octopus, Impact us out of the water, anything! Get us ten miles from our current location right now or we’ll--!!” 

Just as she says that, the octopus, like some sick joke-- shrinks. All the way down. 

 

The mortified silence that engulfs all of them is one that no one can breathe in. 

“YOU’RE KIDDING!”

 

-


-

 

Last time around, they did not land in Navarone. They landed offshore a few miles from Long Ring Long Island, and that’s where they ended up. 

So this time, even Nami and Usopp were completely lost. 

Breaking into the ocean in a splash of water and salt and familiar buoyancy brought nothing but a wave of nausea for a very long time. Nevermind the fact that they were soaked to the bone, where the hell are they?

The octopus lands on Luffy’s face and he thanks it, but Nami is anything but calm. 

“This was not,” she says, half slumped over the banister, eyes blown wide and her entire being three shades paler, “NOT, supposed to happen.” 

Luffy laughs. “Man, what a fall! I wonder why it just suddenly deflated.”

Gin chokes on his words, half-sprawled against the mast, “I thought we were gonna die for sure this time.”

“Thank goodness,” Robin says, finally letting go of the ones she was holding onto. “I can’t believe the ship didn’t just shatter into a million pieces on our landing.” 

“Stop it!” Chopper yells. He’s sobbing, unable to even stand up. “I lost like twenty years of my life! Do you know how many reindeer years that is?!”

Anne is frozen. Like, frozen solid. 

“Guys! I think Anne’s not breathing!” Conis panics, letting go of the animals to crawl over to Anne and shake her. “Am I breathing?! I’m sorry, I can’t tell. I’m shaking so much I can’t even tell if this is my shivering or my heart beating.”

“Usopp isn’t breathing either!” Chopper yells, “it must be his chronic can't-fall-or-something-something-or-he’ll-die disease! What do I do, I don’t know how to treat it!” 

“Just leave him be,” Sanji groans, sitting up. “What the actual hell was that and where’s the shitty octopus? I’m making takoyaki.” 

“WHAT? NO!” Luffy yells, cradling the octopus to his chest, “he saved us, you know!” 

 

“Enough!” Zoro yells, “where are we, Nami? What’s the emergency?”

But Nami’s already running inside, replacing everything in the chest before heading to the storage.

 

Usopp is helped to a standing position, Kinoko depositing his walking stick in a hand. It doesn’t help, but at least he’s not the only one with shaky feet.  Luffy is currently being clung onto by Conis at the shoulder and Anne at the waist. Both of them have their faces buried right into his rubber body, clinging on for dear life. 

“Is this,” Wyper is not coherent, standing on the deck completely wobbly, nursing some sort of headache, “normal for-- what the f-- the Blue Sea?”

Wyper isn’t sure if he’s breathing either. 

Finally looking toward the night sky of the Blue Sea-- it really was amazing. The sky never seemed so far away before, and it didn’t feel right to be so low. It was dizzying, the sheer expanse of the clouds above them. 

“All the way, 10,000 meters,” Robin says. “Looking up now, it’s really so far away.”

(It really is.)

(It’s really true now, that he’s so far from home. He meets Conis’ amazed eyes, and her smile is just a little bitter, just a little excited.)

 

“Well, should I make some coffee?” Sanji offers. “We should all calm down first before we get anything else done.”

“No!” Nami yells, and when she emerges from the storage she’s got her Waver. “No. We are not. In fact. Calming down. No.”

“Huh?”

Nami doesn’t have to answer. The lights beam right on, surround them, and an alarm blares , loud and all around them.

 

Everyone scatters, without even needing a moment to think. 

Conis and Wyper stare at the sudden silent agreement between everyone, utterly confused-- before they’re grabbed by whatever reachable spot and plunged into the water with everyone else. 

 

-


-

 

“I’m sorry.”

Usopp is on his knees. Wyper is standing before him-- and he’s fuming . Usopp crumbles further into himself as Robin sips some warm tea to the side.

“You throw me that unholy water--”

“It’s called the sea.”

“The sea should NOT taste like that!” Wyper shouts. Then, “you do that again without warning me and I’m dunking your head in, you bastard!” 

“Ah sorry, anything but that. You’ll trigger my PTSD.”

Wyper grimaces at that, “the Blue Sea is fucking weird.” 

 

Robin sighs, standing up. Usopp was currently trying to push Wyper’s face away from himself, because he didn’t need to see to know the angel looked ready to bite his head right off. 

“It seems we’re in a Marine Base,” Robin says. “That’s quite troublesome.”

“Eh?” Usopp spins over to face her, “seriously? We landed in a what ?”

“What’s a Marine?” Wyper finally straightens, a lump of horse hair and a half-finished staff by his side. He immediately staggers, and he even misplaces the staff he tries to use as a leverage-- and collapses, facefirst. 

“Kind of like the White Berets, but a lot more people and a lot more… violence? Military,” Usopp says. A moment later, when Wyper is still shaking as he tries to get up, he hesitantly asks, “what’s wrong?”

“No uh, nothing, just,” Wyper turns to them, looking a little sick, “what is wrong with the ground?”

“Huh?”

Robin thinks for a moment before, “ah, I see. Mister Guerilla has never walked on solid ground before,” she explains when they still look very confused and Wyper collapses onto his hands and knees again. “I guess he hasn’t gotten his land legs yet.”

Usopp whirls around, “HUH?!”

 


 

They wander around the perimeters, resting for the night around a patch of unsuspecting grass. 

“It seems we’re in a fortress of some sort,” Robin says. “I hope we haven’t fallen right into the middle of an inactive volcano, because that would mean the only way to escape would be an underwater cavern.” 

“Robin, I can’t see, so stop making me imagine horrifying outcomes,” Usopp says, “my very real if-I’m-too-anxious-I-will-cry disease is acting up.”

“Mister Sniper, that is simply called Anxiety in some parts of the world.”

Wyper had an arm around Usopp’s shoulder, and Robin was holding onto the unfinished staff and the walking stick, an extra hand or three hand-chaining the boys to her so she could focus on their surroundings while leading them around. 

“So? How are we launching our attack?” Wyper asks. He’s groggy, unstable, but that’s not enough to deter him from focusing on the situation at hand. 

“How about you focus on regaining your strength,” Usopp says. “Don’t worry, even Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji had trouble adapting to the sky when we first got there. You’ll be fine soon.”

“I’m not having trouble adapting,” he grunts, evidently with effort. 

“Right,” Usopp says. “Robin?”

She has her arms crossed, eyes closed. “It seems the marines on the ship are mistakenly thinking that the Merry is a ghost ship. If we stay out for the night, the tension might ease by morning for us to go back to shore to retrieve our ship.”

Wyper clicks his tongue. “Strike when they’ve let their guard down, huh.”

“Well, we’re outnumbered, after all,” Usopp says. “Would you be amazed if I say this island has around the population of all Skypiea?”

“Probably more if I’m frank,” Robin adds.  

“Huh?!” Wyper yells. 

“Shhh!” Usopp hisses. “And it’s a huge military base, it's not that crazy.” 

“In fact, it’s Skypiea that was strangely small,” Robin says, “but I suppose, since no one lives on Upper Yard except for god and his priests, the population standard was much smaller than it should’ve been. It’s a different expectation up there than it is down here.” 

“Are Blue Sea people insane? How are you going to feed that many children ?” 

“Ah, good, let’s talk about civilization and other things that don’t matter,” Usopp sits down, “Robin, lead the conversation? It’ll ease our boredom.”

“Alright then, why not?” Robin smiles, settling down on a rock.

“Wait no!” Wyper snaps, “we need to plan our attack! This is no time to rest!” 

“Dude I just said we were vastly outnumbered, we’re not fighting.”

“That is stupid!”  

“It’d be stupider if you tried to fight them and fell facefirst instead. Let’s practice walking, Wyper-kun. You can do it, one step at a time!” 

“I’m not a baby learning how to walk!” 

 

-


-

 

Zoro is lost. 

That is all.

 

-


-

 

“What’s wrong, Conis?” 

“Ah, no, it’s nothing, I’m sorry,” Conis clings to Nami’s waist, looking a little blue. “Huh? This is strange. I’m a little nauseated.”

“Huh? Could you be seasick?” Nami asks, “no way!” 

“No, I swear it isn’t--” she crumbles, whining, and Nami hurriedly places an arm around her, holding her up while steering one handed. “I wonder why I can’t… breathe well…” 

Nami takes a moment.

Then, with absolute horror , she yelps, “reverse altitude sickness!” 

 


 

Nami curses up a storm as they get onto shore and hide amongst the tall grass. Conis is whimpering weakly, the headache threatening bile in her throat but just not enough to actually get it out. Trapped in the teetering point of nausea and migraine, she clings to Nami’s side, her breaths short and confused. 

Her lungs still didn’t know how much air to take in, now that the air pressure was so different. It was like they’d forgotten how to breathe for her. 

Nami curses. 

Wyper’s stronger than Conis, so let’s just hope he isn’t dealing with this problem too. But for now, they’ll need to find Chopp--

“Who’s there!” 

Nami flinches, squeezing closer to Conis, but it’s too late. The flashlight runs across her, and she’s spotted. She scrambles for the Waver as the soldier runs closer, boots clicking against the ground. 

“Stop there, suspicious figure, or I’ll shoo--” there’s an abrupt stop. Nami freezes at the handle of the waver. She couldn’t risk getting shot now, but… “--wait, Namizo-chan?”

Nami pauses. 

 

The soldier-- an Ensign , and judging by her bandages, she looked to be on a walk rather than on patrol. She lowers her gun (wait no, that’s a rapier. She was lying about the shooting?), but her flashlight is still pointed forward. She’s turned their attention from faces to torso, and more prominently, onto Nami’s arm. 

“It’s a different arm, but… that hair colour’s unmistakable!” the Ensign beams. Stepping forward, Nami catches sight of faded red hair. “Namizo-chan, you look lovely! Do you remember me?” 

And suddenly recognition blooms on Nami’s face. 

“Isuka-san!” she lights right up, running up to her and catching her hand, fingers intertwining in excitement. “It’s been so long! Of course I remember you, how could I forget? What brings you here?” 

Isuka chuckles at that. “Well, a lot. I’ve just been on a long mission, so my squad’s recuperating in Navarone for now. What about you, invading the fortress like a crazy girl? Ballsy!” 

“Nothing like that, we obviously didn’t wanna be here, silly!” Nami beams. “Anyways, help me out, please? My crewmate here’s really sick… she’s a poor poor baby who’s never been in the outside world before. Crimeless, pure angel. Please?”

Isuka pouts. “Just because I love your energy doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate everything!” 

Nami whines. “Is that a no?”

Isuka beams. “Of course not!”

 


 

Somewhere between her endeavours on Marine ships to collect information about Ace, Nami came across the ship of an Ensign who was desperate to capture Portgas D. Ace. 

She was called the ‘Nailer’ Isuka. 

So obviously, Nami stowed away as a chore boy for a while. It went really well, almost as well as all the times she was on Smoker’s ships. Isuka always loved her around. It was only a shame that Arlong had called Nami back around that time, and Nami had to leave that ship really soon, barely a word spoken before she escaped. 

The next time they met, it was after Nami joined the Whitebeards, and Isuka was furious. 

Of course, that’s long water under the bridge now. Nami told her everything from the Fishmen to the search for Jinbei, the travel to Fishman Island, the making up and apologies-- they cried a little, and they were right back to besties again. 

 


 

“Kobato-san!”

“Good evening, Isuka-san, is there a problem, are your injuries hurting again?” 

Isuka brings Nami into the base, and into the doctor’s office. It seemed like Isuka, after a few days of staying here to recuperate, has found lots of ways to sneak around. Probably because she was supposed to be in bed but refused to stay down or something, Nami knows. Isuka’s an absolute troublemaker. 

“Nuh-uh, but my friend here is a little sick. Do you have anything for altitude sickness?”

“Altitude sickness? But why would…”

“Ah, she’s a new recruit from the last island I was on. She’s lived on a mountain her whole life, so now that I brought her down, she’s having a bit of trouble…”

“I see, I see. Get her on the bed?” 

 

They got Conis set up with a controlled oxygen tank behind a private curtain. That was way easier than Nami had thought it would be, and she wondered if Kobato could see the tattoos and henna on Nami’s body. She definitely didn’t look like a marine recruit.

Maybe Kobato’s really dense? 

For now, though, Isuka sneaks in some clothes for Nami to disguise herself. 

“Nostalgic!” Nami puts on the Seaman Recruit uniform, tying her hair up and into a bun before tucking it into her hat. “How do I look?”

“Better with a Captain’s coat!” Isuka teases.

“Never happening!” Nami retorts immediately.

“Bummer,” Isuka pouts. “Well then, I’ll be going. I’m just a guest in this place, so I’m in no obligation to capture you. But if you don’t manage to escape this fortress,” she turns around to hold up a penny-pinching hand gesture. “Maybe you can remind me of your tab, I’ll think about it.” 

Nami snorts, “unfortunately, I love money more than I love you!” 

“Brat!” Isuka scolds. “Well, this is a… complicated time for you guys to have infiltrated. I wonder what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

“Huh?” Nami lifts her head. “Isuka-san, I know that ‘complicated’ is not a word you can brush off in marine lingo. What’s going to happen?”

“Well…” Isuka cringes. “A lot. Good luck.”

Nami grimaces. “I hope you’re only being vague as a joke, Isuka. I really hope.”

“That’s Isuka -san for you and well, don’t die tomorrow, bye!” 

Isuka leaves them soon, waving vaguely as she goes. Nami smiles, genuinely grateful as she slumps down over the bed, and crawls over to Conis, who is sitting up, and lays over her lap like a child. 

 

What kind of disastrous turn of events is this? 

“I have failed as a navigator…” Nami curls in, “I used to be the mistress of Ballon Terminal! And I couldn’t control a damn octopus?”

“Uh,” Conis flusters a little, but she needs one hand on the oxygen mask, so she can only hesitantly pat her on the back. “I’m sorry?”

“No no, what do you have to apologize for?” Nami chuckles, looking up. “Are the pills working?”

Conis nods, but doesn’t say anything. She’ll have to focus on breathing for a while. 

“Just rest,” Nami says. “We’ll start moving in the morning.”

 

-


-

 

Anne carefully keeps her canvas bag afloat, swimming carefully to the edge of the lake. She comes up beside a man that’s fishing, and ignoring him, she reaches for her shirt, trying to squeeze water from the edge. 

Geez, they’d had to escape so abruptly, she didn’t get to get dressed properly. Her overalls were on the ship, and these shorts are for sleeping.

She takes off her shoes and socks with mild annoyance and stuffs them in her bag. Then she collapses her easel and sets it up, her sketchbook laid out before her. It’s only when she finds her gray painter’s apron and starts tying it to her back that the man beside her finally speaks up. 

“Uh, would you want some privacy?” he asks. 

Anne shakes her head. “No, I don’t really care,” she notices her hat is gone. Probably also left it on the ship, then. “I will be painting.”

Vice Admiral Jonathan hums non-commitably, reeling up something that looks like goggles. He unlatches it from his hook and sets it aside.  “So,” Jonathan says, when Anne sets up little spotlight lights around her easel to brighten her canvas. “Fell from quite a height?”

Anne nods. “From heaven.”

Jonathan doesn’t react for a moment. 

Then, “is that a joke of some kind?” 

“It’s not a joke,” she starts painting, starting with the dark base colour and framing out the pirate ship between the fortress, along with the light sources around it searching through the vessel. “We fought god and everything. Even stole two angels.”

“Ah,” Jonathan decides he isn't going to ask. “So, what are you doing here?” 

A bird lands on Anne’s shoulder, chirping. Jonathan looks over to see the bird gesticulating with its wings, and Anne nods, seemingly understanding what the bird described. 

“I’m painting,” Anne says, “I’m the Scout, so I’m supposed to know how things look.”

Jonathan reels in his fishing rod, seemingly ready to pack up. 

“Well, young lady, as a Scout, you should also look out for dangerous personnel on a new island,” he offers some advice. “In marine bases, you could identify the highest ranking soldier, for instance.” 

“Hehh,” Anne doesn’t even look up from her painting. “I understand. I will keep that in mind next time.”

 

Jonathan stares, a little bewildered. 

“You’re a good painter,” he says, “is that supposed to be me?”

Anne had painted on two figures-- her, and the bird on her shoulder, standing before the easel. And to her side, the man, fishing. It was probably for scale. 

“Yes. Is it missing something?” Anne asks, turning to him. 

Jonathan shakes his head. “No, no, it’s good. It’s just, I wonder if this would be a good time to mention that I’m the highest ranking officer of this base?”

Anne blinks. “Oh.”  She stares at him for a long moment before she continues painting, filling in the highlights around the water’s surface. 

“...That’s kind of a boring reaction,” Jonathan says. 

Anne shrugs. Kinoko gives the Vice Admiral a skeptical side-eye, but she did nothing. “Maybe. Are you going to capture me?”

Jonathan hums, setting his fishing rod aside. “Hmm, I wonder. It’s not like I’ve called the guards yet, so you can keep painting while I think?” 

Anne nods. “Okay then.”

 

And they stayed like that for another hour or so, enjoying the cacophony of a panicking Marine Base while Anne finished up the drawing. 

“Do you want a portrait?” Anne asks. “Since I’m here already.”

“Oh? Do I need to pay?” 

“Hmm… you decide after I’m done.”

They stay for another hour. 

 

-


-

 

Gin swims to the base, and, sneaking past some guard, he knocks one out and steals the Petty Officer’s coat. He didn’t have time to grab his tonfas, so he supposed the marine-assigned rifles would have to do. 

He hears the Southbird depart from their ship. It was the least conspicuous, so it stayed on the ship. Gin wondered if it sealed the hatches like Gin told it to before leaving… oh well. 

He tucks the Marine cap over his head and follows the crowd. 

 

-


-

 

Chopper is terrified. And scared. And terrified and scared. 

Suu squeaks beside him. You don’t have to be so jittery . Though she's worried about being separated, it’s no big deal. As Milady Kinoko would say-- get a grip.

“We’re in the middle of marine territory! Of course I'm scared!” Chopper wails at her, because how can she be so nonchalant now, “where is everyone?” 

Suu isn’t interested in that panic, quietly exploring around the area, trying to find scents to follow. 

“Don’t leave me!” Chopper whines, walking up beside her and hesitantly following around, head swerving around just in case a torchlight comes too close. 

 

“Who’s there!”

 

Chopper yelps, ducking into the grass. Suu doesn’t follow him, and upon noticing, Chopper’s breath halts. He panics . “Suuuuuu!” he hisses. ”Hide! We have to--!!” 

The flashlight falls on the Cloud Fox. Suu-- doesn’t squint, actually, fox eyes and all. She just stares up at them curiously, and the Marine soldier stares back. 

“Oh, it’s just a fox,” the soldier says. “It’s pure white. How rare.”

“Yeah, that’s really pretty,” the other agrees. “Sorry for the noise, little fox. We’ll be on our way now.”

“But that was rather loud for just a fox, wasn’t it?” 

“What sounds do foxes even make? Maybe it’s hunting, don’t bother it.”

And then, they move away, looking around the other direction. Chopper watches in bewilderment as they go on, and Suu looks back at Chopper, not understanding why he was hiding. And he was hiding the wrong way, too. 

The realisation comes to Chopper, like a strike of lightning. 

 

“That’s right!” he exclaims, shocked. “As far as any of the humans are concerned, I’m just a strange animal in a grassland! It’s perfectly okay for me to be out in the open!”

 

Suu has no idea what Chopper is being so dramatic about, but she nods as Chopper transforms into Walk Point, and they continue exploring the fortress perimeters. 

Later, a soldier will come across them, and the soldier will wonder why there are animals in the perimeters of this isolated fortress. He will spend quite a while in confusion before it finally clicks. 

 

-


-

 

Sanji finds Luffy, who is looking for the mess hall. 

Sanji does everything he can to prevent Luffy from finding the mess hall.

 

-


-

 

It’s a couple hours to sunrise, and the crew is moving. Nami leaves the doctor’s office while Conis sleeps, entrusting her to Kobato as she goes away under the guise of patrol. 

“You! What’re you loitering around for?” an Ensign calls her out, and Nami straightens. 

Saluting immediately. “My apologies, sir!” she says, calling out loud and nervous. “I’ve been told to take an emergency patrol, but as I’m fairly new, I’m a bit lost on what that entails! It’s my first time experiencing a code black beta, sir!” 

The Ensign scrutinizes her for a moment-- before sighing, reaching toward a nearby billboard and taking the patrol notes. 

“There’s a lot of segue on the grave’s last hours,” he says, “I don’t really see the point of going there now, since it’s almost mealtime, but the double-dozen is rather thinned out. Stand by and be on guard. Understood?”

Nami is silent for a horrified second. She is so damn glad that a long year of Marine infiltration allowed her to barely understand that pile of indecipherable jargon. 

Then, “yes, of course!” she says. “I will go immediately!” 

 

“One more thing,” the Ensign says. “Spread the word that this disruption probably won’t interfere with our planned events.”

“Ah, yes,” Nami says, what planned events?? “I will do so.” 

 

She’s quickly dismissed. Nami turns at the corner, then the next-- and then stops. She turns around, looking back around to make sure the Ensign hadn’t followed her. 

(Let’s see, the double-dozen-- which, in this huge place would probably refer to the 24th dock area-- is which way again? Ah, good, there are signs.)

(If 24 is shorthanded due to the pirate attack… it must be far from the work and activity docks, where the pirate ship landed. Probably far from wherever the exit is too.)

“Why did he speak as if mealtime was more important than a pirate threat?” Nami wonders out loud to herself. “And what planned event? I sure hope it doesn’t involve bigshots coming into the base… But either way, if the graveyard shift is almost over, I better act quickly. I don’t wanna deal with a bunch of energized soldiers coming in for the first shift.” 

“We can leave Merry to Usopp or whoever, so first we have to find out how exactly this base is structured and work an escape route from there,” Gin says, nodding solemnly. 

Nami huffs. “Yeah, we need to find a map and-- bloody HELL where did you come from!”

“Been here for a while. More importantly, about that planned event…” Gin looks genuinely abated by the thought of it, “I overheard some guys talking about it just now. You’re not going to like it.”

 


 

Chopper is in danger. 

After arriving in the base itself, people started to give reindeers way weirder looks than they gave white foxes, so the Marine soldiers started chasing after them. It eventually escalated to Suu and Chopper splitting up at a junction, and now Chopper was being carted away in a crate of antlers to the doctor’s office. 

He might just cry. 

“But, Kobato-sensei! You’re the only doctor we have right now, we have no one else to rely on!” the nurses speak, and it’s loud, frantic. 

Apparently, a ship of storm-wrecked soldiers had just come in, and there were too many injuries. Chopper listens from the crate, morally conflicted. 

“But-- I’m a pediatrician! And you all know I’m hemophobic, I can’t…”

“Kobato-sensei!” 

“I’m so sorry! I really, I really can’t--!!” 

 

A curtain is loudly drawn, and a new voice-- a very familiar, angry voice speaks up. 

“You have to do it, Kobato-sensei!” she says, “sometimes-- sometimes being afraid isn’t good enough! If you don’t step up now, what will those soldiers do?”

 

Chopper’s breath holds. 

Then he pops right out of the crate. “What are you doing here, Conis?!” he yells. “We’re supposed to be hiding!” 

 

All women in the office scream at the sight. 

Conis calms down first, her section of the scream drawling away to confusion before she stops. “Oh! Heso, Chopper-san,” she brightens up. “I’m so sorry! But it’s great you’re here, this place is in dire need of a doctor. There are so many injured people that need surgery.” 

“I know, I’ve been listening,” Chopper crawls out of the crate, even though the two other nurses and Kobato are so freaked out they’re smushed against each other at the wall. “But this is a Marine base! We can’t just help them!” 

“Eh?” Conis crouches down to talk to Chopper, “I’m sorry? Are they bad people? But they’ve helped me. Ah, right,” she turns to the rest of them, “heso. My name is Conis.”

“Don’t introduce yourself!” 

“I’m sorry!”

“And of course they’re bad people--” Chopper trails off for a moment, “well strictly speaking they’re not bad people. But they’re our enemies!” 

“Ehh?!” Conis yelps, and the three other women echo. They still didn’t know that they were pirates. “Marines are our enemies? But I thought you said they were like the White Berets of the Blue Sea…” 

“Yeah, and we’re pirates!” Chopper yells, “remember what happened immediately in Skypiea?”

“Oh…” Conis deflates.

“You’re pirates?!” the nurses freak out. 

“The ones that infiltrated today?”

“But Isuka-san said you were a soldier-- huh? Then what about the woman that was here before…? Oh no,” Kobato pales. And then she immediately faints

“Kobato-sensei!” 

“Oh no! Kobato-sensei! We still need you for the surgeries!”

 

Chopper bites the insides of his cheeks as Conis stares at him, her hands held together in a prayer, her eyes watery. 

“But they’re in such trouble, Chopper-san!” Conis says. “All these soldiers will die without our help. I can’t stand by while people are suffering!” 

Chopper groans. 

And then he shifts into Heavy Point, eliciting two shrieks from the nurses. 

“Alright! Let’s go!” he declares. And then when the nurses stare at him in horror instead of standing to attention, Chopper sighs. “Prepare the operating room. I will assist in the operation with no ill intentions-- I swear on my pride as a doctor. Is that fine?”

The nurses give each other a hesitant glance-- but they don’t have time to ponder. They straightened, and steeled themselves. 

“We’ll just have to think about the consequences later,” they say. 

“Alright,” Chopper turns, “first, get blood samples, arrange the patients by order of severity. I’ll give the rest of the orders as I go!” 

“Yes, sir!” 

Conis beams as they set off to work, calling the rest of the workforce to listen to Chopper’s orders. She grips her fists tight and gives a testing stretch or two. 

“Heso, everyone!” she calls out, “may I have a uniform? I’ll help, too!"

 


 

“Ah, overalls,” Usopp says. “We can disguise ourselves as shipyard workers and go find the Merry. Wyper, are you listening to me?”

“Why do we need to disguise ourselves? They’ll know we’re not part of their community if they don’t recognize our faces,” Wyper scowls at the overalls, looking through the sizes. “And these look impractical. What’s the point of covering so much?”

“They protect you when you’re doing heavy machinery work. From splinters and hot surfaces, spills, that kinda stuff that would be bad for your skin,” Usopp says. “And you don’t have to worry, this place is so huge, they’ll just think we’re new here. We can say we’ve got transferred from another base, or came in on a recent ship.”

“Another base?” Wyper asks. “ Another? Of this size?”

Usopp has to take a moment. “There are a lot of humans on the Blue Sea, Wyper.”

“Wha-- that I know, just--!!” he trails off, seemingly baffled at himself. Then, very weakly, “how many more?”

 

This is going to be a long conversation. 

 

“Anyways, let’s change first. You stand out too much.”

Wyper grimaces. Against his personal wishes, he changes into the annoyingly orange clothes. He doesn’t pull them up over his arms, though, since his wings got in the way and it would be a fiery day in Upper Yard before he covered up his tattoos. 

“You’re putting up much less resistance than I thought you would,” Usopp admits, zipping up his own, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “You fought with Sanji so much over not wearing trousers and all.”

Wyper scoffs. “I know when the situation is serious, alright?” he groans. Did he just admit to picking a fight with Sanji for the heck of it? “At least this one fits properly. Everything on our ship’s too small and constrictive.”

“Well yeah, you’re bigger than us in size. Even Zoro,” Usopp finds some gloves and hands them to the guerilla, who pulls them on. “Does that mean you’ll wear pants if they’re in a comfortable fit?”

“Huh?” Wyper groans. “That’ll depend.”

Ah, that’s good news for Nami, then. She’ll figure something out when she’s shopping for clothes next time. 

They leave the changing room, Wyper returning Usopp’s walking stick in lieu of grabbing him by a shoulder, looking around warily as Usopp maneuvers around the place. 

“Well, first, we need to find out where they keep ships.” 

“...by the shore?”

“Which shore, which bay, which building, where’s the shipyard for visitors, where’s the factory shipyard for mechanics, where’s the loading bay, all that stuff. And from there we have to figure out where they brought our ship, because it’s probably somewhere nearby with no ship traffic. Probably behind some barricades, too.”

“...what.”

“This is worse than I thought it would be.”

Usopp has no idea why he’s stuck with someone who has no idea how military bases on the sea works. Well sure, Usopp wouldn’t really know either since all bases are different, but he knew how military shipyards worked on island stops and hurricane holes, at least.

But this is certainly the blind leading the blind. What the hell. 

 

“Hey, you guys news faces or something? The dock’s the other way.”

 

Usopp yelps . There’s an old man behind them, dressed in the same orange overalls, holding a metal flask of alcohol. 

Wyper immediately sets himself before Usopp in alarm, “we’ve been spotted!” he hisses. 

Usopp whirls around. “What the-- when were you-- why didn’t my haki-- uh,” Usopp hurries to catch Wyper, stopping him and clamping a hand over his mouth, catching his face in the attempt but scrambling to cover their missteps. “I’m sorry, we are! Very lost. I’m sorry about this guy, it’s his first day!” 

The man huffs, seemingly undeterred by the aggression Wyper displayed. 

“Well,” there’s a pause. “Ah, that makes sense.” What makes sense, gramps? What?? “Where are you stationed? Let this old man bring you there.”

Usopp brightens hopefully at that. 

Wyper, however, only narrows his eyes in suspicion. There was no way this was so easy-- Wyper has wings and tattoos . No way is this old man so damn trusting just because they were wearing the same clothes. That made no sense. 

“Yeah, right,” Wyper says, “you’re going to lead us into a trap, no way are we following.” 

“Wyper,” Usopp pleads. 

Wyper grinds his teeth. “Just tell us what you’re planning, old coot!” 

The old man laughs. “You don’t gotta be so tense!” he laughs, taking another chug of whatever’s in his flask. “I mean, I ain’t a soldier, I’m in no mood to walk all the way over to the nearest office to report you kids.”

So he did know! 

“I’ll kill you right here,” Wyper hisses, and Usopp hurries to grab him right back with a silent plea. 

“This works better for us, Wyper!” Usopp whines. “Would you bring us to our ship, please, gramps? You can act like we’ve held you hostage if we’re caught.”

“That works for me!” the old man grins, totally on board. 

“See? He’s helping us,” Usopp says. “Sometimes, you just gotta ask, Wyper. Be nice to people, people will be nice to you.”

“It’s a trap!” Wyper yells. 

“Nah,” the old man chortles. 

“See, he says it’s not a trap.”

“And you’re taking it at face value?!”  

 

Regardless, they end up following the old man. He introduces himself as Mekao and brings them down to the docks, waving at a few other mechanics on the way. They eventually make it down where the Merry was shored, and Usopp immediately went in to inspect for damage. 

Mekao just laughs, despite Wyper’s hostility. 

Wyper sighs. He can kill this old man anytime, so he won’t do it yet. 

“Well, it’s not like much of us actually care about you kids infiltrating,” Mekao says. “Plus,” he gestures toward Usopp, who was inspecting the mast. “There’s no way anyone would assign a guy like that to our division. There’s a rule against disabled workers. Blindness is a never in the shipyard. No one wants to pay life insurance on whatever idiot comes by.” 

Wyper gapes . “What? That’s stupid!” 

“Right?” Mekao chortles. “But your guy is pretty impressive. He didn’t need much guidance, and now he’s doing a whole once-over without our help. That’s impressive.”

Wyper clicks his tongue. “The Blue Sea’s fuckin’ weird.”

Mekao bursts into laughter. “You ain’t seen most of it yet!” then, “also, you really don’t want to be in the hallways when the post-breakfast bell rings.” 

Wyper pauses in confusion. Usopp lifts his head too.  

“...huh?”

 


 

“Geez, this place is huge,” Zoro says, walking right by a few workers that were carrying huge buckets of something. Some had water guns, too. 

They were saying something about training. If field practice in the marines involved water gun fights, Zoro has to admit… that sounds fun. They were surrounded by seawater, too, so it was appropriate.

A squeak catches his attention, and he looks aside, into the supports of the huge crane-- and he finds Suu, staring straight at him. 

“Oh, found one.” 

Suu nods, hopping onto Zoro’s shoulder. They continue to walk, marvellously unnoticed as they did the equivalent of sightseeing in complete nonchalance. 

“Man, where did everyone else go? They're so hopeless, getting lost in such a huge place. It’ll take forever to find them again. “This crew needs more people that’d take things seriously, for fuck’s sake.” 

Beside him, Suu mewls in empathy. It seems she’s also exasperated by the rest of the crew. Even Chopper got lost. Hopeless, the lot of them. If only they’d be as responsible as her dear sweet Conis, but even Conis is hopeless at times! 

 

“Ah, you,” someone speaks up behind them, and Zoro looks over. “You’re a member of this base, aren’t you? Sorry, we’re a bit lost. Could you lead us to the kitchen?”

 

Zoro turns around to see two tall men, carrying luggage and not wearing a uniform of any sort. He can immediately tell these guys aren’t a threat, but it’s strange that they aren’t alarmed by his presence either. Are they idiots?

“You see, we’re cooks from Mariejois, we just got transferred over,” they say. “We can’t exactly ask for any help from the cooks here, if you get us.”

Zoro hums. “Ah, okay. You want directions, yes?”

Zoro is a nice guy, so he’ll lead them there. Personally. As long as they don’t get lost while he’s leading them, of course.

Suu barks in an unsure indication. Zoro ignores her. 

“That’s a relief!” the man smiles. “I really want to get to the dining block before the battle begins, so you’re saving us here.”

Zoro pauses. “Battle?”

 


 

“Huh? What’s happening after breakfast?” 

Sanji took over the kitchen after a cook-off. Luffy is still gorging on food, but that’s a side problem. Right now, however, the whole kitchen is abuzz with their ‘scheduled, much anticipated event’ to come. 

“Huh, you don’t know? Ah, it must have not spread to Mariejois yet, huh?”

The chefs still think Sanji and Luffy are guest cooks from Mariejois. While that was convenient and all, and well, Sanji had the mannerisms and etiquette to fake it-- but he had no idea if he was really fitting in. 

“In Navarone, we decided to have it every tenth of the month, right after the breakfast bell. Everyone’s been super hyped about it since it’s been approved, so we’ve been preparing,” the other chef explains. “There are only three safe zones-- the dining block, the medical wing, and the shipyard area.” 

Sanji blinks. What?

“What’s this about?” he asks, because if he’s right, they’re annoyingly juggling around telling him what exactly it is. 

“Is it something fun?” Luffy asks, is that a Flame Dial you bastard, you better not blow anything up

“It is! Man, if only I didn’t have this shift for kitchen duty, I’d be joining immediately!” 

“Yeah, yeah!” 

“I drop off at lunch, so I can join, too! I’m so excited.”

“This is my first time. I’m prepared I tell you! This is a battleground! No pirate infiltration’s gonna stop it from happening, those that think it are naive!” 

 

For what?! Sanji chokes on his cigarette and suffers for a very long minute. Luffy is very enthusiastic now, since they’re hyping it up so much. 

 

“Hey, I know you’re excited, but hands on those pans and food on those plates, pronto!” Jessica yells. “Morning service isn’t over yet!” 

“Yes, Jessica-san!” comes the chorus.

 


 

Robin, escorted by a soldier, comes into Vice Admiral Jonathan’s office as Special Inspections Officer Shepherd. 

They do the greetings, polite and calm, with all the smiles and happiness of two people that absolutely do not trust each other. And Robin was very eager to entertain a mind game of who can cuss each other out in fluent Formal Linian better, but she’s a little distracted. 

A little distracted by what, you ask?

Well, Anne is in the room. 

She’s sprawled rather comfortably across a suspicious pile of something , sleeping. Her confusing bedding is covered with a drape, but there was a pillow at her head and a teddy bear to hug, as well as a light blanket over her waist. 

Kinoko was there too, nestled between her shirt and the blanket, snoring loudly. 

Her hands are slightly stained in dried paint, and her easel is set up with a freshly dried painting of Vice Admiral Jonathan.

And Vice Admiral Jonathan is acting like she isn’t there, even smiling warmly when Robin stares and asking, “is something the matter?” like it’s not obvious.

“No,” Robin smiles back. She extends a disembodied hand to tug at Anne’s blanket, pulling it up to the girl’s shoulder before disappearing. Jonathan doesn’t see it. “Well, if you’ll excuse me then, I will go on with my inspection.”

“Ah yes. Thanks for your work.” 

But before she can leave, Lieutenant Commander Drake knocks on the door. A curt greeting to the Inspections Officer later, Drake walks up to the Vice Admiral and salutes. 

 

“Ah, Drake,” Jonathan says, his voice solemn. “I was expecting you.”

“Yes, sir,” Drake nods, and he reaches into his coat. “I came here as quickly as I could… What is that child?” Drake zeroes in on Anne.

“Nothing to worry about,” Jonathan beams. 

Drake doubts that.

Jonathan laughs, hollow. “So, is there anything of urgency that needs to be addressed?” he asks. And Drake shakes his head. “I see. Then I suppose the base is all mobilised for action?”

Mobilised for- - Robin freezes at the doorway, a plague of worry overcoming her. Had the Strawhats infiltrated at an inopportune time?

“Yes,” Drake salutes, one handed. 

Robin doesn’t see what he has in his other hand, it’s obscured by his torso. But she can’t help but linger around in curiosity. 

“I see,” Jonathan nods. “Then, I believe everything will go as planned.”

“Yes,” Drake says, and the post-breakfast bell rings , loud and shark and piercing, and a sense of dread fills the room. 

 

The silence is immediately shattered by a burst-- no, an eruption of noise. 

A loud roar reverberates through the entire building-- no, the entire base -- and Robin has to cover her ears, alarmed by the absolute warcry that bellows, shaking the very core of the earth and the seas. 

Anne bolts right awake in alarm-- but neither she nor Robin expected Drake to belt out a loud cry of his own, swinging his arm forward, toward Jonathan, with all the vigor of a fighter going for the final blow. 

 

“THIS IS FOR ALL THE WORK YOU DITCH ME WITH!!!” 

And with a loud crack and splash , the water balloon explodes on Vice Admiral Jonathan’s face, coating him with a thick, goopy layer of green paint. 

 

-


-

 

“Someone tell me what it is already!” Luffy yells, frustrated. Sanji is also very, very interested. 

Beside him, a chef laughs. “It’s something like a Marine trend lately.”

 

 

Zoro frowns. Suu tilts her head aside. “What again?”

The two Mariejois chefs scoff. “What, you think just because we’re from the Red Line we won’t know? It’s all the talk these days.”

 

 

Wyper and Usopp gape

“You’re serious?” Usopp asks. “And that’s happening today?”

“Blue sea people,” Wyper hisses, “what the actual fuck.”

Mekao bursts into laughter. “Right? So stay in the shipyard, you’ll be free from getting involved.” 

 

 

What was that warcry?” Chopper asks.

“Is it a siege?” Conis whimpers. It sounded exactly like what the guerillas did before departing for their final battle in Upper Yard.  

“No, no,” the nurses say. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah,” another nurse says, “it’s just that, you know, that.”

 

 

Nami squints. “Special event? What kind of event warrants the entire base at once? That’s so impractical!” 

Gin looks away, very guilty. “Well, uh…” 

 

 

“...The free-for-all paintball war, of course!”

Chapter 70: greet the commander (prepare the ammunition)

Summary:

They have the whole of today to smash paintballs into the faces of the superiors they hate, so of course, the Marines are going to take full advantage of this. No army hates their superiors more than the Marines.

In other news, there are exactly two types of Strawhats-- the ones that somehow decided to participate in the paint war, and the ones that are actually working toward their plans to escape. Unfortunately, one vastly outnumbers the other.

Chapter Text

Something like two weeks ago, Captain Hina arrived at Marine base G-2 for Smoker and Tashigi’s promotion ceremony with a water balloon in her hand. And then, she hands it to Smoker, who promptly chucks it right in the face of the man who was inaugurating it. 

Mortified silence filled the entire assembly grounds. 

From the midst of the crowd, one of Hina’s men screams , “PAINT WARRRR!!!” and then there’s another loud splash, followed by a gurgling dying noise. 

He’s joined immediately by a loud warcry, from both Smoker and Hina’s crews. And all of a sudden there were people jumping down from the walls of Marineford with buckets and water guns and water balloons-- and the assembly was in utter mayhem

 

Smoker and Hina were promptly yelled at by Vice Admiral Momonga, who rushed over since he was nearby.

Smoker and Hina immediately yell back. With very good points. 

The debate lasted twenty-four hours (with about ten bowls of popcorn), a lot of alcohol (that shouldn’t be on base grounds but who cares), and a betting pool (that was won by none other than Portgas D. Ace, the soldiers realized as soon as they were sober, they have no fucking idea why he was there), but Vice Admiral Momonga lost the battle. The entire base erupted into a hype-filled celebration. 

A commemorative paint war then occurred, because Jango and Fullbody spent the time coming up with rules and regulations, and they sure as hell were implementing it into their routine now, ship or base. 

“We can throw it at superiors with no backlash? YES.”

“Consequences are still fair game, though. Hit and get hit, that’s the rule. So I don’t think you should try it.”

“Hey, no abuse of power allowed. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“They can break your bones.”

“But they can’t fire or demote me!” 

“They can break your bones.”

“And it would be worth it!” 

 


 

“Yo, Senny!” Garp beams. 

Sengoku is half-slouched over his desk, a headache coming right through him and he’s in no mood to entertain this bastard at the moment. There’s been a shitload of complaints all over the place, requests to implement the balloon fights in other bases, requests to NOT, and et cetera. 

The elder stars were not happy. This was jeopardizing the reputation of the marines, or something. It just didn’t seem professional, and yeah, Sengoku understood. 

But he can’t just stop them. How about if he framed it as a recreational activity, yeah, that would work. He can’t do anything more or Hina and Smoker will quit on him and he’s going to die of guilty conscience. 

(Like. Please, kids, I hate them too. Help me out here. Why did I pick this job?)

“You seem stressed out,” Garp says, like that isn’t fucking obvious. Sengoku wants to kill him in his sleep. “Kids giving ya trouble?”

Sengoku groans. “The only way to solve this problem right now is to get someone to formally plan and implement this into the Marine monthly routine. Why is this my life? Why do they want it so badly?” There was a whole petition with about a thousand signatures, so Sengoku couldn’t even reject it without losing their confidence. 

Garp snickers. 

“Well, I, for one, think the kids had the right idea!”

 

Sengoku doesn’t even get to look up before Garp flings the water balloon right in his face-- and Garp does not fling a thing, he pitches it at the speed of a fucking shooting star-- so if it was anyone other than Sengoku it wouldn’t even be a concussion it would be a horror story-- and the paint explodes on Sengoku, all over his clothes, his office, his goat, and his paperwork. 

Garp starts running. 

“IT’S TIME FOR PAINT WAR, BOYYYYYSSS!!!” 

Garp is halfway across Marineford by the time Sengoku gathers himself and clears his airway enough to stumble to his door and shout back, “MONKEY D. GARP YOU ABSOLUTE DIPSHIT GET BACK HERE!!”

 

-


-

 

The event quickly spread across other bases. 

Sengoku places a formal addition to the Marine code, and now, for the sake of ‘stress relief’ and as a ‘team building exercise’ to ‘promote the fellowship of base soldiers and as a unique training method for the field’, paintball fights were now to be organized once a month in every base.

Anyways. That’s what’s happening in Navarone now. 

 


 

Vice Admiral Jonathan cleans his face, ignoring the slope of wet paint dripping off his hair. 

“Ah, retribution,” he muses. “Beautiful revelation of people’s true natures. If you would like to join as well, you can,” he turns to Anne, who freezes in the middle of covering up the painting on the easel. 

Anne juts out a nod. Then she shakes her head, “I mean, no thanks.” 

“Ah, a shame. You pirates really ought to join us. It’ll be fun.”

Anne looks aside, “uh, yeah,” she hesitates, “I’m sure it is.”

Maybe she’s just not awake yet. She can’t think coherently right now. But okay, paintball. She understands paintball. Why were they playing paintball?

 

Special Inspector Shepherd (Robin) has escaped along with Lieutenant Commander Drake, but Anne knows that she has an ear out to listen to the rest. 

 

“Okay,” she says, getting up and staring at her bedding skeptically. “I might join. Are there any rules?”

Jonathan laughs. “Do pirates obey the rules now?”

Anne shakes her head. “Then how do you win?”

“Ah, good question.”

Oh, they don’t know either. 

“Strange, right?” Jonathan says, “people are saying this tradition came from Hina-kun’s ship. Since your crew was around her area during Alabasta, I’m sure you’ve heard of her.”

Anne has a little more than heard of her but she nods anyway. 

“Though, it’s so strange. Hina-kun has always been the sweet child of the little Menace Legion,” Jonathan sighs, like a sad father. “I guess all things change.”

(The what?)

“So? A good night’s sleep for you?” Jonathan asks, like he isn’t still struggling to get paint off his pristine white coat that’s definitely unsalvageable now. 

Anne nods. Two portraits for a night of undisturbed sleep in the safest spot of the entire base. That’s fair. Nice to know that there are marines that will be this laid-back about intruders if they just don’t feel like capturing them immediately. It’s nice. And very nice that Vice Admiral Jonathan actually kept up his end of the bargain and let her rest.

“Regardless, I am required to arrest you, so what shall we do now?” Jonathan suggests. 

Ah right, all good things come to an end. If he called the guards now, would they actually come? Without throwing a water balloon at him in the process? They’d probably do it at the same time.

 

“Where’s our ship?” Anne asks, opening the window and looking out. 

Kinoko takes this moment to hurry out ahead of Anne, not once looking back as she flies right out. 

Anne considers her position. She climbed in from here last night, so she knows they should’ve been able to see the ship from here. It’s not out there now, so they must have moved it. 

“Well, figuring that out is part of the difficulties of trying to escape,” Jonathan says. 

Anne pouts. He smiles. 

(He’s only doing this because he’s that confident they can’t escape. Well fine then. Anne is going to prove him wrong.) 

Anne picks up her canvas bag, pulling it over her shoulder and reaching inside to find something. “Uh,” she says, retrieving a bag of powdered paint and grabbing Jonathan’s mug of coffee. She takes a sip before dumping it into the bag. “Give me a headstart?”

Jonathan hums, wiping his face with the cloth. Then, with his eyes still covered, he drawls, “oooooone, twooooo…”

He looks up, but Anne is gone before he gets to say three. 

 

He huffs, slightly happy. Always nice to talk to a sweet little lady, even if she’s an enemy. “Well wasn’t she a good g–AAAAGSHH?!”

Anne had lobbed the water balloon into the air before leaving. Jonathan didn’t notice it until it heavily shattered on his head, engulfing his entire figure, along with half the table, in bright coffee-sloshed pink paint. 

“Oh c’mon, now I have to go change!” 

 

-


-

 

“Ah, there it is,” Gin exits the hall into the balcony, reaching out an arm to receive Kinoko as she lands on his elbow. “Finally. What took you so long?”

Kinoko caws once.

Gin grumbles, “no excuses. I’m giving her a piece of my damn mind once I find her,” he mutters. Reaching into the pouch and finding a single piece of paper, Gin unfolds it to find a sketch of the fortress they were in. 

He hisses, realizing this place was enclosed. Anne didn’t seem to locate the exit, but she marked down the road she went, from where the Merry landed, to where she came inland, until the office of the highest ranking officer of this base. She included sketches of a man called Vice Admiral Jonathan as well. 

“What in the actual hell was she doing in there,” Gin asks, exasperated but rhetorical, and he thinks he doesn’t want to know. 

Kinoko stares back at him, daring him to ask the question– but Gin groans. No one had a sense of urgency here– not the bird, not Anne, not a single one of his fellow pirates and devastatingly enough, none of the Marines either. 

Nami’s below, by the cove and near the water surface, trying to get a better look of the distance. She squints, bending down carefully to survey the water level. 

“Something’s strange about this fortress,” she mutters. “The calm currents… why are there so many shallows?”

“Hey, Nami!” Gin hollers, “Anne got us some information.”

Nami quickly climbs back over, looking as Gin holds up the images for her to see. The gears turn in her head, slowly and confusingly– but before she could form a coherent conclusion for her hypothesis, their attention is wrenched away by the door opening behind them, followed by a muffled scream. 

“Oh hey, Namizo-chan, nice seeing you again,” it’s Isuka, and she’s pushing a cart with a heavily hogtied someone on it, just rolling him around like no big deal. Her eyes zero in on Gin. “And you’re a friend? I’m Isuka, nice to meet you.” 

Gin juts out a nod, “oh uh yeah, nice to meet you… too…” he’d instinctively copied her manners, agh. “Uhm,” he has no idea if he should be looking at that man that’s tied up– oh crap it looked over and gave them the look of death – “what’s this?”

Luckily, Nami is also similarly flabbergasted, looking between the man screeching for (probably) help, and Isuka, back and forth, not sure where to even begin with this. 

“Oh, him?” Isuka says, brightly, “he just started screeching about being a Special Inspector from Marineford and everything, but he’s got no coat and no identification to prove it. So for now…” she gestures vaguely at the man, like that explains why he’s in this state. 

Gin swallows nervously. Marines are terrifying.

“You could just call Marineford and ask them if he’s real,” Nami suggests. 

Isuka shrugs, “paintball war right now. You’re volunteering to disrupt our fun for a badly-timed inspection?” she teases, and Nami shakes her head. Absolutely not. “Plus he could be one of you guys, so I think we’re supposed to arrest him for further questioning.”

“So why aren’t you?”

“Arrests would include you guys too. So, you want me to? Alright, I’ll take my handcuffs out–”

“No no, we’re fine, we’re fine like this, thank you!” 

 

The Special Inspector is screeching bloody murder at the moment. 

Kinoko sways to the sound, and then her mouth drops open and she yowls back passionately, taking the noise as a bird call and politely continuing the horrible music, as birds do. 

The Special Inspector yells back some profanity, his eyes promising the addition of the bird to tonight’s stew, (Gin knows that look because it’s the same look Sanji gives Chopper and Kinoko when they’re just a bit too annoying,) but Kinoko just gleefully serenades back, undeterred. 

Gin stares between them and grimly, very grimly, he comes to the horrifying, devastating realization that he can now understand bird jargon . He’s at this level of nonsense now. 

“Well, he’s not one of us– actually wait,” Nami looks through the papers and finds a small note of ‘Robin in disguise’ and nods. “He’s tentatively our guy.” 

The Special Inspector makes a sharp horrified noise. And Isuka nods, understanding what the ‘tentatively’ means in this situation. 

“Uh,” Nami spends a moment, then she looks at Kinoko, who caws a strangely tuned birdcall before Nami gathers the musical syllables and decides that the bird has named her first pet: “Condoriano!” Kinoko gives an approving nod. “Condoriano, my good friend. Having a hard time being tied up, huh?”

Gin looks on with pity. Even he isn’t this cruel. 

Kinoko looks smug. It’s her first time naming something! She’s very pleased. 

“Oh, really?” Isuka asks. “Should I let Mister Condoriano out?”

“No, no need,” Nami says, “leave him be. Actually, bring him to wherever the prison is, and uh, try to pass by as many hallways as you can.” She pats him on the shoulder but he reacts like he’s been burned, mortified. 

Isuka beams. “Okay then, Mister Condoriano, let’s go,” she says. “Ah, right. Namizo-chan, I’m sure you already know, but this paint war doesn’t mean Navarone’s defenses are any more weakened, ya hear? Escaping Isn't going to be easy!”

 

Nami has escaped many Marine bases before.

It’s not so easy for soldiers to just sneak in and out at any time– they were supervised, kept track of– it was military, after all. Nami has entered and left a number of crews, sometimes by staging extended vacations, but other times in actual emergency home calls by Arlong, she runs in the night. 

Being caught trying to run out of the navy was a punishable offense– a mark of shame and cowardice that is frowned upon. 

Nami can run away from bases all she likes– she’s nearly a master at it now. But Navarone would definitely be different. Navarone is much stricter, it’s even built to be inescapable.

 

Nami chuckles. 

“Don’t worry about me,” she says. Then, warmly, leaning into Gin’s side with a hand resting on Kinoko at the man’s shoulder– she grins. “With these guys, I can do anything!” 

Isuka smiles at the sight.

Nami turns around to compare their location with the pictures she was given. Determining their next route, she hooks an arm around Gin’s, ready to go. 

“Ah, Namizo-chan!” she calls, and when she turns, Isuka grins. “Say hi to Ace for me, yeah?”

Nami snorts. “If I see him, I guess!” She waves vaguely before leaping, and Gin staggers in surprise, not expecting the sudden lunge off the building– but he adapts, and follows right after. 

 

-


-

 

Zoro escaped the hallways once the battle began, but Suu got pelted. 

Now he’s trying to scrub her off with a hose. Suu didn’t know how to swim in the Blue Sea, as Zoro had noticed a bit too late. He’d barely scooped her out before she fell too far in. Now they were both drenched.

They were somewhere around the port. There were a couple other soldiers around, chasing each other with water balloons. 

“It’s really hard to get this off,” Zoro groans, his hand bunched up around Suu’s mottled tail while the fox scrubbed desperately at her own face. He grumbles. “Give up, I guess.”

Suu barks , obviously not happy with that idea.

“Well what do you want me to do, bleach it?”

Suu bites him in the ankle and Zoro yelps, trying to shake her off, but she latches on stubbornly, furious now. He hops one-footed, grabbing Suu by the scruff and trying to tear her off, but he risks tearing off a chunk of his flesh with it. 

He crashes into a tower of crates, like an idiot, and falls with a loud yelp and an unceremoniously loud crumble as the structure collapses on top of him. 

 

“Woah, did someone just get buried?” a marine soldier finally takes notice of them, gathering to help. “Hey, I need a hand here!”

“Hey, you alright down there? Damn how’d you crash into all of this?”

“Agh! We just stacked those yesterday!” 

The cloud fox groans, grumbling near Zoro’s leg. She shakes her head, trying to rid herself of the dizziness– Zoro briefly remembers to lift his leg before he crushes her– and finally, she lets her maw loose from his shin. 

The very helpful marines manage to remove enough crates to see him, and the entire group collectively recoil at the sight. 

“Roro– no!!”

“Ah!!” 

“Zoro?!?” 

“Hey, it’s not Roro- no! AH! Zoro,” the Pirate Hunter corrects very sternly, emphasizing the tone like it was ridiculous, before calming down to enunciate, “it’s Roronoa Zoro.” 

“Ah, sorry,” they say. “Roro noa Zoro, yes? Sorry, the combination Eastern isn’t very kind to us North Linians…” 

Zoro hums, “fair enough.”

“Thanks for understanding,” they bowed their heads a little in gratitude. 

 

Now that the naming pronunciation was out of the way…

 

 “IT’S RORONOA ZORO! GUYS! GUYS WE FOUND A STRAWHAT! SOMEONE WITH A GUN OR HANDCUFFS WE NEED TO ARREST HIM–”

“I ONLY HAVE MY PAINT GUN WITH ME!”

“THEN USE IT!” 

“SOUND THE AL– oh wait that won’t help– SCREAM AS LOUD AS YOU CAN, BOYS!” 

“AAAHHH IT’S RORONOA ZORO!” 

“AND HE’S STARTING TO GET ANNOYED! CAPTURE HIM!” 

“Can you all just shut up and arrest me already?!” Zoro yells. 

 


 

Zoro is never going to admit that’s how he got arrested, but all he’s bothered about right now is the fact that he’s covered in way too much paint, it itches, and those guards outside the bars better look away in guilt because if he gets his hands on them they are dead

Suu sits beside him, in a tiny little birdcage because they couldn’t figure out how else to restrain her. She’s very calm, though. Judging by how Skypiea deals with criminals, Zoro reckons she doesn’t understand the concept of a prison. 

“So,” this Drake guy, who's supposed to be his interrogator, approaches him. “Tell us. How’d you get in here, from the sky? Built a huge launchpad or something?” 

Zoro scoffs. “Yeah, we stuck some wings on our ship. Made our way to heaven, met some angels, and then we gently floated down on an octopus balloon. Even stole some angels on our way.”

“Do you take me for a fool?!” Drake bashes him over the head for his efforts. 

“Uh, sir?” someone speaks up behind him, “there… are rumours of an angel sighting last night. Some of the guys on patrol said they saw one in the infirmary.”

“WHAT?! Why did no one say that earlier?!”

“S- Sorry sir! It’s not any more ridiculous than the out-of-season yeti and the bodhisattva lady, so we didn’t think…”

“The what ?!”

Zoro watches them freak out and decide what to do next, probably go check the infirmary for news of the angel or something. Well, it doesn’t really matter to him. 

“Darn it! Keep watch on Roronoa Zoro and the White thing!” Drake orders.

“Suu,” the white thing calls out in protest. 

“She’s a Suu,” Zoro helpfully translates.

“What on earth is a Suu?!” Drake retorts. “But stay in there, and you guys! Don’t let Condoriano out of your sight either, he’s been rather obnoxious.”

Zoro’s eyes travel to the unconscious figure of the man in the corner, so heavily splattered with paint Zoro thought he was abstract wall art until this very moment. 

“Don’t let your guard down around any of them, understand?!”

“YES, SIR!” 

 

Zoro yawns. Meanwhile, Suu’s stomach growls. She whines at Zoro, who hums dismissively. “Deal with it. Warriors don’t get hungry.”

Suu pouts. She’s not a warrior, so she’s going to be hungry all she wants.

In fact, she’s pretty confident she can eat metal if she’s desperate enough. She has no idea what metal is made of, but nothing on Angel Island isn’t chewable, not even trees, so she can definitely do this if she tries. 

(She couldn’t.)

So instead, she resorts to angrily squeezing her face through the bars. 

She manages to pop right through it, a few grunts of effort as she proceeds to yank her ears out, followed by the rest of her body, and then her tail. She squeaks, successfully rolling out of her cage on light feet, happily stretching out her limbs. 

She then went through the seastone bars of the prison, and merrily left, just like that. 

She doesn’t notice the horrified looks she’s earned, from not just Zoro, but from every guard standing at the entrance as well. 

 

“I am now convinced that foxes are made of liquid,” someone in the crowd whispers, mortified. 

“I thought only cats did that…” 

 

-


-

 

It’s complete mayhem outside, and the noise can be heard from the kitchen. Half of the kitchen crew are outside, participating in the mess-- but the other half are dealing with cleanup and lunch prep. Sanji barely manages to grab Luffy back before he goes to join. 

“But Sanji! It’s paintball! Paintball! It sounds like so much fun!” 

“Absolutely NOT!” Sanji yells. Then, softer, “we need to use this chaos as an opportunity to meet up with everyone and get out of here, you idiot.”

“Ehhhhhh?”

“Don’t ‘ehhhh’ me, you shithead!”

The fellow chefs in the kitchen chuckle at the sight. All they could see was a pair of brothers, trying not to cause trouble. Sanji was vehemently trying to deny that, but it would do no good so he left the misunderstanding be. 

“I’m sure you’re interested, but the battle continues even after lunch. You can join the second wave if you want,” someone assures him, and Luffy whines. 

“But I wanna go now!” 

“How about this,” Jessica suggests with a sigh. “Prepare a meal for Table Eight, take it to him, and you brothers can get your break to join the battle.”

“Yay!” Luffy cheers.

“Yes, Jessica-san,” Sanji lets out a contented sigh before swiveling right around, dishing up the order right to go. “Order up!” 

“Alright! I’ll take it, I’ll take it!” Luffy cheers, mouth watering, sauntering right up to grab the dish with all the grace of a dog that hasn't been trained to wait. “Right up order! Up!”

“Hey, you can’t eat that! A single meatball and it’s your head that’s going next, you hear me!” Jessica warns, but it falls right on deaf ears. 

“I know, I know!” Luffy absolutely does not. 

 

Now, Luffy is definitely going to eat that. Poor sod-- oh wait, someone’s saying that it’s Jessica’s husband on that table? “Well, who’s the luckiest man in Navarone?”

“Well, the Commander, Vice Admiral Jonathan, of course.” 

...well, shit.  

Sanji would’ve choked on a cigarette if he had one, but for now, all he does is stare, horrified, as he accidentally caramelizes the onions in his pan. 

Slowly removing them and placing them on a nice plate– they can probably be used for something later-- Sanji takes a full breath. 

There’s a packet of confiscated powder paint in his suit pocket.

“You said the dining wing’s a safe zone,” Sanji leans over to his fellow line cook, “but Table Eight’s in the guest area, right? Around the connecting bridge of the main building and this one?” 

“Ah, yes,” the guy says. “I guess that side is technically fair game. But it’s so far into the dining wing no one really bothers.” 

Another adds, “none when eating, though! Only after the food is eaten and cleared from the table. Remember the Navarone code?”

“The Navarone what?” 

And then Sanji listens as the entire kitchen straightens, salutes, and shouts the absolute hilarity of a Navarone great code.

“FIRST! Wash your hands before eating. SECOND! Never leave food on your plate! THIRD! Never mention work during mealtimes! FOURTH! After eating, make sure to brush your teeth! AND FIFTH! THANK THE CHEF FOR THE MEAL!” 

Oh no, Sanji thinks. I think I love it here.

Ah, he can’t, he’s got to get a grip. He needs to focus on Luffy right now. He can already hear Luffy yodeling from three miles away screaming hell no, stop stealing my nakama

“Why’d you ask, though?” the line chef asks, and Sanji snaps out of it. 

“Ah, nothing much,” Sanji wipes down the table, washes his hands, and very casually begins filling the bag of powdered paint with water. With his other hand, his hand’s found a pen and paper. “By the way, you wanted my recipe? I’ll write it down here.” 

 


 

Luffy smiles. 

Vice Admiral Jonathan stares back, blankly. He’s changed into a fresh uniform, though the paint still stains deeply into his hair and will be hell to get out later. He might have to implement a rule for soluble paint only next time. 

Luffy grins. “Enjoy your meal!” he says. 

And then he stands there, at the doorway, like people were supposed to enjoy their meal with a creepy kid grinning at them from five feet away. 

Jonathan might also have to implement a ‘don’t stand there and stare at me’ rule. 

 

“So, you’re from Mariejois, right?” Obviously not, because someone from up there would have avoided all eye contact, not said a word, and run out immediately after serving, that’s the ingrained instinct when you served Celestial Dragons. Jonathan would know. 

“Ah, no, I’m from East Blue,” the boy immediately says, and Jonathan right about face-faulted . He looks back over and half his meatballs are gone, so he now understands why the boy’s standing there. Okay, game’s on, brat.  

“Oh really? East Blue where?” Jonathan says, playing catch the finger with his fork. 

“Dawn Island!” beams the boy, and darn it, Jonathan missed the stab chance. He’s a Vice Admiral, he literally has Haki, how is this boy dodging? 

“Hehh, isn’t that Vice Admiral Garp’s hometown?” 

The boy grimaces. “Eh, you know Grandpa?” 

Jonathan blinks. He has no idea how he didn’t make that connection sooner. Why didn’t anyone make that connection? Why isn’t it in the newspapers– oh, right, they probably don’t want to publicly taint Garp’s name or something. Damn the Marines and their weirdly selective morals–

“–got you!” Jonathan finally nails the same meatball as Luffy, right on time for the grabby gross hand to latch on. The stubborn fool wasn’t even trying to pretend his hand wasn't stretched five feet too far. 

“Share it, stingy!” 

“You’ve taken three-fourths of my entire plate!” Jonathan accuses. He relents, allowing the hand to snap right back to the boy’s face, along with the meatball. “You can take the rest if you answer my questions.”

“Wait really? Awesome! Sorry I called you stingy.”

And then the plate goes. Ahh, there goes the one good meal of his life. 

“So, Monkey D. Luffy, what brings you to Navarone?” he asks. A single reach toward the desk finds him an Eternal Pose, toward Navarone. They’d found it in the Strawhat Navigation room. “As you can probably see, the base is quite busy today. But we don’t quite understand why you’ve come here.”

Luffy gobbles up the food in an instant, setting the plate carefully back on the table. 

“Well, there’s not really a reason,” he grins. “We fell out of the sky, here we were!” 

“And yet we find this in your ship,” Jonathan accuses, “I find it a stretch to claim you didn’t plan on landing here.”

“Wait, really?” Luffy stands up, looking over Jonathan’s arm at the Eternal Pose. “OHh! That’s Nami’s. Hey, you can’t take Nami’s stuff, she gets really mad when you make a mess.” 

“Ah, my apologies, but this is seized, so unfortunately, it is mine now.”

“Geh. Okay fair,” Luffy says, “we hate that one anyways, it’s the one Candy Guy gave us and tried to trick Usopp with.”

Jonathan pauses. Candy Guy? 

“You mean General Gasparde, who was recently arrested by my subordinate, Drake?”

“Yeah, Candy guy!” 

 

Drake did mention that Gasparde was strangely handed over with a whole horde of garbage bags, all filled with Eternal Poses to Navarone. Something about a scheme to trick a whole fleet of pirates right into their base in that Dead End pirate race thing. 

So there was another one left, huh. 

 

“Regardless of what brought you here,” Jonathan will slowly, carefully, figure that out later, “you’re not going to be able to escape this base.”

Luffy smiles right back, confident and undeterred. “I leave when I want, Mister!” 

“Even if I saw we have Roronoa Zoro in custody?”

Luffy’s face immediately falls. “Huh?”

 

Right then, the door opens. 

“Hi,” Sanji says, looking between them. “You’re done eating yet?” 

“Yeah!” Luffy grins. 

“Great.”

And Jonathan has a confused moment to register who before the blond chef pitches a bag of something at him, and Jonathan barely blinks before it explodes , a whole bag-full of blue, showering him in a grand, majestic splash. 

“...sorry, too much water,” Sanji says. “But yeah, BYE.”

And he grabs Luffy and runs and Jonathan is still frozen in confusion. 

 

-


-

 

“Are you sure we can use the supplies in your harbor?” Usopp asks, steadily taking down the rigging, unwinding it from the pulleys. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine, we’re due for a new shipment anyways,” Mekao assures. “I’d never forgive myself if I let such a dear little ship stay in this state of disrepair!” 

“Ahh, thanks so much, old man! You’re really a lifesaver.”

“I don’t get why you have to do so much just to fix that lump of wood,” Wyper mutters. He’s still at the shipyard side, seated down and working on the new weapon in his hand. 

“Like we said already, Wyper, ships made of wood on the Blue Sea aren’t like Dial Boats and Wavers,” Usopp says, “those are made light, but ships down here are made to be sturdy. They need very careful design and engineering to make sure they float.” 

“I think that’s stupid. Ditch all that rope and those floppy flags.”

“They’re called sails, and riggings, and we need them to catch winds.”

“Catch winds? For what, to sell?”

“No Wyper. To move forward.”

“...we can’t just stick a Jet Dial at the end?”

“I think you’re really underestimating how heavy a ship is,” Usopp says. 

“Do you know about currents, boy?” Mekao asks, “the sea’s alive down here! They move on their own and will eat you up if you let your guard down!” 

“WHAT?!”

“Don’t scare him, old man!” Usopp chastises him when the old man bursts out laughing.

“Am I lying though?!”

 

“For fuck’s sake, you both annoy me to no end!” Wyper snaps at them, standing right up. “I’m going to go look for supplies!” 

And then he marches off, the spear in his hands, huffing the whole way. 

 

Usopp laughs. “He’s so temperamental.” 

“Hahah! Lively kids, you guys. Ah, boy, want to change up the main mast while we’re here? She could use a new one!” 

“Oh, you’d do that for us?? I love you, old man!” 

“Don’t sweat it, don’t sweat it! I’ll just be resizing a warship mast by cutting it down. Might need a makeover on the crow’s nest portion– you think you can help me with the heavy work, boy?”

“Of course! I might be blind, but I’m proud of my strength!” 

“Ah, good, good. We’ll be mostly undisturbed here, so we can take our time!” 

They laugh, and they get to work. Soon enough, other workers taking a break from the paintball war also came by, and it only takes a few conversations for them to find Usopp’s a fun guy and help him out with the repairs. 

Usopp will eventually realize that he should not have let Wyper wander off alone, because he would definitely get lost– but he will be too late for that. 

 


 

“Oh, a white fox! That’s good luck!” one of the shipwrights exclaim in awe. 

Suu had found herself back on the Merry, happily looking over the very amazed mechanics as they stared at her from slightly afar. 

“Suu, welcome back, did you need something?” Usopp says, carefully climbing down from the rigging, wiping his hands on his overalls before handing Suu a cookie from one of the pockets. 

Suu squeaks a few times, like she’s telling a story. She also gestures uselessly, but Usopp nods, understanding absolutely none of it at all but still pretending to. 

“Okay, I get it,” he says. 

“You do?!” the mechanics exclaim, bewildered. “Don’t lie!” 

Usopp digs around his bag and looks through his dials, squinting in thought as he tried to feel around for which was which. 

“Okay, you can have this one,” he says, quickly fixing up a special knot so Suu could sling it around her shoulders and carry it around. “Have a safe trip back!” 

Suu barks happily, nuzzling into Usopp’s hand gratefully before scampering away again. 

“...what did it say?” Mekao asks. 

“I have no idea!” Usopp says, too proudly. 

 

-


-

 

Wyper angrily stomps his way through the storage, past the barracks, into the main building– and “where the hell am I?”

Wyper’s eyes sharpened instantly as five water balloons were launched his way. 

Ducking right past them, he dashes up the walls, wrenches open the vents (to three terrified squawks) drags the perpetrators right out. 

And then, from his overall pockets, he spins a wrench into his hands and–

bonks them all successively over the head. 

They wail a very very rhythmic “OW! OW! OW! We’re sorry!”

“Good,” Wyper hisses. Then, muttering bitterly, he angrily marches on his way, the three marine soldiers looking back at him, very confused that they didn’t get any more retribution for their attempt. 

“...did we always have a guy like that in the mechanic division?”

“Damn, he’s pretty bulky.”

“I think I’d know if someone had tattoos and wings, though.”

They stare at each other in silence, nursing the bumps on their heads. 

“...was that a Strawhat?” they realized in unison. 

Immediately, they scrambled to their feet, “Wait! We’re supposed to arrest him!” they yell, running after the man with their only weapon– a water gun– in hand. 

 

Without any warning, someone soars right in from the windows, kicking open the glass before spinning over, landing in a skid by the ground. 

Everyone turns, surprised by the sudden interruption. 

Wyper takes a moment to realize that’s Anne , still in her camisole and shorts, but her body and clothing were partially painted over with concrete camouflage. There was war paint on her cheeks, her bare feet carrying the dampness of the sea as she landed.  

Anne lifts her hands, six water balloons clutched between her fingers. She looks up, a dark, battle-worn scowl between her brows. 

Wyper watches, stunned, as their little painter obliterates the soldiers thrice her size, their agonized screams ripped from their throats before they fall to their knees, more resembling the aftermath of gunfire than the non-lethal projectiles she wielded. 

“Let your guard down in a warzone and you will regret it,” Anne says, picking up their water guns and removing the ammo before tucking it into her toolbelt. 

 

Wyper swallows nervously when the girl lifts her eyes to him. 

 

“Oh, it’s you,” Anne says, her voice still cold as she looks around warily, gun raised as she inspected her surroundings like a veteran soldier. “I’ve cleared all the enemies on the floor above us. How shall I proceed?” 

Wyper’s jaw drops

She’s taking this way too seriously. Are paint wars in the Blue Sea not a game? That must be it– she’s being too jaded to be someone playing around. This must be war in the same way Shandians take their territory! This must be survival!

(And Wyper excelled at survival battles.)

“We’re going to locate the core of this fortress and take it down from within,” his eyes gleamed with all the seriousness of a unit commander on a mission, “first, we need better artillery,” since Anne only has limited ammo that’s pillaged from enemies. 

So of course, their first goal is obvious. 

“To a weapons vault!” Wyper declares.

Anne blinks up at him for a moment before she adopts that too-serious look once more. 

“Yes, sir!” she salutes. 

“Also you got more of that paint?” 

 


 

They skulk through the building, Wyper a little slower than the espionage expert, as they meander around, trying to find anything resembling an important place. Both of them are decked out in concrete camouflage with a brush of war paint, more into this than they probably should be. 

Neither of them thought that a map would be an interesting thing to acquire. 

Wyper holds Anne back in a hallway before pushing onward himself, kicking out a nearby window pane to shield against a sudden barrage of paintballs. Anne reacts immediately, launching off Wyper’s back with two water pistols, almost hitting all of them. 

Wyper sprints forth, swinging the huge paintbrush in his arm, rending right through the crowd in a splash of blue paint. 

“Is that my weapon?” Anne asks, as they go around pillaging pockets for ammo. 

Wyper hums. “I’m trying to find some nice metal for the blade.” 

And then, Anne tosses aside the now-empty wallet on the (not dead) body, and they both continue on their way, wondering where a vault could be. Wyper had never been in a fortress like this one before, so he had no idea what looked important. Anne has, but her experiences meant she could only go by rough guesses. 

“Where’s the bird you were with?” 

“Kinoko went to find everyone… but where’s Usopp?”

“He’s uh,” Wyper thinks back. “I don’t know. Who cares.”

Anne nods. “Okay.”

 

The soldiers who were not in fact dead warily lifted their heads, watching the two walk away. They were not in fact obliged to play dead, but when you were dealing with a little war menace and a huge, definitely war veteran– you just had to play dead, y’know?

“Pirates are fucking scary, mate,” one whispers to the other. 

“That girl’s aim sucked on her left arm,” another says. “Was it obvious that I ran into the shot?”

“Yes.”

“So do we report this to Lt Commander Drake or what?” 

“Nah, she looks like she’s having so much fun, why kill the joy?”

 

-


-

 

“I’m going to make a map,” Nami says. “I don’t trust the ones in the base. There are plenty of dummies that are made to trick intruders.”

“Huh?” Gin’s baffled, and Kinoko definitely is, too. “That would take too long!” 

“A simple one’s fine– our escape route, that’s enough,” Nami says, tossing him a baby Den Den before setting another on her shoulder. “That’s why I need you to go around and find it for me. The exit.”

Gin stares, very skeptically, at the little Babyden.

“...where were you hiding this?”

“Don’t ask unnecessary questions!” 

“What have you seen, snail? What have you seen?” 

 

Regardless, that was where they split up, with nami diving into the waters to survey the swallows, and Gin dipping a Marine Cap over his eyes as he patrols along the shores, following an occasional soldier or two a distance. 

Kinoko swings by overhead, cawing once or twice for messages in her very unique rendition of morse code. 

Gin even manages to slip into a cannon deck facing the outside, and with a rough count, he relayed an estimate of cannons to Nami. 

“It won’t be an easy escape,” Gin says. 

“Ugh, this would’ve been easy if we just had a Coup de Burst on hand!” Nami whines, and by a scratchy noise on the other end, she’s already sketching out a map. 

Gin decides not to question her. What on earth is a Coup de Burst, he doesn’t want to care. 

“You’re saying the Merry’s on Dock 88th… what about the suspicious bridge again?”

“There are a few, but the one I’m looking at now is the only entrance to a seclusion. I’m guessing it’s their prison area,” Gin says,  “two walkways, one’s without a proper stairs down, and we’re not really supposed to patrol there.” 

“I see, an obvious trap, then,” Nami immediately deems, without even a doubt. “So is there any activity there?” 

“...uh.”

“I’m not going to like it, huh?”

“No, it’s okay,” Gin assures, emerging from the cliffs, facing the prison area, “it’s not about who’s in there, it’s more like, you know.”

He makes an agonized noise of resignation. 

“...Luffy’s there, isn’t he?” Nami asks, exhausted already.

Gin doesn’t have to answer. There’s a loud yell of “ZOOOROOOO, WHERE ARE YOUUU???” in the distance. “WE CAME TO BREAK YOU OUUUUUTTT!!!” 

 

“Well, let’s change the subject,” Gin says, “remember that other thing I told you you wouldn’t like hearing?” 

“Ah, about the paint war?” Nami says, “I mean, it’s stupid, but I don’t really care what the Navy does anymore… I guess it’s nice they’re having fun?”

“Well, there’s that too,” Gin says, ignoring the barrage of gunshots and Sanji screaming that rapid paintball gunfire is not nice to use against a man in a suit, “but like. Remember during the Dead End Race, when Anne and I were infiltrating Hina’s ship with Bon?” 

Nami’s response comes after a very horrified pause. 

“Well, uh,” Gin says, “I think… we might have… created this entire tradition… when we started a paintball war there…” 

“HUH?!” 

Gin blinks in confusion.

That scream did not just come from this Den Den Mushi– it also came from beside that rock, underneath his perch, and from that one building a little further away. 

 

And that’s when Gin realized he was being followed, stalked, and their Den Den Mushi was being tapped by a Black one around the corner. Which made sense, they really shouldn't have been communicating so openly with Baby Den Dens anyways-- of course someone would be trying to secure communications to locate them.

“...oh no.”

The marine stalkers didn’t even bother with their stalking mission anymore, they just burst out of the bushes and rocks like, “WAIT, YOU GUYS WERE THE ORIGIN OF THE PAINTBALL WAR?! HOLY SHIT.” 

Gin screams. 

“COMMANDER JONATHAN DO YOU HEAR IT??? WE LITERALLY HAVE VIPS AT OUR COMMEMORATIVE FIRST PAINT WAR! THIS IS HISTORICAL!”

Chapter 71: fishermen wait (until the bell rings and the war ends)

Summary:

Suu orchestrates a jailbreak because the men can't do it themselves, Sanji contemplates laundry costs, Chopper questions human hair physics, Wyper destroy a high-security vault, and Robin plays chess.

Usopp has been waiting for them to come back to the Merry for hours. This isn't a vacation, for fuck's sake!

Notes:

I have returned!!! Hi everyone, been a hot minute! I took a break to do assignments and work on my other fics for a bit, but I am back. The next chapter will close Navarone arc, so I hope you enjoy this chapter! ❤ Thanks so much for all of you that stuck around! Bless you ❤❤❤

Chapter Text

Jonathan is having a headache. First of all, the base is in for one hell of a laundry day after this, he will make them do it all. Second of all–

“We can’t capture them! They’re the founders! The founders!”

“They’re still pirates! What have we trained for years to do?! Capture pirates.” 

–on second thought, he’s not even going to think about it. All his key communications officers were in his office, arguing over the apparent struggle they’ve encountered in deciding if they wanted to arrest these criminals now. 

Also, Jonathan is going to have one hell of a conversation with Hina once he’s free. He’s going to want all the explanations in the damn world about this apparent originator of their new tradition. If Sengoku ever finds out it came from pirates, Sengoku would probably just fake insanity and resign. 

(Also, Vice Admiral Garp is going to have a field day with this information.) 

 

“We need to make a celebration. I’m serious,” someone says, completely genuine. “We can’t capture them. We can’t insult our heroes like this.”

“They are. PIRATES.”

“HEROES.”

“I am going to record you and I am going to report you to the higher-ups.”

“Everything we say in the paintball war is not accountable to future accountability so all I have to do is call my sis who’s a lawyer and–”

“They are still pirates! Why are we hesitating?! Why is this a conversation that is happening?!” 

“Also, why are we considering them heroes just for this, all they did was throw paintballs at probably marines, they’re enemies! Fiends!” 

“Excuse me, I say you throw one at Commander Drake just now . You have no room to talk.”

“That was an exception!” 

“An exception that exists because of these pirates! If not, you would be in trouble!” 

“I would NOT be in trouble because if this exception never occurred I would NOT be doing this in the first place!” 

“Exactly!” 

“Exactly what?! Were you listening?!”

 

“Now children, let’s not argue…” Jonathan says, with a sigh. 

Seriously, why does he have to placate his soldiers and remind them that they’re supposed to be arresting pirates? Was this not in the Marine recruit training book? 

 

The Den Den Mushi was still screeching. 

“Do we arrest them or not?!”

“Sir, do I arrest, fight, or get on my knees and start worshipping, please tell me which one won’t get me in military trouble?!”

“Sir, hurry up, they’re getting annoyed at us!” 

“He looks disgusted! I’ve never seen such a prominent face of annoyance in my life!” 

Jonathan considers just slamming the receiver down and letting his soldiers just face the consequences of their ridiculousness on their own. He has standards and he usually would die for his soldiers, but not today. Not right now. 

“Well, for now,” he decides, “throw a paintball.”

 


 

“I’m going to die for this but NO REGRETS!” 

“...”

“YES REGRETS YES REGRETS SPARE ME I’M SORRY MISTER MAN-DEMON I APOLOGIZE PLEASE DON’T KILL ME I’M SOR–!!”

 

-


-

 

Chopper sighs in relief as the last of the patients are finally wheeled into their units. 

“I’m really grateful to you two. I don’t know what I would’ve done…” Dr Kobato slumps on the ground, her knees weak. “You’re really an amazing doctor, Dr Chopper.” 

“Oh puh- lease , complimenting me won’t make me happy!” Chopper swoops right back down to tanuki form, swarmed by the fabric of his scrubs. He looks away really hard, swaying and twirling to an indivisible tune, in overwhelming elation and embarrassment. 

Dr Kobato observes this with mild confusion. “You look quite happy to me, however…”

Conis chuckles. “I am happy we avoided casualties.” 

“Ah– that’s right,” Dr Kobato turns to her, bowing her head, “thanks so much to you as well, Conis-san. You were incredible.” 

“No, no, not at all. I don’t know much about things down here in the blue sea, so all the medicines were confusing,” Conis says. “I could only do the stitching work and some bone-setting work.”

“No, no, that’s plenty– in fact, that’s mostly stuff done by doctors, not nurses– so you were a great help!” 

“No no, you were the impressive one, Dr Kobato! I couldn’t make heads or tails of–”

Chopper stares at them, incredulous. “Wow, I don’t know what’s more annoying, my own incapability of accepting a compliment or you two’s capability to eternally deflect a compliment.” 

“I’m sorry!” they yelp at once, in perfect unison. “I promise I’m not trying to be annoying!”

Wow, Conis has kindred down here.

 


 

“Doctor Kobato!” the door slams open, and every figure in the room squeaks in surprise. The rush from earlier had led to a whole mess while looking for records and medical books, so now they were trying to clean up. 

“Oh, Lieutenant Commander Drake!” Kobato throws out every book on her shelf in surprise and one clonks Chopper right in the head. “What brings you here?”

 “Ahh, Chopper-san!” Conis wails, hurrying over to inspect the dent, “oh thank goodness, this thing was a hat.”

“Did you always think my head was shaped like my hat?!” Chopper yelps, a little baffled, he pulls off his hat (Conis screams) and fixes the dent in it. 

Conis flusters. “Ah- I’m sorry! It’s a different colour from your fur, but it seems to come from your antler-shaped hair, so I thought…”

“My antlers are not hair!” Chopper insists. 

“They’re not??” Conis is horrified to learn that. 

“Of course they aren’t–” Chopper suddenly realizes, “hold on, Conis, are those things on your head not antennae? Is that hair?!”

“Yes! Yes they are hair!” Conis replies, frantic now, reaching toward the top of her head. “What are antennae? Is that a blue sea creature?”

“No it’s a… hold on, you mean everyone up there didn’t have antennae? That was hair the whole time?!”

“Uh– Yes??” 

Drake stares very skeptically at both of them. Kobato slowly walks over to position herself before them both, smiling with all the nervousness in her entire life and dripping with cold sweat. 

“So uh, did you need something? Headache pills, stomach medicine, or something?” Kobato tries to deflect, but Drake leans over her to look behind– and Kobato leans over a little obscuring them. 

“I received news of an unidentified doctor and nurse,” Drake says, swerving aside just in time for Kobato to throw her hands out in his line of sight, and when he spun to the other side she did it again, and again, and somehow they were playing the mirror game with all the vigor of children, “They might be! The yeti and angel! In the! Rumours! LET ME SEE THEM!” 

“No!” Kobato says, more exerted than she was deliberately shouting, “They are! No, uh. They are not there! You are not seeing anyone. Absolutely no one here except me in this room yeah. Yeah.”

“There are literally people behind you, Kobato.”

“No there aren’t!” 

“Then let me see behind you!” 

“No!” 

“What are you hiding?!” 

“Nothing!” 

“Then let me see?!”

“I cannot!” 

 

Chopper and Conis look up from their identity crisis to understand their situation for a moment. Then, nodding in unison, they stand up and stride right up to Kobato, perching themselves on either side of her. 

“I can’t believe you, Conis! Why do you think I have so much fur, I am not a yeti!” Chopper starts first. “I have antlers! These are not hair and not decoration, I am a reindeer! I am obviously a reindeer! Tell her, Kobato-san, Drake-san!”

“Huh?!” Kobato and Drake respond at once. 

“Don’t blame me, I’ve never seen a yeti or an antler or a reindeer or a Drake in my life!” Conis says, looking near tears, “I am also not an antennae, whatever that is! And angel is the name of my island, we do not call ourselves angels, that is a mythical word reserved only for older ladies! I am not that age yet!” 

“Ma’am, I do not know who you are, but my name is Drake. My name .”

“Ah, no, angel can also just be describing your beauty down here, Miss Conis,” Kobato tries, “please, just see it as a compliment.”

“You’ve got wings, you’re definitely an angel! Unless those wings are hair too?” Chopper says, pointing accusingly. He’s really short, so everyone has to just look down toward their feet at him for his input. 

“Hold on, what even are you again?” Drake asks. 

“Hold on, weren’t you like ten times bigger just now?” Kobato asks. “Oh right… you were this size when you arrived… hold on, how did you turn bigger in the first place?!”

“You just noticed?!” Conis and Chopper yell at once. 

“It transforms? Oh no, a baketanuki!” Drake yells in realization, backing away horrifically in time with Kobato.

“What’s that?” Conis questions. In response, Drake points at Chopper, to which Conis hums out an understanding “Ohh, I see.” 

“I’m a REINDEER!” he screams, hysterical. “Geez, are any of you even listening to me?! I have antlers!” 

“I’m really sorry, Chopper-san. Your hat hair is misleading,” Conis accuses. 

“MY HAT IS NOT HAIR! What is with the hair physics up on Sky Island, Conis?!” 

 


 

Regardless, Conis grabs Chopper and they hightail it out of there with Kobato, Drake chasing after them. 

“Dammit, Dr Kobato! You’re going to be in trouble for aiding the pirates!” Drake warns. 

“Ah, Miss Conis, please turn right at the next intersection–” Kobato then whirls back around, “--you’re scaring me! Please stop chasing me!” 

“I am not chasing you, I am chasing the pirates!” 

Kobato breathes in deeply, and the second they escape the medical wing she screams, “HELP! LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DRAKE IS CHASING ME!”

And all at once, an entire legion of shiny-eyed paintball-clodded soldiers rise from the dead. And Drake halts, horrified, skidding to a stop in the middle of the road and standing like a deer in headlights as soldiers drop right in from literally every direction, surrounding him in seconds. 

“It’s the Lieutenant Commander!” 

“Retribution! Retribution!!” 

“ALL UNITS, ATTACK!” 

“Protect Milady Kobato, go go gooo!!” 

Chopper watches as people jump him, throw paintball, dunk him in a tub of paint– and he shivers, clinging onto Conis’s leg. Conis was also trembling, terrified. 

“I’m sorry, Conis. You’re a very nice person compared to humans down here,” Chopper says. “Humans are scary.” 

Conis nods shakily, “I am also sorry as well. The Blue Sea is scary.”

Kobato has a feeling she’s set a very bad reputation for humanity, but she has no way to fix that now. “Hurry now, you two! We need to get to your dock and your ship, it’s right this way,” she ushers them, hurrying along. 

 

-


-

 

“Now that looks like some nice metal,” Wyper says, “we’re taking it.”

They’re in a room that looks like an important weapons vault. There were a dozen high-security doors before this, but Wyper had taken one look at each door, insisted that there must be a stronger one after it, and just– straight up– Impacted a hole in them. 

As expected from a man that survived two Rejects… 

Anne meets the eyes of a similarly horrified soldier (that was stalking them) and she just nods. Okay, she’s not going insane, this is crazy. 

“I think I’m too short to go get it, though,” Anne says, looking up at the huge door and the huge golden gears that lined the forefront of it a hundred feet overhead. 

“You think?” Wyper says. “Climb, then. Do you want your weapon or not?” 

But there aren’t even any handholds– oh.

“Can I have the Impact Dial?” Anne asks. Those gear-looking things were bolted to the hyper-security weighted safe door, but well, what can’t the Impact Dial destroy at this point? 

Meanwhile, Wyper turns to the people who were spying on them, seeing that they were preparing to stop them but they just didn’t dare to. One of them was hauling a huge weapons case, and Wyper squints at it, skeptical. 

They meep when he turns toward them. Wyper marches forward, wrench in one hand. 

Anne completely ignores the opening mechanism underneath, taking a running start to scurry up the wall in a speedy, hands-free run– and then, clinging onto the bolt with the Impact Dial– 

–there’s a loud BOOM! In the corner of the base that day, but with all the other noise everywhere, no one really wanted to figure out what it was. 

“Got it!” Anne says, dropping onto the ground– right before the huge gear just collapses with an explosive clatter two inches from her. She shakes off the pain in her arm like it was no big deal. 

“Oh good,” Wyper says, having already knocked out the soldiers. He was not going through the weapons case that was labelled the Eagle Launcher, whipping out the bazooka that was three times his size, “I just found myself a nice weapon.” 

And Anne’s eyes immediately sparkle, “Colourimotone Prisma’s human-shooting symmetrical backfire cannon of doom!” 

“Human what? The who’s–” Wyper has to do a third take, because, “what?”  

 


 

“Sir, Commander Jonathan sir, help us, these two are pacifying all our soldiers and they’re just breaking into our vault, stealing our stuff and our weaponry, they are acting like this is a dungeon with lots of treasure to just take, DO SOMETHING.”

“Well, if they’re in a dungeon, act like a dungeon monster and try to stop them, alright?” 

“SIR?!”

 

-


-

 

Sanji and Luffy were in the prison, trying to figure out a way how to break the Seastone cage Zoro was trapped in–

–when Suu just showed up, a Dial strapped around her back. 

“Oh, Suu’s back,” Zoro says, like they’re not surrounded on all sides with gun-wielding soldiers ready to shoot. Actually who even let the fox past their formation?

“What the– who let the fox out?” one of the soldiers asked. “I thought it was captured with him?”

“No sir, foxes are made of liquid. We can’t contain it.”

“Hey, Suu,” Luffy greets sleepily, holding onto the Seastone bars because he’s stupid. Suu steps on him to get through, before settling nicely on his back. “Where did you go?”

“Is that a dial? You went to get a dial?” Sanji questions. Suu calls out an affirmation. But if she went to– well, probably Usopp, for help, it could only be something most appropriate for the situation. Which would be – “No,” Sanji immediately says. “Absolutely the fuck not. I’m not using an Impact Dial.”

Condoriano is screeching something, but his mouth is taped shut, so everyone just stared at him for a long moment before Zoro nodded sagely. 

“You heard him, Curly,” he says, “Someone’s gotta do it. Be the man you keep saying you are.”

“...So you speak screechgoblin now?”

“Uh. Yeah? How else do you communicate with Kinoko?”

“Do it, Sanji, I believe in youuuu!” Luffy says, slumping dead on the ground, his hands still on the bars of the cage. 

“STOP touching it!” Sanji snaps. “And you’re made of rubber! You do it!” 

 


 

In the end, Sanji has to press it. 

It is not an Impact Dial. It is a Flavour Dial with farts in it. It sets off the gas lamps and everything explodes, so Sanji emerges from the rubble with murder in his veins.

“I will kill Usopp after this,” he hisses, grabbing the fox by the tail, earning a fearful squeak because words are no longer needed for the promise of fox stew later.

“Nami has dibs,” Zoro reminds him without even missing a beat. 

“Don’t kill my snippppeeerrr,” Luffy groans, buried under Seastone bars. 

“Hurry up both of you, we’re going!” 

“Wait! Zoro! NO, don’t lead the way! You’re going to get us all lost!” 

“SHUT UP!” 

 

They scramble right away in quick succession, leaving the baffled soldiers just laying there, accepting their fate among the rubble. It’s after a long silence that someone speaks up.

“...can we all agree we’re not telling Commander Drake that we just watched them quarrel and concoct a plan to escape and we didn’t do anything?” 

“I give up,” one says. “I’m going to just sleep here.”

“Foxes are made of liquid. Shells fart. The Strawhats are crackheads. What next?”

“Did anyone happen to see a brain cell around? I think I left mine in my dorm, so I’m going home to get it. Goodbye.”

“Guys, look at all the rubble. Are we going to have to clean this up?”

“Can we all just be dead instead, I don’t want to do this anymore!” 

 

“Uhm, Mister Strawhats?!” one of the soldiers holler into the distance, “you forgot Condoriano!” 

Condoriano, who was unconscious again, buried under layers of rubble but faintly visible, was slumped over the corner of the broken bars. 

Luffy’s head stretched over, just his head. “Oh, it’s okay, you can keep him,” he says, deadpanned. And then his head snaps back to its spot. 

 

There’s a horrific moment of silence. 

Then, “that’s it! Naptime everyone! We’re pleading ignorance when we’re found later!” someone shouts. 

“Yeah, absolutely. Naptime, guys!” 

“Strategy we-totally-got-knocked-unconscious today! Everyone get comfortable!” 

 


 

“AAAAAHhhhello okay it’s just Kinosuke,” Luffy stops mid-scream to tear the bird out of his face. “Speaking of which, I’m a little hungry…” 

Kinoko attacks his face in violent retaliation, but Sanji hums in thought, “that means someone’s outside waiting for us, right? Like Usopp? Lead us the right way out, guide bird.”

Kinoko caws in annoyance, still trying to pinch out Luffy’s cheek as if it was stubbornly stretchy mochi. 

They made it outside, somehow, without even encountering any soldiers for some reason– where the hell were they now, they didn't know, Zoro was leading the way. But they haven’t heard any soldiers in a while, so that was a good thing about Zoro’s sense of direction at least. 

Kinoko leads them back around, because okay, this is dumb, but they were meters away from the main entrance. Suu, now clinging onto Sanji by the sleeve, looks around in awe.

Gin stood there, surrounded by soldiers who were all visibly trembling as they aimed paint guns at him. There was a soldier under his feet begging for mercy– and well, once Sanji saw the glob of multicoloured paint around his coat, Sanji just facepalmed. 

“So that’s where all the soldiers are!” Luffy and Zoro continue running up, “Giiin!” 

“Oh, a fight? Count me in!” Zoro says, already reaching for his swords. 

“Yes to murder!” Gin declares, loud and furious and does he even realize Luffy is there yet, “and all of you are reimbursing me for the fucking jacket you fucking maggots!

 

“Why did you throw a paintball at the fucking Man-Demon, you idiot?!” one of the soldiers whisper-shouts at his pal under Gin’s feet, and the soldier just cries louder instead of answering. 

“...how are we supposed to reimburse him if we’re dead?”

“Save him, he’s got a family!” one of the soldier sees Luffy and puts his hands together, pleading, “he’s an idiot but he's not a bad guy!” 

Luffy looks baffled, “hey hey, save your own guy yourself!” 

“Why are the marines begging us to help them? What insanity did I miss– on second thought, I don’t want to know,” Zoro says, getting Ichimonji to his teeth.

Sanji groans, “there goes another coat… Nami-san’s going to be mad at the new expenses again.”

Kinoko says something, raising her wings up in a big X. Suu questions that notion, and Kinoko just caws back in a ‘because I say so!’ manner.

“Hey you heard the bird! No killing! We shed first blood here and we’re dead, don’t you get that they’re only messing around because of the paintball shit?” Sanji yells, diving right in when Gin and Zoro start fighting and breaking bones. 

“You’re a pirate and you’re worried around murder?!” Gin yells right back. 

“That’s not the point here, Gin! Just don’t– HEY, they're holding paint guns! You’re fighting them essentially when they’re unarmed! Don’t you think that’s cowardly?!”

“Well it’s their own fault for–!” 

 

“Hey, you guys, if you wanna run, now’s about the right time,” Luffy retracts his arm to turn to the soldiers, since Gin and Sanji were too busy yelling at each other, “I’m only here to get Zoro, and Stronghold Ossan did say you guys were supposed to have fun today! So don’t get in our way and you can go away now!” 

“Huh?” Zoro balks when he hears that, stopping between his swing at a terrified soldier. It’s the back of the sword, so the guy was just sitting there on his knees, both arms raised and crying. “Seriously?”

Luffy grins. “Well, I don’t really care about this! I just wanna go join the paintball war actually, I haven't been able to go yet because we came to get Zoro,” he points in some random direction. “So can I go now?” 

The soldiers look up at him like they’ve seen jesus. 

 

-


-

 

“Your poor soldiers are asking for help, Commander Jonathan. Will you not be doing anything?” Robin says, moving a single chess piece forward as she carefully reads through the harbor records in her lap. 

Jonathan hums, moving the next piece forward. Robin doesn’t even look up, an extra hand coming up to move the next piece without missing a beat. Jonathan glances over in alarm, but then he freezes when he realizes he’s two moves away from a check. 

Jonathan sighs dejectedly, “well, my soldiers have their attention and passions divided today. I suppose if I want to act, it must be something that can bring us all movement as a collective force again, or it’ll be a waste of strength.” 

“Playing the waiting game, are we?” Robin considers Jonathan’s next move– a stall strategy, and Robin smiles, amused. 

They were on the balcony of the library, blissfully hidden from everything, so obscure no one was around to even pelt them with paintballs. Jonathan had run here for solace from the paint war, and Robin hadn’t meant to be discovered. 

Jonathan obviously knew who Robin was– it was just that, even if he tried now, he’d have no route or soldiers or prison to keep her in, so there was no point. 

“Check,” Robin declares, and Jonathan almost sounded like he’d swallowed a frog. 

“I thought I– oh the other side,” Jonathan sighs., kneading his knuckles into his eyes. “Maybe I’m tired. I’m making dumb mistakes.”

Robin smiles. “I won’t mind accompanying you for another game or three, though,” she says. “Just don’t mind me reading here.”

“Yes, yes, go ahead. Just don’t burn it, alright?”

 

And they started their next game, Jonathan squinting hard at the chessboard while Robin effortlessly wins again. Jonathan gives her a struggle the game after that, but the match after that was back to square one. 

 

It took about three minutes of complete chess silence before Nami hesitatingly speaks up from her spot on the roof. She was slouched over there, like a high school girl, just watching the matches. 

“...uh, you guys seem very friendly, but like… I kinda need to borrow my big sis for a bit so may I interrupt?”

Both of them blink in surprise, not having noticed her there before. 

“Ah, Miss Burglar Cat,” Robin says, because screw the disguise at this point, “are you referring to me, perhaps? How may I help?”

“Well… ah, here it is,” she hops down, landing on her metal foot, earning a curious look from Jonathan. She retrieves a map she’s drawn, “well, it’s about the entry time schedules and stuff… ah, Mister Jonathan sir, you don’t mind us discussing your military secrets in front of you?”

“No no, go ahead,” Jonathan answers on instinct. He even helps to move the chess board aside a little so Nami could lay the map out on the table. 

“I’m impressed you even know the artillery and standard protocols,” Robin says, observing the notes on the map. Nami just needed the harbor schedule to fill in some gaps.

“Well, you can use my mom’s old marine serial number to get a lot of things in the Captain clearance,” Nami says, “not sure why though, they really should’ve retired that number, but it’s still usable in here, and in Loguetown… and here and there in unexpectedly important places I go.”

 

Jonathan hums. Ah, using an active marine’s serial number, classic. The Revolutionaries do that all the time, which is why they’re always locked down with high security and face recognition now. How strange that Nami completely bypassed those somehow – and immediately Jonathan chokes on his coffee. 

Nami and Robin stare blankly as Jonathan tries his best to recover. The man has to go to the ledge and heave over the edge for a moment before turning around weakly. 

 

“Sorry, that was really bad down the wrong windpipe,” he says. “So whose old number are you using again? Your mother?”

Nami and Robin’s eyes meet, considering if they should tell him. 

And then Jonathan answers it himself, “oh darn, what am I even asking? It’s Bellemere’s, isn’t it? Garp is going to laugh when he hears this. Senny’s gonna be so mad…” 

Nami does an immediate double take and slams her hand on the table. “You know my mom?!”

Jonathan groans into his hands, kneading his fingers into his eyes. “Well you see… it’s a bit complicated… and like, half of all of us are keeping Belle’s military number active out of spite for the higher ups. We know it’s gonna bite us in the ass one day so we’re hoping it doesn't happen so the higher-ups didn’t have a reason to make us stop but you know …” 

There’s a moment of silence before Jonathan sighs. 

“You know, I’m in the company of two young beautiful ladies and all, I could really use a drink,” he says, brooding a little, interlacing his fingers and resting his chin on them. 

“On it!” Nami yells, already leaping off the railing. She doesn’t forget to holler, “you are telling me all the stories please thank you sir!” 

Robin, hums, an extra hand reaching toward the chessboard and moving one piece. 

“By the way, sir– Check.”

“What the– we’re literally three moves in!” 

 

-


-

 

It’s nearly evening. 

Usopp sits at the edge of the Merry, brooding. 

“They’re all LATE!” he snaps. “Am I the only one that understands that we’re in ENEMY TERRITORY here?!” 

At the bay with the rest of the mechanics, Mekao laughs. 

 


 

It took another hour for them to get back. 

“Merryyy!” Chopper cheers, “hi Usopp! Hi Usopp! You can’t see but look! Kobato-sensei let us restock on medical supplies from the hospital wing and there’s so much modern medicine! This is amazing.”

“We’re sorry for being late, Usopp-san!” Conis calls out, also holding an armful of medical supplies in a crate. “I cannot read half of these letters.”

“What an adorable ship!” Kobato says, in awe. 

“Huh? Kobato, whatcha doin’ here?” 

“Father! Well, this and that…” 

“Well, that’s fine! We’ve got hot chocolate for supper, so wanna join us mechanics?”

“Yes please!” 

The mechanics welcomed them all warmly, like they were guests rather than pirates. Conis is exposed to the wonders of chocolate, and Chopper gets his with extra marshmallows. 

 

Usopp sits at the bow and wonders why they’re acting like they’re on vacation. Has everyone forgotten that this is a Marine Base or is Usopp just hallucinating somehow?

 

From the other corner, Anne and Wyper haul with them huge lugs of something, Anne wheeling weapons, gunpowder, and tools around on a huge golden gear with wheels, while Wyper just straight up has a huge tree-sized bazooka over a shoulder. 

And for some reason, they were slightly charred, smelled of soot, and their hair was frizzy and black with smog. 

“Hey Usopp! What’s all this and why does it explode when I set it on fire?!” Wyper yells, pointing toward the gunpowder.

Anne raises her hand, “I tried to stop him.” 

"No you didn't! You said it might explode!" 

"...yeah... people usually don't take that risk..."

 

There’s a short explosion in the storage area, and Roronoa Zoro emerges, covered in dust and many coats of paint. Luffy laughs, coming up right behind him. 

“Ah, that was fun!”  Luffy beams, “Sucks that the paint war ends in ten minutes so everyone stopped playing.”

“For fuck’s sake, we’re supposed to be getting out of here!” Zoro says, sounding entirely exhausted before– “the Merry! What’s she doing here– everyone else is here too.”

“Ooh! You repaired the Merry!” Luffy cheers, running forward, “awesome, Usopp!” 

 

Meanwhile, from the sea, Gin and Sanji emerge, cursing up a storm, their clothes drenched in seawater but under it, it was completely stained in paint. Kinoko shudders, shaking herself dry as she emerges from the water, flying over to Usopp’s head to perch. 

Suu whines, swimming over tearfully, scampering around until she found Conis. 

“Suu!” Conis greets, arms spread and tears in her eyes, “oh, sweetheart, where were you?” Suu just cries in response.

“I am definitely billing this shithole for the fucking suit,” Sanji hisses. 

“Fucking tell me about it,” Gin sneers, his stained coat in his hands. “Fucking hazard for anyone trying to be remotely decent for fuck’s sake, can’t have shit in Marine bases.”

“Gin, I conquered the entire southeast wing of Navarone,” Anne hurries up to him, and Gin takes a baffled moment to stare at the war paint around her cheeks, “I left my name there.” 

Gin has no idea how to respond to that so he just ends up with “oh, great.”

Wyper scoffs at the sight of him, smugly crossing his arms at the sight of Gin’s completely ruined clothes. “Demons are incompetent in paint wars, I see.” 

“Fuck you,” Gin snarls immediately. Then, looking him up and down, “how the fuck are you spotless what kind of bullshit– Anne hand me some paint! Right now!” 

Wyper whirls around, pistols with paint ammo suddenly in both his hands. “You wanna go, demon?!”

Gin whips out a soldier’s paint rifle they’d pilfered. “I’ll do you one better!”  

 

“Are you two children?!” Sanji snaps, snagging Anne out of the way before they just went all out on each other, firing their guns at point blank with all the seriousness of a final boss battle. “Come on Anne. They have hot chocolate, it looks like, let’s go get some– Ooooh Conis-san! Conis-san the seraphim of my heart I am glad to see you are fiiiiineee!!” 

He dances away, and Anne is left turning up to see Usopp, who is still brooding over the bow like he’s regretting his life choices. 

Luffy has reached the mechanic’s hot chocolate sharing party by now, and it’s going to all be gone soon. Zoro is considering a cup of his own, and Chopper is over the moon about his. Conis and Kobato and chatting, and Sanji seems to have suddenly sparked an urge to ask for the recipe of this phenomenal drink. 

Meanwhile, Usopp groans. 

“Nami, come back soon, please,” he pleads, “I don’t even know where to begin as the tsukkomi in this situation.”

 


 

“I’m kind of suspicious that you guys are just having supper with us, and there aren’t even any soldiers around,” Nami says, upon coming into the factory area and spotting the hot chocolate party. 

“Eh, don’t mind it,” Mekao assures. 

“Yeah, it’s all fine! We’ve worked so hard to help fix your ship for you, how about a thank you?” 

“Once the bell rings, it’ll mean the end of the allotted paint war time, so everyone’s probably cleaning up and regathering our arsenals. They’ll be coming after that.”

Nami still stares skeptically, but she lets it be. Zoro was helping Anne lift their new things up the ship. For some reason it included an oversized stage-of-the-art portable bazooka and a solid gigantic gear, as well as mounds of gunpowder and a pink jellyfish in a fishbowl. 

She wasn’t going to ask. 

She wasn’t really in the mood to do any retorts now. Her mood was sunken, especially after the story Jonathan had told her about Bellemere.

 

(“Well, it happened a long time ago now. We used to have a group of kids, you know, back in the base of Marineford. They weren’t there by choice, usually they’d be deemed too young to be soldiers– but they had nowhere else to go, so they grew up in Marineford. We older marines basically raised them as our own children.”) 

(“We called them our little Menace Legion, and Bellemere was the oldest of them.”) 

 

Luffy is now scrubbing Suu against a board and the seawater like a village maiden washing her clothes, and he was pouting that it wasn’t working to scrape the paint off the white fur. Conis was beside him, watching curiously. 

Sanji was trying to break up a quarrel between Gin and Wyper, who were both covered in paint and were now, thankfully not brawling, but they sure as hell were shouting really loudly about who was the worser paintballer. 

Usopp was with Kinoko and Chopper, and they were in the galley organising their new medical stock in a secure spot.

 

(“Being in the government’s complicated, you see. We lick boots for a living, and once we’re so far in it, we can’t even get out of there without being branded in some frustrating way.”)

 

Why was Garp still a Marine? Why was Jonathan? Why was Smoker? And why did Coby, last time around? 

Running away was one thing. Retiring was another. Defying and escaping was a whole other beast entirely. And all of them had one thing in common– you would either be hailed a man of service who served the force for as many years as you could– or you would be branded a traitor, and peace would never be found for you and your family again. 

And for Marines that depended heavily on their influence to protect islands, like Garp, there was nothing he could do but hold on to the important fragility that was his title as the Hero. 

And for Smoker and Hina, who only sought to keep walking forward, there was nowhere else they could even try to go. They don’t know any other way to live, and they couldn’t afford to lose the influence they have now, or they’d never had closure in their lives. 

Being in the Marines was a deathtrap that never quite ended, and Nami wondered how Coby felt when he realized this the first time around. 

 

(Robin tenses, and Nami stills, fearing the worst.)

(Jonathan hums, sipping from his glass. “And you know best, Nico Robin,” Jonathan says. “No matter who or what you are, once you become a threat to the secrets of the Celestials, they’ll order you to be erased. Even for the soldiers– if you’re ordered to be silenced, you must be deemed dead to all records and evidence.”) 

(“I’m sure Senny sent them running off undercover instead, into the blues. There are plenty of rumours, but none of us want to believe they’ve died,” Jonathan says. “And… well, that’s about it. That’s why Bellemere’s marine serial number is still active. Go ahead and keep using it, think of it as our little fuck you to the Five Elder Stars.”) 

 

Nami sighs. 

“Alright boys!” she yells, catching the attention of the few that didn’t yet notice she was there. She tucks her map around the hook of her belt, reaching up to tie her hair up. “Get ready to sail, right now!” 

 

-


-

 

“I hope you didn’t expect me to sympathize,” Robin smiles, moving the Knight forward. 

“Oh, no no, not at all,” Jonathan says, waving his hand dismissively. He moves a pawn. “I was just venting. The system’s corrupted all the way in, I’m quite sick of it.”

Robin keeps her expressions pulled tight. 

“However, I do find it rather surprising,” Jonathan says. “Our little Bellemere ran home to Conomi and raised two girls, huh… does that make me a grandfather I wonder.” 

Robin chuckles. “Your wife would be quite pleasantly surprised, I’d wager.”

“Oh, she sure will. I can’t wait to tell her.”

 

There’s a long moment of silence as they moved their pieces in succession, not quite thinking much of conversation– just playing the game, one step at a time, one after another. 

“Will you not be joining the rest of your crew? I’d suppose they would be departing soon.” 

Robin hums, and instead of an answer, she asks right back– “will you not be leading your soldiers as well? We might just escape at this point.” Paint war as it might have been– this wouldn’t be Navarone if they just let the pirates escape. 

Jonathan takes one Knight from Robin.

Robin blinks, surprised. Not because she’d lost a piece– but because the only other move she could take would lead to her losing her Bishop, and then a Pawn– and then… and then it continued with her being trapped in a cycle of losing pieces, just like that. 

Robin considers her situation. “...I’m impressed.”

Jonathan grins.  “I’m a fisher by hobby, you see,” he says. “I’m quite proud of my patience, if nothing else.”

The evening bell tolls to signal the beginning of work hours once more. 

Chapter 72: blasting off into the skies (thanks for coming)

Summary:

“We would like to thank the founders of this tradition in the most appropriate way we could.” A hundred simultaneous cannons and rifles fire off at once. They're all filled with paint. “THANKS FOR COMING!” 

Anyways-- they forgot some things, so they do a very quick U-turn to get their stuff back. Jonathan's office gets bombed in the process, but Jessica yeets Major Shepherd off the building, so Jonathan figures it's fine in the end.

Chapter Text

“What is the meaning of this?! The Strawhats are right there and there aren’t any soldiers around?!”

Special Inspector Major Shepherd is absolutely livid . He’s led troops of soldiers from the ship that came in this morning– most of which were still exhausted by the storm they had to soldier to get here, mind you– but apparently Navarone was so incompetent that no one else is here yet.

“I will be reporting this to the higher ups!” he declares. 

How could they just– the Strawhats were just sitting there, on their ship, getting ready to sail, and the mechanics were helping them?!

 

“Oh hey, it’s Condoriano,” Zoro says, looking over from lifting the cargo inside. 

“Ooh, Condoriano-san! How are you?” Nami waves in greeting, and Condoriano screeches in hatred. 

“YOU! You witch! This stain in my legacy is all your fault!” 

“Condoriano?” Usopp says. “You mean the warrior of seven legends that lost his memory in a sacred launchpad incident after ascending to Buddhahood? Did I already tell you guys that story?”

“No,” Anne is already beside him, for some reason, and she’s looking up at him with all the shine of interest in her eyes. “Who’s that?”

Usopp clears his throat, beginning the story with vigor, “well, it happened during the hundredth-ninety-sixth journey and fifth extended vacation during Colourimotone Prisma’s immense saga of heroics…” 

“Don’t write my backstory for me!” Major Shepherd snaps. Kinoko flies over, landing happily on his head and starting a serenade. “GET OFF!” he misses when he swings at the bird. “Damn it, you stupid bird! I’ve been wanting to murder you forever! Get back here!” 

“Don’t try it, dude, have you ever tried to fistfight a bird?” Sanji calls out, “why do you think Fighting is weak to Flying in Pokemon?” 

“Kinoko made a friend!” Anne says, brightly. 

“...is that what friendship looks like?” Chopper questions. 

 

Beside him, Isuka laughs, waving toward Nami who cheerfully waves back. 

“And you! Take this seriously! Why are you being so buddy-buddy with the criminals?!” he yells, “are you a traitor to our forces? Don’t think I won’t report you to the higher ups for this.” 

Isuka side-eyes him, skeptical. “You steal my soldiers, make us mobilise when we’re still injured, and now I’m the one being irresponsible? Don’t forget that most of us outrank you.” 

Shepherd winces, cringing back. He clears his throat, composing himself. “Well, that’s besides the point!” he declares. “All units, prepare to fire! Where’s my Eagle Launcher?!”

“W… Well… uh,” one soldier says, holding the instructions manual, “it got stolen.”

“WHAT?!”

Meanwhile, Wyper lifts the Eagle Launcher over his shoulder, grasping the rope ladder with his other arm, slowly making his way up. 

Then the gears turned.

“That’s our Eagle Launcher! Why do you have it, you fiend?!” Shepherd yells, astonished. “You useless cretins, you let a pirate steal something as important as our modern cannon?!” 

Everyone’s staring at Wyper. Wyper has no idea why they’re being so overdramatic. 

“Yeah I stole it? So what?” 

He says it with all the seriousness of a man that’s lived his whole life in the survival of the fittest environment. 

“This is incredibly unexpected, but I think so far, Wyper’s got the most pirate-like spirit in all of us,” Usopp observes dryly, and Zoro and Sanji nod in agreement.

“To be fair, we’re the least pirate-like pirates I know,” Gin says, hiking up the anchor. “Anyone taking the mizzen?”

“The night wind is pretty tricky, so yes,” Nami responds, turning back toward the ship, completely forgetting the squad of marines with their guns at them. “Conis, sweetheart– could you go below deck and get the oars?”

“Suu and Kinosuke– hey, bird! Get back here!” Luffy calls. “Let down the sails!” 

Anne’s going around the ship, observing the starboard side for any obstructions. Chopper is on standby at the helm, and Sanji is hurriedly working on moving things below deck with Wyper, Zoro, and Luffy. 

 

“Are you guys just… ignoring us?” Shepherd questions. 

Luffy lifts his head, slightly annoyed. “Did you need something, Condoriano?” 

“Oh no not at all, please, sorry to bother, go right ahead– OF COURSE WE DO!” he barks, exasperated, “are you guys mocking us?! STOP! We’re going to shoot!” 

Luffy slumps over the bow, looking tired of this. “Hey, listen here, I’m a rubber human and all… so like, can we skip the usual gunfire scene already? It’s a waste of bullets and I actually don’t like getting shot at, okay.”

“Shut up, we KNOW! We have countermeasures, okay?!”

“Oh really? Go ahead then.”

“...uh. W- We’re thinking of it right now! Be patient!” 

Luffy sighs. Isuka and the rest of the soldiers stare at Shepherd, exasperated and more than happy to not do anything about the situation. 

 

Meanwhile, Wyper had finally made it up the ship with the Eagle Launcher, and he went straight to Usopp. “Hey, how do you use this thing? It doesn’t have a Dial in it.”

“Huh? Oh, uh,” Usopp touches it, feeling around the barrel and the nozzle, “well, I’m just guessing but like this, and like this, and–” 

He hikes it over the bow of the ship and inspects the parts, teaching Wyper the parts that were fundamentally different from a Dial Bazooka– and then, Usopp pulls the trigger. 

He does not, in fact, expect for it to have been loaded. 

So it fires– right in the direction of the marine soldiers, half of which see it coming with alarm and scramble away, leaving Shepherd, who had his back turned to lecture his troops haughtily, completely unaware as the projectile explodes at him. 

There’s a whole score of horrific silence. 

Then, “ah, sorry! My bad, Condoriano!” Usopp calls out. “Honest mistake!” 

Wyper just continues staring, slightly amazed by the firepower. Gin looks incredulous, because oh lord, that poor guy, and Sanji just raises a thumbs up somewhere in the distance. Nami, for one, isn’t going to bother anymore. 

Anne raises a very upfront thumbs up at Usopp, and Suu was imitating that, though she didn’t have thumbs. Conis stares, her jaw agape. Zoro scoffs at the sight, and Chopper cheers. Luffy and Kinoko are laughing their asses off. 

 

“Well, whatever,” Nami says, “Luffy, at your call!” 

“Okay! SET SAIL!” 

 


 

Exactly two minutes after they set sail, they realized a horrible, horrendous, and  horrifying problem. 

“We forgot Robin-chan!” Sanji screeches, like it’s the end of the world. And well, depending on how you look at it, it certainly was. 

Everyone groans. With all the mess going on, they’d completely forgotten to take a roll call. 

“It’s fine, I want to get out of here before nine, so it’ll be easier to pick up the latecomers on the way out,” Nami says, looking at the map to brief Gin on the path they were going to take. “No one ever sails out at this time. I’m not sure why, but it’s probably something to do with the shallows…” 

And then, a second later, there’s a loud scream from the aft. Everyone drops everything to run back and find Anne, hunched over her bag and realizing something was very missing from her pack. 

“I forgot my easel!” she says, flustered. Kinoko lands on her shoulder, which makes her realize, “I left it there .” 

Everyone deflates in equal parts resignation and relief. “I thought you were in danger or something,” Chopper whines. 

“Don’t shout like that, you’re just freaking us all out for no important reason,” Zoro says. 

“It’s important!” Anne argues. 

Luffy laughs, “just ask Wyper! He can make you a better one, Anne!”  

Wyper raises a brow at that. 

“How about we get back to the part where we forgot! ROBIN-CHAN!” Sanji repeats. 

“She’ll come back soon,” Gin says, dryly. 

Nami sighs, “this is what you guys get for going around playing paintball instead of…” she pauses for a moment. Then, a horrific realization, “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

“Uhm, Miss Nami,” Conis speaks up, looking around the ship as she does her oh-so-diligent inventory check. “I’m sorry– may I ask, but where’s the Waver?”

Nami freezes. 

Then, Usopp whirls around, “you forgot WHAT?!”

“Forget the waver, I need my easel,” Anne says, clinging onto Luffy, “Luffy, fire me back in that direction. I left it in the Vice Admiral’s office.”

“Anne, flying around with Luffy is not a nice experience,” Chopper warns, “ don’t use him as a shortcut.”

“I don't mind it I just want my easel back.”

“Ehh,” Luffy whines, “just leave it, we can buy you a new one with all the gold we have.”

“I like the one I have…” 

 

“Geez, what else did we forget?” Gin mutters, exasperated. “This is because everyone spent so long just fooling around. Next you’re going to say we forgot… the…” 

His words trail off. 

Then everyone turns to him, and Gin’s face loses all colour. He sprints down to the storage hold and– “OUR GOLD IS GONE!”

 


 

“There’s this thing we have at nine, you see,” Jonathan moves his pieces again, getting steadily closer to the King. “We call it the 9 o’clock net. When that comes, you’re all as good as caught.”

“I see,” Robin says, watching as Jonathan takes her last pawn. “Quite an ingenious little spiderweb you’ve set up for us.” 

“Right? There’s a reason for our strategic shape and location,” he says. “Your move now.”

Robin unhesitatingly moves a piece, and Jonathan goes back to thinking. 

“You’re not very easily shaken, are you?” Jonathan considers. “Your poker face’s on a whole other level.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Robin says. “But I suppose this time, I’m not quite worried either way.”

She looks out, where the Merry was now in sight, a single light from the walls locating and following them. Jonathan follows her gaze as she smiles. 

“This is between you and me,” Robin says, pointing toward the chessboard. “If we see a game of chess as war, all you have to do is outsmart me, the brains of the operations. I must digress, you’ve bested me this time.”

Jonathan nods, moving a piece over to checkmate. 

“But right now?” Robin stands up, leaning over the ledge, the ship a clear swing away from here. “Well… I’m not so sure who’s the brains of the operations in that little group you’re fighting right now.” 

Jonathan watches as Robin takes off her sunglasses and her coat, extending her hands to make a long sling. 

“You speak as if you’re not one of them as well.”

Robin doesn’t respond to that. 

“I tend to play by rules,” she says. And then, “I’m just a newbie, so I might be overstepping when I say this… but we play by house rules here, not official rules.” 

She leans back– and falls. 

Jonathan doesn’t stand up to check. He simply looks down at the chessboard, and, baffled, suddenly realizes his own King Piece is gone. 

 


 

Nami is an idiot. 

Because it was now nine o’clock and the lake has completely dried up, they’ve run aground on a reef, and there’s a hole in Merry’s hull. 

Usopp is staring at her, very annoyed. “I just repaired this.”

Nami gets on her knees. “I’m sorry!” 

“So that’s why no one stopped us from going out,” Gin hums, getting down from the ship with his tonfas. Conis, Suu, and Chopper stayed on the ship frightfully, but everyone else was on the ground now. 

 

“Ahem, ahem!” Vice Admiral Jonathan speaks over the loudspeaker. “Testing one, two, can you hear me, Strawhat Pirates? Well I’ll just assume you can.” 

Soldiers were marching toward them, surrounding them with guns. Cannons were aimed at them, lights shining down as they were surrounded on all sides. 

“Well first up, this is a little late, but we want to thank you for commemorating our first paintball war in Navarone with your appearance, it’s been an honour,” Jonathan says, and the entire base just erupts in loud cheers. 

 

“What?! What did we do?”

“Why’re they celebrating us?”

“Who just called us heroes?! Who was that?” Luffy yelps. “Hey now, enough, you guys! We’re not heroes! Stop it!” 

Gin facepalms. “For fuck’s sake.”

Anne’s covering her ears, grimacing, “they’re so loud.” 

Wyper has the Eagle Launcher on hand, very alarmed as he whirls around. “Fight?!” he registers, aiming while Kinoko flutters around in a panic, trying to tell him no , while Suu shrieks on his shoulder, telling him to aim everywhere. 

 

Robin joins the group cheerfully, and the crew greets her as she returns. 

“Robin-chwaaaan~!” Sanji cheers, “I’m so glad you have returned! Would you like some coffee for your long day?”

“In this situation?!” Zoro balks. 

“Yes please, if it wouldn't be trouble,” Robin says. 

“Conis-swan, how about you?”

“Uh. I. I think I’m fine. Sorry.”

“Welcome back, big sis. Did you win?” Nami doesn’t look over, still trying to scrutinize the map for some plans. 

“Well, yes,” Robin says, holding a White King piece in his hands. 

 

“Hello. Hello, are you ignoring us,” Jonathan says, “and no, Miss, you’re not allowed to just steal the King piece off the board. That’s against the rules. That’s not how the game works.”

 

Everyone turns incredulously to the source of the voice. “Looks like he holds a grudge.”

Robin smiles, already up on the ship and being served her coffee on the small tea table. 

“Have some sense of urgency!” Gin snaps. 

“Don’t snap at a lady!” 

“I’m not snapping at the lady I am snapping at YOU! And someone stop Wyper!”

“They’re shouting! They’ve already declared war!” Wyper argues, and Suu screeches in agreement. “Get out of the way, bird!” Kinoko was not, in fact, letting him shoot. If they all shot back at them now the crew would just straight up die. 

“Calm down, Wyper! I know that’s how the guerillas declare the start of a battle but they’re celebrating here! Celebrating!” 

“Bullshit!” 

 

“Anyways, anyways, before we all lose focus,” Jonathan speaks up again, and all the Strawhats tense as the army marches closer in on them, all geared up and ready to fire. “In honour and remembrance of you gracing us with your presence today, we would like to thank the founders of this tradition in the most appropriate way we could.”

Everyone freezes. 

Anne lifts her head from where she was still sulking about her easel. Wyper and Conis look confused, but Zoro, Sanji, and Nami instantly pale. Gin and Chopper break right into a run, and Robin has retreated into the inside cabin. Luffy stares, not quite registering yet. Usopp stares at nothing in confusion. Suu is scrambling away, and Kinoko has flown off to who-knows-where. 

“All units at the ready, well, what are you waiting for?” And then Jonathan declares, loud and booming. “By the way, Strawhats? THANKS FOR COMING!” 

A hundred simultaneous cannons and rifles fire off at once. 

“What the– I said already that I’m rubber, projectiles won’t–!!” Luffy trails off, his face falling in dread. “Oh no.”

“EVERYONE DUCK!” 

“THEY’RE FIRING PAINT AT US!”

“NO I JUST CHANGED MY CLOTHES!”

 


 

“That does it,” Nami groans, her voice thick and seething. She swipes her paint-slobbed hair out of her face, casting aside her now-ruined map and yanking her Clima Tact out of her belt. “Fuck this shit.”

Zoro also curses loudly, almost stepping on a sprawled out and completely flat Usopp on the ground. He had to peel him off the surface. Sanji was lighting a new cigarette but he was shaking so badly in sheer rage that he couldn’t decide if he wanted to cuss people out first or make minced meat first. Luffy lifts his head, blank and baffled– and then he bursts out laughing.

“I can’t even see Luffy’s face through all that paint,” Chopper says. 

“Chopper, you’re literally a mysterious silhouette. How’d you get hit by black paint of all things?”

“Merryyyyy!!!” Usopp wails, louder than ever before, throwing himself onto the ship that was now covered in heaps of paint. “I’m so sorry! How could they do this to you?! I will avenge you, I promise!” 

“What the– MERRY!” Luffy jumps up, equal parts horrified and fascinated. “WOAH!”

“...she’s abstract art now,” Anne says.  

 

“I… I,” Conis says, “but my wings…” she makes a soft sobbing noise, registering that they were all crusted over with paint now. “How could you? How terrible.” 

“WHO JUST MADE CONIS CRY?!”

“SANJI, THE MARINES MADE CONIS CRY!” 

“WHAT?!” Sanji yells. “Unforgivable! THOSE SHITHEADS! Nami-san, call for the counterattack!”  

 

“It’s not that bad,” Anne says. She was just as completely covered by paint as the other two youngest. “I get covered in paint all the time.”

“NOT a good thing!” Gin yells. “NAMI I am going to murder everyone in this base!” 

“ME TOO!” Wyper roars, “they’re dead! They’re all dead!” 

“Guys, I can’t find Suu!” Chopper says, frantic, “I think she’s under these mounds of paint somewhere but she’s so small she’s completely buried! Help!” 

“Eh. She lives there now.” 

“She’s going to suffocate!” 

 

Robin comes out of the storage hold, wearing rain boots and holding an umbrella so she could make her way through all the paint on the deck. Kinoko finally reemerges from the skies, landing safely on Robin’s shoulder, scoffing. 

“My, you all look awful,” Robin observes. 

“YOU THINK?!” came the incredulous replies. 

 

“Alright, men! Time to fight back!” Luffy yells, loud, and the very determined roar right back is the loudest Navarone has ever heard from eleven people. “And get our stuff back while we’re at it!” 

“YEEEAHHH!!!” 

 


 

“Hey Vice Admiral Jonathan, what do we do now?” 

“Hmm? Ah, well, try not to die I guess.”

 


 

Luffy whips a whole expanse of soldiers to the ground, and Zoro sends them flying in all the same beat. Wyper fires off the Eagle Launcher, and Usopp is loading Merry’s main cannon to use against them. 

“They can’t use their cannons now, since they loaded them with paint just now,” Usopp says, reaching down to receive a packet of bullets from Suu, Robin watching with mild interest as the fox continues on her little trek to roll a big round cannon toward Wyper. “Plus they’re not trying to kill us or anything. I’d say we got seven minutes at best to get our things and get out of here.”

“Are you sure they won’t fire in the meantime, though?” Robin questions. 

“Eh, we’ll be fine.” 

“But what about our gold?!” Gin yells, strangling a soldier in a chokehold, holding him out as a shield against some soldiers aiming for him before he knocks him out and flings out a tonfa against the other two. 

“It wasn’t in the vault that we broke into,” Anne reports. She’s not using any of her weapons. With so much colour around, none of hers would work. 

“C’mon, where else could they hide a very inconspicuous amount of gold on this base?!” Nami yells, winding up a Thundercloud as quickly as she can. “What did he do, cover it with a tarp and call it unique furniture?”

At that, Robin and Anne simultaneously stop fighting to go, “ah.”

Nami whirls around. “Wait, seriously?!” 

 


 

“So, not that I’m not happy, but why me instead of Gin?” Sanji asks, looking over at Anne as she stretches, preparing herself to make the straight run up the steep cliff. 

“You’re the best in the climb-up-a-cliff-with-no-hands club,” is her very straightforward answer. “And Gin is really strong, but he’s not the stealth kinda guy.”

Sanji takes a moment to remember what she was talking about. Then, registering one more thing– “you think I’m the stealth kinda guy?”

Anne blinks. “You’re not?”

Sanji hums. Fair enough, then. 

“As much as I’m honoured, this is physically impossible. Maybe we should’ve brought Usopp, since he can fly.” 

“He has to teach Wyper how to handle the Eagle Launcher, so.”

“Hmm…” 

Then, Kinoko lands on her shoulder, and Anne takes the little note at her leg to read it. “What’s this… uh. So Nami says that if you manage to get the gold back, she’ll kiss you on the cheek.”

Anne barely manages to finish reading the note before Sanji erupts in a pillar of fire. 

“I’m doing this! Absolutely! Nothing is impossible with the power of my passion and love for our queen, am I right?! GET ON!” 

