Similarities

After every successful defeat of some big baddie on some new adventure on the sea, it was customary for the Strawhat Crew to eat, drink and be merry in the only way they knew how: with utmost chaos and insanity. Very often, they would turn the place that they had just saved from said bad guy upside down in their quest for merriment, and their appreciative new friends would simply participate in the festivities instead of worrying about how they were supposed to clean up whatever mess the captain of the Strawhats and his crew made after they left.

This particular celebration, however, was a tad more quiet than the last. The reason for having said party was blindingly obvious. Donquixote Doflamingo, the Heavenly Demon of the Shichibukai, defeated at the hands of a pirate alliance that was sure to cause more headaches for the Marines in the months ahead. The festivities, however, were a little marred by the fact that half the Strawhat crew, namely their cook, their navigator, their doctor and their musician, were at that moment onboard the Thousand Sunny, far away from where they currently were. The crew on Dressrosa had made efforts to contact them after Doflamingo's defeat, but their Den Den Mushi was either not attended to or simply off the hook. The crew, understandably worried, had wanted to immediately set off on a makeshift ship built by their shipwright, but their captain had grinned merrily before shrugging off their concerns.

"Sanji, Brook, Nami and Chopper are strong. They're okay. I just know it."

At that, the rest of the crew had simply smiled as their captain demanded a huge party and as much meat as the island held. They trusted the future pirate king, after all, and no one was more aware of his crew's abilities than him.

Despite Luffy's reassurances, there was a strange shroud of gloominess in the air as Robin, Zoro, Ussop and Franky tried to have a good time. The party was massive, just like how the Strawhats usually enjoyed it, but there appeared to be something bizarre about not having Nami tossing debts around at people for spilling food on her, or Brook's expert violin playing that filled up the atmosphere with merriment, or Chopper's adorable attempts to eat as quickly as Luffy, or, perhaps more prominantly of all, the food that Sanji had expertly prepared and that they had all gotten used to during their time at sea. The food that they were currently eating was good, but it was nothing compared to the brilliant fare that they usually ate. Even Zoro, Sanji's archrival, had to admit that there was just something inexplicably special about meals prepared by the curly-browed cook.

If Luffy felt any sort of letdown by the quality of the food, however, he didn't appear to show it. He was, most reasonably, more concerned with spending some quality time with his miraculously alive older brother, who seemed just as excited and happy to see him and who apparently had just as great a panchent for loud noises and buffoonery as his younger sibling. Luffy could be seen having a wildly chaotic playtime with his brother, all whilst chewing meat and shooting his crew excited looks, eager for them to have as much fun as he was having.

Usopp really wanted to try, but he simply couldn't. Even after Zoro had very patiently (and proudly) explained to the sniper that he had somehow awakened his first traces of observational haki during his long-range sniping of Sugar, he just couldn't bring himself to feel as happy as he normally would until he could meet up with his entire crew and brag about it. One look at Franky indicated to him that the shipwright also wasn't feeling as super as he could be, even after he had won in a contest of hard-boiledness and succesfully aided the Tontattas in their quest to defeat Doflamingo.

"It feels strange, doesn't it, Usopp-kun."

"Robin?"

Robin had paused her conversation with Law to address him, a knowing smile on her face and a look that indicated to Usopp that she was feeling as odd about not having everyone together as he was. Even Law looked sympathetic, but before Usopp could question the doctor about the reason for the clear sadness in his eyes despite the defeat of the man that he had always wanted to kill in revenge, Law, apparently much more willing to open up to the Strawhat crew after their aid in Doflamingo's defeat despite his selfishness in not telling them about his true motives, picked up his bottle of sake before taking a large gulp from it.

"I haven't seen my crew in about a year."

Law's words instantly teleported Usopp's mind back to the two years that the crew had spent scattered across the world. It had admittedly been an absolutely dreadful thing, feeling such a strong sense of longing to see anyone from the crew, but Usopp and everyone else had somehow powered through it with the express knowledge that the crew would not only meet at a date already predetermined by their captain, and the fact that they would all have to get stronger to see Luffy through the New World. Usopp couldn't even imagine the turmoil Law must have felt at the thought of leaving his crew to keep them safe and away from his fight against Doflamingo, and the resultant pain the crew of the Heart Pirates must have felt at their captain leaving them.

"We'll be headed to Zou right after this, Law-san. You'll be able to see them again."

"...thank you, Nico Robin."

Feeling somewhat better at the thought of solidarity amidst pain, Usopp relaxed himself as he ate from his plate whilst watching Luffy running around and screaming with his hair on fire, whilst the second-in-command of the revolutionary army ran behind him anxiously trying to put it out, apparently still not having precise control over his new powers. It was the kind of crazy that begetted laughter, and Usopp could feel himself feeling slightly better as he continued to watch and chuckle over his captain's antics.

A loud explosion then sounded out from behind them. All heads turned in the direction of the newfound source of pandemonium, and Usopp instinctively snatched up his slingshot. Two years in a deadly jungle had made him even more jittery than before, and though some level of alertness was probably appropriate for a sniper, he couldn't help but flinch every time he heard a loud sound, and it annoyed him to no end. A crowd was already gathering a short distance away, forming a circle around what first appeared to be a large cloud of dust engulfing two loud voices that sounded like they were shouting at each other. As the dust started to settle, the image of a blond swordsman with impossibly immaculate long hair and a strange man with a green rooster-like haircut engaged in a frightening battle came into Usopp's view, the swordsman slashing his sword wildly in all directions, as though trying to get past an invisible wall in front of him, and the rooster-like man raising his middle and index fingers in a crossed formation.

"Fucking die, you chicken shit!"

"Oi! There's no need to be so rude, you son of a bitch! All I did was say that your hair looks like a big blonde mop!"

"YOU WANT TO FUCKING DIE, DON'T YOU!"

"