 


 

“I- I’m sorry, I think it was around here, but I was delirious at the time, so I’m not sure…” Conis looks around the bushes. “I think she left it here…” 

“It’s okay, Conis, you don’t have to apologize for it,” Chopper says, “I wonder if the soldiers found and confiscated it…” 

Conis looks around worriedly, “I hope the main group that’s fighting off all the soldiers is enough of a distraction,” she says, “I couldn’t imagine what would happen to us if we were spotted now…”

Chopper nods, crying a little. “They might seriously cook and eat me this time…” he sniffles, “did you hear how many people were talking about how I was good venison meat in the building? I hate this place.”

“Really?” Conis says, “I didn’t notice… but then again, this area is much, much noisier than Skypiea could ever be, so I suppose ears are sharper down here?”

Why was it these two again? Well, simply because Conis was the only one that knew where it was, and Chopper was the faster runner. And his nose might help, but it wasn’t working well with all the smell of paint. 

“It smells like chemicals,” he mutters, annoyed. 

“Ah, it’s not here either… where could it be? Further in?” Conis searches frantically, “I don’t quite understand Blue Sea grass. The soil is so plentiful, and yet people let their crops overgrow like this?”

“These aren’t crops, Conis, humans don’t eat them.”

“Really? Then what is the reason for planting them?” 

“Uh, because– wait, who’s there?!” Chopper yelps, shifting into Heavy Point instantly, positioning himself before Conis.  

Conis yelps, hugging Chopper’s arm, “oh no! We’ve been found, I’m sorry!” 

“Ah, don’t worry, don’t worry!” From behind the tree, a redhead emerges, smiling. “Remember me, Miss Conis?”

Conis blinks. And then, “Oh, Miss Isuka!” 

She beams, “Nami’s always been pretty forgetful. Can you believe she almost left behind her spare arm once before escaping ship? I had to give it back to her while she was with the Whitebeards, for god’s sake!”

She’s holding the Waver. 

“So,” Isuka says, “I’m guessing this weird machine was important after all? I’m glad I decided to grab it before the soldiers found it, then.”

 


 

Jonathan enters his office to immediately see a blazing figure kick his window open, the wood and glass bursting right through the room and crashing unceremoniously against the door half a meter away from him. 

“...So I have to refurbish my room as well?” Jonathan sighs, exhausted. “This paint war business is really costly…”

Anne carefully gets down from Sanji’s back, hurrying immediately over to the covered easel, revealing a painting of Jessica. 

“Oh?” Sanji says, “Jessica-swan! Damn she’s gorgeous.”

“And you are?” Jonathan speaks up, “try not to leer at my wife too much, would ya?”

“O kay , Mister Luckiest man in Navarone,” Sanji scoffs. “Did you finish your food, even? I recall Jessica calling you a hell of an ungrateful guy that leaves food on your plate.”

Jonathan sputters, “l- like I said! Broccoli and Green Peppers and Carrots are–” 

“Don’t hold it against him, Sanji,” Anne carefully takes out the painting, setting it aside nicely along with another painting of the bay. “It’s a custom order for their anniversary or something.”

Sanji immediately whirls around to whistle, “wow, for a Shithead, you’re a romantic!” 

Jonathan coughs, looking away slightly embarrassed. “If you say so, then… wait, no,” finally, “you do know you can’t just barge in and out of my office?” 

“Sanji, the gold is here,” Anne says, pointing at the inconspicuous pile of treasure to the side. Kinoko was already there, trying to pry off the tarp. 

“Oh, great, let’s go then,” Sanji wraps it up quickly, completely ignoring Jonathan. 

 

"I'd appreciate if you take me seriously," Jonathan switches on the lights, and a squad of soldiers immediately filed in. 

Sanji halts, cursing. If it was just the Vice Admiral they could’ve– he whirls around, realizing that Anne has raised her new weapon before her, her eyes narrowed and stern as well. 

Wyper had fashioned for her a golden paintbrush. The top was made to spin, like a gear, with currently two modes alternating between a long, sickle-like blade, and a pointed brush tip. 

 

And this time, Jonathan’s eyes are stern. “It’s not going to be filled with paint this time.” 

“That’s great news,” Anne says. 

Sanji doesn’t see her move, but he reacts anyway. 

Anne’s stride leaves behind the bright yellow paint– but Jonathan is moving, a jutte coming down upon her, far too quickly to dodge. As if he’d expected her to be there, at that exact moment. 

Sanji makes it there just in time, a foot swiping against the weapon, a strategic twist wrenching it right out of his grip. He spins out another kick, but Jonathan dodges, this one easily, snagging it between his arms and bending it in just the wrong direction, whirling around and throwing Sanji out into a wall. 

“What the– is this paint again?!”

“Wait no, this is different. It’s much thicker–” 

“It stinks! Oil paint?!”

Anne skips past them, done drawing the Colours Trap on all the soldiers in an instant. She swings the brush at Jonathan– who only flinches at the last second when he sees a blade comes at him instead of a paintbrush– and she snags Sanji by the back of the shirt, helping him to his feet just in time for Sanji to raise a foot against an incoming jutte. 

But they don’t continue the fight. Sanji hops into balance on the jutte, struggles to leap– and manages to clumsily make it over Jonathan, right back in view of the broken window. 

Sanji tosses something into the air, and Kinoko scoops it right up. 

 

“Don’t let them escape!” Jonathan yells, “shoot if you must!” 

“I wouldn’t recommend that!” Sanji shouts, snagging the gold right up after hurriedly wrapping them up. 

 

Anne points toward Kinoko, who tosses aside a now-empty can. She had spread it all over the room– and everyone gulped as they realized what it was.

A gunpowder can. 

“Bye bye,” Anne says, gathering her easel in her arms, and bowing before making her way out toward the cliffs again. 

Sanji enjoys one last drag of his cigarette, smiling. “And well, if you don’t wanna die, run!” 

Everyone’s eyes blow wide, but nothing can stop Sanji as he tosses the lit cigarette in before he leaps.

 

-


-

 

“Okay so the plan to get out goes like this,” Nami says. “We find something the equivalent of a Coup de Burst and shoot us out of here.” 

Luffy, Zoro, and Wyper are still fighting the soldiers outside, but Nami, Usopp, Robin and Gin are discussing things. 

“What the fuck is a whatever that is and are you ever going to tell us??” Gin groans. 

“But as the hole in the hull remains, even if we shoot back up into the sky now, we’ll just sink on the landing,” Robin says. 

“Yes, which is why we’ll need something right now,” Nami says. “Make us a hot air balloon please, Usopp. Like, right now.”

“Don’t ask the impossible!” Usopp snaps, “and that’s your– I mean, Conis’ area of expertise!” 

“What are we going to inflate the balloon with? Is that even possible?” Gin questions. “How big does it have to be to lift a ship, even, and how many yards of fabric would that be?”

“We could use Flame and Breath Dials,” Nami suggests, “I’ll work on the course correcting.”

“Well, it’d be fortunate if Mister Octopus was here,” Robin says, “it would be nice to ask him to lift us into the air again. It would save us the hassle.”

“Ah, the octopus?” Usopp remembers something, “I’m quite sure logically it’d be in the lake, but since it’s dried up now maybe it’s gone outside, too…”

Nami frowns at that. 

 

“What’re you guys doing in here?” Luffy asks, looking inside, “not gonna join the fight?”

“No Luffy, we’re looking for the stupid octopus right now. You focus on the battling,” Nami dismisses him. “Look, maybe we could take the Milky Dials right now, I’ll mix up the pyrobloin solution– we might not be able to make good clouds, but I might be able to nurture a bubble–” 

“No no, that’ll take too much time,” Usopp says. 

“What, you guys are looking for the octopus?” Luffy says, “I have it.”

“No thanks, Luffy,” Nami dismisses him, “but Usopp, we don’t have another chance– if we’re lucky we’ll get a few bubbles out easily, you know it’s just a matter of climate– wait a fucking minute. Luffy?”

“Yeah?”

“You have the what?”

“The octopus!” Luffy says, beaming. 

“You have it?” she asks again. 

“You’ve got the octopus?” Gin repeats. 

“Oh, you do?” Robin says. 

Usopp, however, dreadfully turns his head downward. “You do?” 

 


 

An explosion in the far distance makes Usopp balk. “Wyper, stop firing that thing already, it needs custom ammo, and you're wasting the very little amount of cannons we have!” 

Wyper cringes a little. “Well yeah, I get that. But… that wasn’t me.” 

They both pause. 

“That came in the direction of where Anne and Sanji went,” Gin says, “great. That means they’re coming back soon.” 

“I’m not assured at all, what the hell did they do to make an explosion?” Usopp says. “Oh crap. I gave them KInoko, didn’t I?” 

“What’s wrong with Kinoko?”

“She has my gunpowder.”

“Oh. I guess the marines are dead now.”

 

“AHem. Testing. Testing, testing. This is Vice Admiral Jonathan,” came the announcement again, because for some reason he needed to do that after five minutes of radio silence. “So first, if anyone saw that explosion, yes, I am alive. No, my office is not intact. Yes, the soldiers will be made to fix this.” 

“...did he just start talking to basically tell us ‘I lived, bitch’?”

“Oh and thanks for not destroying the paintings. I don’t know how you managed that, little girl, but I appreciate your care for your own works of art. I will keep them as a souvenir.” 

“...do we want to know?”

“No,” Gin says, without missing a beat. 

 

“Conis and Chopper are back!” Zoro calls, clearing the road for the Waver to come speeding in. “And looks like the soldiers are all retreating, too!” 

Sure enough, the soldiers were backing away, some dragging back their injured soldiers, others making loud strides to keep their distance. 

“That’s not a good thing,” Robin says. “That means their cannons are done reloading.” 

“Curses,” Nami hisses, “alright then! Back up here, all of you!” 

Conis and Chopper fumble out of the Waver, but they grasp the situation quickly, hurrying to get Luffy on before boosting their road on to ride right up the side of the ship, landing on the deck. 

“Conis, help Suu get the leftover weaponry down to the artillery!” 

“Y- Yes!” 

“Chopper, get the octopus caught up on the situation!” 

“O- Wait, Nami, I'm not caught up on the situation!” 

“Sanji and Anne coming in from the other side!” Luffy cheers. He throws both arms forward, managing to snag Sanji on the shoulder and loop around Anne on the waist. “HEYYY! Come on! We’re leaving now, let’s go go!” 

“WAIT LUFFY NO!” 

“AaAAAAAAHHH!!!” 

Zoro closes his eyes when the loud smash and crash occurs. Kinoko lands safely on Zoro’s head, and once they land he steps right by to collect the gold, first and foremost. 

Sanji was dead. Anne didn’t look like she would recover before tomorrow. 

 

“Anyways, as you might have noticed by now, we are now fully mobilised. Your leeway of freedom for celebration is over now. If you do not surrender in the call of three, we will fire. Please hand yourselves over peacefully.”

 

“Alright then, everyone’s here!” Nami calls, clapping the world back to attention. “Furl the sails! Robin, take the octopus!” 

“Aye sir!” 

“On it!” 

The entire ship is in motion, Gin rushing below deck to join Usopp and Wyper. 

Zoro, Luffy, Conis each had dials on hand, Nami whirling up her Clima Tact to ready her Gust sword. Chopper climbed up with the octopus, Kinoko joining him to communicate. Suu drags Sanji and Anne a little out of the way, trying her best as they groggily try to get up. Robin drags the octopus’ appendages across the entirety of the ship, and now– it’s just a matter of determination. 

“Three,” Jonathan warns. “Two.”

Below deck, Usopp positions himself between Wyper and Gin, hand strapped to the Impact Dial, aims toward the hole in the hull, a determination in their eyes as they nod in affirmation. 

“One!” 

 

“IMPACT!!” 

 

-


-

 

Being able to fly on the Merry was awesome

Nami looks out into the distance, and so sweetly, she remembers how it feels to feel the wind on her cheeks, blasting off into the sun with a jet of a cola-powered cannon. 

It’s slightly different, but it’s just as amazing all the same. 

She turns back, and as a little speck in the distance, she finds Isuka in the crowd, grinning wide as she waves. Kobato and Mekao are right by her, and Nami can’t help but smile when Conis spots them too, waving wide and excitedly in gratitude. 

Luffy shares one last grin at Vice Admiral Jonathan, and Anne and Robin also chuckle slightly at the sight, waving like they were friends, rather than criminals in escape. 

 

“I hope Mrs Jessica likes the portrait,” Anne says. 

“I’m sure she will!” Chopper assures, jumping into Luffy’s arms from where he was carefully climbing down the octopus’ leg. 

“Geez, look at this mess,” Zoro groans. “While half of us were wondering how the hell we were supposed to get out, so many of you went and played paintball .”

“You’re one to talk!” Sanji sneers at him. 

“At least we got that gold back,” Gin mutters, “can’t believe we almost forgot that of all the things. We went through so much to get it, no way are we ditching it.”

Wyper scoffs. “Blue Sea people are so despicably materialistic.”

“Quiet, caveman,” Gin hisses. 

 

“Hey, enough already,” Usopp peeks his head out of the deck, “come help me fix the hole in Merry’s hull before we do anything else.” 

“Yeah, we need to change your arm, Nami. Can’t let the paint stick in there.”

“No no, I need a shower first and foremost!” Nami insists. 

“I agree,” Robin says, raising her hand. 

“And me too!” Conis says, a little devastated as she cradles Suu, “ohh, my wings and Suu’s fur is going to take forever to clean. What if it doesn’t come off?”

“Don’t worry, Conis! Chopper says, Kinoko in his arms, “Usopp’s got all the best feather and fur cleaner solutionin the world!” 

“Really?!” her eyes gleam, hands folding into a prayer. “Would you be so kind to enlighten me, Usopp-san??”

“Ah, yes. Sure. I’ll go get it now.” 

 

“All that aside, I’m hungry!” Luffy beams. “Sanji! Food!” 

The sky was clear. The sound behind them was laughter and heartful cheering. The seas before them was blue and free, and the Strawhats leave Navarone behind them.

 


 

“Ah, they’re gone now,” Jonathan sighs, a little disappointed. “And she didn’t give me the King Piece back. How am I supposed to play chess now?”

“How could you just let them leave?! And you barely even tried to stop them!” Shepherd blows a fucking gasket, kicking a table over. “If I had my Eagle Launcher, those guys would be toast! Why aren’t you firing at them now?!”

“Now, Major Shepherd. Our cannons can’t reach the sky,” Jonathan says. “And that’s a perfectly good table. Will you be reimbursing us for it?”

“Will you be reimbursing me for all the psychological strife I’ve gone through today?!?”

Jonathan grimaces. “That’s a surprisingly good point.” 

 

Jessica comes up to the balcony, looking a little miffed by the entire disaster, but not too far to not bring up a meal for her husband. 

“Ah, the head chef,” Shepherd mutters, frustrated. “Good timing. I will be expecting a meal in my room in ten minutes, so–” 

Jessica scowls at him, “what? Who even are you again? No.” 

Shepherd sputters. “I am the Inspector and I am exhausted! It’s basic courtesy, isn’t it?! I’m a whole day overdue on my welcome to this base, do none of you have manners?!”

Jonathan sighs. “Darn, should’ve tossed him in the water while it was still paint war time,” he mulls. 

Shepherd whirls around, alarmed– but Jessica does it for him, grabbing him by the scruff and, with all the vigor and arm strength of a woman who’s lived her whole life in the kitchen– she roars, chucking him far out of the ledge. 

Jonathan stares, baffled. 

Jessica dusts her hands, before huffing, setting them on her hips. She turns to her husband with all the challenging glare of someone that will be expecting upgraded facilities in her kitchen now. “Problem?”

Jonathan turns to her, and well– “no,” then, turning back out to see some of the soldiers had unwillingly scrambled to catch Shepherd before he hit the bedrock. “Just– have I told you recently how much I love you, dear?” 

Jessica smirks. “Finish your meal today and maybe I’ll remember.”

Jonathan hums. “Fair enough– ah, come to my office later? I’ve got a gift.”

“Oh? Looking forward to it, then.” 

 

Down below, at the dried-up lake, Lieutenant Commander Drake sighs. At this point, everyone was tired, covered in paint, and due for a shitload of cleanup the next day– and well, no one really cared for doing anything else today. 

At the factory area, Isuka had found Dr Kobato again, and they were chatting it right up enthusiastically. It’s a unique combination, but Jonathan supposes a lot has happened while he wasn’t looking. 

The soldiers didn’t look too upset, either. They were laughing, some crying over their defeat but their squads were telling stories with laughter rather than spite, embarrassing each other over their day’s clumsy endeavours. 

 

Jonathan chuckles, lifting the microphone again. 

“Well, everyone, how was it?” he grins. “Did we have fun, like we were supposed to?”

 

The response comes one after another, not in time at all, and different groups responded in slightly different ways– but Jonathan couldn’t help but smile when he heard it. 

“YEAH!” 

“ABSOLUTELY! OF COURSE!”

“YES SIR!” 

“I STILL HATE YOU, SIR!” 

“IT WAS FUN!” 

 

He laughs. Well, all’s well it ends well, then. 

 


 

“LUFFY ZORO WYPER GET THE FUCK BACK HERE YOU GUYS ARE TAKING A FUCKING BATH FOR FUCK’S SAKE–!!” 

They’d spent most of the morning cleaning up Merry’s deck.

Nami looks over at Sanji and Gin as they chase the three stooges across the deck, up, and back. They’re holding soap bars and floor scrubs, and Gin has a mop. Luffy is dashing around with the most serious expression he has ever donned. Zoro is probably just running because he can’t be arsed to shower, and Wyper is just being Wyper. 

Usopp is blissfully ignoring them, him and Anne carefully working on getting paint off the pieces of Nami’s arm and the rest of their weapons. Zoro’s swords were carefully by Usopp’s side, not to be touched but cleaning just the scabbards was fine. 

Conis is happily helping Suu dry off, Kinoko and Chopper lining up to wait their turn. Robin is pretending not to watch from the side, the book at her lap as she lounges on the deck chair. 

Nami hauls in the laundry basket with her remaining arm. The Octoballoon gently drifts over the skyline, the sun high over the horizon– and Nami can’t help but thrive in the moment. 

Chapter 73: a crew without organization (internal disagreements)

Summary:

The crew finally learn of Merry's fate.

Nami and Usopp disagree on some things.

Chapter Text

“Well, clearly,” Nami sighs, slamming her flesh hand on the table in exasperation, “Merry is too small for the eleven of us.”

Kinoko and Suu make synchronous noises of disagreement, fully offended. 

“I correct myself,” Nami says, “this ship is too small for the thirteen of us.” 

 

And that was certainly true. Just this morning, Wyper’s wings got stuck in the hammock. He wasn’t admitting to it, but he sort of destroyed the roof of the boy’s dorm and dented the locker trying to get out, so everyone knew. Also he freaked out Usopp so everyone was really angry at him right now. 

The girls were doing fine, but it was less convenient than they thought to move around with four girls in the same room, especially for Conis and Robin, the former of which is still accustomed to sleeping alone, and the latter of which is so light of a sleeper the softest of creaks get her to full alert. And creak their bunk beds did.

And then there was the problem of the bathrooms. Sure, half of them don’t shower daily, but there was still only one. The laundry was also getting too heavy to be done in one round. It’d be too much trouble once they’re back on the blue sea, especially since there’s so little chance of a good laundry day. 

Gin and Sanji were also struggling to get their rationing right, because they didn’t have enough storage space to double the load, and yet, their food was decreasing too quickly to be replenished at a reasonable pace. 

They needed a big ship, bigger storage, and bigger bank. They had the last part settled, so the problem was clear. 

 

“So we need a new ship?” Wyper asks. “Great. I always thought this tiny ship was weak-looking compared to others I’ve destroyed.”

“A bigger ship, huh…” Sanji hums. “I’d certainly like a bigger fridge.” 

“Eh? No, Merry's good enough!” Luffy says. “We’ve come all this way with her– let’s just make her bigger! Cooler, right?” 

The newer members give him skeptical looks, but the older members understood the sentiment. 

Nami hums, “I mean, I’d like it if she was bigger too-- but she's been with us so long, it doesn't feel right to replace her so readily. So if we can, I want to try refurbishing and renovating the ship instead of going straight for a new one.”

“It’d be safer for Usopp, too,” Chopper points out, “how many times has he tripped over floorboards today? A new ship would be nice, but if it’s a more familiar environment, he’ll adapt to it quicker.”

“It’ll be a bit pricier to fix than get new, but it'll be worth it,” Sanji says. He’s also someone that definitely knows how important ships can be to people, so he’s not all for the buying option either. "Sentimentality and all. Merry's important to us." 

“It’s great that we have plenty of money, then,” Robin says. 

“She’s right,” Luffy says, “Merry’s gone through so much! Usopp and the old repair guy did all they could to give her a makeover, but we also needa get a proper shipwright for our crew so Merry won’t get so bad again.”

“A shipwright!” Chopper repeats, agreeing. 

“Yes, Luffy’s right,” Nami says. “The trip up and down to Sky Island hasn’t been easy on her– it wouldn’t be easy on any ship, really. She needs to be looked over by professionals.” 

“I see…” Conis nods, “so to you guys, the ship is a very valuable nakama as well?” 

“That’s stupid,” Wyper says. 

“Maybe to you, but I think I can get it,” Sanji says, “Usopp got this ship from his fiancee, it’s been with us all the way from the East. It’s important, right?” 

Kinoko caws in enthusiastic agreement, raising her gold-ringed foot to show off. 

“Huh,” Wyper stares at it, grabbing the leg and earning a startled squeak. “Was wondering why you had that.”

“But I agree with Wyper,” Gin says. “This ship is important, but it’s definitely not built for Grand Line travel. There’s so much damage just from one voyage– we’ve had to fix it at almost every stop we come across. We’re not going to last the storms of the Grand Line.”

“And herein, who knows if the islands will be as friendly as before,” Anne adds. 

“Well, we can just fix her like we always do,” Luffy insists. “We’ve got a lot more people on our crew now, too! It’s not going to be as hard anymore.” 

“The more people are exactly the problem here,” Gin emphasizes. 

“Well, either way,” Nami says, “I know just the place if we want to get her looked at–” 

“Look, it’s not really our decision,” Zoro brings up, and everyone realizes it as well 

 

Usopp hasn’t said anything yet. He was leaning against his hand quietly, eyes closed as he considered the situation, silent and solemn. 

“...Usopp?” Nami calls for his attention. The chatter dies down as the crew turns to him, realizing that his opinion was what mattered most here. 

“No, it’s just…” Usopp straightens. 

Zoro breathes out deeply, turning to Usopp. Usopp didn’t return his gaze, but the tension was in his shoulders and Zoro knew he had to rip off the band aid before this conversation went further.

“We forgot to tell you, but…”

“Let me do it, Zoro,” Usopp says, and Zoro leans back against the wall, relenting. 

The sudden stern tone brought the noise in the room down to a complete null.

Nami tenses immediately-- realizing . Sanji notices the reaction first-- and he sits down, followed immediately by Gin. Chopper and Anne look around, confused by the sudden silence. Conis shuffles in her seat, uneased by the sudden tension. 

At the doorway, Robin looks away, and Wyper sets a hand on the wall of the cabin. Suu tilts her head aside, curious, and Kinoko looks down, solemn. 

“It’s about the Going Merry,” Usopp begins. 

 


 

All things considered, Nami was devastated, but this was preferable to what happened last time around. 

“I see… she really can’t sail anymore?” Luffy says, his voice incredibly crestfallen. 

He sets a hand on the bow of the ship, looking down, upset. Chopper sniffles, trying his hardest– but he couldn’t stop the tears. “This is my fault! If we protected the ship properly on Sky Island–” 

“Stop it, Chopper,” Zoro interrupts him. “She’s been at the end of her ropes longer than that. We’re all to blame.” 

Kinoko croons sadly, and Gin curses, looking aside. Sanji takes a long drag of his cigarette, and Conis stays respectfully silent. Robin watches a little mirthfully at the side, evidently a little saddened as well. Suu sits calmly in Anne’s lap as they sprawl by the mast, contemplating the situation in slightly grieving silence. 

“Is this new?” Luffy speaks up first, and his question surprises both Nami and Usopp. “Or did you guys already know?”

Nami hesitates, but Usopp answers, clear and easy– “we already knew.”

“Wha–!” Sanji whirls around, “you already knew?!” 

“It’s not that big of a stretch,” Gin says. “I find it difficult to believe this ship could last the voyage of the Grand Line. Much less if it’s struggling just having enough space for a crew of eleven.” 

“Hold on, what are you guys talking about?” Wyper interrupts, “already knew? You’re speaking like people are supposed to just–” 

“Wait, if you knew already, then why didn’t you say so earlier?” Sanji brings up, agitated, “sure we get that we wouldn’t get some things, but this is Merry we’re talking about.”

“That’s right– she’s nakama!” Chopper adds. “We found a way to heal Gin, didn’t we? Can’t we do the same for Merry?” 

Hurriedly, Nami cuts in, “we’re prepared!” she says, and she’s a lot more flustered than she wanted to be. “Of course we’d wished for her to survive as long as we could– we tried, we really did– but if she didn’t, I found a way so she could stay with us either way. It’s not a permanent solution but–” 

“There’s a way?!” Luffy jumps at that, coming up to Nami and grabbing her by the shoulders. “There’s a way to save Merry?!”

“What do you mean, Nami?” 

The agitated looks are relieving and all, but she’s not quite comfortable telling this now. 

The solution they’ve come up with is still failsafe at this point– and until Buggy gets back to her about her request, they don’t even know if they can make it in time. Even if they did… would it work without Vegapunk’s technology? Usopp says it’s a hard bet, but until it was a 100% probability, Nami didn’t want to give them too much hope. 

This was still a very real struggle. Nami wasn’t prepared to tell them yet– geez, why did Usopp have to say that? Now she had to explain why she was hiding it from them!

“Look, you guys– are you still hiding shit from us?” Zoro speaks up, a little annoyed. “I don’t care if you’re hiding it from me or even Luffy or whoever– but did you guys even tell Merry about your plans for her own fucking life?”

And that makes Nami flinch. 

“I–” she couldn’t even speak, “it’s not– we…” 

 

Usopp wasn’t saying anything either. He kept completely silent, and Nami was left alone to take in all the gazes that perhaps were filled with confusion and patience, but right now, she only felt the sheer accusation.

(Oh, how nice it was to be blind right now.)

 

“I-” she chokes out, “I’m sorry.” 

A forehead touches hers, and it’s Luffy, leaning in to look at her, close and calm, his eyes fixed firm. His hands are still holding her shoulders together– and then he pulls apart, and Nami feels the painful weight lift just slightly from her chest.

“Don’t say that, Zoro!” Luffy chides, “Nami’s definitely got a reason.”

Zoro scoffs at that, looking away, deciding not to pursue. 

Usopp sighs, feeling around for the main mast, and carefully resting his hand on it. 

“I’ll protect the Merry,” he says, and it’s a promise. He doesn’t see the looks people give him, but he doesn’t turn his attention to them either. This was a word between him and the Merry, and no one else. “And this time… she’ll come to the end with us.” 

If nothing else, that is one thing he wants to make happen. 

And Nami lowers her head, knowing that blindly believing like this is exactly what made them break apart last time around.  So instead, Nami lunges forward and wraps Luffy in a hug. 

Luffy yelps, but he takes it and stares, confused. “What’s wrong?”

“It won’t happen!” Nami says, and she swears, too. Because if both Nami and Usopp swear something, it’s always the coward’s way out, but it’s exactly what brought them this far. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.”

 

And then…

And then, Merry can truly be with them, as a nakama in more than spirit and last words. 

(Water Seven won’t be a disaster this time.)

She lifts her eyes toward Usopp– but he doesn’t look back. Grimly, holding onto Luffy’s shoulders, she silently prays.  She wants Usopp to turn around, so she can see him– so she can try to understand him. 

But he’s gotten so good at hiding over the years.

So good at lying and keeping things to himself. But he still loses himself in his most prominent worry when things happen– and this time, Nami is met with the dreadful realization that Usopp isn’t half as readable as he used to be. 

Their eyes don’t meet anymore. 

 

Usopp is different, and that’s not wrong– but it’s different, and Nami can’t help but dislike that so, so much. 

 


 

“You guys are what ?”

Wyper is baffled. Nami simply nods, sitting on the dining table, watching quietly as Zoro screws her foot back in properly. She doesn’t flinch this time– just clenches her fist and bears with it. 

“Just me and Usopp,” Nami says. 

Conis also has her jaw dropped. Wyper is staring blankly, waiting for someone to say it’s a joke– Kinoko simply curls into Nami’s neck, making no indication of waiting for the perfect comedic timing. 

“I- I’m sorry?” Conis speaks up hesitantly, “but– What?”

“The blue sea…” Wyper groans. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand it in my life.”

“No no, trust me, none of the blue sea dwellers ever understand it either, and I’ve gone through it all once already!” Nami says, “the Grand Line is just weird even by our standards. We’re not even in the New World yet.”

“...There’s something worse?!”

The explanations go smoothly– perhaps because Wyper and Conis have the ability to suspend their disbelief far more than the others. They just nod at the aspect of mysterious time travel being a statistical probability, and moved on. 

They’ve left Robin out of this conversation again. She’s currently at the aft, with Sanji serving her some tea around the orchard area.

“So why’d you bring us along this time?” Wyper asks, leaning against the table, “we’re not supposed to be here, right?”

Conis straightens at that. “Ah…” she fumbles, “is that so?”

Nami doesn’t manage to answer before Luffy hops up from his spot under the table– he knocks his head against the table and has to crawl out another way– and interrupts everyone. 

“Hey, no one said that!” he says. “If I say you’re coming, you’re coming! No belonging here or supposed to or not the same about it! You’re here because you are, right?” 

 

And well– Nami doesn’t know why that rang out loud in her head. 

(We’re here because we are?)

Everything’s different. Some things inevitably stay the same. Merry might not live, again, and now– they’re almost en route to Long Ring Long Island, and there’s little Nami can do to prevent it without usurping Luffy’s authority as the captain of this crew. 

Nami has done a lot to be different– but in her heart, maybe she has always been the same. 

Maybe that’s how it is.

 

Zoro glances her way, putting away the wrench and deeming her foot secured– but Nami doesn’t notice his gaze. 

“Well, even if you didn’t want me here, I’m going down to the Blue Sea,” Wyper says. “I’ll survive alone if I must.” 

“Wha– please don’t go, Wyper,” Conis says, taking his arm, “Laki-san told me to take care of you and–” 

“She did what?!”

“You guys aren’t leaving!” Luffy yells, “you’re stuck here now! HEY!” 

Nami laughs. “Well, if you want to go alone, Wyper, first you’ll need to learn how to swim,” she says, to everyone’s ire as Luffy and-– Chopper, when did he get here-– continue wrestling to get him back into his seat while he tries to shake them off. 

Nami smiles, standing up from the table. 

“Speaking of which, I might as well get the Milky Dials working again. Wyper, help me out!” 

 


 

Usopp takes evening watch with Conis. 

There’s no reason, really-– Sanji was preparing food, and everyone else was catching up on their sleep before the octoballoon deflates-– so Conis, who couldn’t sleep, volunteered. 

“Usopp-san,” Conis speaks up, setting a hand on the mast, before laying her head against the wood, closing her eyes. 

Usopp doesn’t understand what she’s doing, so he simply waits for her to keep speaking. 

“Up in Skypiea, we live with the understanding that the Vearth is alive,” she says. “The island sings in its arrival, the plants live and thrive, in joy or sorrow, we people never know.” 

Usopp hums. It was an island that humanized many things– religion tended to do that, sometimes. It wasn’t a bad thing, it was empathetic and respectful to cultural relics, so Usopp understood it, to some degree. 

“This ship, too– does it sing of something?” Conis asks, leaning slightly into the mast. 

Usopp leans back, closing his eyes as well. 

“Yes,” Usopp answers. “I can’t hear her well– but she’s sad. She’s in pain. And there’s nothing I can do but watch her die again.”

Conis’ face falls, and she looks upon the mast with rue. 

“So she is fading?” 

Usopp hums. “I knew it was coming,” he says. “But… I can’t help but…” he trails off, fists clenching in frustration. Finally, he relents, with a forced laugh. “I guess some things are just inevitable, aren’t they? People die, ships break… and me? Well… I have the ability to protect people now, but I just can’t prevent this .” 

Water that flows cannot be cut. The sea throws down a new line with each new sear you carve upon it– and in the same way, fate will always find a way through inevitability, and time will keep going forward. Some things are meant to end, and life is one of them. 

“But… we’ve fought god, haven’t we?” Conis says. 

She sits down beside Usopp, and takes his hands in hers, cradling them warmly. 

“You guys have given me hope at my lowest point,” she says. “You have told me that fate can be fought. That an impossibility can be overcome with courage.” 

Usopp doesn’t understand why his hands reached up to hers. Why they instinctively wrapped around hers, a hand of prayer wrapped within another hand of prayer, and he breathed, like his body wanted to believe before his mind wanted to rip away from the depths of his negativity. 

“That’s why– as idealistic, brash, and dumb we may look to the outside world–” Conis promises, “I want to believe in the life that fights for itself.”

Merry is a life of its own. Merry can struggle and fight and survive. And she will find a way. 

“Would you believe in her too?” Conis asks. 

Usopp wonders why he’s crying. “Of course I would,” he says, his lips curling into a smile. And Conis’ little giggle of response warms his heart. 

 

For just a moment, both of them felt a pair of hands, neither cold nor warm, neither soft nor hard– but they were small and full, and they wrapped around Usopp and Conis’ hands, wrapping the little prayer formation in one more layer. 

Both of them tense, hands stiffening and eyes widening– but it vanished so immediately, it was hard to know if it was truly there at all. 

 


 

“It’s dangerous to sit there.”

Anne doesn’t look over. Her feet dangle over the edge as she sits on the bow, Suu in her lap as she gazes upward, into the clouds. 

Gin comes, resting his arms on the bow beside her.  Suu peaks over Anne’s arm, squeakin you a soft greeting. Gin glances at her and nods, but doesn’t do much else as Suu curls back into Anne’s arms to sleep.

Anne doesn’t grace him with a response, and he doesn’t chase for it either. They look out, into the misty air around them– and stay, in silence. 

“I was remembering Chaser’s old ship,” Anne says. 

Gin hums. Usopp and Zoro had told them about how Merry materialized and spoke and promised , so it was inevitable that they’d reminisce. 

“The one we rode when we escaped,” he recalls. “Chaser always did insist that the lady that told us stories at night didn’t exist.” 

 

They’d burned that ship as soon as they hit shore. It was an identified ship– Smoker rode that to the facility– and stole the same one from the facility to escape. The first step to erasure was the sailing vessel, so there was no other choice. 

Anne clutches the pendant at her neck.  “Was she crying?” she wonders. “Is that what the pain was?”

Gin leans into her side. “Yes,” he says. “It’s sadness, but that wasn’t her– it came from you. You were crying like a baby, you know.” 

“Liar,” she smushes Suu to her chest, earning a whine. 

Gin doesn’t respond to that. “But honestly? For her, I think she was just happy for us.” 

Ships exist to ferry people across the waters. If she died bringing her beloved passengers to safety, there could be no greater joy. 

 

-


-

 

“Bye Octopus! Make lots of friends on the Blue Sea, alright?”

“Don’t get eaten by a sea cat!” 

They land on the Blue Sea, say farewell to their dear octoballoon friend– and are immediately chased by a wave of Sea Monkeys and have to hightail it right out. 

“Wyper, just mirror everything Zoro’s doing!” Nami calls, “Conis, go inside and help Chopper with the helm!” 

Though disoriented, the two newest members of the crew knew better than to question orders. Focusing on the simpler tasks was much easier than getting them to do specific skill-based work, so Nami kept them out of it. They could learn later. 

“WATER IS ATTACKING US?!” Wyper freaks out, somehow holding the Eagle Launcher already and Zoro is very sure he buried that in the underdeck, “the Blue sea is alive! It will kill us all!” 

Conis screams, running around in a panic, “the blue sea is scary! The Blue sea is scary!” 

(…or, to some degree, anyway.)

 

They come across a disorganized ship without any sails, key members, and unity. 

This isn’t new– but Nami couldn’t help but find her eyes lingering on them in a way it didn’t the last time around. And looking to the side– Usopp was doing so too, his eyes fixed on them. 

( Did we look like that, she wondered. When Usopp and Luffy fought. When Robin left. When the crew shattered .) 

She wonders. 

 

They sail into a peaceful stretch, finally having the time to really appreciate the blue of the neverending sea and the height of the unreachable skies. 

Wyper and Conis look around, raptured by awe in every direction. 

“Cool, right?” Sanji grins. 

“It’s blue,” Wyper says, “holy shit, it’s really completely blue.” 

“We’re so far away from the sun that the clouds are so far away!” Conis says, amazed. “How are we going to retrieve any from now on? Do we have special machines to catch clouds from so far away?”

“What? You catch clouds up there?”

“...you don’t down here?” 

Luffy grins. “Fun, right?” he says. “You haven’t even seen it all yet! Well, neither has any of us– but that’s the awesome part!” 

And truly, that was right. 

Even Nami and Usopp are still finding new things today. 

 


 

“We’re skipping this island,” Usopp says. 

“No we are not,” Nami returns immediately. 

“Absolutely not going to fight this guy again,” Usopp emphasizes. 

“But if we don’t go there, is poor Mister Bamboo Fairy going to just be stuck lonely for his entire life on stilts?” Nami says. “What’s the harm in going, really?”

“You are not seriously disagreeing with me on this Nami,” Usopp groans, in denial, “I thought you hated this as much as I did.”

“Last time around, yes, but this time I’ll get more chances to swindle people, so I’ll be fine.” 

“...They have corrupted you.”

“Good.”

Sanji watches the exchange from the kitchen area and he genuinely has no idea what the fuck they’re talking about, and he has a feeling he desperately doesn’t want to know– but first, he walks up to the mutiny board and brings up Usopp and Nami’s pins to the top. 

Then he leaves the galley, “guys, get ready, some shitty foreshadowing is happening again.” 

Nami and Usopp watch as everyone straightens to attention, mobilising in uncharacteristic seriousness, and they have the odd feeling that they’re supposed to be offended.

 


 

“Geez!” Luffy says, slightly miffed at Robin when she hadn’t exclaimed in excitement at the sight of an island, “listen here! When you see and island, you gotta go like this:” and then he takes a breath and yells, enthusiastically, “LAND AHOOOY!!” 

Robin blinks in surprise. “I see, I will keep that in mind.”

Conis also nods beside Luffy, listening intently. “Is that so? I will remember it!” 

Wyper hums, “so land down here is completely made of Vearth?” It was almost unimaginable. But then again, this is also the longest he’s gone without feeling any cloud under his feet, so it’s a matter of adapting. 

“Just saying, Wyper, but if you find any island residents, do not antagonize them. They might chase us out of the island if they’re not happy with us,” Nami says. “That, or they may call the marines, which will be the same but worse.” 

Wyper frowns, “I’m not scared of the marines.”

“Neither are we, but outside of Navarone they’re usually incredibly annoying, so we don’t talk to them, okay?” 

“...okay.”

That was much more compliant than Nami had thought he would take it. But there he was, actually going around to hear advice from the others– Sanji was telling him that if he wanted to go out, he should just stick to any of them. Zoro was reminding him not to take the damn Eagle Launcher out again because it’s literally a mobile declaration of war. 

And Gin? Well Gin was trying to make him wear a fucking shirt. 

“Conis made clothes! WEAR THEM!” 

“Absolutely the fuck not, stick it up your arse, demon!” he shouts back. They managed to find Wyper a comfortable compromise with sashes, quilts, genie pants-– which he was wearing now, actually– but shirts? He would rather die than wear a fucking shirt. He would wear sashes and scarves, and even accessories, but damn he would rather die than cover up anything above, apparently. 

Sanji sighs, tapping out the ash of his cigarette as he leans against the bow, a few paces away from Zoro. “You know, I’d never thought I’d say this,” Sanji mutters, “but when I look at them, I realize how dumb our fights are.”

Zoro turns blankly toward him. “You’ve finally realized how dumb you are? Damn, that’s some character development.”

Nami had to step in when Sanji and Zoro started exacerbating the fight. 

“Are you two toddlers?! Stop that, all of you!” 

Merry could definitely not handle all four of them quarreling at once. They’re going to sink this ship because they’re stupid and Nami knows that her brothers on the Moby Dick may never let her live it down. 

 

“Well, that aside,” Nami sighs, turning to Conis, who was still sewing a whole mountain load of new clothes. Now that they finally had a reprieve, she was making as much as she could. “You’re seriously churning those out at the speed of light.”

“It’s fun!” Conis beams. 

And Nami continues to stare, baffled, as Conis stitches it all by hand, not pricking her finger even once. In fact, she’d taken off her gloves to do this– something about how it was easier to feel around barehanded instead? Either way, Nami was incredibly jealous.

“They’re so soft,” Robin says, admiring the fabric as Conis beams, proud of her work. 

Anne spins around in a soft, earthen-coloured cardigan. “They’re not like all the clothes up on Angel Beach,” she deems. She wore her usual overalls underneath, but with the addition of the new coat, she just suddenly felt a whole lot more elegant, for some reason. 

“Yes,” Conis says, “up there, we’re more for practicality, you see… but when I saw those magazines in the girls’ room, I knew I had to do better!” 

“Do you guys usually dye cloth with plants and the like?” Nami asks, “or should we look for some Blue Sea alternatives?”

“Blue Sea alternatives seem fun!” 

The entire concept of frills was revolutionary to her, apparently, and she hasn’t stopped doing that since she figured out how to. She’s already picked apart her usual clothes, transforming it into a sleeved sweater, and making for herself a long, elegant skirt. 

“Fluffy!” Luffy yells, jumping into the pile of clothes. 

Chopper joins him immediately, “it’s so fluffy!” 

“Stop it, you’re going to dirty it!” Sanji yells. “Though it’s not like I don’t understand the feeling but still .”

 


 

“Island! Island! First island in a long whillleee!” Luffy cheers, ignoring everyone to be enthusiastic with Chopper and Suu and Kinoko. Anne was also there watching the distance in anticipation, already packed with her easel and painting supplies, already eager to go and run around. 

Robin climbs down from the crow’s nest, also getting ready to alight. Suu is by her side, bringing a cowboy hat for her from the assortment in the girls’ room. She hadn’t been planning on wearing one, but since Suu had been so kind to fetch it, Robin decides she’ll don it today.

“I wonder what we’ll find!” 

“Well, first we’ll have to actually get to the island,” Usopp says, walking stick in hand. He was going to have to go with the younger ones as a chaperone. Lifting his head, “oh look! We can see it now!” 

All of the crew whirl around at once– to be abruptly engulfed by a cloud of thick, unimaginably condensed fog. 

“...yeah,” Usopp says, Kinoko cawing at his shoulder, equally dry. “How many of you fell for that? If I had a beri for every time this happens, I swear…” 

“Usopp, the distance between my knee and your skull is a fine line called my rational thinking,” Sanji warns, his voice quiet. “Don’t test it.”

“I deeply apologize. Please don’t kill me.”

Meanwhile, Conis side-eyes Robin. “Uhm… is this normal?”

Robin has to say, with much disappointment, “unfortunately, yes.” 

Wyper grimaces. “The Blue Sea is fucking weird.”

 


 

“LAANDD!” 

“It’s a lawn! So much grass! GRASSSS!” 

“A prairie!” 

It might be pretty stupid to be so enthusiastic over some grass, but well– with such a wide-open field of just emptiness, it was pretty refreshing. Much easier to look at than a dense oversized jungle or a stifling Marine fortress with artillery. 

“Huh? You’re out of jackets already?” Sanji looks toward Gin, who comes out in a puffer vest that was vaguely in his usual colour scheme. “I thought you had like, more than one.”

“I had two and they’re both ruined,” Gin grumbles. 

“...so whose closet did you steal that one from?” 

“Eh, surprisingly, Luffy’s. Nami’s put some stuff in there that he never wears, since Luffy apparently only likes that one specific red one.”

“What?! You mean that shitty rubber could’ve been fashionable if he wore literally anything else in his closet?!” 

Wyper lands on the ground– the ground is hard, solid, and his feet hurt when they meet the ground, a strain on his ankles he’s not used to. No wonder Nami and Robin used the rope ladder to get down, now and just now form the crow’s nest as well. There’s no cloud, and humans can’t slightly glide since they have no wings, so

…and then Wyper immediately lunges over to where Conis was leaping down and barely manages to snatch her out of the air in some semblance of being collected into his arms. Conis has no idea that she should not jump straight down– so of course, that’s exactly what she did. In her heels and all. 

Wyper fumbles and, in his attempt to not land on Conis, skids and scrapes his elbows and then his face as he slides across the lawn trying to stop his own momentum. 

Needless to say, Sanji, Gin, and Zoro are all baffled and horrified to see that happen. 

“What the fuck, Wyper?”

“Holy shit that’s lame.”

“Shut up!” Wyper yells. He’d only saved her because he didn’t have time to warn her instead. “What the fuck is wrong here, the ground is rough!”  

“Gravity's a little stronger down here,” Sanji says. “But good going, brute!” a thumbs up, “not a scratch on the lady! Amazing!”  

“Shut the fuck up.”

Conis was still baffled, much too surprised by what just happened to truly register it, but she knows she has to get up quickly, so she gets on her feet, flustered, “I- I’m sorry, Wyper! I forgot that Vearth isn’t safe to land on from heights…” 

Wyper cringes at his elbows, friction burned, and his face was scratched, too. This was embarrassing, but it was still insanely– off-putting. Vearth was holy– and yet, Vearth had hurt him. He didn’t know Vearth, a structural, inanimate thing, could cause injury like this. 

“You two, come on,” Nami comes up to them with a deep sigh. “Seriously,” her smile is fond, “let’s treat that before it gets infected.”

Wyper huffs, “what, this? It’s fine to just leave it.”

“No no, absolutely not,” Conis insists. “I have been learning from Chopper! And he has said that all wounds on the Blue Sea must be disinfected!”  

Wyper groans. 

 

Zoro drops the anchor, looking around as Suu watches him do the work, diligent and learning in patience. 

Robin carefully alights from the ship, taking in the scenery with mild interest. It didn’t look like there were citizens on this island– so was it uninhabited?

Gin looks around, noting that Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, Anne, and Kinoko were already far gone. A little too far to be easily seen, even in this incredibly emptily vast distance. 

“They better not get lost now,” he says. 

“So, Nami-swan,” Sanji turns to the lady, “what are we supposed to expect on this island?”

Nami chuckles at that. “Well… what’s the fun in it if I spoil it?” 

 


 

Anne went ahead– but she was just as baffled when she brought the others over to look at the oversized… creature that was passing by. She points frantically toward it, frazzled by the sight. It didn’t even seem to notice her. 

Even Chopper didn’t quite know how to deem this– after a long, baffled reflection, he comes to the conclusion that it is a: “...human?”

To which Luffy immediately refutes it, “no way! No human’s this hairy, that’s a bear! A bear!” 

“A beeeear, actually,” Usopp says, patting Anne on the head when she runs over to his side for answers. Chopper was also hiding behind him (in his usual not-hiding way), and Luffy had made his way directly behind Usopp just for the sake of collective unity or something. Kinoko, however, was somewhere distantly overhead. 

“You just said it longer!” 

“Well, yeah, that’s how things work here on this iiiiislaaaand.” 

“Huh?” Chopper asks. 

“Huuuuuh?” Luffy repeats. 

“Ugh,” Anne grimaces. 

“You mean uuuuuuugh,” Luffy corrects. Anne grimaces harder. 

“I feel like I’m elongating too, the more this conversation goes,” Chopper groans, holding his head. “What is wrong with this island?”

“Iiiiiislaaaand,” Luffy and Usopp say at once. 

“At this point I just think you’re making this up to mess with me!” Chopper whines, covering his ears. 

“Oh look,” Usopp says, “a shed.” 

“A sheeeeed you mean,” Luffy says, then balks, “hold on, you can’t see! And where?!”

 

But before Usopp could answer, there was a scream in the distance, followed by a much more distant, long, and very muffled scream. 

They all turn in a somewhat vaguely upward direction as something begins to– well, probably– fall from an indescribable height. 

 

“What’s that?” Luffy asks, he couldn’t even see what it was. 

“It’s Kinoko,” Chopper says. Then, after a moment, he says, “well, it’s hard to tell but her screaming goes something like this,” he clears his throat– and then, starts screeching in all the panic of a flock of birds at the rapture, “creature! Disgusting cretin! Why was it there! This is not a horror movie! AAAHH! Imbecile! Human faces should not be a hundred feet in the airrrrrrrr!! …and I don’t know how to translate the rest of the profanity.” 

Usopp nods. Fair. She probably crashed into Tonjit’s face, as she always does with any face in the general vicinity when she’s not focused, and well– looks like Tonjit’s falling out of those stilts instead of being helped down again. Sorry dude, hope you don’t die this time either.

Anne however, points out, “...is she okay?”

“No,” Chopper says. “I might have to prescribe hypertension medicine for her soon.” 

It takes a very long time, but eventually, it smacks to the ground in a very injured, hopefully not dead heap. And Kinoko was with it, foaming at the beak, unconscious. 

 


 

They have met Tonjit, the man who lived ten years on a stilt because he was too afraid to get back down.

“So like a cat?” Anne asks. 

“Well, that’s a cute way to think about it.” 

They refuse to eat his gift of blue cheese, reunite him with his hoooorse, and find duuuucks, daaaaschuuuunds, and whatever that sideways-stretched snow leopard thing was. 

Anne paints outside the house while Tonjit explains how the island’s tides rise and fall drastically every three years, as well as how that ties into the nomadic migration culture for the citizens. 

“But won’t you be lonely here?” Chopper says, carefully placing the ice pack over KInoko’s head. “You’ll be all alone until they cross over here again– that’s twenty years!” 

“Haha! It’ll be half the time if I go with Sherry!” Tonjit assures. “But it’s alright. I’ve waited ten years– what’s a little longer, right?”

Luffy stills at that, but he doesn’t say a thing to it. 

Usopp feels the falter in his voice– but he doesn’t find an opportunity to address it, because now it was time for Tonjit and Sherry to have a proper reunion outside. They watch as they gallop majestically across the plains, oddly graceful. 

 


 

Minutes before arriving at Long Ring Long Land, Usopp and Nami were discussing the matter in the galley. Briefly this time, since there wasn’t much to really talk about on this island that they really cared for.

“So, Luffy accepted the challenge in the first place as revenge for Sherry, right?” Nami says, “well, it’s not like we could just turn down a Davy Back challenge either way. Pride and all.”

Davy Back Fights were serious business in the pirate world. You don’t just refuse an upfront challenge in the name of Davy Jones– it’s a sign of immense cowardice. Davy Back was a carnival, a celebration, and a festival. It was a show of power. To refuse would be to hide and to be ashamed of your own crew.

(This was especially so because their opponent was Foxy. It really wouldn’t do good if the Strawhat name was smeared over with unfounded rumours. Sure, our crew wouldn’t care– but in the realm of pirates and prestige, to be desecrated in the name of Davy Jones just isn’t something you could brush off.) 

“Yeah, but the motivation’s important,” Usopp says. “I know you don’t like it when we keep things unnecessarily the same, but Luffy’s whole motivation for fighting was to get even. There’s nothing to get even if there was never conflict to begin with. Sherry will be fine in the end– it’s no big deal.”

“No big deal– she’s getting shot ,” Nami says, snorting, aghast at the suggestion. “Look, motivation and all that– it’s a small matter in the bigger picture of things, I’m sure it’ll all work out either way,” she says. “Protect Sherry, alright? She’s such a dear thing. I’m sure you understand, a gunshot’s not a good thing for animals like her, especially at her age.”

But Nami’s not thinking about the future. 

If she keeps protecting them like this, would they still learn the lessons from before? Luffy learned from his mistakes and learned to protect his comrades. Chopper learned to live upright, as his own, and in respect of his captain.

Not everything has to be changed.

“...well,” Usopp hesitates a little at that, “I’ll try.”

 


 

When the gunshot came, Usopp did nothing to stop it.

Chapter 74: donut race (it's all about the loopholes)

Summary:

The Davy Back Fight begins with the Donut Race. Rules are stretched, laws and pulled apart, and a whole bout of traumatizing violence is dished out.

Unfortunately, that's not enough.

Chapter Text

Usopp doesn’t see Luffy or Chopper’s reaction when Sherry gets shot. 

It’s pure horror– and Luffy whirls around, fearful, as Chopper runs immediately forward. Luffy stays firmly in his spot, looking around for the shooter, alarmed for another– and Chopper is so flustered, he doesn’t even consider the aspect of himself getting in range for another shot. Anne follows him, spear in hand, just in case. 

Usopp doesn’t see it all. 

But Anne sees the way Usopp looks– dull, unsurprised, and unmoving– and she lingers, plagued with confusion.  

 


 

“A Davy Back Fight?!” Gin exclaims. 

They were surrounded– Foxy’s bigger galleon anchors with the Merry between them– and, horrifyingly enough, it’s bigger than any ship Wyper has ever seen, and it dwarfs the Merry by a staggering ratio. 

“Huh? If it’s a fight, we’re not going to turn it down,” Zoro mutters. “Luffy wouldn’t.”

“Idiot, it’s not just a fight,” Sanji says, “you’ve never heard of it before? It’s a gambling game played between pirates– it’s a duel of pride.”

“Ah… I’m sorry,” Conis says, “I’ve… never heard of it before either.” And Suu murmured in agreement. 

“No no, you’re fine,” Sanji fumbles to assure her, “you don’t get pirates often up on the White Sea. Totally makes sense.” 

“What is this, war?” Wyper questions. He doesn’t have his bazooka or any weapons, since Nami forbade it for now, but he was certainly itching for something to hold. 

“Why is it always war or not with you?” Zoro groans. “Is there no inbetween?”

“It’s a festival,” Sanji says, “fighting. Gambling. It’s like war– but there are rules and only limited people play. And whatever the result is, you can’t refute it.”

“What? That’s stupid!” Wyper snaps. 

“Not just that– you don’t wager gold or currency– you’re wagering crewmembers!” Gin says, hissing sharply. Conis gasps at that. For a crew as small and tight-knit as this one– just losing one could horribly shatter the balance of their synergy, and Gin knew that better than anyone. “This is bad. Luffy better not agree!” 

“Huh? You’ve got that backwards,” Zoro says, “of course he should agree. We’re no cowards.”

“That is not the problem!” 

“What, did you lose all your pride after joining our crew?”

Gin groans. “For fuck’s sake…”

Wyper and Conis have never heard of it before– but that was fair. They’ve barely been in the Blue Sea for a week. 

“The Davy Back…” Robin considers, “it’s rumoured to have originated from an island known as the pirates’ paradise. It’s a way for pirates to fight over pirates, and has been, historically, the most efficient way pirates have acquired greater men in their ranks.” 

“Wha– hold on,” Gin whirls around, “Nami! You knew this was going to happen!” 

Robin glances over, curious. She was the only one to not yet know of the time travelling. 

Nami raises her hands, “even if I didn’t, these guys have obviously been tailing us from the moment we entered the island’s climate,” she defends. “And you know, Gin, better than anyone– that the Davy Back isn’t something anyone can just turn down.”

Gin curses. “Yes, I know…” 

He’s participated in plenty and won plenty of crew members in the Krieg Pirates, just like this. This wasn’t just an elaborate scouting festival, this was a battle of pride. It’s how Don Krieg got so famous in the East Blue in such little time. 

 

“Haha! That’s the Burglar Cat and Man-Demon! They look as intimidating as their bounty posters!” one of the Foxy Pirates exclaims, excited. 

“Hi sir and miss! Can I have your autograph please?!”

“Ohhh, Miss Burglar Cat! Your arm looks awesome! Is that a new model?!?”

And– well, suddenly, the tension was just gone. Nami and Gin look over, slightly baffled, while the rest of the crew stare, stunned and wide-eyed, as a few members alight form the ship, their weapons sheathed and tucked away, only holding papers and boards, looking for friendly attention. 

“Holy shit is that the Demon Child?!? Lady I’m your biggest fan!” 

Robin, in a rare show of genuine emotion, cringes away from the overexcited short old lady. Suddenly there was a legion of people coming at her, and as more people recognize her, they turned into a frenzy. 

“Ma’am! I'm from West Blue! You’re my hero!” 

“I want to know what kinds of insanity you did to get that crazy bounty at age eight! Please, you’re my aspiration!” 

“Uh,” Robin’s at a loss for words, and that’s certainly something. 

Nami glances over, just in case she needed help, but Robin escapes the crowd first, tucking herself behind Wyper, who does a marvellous job of just standing and glaring in his confusion. Everyone stayed away pretty quickly after that. 

People were flocking to Conis, too, because “an angel! It’s an angel! Oh my god it’s an angel!” but thankfully enough, Sanji had his lady protection sensors on. 

“Away! From! The lady! You HEATHENS!”

Needless to say, they all kept their distance after that. There was a line of ‘hey, our boundaries’, but that didn’t stop the crowd from bombarding them with heaps of sparkly-eyed questions

 

“Is it true that you guys caused the legendary execution platform destruction incident?!”

“Is your captain really a deity in human form??” 

“Did you guys really incite the Holy Splash War in marineford?!”

“Please sign this! Please! I’ll make it my family heirloom! It’s my brother’s dream to meet you guys in the flesh!” 

(What in the world?)

And while Gin and Nami back away slightly too taken aback by what they were seeing– Wyper and Conis stare, slack-jawed. 

“Uh, yeah,” Sanji says. “I kinda figured from the stuff in Navarone, but for some fucking reason, we’re kinda famous?”

“No no, this is way worse than before!” Zoro hisses, “I thought it was only the platform incident. What shit happened while we were in the sky to make things turn out like this?!”

“I don’t want to know,” Gin mutters. Then, in all the resigned seriousness of someone about to head into war, he turns to the crew. “But first thing’s first… we need to hide our fox.” 

“...huh?”

Just then, Suu peaks her head out of the Merry, curious about what’s going on outside. 

All movement on the Sexy Foxy halts . Then– in an explosive instant:

“THEY HAVE A FOX! I REPEAT! THEY HAVE A FOX!”

“CALL THE CAPTAIN IMMEDIATELY!”

“EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! THEY HAVE. A. FOX!”

“IT’S SO SMALLLLLLL!!!” 

 


 

Chopper had managed to get the bullet out and prevent any lasting damage, but it’s really Kinoko that helps ease her through the operation, soft feathers gently caressing the side of Sherry’s head, soft chitters soothing them through a conversation no one but themselves could understand. 

Anne stands poised for battle, wary of the figures that approach them, and Luffy antagonizes them, directly. 

It’s only Usopp that strangely does little, staying still in his spot, his walking stick before him, not prepared to take any steps forward. 

But Chopper didn’t have time to worry about that. 

Chopper wraps up the wound as Foxy lays out his challenges. He’s wary– but Usopp wasn’t saying anything to it. Chopper doesn’t understand anything about the Davy Back, and neither does Anne– but since Usopp wasn’t refuting it– surely, it was fine, right?

“You know, are you a guide bird or a therapy bird? No seriously I need to know,” Chopper turns to the bird, squinting in skepticism. “Like, seriously, what are your skills? Who trained you? Are you qualified to help me with my doctor duties?”

Kinoko’s answers to each of them are a snobby ‘yeah, yeah’, and ‘who would help you? I’m offering my graces is what I’m doing, peasant!’ 

Either way, Chopper has realized that Kinoko is pleasant to talk to as long as you’re not directly talking to her. 

 


 

Luffy accepted the challenge– and in perfect Foxy fashion, they set up the carnival. 

Anne runs about everywhere with Chopper and Luffy, splurging on overpriced food and festival games. Conis follows along, enjoying the Blue Sea carnival with all the fascination of a child who had found a paradise of sweets. 

And that really wasn’t far from the truth. 

“You’re not going to go?” Nami turns to Wyper, who scoffs. 

“This is childish. All the fanfare is just going to alert the–” he thinks for a second, “Marines?” Nami nods at that. Yes, the Marines are our police force, “of our location. It’s a waste of energy.”

“You’re so uptight for no reason,” Gin mutters, watching Anne go from one end to the other, and then setting up her easel because she realized that she, too, can sell overpriced products here if she makes a stall. No selling permit required. 

Well, this was also Anne’s first time really being able to enjoy something like this, so he begrudgingly accepted the situation. 

Nothing he could do now that Luffy took the challenge, after all. 

“This is one huge crew,” Zoro looks around. It was impossible to even count them. “The huge ship makes sense now.”

Robin, meanwhile, was sitting down at the side with Suu in her lap, the fox curled up and terrified. The whole legion of Foxy pirates had chased her down begging for one touch of her fur and now she was traumatised. Robin, and a very resting-bitch-faced Wyper was keeping the hoodlums away from trying again. 

Nami hums a random tune in her throat as she heads around the festival, haggling things down to get fair prices. She also makes sure Anne sells her portraits for as expensive as unreasonably reasonable, because of course she does. 

“Conis-swaaan, here’s cotton candy!” Sanji sings, sauntering around with two sticks of cotton candy in his hands.

“Cotton candy?” she asks, taking it curiously.

“It’s the bestest thing in the world!” Chopper says, squealing excitedly, eyes glittering. “Where’d you get it?!”

“From over there, but you can take this one,” Sanji points toward the machine, handing Chopper one of them, “Nami-swan haggled an extra for us.”

“YAyy! Thanks, Sanji!” 

“Chopper, they’ve got Yakisoba!” 

“Really?!” 

“Uhm,” Usopp walks up to them after Luffy and Chopper speed off to the next corner. He’s pulling a wagon full of toys and trinkets. “Sanji, I accidentally won everything at the shooting booth. What do I do with all this?” 

“What the– HOW?!”

“Usopp, that isn’t physically possible! Stop breaking your own blindness rules!”

 


 

The opening ceremony starts off with a bang

“Sorry, Nami,” Usopp comes up to the navigator, who was basking in lame festival trinkets and heaps of cash made from selling overpriced caricatures. “I didn’t protect Sherry.”

“Ah, that?” Nami turns over, chuckling. “It’s fine! I’m sure if you couldn’t do it, there were probably some extenuating circumstances.” 

Usopp doesn’t respond to that. 

Nami smiles on, oblivious. She hadn’t been there both times, so it didn’t feel right to blame Usopp for something that was out of his control. “At least we’re making the most of the situation, right?”

Usopp chortles. “ You surely are, you thief!”

Anne glances aside curiously– but she doesn’t say a thing. Zoro notices the unreadable look she sends them– and his brows narrow as well. 

Something was off. He just didn’t know what yet. 

“We now declare the three clauses of victory!” Porche announces. The Strawhats have no idea when Luffy made his way up to the stage with Kinoko on his head and Yakisoba in his hands, but well, that’s fair. “First! Crew members or flag captured during the Davy back Fight may not be recaptured other than through said game! Second, captured members must swear allegiance to the opponent captain immediately! And finally! A stolen flag may never be displayed again!” 

“So we force someone on our crew and they must immediately change sides?” Wyper says, looking over the fuss with a grimace. “That’s repulsive.”

“That’s how it works down here,” Gin says. “Sure it might seem pretty stupid to you, since it just seems like we’re not as loyal.. But this is preferable to fighting huge crew wars.” 

“Especially with bigger, stronger crews– you don’t want to lose large numbers at once. Wars are no good for anyone, so Davy Backs became the tradition if only to keep order on the ocean,” Sanji says. 

“Hehh, there’s a history like that?” Anne speaks up. 

Robin hums, flipping through a detailed logbook on this. Nami found and bought it from one of the small flea market areas in the corner of the carnival. 

“All who disobey these laws are sentenced to Davy Jones’ Locker as a disgrace to all piratekind!” Porche declare. “Do our participants swear to these clauses?”

“I swear,” Foxy grins. 

“I swear!” Luffy echoes. 

Three coins go into the air, whirling into the light. The decree goes into the sky, and down into the waters, a promise made in the presence and in the name of the sea’s greatest prominence.. 

“...Davy Jones?” Chopper questions, and Conis echoes it a moment later. 

Robin smiles, “it’s a pirate from long ago. It’s said he was cursed and now lives deep down on the seafloor,” she says. 

“So he’s a Blue Sea Legend?” Wyper questions, leaning over a little more. 

“Sunken ships, treasures, people... All that sinks in the sea falls into his grasp,” Sanji says, tapping away the ash of his cigarette. “His locker, if you may. He keeps everything he gets, so when pirates take whatever they want from their enemies, it’s called a ‘Davy Back’.” 

“Is he strong?” Wyper asks. 

Everyone stares at him, baffled. Then, “if you want to fight him, you gotta first learn how to swim, Wyper.”

He bristles, “I’m working on it!” 

“Hey, you guys,” one of Foxy’s men comes over with a list, “do you guys know the traditional rules or do we need to give you a rundown? Either way, once you decide your members you can’t change them, so pass them in to our emcee ASAP, alright?”

“Got it,” Nami takes the paper. “Geez, a flimsy registration like this makes it feel like marine sports tournament day instead of a crew to crew Davy Back Fight.”

“...shit, no wonder this feels familiar,” Zoro mutters. 

Nami glances over warily. “You know. I don’t know how to feel about the fact that you and I are the only ones that have ever been to anything in the semblance of a school.” And last time around, it was literally only him. Of all people. 

Gin peruses the events, since he had the most experience. 

“Race, Ball Game, and Battle,” he says. 

“I want the battle! I’m gonna fight!” Luffy says. He’d returned after the opening ceremony ended, Kinoko still on his head because apparently she’s an accessory. 

“Huh? No, I’m going to,” Zoro says. 

“No no, leave it to me! I’m all for it now!” Sanji insists. 

“I will,” Wyper says, firmly. 

Gin takes one look at them and rolls his eyes. “The battle round is pretty standard,” he says. “I usually go for the Krieg Pirates, since I’m the best fighter aside from the Don…” 

“No, I wanna go!” the group was still fighting, shoving faces and arms and legs aside to get closer to Gin just to insist louder. 

Gin sighs. “But that was Krieg Pirates, and the Don himself usually doesn’t participate in our case. But it’s tradition to leave the battle to the captain. Should we do that?”

“Yes! YES!” 

“No!” 

“Ugh, I said I’m doing it!” 

Gin ignores them in favour of the others. “The race probably won’t be simple. We’ll want the smart ones in round one and our other fighters for the ballgame, since it’ll be skill-based.”

Nami hums, impressed. 

Leave it to their most experienced to actually lay that out for them. Well, they kind of did that last time around, too, so it wasn’t rocket science or anything– but it was nice to have another person around willing to organize their resources in order like this. 

 

“Six people can join in the first round, and for the ball game, we get three members and a substitute,” Robin reads from the small print of the registration form. “So including the battle portion, eleven people can participate.”

“I am entirely confident they planned this around our number of members,” Nami grimaces, “one member can only participate once, too.” 

“That just means they’re used to this,” Zoro says. “How often do they even get in these fights?”

“We came across one of their victims’ ships before we got here, didn’t we?” Usopp says, “I’d say the Davy Back’s their daily thing. Seems like they’d earn a good income on just these carnivals they’re so good at setting up.”

“Yeah, the carnival reeks of insane expertise on their part.”

“Do Kinoko and Suu count as extra members?” Chopper asks, “they’re curious.”

They all go quiet for a long moment. 

Then, “Robin, are you done reading that rule book yet?”

“No, but genuine question…” Robin looks up from the book, “do we classify Suu and Kinoko as ship pets? Is Chopper a ship pet?”

And so began chaos.

“I AM NOT A PET!” 

Suu screeches something. Kinoko also shrieks something. No one can understand anything they’re saying, because Chopper also starts yelling something incoherent to human ears and it all just becomes a whole heap of absolutely nothing. 

“If we’re going to call me a pet, Merry’s also a pet!” 

“Merry’s a ship! She’s a ship ! A ship isn’t a pet!” 

“If a job makes her not a pet then I’m a doctor! A doctor can’t be a pet!” 

“If we’re going by animal features then Wyper and Conis are pets, too!” 

“EXCUSE ME?!”

“If we’re going by animalistic tendencies, Luffy fits the bill.”

“Sanji, I know you always snag him under giant mouse traps, but no .”

“Oh, my bad.” 

“Hey, would that mouse onboard technically be our pet?”

“There’s a mouse onboard?!?”

 


 

Needless to say, the Strawhats have put the whole debacle behind them, and by behind them they mean shoved aside to the corner of an everlasting debate that will never end of course they just have priorities for now, and focus on the race. 

“Uhm. Mister Cook, no offense, you look charming today, but what’s with the sign?”

The Foxy Pirates have started paying attention to the crew now. They had time to go back to their ship and really get geared up for their island venture, and that, unfortunately, includes Sanji getting shoved with the sign of shame. 

“Team uniforms!” Luffy declares, way too many wristbands on his hands. 

Sanji stares annoyedly at the ‘I asked god to light my cigarette’ on his board and mutters an indistinct curse. Zoro also stares down at his ‘I tried to bleach the fox’ board and wonders why that was the problem over everything else. 

“Stupidity is punished in our crew,” Nami says, as a matter of fact. 

The Foxy Pirates all balk. “That’s terrifying.”

Behind her, Wyper is currently trying to build their raft with the barrels, completely lost on what kind of ship can float on the Blue Sea and being completely unaccepting of physics because it doesn’t make sense. 

“Why can’t I just stack them up?! A solid structure is best, right?”

“Yes, but if you don’t balance the weight and leverage and— well, the thing is, it’ll sink when a human goes on it, alright?”

Usopp was trying hard to explain applied shipbuilding physics to a complete newbie, and seeing as he only knows it by instinct and testing as well, he has no idea where to even begin. 

“Let’s put Breath Dials under and around it,” Anne suggests. 

“That’s a good idea, but the condition was that we can only use the wood to build the boat,” Nami hums, “how about we make a wagon instead and just have Wyper drag it around with the Waver Skates?” 

“At that point, how about we just use the waver instead?” 

“No no, technically if we use the waver, they would consider the waver as part of the boat, and then they’d disqualify us for using parts other than the wood, right?”

“But it won’t be like that for the Waver Skates?”

“Well, for the Waver Skates, I can argue that it’s just shoes. You wouldn’t tell me to take off my jacket or my arm, right?”

“Ah… I see.” 

“When you think of trying to subvert rules, you gotta think in their perspective. Even if the perspective is from a dumb buffoon. Understanding your enemies is important.”

Usopp and Wyper look over warily. Slowly but surely, Nami was gently teaching Anne the intricacies of going around technicalities in the rulebook. He’s very afraid. 

 


 

Two teams of three each, so first up was Nami, Robin, and Conis, with a makeshift boat clumsily crafted by Usopp and put together with all the clumsy Waver expertise of Conis, so it was at least more structured than just a set of cut barrels. 

“First up from the Strawhat Team is ship Navigator, girl with a metal arm, Whitebeard’s daughter and a girl of various swindling feats– Burglar Cat NAAAAMIII!!” 

All things considered, Itomimizu was having fun there. 

At least he was hyping them up well, but Nami had a feeling she sacrificed something to get this treatment. It started with an S and rhymed with vanity, but heh, if she can’t recall it right now maybe it doesn’t matter.

“In her team is the archaeologist, our queen and lady of worship, Robin! And then there’s Seamstress Conis, a literal angel descended from heaven!!” 

The crowd roars. Conis flushes bright red at that. “Wha– what?!” 

Robin is starting to look insanely uncomfortable. She’s not even looking in the direction of the crowd, where the rest of the crew (namely Luffy, Chopper, and Sanji) were trying their best to be louder than a hundred people.

“Hey!” Nami yells, “if you’re going to say that, I’m gonna pay you for looking! Eye candy don’t come cheap, y’know!” 

“She’s going to bill us for feasting our eyes on her divine beauty?!? She’s a demon! She’s more worthy of the moniker than the demon child!” 

Right away, Itomimizu is wrapped by a dozen arms, one snatching away his microphone, another, twisting his ears, and the last stretching out his cheeks painfully. 

“OW OWH GIB! I GIV! SPARE MEH! I’LL B’QUIET!” 

Anyways, now that the debacle was over, Itomimizu nurses his numb cheeks and retrieves his microphone bird buddy. 

“And alright, their boat is the Barrel Tiger: Conis helped me this time edition!” 

For the extensively long introduction that was absolutely not necessary, their boat was quite unimpressive. Usopp was the one that made it again, with Conis’ limited expertise in it from helping her father around with Wavers every once in a while. 

At least it looked like a proper vessel this time, rather than a layout of tied-together half-barrels. Conis was good at building boat shapes with scrap wood, as if she were making defined piece models, so all it took was Usopp breaking them down for her, reinforcing them after she was done, and making sure it floated in the end.

“How do I work this?” Robin asks, pointing toward the propeller rudder Usopp had made of wood and attached to a hand crank. 

“With the power of gears and manual labour, or really, just the autospin of my Clima Tact at full mania,” Nami says. “It’s better than rowing, right?”

“I’m not sure…” Robin deems, “the boat is rather barrel-shaped, so I hope we don’t accidentally flip over and drown.” 

Conis squeaks, “that can happen?!”

Nami fumbles to reassure her. “No no, I’m sure we’d end up trapping an air bubble as well. We’ll be safe, don’t worry!” Then she turns an incredulous look at Robin. “Don’t scare her!”

“You’re right, but since Miss Seamstress and I cannot swim, we will sink. And your weakness in your arm’s weight is that you must perpetually be in motion in the water, so you cannot stay buoyant long in spot as well,” Robin says. “Thus, unless you can…” 

Nami is frantically covering a hysterical Conis’ ears. “STOP scaring her! Now I’m getting scared too!”  

 

“AAAAND Coming up beside them is Strawhat B Team! Featuring Technician Wyper and Quartermaster, Man-Demon Gin! They scare the everloving shit out of us, so thank the seas I’m over here instead of there!” 

Grinding their teeth, Gin and Wyper sail up beside the Barrel Tiger, Wyper skidding by on his skates and Gin sitting largely on the fragile barrel structure. The boat was shaped in some semblance of a throne, not by design, and Gin took up most of it with his limbs set out evenly– glaring forward. 

That was also not by design. It’s just that Gin’s very specific sitting position is the only way the boat can stay afloat with his weight. (And also he’s kind of manually holding the bigger pieces together with all his strength so–) If he moves even a centimetre they’re toppling over. His glare is there because he’s getting cramps. 

“Fucking kill me,” he mutters, once the other ship is within earshot. 

“Oh really? I’ll do you a fucking favour,” Wyper mutters. He’s holding onto the handle– the best-made thing on the entire raft, really– and apparently, he’s supposed to drag this ship forward like a man-powered pull cart.

“I’ll fucking kill you next. Drag you down into the sea hope you fucking drown.”

“I’ll do it first, don’t try me.”

“I can swim , unlike you.”

Anne, seated very comfortably on Gin’s lap because there’s really nowhere else, simply waves at the crowd and enjoys the scenery.

“With them is the adorable little Scout, Painter, she can be whatever she wants to be! It’s Miss Goldenweek!” 

“It’s just Anne,” she mutters. “Can’t they change my bounty poster already?” 

“Do we really need that introduction?” Gin grumbles, cursing again. 

“Deal with it,” Nami says. “And uh… yeah. Wyper is definitely not a shipwright. What on earth did you guys ever do to the three barrels? This is worse than at least it floats because this isn’t even in one piece.”

“And their boat is the Fuck you Mobile!” 

“Who allowed you to name that??” 

“...y’know, it’s actually pretty appropriate,” Sanji says.

“We didn’t!” Gin insisted, “this shithead Bastard Angel was picking a fight and–” 

“You were the one picking a fight! Why the fuck am I the one forced to drag your ass around anyway!? I can do this alone!”

“I have to do this uncomfortable shit because you couldn’t even make a fucking functional RAFT!” 

“The Blue Sea is fucking weird!” 

Luffy would be better at this shit than you!” 

“Gin and Wyper said ‘fuck you’ when we were asked, so I just added ‘mobile’ at the end and they just accepted it,” Anne explains, like the two weren’t trying to murder each other over her head. 

Nami was going to stop asking. 

Robin looks away, deciding to pretend she doesn’t know them, and Conis was meekly approaching them, looking on with worry. Gin and Wyper were still arguing like children.

 

At the shores, Sanji and Zoro watch on, grimacing. 

“How do I say this… I have little hope,” Sanji mutters. 

“How’d the witch even get them to approve of us literally using wavers?” Zoro grumbles.

“Lack of technological understanding and lots of padded vocabulary,” Chopper says.

“So just very fluent bullshit,” Sanji nods sagely. 

“Better than the other team, they have a literal shark pulling their wagon,” Zoro says. “How the actual fuck is that legal?”

“...well, I guess Nami had the right idea in stretching the rules, then.”

“We’re expecting Wyper to compete against a shark…” Chopper says, a little confused. “And no one is even doubting him…? Am I the weird one here?”

“Go all out, you guys!” Luffy cheers, mouthful of food and all the enthusiasm in the world. “Wiiiiiin!”

Beside him, Suu echoes the sentiment loudly.

Usopp, however, was gearing up for battle, slowly rolling his Kabuto to form and making sure Kinoko was on his head before murmuring something too soft for people around him to hear. When he started making his way out of the crowd, Luffy noticed first. 

“Where’ya going?” Luffy asks.

“Ah Luffy, good timing,” Usopp says, pointing in a random direction, “can you get me up on that tree?” 

“There’s no tree there, Usopp,” Zoro says. 

“What was I supposed to do, actually point at a tree?” Usopp says, exasperated, “geez, what do you guys think being blind entails?”

There’s a moment of baffled silence as the boys side-eyed each other.

“Usopp, your blindness is so inconsistent,” Chopper finally comes right out to say it.

“Yeah, is Kinosuke even doing her job?” Luffy adds. 

“Okay, fine,” Usopp mutters, pouting, pointing in another direction. “Get me up on that tree.”

Sanji whirls around, “so you do know where the trees are!” 

 


 

All things considered, being sandwiched between most of the Foxy Pirates at the started was not ideal, but well– Nami saw the harbour attack and the floodback of explosive barrels coming, so all she had to do was get her Gust Sword out and grin at Wyper. 

Wyper takes a moment– and then, “ah,” before leaning down and switching the gear on his dial to the maximum. 

“On your marks… ready. Set. DONUT!” 

Nami swings back, “GUST SWORD!” and Wyper speeds forward, Gin barely holding on with the most unmanly expression ever he will never admit to making it but– the sea behind them explodes, and they’re sent flying far into the air, leagues ahead of the crowd. 

“HOLY SHIT that was a big splash! Is everyone alri– WHAT?!” Itomimizu exclaims, horrified. The crowd at the harbour, all who had been geared with cannons and bombs– were all either sprawled over the ground or currently fighting the other Strawhats. “What’s this?! The people at the shore have all been knocked out?!?”

Sanji drills his foot into someone’s face while Zoro sternly observes the barrel of a cannon before deeming it useless and slicing it in half. Luffy was angrily yelling at someone who fired a cannon, because first of all how dare you, and Chopper was angrily running about trying to treat everyone because GUYS this is a festival, stop fighting them! And Suu was just running around, with a rope, tripping people. 

“Wow, there’s chaos back there,” Robin observes. 

Nami laughs, wide and hearty, as she affixes her Clima Tact to the hand-crank engine. Conis is gaping, wide-eyed– clutching the edges of the ship in great horror. 

“Focus, ladies!” Nami grins, bracing her fist. “Here’s where the real battle begins!” 

They splash against the waters, hard and dynamic, drenched all over. With the propeller at the back of their boat, they were already speeding forward with a gush of water flanking their sides, splashing roughly against their hull and sides with the help of their unique boat structure. 

It obscured their view a little– but Nami grins, nailing in her position at the rear of the boat, water on either side of her. Robin crosses her hands over her chest as the other Foxy boats catch up. 

And Conis?

Conis sets herself at the forefront of the boat, lifting a familiar-looking bazooka on her shoulders. 

Nami grins at all the other Foxy boats behind them. 

Simultaneously, they all swallowed nervously. 

“And now for today’s weather report!” Nami declares, looking out into the sun, her metal arm coming up to shield her eyes. “Around this island it’s sunny with a chance of fire-fueled lasers, the sea mother’s wrath, and unsolicited chiropractic malpractice. Well… whatever the case! If you value your life, stay out of the water!” 

All the Foxy pirates instantly pale. 

 


 

Sanji’s equally pale as Conis fires the bazooka, immediately throwing the ship back a mile with the recoil. She misses her target by a mile, because of aforementioned recoil, but well– it was probably for the better.

“Who gave Conis the death laser?” Sanji barely squeaks out. 

Zoro has his eyes fixed on Wyper’s group further out. “The same person that gave Anne that .”

Sanji looks over. “What?” 

 


 

Meanwhile, Wyper is skidding straight forward, keeping an eye on the shore as he slides hard corners. Grinding his teeth, he glares sternly at Monda the shark, and the shark glares right back, as they both drag their wagons far too fast for human endurance to deal with.

Porsche and Capote cling to each other for dear life, because fast as Monda was, it was rare for someone to actually challenge him at a neck-to-neck speed race, so they’ve never experienced overdrive speeds before. It’s stirred his competitive spirit and they’ve all completely forgotten about safety in the process. 

Meanwhile, Gin is literally clinging on with all the will to live of a man that just wants death. His hands cramp up, clutching two sides of their driftwood and holding them fiercely together even against the raging water pressure and velocity. The wood’s dented through with handprints, and his eyes are blown so wide he can’t spare a moment to even blink lest he lose focus. 

Anne sits on his lap, her neck craned up to stare at his expressions. Her own face is blank, and she turns back forward, enjoying the wind. 

Gin’s teeth are chattering, but Anne slowly understands the words coming out of the jitters. 

“I’m gonna fucking die gonne fucking DIE I willDIE I’m DYINGsaveme WE’re all going to– KILL YOU” and so on, incoherent all the way but incredibly passionate with an intense, raging bloodlust. 

Silently, she understands that Gin is going to murder them once they cross the finish line.

Oh well. The wind was nice. 

“Wha– well, we can’t just do nothing!” Porche finally composes herself enough to cling to the side of her wagon, looking in the Fuck You Mobile’s direction. She gapes at the sight behind her– flying laser beams that were going off-lane because Conis can’t aim right, disembodied arms and yowls of hell as bones cracked– and then the sea itself was whirling forward, swallowing ships one after another. 

It was the portrait of hell behind them. 

Porche stares for all of three baffled seconds before whirling back around. “I will avenge you, my comrades!” she sobs. 

“No, they’re not dead!” Itomimizu retorts, unheard by Porche. 

“Capote!” Porche declares, her baton poised before her. “Do your thing!” 

“Yeah!” the Fishman rises, arm raised, “Sea-Splitter!” 

Wyper curses as the sea shatters before his eyes, a lance of invisible force shooting toward them. There was nowhere to run, not when he’s dragging the cart– and at the momentum they were going– they couldn’t even avoid it in time. 

“Oooh! Capote’s Fishman karate is here! The surefire, will kill, terrifying sea-splitter! It’s destroyed much bigger ships before! Team Fuck You Mobile is in DAAANGER!” 

Gin immediately shouts. “ANNE!” 

Anne takes off her hat and tosses it to Gin’s lap. Then, balancing upon Gin’s shoulder bone and the handle of the wagon, she positions herself right in the center of the blast. 

Wyper whirls around, “what are you do–!!” his words cut off when they come right in the face of the Sea-splitter– and Anne simply, calmly, holds her hand forward. 

The force vanishes, enraptured into her palm, whirling together like dust to a vacuum. 

“Huh,” Anne says, looking rather impressed at the Impact Dial in her hands. “It works.”

“W-W-W WHAT DID SHE DOOOOO?!?” 

The horrified silence is shattered with disbelieving screams from all around. The Strawhats at the Crew cheer as loudly as they can. 

“That’s so coooool!!” Luffy and Usopp scream, already halfway impressed when Conis fired off the bazooka with gas-powered lasers so it didn’t take much more to bring them to sparkly-eyed tears. 

Sanji has his face in his palm. “Usopp, I fucking swear…” 

 

“This is impossible! What did she even?! How did that little lady–?!”

Porche’s slack-jawed. This was incredulous! There’s no way this was happening. “There’s no helping it!” she whirls her baton forward, desperate. “Flower Hypnosis!” 

“Shit!” Wyper hisses, “what is that light–?!”

“Wait a– Hypnosis?” Gin winces, closing his eyes, “don’t look at it! Anne!” he yells, when the girl just stares straight into the pink wave, with no attempt to deflect or avoid it. Wyper responds to that, covering his eyes immediately.

But in deference to all that– Anne just sighs. 

Gin stills, suddenly captured by a sudden sense of foreboding. That sigh, despite Anne’s usual undeterred demeanor– was filled with disappointment. 

(...Right. Anne’s a hypnotist, too.)

Anne tosses the Impact Dial into Gin’s lap. 

“Is that it?” she asks. 

Porche jumps. “Huh? It’s not– huh?”

Gin’s has a hand over his eyes. Wyper’s eyes are still behind his elbow, because he wasn’t sure if the pink hypnosis wave was gone. 

“Hey, Angel Bastard,” Gin says, “don’t open your eyes yet.”

Wyper peeks out of his arms. He sees Anne for all of one second before he obediently goes back to covering his eyes. 

“...Okay. But not because I’m listening to you.” 

Porche looks up just in time to see the promise of murder on Anne’s face as the little girl whips out an oversized paintbrush and raises it over her head. 

 


 

The entire crowd watches in flabbergasted horror as Anne decimates the Cutie Wagon, a huge blue splotch of Colours Trap painted over all of them, including the shark, who was floating half-dead on the water. 

Nami’s boat sails up to them, and Anne gives Nami a high five, handing her the Impact Dial before waving as she goes on ahead. Gin and Wyper both look too resigned to their fates to even bother saying anything. 

Conis seems to be saying a lot, brightly talking about her experience as she holds the burn bazooka like a pillow, her eyes sparkling in the hopes of doing it all again. Robin smiles behind them, a book in her lap as they sail on, nonchalant. 

“The girls in our crew terrify me,” Sanji says. 

“...Nami, that witch, she planned this, didn’t she?” Zoro says, aghast. 

They were headed toward a coral (cooooraaal?) zone that Itomimizu was talking up like some grand danger. There was even a whirlpool behind it, but Nami entered the zone with ease, and then soared over the water spout on an Impact Dial. 

Wyper’s ship followed behind them, attached by a string of Robin’s arms. 

They were leagues ahead of Porche’s boat– who, after Monda accidentally flipped over in his depression, managed to wash off the paint in the sea and figure out how to revive his other comrades. They were back in the running, but much too far to catch up. 

“Darn, they’re good,” the Foxy pirates couldn’t help but admit. “Miss Goldenweek took out all of them at once.” 

Luffy grins. He’s holding one of them by the hair, but he’s not beyond talking to them. “Right? Anne’s the best, right? GO TEAM!” 

Beside him, Chopper and Suu looked very smugly proud. “We haven’t lost a single team member! Though I’ll admit I was worried about Gin and Wyper for a second.” 

Sanji smiles. Well, they’ll definitely win now. 

Remembering something, he turns back, toward the nearest tree, where Usopp was carefully perched at the very top. 

“Speaking of which, what was Usopp so wary about, anyway?”

“Maybe he just can’t get down,” Zoro suggests. 

 


 

Foxy was headed toward the other end, ready to interfere. 

At least, he was trying until a rolled-up paper ball knocked him on the head. 

“What? Who?!”

There’s no one within a hundred meters of him. Hamburg stares at the paper ball, picking it up curiously. Where did it even come from?

Miffed, Foxy picks it up, flattening it to read the gorgeous note the heavens had bestowed upon him–

[STAY STILL, SPLIT HEAD BASTARD!]

Foxy takes nine hundred points of damage and goes crumpling in the corner, devastated. He sniffles, upset. “...Split Head?”

Hamburg fails to hold back laughter. 

“Ah, Boss, we’re going to miss the chance to set up traps,” he realizes. 

“Oh, right!” 

And they recover immediately– to immediately be socked over the head by a rubber hammer that came flying in from nowhere. 

“WHO’S THE DAREDEVIL?!” he shrieks, rising and bristling and– “there’s nothing around! Where are they hiding?! Don’t tell me– is it some invisibility Devil Fruit–” 

A wine cork bonks him in the center of the forehead, knocking him right off of Hamburg.

“I swear–!!” 

Seriously, what even was it? A sniper? It must be one of the Strawhats! That’s right, they had a bird, didn’t they? The bir adjust be drop-bombing him from somewhere–

“Wh- What’s this! Our leader, Boss Foxy, is being impeded by an unknown assailant!” Itomimizu draws attention to him, and Foxy abruptly remembers what he was here to do. 

Nami’s ship is streaming right by, and she spots Foxy in the distance, a single metal finger raised and pointed toward the man.

Beside her, Wyper stood on the boat, the Burn Bazooka on his shoulder. He seemed to be talking to Conis, slowly directing her on just how to control the aim and brace against the recoil in a way that doesn’t throw the trajectory off too much. 

Foxy stares. “They’re not gonna… right?”

Wyper pulls the trigger, a laser beam flits right past Foxy’s face, missing him by a shave. 

Very jittery, Foxy slowly turns around to see the Burn Bazooka take out a circus tent far behind him. He sees his life flash by. 

“No, no, aim better!” Nami hollers, a distance away. 

“Oh shut up, if you want a good aim, ask the blind guy!” Wyper grumbles. “I did better than Conis, at least!” 

“...am I the only one that thinks there’s a problem with that sentence?” Robin wonders to herself. 

Right then, something shoots down from the heavens, striking Foxy right in the back of the head, exploding on contact and knocking the man right out. 

In the distance, Usopp and Kinoko raise a thumbs up. Nami points one right back, not that Usopp could see anyway but the spirit was what mattered. 

“This is what you call teamwork , folks!” Nami declares, punching the air. “Viva the power of friendship!” 

“Power of friendship?” Wyper questions. 

“Usopp talked about it before,” Anne explains, “it’s the strongest magic in the universe and it has the ability to destroy continents in one breath.”

“What?! We have that kind of horrifying nuclear power?!”

Behind them, Gin groans into himself, the colour completely drained from his face.  “I’ve never been in such a miserable Davy Back fight before. I don’t even know how to feel.”

Robin hums. “I might have to agree.”

Conis is slightly flustered. “I- I’m sorry? Is that a bad thing?”

 

The group in the audience cheered loudly. “NAMI! NAMI! NAMI!” they cheer, between bites of food and mouthfuls of grog. “AND USOPP! USOPP! USOPP!” 

“This almost seems way too easy,” Zoro says, downing a tankful of beer, holding it out for the Foxy pirate to refill. 

Beside them, someone was trying to figure out what Chopper and Suu were, curiously offering them candy apples and choco-bananas, and celebrating in their little groups when the two animals ate it happily. Even further out, someone was trying to compete with Sanji in satisfying Luffy’s appetite, two hot plates side by side, making Yakisoba together at the speed of light while Luffy did the dance of anticipation for his incoming all-you-can-eat festa. 

“Don’t be so pessimistic, Mosshead! You’ll make the food taste bad!” Sanji yells over the noise. 

“What does that have to do with anything and are any of you even focusing on the race?!” Zoro yells, slamming his mug down. Now he was in no mood to drink. Ugh. With Usopp acting suspicious, Nami acting overconfident, and generally, everything to do including Merry’s condition– he just didn’t feel at ease enough to drink now. 

That sucked. The booze was good, too, what a waste.

“They’re gonna winnnn! Easy!” Luffy assures with a grin. 

Zoro hums, but he wasn’t so sure either. 

 


 

Yeah. Zoro’s bad feeling was right. 

“That was a stretch of the rules!” Itomimizu argues. “Interference from and between the crowd is fine, but you, a participant, cannot attack the audience!” 

“You didn’t say SHIT about that before we started!” 

“It was in the rulebook!” 

“You’re just pulling that out of your ass!” Nami yells back, “Robin’s been reading it and she doesn’t see any of that rule anywhere!” 

Beside her, Robin nods, flipping over a page. 

“That is because she’s reading an outdated version of the book!” Itomimizu whips out a huge rulebook from his bird’s saddle or something. “This was released just a month ago, and right here–” flipping open the book to a bookmarked page, “rule #1103.5: during the race categories, the gallery may interfere in the race’s proceedings as long as the damage is maintained in the race field. Any damage, including direct threats sustained by the audience, judges, and affiliate non-participants should only be inflicted by other audience, judges, and affiliate non-participants!”

Nami shrieks. “First of all, THAT IS LONG-WINDED! Second of all, fucking BULLSHIT!” she jabs her finger violently in his direction. “Come down here and talk to me like a fucking man, you sore loser!” 

“Ahhh! Verbal violence! She’s resorted to verbal abuse and name-calling now! She’s such a hypocrite!” Well, Itomimizu was not going to come down from his bird anytime soon.

“WHO’s a hypocrite?!”  

Robin sighs. Sure enough, they’d retrieved this book from a flea market, so it made sense, in an annoying way, that this would be an outdated book. 

“We’ve been outplayed,” Zoro observes. 

“Rule 1103.5? How many rules does it need?” Sanji says, incredulous. “This isn’t fucking law school, what the hell.” 

 

They crossed the finish line first by a long shot, but apparently, attacking Foxy was a no-go, so they were disqualified. 

Gin, exhausted and dead from having to literally hold a boat together for a couple hundred miles only to end up losing the race anyway, is currently splayed out, lifeless and facedown on the field. Anne was poking him with a stick. 

Conis just deflated, looking incredibly upset, clutching Suu to her chest. 

“Hold on now,” Usopp says. “ I’m the one that shot the Split-head bastard. So we obeyed the rules properly.”

“Direct threats are counted as attacks as well,” Itomimizu says. “Our boss would fine you for the mental strife he’s had to go through. Look at him, he’s traumatized now!” 

Everyone turns to Foxy, who was actually trembling and sobbing into Porche’s chest as the lady tries her best to console him, crying as well. “It’s okay, boss! You’re a strong man! We all believe in you!” 

“...wimp,” Wyper mutters. 

Foxy sobs louder. 

“Stop abusing our boss!!” 

“Now I remember why I didn’t want to land here,” Usopp mutters. 

Nami has her hands buried into her face in shame as Usopp glares in her general vicinity. “I underestimate his sheer annoyingness , I’m so sorry guys.”

“No, this is plot convenience no matter how you look at it!” Sanji assures. “Are we seriously accepting this?! THIS?! This is injustice!”

“Well I mean, we’re pirates,” Zoro mutters. “Geez. All of you are just whining. Be like Luffy and shut up already.” 

 

At that, everyone did in fact keep quiet. 

Because indeed– it was incredibly strange for Luffy to be so quiet.  They turn to the captain– to see an uncharacteristically serious expression nailed onto his features. His brows are set firm in a frown, his fists balled.

“So this is the kind of fight we’re in,” Luffy mutters, annoyed. “It pisses me off, but I guess we lost this round.”

Nami turns to him, stunned. 

Luffy had accepted the loss? This stupid, irritational loss?

“What, you’re not satisfied, Nami?” Luffy turns to her, and she jumps. He really was annoyingly observant in times like these. He pouts a little. “Well, we’re the ones that started fighting dirty to begin with. No sense being mad when they win it playing dirty too, right?”

Nami had no words. No words at all. 

But the crew looked at him– and no one knew what to say. Zoro and Gin looked over– and simply nodded. Sanji and Wyper looked away with a little click of the tongue, but they had nothing to say, either. Anne considers everyone’s reactions first-- and decides to stay quiet as well. 

Usopp frowns, and Robin looks aside– but Conis and Chopper were frazzled, looking around, not so sure if they should react. 

“A- Are you sure, Luffy?” Chopper speaks up first. “It doesn’t make sense! They’re just twisting the situation in their favour and–” 

“That’s right– I’m sorry, but,” Conis adds, “it just… it's an abuse of power! I don’t think it’s alright that we’re settling this so one-sidedly.” 

Suu squeaks, flustered as well. There was no need to translate it here– she hated this, too, and by the way her tail was bristling, she was angry. Kinoko had already clawed out someone's face in the distance, starting her revenge spree in her little series of dangerous bird fury. 

 

With a sigh, Luffy shoots an arm out, snags Kinoko back to their side, and secures her in his hands with a scowl. 

“Chopper, Conis,” Luffy says, and they both straighten. “And well, Suu and Kinoko, too.” 

Kinoko stills abruptly, spinning around to look at him at the use of her name.  Luffy doesn’t use that chiding tone often, much less against them in particular. But here, Luffy does, and he holds his hat warmly, speaking with experience. 

“We’re pirates. And they’re pirates, too. We’re not dealing with saints here– so it’s not about being fair or not.” 

 

Their heads drooped, chastised– but they nodded. 

In the world of pirates, there was no place to whine. If you choose to fight a war of technicalities, you can’t complain when your stance falls short.  Pirates are outlaws that gave up their right to a justified mode of law, after all.

Chapter 75: the fight in the ring (the path to predetermined fate)

Summary:

Luffy finds Nami on her knees, her hands coming up to her mouth– and a look of pure, unabated horror is in every bit of her features. She stutters, halfway through a cry, and a choke. She shakes her head in disbelief, backs away– but she doesn’t get far. 

Her knees fail her. And Luffy only hears one thing from her torn throat– a broken word, shattered and jittered out in denial. 

“...Usopp?”

Chapter Text

“WOOOAH!! Captain Luffy, you’re so cool!!” the crowd erupts in cheers– wait a second, was the whole crowd listening to him? 

“Holy shit did you hear hiiiim!” another cries out. Then, in a deep and cool voice– “we’re pirates. We’re not dealing with saints here. Marry me.”

 

“All of you be quiet!” Luffy yells. He has a feeling he shouldn’t tell anyone those lines were stolen. 

“Captain Luffyyyy!!” they cheer louder. 

“I’m not your captain, GO AWAY!” he yells back. 

 

Luffy grabs his crew back into a corner, angrily finding his little circle of privacy before yelling back at everyone to stay ten feet away from them because this is private, damn it. They stay blissfully a distance away after he hisses at them. 

“We’re so sorry we lost,” Nami admits, sullen. “I– It’s a disgrace.”

“Ah geez, it’s enough already,” Zoro says, “you guys did all you could! Be a man and accept the result already.”

“I’m a woman.”

“You know what I mean!” 

“But they’re taking one of us away,” Gin mutters with a groan. “Geez, it’s a three-coin game, so we can’t lose again, got it?”

“You say that after being part of the losers?” Wyper mutters. 

“Shut the fuck up, it was your bazooka–” 

“HEY!” Usopp raises his voice, and the entire group halts abruptly. His eyes are blown wide, fists clenched tight. “I don’t care if fighting is normal for you two– but do NOT place the blame on anyone!” then, whirling in Nami’s direction. “No taking any blame either– we lost as a collective, not as individuals! We’re a crew, understood?!” 

Everyone falls silent. It was rare to actually feel the pulsing heat emanate from him– haki roaring forth, fueled with an anger that was evidently fueled personally. 

Nami bites her lip. “Sorry.”

“Y- Yeah,” Gin speaks up. “My bad…” 

 

“But…” Conis speaks up, her voice soft and fearful, “one of us is going to have to go. I… I don’t know if I”ll be able to accept that.”

“We just have to win the next one and win them back,” Sanji says. 

“I don’t get it,” Wyper mutters. “Why do we have to go join their crew just because we lost a shitty race? It makes no sense.”

“Unfortunately, that is the clause,” Robin says. “You must swear loyalty to the opposing captain once you are chosen. It is a swear we made in the name of Davy Jones.”

“Well who fucking care–” Wyper starts, but immediately, Gin shoves a hand over his mouth, grabbing him roughly by the head. 

“Do not ,” he hisses, a glare fiercer than even anything he’d usually give Wyper marring his features in furious intensity. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” 

Wyper would usually rebuke it. But this time, he sees the panicked look on Gin’s face, and keeps quiet, if only out of confusion than anything else. 

“Wyper,” Nami calls him out, stern. “You understand the symbolic importance of hailed figures better than any of us. You know better than to sully one.”

Wyper scoffs, turning away at that. 

 

“Changing allegiances is simple,” Anne speaks up– and she’d been so silent the entire time, it seemed strange to hear her give a genuine opinion. “But if I were to act upon personal feelings, I definitely would not want to join their crew. You promised me, Gin.”

Gin looks over at that– and he doesn’t turn away. 

Her eyes are firm and serious, so Gin reflects that, as best as he can. 

“Yes, we promised,” Gin says. “As an individual, I promised you that we would be together. But as an individual, you followed Luffy as a captain, and Luffy decided to accept this challenge. That’s why– if there’s anything to regret, you have to face it as well. As an individual.” 

There is no ‘but’ about it. She is her own person now– she can do anything she wants– but in the same way, she cannot always get it.

Wyper listens– and he realizes– that this is what it means. He joined this crew– he was no longer the acting leader. Down here, he was just a violent berserker. He had no authority down here, and even among the crew, he chose to follow a captain. 

This is what it means to work under someone– and this is what it means to be in a coalition you swear your allegiance to. He may not accept being forced into another crew– but he did not regret joining the Strawhats. So he cannot refuse the responsibility of accepting the outcome of this conflict. 

“I don’t want to accept it!” Chopper cries. “I– I want to keep sailing with Luffy! I don’t want anything to tear us away– that’s– I only became a pirate because he asked me to, I don’t–!!” 

“Chopper,” this time, it’s Zoro that speaks up. “The choice to set sail is your own and no one else’s. So whatever happens, wherever you end up, it’s your own fault and no one else’s. So stop blubbering, it’s humiliating! Pirates have no pity for crybabies!” 

Conis clutches Suu closer to her chest, biting her bottom lip tight. 

It didn’t make sense to her– but that was exactly it. This is the pirate life she chose to take up– and though it may be frustrating, she was the one that followed this path into the raw life of an outlaw. She was the one that embarked on this adventure. 

It’s not all fun, and she knew that. She knew that. 

“If you’re a man, then act like one and see this through to the end!” 

Chopper barely manages to jerk out a shaky, sob-filled nod. And in a similar response, Conis wipes away her tears and lifts her head as well. 

“Okay,” he says. 

“I understand,” Conis echoes. 

Nami wraps an arm around her shoulder. In the Blue Sea, in the rough waves of the Grand Line– the idea of a ‘man’ on the sea has long lost its gendered connotations. For one, Zoro had never seen things that way. 

Was it man, as in masculinity, or man, as in personhood? 

Either way, a pirate had to encapsulate that spirit. To become someone that could capture that genuinity, that strength– and that heart of the strong. Because there was no room for the weak-hearted on the waves. There was no space for people who couldn’t stand on their own. Not on this sea, and not on this crew. Not against this world. 

Sanji said nothing against Zoro, keeping respectfully silent. Gin sets a hand on Anne’s head, and the group huddles, shoulder to shoulder, with Suu between them and Kinoko on their arms. 

“Whatever happens… just believe in us!” Luffy promises, and the crew nods, the circle fully turned toward him, with no emotion but trust in their chests. “We’ll get you back in the next round!” 

 


 

They take Chopper. He’s kicking and screaming at first, but after some tears and a resolved look from the crew, Chopper bites back his tears and sits, determined. 

“I’ll wait!” he declares. “Because I’m a man! I see things through!” 

He gains the respect of the crowd, and the Strawhats gained a renewed will to go on. 

“We’ll have a fifteen-minute reprieve to set up the next stage!” Porche announces, and the crowd separates, going back to the carnival, to the communion, and for a large amount of them, to set up the lines and the field for the Groggy Ring. 

“I’m relieved, but it’s strange,” Nami says. “They gave us a sub member for our next round this time.”

“I really don’t need to participate, though,” Usopp says. “I’m sure Zoro and Sanji can deal with this on their own, like last time.”

“No no,” Nami refutes. “If we have a sub, they have one, too. That means they outnumber us even more than before! We’re not letting our guard down again!” 

“Now hold on a fucking second!” Zoro snaps at them, and the both of them freeze, ripped out from their conversation to Zoro’s furious glare. “You knew this was going to happen and you knew they would pick Chopper first, is that it? And knowing this, you bring us through that bet again for no fucking reason?!”

Nami clenches at Usopp’s arm, and Usopp instinctively snags right back, cringing inward toward each other. 

Gin winces at the sight. It was incredibly rare for the both of them to actually show fear on their faces. “Hey, Zoro, calm down–!!” 

“You stay out of it!” Zoro snaps at Gin, whirling right back. “Look– I said time and again I don’t give a shit what you’re hiding from us if it’s for your own amusement. But if it’s got something to do with us and our crew, especially when it’s something personal–” 

“You’re being too heated, Zoro, HEY,” Sanji grabs Zoro by the shoulder, barely stopping him from advancing any further. “We get it, we’re all pretty fucking mad! Don’t let it out on them!” 

 

Zoro’s soft spot for Chopper isn’t exactly some hard secret. Zoro’s tendency to be overprotective of anyone on the crew isn’t exactly hard to figure out. 

First with Merry, and now with Chopper– it just didn’t feel right for Usopp and Nami to take risks like these without even telling the people involved that they were going to be put through those things. They did this to Sherry too, didn’t they? That’s why Anne looked so conflicted when they spoke. Because she saw it happen. 

She saw them decide what to do with that horse’s wellbeing. 

And it just– it just rubbed Zoro in a horribly wrong way. It made his blood boil, and he had no words to explain it at all. It was just wrong, and this was his emotions speaking, raw and on their own. 

Neither of them had the right to dictate who had to suffer what.

 

“We’re not your fucking round two,” Zoro grounds out. His hands are on his swords, firm and resolved. “We’re not playing pirates here! And you better not be playing a game on your own, either. I’m not on the sea to reroute some predestined design!” 

The crew doesn’t find the words. Usopp and Nami stay, pale and still– wordless. 

Sanji shakily lets go– and Zoro turns away, marching toward the Groggy Ring field. He’d said his piece, and that was all he had. 

Gin and Luffy stood, jaws slightly agape. Zoro rarely spoke out so sharply– but they both knew, from experience, that it was the words of those that spoke less that were the truest to listen to. 

Conis covers her mouth shakily, fearful as she witnessed the near-ruptured bond– and she couldn’t bear to look. Suu whimpers in her arms, and Anne reaches up to take her hand, a weak consolation to the scene before them. 

Far from them, Wyper has his hand firmly on the bazooka, and Robin listens in on them, contemplating the words that were exchanged– but still, not privy to the context behind it. 

“Pirates are lawless, huh,” Wyper says. 

Robin simply opens the rulebook– an updated one this time– and continues to read. “The world down here is far more corrupt than any up on the White Sea. You won’t find a perfect system anywhere.”

Wyper scoffs, an eye set on Luffy, who was watching the scene, looking frazzled as he was unsure of who to speak to first.  “Really tests the authority of a leader in times like this.”

Robin shrugs. “Most of us are only here by chance,” she says. “Who’s to say if trust truly exists for pirates? Compared to Foxy’s large crew, or the broken crew we came across before this… what’s so special about this small, fragmented crew we’re in?”

(They don’t even trust her enough to properly tell her of that open secret they hold.)

 


 

Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp were contending in the Groggy Race. 

Their steps into the ring are moody, clouded with an awkward tension, and full of a parted animosity between them. None of them even met each other in the eyes, and there were zero words exchanged. 

“Looks like the mood’s completely ruined,” Anne says. 

Who could blame them, really? Nami was similarly sulking, completely silent even as Luffy tried his best to bring the cheer and resolve back to the team. 

Suu was by their side, sitting on a stack of about thirty silk pillows, being offered a plateful of inarizushi like some kind of holy offering. 

“Oh c’mon!” Luffy says, clutching Kinoko in his arms like a hug toy. “We need to win Chopper back! We can talk about it later!” 

“I agree with Zoro, though,” Gin says. “We didn’t really understand at the time… but the stuff they’re keeping from us is getting worse and worse. We can’t leave it up to some blind hope of ‘it’ll all work out somehow’ like we’ve always done. It’s just not that kind of playing field we’re headed into anymore.”

“I don’t really see the problem,” Anne says. “It’s not like Nami and Usopp are causing these things. Why are we blaming them for it?”

“A village is lost without a leader,” Wyper says. “A community is hopeless without trust.” 

“I- I think,” Conis speaks up abruptly, trying her best to put herself between the tension that was the gap between Nami and the rest of the crew. “I think they had a reason for it. I’m sure, at the time, their feelings brought them to the decisions they made. It might seem unfair to us, but we shouldn’t… we shouldn’t be placing all the blame on them. We should hear them out properly first…” 

Nami hugs herself tighter, biting down at her lip. 

Robin wasn’t even looking their way, and Luffy looked more worried about what was happening here, on top of their entire situation with Chopper. 

The Davy Back Fight wasn’t supposed to have this kind of effect on them. Maybe it’s been building up, since a long time ago. These feelings have always been around– but just like Merry’s wounds, they have been silently, unnoticeably accumulating. They were just blowing up now, an eventual disaster at the end of the road. 

An apology would do nothing for the irreparable damage they have caused. 

Even the Foxy Pirates seem to have noticed the tension among the Strawhats, and they were watching from a safe distance away, gossiping among themselves. 

Nami clenches her fist. 

“I know that you know what you’re doing,” Luffy says. He grabs Nami’s hands, both of them, and clenches them tight. “Because I trust you and I trust Usopp! It doesn’t matter if it’s mean to any of us– I know you’re trying your best and that’s all that matters.”

Nami’s eyes find Luffy’s– and she didn’t know how close to tears she was until this very moment. 

She can feel the eyes on her– the surprised looks from the rest of the crew, at Luffy’s startlingly confident declaration. How nice it was, to have this sort of unflinching announcement of faith from your captain whom you’ve sworn loyalty to. 

“I chose you and I chose Usopp!” Luffy says. “You’re supposed to lead me to One Piece! I believe you’ll find the most amazing road there. I trust you to get me there! That’s all I care about, got it?!”

And in one word, he’d staked his claim on her decision. 

 

One can complain about the ethics of it, the morals, the wills and the heart– but Luffy has declared that it doesn’t matter. The strife and the tough decisions were part of being a sailor on these seas– and there was nothing wrong in Nami choosing for herself the path she took on this second chance of hers. Because she, too, was a pirate in her own right. 

She, too, was liable to her own choices. And she had the power and privilege to control that path– so she had the right to choose them as she saw fit.

Pirates were selfish people to begin with. What was so wrong about it all?

 

Nami can’t hold back. 

She buries her palms into her eyes, along with Luffy’s hands which were still holding onto her. She doesn’t cry. 

“Of course,” she says, resolved. “Of course, there’s nothing else I’d rather do.” 

She can do this. She can.

 


 

“Regardless,” Gin relents, to Captain’s orders, “if we win this, we get Chopper back. And then you guys can give all your apologies to the poor kid.”

Nami manages an awkward chuckle. “I’ll beg for forgiveness.”

Anne hums. Wyper scoffs, and Robin closes the rulebook, already done sifting through it all at the speed of light. Kinoko finds a spot on Nami’s shoulder, and Suu continues to trot around being stalked by Foxy pirates and showered with offerings. Conis watches silently, a little relieved that the crew has decided to move past it, at least for now. 

“Alright!” Luffy huffs, satisfied at the new, much lighter energy around his crew. “Now, let’s cheer for them, all of you!” 

“YEAH!” came the chorus. 

Meanwhile, on the field, Sanji and Zoro glare at each other while Usopp slowly meanders by with his walking stick. 

“I’ll admit you had a point, but yelling at them was just too far,” Sanji mutters. 

“She doesn’t need you to fucking baby her,” Zoro says. 

“That absolutely isn’t what anyone fucking said,” Sanji snarls back. “To begin with, you’re worse than Gin when it comes to those two in particular. Fuck’s your problem?”

“My problem is I’m actually thinking of the fucking crew when I do shit.”

“You’re implying the rest of us don’t?!”

“Oh if that’s how you want to interpret it, shit cook, go right ahead.”

“Now you’re just making this personal!” 

“Like you didn’t start it?!”

And immediately, the crew in the crowd deflate, palms meeting faces in devastation. Gin groans louder than the others, and Wyper looks on, more amused than anything. Anne sighs, and Nami shrugs when Robin gives her an inquiring look. 

“...I have a feeling we all knew this would happen,” Robin says. 

“We did,” came about three different responses. 

“When it came to Gin and Wyper, they were too busy racing to fight,” Anne says, “but these two are–” she stops short when Zoro and Sanji actually launch into an on-field spar, legs swinging, swords flinging, and bodies flying back and forth in a sharp exchange not many could really follow with eyes. “--yeah, that.”

“Oh no, they’ve started fighting!” Conis says, flustered, “what should we do? They might hurt each other!” 

“If they do, then they’re fucking stupid!” Wyper mutters.

“Breaking news,” came Gin’s dry response.

“Usopp!” Nami calls out, “hey, do your job!” 

Usopp stood there, walking stick before him as he exasperatedly considered the situation from behind his sunglasses. He continues to stand there as Itomimizu explains the rules and their opponents enter the ring. 

“USOPP, STOP THE BUFFOONS FROM TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER!” Nami shouts, much more heated than before. “Get serious already!” 

Usopp visibly sighs. “Do I have to…?”

 


 

Their opponents were just– well, unfair, really. Zoro and Sanji were objectively tall people, but once you got far enough in the Grand Line… yeah. 

“You know, I’ve been wondering but, maybe East Blue is considered the weakest sea because we apparently only have short-people genes in our entire corner,” Nami mutters, a little exasperated as their players were towered over by Hamburg, and then Pickles, and then Big Bun. 

“Nah,” Gin deems. “Gold Roger exists.”

“Maybe Gold Roger stole all the tall genes from our sea and ran off with it. Like, that’s how he got his starting bounty?”

“Tell me you’re joking and not prophesying, Nami. I can’t tell.

It was rather amusing to see that Zoro and Sanji didn’t even come up to the top of Big Bun’s boots. And they were staring up at those monsters as the crowd roars around them, with eyes that seemed more like they were sizing them up than being sized up. 

Usopp fiddled with his fingers, waiting for the theatrics to be over so he can understand what’s going on again. 

The rules of the Groggy Ring match goes on, and a helper comes up with a ball-shaped hat. “So, which of you will be the ballman?” he asks, and Usopp and Zoro synchronously point toward Sanji. 

Sanji needed a moment to register that before he just exploded, “WAIT!” 

“It suits you,” Zoro says, dry as dust. 

“Yeah, it looks amazing on you!” Usopp echoes, also dry. 

“Shut the fuck up, Mosshead! And– seriously, shut the fuck up too, Usopp!” Sanji chucks the hat to the ground in a fit. “No way am I wearing this lame shit.”

Zoro groans. 

“Ugh. Usopp, you’re the only one dorky enough to look good in this. Why don’t you wear this stupid ball hat?”

“Sanji-kun, all the offense to my fashion and dignity aside, do you have any idea how tactically disadvantageous it would be to put the blind guy as the ball?”

 

The group in the crowd have very little hope. 

“GOo! Zoro, Sanji, Usopp! Win this!!” Luffy shouts, loudest in the crowd. “You better win this!” 

“Do your best, guys!” Conis echoes, doing her best to raise her voice. 

“What are our chances of winning this?” Gin turns to Nami. 

“Huh? Uh,” Nami tilts her head to the side. “I can say with complete confidence that the chances are a hundred percent–” she beams, and everyone sighs in relief. And then she dryly adds, “that is, if Zoro and Sanji have teamwork.”

Everyone instantly deflates. 

“...So, zero?” Anne asks, dryly. 

“This is not happening!” Luffy yells, whirling around rapidly. “HEY ZORO, SANJI! WORK TOGETHER!” 

“NO, I HAVE STANDARDS!” they both yell back at once. 

“Does the Sharpshooter’s presence not alter those odds at all?” Robin questions. 

“Apparently not,” Wyper mutters, irritated. “Fuck’s sake. Say goodbye to your fox, Conis.”

Conis sobs into the aforementioned fox. “Noo! Suu!” 

Nami, for one, is very amused by the crew’s unanimous lack of faith in those two idiots. “Well, don’t be too worried,” she says, stretching her metal arm out before opening a slot to retrieve her clima tact from inside her forearm. “For one, interference is completely legal.”

She grins. 

Gin hums, “Ah, I see,” and then reaches into Anne’s bag to retrieve a thermal flask. Seeing that, Anne digs around her pockets, and then her hat, to find a tea bag to hand it to him. 

“I have no idea what they’re trying to do, but I’m intimidated,” Conis says, very softly. 

“Don’t think about it, actually don't even look over,” Wyper says, but when Conis looks at him he’s digging through Usopp’s bag, picking out weird objects after another. He’s dismantled a frog-shaped pistol for some reason. “The Blue Sea is fucking weird.” 

“You’re not exactly contributing to the comparison factor…” 

“What’cha doin, Gin?” Luffy looks over, Suu on his head also looking over curiously. 

Gin expertly prepares a cup of tea before grabbing Suu by the scruff. “Offering our enemy some tea for the occasion.”  Anne follows him, her brush tucked under her arm as she rips open a tube of green paint. 

Luffy hums. They’re all leaving him out of the fun, that sucks. “Okay then,” he pouts, going to sit beside Robin, who pats him absent-mindedly on the head. 

Meanwhile, Zoro and Sanji were still arguing over who was going to be the ball boy.  Usopp, on the other hand, was trying to argue that his walking stick is a necessity, not a weapon. And yes, the bird on his head is also a necessity, not a weapon. He needs it. 

“Absolutely no one is focused on the actual match,” Robin deems, “I have not participated in a lot of these, but this is by far the most disorganised one I’ve ever found myself in.” 

“Trust me, it’s the fault of your crew, not the fault of us,” Porche says, sounding absolutely devastated. “I promise, we’re incredibly experienced. You guys are just really weird.” 

 


 

They were, thank god, finally able to start the match. Zoro put aside his swords, Usopp compromised on the stick (they let him keep the bird), and Sanji decided that he now likes the hat because Conis said it looks good on him. 

Usopp sets a hand on Kinoko, his other hand on Sanji’s shoulder. “Big guy is slippery. You have any idea how to kick a ball that big?”

Sanji pauses for a long, confused moment. 

“No,” Sanji finally answers, “the fuck you want me to do with that huge thing?”

“It’s a fishman-giant,” Usopp says, “that means it’s essentially a fish, You can cook that, right? Seafood is your specialty dish to make?”

“And who the fuck is going to eat that?!”

Meanwhile Zoro carefully observes Big Bun. “I have a feeling it’ll go well with some cold beer…”

Sanji doesn’t even feel like quarrelling anymore. Just, with all vigor and determination, he grips his fist and declares with so much resolve in his eyes that Zoro actually hesitates. “I’m not cooking it! I am NOT! I cooked a dinosaur, I cooked a giant spider monster, I draw the line at Fishman-Giant hybrid!” 

“Mudfish-Fishman Giant, actually,” Pickles offers. 

Sanji doesn’t miss a beat. “Even more so! Do you know that mudfish tastes like mud if I don’t prepare it properly?! How much work do you think–” 

Big Bun is too far over their heads to hear what they’re talking about, but Hamburg is already dying of laughter. 

Usopp questions the ethics of discussing cooking someone that’s alive, but then again, they’ve done this with Chopper before, so fair enough. Zoro, meanwhile, is still trying to determine the best drink and condiment to go with his incoming meal. 

 


 

“Wait, Sanji, don’t go without a p–” Usopp stops short when Sanji charges ahead toward Big Bun. “Zoro, listen to me–” But he’s off too, countering Pickles and his shield-shouldered barge. 

Usopp sighs. 

Kinoko swings into the sky as Sanji is countered, swatted right away by Big Bun’s fierce swing. Kinoko avoids Sanji as the man goes flying, heading straight for Big Bun, cutting through his eyeline, catching the Fishman-Giant’s attention. 

Zoro struggles with Pickles, but Hamburg is charging further forward, ready to snatch Sanji in his prone, airborne state. 

They’re already in trouble. 

Usopp ignores them though, and runs forward, toward Big Bun. He cuts forward with Soru, finding himself right by Big Bun’s ankle. Setting a hand on the giant’s ankle, he focuses, and takes a strong breath. 

Tekkai.

The giant whines, swinging wildly at Kinoko as she swirls around annoyingly at his head. He steps back, pursuing the bird as it gets away from him– but Usopp’s grip on his other foot makes him stagger, and he sways, dangerously leaning back. 

He’s on the far back of his side of the field. 

“Did I aim it right?” Usopp asks, when Kinoko lands on his shoulder, Big Bun yells out as he starts falling right back down, all the way.

Kinoko caws out an affirmative. 

If he continued to fall in this exact trajectory– Big Bun’s head would make it right into the goal ring.

 

“WOW WOAH WOAH! What a development!” Itomimizu yells, “within seconds, we’re in a craze! Hamburg grabs Sanji in mid-air and he’s right about to land on the ring– but Big Bun is in the exact same situation! Are we going to get a tie immediately?!?” 

 

“Not so fast!” Sanji shouts, his fingers curling right into Hamburg’s arms, clawing in with vigor. Right on cue, Zoro furiously lifts up PIckles by the leg, spinning him around in all the likeness of a windmill– before gyrating him right toward the goal, smashing his face into Hamburg’s sending them both effectively out of the field. 

And on the other side of the field, Usopp was having a similar competitive upset. 

Big Bun yelps, flails, and panics as he falls– then abruptly, magically, and by complete miraculous luck– he drops right into a perfect bridge. His head never touches the ring, even when it’s right above it. 

He then hops back up straight with an ‘oof’. 

 

“NO GOAL FOR BOTH OF THEMMM!!” Itomimizu declares. 

 

Usopp stares, baffled and confused. Kinoko barely remembers to report the sightings to him. “But that’s,” he’s going to cry, “that’s not fair. That’s bullshit.”

“Fuck’s sake!” Zoro snaps. “One minute in and you need saving!” 

“Who said I needed saving?!” Sanji sneers, managing to land on his feet and come back to the field, “you were daydreaming, huh?”

“Sanji, Zorooo,” Usopp whines, trailing back, “did you see that utter bullshit that happened…” 

“Usopp, stay out of it for a bit!” they both bark at him at the same time. “To begin with, you–!” 

 

“While all this is going on, Big Bun is making his way back into the ring! ” Itomimizu reports. “And what is our– wait, Boss?!?”

Meanwhile, Foxy is drinking tea with Anne on a picnic mat. Gin is behind them, uncharacteristically offering to pour anyone that comes up to him a drink. Suu is seated in the middle of the picnic mat, like the centrepiece of a tea ceremony. 

Foxy is smiling in the most stressed-out way possible. 

“They’ve done something to the boss!” Porche cries, on the ground as if she’s been defeated in a devastating off-screen battle. “Please– release him from this curse! Release our boss!” she pleads, tears in her eyes. 

Anne sips on her tea. And then she continues to sip her tea, staring Porche straight in the eyes. 

Gin sets down the thermal flask, “you can just throw water on it and it’ll come off,” he says, helpfully. But there’s an iron tonfa beside him, so no one dared to come close enough to help either way. 

 

“Well, whatever,” Itomimizu says, turning back to the match. “Big Bun is now pursuing the Strawhat Team!” 

 

Big Bun is currently chasing a very frantic Zoro and Sanji with blade-lined shoes, but Usopp stands where he started, completely unbothered. Big Bun wasn’t even particularly trying to attack him, so he had no reason to run either. 

“Y’know, I’m a bit offended,” Usopp says. “It’s one thing to not notice me, another to just ignore me.” 

“Hey you stupid referee! What happened to NO WEAPONS ALLOWED?!” Sanji yells. 

“Oh, sorry, Sanji-kun,” Nami chuckles, and all eyes in the field turned to the referee, who was conked out with three bumps on his head. “It seems like Mister Referee is asleep right now. You probably won’t be able to get him to call any fouls right now.”

“What?!” Luffy gawks. “You’re kidding! Wake him up!” 

“Oh dear!” Conis flusters, “he’s injured. Let’s give him first aid immediately!” 

“He’s an enemy, don’t bother!” Wyper warns her, “better yet, leave him asleep! Forever!” 

Instantly realizing, Zoro howls, “NAMI YOU BITCH!” 

Sanji gapes, horrified, “NAMI WHY,” but he doesn’t pursue, he keeps running. 

Hamburg and Pickles file right up with spiked shoulder guards and brass knuckles, grinning widely. Noting that, the group hissed at the implications. 

 

“Hey Robin,” the entire crowd shrieks when Usopp is suddenly in front of them, in the general vicinity of the girl with the rulebook. “Can you look something up in the rules for me? I wanna make sure we don’t get disqualified again.”

“...Yes?” Robin has no idea what to expect.

 


 

Sanji and Zoro were still very frantically running from the weapon-wielding bastards, cursing at each other the whole way. 

“Nami lined us up to die today,” Zoro mutters. 

“It’s okay, I trust her, I trust our Nami Queen,” Sanji says. 

“You say that and we’re fucking running because we’re going to fucking die!” 

“Trust the process!” 

“Is your brain fucking processed too?!”

 

They cross paths with Usopp.

And in muted horror, they freeze, hurriedly stopping themselves. “Usopp”! Sanji yells, “Look out above, they’ve got–”  Zoro lunges forward– but he won’t get there in time. The spiked boot was coming right down on the sharpshooter. 

Kinoko rests on Usopp’s head, one wing pointed upward.  Usopp casually tosses a stone in his hand. The next moment he catches it, it shines a pure black sheen. 

“Usopp’s going to get stepped on!” Luffy yells, frantic. “USOPP!” 

“Calm down! It’s Usopp, he’s the most careful guy I know! If he puts himself in line of danger, it means he’s got a plan!” Nami assures, holding him back, “if you interfere now, we’re going to get disqualified!” 

(And if they get disqualified again, they’re losing another teammate and they won’t have enough matches to get them all back.) 

“But–!” 

“Luffy!” Nami says, stern. “Do you trust Usopp?” 

Luffy pauses, lips pursed. Nami nods, looking a little nervous as well. 

“Do you know what he’s going to do?” Gin asks. “You guys might be strong, but without a weapon, I don’t see how he can–” 

“I don’t know either but,” Nami smiles, strained. “It’s fine! He’d never do without thinking things through. I know him best– I trust him.” 

 

Usopp launches the pebble straight upward, the bullet going right between the blade, through the soles, into flesh and bone– and explodes further upward, into shin, thigh–

–shoulder–

–and then, the eye. 

It bursts right through skull, bone and matter crushed through in a straight projectile, a gush of unmistakable red erupting forth as would a firework. 

 


 

The horror that reverberates through the crowd is palpable, terrified– and silent. No one could tear their eyes away, not even Zoro and Sanji– as Big Bun cries out his last weak throes– and falls back, empty, much too far from the goal– and limp. 

Lifeless. 

There are tears in some eyes, and a scream stuck in so, so many. 

“The Davy Back Fight is not responsible for any injuries, fatal or otherwise, incurred during the ring matches,” Usopp says. And unbeknownst to him, Robin’s jaw had dropped as well, her hands frozen on the page where she’d been the one to read him that very rule. 

She didn’t think– she didn’t think he’d actually–

“Unless otherwise stated, the opposing team is not accountable for any lives lost in the feud,” Usopp says. 

The blood rains down, warm and sickening, as a shower of realization. 

 

The screaming and panic took over the entirety of the crowd– and people began to run. People began to cry, to break out into mass chaos. 

No one could tear their eyes away from Usopp, who stood as the one calm figure in the entire situation. Hamburg and Pickles drop their weapons, scrambling far– and Zoro and Sanji couldn’t– didn’t dare– to move. 

The scene fills Conis with such overwhelming dread, she screams. Wyper drops the weapon in his hand– and Gin’s eyes widen, the sight leaving him stunned. Anne’s eyes are blown out in horror, and she drops the tea in her hands. 

Foxy is the worst off, tearing right out of the Colours Trap in his overwhelming despair alone. He stands up with a start, the start of something feral burning in his throat. 

 

Luffy stands– and the rock of dread that’s been rolling around in his stomach finally sinks. 

He looks back toward Nami. 

Luffy finds Nami on her knees, her hands coming up to her mouth– and a look of pure, unabated horror is in every bit of her features. She stutters, halfway through a cry, and a choke. She shakes her head in disbelief, backs away– but she doesn’t get far. 

Her knees fail her.  And Luffy only hears one thing from her torn throat– a broken word, shattered and jittered out in denial. 

“...Usopp?”

Chapter 76: a fight that's (internal) external.

Summary:

“What happened?” Nami grounds out, and the words come with a crack in her voice. “What happened back then?”

There’s always a way to solve things without murder. And if someone blatantly doesn’t take it– they’re monsters. There was no reason for it, so that was just it-- they were just cruel. (And Nami knows that best.) 

And Usopp simply shrugs. “I graduated from the coward trio, I guess.”

Notes:

I made it in time for the end of the year! Hooray! May this update find you well, because it is not finding Usopp and Nami well. And unlike in canon, Nami and Usopp really aren't the type to bicker back and forth anymore.

Anyways-- I hope no one minds if I skim past Foxy vs Luffy. I think some have noticed how I tend to dance past events here and there even in previous arcs-- and well, they're done deliberately, honestly! Either because nothing has changed from canon or simply that I don't feel like writing them at the cost of my motivation. It does rush through and hurt the general quality of the fic, but hey, I'm the writer! And I'd rather teeter through parts I personally don't like rather than spend a while agonizing over needing to write it, haha. I'm allowed to have a lousy timeskip or three, right?

Either way-- hope you enjoy, and happy holidays. Bless all of you! See you in 2022!

Chapter Text

“What’s the problem?” 

Needless to say, when Foxy lunged ahead, a surprising amount of strength in his arms and a feral amount of fury in his brows– Luffy and Gin were quick to leap in, stopping him from ripping Usopp’s head right off. 

(But somehow– Luffy knew that if they hadn’t stopped Foxy then– the one in danger wouldn’t have been Usopp.)

“You had blades, weapons– hey,” Usopp says, “the rule was there, too. You were perfectly alright with killing us, weren’t you? Why are you complaining when it’s suddenly turned against you?”

And that was true– but at the same time, it really wasn’t. 

Foxy’s eyes burned, and though he stopped resisting, knowing he couldn’t fight both Luffy and Gin– and whoever else was ready to strike– if he laid a hand on Usopp right now. 

“It’s on, Strawhat,” he snarls, turning his anger toward Luffy. “It’s fucking on now.” 

And no one could blame him for the pure spite that oozed from his words. 

 

Foxy orchestrated Davy Backs for one reason– to avoid needless death. It was the point of the fight to begin with— and though it had a tendency to go far and accidents could happen, there was always an unspoken rule around that pirates should avoid blatantly trying to kill opponents. Sure, leaving people for death, beating them within an inch, these were things that happened. This was the pirate’s life, there was no mercy. 

But for a crew as big as changing as Foxy’s there was a line he couldn’t cross if he wanted a fleet led by his charisma alone. 

Foxy has never actually killed a man before. 

That was the difference between Foxy and Don Krieg. And Gin understood that this little pedestal people tended to put on life– it made all the difference when it came to how the crew saw their captains. 

Krieg’s crew looked upon their captain in fear, and they obeyed for a crowning respect. 

Foxy’s crew followed him out of love and passion, and that forever held true even through all the Davy Backs, all the dirty tricks, and all the crewmate-stealings.

(That was supposed to be true for the Strawhats as well– but right now, at least, Gin honestly couldn’t tell.)

 

Usopp didn’t have to kill Big Bun so nonchalantly. 

Was it unnecessary? Perhaps. 

But this was the world of pirates, and pirates are completely in the right to retaliate when they don’t like how things are going. There are rules, but ignoring them, breaking them, and finding loopholes is pretty much a pirate’s way of life. 

 

“I–” Luffy evidently had a lot to say– but somehow– somehow, he knew that right now, apologizing wasn’t what he had to do. 

No one expected Usopp to do that. 

But no one could refute Usopp for doing that. 

“I’ll fight you in the third round,” Luffy promises. “Don’t get mad at Usopp.”

It’s Luffy’s lack of experience that makes him falter in these times. It’s his lack of experience that makes him feel so hopeless. 

His Devil Fruit abilities allow him to stretch out as far as he can think. He can reach anywhere, anyhow, and he can take all of his crewmates in his arms at once. 

And yet, he never truly feels like he has any hold on Nami and Usopp. 

 


 

“Why did you do that?” 

Nami approaches Usopp, and Usopp doesn’t turn to her. Her voice is stern, and though her eyes are fierce– Usopp never makes a sign of acknowledgement toward her anger. Her fists tighten in frustration. 

He simply shrugs. “Why not?”

Look at me, she wants to say, but there was no point, was there?

“Did you–” her teeth grinds. “--Hotori and Kotori. The ball guys up on Skypiea– they’re Satori’s younger brothers. Did you kill them, too?”

Usopp hums, resting his weight on one leg. “Ah… yeah, I might have.”

Why , she doesn’t ask, but he answers. 

“They tried to kill us. We’d have been in danger if I didn’t do anything,” Usopp says, like that was obvious. 

Which is why you always have a way to defeat your opponents with anything but a real projectile, she doesn’t say. You could’ve dealt with the situation without murder. Without any death, both you and your opponents. You’ve always managed to find that way.

There’s always a way to solve things without murder. 

And if someone blatantly doesn’t take it– they’re monsters. They’re just cruel. (And Nami knows that best.) 

So why, Usopp?

“What happened?” she instead grounds out, and the words come with a crack in her voice. “What happened back then?”

Usopp hums, never looking over. 

Nami thinks of her days on the run. The days she spent alone, in silence– on a ship, in the middle of nowhere. The days she spent in dens, within an inch of her life, pleading for there to be a reason to open her eyes tomorrow. 

She thinks of agony. 

And Usopp simply shrugs. “I graduated from the coward trio, I guess.”

She didn’t think it would hurt so much to hear those words from him. A long time ago she’s heard those exact words before and it brought her joy. Now, it only made the acid in her heart begin to rapidly spread out to the rest of her bloodstream. 

And the only thing she could do was turn around and walk away. 

 


 

Sanji and Zoro watch as Usopp makes his way back onto the field. 

Conis was queasy, and together with Porche, she was in the corner, sobbing into each other, unable to watch any longer. Wyper and Robin watched, unfettered– but Gin and Luffy were looking over the crew, worried for their shattered harmony. Nami has turned pointedly away from the ring, Suu in her arms for some semblance of comfort. 

“So I’m thinking they're going to bring in their substitute now,” Usopp says, the only one with a normal voice in their group. Kinoko’s on his head, looking pointedly around, doing her guide bird work. 

Neither of them were even the least bit concerned about what they just did. 

“Well, whoever it’ll be, it's not something me and Nami would know. You’ve gotta deal with this through brute force,” Usopp says. 

Usopp was more worried about the match than what he just did. 

“Alright,” Zoro says. “But you’ve done enough. Just stay there, we’ll handle it.”

His voice was cold. Sanji gives him a careful side glance– but Zoro is looking too. Neither of them said a word to each other– but one look was all it needed. 

Sanji knew this wasn’t the time. 

“Yeah,” Sanji manages to answer. “You just sit still there. The Marimo and I need our time to shine, too.” 

Relenting to that, Usopp sits down, his bird by his side narrating the rest of the sequence for him. 

“Okay, knock yourselves out then,” he shrugs, running his fingers through Kinoko’s wing, since he had nothing better to do now. 

The crowd slowly files back, energy fueled by something a little more than simple, raw excitement now– but the match continued. They had to clear away the body on the field, and clean up– but with as many people as they had, it didn’t take too long. 

Chiqicheetah, a cheetah mink, took Big Bun’s place as the ballman. 

The crews are evidently a little shaken, but pirates as they are– they begrudgingly moved on, and the energy of the competition gradually picked back up.

“Coming in is Chiqicheetah, fastest runner of the Foxy Pirates!” Itomimizu calls him in, and though he was much, much smaller than the other two in his team– there was really no room to underestimate the small ones now. “Will the Strawhats be able to catch him? Or will they get caught first?”

And sure enough, Chiqicheetah is too fast for both Sanji and Zoro. 

Pickles and Hamburg continue to wear their weapons, their senses tuned to full alarm. Zoro and Sanji don’t complain about it anymore. 

Not when Usopp is calmly murmuring something to Kinoko, who has delivered him a new, shiny rock. 

“God fucking damn that cheetah pisses me off,” Sanji hisses. They’d thrown Pickles and Hamburg around twice, into eahc other, and a few more times until they were all wondering why the hell they were still getting up– but Chiqicheetah was scouring the edges of the field at high speed, too fast to catch, and not strong enough to get Sanji on his own either. So with both ballmen untouchable, they were at a stalemate. 

And it was getting frustrating. 

“Need some help?” Usopp asks. 

“NO,” Zoro and Sanji snarl at the same time, low and threatening. “You move a single muscle, I am throwing you into the sea!” 

“And I’m putting truffle oil in your dinner!” Sanji adds. 

Usopp wisely keeps silent henceforth.

Kinoko pats him on the knee in sympathy, and then proceeds to abandon him there in his indignity, alone. Usopp morosely decides to lay down on the grass on his stomach like a tired schoolgirl, face buried in his arms and all, and just brood. 

“For fuck’s sake, your entire thing is your legs,” Zoro grumbles, “you’re telling me you can’t catch a fucking cat?”

“And your entire thing is your head looks like moss. Why don’t you pretend to be a lawn and camouflage yourself as the grassland to attract it, genius?!” Sanji raises a middle finger. 

“Why do I have to do something so fucking annoying?!” 

“Make yourself useful how about it?!”

 


 

Needless to say, Gin has his hand buried in his face and he hasn’t had the courage to look again. It’s going to be stupidity every time he sees it. 

“I don’t even know where to begin,” he says, defeatedly.

“Perhaps about the part where cheetahs do not eat grass, and thus would not be interested in the likeness of Mister Swordsman’s head to the supposed vegetation,” Robin offers. 

“...Zoro’s entire thing is how his head looks like moss?” Wyper is stuck on that part, “not the fact that he’s a swordsman? I don’t understand.”

Anne continues to questionably judge the people around her in silence. 

Gin sighs, turning to Luffy. He was enthusiastic, still cheering every once in a while with a “damn it, get’im, Sanji!”, but in the reprieve between the words, his face was pulled firm, almost contemplatively. When his eyes drifted toward Usopp, his brows would furrow, and he would shout louder for Zoro and Sanji, as if his own readability could be muddled with louder volumes. 

Gin sets a hand on his straw hat. 

Luffy looks up, barely peeking through the corners of his straw hat to meet his stern gaze– and he quickly looks away. 

“You can talk to him later,” Gin assures. 

Luffy shrinks a little, shoulders rising, head lowering– and he’s hiding, Gin understands, under the shadow of a straw hat, like a child who’s outgrown his own security blanket and wasn’t ready to admit it. 

“I wouldn’t know what to even say,” he admits, weakly. 

Gin averts his eyes. 

“Figure it out. You’ll have to, one day.” 

The crew will love Luffy as he is, his flaws and imperfections and recklessness as they are. But as long as he’s the captain, he’ll have to learn how to get out of his comfort zone. A pursuit of individualism should never come in the way of personal growth. 

It doesn’t matter how endearing his childlike exuberance has been for them– sometimes, people are required to change to move on. And if the prior cannot coexist with the latter– you’ll have to discard them, without a second thought. It’s just how life works. 

 


 

“They’re fighting again…” Itomimizu reports, tired of this. 

Zoro and Sanji were straight up dueling like mortal enemies in the field. Hamburg and Pickles weren’t confident they could try again, and Chiqicheetah couldn’t do much without their assistance. 

Thankfully, the fight was soon broken up when Chiqicheetah distractedly walked around, sighing. Was there a point to him running around anym–

–and he lets out the most unholy, high-pitched, strangled cat shriek. A body of feathers and warm clunky leather just crashes into his face, wings surrounding his whiskers and clotting them in the most unpleasant way. And then the bird, horrified to suddenly finds a face in her flight zone, also screeches. 

And Chiqicheetah brakes so abruptly, he trips, and the bird, because sense of balance is lost, hugs tighter against the cheetah’s face. The cheetah screeches, mortified, and Kinoko squawks back, only able to hold on for dear life and overall exacerbating the panic between the both of them as they made a high-pitched noise after another like a battle of the vocal tones. 

“What the– oh!” Sanji yells. “Good going, stupid bird, you caught it!” 

“Less talking, more capturing!” Zoro snaps, dashing forward. “No-sword style–” 

Was it anticlimactic? Itomimizu had no idea what to make of this, but for now, he was just incredibly relieved that he could stop reporting this stupid match. Genuinely the worst Groggy Ring match he’s ever had the displeasure of emceeing– he’s the groggiest one in this entire fucking debacle and he wants a fucking raise. 

 


 

Nami finds Conis and Porche by the tents, where there was a sink to calm down and little people around to witness the weakness of a supposedly perfect lady. 

“I… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive you guys,” Porche whispers, wiping away her own tears, her mask laid aside. 

Conis is dreadfully silent, looking upon her knees, Suu by her side, whimpering quietly. 

Nami had no excuse. “I won’t ask for you to forgive anything we do,” because they don’t deserve it, nor do they require it. “After the final round… we’ll just part ways. Like nothing ever happened. And then you guys can forget about us.”

Each word came to her like a bitter pill. 

Maybe in another world, she could be confident, as she snidely made these remarks. But in this one, she only felt like a criminal. Like a monster, covering for her other horrible friend, a legion of cruel beings with no sympathy for others. 

Like the Fishmen that once took her home from her. 

They had changed. But she– she had become what they personified, and that made her sick to the stomach. She couldn’t even find it in herself to cry. She’d lost the ability to despair over her own laughable misery a long time ago. 

“Big Bun was one of us,” Porsche says, dryly. “He’s neither Giant nor Fishman– he’s not anything to the world except his strength. And he’s dumb– he knows nothing about the world. He’s our big baby. Where else could he have fit in?”

Nami knows. She understands. Sometimes, people are only what they’re worth. 

Sometimes, the only place someone can fit in is within the monsters, sometimes, the only place someone feels belonged in is among the clowns, within nonsensical festivals. 

Sometimes, those were the only bonds that mattered. 

“How unfortunate,” Nami steels herself, gathering water in her hand to splash against her face, drenching in bits of her hair before she clumsily pulled it back over her shoulders. “And he’s dead.” 

Usopp had a point. They tried to kill us first. 

“My condolences.” 

She expects it, fully, when Porche leaps to her feet, baton in hand and thorns of roses sent her way– there’s something like a snarl, something like a swear– something like a girl who’s been enduring– been trying to stay strong against the men that didn’t seem eager to show their emotions like she did. 

Something like the dam bursting, crying out for the greatest hatred in her life.

And Nami does nothing to stop it, even when the baton knocks her on the head, dizzying, but not permanent, and when the spikes gouge into her flesh, drawing blood in ways that can never be lethal enough. Nami does nothing, even when Porche grabs fistfuls of her hair, screaming– 

–screaming, give him back

Because, clearly, Nami can never understand the agony of a comrade being so callously killed, and being able to do nothing about it. You guys are strong. You wouldn’t understand what it means to lose something and have him be someone that apparently didn’t matter at all

So Nami does nothing. None of Porche’s attacks could do anything to Nami. 

And that was by design. Her weapons were not designed to kill– they were barely designed to hurt, more to create nuisance than anything. That was the respect Porche had for human life. The respect that the Strawhats had failed to give back, and Nami knew better than anyone how much that would hurt. That’s why she did nothing. 

“Enough, you two!” Conis spins around, mortified. “You can’t be fighting now!” 

They stop. 

Exhausted, her eyes red, her cheeks flushed with emotion– Porsche crumbles to her knees– and finally, she bawls. It’s ugly, but it’s not loud. She can’t afford to be loud. 

She was the idol of the Foxy Pirates. She’s supposed to be perfect, gorgeous, the leading commander in her squad of cheer girls. She can never afford to be disgraceful, in any of their sights. 

She cannot be the one that breaks down. 

Nami stands, disheveled– her face pulled tight. Her hair spilled, mottled and tangled and bunched up, messy– but she makes no move to fix it. Instead, she reaches for the spiked roses that cut into her arm, and slowly, removed as many thorns as she could. 

In the distance, the bell to signal the end of the Groggy Ring match sounded. 

“I’ll go back to the ship first,” Nami says, her tone even. “Luffy needs to prepare for the last match.” 

Hesitant, Conis shakily nods. And when Nami leaves, she doesn’t look back once. Conis looks toward Suu– and nods, allowing Suu to follow the girl with the metal arm, catching up to her and climbing up to her side, curling into her in some semblance of comfort. 

Conis crouches down beside Porche– and daintily, she spreads her arms. And Porche dives into her, arms wrapped around her shoulders desperately– and she begins to cry, just a little louder. 

Conis holds her, gently, and says nothing.

 


 

Chopper returns to the crew, and while it was a joyous reunion, there was a gap between everything that made Chopper’s presence a comfort, rather than a celebration. 

“Is anyone hurt?” Chopper asks, face-hugging Kinoko tearfully. 

He sits down to treat Zoro and Sanji’s wounds. There was something therapeutic about it– just being there, disinfecting each cut carefully, the festival picking back up around them as the stage is prepared for the next battle. 

“Hey… is that guy really dead?” Chopper asks, quietly, when the rest of the crew linger a little further away, and it’s only him and Zoro and Sanji seated in this general area. 

“Pretty sure he is,” Zoro says. “Was probably instant.”

Chopper’s silence is still. His hat shadows over his face– and when he speaks again, it’s shaky. “I see,” he simply acknowledges, and there was nothing else he knew to add. 

“It bothers you?” Sanji asks. 

Chopper nods– and then, he shakes his head. There are tears, but he hurriedly swipes them aside. “I‘m a man. I’m able to acknowledge things that happened– I’ll be a man and see it through without complaining. I’m fine.”

Neither of them knew how to respond to that. 

To Chopper, the idea of right and wrong blurs when you remember that you’re a sailor on a sea where nothing is ever fair to the weak. Chopper could clearly say he hated that it happened– but he couldn’t, because now, he just didn’t dare. 

“I think it’s fine if you’re not fine with that,” Zoro says. 

Chopper submits a watery nod. “Okay, then I’m not.”

They’re pirates. They won’t find a time where they’ll fully agree with everything each other do all the time. That’s what made them different, and that difference was what brought them together in the first place. 

“Let’s tell him not to do it anymore, then,” Sanji says. “If you tell him why you don’t like it, maybe he’ll try to stop himself.” 

“...will he really?” Chopper questions. It’s not like it’s a drinking or smoking problem– it was fundamentally more problematic than that. 

(But maybe if he thought of it that way it would hurt less to acknowledge it.)

“Well, he’ll at least hear you out,” Zoro says. 

Chopper was on this crew to see the world. He was not here to experience the dangers of being an outlaw, he was not here to go through all the life-risking battles he’s been forced through. But he was here to find a place he belongs, and this is the place he belongs, and he goes through all those things because he wants to stay here together. 

He’s just seeing the world. Ugly and dangerous and flawed, as it is.  

He doesn’t have to like it– but then again– Chopper, he, himself, is also ugly and dangerous and flawed, and yet, there are people who still love him for who he is. 

Maybe he’ll figure out the trick to it one day. 

 


 

Wyper looks sternly at Usopp from beside him. Usopp, who had been none the wiser for the greater of two full minutes, finally turns around to nervously ask, “uh… Wyper? Sir, are you glaring at me?”

And Wyper huffs. “You threw a stone,” he says, relenting his question, “so why did it penetrate like an arrow through the clouds?” 

“Oh… that,” Usopp says. 

Anne pointedly notices that most eyes in the crew had turned toward them. Usopp picks out a single stone from his pocket, and the crew watches him coat it in a single steely layer of Armament Haki. 

“I can only do it with stuff of this size,” he says. “The rest is just arm strength.”

“With those lanky arms?” Wyper is not convinced. 

“Ah, sorry. I’m trying to buildup muscle I swear…” 

“You’re trying to become even crazier?!”

“So Haki can do that, too,” Sanji acknowledges, a little disturbed. “Turning yourself and your weapons into reinforced steel… huh.”

“You’d be like a cyborg,” Chopper says, hopefully. 

“I’d rather not,” Sanji says, almost too quickly. At Chopper’s disappointed look, he quickly amends, “but it sure does sound cool, doesn’t it?” 

Chopper brightens slightly. “It would!” 

“Haki,” Robin acknowledges. Zoro gives her a brief explanation, and she considers it in mirth. “It is much more than just a countermeasure for Devil Fruit users. It’s the very thing that sets the boundary between the scale of damage one could cause on the other side of the Red Line.” 

“It’s plenty strong as it is,” Wyper mutters. 

“Not at all, I’m on the weaker side,” Usopp insists. “Once you guys get the hang of it, you’ll dwarf me almost immediately.”

Wyper frowns at that. “What war are you preparing for?”

Usopp freezes. And then, realizes that Wyper does not speak knowingly– he only speaks of wars, because wars have been integral to his life thus far, and clearly if Usopp was striving for strength, it must be to mobilise. 

But what war was Usopp preparing for? The War of the Best? The War of the End? The wars he’s trying to stop? Or a smaller scale– the war on Enies Lobby, because he already knows that he will allow Robin to go only for the crew to chase after her. 

Is he preparing for the wars that he will let happen and then pretend to be the hero for?

What is he preparing for?

“I don’t know,” he admits. Everything? But for now… for now, he’s not sure. 

And when he searches for Nami– he realizes that it’s been much too long since he’s lost sight of her, and has no idea where to begin searching. 

 


 

Gin sighs. 

“I knew something was weird when you asked me to be your cornerman,” Gin mutters. “You’re running away, captain, don’t think I won’t make you go talk to him later.” 

Luffy stiffens, but he very pointedly picks up a helmet and says, loudly in a lip-twisted monotone, looking away, “wow, look! A helmet! It’s so cool!” 

Luffy ,” Gin repeats, and Luffy immediately puts it down and obediently gets on his knees, like a child before his mother. 

“Uhm… should I leave?” the Foxy Pirate who had led them into the dressing room asks. He waits for all of an awkward moment before giving an apologetic look to Luffy’s pleading ‘don’t leave me alone with the demon’ eyes, and excuses himself. 

Gin is calm as he leans against the side of the deck, his arms crossed. “Just tell me, Luffy– what Usopp did, do you hate him for it?”

Luffy freezes at that– “wha– no, I wouldn’t–” 

“Then,” Gin interrupts, “do you approve of his actions? Do you disapprove?”

Luffy had been the one to say that they were pirates, not saints. Sure it had been quoted from someone he admired– and now he was realizing that perhaps he hadn’t fully understood it before– but he had been the one to say it. 

“Just be honest,” Gin says, when Luffy stays silent. “There’s no one but me here, and I will respect whatever your thoughts are. It is not my place to tell you how to feel.”

Luffy finally allows his words to spill. “I… don’t like it,” he says. “I don’t want Usopp to do it. I don’t hate him for it– but I don’t want to see it.”

‘I don’t want to see someone get killed’ seemed like a childish, naive thing to say, especially for a child that grew up around this dog-eat-dog environment, with bandits. He was fine with murder, theoretically– he just didn’t want to be the one being responsible for it, to be the one that murder happened for. 

It’s not something a pirate captain should admit. 

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Gin says, without a shred of doubt. 

“There is!” Luffy says, sharply. His fists tightens, and his lip spurs– he looks away, eyes shaky. “Maybe sometimes it needs to happen. Maybe I need to do it to protect you guys– I understand why Usopp did it! I do.”

Did he really? Was that really defense in the name of the crew? Or was that just senseless violence?

(There is collateral met in the motive of protection– but whatever it was Usopp did, Luffy couldn’t help but feel that it was just a child in a dinghy, getting blown up for looking in the wrong direction.) 

“I just– not all killing is the same,” Luffy says. “And I only ever want one specific kind to ever happen.” 

Is that selfish?

Gin is still watching, silent– and without a single interruption. It’s only when Luffy curls in, regretting every word he’d spilled in this stupid moment of vulnerability– that Gin finally speaks up. 

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” he promises. 

And somehow– somehow, that felt nice to hear. 

Luffy could feel the tears at the edge of his eyes– he rubs them away, but the ache remained. The tears hadn’t spilled yet. But he breathes in and out and suddenly his ears are ringing, like he’d just had the biggest cry of his life for the second time. 

“We followed you, Luffy,” Gin says. “And you’re going to be the Pirate King. We believe that, and we, as your crew, will do all we can to make sure we get there. And that includes respecting your wishes, listening to what you want from us– and obeying it, in the same way you would do for all of us.”

They aren’t just a crew– they’re a family on the seas, living, because they have nowhere else to go. They are together, not for their mission, but because it is home. 

There is no home where there is no comfort. 

“If Usopp doesn’t understand that, then there’s only one thing to do,” Gin says, and when Luffy looks up, he’s jabbing a thumb in the direction of the boxing gloves. He smirks, “men talk with their fists, right?”

When Luffy cracks up into laughter after that, Gin lets out a subtle breath, relieved. 

“Hey, look at this, Gin! An afro! If I wear this, I’ll be like Colorimotone Prisma’s greatest senpai, the legendary Ultimate Godoafros Almighty!” 

 


 

The golden henna tattoos are all gone now. 

Nami misses her. 

She dives underwater, letting the currents take her, gravity dragging her under with the weight of her limbs. The ones Wyper makes for her are lighter, but made of wood as they are, they aren’t very water-resistant to protect the mechanisms within it. 

But she hardly cares.

Leaving Suu by the shore to watch her shirt and shoes, Nami swims, allowing herself the calm of the waters as she drifts by the corals, comes alongside the marine life, and finally tries to feel like herself again. 

She doesn’t breathe for a very long time. 

She remembers feeling like this a very long time ago, but she tries to forget about it. 

She comes up for air and Suu is flustered, hopping around frantically, evidently just about to leap for her after she’d failed to come up in a reasonable amount of time. Nami leans into the shore, and Suu scrambles over to crawl up on her arm, crying in relief– and she smiles, endeared. 

“I’m fine,” she says. She hasn’t been, for a long time, “I’m afraid, you know. Of how much Usopp has changed.” 

Suu leans in, a warm comfort, and Nami takes it as a gesture to continue. 

“But the more I think about it… the more I realize,” her voice breaks, and she feels the burn of tears– but drenched as she was, cold as she was shaking– she knew they would rescind. She won’t be able to cry today. “The more I realize that I’m not the same, too.”

She’s afraid of Usopp changing. She’s afraid of herself changing. 

She’s afraid of change, but her heart reminds her that she was here to change things, and that scares her the most out of everything. 

She wants to go back to the old days, where her naivete overpowered her rationality. She didn’t want to travel back in time, and redo it better. She just wanted those old days again, even if it ended in tragedy. She wanted to forget and do it again.

She’s selfish, she knows. Like a child. 

She’s irredeemable, and she’s unapologetic for it. Because she’s a pirate, and she’s allowed to want the impossible that she knows she’ll never get. 

(She’s no longer the Nami she used to be, and yet, she wants to be her, more than anything.) 

(Because maybe then, maybe she would have the courage to express her feelings. It would be violent, but at the very least, it wouldn’t be bottled up.) 

“I’m so envious,” she says, and Suu coos, curious of who she spoke of. Nami leans in, tender, and admits, “Porche. She’s strong, and she'll only get stronger in the future.”

 


 

Nami returns to the stands, fresh from a swim and dressed in slightly damp clothes, but she acts like nothing has happened, even pointedly speaking to Usopp first when she catches him fussing with an exclusive overpriced Foxy pin. 

“Did you waste my money again?” she groans, “don’t buy those things! What rubbish.”

Usopp presses a button and the pin laughs in Foxy’s signature noise. “It is exclusive,” he insists, “of course it’s worth it!” 

Wyper was frowning at another pin that he’d bought, because for some reason the salesman succeeded in convincing him it was a fascinating invention of the blue sea, “is there a tone dial inside? How does this work?” 

Zoro and Sanji watch them warily as they settle down, share the drinks, and get ready to cheer Luffy on. It might just be their inexperience talking– but neither of them showed visible discomfort in each others’ presence. They eased, sitting side by side, and bantered, normally. 

There was nothing wrong, externally. 

Internally though, everything probably was. 

Zoro looks away. “That Luffy, he asked Gin to be his cornerman, of all people.”

“You almost sound jealous,” Sanji mutters, slightly disgusted. “This is a punching fight, obviously he’d pick Gin.”

Anne blinks slowly. “I almost think it would be better for Gin to fight,” she says. “Gin is made to fight in ring matches.”

“Made to…?” Sanji trails off. “Nevermind, don’t elaborate.” 

Conis had returned to their sides as well, sitting meekly between Robin and Anne, carefully enjoying cotton candy with Chopper and Suu. 

“Festival food is a joy,” she says, taking a stick of fried cheese when Zoro hands it to her (he’d eaten the meat and vegetables on it, but the cheese he was very subtly passing away–) and carefully eating. “They’re mostly fried and sweet foods, which I am not fond of, but I very much understand the desire to indulge. They are delicious.”

“Want some tea?” Anne asks, already raising a cup over. 

“Ah yes, thank you,” it was weird drinking tea with these instead of soda, but she’ll take what she can. Conis’ hand linger on the cup after she takes her sip, the warmth crossing her hands into her throat, and down to warm her stomach.

She needed it. 

“Hey, Anne,” she says, soft, knowing that Robin could also hear her as she voices this question. “Stuff like that… you’re not bothered at all by it, huh?”

Anne hums, sharing some bites of fried potato skin with Kinoko. “Not really,” she says, “I’m used to it.”

“Then… Miss Robin, you too?” Conis asks. 

Robin’s answer comes quieter. “Not by choice,” she says. “It is more fortunate to be one that remains disgusted by that sight. You are fine, Miss Seamstress.” 

Conis looks down, ashamed. She was the only one, then. 

She ate, each nibble forcing down the disgust that threatened to rise again. She tried not to think about it again, but every time she closed her eyes– she could see it, the red rain. 

“I’ll need to be stronger,” she says. 

Anne sets a hand on hers, and she lifts her head, surprised. Anne’s eyes are firm, and her next words are resolute. “You don’t have to be something you aren’t,” she says. “Just be you. If you’re not strong, I can protect you.”

It’s strange, that a girl so young was so confident she was stronger than someone older than her. Conis felt coddled– but not in a bad way. 

Her strength was not in battle prowess. It was not in experience, and it was not in the ability to stay strong against these things. And this crew would be fine with that Conis– the Conis that was naive, sweet, and kind– that was enough. 

“In this crew, you are one of the few who are honest with their feelings,” Robin says. “I would prefer it if it remained that way. You don’t need to force yourself into the other corner– no one is expecting our little doctor for the same things.”

And that was true. 

So Conis stopped eating, and silently prayed into her gloved knuckles, and she would not say anything. She would not smile, but she would not cry either. 

She would stew on her own upset emotions– and when she’s brave enough to take a step outside again, she will meet the crew in the light. 

 


 

The battle with Foxy does not go well– but it didn’t the first time, either. 

“I… I almost forgot about the fucking afro,” Nami groans into her hands, defeated by the mere idea of it. 

Usopp, though, was psyched . “AFROO!” 

Chopper and Sanji weren’t any better. “LUFFY! He’s got the power of the afro! He can’t lose now, don’t underestimate the power of the afro!” 

“Is it? IT IS!” Chopper squeals, “it’s Ultimate Godoafros Almighty! Usopp! USOPP! It’s Ultimate Godoafros Almighty!” 

“That name is a dyslexic nightmare,” Zoro immediately says. 

“Was saying everything twice necessary?” Robin wonders. 

“Ultimate Godoafros Almighty,” Anne’s eyes are twinkling with awe, “the strongest being in existence, the aspiration big Master senpai of the cosmos, Colourimotone Prisma’s mentor and master and motivation to surpass…”

“Does the man wear the afro, or does the afros wear the man,” Chopper repeats, sounding amazed by the memories of the story. “The greatest mystery that persists even in the face of modern science– the power of afros can make you stronger!” 

“What,” Wyper manages.

“Do you know why Fleet Admiral Sengoku hides his afros under his hat? Well, it’s to hide the utter majesty of his infinite power!” 

“Usopp, stop lying to them!” 

Robin quietly notes that, “ah, Sengoku-san does have an afro when he uses his Devil Fruit Powers.” 

“How do all of your characters have such annoyingly long introductions!” Zoro snaps. “Stop coming up with this convoluted shit, Usopp!” 

“Hear that guys,” Usopp stage-whispers. “This is exactly what a nonbeliever of Ultimate Godoafros Almighty would say. But don’t get mad, guys. He’s just currently ignorant to the majesty of the old hero. We must quietly pity him instead. Have compassion for him. In the name of Colourimotone Prisma the hero, we have to forgive him.”

“That’s it, Usopp! You come with me, we are going to the prairie, and I am cutting off your nose like fucking Pinnochio!” 

“...but Pinnochio’s nose wasn’t cut off…?”

“At this point, I’m starting to wonder how much of this was actually story you told,” Nami mutters, “for all we know, you guys are just collectively screwing with us.” 

 


 

Luffy’s fight with Foxy was already going to be disadvantageous– it was Foxy’s home ground, he was alone, and most of all…

Nami pales immediately. “Oh no.” 

All eyes in the crew turned to her. Zoro pauses in the midst of strangling Usopp, because Nami’s horrified little moment of realisation does not sound good at all. 

Nami reveals, mortified, “we forgot to tell Luffy about Foxy’s Devil Fruit powers.”

And then Usopp freezes, “shit. Foxy didn’t use it in the previous rounds. How did we forget that?” 

There’s a stilted silence before everyone collectively loses the energy to mess around. Jaws drop, action pauses, and Conis carefully peeks out of her hands to retreat, because she has a feeling whatever will come next is a waver wreck she does not want to witness.

In the distance, a swirling pink wave shoots from Foxy’s hands– engulfing Luffy in the beam. Foxy grins, proceeding to explain the entire mechanics of his Slowpoke Photons, and how amazing he is in utilising it, demonstrating just as such. 

Luffy is then immediately blown up by a barrage of cannonballs. 

Sanji does the honours, sitting down to very indignantly declare, “SHIT.”

 


 

Luffy runs around the deck, murmuring to himself. It was a little hard to understand Foxy’s Devil Fruit powers, but after getting socked by it twice or thrice and still getting fooled by other tricks, he can confidently conclude that it’s just an utter pain in the ass.

The beam slowed down everything it touched, from humans to objects. Even hitting a small portion of his body made it slow down, and a hand stuck in the air wouldn’t come back to him until thirty seconds went by. 

In fact– seeing as Luffy’s ability was to spread out as far as he could, if there was ever a ‘mortal enemy’ of Luffy’s rubber powers, it would be this. 

Karma. This was karma. Luffy barely understood that word, but he knew that this was what it meant. 

“Woah! A huge cannon deck! Usopp would love it!” 

“Luffy motherfucking Monkey D., would you get serious already!” 

“Ah, sorry, Gin. I will, I will.”

There’s a baby Den-Den Mushi in his afro. Gin had stuffed it in while the referee wasn’t looking, which meant it was completely fair game. 

(Back at the stands, Nami stares, baffled that she didn’t think of it first.)

“Tell me the situation down there!” Gin orders. 

“Uhh,” looking around frantically. “Can’t find him. I was gonna kick down every door but…” 

“...but?” Gin questions. 

Luffy’s eyes land on a very specifically suspicious door, and he squints. “I have a very bad feeling about just that one for some reason…” 

“Trust your instinct, Luffy,” Nami says, speaking into the Denden. “Or is there another reason you don’t want to open it?” 

Luffy grimaces. He doesn’t really know how to verbalise this– but he just knows that there’s a trap beyond it, even if he’s even more sure that Foxy is right behind it. Maybe he should just charge in anyways, which is what he would do usually,) but if he did it now that Nami warned him, she’ll be mad when it’s a trap and he falls for it. 

“Okay then,” he steps toward a cannon. “I’ll just blow it up.”

“What?” Gin asks. 

“What,” Nami repeats. 

An explosion can be heard under the deck of the Sexy Foxy. 

And then, Foxy’s indignant yell, “you’re not supposed to fire a fucking cannon inside a ship, you mindless, unthinking chimpanzee!” 

“Oh, found him! Ah look, I knew there was a trap! Look at all those spikes!” 

 


 

Somehow, Nami knew he’d be fine. He was fine last time around, too.

“The somehow ,” Usopp mentions, and Nami nods. “So maybe, do you think…?”

“It’s possible,” Nami says. “Don’t tell him, though. It’s like all of us– once you put a name to it, you end up forgetting how to do it instinctively.”

“A step forward, two steps back, like me after Dressrosa,” Usopp nods. “But it’s strange– I’ve always thought Luffy would awaken the one better for fighting first.”

“Unexpected is his middle name,” Nami sighs. 

“No, it isn’t.”

“You know what I mean!” 

“What the actual fuck are you guys talking about,” this time, it’s Gin and Zoro who says it in complete accidental unison, and the combination of resignation of further irritation would have made Usopp and Nami frantically hide behind each other back in the day. 

And, neither of them even phrased it as a question. 

“It’s Mantra,” to everyone’s surprise, it’s Wyper that answers it. “Luffy’s using Mantra.”

“What?” now Sanji is also in full attention. “Luffy can use that annoying shit now too?”

“Eh, probably not fully yet,” Usopp says, humbly, “he’s still getting hit a lot. You can attribute that to Foxy being pretty unexpectedly smart with his tricks too, I guess.”

“I’m thinking he’s had this for a while, we just never really brought it to attention,” Nami says. “I wonder how long… oh well.”

“Uhm… are we still worried about him?” Conis asks. “He seems to be doing pretty badly in the fight as of the moment… what we can see of it, at least. I don’t believe humans are meant to take so much damage from Blue Sea cannons…” 

“Yes, a normal human would have died in about one, most likely,” Robin says, her tone even as she offers her soda to Suu only to end up with a fox screeching at it like it was the greatest criminal offense to her ancestors, “I’m more impressed that the ship is still very much intact despite it.” She hands it to Kinoko instead.

“The poor ship…” Chopper says. “Is Foxy not worried about his ship? Or is it because he knows the ship can take it that he’s going wild on it? He did choose it as their battlefield, I guess…”

“Ah, don’t worry, the power of the afros will ensure Luffy wins,” Sanji says, in a tone that was so matter-of-fact that Gin needed to do a double take to make sure that yes, this guy is not joking, what the actual hell?

“Back to the part about the fucking Haki,” Zoro hisses. 

“Well, if you’re ever wondering why you can’t get Armament to work, it’s because you’re thinking too hard about it every time,” Nami says. “Which is why we’re not going to tell Luffy he awakened it until he learns how to consciously use it. He’ll end up like Zoro.” 

“There is nothing wrong with me, I am getting the hang of it already!” 

“Oh really, then shall we test it o–”

“Not in the stands we are not! Focus on the match!” 

 


 

“The boss is– the boss is DOWNN!! With his legendary 920 consecutive win record finally broken, Foxy has fallen into the sea– and who’s the winner of this game? Well, none other than MONKEY D. LUUUFFFFYY!!” 

Needless to say, Luffy managed to crank out a win. He’s battered, bloody, and somewhere in the middle of falling unconscious and staying awake on willpower alone– and well, he’d won over the hearts of every Foxy Pirate in the stands along the way. 

“GOOO! THE AFRO POWER!” 

“You did it, Luffyyyy!!” 

“He did it, that crazy bastard!” 

It was strange, to be cheering for your captain’s victory only to find the opposing team cheering him on, celebrating just the same. This was it– this was the Davy Back Fight. A place where the lines between enemy and comrade blurred, and comrade-exchanges were bitter, but fair game. 

Anyone on the Foxy team would honour being saddled with a new leader at each loss, and thus, they will always extend their excitement and respect to the other captain in their matches. For all they know, they could become a crewmember, after all– they had to make a positive impression. That’s why they set up carnivals, host little warmup matches, and are friendly no matter what. 

The Davy Back Fight was made for both teams to enjoy themselves, regardless of who won or lost. 

(And yet…) 

Usopp stands up, and quietly, he takes his walking stick, maneuvering his own way out. He doesn’t call for Kinoko, and the bird continues to be preoccupied with the soda Robin gives her. 

Nami sees him go. But if she didn’t call out to him, Usopp would never notice– so she doesn’t. Like a coward, she turned away, pretending not to see. 

Wyper sighs as he notices that, standing up to go after him. “You guys take care of the fool,” he says, gesturing toward Luffy. Sanji was still enthusiastically screaming about the magic of afros with Chopper, so he turns to anyone else in hope of sanity. 

“We can go to Tonjit’s house,” Anne says, hopping down from the little stool she’d used to look over the handrails. “My easel is still there.” 

They left in silence, and everyone knew why. Conis notices belatedly, but she catches Robin’s eye and Suu’s assuring nod, and they don’t move. They sit where they are, indulging in the excitement that spreads across the crowd. 

Usopp’s presence was only dampening the celebration, and he knew it. 

 


 

“Huh wait! The game– huh? I thought I– wait, was that a dream? I thought I won!” 

“Don’t worry, you did.”

Luffy lays back, relieved and exhausted, his lips curling into a wide smile. “Oh great, that’s good!” he laughs. He’s got no energy to sit back up for now, but with Conis and Chopper by his side, lowly chewing him out for one injury or another, there was really nowhere else he’d rather be. 

“Usopp, Wyper, and Anne went back to Tonjit’s house ahead,” Zoro says, when Luffy starts looking around. 

Luffy’s face falls a little, disappointed. But he picks back up when Foxy approaches him for a handshake, and it’s such a firm, unflinching grip– that Luffy had no choice but to feel just a little surprise. 

“I was going to throw you over my shoulder as revenge, but I won’t,” Foxy says, after a moment of stern staring. And then he lets go of Luffy’s hand. “I’ll honour this match– you dared besmirch my legendary record!” he hisses, accusatory. But he sighs. “I’m in no mood anymore! That’s it, let’s go home, everyone!” 

“You know, I’m made of rubber, so that’d be pointless–” 

“With that said!” Foxy yells over him, loud and interruptive, “hurry up and choose your member to take! You need a carpenter, right? C’mon folks, line up to be chosen already!” 

“Huh? Oh right, there was that,” Luffy says. He’d completely forgotten about the nakama-stealing part. “Give me your jolly roger!” 

“What?!”

His resolute decision– one he’d made without even thinking twice– surprises everyone, from the Strawhats to the Foxy Pirates. Foxy even went on to start advertising his top three before he whirled back around because wait , you want none of them?

“Hold on a– Luffy!” 

Nami sighs, “why are you so undeniably captainlike in the weirdest times?” 

Luffy laughs at that remark. “Well, I mean, if I took a carpenter now from them, it’d be pretty pointless, right? We didn’t join this fight for that, anyways.”

“Ah, that’s right–” Chopper says, “we got in this fight for Sherry. Right.”

“But what about sexy carpenter Gina?” Sanji asks, horrified. 

“Can Merry really afford to wait for another island or three, though?” Zoro mutters to himself. “Oh well , she’ll have to tough it out.”

“Oh right, I forgot about Merry!” Luffy says. “Uh, can we have your jolly roger and while you’re fixing your ship, can you fix a bit of ours, too?”

“You’re shameless!” came the loud yell from half of the Foxy Pirates. 

“You’re just going to add more clauses?!”

“And he didn’t even think twice about taking away the pride and joy of a pirate crew, the jolly roger! How deplorable! How evil!” 

“Oh c’mon,” Luffy says, whining, “you guys are gonna have to fix all that, right? Might as well. You’ve got a ton of people. You build a whole gallery in a couple minutes anyways, what’s the big deal?’

Sanji sparked a certain idea, “Don’t force them, Luffy. I don’t think I trust them to handle the Merry anyways, these guys don’t look like they’ve got a lick of elegance in their life.”

Nami hums, “yeah, I’d feel sorry for our little Merry if these testosterone-filled brutes handled her. We’ll wait until there are nicer, more generous people who are willing to help her out of the goodness of their hearts…” 

“Oh it’s on now, strawhat! WE ARE NOT BRUTES!” 

“Yeah, Gina’s not a brute!” 

“We can build ships beautifully! Our carpenters have the hands of angels!” 

“We’ll show you a godly maintenance! Lead the way! Right now!” 

 

Somehow, they had weaseled a free shipwrighting session out of them. Luffy laughs and laughs. Sanji and Nami high-five. 

Gin and Zoro follow the crowd to look at Merry, resigned to their fates as the ones handling heavy work. Luffy gets to work graciously painting a new jolly roger for the Foxy Pirates, while Conis and Chopper glimmer excitedly as some of the Foxy doctors and nurses lend them medical supplies. 

All wasn’t good, but for now, it was well.

Chapter 77: frozen in progress (the curse of Nico Robin)

Summary:

Aokiji shows up.

It's hard to say whether this crew is firm or crumbling, because whichever the case, it's clear that none of them are willing to let it go.

So they cling on, and they keep clinging on to each other.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“So? Was it impulse or something?” Wyper asks. 

“No, I just got annoyed,” Usopp says. “They weren’t taking us seriously. It’s not just our crew, but Foxy’s crew as well… if we don’t start changing our naive outlooks on things, we’re not going to survive any further.”

Back then, they changed too late, and that’s why they had to take a two-year break from everything. They shouldn’t need that kind of time wastage this time around. 

“That’s nice, you guys never let me kill anything,” Anne says. 

“Do you like killing?” Wyper asks, incredulous.

“...no,” Anne says, “but I can .”

And if she can, it means someone in the crew, someone with clean hands, would be spared the horrors of staining their own. To Anne, killing was almost a necessity, a mission, a quota to reach as a team effort. Her time in Baroque Works was the same. 

“Nami evidently didn’t like it,” Wyper says. 

Usopp stays silent at that. That was clear— and he knew that. He knew that she disapproved, and she would be the one that most clearly rebuked it. He doesn’t understand why it hasn’t happened yet, why Nami hasn’t said anything yet— and it unnerves him that right now, it was all bottled up, imminent to bursting. 

But he wasn’t the one keeping emotions sealed, so he didn’t even know how to fix it. 

They remain silent the rest of the way, until Usopp, Anne, and Wyper arrive at Tonjit’s house to deliver the good news. 

“Wait. No,” Usopp says, looking around before realizing Kinoko wasn’t with him, so he couldn’t ask her to look around either. “Hold on. Something’s missing.”

Anne and Wyper turn to him. “What’s wrong?”

“...he’s not here,” Usopp breathes.

“Who isn’t?”

“Give me a second. I’m looking for something,” Usopp says. “Just a second. And don't eat the cheese if Tonjit offers it.” 

 


 

“So?”

When Zoro ominously gathered the currently present Strawhats away from the Foxy Pirates only to offer a single ominous prompt, everyone just knew this was not going to be a pleasant conversation. 

“So what?” Sanji asks anyways. “It happened. Are we still not over it?” 

Conis and Chopper squirm a little uncomfortably, and Nami gives Sanji a glare that he very immediately crumbles for. 

“He’s right, though,” Gin says. “Sure some of us aren’t used to it— but it happens.” 

“I don’t like it,” Nami says, almost immediately. “There was no reason for him to have done that. It’s just— it just makes no sense. He usually doesn’t do this.”

“But…” Conis hugs Suu, “it’s… it’s not the first time he has. Aisa told me before–” 

“He did it in front of Aisa?!” Nami flinches. That’s right— Aisa would have been on the ship when it happened. “What is he even thinking?!”  

“He’s not,” Sanji mutters. 

“I do believe as pirates, it’s more the necessity of the situation, rather than the situational awareness,” Robin says. “So on Sky Island…” she trails off. It was justified was left unsaid, because Nami evidently disagreed. 

She seethes, teeth clenched furiously, fists balled– and she demeaningly looks away. 

“Senseless violence,” Nami says. “That’s all it is.” 

They left it at that. 

“I don’t care what you do,” Zoro says, finally flipping that argument over its head to address something else. Those things didn’t matter. It’s what will soon happen that mattered at this moment. “It’s what you don’t do that’s bothering me.” 

Keeping secrets, withholding information that was vital , all for the sake of some so-called development. As if they had any right to dictate people’s experiences. 

Nami falls silent. 

Not even Luffy was refuting that this time. 

The crew waited, as Nami bit her bottom lip, fists tightening. She didn’t know how to get out of this conversation. She didn’t think it was right of her to. 

“You’re not at ease yet, Nami-san,” Sanji says. He takes a drag of his cigarette. “What’s going to happen on the next island? Or maybe, it’s this island.”

She stiffens. 

“There’s someone else on this island?” Gin straightens, whirling around in the direction of Tonjit’s house. “Then, Usopp and the others—” 

Luffy jerks up. “Is it dangerous, Nami?!”

“No, if it was, you wouldn't have let them go, right?” Chopper insists. “That, or they’re strong enough to handle it! It’s Usopp and Wyper, after all.”

“That’s right, Miss Nami wouldn’t…” Conis begins, but she falls short. She didn’t know how to continue that sentence, because she, too, didn’t know what was right. 

Nami looks away. “I—” 

All eyes turn to her, and the words are stuck in her throat. Zoro has his hands on his swords. 

Then, very weakly, “we’ll get out of it alive.”

Zoro and Luffy jump right to their feet, making a run for it. 

“We’re not going to be able to take him on!” Nami yells, and they stop, turning around. “Not me, not Usopp… not even you or Zoro,” she says, looking at Luffy. “He’s not here to fight us. He’s just here to…” 

Robin looks between the tensions of the crew, slowly discerning the state of the matters— and it just didn’t look good at all. What has Nami done? What has she and Usopp done to the crew? Would it have ruptured either way? Was it better before?

“...I’m just here to confirm that Nico Robin is in your crew, that’s all.”

 


 

For a horrible moment, no one dared to move. 

“But I’m quite interested, Burglar Cat,” Aokiji speaks, directly behind her, “how did you realize I was on the island? I had a hard enough time dodging that sniper.”

Held in the admiral’s hand, upside down like a chicken for slaughter, is Kinoko. 

“This bird was a little tougher to throw off. Sorry if I roughed it up a little. I wanted to be unnoticed, you see but…” he sighs, putting it into Conis’ hands, earning a strangled squeak. “Well, it was a pointless effort.” 

Chopper yelps at the sight, hurrying over with his first aid kit as Conis panics , gently shaking the bird until she just bolted up squawking, offended and traumatized and— 

—and suddenly there’s a bird violently attacking Aokiji, wings and talons and a startled yelp from the too-tall Admiral. 

“Hey! Hey bird! Stop! I apologized!” 

Kinoko is still screeching in anger, and the Strawhats are left watching as the looming, ominous, terrifying figure of authority is just… assaulted by an avian ball of fury. 

“Should I—” Gin starts. 

“Uh, maybe,” Nami says. This was highly amusing but if the bird gets frozen Usopp will be incredibly distraught. “She’s only allowed to do that because he’s not fighting back. Let’s stop her before he changes his mind.”

“Alright then,” Sanji sighs, “Robin sweetheart, would you do the honours?”

Robin blinks back to attention, finally taking a breath from her bewilderment to nod. Crossing her arms, hands sprout upon Kinoko’s back, wrapping around her like a little bundle, dropping her right into the ground. 

Luffy reaches over and retrieves her quickly, frowning. “So is he bad news?”

Nami juts out a nod. “But… it’ll depend on his mood.”

Nami would reach for her Eisen Whip, but she knows it would be too late. Aokiji was the kind to immediately identify every weapon in her arsenal, and she knew that he was prepared to take on any and everything. 

(Because that was the difference in their power. That was what his overwhelming Haki, pressuring her like gravity and tightening her every hair and nerve, is warning her.)

Robin falls with a gasp. Abruptly realizing the severity of the situation, Luffy curses, calling out for Nami, while Sanji reaches in, taking Nami by the shoulder, dragging her a little away. Zoro and Gin jerk forward, hands on their weapons—

“Wait guys, don’t fight him!” Nami exclaims. They all freeze. She leans into Sanji’s chest from where he was still holding her. She doesn’t tear away. She needed to be in there.

She raises her hands in surrender, and she smiles.

“It’s nice to meet you, Marine Admiral Aokiji,” she greets, noticing the way some of them have stiffened up upon realizing who he was. “I’m sorry— we got a little tipoff, you see. So we were a little nervous about your arrival. Do forgive us for being wary. You know what we are and all.”

“A tipoff?” Aokiji hums. “Ah, I see. If I don’t know about it, then it must be from that guy,” he says. “How nice, I want the passport of the mysterious Seer, too.”

The mysterious…? Coby, perhaps. 

“What’s with this guy?” 

“Is he really an Admiral? Why’s he so…” 

“My motto’s Lazy Justice.”

“Oh that makes sense!” 

Nami breathes out, and then sets a hand on Sanji’s, which was on her shoulder, assuring him that it’s alright to let go. Conis is whispering to Chopper, presumably asking about Admirals and what their significance was, and Chopper’s answer makes her go pale. 

“Ah, you’ve sure grown up well, Nico Robin,” Aokiji says, and everyone instantly straightens right up again. “Ah, there are some other pretty ladies around, too. Nice to meet you, are you free tonight?”

“Hey!” Sanji snaps. 

Nami knows that Zoro is glaring at her, displeased that this is what she was still hiding. And really it wasn’t any laughing matter at all. Gin is scowling as well, but at Aokiji. 

“So, Burglar Cat. I’ve heard you’ve troubled my old friend a great deal. How are you?” Aokiji says, chiding up some casual conversation. “As for your infiltration as one of our chore boys and the lasting grief the Elder Stars are giving us for it, well….”

“I’ve been in Smoker-san’s care,” Nami says. “I guess you’re like my former former superior, or something?”

“Yes yes,” Aokiji says. “Well, doesn’t matter anymore though.”

What’s with this meaningless chatter?

Nami nods toward Conis, who picks up Kinoko and backs away. Robin stands up, eyes set in a frown. Suu scrambles up Nami’s shoulder, and Nami whispers a quiet order. 

Suu immediately runs off, and Aokiji watches with a sigh, deciding to let her go. It wasn’t worth the effort.

“Meet my Captain, Monkey D. Luffy,” Nami says, emphasizing his last name, knowing full well Gin bristled at that. “And Luffy, well… yeah, let’s not bother with the greetings. Don’t punch him, he doesn’t hit as hard as your Grandpa, but I’d say it’s pretty close.”

Luffy grimaces. Aokiji also grimaces.

Nami stares. “...why are you offended?” 

“I mean… I respect him, but,” Aokiji says, lips pulled in disgust, looking the most visually annoyed that Nami has ever had the honour to witness. “It’s cool to be compared to his strength, but the thought of it… exhausts me.” 

“Same,” Luffy says, face pulled into an alarmingly similar look of sheer annoyance. “I get you, weird lanky guy. I totally get you.”

“Luffy, don’t find kinship in him, he’s a marine!” Gin warns. 

“Is anyone ever going to tell us who your Grandpa is or are we just supposed to collectively pretend we understand what the fuck is this conversation?” Sanji asks. 

“Speaking of,” Aokiji changes the subject, earning a frustrated snarl from Sanji, “the paintball war’s the most amazing and infuriating thing we’ve ever had in our base, ever. Thanks for that.”

“I have never in my life received such confusing sarcasm.” 

Aokiji hums. Well, he’s identified Nico Robin, and acknowledged Nami’s new allegiance under Luffy— that’s his job done and over with. 

So now?

“You’re aiming for Robin?” Luffy says, scowling. “You’re not getting her!” 

“Luffy, stop it,” Sanji says. “It’s an Admiral.”

“Don’t pick a fight with it just because you can,” Gin warns. 

“Well are we just going to let him take her?!”  

“Of course not, obviously!” 

“Then let me fight him!” 

“No!” 

“Uh, Aokiji-san,” Nami says, “I know it’s very weird for us to ask a favour of you, but…” Tonjit still needed a way to get home. Aokiji’s an understanding guy, so that’s alright. 

“If it’s about that weird hut in the distance, yeah, I get the story, I’ll help,” oh okay that was easy. “Also can you call off that guy? I don’t fancy getting shot today.” 

Nami looks toward where Aokiji was pointing. There’s nothing but plains and trees as far as the eye can see. 

“Call off what?” Sanji asks. 

Nami takes a moment to remember what it was— Luffy does it first, though, taking a breath before hollering, “HEY USOPP, DON’T SHOOT THE GUY!” 

“Thanks,” Aokiji says. “I’m glad you’re more reasonable than your grandfather.”

Luffy immediately adds, “I WANNA PUNCH HIM FIRST.”

“I spoke too soon.”

 


 

“Well, it’s not like I was actively trying to shoot you,” Usopp says, “it’s just an Observation Haki thing, you know— it’s like etiquette. He went out of his way to avoid me, so when I noticed him, I had to inform him with minor attempts of petty violence.” 

“Usopp, what the fuck.”

“You know this, Nami. Remember what Conquerors do as a greeting?”

“Knock out everyone in the general vicinity like inconsiderate bastards, okay, I get it.”

Usopp had been on a really tall tree, apparently, so Luffy went to get him down. He was going to shoot Aokiji and Nami’s now interrogating him on the why

Aokiji yawns, Kinoko on his head yawning in tandem.

Meanwhile, the crew, who still don’t know what Conqueror’s Haki is, are staring in baffled silence. “Is it just me or did that start sounding incredibly personal toward the end?” Sanji asks. 

“Don’t think about it,” Gin says. 

“I’m not going to think about it,” Zoro adds. 

“I would prefer to never think of it,” Robin agrees. 

“I… am thinking of it,” Chopper says. “With a lot of concern.”

“I don’t know what we’re supposed to be thinking of…?” Conis admits. 

Luffy sneezes. 

“C’mon, I'm not delusional, I’m not going to think I can land a hit on him,” Usopp says, “I was going to shoot this,” he says, holding up a water balloon. 

“Not the paintball again!” 

“No no, it’s not a paintball. This liquid’s transparent,” Usopp clarifies, very seriously, “it just glows in the dark. Really brightly. And makes all birds and critters in the vicinity shriek at the sight of you.” 

Aokiji balks. “That’s terrifying,” he says. “That does it, once we’re done sending that old man off, I’m fighting you guys.”

“What kind of petty reason to fight is that?!” Zoro snaps. 

 


 

Wyper, for one, is still struggling with understanding the concept of the Marines. 

“So you just go your whole life… hunting down pirates ? Do you guys have nothing better to do with your life?”

“I could turn that argument back around and ask why pirates have nothing better to do than cause trouble for the citizens all the time,” Aokiji says, “or something. I know that’s not what you guys always do, but capturing pirates isn’t all we do either. It’s a two way street, or something. I’m too tired to debate about this.”

“...if we’re not going to talk do I just start blasting or?”

“Wyper, give me my guns back!” 

Sending off Tonjit is easy. 

They all help the man pack up his belongings, load them up on a cart, get Sherry well-settled, and all. And then Aokiji decides to freeze a whole segment of the ocean along with the guardian of the coast for some showoff reason, and then they’re off. 

“Can I paint this?” Anne asks. 

Aokiji looks down. “Huh? I guess so? Go ahead.” And then Anne is obediently running off to find her easel. Aokiji has no idea what just happened. 

“You’re now legally not allowed to interrupt her painting,” Gin says, very dryly. 

“...is that what I agreed to?”

“Yeah.”

“...okay, fair.”

Conis has never been exposed to ice before, so she stood by the coast, a glove off to carefully touch the frozen ocean, fascinated. Chopper began talking to her about the wonders of winder and the island he’d come from, and she was gleaming with interest. Wyper, who was incredibly cold but very interested, was listening beside them. 

Robin stays a very fair distance away. Nami lingers around her, and Zoro, sensing the problem there, makes his way just a little closer. Luffy and Sanji see Tonjit off, waving even into the distance. Gin picks up Kinoko and wonders where Suu went. 

“All things considered, your crew is quite a peculiar one,” Aokiji says. “The name of Burglar Cat and Man Demon, and maybe Miss Goldenweek too, are just little bits of notoriety, but Nico Robin isn’t exactly a name that they can ignore.” 

As of the moment, the government has yet to officially identify Anne and Robin’s allegiance in this crew. They barely understand Luffy, the up-and-coming super rookie. Learning that he had four decently notorious names under his command would be unsettling. 

Usopp couldn’t help but sigh heavier at the thought. 

They haven’t even noticed the two craziest ones, being Roronoa ‘Shimotsuki willbearer’ Zoro and Black Leg ‘not a Vinsmoke’ Sanji, yet. And when the insanity that is Franky, Brook, and Jinbei join… the Strawhats are going to be a completely special brand of calamity to the world. 

“The one the government has its most vindictive eye at the moment is, undoubtedly, Nico Robin,” Aokiji says. “You’ve survived thus far, betraying and discarding every organisation behind you… not a single one of those allegiances exist today, Nico Robin. They’ve all been annihilated, you aside.”

Like a curse. 

“I suppose Crocodile’s an exception, since he’s still running free, but his organisation, Baroque Works, is effectively gone as well,” Aokiji says. 

Finally, Luffy explodes. “Hey, you, shut up already!” he snaps, “the past doesn’t matter ! Robin is a member of my crew now, and I’m not going to let you keep talking crap!” 

“Yeah, you freaking asshat!” Sanji adds. “You don’t know Robin, so don’t talk shit!” 

“I don’t see how any of our crew matters are your business,” Wyper mutters. 

“Oh?” Aokiji muses. The entire crew, including Anne, had turned to him, hands on their weapons, glares set full in a frown. Usopp hadn’t moved yet, but Nami’s expressions were hauntingly blank. “You seem to have gained the trust of these people as well, huh?”

Robin’s lips purse, shoulders tightening in a surge of anger. Her arms lift— and instantly, a dozen arms bloom, grappling Aokiji in a firm, brutal hold. 

“What are you trying to say, Aokiji?” she says, her voice rising uncharacteristically, like she was fighting through the accusations she didn’t want to admit were true. “If you want to arrest me… if you regret letting me go that day, twenty years ago… then…!!” 

She snaps him in half, to the visceral horror of the entire crew. 

Half of the crew gasps, while Zoro and Gin straighten, seeing the way he’d shattered, pure ice in his wake. Wyper’s ice widen, recognizing the signs of an incorporeal being. 

“AHH!! He died!” Chopper screams. 

Conis covers her mouth, “It can’t be…!!” 

“Everyone get back!” Wyper yells, snapping the entire crew out of their stupor. 

Aokiji quickly begins to reform, and Usopp lunges back, taking Chopper in one arm and Conis in the other. Wyper leaps back as well, right out of the range of the ice that comes and freezes through the ground. 

“He’s a Logia! He’s not going to go down easily!” he warns, and the rest of the crew curse loudly, weapons drawn. Of all the times to not have seastone on hand…

“The ground…!” Robin breathes, her shoes frozen through the ice. 

Aokiji forms a blade of ice— but as he throws down, Zoro intercepts. Sanji and Gin whirl in on both ends, and Luffy lunges in to throw forth a bullet — but they’re stopped, a single hand on Zoro’s shoulder, another immediately snatching Sanji’s leg out of the air. 

Gin’s tonfa made contact, but it froze over immediately, and Gin hisses, the metal instantly searing into his skin, and before he could tear away, it coated over, engulfing his hand with ice. Luffy’s fist plunged into Aokiji’s stomach— and that was it for him. 

A hand on each of them, and a single moment’s direct contact— and he’d incapacitated them all, leaving them howling in the pain of severe frostbite. 

“All four of them at once?!” Conis gasps. 

Wyper curses. He’d almost jumped in, too. 

“Frostbite!” Chopper exclaims. “This is bad, we have to treat them immediately. 

“As for Burglar Cat… oh dear,” Aokiji says. “I’d assumed you were smarter than this. If you knew I was coming, I’m quite sure you should have changed into a model better suited for the winter.” 

Nami was stuck to the ground, cringing nearly audibly as the ice froze over her foot, searing through the metal parts, right into her skin. “I let my guard down,” she admits. “What an oversight.” She curses. Aokiji didn’t freeze the ground last time. 

“Oh, oops,” Aokiji straightens, when Anne is standing by her easel, her shoes frozen to the ground, but her body itself unharmed. “Did I interrupt you, little painting lady? My apologies, I was trying.”

Anne glares, unable to do anything when her paints are frozen. 

Aokiji is slowly, steadily, approaching Robin. Robin’s feet are frozen to the ground, and she’s shaking, “You’ve got some good friends, but it seems you haven’t changed, Nico Robin.” 

Wyper hurries to stand up— but something by his feet catches his eye. 

Suu has returned, and she’s holding a Dial. Did she run all the way back to the ship? Wyper’s eyes meet Nami’s, who held the Clima Tact firmly in her hand. 

“Oh my mark!” Usopp says, setting Conis and Chopper down before snatching up a sack of white, cotton-like objects from his bag, tossing it up to be scooped right up by Kinoko. “Wyper, don’t hesitate!” 

Aokiji lunges for Robin, engulfing her in ice. 

Kinoko drops the bag, and Usopp immediately aims his slingshot. “NOW!” Wyper activates the Flame Dial and throws it into the air— setting the entire bag on fire, right before it explodes violently in every direction. 

 The noise makes Aokiji stop and look up in alarm.

“You came prepared,” Aokiji muses. “But this much isn’t enough—” 

Nami whirls around, Eisen Whip shooting forward, piercing through a single flaming cotton, setting her cloud whip on fire as she lashes it at the Admiral. 

“—ah, now that’s something interesting,” Aokiji says, smiling. 

Anne catches a fireball in her palette, hurrying to reactivate her paints and get her feet out.

Robin is nearly half encased in ice now, but some fire was slowly melting away the ice around her boots, enough for her to wiggle her feet out of them and raise herself out on some extra appendages. 

She drops off overhead, and Conis and Chopper run to catch her, cringing at the cold. Robin, a hand fused to a shoulder and the rest of her body mostly frozen in place— she couldn't even muster a protest, left only able to lean weakly against Conis’ chest. 

“You guys, get Robin out of here!” Luffy yells. “Go melt her out!” 

“Yes, sir!” they exclaim, picking her up with some effort. 

Nami lashes her whip outward, splitting Aokiji’s body in half, but unable to hurt him. 

“You still can’t apply Haki to elementally-augmented weapons, I see,” Aokiji says. “I understand. That can get tricky. It’s unfortunate, however… until you figure that out, you stand no chance against me, even if you’re using a superior element.” 

Yeah, no dice. Of course. 

Nami lets the whip droop around her feet in an attempt to melt her foot out of there. Kinoko lands on her shoulder, and she quickly reaches into the bird’s sacks, retrieving a small screwdriver. She’ll have to unlatch her foot. 

“Bullfight Red—!” Anne spins out a Colours Trap, but Aokiji doesn’t let it reach him, swerving right aside from it, freezing Anne’s tools in a single touch. 

“Now now, little lady,” he says, sounding stern. Inspecting the canvas, he hums, pleased. “Don’t get distracted. Keep painting, you looked like you were almost done.”

Anne stops moving, realising how helpless she was. 

Zoro and Sanji struggle to their feet, Gin trying his best to rip his hands away from his unsalvageable tonfas without ripping his skin and flesh off with it. Wyper held the Flame Dial right at it, arguing vehemently with Gin as he did it, Gin screaming that he couldn’t just rip his hands out of metal in negative degrees and Wyper not understanding physics. 

“We’re not letting you go after Robin-chan!” Sanji says. 

“I’d advise against protecting a woman like that,” Aokiji says. “You have no idea what a threat to the world she is. Nothing but disaster awaits.”

“So what?!” Luffy snaps, louder than necessary. 

“She will bring your crew to ruin.”

“She won’t!” Luffy yells. “I’ll make sure of that— I’m the man who’s going to become the Pirate King… and I need all my nakama to get me there!” Nothing you say is going to stop that!” 

“Ah, is that so?” Aokiji straightens. “How about force? WIll that stop you?”

Luffy clicks his tongue. Zoro reaches for his swords again, and Gin has finally managed to safely tear his hands free, not that they were in a very ideal state. Usopp hurries over, to lift Anne out of her shoes, bringing her to his shoulders. Nami, finally freed from the ice, throws out her Eisen Whip toward a tree, dragging herself out of harm’s way.

“You guys! Go back to the ship!” Luffy orders, to everyone’s ire. He keeps his eyes on Aokiji. “I want to fight him alone. Man to man.”

Aokiji scoffs. “Sure, then.”

 


 

Zoro grabs Nami by the collar and shoves her against the wall. 

“Zoro—!!” 

“Enough!” Zoro snaps, and he’s loud, he’s fierce— and while the rest of the crew watch on in horror, Gin is actively stopping Sanji from trying to protect Nami. “I’ve had enough of you both. You think it’s funny that we’re dealing with this shit? You knew that guy was coming, you knew he was targeting Robin— just because we get out of it alive doesn’t mean you’re entitled to make us face all this shit in the first place!” 

Nami knows best that things are changing, and that means risks are not worth taking. 

“If it can be prevented, I prevent them,” she says, glaring back up at Zoro, arms coming up to take his, gripping fiercely. “Let me go Zoro. Right now.”

“What’s wrong with letting things happen?” Usopp says, to the crew’s surprise. He’s drying himself off. “Even if we try our best, Merry would still break down. But if we didn’t follow it to the book, we wouldn’t make it in time to save her. Which would you rather risk losing, Zoro?”

For a moment, Zoro seemed to eat his words. 

Then Anne speaks up. “Is that why you let Sherry get shot?”

And the entire deck falls criminally silent . Nami’s eyes blow wide— and eyes turn, almost accusingly, toward Usopp. 

Usopp shrugs. 

Then, with a much more subdued, yet so much more infuriated tone— he lets go of Nami. “Usopp,” he warns. “Life isn’t something you can just drop on a lever and decide which is more profitable in the long run.”

While it’s true that this path ensures Merry’s greatest chances— this was entirely reliant on the ends to justify the means. Did Merry deserve to go through all that desperation just to blindly believe that Usopp and Nami will get her to safety in time? Did she deserve to be put through this trial to test her loyalty to the crew?

“Don’t play god,” Zoro says, slamming a hand against the door. “You two don’t have the right to look upon our journey as some predetermined fate! This isn’t a fucking game!” 

They fall silent immediately. 

“I get how you feel,” Gin says, his voice low and strained, dunking his hands in a pail of water as Anne hurries around with Suu, bringing towels and warmth and treatment materials to everyone. Conis and Chopper were working on thawing Robin in the bathroom, so they didn’t have any time to spare on the others. “But this isn’t the time.”

“Stay calm, you idiots,” Wyper warns, raising his bazooka over his shoulder. “We can’t interfere in Luffy’s duel right now. But if he loses…” 

There’s a high chance that, on this sea, in this world of unforgiving consequences, they would never see Luffy again. 

This was a duel, after all. 

There should be no complaints if Aokiji kills Luffy at the end of their fight. That’s just how it works down here in the sea, right?

 


 

Half the crew run off to retrieve Luffy, leaving Nami and Usopp seated on the deck, chastised. 

Blame was rising in Nami’s throat. Anger, irritating her tongue. 

“It turned out fine,” Usopp says. “Even if it doesn’t—” 

“Enough already!” Nami says, her voice hitching into a high note at the end of her sentence. She rubs vigorously at her leg, trying to stave off the frostbite— but maybe, just maybe, she was gripping it too hard. “Usopp, tell me the truth. Did you try to save Sherry from being shot? At all?”

Usopp’s response is a very telling silence, and Nami feels her stomach drop in dread. 

“Why?” 

“I didn’t find it necessary.” 

“You didn’t find Sherry’s life necessary?!” 

“I didn’t find the event worth changing! Chopper was there, do you not trust Chopper’s medical skills, Nami?!”

“That’s not the fucking point, Usopp!” 

“But that is what it all boils down to, isn’t it? If it didn’t happen, nothing would! If you didn't get hurt, you wouldn’t be a member.” 

“Why do you get to decide–!!” she stops. That was Zoro’s point, wasn’t it?

“We have the right to decide,” Usopp says. “You decided too, didn’t you? That’s why you set out to sea, that’s why you went to find Jinbei, that’s why you became a Whitebeard pirate! And then you came back, because you decided what should’ve changed and what should’ve stayed the same. We have the right to decide. We came back with that right.” 

“That’s not— it’s just— shut up! It’s not the same thing!” 

In a fit, she raises the nearest object, her towel— and everything in her was dying to just chuck it at the bastard— but she couldn’t. Not when it would just be hypocritical. 

“...you know, if we were going to disagree on decisions like these all the time, maybe we should’ve just left like Coby,” she says. 

She sniffles, reaching up to catch her tears as they fall, burying her palms into her eyes, desperate to stave off the burning, but it wasn’t working. 

“Maybe it was a mistake to have joined the crew again.” 

They wanted to indulge in its old wonder. By selfishly deciding to join the crew even as changed people, their little differences seem to be slowly but surely destroying that old beauty, driving it in the direction of doom. 

Usopp said nothing to refute it.

 


 

Luffy and Robin survive, to everyone’s relief. 

Usopp and Nami aren’t looking at each other, and the crew immediately notice. Zoro looks upon them, clicking his tongue, and Sanji bonks him over the head with a foot. 

“Your fault,” Sanji says. 

“Fuck off,” Zoro returns. 

Chopper carefully treats Gin’s hand wounds while Wyper, with Kinoko’s help,works on a new foot for Nami. Usopp has retreated into the cabin with Conis to take care of a still-unconscious Luffy and Robin, along with Suu. Anne keeps a lookout while they rest.

They won’t be able to go anywhere for the next few days. 

But now that Aokiji’s gone, they have lots of time to spare.

Luffy snores, and Robin sighs. Conis holds her hand, and it’s warm and assuring, but Robin knows that those are stress lines across her face. 

The crew dynamics were strained, and Robin’s convinced that it’s her curse at work.

 


 

“...and that’s the story,” Nami says. “I’m sorry for keeping it from you this whole time, Robin. I promise we didn’t hold any ill will towards you for it.” 

Of all the ways Robin was expecting to finally learn of the crew-wide open secret that was exclusive to her, this might be one of the more anti-climactic options. 

They’re alone, just the two of them, in the women’s room. 

They’ve time travelled, and before that, they were a crew. That was so unbelievable to Robin that she didn’t know what to think. Especially right now, with such a ruptured crew… maybe that was rude. 

“We’ll go for you no matter what, Robin,” Nami says, “we’re nakama.”

Nakama. Robin feared that word. It meant burdens, it meant risks that she didn’t want to lose. Even now, she knew that she would never want to lose these people. She has no idea if this is how she felt last time around at this point too, but it’s how she feels right now, and it scares her. 

Aokiji had come to give her a warning. Aokiji, the man who gave her life, is telling her she is no longer worthy of it. Robin didn’t know if anyone else’s words mattered, if anyone else’s promises had the power to make themselves matter. 

“What did I do, last time?” she asks instead. 

Nami knew what she would do. Robin herself is unchanged, after all. And Robin felt fearful, because for the first time in her life, she was completely seen through, completely without secrecy. It didn’t feel right. 

Nami tightens her fist. “You leave us,” she says. And then, desperately holding back tears, she hurries to add. “You left last time. And we went to save you. We chased you all the way, dragged you home, burned down the government flag and made you one of us.”

She’s crying, and Robin wasn’t sure if she was genuinely hearing this. 

“I want to tell you not to go, Robin,” Nami says, pleading, wiping her tears. She’s been such a crybaby recently, and she felt so pathetic. “But… if this didn’t happen last time, you would’ve never opened your heart to us. It’s when you really became one of us. And that’s why, deeper in my heart, I’m scared that if you don’t go, you won’t stay.” 

If you don’t go through the same emotions, you won’t become the Robin we travelled with. You’ll become a different Robin that, maybe, doesn’t even hold the same attachment to us, and Nami feared that too. She feared losing the ‘Robin’ she knew.

That’s why Usopp and Nami have been so selfishly withholding that information. They were scared of losing that attachment to familiarity. 

And that’s when Robin realized that she, too, was scared of losing familiarity. 

She’d lived so long in the darkness, that the idea of opening her heart genuinely to the Strawhats terrified her. 

The fear they felt was the same. 

“Can you be brave, Miss Navigator?” she asks, softly. “How difficult would it be, to take that one step into change?”

Nami pauses, surprised. 

Then, a weak smile. “Very difficult, apparently, but I wouldn’t know. I’ve always been a coward,” wiping away the rest of the tears. “I would ask Usopp, but I’m scared of talking to him now, too. So I don’t know.”

Robin looks toward the ceiling, and sighs heavily. 

“Then I guess I have no choice but to be a coward with you, then,” she says. 

She would never forget the way Nami’s face lit up, equal parts delighted and crestfallen. Nami cradled Robin’s cold hand to her cheek, and nodded shakily. 

“I’m sorry,” she says. “You’re always spoiling me, I feel so bad.”

Robin chuckle. “Oh, do I?” 

 


 

Usopp tinkers with the guns in his bag while Wyper fixes up a new pair of limbs for Nami. Usopp’s invested fully in his work, but Wyper’s staring, very pointedly at him. 

He’s not one to interrupt a craftsman, and he’s also not one to strike up conversation. 

So thankfully, it’s Usopp that speaks first. 

“Uhh… Wyper, sir? Are you… staring at me? I’m sorry, may I help you?” Usopp asks, hesitantly putting his hands down, almost meekly. 

Wyper blinks. “What’s with the polite language?”

“Huh? Oh uh, no, nothing really. Habit.”

“...and how did you know I was staring? Are you really blind?”

Usopp chuckles awkwardly at that, lifting the tools in his hands again to resume working. “No, nothing like that. I’m just naturally sensitive to stuff like that. Gazes, whispers, opinions… minor inconveniences, dumb things like those. I’m always worried about them. Paranoid, Sanji always says.”

Wyper stays silent for all of a moment. “You mean the Sanji of this life, or the one from your last?” 

Usopp’s hands stop. HIs eyes don’t move for a long moment, don’t even close or blink. And then he lifts his head, mouth only moving to speak a single, toneless statement.

“They’re the same.” 

Wyper freezes . Usopp had said that with unthinking certainty. A dull, resolute word, with no room for argument.

“They’re both the real Sanji,” Usopp says. “The real, physical man among men, the woman-worshipping master at cooking, an amazing fighter, a peerless protector of his nakama, he’s the Sanji who will come when I cry for help,” he says, each word more self-affirming than the next. “They’re both Sanji,” he says once again. “Right?” 

Like he was trying to convince himself. 

Wyper couldn’t even speak

He nods, trying to answer the question, but Usopp couldn’t see it, so he belatedly forces it out of his throat, croaky, hesitant, and rushed. “Y- Yeah. Yeah, of course he is!” 

Usopp beams. 

 


 

Zoro drinks alone at night when Gin comes up, takes his sake bottle right out of his hands, and chugs the rest right then and there. 

Zoro stares, deeply offended. 

Sighing heavily after finishing it, Gin holds up another bottle, assuring the swordsman that he brought enough to share. Zoro raises a brow, but doesn’t comment. Sanji is going to be mad at them for this, but hey, the Quartermaster brought his approval. The two of them then sit down, beer mugs before them as they mindlessly drink to the moonlight.

“I… don’t believe you should be drinking with those injuries, Gin-san,” Conis says.

Both of them choke on their drinks. Violently. 

“How long have you—?!” Gin abruptly lowers his voice, “how long have you been there?” And how did none of them notice her approaching?

Conis smiles weakly, chuckling. “Heso. I’m sorry for startling you two,” she says. Then, holding up a little green teacup of her own, “may I join you?”

Gin scoffs, continuing to drink his sake. Zoro chortles at the thought, raising the bottle in her direction. She sits on her knees, lowering the cup, and Zoro pours her a serving. 

It’s uncharacteristic of her, but she indulges anyway. 

“I’m sorry for my weakness today,” Conis says, her words a whisper. “I should be used to this, honestly. But somehow… There's just so much I don’t know yet.”

As morbid as her first week down here has been, she’s so glad she brought up the courage to come to the Blue Sea. Death isn’t new to her, neither is cruelty. She will adapt, as she always does, and then, she will grow. 

Instead of an answer, Gin knocks his mug against her cup, and Zoro does the same. 

She smiles. She nods, and then they all down it at once. 

 


 

Luffy wakes up and hides up at the crow’s nest with Anne, because she just happened to still be there on lookout duty and hadn’t come down yet. 

(“I've waited ten years. What’s a little longer?” Tonjit had said, about his own miserable situation. He’d been so optimistic.)

(Luffy wondered if Usopp and Nami were like that too— they’d waited so many years, so impatiently, that right now, they were so desperate for things to get back to where they used to be, that they’ve lost sight of everything else.) 

“Nami and Usopp have been waiting for us,” Luffy says. And they will never meet the Strawhats that were theirs ever again. “It sounds lonely.”

Anne hums, legs hanging over the crow’s nest. She understands how it feels to wish desperately every night to go back to those days

“But that day came for me,” she says. She was allowed to reunite with Gin, and now, they travelled together. “It’s not the same, but I like it too.” I learned to love it, too. 

Luffy nods. “But…” but it’s hard. It was hard for him and Ace back then, to adapt to the gap that Sabo left behind. He wouldn’t wish those years of emptiness on everyone, and here Nami and Usopp were stuck in the ridges of that process. 

Why couldn’t the Strawhats be that for them?

Why couldn’t Luffy be the Luffy they knew? Then they wouldn’t feel out of place. Then they wouldn’t be rifting apart from each other, as two cogs that no longer fit into the machine they came from. 

“I want to be stronger,” Luffy says. “Stronger, like my future,” he’s said this before. “So I can become who I was . How do I do that?”

But strength wasn’t all that future Monkey D. Luffy had. He had charisma, he had power, he had prominence, and he had dreams, further and wider than imaginable. He had hope and the ability to spread that joy around the world. 

How do I grow up right now? Why can’t I be him right now?

How do I become the other Monkey D. Luffy? He would know what to do. He wouldn’t be agonising over this situation. He would be the Luffy that Nami and Usopp loved. 

(But Nami and Usopp chose this Luffy to follow, right? So he has to wait until they learn, until they adapt. Until they realise for themselves?)

“Oh…” Luffy says, leaning into Anne’s shoulder, sulking. “Waiting is so lonely.”

Anne hums, leaning over as well. “It is, isn’t it?” 

They look up into the sky from the crow’s nest, huddling up together for warmth, a single blanket between them. 

“Hey, look there,” Luffy points out, “see those stars, right over there? Don’t you think they look like meat?”

Anne blinks. “Huh?”

Luffy grins. “They do, right? Ace calls it the Meat Constellation! That one’s the jerky constellation. And if you look over there, see. You can find the skewer constellation, too.”

Anne has no idea what he’s talking about, but she looks on in fascination anyways. 

“Me and Ace always did this when we were young,” he says. “Cause Sabo says the stars are always there, even on the Grand Line. And when sailors are lost, they can find their way with them! Awesome, right?” 

Anne looks doubtful, “really?”

Luffy grins, “look at that one, the chicken drumstick constellation! Sabo says the shiniest star at the end always points North. Not that I know what to do with that information.” 

“No way.”

“Yes way, Sabo doesn’t lie!” 

“...who’s Sabo?”

“Oh, my big brother! I haven’t told you about him yet?” 

 


 

“Give that over to the drinking morons and Conis-sweetheart for me, alright?” Sanji says, gently caressing Kinoko’s feathers. He moves on to Suu, scratching under her chin, “and you get this to the crow’s nest. Don’t let Luffy steal it all or I’ll pluck your tail.”

Kinoko chirps, nodding a couple times before her claws come to a basket of hors d'oeuvres, all freshly prepared to go with their nighttime beer snacking. Suu huffs, offended at the implication that she would do anything but a perfect job. ANd then she scampers off with her little rucksack as well, hustling off. 

Sanji sighs. He picks up a bowl of warm soup and coffee for the girls, leaves it by the entrance, and knocks twice. And then, he leaves, ignoring the hands that pop out of the woodwork to retrieve their supper. 

Sanji brings the last two cups, one black coffee and one hot chocolate filled to the brim with peppermint and marshmallows, and heads back to the galley, where Chopper was working alone. Usopp and Wyper were asleep, though, the only ones that were. 

“Sleep is important,” Sanji says. “We don’t get much rest time on the seas, after all. But apparently not a single shithead in our crew knows that, so everyone’s awake today.” 

Chopper chuckles at that. “Thank you, Sanji!” 

They drink in silence for a long while, Chopper returning to work as Sanji watches, sitting by the couch, enjoying the reprieve of nothingness. 

“Hey Sanji,” Chopper says, “I wonder sometimes, you know. What else Nami and Usopp know about us that we haven’t told the crew yet.”

Sanji tenses at that. “...I do, too,” he says, vaguely. 

“I can’t help but be curious!” Chopper says. 

Sanji hums. “Yeah,” he says. “But I think some things should stay a secret. Patient privacy, confidential information, all that, you know?”

Chopper nods. “Of course!” 

But what if they find out? What if they already know? The only ones safe from this are Gin, Anne, Wyper and Conis. Suddenly Sanji can’t down his coffee anymore. He puts it down and sighs. 

They all agreed that Usopp and Nami should only share what they feel appropriate. But when they got to the core of everything, it just felt wrong that they didn’t know what they knew. Maybe for the others it was fine, but Sanji—

—Sanji desperately wished that they didn’t know what he thinks they would, and the fact that he doesn’t know for sure terrifies him as much as the aspect of being found. 

The crew was never supposed to evoke such feelings. It was supposed to be freedom. 

“What’s wrong, Sanji?” Chopper asks. “You’re sighing a lot.”

Maybe if everyone was going to be exposed anyways, Sanji should do something on his own terms. 

“Hey Chopper, you remember when you first got on the ship and you wanted to do a full-body checkup on everyone, but I wouldn’t tell you anything about how weird my vitals were for what’s normal of a healthy young man?” Sanji says. 

Chopper perks up. 

Sanji smiles miserably. “Can you keep a secret? It’ll be just you and me, because this is one thing I’m sure Nami and Usopp don’t know about either.”

Chopper blinks. Then he straightens, putting down his hot chocolate, and sits upright and serious. “I’m listening.”

Sanji smiles. And then he leans in and whispers. 

Chopper yelps in surprise, but when anyone comes in to ask, he vehemently desperately resolutely keeps his mouth shut no matter what. 

Sanji chuckles warmly. “It’s a secret, just the two of us,” he says. “Patient confidentiality, right?” 

Chopper nods vigorously. “Yeah!” 

Just a little, Sanji felt like he had control over his secrets again. He’ll worry about the other things later on. For now, he’ll revel in this. 

 


 

The next day, everyone wakes up refreshed (albeit some a little hungover), and acting as if nothing ever happened. Robin greets the crew with a smile, and Nami is much more relaxed. Usopp acts as usual, and Wyper and Chopper are finishing up the final tuning to the prosthetics, arguing on whether it was safe to put it over her half-healed ice injuries.

Conis strives to be helpful everywhere. Zoro takes a nap while Luffy teases him for his obvious hangover irritability. Gin is getting chewed out by Sanji after the cook found out about the splurged sake stores. Suu and Kinoko are still heavily sleeping on each other and on Anne, who was also asleep. 

“Alright, everyone!” Luffy grins. “Is the log ready?”

“Yep!” Nami beams. 

“Then let’s set sail, everyone!” he declares.

Notes:

And done with the Davy Back arc! I'm sorry that it's been so depressing for a while :( Coming up next is a little extra chapter featuring Ocean's Dream with a... twist. It'll be optional reading because it's kinda a wish fulfilment little piece, but I wanna write it. Omatsuri Island will be after it! And only after it will we be moving into Water 7.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Lots of love.

Chapter 78: [EXTRA] a dream of different oceans.

Summary:

Sanji wakes up on the Going Merry, and everything is wrong.

aka Ocean's Dream, but the world doesn't make sense anymore, so neither do the memories they lose (and get).

Notes:

Hey guys! Been a while, lovely to see y'all still around. Welcome to blatant writing exercise + wish fulfillment + I know this doesn't make sense narratively but hey, it's something. This chapter's a behemoth! Omatsuri is next and that will be one, too. I'm sorry.

This chapter is kinda optional reading, so you won't miss much even if you skip it!

Chapter Text

It’s a nightmare. It’s definitely a nightmare. 

Sanji hasn’t had awareness in a long time. He’s never been asleep, no, just awake, but never alive, never breathing, never needing to. At some point, he’d stopped struggling, stopped trying to live, because he realized he didn’t have the privilege of dying either.

He just was , suspended in a single watery cell, nothing but haziness around him. 

All he could do was count the seconds. He did that all the time, knowing exactly how long the vegetables needed to fry, how far the cake was in the oven, and how long until the first nakama would wake up. 

He’s always been counting, because it was the only thing that kept moving onward when life was slow and dull and locked behind a jail cell. He knows how many seconds it’s been. He knows the exact number, but he never dares to round up the numbers to minutes, because he knows he’ll have to continue rounding it up to years before he can make sense of the scale of what he’s counting.

Sanji just was , in that world of nothingness. A little laboratory specimen in an oversized test tube, just like he was born to be. 

And then suddenly it wasn’t , and Sanji woke up gasping for air. 

He hasn’t breathed in five years. 

 


 

Sanji is alive again and he trips and he gets tangled in the hammock and he flips , loud and disgraceful, smacking into the floor right onto his face. 

Someone kicks him, “shut up, Sanji,” and Sanji spins around in horror. 

He doesn’t immediately recognize the man that’s reading a book in the hammock. But something about him was familiar. He looks around at the foreign, but somehow nostalgic wooden deck. 

And then he finds Luffy, and he lurches to his feet, eyes blown wide. Usopp’s on the other hammock, a strange bird asleep on his chest. Chopper is here too, little and his hat missing its usual protective covers. Then there’s a large man with wings and tattoos, also awake, working on a metal contraption— a Shandian? Hey, isn’t this guy the…?

Sanji finally spins back to the first man and realises who he is. 

“...Gin?”

The Man-Demon, the man who is supposed to be dead, the man who returned barely alive years later only to smile and die for real— he’s here, and he’s irritated. 

“What?” he groans, lifting his head from his book in annoyance. “Sanji, what the fuck? If this is about the sake we wasted, I filled out the new rules and left them on the fucking dinner table so leave me alone.”

Sanji has no idea what is happening. 

In a frantic mess, he lets his Haki explode and half the entire ship bolts awake at the horridly palpable force. Sanji finds way too many people, he finds way too many wrong people, and he doesn’t know what to do with any of this information. 

“What the fuck is going on?!” he yells. 

 


 

Luffy jumps to attention first, only to straighten immediately at the sight of Sanji and leap in. “Sanji!” he glomps, arms covering Sanji’s head where his hands were digging into his arm, and he holds on tight and warm and comforting. “What’s wrong? I missed ya! Wait…” 

He looks around and gapes. Gin and Wyper have straightened sharply from their spots, frazzled and confused. 

“Who are… oh, you two!” Luffy says. “Kin and Guerilla guy! What’re you doing here?” 

Their jaws dropped. 

“Luffy? LUFFY!” Chopper squeals, leaping out of his hammock to jump, and Luffy easily stretches out an arm to bind Chopper into the hug formation like a hook tucked under a knot. “I missed youuu! You idioooot! I thought you—” sniffle, “I thought you diiiied!” 

Luffy laughs. “Well, I honestly thought I did, too. Weird!” 

“You did,” Sanji says, his voice soft, buried in the crook of Luffy’s neck, only partially by choice. They’re not getting out of that tangle of arms anytime soon and they all know it. “And since Chopper’s hooves are digging into the side of my head and that hurts, I’m going to guess something’s really fucking wrong.”

“Wait, I am? Sorry!” Chopper yelps, “Luffy let me go, I’m hurting Sanji!” 

“Don’t wanna!” Luffy declares. “Also, well then, that’s weirder!” 

“This is fucking terrible,” Sanji mutters. 

Luffy grins, “no, we’re the Worst Generation, get it right, Sanji!” 

Gin lifts his head very suddenly, catching their attention. Wyper blinks, still very confused, but neither of them even knew where to begin. 

Usopp murmurs something incomprehensible in his breath, probably something along the lines of ‘shut up I’m trying to sleep’. Kinoko is awake and also frantically looking around, confused. 

Gin and Wyper exchange looks. They both stare at Kinoko. 

Then, simultaneously, at the top of their lungs, two adult men and a single bird start hollering and shrieking. “FAMILY MEETING, FAMILY MEETING!” the entire ship shakes and Usopp bolts awake with an unholy cry of surprise. 

Gin scrambles for the steps as Wyper knocks on the connecting hatch to the women’s room, raising a brow when he gets no response.

“Everyone, get your asses on deck!” 

 


 

Robin jerks awake to a bed that she doesn’t recognize, by the side of Nami, who she hasn’t been beside in years— and instantly realises something is horribly wrong. 

“Oh dear,” the other woman, someone Robin doesn’t recognize— her hair’s nearly platinum blonde, she has wings… a Skypiean? It’s the Skypiean little lady from so long ago— Conis comes over to Robin’s side, worry clear in her expressions. “Miss Robin, did you wake from a nightmare? Are you alright? Shall I fix some tea for you to calm down?”

Robin stares, surprised. 

“Ah… I suppose coffee would suit your tastes better?” Conis asks, sitting down by their bedside. She chuckles, “now that I think about it, you’ve only drunk coffee in all the time I’ve been on the crew. I suppose that makes sense.”

In the crew?  

“I’m not sure if Sanji-san is awake yet, but I’ll brew something up,” Conis says. “Hold on, alright?” And then she runs off before Robin is able to stop her and ask her any questions. 

But Robin stays in bed, silent and confused, grasping all the knowledge she’s gotten so far. 

This is a crew— she recalls joining no crew with Conis of all people. But Nami is here, Sanji is here… and most of all, this creaky, old ship that’s seen better days. There was something familiar about this run-down ship, though…

Most of all, Robin still vividly remembers being bound to a stake and burning to death. 

She turns to Nami, and what she finds stuns her. Nami’s sleeping on her side, and she’s missing an arm . There’s a proper metal socket of sorts at her shoulder, and a bit of looking found Robin with what seemed like a wooden prosthetic by the bedside. 

She doesn’t wake up this Nami. She doesn’t dare, not yet. She needs to figure out what’s happening right now

 


 

Zoro wakes up in the crow’s nest of a small ship. The sun’s barely up yet, his Haki is dull, his vision is a little wider, and most of all… 

…he looks at his hands and realizes both of them are there. 

He stares at it for all of two seconds before he moves on from it. Okay, not the weirdest thing that’s happened in his life.

“I don’t have Enma either,” he sighs, inspecting his swords. Huh, why’s Yubashiri here? “Alright, whatever this is, it’s annoying.”

He stands up. He’s used to being lo— not lost, just forgetful— so he just has to figure out where he is. 

There’s a young girl he doesn’t recognize sitting on the yard of the mast right over there, her legs dangling over the edge as she seems to be enjoying the morning breeze. They’re shored on an island, and she turns to him when she notices he’s awake, nodding subtly in a greeting. 

Subdued, Zoro nods back. 

Then, “wait, who?”

The girl blinks. “...uhhh? Who… as in me?” she tilts her head aside, baffled at the question. “I’m the watch?”

 


 

Nami wakes up to a knock and a loud, obnoxious call of ‘family meeting, family meeting!’ and she groans, pushing herself up from the slightly uncomfortable bedding. 

“Oh dear. If Gin-san is asking for a family meeting…” 

“What’s a ‘family meeting’?”

“Huh? Uh… Nami-san told us together, remember? It’s our code word for emergency strategy planning… ah, Nami-san’s awake.”

Hm? How strange. One of those voices is Robin, but Robin’s usually not at the bed when she awakens, distrustful as their newest member tends to be. Even then, after what happened with Aokiji recently, Nami was sure Chopper told her to stay in the galley bed, didn’t he?

Also, who was that other voice?

Nami tries to reach up to brush her hair out of the way, but somehow, her hand doesn’t come. Strange, she doesn’t recall her hair being long enough to get in the way, either. Confused, she adjusts her position to slump over the bed so her other arm could do it instead. 

Blinking hard a few times, she finds Robin. 

“Good morning, Nami,” Robin says, smiling. 

Huh? Robin’s never called her by name before.

“Robin…?” Nami tries to push herself up, staggering when her levity just doesn’t work out and she tilts too far. She rolls— and falls flat on the bed instead, unable to be propped up by her other arm. 

And then she realizes the problem. 

Shoving herself upright on one arm, she spins to see that her right arm was gone

 


 

Nami is screaming, and Conis is screaming back, and then suddenly Suu is scrambling into the boy’s dorm asking for help, and among all the confused boys wondering why there was a fox onboard, Anne drops down onto deck, her clothes cut by the shoulder but her skin thankfully intact. 

Her hat falls to the ground beside her, sliced in half. 

“Scary,” Anne says, standing up. 

“You weren’t giving me a straight answer,” Zoro says, from the crow’s nest. 

“I said I was the watch ,” Anne grumbles, “I’m going to stop liking you, Zoro.” 

“The watch for what?” Zoro demands. He doesn’t sleep, never sleeps when he’s around people he doesn’t trust. So the fact that he wasn’t aware of someone like her, who reeks of death, being right beside him… she’s much more a threat than she appears. “Who are you and why have you taken us? Answer me right now or I’ll take an arm this time.”

“Then try!” Anne huffs, fists tight and rather irritated. She’s tired, too, she’s had the night watch on her own. “What’s with you, being prissy all morning? I didn’t do anything!” 

“Hey hey!” Gin snaps, bursting out of the lower deck. “No picking fights, Anne!” 

“He started it!” Anne snaps, pointing vehemently upward. 

“I didn’t know Anne could get angry…” Wyper sighs, picking up the torn beret with a sigh before handing it to the girl in resignation. “So, what’s the meaning of this, you ass? You know she likes this thing.”

“Huh? You’re the fucking guerilla from Sky Island, what the hell,” Zoro says. Sheathing his swords, he drops onto deck, right on time for Luffy to pop his head out of the deck and beam . “Luffy?!”

“ZORO!” tackle hug. 

“Oh, Mosshead’s here too,” Sanji comes up, and Chopper squeals, jumping onto Zoro too.

Gin, Wyper and Anne look between them with Suu, baffled. “Okay, we’re not understanding anything that’s happening right now,” Gin says. “For now, Anne, go check on the girls. Anne?”

Anne’s still glaring at Zoro. 

“What’s wrong?” Luffy asks, looking back. “I don’t know what’s happening, but looks like we’re on you guys’ ship or something.” 

Gin’s brow raises, very put off. “Uh…” 

Luffy inspects the scraps of Anne’s beret when the girl angrily raises it in his direction. “Huh, what’s this?” he looks toward where Anne was glaring— at the swordsman— and instantly connects the dots. “ZORO YOU ASS, WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” 

“You destroyed my precious hat!” Anne accuses. 

“You destroyed her precious hat!” Luffy gestures, making his point. 

“What?! How dare you, you monster!” Chopper yells. 

Monster!” Sanji adds, for no real reason. 

“You picking a fight, curly?!” 

“Alright, enough,” Wyper says, sick of this fucking comedy bit. He wants to fucking sleep. “I’m going to check on the girls myself.” 

“WHAT?!” Sanji whirls around, “No, you feral creature, don’t you dare!” 

“Seeing as no one is coming even after I called a family meeting, this must be happening to the girls as well,” Gin sighs. “This is such a pain.” 

There’s a loud crash and shatter under the deck, and all men on deck immediately turn to it. Kinoko is screeching and Usopp is yelling in a panic. 

“Wha– what!? Why– what is this AAHHH go away don’t! Who’s there? What is that?!” 

“Usopp?” Luffy reacts first, “hey, Usopp, what’s wrong?”

“L- Luffy?!”

They clamber down quickly to see Usopp in a tangle of blankets, clothes, crates, and an arm stuck in his hammock. Kinoko, who he’d swatted away, landed hustled and offended by the couch, wary of coming closer. 

Usopp had a hand on his face, furiously looking around, impatiently tugging his wrist away from the hammock string to no avail. 

He squinted, blinking hard and effortfully. 

“Luffy? Is that you?” Usopp asks, and Luffy quickly drops down, approaching him. “Geez! What’s all the racket today? I can’t even— can someone turn the lights on?”

“We’re not falling for that shit again, Us–” Gin stops short when Kinoko flies to him, and Usopp flinches as the bird starts flying, startled by the sound of wings. 

“What’s that?! Why’s there a bird under the deck? How did it get in?!” Usopp yells. 

Gin pulls himself out of the hatch, a horrific realisation finally dawning on him. 

“What do you mean, what is that ,” Wyper mutters, “you don’t even remember your bird?” Kinoko flies over to Wyper, and seeing the situation, the Shandian doesn’t chase her away. “This is getting ridiculous!” 

“Usopp, calm down,” Chopper says, hopping in. “What’s wrong with your eyes? I’ll go find a lamp, give me a second…”

Sanji looks toward Gin and Wyper, wary. Luffy slowly turns toward them as well, alarm fully lit in his senses. 

“...Anne,” Gin calls. “Go to the girl’s room right now. And at all cost… calm Nami down.”

Anne’s eyes widened. 

She bolts for it, and Wyper curses, coming to the same conclusion. He makes a break for the storage, but Zoro’s sword is drawn, held up threateningly at neck height. Gin stands up, alarmed, but Sanji is on the other side, similarly hostile. 

“You’re not going anywhere,” Sanji says. 

“What about that one that ran for the girls?” Zoro asks.

Sanji doesn’t have to answer, because in the next moment, Anne yelps, arm twisted to her back via a pair of disembodied arms, and she’s pinned against the wall. 

Robin exits the room with a stern gaze. 

“Thank you for your concern,” she says. “But something is terribly wrong with Nami. I believe our hosts owe us an explanation.”

Gin sighs. 

Gin raises both arms, and Wyper, seeing that action, does the same. Kinoko sticks close to Gin’s shoulder, and Suu curls into Wyper’s foot. 

Luffy stands before them now, his eyes uncharacteristically fierce. 

“You see, shit angel,” Gin says, trying his best to remain calm. “Down in the Blue Sea, we call this the inconvenient amnesia trope. It’s pretty common in fiction.” 

Wyper twitches. “The Blue Sea’s fucking weird. You guys enjoy this shit?” 

“No,” Gin says. “It’s the trope I despise with all my mind and the fact that I’m stuck with you of all people is only making this so much worse. So please shut the fuck up.”

“You’re the one that started the conversation, asshat!” 

 


 

It was taking a lot of effort to calm Nami and Usopp down, which was very fair. 

“So let me get this straight,” Gin says. He has to take charge now, no way around that. “None of us were sleeping?” 

It was safe to say this happened because they were awake and the others weren’t. For some reason, Nami and Usopp seem to have hit a factory reset all the way to before they lost their senses, while the rest of the crew hit the reset the other way around, and somehow, they have memories of the future instead? 

“This isn’t making sense,” Gin says.

“Welcome to my world,” Wyper says, sarcastic. 

“Uh… isn’t this bad?” Conis says, her hands working to mend Anne’s beret. “According to what Nami-san and Usopp-san have said, they’re also… we’re the new ones of the group. We’re the only ones they don’t know of.” 

Kinoko curls into Anne’s arms, and Suu is on Gin’s head. The other group, specifically Robin, is looking through the logbook right now as Nami and Usopp try their best to register what’s going on. 

Meanwhile, Luffy and Chopper were cheering and hooting, taking in the fact that they were on the Going Merry. It wasn’t hard to guess that they hadn’t seen this ship for a while, and unfortunately, most of them could also guess why. Sanji and Zoro inspected the ship curiously, not quite in the belief that this was genuine yet. 

“Regardless, we can’t figure this out ourselves,” Gin says, patting Anne on the head. She was still very miffed. “Look on the bright side. We’re looking at veterans of the Grand Line now. They ought to be able to solve this better than us.”

And that they did. 

 


 

“So we’ve travelled back in time?!” 

It sounded ridiculous, and that was how they were taking it. Usopp was clinging like a baby to Luffy, and all the boys were gathered around as Gin tried his best to explain things. Nami was also clinging very closely to Robin, shaking and tearful, while Conis watched her worriedly. 

“I guess that makes sense,” Zoro says. “Last thing I knew, I was being executed.”

“Again?” Sanji says. 

“Shut up, you’ve been missing for years,” Zoro snarls. 

Sanji recoils. “Not by choice.”

“However, if we’re back in the first half of the Grand Line, I suppose it makes sense that some of us aren’t on board,” Robin says. “Much more…” 

Chopper sobs loudly. “Merryyy!!” he clings to the mast. “Guys! Guys, it’s the Merry! It’s really the Going Merry!” 

“This is so cool!” Luffy beams, “So in this world, we got Kin and Guerilla guy and Conis with us? AND a cool fox and a super bird?!”

“It’s Gin.”

“I’m Anne,” says Miss Goldenweek. 

“Why did you only get Conis’ name right?” Wyper asks. 

“It means he likes you,” Sanji says. 

“Hold on, are you really trusting us just like that?” Conis asks, a little baffled. “Doesn’t it… you know, sound absolutely ridiculous? Or is this normal down on the Blue Sea?”

“No Conis, it’s not—”

“Yeah!” Luffy says, unhesitant. Turning to his crew, “we’ve seen weirder, right?”

And collectively, the crowd nods, leaving the newcomers flabbergasted. 

“What do you mean, this is normal?!” Nami snaps. “Absolutely nothing about this is normal and you guys are all insane!” she whines, cradling her shoulder. “What is wrong with all of you?!” Even her foot was gone. 

“T- t- that’s right!” Usopp says, in the most unconvincingly confident voice ever, “this is not normal! I speak as a man who’s conquered the sea, I know best! This is crazy!” and then, “so uh. Please don’t judge us by the standards of these monsters and continue your explanation. Please. Thank you.” 

It was definitely jarring, to wake up and find that you’re missing some parts and you’re apparently already past the adaptation and rehabilitation point of it, all without you ever knowing. 

The four newcomers have no idea how to tell them that their personality switch was the most unnerving part of the entire situation. 

Luffy laughs as Sanji tries to shove Usopp off him to no avail. Man was desperate and blind and this was the least they could do for him. Zoro was still glaring at them all, but he’d stood aside, observing from afar as Robin continued to skim the logbook.

(They were very close, as a crew and a family.)

“Ah, I see now,” Robin says, “this logbook’s quality is inconsistent because of Nami’s arm. The floorboards of the Merry are oddly-designed with a blind man’s walkway for Usopp. There are channels under the deck for our new little ones, and there are bunks in the girl’s room for our increase in numbers. The differences make sense.” 

“So the odd ones here aren’t you guys, but us,” Sanji deems. “Alright then, nothing new about that. It checks out.”

“Originally, or according to Nami’s story, the only ones to travel back in time were Nami and Usopp,” Gin says. “They brought their last injuries with them.”

“And now the situation’s flipped around, where we have memories of the future, and Nami and Usopp don’t,” Zoro deems. “But it still doesn’t make sense. We didn’t bring back any injuries or scars.”

“Which means that it’s some other power at work,” Robin says. “Whatever sent Usopp and Nami back in the beginning is different from what has altered our memories now.”

“But that doesn’t make sense either. We didn’t travel back in time, we just never experienced those years to begin with,” Sanji says. “If our memories were just taken, then we shouldn’t remember anything from the other timeline, because we’re not in it.”

“That might be true, but consider that Usopp and Nami time travelled to begin with,” Robin surmises, “perhaps, their travel here conjoined the worlds in some way.” 

“Well, whatever about that other thing,” Zoro says. “We settle this right now.”

Usopp and Nami’s case, albeit much stranger, seems to be settled and confirmed in this timeline. They’ve had to deal with that problem for years and they’ve adapted. That meant it wasn’t any sort of emergency. 

They could put the issue aside, for now. If they solved this second issue, it would all come together again.

“You four,” Robin turns to Gin. “Would it be alright to learn exactly what happened last night? We might be able to get a clue from there.”

 


 

They settled down in the galley, deciding that it was better to get some food in their stomachs to calm themselves down. They ran around to investigate their beloved old ship, endeared by the places that were new. 

“I was reading,” Gin says, “Anne’s on lookout, and Conis?”

“I was making a pillow,” Conis says, “because we don’t have enough of them, and I couldn’t sleep, so…” 

“And Wyper was working on Nami’s stuff,” Anne says. 

“Nami’s what?” Zoro asks. He was staring at the mutiny board. 

Wyper makes his way up, the new limbs in his arms. “I brought them over, but…” it doesn’t really look like they’ll be able to put them on. “I suggest against it.” Yeah, not with this Nami. She already looks intimidated.

“Ooh! Prosthetics!” Chopper beams. 

“Wait a minute, why would a brute like you have my limbs ?!” Nami snaps, clutching her shoulder protectively. “You better not have stolen it!” 

“Wha–?” Wyper was baffled , “sto– why would I even?!”

“Clearly, they’re the limbs of a young maiden! There’s plenty of ways that could go wrong!” Nami insists. 

“Ah yes, there is a whole degree of despicable things perverted men will do to get their hands on a young maidens’ prosthetic limbs,” Sanji nods sagely. “I would know, I’m one of them.”

“Is it just me or do I really want to smack the shit out of this Sanji?” Wyper’s brow twitched in annoyance. 

“...what kind of despicable things?” Conis asks. 

“A young maiden?” Gin asks. “Where?” 

The swipe from a Clima Tact is much, much slower than usual, so Gin dodges very easily, leaving Nami to whine about how her Clima Tact is awful and heavy and someone messed with it and when she finds out who it was, she’ll fine them. 

“Usopp, fix this!” 

“Ah yes, let me get my imaginary tools to fix this imaginary arm I’m imaginarily fixing, with my imagination.” 

“Take this seriously!” 

“I’m seriously blind!” 

Luffy laughs. “This is so weird!”

 


 

“I- I’ve got,” Usopp stutters. “I’ve got I can’t leave this ship or I’ll die disease,” he woefully admits. “Please don’t make me go. I get really bad allergic reactions to socialisation with strangers and I will die in seconds.”

“Don’t worry, Usopp,” Chopper says, brightly. “I, super doctor Chopper, will find the cure for that three years from now!”

Usopp balks.

“I am not going,” Nami insists, very vehemently. “Absolutely not, never, ever, forever! Ever! Me and my gold are staying here on this ship! Let’s just have all the ones that want to go, go fix this!” 

“Are you sure?” Robin says, smiling warmly like she’d expected this turn of events. 

Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy are at the bow, stretching, ready to go. 

Nami turns, very horrified, toward Gin and Wyper, and honestly, they’re a little offended that she’s mortified at the aspect that she’d be stuck on a ship with them.  

All things considered, the senior crew easily picked up the pace. There are straws for lots immediately, and with a giggle, they’ve split off into two teams with very little to actually imply that whatever team Luffy was on was going to explore the island. 

Gin shrinks, uncomfortable.

The way they moved, systematic, knowing, and even little things like the way Luffy holds Usopp’s very meek, nervous hand and Chopper clings to Zoro’s back, and the way Sanji automatically produces a hair tie when it was clear Nami was frowning as her bangs fell around her face. The way they curl naturally around Robin as she inspects all their information, telling them about their new location as one would a bedtime story.

Their touch is gentle, firm, and trusting. 

Their companionship is familiar and warm and solid and Gin steps back instinctively, knowing he had no place there. Conis hid behind Wyper as Anne stares in understanding, and Wyper scoffs. 

(This was a crew that was complete and perfect as they were.)

“There was a horn in the middle of the night,” Anne says. “A presence. It was very far, so I didn’t react, but I remember it.”

“Hmm, my haki’s all muddled,” Sanji sighs. “But oh well. We’ll get there.”

“Island, island! Adventure!” Luffy cheers in a song, before turning to Anne and urging her to copy him. She does, though in a more monotonous echo.

Robin and Wyper eye each other awkwardly, but they say nothing. 

Sanji, Luffy, Anne, Robin, and Wyper are going. Everyone else stays on the ship, meaning Zoro who’s still wary of Gin and Conis, and Chopper who stays to watch over Usopp and Nami. 

Nami and Usopp were, predictably, curled into each other sobbing in relief. 

“Kinoko, take care of Anne,” Gin says, and to everyone’s surprise, the bird that everyone forgot about, who was hiding somewhere far overhead, finally emerges to land on Anne’s head. 

“Woah! We have a bird!” 

“It’s too small to be emergency food, though.”

“It’s carrying quite a bit. I hope it doesn’t get a heat stroke and fall into the sea.”

Wyper stands a hand out before Anne when Luffy starts drooling at the bird. Anne wraps the bird in her arms, holding it away as well. 

“Not Kinoko,” Anne mutters softly. 

“Yeah,” Wyper adds, taking another wary step to be in front of Anne. “Don’t. That’s Usopp’s bird. She’s already pretty bummed that Usopp doesn’t remember her.”

Sure he knows that his crewmates would never genuinely target a bird that clearly belongs to someone, and they make that emergency food joke all the time. But somehow, with this altered, memory-fringed bunch of crewmates?

They weren’t sure at all. 

“Wait, my bird?” Usopp asks. “Why would I have a bird?” 

“It’s your seeing-eye bird,” Conis helpfully supplies. “She aids you in precision and aiming. You are still our crew’s prized sharpshooter.”

“What? I’m— yeah, right…” Usopp gawks. “How do I even understand it?” 

…it?

“Maybe I translate?” Chopper suggests. “Is that how it is?”

Kinoko scowls, somehow managing to look very visibly put off despite having all the emotional features of a bird. She shrinks, curling away, before tucking herself away into the crook of Anne’s arms. 

She says nothing. There’s nothing for Chopper to translate. 

Gin sighs. “We can understand her,” he says, firm and his voice colder than he’d wanted it to be. But he was irritated. He couldn’t deny that. “Forget it. Usopp’s not going to need her now, so it’s better off being Anne’s guide.” 

“Eh? Is that so? I’m sorry,” Chopper says. 

“Ah, no, it’s okay,” Conis jumps in to rescue, noting the way Gin was clearly displeased, Anne was sulking, and Wyper was wary of them. 

Unlike the future group, things were shaky on this ship, so no one even knew how to react anymore. None of the time travellers were here, none of the veterans knew of the argument that happened. 

No one knew about the way things broke on this ship except the few that didn’t quite have the right to address it. 

Displaced. Everything was displaced and wrong and there was nothing they could do about it but reluctantly trudge along.

“It’s fine,” Conis finishes weakly. “It’s no big deal.” 

Conis’ shoulders sag, and she looks away as well. Suu hasn’t come out of the deck, either. They were both upset. 

Clearly, the veterans have offended their newcomers somehow, and they exchange glances, noticing the growing tensions as well. 

“Don’t worry! We’ll go get our memories back real quick,” Luffy says, a hand on his hat and a wide grin on his face. “Then, you guys will have your crew back, and everything will be fine again!” 

The way he smiled, as if it was ever such a simple matter— it just didn’t sit well with any of the newcomers. They didn’t mean to sound like they were trying to chase them away.

And yet, Usopp’s shoulders ease, and Nami’s posture straightens— and Gin knew that this man was a different Monkey D. Luffy than the one he knew.

But still it was a Luffy that he had never seen before. A single word of assurance, and Sanji’s leaning comfortably along the rails, Robin who has never let her guard down is smiling gently, and Chopper snickers, enthused. Zoro leans against the mast, comforted— and this wasn’t because of what he said, specifically. Hell— Nami and Usopp weren’t even remembering the same Luffy at the moment, yet they both eased, seated patiently, full of genuine trust in their chest. 

They were assured, simply because it was Luffy. 

His appearance was unchanged, his personality hardly any different from the Luffy of a day ago, and yet, those were battle-hardened eyes. His posture was confident, his shoulders straight. He looked at his nakama when in doubt, and he didn’t waver in his decisions. 

The Luffy Gin knew was young and inexperienced. 

This Luffy was a much more seasoned pirate. He was free, joyful, and unhindered. 

This was the Luffy his Luffy aspired to be. The Luffy that their Nami and Usopp clung to and refused to, couldn’t bear to forget. 

This was just a glimpse into the majesty that was the Pirate King. 

(And Gin was intimidated by the warmth that shrouded around him, the addictive, irresistible urge to follow, to place a hand on that little back and stride along the thorny path with him.)

(He snaps out of it.)

(The sensation of being ripped away from that indulging warmth— it was horrible. He wanted to go back into that light, even though he didn’t belong there.)

(Immediately, he so vividly understands why Nami refuses to let this vision go.)

 


 

“This is temporary, right?” Usopp says, when Chopper finds sunglasses for him, granting him a bit of comfort with the loss of vision. “This is so… it’s so weird. I can’t see at all. Everything’s a colourful blur.”

“It’ll be fine! Trust me!” Chopper beams, remembering a second later to jump into Usopp’s lap as an indicator that he’s there. He also moves the mortar so it’s between them, so Chopper can work on his medicine while still being by his side. 

“...sorry, Chopper,” Usopp says, hesitantly wrapping his arms around Chopper’s sides, getting a little in the way of movement, but Chopper didn’t mind. “It’s always me… getting injured, put on the back burner, dragging everyone down.” 

Chopper pauses. 

It still wasn’t clear how far back Usopp and Nami’s memories had regressed, and what that truly meant for them. According to Usopp and Nami, the Davy Back Fight and the confrontation with Aokiji was just a few days ago.

That was an unbelievable amount of time, honestly. 

This was before Water Seven, before that nightmare. 

“Don’t be stupid, you idiot!” Chopper is snapping before he even knows it, head thrown back so suddenly he nails Usopp right in the chin, earning a squawk. 

Usopp makes a dying noise, crumpling to the ground in agony. In the distance, Conis yells out a horrified call for Usopp’s soul as it rises out of its mortal cage.

“The Usopp I know is the bravest warrior in the world!” Chopper declares, huffing in pride, and yet, he spoke like he was trying to size Usopp up with… himself, apparently. “You’ve got a legion of eighty million men! Be proud of that, you’re not a burden at all! You’re the coolest in the world!” 

Usopp lifts his head, blinking hard a few times before his lips just scrunch up instead. 

“You already know those are lies I spin, Chopper,” he says, woefully. “I— I’m not anything impressive. I’m barely strong enough to keep up. I couldn’t do anything when Robin was being attacked by that Admiral guy, too.”

“You shot down Kizaru!” Chopper immediately says. 

Usopp freezes. Then, deflating almost in disappointment, “did I tell you that?”

Chopper’s face scrunches up with frustration. “I saw it happen!” he insists. “I saw you become the hero of a tribe of giants. I saw you stand at the peak of Mariejois as you were declared a god in the eyes of the world. I was there.”

Usopp’s back straightens, just a little— but his shoulders sag, heart unbelieving. 

“Well… that’s the me in the future you come from,” he says. “It’s not the me now, and… well, it’s not going to be. Didn’t you hear? Me and Nami, we’re the only ones that are very different.” 

Conis lingers, worried. 

She’s never seen Usopp like this– vulnerable, meek, and almost fragile to the touch. Chopper stands before him, little and lithe, and yet, he looked so much stronger. 

“I’m blind now, Chopper,” Usopp says. “My sniping skills, it's the only thing I ever had going for me… I can’t fight, I can’t fix the ship, I can’t even be brave enough to face an enemy. If I can’t be a sniper…” there’s a croaky whisper of a sob as Usopp trails off, looking down. “...then there’s nothing else I can do on this ship, right?”

“That goes for all of us!”

Instead of sounding furious, Chopper sounded bright. 

“I can only be a doctor,” he says. “No matter where I am, I’m never strong enough to fully protect what I want to. I’ve failed a few times, and well… I couldn’t even become the best doctor in the world. There are people that I can’t save. But that’s why you guys are all here. Luffy’s said it before, right?”

He can’t use swords, navigate, cook, or even lie. But that’s why he has nakama

“You’re blind and confused now, but Usopp, you were fighting, too,” Chopper says. “You had a seeing-eye bird, you had accommodations built onto the Merry, and you were thriving as the master sharpshooter of this ship even with those limits. You can definitely do it again! You weren’t the type to give up from just a roadblock or three hundred!” 

Usopp bit his bottom lip, trying his hardest not to cry. 

He fails. 

“I’m sorry, Chopper,” he sniffles, burying his face into the crook of his hat. 

Chopper was resolved, confident, and sounded nothing like the naive little reindeer he’d known up until now. He’d grown up, into such an admirable young man. 

And that, beyond anything else, filled Usopp with so much hope for himself.

 


 

Zoro wasn’t surprised when Nami stuck to him, leaning against him, hugging her mechanical limbs nervously, not so sure what to do with them. 

“Don’t fall asleep,” she warns. 

Zoro cracks an eye open. “I know,” he’s annoyed, “I’m not stupid.”

“Yes you are,” she retorts. “I still hold a grudge from that time at the Red Line.”

“Red Line?” he scoffs, “oh right, it still exists.”

Nami’s eye twitched. “What?”

Zoro yawns. “Maybe I should go do it this time,” he mutters, “Torao stole my thunder last time, so people kept bringing my title into question.”

“Do what?” she grabs at his shirt, trying to shake him, “do what, Zoro? What happened to the Red Line in the future? What did you do, do you have any idea how horribly that would ruin the natural ecosystem and oceanic biodiversity?!”

Zoro groans, “ugh, I didn’t do anything.”

“Liar!” 

Zoro clicks his tongue, and Nami sneers, completely without fear. 

In a way, Zoro was relieved. No matter when and no matter how they both were, Nami would never be afraid of him. She’s never been stronger than him, and she fully acknowledges that, and yet, she never doubts her own trust in Zoro. Zoro was the first mate, the vice captain, her personal pack mule, and though that was questionable at best and mutiny at the worst, they’ve never let that intercept their relationship. 

He’d never put it into words, but it was a good feeling. 

“Speaking of, what’s with this crew?” Zoro mutters, catching sight of Gin and Conis watching warily from afar. “Did you see that in the galley?”

“The mutiny board?” Nami asks, calming down from trying to peel Zoro’s face away from him, “I don’t get it, honestly.”

She curls into herself, settling down partially on Zoro to offset her balance. She leans her head aside, ear touching her shoulder where her tattoo was. 

When she was in Arlong’s crew, anything of that sort was never ranked or judged or even labelled. It was just straight to the gallows, and people tore through every trace of you on the ship, making sure you were less significant than foam upon the sea.

Mutiny was subjected to exile at best. 

She didn’t understand how she could ever participate in anything like that joke of a ranking board. It almost seemed insensitive to the very nature of piracy. 

“We do hit Luffy around, every once in a while,” Zoro shrugs. “I don’t know enough of this crew to make a decision, but I know myself. I wouldn’t stand for anything stupid. Usopp wouldn’t, either.”

Nami frowns. 

Zoro knew something she didn’t. Which was true, Nami only remembered up to here, and Zoro saw the future in so many ways. 

“It’s stupid,” Nami says. “I only care about staying alive, and then money, and then…” 

She trails off, and Zoro understands why. She wasn’t sure, either. Her ranking fumbled around from herself to her dreams, to Luffy and their savings— she fluctuated, back and forth a step forward twice back and three more forward. Like the waves. 

“You’ll come around,” Zoro says. And the crew will always wait for her, no matter what. So she can take her time, as much time as she wanted. 

That was what this ship was for, after all. To drift upon the waves, flattering but never stopping.

Nami scoffs. “Maybe.”

 


 

“Island in the south aaare~ what, Enoko, you wanna sing too?” Luffy grins, turning back toward the bird that chirps like a percussion. 

“So Luffy has decided that Kinoko is an enoki mushroom,” Robin says, like it’s an astute observation. 

“They’re best sauteed,” Sanji says, “oil, or butter and soy sauce. Maybe in a hot pot…” 

Anne is very silent, carrying Kinoko in her arms. She pauses in her steps, turning tentatively to Wyper. 

“Can I…?”

“You’ll lose, so no,” Wyper immediately says. 

She pouts. 

Wyper sighs. The bird was also sulking, but she was more upset that everyone felt and sounded different, not for being treated as rations specifically. “What’s got you so annoyed, anyways? We make similar jokes all the time.” 

“But that’s us ,” she says. “Only we can make it.”

Wyper pauses. And so does the rest of the crew, who turn to look at her. 

“You… see these guys as different from our usual crew?” he asks.

Anne narrows her eyes. “Isn’t that obvious?” she leans against Robin’s side, and she smiles, hand reaching out to gently hold her by the shoulder. “I don’t dislike this. But it’s different.”

She’s right. 

That guy isn’t the same Luffy that taught him about eat n’ runs, and dragged him down to the Blue Sea just to show him the wonders of their civilisation. It wasn’t, and Wyper could tell. 

Luffy kept his distance from the new crewmates, encouraging fun interaction just to make some noise, but never trespassing beyond boundaries or comfort zones. The reality of it was that he didn’t quite care for the new members as much as he cared for his own. And he wasn’t obliged to care for them, either. 

These were all things that, by all accounts, they easily, instinctively notice. It goes without saying, almost stupidly obvious.

(And yet, Usopp was unable to— refused to— distinguish between them.)

That was a whole other problem, wasn’t it?

“....you already know, don’t you?” he says, solemn with realisation. “You guys aren’t the same, so after you get your memories back, you’ll be back to square one.”

They’ll be back to the version that Wyper and Anne knew.

Not the one that Usopp and Nami did. 

They would barely miss each other, and as far as they’ll ever know, this would be the first and final chance they’ll ever come close to it again. 

“...well, we kinda figured,” Sanji admits. “Time is a strange thing, but we’ve seen time travel, and we know it’s either a one-way street or a hallucination. This is a fever dream sort of situation for me, so a fever dream’s how it will end.”

“It’s fine!” Luffy grins. “Our adventure ended a long time ago. This isn’t our story anymore— it’s a special, one of a kind journey that belongs to this Luffy,” he points at himself. “I’m super jealous that he gets to be with my Nami and Usopp, but I can’t take that away from myself! I’d hate me so much for it!” 

Anne and Wyper blink in surprise. Even Kinoko lifts her head, stunned. 

Anne knew, firsthand, how much Luffy craved for his future self. And yet, Luffy of the future…

“But, Nami and Usopp miss you,” Anne says, anxious. “Our Nami and Usopp, the ones you knew. They miss you. Can’t you… can’t you be both, like Nami and Usopp?”

“There’s no both ,” Robin corrects. “There can only be one will that drives you forward. And the will we are now is not the will that belongs here. So, we cannot stay.”

Anne bites her bottom lip. 

She couldn’t deny it. She wanted her crew back, too. But this was a meeting that Nami and Usopp have been craving for ages. 

Anne knows best how agonizing the wait can be. She doesn’t want to imagine a world where she never reunited with Gin— but she knows it's happened before in that other timeline. 

And she knows, from Nami’s stories, that she was doing just fine in that other timeline. She found new friends, new family, and thrived, even with the scar in her heart. 

“They’ll be sad that they missed you,” she says. 

Robin smiles. “But that’s where you guys come in,” she says. “And one day, they’ll realize that it’s enough.”

Luffy and Sanji grin, resolved. They had no qualms about immediately leaving this world, and Wyper didn’t know if he would’ve been able to make the same decision if he were in their place. Hell, did Zoro and Chopper agree with this, too? Were they find with staying back? Once they get their memories back, they’ll fade. Forever. They won’t even be able to tell each other goodbye. 

Usopp and Nami, they probably didn’t know. Because what they won’t know won't hurt them, would it?

They all knew, and they were all ready to part. Because they’ve already parted before, this is just an uninvited, unorganised reunion. 

“...you guys have really changed,” Wyper says. 

Sanji scoffs. “Yeah well, we kinda grew up.”

“And I’m the Pirate King!” Luffy cheers, “of course I’m different! I’m unimaginably stronger now!” 

 


 

From there, it was simple. They find some ruins, follow some legends, and then they follow instinct— Observation Haki, Sanji said once and Wyper and Anne proceed to stare in confusion because they still don’t know what exactly it is— and finally find themselves looking at a comically pretentious seahorse. 

(They also knocked a possessed kid around and sent him crying back to the village, but that was of no matter.)

Kinoko and the seahorse engage in conversation. 

Kinoko turns her nose at him, and the seahorse honks in annoyance. Kinoko retorts with what lilted like sarcasm, and the seahorse squawks in fury. 

“...what’s she saying?” Sanji asks. 

Wyper and Anne say at once, “we’re better off not knowing.”

“Darn, we should’ve brought Chopper.”

“I do hope they’re not scheming a retaliation against us,” Robin says, drearily, “dear Enoko might have gotten tired of our emergency food threats.”

“Hey, did you just laugh at me?!” Luffy yelps, spinning at the seahorse. “How dare you, you stupid fish!” 

The seahorse honks pompously at him, clearly jibing right back. 

“You’re pissing me off! Are you picking a fight?! I’ll get up there and you’re going to regret this!” 

“...why can he understand him?” Wyper asks, incredulous. 

And at once, Robin and Sanji say, “you’re better off not questioning it.”

 


 

“So, what are we supposed to do, anyways?” Anne asks, “do I paint it yellow green?”

“Use non-toxic paint. It might make good sashimi,” Sanji says. 

“Are we ever going to find out what this dumb bird wants? Why it even did it to begin with?” Wyper asks. There’s no response, so, “okay, I guess we’re not going to care. Alright then.”

“So I do this,” Robin sprouts a few limbs, clamping the seahorse’s mouth shut tightly, before winding around its belly and constricting it. “And… it’s kind of like a pipette.”

“Hold it there, Robin, I wanna punch it once!” Luffy winds up an arm. 

“You’ll kill it, Luffy. Don’t.”

“I wonder if I can use my moves in my young body. I mean, I can use Haki, but my gears are a different matter—” 

“Luffy,” Sanji warns, “I’ll get mad.”

“...okay, I’m sorry,” Luffy says. “Anyways, seahorse, prepare to get punched!” 

Seahorse shrieks bloody murder.

 


 

“What’s that?”

Conis squeaks when Zoro steps up behind her. Suu is in her lap, sleeping.

“Oh! Zoro-san I uh,” she fumbles, dropping the cotton out of her lap and giving up, ignoring the mess for a moment before turning up to Zoro. “I was sewing something.”

He could tell that much just looking. 

“It’s… it’s for Usopp-san,” she admits, reaching around to pick up the pieces. There was a whole array of cut cloth, and her progress showed she was clearly sewing it into something that looked like clothes onto a chibified human plushie. 

Upon closer inspection, the colours seemed right for a doll that would end up looking like Nami. 

“For Usopp?” Zoro asks. 

Conis eases, when Zoro crouches down to look at it from a polite distance away. She nods, lifting a plush pillow of the jolly roger. It was a little cruddily sewn, and quite dirty, but she was using it as a reference. “I’m making one of these for everyone in the crew,” she says. “I’m just doing it for fun, but I think Usopp-san will really appreciate it.”

Zoro watches her with one eye as he leans back, relaxing against the banister. 

She happily explains it all— abouthow this was Nami’s idea, because Usopp couldn’t see the flag well anymore, and how Conis was eager to do all that Nami couldn’t do. How Wyper and Anne were doing all Usopp couldn’t, too, and how Gin rounded their edges, and how much she adored the way the crew came together, even for her who was much weaker. 

There was love here, Zoro could tell. The same sort of love he felt for the crew, and though he knew for sure about himself, he saw it palpitating off Conis in waves. 

“Huh,” Zoro huffs, smirking slightly. “Looks like there’s no need to worry, after all.”

There were questionable elements all over this crew, but Nami and Usopp were in good hands.

“But, Nami-san and Usopp-san, they’re really trying their best,” Conis says. “We’re doing all we can, every time… but it’s just not working.”

Zoro looks over, to where Nami was spending a quiet, melancholic moment by the bow, enjoying the sound of the waves. “Did I get mad?”

Conis cringes, looking away. “Yes. Yes, you did.”

Zoro hums. It was probably pretty bad, then. 

“Well then, get stronger,” he says. Like it’s easy. “You, Nami, and Usopp, all of you.”

He says it so nonchalantly Conis almost felt irritated. It almost felt dismissive, that he shrugged this off as if it were so simple. 

But to him, it certainly was. 

Zoro always dealt with his troubles by striving for more strength. She’s seen it many times, witnessed the many weights he added after every troubling tripwire in his path. 

Zoro was harsher on himself than he ever was on anyone else. 

“I’ll get stronger,” Conis says. A half-hearted resolve like I’ll do my best or I’ll try just wouldn’t cut it. “So I can become a warrior, too.”

A smile curls on the edge of Zoro’s lips. 

“Oh, but…” Conis leans over, “I saw this strange word in the logbook, but you woulnd’t explain it to me when I asked. If I may— what’s Bushido ?”

Zoro raises a brow. He tended to avoid such conversation in the past, but that’s a problem for the other him. 

“Well…” this is going to be a long conversation. “You don’t know what samurai are, do you?”

 


 

“I’m surprised you’re alive, actually,” Usopp says, “ah— I don’t mean this as an insult, I’m so sorry, it’s just— you know. Sanji told me you were caught up in some poisonous gas and all…”

“Poison gas, huh… that brings back memories,” Chopper says. “So, did it not happen this time?”

“It happened,” Gin says, Emerald City in his lap and Chopper’s notebook of new medicine-making methods splayed out before them as the reindeer continues scribbling down in a handwriting only he can read. “Nami brought me to this other doctor, uh… Torao?”

Chopper squawks, “you met Torao already?!”

“Whu- wait, what?” Usopp sputters, “who’s Torao?”

“This creepy doctor pirate guy,” Gin says, flipping the page of his book. “Healed me up all freaky, and here I am, good as new.”

“Torao’s awesome, just like I remember!” Chopper beams. 

“Who’s Torao?” Usopp asks. “Is it someone dangerous?” 

This conversation devolved into stories about Torao instead. How his Devil Fruit was the envy of all doctors in the world, and how the Strawhats allied with the Hearts to turn the world around its head. 

Chopper inflated the story childishly, and honestly, Gin couldn’t tell where the rosy-lenses ended and where the truth began, because it was all as absurd as Usopp’s stories, and Usopp’s stories have been proven to be true even in just this timeline alone. 

Gin listened, and he realized that after all this, he would have to forget it. 

All this was so awe-inspiring, so dangerous and so liberating, but it wasn’t the world he lived in. If he ended up admiring the story, he would end up admiring it too much to let it go. And then, he would be faced with the same difficult decisions Usopp and Nami had to make, are still making, and fucked up in the process. 

“Once this is over… it’ll all be just a dream,” Gin says. 

And Chopper nods. “But I’d like it if someone remembered.” 

Ah, there was that, too. 

Usopp sighs deeply, but he says nothing. Any moment now, their memories would return. And somehow, they knew that once that happened, nothing would remain. 

That’s why Chopper scribbled down all these notes so desperately, trying to get himself up a little more in skill, giving himself the edge he knows he’ll need, even if it’s just a small contribution.

“But speaking of things that are so cool I don’t really understand them,” Chopper says, “we found sniper island, but we still don’t know where Sogeking is!” 

Gin and Usopp both turn to the reindeer in confusion. 

“Sogeking!” Chopper repeats, exasperated. “Your friend, Usopp! The king of sniper island, hero of heroes, always lives in my heart! Soooge-KING!” 

Usopp covers his face in shame. He doesn’t need to have lived through it to know that this was definitely a lie he made in the future. 

Gin stares incredulously at Chopper. Looks like Chopper’s still a child at heart after all.

He’s glad some things never change.

 


 

They tormented that seahorse for about an hour before it finally released all the memories it held, begged to be released, and got punted across the ocean. 

Wyper honestly felt a little bad for it, but Anne was nonchalantly waving, so well, maybe it was fine. 

They stood in the middle of a fountain of shimmering green memory mist, waiting for their own to come back to them— and for a long moment, the view was all that they put their attention on. 

Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette. 

“Well then, this is goodbye,” he says. “Back to my nightmare I go.”

“How dreary,” Robin says. “It is, however, nice to know that this one will be well.”

Anne looks over. “Why do you think that?”

Their smiles were confident. “Because Nami and Usopp are here, of course. Even if the rest of us aren’t, they’re some of our most capable members.”

“But…” Anne trails off. But they shattered just yesterday. 

“We’ve gone through a lot together,” Luffy says. “So we know! They’ll be fine!” 

How could they be so confident? Anne didn’t understand. 

Wyper briefly realizes that despite coming back, being all together, they’ve never divulged the details of their own deaths to each other. Whether they knew or not, they moved on from it, spending their little time here simply escaping from that old knowledge in a unanimous notion. 

To them, none of this was ever real. 

(That’s what Usopp’s going through, isn’t it?)

They understood, better than anyone else, what Usopp and Nami are going through. And yet, they spoke with unrelenting confidence. 

“Plus, they have you guys!” Luffy grins. “How could they not be fine?”

Luffy didn’t wonder about the past or the future or fate or disaster. He only cared for the adventure, the fun, and the thrills of what came next. He didn’t distinguish between the things that hurt and things that shone— he only saw one adventure, and an ever-expanding route toward a single goal. 

Just do your best, and it’ll be fun

“A–” Wyper couldn’t help but choke on his answer. “Are you sure they’ll be fine?”

Because they were already crumbling to pieces. They didn’t know, but the crew was already shattering to pieces. What could the newcomers ever do against something so precious, when they hardly had a right to fix it?

“Are you sure it’s fine to leave this to us?”

We’re not worth it, we’re not capable enough. 

“What are you saying, shithead?” it’s Sanji that speaks. “In this world, you’re part of the Strawhats. Who else is going to do it if not for you guys?”

“What, are you guys fighting or something?” Luffy says. “That’s fine! We fight all the time, too!” he pumps a fist. “I beat Usopp half to death this one time.”

“What?” Anne blurts, and Kinoko bristles, terrified. 

Robin giggles. 

“You should ask Nami what she did when she joined the crew,” Robin says. “Not this time, but in the past, with us. And let me tell you, we’ve all done something like that before.” 

Wyper raises a brow. “It’s something outrageous?”

“In our seas, there’s one thing everyone knows about the Strawhats,” Sanji says, grinning. “You don’t touch a member of the Strawhat pirates, ever. It doesn’t matter if you’re the leader of an armada, a god, a king, an emperor of the seas, or a dragon.”

Wyper balks. “How many enemies did you guys make?”

“It was for nakama!” Luffy declares, looping an arm around Robin and Sanji at once. “That’s how the Pirate King lives!” 

The Pirate King. 

Wyper still isn’t sure, exactly, what that word means… but for the first time, perhaps, he’s managed to understand the alluring weight of that title, and just how much it meant to aim to be one who wears that metaphorical crown. 

A green light engulfs the three before them— and they collapse onto each other in an unconscious heap, somehow managing to keep Robin on top of them. 

Anne reaches up, tugging at Wyper’s sleeve. 

He looks down to see her near tears, Kinoko cradled within her hands. 

“...I don’t know why I’m crying,” she says. “But I think I’m jealous.” 

Wyper sighs. “Same here.”

He’s jealous— of Nami and Usopp, who had such an austere captain. Of the rest of the crew, who knew such a prominent family, such a wonderful adventure. And most of all he was jealous of them, because they wouldn’t remember any of this. They wouldn’t feel this emptiness inside their chest, a craving to talk just a little longer, to learn more about them. It was a craving that won’t ever be fulfilled. 

Luffy, Sanji, and Robin all wake up in mere moments, and they’re frantic and confused, though much louder and much more recognizable than before. 

They remember nothing about it all. 

“Something happened?” Robin asks. 

“Why’re we here? What island is this— oh! A city!” Luffy cheers. 

“What the— I’m halfway through this cigarette I don’t remember smoking what—” Sanji coughs, “what?”

Wyper and Anne meet eyes. 

Then, “we were all sleepwalking.”

“Liar!” Luffy and Sanji yell. 

Robin frowns skeptically. 

“Whatever. Let’s go back to the ship,” Wyper says, yawning. “I stayed up all night and I’m fucking exhausted.”

“Me too,” Anne says. “Let’s go, Kinoko.”

And then walked away nonchalantly, leaving the other three to follow them in their bewilderment. 

None of them mention the fact that Anne held Wyper’s sleeve the entire way back to the ship, but all three of them were staring very pointedly. They will be speculating on what’s happened for a very, very long time. 

 


 

They’re chased back to the ship by pitchforks and yells and accusations, and Wyper is so sick of this shit he wants to fire his Eagle Launcher at them and teach them what it means to yell at a warrior that isn’t trying to be hosti—

“ZORO! My arm! We need to go!” Nami’s shouting, “why wasn’t this put in earlier, you doofus?! Uh— Gin! Gin, take charge, we need to leave now, a storm’s coming!” 

“Wh— why didn’t you say that earlier— hey, where’s Luffy?!”

“I’m here, I’m here!” Luffy hollers from the distance, taking a lamp post and winding back. “Okay, grab on.”

“Wait Luffy NO—!!” 

He slingshots Sanji, Wyper, Anne, Robin, and Kinoko all the way back. 

Conis yawns as the four of them plunge onto the deck. Chopper squawks in fright, Usopp balks, and Gin places his bookmark on the page, standing up and stretching tiredly. Everyone’s running around, frantic about escaping as soon as they can. 

Wyper lands on the deck, Anne using her as a cushion, and neither of them immediately get up. Robin sighs, dusting herself off. She’s relieved she made herself a net to land on. 

“Hey, you guys, up!” Nami snaps, seated down on the bow as Zoro fits her arm back in. “This isn’t the time to be sleeping!” 

Wyper grimaces. Anne curls in, getting comfortable on his chest. Kinoko is splayed out around his stomach. Conis calmly stands up as Sanji and Luffy get the sails down, and Gin opens the hatch to the boy’s dorm. 

“...oy,” Sanji and Luffy say at the same time, exasperated. 

“Oy, oy,” Usopp echoes. “What’s with you guys?”

Suu is cheerful, though, running excited circles around all of them, squeaking in delight. She’d been sleeping the whole time, so she probably woke up and realized it was all just a bad dream after all. 

“Are you guys going to contribute to this ship?!” Nami yells, exasperated. “There’s a storm coming! We’re getting chased out of this island for no reason!” 

“No, you guys handle it,” Gin says, “I’m tired.”

“Me too,” Wyper says. He closes his eyes. 

“Good night,” Anne grumbles. Kinoko snores, drooling on Wyper’s chest.

“I’ll be taking a rest as well,” Conis bows her head, before opening the door to the girls’ room, calmly closing it on her way in. 

The rest of the crew could only stare at the scene, completely flabbergasted. 

“What on earth happened?!”

Chapter 79: the island of festivals.

Summary:

“If you’re a pirate among pirates among pirates among pirates, bring your trusted comrades along to this island. This island is known as…” 

Omatsuri Island greets the Strawhats with allergies, discrepancies, and petty conflicts.

Notes:

(*Omatsuri's going to be a two-parter, but it's 50% done so expect it soon!)

Hi everyone! Welcome to the arc where the Strawhats do a lot of fighting and being sad. Buckle in, and enjoy the ride!

The premise of this movie is that due to the Lily Carnation, the Strawhats gradually start acting more and more out of character to 'break up their friendships', so fair warning ahead that they might start acting OOC in some parts. I tried my best to make their arguments line up in character, but it's still shaky.

Fun fact: Luffy nicknames Baron Omatsuri the same thing he calls Crocus, being 'Flower Old Man'. the difference is that Crocus is 'Hana-no-ossan' and Baron Omatsuri is 'Flower-na-ossan', engrish and all.

Chapter Text

The next morning begins with a surprising amount of cheer. 

Nami and Usopp are speaking, but very pointedly of anything but their mistakes. Nami thinks Usopp knows she’s told Robin, but he’s not saying a thing about it and she sure as hell isn’t going to bring it up first. 

So they act like nothing’s happened, and move on to another bright day on the seas. 

And the rest of the crew follow their lead. 

“So! Wyper and Conis, this’ll be your first time actually properly doing it, so just watch, alright?” Nami says, beaming brightly. “Setting sail on the Blue Sea isn’t very different from setting sail on the White White Sea, so it should still be familiar to you.”

The crew slowly exit the galley, a yawn Zoro’s throat and excitement bubbling in Luffy’s. Kinoko flies out before Usopp, and Chopper bounces out, turning big and hopping down to the deck immediately. Anne makes her way down with the railing, running along the bow, reaching one of her tunnel hatches and dropping in, followed by Chopper. Gin is last out, and Sanji is finishing up on the dishes. 

Robin’s still supposed to rest, so she leans at the ledge, gesturing for Conis to join her. She’s holding onto Suu, who’s also curious about everything happening.  

“Do you all just have your posts memorised?” Wyper asks. This systematic delegation of jobs definitely is the work of a crew that’s done this more times than thrice. 

“No, we just go with the flow, see who hasn’t done what,” Gin says.

“Gin, anchor’ll be up in five seconds,” Nami reports from her spot on the bow, “wind’s good, a chill coming in from southwest.” 

“Then we’ll follow it for a bit,” Gin confirms as the anchor slowly rises. Anne and Chopper must be in the underdeck, then. 

“Sails are ready!” Zoro reports from the yard, and Kinoko echoes him. 

Usopp has a hand on the rigging, and Sanji’s resting on the rudder, ready to move. Chopper has emerged from below deck, taking the anchor and hooking it where it belongs. 

Gin and Nami turn to Luffy. “Captain, we’re ready to go.” 

Luffy beams. “Nami, how’s the log?” and when he gets a nod, he rests a hand on his hat, pointing forward. “Alright, SET SAIL!” 

“AYE, CAPTAIN!” 

The crew moves as one.

Wyper and Conis can only stare in awe as Robin smiles at their reaction. 

“It’s a superstition down here. If we set off gloomy, the journey won’t be any better. So it doesn’t matter how bad their argument was, we have to put it behind us before going,” Robin says. “That’s why we waited before sailing.”

Wyper had been curious about that. There was no reason to stop sailing simply because Robin wasn’t in good condition. But Robin’s cheer was integral to the entire crew picking themselves up again, and that’s why they waited. 

Relationships weren’t fixed. They were just put aside, in favour of setting sail as one crew again. 

People put aside their past scars to be on this ship— if they let conflicts build and build on, this ship wouldn’t be the fun adventure they wanted it to be. That’s why they put it aside, balance on some threshold of forgive and forget, and soldier on. 

“Being a pirate is to be unhindered and free from the worries weighing you down,” Robin says, looking toward Luffy, standing at the figurehead. “That’s why pirates down here always try to face the sun when we set sail.” 

 


 

“If you’re a pirate among pirates among pirates among pirates, bring your trusted comrades along to this island. This island is known as…” 

Robin reads the flyer and the map with interest. They’d gotten it from the News Coo, who found it in a bottle floating upon the sea so they dropped it off on the first lucky pitstop they could. And while this was suspicious, it’s also a fairly common way for islands to spread their name around on the Grand Line. 

“Not every island can be advertised legally, so they do stuff like this as well,” Nami explains, to the more curious group. “Of course, sometimes they’re traps, but more often than not, it’s a pirate-friendly vacation space meant to cause chaos outside of the government's eye. I’m thinking this is one of those.”

“What’re they pitching?” Usopp asks. 

“Spas and aesthetic salons,” Robin says. 

Conis swoons, “blue sea luxuries!” 

Nami joins her, “relaxation! Vacation!” 

Robin reads on. “Cuisines of many ages, gorgeous women of the centuries, and a land of blossoming dreams.”

Kinoko, Sanji, and Chopper were beside her instantly. Suu and Anne follow along, mildly curious as well. Anne’s never been on a purely vacation-based trip before. 

Gin sighs. “Absolutely no sense of awareness at all, these kids.”

Wyper hums. “What is the island getting from our visit?”

“Profit, usually,” Usopp says, “prestige, visitation, fun, and uh… I ran out of vocabulary. There’s usually a catch, but as long as we’re careful, it’ll be fine.”

“You’ve got nothing?” Zoro asks, skeptical.  About the future. No information at all? That was a red flag, and Zoro isn’t sure anymore if it’s more of a red flag the other way around or otherwise.

“Everything’s dangerous,” Nami says. “But there’s fun in it! That’s why we call it Paradise!” 

“Paradise?” Chopped asks, enthused. 

“But really, I’ve got nothing on this island,” Usopp says. “For real. But that’s a good thing. Since we don’t remember it, maybe it was just so mundane we didn’t have to?”

“Yeah, I’ve got nothing too,” Nami admits, “maybe they went bankrupt in the future? Then we better go enjoy it while we can!” 

Gin groans. Zoro echoes him.

“So? What’ll it be, Luffy?”

 


 

Of course, they went. 

“We’re here, we’re here!” Luffy cheers, running around frantically. Anne is right behind him, scampering meaninglessly in circles for no reason. “We’re here, we’re here!” 

They’re all dressed for vacation. 

Nami finds a shawl to tactically cover her metal limb, and Robin dons a sunhat with a brim wide enough to hide her face in case of unwanted attention. Anne’s in a comfortable jumper, and Conis has a draped dress, to easily go between her wings. 

“When on a vacation, maximize comfort!” Nami says. 

“Even so, he can’t just be in a—” Sanji gestures wildly at Wyper for a long moment before he finds the word, “whatever this toga-looking thing is!” ( Wyper bristles at him for the attention.) “And why does he match with Conis-chan anyways?!” 

“Because they both have wings and Conis just went with the easiest thing to design that Wyper wouldn’t eviscerate on sight,” Nami says. “Also, fanservice.” 

“I’m already tired,” Gin mutters. He pushes his bandanna up so it’s pulling his bangs up and away, and then he puts on sunglasses that hide his glare and his dark circles all at once. He is not fully equipped to be miserable in peace. 

“Wow, what a festive island,” Usopp says, into the silence. He’s not being sarcastic, since he can actually hear people on the other side, but in the deserted island corner, no one can tell for sure. 

Kinoko perches on his walking stick, and Suu enjoys the view from Luffy’s head.

“Are we just shoring our boat that far out?” Anne asks. The Merry was far away in the middle of the sea, where the tide was too low for her to come any closer. 

“She’ll be fine,” Zoro says. “We shored on an isolated part of the island for a reason.” 

Conis wanders, looking around in fascination. “How curious. There’s so much greenery, further than the eye can see! It’s like Upper Yard!” 

“Most islands down here are like this,” Chopper says. “Long Ring Long Land was the weird one since it was a prairie.” 

“Really? What do you do with so many trees?”

“We don’t! That’s why there’s so many of them.” 

“Oh, is that how it works?”

“Hey guys, is it just me or is it very noisy over there?” Luffy calls everyone’s attention. Nami is already at the spot he’s talking to, looking toward the forage. 

“I found the festival, guys. Let’s go.”

Conis immediately sneezes, and all eyes turn on her.  She blinks at herself, surprised. And then she sneezes again, coughs, and sniffles. Confused, she covers her face, sniveling into herself. She whines loudly, miserable.

“Wait, don’t rub your eyes!” Chopper warns. 

“But it itches!” she sobs. 

“Sorry, just bear with it a while.”

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s up, Conis?”

“I don’t know!” she whines between a hasty cough, clearly suffering. Her eyes were tearing up terribly. Anne stands beside her, Suu on her head holding a box of tissues.

“You okay, Conis?” Luffy leans over. “You’re like Makino when Tiger Lord came by.”

“When what?!” Gin balks. 

“But that makes sense!” Chopper pipes in, taking down his bag to reach inside. “Must be allergies, then! What could’ve triggered it?”

“Huh? Allergies? But I’ve had no problems so far in life…” 

“And you were fine in Upper Yard, so it’s probably not the forest,” Nami deems. 

“There were lots of animals up there too, so probably nothing about fur and feathers, either,” Sanji says. “There was sand on Long Ring Long land, so not that.” 

“Pollen, perhaps?” Robin says, perusing the map, “I don’t see any around at the moment, but there are flowers pictured prominently. I suspect this island has a large flower population.”

“It’s okay, Conis! I’ve got allergy medicine!” Chopper assures. 

 


 

Honestly, they dealt with Foxy just recently, so they’re not at all fazed by the apparent ‘Trial of Hell’ that comes at them once they step foot onto the island. It’s par for the course, honestly. 

Not, actually. 

“Are you ready to face the Trial of Hell?” Baron Omatsuri asks, loud and booming. 

Usopp holds a hand over Luffy’s mouth before he can say anything. Behind him, Nami and Zoro’s eyes widen in horror as Wyper immediately whips out the Eagle Launcher. 

“ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOT!” he yells. 

The entire crew watches in muted horror as he fires, and Baron Omatsuri (and his crew) scramble the absolute fuck away before the projectile lands and erupts and sets the festival platform on fire. 

“ARE YOU INSANE?!” Baron Omatsuri screeches. 

“...I think it’s obvious, but yes,” Gin says. 

“Are you sure there’s no superlative for ‘insane’ that’s more appropriate?” Sanji wonders out loud. “Like— ‘batshit fucked in the head’, or something.” 

 


 

They end up having to play the Trial of Hell, but under the pretense of needing to compensate for the damages, instead. They may be pirates, but Luffy had standards. 

“Hey, haven’t you heard? If you break it, you fix it!” Luffy confidently says, as if that’s ever a philosophy he’s lived by in any universe, “or you know, we play the game! If we win, we don’t gotta fix it!” 

“Yeah, none of that bull,” Sanji says. “You just want an excuse to play.”

“YEAH!” Luffy says, brightly. He was so endearingly honest about it that no one could say no to him after that.

“Where did you learn how to make reasonable excuses like that?” Nami asks. 

“From Sabo!” 

“Ah,” Nami says, upsettingly enlightened. 

“Plus, I know we’ll be fine!” Luffy beams. “I’ve got you guys with me, after all!” 

The crew tries their best to not smother him with charmed looks. They settle on head pats and hugs instead. Conis is holding back happy tears. Gin is expressionless behind the huge sunglasses but he bites his lip, trying hard not to say anything. 

“You really know how to flatter us, huh?” Nami says, trying to suppress the flush on her cheeks. 

“You spoil us!” Chopper whines. 

But alright. Their awesome captain said so, so of course the awesome crew have got to deliver from there. So they all obeyed, and played the damn game.  Usopp stands aside when the first event is announced, and Wyper, noticing his offishness, heads over to investigate. 

“Something’s weird about this place,” Usopp says. “I don’t hear as many voices as I think I should. Maybe we’re the only guests.”

“I agree,” Anne says, coming over. She’s seated on the ground, touching the paved land curiously. “Also, I can’t find Suu and Kinoko.”

“Little Miss Bird went sightseeing,” Robin offers. “I don’t know where Miss Fox has gone, though.” 

Huh. Weird. 

“What even is a goldfish?!” Wyper shouts in the distance. 

“So many tiny fish…” Conis says in awe, when the decently-sized tank emerges from the ground. “And they’re all so beautiful!” 

“Oh, Conis-chan, you want some? I’m sure we can raise a few goldfish on the ship,” Sanji says. “I’m pretty sure goldfish scooping usually involves us taking home the prize.”

“I can?” Conis says, in awe. 

“Wait, stop it!” Gin whirls around, coming at them. “Do you have ANY idea how expensive it actually is to set up appropriate goldfish care? THINK OF THE EXPENSES!” 

“You cheapskate, it’s just a couple fishes,” Sanji says. “What’s wrong with a bit of expense? Tell’im, Wyper.”

“Miser,” Wyper says, not really understanding but willing to participate in Gin slander. “Give the girl the stupid fish she wants.”

“Yeah, stingy!” Chopper adds. 

“Stingy,” Luffy brightly adds. 

Gin considers the pros and cons of raising his rank on the mutiny board. 

He doesn’t get far, because a humongous, oversized, and comically armoured goldfish of some sort leaps out of the water, soaring high over the air, roaring.  Zoro and Gin’s jaws drop straight down in horror. Luffy’s eyes twinkle with excitement. Robin and Nami stare, flabbergasted, while Usopp looks around, wondering what the silence is about. 

“That’s my Rosalia,” says Muchigoro, the guy they’re up against in this round. He’s a very pleasant guy. “She’s super well behaved! And lovely! Goldfish are great!” 

Anne and Conis’ eyes are sparkling with interest. “Goldfish can get that big?” they ask, in sheer awe. “That is amazing! Captain, can we get one? Please?”

Wyper slowly raises his Eagle Launcher. 

Gin closes his eyes behind his sunglasses and takes three grounding breaths. “I’m going back to the ship,” he reports. 

Sanji hums, “going to prepare a goldfish tank for us ahead?”

Gin considers murder for a long second. Finally, he throws his hands into the air in exasperation. “Just one. But not that one, since it won’t fit on the damn ship.”

The entire crew, including Robin, for some reason, replies to him as one. Most are sarcastic, others are pleasant, and the children are enthused. But they all say the same thing. 

“Okay, dad.”

Gin commits mutiny.

 


 

Kinoko surveys the island from the sky, soaring through, enjoying the view. There’s jungle as far as the eye can see, and a mountain gorging in the center, encased by fog at its peak. 

How curious. For a festival island, the festival’s pretty constrained to just one area. 

She spots Merry in the distance, undisturbed, and she dismisses it. She soars closer toward the volcano, eyes narrowing as she finds a strange growth at its peak.  It almost looks like a tube. What is that? She dives down, closer, to find it winding around the crest of the mountain like a vine. It’s segmented, like a slowly growing, gradually extending sprout. 

A sprout. 

A flower?

A sharp pain rips through her side, and Kinoko shrieks , vision going red as an arrow plunges through her abdomen. 

She knows nothing else. 

 


 

Everyone continues the trial with a big angry bump on their heads. Gin leaves.

The net gets passed from one person to the other. Wyper tries to shoot before he’s told the bazooka's off-limits. He tries to fistfight the fish before Anne steals the net, taking over with a large metal paintbrush, insisting she’s got an idea.

Colours Trap: Betrayal Bla—” Anne voice falls short as she’s interrupted by a tidal wave. “—nevermind.” She lifts her waterlogged beret off her head. “Next.”

“Can’t use paints here, huh? Alright, I’ll go,” Sanji takes the net, saunters into the air— and jets out a flying roundhouse kick. The goldfish gets whacked harshly sideways. "See that, my gorgeous ladies? I am the coolest man in the wwoooOOOAUUUHH!" 

The tail comes and Sanji gets punted into the waters, never to be seen again. 

The little paper net falls dreadfully onto the ground. Chopper and Conis cry out a devastated wail. “NOooo! Sanjiiiii!” 

“If we’re facing a fish, it’s gotta be me!” Nami laughs, tossing aside her shawl, getting a running start to pick up the net, and skidding upon the water like a water spider. She gets enough momentum to churn up a wave, spin it between her arms, and let it spin into a whirlpool. 

The giant goldfish is caught in the currents, and it goes churning right back into the air. She poses dramatically. 

The crew cheers

 

Zoro is starting to feel very bad for the fish. Well, he’s not going to care. He’s supervising Usopp, who’s supervising Conis and Wyper as they crouch over the decorative goldfish aquarium, actually trying to scoop goldfish from it to take home. 

“This is ridiculous. Why make such an inefficient net?” Wyper says, exasperated. 

“It’s the challenge that’s the charm,” Usopp says, blindly attempting, and not really succeeding. “See? Conis is starting to get a hang of it.”

Conis has caught her second one, and she cheerfully deposits it in a little fish bowl Baron Omatsuri gave her when she asked. She’s ecstatic. Anne wants to try. 

“I don’t get it. Why make your job harder?” Wyper grumbles. 

“It’s a test of patience and dexterity, pu,” says a little kappa boy that has shown up who knows when, holding his own fish bowl and net. “It is fun, pu.”

“Who are you again?”

“DJ Gappa, pu. I want to scoop goldfish too, pu.”

“Okay, that’s fine.”

“Thank you, pu.”

“You’re very polite.”

“I am a good boy, pu.”

Around them, the Trial of Hell continues. 

 

Luffy takes the net. “Alright, my turn!” He leaps, intending to send the fish on the right course. “Gomu-Gomu noooooo… BAZOOKA!” 

“NOT SO FAST!” Muchigoro declares, stepping on a button on the ground. 

Instantly, a huge contraption shoots out of the ground. It takes them all a long moment to realize that’s a bridle, and Muchigoro runs rapidly to take in the reins. The fish is headed right into it, caught— and Muchigoro tugs on it like a horse on a leash. It’s hooked to the ground, so he doesn’t even need much strength to stop the sea king. 

Luffy’s attack misses completely, and he’s whacked into the water by a giant fish body. 

“That’s his own fault,” Zoro says, defensively. Everyone speaks up to enthusiastically agree. Luffy's the only one going up the mutiny ranking for that one.

“Come back, Rosario-chan!” Muchigoro calls. 

Rosario obeys, bracing for a backflip, somersaulting right back toward the other bucket. 

“...yeah,” Nami sighs. “Forget it. Big sis, if you would?” she asks, handing her the little paper netting. 

Robin takes it in one hand, smiling. She doesn’t use it, instead forming a net of arms upon the opening of the bucket, bouncing the fish right off. 

“Alright!” Chopper cheers, “I’ll take the last hit, then!” he beams. He crunches a rumble ball in his mouth, and inflates into the biggest mound of fur anyone’s ever seen. 

They win. Of course.

 


 

Gin grumbles moodily, stomping his way through the forests, upset. 

These fucking brats on the ship never know when to take things seriously. This is obviously a trap, a Grand Line trap, and heck, they have more people than Foxy on theirs. And this isn’t even an honourable Davy Back. If they get into a fight, there’ll be war!

He kicks a tree, fuming. Sometimes, he hates that he’s the oldest one on the ship. 

“They fucking never listen to me!” 

With a deep sigh, he looks around the jungle he’s found himself in, glaring at the eerie silence. This is weird. Very weird.  He can’t hear any of the festival noise anymore. Sure he’s far, but the goldfish arena can’t be the only place on the island with noise, can there? This is a festival island— it’s weird enough that there are any parts of it filled with such ominous silence. 

He groans, frustrated. He doesn’t like it here. He doesn’t like it here at all. 

This island may just be a tricky vacation to them, but Gin hates it. He doesn’t understand why they can’t sympathize with him— with this horror he feels deep in his chest.  This island is bad news. Even if it isn’t, Gin doesn’t want to be here. 

He wants to go back to the ship. If they’re not coming with him, so be it. He’ll go alone. And if they get in trouble and get hurt, it’ll be their own fucking fault. He can laugh at them and say I told you so , because they’re morons. 

(...huh?)

Gin’s anger makes his head hurt. He leans against the tree beside him, taking a liberating breath that makes him realize something is wrong. 

He’s not usually this angry. 

Why did he say that? Why did he say he didn’t care if any of them got hurt? That’s the mindset he had when he was on Don Krieg’s ship. It’s the mindset he consciously decided to discard after joining the Strawhats, and so far, he’s been succeeding. 

He isn’t one to cross his own lines, even when he’s being temperamental.

Something’s wrong. 

He turns around sharply to the whip of an arrow.

He can’t see it fast enough, but the pain that blows through his chest makes his vision go black. 

This is strange, too.  It’s an arrow, impaled in his lower ribcage. He knows it doesn’t hit anything important. It’s caught in there, he knows how that feels. It’s not lethal.  He’s made to deal with worse things. So why can’t he get up? It’s just one hit. It’s just one hit, but it hurts so bad he could throw up. His entire being shivers, and in every edge of the metal scraping through his ribs, he thinks he’s losing his mind. 

Oh, poison? No. Not poison. He knows poison.  This isn’t a normal arrow, but it’s not poison. What could it be—

“Well, this was an easy one to get,” Baron Omatsuri huffs. “Don’t worry. Your nakama will be joining you soon.”

A flower smiles down at him. “One down! One down!’ it cheers, in its shrill tone. 

Whatever it was, it’s not letting him think straight. And if he gets so frazzled by it, he fears what will happen to the rest. But he can’t speak. And he can’t stay awake. 

He can only curse himself for not realizing this sooner.

 


 

“Look! I caught eight!” Conis says, bright and proud, showing off her little goldfish bowl.

Anne pouts. “I didn’t catch any.”

“It’s a stupid game,” Wyper agrees. 

“That’s cause you sucked,” Zoro says. 

“What was that?!” 

“You sucked.” 

“Come at me, Roronoa, I’m gonna blow your brains ou—” 

They were lost. The crew gets fed up when a next trial is proposed via sore loser rules, so they try to leave— only for both Nami and Usopp to get completely stumped. 

“I can’t feel the Merry. It’s always in the wrong direction when I turn,” Usopp says. 

“Yeah, because we were totally relying on the blind man to lead the way,” Sanji says. “It’s okay Usopp. This is strange territory. We’ll deal with it.”

Usopp falls silent. “Sanji. I know we usually joke about it but that was a little mean, I’m genuinely trying—” 

“Hey, look guys!” Chopper calls out, “there’s a picnic mat.”

“Sandwiches!” Luffy says. “It’s half-eaten.” 

“No, the bread’s dried out and the tea’s cold,” Sanji says. “It’s been a while since whoever was here left. Definitely a sudden escape, but from who?” And there aren’t any bugs crowding toward it. Actually, there aren’t any bugs at all. Or wild animals, or other wanderers, or…

“How curious. I wonder if they were carried off by a ghost,” Robin says. “There aren’t any animal tracks, or signs of struggle, so it’s the only conclusion I can figure.”

“I’m gonna go investigate that way,” Anne says, pointing in a seemingly random direction. “I’m the Scout. I’m good at surveying. I’ll come back in ten minutes.”

It’s better for them to stick together, but there wasn’t a real reason to stop her.  If there’s anyone that’s best to take a quick look around, it would be Anne. She has the best grasp on their current location, and she’s nimble. And Luffy would get lost first. 

“Go on,” Sanji says. 

Luffy scales the tree beside them, but he doesn’t find Kinoko. Conis blows a fox whistle, but nothing comes, definitely not Suu. 

Anne doesn’t return before the stage appears beyond them, Baron Omatsuri showing himself once more. 

“So,” Baron Omatsuri says, “ready for the second trial?”

 


 

Anne doesn’t follow them to the venue of the second round. She simply lets them leave her behind, frowning as she sets a hand on the ground. 

Something’s down there. 

A tunnel. 

A hatch she doesn’t notice before opens, and A man with a toothbrush moustache meets her right in the eyes. Suu is beside him.

“I believe this is yours,” he says, gesturing toward Suu, who hurries up to her, crawling up her body to her shoulder. “On this island, children and animals are usually taken first. Then, the ones that wander off alone. You must be careful.”

Anne mirthfully realizes why they haven’t heard from Kinoko in a long, long while. 

Since when? They’ll never know now. 

“What’s going on?” she demands. 

The man looks around, wary. Then, “come in. We’ll talk below.”

Anne follows. 

 


 

Ring Toss was a bit of a mess. 

Usopp and Sanji, and Zoro and Nami, were taking part. 

The teamings were as such because an Usopp-Zoro combination would crash, and a Sanji-Zoro combination would… also crash. Four boats skid forth, into the waterways that cut through the cityscape. Nami watches in awe, distinctly reminded of Water Seven. 

“Nami! Eyes on the road!” 

“Are you seriously telling me that, Zoro?”

She laughs. Zoro grimaces. 

 

Beyond them, Sanji steers while Usopp waits. “Something’s weighing on my mind, Usopp. Something dreadfully heavy, it’s like a raincloud, hanging over my head.” 

“Oh, really?” Usopp says. “Do not elaborate.” 

“No, I will speak about it. You cannot stop me,” Sanji immediately says. “I’m wondering. I really am. Genuinely, I do not understand—” 

“That rhymes.” 

“LISTEN TO ME YOU SHITHEAD,” he roars. “Why the fuck am I on this boat instead of the other one? Why am I always saddled with you instead of my lovely queen Nami? Why is it always Zoro that gets to spend time with her?!”

Usopp stares in the distance blankly, contemplative. “Worries in the wind. Sanji and love that can’t be. I could not care less.”

“Did you just fucking haiku me?!”

“Indeed that is true. Imitating Kerojii. I have indeed done.”

“Oh that one was awful. Stop.”

“It’s fun.”

“Get serious, already.”

 

All the idiocy aside, the race went on. They pursued, skidding past the waterways. Sanji and Usopp are assaulted by a cloud of smoke from a shichirin. 

“All due damn respect but you’re overcooking the meat, Keroko-san!” Sanji snaps. “Let me do it! I promise it’ll be much more delicious!” 

“It smells so good! I’m hungry!” Usopp whines. 

“Pay attention!” Sanji huffs. “Dammit, I can’t see shit in all this smoke!” 

“Ah, how terrifying, what an inconvenience!” Usopp retorts loudly, raising his slingshot. “Go, Explosive Star!” 

His shot misses Kerojii by a coincidental lift of the arm, but it takes out the shichirin grill instead, overturning the lightweight machine, flipping it over with a yelp from all parties as it spins in the wind, bringing itself, the plate of cooked meat, and the still undercooked meat on the grill, all into the river. 

“What—” Sanji balks, reaching over to grab him by the collar. “What a waste! Usopp, you ass! You couldn’t have aimed anywhere else?” 

“Uhm, excuse me,” Usopp says, “I’m blind. How am I supposed to help that?”

“Blind people can’t aim, Usopp! But you can, and you have done better! Do you have any idea how many people that meat could’ve fed?” 

Usopp’s face scrunches up with annoyance. “Dude, I got rid of the smoke for you ! If you have any problems with my regard for priorities , do it yourself!” 

“Ah of course. Let’s bring personal skill into this,” Sanji says, sarcastic. “I’m totally not allowed to judge sloppy work unless I’m a genius in every field known to man. Of course.”

“You know that’s not what I’m saying!” 

“When you say shit like ‘if you don’t like it do it yourself’ to someone who obviously doesn’t have your skillset, that is literally what you are saying!” 

“That’s not what I—” 

“HEY NOW, young’uns!” Keroko laughs, “pay attention to your elders! Have some respect!” she chides, though she’s snickering hysterically. 

“No no, let them fight,” Kerojii says, giggling. “Young people are just like this, yeah? It’s what youth entails.”

Sanji and Usopp aren’t hearing either of them.

“You’re saying you didn’t mean to hit the damn grill? Is that it?” Sanji snarks. “You’re saying you’re such a shit sharpshooter you couldn’t have fucking avoided the one thing you know I’d hate for you to hit?”

“I’m NOT a shit sharpshooter! You’re just shit at organising your priorities!” Usopp yells back. “You’re always like this! We’re in a battle, Sanji! We don’t care about the wasted food or your chivalry or whatever, we just need to survive!” 

Sanji’s cigarette folds between his fingers. 

“You take that the fuck back.” 

“You insulted me,” Usopp says. His eyes are firm. “So no, I will not.”

Of course, Sanji’s chivalry and the surrounding food is never the main concern in a warzone. But those were still things that were important to Sanji, and Usopp, who hails from the future, who knows exactly why Sanji values his personal flaws — he should already know how important they were to him, ridiculous as they were. 

But Usopp did not have the heart to give a shit about that at the moment. Sanji should also know Usopp’s inferiority complex regarding his sharpshooting skills as a blind man. 

 


 

Zoro and Nami hear the argument in the distance and they frown. 

“Hey hey, that’s not good,” Zoro says. “Shit-cook’s picking a fight now, of all times?”

“For all we know, it’s Usopp going too far with his jokes again,” Nami says. “Zoro, they’ve got machine guns. You can deflect those?”

“Absolutely not, what the fuck.”

Nami laughs. “Don’t get us lost, then!” 

“You stop doing things alone, Nami, wait—!” 

She leaps into the water, her foot popping into water-striding contraptions. She gets a bit of water time, and she uses it to slide a wave of water right over the frogship’s heads.  She grabs their machine guns by the searing nozzle, and with an effortful twist, she wrenches it out of their arms and right into her own. 

“I’ve never used one of these before,” she inspects it, landing on the edge of their boat as they squawk. “But it can't be more different than a marine rifle, right?”

She gets it to work. She’s seen Usopp use something like this before, and she’ll gather the rest of its workings with context clues. 

But when she fires it, the problem starts.  The recoil is ten times stronger than she expects it to be. Machine guns like these are bolted down for a reason, and Nami had shorn it off its hinges, and naively held it without any preparation for that kind of force. 

She’s taken so off guard, she barely registers herself flinching, stepping back, falling. 

Her shoulder creaks dangerously by the tenths consecutive shot, and she hisses, dropping it abruptly. The trigger is still pressed, and it flies in all direction, barely missing herself when it rolls. 

Zoro curses, leaping off his boat, kicking off one of the frog geezers as a launchpad before lunging for Nami. 

“Oh you think we’ll just let you?” Keroshot laughs, and he slams his hand on the underside of the boat, and the boat slots aside to reveal wings. They spread out sharply, knocking Zoro right out of the air. 

He doesn’t catch Nami before she falls.  He clings onto the wing, barely, and flips right back around with his swords. “Oh, you geezers are annoying!” he yells, swords out. He slices the ship to bits.

“Oop, there goes the ship,” Kerodeek says. “Okay, I’ll fix it.”

And he does , working at the speed of light, spindling forth an upgraded ship in mere instants. Zoro’s already leaping into the river, taking a rapidly sinking Nami back to the surface. 

“For fuck’s sake, I told you not to go alone!” Zoro grumbles. 

“I had a plan!” 

“And that failed, because you didn’t think it through!” Zoro says. “Just get back up on the damn boat and stop getting in my way. And don’t move that arm!” 

Nami does a double take at that. “Wha— oh, just because I messed up once, I’m now incapable of helping?”

“That screw in your arm looks off! You sit the fuck still or it’s only going to get worse. I don’t need to jump around trying to save you, I’m trying to focus here.” 

“It’s just a screw, it can be fixed! Why are you treating me like an invalid?!”

“I am not!” 

“Yes you are!” 

Nami roughly shoves him aside, sinking briefly only for the waves to catch her, bringing her back up in a mild wave. She throws herself back onto the boat, scooping up the rings in one move. 

Zoro curses. He dives back down when the frogs fire off another rally of gunfire, and he draws his swords. 

“Three-sword style: Tatsumaki!” 

The water tornado engulfs their ship, shattering it once more. 

Nami has affixed the lifesaver rings to her Clima Tact, and the Eisen Dial pops it into the shape of nunchucks. Kerodeek and Keroshot flail, trying to get their boat back in order, but Nami doesn’t miss this time when she spins it into the air. 

They’re wound up by the constricting rings, and it’s over.

“I caught them!” She declares, like a statement. She points at her achievement, catching her Tact as it comes back. The frog elders drop into the water miserably, bound up by the lifesavers.  

“Only because I stopped them from fighting back,” Zoro grounds out. 

Nami’s face tightens with irritation. 

“Oh, okay, strong independent man that is so fucking capable,” she says, sitting down. “Oops! My fragile arm, which is out of its socket and thus I can’t control it, slipped!” And then, she turns on the engine, skidding away, leaving Zoro far behind her in the water. 

Zoro’s jaw drops. 

“Nami, you bitch!” 

 


 

While the Ring Toss occurs, the rest of the crew settle in the resort. Conis and Robin enjoy the pleasantries, getting massages and enjoying the spa, before sitting down to enjoy a drink with Muchigoro. 

Conis stays silent as Robin hounds him about flowers. 

Conis’ allergies have mellowed after the medicine took effect, but they couldn’t help but wonder where it came from. They didn’t find any in the jungle, and the only one around seemed to be the comical one by the Baron’s shoulder. It just wasn’t making sense. 

“Lily Carnation…” Conis repeats. “Is that a species of flower down here?”

“I’m… not sure,” Robin says. “Lilies and carnations differ, but a ‘lily carnation’ may be a separate genus I’ve not learned of yet. That is troubling. I’m meant to be the scholar, it isn’t a good sign when there are things I do not know of.”

Conis’ caught goldfish have been kept in an aquarium display for now, for her to take once they’re ready to leave. She sips on the non-alcoholic cocktail, contemplative.

Muchigoro runs away to throw up, having taken in too much alcohol for the midday. 

“He spoke of a storm, didn’t he?” Conis asks. “Storms… they are when the sky turns dark, the winds surge, and the waves turn violent… right?” 

Sky Island is above the clouds— other than Weather Ball creations, they’ve never experienced any weather conditions. At least, outside of Enel’s Raigou. 

“They usually aren’t as bad as the one we went through up there. Lightning down here will have a hard time destroying great land masses like an island. Vearth is strong,” Robin assures her. “But… we don’t fear the lightning here. We fear the sea.” 

Conis shivers. 

“Even though the sea brings great bounty and freedom?”

“The sea takes as much as it gives,” Robin says. “Just like how fire brings life, but can also end it. Everything’s a coin, Miss Seamstress. There are two sides, and people are capable of living never knowing which side is which.” 

She doesn’t elaborate further.

 


 

Anne lifts herself up from the hatch. 

Brief, of the Chobihige Pirates, has told her as much as possible— she’s gotten enough information that she can’t delay the reporting back any longer, and thus, she runs from the underground passages, eager to get back to her crew. 

She has to tell them as soon as possible. She left Suu down there, though. 

“Hey, you.”

She jumps in fright.  She’d made her way up a tree, and she’d been leaping around frantically, trying to find the right path back to the resort— so she doesn’t expect to be called out.  No one else should have been around, this far away. 

And yet, DJ Gappa stands in the foliage, staring straight at her with eyes burning red and smile brimmed unnaturally wide.

“Your hat is cool, pu. Give it to me, pu.”

Chapter 80: the flower of festivals. (in loving memory)

Summary:

The crew isn't doing so great. They break apart, left and right, and it's up to the ones that are left to desperately put each other back together.

Also known as: Everyone gets a stern talking to, but primarily, Nami and Usopp finally break down.

Notes:

I said it'd be soon, and yep, it was soon. I grossly underestimated the chapter length though, so this is twice the length of the other half oops. Oh well.

Happy 500k words! We're halfway to a million on this behemoth.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Chopper and Wyper have gone out to wander.  

“What are all these graves?” Wyper frowns. “This is an insane amount. And they’ve all got fresh flowers. What a waste.”

“Down here in the blue sea, we put flowers on graves,” Chopper explains. “Do you guys not, up there?”

“No, we just pray.”   

Flowers were scarce up there, after all. And so was food. They built statues in honour of those they’ve lost, but they don’t have the habit of burying the dead– they just let them drift on a cloud, to be free forever to the will of god. 

But it was still strange. 

There were dozens of graves here, and every one of them had flowers dry but not wilted. They were placed recently, every single one of them, like there was recently a procession to honor them all one more time. 

Wyper tosses a side of his flowy clothes over his shoulder, tightening his bazooka’s strap over his belt so it is laid comfortably aside. He crouches down, touching the stone. 

“What’s it made of?”

“Usually marble, slate, or granite,” Chopper says. “Uhh… this one reads… Ko. Te- Tsu. Kotetsu, master chef, performance artist, lover of cuisine.” 

Wyper squints at it, skeptical. He can tell, from the carvings, that whoever made this tombstone was not a master. He was only fairly adept at it. But he wrote each word with care, and every stone was religiously kept clean to a shine. 

“Huh?” Chopper notices something. He stands up, moving to the next one, and the next, and the next. And he moves to the next row to check. “I… this is…” 

“What?”

“The date,” Chopper says. “They all died the same year, Wyper.”

Wyper’s eyes widened. The month and day wasn’t given, but it was weird enough. A huge tragedy must have happened in the year of 1498.

“That’s a really long time ago, though,” Chopper says.

“Before Gold Roger even found One Piece.”

“Yeah, before Gold Roger even f— YEGWAHHH!! WHo are you?!” Chopper shrieks, when the ragged man in half a captain’s coat is suddenly beside him. 

“Chopper?!” Wyper yelps, reaching for his bazooka. 

Chopper’s getting half-strangled now. “You’re Omatsuri’s goon, aren’t you, you weird otter thing!” the man yells, “YAAAHHH! Take this! And this!” he dishes out punches like wet balls of tissues. “And this! And this!” 

And Chopper echoes the man’s roars of determination with his shrieks of fear, more terrified and caught up in the momentum than injured in any way. 

Wyper doesn’t help him yet. The weird man is wearing a pirate captain’s hat, but he’s so clearly harmless that he’s much more alarmed by the other presences around. Three figures, skulking about the other gravestones, spying. 

Wyper runs at them, earning a startled yell. 

He leaps onto the grave, cornering them instantly. They trip and fall, and he crouches down upon the stone, wings behind him flared as he glared sharply down at the little imbeciles that dared try to sneak up on them. 

“What’s the meaning of you brats?” he demands, his voice a growl. 

The boy immediately starts crying. The teenager is better off, grasping them close to her as she trembles and stutters and— “I! I am! I’m sorry! Please spare our lives. Please spare our—” 

Wyper is now infuriated. He asked a question! If they were afraid, why aren’t they doing the logical thing of answering his question first? Isn’t it common sense to not make him angrier? Even Aisa had better survival instincts than this and she was a moron!

The teenager sucks in a sharp breath.

Then the youngest girl gasps in awe, “an ANGEL?!” her eyes twinkle, “Rosa, look! An angel! He’s so pretty! An angel! A real angel!” 

“DAISY!” the father yells, horrified as he whirls around to notice her out in the open. “What are you doing? RUN!” 

“But Papa, an angel!” 

“Papa?” Wyper echoes. 

“Papa,” Chopper adds, “ah— you’re family! And since you’re wearing a pirate hat and all. Are you here because of Baron Omatsuri’s invitation, too?” 

“Eh?”

“Huh? Are you not Omatsuri’s allies?” Papa asks. When Chopper and Wyper shake their heads, he sighs in relief, putting Chopper back down on his feet. “So it’s a misunderstanding, I see… you see, we were here for a vacation, and after losing that ridiculous goldfish scooping challenge, we ran, and now we’re hiding…”

Wyper frowns as he starts going onto a whole tirade of his situation. 

Apparently, he and his three children were a little pirate crew, the Tearoom Pirates. Which is ridiculous, he doesn’t believe this little joke of a family boat trip can survive a storm. 

At least he understands now that the guy’s not an enemy, but if they’re hiding, they really ought to be quieter— 

A flash of light in the distance alarms him, and Daisy jerks to attention a second before Wyper does. Wyper still reacts first, though, lunging at her, picking her right up. 

Rosa yells out in alarm. “Wait!” 

Wyper doesn’t get away in time. No, he does— but the arrow follows, so he brings Daisy to his chest, jumps back, and when it winds unnaturally toward him, he curses out loud. He considers dropping the girl, but the arrow jilts as he does. It wasn’t targeting him— it was targeting the child.

“Wyper!” Chopper yells. 

Wyper does the only thing he can think of. The arrow jets forward and he puts his arm before him, bodily shielding the girl. The arrow pierces through skin, tearing right through his muscles like butter before going through — he curses. 

This isn’t normal. This isn’t normal!

The arrow rapidly scores through his bones, grinding right through and coming out the other side— Wyper forces his arm and the arrow away from him, swerving his head away as the arrow plunges clean through his flesh, barely missing his head, and lodges into the tombstone beside him, cracking the granite into a spiderweb.

He lets out a horrified breath. 

“Wyper, what’s—!!” 

“Chopper!” Wyper interrupts sharply, cradling his bleeding arm. “Get these people away from here, right now!” 

“But—!” 

They both freeze. 

In the distance, Baron Omatsuri steps out of the shadows, a grim expression on his face. The flower on his shoulder smiles eerily. 

He holds a bow and arrow in his hand, and he’s poised to fire again. 

“NOW!” Wyper yells, and Chopper has no protest this time. 

Ochanoma Papa scoops Daisy right up, and Rosa picks up her younger brother Rick. Chopper shifts into Jumping Point, and they soar. 

The arrow is shot at the runners, and Wyper doesn’t hesitate. 

He leaps from a grave, and he grabs the arrow by the stem, hissing when the wood burns his hand at the friction. But what horrifies him is that his body weight wasn’t enough to stop it— the arrow dragged him forward instead, like a raging bull refusing to stop. 

His contribution did deter the pace, though, and he grabs a tombstone, just far enough to ruin the momentum. He rolls, tripping over another grave before he tumbles messily and painfully into the cemetery once again, arrow in hand. 

It’s not a normal arrow. Definitely not a normal arrow. 

He tries to get up, but his head explodes with pain, and he squeezes his eyes shut. Something burned in his arms— the wound, the scrapes, he hisses, and as he rolled to get up, he cursed incessantly. 

He lifts his head, knowing he can’t wallow in pain for too long. That’s an opening his enemies can use. 

He looks around. The Baron is gone.

He hears the whip of an arrow, and he turns around immediately— but he only sees the arrow for a mere second before he feels it go through his chest. 

 


 

Chopper doesn’t fare much better. 

He finds the Wanted Poster of the Red Arrows first, though, while Ochanoma Papa explains what he knows about Baron Omatsuri to him. It’s while they were distracted that Baron Omatsuri finds them again, and this time, he doesn’t miss.

In the last dredges of his consciousness, he sees a hatch open just out of sight. 

Suu emerges, squeaking frantically for the Tearoom Pirates to come with her. It’s too late for Chopper, but Ochanoma Papa brings the Tearoom Pirates to safety before Baron Omatsuri can get to them. 

Chopper’s relieved they’re safe.

 


 

Luffy chases after a man with a toothbrush moustache, because that asshole keeps throwing rocks at him. 

“There’s no way I’m going to become your nakama ,” he says, sternly. 

“Okay, okay, I get it already!” Brief insists. “But be careful. Baron Omatsuri breaks up comrades— that’s all he does. If he hasn’t already shattered yours, it’ll come anytime now. You don’t have much leeway, but you should leave, as soon as possible.”

Luffy’s eyes widen with realisation. 

Brief’s eyes are burning with genuine fear. “Before all your crew’s gone— you need to hurry and realize what’s happening.”

Now that Luffy looked closely, with a calmer head— there was a stain of paint on this man’s clothes. 

He’d recognize the smell of Anne’s paints anywhere. 

“Where is she?” he demands, low and threatening. 

“I don’t know,” Brief says. “She went missing. But wait!” he yells, when Luffy jerks apart in alarm. “Wait. It’s hard enough getting you alone— once the Baron finds out you know his trick, he’ll bring up the third event in an instant. And then it’ll all be over. Whatever you do, you have to reconcile your nakama before it begins, or it’ll all be for naught!” 

He shoves a piece of paper into Luffy’s chest, and quickly, Brief throws open a carpet, revealing a secret hole he hadn’t noticed before. 

And from it, Suu leaps out. She latches immediately onto Luffy, overjoyed to reunite. Luffy lets her nuzzle into his cheek, but his focus is on the paper he’d received. 

Brief disappears under the passageway, closing the tracks as he goes. 

Luffy looks at the painting in his hands. 

(Gin walks along the forest with Kinoko on his shoulder. The mountain is in the skyline, but its peak is shrouded in fog.)

(There’s a familiar flower on the ground.)

 


 

“Hey, where’s Chopper?”

“He told Robin he’ll be right back. Wyper should be with him too…” 

“Anne’s not around, either. Think she went back to the ship with Gin?”

“Guys, something’s wrong. Kinoko’s not around.”

“Suu! So you were with Luffy! What a relief!” 

It’s time for dinner, and yet, half of their comrades are nowhere to be seen. And that was certainly strange. How could half of them have been missing for more than half a day, and none of them ever noticed it happening?

“I thought you were supposed to keep an eye on them!” Nami groans, turning to Robin. 

Robin shrinks back, surprised by the harsh tone. 

“Ugh!” Nami throws her hand into the air, “of all the times for Wyper to be gone. My arm’s not doing so good and it’s getting really uncomfortable.”

Zoro scoffs. “It can be fixed, don’t worry about it,” he snarks. Then, scowling, “I fucking told you so.”

Nami turns away. “Wow,” she says, brightly with all the venom in her soul. “Fucking jerk. Good thing, cause you’re never allowed near my limbs ever again.” 

“Good fucking riddance,” Zoro says. “You think I ever liked being your fucking limb replacement servant?”

“Hey hey, you two, cool your heads already,” Usopp says, putting himself between them. “And Nami, if your arm’s feeling iffy, it’s better for Zoro to check. He knows your limbs better than I do—” 

“No, I’m fine,” Nami insists. 

“Yeah, she doesn’t trust me,” Zoro says. And, clearly holding a separate grudge with his next line. “Like she doesn’t trust anyone . She can handle herself.”

They stopped talking immediately. 

Conis squirms, uncomfortable at the tension. It’s clear something was awfully strained, even more so than before. Suu curls into her hands, but Conis doesn’t know what to do. “I– I’m sorry, but… what’s happened, everyone?”

“What’s with this mood?” Robin asks. 

“Nothing,” Sanji says. “It’s nothing to be worried about.” Usopp scoffs at that, and Sanji raises a brow. “You disagree or something, piece of shit?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Usopp says. “Just, it was funny hearing you pretend you’re not part of the problem for the foul mood.” 

“You want it to continue or something, shitheead?!” Sanji snaps, “you’re really pushing your luck! Don’t think any of us have actually forgiven you yet for keeping the secrets that put all of us in danger—!!”  

“Hey hey, enough!” Luffy finally steps in, standing between them. “Geez, what’s up with all of you? I thought we agreed before coming here that we weren’t going to hold any grudges about all that.”

“No, let him talk,” Nami says. “They clearly still hold a grudge. They’re clearly still mad. You guys keep acting like we did it out of malice and I've had enough of it!” 

“Oh heavens no, Nami,” Sanji backtracks, “I wasn’t blaming you , I know you tried—” 

“Shut it with that, Sanji!” Nami snaps. “You’re forgiving me but holding a grudge against Usopp? Even though we did the same thing? What kind of bullshit is that, it’s because I’m a girl, isn’t it? You keep treating me like I’m some sort of flawless princess just because of my gender, you misogynistic dickhead!” 

Sanji recoils . “That wasn’t what I—” 

“You and Zoro are exactly the same! You can’t fucking treat me as an equal!” she yells, “so what if I’m a girl, what if I’m only half the amount of limbs you have? I’m tired of being underestimated and protected when I didn’t even ask for your help!” 

“Nami, I think you need to calm down—” Robin starts, but her hand is slapped away. 

“I’m perfectly calm!” Nami says. She huffs, breathing out heavily. She holds her shoulder wearily, clearly pained by whatever screw got knocked awry in the impact, something genuinely wrong with the injury in the hours that went by. “Enough. Leave me alone.”

She turns away. 

“Wait, Nami!” Luffy calls, but she ignores it. Conis leaves Suu behind and gives chase immediately. 

“Oh dear, what’s happened?” Baron Omatsuri shows up with fanfare, and the crew pauses, turning to him as one. “I thought you were a group of merry crewmates. Whatever happened to the jubilee you shared?”

Luffy bristles

(“Baron Omatsuri breaks up comrades— that’s all he does.”)

Something was wrong. Of course something was wrong. His crew wouldn’t do this. They wouldn’t explode on each other like this. 

If Suu could speak, if Chopper was here, it would all be solved in an instant. And yet.

Nami’s never allowed herself to be vulnerable like this. She’s been angry, she’s been fierce— she’s never been so viscerally torn between her own emotions and the hurt she has received. To Nami, vulnerability was a mistake that could cause her death. That was the kind of life she’s lived for too long. That’s why, whatever this is, it’s abnormal. It’s messing with them all, from the inside out. 

“We’re fine,” Luffy says, his voice serious. “Usopp—” 

“Don’t say anything,” Usopp’s voice is also sharp. “I know it. Nami and I, we’re both burdens. We’ll never stop being burdens to this ship. We know it. But I don’t regret keeping any of the secrets I did. I know what I want to be on this ship, and you guys don’t have the right to take my story away from me.” 

Usopp fixes his hat. There’s a deep breath out that comes with the sagging of his shoulders— and he shakes his head. Whatever’s messing with all of them, it’s messing with him too. The absence of his bird’s only makes things worse. 

There’s a sharp breath from Zoro. “Hold on, Usopp. Listen…” 

“Yeah, I’ve had enough of that,” Usopp throws his hands into the air. “You know what? I think I need to cool my head. I’ll take a walk.”

Sanji immediately reacts. “Without your bird?”

Usopp freezes. Sanji realizes he’d fucked up again. 

“Yeah,” Usopp says. “Funny, right? How’s the blind kid supposed to find his way around without someone helping me?” then, hollow and sarcastic, “I have a walking stick for a reason, Sanji.” 

No one’s willing to follow him when he disappears into the woods. 

“Hey, Old Man Flower,” Luffy glowers at the man. “Do you know where the rest of my nakama are?”

And with his uncharacteristically stern tone of voice, he feels the rest of his crew tense as well. Zoro reaches for his swords, and Sanji extinguishes his cigarette— and Luffy nods slightly, knowing that they’ve realized the discrepancies too. 

(“Once the Baron finds out you know his trick, he’ll bring up the third event in an instant. And then it’ll all be over.”)

“The rest of them?” Baron Omatsuri feigns innocence, perusing his thoughts, holding his chin in contemplation. “I wonder if they’ve gotten lost on this vast island. Well, they’ll find their way back here as we make the feast!” 

 


 

It’s pathetic, really. 

Usopp starts running, trying his best to escape. He’s always been a coward, and though he’s really sure it’s faded over the years, there are times where it inevitably returns. 

He can’t breathe. He feels like crying. He wants nothing but to get far, far away from his responsibilities, as much as he can. 

Everything’s a blur, and he has to remind himself it’s not because of tears. He’s just blind. Blind as a bat, he’ll never get it back. He traded it for another chance that he’s flunking and ruining for everyone. 

He never wanted another chance. 

He’s always just wanted to go home. 

It didn’t matter to him if everyone was much more rugged than he was. He knew that everyone was flawed, by the end of it. And maybe if everyone was broken too, he’d be able to fit in. 

He can’t see, but he runs anyways. 

He clenches his fists tight and checks, twice and thrice, just to make sure he doesn’t draw blood from it. He wants to hide. He wants to clamp shut and never speak again. He doesn’t want to embarrass himself again, he’s had enough of being the clown. 

He runs on, muddled by emotion, his haki forgotten to the world. 

He forgets. He forgets how to call his bird, forgets how to see with his senses other than sight. He can tell the distance between this tree and the other, but he forgets to check for gaps in the road, and stumbles. 

He gets back up, and keeps running. 

He wishes he could stop running. He’s exhausted. He has nothing chasing him, nothing to head for, and nothing to lose— so why is he still running?

(Because he doesn’t know what else he can do.)

His heel skids on mud, and he loses his balance. He takes a tree, but his hands, full of the walking stick he’s not using, doesn’t catch. He’s falling, and it’s not until he’s spun back, hands reaching for the foggy darkness, that he realizes this isn’t just a step or two he’s tripping down. 

It’s a cliff, and he has no idea what’s beyond the darkness.

(Ah, here I go, he realizes. Back to that hell. I’m going to wake up from this dream, finally.)

 


 

“Robin,” Luffy says, “there’s something in my pocket. Take it.”

A disembodied hand makes its way into his pocket, and Robin unfolds the painting she finds within it. There’s a light of instant recognition in her eyes.

“I’ll go, then,” she says, standing up. Suu hops up her hand, traveling up to her shoulder, tail bouncing behind her. 

“I’ll leave it to you,” Luffy says, eyes firm with trust. He has no idea what Robin’s figured out, but he knows she’ll solve things faster than he could ever understand its concept. 

Robin smiles. “I’ll get there,” she assures. Then, with a bit of hesitation, “please stay safe.”

Luffy’s eyes light up with surprise. “Y-Yeah,” he says, a little too surprised to get it out smoothly, but he’s clearly delighted. His next words are confident. “Of course!” 

Robin doesn’t go right away. She reaches into Suu’s satchel, and finds the pills Chopper gave for Conis’ allergies. She takes one, and hands the rest to Luffy. Luffy eyes them, confused, but Robin points toward Zoro and Sanji.

“Okay?” he says, turning toward them. “Are they bitter?”

Robin chuckles. “Yes.”

Luffy makes a childish whining noise, but Robin’s already walking away. 

The feast has begun. 

Sanji’s cooking on the hot iron plate now, fervently competing against Kotetsu, the baron’s best chef. He swallows the pill without much of a thought, skating on lard shoes on the hot grill rink. 

Zoro isn’t asleep. He’s watching his surroundings warily, joined by Muchigoro, who’s drinking and chatting it up with him. He peruses the pill Luffy gave him, wondering why it smelled weird, before downing it with alcohol. He probably shouldn’t do that. He doesn’t care.

“You guys are tough. Reminds me of Roger,” Muchigoro chuckles fondly. 

“Roger?”

“Roger! You don’t know Roger? Gold Roger?”

Zoro raises a brow at the conversation. Muchigoro insists he’s seen Roger just the other day! Gold Roger, Pirate King, who’s been dead for twenty years! And Muchigoro can’t believe any of the nonsense Zoro’s saying. What, he’s called the Pirate King now? How ridiculous. He’s good, but not that insane. 

“That’s right,” Muchigoro hums. “We saw him just the other day, y’know? Just the other day, right… before the storm. The storm…” 

He drops his glass. 

“...the storm,” Muchigoro whispers, his voice laced with dread. His eyes bulged with horror, and suddenly, he’s trembling, a frightful understanding coming right back to him.

“The storm?” Zoro asks. 

“We… we…” Muchigoro stutters. “That day, all of us… no. No, it can’t be… right?”

Zoro raises a brow. “You’re starting to look sick. Let’s stop drinking, I don’t want you throwing up on me.”

“No, you don’t get it, we— I— all of us!” Muchigoro panics , his voice pitching high, tears brimming through his eyes as he claws at his head, takes Zoro by the shoulders desperately, and chokes out his next words. “Baron? What did the Baron do?” 

His next words are mortified, more at himself than at anything else. 

“...What did the Baron do to me? To us?”

 


 

“Nami!” Conis chases after her, “Nami, please wait!” 

“Don’t follow me!” Nami raises her voice. “Go back to the rest, Conis!” 

“I won’t!” she insists, pursuing fervently. 

She leaps over the ledges too high for her, stumbling. Nami runs faster, and Conis struggles to keep up, but no matter how much she’s scraped her knees, how difficult her breath is to catch, she follows. She kicks off her heels, plunges into mud, and finally, makes it to a clearing. 

“Enough! Leave me alone!” Nami says, and it’s a plea.  

“I won’t,” Conis says, breathing harshly, a cough coming back up to her. “If you really wanted to be alone, you wouldn’t have left tracks for me to follow.” 

Nami clicks her tongue. “Look at yourself.”

Conis’ clothes are a mess. Her hair’s not better off, and she’s covered in scrapes and mud. It’s laughable, compared to Nami who's nearly spotless.

“One trek through the woods, and you look pathetic,” Nami says. “It’s all we can ever amount to. Us girls.”

“Don’t talk like that!” Conis raises her voice. Her eyes are laced with tears. “The Nami I know would never say that about me!” 

Nami has never expected Conis, Chopper, and Anne, to ever live up to the legacy of the stronger links of the crew. This crew has different strengths, and Nami is the most aware of that in the entire crew. 

She would never put Conis down for being physically less stellar than the rest. 

And yet… and yet, somehow, Nami’s always been putting herself down for the same things. She’s always wanted to be stronger, and stronger, despite her weaknesses, despite her flaws. She doesn’t want to be seen as weak. She does her best to put on the strong, flawless independent woman impression, as if she feared the other way around. 

And after learning about the truth, Conis thinks she knows why. 

Nami and Usopp came back in time with the guilt of surviving. They were weak, and they lived, and they ran. They survived, because they were protected. And this time, they sought to be anything but that. 

They feared their new weaknesses, but nothing crushed them more than realizing their past flaws, too. 

“You’ll always need to be protected, Conis,” Nami says. 

“We all protect each other,” Conis insists. “There’s nothing wrong about that. That’s why we’re together, on the same ship! We’re here so we have a place to belong, so no one’s ever left behind! That’s what you taught me, Nami.”

“That’s just a pipe dream!” 

Conis flinches at that. Nami’s eyes are brimming with frustrated tears. 

“If I cry, he’ll come save me,” she says. “If I call out, if I pray, if I hold out long enough, Luffy will come to save me. Because he’s the man that will become the Pirate King, and nothing will stop him. I have nothing to fear if he’s by my side.”

Her words were hopeful, but they came from a broken woman. 

“Do you have any idea how many times I told myself that?” Nami sobs. “How pathetic I was, just wishing for him to descend, like some kind of savior, every time?”

After Luffy died, she simply cried for Sanji. And then, Zoro. And then, and then, and then. She walked along independently, but she never found a way to stand on her own

That’s why she died alone. She died, because she no longer had anyone to cry to for help. 

And now, even weighed down by more weaknesses than before, she didn’t want it to repeat. She hated it. She could no longer find genuine humor in it. So she ran from it, heading as far away from her femininity as she could, because it only brought memories of how she used to be. 

And now, now that she’s so far away she’s come back around to the center, she missed the girl she once was. She missed her, her innocence, her joy, and that’s why she doesn’t expect Conis to take the same path. She wants Conis to stay as she is, because she knows Conis can be the her the crew has lost. 

And yet, Nami couldn’t help but curl up inside, fearing the inevitable collapse. It’s all for her own selfishness. She doesn’t truly know what she’s trying to be anymore. She doesn’t know what she expects from anyone anymore.

“I don’t want to be protected,” Nami says. “I can save myself.”

It was like she was desperate to prove herself, to herself. 

And Conis feels the anger burn inside of her, churning up and building in her fists, thick and nauseating. She wants to scream, to take Nami by the shoulders and just cry , but that’s not what Nami needs. 

“You’re the strongest woman I know, Nami,” Conis says. “But that’s why we want to protect you. Everyone deserves to be protected, and it’s always the strongest links that never know what they really need to be protected from.” 

Nami lifts her head. 

“It’s yourself,” Conis says. “Right now,  the only one doing harm to you is yourself. You’re risking yourself, injuring yourself further, all because you’re too stubborn to be loved. Because you’re being a complete moron .”

Nami’s head flinches upward, but Conis doesn’t react. 

Someone’s up there. Like a cloud had rapidly parted in Nami’s head, suddenly— her haki was back by her side. And it was screaming at her, yelling loudly— that someone was up there. 

She sees the shine of an arrow, and quickly, Nami gets up. But she flinches and takes a knee. Her foot— it was waterlogged from the race, and she hadn’t taken it out to air. Of all the times to give in!

Conis continues speaking. “Everyone deserves to be protected, Nami!” 

Now wasn’t the time. 

Nami jerks upward, “Conis, behind you—!!” 

The arrow is fired. Conis doesn’t turn back, she runs forward, arms coming around Nami— and they jerk aside together, narrowly out of range. The arrow plunges into the ground with all the force of an explosion, leaving a mild crater as it lodges itself firmly into the ground. 

Conis gets up over Nami.

“I don’t care for your secrets, I don’t discriminate your hurts, and I don’t expect you to give me your heart, Nami,” she says. “But please— just let us be by your side. Let us love you and let yourself believe that none of us expect anything in return. I don’t know what happened back then, and I can’t say I will ever understand the pain you are going through, Nami. But at least give me the right to stitch you back together.” 

She’s crying, and Nami feels guilty. 

She caused those tears. She’s the reason Conis is crying.

“...you can’t stitch back a blanket that’s got too many holes to mend, Conis.”

“That’s what I’m here for. If there’s not enough fabric, you can take some of mine.” Conis doesn’t have the strength to help her both up. So she doesn’t. She stays, and holds Nami’s hand. “That’s all I want to do, Nami. If I can spend the rest of my life giving a piece of myself to every soul in the world that needs it, I would be satisfied.” 

Like the angel in fables and fairy tales— she just wants to be that ideal, fantastical, perfect being that gives blessings, bestowing kindness upon the world. It’s cheesy and childish, but that’s her dream. That’s why she came down to the blue sea, so she can live on, with meaning in her heart. 

She spent so long pretending not to empathize with people on Skypiea. She can no longer ignore it now. She just wants to do her best, being who she is, being honest to herself. 

Nami’s eyes burn with tears. 

“Conis. You need to run,” Nami says, struggling to push herself up. “I don’t know why, but I can’t move, so—” 

“How strange,” Baron Omatsuri approaches them, “Lily’s pollen doesn’t seem to affect that little angel the same way it does everyone. How peculiar. It worked fine on the male angel, though.” 

They turned to him. 

“What have you done to Wyper?” Conis asks. “And the rest. Was everything a lie?”

Nami curses, her arm wasn’t moving at all. That’s her fault. Her stubbornness. Her Clima Tact— she won’t make it in time. “Conis, enough! If you can run, go! I buy you some time—” 

“I’m not leaving you alone!” Conis snaps. “You’re right. I’m weak. I can’t help us both escape. But I don’t want you to be alone when you’re taken down.”

(Not again. Never again.)

(Nami’s already died once, feeling useless and alone. They may still be ‘useless’, but at least, she wasn’t alone.)

Baron Omatsuri snorts. “Sorry to interrupt your wonderful conversation, ladies. But Lily’s hungry, you see, and I don’t quite have a lot of time to spare.”

The flower on his shoulder giggles satanically. 

Nami gets enough strength to leap up, wrapping Conis in a desperate hug. It doesn’t work, of course, the arrow pierces them through, filling them with the dread of acid, the darkness clouding their vision. 

“You’re not alone, Nami,” Conis says. “And this time, every time… if you call for help, it’ll come. It won’t disappear. Never again.”

Nami can keep calling. There’s nothing wrong with being pathetic. 

“Luffy will come?” she sobs. 

“Yes, he will,” Conis says, with full certainty.

(One day, they will be strong enough that they’ll never have to weakly cry for help again. But even Luffy needed help sometimes. It doesn’t make him any less strong.)

(It’s just a breath in, and a breath out. They’ll get there someday.)

The two cling two each other, weakened deeply as they fall unconscious. 

Baron Omatsuri scoffs. “What a charade,” he says. “Once you’re all consumed by Lily, your captain will be one of those, weakly crying for mercy, and you’ll be forgotten just like everyone else.”

That’s the fate of everything on this island. 

 


 

Muchigoro wilts, like a plant at the end of its life. 

The feast abruptly ends, and the crew find themselves down to three and facing the Third Trial against the entirety of Baron Omatsuri’s crew. 

“The Shooting Range. The rules are simple— you’ll get hunted down by all of us on this island, and you just have to run,” he says. “Good luck.”

DJ Gappa bubbles out a laugh. There’s a familiar apple-shaped beret on his head, and Sanji immediately sees red. 

“You bastard—!!” he folds his cigarette and roars. “What did you do with Anne? Where is everyone else?!” 

“You’ll figure it out,” Baron Omatsuri taunts. 

 


 

Luffy is dragged down into Brief’s hatch, into the underground passage. 

“What the– where is this?” he yelps, looking around. “I gotta go back!” he runs, from one exit, coming out the other door, going back to find himself in the wrong door again, and then of course, he finds the way back to his starting point a dozen times. 

“Calm down. You’re not going to get out so easily.”

“What the hell, tell me how to get out!” 

Brief sets down goat’s milk for everyone crowded around the table, from Ochanoma Papa to his three children, to Nico Robin, just sitting there calmly with a book on the table. He even puts down a small dish for Suu. They all take a calming sip of the warm drink.

“Come on, before it gets cold,” Robin says. “Captain, come on.”

Luffy winds back around from his third trip down the wrong way. “Wait, Robin?! Suu?!”

They lift their hands in a greeting. Then they returned to their drinks. 

“First, we need you to understand the situation,” Brief says. “The Lily Carnation— what it is, who Baron Omatsuri is, and how it all ties together to the year the baron lost his crew. You need to know, before you fight him.”

Luffy broodily sits down. “Well, make it quick, then!” 

 


 

Zoro cuts down DJ Gappa, but he gets back up. 

“Fucking freaky,” he says. He hesitated, not wanting to cut down a child, but there wasn’t even any blood. He retrieves the apple beret, carefully dusting it off. He makes sure there’s no new tears on it, and sighs, relieved. “For hell’s sake. Anne really likes this thing, so don’t go stealing shit you don’t own. At least you didn’t damage it.”

“Huh? It’s weird, pu…” Gappa doesn’t even seem to understand what’s gone on with himself. “Am I dead, pu?”

Zoro’s eyes widen with realization. Muchigoro had been freaking out, too, before he turned into that weird, tree-looking mandrake, a wilted corpse of what he once was. 

Zoro’s head is clear. 

Allergy medicine. It’s not the usual store-bought ones— this was Chopper’s concoction. He doesn’t just ease the symptoms, he actively makes things that fight back against what’s harming you, boosting your immune system temporarily against what was hurting it to begin with. 

…pollen. 

Trees. Flowers. 

“Ah, I see,” Zoro says, sheathing two swords. He swerves rapidly aside from the arrow that comes from behind him, shattering it in half with the Wado Ichimonji. 

One of the grunts lunge at him, and Zoro takes something out of his pocket. 

It’s a pill, and he tosses it into the air, right above him. The man charges at him, roaring loudly– and Zoro dices the pill to pieces. It collapses into powder, dousing the enemy and part of him with it.

Immediately, the man screams, jerking away, rubbing violently at his eyes, struggling frantically to get away, get away , it burns and there’s no way to make it stop. Finally, he wilts, collapsing into nothing but a rotted semblance of a tree. 

Baron Omatsuri watches in horror. “What… what have you just done?” he whispers, falling to his knees beside what was once his former comrade. 

Gappa is behind him, and he drops his plates in shock. 

“...Baron,” he says. “What happened to him? What’s happening to me?” his voice hitches up, “is that… is that going to happen to me too? What’s going on, I don’t understand…” 

He turns, and frantically, DJ Gappa runs. His clothes shredded, his eyes brimming red, and his entire being frazzled— he runs, and he doesn’t look back. 

Zoro grins at the corpse. “Well, that makes things easier,” he reaches into his pockets. He has two more. Luffy had distributed the remainder evenly among them. “Maybe we should’ve brought the fucking pesticide from the ship instead.”

 


 

Sanji finds Kinoko’s pack hanging at the root of some trees, splattered with blood. He curses. 

He loops it over his arm, tightening the strap to fit around his wrist like a weighty wristband. Immediately, he reaches in, finding the important things, and then, of course, a spare cigarette.  

“How the actual hell did we not notice more than half of the crew going missing?” he mutters. No tracks, nothing. Nami and Usopp and Robin and Conis were now gone, too, even though they were together just before the feast. 

He barely leaps aside in time to dodge an arrow. 

The arrow lands like an explosion and he balks, genuinely surprised. “What on earth is that made of?!”

He picks up the arrow, dodging the next one and the next. It’s not metal. It’s wood— but something’s strange about the wood. It doesn’t feel like anything he— wait. Could it be Haki? 

Ah, I see. 

Sanji turns around to see Baron Omatsuri, looking infuriated. The next arrow goes straight as him, and though Sanji dodges it, it stops in mid air, spinning back around to come at him again. 

“Homing arrows is cheating!” Sanji yelps, leaping back, and back, and— he curses, when it catches up anyways, and when he can’t lead it into a tree, he bites his tongue and sacrifices his leg to catch it. 

“Reckless,” Baron Omatsuri spits. 

“Missed the femoral artery,” Sanji hisses. Chopper’s going to be mad. “I’ll live.”

He gets up. He turns around and starts running, gripping the pouch in his hand and finding just the thing he’s looking for. 

“C’mon, stupid bird. I know you’ve got it, I know you’ve got one—” 

He takes out a can of gunpowder, a bottle of gasoline, and a lighter. To his mild horror, it was all in the same pouch. Is Kinoko an idiot ?

“You’re a fucking fire hazard, you stupid bird!” 

But he can’t just use it here. It’s a forest, but it’ll take a lot more than this to actually be effective. He should save this. 

Another arrows whizzes toward him, and he curses, preparing to dodge—

—he freezes completely still, when he sees a silhouette in the distance. Usopp is aiming right at him with his slingshot. 

Sanji hears the whip of an explosive star before he sees it, and the arrow catches fire right behind him, blowing him a few paces forward from the impact. He fires a few more much farther, and Baron Omatsuri hastily retreats, leaving this fight for another. 

“U- Usopp!” he calls out. “You bastard, you were still around? Where were you?!” 

“Don’t move,” Usopp says. His slingshot is still stretched out. “Who are you?”

Sanji stops breathing. What kind of joke was that? “I’m Sanji. Did you hit your head and forget my voice or some shit? Fucking idiot. I’m holding flammables, so don’t shoot that again!” 

Usopp fires. 

Sanji’s breath hitches, and he lunges quickly aside. “You SHITHEAD! That wasn’t funny!” 

“I thought we were aiming for jokes,” Usopp says. He straightens, “Black Leg Sanji’s been missing for years. Even if you were him, he would have no need to be holding any flammables. He can make fire himself.”

What the— what the fuck

“Usopp, are you half asleep right now?” Sanji grounds out. “You are not in the future! You’ve traveled back in time!” 

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, fucking believe me!” 

“That’s a terrible defense.”

“Well, what else can I say?!” 

Sanji has to rapidly lunge aside from the next hit. He drops the gasoline and it doesn’t break, but it rolls far away. He curses out loud and keeps running. Maybe if he hides behind the trees— nope! The space before him explodes, and he reaches up to his nose, gasping at the heat. 

This is ridiculous. He’s confused about where he is, when he is, and he doesn’t trust anything but his senses, the ones that are left. And even then, they’re not enough for him to believe what’s happening. 

It’s happened before on the Merry. Sometimes, when Usopp is harshly woken up, he freaks out, and it takes a while for him to come back. It’s normal. 

But it’s never been this bad before. 

“You people have been crueler to me these days,” Usopp says. “What’s the point of making me dream of a world where we’re all happy again? Is it crying you want?”

Sanji freezes at what he’s hearing. 

“Do you want me to scream and cry? Beg for mercy? Do you just want a funny story to tell your friends, of how far God Usopp’s fallen?” Usopp sounds broken, clenching tightly on his slingshot, “why can’t all of you just leave me alone? You took my eyes, you took my pride— you’ve already taken everything from me, I have nothing left to lose.”

Sanji turns to look at him. To see the shell of a man, standing there, weaker than Sanji’s ever seen him, crumbling to pieces.

“Please, just let me die.” 

And Sanji only sees himself.  

“...you’re the worst,” Sanji whispers. “You’re the fucking worst.”

You’re such an asshole. You know what I hate the most. And yet, you’ve shown it to me. You’ve shown it to me. 

You’ve shown me a pathetic man. How am I supposed to pretend I didn’t see you now?

“I’m sorry. I forgot the code word. Please,” Sanji says, when Usopp weakly lifts his head. Sanji bites his lip and tries not to scream, but his eyes hurt from trying hard to suppress his own emotions. “I remember now, okay? Zoro told me it just slipped my mind. It’s I’m terrible, but you’re the fucking worst. So Usopp, stop it. Stop saying that.”

Usopp lowers his slingshot. “You’re not my Sanji.”

Sanji clicks his tongue. What’s the problem now?

“You’re not my Sanji,” Usopp repeats, like a reminder. “Why aren’t you my Sanji?”

He’s lying to himself. Sanji looks upon that miserable man, and he realizes that this is the truth. This is Usopp. He’s not just a moron that can’t face reality— he’s a liar, through and through, and he’s long realized this isn’t a dream. 

But he wants it. He wants this, all of this, from the time travel to everything else before it, he wants it all to be a dream. Usopp is here, but he’s still trapped there, in the blurry darkness in the dungeons of whatever prison’s got him secured. Somewhere deep down, he’s always wanted to be dreaming. 

He’s always wanted everything to be a bad dream, because he wants to believe that one day, he’ll wake up and be by the side of his nakama again. His real comrades. 

He’s always lied to himself, just like that. That’s how he’s survived for so long, in the despair that was his life of torturous solitude. 

“I’m not your Sanji,” Sanji tells him. “But you’re my Usopp. There’s nothing either of us can do about it. Do you have a problem with that?”

Usopp falls to his knees and sobs. 

“I want to wake up,” Usopp pleads. “I don’t like this anymore.”

Sanji clicks his tongue. “Then, what do you want me to do? What’s so different between him and me? What does that Sanji have that I don’t?!” 

Usopp doesn’t answer, at first. 

Usopp needs him to be his Sanji. Usopp can’t accept the otherwise, and has never been able to. And yet… and yet, now that he looked at Sanji with his senses no longer clouded by insanity, he knew that this Sanji paled in comparison to who Usopp recognizes. 

Everyone else will feel like that too, from now on. 

Usopp’s scared. He’s so scared of going back to everyone and finding out, finally realizing, that they’ll never be the crew he once loved. He’s so scared.

“I want to be a coward again,” he admits, his voice croaking out, like a plea. “Sanji, can you come save me?”

Sanji huffs, frustrated. “YEAH, about fucking time, you long-nosed moron!” he shouts. “Who do you think I am? Of course I can!” 

 


 

DJ Gappa curls into himself, sobbing. “I don’t know what’s going on…” 

Zoro corners him with a sigh. “You’re wilting, brat.” 

“I don’t want to,” he sobs, “I don’t want to. This is weird, ‘pu. It’s never happened before… it has. It has.” 

Zoro grimaces. He’s looking frantically at himself, at his hands, at his crinkling, wrinkling limbs, in horror. Zoro’s the one that cut half of those shreds into him, but now, they can both see the rings of a tree take the place of his veins, and it’s unsettling. 

“That’s right,” Gappa says, bringing a smile onto his face. “That’s right. I’ll sleep, pu. I’ll take a nap, like a good boy, and when I wake up, I’ll be back to normal ‘pu.” 

Zoro’s eyes go cold. 

“That’s right, ‘pu. It’s nothing new, it happens all the time!” he beams. “I’ll take a nap, ‘pu! Then I’ll be back to normal!” 

“You’re dead,” Zoro says. 

Gappa stops moving. And then his eyes gleam murderously red. “No, I”m not, ‘pu. I’m just tired, ‘pu. ”

“You’ve been dying for a long time,” Zoro adds. “People aren’t supposed to wilt and come back after a nap. You’re dying, you’re getting resurrected. I don’t know how, but what you are isn’t human. You’re a tree.”

“Don’t lie, ‘pu.”

“I’m not.”

“Liar, liar!” he insists. “It’s always been like this, ‘pu! I’m just not feeling well. Of course, ‘pu. Of course. It’s been like this so long. So long, ‘pu, since, since…” he trails off in thought. 

Zoro catches his drift. “Since the storm?” 

Gappa doesn’t pick back up. He stops, in muted horror.

Zoro leans against the tree beside him, arms crossed. “I’m sorry about you,” he says. “It sucks to die in a storm. You either drowned, or something else, either way, it probably hurt.” And it breaks his heart to see a corpse this young. “But you’re dead.”

“I’m not, ‘pu.”

Zoro doesn’t contribute to his conversation this time. 

Gappa’s face falls, and the tears brim into his eyes again. The red bleeds back into white and black, and the tears spill. 

“I don’t want to be dead,” he begs. “I want to be alive, ‘pu.”

Zoro closes his eyes. 

There’s only silence from there, and when Zoro looks again, there’s only a half-rotted tree in its place. He lets out a heavy breath, and turns away.

“I’m starting to understand how Nami and Usopp probably felt last time around,” he mutters to himself. With a loud groan, he scratches his head in frustration. “Fuck’s sake. This is harder than I thought.”

 


 

Zoro finds Sanji and Usopp in the distance. Usopp’s clinging onto Sanji’s back, and they’re running up, toward the mountain. There’s still way too many members of Baron’s crew chasing after them, and until they deal with that, there’s no way to get to the root of the problem. 

“So, funny story,” Sanji says. “They’re trees. So, definitely flammable.”

“Another funny story,” Zoro says, “the pills Chopper gave are like poison to them.”

Usopp finally lifts his head to say, “we don’t have enough of either, but I have a plan to mix those two countermeasures. Does anyone have a pestle and mortar?”

A hatch pops open beside them and they all scream. 

“Yeah we do!” It’s Rick, one of the Tearoom pirates. He adds, very brightly. “We got everything down here! We also got your captain!” 

“WHO THE SHIT ARE YOU?!” 

“What the hell!” 

“Wait, you’ve got Luffy?” 

“Ah actually no,” Rick says. “He just left. We got this weird fox thing, though.” 

 


 

Luffy and Robin emerge near the base of the mountain. 

“So, eleven of you, were there?” Baron Omatsuri taunts. “I’ve already fed Lily seven of that number. And a bird, too, almost forgot that one.” 

He laughs. 

“Well, not that it matters. The bird’s long gone. There’s only three left up there, so you know… do the math yourself, child.”

Luffy’s eyes blow wide with horror. “NO!” he yells, racing forward, “they’re not—” 

The arrow pierces through his hand shooting it back, jamming it sharply into a rock. He curses. The Baron aims his next arrow— but arms sprout from his body, grasping his limbs, twisting his joints into uncomfortable positions. 

“What the– what is the meaning of this!” 

“Robin!” Luffy calls, relieved. He quickly reaches out to the arrow, yanking it out of his hand before continuing his pursuit. 

“Anytime, Captain,” Robin says, from behind the Baron. “Now, I’ll need you to be obedient, Mister Baron. Now, if I may, I will be inspecting that mysterious flower on your shoulder.”

Baron Omatsuri glares at Robin as she approaches.

“You’ve just done something very stupid, young lady.” 

It’s all the warning she gets, because the LIly Carnation roars , blooming into gore and vines and flesh, fangs expanding forth in a wave of sickening colours. It warps, grotesque, and enlarges, deepening its roots in the Baron’s body, eating into Robin’s.

Robin hisses sharply as the roots squeeze her arms, locking over them firmly. She doesn’t give in there, sprouting more arms. “I can restrain you, even if you get bigger—!”

Lily’s drool is green, and a dollop drips down from its maw, across its trunk. It sears into the flesh of the many arms, acid burning through skin.

Robin gasps, instantly releasing her hands with a cry. But it’s too late. Her real limbs, from the base of her wrist to her elbows and mildly through her forearm, are melting, the burning searing through her flesh, to her bones, spreading rapidly before its effect stops. 

(The injuries are only partial when transferred back, so she’s very lucky.)

“Robin? ROBIN!” Luffy winds back. 

Robin bites down on her bottom lip, trying not to cry out. She’s fallen on her knees, arms before her, the pain blinding in her arms. 

Baron Omatsuri laughs. “You think you can come so close to Lily with no consequences? How naive!” And then, a dry chuckle. “And well, would you look at that. The number’s gone down to two. There’s only the strange pair of ladies to deal with now. Perhaps you should go too?” he turns to Robin.

“You BASTARD!” Luffy snarls. 

Lily’s jaws spread open, and Robin lifts her head weakly. It’s too late for her to run. It’s too late for Luffy to get here. She squeezes her eyes shut, bracing herself—

”—T PISTOL!” 

But Luffy is there, lashing out a kick much faster than he’s ever been capable of. Baron Omatsuri and the Lily Carnation are sent flying, though they’re quickly composing themselves, crawling back to their feet in eerie vine movements. 

When Robin looks up, she briefly wonders if there was smoke coming from his figure. He collapses in a heavily-breathing heap, much too ragged for a man that’s only run a length. 

He chokes on his breath, struggling to catch his breath. 

“What did you do?” Robin asks, in awe. 

“Are you okay, Robin?!” he asks over her instead, not caring about himself. She nods weakly, surprised, and he falls to his knees. “That’s good. That’s good.”

“Come down here!” Brief pops right out a hatch. “We need to treat that! Strawhat, go save your comrades, NOW!” 

They obey. 

“You… you’re the one from back then,” Baron Omatsuri groans, looking toward Brief. 

“YEAH! You ass!” Brief shouts. “Strawhat! Go down on your next left and head straight forward! We’ll distract him, so hurry!” 

Baron Omatsuri curses, Pulling forth his bow once again, toward Luffy. 

“Not this time!” Brief yells. Suu scampers up from a hatch next to the Baron, with something strapped to her back. She launches it forth and it explodes in dust. 

The baron coughs, and the Lily Carnation on his back screeches in pain. 

“What the— what is this substance?!” 

Suu is scrambling away, the miniature gunpowder keg on her back slowly leaking more of the powder as she scurries rapidly, barely escaping the baron’s capture. 

Luffy leaps into the passageways, dashes forth, and emerges at the base of the huge stem atop the mountain. He leaps forth, rockets himself up, higher and higher until he’s there at the cross section, to where Nami and Conis were curled into each other, half sunken and unconscious. 

“You two!” he plunges his hand into the half-soldi structure, hissing when it squelches in his hands, hot and heavy. “Wake up! Wake up, c’mon!” 

“It’s no use.”

Luffy lifts his head, but he doesn’t have the chance to turn toward the Baron and ask what he meant. 

The cross section, where he was standing— every single one of its sickening pores parted way to reveal arrowhead, parting and tearing and drifting, poised to attack. 

He’s surrounded by them. He’s standing on them all. If they come at him now, he won’t be able to do anything.

Conis and Nami and under him, He has to get them out right now, or they’ll both get hit, too. He has to—

—wait, no. He’s the target. 

Luffy doesn’t think twice. He leaps, right as the arrows shoot out toward him. They plunge, all hundreds of them, right through his stomach, his arms— he wraps his arms twice and thrice around his chest, knowing that’s the most important thing. 

The arrows pierce him front and back, suspending him in the air like a sickening art piece. He doesn’t move an inch. Below him, Conis slowly dissolves into the stem.

Robin covers her mouth in horror. Suu whimpers, Baron Omatsuri finally catching her under his feet, squashed like a stepped rat.

Baron Omatsuri roars out in laughter. 

 


 

It’s his short-lived victory, because his laughter is cut short by a grand explosion behind him. Hundreds of consecutive explosions go off, crackling like fireworks, in frantic succession. 

In the distance, Zoro and Sanji sigh, catching their breath, covered in soot. Usopp stands between them, firing off explosives one after another, setting off the gunpowder and poison bombs. 

“It’s so flammable,” Zoro says, in awe. 

“Fire hazard galore, what a wonder,” Sanji says. Then, holding up a bottle, “where’d we wanna use the gasoline?”

“Sanji, stop right there,” Usopp says. “You’re opening new doors into the very worrying future of an arsonist. I’m gonna stop you there before you become a psychopath.”

“But setting things on fire is fun ,” Sanji says. 

“It might be too late for him,” Zoro deems. 

Baron Omatsuri turns around to see his resort on fire, crackling with the horrific fanfare of an unscheduled fireworks show. A huge bonfire engulfed the largest building. 

“My… my crew!” he says, horrified. Lily had just revived them. “Why is it on fire? Why is it all on fire?”

Brief and the Tearoom Pirates stare, eyes laden with tears of resolve. 

“STRAWHAT! You can’t die yet! Come on, your crew is still alive!” 

“We didn’t make it in time?! This can’t be!” 

Robin turns around as Rosa bandages her arms frantically right there. “Is that… Zoro and the others?” she asks. “I see…” But that isn’t enough. They need another push. 

The Lily Carnation suddenly shrieks , and all eyes turn to it. 

Baron panics, “what’s wrong, Lily? Lily, what’s wrong?” He’s frazzled down, the face of a pleading, shattered man. 

Destroying the other vines shouldn’t have this effect on Lily. So why?

“Conis!” Robin’s eyes widen with realization. Conis had eaten a lot of pills today to stave off the pollen allergies. She’s the most concentrated pack of poison they have. 

It’s now or never. 

Suu shrieks, catching their attention again. 

Ochanoma Papa jerks upright. “The fire!” he says. “We need a lighter!” When Robin looks at him inquiringly, “she’s spread out gunpowder and the medicine in a trail! We need to light it!” 

“Wait! Rosa yells, “but then, the fox will—” 

Robin looks toward Suu. The fox is grunting weakly, but her slit eyes are furious, impatient, and determined. She doesn’t have the strength to get up, doesn’t have the time to get out in time. They don’t have the liberty of helping, either. 

“It’s okay,” Robin says, to their surprise. “Little Miss Fox is determined. We must hurry.”

“Wha-?!” Ochanoma Papa balks. 

Robin crosses her arms. She picks up the bow and a discarded arrow, handing it to Ochanoma Papa as Brief retrieves a lighter and a lit fuse to be attached to it. 

“Please,” Robin says. “We trust our captain this much.” 

Ochanoma Papa hesitates, but Daisy tugs on his trousers, sending him a resolved look. “Please. That’s what the fox wants too. It’s what everyone in there wants,” she says. 

He couldn’t defy those wishes after that. He’s the only one physically capable of pulling such a strong bow efficiently. 

And they can’t delay. If the baron regains his composure—

Biting his lip, he screams out, “you’re a soldier, you little creature!” he screams, running forth, lit fuse, and tugging the bow back as far as it can go. 

The fire lights the gunpowder, and the fire engulfs the land, the Lily Carnation, the baron, and everything around it. 

“Suu, curl up as much as you can,” Robin whispers, a mouth sprouting near the fox. Robin closes her eyes tight. Hands sprout over Suu’s figure seconds before the explosion, covering her as much as it can go. 

The arrows vanish abruptly, dropping Luffy. 

He doesn’t hesitate. Coughing up blood, he screams, throwing an arm back toward the giant sprout, grasping at the remnants of the stem as it starts to disintegrate. He plunges his hand in, grasping Nami’s figure, yanking back roughly, until she’s free. 

They fall to the ground together, but Luffy wraps himself protectively around her, and never lets go. 

They’re unconscious when they hit the ground. 

 


 

“LUFFY! Luffy oh my god what happened to you! What happened?!” 

It’s sunrise when Luffy opens his eyes again to Chopper screaming. He’s crouched over them, his tools already set out for them. 

“SUU!” Conis wails, “no! NO, what happened?!” 

Suu is burned badly, much of her fur charred, giving way to open wounds and melted flesh. She was breathing shakily, and Conis sobs. 

“Robin!” Anne gasps, “your hands— Chopper!” she calls. “Chopper.”

“Suu’s much worse than I am, please prioritize her,” she says. “Or, Captain first, actually.”

“What the hell— who are you people!” Gin snarls, loud and hostile, zeroing in on Brief and the Tearoom Pirates, all who shriek and come together at the threat. “I knew this island was bad news! You brats, I don’t care anymore, we’re packing up and leaving!” 

“Wait, you’re the family from the cemetery!” Wyper stops Gin, shoving him aside. He zeroes in on Brief instead. “Then who are you?! Did you do this to my crew?!” 

“Mister Angel!” Daisy beams. “Listen! We won!” 

“Won? Against what?” Anne asks. Then, like it clicks. “Oh, the Baron. I was going to go and tell you guys all about it.”

“We got your message. It was quite a scary opponent indeed,” Robin says. 

“Awh. I didn’t get to do much.”

“No, your tip was plenty.”

“WOAH!” Nami jumps up, then yelps loudly when she hitches her shoulder. She hurriedly jumps out of Luffy’s side, wincing as each movement cranks it further out of place. “OW! Ow, ow, ow, ow! Ow!” she cries, “something wrong with my arm. My arm!” 

“What what what?” Wyper rushes over. “What the– what the hell did you do to it for it to end up like that, woman! Sit over here! Where is my wrench?! Who took my wrench?”

Kinoko squawks, flailing frantically for some reason, before coming right smashing right into Gin’s face, earning a frustrated yell as she’s peeled away from his face. 

“What?!” Gin looks at her, “Oh, your things are gone. Did you lose them in the forest?”

“I need some help!” Chopper says loudly, “Suu seems to be in the worst condition! I”m sorry Luffy, bear with it a bit?” 

“Yeah,” he says. “It’s fine.” Luffy’s smiling, and his smile has only grown. He doesn’t move yet, though. He’s completely exhausted.

Robin sighs, relieved. 

“Oh, there they are!” Sanji hollers in the distance. “HEY, MORONS! YOU SAFE? My angels, you safe?!” 

“KINOKOOOO!” Usopp shrieks. 

Kinoko flails out of Gin’s hands, jetting right forward, shooting into Usopp’s face. She takes him right out, throwing him off Usopp’s back, plunging them both into the ground painfully. 

Sanji gapes. “Usopp!” he yells. Then, when Usopp just sobs into his bird in relief, he groans, taking off Kinoko’s satchel at his wrist to drop it onto them. “Whatever. MY ANGELS~ Are you safe? I hope none of you are huuuurt!” 

Zoro sighs tiredly, climbing up behind them. “Great, everyone’s back. For fuck’s sake, whose idea was it to come to this cursed island again? I want to sleep.” 

“Zoro!” Nami brightens at the sight of him. Wyper had taken her arm down, fixed it, and now Nami had her foot in his face. “Help me! I want you to put my arm back in! Wyper’s a brute and he’s definitely going to make this hurt ten times more than it should!”

“You don’t trust me?!”

“I trust you as much as everyone else! I just trust Zoro ten thousand times more than you!” Nami snaps, “if you wanna do it, you have to pay me for psychological distress!” 

Wyper throws his hands into the air. “BLUE SEA PEOPLE!” he yells, exasperated.

Zoro stares, surprised. Then, with a chuckle, he says, “sure.”

Conis and Sanji crouch down beside Chopper, helping where they could with the treatment. Suu is bandaged carefully, and then they move on to Luffy’s wounds. Robin waits patiently, Suu resting in her lap, finally breathing evenly. 

Gin picks up Usopp and Kinoko, coming up to Anne to demand an explanation on the events. Neither of them are capable of telling a story without embellishments, so he’s struggling to make heads or tails of the situation. 

Brief and Ochanoma Papa burst into tears in unison. “You’re such an amazing crew!” they sob. “You’re so amazing, Strawhat! You’re amazing! I’m moved to tears!” 

Luffy snickers. “My crew’s the best!”

 


 

They find Baron Omatsuri’s goggles by three yellow flowers. 

“...can we pick it up?” Chopper asks. 

“What?” Gin and Zoro react with clear distaste. 

“We should,” Nami agrees. “He was a sad, sad man. He’s finally been laid to rest. I’m honestly happy for him.”

He’s finally able to rest, along with the souls of every other person that died on this island. 

Nami and Usopp, who have felt his exact same pain, know very well of the grief he’s gone through. They couldn’t help but stand over him, grateful he’s finally at peace now. 

Anne finds a picture and some old trinkets in their wrecked ship, some that looked very similar to trinkets the crewmembers were wearing, like the frog geezers’ hats, and Gappa’s headphones, and Muchigoro’s cap. They bring it along with them. 

Robin, Luffy, and Suu are resting in the burned remnants of the resort. There was enough to be salvaged for a good shelter, so they made the most of it to provide a clean place for them to recuperate. Conis and Sanji are with them. 

They bring the flower with them to the cemetery. It’s partially destroyed, from when Wyper tripped over a bunch of them in his fight with the baron. 

“Well, desecrating the dead isn’t nice,” Zoro says, a hand on DJ Gappa’s grave. There was a big spiderweb-like crack on it. “Let’s fix what’s broken.”

With a sigh, they get to work, cleaning the graves, fixing tombstones. 

The men, including Brief and Ochanoma Papa, hunt for minerals to replace broken graves, Wyper carves them into the correct shape, and Usopp restores the writing that was ruined. They find a new one, and make one for Baron Omatsuri as well. 

Anne and Nami bring the girls with them to find flowers. There were, surprisingly enough, actually flowers on the island. Lilies and carnations, living in an evolved harmony. 

None of them were the monster that burned in the fire, and none of them will be. 

“That had been a mutation among mutations,” Brief explains. “To begin with, the Lily Carnation had always been a dying man’s dream. There was a strong desire, and the Grand Line answered. They were never meant to become monsters. They were just a family, cursed to bear fruit beyond its purpose.” 

That monstrous Lily Carnation was the cream of the crop. 

As long as they were no longer allowed to evolve further, they would be harmless, useless plants, whose only purpose was to look beautiful. 

“Who will supervise that?” Nami asks. 

“I will,” Ochanoma Papa says, without a single doubt. When his family looks at him in surprise, he states, “we’re done with piracy, kids. Let’s stay here. Settle down, build an actual resort. We can all stay here, safe and happy… and watch over the Red Arrows’ legacy, so they’ll never be left to rot. How’s that sound?”

It sounds wonderful. 

 


 

“Hey, Nami.” 

Usopp leans onto her side, sighing as they sit out. The others are going around, laying flowers on every grave now, and they were told to sit out to rest. 

“They’re not our crew,” he says, like a disappointed murmur. He rests his head into her lap, covering his eyes with his hand. “I want to see them.”

Nami sighs. “I want to, too.”

They’re silent for a long moment. 

“They’re very different,” Usopp says. “But it’s okay. It’ll hurt, but I’ll adapt. I’m going to try.”

Nami bites her lip, trying not to cry. “You’re different too,” she says. “I miss them, just like I miss who you used to be,” then, painfully. “I’ll try my best to move on, too.” 

That’s a lie. She’s not ready. She’s not ready at all. 

“But I’ll try. I promise. But for now… for now,” she says, a tear choked up in her throat. “Can you try to be my Usopp for me? Just a little longer?”

Just a little longer. So I can finally mourn you, too. 

“Yeah,” Usopp tells her, smiling. “What do you want me to do?”

Nami sobs, covering her face with her hands as she snivels. “Can you tell me a story?” 

Usopp leans into her stomach, humming. “Alright.” 

 


 

The aquarium is safe, meaning Conis’ eight goldfish are safe and sound. The rest of them… she wasn’t sure. Perhaps they were released into the sea?

“They’re not saltwater, though. I think they’re dead,” Gin mutters. 

“Maybe they’re special mutated goldfish,” Usopp suggests. “That’s seawater.”

“That’s fucking weird.”

“This is the Grand Line, Gin.”

They load the fish up into a considerably-sized aquarium on a trolley, ready to bring it back to the Merry. There wasn’t much space on the ship, but they’ll figure something out. 

“What’re you going to name them?” Anne asks. 

“Oh, I think Daisy’s a good name!” chirps Chopper. 

“That’s a good idea, we can name them after those guys just for the memory,” Nami says. “Huh? Did Ochanoma Papa ever give us his name?”

“Actually…” Conis says. “I think I have an idea of what I want to name them already.”

“Oh? What is it?”

The Tearoom Pirates and Brief are staying on this island, ready to start their long journey of rebuilding everything from scratch. So they’re too busy to come see them off. 

Honestly, that’s how they prefer their departures. 

The Strawhats make their way out of the resort with their things, coming to the cemetery one last time. Luffy stands before Baron Omatsuri’s grave, his hat held out before his chest. There are white and red flowers laid before every grave, gentle and heartfelt. 

“Hey Luffy! We’re going!” his crew hollers. 

He turns around. “Alright!” He puts his hat back on his head. “I’ll be right there!” 

 


 

The Red Arrows bring the festival with them wherever they go, and they never falter. They’re a legion of immortal arrows, fired unhesitatingly straight forward, never pausing until they’ve come to their destination. 

And as the baron would declare: If you’re a pirate among pirates among pirates among pirates— then come along! The festival is always brighter when the world is with them.

Excerpt from Stray Voices, written by S.Gaban

Notes:

Conis names the goldfish: Matsuri, Jii, Ko, Deek, Shot, Mucchi, Gappa, and Tetsu.

Chapter 81: buckle in and hold on (the train's faster than you think)

Summary:

Some situational updates bring news of coming guests.

In which the crew questions the schematics of a frog doing the front crawl, Wyper tries to fight a train, and Gin continues to question his sanity.

Robin gets hope. Zoro hesitates. Luffy promises he'll trust them whatever their choices will be.

Notes:

Welcome to Water Seven!

Chapter Text

“Hi Babystar! Ah yes who’s my favourite monkey? You are!” Nami coos, catching the squirrel monkey in her hands as he leaps off Bigstar for their delivery. 

“HEY,” Luffy yells out from the figurehead, very offended. 

“Sorry Luffy, you’re the second favourite now. Babystar is cuter.”

“What is that?!” Wyper and Conis yell at once, the former poised for battle and the latter with her eyes twinkling with amazement. 

Anne is amazed as well, lunging forward to grab the squirrel monkey into her hands. This would be her first time meeting it as well, since they were gone before Jaya. And she raises it in the air like she’s found a new toy, cradling it happily as she dashes away. 

“Gin! Gin! I found something!” 

“Put it back.”

“You haven’t even looked at it yet!” 

“Last time I heard you say that you brought a merman along and— wait, what the hell is that? Put it back where you found it.”

Anne pouts. Gin was such a killjoy. 

“I thought you guys met it in Alabasta?” Sanji says. 

“No, I met the big bird. And I talked to a human being,” Gin says. “What the fuck is that? Are monkeys supposed to be this small? What is wrong with it?”

“It’s just small.”

“Why is it small?!”

“Because it’s like me!” Anne says, fascinated. “Look, Wyper—” Wyper is still brandishing a wrench at it, “—nevermind. Conis, look. Baby.”

“Super Baby!” Luffy beams. “So, Babystar, Bigstar, you decided to join my crew yet?”

“Usopp, this is addressed to you,” Nami hands a piece of paper over to him, and Usopp takes it silently. “Looks like the Buggy Pirates made it up to Sky Island! He’s thanking us for the golden pillar.”

Usopp hums, looking at the letter. “So, how am I supposed to read this again?”

“...oops?”

“Nami, I’ll cry,” Usopp says. “Uhh, Conis, can you read this for me, please?” 

“Ah— yes! Sure,” Conis beams, distracted from giving Bigstar attention to come over. She picks up the letter, sifts through the familiar Skypiean language– and, “it’s from little Aisa! She says everyone up there is doing well, and they’ve fully settled down on Upper Yard. I’m glad to hear.”

Wyper lifts his head at that. “Why would Aisa address a letter to the longnose?” 

“Because I’m cute, obviously,” Usopp answers in a second, leaning closer to Conis, “what else does she say?”

“That she’s looking forward to hearing more stories of Coward Warrior and his ascension to godhood. Apparently someone in the Buggy Pirates has just told her of…” Conis frowns, “his greatest nemesis, Shining Jester,” she wasn’t sure if she was pronouncing that right, “and his story as well. She’s looking forward to hearing of their greatest battle.”

Usopp is buffering. 

“...what?” 

Did his story just get hijacked by an antagonist, what.

“Shining Jester?” Anne is suddenly beside them, and Luffy as well, eyes twinkling with interest. “Who is he? An enemy? Is this part of Colourimotone Prisma’s great saga of epic adventure?” 

“Uh,” Usopp fumbles. “Along with Coward Warrior, yes. They’re… connected somehow.”

What is Buggy doing to my story?! No no, it’s probably not Buggy. Who did this? Mohji? Galdino?? 

“I’m sure Aisa would be overjoyed to hear more about Coward Warrior and his endeavours!” Conis beams. “That’s right– how about we write it in a book, just like how Hero Noland’s story was illustrated?”

Oh, that’s a good idea. 

“Someone mentioned Noland?” Wyper speaks up. 

“Wyper!” Conis beams, “would you help us make a book?”

He raises a brow. The concept of publishing books were a widely Blue Sea thing– people up there did have some semblance of paper, but it was for historical recording purposes rather than stories and fiction. 

“Books take a different skill from Wyper’s technician abilities,” Sanji says, “if anything, we’d actually need someone with good, fluent handwriting first.”

“I can handle illustrations!” Anne says, almost enthused. 

“We can draw Colourimotone Prince Mask’s story?!” Luffy says, ecstatic. “That is so cool! Let’s make it!” 

“Well, from what we’ve heard so far, it would definitely sell,” Nami says. “I can get in contact with WEJ and maybe get us serialized–” 

“HOld up hold up!” Usopp yelps, interrupting sharply, “Nami! You know better than I do that the story’s not– how do you say– you know I–” he stops himself. He can’t tell them that he comes up with half of Colourimotone Prisma’s story on the spot so there’s no chronological order to anything. He’d destroy their dreams. “It’s so much work.” 

“Well, it’s for your sweet little baby Aisa, of course we’ll put in the effort,” Nami says. 

“HAH?!” Wyper balks, “your who what?!”

Usopp fubs . “Do not use those descriptors, I am neither a pedophile nor a womanizer! AND I am engaged!” 

“Oh, I meant it literally,” Nami says, “you know. She’s literally your daughter now.”

“Stop it!” 

“We’re out here trying to adventure and Usopp’s out here collecting children with his storytelling abilities,” Sanji sighs. “I’m not envious.” 

“Better children than whatever the hell Anne is gathering,” Gin mutters. 

“...oh, big brothers?”

Usopp fumbles trying to stop Nami from blowing it out of proportion– but he’s missing his lunges with how quickly Nami is running. He trips over something and falls face first, but he gets up laughing, and Nami grins right back. 

The rest of the crew are around them, Luffy whining about needing details, Anne whining about needing more of the story. Kinoko whirl around, following Nami and Usopp in a clumsy circle, trying to break up the scene without breaking it up. Suu chases after the paper in Nami’s hands, and Babystar is trying to get them to stop so he can complete his delivery. 

Zoro and Gin watch from afar, suddenly realizing they’ve left Northern Folk Tales up with the Skypieans, and Wyper groans, apologizing for his thoughtless tribe because they’ve definitely stolen it on purpose. Conis holds onto the letter carefully, and Robin watches from afar, endeared by the sight. Sanji carefully brings a plate of meat toward Bigstar, the hawk nodding in respectful acknowledgement. Chopper chats it up with the hawk, asking him about his trip here. Apparently, the Unluckies are their apprentices, now.

“Anyways, Robin!” Luffy grins, “do you know how to make a book?”

Robin blinks at that. “Well…” there’s a lot to consider. But first, “if we want to write a good storybook, we would first need to achieve a better standard with our crew logbook first. If we can't handle that, we certainly can’t handle a good superhero story.”

Which was a good point. Hardly anyone even wrote in the same language. 

“Oh, is that it?” Luffy says, completely unhesitant. He beams, toothy. “Then, we’ll have absolutely no problems at all!” 

His statement confuses most of the crew, but Nami and Usopp— followed immediately by Sanji and Zoro— understand quickly, their faces curling into a hopeful grin. 

“That’s right– we’ve already got someone like that!” Nami says. 

 


 

“Blue Station. The sea train will be arriving at Blue Station, Water Seven. Please watch your step as you alight.” 

In the bustling town of water, the train doors open into the cacophony of life. 

A single girl steps onto the platform, a suitcase behind her, a sunhat on her head, and a bright smile on her face. Her dress was long and modest, but they scarcely covered the barely-faded henna on her skin, specks of gold shimmering off the sunrays as she lifts her head toward the fountain, marvelling at the sights. 

Her golden jewellery jingles as she moves, and she laughs when an oversized duck comes out of the train and bops his impatient bill at her back, urging her forward. 

“Sorry, sorry!” she says. “Let’s go, Carue.” 

Vivi enters Water Seven, ready to have the time of her life. 

 


 

“You guys eat the weirdest fucking things down here,” Wyper mutters. “Who the fuck digs up roots ?”

“Then you don’t have to eat them,” Sanji says. “Nami-swan, sweetheart~ I made Pommes Paille, just for you!” 

Wyper stares skeptically at the mountain of potatoes in the basket. He still doesn’t think they’re edible. Anne is peeling one of them, along with Usopp. Wyper does not think that is safe at all, but he follows Sanji out in concern, staring skeptically as Nami starts eating. She likes it very much. 

Outside, Luffy and Chopper are taking bites from Nami, trying to figure out what the food was. 

According to Usopp, it was the meat of a monstrous sea monster called a Paille, that he defeated in his sleep last night. It’s potatoes. Luffy thinks it’s jellyfish, they’re tingly and the poison makes your mouth feel super numb, but they kinda look like this. It’s potatoes. Wyper is very worried about the eating habits of Blue Sea people for a very different reason now.

Conis was inspecting the tangerine trees with Robin, who was curiously perusing the Weather Eggs that Nami stole from Skypiea in some pots. Suu was still screeching over robbery, circling the deck frantically with Kinoko, whining about ethical considerations and capital punishment, or something. Chopper wasn’t translating it all. 

Zoro sighs, glaring out into the distance. He can’t sleep because of this noise. 

A frog doing the front crawl swims into view, and Zoro pauses in his weightlifting to stare, baffled, into the distance. He looks back at the crew, specifically on Luffy and Chopper. Then he thinks of Bigstar and Babystar, who they just saw off a while ago. 

He nods. Yeah, he’s seen weirder things. 

He ignores the frog doing the front crawl. 

“What in the actual hell is that?!” Gin shrieks, a moment later. 

“A frog doing the front crawl,” Zoro says, like it’s obvious. 

“WOAH!” Luffy notices it too, “A frog’s doing the front crawl! That’s so weird!” 

“Frogs don’t do the front crawl,” Nami says, briefly looking up from her newspaper before losing interest immediately. 

“Oh don’t be silly, Marimo. Frogs don’t do the front crawl,” Sanji says, returning to the galley with some plates. “They do the breaststroke.” 

“Yes, Sanji is right,” Robin says to Conis. She’s focusing on the Weather Egg, not looking over either. “In Kano Country, they call the breaststroke the ‘frog stroke’.” 

“Ooh,” Conis hums, “I suppose even methods of crossing water are different down here.” 

“But guys,” Luffy says, “the frog doing the front crawl is—” 

“The breaststroke,” Chopper corrects, also not looking up from one of his notebooks, immersed in it.

“The frog doing the best- bust— Zoro, what was the word again ah yeah— Breast stroke is— I mean the,” Luffy fumbles, looking between them all, flustered. “But—?? Uh?”

“Are we sure it’s a frog?” Usopp says. “Maybe it’s just a very weird-looking man. I wouldn’t know. I’m a blind man. Very blind man. I don’t see frogs doing front crawls. Or actually I don’t see anything at all.”

“Ohhh, so it's not a frog, it’s probably a man,” Anne says, looking out wistfully. “Maybe it’s a fishman.”

Gin has had his face buried in his hand for the past five minutes. 

“One normal day,” he sneers, patience running thin. “I just want one day in this insane place with normal fucking reactions from someone other than me. Just ONE day. Just one. Is that impossible to ask for?”

“What the HELL is that creature? Is that a normal thing down here?!” Wyper loses his absolute shit, “why are all you blue sea people so fucking weird?!”

“Ah, fucking finally, thank you!” Gin throws his hands into the air, exasperated. 

 


 

“Alright, men!” Luffy declares, “follow the buttock frog!” 

“Luffy. Breaststroke. Breaststroke.

“That’s the front crawl, though.” 

“Oh that’s so strange!” Chopper has finally gotten up to look, “the frog’s actually doing the front crawl!” Kinoko echoes him. Suu asks what a frog is. 

“Everyone get up! We’re giving chase!” Nami calls, getting up from her chair. 

“CRAP! Wyper jumped into the sea! WYPER THAT’S NOT WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY ‘FOLLOW IT’!”

“What? Why are we chasing it?” Zoro asks, but he’s going down to get the oars. “Is frog meat delicious?”

“Barbecue!” Luffy declares, already jumping up and out the deck with the oars, Chopper and Usopp are helping him. 

“It’s a delicacy,” says Sanji, “first, soak it in white wine to get rid of the slime—” 

“I heard it tastes like chicken,” Robin says. “Also, the frog is headed towards two o’clock. There seems to be a lighthouse.”

“Thanks, Robin!” Luffy and Chopper say, holding onto the oars with Gin and Usopp. 

“STOP ENABLING HIM!” Gin yells. “ALSO, the Angel Bastard can’t fucking swim in the Blue Sea! What the fuck is he doing?!”

“Ah don’t worry about that,” Usopp says, “he remembered his waver skates.” 

“...and a bazooka,” Anne adds. 

“He’s not used to the water resistance, so he’ll sink any time now,” Nami says. “Zoro, you’re on duty.”

Zoro grimaces viscerally. 

“Let him die,” Gin suggests. 

“Murder is okay!” Anne cheers. 

“Hey, no!” Luffy interrupts. “We finally got our Technician! Don’t kill him!” 

“WAIT,” Sanji yells, hands slamming down on the bow, “if he fires that bazooka, he’s going to prematurely cook the frog! Don’t ruin my newly acquired meat!” 

“I’m glad to hear you have your priorities sorted, Sanji,” Usopp says, dryly.

“Focus, boys!” Nami declares, “I’ll need you guys to row as fast as you can, or the giant hulking beast will destroy us!” 

“The WHAT?!” 

“Any moment now!” 

“WHAT IS COMING, NAMI?! TELL US!” 

“No! It’s funnier if you don’t know!”

Conis is standing offishly to the side, holding onto herself. 

“I uh…” she looks nervously toward Robin, who smiles back at her. “Am starting to understand exactly what madness I have become involved in. My father’s worries were indeed very warranted. My personal worries have skyrocketed.”

“I quite like your honesty, Miss Seamstress,” Robin beams. “I wish you luck.”

“...I’ll need it. Thank you.”

 


 

Wyper catches up to the frog, frowning when the lighthouse comes into sight. A guard outpost, in a place like this? If they are outlaws, then they might seem troublesome. If Old Lady Amazon was any indicator… ugh. 

A loud, blaring honk cuts into his thoughts. He whirls around in the ocean, raising his gun warily. The churn of gas and noise and the blare of a red, blinking alarm. 

There was a signboard on the sea. Or, something like a lamp post. And there were yellow and black borders coming down around him, closing him in. He looks down to find that, right beside where he’d stopped, there were steel girders, laid out right below the sea surface. 

And it was trembling, violently. 

The frog leaps onto the rails, huffing determinedly. 

Wyper glares at it. It was facing him— but it wasn’t looking at him. He can tell from the scars that this thing is a warrior, and he respects that. He knows that gaze because he sees it on himself. Whatever’s coming now, that’s clearly the frog's greatest nemesis. 

“You’re going to fight,” he says. 

The frog huffs, nodding firmly. He was resolved. 

“I see. You’re a warrior.” 

The frog croaks at that, focusing forward. The trembling increased, and Wyper winds back, skating a little away. The borders are in his way but he backs up, holding his bazooka warily. The frog snarls at him and he snarls back. 

Wyper knows that look. It’s the look of a tired man that’s always ready to die to win. And he knows that it’s not worth it. He sees all of himself in this weary soul. He understands how it feels, to fight against an enemy it inevitably can’t win, and yet, it’s a fight they can’t give up on. 

That’s why he's going to help. He’s going to fight with this frog. They can’t die here. This is a frog, but he ought to be allowed the same reprieve Wyper felt, after Calgara’s dream came true. 

“I’ll fight with you, whatever it is,” Wyper says. 

The frog turns to him, surprised. 

Neither of them get to acknowledge their interaction further, because the honking grows louder, and in the distance, a hulking steel beast roars

Wyper’s cigarette falls from his mouth. 

He’s heard of it, and read about it in his ancestor Mousse’s journal. A monster of coal and fury, the embodiment of mineral advancement. The guardian of the lands, a beast made of iron, stronger than a thousand monsters and yet faster than any dial can go. 

“Is that…” he breathes, horrified. “The Vengeful Beast of Fossil Fuels, a Train?”

 


 

“...the frog got run over,” Luffy says, dryly. 

“It got hit!” Chopper wails, “a direct hit! Is it okay?!”

“...is Wyper dead?” Anne asks. “He got blown away, too.”

“Ah, don’t worry, he didn’t get hit,” Usopp says. “I’d feel it if he did.”

Nami squints, trying to ascertain the situation. “Looks like he just barely missed the direct collision course. So he’s just getting violently blown back by the surging wind and water currents right now,” she explains. “He’s probably gonna fall into the ocean once it settles, so Zoro, get ready to swim,” Nami says. 

Zoro’s already taking off his shirt. “Just making sure, but I don’t have to save the frog, right?”

“Wait, someone go stop him first,” Gin says, pointing at Wyper, who, though still airborne, is screeching at the train. “He’s freaking out. He’s screaming profanities at it. And firing the bazooka at it. He doesn’t understand gravity and air resistance down here yet, so he’s missing.” 

“Oh my, what a waste of ammunition,” Robin sighs. 

“I’m enjoying the profanity in the air,” Sanji says. “It heals me.”

Nami facepalms. “We have made a huge blunder,” she says. “First step to redemption, figure out how to get this crew’s priorities fucking sorted.”

“Uhm… what exactly is that iron beast?” Conis asks, confused and frantic, putting her hands on Anne’s. “It’s emitting steam, like a machine. But it’s so quick, and mobile…”

“I’ve seen them before,” Anne says. “Apparently the sea one was only made recently, but it runs on coal and rails and—” 

“Oh?” Robin and Sanji turn to her. “You’re very smart, Anne.” 

“Only for things that will be useful in—” Anne stops when Gin reaches over to cover her mouth. She looks up at him, and he’s staring down with a troubled gaze. She looks back toward the sea, falling silent. “Shutting up now,” and she says no more. 

Gin nods. “As long as you understand.” 

The crew is mildly confused at that interaction, but they don’t have much time to mull about it. Wyper is screeching and screaming as Zoro hauls him up to the lighthouse shore, and from inside the building, a young girl emerges. 

“Granny, Granny! Look! Pirates! Pirates are here!” 

The crew instinctively look toward Nami and Usopp for their next move. Usopp blooms into a relieved smile, but Nami’s eyes soften with what could only be saddening nostalgia. 

Neither of those are bad reactions. 

The crew moves on. 

 


 

Granny Kokoro is drunk off her ass and incapable of doing much coherent thinking, so Sanji tactically offers her some food and they’ve come to coexist. 

“I’m surprised you’re not antagonizing her,” Gin says. 

“Old people freak me out,” Wyper says, with all the honesty in his heart. “Have you ever talked to Gate Guard Amazon? Yeah, let’s say she’s the start of my chronic trust issues.”

“Oh,” Gin says, full of understanding. 

Most of the crew stayed on the ship, including the more intimidating-looking of the group, as well as the few that were still injured. They really like the paille that Sanji made, and Sanji’s very happy with that.

“I’m Chimney, and this is my cat, Gonbe,” says the little girl.

“I’m Anne. This is Usopp’s bird, Kinoko,” Anne says, holding out Kinoko like a well-behaving chicken. 

“Is that… a cat?” Conis asks. “I’ve seen it in legends, but…”

“It’s as much a cat as Chopper would be a raccoon dog,” Robin says. 

“...but I don’t know what that is either?” Conis says. And she’s very sure Chopper keeps saying he isn’t one. “I’m very confused regarding the creatures of the blue sea.”

“Let’s just call it a dog and be done with it,” Zoro mutters. “Everything on land is basically a weird fucking dog or a weirder fucking dog, anyways.”

Conis takes a long moment before meekly murmuring, “but… what is a dog?”

“I’m Luffy! Future Pirate king!” the man declares, loud and proud. Nami instantly whacks him over the head with her Clima Tact. Luffy giggles, head wobbling like a bobble-head doll, so it definitely didn’t hurt. 

Granny Kokoro barks out in laughter. “You’re an interesting chap!” 

“Suu, dear,” Nami hollers, “if you would be a sweetheart and go raise my ranking?”

Suu hums out a response, obediently getting to her feet. She’s still bound in bandages, needing the aid of a modified wheelchair to get around, but running around was in her nature and she wanted all the excuses she could get to do it. 

“What, the frog was doing a manly test of strength?!” Luffy exclaims. “That’s cool! It’s got some determination! I’m not gonna eat him, then!” 

“He’s a warrior!” Wyper adds, unnecessarily loudly. “I respect that!” 

The crew sighs at the sight. Anne and Chimney were getting along well, chatting fervently about the cool things their respective pets could do. Usopp’s brought in at some point to talk about Colourimotone Prisma, and somehow, Chopper is down there now too. 

Gin and Sanji watch the whole interaction warmly. 

“Sorry about that,” Gin says. “There are just things Anne and I can’t tell the world. Not even among the crew. And if Nami and Usopp just happen to not know either, I’d like to keep it that way as long as we can.”

Sanji hums. “We understand.”

Zoro and Wyper watch Robin and Suu as the two of them stay in their chairs obediently. Robin giggles when Zoro jolts upright the moment she sits up to put her book down. 

“You don’t have to be so concerned,” Robin says. 

“Your hands were burned to the bone , woman,” Zoro snarls, standing up to take her book from her. “You’re lucky we’re letting you even flip the pages yourself.” 

“Oh, but you let Suu walk,” Robin says, pouting. “Right, Suu?” Suu purrs into her head scratches, enjoying the attention. 

“Suu will probably die if she doesn’t get to run a mile a day,” Zoro says. “You’re not a hyperactive fox, so don’t follow her example.”

“But I am a chronic bookworm with terminal independence disease,” Robin says. “Hence, I have my needs as well.” 

“Are you learning how to be a smartass from Usopp of all people?!”

“I have a running theory, it may be the other way around.” 

Nami and Luffy chat with Kokoro, mostly regarding the stations around the area. It’s definitely a fun district to explore in these parts (Luffy has his eyes set on gourmet escapades, of course) but Nami only has one goal in mind. 

“We’re going to Water Seven,” Nami says. 

“Ah, following the log, I see,” Kokoro acknowledges. “City of water, bustling shipbuilding industry. The technology there is the best in the world! It’s where the world’s best shipwrights gather.”

The entire crew turns to that. 

“Shipwrights…” Luffy says, his voice breathy. “I see. It’s finally time for that.”

Going to a major shipbuilding city at this point in their journey could only mean one thing. One inevitable turnout that they’ve all tried their best to forget recently. 

Merry was still dying, and depending on what happened next, this might be her last voyage, forever. 

“Alright, guys!” Luffy grins, bright and confident. “When we get there, we’re going to fix the Merry, and then we’ll finally find ourselves a shipwright to join our crew!” 

 


 

Granny Kokoro sends them off with a map and a letter of introduction. 

“We’re not fixing Merry anymore. No one will be willing to at this point, so we’ll be finding a new ship,” Usopp says, straight up, and the entire crew whirls around him in horror. 

“U… Usopp?” Chopper says, weakly. “What did you just say?” 

“He’s right,” Nami says, to everyone’s surprise. She puts a hand on the mast. This will be the last time we sail on the Merry.” 

The mood plummets instantly. 

“B- but, you said you were going to save her!” Luffy says. “Is it really completely impossible?”

“She’s a weary soul,” Wyper says, “I guess this is just her time to retire.” 

“Quiet, Angel Bastard,” Gin says. 

“You’re not going to just cull the numbers on the pretense of necessary sacrifice or some shit, right?” Sanji says. “You better stop that shit. We’ve had enough of it in the Davy Back.” 

“Is this really it for the ship?” Conis asks. “But…” 

“Calm down and let them talk,” Zoro says. 

Usopp takes the conversation. “Merry can’t be saved, no matter what we do,” he says. “That’s something hard to accept, but we have to.”

Kinoko scowls, and Suu whimpers. Anne frowns at his cold tone. 

“Look, it’s not easy for any of us. But Merry’s not going to survive the Grand Line as she is. What we have to do isn’t fix or improve her… but take her off the job entirely.” he says. “Weak members don’t survive long on the sea, and we can’t protect them all the time.”

At his words, Conis inevitably takes a chastised step back. That escapes no one’s notice at all. They all knew who he was most likely talking about, it’s no secret. 

“Hey, you watch your phrasing!” Sanji snaps. 

“Merry’s different,” Gin says. “Ships and humans, they’re not the same.”

“But they can be, and they have been.”

“What the— Usopp!” Nami snaps, louder than the other. “Why are you like this?”

Usopp looks away as Nami grabs him by the collar, dragging him closer. “I just wanted to get that out there,” he insists, “it was the problem last time around. If I solve it without fixing that then there’s no point in anything.”

“Oh, so you’re going to recreate it! You’re going to make me watch this all again just because you’re being a stubborn prick—” 

“Call me what you want, you know best I’m used to all that name-calling!” 

The rest of the crew realize what’s going on immediately, stepping back with a sort of resignation on their faces. Zoro sighs longsufferingly. Robin and Anne’s eyes meet, and they smile in a sort of mutual understanding. Wyper groans, looking away, and Sanji wordlessly agrees with him. Chopper and Conis looked the only ones worried. 

Nami and Usopp were still trying their best to live on, with an understanding that this life isn’t a repeat of the other. They’re trying their best to make sure the problems of before won’t happen again. 

They’re going as far as to wag the bait before everyone’s eyes, just to see if their fears would come true. It’s a paltry, mildly infuriating way of testing their camaraderie, but it’s not like habits die easily. 

But at the very least, they’re now being transparent about it. 

“Enough!” Luffy raises his voice. He huffs, frustrated. “You two, come here a sec.”

Nami and Usopp look over, confused. 

And then Luffy takes a step forward, raises his hands and— smashes them both over the head with full-powered fists. They make synchronous yips, startled, and tumble onto the ground cradling their head painfully, rolling over to whine. 

“What was that for?!” 

“Because you two were being morons again!” Luffy yells. He then looks over to Sanji. 

Sanji has a hand over his exposed eye. “Due to lopsided character design, I’m incapable of seeing the crime that has occurred,” he says, dryly. “My ears are a different matter however—” 

“SAVE ME, SANJI-KUN!” 

“I only save ladies!” 

“Sanji-kun p—” 

Sanji covers his eyes and starts screaming, “AAAAA I CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING”

“Alright, I’ll do it one more time!” Luffy declares happily. 

“Wait no!” Usopp and Nami yelp, getting up quickly, “that actually hurts! So no, don’t! We reflect on our actions! We’ll stop being cryptid, we’re sorry!” 

“Good!” Luffy says, hands on his hips. 

While half the crew giggles at their plight, and Chopper and Conis sigh in relief, Nami stands up, dusting herself off with a sigh. 

“Just saying, but it’s okay even if some of us aren’t as strong as the others,” Nami says, “we’re all good at different things, and that’s why there’s so many of us. Right?”

“Of course,” Usopp says. “We’re not throwing Merry away because she’s weak. We’re not throwing anyone away, any time, ever. Definitely, not for a lack of strength.”

Nami helps Usopp stand back up. The way their hands join, the way they smile after assuring each other of that— there was clearly a bigger story, a bigger hurt behind those statements that seemed to go without saying. 

But none of the crew needed to fully understand it. Because it won’t happen. 

“Listen, guys. It doesn’t matter if my plan succeeds or fails,” Nami starts. “Merry’s role as our ship ends here, in Water Seven.” She’s smiling, so the crew can only wait for her next sentence in confused anticipation. “Because if we succeed, she’ll be standing by our side as one of us, on her own feet.”

Her words fill the crew with equal parts bewilderment and excitement. 

“You’re kidding,” Gin says. 

“Hey, don’t doubt Nami-swan!” Sanji says. 

Chopper is jittery. “Is it possible?!” 

“NO seriously— can it be done?!”

“Wait,” Zoro brings up, “how sure are you that your plan will succeed?” 

Nami has a card in her hand. It came from Babystar’s pack, and it’s the only one she didn’t read out for everyone. 

[For the moments when you’re lost, place your trust in the friends you have.]

“How sure am I?” Nami asks, rhetorically. “For friends, it’s with all my heart, always.”

 


 

Luffy and the rest of the idiots are discussing their possible shipwrights. Nami isn’t divulging any details on who they are ‘because it’s funnier to let you theorize’, so they’ve decided that the council will determine their shipwright.

“He definitely looks like this!” Luffy says, holding up a drawing of a squid-looking blue-clothed thing. “Five meters!” 

“Can we have a better artistic rendition?” Gin asks. Anne holds up hers. “Anne, I know you're working with quite a lousy design, but that just looks like a blue garden gnome with Popeye arms.”

“That was the intention,” Anne says. 

“If I saw someone like that, I think I’d run into the sea,” Sanji says. “Though, it looks distinctly related to octopi, so it might chase after me.”

“What’re you bastards talking about?” Zoro groans further away. 

“Not you, shithead,” Sanji retorts. 

“It looks pretty good to m–” Usopp is cut off by a synchronous interruption from every other member of the crew in the vicinity. 

“You can’t see, Usopp.”

Usopp makes his way to the corner of the ship, devastated. “I get it already. My jokes aren’t funny anymore. You don’t have to salt it.”

Up toward the galley, the crafting team were busy getting ready to alight.

“Oh dear,” Robin says, when Conis hands her a little board, shaped more like a shrine’s prayer plague than a sign. It reads I threw my hands into burning substances twice . “I really have to wear this? I’m very troubled.”

“It’s okay, I made it so you can hang it on your bag,”  Wyper assures. Then, pointing toward the clothes hangers. “Don’t forget the idiot band.”

Robin sighs, taking the purple one. “I suppose I deserved this.”

“Don’t worry!” Nami beams, “Luffy and Suu are wearing bands, too. You’ll match.”

Robin couldn’t help but smile at that. That did make her feel a little better, knowing that this was done out of harmless fun, and not because they collectively sought to mark her mistakes down as a malicious reminder. 

“Sorry, Suu. You’re better off staying on the ship for this trip,” Chopper says, grinding down some medicine to be packaged. “I don’t want you anywhere with your wounds like that.”

Suu nods meekly. Kinoko’s beside her, giving her some company. 

Water Seven’s almost in sight. Nami looks toward the crew to see Usopp looking in her direction, and she can only sigh. 

Time to get down to business, then. 

“Family meeting, everyone! All in the galley!” 

 


 

“Water Seven was our lowest point, as a crew,” Nami says. 

The tea’s gone cold. 

“It’s hard to say we’ll ever be prepared for that kind of breakup again, but at the very least we’re more equipped than before,” she assures. She approaches the mutiny board, reaching for her own pin at the top. 

Other than the inactive pins— At the bottom is Zoro, Gin, Conis, and Anne. Suu, Usopp and Chopper are above that, followed by Robin, Sanji, and Luffy himself. Then there’s Kinoko, Wyper, and at the top, Nami. 

“We don’t reiterate this often, but it doesn’t matter how much fun we have with this board— Luffy is the captain, and when his authority is subverted, the crew overturns. That’s why a crew that doesn’t respect their captain is fated to die out.”

Nami takes down every pin, setting it at the bottom. 

“But our crew is different,” she says. “There’s no perfect crew in the world, this one included. So honestly, I think it’s about time we take our qualms seriously. When I joined this crew the last time around, I stole the ship and ran home, leaving you guys stranded.”

The crew looked flabbergasted at that. 

“Hold on— what?” Luffy is first to react. 

“You joined with the least amount of fanfare,” Zoro says. “I was there. I remember. You just said yes when he asked. I thought I was going insane.”

“Right?” Nami chuckles. “But that isn’t all. I did a lot more— I stabbed Usopp.” 

“Pretended to.” 

“Made a show of it. And shoved Zoro into the sea, and this is when he was almost bisected by Mihawk,” she says, and Zoro winces, reaching for Kogatana at his neck. “So yeah. We all wonder how you lived through that.”

“But if we’re talking about horrible things,” Usopp speaks up, “when we found out Merry couldn’t be fixed, I…” he sighs deeply, “well, I walked out of the crew. Then I challenged Luffy to a duel, for the right to keep the Merry.” 

The room was deathly silent. 

They couldn’t quite call Nami’s mistake petty thievery— but that. That was mutiny, in its most genuine, unmistakable form. It’s definitely not a good sign that he’s only alluding that things can only get worse from that point on. 

“What’s the point of you telling us this?” Zoro speaks up, his voice dry. His hand is on his sword. Nami’s body seizes up, instinctively backing away defensively. 

“The point is— you guys fought, tooth and nail, to bring me back,” Nami says. 

“And when I got on my knees, ate my pride, and apologized— I was allowed to come back and be with you guys,” Usopp adds. 

There’s a mortifying sense of understanding when Usopp and Nami turn to Robin, who freezes up at the attention. Their eyes are full of love, and yet, Robin only feels dread crawling up her senses. 

The realization comes to everyone else immediately. 

“Robin does something too?” Gin asks, and his voice is laced with anger. 

Robin gets up, fearfully— but Luffy takes her by the elbow. “Wait,” he says, Then he winds on the rest of the crew, “you guys, don’t go putting her on the spot like that! She hasn’t done anything yet, so don’t get mad for no reason!” 

“But Luffy, I don’t think you understand how serious this is!” 

“How I understand things is not for you to say!” Luffy snaps. 

The entire crew goes silent. Robin couldn’t help but lean into his side, just a little. She looks away, uncomfortable at the attention from everyone else. 

“It’s not like she’s the first one,” Usopp says. “And she certainly won’t be the last.” 

That statement made the crew’s blood go cold. 

“Who else?” Zoro demands. 

“That’s not important,” Nami says. She doesn’t miss the way Sanji hasn’t moved for the past minute. “We only brought it up because we need to focus on this one, and Robin has the right to know that we know. That’s it.”

The crew pauses, taking that in. 

“Robin, listen,” Usopp starts. “Up until now, Nami and I— we’ve been testing you guys, testing you, bringing everyone through events we needed to get stronger, and grow closer. We didn’t have the right to do that. We didn’t have the right to put you in front of Aokiji to test your resolve to be free.” 

Robin bites down on her lip. 

She really hadn’t forgiven them for that, yet. 

“That’s why— this would be your payback to us,” Usopp says. “We tested you. Now… now, you have all the right in the world to test us.” 

Robin blinks at that, surprised. 

“What?” Gin speaks up first. “Hold on. What the fuck?”

“Usopp! What on earth are you saying?” 

Luffy takes a moment to really let that sink in. “He’s right! Robin, if you’re mad at them for all that still happened— then just get your revenge!” 

“Wait,” Sanji brings up, “why does the rest of us have to be dragged into this too—” 

“Somehow, this approach to mutinous behaviour is very like us,” Anne mutters. 

“I agree,” Chopper says. 

“It’s okay!” Conis says, resolved. “It’d be like a little rite of passage! I’m prepared for anything.” 

“Guys, this is no laughing matter,” Zoro groans. “It’s one thing if we’re joking around, another to actually act upon it and put the crew in danger—” 

“No, actually,” Luffy says, earning a startled look from Zoro. “Do exactly that, Robin!  Put us in danger, try to kill me, and do something irreversible, set the world on fire!” he says, resolved. “If that’s what it takes for us to pass your test, Robin— then it doesn’t matter if it’s the Sun or the Death God we’re fighting against, we’d wage war to get you back.” 

His hand is extended toward her, and Robin’s eyes gleam with hope. 

She quickly turns away. 

“That’s not necessary,” she whispers. “I already trust all of you.” With my life. Enough that she’d hate to admit it, that she’d hate for them to be hurt, in any way. 

Luffy brightens, like the sun. “Then that’s great! Do we pass your test?”

“Not yet,” Nami says. “We know you love us, Robin. But that’s exactly what happens next. What you do… what you’ve done, it was not done out of malice, but out of love. You ran from us, so we could be safe.”

Robin’s hands tighten on her cup. 

“I think I understand now,” she says. “Aokiji’s siege does not stop in Long Ring Long Land, does it? It continues, in Water Seven.”

“Even worse,” Usopp says. “It takes us out of it.”

No one understands what that means, not entirely, not yet. 

“Robin. You’ll know what to do once you land on Water Seven,” Nami says. “And honestly? I think you should go all out. After this, the Strawhat Pirates won’t just be a band of pirates traversing the seas— we’ll be a household name, a notoriety no one, not even the emperors, can ignore.”

Robin goes sheet white. “I do not like the sound of that.”

“Well, I do!” Luffy beams. 

Luffy’s entirely indisputably sunshine demeanor makes everyone converge on him— and honestly, the ease of mind his presence provides is undeniably contagious. Wyper barks out a laugh first, and quickly, Sanji and Zoro follow, exasperated. Quickly, it passes around, and once they’re done dying of sheer exasperation, they’re all out of breath. Luffy has no idea why they’re all laughing at him and he’s starting to get offended.

“You know, this is the guy that waged war against god and won,” Wyper says. “Why are we even surprised?”

“Don’t go giving him any ideas, please,” Conis pleads. Suu sighs, but it’s fond. 

“But it’s fine, really,” Gin says. He waves his hand dismissively, and Kinoko topples over, slumping down in incredulous exhaustion. “It’s not like any of us joined this crew expecting to stay undercover for long. We’re literally growing in notoriety by the second.”

“Oh. I don’t like the sound of that anymore,” Sanji balks. “I would like to stay anonymous. Please.” 

“I have a neat suggestion for that, actually,” Usopp says. 

“I’m listening, as long as it’s not stupid.”

“...”

“It’s stupid, isn’t it?”

“Catching worldwide attention is not very tactical for us,” Anne admits. “But I like it here. And I think that even if we get found out, it’s safer here than it is alone. Right, Gin?”

Gin sighs, resting a hand on her head. “Yes.”

“Honestly, I hate this,” Zoro says. “I’ve been in denial for too long. I oughta start realizing insanity is part of the package deal.” 

“Zoro, you’re like, one of our more insane ones, though?” Chopper says. 

“...point taken.” 

“Hey, we’ve said it before,” Chopper grins, “the sun itself can come for any and all of us! We’ll fight it for you, Robin! Anytime!” 

They turn to Robin, who, at this point, has brimmed into a pained, but genuinely relieved smile. She doesn’t think they can really fight the sun if it ever comes for her, but they sure as hell would try, and that makes her feel so warm inside. The idea that now, there are people who would come to help her, expecting nothing but her love in return…

And yet, at the same time, this unconditional happiness fills her with fear. 

“I would rather die alone than bring you down with me,” she says. 

To her surprise, Nami simpers, mischief in her eyes. “Good luck with that, Big sis!” she leans in closer, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Because it's too bad for you— but in the entire universe, you just happened to join the universe’s hardest crew to leave!”  

Robin laughs out loud at that. 

“Oh really,” she has to cover her wide smile in her hands. “If so, I’ll try my best to be the world’s worst inconvenience, then. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone break through the barriers of my expectations.” 

“YEAH, BRING IT ON!” 

She has no idea what’s coming, but if it’s gone right before, it’ll definitely be right again. “What will I say, when I think you’ve passed the test?” Robin asks.

Nami’s smile is warm. “You’ll know.”

 


 

Zoro sighs, standing by the bow, looking out toward the sea, where Water Seven was rapidly coming into view. 

“You’re not happy?” Luffy asks, leaning into his view. He’s balancing on the ledge, looking in. 

Zoro’s answer is firm. “Not at all.” 

It was a funny situation, and sure, he let them do it in the name of the inevitable. He was happy enough that they’ve gotten as far as actually telling them everything, and he’s happy about that. But he was upset about the situation needing to be what it is. Mutiny.

Luffy’s smile pulls tight. “It’ll be okay.” 

“It doesn’t matter if it will be,” Zoro says. “You’re the captain. There’s no ‘maybe’ or ‘just testing it out’ about it, your authority and our loyalty should never come into question. We’ve toed the line long enough. Everyone’s starting to—” he groans, tearing off his sentence there. He doesn’t pick it back up.  

Luffy falters, because he’s right. 

This was a crew that didn’t quite fit as a pretty picture— things were shaking all the time, and they’ve made it work, wonky gears and all. But that’s exactly why it’s hard to say that the bright red gear is truly the core of the pattern. 

This crew was unconventional. That’s not exactly a good thing. 

“But you’ll still follow me, right?” Luffy asks. “Be by my side, and if I ever get in the way of your dream, you’ll get rid of me.”

In this crew, Zoro is the only one that fervently pursues something other than the blind adventure. Everyone else was content bringing their dreams along with this journey in store, but Zoro was not like that. Zoro would ditch this journey for his dream in a heartbeat. 

The one he followed was Luffy, the Pirate King, and not the chase of the thrill. That was how much pride he had in himself, and how much he valued his role in Luffy’s crew. 

And Luffy needed someone like that. 

Someone that would criticize him, not out of anger for his naivete or his daredevil endeavors, but out of genuine mutual respect. Gin always thought first of the crew. Sanji was driven by personal intentions, and Nami looks forward, still a little too far for the current Luffy to be in her sights. 

So Luffy needed Zoro, because Zoro was the only one that will never change, no matter what. 

“Yeah, of course,” Zoro says. “I said it when I joined. If you ever falter…” 

“You’ll kill me,” Luffy says, knowingly. They can’t see themselves ever crossing that line, but it was what they started out with, and it still meant all it did back then as it did now. “All of this is not going to be easy, but that’s why I’m the Captain, and that’s why you’re here to be my first.”

Zoro nods. “As long as you understand.”



Chapter 82: arrival at blue station (blue station...)

Summary:

They arrive in Water Seven and alight, ready to have the time of their lives.

Of course, it all goes to hell very quickly. Nami taunts a dragon in her overconfidence and Gin pays the price. Robin tries her best to be cruel and Usopp just happens to be the easiest target.

Zoro has had enough with being the sensible one in the crew. Someone's picking a fight with the crew, and the Strawhats aren't going to let it go.

Notes:

Here I am, dishing up some angst again. There'll be a bit more hurt because of the fallout of what happens in this chapter, but it'll ebb away soon, I promise! Sea Train's where the funny parts will start coming back to us.

So, the million dollar question-- is Sogeking coming? Unfortunately, he isn't. :( I don't usually confirm stuff like that but I don't wanna drag on just to disappoint y'all that might be looking forward to the possibility. Someone else is planned to take his place. You'll just have to wait and see.

Also, I'm at the point where I'm making a Google Sheet to keep track of the Strawhats. What has my life come to?

Chapter Text

They dock at the scrapyard and everyone cheers, getting ready to alight. Water Seven from a distance was an enthralling sight for all involved. Anne had her easel out, and Robin was watching it in mild curiosity. 

“It’s just a temp while I get materials for the real one,” Wyper warns Nami, though she’s ignoring him and doing cartwheels on dry land. “Listen to me!” 

“I’m listening!” Nami beams, raising her arm fitfully, “I just can’t help but be happy! You’re good at making exactly what I need!” 

This time, her arm was lighter. It’s just a simple fit, made to be lithe and flexible, and as close to Nami’s flesh arm in shape as possible, with no enhancements for battle. This way, Nami could safely hide it under a blazer as they walked around. 

Wyper huffs, looking away, arms crossed. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”

Meanwhile, Chopper holds up his rucksack as Conis makes the finishing touches on a peach pink version of her own. She strings it up to her back, gently threading the adjustable straps around her wings before tightening them back up. 

“And there,” Conis beams, showing it off. It matches her pink sweater, tucked comfortably over a white collared shirt. “Now my wings just look like decorations to blue sea folks, right?” 

Chopper nods. “Now we match!” he beams, and Conis cheers, reaching out for a double high five. 

Beside them, Kinoko clears her throat. The two look at her with surprise. Then, “oh, you’re right! We match three!” they beam. 

Sanji watches the crew with mild interest, taking note of the fact that Anne’s in a gray sundress with a vaguely sailor-uniform collar, complete with a magenta sash tie to match her apple beret. 

“...Our girls have matched aesthetics,” he says, nodding sagely. “And they vaguely match me. I am now the happiest man on earth.” 

“Die, then,” Gin says, changing Robin’s hand bandages with all the misery of a man on his deathbed but all the fastidiousness of a man handling glassware. Suu watches him work, waiting for her turn.

Robin watches them bicker, endeared. 

“Keep these on,” Zoro hands Robin a pair of gloves. Then, when Robin stares skeptically at it, he clarifies, “if you want your fucking independence , then you at least protect your hands while you do so.”

“...thank you,” she says. 

Zoro huffs, making his way to the others to distribute the rest of the gloves Wyper made. Anne’s got artist gloves so she would stop walking around with paint all over her arms. Conis had her father’s, and Nami needed some to hide her metal arm. 

“Feels like a superhero team with the squading up you’re doing,” Usopp says, and Anne immediately poses prominently, feeling cool. 

“I’m Color’o monotone Prince Mask!” Luffy declares, jumping up to pose with her obnoxiously. Chopper’s there, too. 

“Prince Mask, huh,” Sanji sighs. “Didn’t Granny Kokoro say something about a festival?”

He turns around to see Wyper and Usopp working on something on the deck, with wood and beads and feathers all around them. Wyper was carving something large— and Sanji recognized it immediately. It’s something that looked like the large tribal mask Wyper carried when they first met. 

Usopp was threading feathers and beads to make a feather headdress. 

“...what are you doing?” Sanji half-feared the answer. 

“I am not hiding my wings,” Wyper growls. “So Usopp said I don’t need to. Instead, he told me to go all out. So I’m doing whatever the fuck I want.” 

Usopp clarifies. “Might as well make it look like he’s dressed for a costume party,” he says. “Hey, isn’t this headdress supposed to be for the chieftain? You sure you want me to make one?”

“I technically have the right to wear it. I just didn’t before now.”

“Ah. Can I make it fancier?”

Sanji looks away, dreading it. He has to walk around with that thing? Seriously? Walking around with a talking deer or a hyperactive monkey is one thing, he has to walk around with that? Why is this his life?

“Gin, say something,” Sanji pleads. 

“No. Suffer,” Gin says. 

 


 

Sanji gets used to it after a while. 

Wyper’s an eyesore, ornate cloak, feathered headdress, colorful mask and huge bazooka on his back and all— but people look upon him with awe, and once they got to the shopping district, there were freakier masks and costumes in droves. 

“What’s the point of them just sitting there?”

“They’re touring, seeing the sights,” Sanji says, “it's a gondola ride.” 

“What’s there to see? I don’t understand,” Wyper frowns. “Isn’t it more efficient to get your own steed if you want to explore a place?”

“The blue sea is huge, Wyper. If you do that, you’ll get lost,” Anne says. “Better to go with someone that knows the way.”

Anne has an arm hooked around the strap of Wyper’s bazooka, her hands full with her sketchbook and pencil as she draws out everything she sees, not really looking at the road as she’s led around. 

Wyper’s distracted by the entire structure of this town. There was so much going for it, the waterways a familiarity to the Milky Roads but the technology to traverse it was so different to Skypiea. 

“To coexist with animals as big as these things,” Wyper glares at a Yagara that scowls back, thinking he was trying to pick a fight. “How peculiar.” 

“Sanji-san, Sanji-san!” Conis was enthused by literally everything, from the branding on the food to the festival preparations to the beauty and the sights. She’s picked up so many cloaks and souvenirs just perusing the stalls that Sanji isn’t sure how to tell her not to use up her pocket money so soon. 

“Oh,” Sanji pauses in his steps, coming to a gardening shop floating upon the waters. The shopkeeper was selling a whole variety of plants. “It’s a cactus.”

Conis and Wyper immediately pause, collectively turning to look. Anne is dragged over by extension, staring up confusedly. Sanji suddenly remembers that the Skypieans have no idea what that is, so he waves the boat to shore around them, so they can get a closer look.

“It’s a plant,” he says. “It looks like Zoro, doesn’t it?”

They stare very intently at it before quietly nodding. 

“It’s covered in spikes,” Conis says. “What exactly is the use of this plant?”

“It’s a danger to society,” Wyper says, stoically, and under his mask no one can tell why he’s so dead serious about it, “it’s a monster that ensnares you in its thorns when you’re not paying attention, and the pain lasts an eternity… I would know. It’s written in my ancestor Mousse’s journal.”

Conis gasps, horrified. 

Sanji and the shopkeeper stare at him, exasperated. Whoever this Mousse is, she’s probably a sweetheart, but she’s a very real contender for the Usopp’s Fables awards. 

“That sounds cool!” Anne speaks up, taking one of the really small pots. “Can we keep one? We can name it Zoro Junior.”

Sanji barks out a laugh as Conis gasps louder, and Wyper jerks in alarm at the suggestion. 

“Yes! Yes we should,” Sanji says, loving the suggestion. “Pick the ugliest one.”

Anne reaches into her fanny pack of art tools, looking for her pocket money. Wyper grimaces when she carefully tucks it into one of her fanny pack pockets like a proud new friend. Honestly, this might be the first time Sanji’s seen her buy something herself.

Sanji pats her on the head. 

It’s times like these that Sanji really realizes how much Anne has grown to love expressing her own eccentricities. 

 


 

They’re here to browse the stores and maybe find places to shop, but Sanji’s gotten distracted by souvenirs as well. It was hard not to. Conis and Wyper have never seen anything of the sort before, so they wanted to stop everywhere. And Anne wanted to draw everywhere. 

Sanji’s perusing a theater mask, listening to Anne explain the point of them. 

“They were used to hide identities, but look pretty at the same time,” she says. “Nobles were weird. So they had big illegal parties to do illegal things. But they didn’t want to be known for going there, so they wore masks like these.”

“Blue sea history is so fascinating!” Conis says, a picture of childlike curiosity. 

“Blue sea history is fucking nonsensical, ” Wyper echoes, the bringer of misery. “Who are nobles and why are they obsessed with pointless bullcrap?”

Anne wants to tell Wyper she might just be biased at descriptions, but honestly, he’s right, so she doesn’t bother with that. 

“It’s cool!” Conis insists. 

“It is pointless,” Wyper insists. 

“It is pretty!” 

“It is stupid .”

“I’m not going to make you any more clothes, Wyper!” Conis huffs. 

“So be it,” Wyper says, stubborn. “Nature’s on my side.”

“Now, behave, you two,” Sanji says, putting the theater mask back to look at another one. A light blue and gold, feather-adorned masquerade mask catches his gaze— he reaches for it, only for someone else’s hand to touch his. 

“Oh! I’m sorry!” the woman says, backing away immediately.

“No, it’s my bad—” Sanji turns to see her, catching baby blue hair against faded gold henna. He falls silent, jaws dropped open. 

Anne’s distracted by her plant, so she backs away right into a fluffy yellow mound of something huge. She turns around immediately and gawks. “Ah—?”

Carue also notices Anne, squawking at the sight and backing off immediately in surprise. Wyper and Conis look over, confused. 

“What?” That immediately breaks the ice. 

Sanji and Vivi’s voices roar right out of their throats at once, pointing at each other in a very loud exclamation as they realize who stood before them.

“AHHHHH!!” 

 


 

Nami, Gin, and Luffy are on the gold-exchange team. 

“Seriously, just tell us who’s meant to be our shipwright already,” Gin grumbles, fixing the visor cap tucked around his bandanna. 

“It’s a surprise~” Nami sings. 

“A surprise~” Luffy echoes in astounding tone-deafness, lugging half of the gold on his back, “surprise, surprise~” 

Everyone with a bounty was required to wear a minor disguise of some sort— Gin had a cap, Nami had a blazer— but they couldn’t manage to get anything on Luffy, so they just left him be. 

“Hey Nami!” Luffy calls, “after we get the money, bring us to a place with lots of shipwrights! I wanna guess!” 

Nami chuckles. “Yes, yes,” she says. “I guess we should check out Galley-la, since Granny Kokoro was kind enough to write us a letter of introduction and all.”

“Is our shipwright there?” Gin asks. He’s ignored. 

Nami takes out the letter. “When you get on a new island, it’s important to build up connections with people of power, so they don’t turn the city against you.” Then, a second later, “that is a lie. We’re going to get in trouble whatever we do. But Iceburg-san is a nice guy, so we’ll go talk to him anyway.”

Gin makes a disgruntled groan. “Give me a second,” he says, turning back in the vague direction of the ship, a foot on edge of the Yagara boat. “I’m going to ask Chopper for hypertension medicine.”

Luffy grabs him by the scruff before he jumps off, “you’re gonna swim?”

“Let me die.”

“We already told Robin no one is allowed to do that. You’re gonna have to try harder.”

“I can’t even pretend to commit suicide in peace?” 

Gin’s stress doesn’t get any better. Especially after the Yagaras decided to take a joyride through the roller-coasting slides of doom at speeds that would kill an older man. 

He’s nauseated and groggy by the time they get to the city bank. He sits there, murderously scowling his experience of the eighth hell right down at the appraiser as he tests their gold for authenticity. 

Nami, sitting on the opposing side of Luffy, sees Gin and mirrors his mood, glaring daggers at the poor man. She leaned over the back of the couch, arms spread wide on the back of the couch, legs crossed over each other as she leveled him with a firm, judgemental stare. 

The appraiser isn’t breathing. 

How is he supposed to breathe when two demons are glowering down his neck? They’d kill him and his descendants if he said anything that failed to please them. 

“So… how much are we getting?” Luffy asks, excited, the picture of sunshine. 

(They get out of there with five hundred million.)

Gin’s mood instantly improves. Nami is humming a very pleasant song. They’ve gotten a lot more money than they expected, and for a second, Gin felt like things could be good. 

“Woah! I’ve never handled so much money before!” Luffy cheers, spinning his arm like a high speed ferris wheel before launching the briefcase packed with 250 million right into the sky.

 


 

Gin grabs Luffy’s upper face and crushes it into the shape of his palm. 

“So, Luffy,” Gin says, slowly, as Nami carefully holds onto the two suitcases and Luffy’s straw hat. Luffy is on his knees, his face still scrunched up like a pickled plum. Gin stands before home with all the fury of his namesake. “Do you know what you did wrong?”

“I waz bein’ an ijiot,” Luffy says, looking down, chastised. 

“Will you do it again?”

“Noh.”

Nami chuckles at the sight, patting Luffy on the head when he comes to her for help. His face is stuck like that, so he can’t see, he’s just blindly feeling around until Nami brings his hands to his hat, to which he cheers like he’s found treasure again. 

“Raising your mutiny ranking when we get back,” Nami teases Gin. 

Gin scoffs. “Fine by me,” he says. “Seriously, Luffy! This isn’t a laughing matter! If we lose even one of these suitcases you can kiss the rest of our journey goodbye!” 

Luffy snickers, though it’s not fully in mindless cheer. His face pops back in place after some stretching from Nami, and he fixes the position of his hat with a smile. “I get it, Gin, I know! I promise I won’t do it again.” 

Gin relents at that. 

“Are you still mad?” Luffy asks, coming up to him to stare. He really couldn’t tell sometimes. Is it Gin’s resting bitch face or is he genuinely angry? He grins wide, “I’m really sorry! Are you hungry? Let’s go get some food, I am!” 

Gin sighs, fond. How is he supposed to stay angry at him?

“Oh sunshine,” he breathes out in exasperation, “I don’t have the energy to keep up. Just do whatever you want, I’ll follow.” 

Luffy cheers. “Let’s go, Nami! To the Mizu-Mizu Meat!” 

Nami whines. “You just ate ten minutes ago!”

“We’re rich! We can buy all the meat in the world!”  

When they start walking again, it's side by side, Gin and Nami just slightly behind Luffy. Luffy turns to Nami for directions, and to Gin for guidance. Despite the violent interactions, sharp tongues, and the undeniable conflict between their personalities— they worked together as captain and crew that respected each other. 

 


 

“Usopp, there’s a raised brick there, be careful.”

“Yes, thank you, Chopper.”

Robin giggles at the sight. Chopper walks around with a bright yellow ‘Service Animal Do Not Touch’ vest (designed by Usopp), and he’s leading him around with all the diligence of a puppy’s first day at work. 

Kinoko is on Chopper’s hat, occasionally murmuring something which Chopper responds to like wise advice from a senpai.

They guide him around, and then they guide Robin around like tour guides. 

“If you look to the left you will see an ice cream store!” Chopper says, delighted, and Kinoko echoes. They spin to Robin, who bursts into laughter. 

“Go right ahead,” she says. “I’ll wait here.”

“We’ll get you guys something!” They cheer, rushing right off. 

Usopp smiles, standing in place with his walking stick held before him. Robin stands off to the side, leaning against the wall, and Usopp follows. 

“You’re my guard, I see,” Robin smiles. 

“Always ready to serve,” Usopp assures. “I can be your knight in shining armour, or I can be the superhero that descends just for you. Anything you wish.”

“I’ll look forward to it, then.” 

She adjusts the hat on her head as she lifts her gaze toward the sky. 

She hadn’t been planning on wearing it, but Usopp had insisted. It definitely helped in hiding her face. She supposed this was part of the crew’s efforts in making sure she doesn’t try anything funny here. She hung the little ema-shaped sign of shame at her bag, enjoying the way the little bells jingled noisily with every odd step.

Apparently, here was where she once committed mutiny. 

And the knowledge of that amused her. She’s always been cursed to an eventual betrayal, often expected to bring them ruin— never has she ever been reminded of it, encouraged to do it, and faced with the challenge of testing their desire to make her stay.

If anything, it just made her want to stay, even more. 

Chopper comes back with ice cream for each of them, and while they share the flavours and watch Kinoko gorge herself on dairy that she shouldn’t eat too much of— she can’t help but feel like she really belongs here. She’s not allowed to hold the ice cream cone, so Usopp holds it as she cradles her injured arms to herself, feeling loved. 

This is it. This is the place Saul spoke of, that Saul wished for her to find. They’ve defied fate, they’ve won against god himself, and surely, no matter what will happen from here, they can bring her along through the storms. 

When she’s here, the world is bright and beautiful.

(But in heart, the more she feels loved, the more she fears.)

And bitterly, she wonders just what in the world, other than her own stubbornness, could possibly stop her from believing, from breaking her apart from this warmth.

 


 

“C-P-9.”

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

She doesn’t need more than just those words to understand the why behind her past decision anymore. And the crew won against them? It’s really hard to imagine. It must have been a tough battle. 

(How could she possibly dare to subject these people he loved to something like that?)

And just a little, she curses herself. Why had she been so easygoing? Why had she smiled and accepted those terms, like it had been a joke? It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t amusing, and it wasn’t something just having hope could solve. 

Zoro was right in being against it. 

But even if she were to go now, none of them would take her attempt seriously. And that filled her with such unsuppressed frustration, that she couldn’t handle the thought of staying here any longer. 

She had brought this upon herself. 

“What’s wrong, Robin?” Usopp asks, noticing she’d fallen behind. Chopper had run ahead into a bookstore, and Kinoko was on Usopp’s shoulder. 

Robin smiles wearily. It’s not like Usopp could see her expressions.

It didn’t seem like Usopp had noticed the person that walked by her. Either because of the crowd, or because Usopp wasn’t familiar with his voice— but he was well-hidden, and Robin supposed that was a good thing for her.  

“Nothing,” she says, and the lies come out so naturally, her heart sinks in disappointment at herself. “Could I borrow Miss Kinoko for a moment? I want to write a letter… and I was thinking, we could all go out together tonight, to one of the restaurants here.”

“Oh! Sanji would love that,” Usopp perks up, searching through the pockets of his overalls. “I’ve got paper.”

Robin smiles. “Then, I’ll write it.”

(There’s only one person that will take her concerns seriously.)

She sends Kinoko off toward the Going Merry. Kinoko gives her a confused glance, but she goes anyway, leaving quickly. 

“Huh? Aren’t you going to write one for the shopping group and gold group, too?” Usopp asks, realizing a little too late. Kinoko’s much too far to be called back. 

Robin looks fondly at him. 

She’s been so absorbed into this crew that she’s forgotten how cruel the world can be. They’re children. Of course they don’t understand. 

Nami and Usopp insist they do, but things have changed for them. Miracles don’t happen twice. And Robin isn’t betting on miracles, never again. Even if it would… she knows that a crewmate that puts her crew through a ‘trial’ as cruel as this one has no right to show herself before them again.

No matter what he does, this crew will see it as a test, a rebellion, and they won’t let her go. If so, then she just has to break that trust in the worst ways possible. 

She has to make them fail this test.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I was lying. I actually just told the Swordsman that I’m going to leave the crew, and he can regard that letter as my official defection.”

Usopp’s smile falls right off his face. 

“So… right now, I need you to hate me, Longnose-kun. Please tell me, what will it take?”

(I need you to fear me. I need you to see me as a cruel, heartless being.)

(And I need you to make me do it, so I may curse you for forcing my hand, too.)

Was it hypocritical self-victimization, to think that way? Perhaps, but that’s fine. Robin needed that— Robin needed any reason in the book, as long as it made her hate herself just as much as the crew will hate her after this. 

She needed any reason to justify her own feelings right now, even if it would just be self-destruction. 

“Will you fight back?”

Her arms are crossed before her. 

Usopp takes a fearful step back. “Wait, Robin. I can’t trust myself to not walk right off the edge here,” he says, chuckling nervously. “I thought we were fine with all this now? What happened, all of a sudden? There’s too many people here, so I can’t take you in a proper fight— let’s calm down and talk this out.” 

Usopp was not aware of the specific circumstances that made Robin leave. Sure, he knew the reason, and he understood all that Nami did— but at this point in time, he had personally been preoccupied with other matters. 

All he knew was word of mouth, and while that was enough on an emotional level, it was hard to say that he could truly understand why Robin would still choose the same path every time. 

“I see,” Robin says, hiding her face in her hat. Her wounds itch under her gloves. “That’s perfect, then.”

 


 

Nami brings the group to Galley-la Dock One, where they meet the rather eccentric Mayor Iceburg and his even more eccentric secretary. And the eccentric shipwrights, everyone really. 

Gin levels the area with a wary glare, and some of them glare back. Gin looks around, cautious. 

It might just be him, but he can kind of see a few people skulking around, eyeing them in particular. The noise they made back at the bank must’ve gotten people curious about the cash on their hand. He can’t react yet. He needs to identify what kind of threat they are, first. 

“Oh, hold on now, no outsiders inside,” Kaku pushes Luffy back by the forehead. “You’re here for ship repairs?”

“Ah, no,” Nami says. Her stiff posture isn’t missed on Gin, and his wariness crescendos. “We’re not looking to fix our ship. We’re looking to commission one, from the ground up.”

“We are?” Gin asks. 

“We are?!” Luffy asks, louder. 

Nami nods. “We want to hire someone specific to do the naval architecture, and if possible, we want to recruit a shipwright onto our crew as well, if they’re willing to join. We wanted to see our variety before we went through with the decision. We were introduced to Mister Iceburg, so we just wanted to hear if you have any thoughts regarding this.”

Iceberg hums at that, patting his rodent Tyrannosaurus on the head. “I’m not sureee… Kalifa. Who do you recommend?”

“I have a list, but it’s better if they head in to observe their workings personally.”

“That’s a good idea!” Nami beams, hooking an arm around Luffy’s elbow. “Let’s head in, Luffy. It’d be nakama-shopping!” 

“Nakama-shopping?!”

Luffy’s looking back and forth between them, just as lost as Gin is. Nami’s just doing whatever she wants, huh?

Gin sighs, the two briefcases by his side. 

“Ah, Gin!” Nami grins, “you can stay out here if you want! I know you’re exhausted.”

Gin raises a brow. She winks, so Gin figures she’s using him as bait, for the suspicious group out back. That’s fair, Gin’s very ready to punch them in the eyes. 

“I’ll take one of them,” she tells him, taking half the money, “if anything happens and it’s too much for you, just give us a shout, alright? We’ll come right back.”

Gin frowns. “I can take care of myself. Protecting the money is my job.”

“No,” Nami says. “Your job is to keep us together and keep us stable. Listening to you when you ask for help? That’s our job as crew.” 

Gin blinks at that, surprised. 

Luffy hears that and smiles, agreeing immediately. He almost seems proud to hear her say that, and he pats Gin on the shoulder. 

Gin sighs fondly. 

“I understand,” he says. “Go ahead then.”

And then they saunter away, Iceburg leading them in with one of the other foremen. Gin rests against the wall for a moment before he realizes Kalifa and Kaku are still before him, looking curiously toward him. 

He grimaces. “Something you need?”

Kaku backs up immediately. “Oh, no, not at all!” a tip of the hat, “just thinking you’re an amiable crew, despite the implications of yours and Burglar Cat’s past history. It’s unexpected.”

“It is information worth updating in my mental database,” Kalifa says. “The workers in Dock One are rather loyal, but I wonder if his charisma is a byproduct of some spell, for he’s able to bring even a Whitebeard on his side.”

Gin wonders if people are still gossiping about it, spreading long-forgotten rumors of Gin and Nami defecting from glory for a young rookie. 

“Whatever,” he says, waving dismissively for them to go away. 

They relent. 

“Speaking of, Kalifa,” Kaku chuckles, “remember that thing I needed you to custom order? So sorry, I think I messed up the order code! I’ll probably need you to call up and request a refund and—” 

“Again? How impertinent. This is sexual harrassment, Kaku,” Kalifa says. 

“So sorry! Last time I’ll ever make a mistake like this, promise!” 

“...the serial code, if you would.”

“Alright, so, it’s—” 

Gin tunes them out. Kaku and Kalifa are getting further away from him, but the people sneaking around are coming closer. Gin keeps the suitcase between his feet, hooked around a heel. With his free hands, he’s reaching for his tonfas. 

“Wait! Sorry, I stuttered, it’s a three, then—” 

“Silence. That is an order,” Kalifa interrupts. Gin scowls. They’re so distracting. “Three, six, one. And?”

“And that’s it,” Kaku confirms. “I’ll leave it to you then, I’ll be going! Seems there’s some pirates on the other end causing trouble again.”

“Alright, go on,” Kalifa nods. “Go berserk if you must, I could care less.”

Gin stops thinking. 

It’s not a willing motion. His vision halts, and his mind whirrs, taking him toward the sky. For a moment he has no idea what’s just happened— why he’s momentarily forgotten what he’s doing, and he’s consumed by an overwhelming sense that he needs to do something, and yet, he doesn’t know what it is. 

Something’s wrong. 

He hasn’t felt like this since—

—the MH5, perhaps—

—something’s wrong—

His head explodes with pain, and he falls forward, onto his knees. He thinks he blacks out for a second, but he lifts his hands and finds blood, and he soon notices it’s from his head. 

“HAHA!” Zambai, the man in the ridiculous steel costume, laughs, and Gin briefly realizes he’s got the briefcase in his hand. He runs before Gin reorients himself, onto a Yagara bull and speeding off into the distance. “Tough luck, Man Demon! This money now belongs to the Franky Family!” 

Instead of reacting immediately, Gin pauses to breathe. 

Remembering himself with dread in his chest and anger filling his wracked head, Gin scrambles to his feet, cursing himself. 

Maybe it’s the concussion. He can’t think straight. 

Those stupid-looking bastards got the jump on him? How could he let that happen? This isn’t like him at all. He wants to growl and roar and crush the earth under him with his fingers. Instead, he gathers himself, forces himself to his feet, and gives chase. 

(He completely forgets about Nami and Luffy.)

(Kalifa and Kaku watch the scene, and then they pretend they haven't.)

 


 

“GET BACK HERE!” 

Gin quickly realizes why it’s a bad idea to chase punks down in their home field. He scrambles down the walls, right into a ditch. He winds around alleys into tripwires, dead ends, and the occasional blunt weapon headed for him again. 

Gin’s head throbs, and the bleeding isn’t stopping, but he’s got better things to worry about. 

Nami had the other half of the cash. That should be enough to get them another ship, but it isn’t enough to pay off the rest of what they owe to their associates, and she also mentioned that whatever they needed to save the Merry also cost a fortune. 

If Gin loses that briefcase, he’s putting either one of those things at risk, and he really doesn’t want to be the reason for that kind of devastation. It’d be his greatest failure as the Quartermaster, and he didn’t think he could live with that. 

“Try to catch us, oh fearsome Man-demon!” 

“You’re looking pretty sick, Zombie man! Need a rest?” 

Gin trips over a hooked foot and right into a pothole. He drags down a food stall on the way and a mountain of pies turns over his head. 

Anyone else might have laughed, finding humour in such an incredulous situation. Objectively, all of this was hilarious. 

But Gin was never the one for this. 

This isn’t a joke. 

This isn’t a joke.

He isn’t a joke. 

(“Go berserk, if you must.”)

Gin stops breathing. He’s hunched over into himself, barely getting the pieces of grime and food out of him, and he sighs, swiping his bangs back, pulling off his hat and bandanna, which were all ruined by blood. 

The Franky Family look over his disheveled form from the roofs above. 

“You giving up, scary guy? Well, adieu!” 

“Hey there, dude!” another taunts, “your money’s here! You’re not gonna get it? I guess it’s ours now, then! Booyah!” 

Gin doesn’t know why he’s struggling. There’s been worse. There’s been tougher. This is chump, compared to everything he used to need to go through. 

Ah, he understands now. He’s been holding back, hasn’t he? 

(There was a point in time, where he promised to keep himself under control. And right now, he doesn’t remember why he did that, or who the promise was made with.)

He lifts his head, and the Franky Family, who freeze at the murderous glint in his eyes. 

“WElp!” they yell, “let’s not test our luck! SCATTER!” 

They’re not out of the roofs before Gin leaps

His feet leave craters under them, and when he grabs the edge of the roof to hike himself up, the concrete cracks under his fingers. 

“What the– holy shit!” 

“What the fuck, you’re kidding! What is he made of?!”

They run, desperate, but Gin’s got his eye on them. He’s not a chaser, but if these delinquents think they can outrun a Berserker in mobilized fury, they’re dead wrong. 

(He shreds through maybe half of them before he realizes he’s long lost sight of the suitcases, and he’s wasted so much energy nothing’s right.)

“...this was a trap,” he realizes. 

Those guys at the dock. Nami wasn’t baiting these Franky family bastards. The secretary. The secretary's a government agent. That’s their real opponent on this island.

(If only Gin had told any of the crew about his history. He couldn’t blame Nami for pitting him against them— she didn’t know, after all.) 

He’s on his knees, and his head’s bleeding too much to be safe. 

“...I need to find Anne,” he realizes. “Anne’s in danger. Anne’s in—” 

 


 

Anne sighs, looking around. They’re in a cafe now. 

Sanji’s fervently catching up with Vivi, and Conis is there marveling at the huge duck. Wyper’s watching from a safe distance away, but he’s mainly scrutinizing the croissant in front of him, absorbed like a staring contest. 

Anne sits on the fence, nursing a cup of cocoa. Her legs swing as she looks back, to the waterways, to the gorgeous scenery— the winds were calm, and the cacophony was a familiar bustle she enjoyed listening to. 

“Marianne.”

She freezes. 

A single Yagara boat is behind her, in the waterways directly below, a single man without a disguise feigns sleep against the fence. He stares up at Anne, and their eyes meet in a horrifying recognition. 

“...Rob Lucci,” Anne acknowledges, her voice a whisper. The cup of cocoa shivers against her hands, and she doesn’t take another sip.

No one has noticed him, or Anne’s reaction, yet. 

“You lived,” Anne says. 

“I won,” Lucci corrects. And he stands, turning around to properly face Anne. 

Anne can’t move. She knows he’s far too close— any attempts at running would be immediately thwarted. It’s hopeless. 

“Something very valuable was stolen from the facility that day, and the government would like to have it returned,” Lucci says. 

 


 

Wyper frowns, leaning back, he turns toward Anne, “hey, are you sure this flamboyant food isn't a waste of resources—” 

He falls silent. Anne’s no longer on the fence. In her place is the single cactus, with Anne’s necklace strung around its base. The cup of cocoa is barely touched.

Wyper stands up. 

“Shit.”

 


 

Zoro peruses the mutiny board, frowning. 

He didn’t hate it. Mutiny didn’t mean what it’s supposed to mean on this ship, and Zoro had thought everyone understood that without saying. He’s devastated to realize he was wrong. 

Things that could have gone wrong have already gone wrong. Sure, it wasn’t in this time… but the fact that he ever allowed it to happen, even in different circumstances— and even now, in circumstances he can’t control, that he didn’t know how to control— it just left him feeling frustrated and restless. 

He hated it. Hated it so much. 

This crew had just been playing around with their loyalty, never truly understanding the depth of what the incriminating word mutiny meant in the real world. They were just fooling around. It was just a joke. 

Was piracy, too, just a joke to them?

…no, it wasn’t. Zoro’s letting his emotions get to him. They’re inexperienced and young, but they definitely took this journey seriously. He’s not any much more different.

He sighs, setting a hand on Kogatana at his neck. 

In a sense, he was the same. He may insist he’s solid on the ground, firm on his resolve, and yet, he’s got half-hearted wills, here and there. Zoro isn’t the picture of a perfect pirate, either, so who’s to say he has a right to scold the rest for what they lacked?

Zoro sighs, stepping out. “What a pain,” he mutters. “You think so too, right, Merry?”

He doesn’t get an answer, but the winds flow, and the sails flutter. 

Suu’s asleep by the bow, and he picks her up, laying down by the side of the ship, setting the fox on his haramaki before getting comfortable as well. 

He can’t do anything but wait. He’s good at waiting. 

But until then, he’ll stay here and guard their weakest links. Because it’s the least he can do right now to just stay by their sides, and try to make sure their home would still be here when they return.

 


 

Kinoko comes with a letter, and Zoro wakes up, confused. 

“What’s the occasion?” he asks, and Kinoko shrugs as well. He rolls open the slip of paper and his eyes widen. “What the— this is from Robin?” 

He stops. 

Picking Suu off his stomach, he sets her down beside Kinoko. She stirs, confused, and Kinoko looks around the ship, alarmed. 

Zoro tucks the letter into his haramaki. He draws his swords abruptly, swinging back to deflect two blades that are thrown at him. 

“Oh? You’re pretty quick,” the attacker says. 

“You’ve got some nerve, coming up and picking a fight when I’m annoyed,” Zoro says, his voice a deep growl. “Do you want to die? I’m not really in the mood to hold back right now.” 

“Wow. You’re really the Demon of the East when you say it so threateningly.”

Kinoko lifts her head, surprised. That was an uncharacteristic amount of anger for just disturbing his sleep. 

“Identify yourselves,” Zoro demands, a low warning.And then he looks toward Kinoko and Suu, who were trying to subtly inch away, “stay there, you two. Go back to sleep, Suu.”

“Oh don’t worry about your little pets, Pirate Hunter,” the man before him says. “We’re bounty hunters. We’re the Franky family, and we’re going to take your head for all it’s worth! And then, we’ll hide out and wait for the other cash cows to come back!” 

More of these freaks in black steel armor and nerdy goggles leap out from their hiding spots around the Merry, and Zoro frowns. 

He doesn’t draw the Wado ichimonji. Instead, he sheathes the Yubashiri, holding onto just Kitetsu, hearing the cry of its thirst for blood, and letting it fill his mind. 

“I don’t have patience for this shit,” he says. “Come at me all at once, I want to get this over with quickly.” 

That letter was not good news, and he had to tell the rest of the crew. Now.

 


 

Zoro marches into the galley, tapping on the Mother Den Den Mushi sleeping on its pedestal. “Call the little ones,” he says, picking up the receiver. It takes about a ten seconds for Nami, Sanji, and Chopper to pick up. 

“Zoro? I’m a little busy, we kinda lost Gin and— Luffy, come here, we can’t get separated too—”

“What is it, Marimo? I don’t have time for your crap!”

“Zoro? ZOooRooo! I’m not lost, I promise! But like. I can’t find Usopp and Robiiin…” 

Zoro interrupts them with a loud, furious, “FAMILY MEETING, SHITHEADS. All of you get back here right now!” 



Chapter 83: lines that can't be crossed (fights that have been picked)

Summary:

Gin escapes by virtue of an old nosey trick. Sanji and Vivi take a step back to look at the bigger situation. Usopp is found, and Nami does not take it well. Neither does Luffy and Zoro.

The Strawhats reconvene, and they decide what to do next.

Notes:

Hey so, warning for the fact that I like to be cruel to Usopp.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

“Oh, you’re awake.”

When Gin rouses, he keeps startlingly still, opening his eyes just briefly to take in where he’s ended up this time. His head has cooled. Now he just has to keep his heart rate down until he finds Anne again. He’ll be fine, he’s good at that. 

He can smell the disinfectant on him, the many bandages on him. Everything hurts, but at least everything also feels secured in some form of treatment.

The man beside him— older, blonde, ah, a fellow thick jacket enthusiast. 

“You remember where you are, sonny?”

It’s Granny Kokoro, sitting at the counter. Chimney and Gonbe are there, too, turning around grinning widely in assurance. 

“I need a drink,” Gin says. 

The blond man laughs. “Nice! Straight for the alcohol, I love you, man!” he says. “Alright, let’s get this chap something good!” 

“Paulie, keep your voice down. He’s got a concussion,” Chimney frowns. 

“Oh come on, brat, you wouldn’t understand us adults. We need our big boy juice.”

“At least you’re lively enough!” Granny Kokoro chortles. “Gotta like that in a young chap.”

Gin squints, not sure why she’s there. 

“Paulie here found you in the backstreets and dragged you in,” Chimney explains. “Me and Granny were here already. This is Blueno’s bar! It’s not open today, though, dunno where he went. He won’t mind us using this space, though.” 

“Ah,” Gin dryly acknowledges.

“Too bad about your cash, though, but here in the Water Seven backstreets, it’s a dog eat dog world,” Paulie says, slapping his knee. Then when Gin struggles up, he sets a hand on his shoulder. “No no, stay down.”

Gin lays back down, fists tightening. 

This place isn't safe. He can’t quite put a finger on it, but he can’t trust— he can’t trust anyone right now. 

It’s just like way back then, when he first split up with Chaser and Anne. They can’t trust anyone. They have to scavenge, to run, and never let anyone in. Anyone around them could be another part of the system, and anyone could drag them back in. 

He can’t stay here. He has to get the money back. He has to find Anne. He has to—

“Now, now, calm it, kid,” Granny Kokoro walks over, a few trinkets jangling at her belt as she sits down on the couch on the other side of his head. “It’s a shame your money’s gone, but you’ve gotta let bygones be bygones, you know?”

Gin’s head immediately winds back to attention. 

That thing hanging by Kokoro’s waist— it’s a little red orb, hanging around a whistle, some keychain trinkets. It’s a Buggy Passport. 

(What was it again? He remembered using the code.)

(When he went back to Alabasta with Anne, Nami told Gin the code to ask for help.)

“Get me an Old-Fashioned,” Gin says, the words spilling out of him immediately. Granny Kokoro stops mid-sip of her mug of beer. “And make it flashy.”

Kokoro puts her drink down. “Awfully picky taste for a man’s halfway through death.”

“Well what can I say, I…” Gin strains, “suddenly have a hell of a craving.”

Paulie yelps when Kokoro abruptly stands up, taking Gin by the torso and tossing him over a shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

“Well, change of plans,” Kokoro says, “where’s your ship?”

“I don’t—” Gin groans, miserable. “Just get me somewhere I can call our guide bird.”

Paulie doesn’t have the time to protest before Chimney and Gonbe hop off their bar stools as well. “Wait— what about your drink? Alright whatever then.”

 


 

Blueno returns to his bar just a few minutes after the group leaves, frowning. He knows someone’s come by. Probably Granny Kokoro, since there’s an unfinished glass of juice for Chimney on the counter. 

He decides their presence is not worrying about. 

The Den Den Mushi rings and he groans. 

“He’s not here,” Blueno says, not bothering to ask who was on the other end because he already knew anyway. 

“I’m positive he went there,” Kaku says, his voice stern. 

“Well, he’s not in the area,” Blueno insists. “Your tracking was wrong. It was ridiculous to suggest this to begin with. You’re wasting my time.”

“My tracking is never wrong,” Kaku sneers, clearly offended. “361-N was right at your bar. It makes no sense. If we lose him after getting this far— you are jeopardizing the mission.”

Your mission, not mine,” Blueno says, curt. “I was just offering a hand as a favour. Don’t blame me if you decided to rely on charity at the crux of your chase.”

“Oh fuck you.”

Kaku hangs up. 

Blueno curses lowly, dropping the receiver on the Den Den Mushi again. He sighs deeply, working to clean up the mess in the bar. 

 


 

“Here’s the most unassuming route in the city.”

Kokoro drops him off under the ground level— no, that wasn’t quite right. Water Seven was built above the sea, stacking higher above buildings. It made sense that no matter how far you go, there would always be an underbridge to every alley. 

That’s where they were now, below the streets and around the sewers, where no one but them and a couple Yagara were around. 

“So, what’s with that?” Paulie asks. 

“Why are you still here,” Gin groans, getting back up on staggering feet. He rips the visor off his bandanna because there’s no point in hiding anymore, and curses that he didn’t have a Den Den on his own. 

“Don’t be such a cold guy, I picked you out of the garbage, you know,” Paulie says. 

“So you’re the kind that gets emotionally attached to fucking garbage?”

“Your words, not mine,” Paulie deflects. Chimney and Gonbe were on either side on his shoulders, giggling at the banter. “What are you in a rush for anyways? Too late to go for Franky now, they’ve probably taken the money and spent it like hell already.” 

Gin groans, straightening his jacket. It’s just dirty, not torn, that’s good. He turns to Granny Kokoro, “thanks, Gram’,” he says. 

“Welcome,” Kokoro says. She already has another bottle of alcohol, downing it like water. “But I gotta say, it hurts my feelings that you don’t trust the company I associate with.”

(He pleaded for an out. For an escape, because he didn’t know who to trust.)

(That’s the perk of the Buggy line. The old hearts don’t discriminate, don’t investigate, they just listen and they help, for old times’ sake. No matter who you are, if you’re on an island, it’s fine to let yourself be led by gold.)

Gin ascertains his location. Looks up, and whistles, loud and clear. 

(Ah, right. Kokoro just helped him, so Gin should return the favour, shouldn’t he?)

He leans in, setting an arm around Kokoro’s shoulder, speaking into her ear.

“There are government agents undercover, right around the Mayor you were introducing us to,” he says, lifting a hand just in time for Kinoko to dive right in, perching upon his arm. He pats Kokoro and the shoulder and moves away. “You’re probably fine if you’ve been here long. Try not to come near us anymore, though.” 

Kokoro’s face is deceptively stoic. Her eyes flashed with something of recognition, and her next words are a little more subdued than before. 

(Gin speaks in the name of gold, when he shares this piece of information.)

(There’s no value in lying. You could get your Pass rescinded for it. So Kokoro knows better than to doubt what he says.)

(And if he’s telling the truth, then Kokoro’s suddenly got a lot to do today.)

Paulie raises a brow. He can’t hear any of it, so he just shares a glance with Chimney and Gonbe, who were both also pouting from being left out. 

“By ‘us’, you mean the Strawhats?” she snorts, speaking loud, “gonna pick a fight?”

Paulie, sensing the mood, frowns. “Hey hey. I don’t care what you pirates do, but don’t go dragging Water Seven into your mess.”

Gin slams a hand against the wall, shattering the bricks that were unfortunate enough to be in his way. 

Paulie falls silent. 

Gin turns, glaring. “We’re not picking a fight,” he sneers. “The fight’s picking us, and if I go back and see things fucked up, the world better be ready for us to take it.”

He marches away, the bird leading his path. 

Kokoro and Paulie are left in the alley with Chimney and Gonbe, and their eyes meet uncomfortably. 

“There’s more to this I’m missing, isn’t there?” Paulie says, rhetoric. 

Kokoro puts her alcohol down. “Storm’s coming,” she says. 

“The Aqua Laguna?”

“That, too,” Kokoro steps out of the alley as Paulie puts Chimney and Gonbe back on their feet. “Get to shelter, Paulie boy. I don’t think the entirety of Water Seven will be ready for what comes next.”

“What does that even mean? Wait, Grandma Kokoro, where are you going then?!”

“I’m sure you’d like to know.” 

Paulie follows.

 


 

“Wait, who is in the crew?”

Vivi can’t drink her Blue Lagoon right now. She hands it off to Carue, who takes a skeptical look, tries to be sensitive in reading the mood, but then gives up and downs it all in one gulp.

“Yeah… she’s on our side now,” Sanji chuckles, “Robin-chan, I mean. I don’t know what the rest of Baroque Works are doing, but they’re keeping out. It all worked out—” 

“All worked out?” Vivi asks, her tone lifting into irritation. “Do you have any idea how long it took for me to get that heathen in chains? I was wondering who—” 

She sighs deeply, glancing toward Anne at the ledge, as well as Conis and Wyper who were watching awkwardly. She lets her complaints end there. 

“It’s okay, I know, I get it, I really do,” she mulls, reaching up to her face, sulking, “this is that kind of crew. I wouldn’t have been able to join if not for it. You’d never properly understand what Luffy’s thinking even if he’s right beside you. I know that much. But still…” 

“I understand your reservations,” Sanji says. “Just… a lot’s happened.” 

“Seems so,” Vivi relents, taking her snowball cake and handing it to Conis and Wyper who look upon it with all the interest of children before proceeding to observe it like a group of alien biologists. “I can’t guarantee I’ll like it, but I’ll listen.” 

Sanji swoons, “ever the diplomat, my princess. I’m sorry we’re so unreasonable.”

Vivi chuckles. “Well, what can I say… I had a crash course on that while I was home.”

The two proceed to catch up. About everything after Alabasta, from the race to the skies and down, the Davy Back, the festival island, everything. Sanji talks, and Vivi listens. 

“Robin means a lot to us now, Vivi,” Sanji says. “It’s a little difficult to understand. She doesn’t understand it either.”

Vivi nods. “The problem remains. It’s not that I don’t sympathize… but I know exactly why the world fears her, and that’s why I’m not sure if I can truly take the same risks you’re all taking, just by being with her. It’s complicated.”

Sanji hums. 

For Vivi, just returning to the world of piracy is a risk. She lives, not just by the name of a young princess, but in the representation of her country as its previous acting ruler and among the ranks of a being that once held a seat in the highest. The world may not be aware, but those who sit up high would know, and they would react accordingly. 

Vivi reaches over to Carue, setting a comforting hand on the cold bill. 

“When I was thinking of coming back here, I hesitated,” she admits. “I want to be free, too. I want to go on adventures as your nakama, too, but… just by being here, the eyes of the world target us stronger, and the reputation of my country will falter.” 

They might even be charged for treason, depending on what the crew does next. 

“In that sense… I suppose I’m not all that different from Miss All-Sunday right now, am I?” she smiles, and it’s miserable. “Do I really deserve to be here?”

Sanji slams a hand on the table. It’s loud and shaky and other guests in the cafe look over with frowns, but Sanji doesn’t falter. His brows knit in anger. 

“Never ask that,” he says. 

Vivi’s lips curl into a smile. That’s all she needed to hear. “The answer’s so obvious, isn’t it? Then, I suppose the same answer extends to Miss All-Sunday as well.” 

Sanji’s eyes light up with recognition. “Oh, you were asking—” 

Vivi giggles. “Of course, I’ve thought up my own plans for coming out again. Don’t worry about me,” she says. “I’m more concerned about Robin. She’s—” 

Wyper abruptly stands up, and Conis gasps.

Sanji and Vivi are wrenched away from their conversation. “Huh wait wha— what?” Sanji stands, when he notices as well. “Hey, where’d Anne go?”

She was gone, like a candle extinguished in the daytime. Upon the little cactus was her pendant— she had left it behind, almost hastily, as a last second thought.

Wyper crosses the threshold quickly, unable to believe his eyes. 

“Shit.”

 


 

The Denden call from Zoro was just about the most unsettling thing in the combination. Sanji barely gets a word in edgewise before Zoro is shouting for a regroup. 

“Damn it, guess we have to go,” Sanji says.

Conis picks up Anne’s pendant and the cactus, holding it close to her chest. Wyper’s on the water in Waver Skates, ready to jet off at notice. 

Conis drops from the ledge, leaping with practiced ease right into Wyper’s side, holding on. The fastest route back to the ship was by the waters, and Sky Islanders knew best when to prioritize convenience for speed. 

“Wait, Sanji-san,” Vivi says. “We can move so hastily. Right now, we have to move carefully!” 

“Huh?” 

“Don’t you get it? Whoever’s taking action took Anne right out from beside us!” she says, her voice a sharp but audible hiss. “The same thing is happening to Robin, and whoever else they’re targeting. Do you know what that means?”

Sanji pauses, carefully sitting down in an almost stilted movement. 

“...they’re already here, watching our every move,” he says, voice lowered. 

And if their watchers see them rapidly regrouping, that would leave the Strawhats entirely open. They would take the chance to erase their traces, run off, and by the time the Strawhats notice, they’ll be either locked behind a trap or left too far in the dust. 

Vivi remains in her seat, turning to the Skypieans. “You two… Conis-san and Wyper-san, right? I’m sorry I can’t greet you properly, but… can I trust you two to aid everyone on the ship?”

Conis falters. She doesn’t have any complaints about that at all, of course. Sanji trusts her judgment as an old friend, and who was Conis to deny that? Conis is almost surprised Vivi bothered asking for her input. 

“I– of course, Miss Vivi. but…”

“Then what will you two be doing?” Wyper asks.

Carue quacks, raising a wing in assurance. Vivi leans into the table, resting a hand on her cheek. Sanji slumps back with a sigh. 

She smiles. “What we do best.”

 


 

Chopper’s made a big mistake. 

In his excitement at the aspect of a bookstore, he lost sight of what he was doing and left Robin and Usopp behind. Now, neither of them are in sight, and Chopper’s running around the streets of Water Seven, trying his best to catch anyone’s scent. 

He’s going to cry. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid , why couldn’t he focus on his job for a day? He was even so enthusiastic about guiding Usopp around—

—he freezes. 

There’s a crowd at the end of the street. There’s nothing beyond it but waterways and a dead end, but some people were looking over the corner and gasping at the sight of— something. 

Shit , what the hell.” 

“The Franky family sure as hell didn’t do this . Even they’re not this fucked up.”

“Fuck, are the visiting pirates causing trouble again? What do we do?”

“It’s a warning. Better not get close to it.” 

“Is he alive?” 

“I don’t know, and— no, don’t. You don’t know if you’ll get targeted for helping!” 

People were whispering, city guards and nurses coming by, but hesitant to move. Chopper wanted to scream. Someone’s hurt there, and yet, no one’s helping? They don’t want to get involved. Chopper knows that’s human nature. But still— still.

Chopper doesn’t want to walk over. 

He smells Usopp in that direction. He smells blood, he smells sick, and he doesn’t, doesn’t, doesn’t want to go over there and see what the crowd is looking at. 

But if he doesn’t, then no one will. 

“Make way! Let me through!” he yells, in his littlest form, so he can slip through the crowd. He’s brave. He can be. He has to be. Please. Please, may this not be what he thinks it is

He winds the corner so quickly, the sight nearly shocks him into toppling right into the sea. His eyes blow wide and he gasps, his entire body shooting back into a passerby.

There’s not as much blood as he’d thought. That’s not an assurance of anything. 

There’s a red trail, soaking into the walls and the bricked path, clearly the wake of a man that’s been specifically moved after being attacked. 

Usopp is hung against the wall, ropes binding his arms out on either side of him. Strangely enough, the wall seemed to open right where it needed, little doors creating openings for the ropes to wind around. 

“Woah, kid. Watch it!” 

“Hey, this isn’t a place for children!” 

“Kid, this isn’t a pretty sight, get—” 

Chopper transforms into his larger form and roars . “All of you leave !” he yells, and they back off immediately, scrambling in horror. 

“A monster! He turned into a—!!” 

They scream, scrambling away, desperate. Some fall into the sea in their scramble, since there isn’t a lot of space to run. Chopper isn’t in the mood to deal with them. 

He needs to get him down. Now.

 


 

Nami expected Gin to run off in chase of the Franky family for their gold— but she didn’t expect the unsettling spike that occurred before Gin’s voice abruptly vanished for a frightening second. 

Something had happened. 

“Hey, Uncle Ice,” Nami runs up to him as Luffy leaps somewhere high, looking around to try and figure out what’s wrong. Nami hands him a whole two hundred million beri. “I trust you to keep this money.”

“You trust?!” Luffy yells in disbelief. 

“What’s this, all of a sudden?” Iceburg questions, “are you leaving the choice of the shipwright to me, after all?”

“No,” Nami leans in enough to plaster half her body on him, tipping her toes to a hug. The action earns them a scandalized look from all Galley-la workers in the surroundings, and a horrified shout of disbelief from one of the carpenters.  

Iceburg also stills, taken by surprise. But then Nami buries her mouth in his shoulder and says something so softly, he freezes. 

“We want our ship made by Cutty Flam,” she whispers. “If I know, there are others who do, too. You’re being targeted. Be careful.”  

“Wait—” Iceburg calls, but Nami’s pulling away, “What makes you think he’ll accept a commission like… and she’s gone,” he sighs. 

“...what was that?” Kalifa asks, “sexual harrassment?”

Iceburg groans. “Something like that. Please cancel my plans for the day. I will need a mental health break.”

“Understandable, Mayor Iceburg. Please take your time.”

 


 

They quickly excuse themselves to look for Gin, soaring across the roofs of Water Seven, desperately trying to find Gin. He couldn’t have gone far, and yet, they couldn’t find even a trace of him. 

“FAMILY MEETING, SHITHEADS. All of you get back here right now!” 

Nami and Luffy couldn’t speak against that. 

It’s rare for Zoro to be genuinely furious. 

“Right away,” Nami complies, hanging up the Den Den. They’ll have to trust Gin for now, and go search later on. For now, regrouping is key. 

“Alright, which way’s the ship?”

Nami checks their location. They’re pretty high up, so—

—she stops, sensing something in the distance. Her haki isn’t too great a range, but this voice. This voice , she’ll always recognize. 

“Usopp,” she says, searching for it, “Luffy, we need to find Usopp.”

Tell her this isn’t true. He’s the furthest from the same tragedy of last time around, so he should have been safe… he’s stronger now. He can handle himself. Chopper and Robin’s with him. No one can catch his haki off guard. He should have been alright.

“Luffy, please,” she pleads, her hand stopping in one direction. Her eyes are blown wide in disbelief, in denial, and her lips tremble. ‘Usopp… Usopp, I don’t know what’s wrong, but his voice. His voice is not right .”

Luffy takes one look at her face and wraps his arms around her, stretching out an arm to find a good sling trajectory. 

Tell me it’s not what I think. Nami pleads. Please don’t make me find you like that again.

(It’s so much worse.)

 


 

“Chopper!” 

There’s a loud crash and splash, something flinging in from high above— crashing into the wall, and plunging into the waters. 

Chopper turns to see Nami surfacing, dragging Luffy with her to shore.

“You guys!” Chopper cries in relief. “Usopp’s—!” 

Nami takes his hand and he pulls them both onto the path in one move. They scramble to look— and the horrified gasps that rip out of their throats. 

Chopper’s managed to lay Usopp down, bandage his wounds— they’re not too bad. Broken bones, all clean shatters. The blood mainly comes from a gunshot to his stomach and shoulder, neither wer lethal and Chopper already took the bullets out. 

Usopp’s blissfully unconscious now. Stable. But…

“Usopp…” Luffy bites down on his lip, eyes blown wide, “who would—” 

“It was,” Chopper speaks, his voice muffled and choked with regret, “it was Robin. The ropes, the injuries— everything smells like her. Her footsteps are here, too.”

Nami and Luffy spin to him, disbelief clear in their faces. And yet— and yet that made so much sense, they couldn’t deny it. Who could do that to Usopp if not Robin?

Nami turns toward the wall, where Usopp had been strung up. The bloodstains tell it all— a vague silhouette in the shape of a cross, the ropes were a small mercy. The unnatural doors? Blueno, must be. 

But who would do this? Who would bother? This was clearly a threat, a warning, an indication of a very firm intention, contrary to what they agreed upon before this island. 

(“I suppose… what do you think is the worst way a person can die?”)

Nami covers her mouth with her hands and her breath strains, but she tries her best to keep her composure. She knows what caused this, she knows why Robin did this. 

Even so. Even so

“Robin,” she sobs, “there are lines you just can’t cross. You should have known that.”

(“Ever been crucified?”)

Robin’s trying her best to make sure the crew hates her, and Nami wanted to cry because for just a second, just a second really, it’s genuinely working.

Luffy’s seething, fists tightening by his sides, brows scrunched in complete upset. 

“Where’s Robin now, then?” his voice is hollow.

 

-


-

 

Paulie is really surprised when Kokoro leads him to an unused dock labeled with the name of the renowned Tom’s Workers. 

Chimney and Gonbe run right in, like it’s their very home. 

“Franky! We came to play!” they call, and Paulie freezes immediately.

Not because Franky is there on the couch of this sacred building, not at all. It’s because Mayor Iceburg is also there, drinking cola from a glass on his opposite side. 

“Hey, sonny,” Kokoro greets. 

Iceburg and Franky make completely synchronous grimaces. It’s like they’re reflections. “What the– what do you want, old hag?” they say. In unison.

Paulie is not computing this right now. 

“Oh, so you’re going to just waltz in too?” Franky groans, “people seem to forget what cutting ties means in this damn city.” 

“I think you can complain about that when you start understanding what dying means, too,” Iceburg says. He lifts his glasses, turning toward the entrance. “So, not that I’m complaining, but why did you bring Paulie with you?”

“He wanted to come along.”

Paulie looks like he has three hundred questions and a frog in his mouth. 

There’s also a toad in the waterway, maybe that’s why. Chimney and Gonbe are playing with it and Paulie has no idea if he should stop her, for the sake of self-preservation. 

“I don’t— what on— how. I mean, I don’t understand it—” he gives up. 

“So… there’s this wolf He told me Ice-boy’s compromised,” Kokoro says. 

Iceburg groans. “What a coincidence. A harlot told me Franky’s compromised.”

Franky considers that. “Well, my mechanical gut’s told me you both don’t belong here. Now I want all of you out of here, but I have a feeling you’re not going to count that as a valid opinion.”

There’s silence.

Then Iceburg lifts his head, leaning over the back of the couch, completely disregarding the previous statement. “Kokoro-san, I need something stronger than Cola right now.”

“Oh dear, alright,” Kokoro walks, “have you been maintaining my bar, Franky?” 

“I said LEAVE?! But yeah it’s there.”

 


 

It’s nearly sunset when the crew convenes. Chopper rushes Usopp to the infirmary first. Conis and Wyper show up next, reporting Anne’s disappearance. 

“What do you mean, the Shit-Cook’s not coming?!” Zoro snaps. Conis jumps back, and Nami takes her by the shoulder. 

“Let Sanji be,” Nami says. “He knows what he’s doing.”

Zoro clicks his tongue, dissatisfied but willing to let it go. Luffy’s eerily silent, sitting in the middle of the deck with Suu. Wyper shucks off his cloak, and beelines for the girls’ room, where the weapons were. 

They didn’t know if Gin would show up. He did get thrown off course and—

“Kinoko!” Nami spins toward the town, and everyone on deck lifts their heads in attention. The bird comes, Gin hot on her heels. “He’s here!” 

Gin leaps onto deck, breathing harshly. 

He makes no mention of his own injuries— instead, he takes in the sight of everyone and looks away, almost ashamed. 

“I,” he reaches for his head, “I’m sorry. I fucked up.” 

He doesn’t need to ask to know that Anne isn’t on the ship. 

“If it’s the government that took Robin, too, then—” Gin curses, “he’s not going to take them just anywhere .”

No one looks away. No one refutes. No one throws blame, and no one accuses. 

Luffy just says a single, firm, “explain.”

And Gin does.

“Cipher Pol,” he starts. He stops, trying to figure out how many details to cut. “Anne and I are from a facility that trains their soldiers. We ran away four years ago, and now they want us back.”

 


 

They gather in the galley, where Usopp’s still unconscious but stable. 

“The Sea Train travels to Enies Lobby,” Nami says, and Gin winces at the knowledge. “Criminals are led through a gate, and then, it’s straight to prison.” 

With the Aqua Laguna coming in just a day or two, there’s not much time for them to prepare. They have no idea what the situation is like on Robin and Anne’s end, and it’ll be hard to figure it out from here as well. 

“Before that, what the fuck is up with that woman?” Wyper says, “I know we said she could do her shit, but we definitely didn’t mean that .”

He gestures vaguely toward Usopp, and Chopper makes a crushed whine. Conis is still cradling Usopp’s hand, something like a prayer in her chest. Kinoko is seated right by Usopp’s head. 

Gin sits beside Chopper as the reindeer sets an ice pack around his head. No one really cared about the money at the moment. 

“I do agree she went too far,” Nami says, quickly, “but she’s doesn’t mean it—” 

“Nami,” Zoro says, firmly. “That doesn’t excuse what she’s done.”

Nami clamps shut. She definitely agrees with that part. Suu wheels over, a fold of paper between her jaws, and Nami takes it. 

“It’s from Robin?” she realizes. “ [I’m leaving the crew] .” 

Her heart breaks at those words. 

“She really said that?” Luffy balks, reaching over to take it before frowning. That’s really all she said. “What’s with her, I don’t approve of this!” 

There was no way any of them would ever, even taking into consideration the Buster Call and other factors. Robin is theirs , and they’ve made it plenty clear they’re not going down without a fight. If Robin thinks being cruel is going to deter them, she’s clearly underestimated their tenacity. 

Zoro’s brows were still knit together, clearly itching to yell at more people, but holding back. There was no point in being mad.

“That decides it, then,” he says, straightening.

“Wait, Zoro!” Nami calls, when Zoro moves to walk out of the conversation, “I know you’re mad about this mutiny business, but—” 

“I am not mad about the mutiny bullshit!” He slams a hand against the door. When he whirls around, it’s like all his suppressed temper explodes at once. “She told me she was leaving. What fucking excuse does she have for that?!”  

It was like the tundra had blown over, the way everyone fell immediately silent. 

Why did Robin tell Zoro and no one else? She clearly had the opportunity to, and Kinoko had been under the impression she was sending an invitation to dinner, to the crew. Why did she bypass all of the chain of command and head to Zoro?

Was it because Zoro’s the only one that continued to doubt her to the end? Was it because she knew it would irritate Zoro that she did?

It didn’t matter.

She had deliberately brushed aside Luffy’s position, and sent her letter of resignation toward the First Mate, as if the Captain’s consideration was never in her mind. There was nothing more disrespectful a mere crewmate could do to their captain.

(There was no better way to make sure Zoro chased you down to hell. Though, it’s hard to figure if she realized that.)

“We’re going out,” Luffy says. “Zoro’s got the right idea. We can’t stay here and wait.” 

“Wha— but we don’t know where they are now,” Nami says. “The trains will be supervised, and they won’t leave until they get the other thing they need.”

“You know the culprits, don’t you?” Wyper says, “then we’ll just go.”

“Huh? R- right now?” Conis says, stuttering. “I’m not disagreeing, but… a storm’s coming.”

“I’ll go,” Chopper says, looking firmly downward. “I’m mad at Robin. I’m gonna make her the bitterest medicine possible and make her drink it.” 

At that, Kinoko glances over incredulously. She glances down at the pestle and mortar in the doctor’s lap. She does a double take. 

“Wait, we can’t go now,” Nami says. “They’re not all together. And we have less information than they do on our positions.”

“We have the advantage in numbers,” Zoro says. 

“Not if they turn the entirety of Galley-la on us,” Nami retorts. 

“When has numbers ever been a concern for this crew?” Wyper raises a brow. “Your crew of less than a dozen people fought the entirety of Enel’s forces and won?”  

“Baroque Works,” Chopper contributes. 

Nami falls silent. They have a very good point. 

“I’m still worried about the Buster Call, but alright,” Nami relents, “I’ll give you guys that one. But I’m standing by my point— there’s no point picking a fight now . If they see us coming too blatantly, they’ll pack up and leave and our fighting will just be another distraction for them to get away!” 

“But if we wait around, it’s just giving them more time!” 

“Stop playing mind games, just keep it simple!” Wyper groans. “We know our enemy, so we go and blow them up!” 

“There are way more than a hundred people in the Blue Sea, Wyper, I don’t think you fathom what five warships of people looks like!” 

Wyper clicks his tongue. 

“Please don’t quarrel at a time like this,” Conis says. “I understand being cautious, but at a time like this… who even knows what Robin and Anne are dealing with at this moment?” 

 

All other protests die the moment Luffy presses his hat down, refusing to show his face.

“What did Robin suggest again, ah, right,” Luffy lifts his head to reveal a cold glare. “Not everyone is here, but let’s go. Out, to eat.”

Notes:

361-N is just leetspeak of 'EGIN' by the way.

Chapter 84: no time to waste (just get it all done)

Summary:

Usopp struggles to calm down, but thankfully, the Going Merry seems to be infested with well-meaning intruders today.

The Straw Hats raid Galley-la. CP9 wagers their next move against Aqua Laguna, which is still a day out. Plans are not set out, but they are definitely in motion.

Meanwhile, the sea train sets off, two romantics in tow.

Chapter Text

“Well, things have gotten complicated,” Blueno says, setting down a mug of orange juice on the table. “Have a drink, little lady.”

Sitting on the counter, swinging her bare legs, Anne hums noncommittally, staring at the chessboard at her side as Hattori moves the white piece forward. Anne doesn't quite understand how, but she's losing.

On the chairs, Robin doesn’t look toward Anne. She didn’t even take her gloves off, simply fiddling with the prayer plaque around her bag and sitting silently even as she’s served a martini. 

There are strong winds this evening, and an Aqua Laguna warning is scheduled to report first thing tomorrow morning. In the closed bar, seven people sat around in complete silence. Kalifa fixes her glasses, tapping on the clipboard in thought. 

Lucci and Kaku lean over the table, where a single White Den Den Mushi sits undisturbed. 

“The failure to capture Egin was fatal,” Lucci says. 

No one speaks. They all know who made the blunder, and they all knew this wasn’t the time to put blame on anyone or start arguing. 

“I suspect Iceburg will be warned about us soon,” Kalifa says. “I don’t believe he will trust the pirates that are on the side of Nico Robin. Our word will still be stronger, but we don’t have long. We need to make use of the little time we have left.” 

“But Old Lady Kokoro’s a wild card. She may sway his decision,” Kaku says. “The Aqua Laguna’s only coming tomorrow night, we don’t have good timing on us.”

It’s all difficult.

They still don’t know where Pluton’s blueprints are, their masks are half-compromised, and they still have to ride out the next day with the town on their side.

“The Straw Hats will move,” Kalifa says. “We’ll wait for them.”

They won’t know the truth of their allegiance to Iceburg yet, and neither would the town. If so, then the Strawhats will be trying to draw them out. 

“At least Blueno is clear, isn’t he? The only faces known to Egin are mine and Kalifa’s,” Kaku says. “Only Marianne knows Lucci’s face.”

“Knowing them, they’ll cause a ruckus tonight somehow,” Blueno says. “We just have to follow their lead.”

Kalifa’s phone rings, buzzing against the bar counter. 

She steps over to pick it up. 

“Yes. It is Kalifa. Yes, I am off hours, but I am available.” Then, in a feigned surprise, “what? The Strawhats have attacked Dock One?”

 


 

Water Seven was abuzz. 

“Hey, HEY YOU, you can’t just—” 

“Move.”

Luffy’s voice is sharp and curt. The shipwright barely gets another moment to back off before Zoro steps forward, the heel of his sheathed sword raised toward him, urging him to back off just slightly. 

“We just want to talk to Uncle Iceburg again,” Nami says, her smile strained. “Will you step aside?” 

Lulu cranes, hesitating— but he persists. “You may not,” he says, “you left early in the day. If you’ve got any grievances with the Franky Family, we’d appreciate it if you keep us out of it. We have nothing to do with that lot.”

Galley-la in the evening is coming to a downtime. People are getting off work for the day, and strangely enough, there’s a sense of unease between the shipwrights— the cause was clear. Lucci, Kaku, and Paulie aren’t around. No one knew where they went. 

Right now, the only ones in charge of the First Dock were Tilestone and Lulu. That was way too little, they’re hardly the most charismatic of the crew. It made sense that they were a little nervous when trouble came to find them. 

Luffy stands in the center of the march, Zoro on one side and Nami on the other. Gin and Wyper take up the rear, weapons at their sides. On Wyper’s shoulder is a single fox in a wheelchair, looking around curiously.

“Out of the way,” Zoro says. “My captain would like to pass.”

Tilestone’s brows furrow. “And why should I listen to you?!” He throws down a flat blade before them. “Know your place, pirate scum!” 

They say the Buddha only forgives twice. Or thrice, they weren’t sure. It’s not like any of them were particularly religious. 

Zoro sighs, turning his sword to his side and drawing it. 

“One Sword Style, Draw and Resheathe…” 

 


 

Nami whistles. “You’re getting a hang of Haki,” she muses, looking around. She settles on the armrest of the first couch she sees, smiling when Luffy comes in to sit. She leans back, snaking an arm around the back of the couch.

“Oh really,” Zoro mutters, uninterested. He sheathes the Wado Ichimonji and picks up a pitcher of water on the table, throwing it back with large gulps. 

Gin sighs longsufferingly. Swiping down his tonfas, he settles at the back of the couch, leaning against it. “What an unnecessary workout,” he says. “But fine. I needed to release some steam anyways.” 

Wyper is still glancing upward in awe. “Come to think of it, buildings down here are made of pretty solid things… the fall physics are different due to gravity.”

The building was spliced in half, but it remained standing, the top half only slightly slid out of place. Another violent knock will cause a disaster, but for now, it’s staying there. 

Suu gawks just as much as Wyper does. He lays her on the ground and she takes off running, exploring every corner she can find. 

“Don’t go out too far!” Nami warns. Suu gives a squeak of response. 

She comes back with a box of cookies and is greeted by Luffy’s excitement. At least something around here was capable of cheering him up.

Behind them, the Galley-la workers lay sprawled, unconscious. The general public were in an uproar, but none dared approach. Not when the Man-Demon and Bazooka-wielding Guerilla stood, eyes fierce as sentinels before their gates to hell. 

The wind blows in with the sunset, and Nami brushes her hair back against her ear, breathing out in misery. 

Luffy sits at the couch, leaning forward, silent. 

There, they wait. 

 


 

It doesn’t take long at all. Mayor Iceburg along with Paulie rush back, their eyes blown wide with horror at the sight of carnage the Strawhats have left in their raid. 

“...What is the meaning of this?”

At this point, they’ve helped themselves to the kitchen and the expensive confectionery kept out for guests. It’s unhealthy to have an early dinner of tea and butter cookies, but that’s on Sanji for leaving them alone. 

“Oh, Uncle Iceburg!” Nami says, brightly, “hope you don’t mind if we intruded.”

“...I mind very much.”

“Do you got more cookies?” Luffy asks. 

Iceburg glances at the tower of empty cookie tins beside them. Mildly horrified, he admits, “no, I don’t believe we do.” 

Luffy pouts, clearly disappointed. But he dusts his hands and makes himself presentable. “Okay then, back to serious business.”

“I’m sure my chefs will be happy to make you a meal if you don’t destroy anything else.”

“Oh for real? Sweet! We’ll take you up on that offer then! By the way, what did you do with our money Nami gave you?”

“Ah, I gave it to the shipwright you wanted. No promises he’ll spend the money wisely.” 

“Awesome!” 

Iceburg frowns. What is up with them?

“HEY!” Paulie snaps, marching in from checking in on his fellow shipwrights outside. “What is wrong with you bastards? Granny Kokoro gave you guys a good word and this is the shit you pull? What a load of shit—” 

He falls short. 

Not a single Strawhat was smiling. All of them had turned to him, fixing a hostile glare that sent his blood running cold. His survival instinct kicks right in to shut him up. 

“Just…” Iceburg realizes this is definitely no laughing matter, so he sits down on the couch opposite of Luffy, trying not to seem too unnerved. “You’ve just turned the town against you. You’re vastly outnumbered, and you’ve cornered yourself into my estate. I don’t understand. What is worth this?”

On the road here, Iceburg has heard the news— a Strawhat has been attacked and put on display as an example. It’s clear why the pirates are enraged, though nothing seems to justify this wanton violence against the other shipwrights. 

Even if the Strawhats start pointing fingers at Iceburg’s company now, there’s no reason to believe the pirates, or to help them. 

Luffy meets Iceburg’s eyes firmly. 

“Our enemy is the government. The world,” he says. “They’ve taken our nakama and we need to get them back.”

Iceburg already doesn’t like where this is going. 

“Nami tells me that you’ve got something they want, too,” Luffy says. “It’s the only reason they’re still in the area, and as long as you have it, they’ll show up again.” 

Iceburg’s eyes harden. He knows better than to question how they know about that. He’s already been told he’s compromised, he just doesn’t know how yet. 

“You want to use me as bait.”

Luffy’s face is steeled. “No,” he says, his fist firm on the table. With genuinity completely absent from his morning excursion, he declares, “I want to form an alliance.”

 


 

Conis cradles Usopp’s hand in hers, and she prays to a god she knows won’t answer. 

It would have been ideal to have Nami or Luffy here, but the core of the equation couldn’t be absent in such an important conversation. Kinoko was outside, keeping watch. They could only hope Chopper would be enough. 

(He wasn’t.)

When Usopp wakes up— it’s violent. 

As soon as Usopp notices his hands are free, he’s swinging them out, striking Conis in the face as he maneuvers to his feet and leaps back, planting himself flat against the wall as if it were his only anchor to this unknown dimension he’d found himself in. 

His eyes were shut firmly. 

“Conis!” Chopper exclaims, rushing over. She’s cradling her face— it’s bruised, but she isn’t focused on that. “Usopp, what was that f—” that was a dumb question, so he clamps shut halfway. 

“Wait, Usopp-san!” Conis calls out. 

“Usopp, just, you’re injured,” Chopper’s voice comes with a practiced evenness. He meets Conis’ eyes, and she lets out a suppressed breath, realizing that she needs to calm down, too. “Let’s calm down. You’re on the Going Merry, not— wherever you think you are. You’re safe, and you’re not in danger anymore.”

Usopp frowns, his shoulders only easing by a fraction. 

“...then why are you afraid?”

Chopper and Conis tense, startled. They hadn’t realized that Usopp would know . Chopper tries again, “we’re not afraid—” lying wouldn’t do well. Usopp can tell lies, too, even if it’s done in good conscience. 

Then there’s no sense in hiding. “You’re injured!” Conis says, “you might have reopened your wounds. Usopp-san. Please— I’m worried. We both are, so much.”

Usopp seems to think on that. “Wounds?” as if he hadn’t even noticed himself. No, he’s noticed. He just doesn’t know why they’re a relevant source of concern at all. He’s always injured, and as far as he’s concerned, everyone around him is the cause of those very same injuries. “How did I get…” 

And then he remembers. 

His breathing hitches. 

“I— right. Right ,” his words are a gasp as he reaches up, curling into himself, arms wrapped around his shoulders, “I was— I—”

“Oh no…” Conis steps forward before Chopper can stop her. 

“Don’t come near me!” Usopp screams , standing firm, his entire body tense. He may not have a weapon or the condition to speak of, but at that moment, both Conis and Chopper understood. 

In that situation, they’ve been locked on, as targets to a cornered fighter. If they made any careless moves, any at all— Usopp had the ability to dispatch them in an instant. 

They couldn’t do that. 

They couldn’t let Usopp do that. He would be devastated, once he was back with them again. 

“U- Usopp,” Chopper’s eyes are laced with tears of fear. He hasn’t felt so vulnerable, so much like prey in a long time. “Usopp, it’s not what you think—” 

“I know,” Usopp says, “I know Robin wouldn’t do that to me. I know. Of course she wouldn’t. This is all a dream. A hallucination. Some sick—” 

“It’s not!” Conis says, louder than she’d intended. Her hands are closed before her as she prays for another moment to explain herself. She gets it. “We’re real!” 

“Don’t lie to me!” 

Conis crumbles, backing up quickly. 

Usopp’s said it before that if this ever happened, it was better to simply leave him alone. But they couldn’t do that now. They all knew that wasn’t the right way to go about it. 

But Conis and Chopper weren’t Sanji, or Nami, or even Zoro or Luffy. They didn’t know how to talk to Usopp, they didn’t know what to say that would bring him back around. 

“Now, now. Let’s all calm down.”

Conis and Chopper’s blood freezes. 

Usopp jumps as well, as if he had been startled by the new presence. 

Chopper winds back around when he realizes that. Usopp never get surprised, not in these conditions. It’s an isolated location and he’s at full attention. So why couldn’t he notice this man? Why couldn’t Chopper?

Wait. Where’s Kinoko? Usually she’d come flying in when she senses distress, but…

“Oh, nice to meet you, Miss Angel! I’ve never seen you before.” 

The man steps in, completely silent. Which is startling, especially, with how gaudily he’s clothed, bright pink hair against colourful accessories, a multitude of miscellaneous trinkets against his belt, stark against the off-white boiler suit tied around his waist. Kinoko is in his hands, snoring. 

Chopper and Conis jerks away in alarm, both ducking behind the rudder, although it’s too small to hide Conis and Chopper’s ducking the wrong direction. 

“Wh- w- I  uh,” Chopper squeaks, “who are you, you jerk?! Why are you on the Merry?! And KInoko! What’d you do to her?!” 

“T- That’s right!” Conis adds, a second stilted, but raising a ladle like a weapon, “where did you come from! Are you one of those uh! Uh C-P somethings! We’re not going to let you just come onto our ship like this!” 

“Huh? Uh, calm down?” the intruder reaches up to his ear, and Chopper spots a black device that makes Chopper scream loudly in alarm. 

“WHAT IS THAT. IS THAT A COMMUNICATOR?!” 

“A hearing aid! I promise it’s a hearing aid! Uh! Everyone stay calm!” 

“I CAN’T!” Chopper yells. “WHO ARE YOU!” 

“That’s an intruder, right? RIGHT?” Conis yells, confused about everything. “That’s an intruder! We gotta fight back! They’re already on the ship! We promised to protect the ship! Do I attack? DO I ATTACK?!”

“STAY CALM!” 

“AAAAAAAAAAA!” 

Kinoko jerks away with a loud squawk, flapping her wings violently before right-angling right into the intruder’s face, earning a horrified shriek as they all go tumbling right out. 

A moment of horrified silence.

Then, “HE’S DOWN NOW! GET HIM!” Chopper declares. 

Conis agrees. “YEAH!” winding up the ladle and—

“...Coby?” Usopp asks. His voice is soft and confused, and Conis and Chopper stop right in the middle of a swing and step to register that. “Coby, is that you?”

There’s a feather-muffled cry for help. Kinoko is miserably chirping, one of her talons is stuck in the man’s teeth, and all attempts at getting it out are just met with the man's panic as he tries not to suffocate on her wing. The man reaches out desperately, sprawled on the ground—

“...Friend?” Conis suggests, still holding up the ladle like a baseball bat.

Chopper leans over skeptically, side-eyeing Conis, “friend. Maybe.”

“So… should we help?”

“No. I mean. I mean yes. But I’m not doing it.” 

“Maybe. Me neither.”

“But it might be a friend. Someone has to do it.”

Conis cringes. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to. I’ve never been in this situation before.”

“Do I look like I’ve been in this situation before?” Chopper asks. 

“You’re the doctor here,” Conis argues. 

“You’re the wing expert,” Chopper retorts immediately. 

“Uhm…” Usopp finally speaks up, holding up a hand. “I can only understand so much nonsense at a time, so I’m still very confused. But from that conversation, I now understand my role in this situation.” 

“Huh?”

“Wait, what?”

“Now, give me a moment,” Usopp says, and sighs— and then he rests his hands on his waist and: “STOP MESSING AROUND AND HELP THE POOR SOD BEFORE HE DIES, YOU UTTER BUFFOONS!” 

Chopper and Conis shriek in unison, “Y- YES! We’re sorry! Helping now! Helping now!” 

 


 

Coby isn’t dying anymore, though he’s a little traumatized and Kinoko is giving everyone the silent treatment. Conis and Chopper are by the kitchen and med bay corners of the room, Conis holding up a wary kettle for tea and Chopper with his hands on the bandages. 

“So?” Usopp says, once everyone has calmed down enough. He’s seated on the futon, his senses pulled tight and wary. “What are you doing here?” 

Coby settles as well, sitting down comfortably by the entrance of the galley. “Are you confused, Usopp-san? You’re not behind bars anymore. And here I am.”

Coby lets his voice do the rest. He’s calm, light, and joyful. Free, and unrestrained. 

Usopp senses that, but he doesn’t dare step forward. There’s always the littlest, vaguest chance this could all still be a lie. 

“You have new friends now! I do too,” Coby beams. “I can’t wait to tell you all about my journey thus far. It’s been very long since we last met.”

Usopp leans back. “I’m listening.”

“Not like this,” Coby says. “Let’s have a drink! And a party. I’m not longer the one in charge, you know? So I can’t serve any drinks. Not that I’ve ever been a good host.”

Usopp scoffs. “You were a terrible host. My prison cell was always cold.”

Coby beams. “Yeah, I was the world’s worst host! Which is why I’m grateful that this ship is warm, full of energy, and it’s so lively, too. When I stepped in, she welcomed me, allowing me to rest my feet. It’s a great place, Usopp.”

Usopp’s shoulders eased. 

“...the Sunny welcomed you?”

Coby shakes his head, lifting his eyes— ah. Chuckling to himself at that blunder, he adds, “we’re on the Going Merry, Usopp. Are you here, too?”

And then— and then, Usopp’s hand tightens around the futon, and he finally takes a really good look around himself. His Haki blows wide, trying to take in every nook, every cranny, every soul around him. 

“...oh,” he breathes. 

Coby smiles. “By the way, does the I.O.U. still stand?” 

Usopp voice hitches, eyes watering in confusion. “...Coby?” he reaches up to himself. “Wait, what are you doing here? Why are you—” 

He doesn’t get to say more. Because Chopper starts bawling, “USOPPPPP!” and suddenly Usopp has an armful of furry reindeer. “You know who I am now, right? You do, right?!” 

“Ah—” Usopp seemed to need a moment, but he hugs back, tight and desperate, “yeah. Yeah I do, Chopper. I… I’m sorry I— I’m sorry .”

Conis rushes over next, wrapping her arms around him. “You worried us, you dummy!” 

And then Kinoko plunges into the hug pile with all the grace of a blender, and there’s a burst of laughter in the circle. 

Coby smiles, standing up to pour himself a cup of tea. 

He’ll wait for them to calm down before making his delivery— or so was his train of thought, but he looks down to see they’ve latched onto him.

“Thank youuuu! You’re a good person!” Conis and Chopper wail. Apparently, after crying on Usopp for two minutes, they’d moved on to crying on Coby. 

“We’re so sorry we tried to attack you!” 

“We’re sorry we didn’t help get Kinoko out of your mouth!” 

“And that I aimed a ladle at you!” 

Usopp hums, running his hands across Kinoko’s fur to try and soothe the still very much fuming bird. 

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re saying since you’re murmuring it all, but uh, yeah?” Coby answers testingly. Then he perks up brightly. “Actually now that we have the time. Can I shake your hand Miss Angel? Also Chopper-san can I have your autograph like for real I have a notebook for these things where is it uh—” he finds the notebook that looks like a huge very used journal and his eyes twinkle , “also Usopp-san I will die happy sopleasecan I havea —”

“Autographs?! I want autographs too! Right, Gonbe?”

At the emergence of a high and shrill voice absolutely no one expected, everyone on the ship, Coby and Usopp included, jumps back with a horrified shriek. 

“WHO THE—?!”

“Hi! I'm Chimney!” says the little girl, her rabbit-cat saluting a greeting. “I just got here. What’s going on?” 

“Oh! Lively group here!” Granny Kokoro laughs, “I'm letting myself in! Gonna see if this baby can take a short sail in.” 

“What the— wait, when were you— how??” Conis and Chopper are shrieking again, “when did you get up here and how did none of us notice you!” 

“And Grandma Kokoro, I’m glad to see you again, but please don’t sail the Merry without asking first!” 

“Well I’m asking now!” comes the holler. “Chimney, Gonbe! Help me out!” 

“Okay!” the child files right out. 

Conis and Chopper look toward Usopp. Kinoko is also looking up at him, awaiting their orders. Coby just looks incredibly enthused. This is the rumored Straw Hat chaos! I can’t believe I’m witnessing this in person!

Usopp, however, calmly sips on the cup of tea. “I’m a blind man, I understand nothing.”

Chopper and Conis groan into their hands, sobbing desperately. 

“Oh! You’ve got cola in your fridge!” 

“WAIT, who the hell are you?!” Chopper screeches at the large blue man-thing crouching over the refrigerator. “And why are you in speedos?!”

“Hey, I thought you guys were gonna commission me! You don’t even know my name?” he lifts his sunglasses, before pointing dramatically at nothing, and shifting to a pose. “I’m Franky! The Super Cyborg, coolest pervert in Water Seven, Franky! YEAH, SUPER!

The entire galley falls silent. 

Coby pipes up with an excited, “Franky-san! Can I have your autograph too?” 

“Of course!” he says, holding out a hand to stop any other questions from Chopper, who looks very close to losing all of his hair in stress. “I’m sure you’re super interested in the answer to a whole boatload of questions, but for now, we’re gonna make our getaway first. Ya hear me?”

 


 

“Wha… what do you mean, they’re gone?” 

Lucci and Kaku are visibly upset, and Kalifa looks utterly terrified. It’s all an act for the eyes of the crowd. The shipwrights had all been knocked out. By the time they awoke, the building was in shambles. 

“Yes… apparently, they left after Iceburg came, and they robbed us clean,” one of the shipwrights says. “We don’t know what their deal was either. But according to all the staff, they ate the pantry out and emptied the cash in the building.” 

“That’s… a very pirate thing to do,” Kaku says. “I wouldn’t imagine that from then. Did none of us stand a chance?”

“Yeah, as ashamed as I am to admit,” Lulu says, miserable. 

“Where’s the Mayor?” Kalifa asks, harried. 

“He’s inside—” Tilestone pauses when Kalifa breaks into a run, “...with Paulie! They’re a little roughed up, but nothing serious! Right now they’re having a private talk, so don’t go in yet, got it?” 

Lucci follows her immediately, while Kaku stays to look around. 

“That cut…” he lifts his head to the building, bisected fully. People were starting to remove it with the crane now, though it was dangerous to operate it at night, it was better than leaving it for the morning. “Who did it?”

“Reports say it was Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro.”

“Most of us here fought Man-Demon,” Lulu says. “They also had one more— a man, dressed like a guerilla, and he held a bazooka. Not a bounty head that I know of.”

“Burglar Cat was with them too!” Tilestone says. “She was hot!” 

Kaku is appalled. “Tilestone!” he chides, “is that really what was on your mind while fighting her?”

“Yes!” Tilestone says, and laughs boisterously. 

“Dear lord!” Kaku throws his hands up in defeat.

It didn’t matter. The Galley-la foremen were defeated. Albeit, Kaku and Lucci hadn’t been around, but they were still taken down. This was a hard strike to the confidence the city would have in their shipwrights— and this would surely fuel the hatred the town would have against the pirates. 

“But still, those guys,” Kaku crosses his arms. “I thought they were more honourable than this! They attacked in the downtime, after we extended them courtesy in the day! How could they?”

“Yeah,” Tilestone says, his voice lowering immediately with his mood. “We’ve been toyed with. All of us.”

“The town’s not going to take this well,” Lulu says. “With the Aqua Laguna coming, too… it’s going to be a rough day tomorrow.” 

Kaku nods. 

If they make it to tomorrow , he supposes. 

“Oh, where are you going, Kaku?” Tilestone hollers, when Kaku turns his head out toward the city. 

Kaku hums. “I can’t just sit around here when we’ve been humiliated like this. I’m going to go look around the docks.” 

 


 

(“We always work in threes,” Gin had said. “Director, Chaser, and Berserker. And Chasers… they can find Berserkers. They’re capable of ‘seeing’ my path once they learn it. Trails don’t last long, though, just about half a day. So if I keep running, I’ll lose him eventually.”)

Kaku leaps off the cliff, into the town, and swings out a landing, rolling to a stop. The trail he finds, that Berserkers all inevitably leave behind that Chasers are equipped to find— he recognizes it, and he follows it. 

It was a mistake on Gin’s part to show up at Galley-la again. Because while Kaku lost him in the daytime, it’s easy for him to spot a fresh step, and lock onto it once again. He’s essentially leading Kaku right back to where they’ve hidden. If Kaku can get a lock on something they can’t easily move, like their ship, then he’ll win.

He’ll be able to reclaim the mistake of losing Egin the first time. If they can find out where the crew is hiding now — Kaku pauses. 

No. 

No, this is too easy. 

Kaku stops in an alley, realizing something amiss. This feels like a trap— but that can’t be right. Chaser secrets are confidential. Gin, a Berserker, shouldn’t know about them at all. The hierarchy of the trio is important— no one should be aware of how a Chaser tracks its prey. That’s just suicidal, you could get killed by your own Berserker. 

Even in a trio, you keep the extent of your abilities to yourself. Otherwise, you’ll be betrayed. Trust no one except yourself. Your relationship is merely professional, and any of you are dispensable, at all times. 

Kaku looks up. “Well… I suppose you’re a defective product for a reason.”

(“Chaser will follow me if I show up,” Gin says. “It’s instinct. You can’t fight instinct. Habits are hard to break.”)

Abovehead, perched on the steel stairs and windows, are Gin and Nami. Nami’s Clima Tact rests on her shoulder as she leans against the brick walls, holding herself up with her feet leveraged on the curve of the railings. Gin sits on the steps, sighing deeply. 

“Would you like to test that theory?”

Kaku chuckles. “You’re severely underestimating me.”

The reprieve doesn’t last long. Kaku swerves back on pure instinct, only for something to smash violently against the wall, shattering it with a loud shudder. 

He hisses, leaping back to gain distance, only for something to loop around hineck and lock over with a perpendicular piece— nunchucks? No — he curses, slipping an arm between the steel and his neck to break free from the Tact contraption. 

Nami and Gin aren’t above him. Never were. 

Illusions.

He gains his bearings and swings a foot out, a blade of Rankyaku swiping out, searing into the wall and cutting cleanly through the buildings as it soars forth. 

The mirages of Nami and Gin fade in the attack. 

Kaku has a moment to breathe. 

Gin stands at the other end of the alley, scoffing, “I need more space.” He runs off immediately, leaving Kaku’s view.

There was really no other option than to chase. But something’s strange. Why would they plan an ambush just to draw him out of it? In a chase, Kaku would clearly win. He’s more familiar with the areas. So why?


Kaku pursues Gin out of the town, through the waterways— and finally, to the docks, where the Going Merry was shored by the edge of a cliff. 

There’s lots of noise onboard. They’re clearly having a party inside.

Gin stands outside the ship.

Kaku frowns. “What is the meaning of this?”

Gin leans down to pick up a single white fox, just as a bird that seemingly came from nowhere perches on his shoulder. 

Kaku scowls, unsure of what’s happening. It smells like gunpowder in the area, but he couldn’t pinpoint the source. Something was strange about this location in the scrapyard. Kaku has a feeling he recognizes this clearing, and something is missing. 

“Gin, dear. If you would do the honours,” Nami says, stepping up with a small device. A cubed remote with a single red button in the center. 

“I’m not one to be dramatic,” Gin says. “You do it.”

“Alright,” Nami laughs, raising her Clima Tact into the air. “This evening’s weather forecast! We’re misty with a chance of dust and debris. The turbulent nightwinds are the calling of a storm! Bolt down your doors and windows, brace yourselves, for something worse than a typhoon is sure to come tonight!”

“Huh?”

Kaku doesn’t understand. He’s found the Strawhats, he’s been led to their lair. But he could so easily run while they’re still in this tirade. He can deal with all of them, if he takes them by surprise. 

And yet, Burglar Cat and Man-Demon almost look at ease. She grins wide, and the Man Demon raises his hand with the remote in time with her.

When he presses the button, the ship— the dock, no, everything behind them bursts into earth-shattering explosions, the ground cracking under them, imploded by what could only be landmines and— fireworks?

Screaming occurs. “WHAT’S GOING ON?!”

“It’s a siege! A siege, everyone out! RUN!” 

“EVACUATE!” 

“WATER! GET WATER!” 

Kaku hears chaos. Hears a bombardment. And the scene of the Going Merry before him begins to fade, to flicker--

To reveal the Franky House up in flames.

“Have fun!” Nami chirps, suddenly beside him. I hope you enjoyed Mirage Tempo. Fata Morgana. Awaiting your next visit anytime. ” 

Kaku finds himself with a handful of a remote before Nami vanishes into mist right before his eyes, and when he looks around again, Gin is gone, too. 

“WHO IS THE RASCAL?!” 

“That’s— THAT’S FUCKING KAKU, GUYS!” 

“WHAT THE HELL BRO! Galley-la’s really done it this time!” 

“THIS IS WAR I’M TELLING YA! Franky Family, GET HIM!” 

Kaku hisses in alarm, stepping back— he can’t step back. His feet are stuck on something. Something gooey, like liquid— it stinks, is this birdlime— and his shoes and pants are stuck.

His moment of surprise leads him to getting buried under iron suits. 

There were still fireworks going off, causing a whole deal of high-pitched screams and crying noises as everyone scrambles out of the building, jumping into the sea, and screaming because the strong winds have set something in the scrapyard on fire, too.

“SHIT!” Kaku leaps up in alarm. “We need to put that out before it spreads!” 

“Then why did you set fire to it, you bastard?!” 

“I DIDN’T!” 

“You liar! You plan on blaming this on us, don’t you?!” 

“NO I— Darn it, this is no time for that! Put it out or the entire city goes up in flames, you morons!” 

“YOU’RE THE MORON!”

 


 

“Seems like something’s happening in the docks,” Iceburg says. “It’s very loud.”

They don’t have a roof tonight, but that’s fine. It won’t rain until tomorrow, so all they need is a tent for the wind and they’re alright to hunker out for the night. 

“But, Iceburg-san,” Paulie says, “are you sure about me taking these?”

He’s holding a set of blueprints. 

“Yes,” Iceburg says. “We’re almost compromised, so right now, we have to save ourselves. I need you to go, right now. Take them, and run as far as you can.” 

“But—” 

The door opens. “Mayor Iceburg!” 

Both parties jump, and Paulie quickly tucks the article behind his back. “Wha— Kalifa!” 

“I heard what happened! I am concerned for your safety, sir! We shall set up an increase security immediately—” 

“Wait, wait! Calm down, Kalifa-AAH!” Paulie has to swerve aside himself and the chair, toppling over, when Kalifa launches him out with a deathly heel. “What was that for, you indecent woman! I saw your damn panties!” 

“That is sexual harrassment,” Kalifa says, straghtening. “What do you think you’re doing, intruding on a recovering man’s room this late? Set up the tarp! Allow the Mayor a room to rest, you failure of a subordinate!” 

“You’re extra mean to me today, aren’t you?” 

“Incorrect. I am always specifically crude to you. It is not limited to this day.”

“VULGAR WOMAN I SWEAR TO F—” 

“Quiet!” Hattori snaps, from Lucci’s shoulder. The room quells a little as the other occupants turn to acknowledge Lucci coming into the room. Hattori continues chiding, “you two are causing a ruckus! Do that outside the room!” 

Paulie groans.

“Fine…” Paulie sighs, making his way out slowly, casting a wary glance toward Mayor Iceburg. If they want him to run, he’s got to do it right now. This is as good a chance as any. “You guys take care of Iceburg-san, then. I’ll go help out with the repairs and—”

 


 

(This is a normal interaction for them. It's always Paulie and Kalifa, or Paulie and Lucci.)

(They quarrel all the time, only for the third in the equation to come in and distupt that. It's a dynamic they've practiced over and over, and a dynamic that Paulie has always believed to be an honest sequence between them.)

(But today, it was just a little too orchestrated for all of their tastes. And Lucci hitches onto it very quickly as a trap. So he holds out a hand before Paulie, stopping his advance. And without another moment of hesitation, he discards five years of espionage.)

(Kalifa’s eyes meet his, and she fixes her glasses in affirmation.)

 


 

"What? Paulie asks. "Why are you stopping me, Lucci?"

“Did you really think…” Lucci speaks up, personally, with his own voice. And Paulie's eyes widen. “I wouldn’t notice the three people hiding in the room?” 

Iceburg straightens, surprised. “What?”

Kalifa steps toward him, latching onto Iceburg’s wrist, turning around so she pretended to shield him from invisible foes, “what? There are still assassins around? That cannot be! Mayor, please come this way!” 

Paulie snaps right out of his own act, rope shooting out of his sleeve, “oh no you don’t Kalifa! Quit that act! Your cover’s b—!” 

Paulie barely sees the backhand coming before he’s flung to the wall, head crashing dangerously into a corner. For a second he sees black, and he can’t get up. Blood trails down where he’s hit, the cement cracked in places. 

Lucci leans down to pick up the blueprints he’s dropped. Paulie groans weakly, eyes squeezed shut. 

Iceburg curses, finally pulling out the pistol in his jacket, only for Kalifa to swerve aside, pirouetting on one foot, barely needing to turn her head to disarm him. She snatches him in a stranglehold with her thigh, and clamp him to the ground face-down. She twists his arm around, and plants her heel on his wrist, just light enough to hurt without doing actual damage.

“Fake blueprints,” Lucci deems. “Three Strawhats here. Kaku went after two. We don’t have eyes on one of them, and three are last reported on the ship due to injuries. This is not a good situation for us, it seems.”

“A peril,” Kalifa says, fixing her glasses, still in that position. 

“Not at all,” Lucci says. “So, three Strawhats in hiding. Will you come out? Let’s get this over with, because clearly, we are short on time.”

It doesn't take long. 

Luffy reveals himself first, having been standing on the windowsill outside and peeking in through the nonexistent roof. 

“Well, Ice-ossan wanted to know for sure that you guys were betraying him first,” Luffy says, arms crossed with his chin resting on his arm. “Are you guys done with that now? Cause we agreed I wouldn't beat you up until then so.”

Lucci frowns.

“Sounds like you had an agreement while we were gone," he deems. "Colluding with pirates, Mayor Iceburg? That is unfortunate. It’s information that can be used against you in court.”

"What in the Blue Seas is a COURT?!" the shout comes from behind him, and Lucci swerves aside just in time to dodge a Seastone heel aiming for his head.

Wyper curses, but latches onto a wall to bring the barrel of his bazooka sharply around, forcing Lucci to crouch down low as Wyper takes out a huge chunk of what was left of the wall. With a sneer Wyper regains his balance, and ducks back behind the upturned furniture for some semblance of cover. 

There's no break in the attack yet. Ropes wind around Lucci’s limbs, abruptly tightening around his heel before violently pulling out. Lucci claws against the ground with his fingers, sinking into the cement to hold on. 

“Fuck that, Lucci,” Paulie hisses, hands on the rope. “You could speak. You could fucking speak. You were fucking— the dove— Lucci you can fucking speak?!”

“You are hung up on the stupidest things, Paulie. This is why we don’t get along.”

“News flash! I am fucking— I can’t think straight right now, because guess what you just! Backhanded me and gave me a fucking concussion! Somehow!”

Lucci straightens immediately, the ropes around him cut to pieces. 

“What—” Paulie briefly notices something, claws, replacing Lucci's hands before quickly morphing back into human, but then he's thrown through the walls again. 

“If you make this much noise, eventually the shipwrights will come up,” Kalifa says. 

“That won’t happen,” Iceburg chuckles dryly, still defiant despite his situation. “They’ve all been instructed to be on standby, no matter what happens.”

Kalifa frowns, forcing her heel down further into his wrist, earning a sharp hiss. "You aren't afraid for yourself at all."

"Why would I?" Iceburg taunts. "I've been prepared all my life for this, though your betrayal is still hurting in me." 

"Hey c'mon now!" Luffy whines. "Don't go hurting Ice-Ossan too bad over there! He treated me to food, so he's a good guy!" Luffy is still standing where he started. Lucci looks up at him, realizing that the third presence has disappeared. Wyper is— when did that guy disappear? He took Iceburg’s fallen gun with him. 

“We still find value in Iceburg, so rest assured. We will detain him alive,” Lucci says. “Strawhat Luffy. Will you not be coming at me?”

Luffy huffs, frustrated. “I want to, but Nami told me that right now, I can’t win. And there would be no point in me winning right now, either, I don't really get why either. So I shouldn’t fight you, she says.”

Lucci raises a brow. 

“I mean, I’m still going to fight you!” Luffy says, angry, “Nami doesn’t have the authority to order me around! Which is why I’m so mad! What’s with you, things were okay until you guys came in here to mess things up! We were supposed to come here to have fun!” 

Lucci scoffs. “We, the government, are on the side of justice,” he says. “If you didn’t want to get shot by justice, perhaps you should have never stood on the wrong side of the road.”

Luffy falls silent. 

“...Huh,” he says, after a long moment. “Okay. I get it now. I get why Robin left us now.” Luffy places a hand on his hat. “Well, now I’m angry. Where’s Robin?”

Lucci doesn’t answer. 

“That’s fine, I guess,” Luffy says. “We’re just here to buy time, anyways.”

Lucci and Kalifa had a second to sense the attack coming. But it was all they could do from there to realize where the attack came from, and desperately move out of the way before it came through the walls and floors.

“Armament Hardening: 1080 Pound Phoenix!” 

 


 

“Have you heard about the ruckus happening at Dock One?”

“Oh, how terrifying.”

People were evacuating Water Seven tonight. It’s the earliest batch of evacuees, hitching on the final train at 11pm to the surrounding islands. 

It is on this train that Blueno lines up to board. 

A row of disguised government soldiers board the first-class cart with him, Nico Robin mixed into the crowd among that sequence. Anne draws in her sketchbook, only allowed a pencil, as another government agent ushered her in. 

They’re undercover on the civilian train, ready to sneak out of the city a day early. 

This train isn’t technically scheduled to make a stop in Enies Lobby, as it’s an evacuation train, so Iceburg wouldn’t be aware of their departure. They will be making a special government mandated surprise stop at Enies Lobby at the end of the round, when all passengers have alighted. 

Anne and Robin sit opposite each other on the seats in silence, surrounded by government agents two cars around them, and Blueno, two benches away. 

There is no chance of escape. 

“Are we leaving like this, sir?” someone asks. “What about the other CP9 agents?”

“They will continue the other half of the mission,” Blueno says. “We leave today. The rest will follow if they succeed on their end.” 

But what if they don’t?

The question isn’t asked.

Of course they’ll succeed. It’s either that or death around here.

 


 

“A Margarita, please.”

“I’ll have a Cosmopolitan.”

In the lounge car of the train, the bartender serves up two drinks to the couple. There’s a bit of a crowd, everyone in here is a festival goer who’s happy to get the chance to party, or excited to head out to the next island to continue the festivities.

The two before the bartender are quite the same— a rich young couple who look very much in love. It must be their honeymoon, the bartender thinks. It’s a pleasant occasion.

They don masquerade masks, gold and silver accented with differing shades of blue, speckled with glitter. The husband kept his costume simple, while the wife’s mask hooks out into a shimmering teal peacock wing, adorned by chunky jewellery with glamorous makeup and perfectly done manicure. She must be dressing as a seafaring warrior, since she’s wearing a tricorn hat around her high ponytail. 

Wow, the bartender thinks. This is a blessed lady. Or just a rottenly rich one. The tailored ball gown speaks enough of their luxury. 

“Are you enjoying yourself, my dear Wednesday?” the husband asks. “I can’t wait to see the flowers. I heard they’re rather beautiful on the island where night never falls.”

“Yes, of course I am, my Prince,” the wife replies. “I can’t believe I’m fortunate enough to ride first class with only the most blessed company.”

Their glasses clink. 

The train departs. 

Sanji and Vivi are already on board.

Chapter 85: be merry (because it confuses your enemies)

Summary:

Coby makes a delivery. Merry continues to be the world's cutest mode of transportation.

Meanwhile Gin runs from Kaku, Luffy gets to punch Lucci once, and generally speaking Iceburg and Franky are having a bad day.

Chapter Text

“You’re our shipwright?!” Chopper and Conis exclaim in surprise. 

“NO!” Franky shouts, “who said I was gonna be your anything! I came here to ask what the gall you had commissioning me for a ship when I’m a ship breaker!” 

“You’re a ship what?!” 

“A ship WHAT?”

“A ship breaker,” Usopp says, calmly. 

“AHHH! This is bad!” Chopper yells, not calmly, “I knew it was bad to let this guy lead us to his secret dark underground lair! He’s going to break the Merry!” 

“He is?!” Conis squeaks, “HE IS?! Nooo! Not the Merry-chan!” 

“Can you buffoons calm down! I can’t keep up with this energy!” Franky snaps, but Conis and Chopper only continue panicking very loudly, hugging each other in fear. 

Chimney and Gonbe stare at the scene. Kokoro nudges them forward, and they run immediately to it, running excited circles around the community of panic to accentuate the mayhem. 

Franky turns defeatedly to Usopp.

“What is going on here.”

“As you can see, the product of leaving our cowardly youngests together without anyone else trustworthy is combined chaos,” Usopp says, like that explains anything at all. 

“And you’re not going to stop them?”

“Tsukkomi delegations are always naturally passed to the next highest person on the family hierarchy.” 

“What does that even mean—” Franky stares, baffled. “I understand now. This is fatherless behaviour,” he deems with full, misery-fueled confidence. 

Usopp raises a thumbs up. “You catch on quickly.”

Franky sighs. 

Coby’s eyes twinkle when Franky charges at the children, earning terrified shrieks, before hiking all of them up on his shoulders and chucking down onto the couch. 

“Drink your damn cola or tea and sit your asses down while the adults talk!” 

 


 

They get the children settled with cola and tea (because Conis isn't brave enough to try the soda), with Chopper sitting on the back of the couch, tending to the bruise across the side of Conis’ face. 

(Usopp apologized profusely for that. She didn’t mind, though, it had been an accident.)

“So what’s the deal?” Franky asks. “You came in, asked me to make you a ship— if you know my name you know my history.” 

“Yes, we do.”

Franky scowls. “So what do you want from me? Is it—” 

“It’s not about Pluton,” Usopp says. The silence that consumes the area is sickening, but Usopp continues. “We know you have it, but that’s not what we want. We want your skills, Franky. Your ambition. Tom built the Oro Jackson, and that’s why we want you, his apprentice, to build the ship of the future King of the Pirates.”

Franky scoffs. “What a load of—” 

He pauses. 

He looks toward Chopper and Conis and both look firmly at him, hands away from their drinks, and eyes locked in resolve. All this sounded like delusional, childish dreaming to him, and yet— they believe it. 

They really do. 

Franky composes himself. “I don’t like this discussion. Or any of you, for that matter. I don’t have a reason to trust you at all. And neither do you, me. I don’t understand any of this, and it makes no sense. So I’m not doing it.”

Chopper winces at that. Conis’s fist curls up in frustration. 

But Usopp remains unfazed. “I see, that’s understandable!” he says, shoulders at ease. “Then, we’ll take a rain check on this.”

Franky lifts his sunglasses in surprise. “You’re taking this very well.”

Usopp chuckles, “well, I know better than anyone that I’m not a physical fighter. So I don’t have the ability to budge an immovable object, nor am I about to try.”

And they left it at that. 

“Uhm… I’m sorry, Franky-san,” Conis turns to him, “you are a shipwright—” she jumps in surprise when Franky scowls, “I mean! Shipbreaker! I’m sorry! Just… you have the knowledge of shipbuilding… to some degree, right? Would you not be capable of fixing the Merry? Or is it true that she cannot sail any longer?” 

It honestly hasn’t quite sunk in yet, for any of them.

Sure, Usopp and Nami have said time and again that Merry won’t sail from herein, but it doesn’t feel real. Not when she’s all they had, and she’s been fine thus far. 

“You’re talking about that sheep?” Franky says, popping open a cola. “Yeah. She’d do a better job as kindling rather than a sailing vessel, at this poin— OUCH! WHO THREW THAT?”

Everyone spots the small mallet as it clunks against the floor. When they turn again to where the projectile supposedly came from, Usopp and Coby also look utterly confused. 

“Wait,” Usopp says, holding up his walking stick. “I’m empty handed. You guys know that.” And since he’s not using his blindness as an excuse, he must be telling the truth. 

Coby holds up his hands as well, “huh? Me? That is not mine, I promise!”

“Why not?”

“If I use Armament I don’t actually need a hammer…” 

“Oh, oh ,” Usopp gawks, “why didn’t I think of that. That is smart. I’ve just been hitting my own thumb for years.” 

“BACK ON TOPIC, you dummies!” Franky snaps, cradling his head as he reaches for the offending hammer, “where did this even come from… Huh wait. This is kid-sized.”

“Ah yeah, that’s probably from my Usopp Hammer collection,” Usopp says, taking it, only to pause in surprise at the weight. “Oh wait. I stand corrected, this is made of wood. Mine are all metal.”

“Then whose is it? Hammers don’t just appear out of nowhere!” 

There’s a moment of silence. 

No one knew. 

Usopp sets a meaningful hand on Merry’s deck, and the action is something no one misses out on. “Oh,” he says, with an epiphany. 

“Speaking of appearing out of nowhere!” Coby chirps up, breaking the tense atmosphere with a voice of childish excitement. He shifts a drawstring bag from his back to his front. “Look, everyone! I came with a very important delivery! It cost me like five hundred million beris and that was after Buggy-sama gave me a lackey discount and then paid a courtesy courier fee!” 

Chopper hikes up to Usopp’s shoulder, and he gapes loudly at what he sees inside. “Wait, is that a Devil Fruit?!”

Conis peeks over curiously, and Chimney and Gonbe start scaling Franky in hopes of getting a better view. Franky is unapologetically looking. Kokoro chuckles, coming by with a ring of keys, humming to herself. 

Usopp finds himself with an armful of a cloth bag. 

The soul of something with power, with will, ringing just as loudly as the entire ship standing behind him. They’re both staring right at Usopp, through him, reaching out toward each other. 

And Usopp can’t hold the tears in his eyes. “You have no idea how much this means to me, Coby. Thank you so, so much for everything you’ve done for us.” 

Coby grins. Usopp can’t see it, but he hears it, the cheer in his voice, the love in his actions, the light and freedom in his voice as it sings of an unconditional dedication. 

“Don’t need to thank me! We’re friends, right?”

Usopp lunges forward into a hug. 

“Yeah, you bet we are!” 

(Coby can’t hear it. But he feels it with the grateful tremor in Usopp’s hands, the bone-crushingly tight hug he’s unwillingly wrapped in— Coby feels home all the same.)

(They’ll have to talk later. They have so much they need to catch up on, so much to unpack, so much they can’t see and hear in each other that they have to work through.)

“What is it?”

“Okay but five hundred million really is insane,” Usopp says, parting from the hug. “What fruit is it? It’s a Zoan, right?”

“Yeah. It’s a Mythical Monster Cat, the Bakeneko. Though I’m a bit sad I didn’t get the Inugami one instead, I lost the auction on that one,” Coby says, “can you imagine how funny it would be if you got a sheep-dog? A sheep-dog sheepdog ship dog?! It’d make Garp-san so super happy when he visits after all this and that would— oh, sorry, I rambled. What were you saying?”

Coby turns up his hearing aid when he sees Chopper, Franky, and Usopp just freaking their heads off around him. He hears an absolute explosion. 

“You got us a MYTHICAL?!”

“A MYTHI— I’m sorry, what’s a cat?”

“Is that awesome?!?”

“IT’S A WHAT?”

Coby pouts. “Oh come on, did you guys hear my pun?”

 


 

“You’re going to make Merry… eat it?” Chopper asks. “What?”

“Is that possible?” Conis asks. 

“It’s usually a bit trickier, but it is,” Usopp says, “I don’t think we have time to get into the technicalities, but Merry actually has this super special thing called a Klab—AAAAAAH! WHAT WAS THAT?!”

No one was prepared for whatever that was, but something lunged at Usopp from completely nowhere, a white and blue blur whizzing right between everything, snatching the fruit right out of Usopp’s hand. 

“Did it just— the fruit?!”

“Where did it go?!”

Coby points to the right. Everyone’s eyes follow, just in time to see a tiny figure, just about Chopper’s size, scampering across the dock. The fruit— a bunch of swirly yellow lychees on a vine, are in its hands, held high over its head as it bounces around in thick rain boots with soundless steps. The creature was donned in a raincoat that covered their whole figure, shimmering just slightly blue against everything else. 

Everyone stares, bewildered. 

“Guys? Guys where the fruit?!” Usopp is very flustered and confused. “Where did it go? Why are we all quiet??”

“Oh, you can’t feel it, Usopp-san?” Coby asks. 

“I can’t—” Usopp’s brows furrow in confusion as he looks between Merry the ship and the whatever that is, “wait, is it normal for an aura to section off like an amoeba?” 

“No, but I guess impatience leads to desperation,” Coby says, surmising the situation casually. “Your explanation took too long.” 

“She defied logic to interrupt me?” 

“Are you offended?”

“No, I have never been prouder… I think I’m going to cry.”

“There, there.” 

“Wait a— excuse me, what is that?” Franky asks, lifting his sunglasses just to make sure this isn’t a trick of the light. 

“Oh, it’s a Klabautermann.”

“Huh?”

“A Klabautermann.”

“A Klabauter-WHAT? I mean— DUDE! You’re just going to act like it’s normal to be seeing a ship’s physical form?!” 

“A ship’s what?!” Chopper and Conis ask.

“Oh thank heavens,” Franky says, “there are sane chaps in this ship. I thought we were all lost causes.”

There’s a squeak of surprise, followed by a splat. The little raincoat child is now flat on her face, the fruit spilled out before her. The entire hall is quiet to stare in bewilderment. Then Chopper leans toward the rest of the crowd, completely out of his element and unable to compute what the next right action would be in this circumstance. 

“So… uh. She tripped.” 

“She did.” 

“...and, she got back up.”

“Why is she running?” Conis asks. She hollers, “Merry-chan! Merry-chan, is that you? Where are you going?”

The peanut gallery confusedly watches as the child quickly jumps back onto her feet, gathers the fruits back into her arms, and continues running. She hops up to the couch then crawls into Granny Kokoro’s lap, to the grandma’s surprise.

Merry’s jaw unhinges wide as a mouth of a tortoise, and the entire vine of fruit goes into the mouth with a chomp. And then swallow. There was no chewing involved.

“...She ate it,” Chopper says, dryly. 

“She did, didn’t she,” Usopp nods. 

“She did,” Franky crosses his arms with a contemplative frown. 

“She did!” Chimney cheers, echoed by Gonbe.

“So… what now?” Conis asks. 

“Uhm…” Coby raises a curious hand. “Don’t we need to get the Merry out of the water? She’s a boat, but the Devil Fruit… you know…?”

Granny Kokoro bursts out laughing when all of their heads spin around, screaming at the sight of a rapidly dropping ship behind them. The chaos that occurred as they tried to get her out of the water was an amusing sight to a drunk woman. 

Merry sits on grandma’s lap and chugs a barrel of cola from the table, making a retching noise once she is done. She reaches for the milk next when Chimney and Gonbe cheerfully hand it to her, completely unconcerned about her main body sinking behind them all.

 


 

The Galley-la building is on fire. The shipwrights are panicking, rushing around to put it out. It’s chaos, and Lucci emerges to receive Hattori, who reports that the Strawhats are no longer in the vicinity. 

Neither are Paulie and Iceburg.

“They got us,” Kalifa sighs. “I didn’t expect a Haki user in Paradise.”

Right after the slashes crossed the building, a single gunshot was heard. And from there— the entire building implodes, the second floor erupting as if landmines had been planted, until the entire floor collapses onto the ground. 

They’d taken advantage of the leftover dust and battle to disguise the stench of gunpowder littered around the building. 

This was an amateur trap, and yet, Lucci and Kalifa fell for it. They’ve been ready to blow this place to smithereens the moment Lucci and Kalifa arrived— and then they melded into the chaos and ran off with Iceburg in tow. 

(Seriously, how much gunpowder do those pirates have?)

“Lucci! Kalifa!” one of the shipwrights rush over at the sight of them, “guys! I found them!” 

Hattori winds forward, stopping their advance. They cease, startled— but Lucci winds back as the dust parts behind him, a too-long foot plunging into the debris by his side, sliding right through the rubble and sending it all flying up. 

Lucci braces for the figure of Strawhat Luffy to burst through the dustclouds— but he didn’t expect the speed

He barely realizes Luffy’s right in front of him before the punch knocks his skull, rocking right through his brain and throwing him back an unwilling step. 

“It’s Strawhat Luffy! He showed up!” 

“Kalifa, this way!” 

“Where’s Iceburg-san?”

“Paulie’s not around either!” 

Lucci stands before Monkey D. Luffy. It may have been a trick of the light, but its almost looked as if Luffy’s body was steaming, light pink in the heat emanating from his body. But maybe that was just the smoke from the fire, and the perspiration from effort. 

But wait. They didn’t run away? Why?

Luffy huffs. “I hit you.” 

Lucci hums, not deigning him with a real response. He takes a step back.

“You’re not getting away, Strawhat!” Tilestone shouts, charging at him with an oversized steel beam. 

Luffy ducks under it quickly, scrambling aside and grabbing the edge, allowing himself to be swung by the beam’s momentum as he lashes out a Gomu Gomu Whip against the crowd, flattening half of them in one move, swiping aside a mountain of debris along with it. 

“Crap, he’s quick!” 

Kalifa and Lucci’s eyes meet. The guerilla isn’t here, neither is Paulie and Iceburg. If the trustworthy figures aren’t here, then they can use this opportunity to their benefit. CP9 can use the chaos to move openly, and the Strawhats will have a harder time getting out.

What’s more, if they corner Strawhat Luffy like this, they’ll likely be able to take his bounty head with them to Enies Lobby. 

“Mayor Iceburg has been kidnapped by the other Strawhats!” Kalifa declares. “Hurry and spread this news to the citizens! We need all the help we can get! “

“What? But you’ll cause mass panic if you—”

“Hurry, or the Strawhats will run in the night!”

“...if Kalifa says so, then,” the shipwright nods. “We’ll follow! Let’s go, everyone! Hunt down the Strawhats tonight! Get the whole city involved!”   

Luffy clicks his tongue. He’s surrounded in all directions by shipwrights, and though it’s less than during the day, now, he has Rob Lucci to worry about. 

“Your rampage stops here, pirate!” the shipwrights yell.

“Not running away with your friends was your worst mistake!” 

Ignoring them all, Luffy grins, punching his palm. “They’re all ready to scrap!” he hollers loud and clear. “How long more do we need, Zoro?”

“Hell if I know,” all eyes snap to the top of the Dock Gate, where Roronoa Zoro tied a bandanna to his head whilst having a sword in his mouth. “Nami just said to run wild until they pick us up.”

Half of the shipwrights filed out with Kalifa in tow, escaping to the town to begin searching for the rest of the crew. The other half remained here, between Luffy and Zoro. 

Nami had only one rule— Don’t fight Lucci alone. Because when he’s alone, he gets to use everything in his arsenal. When he’s surrounded by the shipwrights, he’s restricted to non-lethal methods of incapacitation, and he has to keep in mind those who are technically his ‘allies’ getting in the way. 

It’s the most tactical option, at the moment at least. 

Even if Lucci defected from Galley-la right now, it wasn’t a message that could be clearly displayed to the rest of the shipwrights. It would work against Kalifa’s side of the plan, and it would cause more confusion and allow Luffy opportunities to escape if they want. 

Lucci has to buy time, too. Or the Strawhats will get away with Iceburg and the clues to Pluton in tow. What if Lucci escapes now? But why would he? His pride as a member of CP9 wouldn’t allow him to leave such valuable witnesses to his truth run free. 

Where the fuck is Kaku?

The fight begins with a mindless charge forward, and there’s no time to consider other options. For now, he’ll humour them. 

For now.

 


 

“Hey… you’re kidding, right?” Gin mutters. “That’s completely ridiculous. Is this even possible?” 

Nami sighs, overlooking the destruction in the distance from a very, very safe distance away. Every member of the Franky Family was sprawled against the ground, some in the ocean, and the scrapyard was still in flames. The citizens of Water Seven had rushed in, trying to control the flames to no avail. 

Kaku had taken them all down, shrugged off the few injuries he got from all the roughhousing, and walked away. 

“I thought that would stop him for at least a little longer.”

Nami is thinking really hard. Was the CP9 always this strong at this point? Zoro dealt with him last time, so honestly she didn’t know for sure. 

Kinoko lands on her shoulder as Suu rolls over to them, both making a chirp and squeak to try and say something. Gin takes Kinoko and Nami picks up Suu. 

“Hey, Gin… what exactly did this Cipher Pol facility do?” Nami asks. “You said there would only be three of them, even though there were four agents on the island. What makes the fourth one different?”

She doesn’t know how to be careful with that topic. Luffy was the one that didn’t breach this— Nami was the one that looked for answers. 

“They tried to make the strongest trio,” Gin says. “A director to command, a chaser to corner their target, and a berserker to assault. That was the equation they considered the ultimate combination for a sufficient squad. They wouldn’t add a fourth.” 

It didn’t make sense to not add another. 

But if Gin said it so surely, there must be a reason. 

“We were the failures,” Gin says. “I don’t know what they’ve done in the time between, but this team here, if they are the successful tests…”

Did this happen last time? Nami would never know. They never cared. 

(But they can’t get hung up on the details now.)

“You said the Berserker is the strongest, right?” Nami says. Then it must be Lucci. “How would you compare?”

“...I don’t know,” Gin says, looking back at the fire of the scrapyard. “But that’s their Chaser. So I definitely wouldn’t stand a chance.”

The loud roar of a dial engine churns up behind them, and an explosion at Galley-la Headquarters draws their attention to Dock One. 

They pay attention immediately, Gin lifting his elbows off the ledge as Nami hops off, back onto her feet. 

That’s the signal. 

“This way?”

“Yes, that’s the ledge. Please be aware of the laws of gravity when you leap this time.”

There’s a sharp grunt before a shadow flicks overhead, and Wyper soars right through. Iceburg is on his back, , and there’s a rope contraption bound around his bazooka sling, attached to a makeshift waveboard Paulie’s riding on behind him. 

They fling over the street in some chaotic cohesion, and Nami raises a hand, clutching Suu to her chest.

Gin’s eyes meet Wyper’s for a flash of a second. He nods.

And Wyper snatches Nami’s hand right off the ground, and they kick off the waves and fly into the lower districts. 

They’re gone immediately. 

Gin turns to Kinoko. “You got eyes on the square nose yet?” In lieu of an answer, Kinoko takes flight. And Gin follows without another word. “Great, get me out of here. It’s a stamina race from here.”

Gin has to keep running. Kaku can still trace him.

 


 

Water Seven was in mayhem. 

“The target is the Strawhats! The Strawhats!” 

“The scrapyards’ on fire! That could spread to the Back Streets! We need more people to go down there and help the Franky Family put it out!” 

“The Franky House’s on fire, too!” 

“What?! Don’t tell me those buffoons started the fire, that’s utter idiocy!” 

Pitchforks were out, flashlights were bright and shining, and as many camera Den-Dens as the town can scrounge up are running. People are running search parties, and though the city association can’t figure out where Kalifa’s gone, they believe she’s getting treatment from the minor burns she’s sustained. 

Gin breathes heavily, crouching over some cardboard boxes, holding onto a gash on his shoulder. He’s got no idea where Kaku is right now, but he’s certainly nearby. 

Kaku is also trying to lay low. Because the second he’s noticed by the town, they’ll only call him in alarm, flock to him, and get in the way. But on the flip side, it is hell for Gin to run anywhere. Kaku’s found him twice now, and Gin knows the time he’s getting to rest is getting shorter. 

His head really hurts. There are white flashes in his vision, and every breath is instinctual, heaving, and painful. His hands and feet are numb. 

But just a little longer. 

(Just a little longer, until he sees the signal. He just has to endure until then.)

(They’ll pick him up, and they’ll escape together.)

(They’ll come for him, right? They will.)

“Goddamn it, Anne, we’re all going to fucking die,” he hisses under his breath, his voice choked up, crawling to his feet, pressing so heavily on the side of the wall it threatens to cave in under his strength. “You go off on your own, do your own fuckign thing, and expect me to just understand. It happens every. Fucking. Time .”

“Who’s there?!”

“Show your face!” 

“Wait he’s— Man-demon! He’s a Strawhat, get him!” 

Gin stumbles onto his feet,and every step is another churn of nausea threatening to bowl him over again. He doesn’t see where he’s going— he just runs forward, and forward, and away from any obstacles. 

Kinoko briefly chitters nearby, her voice lost in the cacophony of human hunting and other animals, but Gin swerves aside when he’s instructed to head Westward, trusting that’s where he’ll find his next momentary shelter.

His job is to endure. His job is to be strong. 

His job is to keep running from conflict until he’s ordered to do otherwise.

 


 

“I’m surprised we got around as easily with that much added weight,” Paulie says, groaning as he finally gets the opportunity to sit and rest. There’s a bruise on his face rapidly purpling, and he leans over the water to inspect it. 

“Are you saying I’m heavy?” Nami scowls, putting Suu on the ground so she could scamper off. 

“Where is my fucking thank you for hauling ass all this way!” Wyper sneers, “you Blue Sea people are fucking shameless!” 

“Thank you!” Nami and Paulie snap around to yell in the same sarcastic tone. 

“Get along, children,” Iceburg says, casually walking past everyone to reach for the doors to Tom’s Worker’s bay. Suu rolls up beside him and he looks down, “oh hi there, young lady. That is a wonderful contraption you have, the craftsmanship is certainly interesting. Here, I’m sure you’ll get along with Tyrannosaurus. You’re the same colour, almost.”

And then Iceburg crouches down, putting his small white mouse friend on Suu’s back.

And then he opens the door. 

“Hey, Frank—uh?!” 

The door bursts open outward to a mound of white— fur, perhaps— speckled with blue and brown in patches. It was like whatever was beyond that door was just flooded through with whatever this mound of allergy-inducing softness, until nothing could be seen beyond it. It completely wedged into the door like a warm wall. 

Nami touches it. “...what is this? It’s alive?”

It’s breathing. And felt kind of familiar. She lifts her baby Den Den Mushi and dials a number.

“What’s going on, this wasn’t here this afternoon,” Paulie raises a brow. He punches it, only to not make even a budge. “It’s heavy! Also kinda soft, though.” 

“Purupurupuru… Kachack!” 

Nami frowns when no sound comes out the other end, even though it was clearly picked up. “Hello?” 

“Hmm? Oh, Nami, hi. Are you outside?” 

“...yeah?”

“Great. Gimme a second, I’ll be right there and— here,” Usopp says, and Nami has to hold back a horrified jerk backwards as the fur before her shifts, and a hand emerges from one side, pulling it apart like a curtain to reveal Usopp’s face. “Hey! Come on in!” 

If Usopp could see, he would hold their gobsmacked expressions against them forever.

 


 

A moment before Wyper’s group got here, Kiwi and Mozu had stumbled their way to the base, charging in heavily injured to cry for Franky’s help. 

“Franky-aniki! It’s bad!” 

“It’s bad! Very bad!” 

If the girls cared for the guests they didn’t expect to be there, they didn’t show it. This wasn’t the time. 

“It was Kaku! He attacked us out of nowhere! Burned the house down, everyone’s injured!”

Kiwi sobs and Mozu is still cradling her arm, “we could barely fight back and now…. Now the scrapyard’s on fire! Everything’s in shambles!” 

Franky sees red. “They did what?” his voice comes out a cold threat.

The scrapyard meant the world to Franky. The Franky Family meant even more than that. And if someone’s hit their house and beat up his children, they know better. Kaku wouldn’t do that, he had no reason, and he had better ways to provoke Franky than go for something so obvious and stupid. 

Franky logically understands that. 

But Franky blatantly ignores it. 

“It’s definitely not Bakaburg that commanded that shit! I'm taking it up with Kaku myself! How dare he hurt what’s mine,” he snaps, swearing loudly. “Leave it to me, girls! I am super fucking pissed right now.” 

Usopp did try to give him a rundown of Lucci, Kaku, Kalifa, and Blueno’s involvement in the CP9, but he’s honestly not sure if Franky actually believes him. He can never quite pin it down right with that guy. 

“Longnose!” Franky spins around to point. 

“It’s Usopp.”

“Well, Longnose,” Franky says. “I’m leaving my girls with you and the bear thing and the angel. Take care of them.”

“It’s Chopper! I’m a reindeer!” 

“My name is Conis…”

“They better be fine when I’m back! Don’t know what’s going on there, but you’re not off the hook yet! I’m still not sure I trust you!” 

And he marches off with a dramatic exit of a violent fart that sends him flying about a mile in the direction of the ocean. Kiwi and Mozu salute to bid him well on his course, but are then left awkwardly standing as Franky gets out of sight. 

They finally turn to what’s happening inside. 

Coby is chasing a small calico— calico? Are calicos usually that colour? She’s as big as a chair, scampering around with a raincoat over her body and boots on her hind paws. Over her ears are curls of horns that belong on a ram. And as she runs across the bay, her tail flickers, her fur bristles, like sparks, or swirls of flames, wisping just enough to look like a trick of the eye. 

Conis is also calling for the cat, holding a collar with a bell in hand. The cat hisses at them both, clearly disliking the idea. 

Meanwhile, Chopper is grinding up something in a pestle and mortar, ignoring everything. Usopp is helping him, bringing a flask and placing it beside them. 

Granny Kokoro, as well as Chimney and Gonbe, are nowhere to be seen.

Kiwi and Mozu meet eyes. 

Then, “We’re Kiwi and Mozu!” they pose dramatically, “from the Franky Family! Nice to meet you all, how may we contribute to this wonderful atmosphere we have today?!” 

They aren’t really baffled by chaos. They’re used to it. 

 


 

So, back to the present. 

Nami carefully steps into the furry… enclosure, skeptically prodding at the soft walls, the bouncy ground, and the sight of Conis, Kiwi and Mozu just curling lovingly into the fluff in a cuddle pile. 

The fur gives way to furniture, to something that looks like a steel locker, and it goes on and on, there are even stairs. Nami doesn’t understand what she’s looking at– there’s the bedframe Wyper made for the girls, Nami’s desk, the girl’s room bar— but then there are hammocks just a little to the right. 

“...what is going on here? Why’s everything from the ship here… and where are we?”

There are windows, there’s no glass, but there are openings that look like windows, showing what the original bay looks like. Whatever they’re in right now takes up most of the area and there’s barely any dry ground before the river. Chopper’s outside on the second floor, carrying a load of booze toward them. 

“Oh, you guys made it!” Chopper beams, “it’s super comfy in there, right?!” 

“What in the hell is this?” Paulie asks, when the entire furry vehicle rumbles like a snort, sending a wave of reverberation through the ground. “Why is it rumbling like this?” 

Iceburg hums, looking around in confusion. His eyes land on Kiwi and Mozu and the bandages around them, but he dismisses it in favour of Usopp pulling aside another curtain of fluff to reveal the way out into the dock. 

“Oh dear, you’ve made a mess of our hideout,” Iceburg sighs. 

“Sorry,” Conis chuckles, getting up. “We didn’t expect her to be this huge.”

“Her?”

“Her? What do you mean, h—” 

Iceburg falls silent. The ground under him rumble with a snort again. Nami spins around in alarm. 

“Oh, Nami-san! It’s so great to finally see you again!” Coby calls, running down from the second floor. “So, how do you like it? I brought what you asked for!” 

And it all sinks in. 

Nami rushes out of the structure she’s in, running a fair distance away before turning around to see exactly what they’ve been inside this whole time. 

It’s a— it’s a cat, she thinks. It’s way too huge, but upon closer look, that’s just how big she always was. 

Big, white and blue and brown and fluffy, flaring into wisps of flames and mist. The cat’s face takes up the front of the vehicle-like object, and she yawns, lifting her head at the sight of the new humans inside her. 

The ram horns curl wide and firm around the front. She loafs, beady black eyes inspecting the people around, sniffing at each new occupant that exits. 

Nami covers her mouth as tears build in her eyes, overtaken by emotion. 

“Oh gods above,” she breathes. “Merry?”

Meanwhile, Wyper screams, spinning his bazooka to the front. Paulie has exactly the same reaction, and because they crash into each other they back off a bit too much and right into the water with a loud splash. 

Iceburg gapes. 

Coby beams brightly. “Don’t worry, all your old stuff is intact! We checked. Some stuff broke, but it’s like a fourth dimension inside Merry’s belly and— oh.” 

Coby stops when Nami turns around to give him a full hug. 

Nami’s still a little taller than him now. But they wouldn’t know— it’s not as if they were really close before this. Nami was sweet to everyone if it benefited her, and Coby’s been at the mercy of this for a very, very long time. 

Nami doesn’t say anything as Coby awkwardly hugs back, flustered. “Uh? Y- You’re welcome, Nami-san?!”

His hands pause at her metal arm. 

And he loses the ability to say anything, too. 

Nami shakes her head. She isn’t saying anything— just hugging, grateful and tight. They’re friends— they’re friends, right? That’s for sure. That’s never been properly stated, but that’s how it is, right?

He can believe in that to remain the same. 

And then Nami parts, spinning around to give herself a running start before she leaps forward, right into the mounds of fluffiness that was the Going Merry, catbus edition. 

 


 

“WHaaaat?!” 

Kiwi and Mozu are horrified to learn that Iceburg was not responsible for the wanton bombing of the Franky House. And that Kaku was a spy from the government that’s after Franky for very important blueprints. 

“But Franky-aniki went to chase after him!” Kiwi says, arms pulled back in some dramatic ‘holy shit’ expressions. 

“We have put him in danger!” Mozu adds, and they shift synchronously to terrified reaction post #2, “we must go back to save Franky-aniki now!” 

Nami wisely does not mention who are the real perps of the Franky House bombing. 

“They’ll want to keep Franky alive until they know where the blueprints are, right? They’ll bring him with them to Enies Lobby,” Usopp says, tying down the harpoon-shaped weapons in a stack before Coby picks them all up to be loaded into the Merry. 

Meanwhile, Wyper and Paulie, who are both drenched and cranky and trying not to kill each other, are being physically separated by Conis. 

“Come on, boys, don’t fight! I know it’s unpleasant to fall into the water, but…” Conis squeaks when they’re both very much still capable of trying to strangle each other with a girl between them. 

“I didn’t fall, he shoved me in!” 

“And you dragged us both down like some fucking sea anemone!” 

“I can’t fucking swim you blue sea pest!” 

“Why the shit is that my problem!” 

Nami builds a cloud bridge to transport things from the second floor down to the ground. 

“I fixed the Milky Dials,” Nami reports, hollering toward Wyper and Paulie. “Oh big strong men over there, make yourselves useful, alright?” 

It says something about how accustomed they are to childish boy fights that Wyper and Paulie are easily manipulated into helping everyone do the transporting work, just like that. 

Chopper treats Iceburg’s injuries as they all watch it happen. Suu’s a very useful cupholder because the table’s crushed under Merry. They’re going to move the minute they’re done moving the important things, so alas, this silence will be short-lived. 

“What’s the plan from here?” Conis asks. “We still need to pick everyone up, right?”

Merry yawns, shifting to stretch out all sprawled and wide. 

“But Nico Robin and your other crewmate are already long gone, aren’t they?” Iceburg says. “There won’t be another train until eight in the morning. And your ship can’t sail. I highly doubt I’ll be able to organize a getaway ship at this point that isn’t hijacked by Lucci and Kalifa, anyways.”

They haven’t gone out of the town yet, but they can hear riots. There’s a city wide announcement detailing the horrific kidnapping of Mayor Iceburg, and the entire town is on high alert to spot any Strawhat in town. 

They can even hear people spotting Gin, wherever he’s running onto now. But he’ll probably be fine. 

“Wait, are we seriously headed to Enies Lobby?” Paulie says. 

“You’re not if you don’t want to,” Wyper grumbles. “I don’t want you around.”

“Piece of shit, you really remind me of that eyebags guy!” Paulie groans. 

“I do NOT remind you of the Man-demon!” Wyper snaps, deeply offended.

“And yet you knew exactly who I was talking about?!” 

“We can’t wait until morning,” Nami says. “Usopp, where’s Granny Kokoro?”

“She went to do some prior maintenance on our getaway train,” Usopp says. “We’re supposed to meet her there. Apparently Ice-ossan will know where to go.”

Iceburg is suddenly a whole shade paler. 

“What’s wrong?” Conis asks, fearfully followed by Chopper. Kiwi and Mozu look apprehensive. What could make Iceburg nervous?

“No, just, uh…” Iceburg grimaces, “I don’t have to come along, right? Our alliance is me giving you guys that opportunity to find Lucci again, and somehow getting you on the right path, while you help me out in getting Lucci off my back. If I hide form here we’re done, right? I don’t have to go to Enies Lobby with you.”

“What? You’re getting cold feet now?”

“Unfortunately, Ice-ossan,'' Usopp says, “if you made an alliance with Luffy, you’re never getting out of it. Like, ever. You’re an honourary Strawhat now. My condolences.”

“That is the most miserable crew invitation I have ever heard,” Iceburg mourns. 

“Plus it’s not easy, you know! Lucci’s not giving up on you or Franky yet!” Nami says. “Franky’s not going to destroy the blueprints until he gets assurance Robin won’t awaken it either. So you’re involved, still.” 

“How on earth did you even know all that detail?” Iceburg asks, but he dreads the answer. “Also, you guys are going to find Nico Robin, aren’t you? She’s the last person I want to be associated with!”  

“Wimp! Mayor Iceburg we thought better than you!” Kiwi and Mozu whine. “To think we almost wanted to call you Iceburg Grand Aniki after you told us about your old bond with Franky-aniki, too!”

“Please do not call me that.”

“What’s with the sudden change of heart?” Chopper asks. 

“That’s fine, we don’t need to bring extra load if they don’t want to come,” Wyper grumbles, “we’re going to war, right? Is this some Blue Sea coda or some shit?” 

“Huh?” Coby looks from person to person, “I’m confused. I am so ill-equipped when a crowd starts talking at once. Can I just nod and pretend I understood anything?”

“Hey c’mon,” Iceburg says, looking away, “I really really don’t want to go. You guys don’t know how crazy the Rocketman is. I’m not riding that thing! Never! Especially not when Granny Kokoro is behind the wheel!”

“What are you, a kid?!” 

“What’s the Rocketman?” 

Iceburg finally throws his hands into the air in exasperation, “unlike you guys, I’m sane!

The silence and staring that ensues unnerves him greatly. 

“Psst, Ice-ossan, I’m sorry to break it to you,” Usopp and Nami stage whisper at the same time, “but you’re really not.”

Chopper pats him on the hand. “It’s okay, Uncle Iceburg. I know how that feels.” 

Conis also puts a hand on his shoulder, tears in her eyes. “I really understand.”

Wyper rolls his eyes, and Coby chuckles confusedly. Paulie looks just as confused as before, but Kiwi and Mozu are nodding sagely. 

“Someone that’s known Franky-aniki longer than we do cannot possibly be classified under the typicality spectrum,” they say. Then a synchronous thumbs up for the respect of a brother, “but don’t worry, that’s not a bad thing at all!!” 

Suu is just squeaking her ass off in laughter, completely unsympathetic. Iceburg turns around, baffled, only to see Merry the oversized cat grinning smugly behind him. 

He buries his face into his palms in utter misery. 

“Geeeeeeeeez!” Iceburg yells, marching toward the catbus. “Get in, you losers! I saw an Eagle Launcher in there and it’s mine now!” 

“WOOHOO!” they cheer, Wyper’s ‘wait, that’s mine!’ complaint lost in the noise.

“Also, whoever set my town on fire, put it out before we go!” 

 


 

“Speaking of people that are coming,” Nami says, “when are you planning on leaving, Coby-kun?” 

“Huh? I can’t stay here?” Coby gapes, tearing up almost immediately, clearly upset. 

Nami balks when the rest of the crew turn slack-jawed toward her, horrified that she would say such a cruel thing to Merry’s benefactor. Coby crumbles like a kicked puppy, hugging his knees to his chest as he sulks. 

“Apologize, Nami!” 

“Huh?! Uh! Okay, I’m sorry!” Nami corrects quickly, “you can stay! Of course you can stay! I was just asking as a courtesy, of course you can stay, Coby-kun!” 

 


 

The front of the Merry opens up like a car’s front window. There’s no steer, since Merry never had one, but her old rudder sticks in the middle of the standing space. Her anchor hung around the section where her neck would be, nestled between the collar Conis managed to fit on her, which enlarged when she shifted into the huge cat form. 

When everyone steps in, the doors seal closed like skin pulling over. Everything inside shifts away into fur like a fourth dimension, and bulges formed into seats at each side.

Merry then shrinks, small enough to fit through the door, before inflating right back into the building-sized monstrosity as she leaps out into and over the city.  

Everyone inside her shrinks with her, unaffected. She’s almost weightless, trees merely bending under her weight  as she scampers across the roofs with laughter in the wind. 

The ride is vigorous but fun, tempestuous to the open windows. Kiwi and Mozu haven’t stopped doing their ‘young girls being utterly windswept in the gust’ pose yet. Conis and Coby are childishly excited, Suu and Tyrannosaurus are running around excitedly and terrified respectively, Wyper and Iceburg aren’t particularly fazed, Paulie and Chopper are going holy shit , and Usopp and Nami are misty-eyed with joy.

“What are we doing about the fire?” Wyper asks. 

“I think the Franky Family have it under control. Look at that,” Nami says. By the pier are people, citizens of Water Seven and the Franky Family alike, coming together to scoop water from the sea into the fires. On another side are Sodom and Gomorrah the King Bulls, sweeping water in like flood waves. 

“They’ll be fine. Uncle Iceburg, you got Franky on the line?”

“Yes I–” Iceburg is interrupted byt he Den Den Mushi connecting a a loud shout of ‘WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT’ screams through the snail. “Swearing in this household? I’m telling Old Hag Kokoro on you.”

“BAKABURG, THIS ISN’T THE TIME!” 

“Anyways, we’re riding Rocketman, so get ready,” Iceburg says, before hanging up immediately. There’s a loud shout of ‘WHAT’ that gets lost in the cutting of the connection, but Iceburg steadily hands the Den Den Mushi back to Nami before deeming his job complete. “Now we have to pick up your captain.” 

Nami stares, baffled. 

Oh dear, what has she awoken?

 


 

At Galley-la Dock 1, everyone was giving the fight a wide berth. Luffy was taking on Lucci mostly alone, and Zoro was focused on driving the onlookers away as they tried to help. 

“Honour the one-on-one,” Zoro growls, but everyone around him apparently disagrees that this is an honourable battle at all.

“You just raided our place, kidnapped our mayor, and you expect an honourable fight?! What a joke!” 

“Yeah! Get out of here you stinkin’ pirate!” 

Lucci sighs. What a bunch. He swerves aside from Luffy’s next kick and elbows the boy in the centre of his chest, feeling the satisfying crunch of his ribs as they fold from the impact.

Luffy gasps, but the momentum is already sending him far, and when he crashes into the mounds of debris to send it flying into splinters nad sawdust, it hurts enough for him to cringe on his next attempt at breathing. Lucci leaping forth to plunge a saw down at his neck, and he scrambles to get up, only to slip and crash back down. 

“Hey, Luffy!” Zoro curses, blade just barely slipping between them in time to bring them saw up, throwing it back and away from his captain with a grunt of force. 

Lucci’s eyes widen with surprise. 

It’s not every day someone’s strong enough to actually throw his arm back. 

Luffy’s foot shoots up between the space, aiming for Lucci’s face, and Lucci swats it right away. That’s enough time for Zoro to dive forward with a thrust of his sword, and Lucci is forced to put his hands on the blade— the blade that burns , like the soul of something that longs for blood— and brave the slice of his palm for leverage to swing out a kick that sends Zoro crumbling back with a broken nose. 

And then Luffy’s fist comes from right under Lucci, and Lucci doesn’t realize what’s happening until he’s thrown back by an uppercut that nails him firmly in the jaw. 

He stumbles back, and Luffy is still hacking, breathing heavily, holding his chest. Zoro groans, cradling his broken nose, but hand still firmly on his sword. Lucci wavers on his feet and sees red. 

Oh, screw this identity nonsense. He’ll just kill all of these shipwrights later, who cares if they see his Devil Fruit ability or identify him as a secret government agent. 

His arm engorges into fur, and his growls under his breath. 

“Lucci-san! There’s a giant cat coming our way!” 

“...a giant what?” another shipwright asks. 

“A giant— holy shit. Is it on fire? But it’s blue?”

“Wait, it’s not stopping! It’s going to crash into us, everyone duck!” 

Lucci turns back with surprise as the giant feline creature skids through through the crowd, knocking and crushing all people and debris it runs over, scattering it all into a wild, windy mess. They scrape to a stop mere metres before Rob Lucci, leaving him windswept and bewildered as the giant cat head scrutinizes him as it would a mouse. 

“HEY LUCCI!” Paulie’s voice rings out from what could only be an open window, one foot on the window as he sizes Lucci up form way too high, “FUCK YOU! YOU’RE FIRED!”

To the utter confusion of every shipwright around him. 

“AND YOU BASTARDS!” Paulie turns to them, “get off your ass! Sit still and reconstruct and prepare for the damn Aqua Laguna until we get back! You better keep the town fucking intact while we’re gone!” 

They are all still completely and utterly confused. “What are you talking about, Paulie?”

“Why are you up there?!” 

“Why did you just fire Lucci? You have the authority?!”

“Weeelll,” Iceburg sighs, poking his head out as well, “whatever Paulie said. I guess. I’ll leave it to you guys.” 

That did not explain anything at all. 

Burglar Cat Nami emerges to finally add, “we’re leaving, Luffy!”

And Luffy coughs, before getting up with a grin. “Yeah! I got one punch in, and that’s enough for me! Let’s go get Robin and Anne!” 

Zoro miserably holds out a hand before Luffy winds around it, and before Lucci even knows what’s going on they shooting off toward the creature, and the cat has risen leaping off an unholy height into the night sky once again, leaving a burst of wind in its wake.



Chapter 86: rocketman to new revelations (puffing tom for old traditions)

Summary:

The Strawhats hurry out of Water Seven, late-comers leaping onto the Rocketman one after another, annoying the everloving hell out of the entire entourage. Needless to say, Enies Lobby is in for quite the heap of visitors.

Meanwhile, things get a little more eventful on the Puffing Tom.

Notes:

I'm back! Sorry for the long delay, I took a break to focus on my internship for a bit, and then mindfuck happened in canon with all the end of Wano reveals and I had to just. Spend a while to take it all in.

Anyways! We're at the Sea Train arc! Hope you enjoy reading ❤

Chapter Text

The train has made several stops thus far to various islands. The final stop is Enies Lobby, but all other passengers will be completely alighted in the station right before it. 

If they want to rescue Robin and Anne and get out, they’ll have to do it now when the train is full of civilians, and escape into one of the islands. That’s the plan. 

“I’m really sorry… if you don’t have a ticket for the VIP lounge, you can’t go in.” 

Blueno hears the conversation coming from the door and frowns. Since this is a crowded car and not a special escort car, the most they’ve managed to do is saddle him, Robin, and Anne, along with a number of disguised guards, into the VIP restaurant car. It’s a hardly ideal degree of protection, but his wards don’t have the intention to run, which means it all should have been fine. 

But what’s going on now?

“Unbelievable!” the woman snarls, “do you not know who I am?”

“I—” 

“How dare you,” the woman says, and the worker hitches a breath. “I am royalty , completely incomparable to the likes of some rather well-off commoners. It should go without saying to have the lounge prepared for me, and yet, I had to walk myself here! How despicable! Is this what the world-renowned Puffing Tom has to offer? Irredeemable, irredeemable! I will tell father about this!” 

“I- W— We are very sorry! We are— but—” 

“But what? Open the door right this instant!” 

The girl barges in, her bright turquoise hair an elegant sprawl upon her shoulders as she huffs, looking down upon all the curious eyes as she enters. She makes a show of scoffing, turning her nose up at them. She’s wearing an elaborate masquerade mask, presumably to hide part of her face. 

“Uncouth. Unsanitary. And infected with all these commoners , ugh,” she walks around the bar and makes a face of disgust as she passes the table, “ah, you there. Get off that table, I want to sit there.” 

She snaps her finger at the elderly man sitting upon the corner table closest to the ventilation. “It is so stuffy here! Unbelievable.” 

People are shuffling away now, uncomfortable. 

Anne glances upward, eyes firm with a strain. Robin’s blissfully unmoving but that’s strange in itself. She hasn’t even looked up, at the girl drawing all attention to herself— and Blueno frowns. Is this her being tense? Or is this a ploy?

That looks like Princess Nefertari Vivi, but the princess is well-known to be caring, kind, and considerate especially to civilians. And Alabasta is one of the most well-known emblems of frugal royalty. And why would she hide her face while declaring her name, if not to obscure specific facial features and turn away questions? This must not be the princess, because the humble royalty of Alabasta would frown upon this beahaviour. 

That must be an impostor trying to swindle their way to a free meal, he reckons. 

It’s not his problem. 

“What are you waiting for!” the girl slams a foot on the table. “Get me a drink and a meal right now, you insolent man!” 

Yeah. definitely not the actual princess. There’s no way the princess of Alabasta would be all the way out here in Laguna season, anyways.

“How stuffy! Open the windows!” she demands. 

“A- I- I’m so sorry your highness, that cannot be done for this is a restaurant car— we’re very, very sorry for the inconvenience. We—”

“You’re sorry? You dare think an apology can forgive your utterly unacceptable behaviour?!” 

Blueno is glad he’s the only CP-9 agent here. If it had been anyone else, they’d had silenced her already, mission and remaining undercover be damned. 

On top of the VIP restaurant car, a single man sighs, masquerade mask resting upon his nose. He holds on tight to the overhead latch as the train picks up speed.  

“T-minus sixty seconds… fifty-nine, fifty-eight…” 

 


 

“Wait, we’re in the Merry?” Luffy asks. 

“We’re in the what?” Zoro asks. 

“WE’RE IN THE MERRY!” Usopp and Chopper declare bright and excitedly, “Merry! Merry! Merry! Merry!” they chant, and Luffy gawks around utterly baffled before joyously joining, “MERRY! MERRY! MERRY!” 

“What the hell is going on and— wait who are you?!” Zoro turns to anyone else for an explanation but stops on Coby, Kiwi, and Mozu, and he bristles, sword forward. 

Kiwi and Mozu strike a mortified pose, “heathen!” They declare, “what a vulgar heathen! We feel threatened for our lives!” 

“Yeah, that’s the point!” 

“Oh! Easy there,” Coby raises both his hands, “hi, Zoro-san! Let’s put that dangerous thing away, uh—” he finds a cattail toy they’ve been using to play with Merry before this, and swings it gently before him, “uhm, let’s play nice and put that dangerous thing away, okay? Please? Let’s all get along!” 

“Yeah, Zoro,” Nami adds, holding out a stick of beef jerky, “let’s all play nice now. Have some food, let’s all be friends.”

“Are you picking a fucking fight?!?” 

“JERKY!” Luffy yells, diving over and eating it whole, Nami’s hand included, “can I have it?!” 

He gets socks in the face by a metal arm. 

Luffy gets knocked back painfully and whines— but then he leaps right back up, “oh wait! COBY?! When’d you get here?! And who are the rest of you bozos on my ship?!” 

“Luffy, Zoro already did that schtick, we’re not doing it again.” 

 


 

They brush past the town again, but nothing can stop a catbus from frolicking through the nighttime cityscape. Luffy indulges himself by crawling up to Merry’s cathead, snuggling in the space between the horns. Chopper’s wrapped up his injuries for now as the rest of the crew get their situation up to date. 

“Is it really okay to not know where Sanji-san and… Vivi-san, was it?” Conis asks, “is it okay to not know where they are at the moment?”

“Well, Sanji knows what he’s doing,” Luffy grins, “and if he’s with Vivi, then all the more so!” 

“Ahh, I can’t wait to see Vivi again,” Chopper says. “Kinda wish we had better circumstances, though.”

“No, these are the best circumstances,” Zoro says, “I bet that Shit-cook’s completely distracted and lost sight of the damn goal a long time ago. Vivi knows how to take things seriously.” 

Neither of them are picking up their Den Dens, but Nami isn’t too worried. 

Iceburg observes the crew as they converge and converse, a moment of peace in the otherwise anxious situation. He interests himself with looking over what Wyper is doing, picking out parts of metal and wood and masterfully creating parts to structure a prosthetic arm. 

“Want to add a laser beam?” Iceburg suggests in a stage-whisper. 

“I’ve been trying to,” Wyper says, “but Nami gets really mad when I try.” 

Iceberg hums, “ah, a tough crowd, fairy enough. You can do it subtly and hide it in part of the design. She won’t know if she doesn’t see it.”

Wyper considers that. 

They turn to stare at Nami, who’s busy directing Merry’s running course with Paulie, since he knows the layout of the city better. Usopp is busy making some drug-packets with Chopper. Conis, Kiwi and Mozu are on the sides of the ship, chatting with Luffy as they marvel at the sights. Zoro is supervising Luffy just in case he falls off like an idiot. 

Suu is staring at the two mechanics, Tyrannosaurus and a flame dial on her back.

Wyper and Iceburg nod at each other. What Nami doesn’t know, she won’t know.  

 


 

There is suddenly some screaming from Luffy and the entire crew spins around, alarmed. Even Merry jumps, all her fur bristling upright at the sound and disturbance to her forehead.

Coby, however, simply follows everyone’s gazes, confused. 

Luffy had been laying splayed out, stomach up and headfirst toward the sky, when something feathery, warm, damp, loud, and covered in clunky metal, just plunged into his face at the speed of wet rat. 

Luffy screeches, understandably mortified. 

Thankfully, the wind blowing in all their faces unlatches the terrified bird from him enough for her to scramble off and roll in the uncontrolled wind, and tumble into the vehicle. Kinoko clearly tries to claw at something, but she fails to grab at the fur, misses the handrail, and her wings are useless at the speed Merry is running. 

And thus Kinoko rolls through the wind crying desperately until she finally manages to catch another face in her path. Usopp’s. All finally falls silent. 

Then as if this was nothing out of the ordinary, Usopp carefully peels his bird off and holds her heavily shivering, utterly traumatized figure in his hands, gently rubbing her back as she rests in his lap.

“Oh hey, Kinoko,” he says. “I was wondering where you went.” 

Luffy is still screaming, but he’s finally manages to pull himself up and glare at the interior of the vehicle with bloodshot eyes, “KINOSUKE! YOU!!” 

Paulie and Iceburg look between all of the Strawhats, flabbergasted by their nonplussed behaviour. Conis and Chopper have come by to inspect the bird, but Zoro and Nami only look mildly annoyed. Wyper didn’t seem to care at all. Luffy launches into the bus to get his revenge only to be cleanly held away by Nami. The bird covers her head with her wings, shellshocked. 

“Look at her, you traumatized her!” 

“SHE traumatized ME?!?” 

Is this normal? Is this normal in the standards of the Strawhats?

 


 

“Welcome to the Rocketman!” Chimney greets, saluting. “How many are you?”

“Uh—” Nami’s slightly surprised to be asked, “a lot?”

“A lot!” Chimney beams, “Okay, A Lot of passengers, right this way please!” 

Is she playing usher?

They rapidly alight from the Merry, wasting no time to hop onto the Rocketman to explore the interior. 

“Hurry on now!” Granny Kokoro blows the whistle, “train’s leaving immediately, watch yer step, cause I definitely ain’t!” 

“Wait, we’re going in?” Wyper asks. “Into the steel steam monster of hell?! WAIT?!” 

“What, you’re scared of a train?” Paulie grins, smug. “That’s fine. You can stay behind.”

Instantly riled up with unbridled fury, Wyper made a running start and plunged right into Paulie’s face footfirst, sending them flying right into the Rocketman and directly through the other end of the cabin. 

“Hey come on now!” Chimney is upset, “don’t make more holes than necessary! I don’t like the cold draft!” 

“Sorry!” came two voices in the debris.

“Ah wait—” Zoro leans back out the doorway once everyone’s in, stretching out his arms. The train’s already started to leave the rails as he hollers, “let’s go, Merry!” 

Merry lifts, and in a cloud of bluish wisps and smoke, she shrinks as she leaps, falling right in place for Zoro’s arms to receive. She nears his palms as a considerably average-sized kitten—

—and then immediately explodes in a puff of smoke, emerging as a child with little arms and a head of exuberant white curls, plunging right into Zoro’s chest. 

Zoro nearly drops her immediately in surprise. 

“Wha— what?!” he balks, spinning to the safety of the Rocketman’s speed only to realize he’s holding a young girl in a raincoat. “You could do that? Since when?” 

Merry, in perfect huggable child size, simply nuzzles into Zoro’s chest with a light purr. She’s swamped by her white hair, brown ram horns framing her temple. Tall white cat ears twitch at the crown of her head. 

Everyone loses their absolute shit. 

“What is that?!” Nami turns to her, bewildered, grabbing Zoro’s shoulder to get a better look, “nooo way! I wanna hug Merry too!”  

“Me toooo!” Luffy whines, poking just his head all the way into the cabin. 

Chopper’s at Zoro’s leg now, “let me see, let me see!” 

“That is so cute!” Conis is holding the door closed. “What is that?! What is thaaaat?!”

“Is it transformed?” Wyper raises a brow. He’s got Suu and Kinoko tucked under one arm, Chimney and Gonbe in the other. All of them were very prepared to fly off in the wind before Wyper decided to be rational. 

“All of you, stop mobbing me!” Zoro snaps, “didn’t you hear the Granny, we’re hitting water soon, brace yourselves!” 

“It’s not fair you get to cuddle Merry!”

Zoro snarls, “I want to put her down too, but she’s clinging like a koala! And she’s— are you drooling on me?! Merry!” 

“Wait, how does that work?” Usopp asks, “if it’s a cat-ship, then he should only have a cat form, a ship form, and a catship form, right?” 

“Merry’s a Bakeneko, so I think anything works?” Coby says. 

Coby looks down, to Usopp making grabby-hand motions at his side, clearly trying to restrain himself. 

“Yes, she’s super cute,” Coby says. 

“Stop it! It’s too dangerous for me to run at them and demand a hug now!” Usopp whines. It’s taking all his leg strength to keep stable on this train cart. 

Coby laughs, happily describing her for Usopp, from the mounds of curly white hair that pooled down to her waist, to the long sleeves of the spotted blue raincoat. The raincoat ends around the middle of her thighs, but the rest of her feet are thick with weighted, nail-studded rain boots. As a human form, she’s only slightly bigger than Chopper. 

Coby notes the way Usopp clings, so carefully, to his arm. His grip is firm, grounding, and Coby doesn’t know why at first. 

It’s not until Coby starts internally reminiscing upon their situation, that he understands he needs the contact, too. It obstructs his ability to sign and gesture, and it holds up most of Usopp’s limbs that he needs for proprioception. 

But they both need it.

They need, for a moment, to remember who they once were, if only to truly accept what’s happening now. Usopp’s injuries from what robin did to him just this morning are fresh and tender, but he puts on a coat for the journey ahead and hides, hoping no one would call attention to it. 

And no one did. 

“Ah, that’s interesting. Her skin’s dark. So maybe she’s imitating you, Usopp?” Coby wonders, “like a baby chick imprinting. If she imitated Chopper a little more, maybe she’d look more like an anthropomorphic animal.”

Usopp immediately loses his composure to swoon , “what is thaaaat, that is illegal! That cuteness is illegal” he makes grabby motions with his arms, “I wanna hug Merry too!” 

“Nuh-uh! I had dibs!” 

“Me first!” 

“How about we ask Merry who she wants to be hugged by?”

 

The rumbling is violent and rough. They’re only two hours to daylight now, and the tunnel is seconds away from breaking out into the open sea. It’s rattling, loud and visceral, and Paulie’s teeth chatters just trying his best to hold on. Iceburg is faring a little better.

It’s a turbulent ride. 

And yet, the pirates have the energy to indulge in cooing over their ship-turned littlest, quarreling over custody until she willingly pawns herself off to Luffy, and they’re at the head of the Rocketman, Luffy hugging her to his lap like a strange role reversal of how they were seated before when Merry used to be a ship. 

Iceburg and Paulie’s eyes meet across the train. 

All things considered, this did not feel like a hostile trip to one of the three great Marine strongholds. This did not feel like the death sentence Iceburg had always thought was inevitable for him. He had no idea if any of them properly understood exactly what they were getting into at all. 

And yet— it felt appropriate. 

They don’t think. They just did, because the tactics of it didn’t matter. They had something to do, and they were doing it. 

Their nakama needed them— that was all the initiative they needed to take action. The rest of it was just them as a crew, living to their fullest. 

Living with a Don .

 


 

“WHO SAID YOU COULD JUST HOOK ON?!” 

Paulie is treated to the very liberating sight of Mayor Iceburg screaming his head off. Which is fair, Franky did just shoot javelins into the back of the sea train. And then he decided to just hold onto the runaway train with two King Bulls and a wagon three times their size with five times the people. 

Without an invitation.

Franky screeches right back from the head of his mobile house. “I SAID I COULD! FUCK THOSE GOVERNMENT SHITS!” 

“WHAT IF WE CAPSIZED, DUMBASS?!” Iceburg hoots back. 

“OF COURSE I DID THE CALCS YOU SHIT. I’M NOT STUPID!” 

“YES YOU ARE!” 

“NO, YOU ARE!” 

“HEY, STOP SWEAR’N! THERE ARE KIDS!” Granny Kokoro yells through the loudspeaker. 

“SORRY!” 

“MY BAD!” 

Honestly, even all of the Strawhats had to stand by and watch in baffled silence as the oldest few in the group started arguing like children. It was incredibly awkward for all of them, Franky Family included. Chimney and Gonbe had their hands over their ears like some sort of routine. This is clearly not the first time for them. 

Meanwhile, Kiwi and Mozu tearfully reunite with their brothers, and they’re lovingly welcomed home as if they went on a pilgrimage rather than an errand. 

Zoro turns to Nami very judgmentally when Franky mentions getting revenge on the government for setting his house on fire. 

Franky seethes. “They want me, don’t they?! I’m giving it to them!” 

“YEAH!” his family hollers right back. 

Zoro continues to glare at Nami, who stage-hushes him. “Do you want us to capsize? Don’t tell him! Please don’t be mad at me! It was a necessity!” 

Zoro is very put off by this. “I am not mad,” he insists.

“Then please look at me!” 

Zoro looks at her like she’s a despicable creature. 

 


 

Somehow, after Iceburg and Franky yell at each other for five minutes straight, they’ve run all the fight out of their system and Franky leaps down to the Rocketman, entering the cabin. 

“We have one last bone to pick with you monsters,” Franky snarls, once they’ve settled their differences for the strategy planning to come. “Where’s the asshole known as the Man-Demon? He dead?”

Immediately, all good mood in the train car dwindles as everyone levels him with a firm glare. Frnaky’s family members have been injured, heavily and some permanently— and the situation was only made worse when their houses were set on fire.

They’ve had a very bad day. 

It is, surprisingly, Conis that speaks up first. 

“I don’t think we should hold grudges, if we are to fight together against the world government,” she says. “We should put aside our grievances—” 

“Little girl,” Franky speaks up, cold and firm. “I wasn’t talking to you.” 

Conis crumbles immediately. 

“Ah— right, I- I’m sorry—” 

“Don’t apologize, Conis,” Luffy says, reaching into the cabin once more with a glare ingrained in his brows. “You’re Franky, right? Where’s our cash?”

Franky scoffs. “You guys are the dumbasses that had the gall to ask me to make you a ship?” he points at him with snark, “tough luck! I spent it all on one big purchase, it’s gone! You gave it to me, and I agreed to nothing .” 

Luffy’s teeth grinds, “you bastard! Nami trusted you!” 

“And she trusted the wrong person,” Franky scowls. “Why the hell would I help someone who beat up my boys to begin with? You never thought of that?”

“Why does that matter!” Luffy snaps. “You fought Gin and stole our money, it’s fair game he hit you back!” 

“Well then I’m hitting back on you hitting back!” 

“Okay fine! Now I’m gonna hit back on you hitting back on me hitting back, clench your damn teeth!” 

“Not if I hit you back for hitting me back about hitting you back for hitting you back first!” 

“You’re CONFUSING!” 

“No, I’m FRANKY!” 

Absolutely baffled, Zoro steps between them, sheathed swords coming right down on the heads with a loud thwack. 

“Oh for fuck’s sake, shut the fuck up! Do I have to do everything around here!” he yells. “If you wanna duke it out with Gin, fucking do it when we’re done saving Robin and Anne!” 

Franky groans, and Luffy pouts. 

“Saving Robin?” Franky twitches. “You want to save her, the Devil’s Child? You pirates are in over your damn heads!” 

“You’re going too!” Luffy accuses. 

“You have no idea who you’re up against!” 

Luffy’s fist tightens and his voice raises sharply, “why do you bastards keep saying that? Who are you to tell me if I know what I know?! Nami and Usopp are one thing, I don’t even know you!” 

Nami and Usopp flinch at that. Conis and Wyper give them a side-eye, but they don’t say anything. 

“I’m going to save Robin and Anne, and if you guys are going to come along, don’t get in my way!” Luffy yells. “I don’t care what you’re here to do! That’s Nami’s job!” he points sharply, “but don’t bother her either!” 

“What the—” Franky balks, “I’m talking to you here, Captain of the Strawhats!” 

“Well I don’t wanna talk to you!” he snaps, clearly irritated at this point. “And don’t talk to Nami either! You’re a bastard if you just wasted all our money!” 

The Strawhats are looking between them all nervously, they had absolutely no idea Luffy could get this petty. It is, however, highly amusing.

Franky blubbers, absolutely taken aback. “So I can’t talk to you and I can’t talk to your navigator, how can you be so selfish?!” 

“I’m not listening!” Luffy loudly declares, spinning right around until he finds Merry saddled between Conis’ arms to comfort the older girl. He beams, “oh, Merry! Wanna go back to the front with me?”

To which Conis forgets herself and whines, clutching Merry closer, “no fair Captain, you’re hogging her!” 

Usopp dryly remarks, “it’s actually my turn for the hug.” 

“Oh shush, I’m Captain, my orders are first!” Luffy declares. 

“If you can’t share, none of you get to hug her!” Zoro threatens. “Merry, get over here! Stop indulging those spoiled lots!” 

 


 

“So can we get back on track yet?” Zoro asks, changing the topic. 

And Nami recovers immediately. Because, priorities. 

“Okay, this is just the first phase over,” Nami says. “We should be safe this time, since the Aqua Laguna isn’t here yet. But… well,” she chuckles, which unnerves everyone, “we’ll be okay! I mean, things worked out last time!” 

If Nami was trying to send the fear of the horizon into everyone, well, it certainly worked. 

“Nami, I’m having a relapse of If-I-don’t-know-what-happens-next, I-will-die-disease because I wasn’t here last time either,” Usopp raises his hand. His other arm is whiteknuckled over Coby’s and, judging by Coby’s very strained expression, he’s cutting off bloodflow, “any other violent cases of turbulence I should know about?”

“I-w-w- I would like to know too,” Conis squeaks, clutching Suu and Chopper and holding onto Wyper by the foot. Wyper is very annoyed, but he’s doing all he can to stand extremely still like an anchor. 

“Well… I don’t really remember either,” Nami says. 

“Don’t tell me!” Luffy hollers from outside. His hands are raised like someone on a rollercoaster, and Merry in his lap is doing the exact same pose, incoherent ‘AAAHH’ included. “This is so fuuuuuun!!” 

“Wait a second,” Paulie looks out. “Wait a minute. Is that— oh no.”

“What is it?!” Usopp squeaks. “Please stop being vague! I’m blind!” 

“Ah, I know now!” Nami beams, luxuriating in the way the entire crew’s faces go completely pale at her happiness. “So, do any of you remember that frog that was doing the front crawl?”

“FRIEND!” Wyper declares, leaping out the window on his Waver Skates, to Conis’ terrified wail, “I will fight the steel monster with you, comrade!” 

“What the— No, Wyper, don’t!” 

“At this point, I think we should just leave them be,” Iceburg says, dryly. 

Terrified shrieking ensues.

Nami is having so much fun.

Zoro is the only one composed enough to grit his teeth, holding onto the windowsill with a dry curse.“Dammit, Gin’s not here, so it’s back to me with this,” he deems. Then, appropriately, “fuck. We’re all going to die.” 

 


 

Meanwhile, Gin has been running for hours at full speed and he’s ready to have a heart attack and die.  But first, “bitch, you shit,” he hisses at a terrified factory worker, “water. Now.”

“y-Yes, sir!” the man, Happa Yamao, yelps, scrambling into the building as Gin leans on a wall, struggling to catch his breath. 

“Hey, isn’t that the Strawhat Pirate?”

“The Man-Demon, right? Should we take him?”

“Maybe call the shipwrights!” 

“He looks exhausted.”

“I think we can take him, if he’s weakened—”

 

Gin glances up with the promise of bloody murder in his eyes and they all immediately shrink away in alarm. 

 

“Nevermind! We apologize! Would you like some food too, sir?!”

“What the— you wimp!” 

“We don’t have backup right now! You want to face the wrath of the demon?!” 

“We outnumber him like twenty to one!” 

“Well do us the honour and jump him first, then!” 

“Nuh uh! Not me!” 

“Not me!” 

“Not me either!” 

“Can you guys make your noise quietly!” Gin curses. 

“YES SIR!” 

“...how do we be noisy quietly?” someone whispers.

“I don’t know, we just gotta do it!” another hisses back. 

 

Happa comes back with a plastic bottle of water and Gin twists it open only to immediately drain about two thirds of the bottle. 

“Thanks,” he grounds out. Looking up, he scowls. “Which way’s the train station?”

“...you’re just expecting me to tell you?” the man asks. He’s afraid of Gin, and out of his league thus incapable of obstructing him, but there are too many people around, and plenty enough to send word and lay an ambush. “I mean… I’m not going to stop you, but it’s not like any trains are active. And all ships are preoccupied stopping the damage in the junkyard.” 

“That’s my problem!” Gin snaps. “Hurry up, I don’t have time to waste!” 

Happa pauses, surprised. 

Then he raises an arm, “straight that way. No turns if you go right over the buildings.”

Gin leaps off immediately, no doubt in him at all. Happa is genuinely baffled by that. He could have so easily given him wrong directions, and yet… 

“Train station, right!” the crowd around them gives chase, “anyone calling the shipwrights? We’ll corner him there!” 

“Right! Everyone, get there! We might be faster on the Yagaras!” 

A second later, the water bottle clatters against the ground, empty. Happa sighs, picking it up. He hopes Gin makes it out safely. He’ll need to chew that guy out for littering, when all this is over. 

 


 

The fire in the scrapyard is put out. The waves are turbulent, and the skies are grimy with ash. Gin runs through the streets and hears people a distance away hollering for signs of him.

Fires and pitchforks, flashlights and watching Den Den Mushi— he breathes, and runs, the soles of his shoes burning against his sore feet. He scales buildings, ignoring the hordes of people slowly, surely, cornering him against the edge. 

“He’s over there!” 

“He’s headed to Third Street! Surround him and—!” 

They have the advantage, they’re familiar with the routes. So there’s no way Gin would be able to run for long. They’re leading him somewhere, he’s very sure of it. And eventually, Gin will be captured. 

(But that’s fine. He’s just buying time— as long as they made it out safely he’ll be fi—)

No. Wrong situation. 

Where’s Kaku? He’s not sure, and he doesn’t think he has the liberty of finding out, either. He’s just glad Kaku’s nowhere near him, because that’d be a fight he’d definitely lose right now. 

(They’ll come and pick him up.)

Yeah. Kinoko’s not here anymore, so it should be any moment now. He’ll look out toward the sea and—

—and pauses at the train station’s roof, just in time to see a metal rail shoot through from one end of his vision to the other, dragging two oversized sea bulls and a loud party of bomber heads with it. 

He takes a moment to realize what just happened. 

“Wait, was that—” 

Did he just miss— the people around him also take the moment to glance over, startled by what they just saw. Puffing Tom already departed the station, there shouldn’t be another. And yet… was that the Franky Family?

“...what are they doing with those buffoons?” Gin mutters. “Why are they on our ride?”

“OH, GIN! CRAP! WE MISSED HIM!” a very faraway shout comes from the speck in the distance. It sounds suspiciously like Luffy. 

Gin barely sees a rubber hand trail over before it’s right in front of him, palm open. It’s slowly drifting away, picking up speed— oh, he’ll miss it if he doesn’t— in a lapse of judgement that he will blame on his exhausted current state, he takes the hand—  and is abruptly launched through the air like a relapsing rubber band. 

Gin has a lot of regrets and this is currently the top of his list. He will deny that high-pitched scream to the end of his life. 

 


 

In the wagon of the Puffing Tom, saddled between the luggage and other exotic pets headed for carnival island, is Carue. 

The elephant beside him grumps something incorrigible, and Carue scowls at the language, flapping a wing in chide. The zebra grunts in annoyance, and the parrot bursts into incomprehensible laughter. 

Sighing in defeat, Carue stands up, unhooking the latch of his cage with his wing and a tactical arrangement of a hair pin. It’s something he’s learned from his time helping Vivi in Baroque Works. 

Everyone in the cart jumps in surprise. How did you do that?! A peacock is not taking this information well, and the weasels scream for answers. The horse is staring, baffled, and the elephant is terrified of his power. 

Everyone watches horrified as Carue simply casually, comfortably, opens his own cage, steps out, and politely locks it back. Then he toddles his way to the next train car, ignoring everyone. 

 


 

Blueno’s eyes drift close for just a moment as he sighs. 

And then, he immediately realizes something is wrong. The occupants of the restaurant car have dwindled once the ‘princess’ made herself a noisy spot in the corner and demanded everyone be quiet for her to enjoy the ambience, but the bartender has returned to the back, and the remaining occupants of the room are asleep by their drinks. Even the few soldiers in this car that were stationed as extra guards— they were resting against walls and chairs, not attentive at all. 

Something’s wrong. 

Robin’s head is hung, silent. Anne’s been nursing that cup of tea in her hands for the past while, hands strayed from her sketchbook she so insisted on taking. 

He didn’t sense anything. See anything. Smell anything. Hear anything. 

Anne sighs audibly, placing down her cup of tea, crossing her legs and looking with lidded eyes at Blueno. 

“You’re not very quick on the uptake, are you?” she says. “I understand now why you were chosen to be the fourth in their three-man cell… you probably have an interesting Devil Fruit power. And that’s about it.” 

Blueno stands up. 

He has no time nor opportunity to respond to a child’s attempt at a taunt.

Anne reaches for her sketchbook— and lifts it to the side of her head just as the windows smash in. Dress shoes yank its way in and twist, soaring right for Blueno’s figure— Blueno leaps back, and the figure slides right in fully. 

The figure with a thick masquerade mask, adorned with a cloak just as showy— he lands smoothly upon the deck, snatches up Anne, and pulls her to his chest as one would a child on one arm. 

Blueno spins around to him immediately, launching a foot right out at him, but he immediately pulls back, throwing himself right back out the window. 

Blueno curses, not pursuing, stepping back briefly to spread an arm out over Nico Robin just before the false princess leaps over the chairs with stringed blades soaring out of her sleeves. 

Blueno jerks to attention, confused. Why are the other passengers not reacting?

He realizes why, very quickly. 

The wind zips out the broken window and yanks fresh air in—

—and Blueno’s head clears, released from a spell he hadn’t even realized he was in. His shoulders lift, his eyes open— and his next breath fills him with strength. 

Poison. Some scentless, tasteless poison. No… just something to dull his senses and make everyone unaware of what’s going on. Strong enough to even affect him ?

He deflects the blades with Iron Body. The woman ducks under his arm in his moment of vulnerability and reaches for Robin. 

“Let’s go!” she hisses.

But when she grabs Robin by the sleeve, Robin does not move. The woman staggers in surprise, turning around with horror to see Robin’s cold expression glancing down at her, uninterested in her attempt at aid. 

They don’t have much time. The occupants of the train car are slowly regaining their senses, and they’re still trying to stay in the downlow. 

Blueno takes the opportunity to wrap his fist around her throat, dragging her forth and shoving her against the wall. If this were the real princess, it would be troublesome, but luckily, this is definitely a fake lookalike, and Blueno has no intentions on confirming this. He raises a single finger— and the woman’s eyes widen with horror. 

“Finger Pistol.” 

 


 

Sanji gasps when Vivi’s body is thrown out of the window, and blood spewing from her mouth and staining her clothes. Carue is running forth from the other train cars, and he’d just set Anne on the top of the train car as they both gasp at the sight.  

“Vivi—!!” his words cut short. 

Anne has a hand on his coat, lightly pulling him in place. 

He turns around, confused. “Anne! I need to get her, just go with Carue for now—” Sanji’s voice dies at the sight. 

“That was a decent plan,” she says. Her voice is cold, unemotional, and her eyes are blank. Empty, and soulless. She fixes the position of his masquerade mask carefully with one hand, “but it’s not good enough, you know?”

Sanji doesn’t know why she’s looking at him like that. 

He needs to save Vivi— then recoup and get Robin. He can’t hesitate now!

“We’ll talk later! I need to—” 

“You’re not going anywhere,” Anne says. 

Sanji freezes for just a second, but the stinging crunch is palpable as Anne plants her foot firm and sharp into his bent ankle, wrenching it in the wrong direction as it gives in and he howls , crumbling onto his arms. 

“Sanji. Your plan was never going to work,” Anne says. “Robin has no intention of escaping, and I can’t go anywhere either.” 

“What…” Sanji’s fists ball. 

He lifts his head with effort in a glare— a glare he’s sending toward a girl, toward a child, and he’s trying his best not to feel so utterly furious. There must be a reason. There must be a reason she’s doing this, Anne wouldn’t—

His gaze wrenches toward where Carue was supposed to be— but he’s not there. 

“We can’t win,” Anne says. “Not right now, not on this train. Not as long as the superior version of me, Rob Lucci, exists.” 

“She’s right.” 

Sanji’s eyes widen as the air before him warp, ever so slightly— a seam runs through in a line, in a circle— and then it pushes open, connecting interspacially to what appeared to be the inside of the train car. 

Blueno stands, scowling. 

“Get back in here, M-429.” 

Anne nods, turning back to Sanji for only a brief moment. “Mister Prince, you need to die here,” she says. “Just get lost. I don’t need your help.”  

Her foot comes down harshly at Sanij’s heel, eliciting a pained gasp— and then she shoves him in the face, right off the top of the train into the tracks below. 

Sanji’s eyes are wide with horror as he falls, arms unable to reach anything to hold onto before he plunges fully into the deep blue waters. 

 


 

Carue gasp for breath after finally, just barely, paddling to the surface again, Vivi on his back and Sanji latching on the edge of his wing, Carue desperately kicks and paddles and—

—the Puffing Tom is whipping right through at such a rapid pace, one car after another is blitzing by.

“Don’t, Carue! You stay here, I’ll jump back on myself!” Sanji shouts. 

He’s furious. His voice is gritty and loud and infuriated . He clambers onto Carue’s back and they bobble in the waters, but he whimpers at the slightest strain of his foot against the waves. 

He can’t jump back alone. They can’t abandon Vivi, who’s unconscious. If they leave now, their entire infiltration plan would be pointless. 

Carue didn’t come along with Vivi just to be a companion. He’s here to help, at least, he hopes he can. He’s here to deliver Vivi to her destination at the best speed, he’s a super spot-billed duck, masters at high-speed courier services in Alabasta. 

He doesn’t have strength, or courage, or even opposable thumbs. 

If there’s anything he’s got, it’s Tenacity. 

With a roar, Carue lunges forward, faster, leaping and forcing his way past the waves as fast as he can go. He’s the fastest duck on land because of his leg strength. He doesn’t have practice in the seas, but surely, that track record means something in the ocean as well, right?

His bill comes down sharply, painfully, so painfully, on a side handle of the Sea Train’s doors. 

He gasps when his teeth scrape through the bars and comes loose. His chest crash painfully against the deck with a loud bump, and he gasp, accidentlly letting go. He scrambles, wings and talons, but he’s thrown loose from the train and sent flygin back to the sea.

He wails when he regains his bearing, but thankfully, Sanji gasps on his back, grip painful among the now-bleeding feathers. He’s held onto Vivi, so neither of them have fallen off. Carue makes the split-second decision to try again. 

“Don’t, you stupid duck, are you trying to die?!” Sanji yells, but Carue is also building up his momentum once more, barely latching onto another train door handle before being yanked fiercely forward with the momentum. 

This time, however, Carue screams as he hangs on, just barely, hooking his talon upon the guards at the end of train car, diverting their force just a little to the side, just enough to all go unceremoniously whirling inward and crashing full-frontal at the next train door with a painful yelp. 

Everything instantly goes black for Carue.

 


 

Before they fall completely back into the waters, Sanji trips on his bad foot, bites back a scream, and grabs onto the guard rails desperatelywith his hand latched upon Vivi’s cloak and Carue’s bag strap. 

Carue’s weight pulls them back down as Sanji unwillingly staggers and all weight presses upon his foot. He howls, unable to hold on—

And then, Vivi, jerking awake just in time, lunges forward to catch the end of Carue’s wing and drag them both toward the door with a loud heave. They all collapse altogether into the door that opens inwards. 

Their breaths heave, heavy and laboured and so, so painful. Vivi cringes at the wound at her chest, closely resembling gunshots despite having only come from fingers. Her breaths come out in worrying wheezes, and she can’t even lift her head. 

Sanji quickly pushes himself up on his arm to the sight before him. Crap, they’re inside a train car! This could be bad!

A giraffe, a zebra, and several weasels stare back at them. 

There are no humans in this car. 

Relieved, Sanji drops back on top of Vivi’s figure, struggling to catch his breath, too. Neither of them even had the energy to care about their position, Carue’s feathery appendages uncomfortably in the mix of their pile. 

 

Miraculously, while their cloaks were ruined by the water and disheveled, their masks were intact and still attached well. 

“Well,” Sanji wheezes, “that went horribly.” 

Vivi hums noncommittal. 

“I might have just reawakened my very deep-seated and eternal grudge against Miss All-Sunday,” Vivi says, dryly. “And if that guy wasn’t still slightly under the effects of my hallucinogen, he’d have hit my heart. I am not okay. I want to go home.”

With a low whine, Sanji’s head planted into Vivi’s shoulder, in deep sympathy. 

“Anne rejected me and indirectly called me useless. She was so rude. I am so heartbroken, I am going to cry too.” 

 

They lay right there, in that position, for the next two undisturbed minutes, stared at by all the animals. 

Then, Sanji lifts his head, “alright, back to square one,” he says, reaching for the rucksack on Carue’s back, for the first aid kit. “We’re getting healed up and then it’s onto Plan B.” 

“It’ll be difficult. The less people there are, more soldiers can guard them,” Vivi says, stripping off her coat and pressing up gauze against her injuries, “we don’t want to deal with the soldiers before fighting that guy again.” 

They found valuable information— the fact that the CP9 are trying not to get civilians involved, the fact that Anne and Robin cannot willingly run away, and the fact that there aren’t as many soldiers guarding their prisoners as they would like.

And of course, the fact that Blueno’s the only CP9 agent onboard, and that Vivi’s poisons worked on him. 

“How many stops are left before Enies Lobby?” Sanji asks. 

“Three,” Vivi says. “We’re reaching the next island anytime now…” 

So they only have two more chances to fight Blueno. Yeah. That’s plenty. Sanji readjusts the mask on his face— and finds a note, tucked between the ornaments. He vaguely remembers Anne touching it before…

Noticing that, Sanji laughs out loud. 

“Miss Wednesday dear, you were a bounty hunter in Baroque Works, weren’t you?” Sanji asks, a smile tickling the corners of his mouth. 

Vivi raises a brow. She’s turned away, topless, as she treats her own injuries, and she looks back in confusion. 

“What about it, Mister Prince?” 

“Well, I was just thinking we should start living up to our titles, return to our roots, and everything,” Sanji says. 

Vivi’s still confused. “You’re not a member, though? Mister Prince never was?”

“And no one needs to know that,” Snaji says. “By the way, you know how turning in bounty-less pirates can still get you a bit of consolation bounty? Do you think marine soldiers would be worth about as much as that too?”

“Sanji-kun, what are you talking about?”

Sanji hands her the note.  It's a sketch of several seeming civilians on the train, and Sanji immediately knows what they are— soldiers. Undercover soldiers, all clear and pictured right here. 

Vivi balks. “You want to try taking down all of them without being noticed?! T- but this is out of my league… I’m a bounty hunter, not an assassin!” 

Sanji twitches at that, but manages to put a strained smile on his face anyways. 

“You know, ironically enough… that’s right up my alley.”

Chapter 87: stay on track (we're going to hell together, boys!)

Summary:

The Rocketman chugs on after the Puffing Tom. In this train, if you don't join the nonsense wagon, you'll end up a victim to the stupidity.

Meanwhile, Mister Prince and Miss Wednesday, take two.

Chapter Text

“There’s no point staying on Water Seven anymore,” Rob Lucci says. 

“We can’t exactly let them go all the way to Enies Lobby just to tell the higher ups we failed, too…” Kaku sighs. 

Kalifa sighs, stepping out of the Galley-la building, peeling off her blood-stained gloves. 

“Done?” Lucci asks. 

Behind her, bodies are shrewn across the building and slumped across debris, blood spraying into a magnanimous art piece across Galley-la Headquarters’ every corridor. 

Kalifa rolls her heel over Tilestone’s arm, but he doesn’t react. Swiping her bangs back with a sigh, her fingers catch the end of her hair now loose from the bun. 

“I need a change of clothes,” she declares, shedding the blood-stained jacket and tossing it aside with nonchalance. 

She pries off her shirt too, right then and there in the middle of the road, and then extends a hand in Kaku’s direction. 

She stares, very pointedly, and simply waits. 

Kaku looks at her face. Then her hands. Then literally, anywhere uncompromised. It takes a long moment of exasperated silence before Kaku obediently takes off his jacket and shoves it in her direction. 

“You can’t keep getting away with this,” he says. 

“Your jacket stinks, this is sexual harrassment,” Kalifa responds, not even missing a beat. 

“You’re unbelievable!” 

Rob Lucci doesn’t deign that interaction with a response. He simply sits on the crate, deep in thought. They’ve lost Egin, lost the Strawhats, lost Iceburg and Franky’s gone with them, too.

“Are you sure I should have just let Egin go?” Kaku asks. 

“You wouldn’t be able to get him either way,” Kalifa says. 

“That was one time,” Kaku insists. 

“One time is more than enough to determine the skills of a Chaser,” Kalifa retorts. “Egin’s out of your league. He’s trained with 503-R, and you’ve never been able to beat him.” 

“I can best 503-R now!” Kaku insists, offended. “And he’s not here anyways, we can handle the other two easily if he’s not around!” 

“We all know if he stayed, he’d have been chosen over you,” Kalifa scoffs. 

“I could say the same to you, you outmode!” 

“If anyone’s an outmode here, it’s you! ” Kalifa snaps. “You’ve failed your end of the mission countless times and we’re in this situation because you couldn’t hold onto 361-N to save your damn life—” 

Kaku snarls, “you can’t even do anything until you’re activated! How have you contributed any more than I—” 

“Enough, you two.” 

Lucci’s warning silences them immediately. The civilians aren’t going to show up until morning— so there’s no more value in staying here. All people of importance are out of the city, and attacking Water Seven so close to Aqua Laguna only makes needless marine sacrifices. The government are sending people to pick up CP9, but there’s no sense waiting for them either. 

They’ll have to catch up to the sea train and head to Enies Lobby. If Lucci’s group takes up the rear, the Strawhats will have no chance to escape, either. 

“They’re doing us a favour and delivering themselves to judgement,” Lucci says. “We may as well take advantage of it.” 

They’ve already eliminated all witnesses in Galley-la. 

“And that fruit…” Lucci frowns, remembering the figure of the gigantic monster cat. “It’s one of the two Mythical Zoans held in Joker’s New World auction.” 

“What? The one Spandam was kicking up a fuss about?” Kaku asks. “The one that Charlotte Smoothie couldn’t get the other of?” 

“The Strawhats have such connections?” Kalifa frowns. “Could it be the Burglar Cat? The line of gold… That would make sense, but it would also mean that we’re declaring war against the Whitebeards right now.” 

“No, it’s not the line of gold,” Lucci says. “The one that won the fruit wasn’t anyone identifiable. Someone who didn’t exist in records or guest lists, and yet, he snuck his way into the most highly-guarded auctions of the New World and won the best prize.” 

Kaku and Kalifa frown. 

Joker wouldn’t let such an important fruit go to some nobody. His line may work on the premise of money, but his work has never been sloppy. 

Joker allowed them to win it, because there was benefit in allowing him to win. A curry of favour, a clue to someone no one has managed to identify or even truly put a pin on their whereabouts before… 

“The Fifth Deva!” Kaku pieces together. “The Strawhats must have connections to the Seer… that throws a wrench in things. The influence of the Seer is incomprehensible, we don’t know who we’re antagonizing.” 

They’re the government. They shouldn’t have to fear anything— but Information Devas, they have the capability to turn anything over its head. 

Lucci sighs. 

“Our hands are tied. Let’s see how Spandam ruins the rest.”

 


 

“Ugh, what’s all this noise…” 

Gin croaks, rubbing his aching head against the heel of his palm as he shakily pushes himself up— huh, this leather jacket he’s using as a blanket looks nice— wait. 

He turns around to the huge, oversized smile of a cat staring at him from two inches away. 

The cat opens its maws, breath hot and humid, to reveal a single book in the center of his tongue. Emerald City, carefully protected, somehow without a drop of saliva on it. 

“Oh, thanks,” he says, reaching in and picking it up. Then, when the cat beams, he sincerely adds, “what the fuck?” 

Mayor Iceburg sips on some tea, sitting calmly beside him. “Don’t think too much about it,” he says. “Your doctor said your injuries aren’t too bad.” 

“Want some tea?” Chimney asks, holding out a cup. 

“Uhh,” Gin takes it, sipping carefully. His head is pounding, his body is so exhausted his hands are trembling— but he’s very sure his cognitive abilities were still decently functional. “What is… that?”

“It’s green tea!” Chimney says. 

There is a gigantic cat the size of a carriage in this room, curled around him with its paws huddled there’s no space for anyone to walk. The cat huffs a breath that blows Chimney’s hair up for a moment, but the girl remains undisturbed 

Gin rubs his eyes and looks up again. It’s still there. “No, I’m asking. What is… that ?” 

“It’s good tea,” Iceburg insists. 

 


 

“I don’t get it,” Franky says, “You’re saying Nico Robin strung you up on display and you still want to go and save her? Are you stupid?”

“It’s ridiculous to just forgive her,” Iceburg frowns. “You’re pirates, but you’re awfully naive, aren’t you all…” 

“Who said she’s forgiven?” Zoro grumbles lowly. 

“Excuse you,” Usopp says, slamming his hand against the empty wall, opposite of where they’d set up the hastily-sketched map of Enies Lobby. “I have a bone to pick with her. You think I’m letting the damn marines do the judgement for me??”

“Usopp-san, wrong side,” Coby says. 

Usopp switches hands immediately. Appropriately, he repeats, “I’m not letting her go past no damn gates of justice! Impel Down is cold, and Robin didn’t bring a jacket!” 

“I’m sure she still has the gloves Zoro gave her,” Chopper says. 

“I think this jacket would look best on her,” Conis says, lifting the material in her hand, “oh! And I have her hat too.” 

“Great,” Gin says. “Now make that jacket read ‘I was being an idiot’, we are putting that thing on her and she’s not taking it off until we conquer Paradise.” 

“Make one for Anne too!” Wyper says. 

“Hers should read ‘Lost Child’,” Zoro says. 

“Make a matching one for Zoro that reads ‘Lost Marimo’!” Luffy cheerfully contributes. 

“Scratch that,” Zoro immediately says, “Give me one that reads ‘mutiny’. Right now.” 

The Strawhats were all seated in a semicircle for their strategy meeting, an unwilling Paulie, Iceburg, and Franky in the midst. Even Luffy’s seated obediently among them, and they’re all munching on some meat and wine, changed into fresh clothing generally consisting of leather or denim combinations.

“Don’t forget Anne too,” Zoro says, “she’s somehow found the opportunity to make this worse .” 

“They stole two crewmates!” Conis huffs, annoyed, “what’s with them!”

Gin sighs, sitting up and slumping against the very fluffy Merry. It’s so soft, Anne would dearly love all of this fluff, she adored Carue too…

He sighs deeply. Anne

“See? Gin’s depressed now!” Usopp displays. “We need to get Anne back!” 

“Gin’s always depressed,” Chopper says. “Honestly I’m starting to get worried.”

“Plus, Anne,” Luffy says, “she just went without saying anything! Unbelievable! Does anyone actually think I’m captain here?! I’ve had enough!”

“This is WAR!” Wyper snaps, finally letting the anger explode. He has been making purple and gray idiot bands for the past hour and honestly no one has the heart to ask him why. “I’m dragging them by the foot and tying them to the damn flagpole!” 

“...why do I have a vivid image of Aisa getting subjected to that?” Usopp says, a little worried.

“Speaking of punishment, I could really use some help filling in my medicine tubes and rumble balls,” Chopper says. “It’s pretty strenuous work and we all use it up so fast around here.” 

“I… want to put Robin-san in a long dress…” Conis says, “she doesn’t let me dress her in anything… Anne too…” . 

“Honestly, if Robin and Anne think this is enough to get us off their backs, they’ve got a lot coming for them,” Gin says, “especially Anne. She’s probably got a plan that involves putting herself in danger like this and this is not the first time I can’t fucking believe she’s still doing it she learned nothing from getting sliced to pieces by fucking Crocodile…” 

“Gin, calm down! Calm down! Your heart can't take the stress right now!” Chopper yelps, “Merry, do you have my pillboxes?!”

Merry proceeds to open her gigantic mouth to reveal a huge storage chest. 

“Yeah, that!” 

“WOAH! Merry’s got a fourth dimension in her mouth!” 

“Seriously?” Franky groans. “None of you want to take this seriously?”

“We are very serious!” Nami insists, loudly slamming a hand on the map. “Now, listen up, ya maggots! Coby’s going to give us a rundown of the layout of Enies Lobby and all the Devil Fruits we’re facing. Then we’ll split into groups!” 

Beaming brightly as he sits under the map, cradling his notebook like the happiest man on earth, “I’m Coby! I know everything, nice to meet you!” 

“YEAH!” the Strawhat crew immediately roar back in affirmation, with varying degrees of motivation ranging from anger to excitement. Even Kinoko raises a wing and Suu sings in agreement, Tyrannosaurus echoing it all with the Den Den Mushi family. 

“Hey, why’re we listening to your orders anyways?!” Franky snaps. 

“Shut up and sit down, Bakanky, if you keep retorting to everything like that you’ll run out of energy before we get there,” Iceburg says. 

“No one’s going to question this positive energy?” Paulie murmurs, unheard. “Am I too old for this shit?”

 


 

“Purupurupuru… Kachack. ” 

“Hi, this is Belle’s Tangerines, reporting for a business shipment to Morning Glory,” the lady’s voice rings out clear and confident, the Den Den Mushi sitting calmly at the top of the train. “Regarding the purchase order set to ship today to San Faldo, we’ll need a window of arrival to ensure there’s a reception at the door.” 

A face smashes into the hatch right beside the snail, the soldier knocked right out cold with a broken nose. 

Sanji sighs, planting his foot upon the man’s back. Vivi comes by with a rope, looking between the snail and Sanji, baffled. 

“Oh dear, I was expecting you a little later,” Sanji says, his voice lilting despite the raging winds around him, “We can’t do the pickup at San Faldo due to the ongoing festival, plus some mechanical difficulties and obstruction to the train tracks… I’ll have to advise the next delivery date and location, please hold on.” 

Sanji nudges his chin forward, and Vivi hustles forward, tying up the man quickly before latching him onto Carue’s back along with several other unconscious soldiers. 

“Back to the last carriage with you,” Vivi whispers.

Carue nods, rushing forward, the poor unconscious soldiers getting flung around behind him, knocking into everything along the way. 

“We can do St Poplar, the last station,” Sanji suggests. “Evening today would work for you?” 

“Alright, see you then,” the lady on the other end of the phone says. 

“Watch out for derailments! The weather’s not looking too great, and I would hate for any of the stock to be damaged. And of course, yourself as well.” 

“Well aren’t you a charmer. Stay safe as well.” 

Sanji hangs up. 

Vivi balks, “is it just me, or you didn’t agree?”

“Exactly,” Sanji says, “I can't lie to my dear Nami-swan.” 

Vivi nods mirthfully, “you know what, that’s very fair.” 

Sanji slides the baby Denden toward Vivi, who tucks it under her jacket. There’s a thick bind of bandages heavy around her chest, and the makeshift cast and brace around Sanji’s foot is good enough for now. 

Sanji lets his cloak unlatch and fly off in the wind, and they affix their masks one more time. 

In the distance, the Sea Train is steadily slowing down, the island with an ongoing Masked Festival, San Faldo, in a visible distance. 

“The plan begins once Carue unlatches the last carriage with all the animals in it,” Sanji says. “All the love and luck to you, Miss Wednesday.” 

 


 

“This is really bad! No one noticed the last trail car when it was cut off, that cart had exotic animals on it that were going to be used for the parade! Now the circusmaster and performers are furious!” 

Blueno frowns. He’d wondered why the train had a delay in setting off. It wasn’t the weather after all. 

San Faldo is bustling, the festival’s cheer roaring through the town with fanfare. Most of the passengers alighted from the train here, a crowd of costumed figures weaving through costumed figures right beyond the window. 

The soldiers were reorganising themselves-– the only passengers left are businessowners and miscellaneous tourists headed to St Poplar, so they’ve pushed them all to the cars at the end, and left an empty car’s space between the prisoners and the civilians. 

The soldiers also seem to be uneasy, though no one’s reported the situation to him yet. 

Blueno looks outside, frowning.

He’s in luck that the infiltrating… whoever those masked people were, probably Strawhats… revealed themselves early. He took care of them quickly enough, so they shouldn’t—

—ah. 

Miss Wednesday smiles from the other side of the glass window, glancing in and winking cheekily, right at Blueno. She follows the crowd and disappears into it so quickly, Blueno’s breath halts, eyes widening in surprise.

Blueno stands up immediately, throwing open the doors of the next train car. 

It’s not empty. 

The train whistles, signalling its departure, and Blueno frowns at the blond man in a mask that covers the top half of his face. He’s damp from the rain and seawaters, but he lights his cigarette and takes a heaving drag. 

“Greetings,” he says, “oh, you can call me Mister Prince, by the way. I am the uh… mysterious, coolest and most gentlemanly of the— nevermind, how does Usopp do this so easily? Give me a second, I didn’t think it’d be this hard to come up with a backstory—”  

“How did you survive?” 

Mister Prince lifts his head, and in a farce of innocence, beams.

“Oh, and I unlatched the other trains back there,” like it’s no big deal, “it was kinda tough work getting them all in there, but it’s okay. The civilians are safe in the undisturbed middle car and they’ll figure out what’s wrong soon, no biggie.” 

The train departs. No one opens the door behind Mister Prince.

He got thrown off the train at top speed. His foot was broken. The woman had been stabbed by Finger Pistols— they shouldn’t have managed to make it here, at the very least not so soon.

“I am a Prince, you see, it is my job to surpass myself and save my Princess,” he says, grinning cheekily. “Be it hell or high water, knights in shining armour don’t complain about the tides and the—woAH!” 

He jerks aside when Blueno lashes out a Rankyaku in his direction, severing sharply through the door. 

“Hey c’mon now!” Prince chides, “don’t you know interrupting a Prince is heresy? And I thought I was doing pretty good, considering I made that up on the spot and all!”

The rushed departure from Water Seven was a mistake. Now Blueno’s surrounded by incompetent men, and he’s not capable of—

—his eyes widen as he realizes that the woman must be in the other train car with Nico Robin and Marianne. 

“Curses—!!” 

Miss Wednesday is standing in the center of the car, tossing something— a dial— forward and onto the ground. It rolls and bounces against the chairs, cluttering sharply and getting lost under the seats, filling the room abruptly with some gaseous substance. 

Robin stands up with a sigh, and Anne climbs to the backrest, perching upon it with an amused hum. 

“Don’t move!” Miss Wednesday declares. “The gas I’ve just thrown is flammable,” she lifts a lighter in her hand. “You want your hostages alive, don’t you? Not a move out of you, and if you create any of your air doors, I’m blowing all of us up.” 

Blueno stills. “You expect me to believe you’re capable of just performing group suicide this second? You must think I’m a joke.” 

“Oh, of course not. None of us are dying,” Miss Wednesday smiles. “But Puffing Tom will stop running. And from there, you will have no train to Enies Lobby… at least, none that can bring you there before our crew gets here.” 

Blueno scowls. “You really think the rest of your crew are coming?”

“We don’t think,” Mister Prince says, lighting up a cigarette with a smirk. “We know.” 

They grin, confident, as Miss Wednesday steps forward. “Now, you’re going to tell me what you’ve got over Robin and Anne’s heads. And once we deal with whatever nonsense it is…” she extends a hand in Robin’s direction, “we’ll be dragging our little flower back to the Going Merry with us all, aye?”  

Robin sighs, loud and disappointed. 

Miss Wednesday pauses in confusion— and confusion warps into alarm when arms sprout from her sleeves, weaving between her palm into the base of her fingers before— it morphs into fear , when Robin sharply twists her wrist out of place, forcing the lighter out from her grip. 

Her weapon strings hidden under her sleeves are plucked out quickly, and the multitude of arms form a colliding rope to wrench her limbs painfully outward her body, her shoulder loosing a dangerous pop as she gasps and stumbles. 

And then— and then the pain blooms and Miss Wednesday wails, face grinding against the ground as robin shoves her flat against the floor. 

Mister Prince’s cigarette falls. 

“...wh– what? Why— Robin!” he hisses.  

“It’s unbelievable I still need to make myself clear,” Robin says, her tongue lapping through her words with disgust. “I want nothing to do with this crew any longer, and this is not a joke!” 

Blueno turns around— and the tables have flipped once again. 

Mister Prince clicks his tongue. 

“At least give us a decent explanation,” he grounds out. “This is a pirate crew! You can’t just leave without a word, that’s not how it fucking works around here!” he snaps. “You know better than anyone that if you want to leave an organisation like this, you better burn it down on your way out or we’re never letting you go!” 

Robin reels, a look of pure astonishment flashing across her eyes before it shifts quickly into frustration. 

“You don’t know,” the words tear out of her, filled with so much more than just a sheer grudge. “You don’t know what on earth you’re even fighting against. All you know to do is follow the orders of our all-knowing Navigator and Sharpshooter… what will my explanation do for you, when you’ve come this far being so blind?” 

Anne glances toward Robin— toward Miss Wednesday, struggling to lift her head and glare toward her– toward Mister Prince, who’s at a loss for words, and toward Blueno, who comes back to this car with an air door.

Anne breathes in, and breathes out, and she recognizes the smell of this perfume well.

“That’s why I said…” Anne says, “it’s useless, you know. You can’t win, neither in this train, nor later when Rob Lucci arrives.” 

 

As long as Anne is here, and as long as Rob Lucci is in charge of this case… Anne and Robin will be sent to Enies Lobby, and they will walk through the Gates of Justice. Maybe last time around, they busted through with sheer effort— but Anne cannot foresee a logical path of escape where they can all get out of this alive.

These efforts are pointless. 

(“Things will always go the way I imagine them to,” she had said so long ago, her face unmoving and her lip pulled thin. “I understand emotions, conceptually. But reasonably, I believe they have no purpose. Thus, I discarded them.”)

Anne has always been gray and monotonous. As a member of Baroque Works, Anne found colours, and as a Strawhat, she found emotions. 

Left with a sketchbook on the Sea Train, Anne doesn’t miss them. 

Anne forgets, very easily, how to miss anything at all. 

That’s nothing out of the ordinary. She’s manufactured to be as efficient, productive, and clear-cut as possible. Remembering emotions had just been a temporary bug in the system. 

(Blueno made her throw out her accessories. The bangles, that used to click subtly with each movement, they’re no longer there. She’d taken off her pendant, and left it with the others. Does it matter any longer?)

Now, colorless and gray, things are just as they should be. 

There is nothing wrong with any of this.

 


 

Blueno picks up Miss Wednesday by a fistful of hair, dragging her up just as Mister Prince steps into the open doors of the train car. He opens a door to his left and to the ground, retrieving the Breath Dial before promptly shutting it off. 

Mister Prince fixes his glare on Robin, then, on Blueno. 

“Fine, don’t make me understand,” Mister Prince says. 

“I wouldn’t try anything if I were you,” Blueno warns, as Robin lets go of Miss Wednesday only for Miss Wednesday’s free hand to vainly reach upwards, weakly clawing at Blueno’s hand— but the grip is tight, and the Breath dial is close. “I’m fairly certain none of us will die if you light this train car on fire. But the first to go… you understand,” he shatters the dials, a jet of gas bursting right upon Vivi’s torso, showering her with the mildly condensed perfume. 

Mister Prince clicks his tongue. He has a lighter, but he’d snubbed the lit cigarette out at the further door and he doesn’t think Robin will let him try anything else. 

“This won’t be enough to stop us,” Prince declares. “Don’t think for a second that any of us will give up with just this much.” 

Blueno scoffs. “Ridicu—” 

“I’m not talking to you!” Prince snarls. He’s glares at Blueno, seething at the way he handles Miss Wednesday, but then turns his attention fully to Anne and Robin. “We will win this war. I don’t know shit about how that’s possible, what we’ll have to go through to get to it, and what that even means… but we’ll win this war.” 

Robin’s fists ball. “How naive can you get?!” 

“Call me naive or stupid all you want,” Prince says. “I don’t care if you don’t trust any of us, I don’t care if we’re jumping into fucking hellfire with no reasonable hope to win! We have nakama that went through that fucking hell and they came back to make sure we weren’t left behind, isn’t that enough reason to trust?!”

Anne’s eyes widen, just slightly. 

Robin bites down on her bottom lip, infuriated. “Didn’t you see what I did to the Sharpshooter? Don’t you remember what I did to Alabasta?” she says. “Enough. Nothing’s worth this. I would do it all and worse again without hesitation, so just leave me alone!” 

You could hear a pin drop in that train car, the waves lapping furiously as the sea train steams on forward to their next stop, the conductor none the wiser. 

Blueno heaves a breath, exhausted. He’s not in the mood for this stupid internal conflict in the Strawhats, but at the very least, it’s working in his favour. 

Miss Wednesday chuckles, light and dry. 

“You know what, Robin, you’ve got a point,” she admits, her dislocated arm hanging limp against her lap, her cloak resting weakly upon her figure, slowly sliding off. Her hand reaching toward Blueno’s grip in her hair eases, slumping slowly downward. “You’ve committed so much crime, ruined so many lives. How could anyone you’ve faulted ever forgive you? How could Vivi, the Princess of Alabasta, even fathom the idea of anything but the worst fate for you?”

She lifts her head into a cheeky smile. 

Robin turns around in surprise when the door toward the conductor’s room slams open behind them, Carue squawking loud and feral at them all. Blueno whirls around in alarm, his free arm reaching into a door. 

But something else wrenches his attention back.

Miss Wednesday allows a string blade to slide out of his sleeve, into his hands. Her eyes never leave Robin.

 

“You know, Robin. Luckily, the one that came to save you is neither someone that can hold a grudge against you, nor someone that has been personally faulted by you,” she says. 

 

She’s a liar. What a liar. Unhesitant, unflinching, unashamed lies through her teeth—

( So why is she smiling? Robin doesn’t understand why Vivi is smiling at her, so genuine, so sincere, and so close to bursting to tears. This must be killing her inside, to be helping the one person that was so crucial to her suffering. So why is she smiling? )

 

“The one that came to help you is Miss Wednesday, your old subordinate who owes you a favour, you know?” 

 

Carue crashes into Blueno’s Iron-Body augmented feet, right as something ignites by Sanji’s feet. It’s not a cigarette, it’s not a lighter, but Blueno can’t tell what it is before the blade loops around Miss Wednesday’s hair and lops it right off beneath Blueno’s fingers. 

The surprise takes Blueno off guard— and that’s all the seconds they need. A heel comes up so quickly, Blueno barely activates Iron Body only for the heel to smash right through the barrier to a resounding, barely held-together crack at his neck. 

It’s when he’s reeling over that impact Miss Wednesday falls, using her teeth to get an angle with her strings— and sends the poisoned blade plunging right into Blueno’s eye. 

And then Mister Prince is wrapping his arms bodily around her, Carue’s desperate advance not stopping for even a second as pain erupts in a groan of rising flames. 

—and the explosion rocks the seas, ruptures the train car into several pieces, and sends the entire cabin soaring off the rails. 

 


 

“We may not be able to win now, but mark my words.” 

Blueno runs so fast and so far, all his energy to catch Anne and Robin in his air doors before he loses sight of them. He escapes to what’s left of the first car. 

The conductor has finally noticed the commotion and he’s sincerely freaking out, and Blueno doesn’t entertain him. Nico Robin and Amrianne are by his side, Marianne holding onto Miss Wednesday’s fallen cloak, and Nico Robin sighing in bafflement. 

Mister Prince’s voice rings out loud and clear, and so reverberating, he can hear it echoing in his door dimension, haunting him. 

“With just two members, we tore this Sea Train down to this miserable state,” Mister Prince snarls. “Once the rest of our crew get shere, you better be ready for us to pick you and your shitty government apart bit by bit, even worse. If you’re lucky, we’ll leave you with just your head on a silver platter.”

It’s not an empty threat. 

Those crazy bastards, they’re serious. They didn’t think twice to blow themselves up to get to this point— they’ll do it. They’ll declare war on the World Government, completely unhinged. 

“Mark my words.” 

 

“S- Sir?! Sir! Are you okay, you’re bleeding!’ the conductor panics. “We need to stop the train and get back to— no, it may be faster to stop at St POplar, it’s a minute away, I’m so sorry. I’m so— oh my god the train exploded—” 

“Don’t stop at St Poplar,” he says. 

“...huh. What?” 

“Go straight to Enies Lobby,” Blueno says, his voice low and haunting as he tears the blade from his eye and tosses it aside. “No more detours.” 

“B- But…” he clamps shut at Blueno’s frosty glare. “Y- Yes sir! Will do!” 

“Go sit inside, Nico Robin, Marianne,” Blueno grumbles. “No more tricks, or you’ll be dead before we get there.” 

Robin obediently follows.

“Are you going to be fine with the poison, Mister Blueno?” Anne drapes Miss Wednesday’s cloak around her shoulders. 

“It’s none of your business,” Blueno snarls, “and you’re not allowed any unchecked clothing other than your hat.” 

Anne obediently strips off the cloak and chucks it, ornaments and all, into the ocean blue. There didn’t seem to be any tricks on it. 

 

(He doesn’t notice the Baby Den Den Mushi crawling on the inside of her wrist, sliding quietly into the gaps of her beret.)

(When she turns to head into the conductor’s car after Robin, there’s a gentle smile on her face, and a forlorn look in her eyes.)

 

“Hey, Robin. People are fascinating, aren’t they?” she says. 

Robin turns to her inquiringly, and Anne’s shoulders droop with ease. 

“I give up, when things seem pointless and impossible, I was built that way,” he turns back toward the sea, the wind whipping her hair around violently as she holds onto her beret, and the train whistles to continue trucking on its rails. 

She breathes and the world moves, on and on. She closes her eyes and sighs, but her resignation is no longer tired and heavy. 

“People are meant to struggle, aren’t they,” Anne muses, “struggle, struggle… and come out of the fires of hell alive.” 

Robin tenses at the phrasing. 

“I never get tired of watching what they’ll do,” Anne says. 

Robin frowns. 

“I am. I’m sick and tired of it, so much I hope they’d just never get back up again.” 

Anne nods, turning around and heading into the conductor’s car, stealing the one spare seat and looking at the sea forward. 

She says nothing else. 

Robin turns away, deigning conversation meaningless herein. 

Neither of them were going to fight. Robin didn’t quite know if her situation was similar— she didn't know if Anne still had any fight in her at all. 

Even if she did, it’d be extinguished quickly.

That was just inevitable, after all. 

 


 

“What’s that?”

“STRAW HAAAATS, LOOK AHEAD, AHEAD, TWELVE O’CLOCK!” 

“There’s a train!” 

“WHAT?” 

“Is it Sanji and Vivi?! Did they succeed?!” 

The Rocketman goes into chaotic mayhem— even more than before, that is— when they spot a loose train car before them. It’s still a far distance away, barely a speck in the horizon, but since it’s on the rails and not moving, it’s not that hard to notice. 

Luffy squints, confused. 

“I’ll go look,” Wyper suggests, leaning partially out the window. He’s already got his Wavers on, bazooka in hand. 

Yokozuna croaks, confused. How?

“Nah, I’ll go,” Luffy says, even though he’d just gotten comfortable with a fluffy cat Merry neck pillow and all, “I wonder if it’s Sanji and Vivi!” 

“Hmm…. I hear a lot of voices,” Coby frowns, “there are a few humans, but I can’t really identify them…” 

“Dude your range what the hell ,” Nami says, “I thought I was being humble. I was not. I suck. I’ll go out on a limb here and say you’re the best we’ve met thus far.” 

“I have been humbled…” Usopp covers his face, “I will never brag about being all-seeing again…” 

“Am I the only one that thinks something is wrong with those sentences?!” Zoro’s voice conveyed so much exasperation that Iceburg sulkily patted him on the shoulders in sincere empathy. 

“Wait, you’re going? How?” Conis asks. 

“Just hurry up,” Gin says, “I don’t think it’s them, but no harm in checking.” 

“Do you have a Baby Den Den Mushi, Luffy?” Chopper asks, “tell me immediately if someone’s hurt, okay?” 

 


 

“NOPE! ONLY ANIMALS AND MARINES HERE!” 

The Den Den Mushi is picked up to a fluffy of gunshots, screaming, absolutely chaotic frantic shouting of orders to apprehend that pirate! That’s a pirate! Oh my god bullets aren’t getting him?! Stop him!!! To no avail. 

“These animals honestly look super yummy. We should grab one for our pre-battle snack,” Luffy suggests. 

“Agreed,” Wyper says, “We can’t go into war on an empty stomach.”

“Vetoed, because what the fuck,” Gin says. 

“I’m hungry, so I’m for it,” Zoro says.“Zoro, you can’t flip around the roles of rationality like this, you’re going to drive Gin’s blood pressure through the roof,” Chopper says. Kinoko caws in resigned agreement. 

“I- uhm…” Conis hesitates, “I… honestly think it’d be a good idea to eat well before a battle…”  Suu enthusiastically agrees, raising a paw. 

“Conis-san is right! Energy is important!” Coby agrees. 

Merry raises both arms and noisily bleats an incessant tune. Chimney and Gonbe, sporting similar wide toothy smiles, follow Merry on the food chant. They are both very disappointed at Usopp’s next words.  

“Forget it, Luffy, Sanji’s not around,” Usopp says. 

“Yeah, I’m not in the mood to cook in this humidity, my arm’s killing me,” Nami says. “And no, we are not starting a fire in this train car to cook your damn giraffe.” 

“Wait, how’d you know I was thinking of grabbing the giraffe?!” 

“There’s actually a giraffe in there?!” Nami’s voice conveyed so much surprise that Usopp burst out laughing. 

“What’s a giraffe?” Wyper asks. No one answers him. 

“Awwwwh,” Luffy whines, before huffing in resignation. “Okay fine. We’ll find something else to eat. Sanji's not here, so the food won’t be good anyways.” 

“Okay, good,” Nami says. 

“When has the quality of food ever stopped him?” Gin asks, mortified. 

“Uhm…” Paulie hesitantly speaks up, having been looking between all of them for the past entire conversation being utterly baffled. “Hold on, are you guys seriously just… accepting this all in stride?” 

Iceburg, meanwhile, has only had his palm in his face for the past hour or so. 

Utterly flabbergasted, the rest of the Franky family compose themselves with weapons and manpower. 

“Don’t worry! Uh! Bros! There’s literally a carriage of marines before us but it is absolutely NOTHING to worry about!” Zambia declares, incredulously. “At your orders, Franky-aniki!” 

“YEAH it’s SUPER nothing to worry about!” Franky declares, “on it, men, get the cannons ready— avoid the animals though! I have fifty-seven charges of public indecency over the past month but I draw the line at animal cruelty!” 

“Ooooyyy, ZOOOROOOOO!” 

Everyone falls confusedly silent when Luffy hollers at them from the distance waving enthusiastically for attention, even though he should know that the Den Den Mushi is connected. 

Zoro yawns, deciding to finally get up from his spot. 

“Yes, captain?”

Everyone can literally hear the grin on Luffy’s face as he says his next words. 

“This thing’s in the way! So cut it!” 

 


 

“Fuck. Son of a fucking, BITCH. Bloody fucker he should DEAD, shitbiscuits maryland dante hippocampus damnation fuck f—” 

Carue whines. 

Does he seriously have to deal with this noise two inches from his broken beak?

“FUCK ow OW,” Sanji roars louder, face desperately shoved in his hands just clutching onto Carue’s neck to avoid just sinking down into the deadly waters as he croaks , “fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. Fuck. AAH.” It goes on.  

“Sanji-san…” 

Vivi is draped over Carue’s back, Sanji clinging to the duck’s neck firmly with his casted leg just barely laid over trembling and trembling over the raft they’ve managed to cling onto. Carue is desperately waddling to keep afloat. The raft is helping. They’re all dizzy and their heads are killing them and—

“Sanji-san… what possessed you to kick Blueno in the face with your broken foot?”

“I d-on’t even knOW, OKAY,” he wails, still suffering the wrath of the gods apparently. It must be serious if he isn’t speaking politely to Vivi. He isn’t even turning to look. “What possessed you?! Hair… your haiiiiiiiir… Nami will kill me if I don’t kill myself first…” 

“Ehehe…” Vivi’s eyes are closed as she nurses her killer headache and cringing burns against Carue’s feathers. Her voice slurs, almost sleepily, “hehe, you know, actually, I’ve wanted to do something like that for a while… it happens a lot in the swashbuckler genre and stuff…” 

“...like the drop-dead gorgeous bounty hunter, Moulin Rouge?”

“Yes. Her stories are mainly what I modeled Miss Wednesday after, actually. I love stories like that. Stories in general… oh. How’s the logbook after I left? How much do I have to salvage?”

“So you did it just to look cool ,” Sanji sobs. He doesn’t care anymore. The water is soaking through everything and if they don’t drown they will straight up die from the pain. 

“Yes and I regret nothing…” 

Carue squawks, absolutely annoyed. Shut up already! There’s a fine line between humans that are on the verge of death and humans that are deliriously drunk, and Carue hates that he’s bearing witness to this right now. 

“Thank you stupid duck,” Sanji drawls, as Carue furiously paddles them toward the rails, squirming his way up the rails onto some form of purchase. Sanji weakly pats Carue on the head, though it comes like a series of weak thumps, “you’re great. I’ll cook you good food later. Ow.” 

He heaves when Carue dips his head and Sanji goes heel over bottoms flopping down on the raft as it rests on the rails.  

“Ow. That really hurt. Ow. You are killing me shitty duck. Ow.” 

“Love you Carue…” Vivi murmurs. 

Carue doesn’t care. He angrily quacks for one of them to make themselves useful damn it you have opposable thumbs! Do I have to do everything around here! Carue drags the raft with Sanji on it steadily across the rails bit by bit, grunting with effort. 

St Poplar is just barely visible in the distance.

Chapter 88: each time I falter I turn to you (the place I truly belong)

Summary:

The Sea Train encroaches Enies Lobby.

Doubts are diminished, paths are found, and the Strawhats come together once more. (They're not all here, not yet, but just a little, they're closer to completion than before.)

Chapter Text

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask, Coby, how did you end up becoming an honorary Heart Pirate anyway—” 

She turns to him, but he’s so absorbed into flipping through his book (Luffy gave him an autograph) he hasn’t noticed her. 

Coby’s wearing a jumpsuit bottom that looks awfully similar to the ones worn by Heart Pirates. His light steps and eager demeanor hides the way he has a habit of putting weight off one foot, and he wears his bandanna around his neck rather than his forehead. 

“Need me to catch his attention?” Paulie offers, since Nami’s preoccupied without a foot at the moment.

Nami shakes her head. Let that dummy be happy all he wants… She sighs, hands straining toward her empty limb port while releasing a breath. It doesn't hurt as much as it should, even with the rain— but it’s really uncomfortable. She knocks against it twice, but it doesn’t really do much except distract her. 

She isn’t looking forward to putting it back on. It’s going to hurt like a bitch in this humidity. 

 

“Come on now, Merry, you need to tie this up if you don’t want it to be in the way later,” Usopp says, working his very effortful way through Merry tangled locks with a wide comb. “It’s not going to affect how you look as a cat, okay? Just let it happen.” 

Merry sits there, eyes googly and teary and just straight up wailing , “myeeeeeeehhh!!!” 

“Seriously, I know this isn’t hurting you! I’ve never been gentler in my life!” 

“MyeeeeEEEH!” 

“Don’t ‘myeh’ me!” 

And it’s taking everything in Nami’s soul to not go there and save her from the cruel, horrible, terrible Usopp. Seriously, it’s illegal. 

“What’s ‘Myeh’?” Nami asks, exasperated. 

“What’s what?” Coby asks. Apparently, he’s looking this way now, and he has no idea what she’s just said. 

“Myeh,” Nami says. 

“Eh?”

“M-Y-E-H,” Nami fingerspells. 

“What?” Coby asks. 

“You know, we’re going to have to figure this out eventually, there’s no one-size fits all way for all four of us to communicate at once,” Nami says. “If we want to work more in line with each other moving forward, we’ll have to find a way to coordinate.” 

Coby chuckles at that. 

“[I’m content,]” Coby signs, sincerely. “[We don’t need to figure this out.]”

“Don’t be silly!” Nami chastises sharply, “of course we need to! You can go out and throw yourself off a bridge if you want to. But you need to let us know which bridge it is so we can pick you up and smack you over the head. I thought you knew that already.” 

Coby pauses, baffled by that. 

Sure, he’s known the Strawhats a long time, he understands the precedent better than most in this universe right now. But he’d never really realized he was regarded as an element in that wonderful equation, too.

He’d always been standing on the other side of all that beauty.

(He’d always been so envious.)

So… No, he must be misreading that. But Nami’s droning on so he quickly looks back up, trying to catch the rest of her tirade.

“...You’re awful at keeping in touch! You should really learn more from Buggy’s example,” she says. “Actually— pay attention here, I can’t sign right now, I need you to know this— hasn’t Luffy told you this a ton?”

Coby blinks confused. 

And then Nami is yelling at him. He can’t hear it, but he feels it, the sheer impact of her volume as it strikes him like a muffled mallet and it’s horribly unpleasant, but nothing compared to the painful bonk that sends stars across his vision. 

“We’re FRIENDS, you dumbass! Talk to us!” 

 

(The words aren’t even heard, but they ring in his head all the same. Luffy’s yelled at him about it so much. When Coby became Fleet Admiral and found himself steadily, steadily, lonelier— the words stung, more painful each day.)

(Those are words that haunt him, day and night, that Coby smiles through and hopes he’s living up to, knowing that he will never understand how it truly feels again.)

(The Fleet Admiral cannot have friends. Because the moment they do… they’ll be dragging everyone else into the inevitable corruption they have to lead, and there would be nothing they can do about it.)

(That’s why Sengoku and Garp always stuck together through thick and thin, and that pulled Garp apart from his grandsons, over and over again. Sengoku was blessed, to the very end— but Coby— Coby doesn’t have anyone like that.)

(...Not after Helmeppo…)

 

“Did you hear me, you cotton candy brained doof— oh wait, I guess you didn’t.” Nami’s still talking when Coby lifts his head to catch the tail end of it all. “But you get it, alright? You better stay in contact or the next time we meet we’re crushing your glasses so you don’t go anywhere.” 

“What? I need them!” Coby wails. 

“Exactly!” 

Nami proceeds to hook an arm roughly over his shoulders and yell at Usopp something— and then a knuckle is getting drilled into his temple ow ow oWOWOW — Coby cries for mercy when Usopp simply grants none. (Something about it being revenge for not showing up some years into his imprisonment or something.)

And Coby can’t help but laugh. 

They’re clumsy, they’re cowards, and they’re just going along with the flow, but that’s fine. 

“...what was it.. Yeh?” Coby asks, crouching down to meet Merry when he spots her trying to make a noise in the corner of his vision. “Eeh?” he imitates Merry’s emphasized noise when she repeats it, and laughs because she scowls, telling him it’s definitely still not right. “Oh, I know that one, it’s just ‘rah!’ am I right?”

Annoyed, Merry grabs at his hair and Usopp and Nami freak out. 

“Merry, no! Bad!” 

“Let go of him!” 

“Why are you guys criticizing her, you were doing the same!”

Coby’s a mess of laughter when they manage to wrench her hand out of his pink curls, and though Merry’s seized his bandanna for herself, wedged between her teeth in anger, the giggles just don’t stop, and Usopp frantically apologizes while Nami tries in vain to get the bandanna back. 

They’re fine like this. 

 


 

“Don’t Galley-la have better wardrobe options to offer?” Nami sighs. 

“Stop complaining, woman! And for fuck’s sake don’t change right here!” 

Paulie is not doing okay, why are the women here so shameless . Conis is also just changing right here, though she’s got the decency to duck behind Wyper as a shield. 

“Wyper, put something on, you’ll catch cold,” Conis says. “This is what the Blue Sea calls ‘pouring rains’! The temperature has rapidly dropped! We can’t stay in soaking clothes!” 

Wyper’s nose scrunches in annoyance, “I will not ,” he hisses. “The Blue Sea is so impractical. Rain is only needed to make crops grow. Why pour it over the entire stretch of humanity? How are people supposed to live ?!” 

“I never thought I’d ever see a dumbass that doesn’t understand the concept of rain…” Paulie murmurs. “Are you seriously holding a grudge against the weather? You wanna fight the rain god?”

“I fought the thunder god and lived , bitch!” 

“Ha hah,” Paulie murmurs, disbelieving. “Put on a fucking jacket, idiot.” 

“I’m not a coward!” 

“You think clothes are an indicator of bravery?!” 

Nami sighs in defeat. She sifts through the clothing in the pile, sourced from all over Rocketman and the Franky Family ship, and tosses a jacket in Zoro’s direction. Zoro groans as he wakes up, identifying the fabric with confusion before pulling it on, crossing his arms, and going back to sleep. 

Nami’s settled on a dark leather jacket that seemed to match the dark overalls Usopp’s picked out for himself. Chopper’s got a red one…

“Hey, where’d Chopper go?” 

“He went to the Franky house to treat them,” Iceburg offers. “He also went to check on Yokozuna, he’s on top of the rocket head beside your captain.” 

“...wait, Luffy! You just changed and you went and got wet again?!” 

Gin sighs, putting on the new jacket before chucking a large article of clothing at Wyper. “Get out of that damn costume already!” 

Wyper scowls, “fuck off, stupid demon bastard! I’m not wearing no stupid— wait, what’s this? It’s not animal skin… or cloud cotton…”

“It’s pleather, dumbass,” Gin mutters. “It’s a Blue Sea creation. Be fucking fascinated. Or disgusted. Whatever. ”  

Wyper holds it out before him. It’s not a pair of pants, or a shirt, it’s a coat. A jacket— it’s a long robe of leather adorned with fur and feathers and fastened with buckles of steel and bronze. 

Wyper stares, in absolute silence, jaw dropped as he just took it in .

“...Conis,” he finally says, and Conis perks up with interest. “Alter this for me. I wanna wear it around my waist.” 

Conis beams , “sure! Of course!” 

Zoro stares at Gin as he turns away and celebrates in very suppressed silence, head planted against the wall. 

“I did it, Sanji,” Gin mutters, fist clenched to his chest, an unbelievable amount of victorious glee in his voice as a tear slides down his cheek, “I got that damn bastard to put on something fucking decent. Oh my fucking god .” 

Zoro wisely averts his eyes, turning Chimney and Gonbe’s heads too when he catches them also staring. “Don’t look, you’ll catch the stupid.” 

Chimney grimaces, “nah, Franky built up our resistance to this long ago.” 

“Meow,” Gonbe agreed.

Iceburg witnesses this and is plagued by an overwhelming sense of camaraderie. 

Conis is done changing very quickly, her sleeves ending comfortably where her gloves began. The punk and rock symbols on them really gave an interesting contrast. 

“What the— Conis, not that one!” Wyper snaps, “you look like this idiot!” 

Paulie blinks in surprise. “Oh! Must be from the same brand— wait, that’s the limited edition Ghost Train print that came out like, ten years ago!” 

“Yes, it belonged to me, then I passed it down to Franky…” Iceburg says, humming in awe, “didn’t know Granny Kokoro kept it.”  

“I kept everythin’!” Kokoro hollers from the front of the car. 

And, turning to Wyper, Iceburg sighs fondly at the altered pleather robe, now an elaborate sash draped across his lower body, parting just enough for movement. 

“And I didn’t know she kept that, too,” he says. “It belonged to Tom-san.”

“Oh are these sentimental?!” Conis is flustered, “I'm so sorry! I cut holes in it for my wings!” 

“Sheesh, it’s fine, I didn’t know it still existed anyways,” Iceburg dismisses, “clothes are only worth as much as the people that wear them. It looks good on you, keep it!” 

Conis still feels reluctant. “But…” 

“What? I’m envious now,” Paulie sighs. 

Iceburg smiles at that. “Old clothes are meant to be fixed and passed down, so it can continue to be used,” he says, “that, or they’re broken down to make new ones. It’s the circle of life for things . Sentimentality is nice, but there’s no sense clinging to things like memory in things that are dead, when you can give them new life.”

Conis takes that in, her father’s gloves against Iceburg’s denim jacket, resting upon a sweater from Robin’s wardrobe, a skirt that used to belong to Nami, painted in with roses by Anne. And she sighs, fond. 

“I will take good care of these clothes,” she promises, “and the new life they’ve been given.” 

“You don’t have to take it so seriously,” Wyper says, finally relenting to at least change into a leather cloak he’s just tying vaguely around his waist with a heavy tool belt, “it’s just a bunch of cloth.” 

“It applies to ships, too,” Iceburg offers. “And weapons.” 

Wyper’s face scrunches up with annoyance. “...fine.” 

Conis giggles, hiding her face behind her palm. 

 

“Hey, Nami!” Wyper calls, picking up the arm and foot on the ground as Zoro very appropriately cracks an eye open. “Your turn!” 

Nami cringes, jumping in her spot. 

“Oh hey, I wonder what Luffy’s doing out at the fro—” 

Zoro lifts his head, a firm glare set on his features, and Nami is immediately consumed by the fear of the devil itself. 

“I thought you were sleeping!” Nami reels back, stepping toward the windows, immediately lifting a foot to the windowsill. “Wait, just— we can wait! Until Enies Lobby! Yeah, we don’t need to do it now —” 

“Merry, get her,” Zoro orders. 

With a growl, Merry hisses, leaping into white and pale blue mist and her figure blurring into the wisps of a large feline creature.

Nami screams.

Iceburg and Paulie can only stare in exasperation as Merry, now in the size of Clifford the Big Red Dog, shoves Nami to the ground and proceeds to sit on her, loafing comfortably in all her fluffy glory while Nami groans in defeat. 

“This isn’t fair,” she protests.

“Hey, I wasn’t done with her hair,” Usopp also protests. “I was so close to the last braid.” 

“Merry!” Conis wails, pushed up against the wall by the fluff, “we don’t have enough space in here for you, stop!” 

“Get me the damn wrench,” Zoro calls, “Wyper, hurry up.” 

“Wait just a second I got some last minute alterations—” 

“I thought you said it was ready!” 

“I was! But then I looked at it again and let me change just ONE thing, okay?!”

“What’s happening?” Coby asks. 

“Are you sure you want to know,” Iceburg grumbles. “Are you sure you want to risk your sanity with the answer to that question?”

“I’m going to be tortured by these horrible, horrible men,” Nami says, dryly. “And everyone is going to watch and not stop them at all.” 

“Good luck, Nami!” Conis says, brightly. 

 


 

San Faldo is supposed to have a celebration, but unfortunately, the Puffing Tom blew up and now they’re doing emergency measures instead. 

“We’re just lucky no one was hurt,” the governor says. “The government has the front cart and driver’s seat handled, but how troubling. The debris won’t get us in trouble with the sea beasts around, will it?”

“It’ll be fine,” the train guard says, “We just have to clean it tomorrow. Sea beasts don’t usually frequent this area anyways, and with the Puffing Tom damaged, there won’t be any more scheduled leaves. We have plenty of time to enjoy the Faldo Festivities!” 

Cleaning up the damage is going to be hell. Alas, with the remnant trains of the Puffing Tom drawn back toward the island, and the passengers safely alighting one by one to safety, the town is doing their best. 

“But it’s so strange. I can’t get in contact with Water Seven at all,” the mayor’s secretary reports. “Mayor Iceburg would be devastated to hear the damage to Puffing Tom.” 

“It’s almost Aqua Laguna for them, so I doubt they’ll have good connection,” the mayor deems. “Contact them first thing tomorrow.”

“Alright will do,” his secretary says. “For pending matters now, the investigation squad that went to find the detached train with exotic animals should be back s—” 

She freezes in place, staring at something in the distance. 

All eyes turn toward the abnormality she’s pointing out. 

And then, all jaws drop. 

“WHAT IS THAT?”

“Another sea train?? But who? Water Seven must have sent reinforcements after hearing the train has crashed, I see—” 

“No, no, this is not good!” the second conductor of San Faldo station screams. “That train is not the Puffing Tom and I have never seen someone drive the train so fast before! It is trying to fly off its own rails!”

The guard screeches for something else. “GUYS, WE HAVEN’T CLEARED THE RAILS YET!” 

And now, everyone’s stomach drops in horror. 

They had barely managed to let all the passengers off. Cargo is still on, and most of all, the train carriages, are still sitting there in the middle of the station, unmoving without a steam engine to guide it anywhere. 

Utter mayhem ensues. 

“IT’S GOING TO CRASH!” everyone screams. And this makes the partygoers all realize the incoming death sentence, and more hollering ensues.

“THIS ONE’S GOING TO BE BIG!” someone despair.s “BIGGER THAN THE OTHER EXPLOSION!”

And the train guard does his best to raise his voice. “EVERYONE EVACUATE! INCOMING TRAIN OF DEATH!” 

“RUN! RUN! RUN!” 

“STOP PANICKING!” the mayor screams. “GUIDE PEOPLE OUT CALMLY!” 

“MISTER MAYOR YOU ARE NOT HELPING!” the train guard shouts. “YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON HERE, YOU GET OUT RIGHT NOW! AND CALM DOWN!” 

“I AM CALM!” comes the clearly very calm response. 

 

What do they even do in this situation? Never in the decade-long history of the Puffing Tom’s activity has there ever been two trains active at the same time. They have no idea how to deal with something at such high speeds heading toward a collision. Mainly because nothing has ever been in its path before. 

(At least, nothing that could ever potentially give the train any trouble running over.)

The Rocketman is heading right toward the three still cargo-loaded passenger carriages of the Puffing Tom, and there’s nothing they can do to stop it. 

 

“Wait— uhm, Mister Mayor.” 

“WHAT? AND WHY ARE YOU CALM?”

“No but sir. Is that a… I think I… I don’t know what that is,” the secretary says. “I just have to ask to make sure. I am usually smart, but not in Herpetology.”

“THIS IS NOT THE TIME, AND WHAT THE HELL IS HERPETOLOGY??” 

“The study of amphibians,” the secretary says. “By chance, Mister Mayor sir, how does a frog usually swim again? What do you call the human swimming style that people tend to say is that of us imitating frogs?”

“I DON’T— WHAT BROUGHT THIS ON? WE’RE GOING TO DIE AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS FROGS???” the mayor is hysterical at this point. This is it. The festival is ruined, this is going to be a disaster, the festival will become a tragedy, and there are so many tourists right now… 

“Allow me to confirm. Usually, frogs do the backstroke, right?” 

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME.”

“Mister Mayor—” 

“WHAT NOW?”

The secretary points her pen at the sea. “I don’t know why, and it’s really bothering me, but there is a frog doing the front crawl toward us right now. It is currently climbing on the rails. It is bothering me so much.” 

“FROGS DON’T DO THE FRONT CRAW— what?”

 

The entire train station bears witness to Yokozuna slowly crawling up the train tracks, huffing and hyping itself up for the oncoming train. 

Beside him, someone topless and tuckered in a leather robe for his bottom half glides across the waters on what looks to be skates. His long brown hair is in a braid strung across his back, and the tattoos really spell all but good news for his mere presence. 

His arms are crossed, and he eyes the frog with all the sternness of a personal trainer at a gym. 

“You hear me comrade! You’ve been doing this wrong!” Wyper yells. “I don’t know your technique! I didn’t hear any of that sumo or whatever crap Usopp was saying! But I do know when you face a fast moving opponent that is ten times your size the option is obvious—” 

Yokozuna frowns. 

Wyper declares, “YOU AIM FOR THE FEET!” 

Yokozuna gasps. 

The frog then proceeds to, very seriously, try to explain something. 

“You don’t SHOVE at a spear coming at you!” Wyper yells. He demonstrates, of course. “You go UNDER and uppercut them in the fucking CHIN! You pick up a duck from its bottom! So you stick your damn webs under those wheels and FLIP IT OVER!” 

Like a strike of thunderous revelation, Yokozuna gasps. 

Having only been taught straightforward and controlled tactics from Franky, it knows nothing about true fighting instincts. 

Eyes twinkling, he looks, sovereignly, toward the train. 

 

(In the distance, there’s a distinct, panicked scream of “Wyper, WE ARE STILL IN HERE! I said knock it off the rails, YOU FLIP THIS THING OVER WE WILL DIE!” but of course, it goes completely unheard. Wyper does not hear a thing.)

(“GO WYPER! GO FROG!” Luffy cheers, along with Chimney and Gonbe.)

(“Nami, are you keeping track of the mutiny rankings right now?” Zoro is much calmer, but infinitely more resigned than the others. “You might want to knock Wyper up a notch.”)

(“Wyper!” Chopper wails, “don’t do it! Please! Usopp says he’s relapsing with ‘I-will-die-if-the-ground-isn’t-level’ disease and I think I caught it!”)

(“Please Wyper!” Conis hollers, begging too, “I’m not immunized to this weird blue sea disease! I don’t want to die!”) 

(“HEY STOP THAT!” Franky yells from his spot, “YOKOZUNA IS MY PRIDED STUDENT! DON’T GO CORRUPTING HIM WITH YOUR TACTICS, YOU GUERILLA BASTARD!”)

(To which Iceburg smacks him over the head. “You’re the reason he absorbs all weird human knowledge like a sponge, you damn BAKAnky!”) 

 

Yokozuna howls.

Wyper screams. 

The Rocketman whistles. 

And San Faldo station bears witness to an oversized frog on the rails, as it proceeds to table-flip a sea train into the sea. 

The sea train drives on forward. The frog and guerilla latch on some rubbery? Rope? Thing? On the way, jumping back on the train easily. 

“OH HEY, SAN FALDO! TODAY’S THE FALDO FEST!” the Franky Family cheers, waving enthusiastically.

“HEY SAN FALDO! I REALLY WANTED TO COME TODAY, I’M SUPER BUMMED I CAN’T!” Franky calls out, striking his signature pose, “IF I MAKE IT BACK IN TIME I’M TOTALLY JOINING BINGO LATER! SAVE ME A SPOT!” 

“Why are they all dressed like that? Are they going to war?” Wyper frowns, holding onto the rails on Franky’s side of the carriage. 

“War? Nuh-uh! It’s a party! A SUPER festival, bruh!” 

Wyper squints in confusion. “What is worth celebrating? Is this like the carnival at the Long dumb Long island?” 

“It’s just for FUN! Super fun!” Franky grins, “you were dressed for the party just now, with your mask and feather thing, you looked SUPER in it!” Franky grins, “come with me to San Faldo later, bro! I’ll teach you all the wonders of the Faldo Fest!” 

Wyper frowns, but he does not protest when Franky slings an arm around his shoulder and continues to marvel about the super-ness of the super festival, or something. 

“Oh. OH HEY, MAYOR SAN SCHEIDER!” Iceberg hollers. Then he coughs. “Ugh, I need a megaphone.” 

Usopp sticks a hand out the window with one. 

“Ah, thank you,” without another question, through the megaphone, “AHEM, THIS IS ICEBURG. THIS IS ICEBURG. I WILL BE GONE FOR A BIT, PLEASE TELL ALL SURROUNDING ISLANDS TO LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE GACHACK. I CAN’T BE ARSED TO LISTEN TO ANY OF IT, BUT IT MIGHT PUT YOUR MIND AT EASE. THANK YOU! ICEBURG OUT. GACHACK!” 

And then the sea train drives on forward with its humongous cart and two king bulls behind it, like nothing had ever gone wrong. 

The mayor of San Faldo screeches. “WHAT?”

 


 

St.Poplar is quiet, most of its residents having gone to the festival a chartered boat ride away. There’s only one shift guard on duty, and he’s a newbie.

“I– I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to do— please. Pressure on that wound, please!” he shoves a towel upon Sanji’s bleeding foot, doing all he can to worry about the fabric burned into Vivi’s wounds. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, the emergency squad is on their way, I promise! I knew it was trouble when the boss just mindlessly gave them all a day off just because no one would be working! Please don’t fall asleep. Their boat’s arriving soon with supplies I promise—” 

Carue is behind both of them as a backrest, blissfully keeping them away from any infectious surfaces and grasslife that could infect the wounds. 

Sanji and Vivi are breathing, though shallow, and Vivi chuckles. 

“It’s okay, kid. We’ll be alright.” 

“Yeah,” Sanji says, “what’s your name, kid? Your uniform looks nice and clean. First day at work?”

“I’m Emu,” he says, clearly still frazzled. He’s going to have to cut most of the fabric away from Vivi’s wounds, but he doesn’t know what to do about the stuff seared into the flesh. “It’s my first day.” 

“First day? Oh dear, this is a terrible first day, I see,” Vivi chuckles, “I hope this doesn’t ruin your hopes on this job.” 

“It’s— are you sure you don’t want me to focus on this—” 

“Keep talking, kid,” Sanji assures. This kid can’t heal them, but keeping them awake and distracted is good enough. “Don’t worry about it, just talk, you’re doing great.” 

“Okay. Okay.” It’s not okay, but what else can he do? “I couldn’t ride the Puffing Tom, the day the train first set out. I was sick. But my sisters did. And we all admire it. We all wanted to be involved in Old Great Tom’s legacy. It’s just that cool.” 

Vivi hums with interest. 

The creation of the Puffing Tom is historic, even in the books of the World Government. Water Seven is a shipyard that stands even the test of the Grand Line, indispensable, even compared to other shipbuilding behemoths in the New World. 

And it was Old Great Tom that allowed it all to happen. 

“I don’t know, though,” Emu continues. “It took me a long time to get to even this position. I’m the youngest person to ever be put in charge of a station, and this is how my first day’s going,” he says. “The only bright side is my sisters are always telling me they started off awful too. But things get better.” 

“Your sisters, huh…” Sanji says. “They pretty?”

“Pretty. Strong, too,” Emu says. “I heard they work at a ship-breaking port now, and they ride the train as much as they want. I admire them very much, even though I haven’t seen them in a very, very long time. We fell out of contact a while back, because their lives fell apart a few years ago and they became rather notorious as delinquents. I couldn’t associate with them if I wanted a degree, so now I don’t know how to approach them again.”

Vivi smiles. 

“I’m sure they’ll be proud of you if you tell them what you did today,” she says. “It’ll be a fun story to talk about… you saved a couple pirates by coincidence, and these pirates later go on to destroy Enies Lobby. I’m sure that’ll be a good way to reconnect.”

Emu smiles, bashfully. “You think so?”

One. Two. 

“Wait… I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard that right?”

Sanji grins. “You hear that?”

Vivi leans into his uninjured shoulder with her burned one, heaving an effortful sigh. “Yes,” she breathes, full of her soul, hitching with a whimper that finally lets loose from her aching chest. “Yes, I do.”

Emu stands up, noticing a low rumbling noise in the distance behind them. 

Shift station guards need good eyesight. And that’s why he immediately notices Luffy flying toward them, red vest and straw hat soaring straight as a bullet.  And right behind him, Wyper and Nami follow on their wavers, purpose in their gazes and concern weighing down their shoulders. 

“Thanks, Emu,” Sanji says. “We’ll be fine, so you should go back to your station.” 

“You’ll see us in the news tomorrow,” Vivi assures. 

Emu is conflicted. “You’re already so injured,” he says. “Why do you keep trying? You can’t win against the government… not against Enies Lobby and all that it means.”

It’s a valid concern.  No one, not even Gold Roger, not even Dragon the Revolutionary, has done something as crazy as tried to directly attack Enies Lobby.  And yet, Vivi’s smile is confident, and Sanji’s eyes never falter. 

“Your sisters have said it best,” Vivi says. “Things will start off awful. But they always get better. We’re at the bottom now… there’s only one way to go, and that’s onward.” 

 


 

Emu is gone, when Nami finds them. 

“Vivi! Sanji!” Luffy calls out, frantic, “you didn’t say it was this bad! We need to get you to Chopper now!” he scolds, crouching down immediately. “Chachamaru, you’re hurt too??”

Carue quacks out a calm greeting. It’s babbled, though, broken beak and all. 

Nami can’t quite say a thing. Sanji had taken one look at her, and closed his eyes, falling unconscious. Vivi had been lost to the world before they even got in sight. This is bad, this is bad, this is so bad.

(And she doesn’t know if it’s safe enough to carry any of them back, injuries as bad as they are.)

“I’ll take Vivi, she looks the worst off!” Luffy says, arms looping around her figure.

“No, don’t!” Wyper calls. 

And Nami is jolted back to reality. 

“Her wounds are the worst. If you rocket her back right now, she’ll die, you idiot!” Wyper snaps. They all know the terror of that unsolicited rocket firsthand and they are not subjecting it to heavily burned and injured Vivi right now. “The important thing here is to not turn her brain into jelly before she gets back to Chopper!” 

And Luffy’s lips clamp shut. He’s forgotten, that unlike him, people were made of flesh and blood. 

When Gin had been sick, too, they were all warned to not engage in serious combat while carrying him. All the impact would be transferred to that weakened body, and it’d just make him suffer even more. 

Nami remembers the fragility of humans, too. 

All she wants is to leap in and hug Vivi tight. Cry, that she’s here. Sob, that she’s doing so much for them, when last time, she was safe and sound in her homeland.

Vivi wouldn’t be sporting these injuries that will scar, if not for Nami and Usopp’s interference. She wouldn’t have— her hair … what happened to it? She adored that long, jewel blue. Nami had grown out her hair, simply because of how lovely it looked on Vivi, and yet, now…

…now…

…who does she have to fight, to make this all better?

(She doesn’t know.)

(It may be Blueno that drove Vivi to that point, but it is Nami’s fault Vivi is here to begin with.)

“Nami!” Luffy calls. “Hey, Nami!” 

She jumps, when Luffy faces her, with eyes stern and resolute.

Eyes that say, this is not the time .

And Nami returns. 

“Alright, Wyper!” she turns to him. 

She wants to hug Vivi tight and never let go again. Vivi is a princess, she deserves only the most wonderful and tender things. 

“Wyper, I trust you,” she says. 

She does not make note of the way Wyper rears back, surprised by that declaration. But Wyper rides his wavers infinitely better than Nami ever can on half limbs cold and steel. The decision comes to her, in the instincts of the decision-maker. 

“You carry Vivi back to the Rocketman,” Nami says. “I’ll take Carue, since he’s the heaviest. Luffy will take Sanji, he can handle a bit of violent jostling.” 

“Alright!” Luffy obeys, almost too quickly. 

Wyper is a second later, but he, too, moves. 

“Yes, sir!” 

Nami is not the captain. She will never be. It's just not her thing.  But she’s the navigator, and her job is to make sure the crew moves on forward, quickly, efficiently, no matter the situation. 

 


 

“AAAH!! THEY’RE DYING! WE NEED A DOCTOR!!!” 

“Clear the space! We got about seven seconds before Chopper remembers he’s a doctor!” Gin calls. “They’re be here in—” 

“I’d say two minutes, looking at the waves,” Coby looks out into the distance.  “Luffy’s gonna be here in five seconds, though. Dodge.” 

Paulie hums, winding up his ropes. “The waves are getting worse, so once they get close enough, I’m going to reel them in.” 

Gin whirls around and pauses on them. 

It sure feels nice to have other competent seafarers around. (Other than Nami, but she only counts half the time.)

Paulie raises a brow at him when he catches the stare. “What?”

Gin relents, turning around to scoop Suu right off the ground by the tail.He earns a squeak, but he misses no beat in snatching Kinoko right before she crashes into his face. He holds her by the ankles and uses her like a baton to direct traffic. 

“Zoro, we’re using that spot, get out! Oversized ship dumbfucks, get to the King Bull!” 

“We have a name!” Franky yells, offended. Zambia, Kiwi, and Mozu echo this very insistently, but Gin isn’t really listening. “We are the SUPER Franky Family! Get it right! 

“GET OUT!” 

“I’m rather interested in those Wavers,” Iceburg says. “They work on dials, don’t they? I’ve worked with them once before—” he glances to the side, “and only me because someone else was too violent and kept breaking the shells,” he ignores the yelling from Franky, “and they’ve never worked like those before.” 

“Ah, Nami’s uses a Jet Dial, which is almost extinct now,” Conis says, happy to offer information as she lays down the bedding on the deck. “And Wyper’s Skate Dials are customized with seastone lining, and I think he took off the equilibrium function as well? I’m not sure, he doesn’t quite let anyone touch those.” 

“How nice,” Iceburg says, “if he weren’t in your crew I’d say he fits very well in Water Seven, along with how he gets along with Yokozuna.” 

“Nah, he’d lose his mind every two minutes in Water Seven,” Zoro says. “He handles things bad enough in the open sea. A port town that gets a frequent taste of the Blue Sea’s eccentricities is beyond him.” 

Iceburg proceeds to stare at him, judgmentally, before side-glancing at Franky and Yokozuna and Chimney posing in protest. Gin is yelling at them right now, still holding Kinoko and Suu as if they were rat and chicken about to be put on a chopping board for butchering.

Iceburg turns to Chopper, who is still freaking out. Conis has joined the panic session after seeing Sanji’s injuries. They also crashed tumultuously into the train car, right into Merry’s yawning mouth, giving the catsheep a terrible scare that Usopp is now trying to console it for. 

“If I must be honest, as Mayor of Water Seven…” 

Iceburg glances outside, where Wyper and Nami are coming in with a big duck and a horribly injured princess that, once the mask has been taken off, Iceburg recognizes so instantly he has to reach for Tyrannosaurus in his pocket and count to ten slowly. 

“My town’s eccentricities has nothing on… whatever your crew is.” 

 


 

Conis hasn’t met Vivi long at all. They’ve barely had anything resembling a greeting. 

But she can’t help the way her heart sinks when she sees Vivi carefully laid down on the mat, her clothes burned to her skin, her hair chopped off so hastily, and a bruise across the side of her face. 

“It’s okay Chopper, Nami-san and I can handle Sanji-san’s wounds,” Coby says. “It’s not life-threatening, at least.” 

“I’m impressed, honestly,” Nami says, “but is he seriously expecting to fight on Enies Lobby with a twice-broken foot?” 

“It’s been a while, Carue!” Usopp greets the duck with a light voice, though his hands are so hesitant and careful, it’s clear he’s plagued with worry. “Let’s take all that stuff off you, alright? We’ll need to clean your wings. Conis, can you help me?” 

Conis is caught off guard. 

“Ah— yes, of course!” 

Her gaze lingers on Vivi. 

Nami steps aside to help with Sanji. His leg is broken and they need to splint that quick enough to get him back in fighting condition, and Nami’s the only one with decent medical skills to do that. 

Luffy is keeping watch outside with Zoro, Wyper, and Gin, are with them, if only because they can’t do anything to help. Merry, shrunken to child form, is helping Suu and Kinoko by running around transporting supplies and bandages from the Franky carriage.

Chopper has to handle Vivi’s wounds alone. 

(Conis, too, has to do all she can to help.)

(If only she could do much more at a time. But alas… this is all she’s capable of.)

“Carue… was it,” she drops to her knees, picking up the bruised wing carefully. “I’ve never handled such a huge wing before! I’ll do my best.” 

They have a little less than thirty minutes before they reach Enies Lobby. There’s no time to celebrate, to reunite, because they aren’t complete just yet. 

But they have to power on.

 


 

“Merry!” someone wails. Probably Usopp. 

“...Woah, lucky those bottles didn’t break!” 

When Sanji wakes up, it’s through a pained whimper when Merry trips over his broken foot. It gives everyone in the vicinity a heart attack and sends all the supplies spraying across the deck. 

“We gotta disinfect all those tools again— ah, don’t cry, Merry! It’s okay, it’s not your fault! The cook’s stupid foot was in the way!” 

“It’s okay! You did so good and you were so helpful! It’s okay, the foot was bad!” 

There’s a guy with pink hair acting really familiar with Nami, they’re in a train he doesn’t recognize, and there’s a new and adorable little child with horns on her head. He’s very confused, but ultimately, he only has one request. 

“Did anyone bring my cigarettes?”

The fallen child, whom Paulie has finally taken pity on to pick up and put back on her feet, opens her very human mouth to reveal a very inhuman interior, a pristine packet of King Ground in the center of her tongue. 

Sanji stares, befuddled. 

He’ll definitely need that entire pack if he’s going to sit through the explanation of whatever the hell all of this situation is. 

 


 

When Vivi wakes up, it’s groggy and bewildering, and she doesn’t understand much through the pain medication and numb feeling across half of her entire being. Her hair is still a mess, she vaguely knows this blanket over her is keeping her decent. 

Also, Sanji looks like he’s contemplating life, smoking in the train car with some older guys she doesn’t recognize— oh, that’s Mayor Iceburg… Yeah, that checks out. Gin is gathering the Den Den Mushi in a spot, a young boy with pink hair putting down his own little black one beside them just to complete the arrangement. Conis is mending some clothes with some square-haired girls. Chopper is making rounds with medical supplies, while Wyper and Usopp are working on the Eagle Launcher with some guys in big cannon-shell armors. 

She knows that, with this combination, Luffy and Zoro must be outside, keeping watch. (She knows, because though she hasn’t been in this crew so long, she still understands, how this crew works. How the delegation parts itself so naturally, so instinctively, she just knows .)

Carue is currently the perch for Kinoko, a white fox, a white mouse, and a slightly wispy calico cat. And a blue rabbit that meows. 

Vivi doesn’t understand. 

And then she looks up and sees Nami, leaning against the wall, her arms crossed as she rests her head against the window, winded from the trip and the nursing they’ve had to rush around to do today. 

Vivi’s wounds are wrapped tight and well and comforting. It’s a feeling she’s missed so much. It’s only been a few months since they’ve last met. The henna tattoos are gone now, faded with the burns and the winds. 

She misses them so, so, much. 

“Oh! Vivi-san, you’re awake!” Conis, who had been sewing up a jacket of sorts, notices her first. “Are you alright— VIVI-SAN WHY ARE YOU CRYING?”

And now the entire train car has whirled around in alarm. 

Nami jolts awake from her standing spot and spins around so fast, Vivi wonders if she should laugh. 

“Vivi? VIVI?” Chopper freaks out. “What’s wrong?? Do your wounds hurt?? I’ll give you more pain meds, okay, just give me a second—” 

“Vivi, are you okay?” Nami crouches down beside her, a hand on her uninjured side. 

 

(Nami is here.)

(She really is.)

 

And Vivi’s eyes burn and there are tears and before she knows it she’s babbling. 

“Nami-sannnnn,” Vivi sobs, pushing herself up for a desperate hug that hurts and jostles her tender wounds, but she doesn’t care. “Nami I was so scared and Miss AllSunday and Anne were both so mean to me and,” she sniffles, “I missed all of you so much!” 

She’s home.

She’s home .

Chapter 89: may liberation take the wheel (wake up, nightless island!)

Summary:

Preparations for a siege are in order. It begins with a strategy meeting, a reassurance of resolve, and of course, is immediately followed by chaotic derailment.

With a slightly different cast than before, Enies Lobby welcomes its uninvited visitors.

Notes:

Woah! This one took a while. Hi everyone that's still reading, real life kicked me in the skull for a bit. I also recently watched Film Red and I am not okay. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)

I think I should say this to anyone that's just curious: The 'future' that Nami and Usopp come from should not be seen as 'canon but bad ending', it should be seen as an alternative universe of its own. This is because there will be more and more discrepancies with canon as we go on the Final Saga of One Piece, and I can't handle anyone else trying to 'correct' my story because "Momonosuke grew up at the end of Wano so you should fix that" no. I am not 'fixing' anything, if I wanted to be right about everything I wouldn't have written any One Piece fics before the end of One Piece.

Some things are going to be wrong and that is how it's staying. Of course, I am going to write in new revelations that are genuinely important to the core story, like the Gomu Gomu no mi's true ability, for example. But for other things, no.

This 'present' they are in right now isn't canon, either. Of course it isn't, but I am referring to things like Gin's backstory, Smoker's connection with Rosinante, the Five Devas, etc. These are eccentricities of this world they are in right now, and sometimes, they will be different from the canon we know on a fundamental level, and will also be different from the previous world Nami and Usopp know, because this just isn't the same place as before. I think I briefly alluded to this in the Ocean's Dream extra chapter, but I just wanted to restate it for clarification. This is going to be addressed in the story eventually, probably after Enies Lobby.

This is also my justification to the One Piece Films and G-8 Filler arc, which are under the premise that Nami and Usopp know nothing about those events. It was also my justification for adding Gin into the crew-- even though nothing much new or impactful happened to him in Baratie, he joined because of this backstory, and because I wanted to give him more depth. It is not about whether canon would have changed that way or not-- it is just how this world went.

Anyways. Sorry for the long note. You didn't have to read it all but thank you if you did.

Enjoy the chapter, thanks!

Chapter Text

The main players of the group gather around. The Strawhats crowding up one side, Iceburg and Paulie for Galley-la, and Franky, Zambia, Kiwi, and Mozu representing the Franky Family. Granny Kokoro has to steer the train now that it’s off the rails, so Chimney and Gonbe are with her. 

It’s a bigger entourage than before. 

And Nami can’t help but feel honoured. 

Iceburg has less of a reason to be here than last time, but this time, they can’t go back— because this time, the grudge is personal as a pursuit of Tom’s legacy and an escape from Lucci and CP9, and much less linked toward Robin. 

They will come after Pluton’s blueprints, and thus, they will leave the city alone if Iceburg leaves.

(She hopes this means they hold less animosity toward Robin, for what she represents.)

 

And so, conversations begin. 

About Ohara. About the Buster Call. And about the young girl, whose only crime was staying alive against the wishes of the world. 

Iceberg and Franky speak, too. About the truth of that day years ago, when Old Great Tom was hauled off to Enies Lobby on the train he designed and built. About Spandam, and the battleships used to bring calamity upon its creator. About Franky, and his experience in the tides of death. About Iceburg, and the blueprints they share the burden to hold.

And then finally, it’s Gin’s turn. 

He leans back with a sigh. 

 

“I’ve told you guys a bit about it,” he says. 

 

It’s not really an uncommon story in this world if you knew where to look. The Cipher Pol training facility Gin had come from was an entirely legal facility, too. 

“They emphasized on ‘three-man teams’ while training us. Anne was a Director, I was a Berserker…” he shrugs, “and that other guy’s the Chaser. The three of us escaped the facility five years ago and went our separate ways.” 

That other guy?” Wyper asks. “Don’t be vague, you asshat. Are you trying to be helpful or not?” 

“I believe you mentioned that Kaku-san is most likely the ‘Chaser’ of that team?” Conis says, mostly so Vivi can take notes and have everyone be on the same page. 

“Which leaves Lucci as the team Berserker and Kalifa as Director,” Iceburg contributes with a hum. “Those roles really suit them, I’ll say.” 

“Of course. We were manufactured for our roles,” Gin says. “It’s part of us, at this point.” 

“Wait… but Smoker’s been a Marine even before that,” Nami says, “the timing doesn’t quite line up.” She was on Smoker's ship as Namizo, and that was also five years ago when Gin said he and Anne escaped. So Smoker couldn't have become a trusted captain so quickly, right? 

“Who’s Smoker?” Wyper asks. 

“Chaser’s a special case,” Gin says. “He was a Marine from the start, then he infiltrated the facility. Spent a while undercover. And then broke us out. Not every one of us was made in the facility, I was taken in as a war prisoner when I was a kid, I think.” 

"He infiltrated a government facility? Isn't that a... revolutionary thing?" Nami asks. 

"Marines do it too sometimes. It's the kind of mission where if you fail, just take the blame and die because we can't take responsibility and the Celestial Dragons scold us! High-Risk Solitary Undercover Mission," Coby says, his voice lighting up near the end like it wasn't morbid, "I remember losing my absolute shit when I found out about it last time. I am not looking forward to abolishing it again!" 

"Coby, calm down." 

 

“Even then…” Coby frowns, “I didn't know this about Rob Lucci. None of this ever happened before . I would know. I always thought CP9 liked where they came from, and as far as I know, it eventually became a dojo for young agents.” 

(He would know. He really would.)

Gin raises a brow at that, but he doesn’t try to refute it. Even if what he said didn’t line up with Nami and Coby’s knowledge of the past, there was nothing Gin could do but speak his truth.

 

“Hold on…” Zoro frowns. “Why did Anne give up without a fight?”

Anne didn’t fight. 

That had really been strange. 

Conis clutches Anne’s treasured pendant in her hands, conflicted. 

“I’m Generation N, and Anne’s in Generation M,” Gin says. “Starting from M, we’re considered the ‘older generation’. We are all culled, one by one, starting from Z, and only the final survivor of each role remains as official Cipher Pol agents.” 

The generations don’t denote strength, particularly, but they speak of innumerable amounts more of experience. And usually, a lot of mistakes, risks, and crueler bodily modifications.

“Rob Lucci is from Generation R…” Gin says. Just like Smoker, he doesn’t mention, because it’s not important. “Kalifa and Kaku are most likely in Generation K… that was about as far as the successful experiments got before we left.”

There’s a moment of silence before Usopp brings up, very dryly: “You guys aren’t very creative, are you?”

And everyone whirl on him with a collectively loud and very fervent hiss of “SHHH!!!” 

“Honest question, why doesn’t your name start with an N?” 

“SHH!” 

Gin clears his throat. “There’s no naming scheme. We came up with our own names, some people just weren’t very creative.” 

Then, there’s another pause. Coby turns his book around with the words [361-N] written on it. 

Finally, Zoro continues, “you’re not very creative, indeed.” 

“SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY!” Gin snaps. 

“Sorry! Sorry!” 

“What?!” Usopp’s startled by the sudden outburst, confused, “what did I miss?!” 

“NOTHING,” everyone insists.

 

Everyone shuts up and pays attention. 

 

“But there wasn’t a member in the older generation that didn’t know Rob Lucci,” Gin continues. “He was the golden child of the facility— no one doubted he would last to the end, and the minute you were matched up with him… well, it’s like a death notice.” 

There was no way anyone would survive, going against Rob Lucci.  Anne is the Director. She is trained to go against impossible situations– but even she had her limits, her walls, and one of those walls just happened to be named ‘Rob Lucci’. 

“She can’t see a way to win, so she won’t fight,” Gin says. “That’s how Directors were taught to live. Because in the facility, they are most dispensable.” 

“Wha— but she isn’t!” Luffy balks. “No one is, on this crew!” 

Gin musses with his fingers, sighing deeply. He rests the crook of his hands together and leans his forehead into it, but he can’t quite quell the anxiety that festers. 

“We really tried to make her unlearn that. I thought it worked.” 

His voice is soft. Almost devastated. 

He sighs, once more. 

And lifts his head. 

“We can’t win alone, so… I’ll really need your help,” he says. He pleads. He faces Luffy, firm and resolute. Then, to Nami and Usopp, “you say we win against Lucci in the future you come from. And I want to believe in the future you’re promising me. So…” 

He trails off, his words unreasonably crawling back through his throat, and he swallows, eating his words with regret he’s ashamed of.

But he doesn’t need to finish the sentence. 

“You can believe in us.” 

Luffy speaks, before Nami, before Usopp. He speaks, more confident than any of them. His grin is wide, and it blows all the fear away from them. 

“Because I believe in us, too.” 

Gin can’t help but believe, too. 

 


 

When Blueno alights from the Sea Train, he shoves the confused conductor in the direction of an equally confused marine soldier saluting him.  Soldiers line up for the welcoming entourage, the front gates opened to receive their guests. Nico Robin is escorted out in chains, and Anne follows. 

Anne is not put in chains. No one approaches her, preferring to keep a berth, and she is escorted as one would a royal, apprehensively, at her own pace. 

“Haha! Look who’s back!” 

Blueno frowns, lifting his head toward the height of the front gate— to Jabra, who’d apparently come out all the way to gloat. 

“Generation M, Number 4-2-9, Codename: Marianne,” Jabra cites, leaping down, landing squarely before them to the startled yelp of quite a number of soldiers. “I’ve heard much about you!” Jabra grins. “846-D,” he introduces himself, “it’s an honour to finally meet you.” 

Anne sighs. She looks, disdainfully, at the hand Jabra reaches out— and turns away from it. 

“Assigning a Chaser to me so quickly is unnecessary,” she says. “What an insult. You are trying to face me without direction?” 

Jabra pauses. 

“Well… you figured out I was the Chaser within the minute you met me…” he sighs, dramatically, “I even made the annoying effort of addressing you obnoxiously formally like you Directors love to do, too… now I owe Fukurou money. Damn it!” 

“Chapapa!” 

The laughter comes with Fukurou, showing himself as he Geppo s over the gates to land beside Jabra.

“Welcome! M-429, Jabra was excited to show you in,” he says. Anne, for one, is rather interested in the zipper mouth. All Directors are a little physically freaky, but that’s got to be a new level. “After you left, the facility implemented ways to camouflage our roles, from you most specifically. To make it more difficult for you guys to work around our set team dynamics from old known weakness—” 

“FUKUROU! HEY!” Jabra kicks and pulls at his cheek, desperate to interrupt, “stop, you idiot! Quiet! Don’t spill the pla— WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT ZIPPER MOUTH?!”

“Oh. Owhwawa, Cha-pa! Ma’bad. But at least I didn’t spill that since Lucci’s team couldn’t make it back, we’re the only ones rewarded and now we three got Devil Fru—” 

“ZIP!” 

 

Anne walks on, ignoring them both.  (Looks like the quality of agents have really fallen after she left. Not that it’s any of her business anymore.)

Blueno leads Anne and Robin forward with the soldiers. 

“Oh, and Blueno!” Jabra joins in, like old buddies despite Blueno leveling him with a glare as one would a drunk stranger, “leatherface is super pissed about y’alls sloppy work! It’s been pretty funny to be honest.” 

Blueno hums, dismissively. 

Spandam will be hollering and hooting no matter what any of them do. They’ve already expected to come home to his nonsense. (Blueno was not expecting to have to face it alone but alas.)

“Lucci called ahead to tell us what to expect,” Fukurou says. “You are to go on ahead with the captives, chapapa!”

Blueno clicks his tongue. 

Essentially, Fukurou and Jabra had been sent, as if they were cleaning up Blueno’s mess. It’s morbidly embarrassing, especially for a five-year-long infiltration. His job may be at stake after this… darn it, it wasn’t even his fault!

Jabra cackles, patting him on the shoulder, almost mockingly. 

“No hard feelings, Blueno!” Jabra says. “I mean, seriously, ya ain’t even from the facility, anyways. Don’t worry! We didn’t expect much from you anyways.” 

Blueno knows that Jabra is doing this on purpose. 

That knowledge does nothing to quell the burning urge in his hands to fill an impertinent wolf gut with rocks and soil. No, the control comes purely from Blueno’s many years of experience, specifically the memory of all countless times Franky stood his bare feet on the bar counter right after he’d wiped it down twice in front of his eyes. 

So, Blueno turns around, and continues his way through the front gates of Enies Lobby without another word.

So now, will his patience last the debriefing with Spandam…

 


 

Nami tightens the gloves she had been wearing around Vivi’s bandaged wrist. 

“I guess on the blue sea, you would call this style ‘urban steampunk’,” Coby grins, “kinda nice I already come in that theme!” 

“It’s in your honour,” Usopp teases, carefully feeling around Vivi’s head to trim her hair down. Kinoko’s helping, though Zoro glaring at him like a hawk just in case. “Kind of a shame Anne isn’t here to match. She would rock the look.”

“I altered one of the overalls for her,” Conis says. “You think she’ll wear it?” 

“Did you sew ‘lost child’ on it?” Gin asks. 

Sanji doesn’t miss a beat, raising a hand in Zoro’s direction, “oh, while you’re at it, could you make that jacket read ‘Lost Marimo’?”

“You shit cook—” 

“It already reads that,” Nami says. 

“What?!” Zoro yelps, reaching toward his sleeve and tugging his jacket toward his front, looking over his shoulder. Sure enough, the words 'Lost Marimo' were written in impeccable embroidery, gold and green thread intertwining a dragon across the back of his jacket. “Holy shit! When?!”

“You’re the one that put it on without checking,” Nami says, in her defense. 

“Nami-swan I LOVE YOU!” 

“Nami I trusted you, bitch—!!”

 

Vivi’s laughter frames the chaotic argument that Nami and Zoro spiral into. Merry is keeping Vivi still by sitting in her lap as Chimney, Kiwi, and Mozu give her a manicure, but Usopp can’t help but whine when Vivi unwillingly moves out of place. 

Paulie and Iceburg come out of the storage with a double-breasted suit vest hung over their arms, with a noble’s ensemble of shirts and waistcoats with belts. They’re using Carue as a table, and the duck doesn’t seem to mind. 

“Uhm. What?” Paulie asks, to the chaos happening between Zoro and Mister 'critically injured guy that immediately demanded a fresh suit upon waking up', because apparently he has not learned his lesson about asking questions here.

Iceberg, clearly the wiser one, ignores them all. 

“You said you wanted something costumy that stands out even if it’s a pain in the ass to move in,” he’s right into business, turning to Sanji, “there isn’t a top hat or a monocle to complete the look, but Lucci wears one if you’re looking for options.” 

“I’ll put it on my bucket list,” Sanji says. 

“You’re going to die?” Usopp asks.

Wyper fixes the broken pieces of Sanji’s mask, screwing on new fixtures to make it more functional. He’s affixing the delicate ornaments upon a masquerade mask in his hands, mending the charred spots for feathers and gold embellishments. 

“More form than function, form over function…” Wyper murmurs. “This is pissing me off so much. I’m going to add more unnecessary detail to it. I want to break this to pieces.” 

“Why are you annoyed that the mask is pointlessly decorative? And then you’re still doing it anyways?” Gin raises a brow. “Your tattoos and your stupid headdress thing you wore are similar.” 

“YOU STUPID DEMON YOU DARE INSULT THE SYMBOLIC CULTURE OF MY PEOPLE?!”

“Ahhh! Stop fighting!” Chopper wails. “We don’t have the space to handle all four of you fighting at once! Stop!” 

Luffy laughs, “nice! This is how things should be!” he beams. Then, pointing forward, “Merry, stop’em!” 

And then whomp goes the giant cat paws upon all four of them, slammed down in a row like neat flies.  If there’s one thing for sure, Merry really loves her new job. 

 

“Cool! Now Sanji can be Locomotive-ton Don Prince Mask!” Luffy beams.

“How badly can you mess up Colourimotone —??” Gin moves to correct him, but stops himself. “Wait, that new name actually fits. Nevermind. Welcome to the party, Locomotive-ton Don Prince Mask.” 

“Colourimotone Prisma’s evil industrial era twin…” Usopp dramatizes, waving a hand into the air as his story forms around his tongue. “Locomotive-ton Don Prince Mask, who infiltrated our world, to steal colour. Because his world is filled with only grays and browns…” 

“Wait, so like a steampunk movie?” Nami says. “His evil twin is just him, but like, sepia?”

“...I’ll leave Anne to think up the character design,” Usopp says, almost embarrassed for himself. “This idea sounded cooler in my head, okay?”

“Does Shining Jester exist there too?” Conis asks, genuinely curious. 

“Dimdark Clownlord,” Coby contributes, wisely. When given dry glances, "yes, I gathered most of the story. I have my ways." 

Zoro barks out, “stop expanding the Colourimotone Cinematic Universe! Who is going to remember all those tongue-twisting pain-in-the-fuck names??” 

“Colourimotone Prisma!” Chopper declares, cheerfully bouncing in his spot. “Colourimotone Prisma! Colourimotone PRISMAAA!!” 

 


 

It takes a while for them to finish their quarreling and get properly tucked into their new clothes and weaponry. 

Conis carefully tightens Vivi’s corset, to a comfortable degree, and Vivi turns around to smile gratefully at her. Vivi’s coat is full of trinkets, flowy and showy, but her jodhpurs are snug against her high boots for ease of movement. Usopp had cleaned up her hair with a snug braid around her ear, leading into a small bun.

“It’s such a strange form of clothing,” Conis says. “Up on sky island, we aren’t much for variety— we only have Cloud Cotton, so our fashion consisted mainly of unique patterns and colours. Our unchanging scenery and weather up there makes vibrant colours much more appealing to us. Our clothing is all similar, for practicality and mass production, and so we may all identify as one beneath the ruling ‘God’. The Blue Sea emphasizes on frivolity, on the human form, on shining stones and so much individuality… it’s all so intriguing to me.” 

Vivi listens, and she enjoys it. 

She enjoys, just how dearly Conis speaks, of things she loves, of things she discovers. 

“Corsets are comfortable, and secure, when worn right,” Vivi says. “I’ve left my royalty behind to be here… but I don’t want to discard it completely. It’s comforting, you know?”

She’s been undercover for so long as Miss Wednesday— and Miss Wednesday was a character made to be everything she wasn’t. That’s why, now that her mission is over— she wants ‘Miss Wednesday’ to finally be someone that can be her in truth. Someone free, and powerful, and capable, and most of all, someone that is a proud Nefertari. 

Conis chuckles, her hands warming over her gloves. “I understand very well.” 

“Wait, does that mean—” 

 

Nami doesn’t get to finish her question, because Luffy has heard it first and he squeals so loud he lunges at them. 

“VIVI, YOU’RE STAYING WITH US, RIGHT???”

And Vivi gets utterly windswept by the volume.

“What?” Chopper goes, “wait, what? FOR REAL?”

“Of course she is! Why wouldn’t she?!” Zoro chastises. “You guys are so loud and overdramatic!” 

“But are you sure?? Will Alabasta be alright without you?” Usopp asks. 

Vivi giggles heartily. 

“Of course! I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure things would be okay at home. Everyone in Alabasta worked very hard to make this possible for me,” she assures. “Plus, Kohza’s officially crown prince now, he’s taking lots of classes to officially succeed my father in diplomatic matters… Mister Nine and Miss Monday are doing well, by the way.” 

She claps her hands together as she remembers something, and then, she’s reaching for Carue’s satchel. 

 

“Ah, and Kinoko, dear, would you hold my ring?” 

 

The bird had already landed on her lap, waiting for the cue, raising a gold-ringed foot. She knows her job here.  Vivi beams, holding up a similarly gold, but much more elaborately-designed ring, with a huge emerald embedded in its center.

 

There’s a pause because Nami blurts, “you’re engaged??”

“...Uh. Married?” Vivi corrects, turning to a rather baffled Luffy staring at the entire scene like he wasn’t sure if this was real. Sanji’s jaw had dropped ages ago. 

Conis gasps, Chopper, Coby and Luffy similarly starstruck. Sanji and Nami sound utterly devastated, while Usopp, Gin, Wyper and Zoro, who either expected as such or didn’t give a crap, just stared on in baffled silence.  

“Congrats on your marriage!” Conis beams.

“I was there for the ceremony!” Coby beams. “You were beautiful!” 

“You were?!” Vivi squawks. "Why? How? WHY?"

“Vivi, you married Kookaburra?!?” Luffy exclaims. “But what about Nami?!” 

“I thought mates were supposed to stay together??” Chopper exclaims, utterly confused. “What are you doing here, Vivi, how could you?!”

“You went and got married?!” Sanji wails.

“And you didn’t invite us?” Usopp adds. 

Gin dryly observes, “Anne’s going to cry. She really would’ve wanted to paint that.”

“Gin, don’t join in!” Zoro snaps, “back on topic!” 

“Wait, so you didn’t even spend any time on your honeymoon?” Nami brings up. Obviously she is not on Zoro’s side. No one ever is. “Are you sure? Is Kohza okay with that??”

“Uhm. Honestly,” Vivi admits dryly, “Igaram was the only one against me coming here straight after the ceremony. Kohza was really shoving me out the door by the time I departed because I kept doing his share of the paperwork.” 

“What kind of husband— how did you spend your honeymoon, though?”

“Oh, hear this! We discovered a hot springs and made a connection to Yuba and—” 

“YUBA! Is wrinkly well-digging grandpa okay??” 

“Y-yes! Since Uncle Toto is part of the royal family now by technicality—” 

“CAN WE FOCUS ON THE GOVERNMENT FACILITY WE’RE ABOUT TO RAID?!” Zoro’s voice raises to a notch no one thought possible for him. “ALL OF YOU SIT DOWN! GIN, HELP ME FOR FUCK’S SAKE.” 

 

Vivi is, simply put, completely overwhelmed by the questions. She thought everyone knew the plan— give Kohza the Alabastan throne via arranged marriage, and then Nefertari Vivi will henceforth be Scheherazade of the never-shows-her-face. Miss Wednesday would come back to the Strawhats— that was the plan.

So why are they freaking out?? The plan went perfectly!

“Guys, calm down—” 

“Can we like, move this conversation about Vivi’s marital status to, you know, after we raid the high security government outpost?” Gin suggests. 

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” 

“We need answers!”

Gin shrugs, "Zoro, I tried. Also, are Alabastans polyamorous? Genuine question, because Nami looks like she's going to have a breakdown and like, that's usually my job..."

 


 

“Alright, anyone needs another refresher on the plan? I hope not, because you’re on your own now,” Iceberg says. 

“Leave it to us!” Franky declares, Kiwi and Mozu posing by his side. “We’ll be nice! You guys can have the SUPER opening ceremony! We’ll come with the SUPER PARADE!” 

 

Wyper had altered Vivi’s mask with handles similar to glasses, so it would be more secure. They were hidden behind her hair, and wearing them, she felt reborn. Her hair’s been trimmed, and now, it only sits just above her shoulders. Her hair hasn’t been this short since her mother was alive, and it’s so jarring, yet, so freeing. 

(It’s Miss Wednesday, and yet, it’s nothing like who she used to be. )

Sanji steps up beside her with a mask matching her own in his own shade of blue, and his gloved hand reaches out to take Vivi’s. 

“Alright!” she grins, “Miss Wednesday and Mister Prince are back in action!” 

The rest of the crew cheer back affirmatively. 

 

“Alright!” Nami twirls her Clima Tact back to her side. “Advance Squad ready for action?”

“YEAH!” Wyper, Zoro, and Gin call back, the eagle launcher, three swords, and metal tonfas weighed upon their shoulders. 

“Ranged squad?”

“Ready!” Usopp adjusts the strap of his altered bag around one shoulder, pulled so it can lean upright to the length of his back rather than around his waist like usual. Conis clutches nervously upon the straps of the burn bazooka. Kinoko and Suu, tucked between their shoulders, call back affirmatively as well. 

“Supply squad is ready as well!” Chopper salutes, sitting atop Carue, saluting similarly. Coby stands beside them, raising a determined fist.

“Alright!”

Nami spins back toward the front of the car.  Grinning wide, she revels in the moment. Luffy stands in front of them all, hat pushed down over his eyes, waiting for the cue.  And Nami gives it to him.

“Captain, we’re at your command!” 

Luffy lifts his head, eyes firm, smile pulled tight. 

“We’re setting off!” 

“AYE, CAPTAIN!” 

 


 

To Nami’s credit, she makes sure Luffy stayed on the train until they were in sight this time. The Rocketman is planned to head in first, this time, and the Franky family will take up the rear while the Strawhats spearhead through Enies Lobby as quickly as they can.

Lucci, Kaku, and Kalifa aren’t in Enies Lobby. That means their two most dangerous links are out of the picture for a crucial dozen of minutes. That’s plenty of time to get through and find Robin again.

(And then, they’ll steal the Golden Transponder Snail, and Robin won’t have to worry about the Buster Call. Simple. Spandam is no problem.)

To Nami’s credit, the plan was simple enough for Luffy to follow, and left a lot of space for Luffy to have his freedom to lead. It’s all they need, the rest of the details can work themselves out, right? They always do. 

 

“We know all their powers and tricks,” Usopp says. “We’ll be fine.” 

 

Once upon a time, Nami was a much more tactical fighter. Years of being on the same crew as Luffy, repeated instances of throwing any semblance of a plan out the window— it had conditioned Nami into thinking plans weren’t necessary. 

(And that’s a mistake.)

(What the Strawhats lacked now was direction . Something Zoro usually led toward when necessary even when he was disastrous at it, shoes that Jinbei used to fill as the one that held the helm. A role that threw Trafalgar Law for a loop, but he still did his best and that was better than none.)

(A role that Nami had long forgotten how to properly fill.)

(The role of a ‘Director’.)

What they didn’t have was direction. Their only plan was ‘charge ahead’. And that was why, the second Yokozuna shoved down the gates and the Rocketman went soaring upward and over the height of the front gates— Nami realized her oversight.

 


 

Nami stands by the train’s smokestack, on lookout with Luffy. Kinoko’s on her shoulder, Yokozuna had the front, with Zoro, Wyper, and Gin prepared to fight. 

“You have a landing planned, right?” Zoro asks. Just in case. 

“Yeah, of course!” she beams. Then, pointing forward with her chest front and proud, “leave it— to LUCK!” 

“Fuck you,” Zoro doesn’t miss a beat. 

“Joke’s on you!” Nami returns. 

“The fuck does that even mean in this situation?!”

 

“We’re all going to fucking die…” Gin mutters. “Sometimes I wonder, am I already dead? Is this hell? Is that why I never get to die?” 

“What are you guys even freaking out about?” Wyper mutters. “Blue Sea People going the hell crazy over a 30m/s^2 drop… Dramatic.” 

“What? What even,” Gin has to take a moment, “what calculation do you even have to run to get that unit?”

“That’s acceleration, I think,” Zoro says. 

“How do you—?? How do you know that??” 

“Don’t ask!” Chopper yells from inside the train, “Gin, don’t ask! I don’t think your blood pressure can handle any more of this!” 

 

Nami laughs, but her joy is cut short.  The fall is troubling, but she couldn’t help the deep, stomach-sinking sense that she was forgetting something. That she had failed to figure something rather simple.

And it comes true, very quickly. It comes into view.

And Usopp and Coby are screaming out the window. 

“NAMI!” 

“NAMI, IT’S COMING YOUR WAY!” 

Neither Gin nor Wyper could see it. Zoro notices the second it flickers past him, and he's too late to react. 

(A long-ranged blade of Rankyaku — it just barely misses the three boys, because they had been crouching down, but if Nami doesn’t move right now, it will take her head off along with the Rocketman’s smokestack.)

Kami-e. Paper arts.

Nami slides down, way too close, losing just a shore of her bangs as her entire being loses its strength and falters just out of range with the velocity and wind. She flutters right under the blade as it slices the smockestack right in half and travels to the horizon.

And Nami is limp against the surface of the Rocketman and oh my god how do you breathe again that was so close. 

 

“I,” she coughs out, when Zoro is beside her and shaking her, reeling at just how close that was. “I am never complaining about Smoker giving me the basics of Rokushiki ever again.” 

“Nami oh my god .” 

“Nami, we have company!” 

Gin and Wyper have their gazes trained forward. And Nami pushes herself up on shaky limbs (no no, take a deep breath, you can’t be shaken by this much,) to see it for herself. 

Standing on the front gates, a welcoming trio. 

Jabra, Fukurou— and Kumadori, too. All three of the CP9 agents that were supposed to be waiting for them at the Towers of Justice– why are they at the front gates? They’re standing so close, their next shot won’t miss. The Rocketman can only soar with their momentum— it won’t be too hard to smack them down from here.

(They can’t afford that. It would slow them down, so much.)

Why are they here? It’s too early. (But why wouldn’t they be here? Last time, they only stuck around the tower because they literally didn’t know how disastrous the situation was.)

Coming here without Lucci gave them weaker manpower. (Why wouldn’t these three come up front, to make up for that loss of manpower. It’s common sense, isn’t it?)

Ah, Nami hadn’t even thought that far. 

(Is she an idiot?)

 

“Wait, where’s Luffy?” 

 

Nami turns around, when Zoro realizes their Captain is gone. 

The realization brings a grin to her face and a laughter to her throat. Maybe she is an idiot, but who cares? This isn’t the time. And it’s not like she was any better at planning or predicting last time around, anyways. 

They’ve always been diving into unknown, baffling, and surprising situations. Coming back from the future doesn’t change a thing— the world never ceases to surprise her, and that’s how she has always liked it.

Nami doesn’t stand up. 

Three slashes of Rankyaku are coming their way, headed more directly for the Rocketman this time— and while Zoro is prepared to counter it, Nami stops him. 

“Zoro! Don’t!” she calls. 

“Wha— But I can do this!” 

“I know you can!” Nami picks herself up, and her haki rings back warmly from below her, realizing that Usopp and Coby are doing something belowdeck. “But right now… it's not what we should do.” 

Zoro clicks his tongue, but relents. 

Gin grimaces, “the Rocketman’s going to split, Nami! What do we do?”

“Stay with the plan!” Nami calls, sliding down the side of the ship and in through the window. “You guys in here, don’t panic— uh…” 

“Wait—! We are abandoning the Demon Beast of Fossil Fuels???” Wyper sounds devastated, “But it is a comrade?!?”

 


 

Inside the train, Merry has shrunken into cat size, clutched between Usopp’s arms as he tucks himself away into a very specific spot of the Rocketman. 

“Ah, Miss Wednesday, can you go like, two steps to the left— sorry your left— yeah,” Coby seems preoccupied with arranging everyone into place. “Chopper, Carue, and Suu, with Conis, why are you running back and forth?”

“BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO DIE.” 

“Well, that’s okay, you can keep running that length, I think it’ll miss you just barely if you stay in that area anyways.” 

“HUH?”

“And who else is left—” the train car isn’t very crowded anymore, and Coby’s holding onto a very confused Paulie by the elbow, “ah, Mister Prince. You can— oh! You can stay there. Wait, can you use Observation Haki already?”

Sanji’s standing, very still, smoking without a care in the world. Nevermind the fact the entire train is airborne, he’s standing, calm and upright. “What? No? I just kinda figure this spot would be safe?”

“Ah,” Coby chuckles. “That’s Observation, congratulations.”

“What?”

“Anyways, on the count of three everyone except Usopp is going to jump~!” Coby calls, raising his arms up like a cheerful tour guide. Or maybe a kindergarten teacher. 

“WHY ARE YOU SO ENTHUSIASTIC?!” Nami screams. She remembers a second later he can’t hear and chucks her Clima Tact at him, which Paulie ducks aside sharply for so Coby gets clunked right over the head with a violent crack. 

“OW!” Coby wails, turning around immediately. “What was that for, Nami-san?! One.” 

“You’re way too chipper for impending doom!” Nami scolds, catching the Clima Tact as it spins back, “two.” 

“I can’t help it, it’s so nostalgic I’m having fun,” Coby whines, dusting off his knees, then, arms looping around Paulie again, “three!” 

 

They jump— just in time for a flash of white to bisect the train right where their knees would have been, if they hadn’t leapt. 

Carue squawks, Chopper, Suu, and Conis screaming in surprise. Usopp is still calmly caressing Merry’s fur in his arms, seated right under the line of severance. There’s a rumbling scream coming from Merry’s belly as she opens her mouth to yawn. 

 

“WAIT WAIT WAIT! We’re losing altitude, the train’s not going to make the last distance! We’re going to fall before we make it past the gate—!” Paulie yelps, roping his way up to see Zoro, Gin and Wyper. “Rope Action!” 

His ropes spill across the length and width of the Rocketman, winding around the broken pieces before hastily smushing them together, a hasty assembly of parts into something trainlike again. 

“IS THIS WHY YOU TOLD ME NOT TO GET ON THE MERRY, YOU COTTON CANDY-HAIRED PUNK??”

“Yep!” chirps the cotton candy-haired punk in question. 

“Great! Thanks Paulie!” Nami cheers. 

“YOU’RE A SLAVE DRIVER YOU SHAMELESS—!!” 

 

“THE PLAN GOES ON!” Nami declares, pointing a single finger forward. “VANGUARDS, ON THE ASSAULT!” 

 

There’s a moment of surprise from Zoro, Gin, and Wyper.  Then, a laugh.

“AYE, SIR!” 

All three leap, right off the Rocketman. They earn a terrified shriek from everyone still inside the train car, but Nami doesn’t even flinch. 

Maybe Nami’s an idiot. Maybe she’s going in without a plan. But no one else is stepping up, and that simply means in proper Strawhat fashion— there’s nowhere to go but in the direction of chaos

 


 

The Advance Squad touches down first upon Enies Lobby. 

Zoro, upon descending, had immediately clashed his sword against Kumadori. He had been the one to lash out the biggest Rankyaku at first, so Zoro had his eyes set on him. What he didn’t expect, however, was for those flying blades to have apparently come from Kumadori’s hair .

Hair that could move like millions of tentacles, each tendril forming heads like a hydra—

—no, wait.

“...is that a giraffe?” he sincerely asks, parrying multiple hair blades but unable to resist observing one for his curiosity. “They’re all giraffes.” 

The tendrils seem much less intimidating once carefully structured ears and tiny horns come into view. It’s actually kind of… cute? 

He’s going to assume this is some weird hair-hair fruit. But why giraffes?

“Yo-yoo Yooooi!!” Kumadori exclaims, “you muuuuust be pondering, you must be perplexed! Perpleeeexed, I say! Noooow…” 

Huh.

“If you wonder, if you yonder,” he dramatizes, “why, oh why! Should my hair move like so? Why oh why, my hair so unnaturally so?”

Zoro wrenches his blades free and swings it back down but— it gets caught in more hair. And this time the stupid cuticles are wrapping and knotting around his blade??? Fuck’s sake he polishes Yubashiri every day and look what it’s doing!

“Well you see the answer, it lies, not in the sea, not in its sins, nor in its dreams—” 

“I’m not wondering! SHUT UP!” Zoro snaps, absolutely done with his damn kabuki, “It’s probably a Devil Fruit, I get it!” 

“No, no! Not so, not hither, you wither, naught a listener!” Kumadori laments. “Not be this dreams, not be the treasure of the sea, not be the fruit of the sins! It is but the fruit of labour, of love, of dreams— yes, it is!” 

“GET TO THE DAMN POINT!” 

 

In a blind spark of anger, Zoro unsheathes Kitetsu. 

Pulling out a Kitetsu while being unhealthily infuriated is in hindsight a horrible idea, but Zoro doesn’t register that until the sword isn’t even fully drawn and every single tendril of hair around him has exploded into strands. 

And then he slams the sword back into the sheath.

“Holy shit!” Zoro says. “Don’t do that!” 

 

Kumadori is gobsmacked

“Behave! What the hell!” Zoro hisses at his sword. “You almost cut me too—” 

Zoro falls silent. 

Because the gate behind Kumadori has a huge slice across it. It’s not enough to fully go through, but there’s now a slice through one of the thickest doors on this island. And an alarm is going off. 

And most appalling of all, Kumadori himself is unharmed. His hair’s in pieces— and growing back, what the hell— but his body’s entirely uninjured. 

( Congratulations, Roronoa Zoro , he berates himself.)

( You meditate every day so you will keep your composure as a noble samurai in battle, and look. One frustrating opponent shatters your composure. Are you a fucking child. )

All things considered, that could have gone so much worse. 

“You’re grounded,” Zoro murmurs. And reaches for Ichimonji instead. 

 


 

There is something infinitely unpleasant about landing on the ground only to find out the universe has it out for you today. 

Because Usopp drops down, just a pace after everyone— and immediately slips against the impossibly slippery ground, accidentally swings Cat Merry in his arms into the air, and faceplants disgracefully with a sharp squeak right onto his nose. 

Ow. 

Everyone else has landed securely, he feels, and have already separated to their respective duties. Of course, Merry lands squarely on her feet and slides across the ground until she’s back in front of Usopp, waiting to be picked up again. 

Usopp tries to get up but his hands refuse to catch anything of a reasonable texture apparently, proceeding to slide him unscrupulously right onto his nose.

Motherfucker. 

“You okay, Usopp-san?” he hears Coby say a little above him, and why didn’t he think of Geppo a little earlier? Is he an idiot? Dammit. “Ah, try not to say anything important, I can’t see what you're saying right now.” 

Usopp lifts his head.

His elbows slip again and this time he lands on his chin.

“OKAY WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!”

“I sense your frustration,” Coby says, sagely, “I do hope you’ve stopped shouting because I’m going to start my explanation. Okay? Okay, so,” Coby tirades, “first, my boots have spikes on them for ice and snow travel. Penguin made them for me, you want some too?”

Usopp murmurs something unintelligible. 

“I can’t hear you!” 

“Then how did you know I was talking!!” 

“—Armament would be useful right now. There’s bubbles all over the ground. So in conclusion I think it’s the Awa-awa no mi.” 

“SAY THAT EARLIER.” 

 

There’s a swirling ‘Cha-pa-pa-pa!’ as Fukuro spins over to them on his feet, bringing more bubbles his way around. 

“You’re quite interesting! You are just a pirate, but you’re using Geppo to the level of a master,” Fukurou deems, hopping up to the sky and throwing a punch at Coby, who lunges for Usopp and Merry to get them both out of the way as well.

Unluckily for him, Fukurou’s fingers brush past his heel, not quite rough enough to scrape a wound, but definitely enough for bubbles to snag onto the sole and make that landing just a bit more unstable. 

“Everything I touch gets all slippery and smooth and all,” Fukurou says, “it’s not really my thing. But I suppose the risks come with eating fruits that weren’t in the encyclopedia. It’s definitely better than Kumadori’s! And I always like skating anyways.” 

Coby balances on his one stable foot with a sigh. 

“That’s just a Paramecia, so how’s he making the floor slippery?” Usopp frowns. 

“I remember this one,” Coby says, “it’s not the floor that’s slippery, just the bubbles. And there are a lot of bubbles on the ground right now! Its weakness is water.” 

“Ah?” Usopp lifts his head.

“Ah,” Coby says. 

“Well…” 

“Oh, no plans?”

You’re the superior agent! You should have a plan!” 

“Hey come on now! I’m not used to fighting against this fruit! Plus I really didn’t expect them to get these, I thought they’d go to—”

“—hey wait, so the fruit user lineup’s changed… and the gate’s still closed, right…?”  

“Stop CHITCHATTING IN WAR!” Wyper interrupts them, skidding right through the bubbles on his wavers before landing a seastone heel right smack and sharp into the side of Fukurou’s head. 

There’s a wince as the sound comes back as stone on metal rather than flesh.

“Tekkai,” Fukurou declares, as Wyper reels back, sliding back on his Waver to pick up Merry by the collar. “Though, I’ll admit! That one was a close one. Chapapa!” 

 

And then Gin smashes his tonfa right on his head. 

 

There’s a moment of silence as Gin‘s tonfa shatters to pieces on Fukurou’s head— it’s solid metal— and Fukurou’s so completely off-guard that he didn’t even have a Tekkai up. He still survives it though, and he whirls around so offended that his voice goes up a pitch in exasperation. 

“THAT WAS SO RUDE-CHAPA!” 

“...damn,” Gin remarks, holding his broken tonfa for another moment before tossing it aside. “That's... tougher than Anne's bones... did they perfect that tech?” 

"Oh, uh, no," Fukurou says, "they gave up on that, had to erase all evidence after a sample escaped. My skull's just really hard because they started teaching us Rokushiki, you see... and I've always had a hard head. I am proud of how hardheaded I am. Ah, but they did switch to making my tummy really sturdy!" 

"Good to know... but why are you telling me this?"

"Ah! Chapa, I spilled all the secrets again!" 

 

“Plan C then!” Usopp yells. 

“What’s Plan C?” Wyper asks, wheeling away all of them quickly, tossing them way out of range of the bubbles so Usopp could stand up again. He then tosses Merry in Usopp’s general direction, earning a squeak as both Usopp and Coby jump for the cat only to crash into each other. 

“There was a Plan B?” is Gin’s genuine question. 

“I’ll be heading off then!” Coby says, but by the time anyone wants to ask ‘off where’, they turn in his direction and Coby’s already vanished without a trace. 

“What the fuck is Plan C!” Gin roars, lunging for Fukurou— earning a shriek— and grabbing him by the collar and hair before bodily throwing him right down in a judo flip. 

What. 

How heavy is that guy?

“ZORO!” Usopp hollers, “PLAN C!” 

Hearing that, Zoro immediately runs toward them, sliding right past a still shellshocked Kumadori. So of course, Merry gets up, enlarges to hike Usopp onto her back, and runs, too. 

Clicking his tongue, Gin follows. Wyper tosses his bazooka to his back and follows. 

“Plan C??” Gin demands of Zoro.

To which Zoro says, “Gin, I thought you knew by now to just not question anything.” 

 

Wyper skates vertically up the gate, flinging himself right off once more to fire the Eagle Launcher at the Fukurou and Kumadori, who were still on the ground.  “Do Blue Sea people not have organisational skills?!” he yells. “Has peace on the Blue Sea rotted your heads of the necessities of a COMMANDER?!”

“I’m pretty sure it’s just us!” Usopp reminds, brightly. 

“If you’re so fucking great WHY DON’T YOU TAKE CHARGE?!” Gin taunts. “All you know how to do is fire that stupid bazooka, you fucking bird-winged buffoon!” 

“AT LEAST MY WEAPON IS NOT BROKEN!” 

“Oh hey!” Usopp says, calmly, from his spot on Merry’s back, “great idea, I mean, even Whitebeard has squad commanders so maybe our crew will need some too—” 

 

They leap up to the top of the gate, the four (and Merry) crossing Jabra side by side. 

"Hah! You think you can just cross? Think twice!" 

"Hey, cat versus dog, who wins?" Usopp asks, quickly. 

Jabra pauses, "huh?"

Merry flickers back into a cat there, and Usopp catches her— only to immediately fling her upward once more, higher into the sky than before. Jabra follows the cat’s form in curiosity, and Usopp descends with the others on the other side of the gate. 

If Jabra was planning on stopping them, it’s too late now. 

Merry shifts back into a human, and pulls a— gigantic mallet?? Out of her mouth??? Before bringing it down upon Jabra’s head, bowling him right over the edge into Enies Lobby with an undignified squawk.

Merry lands firmly on the top of the gate once more, raising the mallet high up with one arm as she looks up into the sky, posing victoriously. 

Zoro bursts out a laugh at the sight. 

“What?” Usopp questions the rare show of nonchalance from the swordsman. 

“Don’t look,” Gin says, eyes firmly shut as he dusts off his remaining broken tonfa pieces from his jacket. “Just don’t look.” 

“I can’t?”

“Great. Stay that way.” 

 

Somewhere in the distance, there’s a hollow and reverberant response from Nami. 

“PLAAAAAAAANNNNN—”

Nami beams from behind them, the crash of the sea train against the ocean creating a splashing wave soaring right over her head. And within that wave, unwillingly riding upon a makeshift board of the Rocketman’s metal plating, is Paulie. 

“SEAAAA!!!” Nami screams, thrilled.

 


 

“...I’m so glad I’m not in that team,” Vivi murmurs. 

“You and I both, Miss Wednesday.” 

Luffy had shot ahead of everyone. And as Nami’s group distracts everyone, the others make their move. The group of marine soldiers are taken aback by the assault from the air, so the rest of the crew plunge into the sea with the debris of the sea train, before rising up with the wave Nami calls forth.

Paulie makes his way above the waters, but Sanji’s group stays below. 

Chopper is strapped onto Carue’s satchel, eyes squeezed shut trying to resist the weakness of the sea. Suu hangs onto the strap of Conis’ bazooka, as she holds out two Impact Dials before her. Vivi takes one hand and Sanji takes the other, each planting firmly on either side of Carue.  

They can’t take a deep breath, but the instinct is hard to resist. 

One, two. 

IMPACT!

 

They break right through the water, 

And onto dry land. 

 

Carue touches down hard with a pained squawk on his tender feet, but he uses the momentum to speed right through the crowd. The frazzled soldiers can’t react in time.

Sanji coughs and sputters. 

Vivi gasps for breath. “Wait, the gate’s still closed!” 

Conis wails. “It doesn’t hurt!” She pleads, eyes tearful and limbs inelegantly stuck out as far from her as possible. She’s sprawled over Carue’s back, a half-conscious Chopper a pillow for her head, “it doesn’t hurt!” she insists, crying. “It doesn’t!” 

“I’ll make you whatever you want to eat later!” Sanji hollers. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it in her place because Chopper would scream at him for doing anything more than submerge in salt water with second degree burns. 

Carue is still running way faster than his feet can handle. He definitely can’t stop now.

“Guys, if the gate doesn’t open, we’re going to crash!” Vivi yells, frantic. 

“Oh don’t worry about that…” Chopper murmurs. 

“Huh?!” 

 


 

Nami weaves through the crowd on water and wave, her staff ten times longer than it should be, spiralling across soldier after soldier. 

The Eisen Dial morphs her Tact exactly how she wants it, twisting in impossible directions opposing her arm movements, forming cludgels and blades of as many varieties as she can imagine. 

Kumadori and Fukurou stand by, having lost their initial targets, to focus on her. Clearly, Nami was the bigger threat right now. Even though it was a single woman and the sea against more than a hundred soldiers stationed at Enies Lobby’s front gates. 

“Jabra’s gone, huh…” Fukurou sighs. “Chapa… I suppose it was inevitable. He works best in larger areas, so it is to our favour and within expectations.” 

Kumadori hums, “only the foooooolish, I say! Only the foolish shall chain a guardian to the gates, I say!” he dramatizes, “wolves, natural predators they are, natural chasers, they strive! Wolves, natural they are, free in spirit and fervor!” 

“Okay, that’s a little forced,” Nami says, pointing an end of her Clima Tact at them.

The ground’s soaking wet, as if a flood has crashed through the shoreline of Enies Lobby, sweeping the entire surge of soldiers with it as they struggle to regather themselves. Nami strolls through the center line comfortably. 

Kumadori and Fukurou have opted for slightly higher ground. 

“All the bubbles I spread, gone just like that, Chapa, how disappointing,” Fukurou says.

“The mysteries of the seas, the miseries of the seas—” Kumadori continues, “in the hands of an amateur, even a treasure may only shine!” 

“Well yeah we just got these a few hours ago. Of course we still suck at using them!” Fukurou muses. “Chapapa! Of course. But we don’t need those powers to defeat just one of them.”

“There’s more of you, are there not?” Kumadori says, swerving his staff behind him, ready to fight as Nami comes just a step closer. “May the four within these walls implore the mercy of the wolves… for the entourage of the waves shall define none at all.” 

 

Carue comes shooting out of the waters. Paulie just a step behind. 

 

Fukurou huffs. “You are their strongest and most experienced fighter, Burglar Cat Nami. Excluding of course, Egin himself. But there's little we can do about Egin. We’ll put a stop to you here, chapa! This gate will not open for any of you, nor do you have the capability to. After all, this gate can only be opened when you wind the gears on the two towers at once so—”

“Seeeeeecrets!” Kumadori interrupts, “Of the flag, they shall remain secrets, I say!”  

“Ah,” Fukurou shuts himself up. But unwinds the zipper again almost immediately. “But as long as you are only a few and we are here, there’s no way you can get up there!” 

Nami grins. 

“Did you know? Everything has a core. And if you strike that core, you can turn any situation around.” 

Fukurou’s brow raises. Kumadori pauses. 

“Huh?”

A deep black sheen crawls over the Clima Tact, trailing up to her arm, coating her metal arm pure black, shrouding her upper body as would tendrils of a cybernetic brace. 

“It’s something I learned from an old friend," Nami says. 

She leaps, a flash of Geppo kicking her forward— Fukurou and Kumadori leap to stop her, but the Eisen Dial inflates, giving her the weight to swerve in mid air, twisting right past their reaching arms. 

And then, the dial forms a blade. Gripping the Tact with both arms over her head, she thrusts it forward, spearing it forward like a javelin.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Fukurou whirls on it, “that gate is reinforced with seastone in the center, since it’s the entrance! You can scratch the surface, but there’s no way your toy can pierce it through!” 

Nami’s grin doesn’t falter. 

A Tone Dial activates at the base of the Clima Tact, a Breath Dial  sending the spear gyrating the rest of its distance.  Like a drill, it spurs right through the heavy gates with the sharp screech of metal on bedrock. And then, it goes straight through, plunging into the earth on the other side.

There’s a moment of mortified silence. 

 

The cracks spread.

And the weight of the gate shatters through the new gap, shuddering in its entirety— Nami finds herself right before the gates, and she reaches for it.

In a single, one-handed shove with her flesh hand, the gates of Enies Lobby fall apart into rubble. 

 


 

“You… are fucking kidding…” 

“That’s a former Whitebeard for you…” 

“Holy shit.” 

“Burglar Cat, you…!!!” 

“This is ridiculous! I can’t believe this!” 

 

Nami turns around to jaws that are on the floor . No marine soldier wants to approach her, even when their guns and swords are drawn. Paulie even pauses a brief moment to gawk before lunging into place beside her. 

Carue leaps past them, a sheet draped over all of them as they smoothly infiltrate Enies Lobby. Carue glances at Nami, who smiles back confidently, and his gaze turns back forward, and his steps surge on with even more power than before. 

(“I’m going to die,” Nami hears Sanji murmur from inside his hiding spot. “Is it possible to get a heart attack now and die from being too in love with Nami?”)

(“Yes,” comes a responding croak from Vivi, clearly distressed. “Also, I had dibs.”)

(“Stop it!” Chopper hisses, “I’m busy dealing with Conis’ mental breakdown, so I have no medicine for bisexual disasters right now!”)

Nami sighs fondly. 

 

From beyond the gate stands Zoro, Wyper, and Gin, along with Jabra nursing a killer headache. Zoro’s grimacing. 

“That is so not fair,” Zoro accuses. “I can cut seastone too.” 

“No you can’t,” Wyper says. 

“I can and I will,” Zoro says, bitterly, “I’m going to find a bigger, thicker, seastone gate— oh hey there was one at the end of this island, right—” 

“Stop it! Stop it! You’re going to send every Marine stronghold at us if you set loose the Tarai Current in our direction!” Gin snaps, snagging them by the collar and bazooka strap, “come on, we’re going!” 

Zoro levels Nami with a seething glare, “I am going to cut seastone!” 

“Good luck, Zoro-kun,” Nami calls, sweetly. 

Gin drags him away before he can try and prove his point even more. Honestly, Nami can’t remember Zoro being so competitive, but seeing Nami achieve something about cutting before him must have given him that slap to the pride he hasn’t felt in ages.

 

“Uhm, I’m going too,” Paulie says, awkward, gesturing inside.

Nami pouts, toying with her fingers before her chest sadly, “you’re going to leave poor, widdle me alone here… not a gentleman, are you?”

“Lady. I just saw you wipe the floor with the main forces of the Navy and smile prettily while doing so.” 

“Aww, that’s so sweet, you think I’m pretty?”

I am leaving,” he declares, making a beeline for the city. 

Nami happily waves, seeing him off as he goes. 

 

Nonchalantly, Nami finally turns back to the Marines. 

They’ve recomposed themselves with a new resolve to fight. The gates have been destroyed, and the stakes have risen so much higher. 

“Lucci’s group is coming back any time now. Do you really think the handful of you can survive being surrounded on both sides on Enies Lobby? Do you really think you can get out? ” Fukurou says, “You’ve just trapped yourself in, chapa!” 

And Nami beams. 

“I’m the Navigator. If our Captain wants to go somewhere, I find the way there. If there isn’t a path, I’ll make one,” she declares, raising her Clima Tact into the air with her metal arm. “My name is Nami, navigator of the Straw Hat pirates! Nice to meet you all! Ah, should I say good morning since this is the island with no night?” 

Behind her, Merry descends with grace, a gigantic, flaming white and blue Bakeneko . Tails swishing with bells, teeth wide in a grin. 

“The weather forecast for Enies Lobby today!" Nami announces, "we're in for sunny skies above with a chance of thunder, tornadoes, meteors, and earthquakes! Beware of open fires and stampeding beasts. To the island that sleeps in eternal day, the drums of liberation will bellow your long-overdue wake-up call by midday!" 

Nami bows, dramatically.

“And this,” she then straightens, swiping her Tact past her figure. “Is Mirage Tempo .” 

She vanishes before her sentence even ends, and there’s nothing the Marines can do but stand in disbelief.

 

Merry turns toward the inside of Enies Lobby. Her jaw unhinges , and from her stomach two King Bulls charge ahead with a mighty roar. 

The entire King Bull carriage hoisting several dozen people onboard comes out in a festive parade. Somewhere, Chimney is doing her best attempt at blowing the hurricane whistle to be heard.

Every member of the Franky family screeches out for freedom. Yokozuna sings at the bow, and Kokoro cackles, the bottle of wine in her hand nearly spilling all over Gonbe.

Iceberg has his ears covered. 

Franky is at the bow, and he sure knows how to make an entrance. 

“RISE AND SHINE, ENIES LOBBY, THE SUUUUPPEEEERRRR FRANKY FAMILY HAS ARRIVED!!”

Chapter 90: for the honour of a friend (believe and go forth)

Summary:

And so, the siege on Enies Lobby begins with a charge toward the center. The crew splits up quickly and encounter their respective road blocks.

Meanwhile, Anne and Robin sit and wait.

Notes:

Hey guys! It's been a while since an update, sorry! Just got off eye surgery and I'm still seeing double, at least I managed to get this out! Welp. Me almost going blind is kind of ironic consider the main character of this story. I think it was a sign from god or something. My bad. Here's the update. If there are typos in the second half of this chapter please have mercy on me, most of it was muscle memory and uatoccorect.

Chapter hop eyou enjoy. Thanks. Bye.

Chapter Text

The King Bulls surge on ahead, rolling by on tank wheels straight through Enies Lobby. 

“Don’t let your guard down, boys!” Franky declares, “we’re marching straight on forward, but we’re in enemy territory! Don’t let any of them touch Sodom and Gomorrah, got it?!”

“YEAH, ANIKI!” 

“Myeeehhh!” cries the child somewhere in the middle of the deck, arms raised in some imitation of their posing and cheer. 

There’s a pause as everyone stills.

Franky, very politely, crouches down to her eye level and sincerely asks: “When did you get up here?”

“Myeh!” Merry says, brightly, single arm raised. 

Chimney steps right over and high fives her raised arm, blowing her whistle to the same tune. Gonbe cheers, and everyone stares. 

“Dammit, Granny Kokoro, why’d you bring so many kids?!” Franky whirls on her. “Why’d you bring children into a warzone, it ain’t super of you at all!” 

Somehow, Merry has scaled him, and Chimney is trying to swing on his shirt, laughing as her feet get hooked around his elbow. 

Kokoro laughs in his face. “You’re one of my kids too, so you’re the squid calling the octopi many-handed!” 

“I get your point but you have the weirdest metaphors!” 

 


 

The slowest advancing party would definitely be the King Bulls, because of their size and weight. They’re holding their own, but a tremor through the ground makes their blood run cold, and a looming shadow overhead—

There’s a giant.

A pair of giants. 

“HOLD IT!” they roar, “damn those humans, they didn’t bother waking us up until the gate’s already broken! Now they’re going to blame us!” 

“Don’t worry, Kashii! They’re so tiny, how hard could this be?”

Turning around, they find an absolute terror behind them in the form of two giants, charging towards them with murder in their eyes and clubs in their hands. 

—-and let’s just say the entire Franky cart starts incoherent screeching. 

“CAT, GET BACK IN THE CAT!” 

“NOT FROM THIS ANGLE WE CAN’T!” 

“TOO LATE!” 

Neither of them spot the arrow soaring from one end of the road to the other. Very little see Coby break out from the kicked-up dust and, startled, catch the arrow. 

A gleam of black spreads through the string connected to it— and they meet in the center.

Just in time for both giants to hook their foot through it unawares, and make the most indignant squawk as their ankles catch, their arms hit the buildings, and nothing can hold them up as they crash unceremoniously across the road. 

The Franky family shriek as the shockwave from their fall blows their entire composure right back in place. 

They stare, jaws drop.

“They just… tripped at the same time?” Franky asks. 

“No, something got in their way…” Iceberg squints, but can’t make it out with all the dust. His hand is on the spare parts of electronic paraphernalia all around his feet. “Wellllll…. You know what they say about happy accidents.” 

Now that their humongous bodies have blocked the entire path— they’ve been bought so much more time to gain distance. 

Merry mews approvingly, and that snaps Franky back to attention. 

“Wait—” he winds back, “stop gawking, everyone! ONWARD! SUPER ADVANCE! We’re getting to the canyon in TEN MINUTES!” 

 


 

Meanwhile, on the ground, Paulie has an arm on Usopp’s shoulder. Kinoko’s on Usopp’s head, clearly the one that directed the aim. It’s still horribly filled with dust all over the place, and Paulie is honestly appalled that worked. 

“Thanks,” Usopp says, lowering his crossbow, the other end of the rope tied to his wrist, gleaming with Armament. “That was the perfect length of rope I needed. Any longer or shorter and it wouldn’t have worked as a tripwire.” 

Paulie shrugged. “You work long enough in a shipyard you just can guess these kinda things. How did you know the other guy was there?” 

“What was that about, Usopp-san?” Coby hollers from the other end, “what would you do if I didn’t catch it?”

“I didn’t,” Usopp says, instead of answering Coby, because it’s not as if he could hear it anyways, “But someone needed to be there, and if anyone’s going to be there, it would be someone who knew he had to be.” 

Paulie frowns. “What?” 

“Observation Haki can do a lot of things, you see.” 

“What’s Haki?”

“It’s what I’m using to morse-code him the fact that he can go now.” 

“What??” Paulie’s getting frustrated, but a shift in the dust catches his attention and the highest noise he’s ever made leaves his throat as he clasps his hands over both of Usopp’s shoulders and drags him back , “INCOMING!” 

The hand that swats down at the position they were previously in sends a wind blowing them back, and Paulie continues scrambling.

“The giants are angry! The giants are angry!” 

“Gimme a second Paulie, I’m trying to untie this thing from my wrist—” 

“PRIORITIES!” 

“Nevermind!” Usopp plants his feet back, causing Paulie to jerk back in surprise when he stops moving— and yanks back the rope. The arrow soars back, and Usopp winds up his other arm to change its trajectory. “Kinoko!” 

Kinoko launches off his head and snatches it out the air, and Usopp brings it back up to dodge another swat from Oimo, pulling Kinoko along. 

“Wha—” Paulie hisses, deciding to just snatch Usopp up at the waist and throw him over his shoulder. “Okay, fine!” He really should have stopped questioning a long time ago. 

Kinoko regains her balance, somersaulting midair from the blowback, then taking the arrow with her past the swinging arms until she looped it across a hoop on Oimo’s vest. 

She then crawls past it as Oimo shrieks, trying to get the equivalent of an invading bug off himself. 

“What is this?!” 

“You’re not getting away—” 

Kashii roars, pushing up to his elbows, “stop scrambling around like an ant!” 

“Paulie, jump!” Usopp says, winding the rope taut around his wrist once more, “We’re climbing on the giant to get into speaking distance!” 

“ARE YOU INSANE?” Paulie yells, ducking under some rubble as Kashii sweeps his arm through the path, making him trip. He rolls back onto his feet, still holding onto Usopp. “That’s dangerous as fuck, I have limits!” 

“It’ll be fine,” Usopp laughs, spinning back so he’s clutching firmly on Paulie’s back and keeping the ropeswain's hands free, “you’re doing an amazing job already! Knew there was a reason Luffy liked you so much.” 

Paulie couldn’t even respond to that. He’d barely even met the captain of this ship beyond that chaotic strategy meeting in the train. 

Kashii has noticed the rope connecting to Oimo (who’s still trying to sweep Kinoko off him to no avail,) and he’s reaching for it. 

Paulie curses. 

“I’m too far in this mess to doubt you guys, anyways!” he snarls. 

Shooting out another rope to latch upon a signal beam in one of the buildings, Paulies takes a running start in the other direction, and leaps right off. 

Usopp hoots, feeling the wind on his skin. 

Kashii misses the rope as it swings away from him.

Paulie unlatches the second rope mid-swing, sending them winding back in the circumference of the first, right back towards Oimo. 

They gain height, spinning right up to Oimo’s shoulder as he gets up, rolling disgracefully through the fabric of his overalls. Paulie ultimately catches a strand of hair, and from there, Oimo howls. 

“DARN IT, GET OFF ME!” 

Usopp chews off the rope on his wrist, and Paulie winds another around Oimo’s hat, using it as the anchor for him to run across Oimo’s shoulders. 

“Now what?” Paulie hollers. 

Usopp doesn’t answer, taking a deep, calming breath. He catches Kinoko on his reassembled Kabuto as she readies herself where the ammo should be loaded with a package in her beak— he lets go, firing something into the sky squarely in the center of both giants as they try to get the damn intruders off Oimo’s body. 

It’s a Tone Dial, and Mother DenDen on Kinoko’s pack, ready to reverberate just far enough. 

“I’ve been saving that one from Little Garden just for this situation!” 

Click .

“[GABABABABABA!!]”

“[GEGYAGYAGYAGYA! Of course, little warriors! If the Strawhats ever make it to Elbaf, we’ll show you all the Hospitality and Graciousness as Valued by the Vikings. You have our word!]”

Still gawking at just what he’d heard, Paulie swings right off Oimo once more, and Usopp snatches Kinoko and the Tone Dial out of the air. 

They land, as carefully as they can, back on the ground, Paulie rolling to cushion their fall. And then, they straighten to face Kashii and Oimo. 

Around them, the marines have managed to close in, advancing from the now-open gates to box them in on this path. One side the soldiers wield guns, the other, shields.

“They’re surrounded!” the leading soldier hollers. “Fire at will, and slowly isolate them! Our aim is to capture!” 

Paulie curses, tauting his ropes once more. They’re on the roofs as well, so he can’t get them out on his own power. 

“Usopp, don’t get off!” Paulie yells, when Usopp unlatches himself from Paulie’s back. 

Usopp, however, is calm. Kinoko settles herself on Paulie’s shoulder. And he’s looking up, at Kashii and Oimo, who haven’t moved since they’ve heard the message. 

“It’s okay,” Usopp says. 

Paulie doesn’t need to ask why anymore. 

The next second there’s a united roar , and Kashii and Oimo have turned both ways, howling into the distance. With a mighty swipe of their arms and feet, they swerve off an entire arrangement of soldiers around them. 

“FOR ELBAF!” Oimo howls. 

“ON THE WORD OF THE CAPTAINS!” Kashii yells. 

Usopp grins. 

“Elbaf warriors, you see… they’re barbarians, but they value honour. Especially the honour of the mightiest warriors they know,” Usopp says. “Do they have to trust us? Do they have to understand why the words were said? No, not at all. But if a word was once given, it is the role of their fellow warriors to see it through to the end.” 

Paulie’s baffled. 

Suddenly they’re being scooped up, and Paulie grasps the buckle of the overall so quickly as he’s set down on Kashii’s shoulder. 

“You need to advance, little warriors, is that it?” Kashii asks. “None of you except the merwoman was more than three decades old, so I’m guessing that means our Captains aren’t dead or captured. This changes things.” 

“YEP!” Usopp yells back. “Thanks, guys!” 

“Well if it’s that simple, then leave it to us!” Oimo says, “I’ve been wanting to let loose for FIFTY YEARS, anyways!”  

“Wha– wait,” Paulie holds onto Kashii’s hair, holding Kinoko as Usopp gets comfortable. “How did you… Giants are so rare in this half of Paradise. You act like you’ve known of them decades— who even are you?” 

It’s not as if Usopp is like Nami or Coby, who’s traveled in the New World, or even like Gin, who’s clearly a soldier hardened by battle. The Strawhats were strange and strong, but the amount of experience Usopp exuded stood out far and odd, especially in consideration that he’s simply a boy from East Blue. 

He’s blind, and his sharpshooting is immensely reliable. He doesn't let lack of sight deter a single bit of the world, and he’s capable of putting his back to Paulie’s care, even though they’ve never fought in tandem. 

Usopp grins. 

“Because Elbaf is my home just as much as it is theirs! And a warrior of Elbaf doesn’t doubt the words of a man that’s been given the word of a friend!” 

Paulie has no idea if this is honour or insanity. 

But he looks away and “how on earth can you say something so fucking embarrassing without even cringing?”

“Oh shut up, it was COOL.” 

 


 

“Surprisingly, we really don’t have to worry about our path at all…” Chopper murmurs, looking back. Conis, Sanji and Vivi are riding Carue as they speed through the city. “Carue, you okay?”

Carue quacks affirmatively. 

Franky’s made several braces for his limbs, and Wyper had been adamant to add way too many dials on it. Carue was basically running on air now with as little strain to his feet as possible. 

But that’s fine. His job is to deliver his passengers to the destination, and then, he can rest. Until then—

“Alright, we’re about a quarter of the way,” Sanji says. “This is my stop.” 

He reaches for Vivi’s and Conis’s hands before planting a kiss on them, chuckling. 

“See you, my princesses.” 

Conis is flustered, “is this the time??”

While Vivi sighs dreamily, “see you soon, dear.” 

Conis squeaks at her response, and Sanji drops right off Carue with all the grace of a one-footed raccoon. Suu, clutched on his shoulder, squeaks terrified as they go tumbling right out with all the dignity lost to the winds. Conis is left staring in utter bafflement as Vivi continues waving cheerfully. 

Sanji unceremoniously disappears in their dust, Suu crying for help.

It takes another moment for Chopper to demand, “why did you do that?” 

Vivi beams, “well, you see, Conis-san,” she starts, like a teacher, “Sanji-kun is a creature that runs on the power of love and Nami-san on his wings. So, it’s a duty of a good leader to be benevolent with fanservice, every once in a while, to keep spirits at an all-time high. Sometimes just being here and looking pretty is enough to make a lot of people happy, you know?”

Conis’ face heats up, “I don’t even know if that’s mean or kind of you… oh I’m so sorry Suu…” 

 


 

Right at the front of the entire advance, there’s Zoro, cutting down opponents on their way. 

“Goddamit, I can’t just use Haki on command, could you STOP shooting for a second—” Zoro swings out a flying slash at a group and the next charge right past it. He blocks with his sword and cuts them down, pulling out Yubashiri for the one sneaking in a hit from the bat. “What a pain in the a—”

He freezes. 

“Why am I alone?”

There are soldiers to the left and right of him. The sound of the Eagle Launcher is far in the distance, and definitely no other brawlers in the distance. 

“Where the FUCK are Wyper and Gin?! Is this the time to get lost, what the hell, guys?!” 

 


 

Gin sneezes. 

He’s in a much quieter part of the island, because Zoro and Wyper have drawn away the main crowd and no one’s noticed where he’s gone just yet. 

He sighs. 

(Just a moment ago, Wyper had yelled at him for even suggesting to split up.)

(“That deviates from the plan Nami gave,” he snarled. “I see no merit to it. We’re just supposed to cut the path forward without holding back, so the duck and the giant fishes can advance with the princess.”)

(And that wasn’t wrong. Their three strongest melee fighters are at the forefront to draw most of the fighting force forward. Luffy isn’t included in that number, but he’s doing the same. This allows the King Bulls and Carue to advance, and attention to be taken off Nami, Sanji and Coby. Usopp will come by with backup in the form of the giants. That was the plan.)

(“We have to keep Jabra away from the core of our offense, We need to draw him away from the gate—” Gin says, “the other two freaks will be confused by the same plan as the grunts, but Jabra won’t. Because he’s going to come after me .”)

(Wyper had looked offended by that. “Why you?” )

(Gin shrugged. “He’s a Chaser. So, of course he will. They’re obsessed with their prey, and prideful of their ability to catch them. I’ll take him away from the front of the lines, at least until Luffy and Vivi’s group makes it over the chasm.”)

(There's a moment of silence. They both would be happier without having to fight together, but the implication that Gin’s not even trying to pretend he can win is baffling.)

(“I’m a Berserker, I’m made only to follow orders,” Gin says. “I’ve never been one to make any sound plans or decisions. So, if you’ve got a problem with that, fucking get Anne back.”)

Gin had left immediately, ignoring the calls of his name.

(“Coward,” Wyper snarled, but didn’t give chase. “Fighters without the will to fight for their cause don’t deserve to stand on the battlefield! Are you listening to me, you demon bastard! Those without the resolve will only hold us back, so you better get a grip!”)

He doesn’t care.

Gin cannot win against a Devil Fruit user— he’s not strong enough to hold his own in the Grand Line against someone that’s actually a threat, and he’s known that for a while. He’s been crumbling at the seams for the longest time and he’s not about to deny any of it for his pride. 

He can’t win, unless—

(—no. He can’t. He’s never going berserk again.)

(He promised.)

(He promised.)

“How were your five years of freedom, Egin?” 

Gin turns around and doesn’t miss the way Jabra jumps, startled by something, but composes himself into a laugh right after. 

“Scary look on your face! Well, it makes sense. Berserkers love their Directors, but it’s your own fault for not holding on to her better.” 

Jabra descends from the roof, to the ground, stepping forward.

“Let’s fight! One wolf to the other, eh?" he taunts, “I wouldn’t recommend taking too much time. Our current Handler Spandam is very well aware of just how sturdy she is.” 

(“Hey, treat that one with care, she’s the backup just in case anything happens to Rob Lucci.”)

(“And she’s useless if nothing does. Who cares, anyways, she’s not going to die from a little shove or two.”)

Gin sees red.

 


 

“So you’re the rumoured Maria.” 

In the main office of the Tower of Justice, Spandam stands before his two prisoners, grinning smugly. Blueno drops them off and goes to sit by the couch, his wounds mended and his brows furrowed. 

Nico Robin sits in the corner, to be escorted past the Gates of Justice, and Anne stands before Spandam’s desk, being addressed directly. 

“The one manufactured to be the second coming of Rob Lucci, but never came close,” Spandam chuckles, “I’ve read all your files! Would you believe the ruckus you stirred up when you escaped? Your birth, your cells, your blood, your existence— if even a single bit of it got out to the world… the ones up there would lose their minds!” 

Her red sneakers are warm against her feet. Her slightly singed clothing tickles her skin, but she pays none of it any mind. The red beret droops on her head. 

“The Handler at the time was yet another headache,” he sighs, “to save his own hide, he reset your systems and ruined all the experience you gained. What a waste! But no worry, we’ll train you up again. Here again in CP9 where you belong… you’ll be under my command from now on! So be a good girl for me, okay?”

Anne stares forward at him, eyes unblinking, expressions blank. 

“I do not work under your command,” she says, “until my service is transferred, my direct superior in the Cipher Pol hierarchy will only be my senior, Rob Lucci.” 

Spandam pauses, jaw slightly agape.

Then it closes into a sharp grind of his teeth. 

“How dare you,” he hisses. “You’ve come back after five years, and you have the gall to pretend you know anything about how things work around here?”

She doesn’t flinch when the punch comes. 

Her feet plant her firmly, but her head swings sharply to the side, her neck snapping painfully as a burning sensation blooms in her cheek. She’d closed her eyes instinctively, but she makes sure they open immediately, turning back forward.

Her beret slides off her head, and she does not reach toward it. 

She does not lift her head. To meet Spandam in the eyes now would be defiance, and would only make him more angry. 

The second punch comes closer to her head, and the gunshot to her knee at the same time makes her bite her tongue in surprise. 

She crumbles, head smashing against the floor with a loud sound. The pain blossoms in her leg but this time, as she works to get up, the world spins. 

The kick comes unexpectedly, and her head slams back on the ground again, her nose burning painfully. It can’t be broken, but her mouth fills with blood, and she coughs and chokes.

“Keep her chained!” 

 


 

Robin stares at her with a sort of restrained pity. Her shoulders tremble, even as she tries to hide it, and Anne sits beside her, hands chained together with matching seastone cuffs. 

Her leg had stopped bleeding, but the bullet was lodged a difficult way in her bones, so she couldn’t move it. It was punishment, Spandam thought, and it wasn’t like she’d die. 

“You don’t believe that Nami and Usopp know the future, do you?” 

When Anne asks that, Robin has to flinch. 

She doesn’t look her way. “There’s no other explanation to all they know. I do not doubt them on that front at all.” 

There’s silence between them. 

The guards around them do not care for what they are saying, not that they would think this is more than metaphorical talk.

“I believe them,” Robin says. “But there are flaws in their knowledge. From the time we were on Omatsuri Island, to the time we fell from Sky Island… Nami and Usopp are clearly not all-knowing. And this has long ceased to be the world they’ve boasted of.” 

She’s not wrong. 

“I want to trust them. With my life. I don’t doubt their resolve, I don’t doubt their strength,” Robin says, “I doubt the world. I doubt that world will allow them their way any longer. It might have been me that turned against them today, and they expected it. Will they expect it when it’s someone else, and will their wills still hold strong when it does? I don’t think even they know the answer.” 

Anne may not understand exactly what she means either.

But she doesn’t have to.

“They’ll do anything for Nico Robin ,” Robin says, bitterly. “But which Robin are they talking about? I don’t know who the other one is, and I don’t know how to be her. And worst of all, I don’t know if they’ll accept anyone except her.” 

This, Anne understands.

When the things happened with the seahorse, Zoro had cut her down. When they were on the Island of Festivals, Usopp had shot Sanji for not acting right. 

This crew is segmented. Luffy and Zoro should be the ones leading, but instead, it is Nami and Usopp. And they see a crew that isn’t the one they’re surrounded by. They reach out, for a crew that they can no longer reach.

And this, inevitably, makes everyone nervous, because ‘being themself’ and ‘acting as you wish’ does not mean the same thing to them as it does to those two.

Those two have left their hearts behind somewhere else.

And no matter how much they try to pretend otherwise, it’s getting to be a problem.

“Why are you here?” Robin prompts, then. “You will be protected. You will be accepted.”

Anne curls into herself. “Chaser always told me that if I don’t think I can win, I should sit and wait for him or Gin to come for me. Chaser always told me that if I can see a way to win… I should go for it, no matter what.” 

Robin turns to her.

“Which is it right now?”

Do you think you can win, or do you not?

Anne hums, leaning into her knees. 

“Aren’t they the same thing?” 

Robin turns away at that in consideration. They know nothing of each other— maybe that’s for the best. In this reality they’re in, neither of them wish to be understood. When Nami and Usopp were around , it was like nothing was a secret. 

That’s why Gin tried so hard to hide everything about himself and Anne. 

They valued it. Their secrets. Trust was trust, but scars are different. Not being known was good. Secrets were good. It’s really, really good.

“If they come, if they get here,” Robin says, “will you go with them?”

Anne closes her eyes and rests. 

“Will you?”

Neither of them answer each other.

 


 

In Spandam’s office, Anne’s beret rests on the ground, trampled. From underneath it, a baby Den Den Mushi crawls out, ducking behind the tables unseen by both Spandam and Blueno, before it slowly approaches the Mother Den Den on the desk. 

“To begin with, your performance was awful!” Spandam snarls at Blueno. “We arranged a train for an entourage, but it’s all going to waste. But it works out. They’ll come back with Lucci, Kalifa, and Kaku… and then these intruders will be trapped from both sides!” 

He cackles. 

And certainly, that was an obvious outcome. With the Tarai Current behind them and an incoming army in front of them— there just wasn’t a chance the Strawhats could make it out of here, even if they managed to get Nico Robin and Marianne back. 

Blueno, however, frowns. With how stubborn they were, it’s strange they haven’t gotten any updates from the border agents thus far. They’ve broken through the main gate, but there’s still the courthouse, and no one’s updated their casualty count just yet. 

The Den Den Mushi on the desk hasn’t rung in a while. 

“Oh, it’s been awfully quiet, huh?” Spandam gloats, “guess that means the mainland soldiers are doing a fine enough job, eh? Of course they are, how much do you think we outnumber them? It’s stupid to even think of raiding Enies Lobby!”

Blueno doubts it. 

Sure, they’re outnumbered… but something doesn’t seem right. 

(Are they perhaps too overwhelmed to call? That’s not possible. Could there be something interfering with the Den Den signals? Not possible either. That’s the strongest Mushi on this island, she can catch all signals no matter how small.)

(Unless… unless she’s refusing to accept any signals? But that’s not possible. She’s a well-fed Den Den, loyal and long-serving in this very office for generations.)

(It must be a problem outside.)

On the table, the Mother Den Den smiles dearly, the baby Den Den snuggled up beside it, just out of sight of the humans. 

 


 

Luffy runs forward. He sweeps past hordes of soldiers, breaks down buildings in his way, and still, there are more of them. 

The waterfall amazes him, but he doesn’t spend too long gawking. He finds his way to the court house and lets nothing stand in his way. 

He promised Robin he’ll get her back.

He promised everyone he’ll get Anne back. 

And most of all, the Luffy Nami and Usopp know better off would have done all this. He can’t disappoint— he’s the last person Luffy ever wants to disappoint. 

He can’t help but charge on. He has to do this for them.

(He doesn’t stop to think, why do things have to be this way? )

He just goes, because he knows Zoro would yell at him: Don’t falter. Don’t falter. You’re something to them, you’re something more to them than you ever think you can be. And don’t break that illusion. Don’t break that illusion, because that would break them , and Luffy never wants to lose any of them again. 

(Omatsuri Island was bad enough.)

Nami and Usopp are so strong. He can always rely on them.

He’s Captain, so he wants them to rely on him too, and that means he has to be stronger, stronger than he can be, stronger than he feels, and then even stronger than that, too. 

(Is he doing this right?)

(He doesn’t know.)

(But he really, really doesn’t want to lose anyone anymore, and that’s why he needs to go. He can’t stop to think.)

He just wants everyone back together again. Ah, Merry can’t sail anymore, can she? Then they’ll have to find a shipwright here, get a new ship made— and they’ll set off to sea again.

Everyone, together.

That’s all Luffy wants. That’s all Luffy wants, why is that so much to ask for?

(Why does everything have to get in his way?)

He slams his foot down on the roof and destroys the entire building, earning terrified shrieks from the marine soldiers that have pursued him too close. He latches onto a beam further away and swings elsewhere.

“He’s there! Fire, we need to buy as much time as we can!” 

He can’t get to Anne and Robin quickly enough, and it’s starting to frustrate him

He spins his feet and dives down into the crowd in his hand, plunging a sharp crater into the center of the wide road.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY ALREADY!” 

“Wha—” 

Luffy notices a moment later, the building beside him cracking open just for a horde of marines to get blown at him. He bounces back onto his feet to find Zoro has just tornadoed his way coincidentally to him.

Even though the main group are still miles behind them. Zoro was supposed to help Gin and Wyper, right?

“Ah,” Zoro says, like he totally planned this, “just in time.” 

“Zoro, you’re lost again, aren’t you?”

“Shut up!” Zoro barks, setting Ichimonji at his teeth, “who cares about the plan, anyways? Let’s just go ahead!” 

Luffy groans, “they’re all in the way, it’s so annoying! There’s just no end to all these—” he ducks away from a sword and knees the insolent marine in the gut, “see?”

Zoro sighs, “what are you so worried about? With all of us behind you, I honestly don’t even know why you’re entertaining any of these—” 

Zoro chucks Kogatana to the right of Luffy, who ducks aside to see the knife embed into one soldier’s arm, forcing him to let loose his sword off-course. Zoro dives in to knock him out, retrieving his sword immediately after. 

“...riff-raff,” Zoro finishes his sentence. “Just go, man. It’s your job to lead the way, and it’s our job to make sure you get there.” 

Luffy feels something blooming flutteringly in his chest. It wrinkles into a smile on his face and he snickers.

“Okay!” 

Turning forward to the marines that have regathered— 

“180-pound—” 

Luffy runs forward, and this time, he doesn’t look at any of the soldiers. He dives, right into the crowd, and right in front of his eyes—

“CANNON!” 

The road bursts open like a parting of the red sea, and Luffy couldn’t help but grin wider.

(Things never go the way he wants them to, but that’s why he has nakama to make things go smoother, right?)

 


 

Things are changing, and perhaps, things will always be different in some way. Usopp knows this, and it’s making something inside of him ache deeply.

He stands at Oimo’s shoulder, Paulie insisting to tie a lifeline to him because he’s had enough heart attacks today. He angles his feet appropriately, Kinoko on his head. 

“Straight ahead to the tower, right, fellow warrior?”

Oimo’s voice is warm and familiar, and yet, Usopp can’t believe he’s being called anything except Sogeking by them. Fellow Warrior? Seems awfully underwhelming. 

“Straight ahead,” Usopp says. 

Things changed, and Usopp feels numb, now, to the world right now. Nothing’s the same, and nothing will be the same again. He’s not sure if he wants to be upset about it anymore, he’s tired. 

He’s tired.

“I’m envious,” Usopp says. “Of Franky. Of everyone.” 

“Huh?” Paulie asks, “what brought that on?”

Usopp closes his eyes, the wind making the world uncomfortable to witness in blurry colours. But he remembers, vividly, the world behind his eyelids, the last things he’s ever seen in his previous life— he still remembers all of that, but he can’t even recall faces anymore. It hurts.

Sometimes, he does think of it.

He does think it’d be better for everyone, for himself, if he never woke up with his memories of that future. If he was able to ignorantly live on to crumble and die once more, at least, he would be able to live through this happiness wholeheartedly. And yet, he, of all people, was chosen to be cursed with these memories. 

“Ice-Ossan told you guys, right? The whole thing about Franky coming back different after what happened to them,” Usopp says. “I’m envious, how they still fit together so well. Some things are always going to be different, but they don’t care.” 

Usopp can’t wholeheartedly say that he doesn’t care about the differences. 

It’s going to haunt him forever, because it would be too sad to try and forget it all. 

Only four people in this world will ever remember that world again. He can’t make it three. They can’t make it two. They have to remember, because who else will?

“Maybe you’re so hung up on shit like that because you’re focused on the differences,” Paulie murmurs. 

Usopp makes a confused noise. 

“I’ve seen them around when I was a kid,” Paulie says. “I’ve looked up to them ever since they were in Tom’s Workers. And it’s not about how Iceburg is older now, or Franky’s a freak now…” 

It’s not about any of that.

“It’s just the way Franky’s always three paces ahead, and Iceburg always has that resigned, fond look on his face, but he follows anyways,” Paulie says. “Honestly, it’s just so obvious, even when they cut off contact with each other. There’s just some things that distance and time can’t hide, you know?”

Franky.

Usopp misses Franky. Just as much as he misses everyone else that didn’t come back with them, everyone else that will never come back to them. 

“Who cares about what’s different?” Paulie says. He pauses to wave at the King Bull cart, signalling something, and Usopp can tell he’s moving his hands, but not what they’re talking about. “Honestly, it’s like they’ve never changed at all.” 

(It’s not about what’s different now.)

(It’s about the things that have stayed the same despite it all.)

Maybe someday, Usopp can appreciate things like that. But maybe things like that aren't meant to be consciously enjoyed at all. He’s probably already in the midst of it all, he just hasn’t noticed yet. 

“So, report from those guys,” Paulie says, “they’re asking if they can use some of the scrap from inside your cat to make something? A— hey, watch out!” 

Usopp feels it a moment after Paulie calls out. Something flies up to their side, right past the peripherals of the giants, and Usopp knows this telltale cut of wind as the comings of a Rankyaku. 

Oimo’s hand is coming up, alarmed— but bigger as he is, he can’t defend Usopp in time.

Usopp’s shoulders tense—

—and gradually ease. 

Because right then and there, something explodes, taking the attacker with it, and Usopp barely understands what’s happening between Paulie lunging to get over him and something else flying forth from the King Bull cart. 

But the attacker— it was Fukurou— gets blown right out of the sky, and Usopp is dragged down anyways by Paulie, held securely behind some arms and then—

—and then Paulie is yelling. 

“THAT WAS WAY TOO FUCKING CLOSE, YOU ASSHAT!” 

Usopp gathers himself. 

(Alright, Fukurou shot a Rankyaku at them. Then a missile flew at it from below. Of course, it missed and didn’t hit the blade of wind— but then another bazooka fired from the right and contacted the first, causing a gigantic explosion that diverted the Rankyaku and saved them all.)

Usopp is so fucking confused. But it’s made him realize one thing— he was too distracted by the crowded atmosphere to detect them coming at him one after another, and it’d happened way too fast for Kinoko to tell him about it. That isn’t a good sign for his future movements— has he been slacking on Haki that much? 

And from somewhere vaguely three miles below them, Wyper screeches with all the indignation in his chest:

“WHERE THE FUCK IS RORONOA ZORO?”

Paulie’s flabbergasted. “HOW THE HELL WOULD I KNOW? You’re supposed to be in front of us, how did you end up back here??”

Wyper isn’t listening. “THE PLAN WAS TO GO TOGETHER AND OF COURSE HE WANDERS OFF! AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT CARES ABOUT PLANS HERE? I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THE SHIT FOR HALF A BELL NOW!”

“HEY, I’M STILL FOLLOWING MY SIDE OF THE PLAN! STOP COMPLAINING AT ME !” 

“USOPP SAID PLANTS GROW TOWARD THE SUN SO WHY THE FUCK DOES THIS ONE GO FUCK-YOU DYNAMIC ANGLES?”

“IS HE A FUCKING PLANT NOW?”

“BLUE SEA PEOPLE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE MARIMO THAN I DO AND YOU ASK ME?!”

“YOU GUYS CALL THE PIRATE HUNTER A FUCKING MARIMO??”

Note to self, Wyper should never be in the same team as Zoro ever again. For the sake of his blood pressure. Definitely don’t put Sanji, Gin, and Paulie in the combination too, the world will never know peace again. 

Also, Usopp didn’t realize Wyper was listening so intently when he gave Anne an extensive lecture about horticulture on the Merry. 

“Sheeeesh, was my help not needed?” comes Iceburg from the distance. 

“Yeah, that,” Paulie whirls on him, “where the hell did Iceburg-san get that damn bazooka? I thought the two angel-looking crewmates of yours took the bazookas, and that’s definitely not the Eagle Launcher.” 

“SUPER BUILDING TIME!” Franky hollers his crew, earning a walla from his crowd. 

“Myeh,” Merry contributes, holding up a screw to Iceburg, who takes it with a word of gratitude. Merry proceeds to hack up a new one and hold it up again. Iceberg takes it systematically with a soft word of thanks. The cycle repeats. “Myeh.” 

“Yes, thanks.” 

“Myeh.” 

“Yes, thanks.” 

Usopp is very envious of that cart right now. 

Paulie, however, is not okay. “We are in the middle of raiding goddamn Enies Lobby and they’re having a free-for-all crafting fair? Holy shit!” 

Usopp perks up, “Ah, Wyper!” he hollers, “since you’re here, can you make something for me?” 

Wyper groans, sliding up the giant on his waver. Fukurou is jumping up to meet him near the perpendicular point, but Wyper reaches Usopp first. 

“What’d you need?”

Usopp holds up his crossbow. “Megasize this for me!” 

“Fine, but—!” Wyper swings back to plant a heel on the side of Fukurou’s face, but it gets cleanly blocked by a defensive arm. Fukurou swings with the new momentum and lands a sharp heel on Oimo’s shoulder, earning a pained grunt and a dangerous stagger. 

“Crap!” 

“I’ll need some time,” Wyper says, taking the crossbow from Usopp. 

“Yeah,” Usopp pulls his goggles fully over his eyes. Beside him, Paulie sighs, pulling his ropes firm and getting ready for another session of being used as a transportation device. “Trust me, Wyper. I’ll buy you all the time you need, but make it quick.” 

Wyper doesn’t ask another question. He slides right off Oimo’s body and soars right into the King Bull cart ahead of them. 

“What the— I don’t want no more freeloaders!” Franky yells. 

“Good timing,” Iceberg says, “it’s my turn on the Eagle Launcher.” 

“Myeh!” greets Merry. 

Usopp grins. 

(That’s right. No matter how things change, he’ll always have this:)

(He’ll always have the trust and loyalty of nakama that watch your back.)

“Chapapa!” Fukurou recovers, a Geppo keeping him afloat. “Your momentum is quite impressive, but you’re such a big target now that it’s easy to stop, chapa!” 

“You’re so annoying!” Oimo groans, swatting at Fukurou like he’s a fly, but despite the rotund size of the agent he’s a pretty nimble fellow. 

“Don’t worry, buddy!” Usopp says, laying a hand on Oimo’s shoulder. “Keep going forward! I swear on my honour as the King of the Snipers, they won’t lay another scratch on you!” 

Oimo laughs. 

“Is that so?” he hollers, “well then, hurry up, you giant seahorses, we’re booking it! ” 

Fukurou yelps a taken aback ‘chapa?!’ as Oimo rushes onward, kicking up wind and disrupting his Geppo for all of a second—

—before a palm within an inch of his face. 

“Armament: Hardening!” 

The shove knocks the wind out of him, but Fukurou barely falters, recovering with a quick Geppo to regain his footing and coming right back with a sharp kick to the face. 

“I’ll admit, that was strong, but not enough!” 

Usopp falls back, noticing the lifeline Paulie tied to him. 

“Chapapa!” Fukurou says, “I was made to absorb impacts like that. So no matter how hard you hit, you’ll never be able to penetrate my skin, and as long as I’m airborne, you’ll never be able to get enough traction to exceed my capacity!” 

“What are you, a rubber balloon?” Paulie asks. 

“You have a capacity?” Usopp asks. 

Fukurou yelps, “oh no, I said too much!” 

 


 

“Oh, is this fight over?” 

Nami steps into the clearing, over the sprawled-out Watchdog Troops, and sees Gin in the center of the blood, his clothing drenched in red as he rubs his hand against his jacket.

“What a shame. We just got you a new jacket, too.” 

When Gin looked over— for a moment, Nami wondered if she was seeing things, or if his eyes had truly been gleaming red. There’s a sharp wave of annoyance as he clicks his tongue at the sight of her.

Then, almost like he’d recognized her, he staggered forward, straightening, shoulders loosing. Looking around— he sucks in a sharp breath, before unsubtly morphing it into a deep breath. 

“Where’s Jabra?”

Nami smiles. “I guess you lost him.” 

Gin’s voice is faint. And he stares blankly at Nami, blinking slowly. “That’s not possible…” 

One of the bodies on the ground leaps up and Nami reacts quickly, Clima Tact deflecting claws, and she backs up against Gin, who staggers, but holds up quickly, picking up a discarded bayonet from the ground. 

“Agh, my one chance and you ruined it!” 

Jabra scoffs, gaining distance, tearing away the coat he’d shrouded around himself to pretend to be a Watchdog Troop. 

Gin curses, taking Nami by the flesh shoulder, not realising he’s hiding behind her.

But Nami quite likes this feeling, so she allows it. 

“You’re pretty out of it, aren’t you?” she teases. 

Gin pretends he isn’t flustered, “I get disoriented when I lose my shit, okay?” he snarls, frustrated, “I hate this place. Let’s get Anne and get the fuck out of here already.” 

Nami chuckles, “you’re always the first to ask to go back when we arrive somewhere,” she says, like they’re not literally raiding a stronghold right now, “aren’t you used to the Grand Line by now?”

“I don’t want to get used to it,” Gin says. “If I do, then there was no point in my freedom. I want to go back to the seas already, I hate this place.” 

Nami pauses at that. 

Sure, she’s heard the story— but truly hearing something so genuine from him takes her by surprise. And he’d said ‘I hate this place’ over and over, like a child, simply wishing to go home. 

Nami swoons.

“Are you done, Egin?” Jabra groans, “you’re an old Berserker who hasn’t had maintenance in years. Of course losing control for a second leaves you weak and disoriented! It’s the old insurance policy, isn’t it? We all needed a way to subdue Berserkers after they’ve done their jobs, and unfortunately, you left before we took it out of your head.” 

Gin curses under his breath.

Jabra continues. “Now we can talk. You know better than anyone else here right now, don’t you? That you’re stuck on this island, no matter what.” 

They’ve charged in, without even thinking of the way out. The main three of CP9 are hot on their heels, and there’s only the Tarai Current ahead of them. The Puffing Tom and Rocketman are both smithereens— they can come in and try to save Robin and Anne all they want, there’s no route of escape. 

They don’t even have a ship— how are they going to make a miracle happen when there’s nothing but sea miles from here?

“So, here’s the deal,” Jabra says. “You know very well how much you won’t belong in that ragtag pirate crew. Come back to Cipher Pol, dude! We’re all successful subjects here, so our training days are over. You get to live nice and comfy and out in the open, and you get respected everywhere you go! Ain’t that a sweet deal?”

In this kind of situation, if anyone gets to have an out like that, any sane man that values his life would take it. 

But Gin clenches his hands over Nami’s shoulders and shrinks in, just a little more. There’s a low growl in his throat, but his head pounds, and he sways on his feet, not yet recovered enough to lunge forward and retaliate—

—Nami lifts her hands and her Clima Tact before her. Smiling sweetly, annoyance rising in her throat, she crosses her arms and rests on one foot. With Gin still hiding behind her, honestly, she hasn’t felt so powerful before. 

Excuse me ,” she begins, snarling with all the kindness in her voice, “his name is just Gin .” 

 


 

“When the ship sinks, the mice scurry free;” 

That’s all the warning Carue gets before the hair tangle around his feet and trips him painfully. Chopper gets thrown out of the saddle and Conis yelps, collapsing unceremoniously into a building. 

Carue moans in pain. 

“How unaware they must be, to the heavens’ impending decree!” 

Conis gathers herself over the Burn Bazooka, confused— until her eyes land on Kumadori, whose hair is in dancing tendrils. He spins his staff around as he stands in their path. 

“I- I’m sorry?” Conis asks. 

“Please,” Kumadori crouches into a Yakuza greeting, “hailing from an island to the New, seeking the power only numbers may bestow, I have come from a land far away and toiled my days to the code of a Berserker’s [Regeneration]! I am 901-B, Thine may refer to me as Kumadori! Before our strokes cross, may I be honoured with the name of the one before me?” 

Conis straightens, utterly bewildered.

“Uhm. Oh. Okay. I am Conis, I’m from Angel Beach, Skypiea...” 

Chopper peels his face off the ground to chastise in a panic, “Why are you introducing yourself, you dummy?!” 

“Sorry! But he asked??” 

“Well, travellers; well, trespassers!” Kumadori serenades, “young Conis, of Angel Beach, Skypiea. Today marks the the miracle of our encounter as well as your defeat. I savour this encounter dearly, for the world shall never know of your feats!” 

Conis gets up quickly, alarmed, loading the Burn Bazooka quickly. 

“What?” Chopper is so confused, “Conis, is that a language? It’s not Linian, is it?”

It is, but Conis understands it well because of Skypiea. Language up there is often formal and overcomplicated, poetry-like, and runic at times. A bit of extravagant poetry is easy considering it all. 

“He’s saying he’s not going to let us pass!” Conis translates quickly, “he’s going to kill us! Carue, get up, are you okay?”

“Wha—” Chopper hisses, shifting into Heavy Point, “I’ll carry him! Get the bag!” 

“Right!” 

Kumadori moves into a fighting stance. 

“It agonizes me, to target the wounded. But I am one who serves,” he declares. “Now, I shall advance!”

Chapter 91: fight your best fight (the only limit is your imagination)

Summary:

Wyper is starting to get frustrated. As the original wielder of the 'Berserker' name, he's honestly very offended they regard Gin as superior to him for the title. Even if he has no idea what the hell they're even talking about.

Vivi and Conis can't hold up when it comes to fighting. Still, they find ways to prove themselves on the battlefield. Usopp is the sniper, and thus, he can't help but hold up the rear and keep pulling his own weight.

Blueno vs Luffy.

Notes:

No Nami in this chapter because this chapter's kind of trying to drive the point of how Nami isn't the only threat in the Strawhats. Sorry if you'll miss her, but that's how many characters we're at now! I honestly really wanted to get to the courthouse standoff by this chapter to avoid this arc being too draggy, but it's at 9k+ right now so I guess we'll wait another chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter Text

Usopp shoves Paulie down with a foot at the shoulder, dodging a punch from Fukurou cleanly. He then twists to land that kick in Fukurou’s stomach, sending him flying back.

Of course, Fukurou comes right back at them, having absorbed all of that in his stomach, but it buys enough time for Usopp to shoves Paulie off Oimo’s shoulder and earn a terrified shriek.

“DO NOT DO THAT!” 

“Get us over to Kashii, he’s taller and I need a good sniping spot!” 

“LISTEN TO ME.” 

If blunt attacks don’t work on Fukurou, then this is exactly Usopp’s ballpark. Armament works mildly, just not good enough because they neither have the land nor the momentum to land a solid hit. 

Of course, Usopp can also try to Geppo and even the playing field, but the playing field isn’t even, with Oimo and Kashii and the entire King Bull to protect. 

Mid-swing, Usopp retrieves his Kabuto, and just as Fukurou turns his gaze toward Kashii’s ankle, a phoenix star takes his entire back out in blazing glory. 

“Eyes up here, you daruma-looking zipper!” 

“I am neither a zipper nor a daruma!” Fukurou yells, offended. “Stop acting so cocky. Your Doriki is only a measly 710 to my 800, you’re no match for me!” 

Usopp doesn’t know what that means, but he’s not really offended or anything. 

“For fuck’s sake STOP JUMPING OFF,” Paulie yells, aggravated as he throws out a string that loops around Usopp’s bag. 

Usopp doesn’t let it bother him, aiming down multiple shots in a wide shot, aiming for the ground. The bullets lodge into the ground, some shattering and he clicks his tongue. 

“What a shame, I have a brick road and I can’t aim for the cracks,” he mutters, feeling the rope snag him upwards. He drops from his bag and pulls himself up with a vigour, throwing a sack upwards. “Kinoko!” 

Wait, where is she—

There’s an indignant yelp from Fukurou somewhere below. He’s jumped up with Geppo only to smack full-bodied facefirst into a bird that wasn’t looking where it was going. Something in Kinoko’s bag explodes into a cloud of black dust and Fukurou chokes in disgust. 

“Right,” Usopp says, “Paulie, evacuate.” 

“I WILL CHUCK YOU TO THE GODDAMN SUN!” 

Usopp is slightly intimidated, but Paulie hauls up the rope and flings him right over Kashii, and Usopp is now very, very intimidated.

“SIT AND STAY!” he orders. 

Usopp is barely caught by Kashii and tangled into his hair in a messy attempt to land safely, but he might just be a good boy from now on. 

“Alright—” Kabuto drawn, he aims downward.

A coughing Kinoko flies up to him, and Usopp hums out a pleased noise of gratitude.

Now he just has to follow her path and… 

The firebird star sparks the gunpowder Kinoko spilled, and the entire ground bursts into flames. 

“Holy shit!” Oimo and Kashii yelp, leaping over the blaze. 

“And now, the stuff I shot down earlier reacts with the heat and explodes—” Usopp punches the air victoriously, “go! Ultimate Birdlime Star: Landmine version!” 

The utter sludge that bursts forth from the ground earns synchronous groans of disgust from Kashii and Oimo. They’re so glad they cleared the area just seconds before, because now Fukurou, who was still cringing from the bird assault, ends up entangled in the slime without a way to get free. There’s no space to build up momentum for a Rankyaku, and he’s stuck to the ground, with Geppo not really helping. 

“Alright, I bought some time,” Usopp says, “hurry, let’s gain distance!” 

“Wait, he’s not done yet?” Paulie gawks, managing to clamber up to Usopp’s side once more. 

“Of course not!” Usopp yells, and then, toward the King Bulls, “Franky Family,your turn, guys! GET HIS ASS!” 

Paulie turns around just in time to see absolute screeching mayhem as the Franky family line up with all their bazookas. Chimney and Gonbe are cheering on either side of Franky’s shoulders and Kokoro is cackling with a bazooka of her own.

“ON MY COUNT,” Zambia commands, “ONE, TWO, SUPER!!!” 

“SUUUPERRR!!!” Grand explosion.

Paulie’s hair is soot-filled and windswept, but the look of defeat is on his face. “Word of advice, Longnose…” he mutters, “invest in earplugs.” 

“You say something?” Usopp asks. 

“Exactly.”

 


 

“You don’t have to be this grumpy,” Sanji says, defensively, as Suu continues to squeak incoherently at him. Somewhere in the crook of Suu’s neck, Tyrannosaurus is also squeaking furiously at him. “ You can handle a tumble or three. Don’t complain!” 

Tyrannosaurus goes into a human-unheard decibel and Sanji groans. 

“Since when did we have an extra passenger in your tail anyways? I don’t think we were introduced.” 

Suu squeaks petulantly. 

“Come on, Suu, you know you can’t bring new guys onto the crew without captain permission.” 

There’s a chirp. 

“We don’t have room for more than one of these white furry rodents around here.” 

Suu makes an offended whine. Tyrannosaurus is screeching bloody murder that’s probably profanity, but Sanji doesn’t care. 

“You’re a significantly more beautiful rodent, Suu, but you’re still a rodent.” 

Indignant shrieking ensues. 

“Okay, maybe you aren’t a rodent. The preparation method for fox meat and mouse meat differ greatly.” 

Instant silence. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought .” 

The fox is sprawled on his arm as Sanji continues his run, fixing the position of his mask as they slip into the buildings and gradually make their way to the courthouse, but, without anyone even realising his presence. 

They had to take Suu off her little wheelchair contraption upon arriving. She could run now, but she could do nothing about getting bowled over the side of a giant duck and tumbling through the ground because Sanji was being a moron. 

“Come on. I’ll make you something good to eat after we get out, okay?”

Apparently, Sanji only knows how to curry favour with anyone via food. And Suu is not having any of it. 

Sanji slides right into the courthouse from a window and whistles, impressed at how no one has noticed him yet. He strolls with as little urgency as possible.

“Well, that wasn’t too hard, was it?” he says, depositing Suu on his shoulder, “alright, cranky little lady, let’s take a detour and get you some food. I bet you’ll be less angry once you’re not hungry. There’s a kitchen here, I bet.” 

Suu grumbles, still annoyed. 

Sanji happily wanders down the courthouse stairs, looking around. He continues talking to himself and to Suu and Tyrannosaurus, completely ignored by the soldiers that were hastily getting briefed by some commanding officer on their designations if the Strawhats broke in. 

“We have prepared for this day! We are the stronghold— the fortress! We must not falter!” says the bony man whose name apparently sounded like a very appetizing cut of steak. Sanji wonders if Water Seven will have enough T-bone steaks to feed Luffy… well, he’ll figure that out once everyone gets back. 

No one even notices him as he hums and loiters, finding the hallways and directions. There are signs, reasonably, to various numbered exits, stairs, washrooms, and lifts. Sadly all the important or tunnel routes are probably not on the communal signs, but it’s good enough. 

“This place looks built like it had a castle in mind, but it’s for communion use, so there’s got to be an open space here for refreshments or something. And a kitchen around the corner. The lavatories should be in instinctive spots, too— ah, bingo. Guess half the floor plan,” Sanji says, “damn, rich people really have no creativity, do they?” 

He finds the kitchen almost too quickly, and it’s empty.

Weird. No one’s doing food prep? Or is this kitchen only for show? The knives and tools are all well adorned and polished to perfection, but there’s hardly any signs of use. 

“Well, at least they’re stocked,” Sanji says, turning to the animals. “What do you eat, Mini White Lad? Cheese?”

A tiny squeak. 

“Oh, it’s fine, I have a few minutes to spare to cook. Just go wait over there…” 

The sound of roller blades interrupts his sentence, and Sanji instantly slams his jaws shut in surprise. They don’t scramble away in time for someone to spin their way in and freeze at the sight of Sanji.

The guy’s bizarre. He’s stout yet lanky. His white, curly hair is bundled like a cauliflower due to goggles that sit weird at his forehead, and his eyes bulge unnaturally. The buck teeth are the least alarming thing about him considering his cravat and shirtless coat combination. 

Sanji grimaces.

The guy stares back, eyes frozen in place, face petrified in a smile, stuck in that mid-skating pose at the doorway. 

The guys straightens.

Sanji positions himself by the counters, noting his roller blades are made of genuine circular blades— and shifts, just so Suu and Tyrannosaurus have a bit of time to duck out of the way. 

The guy’s eyes don't leave Sanji’s for a long, long moment. 

And a long, long moment later,

“Fucking hell, SAY SOMETHING!” Sanji yells. 

“Hot daaamn, you scared the crap outta me. Your mask is so ugly, dude!” 

“WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU SHITTY BULGE EYES?”

Sanji resists the undying urge to smack this guy up the skull and groans. He wouldn’t want the soldiers to file in now— he’s supposed to stay on the downlow. 

The guy laughs lightheartedly.

“Ah, I’m Wanze! I’m Wanze,” he says, skating to a cart and wheeling it up the walls, “I’m Mad Wanze! They said I could be the Head Chef here! I was supposed to be on escort mission, but then it was cancelled so I’m still here! That’s what I’ve been up to!”

He slides to a stop before Sanji and salutes. 

“Oh, oh! Are you hungry? I'm Wanze, head chef, so, I can make anything! You hungry? Hungry, are ya?” Sanji’s toes squirm with the desire to kick, but he tolerates, “how about RAMEN? Yeah, Ramen!” 

And then he reaches to the cart by his side and picks up the flour.

“Ah but before I begin here’s a piece of trivia about me,” he starts, like a fun fact about animals at the zoo, “my nose hair is criss-crossed. LIke fishnets, you know? Also, remember that point for later. Alright, first! I put the flour in my mouth and knead it carefully—” 

In Sanji’s defense, he was unprepared to witness the greatest sacrilege of culinary history that day, and his leg reacted on instinct. 

Long story short, he is now screeching about “HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO FOOD” while chasing a guy vertically up walls and horizontally across ceilings, “LET ME KICK YOU ONCE YOU SHITTER!” 

Wanze cackles, “behold! My Ramen Kempo Noodle Slicer Fire Skate Blades!!” as he sets everything in his skate path ablaze. 

 


 

Coby crosses the courthouse hallways with the assembly of soldiers, dressed and fully armed as a junior cadet would be. 

He spots Wanze, CP7 cooking assassin, skid up to the second floor on flaming trails and ramen arms. A second later, Sanji, still in his cape and mask, is magnificently airwalking without realizing he’s airwalking, chasing after the bastard in a fit of feral anger. 

One of the other soldiers yell at him, shoving him forward, most likely warning him not to stop and hold up the rush, he’ll risk getting crushed by a stampede. They look over to see what the distraction is, but Wanze and Sanji have just slipped behind the judge’s bench. 

Coby reacts quickly.

“Ah, right!” and so he ignores the sight of Wanze conjuring armor out of Ramen and Sanji kicking it only to get stuck in the weaves of noodles, “sorry!” 

Coby has another mission, so hopefully he can get back in time to watch this fight later. He’s the #1 Mugiwara Fan and what kind of idiot would he be if he didn’t find all opportunities to memorialize how cool they are in his head?

(But first, he has to figure the map of Enies Lobby first. They changed it after this incident last time, so the one he knows of, the wildly rebuilt location, is very different in both floorplan and organisation. Nami and Usopp told him about the bridge and the secret tunnel to the Gates of Justice, but they’re not clear about the details. Coby wouldn’t be the Informant if he stays uninformed.) 

(On another hand, though, wearing a marine recruit’s uniform again is very nostalgic.)

 


 

It takes a hilarious amount of time (and for Coby, a good fulfilling tour and floor plan all nicely mapped out) before people notice Sanji and Wanze fighting at the judge’s stand, and the initial reaction is to gawk and yell for a commanding officer. 

“Where’s Vice Admiral T-Bone??” 

“Tending to some soldiers outside that he found collapsed! Don’t shoot, you might hitAgent Wanze!” 

Coby watches in all amusement— and genuine surprise— when Wanze laughs, noting how Sanji didn’t fight any way except with his legs, so the armor was the perfect weapon against him. He bashes the man against the wall, trapping him mercilessly by the ankles and swinging him wildly in the air like a toy, before throwing him into the ruined kitchen for good measure.

There’s an explosion of flour when Sanji is chucked inside. 

Laughing at his proud victory, Wanze winks at his audience, who all cheer, before heading in after his victim. 

“He won!” 

“Of course he did!” 

“Who’s that weird masked freak, anyways?” 

“Don’t know, but definitely a Strawhat… it’s not a bounty name, at least, but damn, what a showofff with that cape and all. Does he think he’s a superhero or something?”

Immediately, a fox and a mouse evacuate the premises. 

Then there’s a heavy flour explosion and everyone screams. 

“WHAT WAS THAT?”

“HOLY SHIT THE FLOUR!” 

“DID THE GAS SPARK?”

Wanze is thrown right back out, but before anyone can react, Sanji shoots out of the fire, and with a slash of silver and a flutter of his cape, he lands, gracefully, three paces beyond Wanze’s oversized figure. 

The Ramen armour segments instantly, splicing into innumerable strips, scattering in flowery spreads. 

The caped figure catches the uncharred ensemble of noodles upon an oversized plate, righting himself impeccably, knives tucked behind him as a professional waiter would.

“Apologies for the wait. Please hold as I disinfect and prepare your yakisoba,” he says, turning to the audience. “My name is Mister Prince, and I will be your chef for today.”

He casually strolls back into the kitchen, to the muted horror of everyone around him.

“Wait.” 

“Is Agent Wanze alright?”

“AGENT WANZE??”

“HE’S OUT COLD!” 

“Crap, what happened to the cool guy he was fighting?!”

“Don’t call him cool! He’s the enemy!!” 

“He went into the kitchen, surround him, everyone! He’s cornered in there!” 

By the time the soldiers got their grip and rapidly closed in on the kitchen— the kitchen that didn’t have more than two exits that could be easily rounded— there was no one in there anymore. Aside from the unsalvageable chars and a corner of a mess, the counters are spotless, a wok freshly washed and hung.

And on the table, a giant dish of fried yakisoba noodles that smell heavenly

And a note, don’t waste food

Yeah. Whatever the absolute hell that was, Coby is on absolute cloud nine because what did he just watch??? Next time he is going to wave around lightsticks. He is in love. 

 


 

Deciding he’s fanboyed enough about Mister Prince, Coby returns to the courthouse archives, deciding to browse the next volumes of the court cases at his own leisure. There’s a lot of information here that he didn’t have the chance to look through in his previous world.

Even if there aren’t actually any trials in this room, all criminals that pass through have their cases properly recorded in this very place. All of them are stamped with GUILTY and not too deeply detailed, just their name and crime mostly, but it’s enough for Coby.

It doesn’t really get them in any military trouble, since this place is a library never meant to be read. It’s a forgotten library only the Baskervilles care for. 

It’s a grandiose and spacious hall filled with decades of history, all tucked away underground, beyond several secret tunnels and keys and codes. 

(Footsteps. Someone’s striding carelessly down the steps, a gentle tremor through the wooden floors, and their presence is subdued and quiet.)

Coby freezes. If someone else could be in this high-security vault, it’ll definitely be one of the Baskervilles. Coby isn’t sure if he’ll be able to hide from them , they’re very sharp and particular about everything. They’ll even notice if dust has shifted—

Zoro catches sight of Coby from the other end of the hall and, relieved, he takes urgent strides forward. He takes Coby by the shoulder and wonders why Coby is shaking.

“Oh awesome,” Zoro says, “Coby! Luffy got lost, you know where he is?”

Coby erupts, “HOW??”

 


 

On a less fortunate side of the courtroom, Vivi is in the midst of an unfortunate encounter with, of all people, Vice Admiral T-Bone. 

“I see a fiend! Name yourself or be on guard!” the man declares.

And, he’s very polite, to warn his opponent and give them an out before attacking. Vivi’s already looking around, reaching for her slasher— but she knows. She knows, instinctively with every fibre of her being— she knows.

She can’t win against this guy.

That’s a Vice Admiral. She’s already heavily aching everywhere, burn wounds marring her skin, and weighed down by painkillers. She’s used up all the luck of her life on that train and she has no hope to win this one.

(But that’s okay, isn’t it? Her strong suit, even as Miss Wednesday, even as Princess Vivi, even as Strawhat Vivi— it was never fighting.)

(She’s never been the strongest fighter, nor the fastest runner, or the slyest trickster— and maybe, maybe that’s okay. Maybe that’s always okay.)

(Maybe that just means her strengths are elsewhere, and if she’d only find a way to use them…)

Guess it’s do or die. 

“You dare demand my name?” she scoffs, straightening and removing her mask, trying to pretend she didn’t strongarm herself in from the third floor window of this tower, “who do you think you are? How dare you approach and speak to me before being addressed?!”

Vice Admiral T-Bone’s eyes widen, but there’s the telltale raised brow of doubt.

Vivi turns away, “how insolent are the marine soldiers these days. Do you have any idea who I am? I’m no one other than the reigning Queen of Alabasta, Nerfertari Vivi! You have no idea what the Elder Stars will do if they hear of this rudeness I’ve been subjected to!” 

T-Bone falters. 

“I must apologize for my insolence, your Majesty,” he says, but his sword isn’t lowered just yet. “But I must ask you to present your identification, Ma’am. If I may ask, how have you arrived on Enies Lobby? We were not informed of your arrival, and truly apologize for not arranging a welcoming party and escort at your entry.” 

T-Bone isn’t being polite. Maybe an actual royal would misunderstand, but Vivi knows this is an interrogation.

So she feigns ignorance. 

Arms crossed with a huff, “of course you didn’t! Why would I announce my arrival as if any of you deserve to be graced by my presence? I don’t need your paltry welcoming party, you gross meatheads.” 

T-Bone doesn’t falter.

“I deeply apologize,” he says. And shifts into a fighting stance, “but we are on a marine-owned island, and thus, the authority of the highest-ranked soldier preceeds that of an authority figure with no crown to their title. Unfortunately, I may have to ask for your kind cooperation as you are escorted to a secured location.” 

And soldiers begin to file in, one after another, guns in hand but not yet raised. 

Vivi heaves, “unbelievable! You dare treat me this way? My papa will hear of this and have all of you knaves beheaded for this!” 

To his credit, Vice Admiral T-Bone simply nods. 

“I suppose he will,” he says, “but as a superior officer, I cannot stand idly by as my earnest subordinates are mocked. So I will have to remind you of your right to remain silent.” 

Vivi sighs deeply, lifting her mask back up to her face. 

“Personally, I prefer ‘speak now or forever hold your truth’,” she says. “And, how do you like my perfume today? My husband quite adores it, but he’s biased.” 

T-Bone pauses in confusion.

Then, with realisation, he jerks back, arm coming up to his face, “everyone, hold your breath!” 

“Too late,” Vivi says, and when she winds up her peacock slasher, T-Bone falters into a wave of dizziness, heightened by the wavering swirls and patterns that send vertigo shooting up his skull. “Back in Baroque Works, Miss Wednesday’s specialty was always buying time, you see. For my poisonous perfumes to work.” 

The people that collapse and struggle to hold onto their consciousness can do nothing as Vivi casually strolls past them. They lunge for her but miss, the girl seemingly twisting out of their very hands like mist. They’re so far hazed they don’t realize they’re seeing mirages and doubles. 

“You’re a pretty decent marine, Vice Admiral T-Bone,” Vivi says, “but if you truly spoke back against a royal like that, you’d be in danger. So be careful, okay? Though, you have my respect at least.”

“Wa—” 

The sword slash that comes at Vivi is too fast, though she luckily ducks down just in time for it to completely miss her. He wasn’t trying to hit her at all— just intimidate her into stopping. 

But the tower gets bisected, terrifyingly enough. 

‘Ship cutter’ is an appropriate name for him. 

She hurries down the steps, making herself very, very scarce— and then she feels the blade upon her back, and she sheds her jacket so quickly. 

She spins, tumbling down the last dozen steps painfully, getting up quickly to look up. She has Chopper’s layer of bandages and hard braces for her spine to thank for not getting killed instantly, but now that small amount of protection she had was gone. 

T-Bone is upright. 

Sword on his shoulder.

(There was so much rubble and wall between them. She had even made it to his blind spot in this spiral tower. And yet, he cut through all of that to hit her anyways? How did he even know where she was?)

(Ah, right.)

(Nami said that everyone above the rank of Vice Admiral can freely utilize Haki.) 

“As long as I am a man that serves my people,” his voice is hollow, deep, and furious. “I shall not fall here!” 

Vivi curses. 

She supposed she shouldn’t have underestimated a Vice Admiral. 

“I shall not forgive you for hurting my men, Miss Wednesday!” he declares. “Now, brace yourself!” 

Nope, nope, nope—

“I triple-dosed you! You’re insane!” Vivi groans. “Come on, there’s no way I can defeat you on my own. You’re a reasonable man, aren’t you? Let’s talk this out.” 

“Unfortunately, your crimes are unforgiveable! I implore your mercy,” T-Bone declares, “I am Vice Admiral T-Bone, and my motto is to do 100 good deeds every day, beginning with the vengeance of my comrades!” 

Vivi could have laughed. “Well, what number are you on today?”

“This will be the 98th!” 

“It’s barely noon!” Vivi yells, “so you’ll avenge the soldiers that I took down out of self-defense, but you won’t even look at those two innocent girls as they’re escorted to purgatory? What kind of self-absorbed narcissist are you? Don’t make me laugh!” 

T-Bone’s brows furrowed unpleasantly, clearly irked by that accusation. 

“Those two girls , as you say, are not innocent,” T-Bone says. “The details are not privy to us, but you know very well that if the stars decree it so, they must be sent behind the doors. You know this well enough to utter the benevolent Princess Vivi’s name on your tongue knowing nothing about her?”

“Knowing nothing about her?” Vivi scowls, “ you know nothing about those two up there!” 

“Their records and bounties are proof enough of their sin!” 

Vivi falls utterly speechless for all of a moment.

She gives. Her fists, which she didn’t even realize were whiteknuckled, loosened. And she breathes— to change the direction of this anger in her head. 

She has heard great things about Vice Admiral T-Bone.

She is very, very disappointed right now. 

“You’re the highest ranking marine officer on this island right now,” Vivi says. “But you’re a decent marine. That’s why you’re such a hypocrite, that's why your values contradict your actions. I have no respect for someone like you.” 

T-Bone’s preparation to attack does not ease.

“Are you not aware of your position right now?”

Vivi stands, defenseless and unfaltering. Even if she runs now, there’s no chance she will get far enough to dodge the swing that comes. Even if she hides behind something, T-Bone can cut through it. 

Vivi stands. 

“I already told you that I can’t win against you,” she says. “Why would I turn my back to you now? If you truly want to cut me down, there is nothing I can do against it. If I am going to die or be silenced forever, then I will say all I want to say before then. .” 

She spreads her arms out invitingly. She takes off her hat and brushes her still slightly uneven bangs out of her face, to meet him straight in the eyes.

“So? Cut me down. I’m a criminal, aren’t I? I have no bounty, but I just claimed a royal’s name as my own. I’ve blasphemed in the name of the Elder Stars. I have killed for less because it benefited me in the long run,” she glares. “Cut me down. And tell me, T-Bone. Is this your Justice?”

 


 

“What the— the towers on either side of the courthouse! One of them’s down!” 

When Kiwi and Mozu realize this, the Franky Family cart is alarmed. 

“What? Then what happened to the lever?we need it to lower the drawbridge!” 

If the lever and its supporting chains have been destroyed, then the bridge still has one— but that would mean  it’s also much less stable, and could even fall to the chasm below. 

“Can we jump the gap?” Kokoro asks.

Multiple voices snap back, “absolutely not!” 

“I mean, get enough momentum and we’ll clear it easy.” 

“Granny Kokoro, don’t be ridiculous!” Franky yells, “Sodom and Gomorrah’s land mode can’t pick up any speed at all, okay? We’re not on a train or anything!” 

“Really? Awh darn.” 

“Well, what to do but hurry and go fix it,” Iceberg says. “Our job is to cause chaos and get the force over there, anyways. Part of the job description.”

“Come to think of it, let’s hope the rest of the Strawhats aren’t lagging behind us,” Franky says, “they’re supposed to be in front of us, but the only one I can see is freeloading.” 

He jabs a thumb at Wyper as he says this, and Wyper squints disapprovingly, considering the consequences of breaking it. 

“YOWCH! What was that for?”

“Holy shit that thing bent like a steel pipe!” Wyper marvels at the feeling, looking up with glittering, boyish wonder, “do all your fingers do that?”

“WHY DID YOU TRY THAT? Bejeezus, your arm strength!” Franky screeches, “and no! Just this hand. The tips pop open like capsules, though, just a little above where you bent it. It’s got mini rocket missiles.” The demonstration earns a fascinated gawk from Wyper. 

“Holy shit, the Blue Sea is incomprehensible,” Wyper murmurs, “there’s a species where their skin forms with the texture of minerals…”

“My good brother,” Franky says, “you’re misunderstanding something here.” 

“The Blue Sea makes no fucking sense…” Wyper marvels in horror. “Up there we were so scarce for materials and I could’ve been hunting Blue Sea people this entire time…” 

“Bro?? What??”

 


 

“You guys sure are noisy,” Luffy sighs, clambering up to the courthouse roof, looking around. “Nice and quiet, finally. Huh? Zoro?”

Nowhere to be seen. 

“He’s hopeless,” Luffy deems, hypocritically, and moves on. 

There’s a furrow in his brows, and he glances behind him without moving his head. No… not behind him. Around him? 

It’s kind of frustrating, how he just can’t tell where this uneasiness stems from. 

Luffy ducks the second Blueno cuts out of the air and swipes at him. His hat jumps and lingers in the air, but he takes a few seconds to scamper out of there before retrieving it. 

“Geez!” he hisses at Blueno, “what’s with that?! You could’ve hurt my hat!” 

With a sigh, Blueno exits his Air Door. “Haki, huh… not a good sign. Half of your group are at a level already surpassing common Paradise crews. It’s to be expected from Burglar Cat’s posse, but this is troublesome.” 

Luffy frowns. 

He has no idea who this guy is, but it’s not hard to guess. He wasn’t at the gates with those three weirdos, so he must be the one that took Robin and Anne. 

“We’re not ‘Burglar Cat’s posse’,” he says. He barely even knows what the last word means. “We’re the Strawhat Pirates, and I’m the captain!” 

Blueno regards him judgementally.

Then, glancing away, he scoffs. “Even Spandam could tell that the strongest member of your crew is the Burglar Cat. I don’t know what trick you pulled for her to bow down to you , but don’t for a second overestimate your own capabilities.” 

Luffy’s fist tightens at his sides. 

“I don’t have time for you,” Luffy says, pushing his hat over his eyes. “I need to go save Robin and Anne.” 

Blueno hums.

“What a coincidence. I’m in a rush to get you out of sight, too,” he murmurs. “If Spandam sees you here, he’ll chew me out again, and I can’t guarantee my patience will last through his obnoxious lecture one more time.” 

Both of their reputations are at stake. 

Luffy drops, knees bent, a fist on the ground. 

“I’m glad we’re on the same page, then,” he says. “Fine. I’ve been wanting to test this out, anyways.” 

 


 

Usopp turns abruptly, and Paulie follows, confused. 

Usopp’s eyes are wide open and fixed forward, but he’s having trouble. He’s not quite understanding what he’s looking at, whether through the blurry figures sliding by his eyes or that wisps his Haki is able to pick up. The crowd isn’t helping, and his spatial awareness is a little worse than usual. 

“Hey, Paulie,” Usopp begins. “Where am I looking towards right now?”

And Paulie answers, hesitantly, “the courthouse, straight on. Why?”

“We’re still far!” Oimo yells, “well, no helpin’ it! The Bulls are too big to jump houses!” 

“We’re going as fast as we can, though!” Kashii clarifies. 

Usopp’s breath eases— and he focuses. His grip tightens on Oimo’s neck, and he doesn’t really understand it. He doesn’t understand what he’s sensing. 

His Haki just isn’t strong enough to see any clearer. 

But he knows that Luffy is there, on top of the courthouse. 

(Luffy is there— and that’s great. They’re ahead of schedule. So why does he feel so uneasy?)

“Wyper!” 

When Usopp starts screaming with urgency, all heads at the King Bull turn. 

“Luffy’s in danger!” this time, Wyper’s head lifts, clearly in the middle of fastening a bowstring. Usopp doesn’t know why that’s the conclusion he comes to— but his instinct screams over his thoughts and his only action forward is go . “Cover for me, I need some time!” 

“Wha—” Paulie balks.

“The Strawhat?” Franky gawks, “where even is he?”

“He’s so far ahead of us, what are you even talking about?!”

But Wyper doesn’t hesitate. Leaping on his Wavers, he soars cleanly onto Kashii, tossing his half-finished crossbow at Paulie.

“Finish that for me, punk!” 

“Wha—” 

Wyper spurs forward on his bazooka. 

Behind Usopp, Fukurou has soared all the way back up, burns on his clothes and a look of fury on his face. With a whirl of the breath dials on his heels, Wyper socks Fukurou in the face with a seastone heel.

To completely no avail, as Wyper slides right through his skin with a cut of bubbles, and Fukurou snatches up his ankle to punt him to the ground.

“Ack—!!” and as Wyper is yeeted out of balance, “why didn’t the Seastone do shit?!” 

“Buy me some time!” Usopp doesn’t even flinch as Wyper is wrought to the ground and Fukurou gives chase. Paulie’s appalled. He lowers himself and closes his eyes. 

Paulie doesn’t know if Usopp is just very stupid, or he just has too much faith in him.

Either way, he’s got to finish this uncomfortably oversized crossbow right now. 

“What the— the nock has a Dial on it?” Paulie frowns at the crossbow. Wyper clearly had a vision with this thing, and Paulie had no idea if half of them were stupid or otherwise. “This arrow’s way too heavy! It’s going to sink way too— this is a Flame Dial. Bitch, you wanted this to fucking launch mid-flight? ” 

Paulie has to finish this thing that Wyper started making? Goddamn, that’s like, some kind of honour from one engineer to the other. Maybe that’s different in Wyper’s culture, but Paulie’s slightly excited now. 

 


 

“I get it now,” Wyper grumbles, sliding to a balance as the Breath Dials on his ankles clear the area of bubbles. “Seastone’s energy permeates through usually impermeable elements. It interferes with the ability to shift or produce the properties of the fruits. But it won’t do a thing against the properties that are already present, because it doesn’t actively negate any effects.” 

Wyper’s foot, including the Waver Skate, is smooth and shiny in an almost unnerving way. He can’t seem to lift it either, the weight of the Seastone too heavy for the numb, incapacitated foot. 

Only the seastone segment of the shoe was normal. The rest of it was rounded and shining just like his ankle, and his joints seemed petrified. 

Fukurou stands before him, huffing in satisfaction.

“I guess it makes sense,” Wyper says. “Luffy can still stretch in seastone cuffs, and Chopper stays in whatever form he’s shackled in if he doesn’t immediately shift to hybrid form. Seastone won’t be much of a roadblock for you.”

(It only took a moment for Fukurou’s hands to crawl over his leg, and that one second cost him a leg.)

“That’s right!” Fukurou says. “Of course, Seastone still weakens me a decent amount, but blunt force attacks will never be a problem for me!” 

Wyper is glad to know that information. 

He didn’t take his bazooka down here, (Iceberg insisted it was his turn on the Eagle Launcher,) though, so that means firepower is out of the question. Since Usopp could blow this dumbass out of the air multiple times, he must be light. 

That, and they’re gradually gaining distance from the giants, that’s a good thing.

But Shandians have always worked under the code of ‘if it doesn’t work, then keep working until you find what will’. 

And so, he reaches for the Seastone on his incapacitated skate and twists it off the hinges, shattering the Breath Dial that’d been fused into the structure with bubbles. The small Flame Dial is intact, so he scoops it up along with it.

Just in time for the Seastone brick to be used as a shield, as Fukurou surges forward and his foot comes down with a force so powerful Wyper could swear he weighed tonnes. 

With his remaining Breath Dial he spins free and regathers to his feet, wincing as his weakened foot falters and earns him a snag right in his back, Fukurou grabbing his wing and dragging him back. 

“Escaping?” Fukurou taunts. 

Wyper spins, launching a full backward somersault across the air, teeth grinding at the pull to his wings— the moment he’s directly above Fukurou’s face he reaches up to grab both end of his open zipper mouth.

“Wha—” Fukurou doesn’t even know what can be done from this distance, but he knows it’s not going to be pleasant. 

Wyper spreads his lips and there’s a click.

Fire spills from his mouth, a violent blast of searing flames flooding Fukurou’s face in point blank range. The shock makes him let go, and Wyper continues on the momentum to collapse into the rubble, coughing and choking. 

He sputters out the Flame Dial from his mouth and coughs a little more. 

Fukurou screams, the burns entering his eyes and mouth and searing through the zipper in his skin. He’d managed to protect important orifices in the previous explosion, but nothing could defend against that

“Fire—” Wyper chokes, “works. Oh, how the fuck does Kamakiri do this?” 

“You— FUCKER—!!” Fukurou seethes, glaring with a mighty fury that makes Wyper’s eyes narrow further. 

“What?” Wyper scowls, utterly disappointed. “Haven’t you tried solidifying your own half-formed Island Cloud before? To get rid of any bubbles in your mixture, brush it with some fuckin’ heat. It’s common sense, asshat.”

(Ah, people down here don’t have Island Cloud.)

(Well, Usopp said resin and rubber have the same problem, and those are plentiful in the Blue Sea. Yeah, definitely should be common sense. Wyper cannot fathom any otherwise.)

Wyper wipes his mouth on his wrist and groans, reaching down to the jacket at his waist. Conis has altered it so he has access to various pockets as they are, layered upon each other and hiding his tools underneath. 

He pulls out a strip of leather hung upon with Dials and slips it over his shoulder. 

Fukurou blips and appears again inches from his face. 

Wyper slides back instantly with a burst of his Breath Dial. With a single movement, he curls and slots a new Dial to his one remaining Waver skate; and picks up a slab wood to make a sharp U-turn. He lets the momentum takes him behind Fukurou, a single Dial aimed at Fukurou’s back—

“Geppo!” 

Fukurou shifts behind Wyper,

“Shigan!” 

The stab of a finger through the base of his wing earns a sharp hiss. Fukurou drags Wyper through the air by the new gore in his wing, slamming him into rubble and building as Soru takes them mile after mile through wall after wall.

 


 

“If you have such a clear weak point, it’d be better if you didn’t show it off.” 

Fukurou leaves Wyper in the trail of destruction, a satisfied huff leaving his throat. Wyper lays bonelessly in the rubble, feeling the blood pool under him, the wind blue and broken. 

“Well now!” Fukuro’s voice lilts, “that wasn’t much. Now to stop the giants—” 

“Hey, Trial of Balls wannabe.” 

Wyper’s voice seeps into a growl.

“What does that insult even mean? Is it even an insult??” Fukurou’s next step is stopped by a hand clenching around his ankle.

Wyper’s laying sprawled and heavily bleeding, pathetic among the debris— but his eyes stare Fukurou into his soul and sends shivers down his spine. His wing is gored and broken, and the left side of his face is full of gashes and splinters. 

Even so, he talks, like none of it affects him. 

“Well, would you look at that,” Wyper mutters, when Fukurou tries to pull away but can’t, leaving Fukurou to stomp in frustration at Wyper’s face to no avail, “a bit of blood and your bubbles aren't slippery anymore. You’ve got more weaknesses and you’ve got the gall to comment about my own?” 

“Crap!” Fukurou snarls, a Soru sharply dragging him— and Wyper away, and in his panic he sends them both into the wall, but Wyper still isn’t letting go. 

“Running away, huh?”

Fukurou shrieks as Wyper, in the crash, had climbed up further to grab at his collar. One of his fingers were bending strangely, and when he roared like a monster his eyes were bloodshot and lost in the sheer desire to win . But he roared like a feral monster and—

Fukurou feels the teeth sink into his shoulder and everything in him panics.

He punches, wrenches the creature off him but he’s holding tight, absolutely nothing is working. He needs a plan.

He can come up with a plan. He’s a Director. 

(That’s right! The wing!)

And it works. Targeting the wings again is the only thing that makes Wyper unhinge his jaw from nearly taking a chunk out of Fukurou’s shoulder, but he just knows there’s a dent in that bone now. 

The second Wyper is off, he fires off Rankyaku and runs , no matter how pathetic that is, he’s fucking running. 

That guy’s utterly lost it!

“Incredulous!” he curses, “you’re not even a Berserker, so how can you fight like you’ve got no qualms for self-preservation at all? That makes no sense!” 

Berserkers were made to ignore their limits in the pursuit of mass destruction. They’re made to surpass the moral and physical limits of an average human. That’s why Egin is formidable, and that’s why Fukurou set out for Jabra to fight him instead. It’s just the logical course of action— Chasers were made to subdue and pursue. Nothing else can wear down a Berserker. 

(But Wyper isn’t a Berserker.)

(So why is he fighting like one?)

Fukurou gets maybe three paces of his Soru’s full stride before Wyper is right behind him. The Dial on his Waver isn’t a Breath Dial— the Jet Dial sends him flying to keep up with Fukurou easily. 

“You’re not using your Devil Fruit anymore?”

Wyper’s voice is so deathly calm and close to his ear that Fukurou feels the terror through his entire being. 

“Makes sense. When your life’s in danger, you turn to skills you’re more familiar with. Who would risk their lives on a power they barely understand?” 

Fukurou stops instantly.

That’s a mistake. 

Wyper gets in front of Fukurou with a flip, and with a simple mid-air turn, a hand forward, the other swung behind him— a single Dial in the center of his palm aimed at Fukurou’s stomach—

(Fukurou’s panic alleviates.)

(That’s a good thing.)

(That’s a good thing! Whatever’s coming, his stomach is made to absorb great impacts. Doesn’t matter if it’s fire or a blade, and especially if it’s a blunt force attack. His stomach can take it all!)

Wyper’s eyes burn with an undying fire. 

“REJECT!” 

Fukurou knows nothing else.

 


 

“What is a giraffe?!” Conis screams as they run as fast as they can through the city, Kumadori hot on their heels, his hair coming at them in tendrils of a dozen giraffes. 

Chopper is running as fast as he can too, but he has energy to spar on answering: “It’s like a big horse but with a long neck!” 

Conis is confused. “Don’t all hooooorses have long necks?”

“NO!” Chopper yells, “the animals on Long Ring Long Land were weird!” 

“So giraffes are basically hoooooorses???”

“No, hoooooorses are basically giraffes!” 

“Does it matter?!”

“Of course it does!” Chopper groans, “It’s like I’m a human-reindeer, not a reindeer human! Hooooorses are horses that look like giraffes! Giraffes are not hoooorses, they’re more like cows!” 

To which Conis supplies, ever so frantically, “ what’s a cow???”  

“YOYOI! To ignore an enemy before you is unwise!” Kumadori lances at them with hair tendrils that claws and bite, and when it latches on Chopper’s horns it shatters the edge and he screams. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? That’s not hair! That makes no sense!” Chopper squeaks. 

“Why does it have antenna like me??” Conis cries, confused, “are giraffes distant relatives of Skypieans?”

Chopper shrieks, “I HOPE NOT??”

“Shishi Kebab!” 

They scream in tandem as the giraffe-hair structures come at them in a flurry of hot strikes, puncturing every wall they come across. One punches fiercely into Chopper’s back and sends him flying. 

“Chopper!” 

Carue had always been taken down the same way. It left such a deep caving bruise in their backs, Conis froze in her spot and spun around, terrified. There’s no way she can keep running like this on her own. 

She looks back fearfully, but once she’s hesitated, she could no longer escape. The tendrils of light pink hair loop around her limbs, sliding around her waist and keeping her locked firmly in his grasp. 

The giraffe-heads consider her, mildly, but Kumadori serenades on. 

“Oh, what tragedy, what fragility! O maiden of the savage seas, o maiden from the pure heavens— may your judgment be merciful, may your soul be purified in the fires of purgatory.” 

Wha—

Conis struggles, trying hard to loosen the hair around her neck, to no avail. 

But those words make her pause.

Judgement?

“You…” her words ground out with a vitriol she didn’t know she had in her. “Judgement? Who gave you the right to bestow that on anyone?”

Kumadori, mid-prayer, raises a brow. 

“For so long as you remain a criminal, oh may I forever be the harbinger of justice;” Kumadori explains. “I fulfill the duty the world has wrought upon me.” 

Conis’ teeth grinds. 

The electric scars on her body burn. 

“And Robin and Anne as well?” 

“Their crime is deep, so deep indeed!” Kumadori begins quickly, “come hither the day of reckoning, come hither the day of judgment— the calamity wrought forth by the scion of Ohara must not remain!” 

It’s about Ohara again. About thecountry whose only crime was wishing to learn. 

(She remembers how Wyper scorned them so, so rightfully, for taking away their country so many years ago. Even though their only crime was inheriting the sin that once destroyed them both, they struggled so much to finally coexist.)

(The solution up there had been so simple, too.) 

“Judgement solves nothing!” Conis raises her voice, “all it does it bury the problem until it continues to fester. The problem will never die no matter how far you try to strike it down, so stop this!” 

Kumadori doesn’t falter.

“Your fears remain, your worries uncontained…” Kumadori says, grievously, “the world shall move, and the stars shall descend. O angel, young you may be, you do not yet understand the fearsome power of the Gods.” 

Conis’ fist tightens. 

“I’ve had enough of Gods in my life!” Conis yells.

“Yoyoi!” Kumadori finishes his prayer and raises his staff. “Blaspheme if you must, for these words will be your last.” 

Conis’ teeth grinds. 

“Shigan Q!” 

The staff juts forward, straight toward her stomach. 

Conis slips out of her jacket and barely avoids it. The staff punctures her jacket, leaving a deep hole in its center— while Conis leaps and dashes from him, a panicked hand latching on Kumadori’s hair sending her flying to his back, still holding on. 

He exclaims with surprise, “naive!” 

He shifts, hair forming the tendrils of giraffes once more, lunging for Conis one after another, but Conis scrambles to free herself, getting tangled in the locks where every strand seemed to have a mind of its own. 

“That’s right—” 

If it’s hair she’s fighting against…

 


 

Chopper gets screamed awake by an irate Carue, who’s frantic and clutching the Burn Bazooka. Chopper rolls upright and screams, too. 

“Where’s Conis?!” 

A short run to the next corner finds Conis bursting out from a building, gasping at the sight of them.

“Chopper-san, Carue-san! I’m sorry!” 

“Wha– why are you apologizing— GAH!” Chopper screams when Kumadori, clearly infuriated, burst out fright behind her, hands blindly reaching out in fury. 

“YOU WENCH!” he snarls. 

And immediately, he stops short with a sharp tug to his back.

Conis stumbles just barely out of reach, sighing in relief. 

A glance behind them and Chopper realizes what’s going on— Kumadori’s hair, giraffes and tangled tendrils, all looped elaborately to the poles, cloth, cotton, and debris. Rocks and belts wove it between the bricks and nails that acted as pins, and the giraffes had braided themselves together and struggled to come free. 

“How dare you! To my luscious hair!” 

Conis breathed out a shaky sigh of relief once more. 

“I-I’m sorry. I really am!” 

Chopper and Carue still had their jaws dropped. 

“Don’t just stare!” Conis wailed, “do something!” 

“Ah, right!” Chopper reaches for his bag, “Carue, get the Flavour Dial and Breath Dials, some of them have Vivi’s sleeping gas. In the meantime… Rumble!”

“Wait, Chopper-san!” Conis calls as Carue got to work, “his body is still abnormally sturdy! It’ll be difficult to knock him out by brute force!” 

That’s true. While Chopper may be an abnormally strong Reindeer, he hardly has that kind of power. 

“But we still gotta try!” Chopper shifts into Arm Point. “Even if he’s got an Iron body like what Nami says, it’s fine! I’m not a chiro, but Doctorine always said the worst stiff shoulders feel like iron. Maybe it’s like that. and she's the one lady in the world that Whitebeard comes to for chiropractic treatment when he wants to remember his will to live. I’m her best student! I’ve practiced on bears! I can do this!”

Chopper charges onward with a fearful warcry. 

Carue, with the empty Flavour Dial, scoots back to Conis’ side.

Conis hesitantly brings up, to the cacophony of Kumadori’s terrified shriek closely followed by a dangerous-sounding crack in his backbone.

“...is this a good time to ask what a bear is?”

 


 

For Luffy defeating Blueno is tricky, but it’s not impossible. He figured out Gear Second somewhere in Omatsuri, but actually trying it out mid-battle with a singular opponent was a little rough.

“You know Soru and Geppo.” 

Blueno frowns. 

Luffy pouts. “Of course I’d figure that out if Nami and Usopp keep using it around me,” he grumbles. “Can’t you just stay sti— hey! Stop running into your dimension, that’s not fair!” 

Blueno’s dimension completely masks his presence. Luffy won’t know where he’s gone until just the second before he emerges again. It’s very frustrating. 

“I don’t doubt the Burglar Cat understands Marine secret Rokushiki, but who is this ‘Usopp’ you speak of?”

Luffy yelps when Blueno emerges and yanks his ankle down a hole in the ground. 

Luffy throws out a punch, but the spot he punched immediately shutter open into a door and his arm goes right through him— except, Blueno closes the door and now Lufyf’s arm, rubber as it is, is jammed in the hinges of that door in Blueno’s abdomen. 

It is equally uncomfortable as it is a bad situation to be stuck in

“You’re kidding! That Devil Fruit is weird!” 

Blueno proceeds to slap Luffy in the face and send his eyes literally spinning. 

“WOAH STOP!” 

“Devil Fruits are useful, once you get past the point of its initial silliness,” Blueno says. “People often list Logias to be the strongest, and Zoans to be the most fearsome— but no one gives enough credit to Paramecia, even though they’re the most common.” 

Blueno crouches down, getting very close to Luffy, but not at all concerned. Luffy knows this is because he is being severely underestimated. 

“For us Paramecians,” Blueno says. “The only limit is our imaginations. Even as ‘weird’ as my fruit is, I’m invaluable to CP9 because of it. I can’t let that change yet, so no hard feelings, kid— but you’re going to be an example.”

Luffy pauses at that. 

Gin had said that the facility he’d come intensively trained their agents to work in teams. But Blueno was an outlier on Water Seven. It was strange, but with its official instatement as Cipher Pol Nine, he wouldn’t be surprised if they recruited more members from other Cipher Pol squads just to fill roles and numbers as they grew as a squadron. 

Blueno’s one of those. Those that worked their way up from the ground, without any advantages or enhancements— purely a man of effort and wit. 

Someone that’s worked his way up here with all his heart and hates that he can’t get the thorough acknowledgement he deserves. Because someone else will always shine so much brighter. 

Luffy understands that feeling very well. 

“You’ll never match up to the New World,” Blueno says. “You seem to actually be your age, unlike that creepy Burglar Cat… so a word of advice. Back down now while you still can.” 

Luffy’s feet are stuck, lodged between twenty inches of wall. His hand is stuck in Blueno’s stomach. 

He only has half his body to work with.

That’s plenty. 

(Because for us Paramecians, our only limit is our imagination, right?)

(So, have fun with it!)

Luffy takes a deep breath.

A deep, deep breath.

And his entire body inflates with a giant burst— he cracks the ground around his feet, shifting the loose piece just enough to wrench out his feet.

Blueno reacts quickly, heel of his palm knocking Luffy’s jaw out, splitting his head into a vertical door against the horizontal one around his eyes.

Luffy laughs, “nice! Now I can have one eye both ways!” he snickers, one eye opened to the back of his skull, the other remaining forward. “oWoooo super trippy!” 

He escapes from his entrapment on the ground, and runs along the roof area with his hand still stuck inside Blueno. 

Blueno’s mouth hangs open in exasperation. 

He runs to launch a Rankyak, but Luffy, with that eye literally on the back of his head, leaps and dodges it. 

Luffy hooks upon one of the roof’s ledges, swinging around it for a sharp turn. He leaves his hand at the corner of it, continuing to trail his ever-extending appendage as he scrambles. 

“Idiot, if you want to lose a hand, be my guest!” Blueno launches a Rankyaku at the rubber limb attached to him— but the blade sears through flesh and draws blood, but stops with a sharp clang as it hits the bone.

The steel, sturdy, and inevitably impenetrable bone. 

Blueno freezes. 

That’s impossible. 

Luffy knows Tekkai now, too? How? When? 

He’s so thin. It can’t be that Luffy’s bones were so tough, Blueno’s Rankyaku couldn’t cut through it, right?

“Gomu Gomu no—” Blueno hears it behind him. But the second he turns around, he feels the punch coming from the direction he had earlier been facing. 

Luffy had his arm stuck right where it needs to be. 

Of course, rubber bands, like boomerangs— always come back. 

“Rebound Pistol!” 

The resounding shatter as Blueno’s knocked fully back, fist sinking into his face— it’s satisfying. Even more so when Blueno goes flying to the other end of the roof, Lufyf’s hand finally dislodging and coming free. 

Luffy cackles, definitely feeling that break in Blueno’s nose. 

“That was fun! I wonder if there’s a way to may my punches keep bouncing like that,” Luffy hums, “ah— of course, and— Gear Second!” 

Blueno whirls to his feet, alarmed. A curse under his breath, he lifts his head back up to Luffy— but he’s gone again. 

Luffy snags Blueno by the horn-hairs, and he leaps, arms spinning as he gains air. Luffy plant his feet on the ground and with a whirl, he swings Blueno forth, arms unwinding to gyrate him with all the speedy velocity of a drill. 

“Jet Gavel!” 

 


 

Luffy’s hat had flown away in the middle of that last maneuver, and thus, after he’d successfully landed and was significantly satisfied with how he’d done, he chuckled to himself and made his merry way over to retrieve it. 

“I’m getting the hang of this Haki thing, too. It’s cool!” 

Luckily, Blueno wasn’t too difficult. Now he just has to figure out how to get to the Tower of Justice. Then he can get Anne and Robin and it’ll all be fine!

Come to think of it, everyone else should be here soon. And, wherever Zoro went… well, he’ll find his way here eventually. Didn’t Sanji and Vivi say they wanted to make their way here first? Man, they’re all so late.

“You know nothing about Haki, boy.” 

By the time Luffy felt the hand around his neck, he was already getting yanked into the Air Door. He tried to plunge a foot into the ground and grab some debris in the distance for leverage, but Blueno’s hands clenched around his neck and it hurt and made him gasp and Luffy’s grip loosened. 

Just enough time for him to be shoved into the Air Door and watch it close. 

Blueno steps out into the material world and Luffy charges at him, but he crashes into Blueno with all the force of a baseball bat to the face, and Blueno is none the wiser of the impact that had occurred. 

“Don’t be reckless in there,” Blueno says. “I’m the only one allowed to cross things there. Everything else has no right to interfere with the material world.” 

Luffy curses, “you bastard, let me out!” 

But Blueno talks over him.

“Of course, no sound, light, or air may pass through. And I cannot hear it either as long as I’m out here. I don’t believe you’ll run out of air supply, but I’m the only one that can access that world, so there are no exits.” Blueno fixes his clothing, repositioning a dislocated finger with a huff. “As long as you remain in there, no one will ever find you.” 

It’s impossible to get out of there.

“Burglar Cat and Egin are the only ones of your crew that may stand a chance in the New World,” Blueno says. “But don’t get it wrong. This is Enies Lobby, where the government throws all they have at you. If you want a fight, bring Whitebeard, and maybe you’ll have a snowball’s chance in hell.” 

And Blueno leaves

Luffy screeches. “You bastard, GET BACK HERE! HEY!” 

 


 

“What are you even aiming for?”

When Paulie asks Usopp this, Usopp doesn’t reply. The crossbow is so huge, Paulie had it strapped to Kashii’s helmet. He’s still running, so there’s little they can do about the way everything keeps shaking with the strides— but Usopp is fine with it. 

There’s a lock between the crossbow, a latch to help secure the arrow and ensure it’s straight as the sturdy bowstring is pulled back. Usopp does it with a foot, stretching it all back as far as he feet would go, bracing his other foot upon the latch as he turns his head back toward the courthouse and simply focuses. 

“Something’s just wrong about Luffy right now. I don’t know what it is, but he just disappeared.” 

“Huh?”

“And in times like these, what kind of sniper would I be if I couldn’t aim for my captain?”

“What??”

Usopp doesn’t deign Paulie’s confusion with an answer. He just sighs, “man, I thought I’d finally be somewhere at the bottom of the mutiny rankings for once. Bummer.”

Chapter 92: help me to my feet (and say you want to live)

Summary:

Luffy knows he's not an ideal captain by any means. But it does get frustrating when the world refuses to see him for who he is.

He is Monkey D. Luffy, and he is the man who will become the Pirate King.

tldr; the declaration of war as they stand atop the courthouse.

Notes:

Here we finally are!

Took me a while but I got here in the end. I must say, it's 9k words long again, and we're only in the exact middle of Enies Lobby-- but this story was made for me to unleash all the one piece brainrot I could without worrying about too much about the details and the pacing, so I guess you guys are subjected to it all anyways. Sorry.

Anyways- enjoy!

Chapter Text

Conis whines, picking up her jacket from the debris. “It’s got a hole in it….” 

“There were already holes in it,” Chopper says. 

“For my wings,” Conis sniffles, picking up the jacket. There’s a third hole right through the train print on it. She shrugs it on anyway, and Chopper picks up Kumadori’s staff before they get on the makeshift sled composed of a slab of wood and rope. 

Carue winds up, ready to move onward. A Den Den Mushi sits on his head, and a few more large Mushi are tucked in his bag. Conis picks them out of the sack, and now that they have a sled, she sets them down on it. 

“We’re already behind schedule. We’ll need to hurry,” Chopper says. Looking upward— “on the bright side, I think there’s only one more we need to get to.” 

He’s looking toward the Den Den Mushi transmission towers, blaring out the latest instructions to combat the progress of the King Bulls’ advance

“Nami-san’s such a slave driver,” Conis sighs. “How could we steal all of the Mushi towers and still make it over there in time to meet them? Even if we have Carue with us, it’s arduous work!” 

Chopper chuckles. “Nami always works us to the bone!” 

They set out quickly, leaving behind an unconscious Kumadori that’s been Gulliver’d to the ground.

“Do we need that staff?”

“Well, Nami always said to pillage our enemies when they’re down. I also got his wallet, this sewing kit, this kitchen knife, this comb—” 

“Chopper-san, you’re weighing Carue down.” 

“But if we miss anything Nami will be mad! You’ve not seen how happy Nami gets when we find shells in junk!” 

 


 

“What the hell happened to you?!”

Wyper has spent the last minute taking a smoke break sitting on Fukurou’s back, still mildly charred and very injured, but basking in the post-victory afterglow for a moment of peace before continuing the war— when Chopper and Conis crosses his path. 

A few blinks later, 

“Oh, good timing,” Wyper raises his hand, bloody and twisted with a Reject Dial somewhere in the middle, “my wrist feels funny.” 

Conis is staring at Wyper’s wing, which is vaguely in three pieces. That’s not to mention the bleeding holes in his chest, the ruptured arm with purpling blood vessels, and the lacerations across his face dangerously searing through an eye. 

Conis drops everything she’s holding. Chopper throws it all into the air. Carue’s wings come up on either sides of his head to cover his ears just in time for Conis to wail and Chopper to shriek, 

“Wyper WHY!”

 


 

“What the— Blueno! Where have you been?” 

Spandam notices Blueno on the way in from an Air Door by his desk, and a sigh in the Den Den Mushi’s direction has Blueno setting the unlatched receiver back on the snail.

“Huh— Oh, how long has that been— nevermind, what were you doing? The top of the courthouse is a mess!” 

“One of the pirates got that far,” Blueno enlightened him, and Robin and Anne perk up in the distance. “The one with the Straw Hat. Dealt with him, but it won’t be long before the rest of the group makes it up. There’s still no sign of Burglar Cat since the initial breach—” 

“What the hell are the rest of CP9 DOING? Twiddling their thumbs?? Fucks’s sake—!!” 

Purupurupurupuru— kachack!

“WHAT?!” Spandam snaps, picking up the Denden immediately. 

“[Sir! Reporting in the casualty count— We’ve lost Agent Wanze, Agent Fukurou and Agent Kumodori! Of the soldiers—]” there’s a sharp shriek of signals being lost before the Denden abruptly cuts. 

“Wha—” Spandam’s flabbergasted, “we lost Fukurou and Kumadori?! Explain that! HOW?”

Didn’t they go ahead and take the Strawhats out early? How are they done in already? Wanze is one thing, but they got done in before the common marine soldiers and assigned escorts? And who in that ragtag bunk of delinquents would have—

“Darn it, I thought the Burgar Cat and the Man-Demon were the only ones we had to watch out for… get me a call to Lucci, now! They ought to be back soon, what’s the holdup?”

Spandam curses, looking toward the Golden Den Den Mushi on the table, hands curling nervously. 

 


 

Blueno sighs, leaving the room to where Robin and Anne sat. “Seems like your entourage is almost here.” 

Anne hums at that. Robin sighs, disgruntled.

“How unfortunate,” Blueno says. “I went ahead and dealt with the captain, but as the situation comes, you’ll get a front row seat to their execution. Condolences.” 

Robin clicks her tongue, frustrated. 

Anne glances at her as Blueno leaves. 

“That’s why I told them to leave me alone.” 

“You knew this was coming,” Anne says. “Aren’t you used to it by now? Watching the people you swear loyalty die, so you can live?” 

Robin’s silent for a moment before she admits, “this time is different.” 

She didn’t love the others the way she loves the Strawhats. 

Anne leans back against the wall, nursing the wound on her leg that’s stopped bleeding, but now is raw and festering. 

“Hey, Robin,” Anne turns to her. “What kind of emotion is ‘Hope’?” 

Robin doesn’t lift her head. 

“I wouldn’t know,” Robin says, “I’ve learned to discard that emotion long ago.”

Robin is one that discards emotions as she tries to survive. Anne is one that’s never had emotions, because it was never necessary for survival. 

“Aren’t you tired?” Anne asks. “Of always needing to save yourself? Of always trying to do that, knowing in the end, no one wants you to live?” 

Robin squeezes her eyes shut at that. She’s been saved by others rarely in her life– always needing to run, to act, to do all she can to live a little longer. 

But no one wants her alive. That’s a fact. 

“Aren’t you spoiled?” Robin says, and she couldn’t help the bitterness in her tone. “Always sitting there— simply waiting to be saved?” 

There is always someone that wants Anne alive. 

Anne blinks at that. “Do you want to live, Robin?” 

Robin doesn’t answer that. “You won’t understand.” 

They’re not the same. 

Anne heaves a sigh. She knows that they’ll come— whether they want it or not, whether they have a chance to win or not— they’ll come save them both. Even if there’s no way in her head that all of them can make it back home safe, back out into the seas— they’ll come.

Because they’re stupid like that. 

“Everyone will probably die,” Anne says. 

Robin doesn’t deign her with a response. 

Robin dreads the time. Anne, however— will likely see it as just another part of the process in her life. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. 

“When I went to save Baroque Works, after Alabasta… it felt really weird,” Anne admits. “I didn’t really get it. But it was the first time I saved people. It was the first time I was able to make sure that people didn’t die because they were no longer useful to me.” 

She had power, as a Strawhat. With Egin by her side, just as Chaser’s always promised her— she enjoyed freedom. 

“It was nice,” Anne says, “it was something I could only do as a pirate.” 

 


 

“Don’t make me laugh, Egin!” Jabra roars, though he can’t even get up anymore, the lightning strikes leaving chronic shivers in his very bones, his very nerves overdriven and his heart rate shuddering. 

Nami doesn’t approach the wolf. Gin stands behind her, back to hers, refusing to look over at the other Berserker as Nami destroys him in the fight. 

The thing with fights against Nami— she takes a while to set up the lightning terrain, but once you’re in her field of Weather Balls— you’ll no longer have a chance to fight back. One may call it a cowardly way of fighting, because once one of her comrades buy enough time, she’s a safe distance away while you’re at the mercy of her attack, and you’ll find it much too difficult to get close enough to retaliate. 

As long as you’re not resistant to electricity, she’ll always win. 

Jabra, however, barks more than he bites. 

“You really are hiding behind a woman right now!” feral cackling, “aren’t you ashamed of yourself? The strongest, sturdiest Berserker of Cipher Pol, cowering and trembling while someone else fights his battles! What do you think you were made for?” 

Nami’s honestly a little peeved. She would step forward if she didn’t think Gin really needed the physical contact right now, and somehow, Jabra just wasn’t losing consciousness.

Tenacious, she’ll give him that. Maybe being in the ‘Chaser’ category had something to do with it— he wouldn’t give up, until he got to his target. Even if this means forcing himself to stay awake past his limits. 

“You’re useless if you’re not using your strength!” Jabra howls. “Unactivated, you’re just someone with a little stronger arms, and so what? You’re nothing compared to a giant, and even your bones are fragile compared to Marianne! You’re nothing if we don’t make you a little crazy for your own sake! Admit it, you have to be protected everywhere you go, do you really think you can survive out there in the Grand Line like this?” 

Gin’s fists clench. 

“Do you really think you have the right to live out there? Do you really think a Berserker like you can pretend to be out there, as a human?”

Gin’s teeth grind, his shoulders shaking. 

With a sigh, Nami leans back, resting her weight on him. 

“Oh, save us the spiel,” Nami scoffs at Jabra, “humanity’s overrated.” 

Gin perks up at that. 

That’s right— Nami’s family, the ones at Cocoyashi— they live in harmony with the Fishmen. Not even caring that they’re dangerous, they’re ten times stronger than humans— she’s got a brotherhood with them that’s unbreakable. And they adore her. 

“Haven’t you heard?” Nami says. “Our captain’s pretty fond of crazy. It doesn’t matter if you’re a transforming tanuki, or a giant duck, or a flaming catbus— bring it on! He’ll happily accept a fishman, a cyborg or a skeleton! And he’ll be the one chasing them down to extend an invitation. You think Gin even scrapes the surface of our absurdity?” 

Jabra’s jaw drops. “You can’t be serious—” 

“I’ve got half limbs of metal,” she says. “We have a blind man that neve misses. We have the Demon of the East. We have a pair of angels. And we have superheroes. You name it, we have it— who knows? We’re pirates. No one can tell us what’s too far!”

She turns around, and hooks her flesh arm around Gin’s, dragging him forward. 

“You fit in perfectly, Gin!” she says. “We’ll die out at sea without you!” 

Gin bites down on his bottom lip. 

“Yeah,” he chokes out. “But honestly, I think I’d die out at sea with you guys instead. You guys are way too damn reckless for me.” 

Nami laughs, “you’ve got that right!” 

Jabra’s tongue-tied. “What utter bollocks— do you have any idea what a Berserker out of control can do to anyone, indiscriminately? And you’re willing to keep that beast on your ship?”

Nami hums. “Not sure. Do you have any idea what I can do to anyone, indiscriminately? Especially after they make one of my crew sad?”

Jabra gulps.

Nami nods, “yeah.” 

 


 

In just one section of the island, lightning rained. 

“That reminds me of…” 

Vice Admiral T-Bone watches it in muted awe, from the pillars of the courthouse. Vivi inspected the levers of the drawbridge, but glances out the window with him as he points it out. 

“Wow,” Vivi breathes. 

“She’s definitely a New World Veteran,” T-Bone says. “As the CP9 are mainly active here in the first half, they stand little chance against her if she pulls out all the stops. Especially since Rob Lucci’s group has been undercover in Paradise for the past five years… they’re quite behind, in terms of experience, knowledge, many things. Not to say this battle will be easy, but the difference it makes…”

Vivi takes that in. 

“Knowledge…” it’s a vital power. So vital, Robin is doomed to death for it, and they took Anne to keep more of it. They sealed off a century of history— a decision the Nefertari abandoned their godhood to protest against.  

Right now, they are severely outnumbered. According to Nami, the Buster Call is still held over their heads. Even if they can win, one on one— they’ll be cornered eventually. 

So, in truth— knowledge is their greatest weapon against them all now. 

“Vice Admiral,” Vivi addresses. 

“Yes, Miss Wednesday?” comes the response. 

Vivi can’t help but smile at that. He’s such an indulgent older man. “I know you used your 98th good deed of the day to spare me— but would you mind using the 99th to help me, too?”

The Vice Admiral huffs. “Well… pitch the offer, I may consider.” 

Vivi nods. 

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to use this… but I need you to organize a getaway ship for us,” she says. “In the case where we need to escape into the Tarai Current, I want to use your ship and certification to get us past the Gates of Justice.” 

T-Bone frowns. 

“But once you enter the current, you won’t be able to leave it. It will only lead to Impel Down and Marineford from there.” 

Vivi clenches her fist. “I know, but—” she glances at the raining lightning once more, and her tension eases, “we’ll find a way.” 

T-Bone sighs. 

“I struggle to call this a good deed— but my ship is prone to stowaways,” T-Bone says. “Recruits often sneak on, on trips past the Calm Belt. I’ve tried many times to stop such incidents, but one always slips past my detection,” he glances at her. “So, if another were to sneak on… I suppose it would once again be my oversight.” 

Vivi grins. 

“You’re a good guy, T-Bone!” she pats him on the back, “thanks! I’ve got to go now! I need to meet my captain up top.” 

T-Bone falters at her callous behavior— but falters again. 

“Your captain?” 

She’s gone before he gets to finish his sentence. 

“But there’s no one on the roof at the moment…” 

 


 

“Do I get to cut something yet?” 

Coby spins around to Zoro so abruptly, Zoro actually jerks back slightly in alarm before Coby resists the urge to yell for the tenth time that day. 

With a deep, agonized sigh and a blind claw at the air, Coby emphasizes, “Zoro-san, please . You could’ve cut something a long time ago if you’d just, you know,” he tries his best to phrase this not too rudely before giving up, “ not gotten lost.” 

To which Zoro defends, “I wasn’t lost! Luffy just disappeared somewhere along the way!” 

“Yeah, and you were supposed to be with Wyper.” 

Zoro clamps shut at that. Then, poutily, “he disappeared too.”  

“Zoro, the two of you were supposed to be in front of the King Bulls. You know, the rampaging, gigantic steamrolling sea kings bulldozing a straight line through the center of this island?” 

Zoro can’t even look Coby in the eye as he murmurs, “they disappeared too.” 

Coby glances to the side, to the gunfire, collapsing buildings, explosions, and war cries of the Yagaras, Franky Family, Oimo and Kashii— all rampaging their way to the courthouse with mad destruction in their wake. It’s literally the biggest and most prominent source of noise on all of the island, considering it’s literally the biggest intruding force where most of the military force is focused on at the moment. 

Coby stares back at Zoro. 

“You know what,” Coby affirms, hands up in defeat, “that’s okay. I still love you no matter what.” 

And he walks away. 

“Wha—” Zoro’s flabbergasted, “Cob— don’t walk away! COBY! Explain— don’t deliberately look away, this conversation isn’t over!” 

When a deaf man walks away from you, the conversation is, in fact, over.

 


 

Miraculously, when Zoro does make it up to the roof with Coby, Sanji is up there with Vivi, the former taking a smoke. The King Bulls are still a fair distance away— but they’ll be here any moment. They’re the main reason the courthouse is basically easy pickings to sneak around in. 

Suu and Tyrannosaurus are sleeping off a very satiated food coma or something, but Zoro crouches down to inspect them for a moment before deeming them okay to be left alone. 

“Did you get it?” Coby asks. 

“The key to the armoury and treasury to offer to Nami-san? Yes,” Vivi says. 

“Dinner prepared? Also yes,” Sanji says. 

Coby takes a flabbergasted moment to reconsider his life before he says, “I was referring to the Seastone Shackles, their keys, and the blueprint of the Tower of Justice.” 

Sanji and Vivi stares at him, silent and blank, like this is the first they’ve heard of it. 

“...May I suggest a new thing on the Strawhat agenda?” Coby swings to Zoro, bargaining desperately, “something called priorities . You may have never heard of it, I know—” 

“We’re joking! We’re joking!” Sanji clarifies, raising the keys and boxes, “I got it!” 

“I got it, I really do!” Vivi adds, taking out a handful of things into her arms, “I also got listed codes, signal flares, and various alarms that can be used to access restricted areas!” 

Coby winds back to them, threateningly, “please don’t bully me ever again, I will cry!” 

With a deep sigh, Zoro ignores them. 

“But more importantly…” he glances around, the roof is partially destroyed, clearly a battle has happened here recently— but it’s empty. “Where’s Luffy?” 

 


 

Paulie watches Usopp work– and he has no idea what’s happening. 

Usopp aims, firmly forward. He’s not perturbed by the shaking of the ground, by the stutter of the rickety crossbow parts. 

Usopp focuses, and focuses— and his eyes gleam with a force Paulie almost thinks is suffocating— Usopp stares forward with his eyes that don’t see enough, and yet, seem to at that moment see right through everything. 

“Presence. Strength. Emotion, and Intent: the four pillars of Observation,” he murmurs, “not good enough yet, but it’ll do.” 

Huh?

“Right now on the roof… other than Luffy, there’s Sanji, Zoro, Vivi,” Usopp says. “Nami’s almost there. Climbing up the wall. Gin’s right behind her. Conis and Chopper coming up with Carue and Wyper on the stairs. Good. Everyone’s here… almost.” 

Paulie whirls around. They’re in sight of the courtroom now— and he can see that Usopp is right. But Luffy’s not there, so why does he insist he’s there?

How is he right?

“Blueno’s powers. Can’t sense it, can’t feel it, can’t hear it. I know exactly where Luffy is with this haki, but I need to get him out.” 

He closes his eyes and thinks. And rambles, gears turning slowly in his head. 

“Something rumbled,” he notices, “did he hit something? He can hit things inside. The sound? The sound… it doesn’t translate to the real world, but the impact is registered on his side. For a second, there’s a distortion. A mild ripple in the door world. Can I use that?”

Usopp seems to have completely forgotten Paulie is there, and Paulie can’t help but stay quiet. He glances aside and notices Iceburg, too, is watching in silence. 

“Luffy’s sound is agitated. He must be annoyed that they can’t see him. They’re fighting over where he is? That’s good,” Usopp says. “Just about now, Sanji and Zoro should be picking a fight. Chopper is treating Gin’s wounds… fifteen seconds until Nami scolds them. Conis is between them, trying to stop the argument. That’s my shot.” 

Usopp finally moves, hopping down the crossbow to adjust the aim and tighten the notch, lifting the girdle just a little higher. 

“Gin’s in the conversation. Chopper is coming to stop them— Nami’s gotten stirred by the fight and started yelling, too. Now, Vivi’s joining in to get them back on track,” Usopp whispers. “Luffy will lose his patience and throw a punch at them in three,” 

He pulls back the bow with a foot. He’s not even looking in the direction of the courthouse, just focused on dragging the oversized crossbow’s bow as far back as his strength can give. 

“Two, and—” 

He lets the arrow loose by leaping off, flipping his legs upward and retrieving his Kabuto right then. 

“One!” 

He fires something out of his slingshot, just two paces behind the arrow. 

Paulie’s eyes follow, enthused to know what’ll happen next. 

 


 

“What do you mean, Luffy’s not here?”

Luffy’s about ready to disown his own damn crew. 

“I AM! I’M RIGHT HERE!” he shrieks, right into Zoro’s ear, “ZORO! HEY, ZORO!” 

Nami frowns, coming up the roof with Gin— who also frowns. “I thought Luffy was supposed to head straight here? Do you think he jumped ahead to the Tower of Justice?” 

“I wouldn’t doubt it, but it wouldn’t be so peaceful over there if he did.” 

“That’s strange… I can’t feel him with Haki either,” Coby says, and that alarms everyone. “Ah, don’t worry, he’s alive— I can tell that much… but his presence is scattered around this roof. It’s almost like…” 

“I can’t feel him at all…” Nami murmurs, “is he in trouble?” 

“Kind of… but,” Coby says, “it’s a bit tricky. It’s a Devil Fruit situation… it’s not as simple as just needing Armament, too, since it’s a Paramecia…” 

“Wait, are you saying—” 

“I’M RIGHT HERE!” Luffy yells, frustrated at this point. “SANJI! VIVI!” he’s desperate, but as he turns too sharply into Sanji he’s blown back by a violent rebound that knocks him to his bottom and leaves his ears ringing. “Wha… come on, Chopper! You can hear me, right?” 

Instead, Chopper turns right past Luffy and toward Gin, “another one of you! Wyper was just as bad— reckless buffoons! Sit down!” 

Chastised, Gin does as told, “yeah…” 

“And tell me what hurts!” 

“Uhh… my hand bones are broken.” 

“WHAT?” 

“I punched a wolf. And when I missed I think I punched a wall. Also ran into a few? I don’t remember.” 

“How do you not reme– do you have a concussion?!”

“Uh…” 

Chopper makes a high-pitched noise of despair. “YOU’RE JUST AS BAD AS WYPER! Why are all of you like this!” 

Meanwhile, the Observation Haki proddlers are trying to figure out where the monkey is through the veil. They could figure out Blueno’s Devil Fruit power had something to do with it, but the annoying nature of that power was how you could only sense his location the second he reached for the Air Door to exit. Blueno’s domain is tricky to bypass like that, even for Coby. 

Sanji frowns, “he’s definitely around here… I don’t know why but…” 

“Why’s Sanji getting a more accurate pinpoint than you?” Nami sighs. 

Coby’s offended, “Nami-san, you know my thing is I hear far and wide. I’m not good at making things out, okay? Plus, it’s really noisy for some reason… I can’t get any closer.” 

“If Usopp were here… his thing is precision.” 

“He’s still on the King Bull. We can handle this ourselves.” 

“Darn, this is why our whole at-his-own-pace Captain can be such a pain,” Nami groans, “we always have to pick up after him!” 

Something annoys Luffy about that line. Getting backhandedly criticized like this is normal— all in good fun, he’s a pain in the ass and they’re strung along for it, and that’s how it’s always been. It’s their thing.

But something about the way Nami said it just— doesn’t sit well, right now. 

“Isn’t that what we all signed up for,” Sanji sighs. “Strange we can’t hear a thing, though. This door thing blocks out sounds and everything?”

“Yeah… only reason we even know he’s here is Haki,” Coby says. “If we had Conquerors, maybe we could shatter it… Armament’s not enough. This isn’t something you can brute force. Not that my Armament’s good enough.” 

“Maybe if I just blindly swing around with Armament—” Nami makes her staff fully coated, “I’ll get him eventually?” 

“Mutiny,” Zoro says, curtly. 

Vivi lifts her head up from where she was helping Chopper, “Nami-san, rank up.” 

“Rude.” 

“Marimo, you’re not exactly being helpful here so could you be quiet,” Sanji groans. 

“Like you’re being anymore helpful?”

“At least I’m trying —” 

“Just let Nami and Coby do their thing, your only purpose here is to look pretty and jump in when it’s your cue anyways.” 

“So uncalled for, is it a fight you want?!” 

“Isn’t that the whole reason you dressed up? To be some kinda Prince Charming?” 

“I mean, YES, but it’s shitty when you say it!” 

Luffy watches as Zoro and Sanji dissolve into their childish fights again. He wants to laugh at their antics in this serious time— especially when he sees Nami starting to get irritated. 

“Hey, Zoro!” he calls. 

But he isn’t heard, no matter how loudly he shouts for them. 

No one sees him, even though he’s right beside them.

And when he reaches for them, all he hits is a wall of impact— they don’t feel a thing. They can’t feel his touch at all. And neither can he. 

Conis steps in first, “come on, Zoro-san, Sanji-san!” she pushes them aside after inserting herself in the middle, “this isn’t the time to fight… please?” 

Sanji looks ready to back down, but Gin speaks up. 

“This really isn’t the damn time,” Gin groans. “We need to get Luffy out here right now— it’s a Devil Fruit user, right? Then we just need to find him, beat him up, and—” 

“Gin!” Chopper scolds, “you’re in no condition! I know you heal a little better than average humans, but at least give yourself thirty minutes!” 

Gin flinches. “I don’t–” 

“Yes you do! I’m the doctor here, I know your body’s weird!” 

Gin clamps shut, “alright, but that’s besides the point, we need to find the Devil Fruit user and beat the shit out of him—” 

“Break it up, all of you,” Nami snaps. “Zoro, Sanji, that’s enough! Gin’s right— we just need to find Blueno, but the problem is, the power doesn’t deactivate when we knock him out! We need to make him release Luffy from it— it’s a delicate issue I can’t really leave up to most of you barbarians.” 

“As if you’re any better!” Gin and Zoro snap. 

Logically, Luffy knows this is fine— it’s fine that he just has to wait now, patiently, for his crew to come and save him. That’s their job— to clear his path, to come for him and catch him on his road to be king. 

Actually, no.

That doesn’t sound right. 

Luffy wants to lead the charge. He wants to bust things down first. He doesn’t need them to save him— he’s here to save them. He’s the one that’s supposed to come to their help. Robin and Anne— how can he think of saving them both when he needs his nakama to coddle him through a small problem like this that’s caused by his own carelessness?

What kind of captain is he?

(That captain Nami and Usopp see in their hearts— would he have made this mistake? No. No, he wouldn’t.)

(He wouldn’t let something as dumb as not being heard, seen, or felt come in the way of connecting to his nakama.)

“Now, now,” Vivi finally gets up, “let’s not fight. Blueno’s at the Tower of Justice, right? We’re planning on heading there the second we get the bridge down, anyways. Let’s just go ahead of schedule.” 

“Yeah…” the tensions ease at this point. They don’t really have a choice now. 

Yeah, actually. 

That’s really annoying. He hates that he can’t help but think of that man when he’s here, right now, trying to keep his own crew together. 

The Pirate King of the Future wouldn’t make a mistake like this. The Pirate King of the Future wouldn’t stumble like this.

That’s— honestly such a pain in the ass.

He’s here to journey. He’s here to be a pirate. He’s here to be free.

Why is he letting himself be dragged down by the expectations of a man he hasn’t even met? This journey is supposed ot be for Shanks. For Ace. For himself.

Why is he letting his ‘future’ dictate him? When has he ever cared about destiny, fate, and all that nonsense? 

Fists balls up whiteknuckled, he yells. 

“This is all because YOU GUYS are just ignoring me!” he yells, swinging into the middle of Sanji and Zoro as their swords and feet clash. “I’ve had enough! STOP LEAVING ME OUT!” 

Aflicker in the distance, something launches their way, a low whizz in the winds.

Luffy’s fist collides with the hilt of Wado Ichimonji and Sanji’s boot— and the reverberance in the air door world is a fissure that shakes him to his very core. 

He sees the moment Sanji and Zoro perk up with alarm— feeling it, just so slightly, in their souls— and they rebound, painfully— as if they’d struck something neither of them could see,

“Wha—” 

“Did you—” 

Sanji is the first to break out of their stunned state. 

“ZORO, DOWN!” 

Zoro’s eyes widen, confused— but Sanji’s foot swings down to the hilt of the Wado Ichimonji once more, and this time, Zoro doesn’t resist, letting the swing drag him down— right out of the way of a harpoon that soars where his head once was.

Luffy notices the arrow the moment before it tears through the remnant ripples of their impact— and he could only barely move his face out of the way before it snags his vest— and he’s launched with its momentum, ripped out of the door world with a startled scream.

If Luffy’s ever wondered how normal humans felt when he rubber-whips them through the skyline, now he understands. 

 


 

Nami and Coby react to the arrow, but they both falter. 

Usopp—???

Instinctively, they tried to help— but they didn’t know, in that flustered moment, what to do. Their heads knew Luffy was being targeted— but their bodies froze, because this was Usopp , and Usopp was to be trusted . Usopp knew what he was doing. What is a family, if they didn’t trust the sniper to not aim at the back of their heads? 

The harpoon split the fabric of the world into two, wrenching a red vest into faltering view— the ripples of the world shudders through with Luffy’s voice , a startled yelp. 

But it’s not enough. Luffy stumbles, but as soon as he spills out of the world, he seems to stagger back into it, the harpoon’s momentum yanking him out of it mildly before slipping out of it and losing hold of the rest of Luffy’s body.

And then came the pachinko bullet.

It plunges into the other side of Luffy’s vest— reaching the end of the roof, it embeds into the wall, and the thrum of a drum’s beat shatters the door world like glass, knocking Luffy into the cement with a gasp.

The harpoon gouges into the wall, shattering it before lodging fully inside. The pachinko bullet has drilled a hole through his vest and into the pillar.

Luffy sits there, abruptly back in the real world, shellshocked, and absolutely mortified, he struggles to grasp what the fuck just happened to him.

There’s a moment of mortified silence. 

Then, Conis, Vivi and Chopper yell for him. 

“LUFFY!” 

They jump for him to bury him in hugs. 

Luffy lets out a confused scream, “I’m— BACK??? HuGyyEH?!?”

Nami’s eyes lift from Luffy to the distance— to the King Bulls— and she notices along the way that Coby’s covering his mouth, starstruck— and Zoro and Sanji stare out, equally speechless and in awe. Gin’s eyes are wide with horror. 

Nami finally manages, 

“Holy shit, Usopp…” 

 


 

Usopp laughs, “hah! It was totally a low blow to aim for Zoro’s back, but it was the only blind spot Luffy had that he wouldn’t dodge from. And Sanji wouldn’t know it was me, so I knew he’d get Zoro out of the way. That’s not betrayal, right?” he asks. Then, lowly, “oh, but Zoro is so going to punch me for this. I’m a little scared.” 

Paulie’s slack-jawed. 

“Tha— holy— you actually managed to—” 

Iceburg hasn’t stopped staring at Luffy in the distance, absolutely unable to say a thing. Kinoko huffs, proudly, returning to her spot on Usopp’s shoulder. Merry squeals, jumping in her spot, Chimney and Gonbe joining her in the frantic squeak cheer routine.

The entire Franky Family— the giants, too— they stand, unable to believe what they’d just seen. They saw that thing get made. It’s a rickety, on-the-spot creation, fired from an unstable platform, by a man with his eyes closed— 

If Franky understands anything about the Strawhats at this point, it’s that they’re completely batshit crazy. 

The journey to Enies Lobby has been a straight arrow to their goal— to save their friends. Didn’t matter that they’d left willingly, didn’t matter that this arrow was going into the den of the gods, they plunged headfirst into it, without even hesitating. 

Franky was always fated to come here— whether in chains, or with guns blazing— he knows he was always fated to end up here. He’s been chasing the train to this place ever since Tom was taken. He’s traversing on the same road as all those years ago, and doing what he wanted to do, too many years too late. 

They couldn’t save Tom.

But maybe they could save Robin, even if everyone cursed her as a devil, even if fate wills that their life and achievements were null and a crime. 

This is a crew that will go anywhere, and do anything— bring hell or high water, they will charge through it. 

All they needed was a way to get there. A ship, a legion, an army. A host of dreams, all heading toward the same place— together. They’ll bring the war with them, and they’ll come out victorious. 

Free, flamboyant, living life with a Don

Just like how Tom always described Oro Jackson. 

 


 

In the Tower of Justice, Blueno jerks back, and spins around, violently. 

This catches the attention of Robin and Anne, but Blueno’s eyes are wide with disbelief. 

“That’s impossible…!” 

 


 

For Blueno, his only means of survival within the capability-intensive Cipher Pol was his Devil Fruit, which was much too useful to be discarded. 

Even the greatest of Haki users found the dimensions difficult to navigate and determine— they couldn’t sense him well, even if he were right beside them. it was a Paramecia, too, which meant it didn’t have a straightforward counter. This made him indispensable in the Grand Line. 

But now—

—now, someone had just broken through it. 

(How? He needed to know. He needed to fix it. Erase it, quick, before anyone notices.)

Blueno wasn’t part of the three-man cell. He had no enhancements, his Doriki was nothing special, and his Rokushiki only the bare minimum. If his one thing that helped him stand on this stage for so long is taken away, too… 

…he would have nowhere else to go. 

(He can’t have that. He can’t)

Who did it? It can’t have been the inexperienced rubber boy. The rest of the crew has gathered on the roof, and what an ensemble it was. 

“That freaked me out! What the hell was that!” Luffy wails, tears in his eyes, “don’t do that!” 

“Oh lord,” says the man donned in a suit and a mask, “now this reminds me of a story Usopp told me in the Baratie.” 

Usopp. There’s that name again. Luffy has mentioned him— but Blueno doesn’t see anyone that could be him yet. He knew Soru and Geppo— and now, Haki as well? It’s not even in the level of Haki, what did he do to break the air door world?

Did he break the sound barrier?

“Another thing in the Colourimotone Cinematic Universe?” 

The woman donned in a dress and a mask exclaims, “the what universe? How could all of you leave me out of it?” 

“Let me guess,” says Burglar Cat, “about the man that hails from Sniper Island, who could aim at anything— from the eye of a mouth to your heart— right?” 

She giggles as she says this. 

“Why does he always come up with the cheesiest shit?” asks the Man-Demon.

The pet tanuki perks up, “really?!”

“Yeah,” says the young boy with pink hair, that was neither in wanted posters nor the scouting reports in Water Seven. “I remember it. The greatest sharpshooter in the world— the King of Snipers himself. He was later unmasked.” 

There’s a gasp. “Who was it?” Conis asks. 

Miss Wednesday chuckles. “Well, who else could it be?” 

They glance out into the distance— to where the King Bulls were grinding to a stop before the courthouse. Atop the giants, standing upon a crossbow contraption, majestic and hailed with the winds and the sun—

—a single man stood, overseeing the group at the courthouse’s roof. 

Luffy leaps up. 

“USOPP!” Luffy roars, absolutely furious. “Don’t do that! You gave me a fright!” 

And Zoro adds, “you piece of crap, you fucking aimed for my back, you asshat!” 

And Usopp, the King of Snipers, chuckles sheepishly, “oh come on, it worked, didn’t it? Cut me some slack.” 

“YEAH,” Luffy grumbles, still irate, “I expected no less from my sniper!” 

The smile that perks up on their faces— it annoys Blueno, to no end. As flanderized as this King of the Snipers could be— how could they have missed someone as dangerous as that in their initial reports?

But no matter. 

Right now— Blueno couldn’t let this stand. Lucci is on the horizon, but they can’t come to learn that the remainder of the forces here didn’t manage to take down a single one of these Strawhats in their siege. 

Not only would it be the world’s worst embarrassment— Blueno would have to die here to make up for their mistakes. 

He can’t. He didn’t survive so far to die here.

He has to achieve something .

(That’s right.)

(Pluton’s blueprints. That’s still on the agenda. He’ll have to get that.)

(But before then…)

The air door is secured. No one can tell exactly where he is— except, perhaps, that sharpshooter. So, Blueno has to strike before he gets closer. The one with pink hair seems uneasy, but the other Haki users are too distracted. 

He has to take someone down with him. 

Getting out of the air door realm will give him away.

So— the next best option is a gun. He thumbs off the safety, and chooses wisely. He’ll open just enough of a gap for the bullet— he’ll effectively have a soundless, senseless bullet, undetectable until the very last second.

“Who should I aim at?”

The decision is easy. Egin won’t die from a gunshot, and they need him. The captain’s made of rubber, and using Haki on a bullet has never been easy for him. He shouldn’t take risks. 

Franky leaps forward onto the rooftop, ahead of his family as they break off— seemingly to fight the remaining marine forces finally congregating, and to get the drawbridge down. 

“You’re ridiculous, Strawhat! Your crew’s insane!” 

“Right?” he looks proud. “My crew’s the best!” 

“Sheesh,” Iceberg gets onto the roof, too, “for a moment I thought I’d seen the craziest the world had to offer… but you keep proving me wrong.” 

The white-haired child in a raincoat leaps for the Pirate Hunter, who quickly settles the fox and mouse in her hands before sending her off to the tanuki with a pat on the head. 

He has to aim at someone that will inevitably be a big, whopping loss, someone who he can’t defeat fairly. And then, right after— he’ll go for Iceburg, who is just an average human, yet most likely has the blueprints. 

The decision is simple.

“Goodbye,” 

He aims the gun at Burglar Cat Nami’s temple. 

“You’ve been a thorn in the side of the World Government for long enough.” 

“Hey.” 

The way Blueno froze, he couldn’t describe it. It was like every cell in his body froze in its place with sheer, prey instincts— he couldn’t move, he couldn't breathe—

—the single word out of the cacophony seemed to come right through the barrier of the air door realm, and when he turned around, fearfully— Monkey D. Luffy stares right at him, a hand clenching his hat, his eyes firm with unadulterated anger

“Did you really think I’d let you do that?” 

Blueno couldn’t move. 

Right now, he feels small. Smaller than this pirate with barely a name to his notoriety, a man who he’d thought was only sitting upon a pedestal held up by the Burglar Cat and the Man-Demon, whom no one understood. A man that didn’t deserve his title of captain. 

He felt so, so small. It made no sense that Luffy could see him, know where he was— and it made even less sense as Luffy winded back and clearly spun his arms back for a devastating blow, it couldn’t and shouldn’t hit Blueno .

Yet, Blueno knew, for a fact, that it would. It made no sense. But as his knees crumbles and his finger trembled away from the trigger, he understood.

He understood that this was the will of a Conqueror , whose Haki was telling his Devil Fruit abilities just what he thought of his realm— and he stepped back, not fast enough. 

“JET BULLET!” 

As Blueno felt himself shatter the glass between dimensions, through buildings, windows, and sound itself. He knew nothing else, not even when his momentum finally ceased and he curled in a twisted heap against the wreckage of his trajectory. 

 


 

To the Strawhats, Luffy’s actions had shot off alarm bells in their heads, but Luffy had whipped out that Jet Bullet so abruptly, it was all they could do to reach for each other and hold on. Zoro and Sanji held down Merry, Suu, and Tyrannosaurus— Gin pulled down Vivi and Chopper to his side— and Conis lunges for Wyper, who was taking a nap oN Carue’s back, holding on firm. Franky puts himself before Iceburg, and Nami stood shock still, bracing herself for the aftershocks as it engulfs her. 

No one missed the devastating way Blueno was send soaring off into the distance, shattering every building in his way. 

Luffy adjusts the position of his hat, and straightens with a sigh. 

“Pissed me off,” he mutters. 

“Luffy-san…” Coby’s windswept and befuddled, “how did you… break through Blueno’s air door realm… just like that? ”

“Huh?” Luffy scowls, “Usopp did it twice! Of course I’d figure it out! And that stupid cow-horned asshole tried to shoot Nami right in front of me AGAIN? Like is he stupid or something? Did he think I would leave him alone?? And can you believe what that asshole called me? I’M the captain and he just— geez, thinking about it pisses me off! Forget it, I’m eating my emergency meat!” 

He marches off, huffing and puffing, toward the Tower of Justice while he pulls out a hunk of meat on the bone from his pockets— completely missing the way every single Strawhat looked back at him in utter disbelief. 

“Huh?” 

Usopp drops down on the roof with his walking stick and Paulie at his side. He thanks Oimo for the ride, and turns back around. 

“What’s with you guys, you’re catching flies,” Paulie says.

“I know, I know,” Usopp says, smugly grinning, “I was awesome, right?” 

“Uh,” Nami’s heart is still racing. “Yeah. Uh. Yeah, you were.” 

Sanji dryly raises a thumbs up, “really awesome… yeah…” 

Usopp isn’t very pleased with the lack of enthusiasm, “c’mon! Praise me a little! You’re not doing much for my fragile ego here, guys! I did something cool for once!” 

Gin has his face buried in his hands, “I’m absolutely not the most monstrous one in the crew… I don’t even come close. Why did I ever doubt…” 

“USOPP! Did you see what Luffy just did?!” Chopper shrieks, running at him frantically, “holy he— he just— just a second and it was like BOOM and—” 

Usopp confused. “No? I did the cool thing today!” 

“Yes! You did! But then Luffy!! You and— he just— that—?!?” Chopper frantically goes back and forth, “I’ll be really honest I don’t know what happened either.” 

“Let’s be real,” Vivi says, “who in this crew ever knows what’s going on?” 

“Actually,” Zoro draws his sword, “Usopp, get the hell over here. How fucking dare you shoot at me, do you have any idea how close that was?” 

Franky looks at Iceburg, who has the look of utter horror on his face. 

Yeah, fair. 

“These guys are super bizarre,” Franky says, “and I’m the one saying this.” 

Iceburg scoffs as Paulie runs over to join them, “are you okay, Iceburg-san?! What was that blast just now—” 

“I’m okay,” Iceberg says. 

Paulie senses that those words aren’t for him. 

And a moment later, Franky laughs. 

“Yeah,” he says, resting a hand on his stomach. “If it’s these guys… I kinda figure, you know. There’s no one else you could ever trust more than this.” 

Paulie’s eyes widen as Franky retrieves something from his stomach fridge. A stack of papers, bound firmly and secured. Slightly frosty, but crisp and perfectly readable. 

“Is that…” 

Iceberg chuckles as Franky laughs. 

“Hey, Galley-la,” Franky jabs it at him, “you got a light?”

 


 

“ROBIIINNNNNN!!!! AAAAAAAAAANNE!!!!”

It’s cathartic, the way Franky raises the burnt scraps of Pluton before them all, stuffed between a wedge of a signal flare as it burns bright red in the morning light. 

Miss Wednesday chuckles, “I’m glad I got the flare. I was worried for a second it wouldn’t light at all!” 

“That’s because some idiot thought it would be smart to cryogenically freeze the world’s most dangerous blueprints beside his cola,” Iceburg mutters sourly. 

“What the hell did I miss while I was sleeping?” Wyper groans. “You guys are acting weird.”

“Nothing,” comes about six different voices. 

“Please don’t destroy your wings again,” Conis says, climbing up the platform and pulling him up. Suu and Tyranno clambers up around their feet, and Carue supports Wyper from behind before climbing up along with them. 

“A little cramped, don’t you think?” Nami chuckles. She remembers her spot well. But this time, Coby tucks in in front of her, sitting down by her feet. 

“We’ve grown,” Coby says, “it’s a good thing.” 

“Not so sure about that…” Usopp feels around until Gin takes his hand and sets it down where he can clamber the rest of the way on his own. Kinoko settles back to her spot on his shoulder right afterward, and Usopp staggers on the slanted platform, looking upward. “Though, I have to admit, it’s nostalgic.” 

“Don’t go reminiscing now,” Zoro says. He heaves himself up on the other side of Luffy, where there’s more space beside Nami— and Merry snakes around his shoulder, purring, “isn’t it a bad sign that it’s the same as you remember?”

Sanji chuckles at that, “you know how we are, mosshead,” Sanji shoves Gin up beside Usopp before hopping up himself. “Hopeless. Not Nami-swan of course.” 

“Oh, shut it,” Gin groans, shuffling closer to Usopp as Sanji swirls back around to help Vivi up with a courtly prince’s hand extended forward. 

“Oh, thank you,” Vivi swoons. 

Chopper hops up to Vivi’s side quickly, “hey, hold up! I haven’t gathered all my medical supplies yet!” 

Iceberg chuckles as Paulie gives Chopper a lift up on an arm, before settling up as well. He settles on a mirror position to Coby on the other side, and cringes at the view down below, extending his ropes just in case they needed a lifeline. 

When Iceburg glances up— Franky extends his arm down, and Iceburg takes it with a chortle. 

Franky’s arm is still lifted up, the burning blueprints scattering into ash. 

At the center, Monkey D. Luffy shouts. 

“I CAME TO PICK YOU GUYS UUUUUUPPPPPPPP!!!” 

 


 

In the Tower of Justice, there is only Spandam. 

Blueno was taken out— so devastatingly, in a single punch , he still can’t believe his eyes. 

“I knew that bastard was worthless,” Spandam curses. “Now what? I—” he glances at the Golden Transponder Snail. He’s on his last ropes. 

The courthouse itself is madness. The Franky Family is raiding it, marines, executioners, and all its troops blowing things up and firing without abandon— but even against such small numbers, they’re losing. 

T-Bone’s been radio silent. The Baskervilles have just been taken down. 

And now, Strawhat Luffy is screaming for Robin and Anne to show themselves. Spandam’s alone up here! He should just rush them to the Gates ahead of schedule, but without escorts… it’ll be fine. It’s risky, but… no, he can’t. Nico Robin is one thing within the shackles— Marianne is dangerous, even with them. 

“You piece of…” Spandam whirls on Anne, “you bitch! You better fix this before I— before I—!” he couldn’t even. He knew the government’s intentions on her, but what could he ask her to do now? She’s a Director— she commands troops. But right now, Spandam has no team to give her. Right now, she’s worthless.

But he can’t kill her. She’s to be saved as Rob Lucci’s insurance plan. They went to great lengths to get her back, they can’t—

Purupurupuru…

He spins to the Den Den Mushi. 

“Who the hell is calling NOW?!” he picks it up quickly, “this better be good news!” 

 


 

Luffy flinches viscerally, and the rest of the Strawhats quickly understand why. 

“Stop resisting, bitch! Get up there!” 

At the balcony, Spandam drags Anne and Robin in by the hair, and as they hiss, he shoves them against the banister. 

Anne immediately loses her balance and catches herself on the ledge. Her hair’s a disheveled mess out of her pigtails, and she looks around for a moment before giving up. Her hands are chained before her in thick Seastone cuffs, and she glances down, meeting eyes first with Luffy, before drifting over to Gin’s furiously red ones. 

Robin stumbles, but stays on her feet, taking the last few apprehensive steps forward into view— to meet Luffy in the eyes, and look away, ashamed. 

“You maggots sure have gotten reaal close…” Spandam scowls. “You’re so desperate for them, huh? I suppose you know how valuable they are, too! I don’t blame you!” 

He cackles, and Luffy’s fist clenches. 

“Wait— is that—” 

Spandam’s attention whirls onto Franky. 

“You disgusting piece of crap Spanda!” Franky roars, chucking the charred blueprints into the sky and watching as it descends into the canyon of Enies Lobby. Iceberg watches it fondly, and Franky roars out louder, “you better give Nico Robin back, because you ain’t getting that Pluton one way or another!” 

Spandam gawks . “You madman! Do you have any idea what you just did?” 

“We did what we should’ve done decades ago!” Iceberg shouts back. “You got a problem with that? Then come down here and say it to our faces!” 

Spandam recoils. “Dammit, both those Tom’s Workers brats… pain in the neck no matter the era…” 

“Robin! Anne!” 

Luffy calls for them, and Robin flinches. Anne sighs, resting her hand on the ledge. 

“Ahh… they came,” she sighs. 

Robin’s teeth grinds. “How many times have I said it… do you all want to die? Why are you so desperate to come in and commit suicide like this?!” 

Luffy looks up, eyes firm. 

“Do you really think you can win?” Robin raises her voice. “Do you even have any idea who you’re fighting against? This isn’t an enemy pirate crew, it’s not the marines, it’s not even an entire island, country, or army! We’re fighting—”

“The world, right?” Luffy interrupts her, and she falters.

Robin looks him in the eye, and Luffy doesn’t look away. 

 “I get it,” he says. And there’s a hint of powerlessness in his voice when he adds, “more than I’d like to, how big the world is.” 

Robin bites down on her bottom lip. “No you don’t. None of you do.” 

Her voice breaks. 

“If you knew, you wouldn’t be here,” she says. “You wouldn’t make me watch it all again. You wouldn’t have accepted me into your crew. You wouldn’t have made me watch it all happen again, when we all know that this is how I was always fated to die!” 

Luffy doesn’t miss the way Nami, Coby, and Usopp tense at that, but he doesn’t turn to look. 

“It didn’t change a thing, did it? You’re just giving me happiness that won’t last,” Robin says, weakly. “You already know that this happiness won’t last. That’s why none of them are looking at me right now.” 

Nami can’t do it. Usopp can’t, either, and Coby can’t bear it. 

They look down, ashamed. 

“Tell me, Seer,” Robin says. “Will I die beside these so-called friends of mine, or will I die alone, in the fires of war, in the hands of the ones I loved?”

No one answers her. 

And that’s answer enough. 

“And you still dare tell me,” Robin says, “that you are trying to save me?” 

 


 

Anne sighs, climbing up to rest on the ledge, nursing her sore leg and getting a better view. She looks down at everyone below— to the new faces, to the old faces. To the determined looks on their faces that doesn’t falter. 

How curious. 

Even though Nami, Usopp, and Coby are crumbling, the others look on, unhesitant. It’s clear that their doubtlessness is influenced by their lack of knowledge, and yet, they don’t let that awareness stop them from pushing their unrelenting trust forward. 

Even then…

“You can’t win,” Anne says. 

All eyes turn to her. 

“The call came, just a moment ago,” she reveals, and Spandam, knowing what she’s referring to, cackles. 

He takes over, “listen to this and tremble, you hapless lots!” he exclaims, “Rob Lucci is already at the entrance of Enies Lobby! You’re cornered like rats!” 

This earns a soft curse from a few of them below, but they don’t break formation at all. 

“And now… this,” 

Spandam takes out something from his pocket—

—a Golden Transponder Snail. 

Robin gasps, but she doesn’t manage to get a word in edgewise. 

“...is insurance,” he declares, as he presses down on it unflinchingly. “I can always blame it on you guys once you’re dead, anyways!” 

“You—!!” Robin’s hands clench down, “do you have any idea what a Buster Call is— that wasn’t necessary! Why—?! Why can’t you be satisfied with just winning the war?!” 

“Shut up, you wench!” the backhand throws Robin to the ground, and the boot that comes down on her shoulder earns a whimper. “It’s your fault things got to this point, to begin with! How dare you try to have an opinion on what I do!” 

Anne doesn’t react to that. 

She glances down at the group, all of which are looking at them with a dry, stern expression on their faces. Even Conis, even Vivi, the animals— silent, solemn.

Waiting for the cue. 

“Nami, Usopp, Coby.” 

The three perk up, when Luffy calls them. He stretches out his hands for the satisfying crack, and heaves a deep breath. 

“What are you so worried about?” Luffy asks them. And there’s a hint of hurt in his voice. “What are you so ashamed for? Who cares about the future? We’re talking about right here, and right now. And right now…” 

He points upward. 

“Our enemy is right there… and all you need to know is that we’re going to win.” 

Who cares if there’s a Buster Call coming front he Fates before them? Who cares if Rob Lucci is behind them? They’re surrounded on all sides after finally coming this far. So what?

“Usopp,” Luffy calls, “shoot down that flag.” 

There’s a crack in his voice as Nami smiles, and Coby holds back tears. 

“Yes, captain,” Usopp says. And as his Haki spreads, so naturally, like a blanket of warmth over all of them— he opens his eyes and Kinoko leans in with only a single direction— forward. He pulls his slingshot back—

And he lets it go. 

The flag of the world government bursts into flames, the light of revolution resonating across the morning sun, burning bright and mighty over the land. 

And every single Strawhat watches it sear into ash, determination in their eyes. 

 


 

“Ah— Are you CRAZY?!” Spandam screams. “Do you have any idea—” 

“What are you doing?!” Robin demands, the fear in her eyes unmatched by any other emotion they’ve ever seen from her. “Why don’t you get it— I don’t— I don’t want any of you to die! Why can’t any of you understand?!” 

Anne’s eyes are wide with horror as she looks upon the burning flag over her head. 

“We can’t win,” she says. And looking down, mortified— she catches Gin’s soft and assuring gaze— and she falters. 

How long has it been, since she’s seen that look on his face? The Man-Demon, the mindless Berserker, who was made only to destroy and murder— he looks upon her with love and welcome, and she can almost hear it. 

(It’s okay. Just leave it to me.)

“But we can’t win!” Anne says, desperate. “We really can’t! I can’t think of any way to win this! We can’t—” 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!” 

Silence across the rooftop. 

Yes, the Strawhats tears their gaze away from the Tower of Justice to Luffy, the undeniable man that just screamed that at the top of his lungs. 

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT! Bring a warship, bring ten, COME AT ME AND I’LL FIGHT THEM ALL MYSELF! DO YOUR WORST!” 

A deep breath. 

“I’M MONKEY D. LUFFY, AND I’M THE MAN WHO’LL BECOME THE PIRATE KING!” 

There’s so much in his voice– raw anger that scrapes at his throat, desperation— fury, and resolve. He’s hurt, that they would ever doubt. That they would ever put his name beneath his own heart and soul. 

He snaps his head back up to yell, once more. 

“YOU TWO ARE GETTING SAVED AND WE’RE ALL GOING HOME WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! GOT IT?!” 

 


 

In the reverberating silence that succeeds that declaration, something unprecedented happens. Against Robin’s wide eyes welling up with tears and Anne’s entire worldview getting torn from its hinges and put back together the opposite way—

Anne laughs

Bursting incessantly, her entire body curling into itself as she clutches her stomach, the frantic laughter spills from her form somewhere deep in her belly, and it’s loud, and it’s taking her breath away. She’s forced between wheezes to take patterned breaths, and then she’s squeaking out in pitched laughter all over again. 

It’s all anyone could do to stare. 

Robin looks at her— starstruck. But as Robin’s eyes wandered to Luffy again— to the way his eyes are firm, resolved, and fueled with rage— and all of the other members of the crew, staring at them just the same way. 

The look of a dozen idiots, all so prepared to leap into hell with her. 

And Robin laughs, too. It comes out first in a breathy wheeze, “pfft—” then, she doubles back, unable to instinctively cover her face because her hands are bound. 

But that’s where the control ends. Her laughter comes out in wispy giggles, tears spilling from her eyes, her nose running, and when she opens her eyes again to look at them all— she laughs, though the tears trail down her cheeks.

She catches sight of Anne, who’s also caught sight of her— and they both explode into a whole renewed round of guffaws at the sight of each other. 

“Sorry— just,” Robin can’t help, “it’s—” 

“I mean—” Anne can’t stop chuckling, wiping away the tears in her eyes from laughing too much. “Robin-san, you’re so ugly when you cry.” 

And Robin snickers at that. 

“Do I?”

How long has it been, since her last full-bellied laughter? Full of exasperation, full of joy, full of genuine amusement. Not a pitiable showmanship to cheer herself up— truly a voice of true happiness, reverberating through her very veins like a resonance of colour, blowing her world into focus once more. 

Robin looks at Anne— and she can’t help but smile. The girl who joined Baroque Works, not knowing emotions beyond constrained, colour-based concepts— now, she laughs so hard she squeaks and honks, she can’t suppress the inelegant way she clutches her stomach, struggling to breath, unable to recompose herself from the stoic calmness she once boasted. 

(How wonderful it is, to laugh.)

Anne reaches up and wipes Robin’s face of tears.

 

Spandam’s irate grinding of teeth beside them, they glance back down to the group once more, a firm smile on their faces. 

Robin is first to yell. “THEN,” a deep breath, “COME AND SAVE US! If you’re going to come to hell with me, if you’re going to die with me even after all of this— then come, and die for all I care!” 

Anne leans against the banisters, still grinning, “I guess if we’re going to die anyways, we might as well die together, right?”

“But,” Robin straightens, and smiles wide, “we’re all going to live… and you’ll take us out to the sea again… that’s your promise.” 

Anne grins, “so, hurry up and get here,” together, “Mister Pirate King!” 

 

In response, Luffy’s hand rests on his hat for a moment, before he turns his finger toward the sky. 

“Yeah,” he says. “WAIT FOR ME!”



Chapter 93: it's a raid (it's a war)

Summary:

The raid begins. They seize the Tower of Justice--- and in the distance, CP9 encroaches. The time for retaliation has come, and the war has just begun.

The world will come to know the Straw Hat Pirates.

Chapter Text

So, it was official.

Franky loved the shit out of these crazy bastards. 

When he glances back, the Franky Family roars, the drawbridge slowly lowering as the Franky Family take over the courthouse. 

“Coby,” Luffy calls, “how long do we have?” 

“If we’re lucky, thirty minutes before the five closest Vice Admirals show up,” Coby says, “but until then, this island is on complete lockdown.” 

Luffy nods. 

Spandam drags Robin around while Anne waves and follows them— somewhere behind. Probably to make their way to the Gates of Justice. There must be another exit.

Franky frowns. “Running back the other way to the rails is our best bet,” he says. The Vice Admirals would most likely be showing up from the gates— “I’ll have to get my kids out, even if Lucci’s that way… but then, we have no escape train.” 

“Who said we’re escaping?” Gin mutters. 

Franky freezes. There’s a noise of surprise and confusion from Iceburg and Paulie respectively. 

Wyper scoffs. “Why would we tear through this armada just to run from it? We earned the land, we get to keep it. Or is that not how it works in the Blue Sea?” 

There’s a soft laugh from Sanji and Vivi at that. 

“No,” Usopp enlightens him, “this is still government land, even if we destroy it.” 

Wyper scowls. “The Blue Sea makes no fucking sense.” 

“But, you know,” Nami says, “it’s just crazy enough for us, don’t you think?” 

Sanji chuckles, “the guerillas have the right mindset, I’ll admit. If you don’t have it, we fight god until we get it. We make our own. That’s just about right.” 

“Oh dear,” Vivi simpers, “my insurance plan might not be needed after all.” 

“Nah,” Coby assures, “me and Nami could have some fun later.”  

“Or Anne could visit her old buddy,” Gin groans, stretching out his limbs, “we’ll figure it out.” 

Vivi struggles to decide if she should burst out laughing or crying, “you guys do know I'm talking about the Tarai Current, not a shopping boat, right?” 

Chopper pipes up, exceedingly unhelpfully, “I’ll need to restock my medical supplies soon.” 

Vivi gives up. 

“Uh,” Iceberg pats her on the shoulder. “Looks like you have it rough, princess.” 

“It’s okay,” Vivi says, miserably, “it’s not all that different from when I infiltrated the organisation of a mob boss that happened to be a Warlord pretending to be a charismatic femme fatale while aiming at things with my left hand to justify not killing too many people while being a murderous bounty hunter.” 

Iceberg falls silent. 

Franky pipes up, “yeah, I know this is very late of me to ask, but what irresponsible fuck-up left any of you unsupervised? I need to give that good bastard a cola for his suffering.” 

“Everyone raise a toast to Great Aniki Franky for his great sacrifice,” Nami and Usopp respond at once. 

“What?”

“Welcome to hell,” Zoro says. “You’re gonna fit in just fine.” 

“Wha—?? I’m not part of your crew what the super fu–” 

Iceberg interrupts, “congrats on the babies, Franky.” 

Franky swings at him. 

Paulie yelps, “there’s no space! Fight OFF the platform! Franky!” he shoots out his ropes to get a lifeline on everyone he can reach, “and stop targeting Iceburg-san!” 

“You see, Chopper,” Coby stage-whispers from one side to the other, “we humans call this ‘forced adoption’.” 

“Oh,” choruses both Chopper and Conis, who was listening in. A moment later, Chopper adds, “just asking for confirmation, but is that also what happened to me?” 

Conis meekly raises her hand, “I’m sorry, am I the weird one for having voluntarily joined?”

Suu and Tyrannosaurus chirp at her. 

“Alright!” Luffy cracks his back, “time to go!”

“Huh? The drawbridge isn’t all down yet Lu—FFY!” half of the crew yelp as Luffy leaps with a warcry. 

“Coming for you, Robin, Anne!” 

Zoro sighs, though he couldn’t resist the instinctive jerk forward to try and grab Luffy back— only to realize Luffy was grabbing his back— and by the time he had the realisation to look around Luffy has wrapped all of them in the rubber get-along bungee of doom and–

“LUFFY YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” 

Luffy laughs, boisterously. 

 


 

Luffy loops his arms around the poor sods on either side that can’t escape— Carue, who has Wyper by his side, who grabs Conis the second he realizes there’s no escape, who clutches Suu and Tyrannosaurus with a light chuckle. 

“Well— gravity’s pretty scary down here, but leaping off heights is nothing new for Sky Islanders,” Conis says in assurance, when Coby shrieks and jerks back up too late onto to be snagged around the belt by Nami, who is determined to make him suffer. 

“Yeah, no,” Nami says, when Coby turns to her pleadingly, “if you’re coming along, you need your fair share of the Luffy phenomenon. You don’t get to call yourself a Strawhat until Luffy does this to you at least from three of the greatest heights of the world.” 

Coby whimpers.

“Ah,” Usopp says, mournfully, only holding onto Luffy’s arm and Kinoko (his Kabuto already folded away) as he reminisces already dissociating from this universe, “I remember the great jump off the Red Line… I lost count of how many times my life flashed before my eyes on the way down.” 

“Are you guys oKAY,” Vivi’s voice breaks, clutching Sanji, who’s unapologetically enjoying all this, “Usopp have you been checked for pTSDeeeee NOOOOO! LUFFY!”

“Yes,” Zoro says, “yes he has. We’re working on it.”  

“He can’t keep getting away with this,” Gin braces himself, glancing at the lifeline that Paulie has tied around his wrist three times because he tried running but Luffy got to him first, and now he’s looped uncomfortably around Franky and Iceburg is staring and he wants to die. 

“The correct question is,” Franky yells, frantically, “WHY DO YOU GUYS KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS?!” 

And Chopper shrieks back, clutching Gin with the fear of god in his eyes, “BECAUSE WE LOVE LUFFY, OKAY?! I DOUBT IT SOMETIMES TOO BUT WE LOVE HIM OKAY? WE DO! I SWEAR!” 

“Why do you sound like you’re trying to convince yourself?!” Paulie yells back. 

Iceberg sighs, looking up at the sky. Reverently, “Tom-san… I’m too old for this shit…” 

Just as everyone’s shrieks reached pitch high, Zoro makes a lurching noise as he dives to fail to catch the cat as she slips off his shoulders, slithering below them—

—and with a giggle from Luffy, the huge furry head of the Going Merry hefts him up. As everyone collapses in the passenger cot, Merry settles daintily on the curve of the drawbridge. Her back closes over with a hood to secure her irate customers, and then, she launches, once more, in a mighty leap toward the Tower of Justice. 

Luffy punches the air, legs bound around her head in his favourite seat as he declares, “GO, MERRY!” 

They soar.

 


 

“Wait, then what are my family supposed to do?!” Franky yells. 

“Huh? Uh,” Gin and Wyper consider that. “Capture the marines and hold down the fort? Create a defensive barrier and set up a defensive line.” 

“Wha— you want us to hold war prisoners and maintain the border?? My boys are super barbaric ship-breakers, not military soldiers!” 

“Uh, I’m really sorry to inform, sir,” Conis begins, “I believe… the correct term for them now in the Blue Sea would be pirate .” 

Leave it to Conis to casually inform their local ruffian that they have inadvertently signed up his entire family to the life of piracy. 

 


 

Kiwi and Mozu, for one, are not at all envious. 

“Alright, split immediately into squadrons!” Kiwi calls. “Each leader takes a Denden from the pack pack Angel-aneki provided to us!” 

Once they’re down from conquering the drawbridge it was now top priority to clear all marines from the courthouse to make it their base of operations. Zambai leads half the troops to form a defensive formation immediately, Sodom and Gomorrah forming physical blockades as they recoup. 

“Go, boys” Mozu roars, “throw them off the chasm if needed!” 

“Murder!” half the group roar. “Revenge for the Franky House!”

(Somewhere on the catbus Nami sneezes.)

“NO MURDER FOR SPORT!” Kiwi snaps, “I told you this already! That was our only condition! Only when necessary!”

Conis had relayed her concerns to them, that there was to be no murder unless necessary. They were prepared to do anything for Franky, and this was war, no place for such naivete— yet, Miss Wednesday had insisted, back on the train when the plan was first conveyed.

 


 

(“Don’t see it as mercy. Don’t see it as naivete,” Miss Wednesday had said. “Please, just help me achieve that. Because if we prove ourselves to not be murderous, cruel lots… prove, that we are just here to save our friends and only to fight back because we were hit first …”)

(She’d looked at them, with such conviction. “Then I promise to you, that in exchange for this tougher burden on you guys, I will turn at least half of our enemies to our side.”)

(When they’d complained, how they were still the ones having to deal with the tougher part of the mission, how it wasn’t a guarantee at all— Iceberg had laughed.)

(“What?” he’d said. “Too tough for you guys? I’d thought Franky would’ve raised more hardheaded subordinates than this.”)

(And well… them’s fighting words.)

 


 

In the pack Conis had left behind, there’s the Den Den Mushi from the towers of the entire island— and more importantly, the Mothers. Connecting them separately, fifty members of the Franky family can stay in minute contact. 

And most of all…

[Squadron 3-5 to the south! We took down the big one!]

“Tamagon! Backup to the south!” Kiwi calls. “Tairiki Destroyers need an ammo up!” 

“Aye, sir!” 

They have the play-by-play of the marine personal Den Dens, too. As long as Kiwi and Mozu keep an ear out on the Den Den Mushi, they’ll always be a step ahead. 

[Where are the Baskervilles? Where’s T-Bone?!]

They’re outnumbered, but never let anyone tell them they’re fair players. Kiwi and Mozu cut down the soldiers that come at them, as the Kairiki Destroyers stand in as their iron shields for their advance. 

“Why don’t you kill me?” 

The soldier asks, when Mozu has planted the sword by his neck, yet, only ties his wrist to the pole in the line for the anything-cannon before leaving. 

“You can shoot us out of that shitty cannon, but we’re not going to die from that much. We’ll come back, and you’ll have to fight again. Isn’t it a waste of energy just to pretend?” 

Mozu sighs. 

“The first time I shot a man, I was fifteen, on the streets of Water Seven, my life in pieces and my dignity in rags,” Mozu says. And with a laugh, “I would kill anyone, if it’s for the man that gave me a reason to hold my head up high again. But instead— this man told me to sing and dance, and have fun— and since then, I’ve had a family, and I’ve never had to hold another life in my hands.” 

She sheathes her sword. 

“Sure. Come back with another sword, once you land. Come back with more of you, come back, guns ablazing,” Mozu says. “Franky-aniki said the same to us when he picked us up all those years ago on the streets— Bring it on! We’re the Super Franky Family, and we’ll endure all you can fire at us. Even a train, if you choose to run it our way, we’ll stop it, no matter what, and we’ll always accept your challenge if you threaten to separate our family. Because that’s what it means to live life with a Don , you know?” 

When the Baskervilles come, Kiwi and Mozu throw their swords forward with a mighty roar, and when they split the ridiculous trio of bizzarity apart, Yokozuna leaps in with a mighty sumo shove that sends them careening right out and into the chasm down below. 

“The hall is clear!” someone roars. 

“The hall is clear!” Kiwi and Mozu echo into the Den Den. “Zambai, proceed to the second floor and the basement. Move!” 

Outside, Sodom and Gomorrah roar as an impenetrable wall alongside Kashii and Oimo. No soldiers from outside may come in, and they can only watch helplessly as soldiers are literally fired out of cannons back into the city of Enies Lobby, the fortress unrelenting. 

“Franky Family to Strawhats! Franky Family to Strawhats!” Kiwi calls, “Taken down the Baskervilles, the courthouse is 40% clear! Still no sign of Vice Admiral T-Bone!” 

 


 

“Don’t worry, Vice Admiral T-Bone won’t be a problem,” Miss Wednesday calls, settling the Mushi along Kinoko’s side. “Focus on the siege. We’ll conquer the Tower of Justice and get back to you soon!” 

[Got it!] Kachack.

Short break on the catbus. 

“Alright, anyone wants to give us a headsup on their plan for the tower?” Nami asks, pulling her axe out of an inconspicuous gap on the catbus, tucking it to her back. 

“I’ll stay back with Usopp-san,” Conis says, mending the hole in her jacket, replacing the hole through the train print with an embroidered flower. “Please come my way if anyone needs first aid.” 

Wyper says, “it’s my turn on the Eagle Launcher.” 

“Wouldn’t going in directly be a faster fight than firing from a distance?” Franky asks. 

“I, for one,” Paulie says, “do not trust the blind guy to not jump off the nearest high platform again. I’m going with him.” 

“I’m going to fight too!” Chopper says. 

“What am I doing here?” Iceberg asks, “I think it’s too late to ask that, but what am I doing here?” 

“Ah, Iceberg-san! Wanna come with me to raid the important looking archives?” Coby asks, “also, would you like to talk business? I can call Uncle Gon.” 

“Oh come on!” Usopp groans, “that guy did nothing! Don’t give him any credit!” 

“The first thing we have to do is clear out the soldiers there… and get Robin and Anne back,” Sanji says. “How do you get from the Tower to the gate?” 

“Underwater passage,” Nami says. “I’ll show the way, but I’ll need Suu and that little mouse, the secret passageways are a bit foggy to me, too. Gin, you’re with me?” 

“Yeah,” Gin responds easily. 

“Zoro, we need you on vanguard,” Vivi says. “For real this time.” 

“It wasn’t real last time?”

“Yeah? Because you got lost three minutes in??”

Then, the teams were easy to split from there. Fighting the soldiers would be Zoro at the front, with Conis, Wyper, Franky, Paulie, Chopper, and Usopp holding up the rear. Carue and Merry will be helping them out, of course. 

“Sanji and Vivi?” Chopper asks. 

“We’ll be around,” they assure.

Vaguely, but alright. Now, all attention turns to Luffy, who’s standing on Merry’s head, looking behind them. Even when Merry lands weirdly gently on the vertical wall of the tower and starts running upward, he doesn’t even flinch, eyes locked in the distance. 

Only when they land smoothly at the roof and they alight does he make his way to the edge of the tower, looking toward the Enies Lobby entrance, face pulled firm. 

“You guys get Robin and Anne back, and clear the place,” he says. “ That guy’s mine.” 

It doesn’t take more than that for half the strawhats to break off running, leaving a confused Paulie, Iceberg, and Franky behind as they leap clear off the side of the building. Looking back, they realize the only entrance to the rooftop— a stairway— has been thoroughly collapsed, shattered into rubble. 

When? But they don’t have the time to ponder, right then, Wyper snags Franky, Conis waves and hollers for Paulie and Iceburg— and before they knew it, they were all doing ropeless bungee as a horribly unprepared Paulie shrieks bloody murder about round two. 

“See you at victory, Captain!” Nami blows him a kiss before leaping off the edge of the tower, followed immediately by Sanji and Vivi, and Gin, and then everyone else. 

“Save one of them for me!” Zoro calls, also going down the shortcut to hell, “I’ll be back soon.” 

“Don’t have too much fun yet!” Franky yells, “once we get this tower I’m throwing Kaku a goddamn punch myself!” 

(Nami sneezes again.) 

Paulie’s not okay, “HOW ARE WE LANDING?!” 

To which several voices yell, “THANKS, PAULIE!” 

“I FUCKING HATE YOU GUYS!” 

Luffy bursts out laughing. “I’ll be right here!”

In the distance, though neither of them could see each other— they felt it, deep in their bones. Right now, Rob Lucci and Monkey D. Luffy were looking at each other, only waiting to finally be in each others’ sights. 

And then, the battle would begin.

 


 

Honestly, to say the soldiers stationed in the Tower of Justice are having a bad day? Major understatement. 

The soldiers were lined up and everything, nervous, tense, fists balled and trembling as they armed at the ready with their guns at the front door and every window across the entry hall. It’s completely silent, breaths were held. Everyone heard the pirates land on the roof. They would be here any second now. 

Coby could understand. He remembers his first standby and siege— it was Marineford. He was shaking, his heart thundered and his chest constricted, he could see, he couldn’t hear— all he knew was look forward, look sharp , and you’ll probably die today, but this is what you signed up for . So, try your best to make this last more than a minute.

Only for everyone to start scrambling for their lives, breaking formation before the first strike. Ah, fond memories. 

Now, though. 

It takes exactly one three-sworded swing to clear half the floor, and as Coby glances up to see how many are on standby at the ledges, he laughs, because the people sent flying skyward are in the way of the snipers up top. The tall roof is working against them. 

Taking advantage of that lull, Nami leaps in with her axe while Gin slides in with her Eisen Dial, formed into a gigantic mallet. They covered both sides as Chopper slides in with his Horn Point to clear what’s left of the forecenter of the floor.

Before the people up top can regather themselves, Usopp is whistling a sharp three, two— at one , Wyper and Conis on either side of him pull the triggers on their bazookas. The Eagle Launcher decimates a crater into the wall just as the Burn Bazooka sears erratic patterns across the hall. Usopp pulls back his slingshot— just as the largest soldier, at least a Sergeant Major, leaps at them in an all-or-nothing plunge with something that looked like a bomb— Usopp releases his shot, and it caves his ribs in, throwing him back.

The bomb falls, and there’s Merry, who’s landed the last, morphing right back into her humanoid form as she pounces forward, just in time to unhinge her jaw and swallow the explosion whole. 

As it erupts in her stomach, she lands with a little twirl to stop her momentum. Still in crouch, she licks her lips, satisfied as she glances back at the soldiers, a grin tickling at the corners of her mouth. 

Coby takes all of a moment to be starstruck before Mister Prince is leading him away, Kinoko coming in with them. Iceberg is staring defeatedly at mayhem before him, still unable to tear his eyes away as if he were watching a magnificent trainwreck he just couldn’t miss, until Miss Wednesday takes him by the shoulder and leads him away to bigger matters. 

Franky is shrieking, “WHAT THE— hey, don’t leave me out! Franky’s Weapons Left coming through!” And there goes the rapid-fire. 

Paulie is at the end of the line, clinging to Carue, legs trembling like a baby deer as Suu murmurs something at him and Tyranno looks awfully disappointed in his pathetic display. 

“That’s enough…” Paulie knows he’s sulking, eyes buried in the meager comfort of his folded arms and Carue’s feathers, “that’s enough already. I wanna go home…” 

Also, he’s getting blisters from catching and landing everyone safely. He always knew his decades of experience in the shipyard would come in handy one day, but he’ll never have suspected it would be for hauling humans up from certain death because they were collectively being morons.

Nami laughs, tucking her axe to her back as she doubles back to scoop up Suu and Tyranno. 

“Gin!” she calls, and Gin, too, takes a step back, returning the Eisen Dial to its shell and handing it back to Nami, a hand looping around her waist as she firmly sets her elbow on his back. “Alright— Zoro, if you would please?”

Zoro, firm in position with three swords, swings right now. 

“180-pound Phoenix!” 

The slash sears through the air, and Nami leads Gin off in two steps, then a flick of the Cyclone on her Clima Tact— to catch them both on the momentum of the gale, following the flying blade forth into the ground. 

“See you guys later!” Nami calls back. 

“We’ll be back with those two!” Gin adds. 

“Yeah!” comes everyone’s response. 

Zoro huffs. “Alright, now how do I get back up to where Luffy is?” 

 


 

Spandam drags them through secret passageways, grumbling the whole way about needing to handle both of them. Marine soldiers led them through in neat marching rows on either sides of them, boxing them in formation. 

“Don’t push your luck, Marianne,” Spandam snarls, “as long as I have your assignment code, I can shut you down anytime.” 

Anne rolls her eyes. “You need me alive and active.” 

“You think that’s a threat right now? Rob Lucci’s never going to die!” he snaps, slapping her across the face and urging a sting to the corners of her eyes, “you’ve always been a spare! I’ll shut you down, and sure, it’ll be permanent, but I’m sure we can scrap your materials for something better!”

Anne’s eyes are cold as she looks up at Spandam, sighing deeply. 

When she notices Robin glancing at her, Anne hums. 

“For Berserkers, their shutdown code turns off their instincts, and leaves them a little disoriented,” Anne says. “Gin’s always in shutdown mode. But for Directors… we’re threats, if not controlled. So, our shutdown code sets off something right here.” 

She gestures at her throat. 

“So, we won’t be able to command afterward. Ever again.” 

Robin’s lips purse unpleasantly, eyes furrowing at that. She would have a hard time unlatching the seastone while it’s tied behind her— but it didn’t seem like Spandam had the key either. It would be best to run before they ended up underground in narrow space surrounded by armed soldiers— but if Anne was at stake, she can’t. 

And Spandam’s aware of this. That’s why he’s taking Anne by the hair, leaving Robin to follow, almost too obediently. 

They walk on, as Spandam opens the heavy safe doors and marches through the underwater bridge to the Gates of Justice. 

“No suspicious moves!” Spandam snaps at Anne, who fusses her hair back into place. “Once we’re through here, there’s no way to be saved. It’s straight to Impel Down with you two!” 

Anne hums. 

Robin sighs. 

“Okay, then,” Anne says. “I still want to see the Gates of Justice before we go.” 

Robin hums back. “Then, I’ll leave you to it.” On either sides there are at least twenty soldiers. She can’t fight back without her Devil Fruit. 

But, 

“I think we can do without the escort, though.” 

Spandam jerks toward Robin to snarl at her, right as a strained series of cracks shudder through Anne’s hands. He whips back around too late to see the shackles fall from Anne’s oddly-bent wrists— but then, Robin’s heel is in his jaw and everything goes black. 

The guns don’t rise quickly enough.

In such a narrow space, there’s no range for gunned soldiers, little lighting to make sense of, and most of all— as cramped as their formation is, they’re hesitant to respond instantly. 

That’s why, when Anne’s fingers strain back into place and wrap around one gun as she crawls up to one soldier’s shoulders— she’d already won. 

“Wait— don’t shoot, you’ll hit him, too!” 

“Crap— she’s too small! Grab her!” 

“Can’t, she’s slippery—” 

“Forget her, get Nico Robin!” 

“Don’t shoot!” 

“Knives won’t work! She doesn’t feel pain vividly enough to be affected by it!” 

The fingers close over a soldier’s skull— little legs entwine around his neck— and the moment of horror is all he has before his neck snaps sharply in the wrong direction and all muscles go instantly limp. 

Anne uses his fall as a launching pad into the next target, nailing a heel right in the nuts, aiming for the eyes, and finally— stealing a gun just to swing around like a bat. 

When a face split open by the barrel of a gun paints the walls a splash of red, Anne runs her hands over it, and smears it across with her bare foot.

“Formation! Line up, on the count of three, two—!!” 

Anne hops back from the formation she’d drawn on the ceiling, and points at it with a grin. “Bullfight Red!” 

“One!” 

But all gunfire aimed skyward, and before they could understand what they’d done— the entrance of the safe shattered from the rally, and the entrance to the underground bridge collapsed, rubble piling up firmly in a solid cave-in. 

Shutting away half the marine soldiers, along with Spandam, on the other side. 

Anne steps into Robin’s back as Robin giggles, “I didn’t think you had it in you, Miss Goldenweek,” she muses, holding her bound arms behind her as Anne pried out a pin from the seams of Robin’s dress to pick the lock. “Dislocating your wrist like that— is it true when they say your pain sensors aren’t quite adept?”

“No,” Anne frowns, visibly struggling with the lockpicking as the marine soldiers are regaining their formation, lining up with their swords now, surrounding them on all sides. “It still hurts. I’ve just never been taught how to react to pain.” 

Robin isn’t nervous at all, despite the soldiers staring them down. 

She casually continues her conversation with Anne. “I do recall you firing an Impact Dial without much reaction during the Davy Back fight.” 

Anne thinks of that. Noncommittally, she huffs. 

“That was okay.” 

Robin chuckles, “you’re still young, I’m sure no one will blame you if you cry when you’re in pain,” she assures. “You might even get comforted. That would be nice.” 

Anne considers that. “Yes,” she relents. “It would be.” 

There’s a click between their handcuffs. 

“That’s far enough!” the soldier yells. There’s a clear shaking in his voice. “Even if you get past us, don’t think for a second you can get out of Enies Lobby!” 

Ironic. Right now, they’re in a tower with no windows, the only way out a long stairwell filled to the brim with soldiers, and they’ve just made a dead end for themselves along the way to the only other exit— the bridge to the Gates of Justice.

They’re, in all accounts, trapped in the basement of the Tower of Justice. 

And yet, Anne is comfortable, and Robin smiles. 

(They don’t understand, and they’re so, so afraid, of how they can be so confident in themselves, even in such a devastating situation.)

Anne wrings out her fingers, wincing at the parts she’d dislocated and relocated moments before to get out of the shackles. 

“There’s no way?” Anne sighs. “Well… no. There’s a way.” 

When the smile tickles its way up Anne’s face into a wide grin, Robin stretches out her fingers as well, the shackles falling to the ground with a dull thud.

“Cipher Pol was originally a plan to complete missions, to become the reliable weapons of justice, to be the symbols of salvation for people that worked behind the scenes,” Anne says. “That was what we were made for, but we became symbols of death, symbols of assassination, emblems of corruption, instead. Only ever stepping in for what the Government deemed worthwhile, sacrificing all others.” 

That’s why she had to run. That’s why she had to leave. 

That’s why she’ll never be better than Rob Lucci. 

“I was made to be the Flag Bearer of Freedom,” she says. “Maybe I’ll never be the Weapon that simply assumes Absolute Justice, like Rob Lucci is, but I can do one thing… and that is to Direct the road to freedom.” 

Robin lays her hands gently on Anne’s shoulders, and Anne rests her hand on top of hers. 

“Right now…” Anne promises, looking straight into the soldier’s eyes, “I don’t know how we could win, but I don’t see a single way my Captain could ever lose.“ 

”Oh really?” 

When the crowd parts for a single man, not in a marine uniform— Anne tenses, and Robin’s arms raise to prepare to fight. 

The man with weasel-like features scoffs. 

“Very much like you to shut off our supervisor so easily. But we all know he’s the weakest link in CP9,” he says. “Nice to know you learned to rebel, Marianne. It’s been a dream of mine to properly chase down a malfunctioning Director.” 

Anne’s breath holds as it dawns on her who she’s looking at. 

While Kumadori, Fukurou, and Jabra had been from more recent, less experienced generations— this one. This one , she recognizes. 

“Robin,” she steps back. 

“Do I go for it?” Robin asks, just in case. 

“As messily as possible, because we won’t be able to run from this one,” Anne says. “073-N was scrapped early, but he was in Gin’s generation.” 

The man chuckles, “call me Nero! Isn’t that the trend?”

Anne lowers her tone, her face scrunched up in disgust. “If Smoker never showed up, this guy would’ve been our Chaser.” 

And that meant more than strength. 

It meant that he was capable of suppressing both Gin and Anne. He had the capability to— even if not the raw power, he was made to win against them. 

“Dos Fleur.” 

Robin didn’t hesitate to snap  his neck violently in the wrong direction. 

And from there, the marine soldiers around them lunged. 

 


 

“The courthouse is under control!”

“Backup! We need backup at the courthouse, the Baskervilles have been taken down!” 

“Coast is clear on south side of the courthouse!” 

“Reporting! Some of the Strahats are in the courthouse! We presume the other half is in the Tower of Justice!” 

“We’ve lost the first through third floors of the courthouse! Only remaining soldiers in the basement must evacuate through the tunnels! We repeat—!” 

“This is the courthouse rooftop team, we’ve determined that there are NO Strawhats in the courthouse! The ruffians are calling themselves the Franky Family ! We suspect they are an offshoot under the Strawhat Flag—” 

“Contact to the Tower of Justice has been cut off!” 

“This is the Tower of Justice! There is no sign of any Strawhats!” 

“What in the world is going on here?” Kaku frowns at the Den Den Mushi on hand as they Soru their way toward the battle, as quickly as they can. 

“I suppose they’ve taken away our means of communication and information,” Kalifa sighs, stopping briefly. “No wonder the soldiers are panicking down there.” 

One of those voices also sound suspiciously like Zambai in a falsetto, how did he think he’d get away with that? 

“Doesn’t matter,” Lucci says. “Strawhat is at the Tower of Justice— and beyond that, it’s not our business. 

They delivered Nico Robin and Marianne to Enies Lobby— now, they just have to kill all of them, and their job is done. Everything else, it’s Spandam’s neck on the line and they couldn’t give less of a shit if they tried. 

“The threats are first and foremost, Burglar Cat Nami,” Lucci says. “Followed by Strawhat Luffy, Nico Robin, and lesser, the Pirate Hunter. And to keep an eye out… the Seer, as well.” 

Egin isn’t a threat. And Marianne, a non-issue. 

All the others are small-fry, as far as they’re concerned. The bounty names are the ones to look out for— the rest, Lucci can pretend they don’t exist. 

“Kalifa, you’re assigned to the Burglar Cat,” it almost goes without saying. “Kaku will take Nico Robin and locate the Seer… I’ll handle the others.” 

 


 

No matter how strong they were, being outnumbered this intensively was rough. Zoro’s big attacks can only get them so far, and Nami may be a wide-ranged fighter, but even she had her limits. And Usopp had limited ammunition without pop greens. 

And it all begins with Conis’ Burn Bazooka running out of gas. She falters, clicking the trigger multiple times, before reaching back, for the spare dial in her belt. 

“Behind you!” 

She jerks back too late— the soldier is in sword range, and her bazooka is still without fuel— but by then, Paulie’s shoving her aside, taking the blade swing right down the torso.

The denim of his jacket got in the way, but the sword plunged down on a shoulder bone and crammed right through it, leaving a deep streak.

“Paulie-san!” Conis gasps. 

That startled call alarms Chopper, and in his moment turning back to catch what had happened— he felt a bullet go through his shoulder. 

“Chopper?” Usopp perks up, from his spot far in the back. He couldn’t see what happened— just the haunting, abrupt feeling of Chopper’s voice weakening. 

He doesn’t sense the ambush from behind until the spear has gone through someone’s shoulder, digging gouge in—

Wyper’s shoulder. 

There’s a deep curse in Franky’s throat. His eyes are wide— this can’t be happening. Conis is horrified, and Usopp’s biting back self-hatred, she can feel it. She feels someone grab her by the shoulder and shove her down and she curses. Within seconds there are bigger, stronger men over her figure, and Franky has to sweep in to get them off. 

But—

“DON’T LOOK AWAY!” 

Wyper yells. 

And everyone freezes. Wyper takes the spear, still embedded in the bone of his shoulder, and gets up, startling the soldier as the soldier braces himself for what he’d surely believed to be the end of his luck. 

Wyper isn’t looking at him though. 

“Why are you faltering?” 

Conis doesn’t know who he’s talking to. It must be her— Maybe it’s everyone. 

“Why are you so shocked? Why are you stopping?!” Wyper’s voice raises with each question. He finally screamed, yanking the blade out of his shoulder, “THIS IS A BATTLEFIELD! You think you have time to regret your mistakes here? WHAT DO YOU THINK WAR IS?”

And all at once, the Strawhats moved. 

Conis lunges forward with a roar for courage, Breath dial in hand. Paulie has the opposite in ropes so she runs the heel of her gloves against it and the sparks ignite , right as Paulie drags her back and covers her bodily in the explosion. 

Chopper shifts to Guard Point as the soldiers start dogpiling him, and he throws many of them off, right into a perfect shooting trajectory for Usopp. Riding Carue, Conis and Paulie jump on, for a quick escape. 

Merry leaps in, and Chopper is taken out of his spot so Franky can swing out a Strong Right with the new space opened up. 

“Wyper—” 

“Just stop the bleeding,” Wyper hisses out. “We need a new plan. We can’t last like this. Where’s the longnose?” 

Usopp heaves a breath, straining to focus as the Strawhats gathered up again, back to back, in the center of the room. Chopper hurries to mend Wyper’s wounds as Conis hurries to Paulie’s—

—right. It’s hard to remember.

With how they’ve always dealt with everything before, it’s hard to remember that right now— Usopp isn’t among his old crew, where everyone was stronger than him and everyone held their own in battle. 

Now, there are those that are weaker than him. There are those with infinitely less experience in a big battle like this one. 

This is normal for Usopp and Nami, but in this crowd, only Wyper has ever been in such an outnumbered situation like this before— and back on Upper Yard, he didn’t have to worry about his fellow warriors because they were all prepared to die. 

Now, everyone’s just dragging Wyper down, including Usopp. 

“Wyper,” Usopp backs up against him as Wyper stays on the ground, shoulder getting quickly stitched back together by Conis. Chopper’s looking at Paulie’s burns. 

“Save your bullshit,” Wyper growls. 

“Take charge.” 

Wyper freezes.

Lifting his head, “huh?” 

“Zoro’s missing,” Usopp says. “He probably wandered off. So right now… we don’t have a heavy hitter other than you and Franky, and it’s easy to know which one we’d all trust more.” 

Franky scoffs at that. He’s not offended, but he guards out the perimeters of the group as they recoup to strategize and it’s clear this is more than he can handle. 

Wyper clicks his tongue at that. 

“This is why I said,” he snarls, “you all underestimate war.” 

They do. 

Merry reloads the Burn Bazooka for Conis. Chopper mends Paulie’s wounds as tightly as he can against his burnt clothing, and Carue is blocking off the injured from sniper trajectory. 

“I’m not a tactician,” he says, getting up and reaching for the bazooka again. “But tell me, how are the Marine soldiers ranked? Which are the Squad Commanders?”

Ah, Coby or Nami would know this better. 

“Ensigns and above have a coat,” Paulie says. “Depends on the person, but anyone with a suit rather than the uniform is Lieutenant Commander.” 

Wyper frowns. “The ones wearing neither uniform nor suit?” 

“Captains,” Usopp says. “If I give you coordinates, will you be able to tell which guy I’m talking about?” 

There’s a moment for everyone to think.

“No,” Wyper says. “But isn’t that your job?” 

Usopp’s silent. 

A moment later, he adds, “there are six captains in this hall. Sixteen lieutenant commanders.” And eight of us, counting Merry and Carue. 

“Alright!” Wyper gets up, “how’s our artillery?” 

“I’m ready this time!” Conis assures. She slings the dials around her workbelt. 

“My Rumble just ran out. I’ll need a while before I can use another stably,” Chopper says. “Until then, I’ll stick around Carue. I’ve got tranquilizers and such, I took some from the soldiers.”

“Hey, duck,” Franky turns to Carue, “you got Cola in that pack?” 

Carue squints at him skeptically. 

“Myah!” comes Merry, a glass bottle of cola so frigid and icy it’s still laced with ice fractals. 

“Oh! I like you, sheep baby!” 

“I’m running out of Firebirds,” Usopp says, “my normal shots can only get me so far… ah,” he finds Merry squeezing in to cling to his waist and then there’s something pressed into his hand. “Well, well…” 

“Oh, are those okay?” Chopper asks. “I didn’t know how to separate them, I just took them all from the soldiers along the way.” 

Guns. Lots of marine-assigned rifles, magazines, and even small bomb units and blades. Merry had most of them stored in her stomach now. 

“They’re perfect.” 

Usopp goes through them all one by one, grabbing them quickly before putting them back down— he finds two and tosses them to Franky without looking. 

Baffled, Franky stares at them for a moment— how did he know which bullets worked with his Strong Right? He’s right, too. 

“Everyone’s got a Mushi?” Wyper asks. 

No response. But it’s a clear affirmative.There are multiple shuffles and clicks, safeties thumbed down, bullets clattering with its holsters, and straps whirring to a secure taut against belts and jackets. 

“Follow Usopp’s directions!” 

If there’s one thing Usopp can do, it’s aim well. 

 


 

“I’ll be honest… I forgot I had this.” 

Vivi’s embarrassed, clutching the Seastone bangle in her hands. Sanji chuckles. 

“I’m glad to know your inopportune forgetfulness hasn’t changed.” 

Vivi’s cheeks are flushed, “I don’t even think I packed this. It’s got to be Kohza that messed with my luggage, he pretty much emptied my room out, I didn’t even get to choose which clothes I brought with me, he shoved me out the window onto Carue and I was just off on the next commercial ship with tickets I didn’t even know he bought.” 

Sanji bursts out laughing, “reverse kidnapping, huh?” 

They find themselves at the back of the tower of justice, where whirlpools curdle up the seas toward the gate. There’s nothing but boxes and a seemingly useless rowboat around, with no signs of any way to go except back the way they came, circling the perimeters once more. 

“No one’s even guarding this place,” Vivi says. “Ideally, this would be the best place to get ahead of them all to the gate’s platform, but it’s not a traversable path at all.” 

“It if isn’t, then why is there a boat here?” 

When Sanji says that, Vivi pauses. 

Coby had told them to go down this way. He saw in the blueprints it was a small supply route only used during designated times, so even though he knew little of the structure of the Tower of Justice from the blueprints, he knew this was their best bet outside of the narrow underground paths that were just death traps. 

Looking at all this though…

“Hey, that Coby fellow,” Vivi says, “he’s Nami and Usopp’s friend, right? And Luffy’s, too.” 

“Yeah,” Sanji says. 

“And he helped Gin-san by getting us a doctor around Mock Town?” 

“Yeah,” Sanji says once more. That’s after Vivi came by— it’s a long time, and there’s just never enough time to catch up with what Vivi’s missed out on. 

So, so much. 

“I know I shouldn’t doubt him, but… is he why Nami and Usopp know so much?” she asks. “Now, too, and back then, all the way from that time at the Twin Capes… is he the reason?” 

Sanji takes a drag of his cigarette. 

“Yeah.” 

He doesn’t blame her for being conflicted. Usopp and Nami relied on that knowledge to make Vivi throw years of her plan away— sure, it all turned out fine, but now, Vivi’s coming to face the culprit of that whole ordeal.

“Vivi,” Sanji begins, “there’s something you need to know about Nami and Usopp.” 

Vivi takes that in. 

“Yes, there is, isn’t it?” she chuckles, “it’s long overdue.” 

Sanji nods, “but for now… can you fight without knowing? Just until all this is over?” 

“You’re asking a lot out of me,” Vivi huffs. “But even if Princess Vivi cannot… Miss Wednesday can, and she will. So, stay by my side until then, Mister Prince?” 

Sanji smiles. 

“Through hell and high water, Miss Wednesday.” 

Miss Wednesday’s lips pull into a toothy grin, and the seastone bangle pulls taut against the iron strings of the Peacock Slasher against her knuckles. 

“Alright! Miss Wednesday and Mister Prince, take three!” 

 


 

“Hold the fort!” 

“Don’t let up, they’ll be here any second!” 

“We’re buying as much time as we can, got it? The Franky Family won’t falter here!” 

As much as they were trying to stay strong, they, too, were falling behind. Exhaustion was seeping in, and though ammunition was plenty, there was a limit. They managed to clear a majority of the courthouse, but more were coming at them, over and over, endlessly. 

The Buster Call wasn’t even there yet— and now,

“Causing a ruckus as always.” 

Zambai spins around and he feels the hand coming for his throat— but by then, his feet are off the ground, the wind crackles against his ears, and next— his body is sunken into the thick brick formations of a wall up a floor, and he has no idea what’s just happened. 

By the time he reaches for the nearest cannon and aims it down the hole in his flight path, Rob Lucci has taken down the Kairiki Destroyers, and Kalifa has Mozu by the hair as Kiwi lays on the ground, unresponsive. 

Just as Zambai wonders where Kaku is— there’s a still in the air. 

He sees the flash come his way— no, it’s everywhere. It’s across the entire diameter of the building. It’s soaring, and it’s soaring rapidly—

—that blade

But he can’t dodge it. It’s wide, it’s coming from below, and it will hit him and beyond him and it will go further. There is nowhere he can run, but even if there was— his body is petrified, and he abruptly realizes that being thrown to the second floor with a backhand to the throat was not good

Thirty-six pound Phoenix!” 

Just as Zambai’s life flashed before his eyes several times over the light leading to hell— a blade swings down over his left, and he stills as it whistles clean over him, followed by another and then a pair of feet. 

Roronoa Zoro parries the flying Rankyaku and splits it clean apart, and it dissipates left and right to leave holes in the wall around them. 

Holes in the layered, enclosed, bedrock brick walls around them. 

Zoro lands in a crouch on the ground floor with a sigh, spinning Kogatana around his fingers, brows raised. 

“What? How did all of you guys end up at the tower? Huh, weird.” 

There’s a lull in the air before the entire Franky Family, eyes wide and jaws agape, scream , tears spilling out of their eyes and gratitude engraved upon their souls for their newfound respect for the man sculpted personally by god. 

“RORONOAAAAA!!!” 

Zoro looks around him, and then out the open back door to the broken drawstring bridge and the Tower of Justice on the other side. 

“Weird. How’d the tower get over there?” 

“RORONOA!” everyone screams in despair. 

“There goes his cool moment,” Kiwi murmurs. 

“Well, whatever,” Zoro grins, returning Kogatana to the string around his chest, and reaching for his katana. “I was itching for a real fight, anyways.” 

He points it straight at Kaku, who comes in through the door, eyes lowered with hostility against the man that dared to destroy his Rankyaku with a butter knife

Kalifa scoffs. And Lucci sighs. 

“We don’t have time to waste with you, Pirate Hunter.” 

Kalifa steps back with a jerk as Mozu takes the chance to retaliate, spinning around and swinging her heel clean over against Kalifa’s knees. She misses, but her hair is set free, and she drags herself and Kiwi past Zoro, to the crowd for first aid. 

Kalifa sighs longsufferingly, leveling a gaze at the swordsman. 

“This is sexual harassment. I’m going on ahead.” 

“Go,” Lucci says, and in the same breath the word came out of him, Kalifa vanishes with a violent Soru that ripples out like a reverberating impact. 

“There’s only two of them!” Zambai roars, from the second floor, “Franky Family—!” 

“Stop it,” Zoro calls. “This one belongs to the Captain. Let him through.” 

Lucci’s brows raise. “Awfully confident of you,” he says. “As expected, this is simply a crew that thinks they’ve got it made just because they’ve had prominence in Paradise.” 

Zoro’s brows furrow. 

Kaku scoffs, eyes rolling. “This is a waste of time, I’m going on a—” 

Kaku jerks back, violently, as the blade swings overhead, and even as he ducks further it still nearly takes his nose.. He gains momentary balance to sic a heel sharply at Zoro’s jaw, before backing off three steps. 

Zoro scoffs. Clearly cringing at the new bruise at his chin. 

“Jumped back pretty far, didn’t you?” 

Kaku clicks his tongue. 

A glance to the sign proves Lucci is gone. That’s fine— their orders were already given. All that’s left is to finish the mission. 

“Are you sure?” Kaku straightens, reaching for his own swords. “I’m sure the Burglar Cat had you stay in the Tower because you were a prominent fighting force. She’s got the most experience, so leaving it all for the big fish might not be a smart idea.”

Zoro scoffs. 

“Are you fucking stupid?” He points his sword forward. “Since when did I become Nami’s henchman? She can give all the orders she wants, but she's just the Navigator.” 

His fists whiteknuckle with rage. 

“I swore my loyalty to the King of the Pirates, and so did Nami when she joined this crew,” he glares, “you better get that straight, because you all have a twisted idea of who you should be watching out for on this crew.” 

Kaku curses. 

They dismissed the Pirate Hunter, because he was just a member of the crew. Sure, he defeated Daz Bones, and a variety of other track records— but compared to the actual threats on this crew? He should’ve been a hit and go. 

So why?

(Why is Kaku’s feet planted to the ground, and his shoulders shriveling up instinctively?)

(It’s as if he’s facing up against a predator animal.)

“Your opponent here is me,” Zoro sets himself up with all three of his swords. “Take pride, because you’re fighting the man who’ll one day be the World’s Greatest Swordsman.” 

(It’s the aura of a Conqueror, and Kaku recognizes this so viscerally, he’s breathless.)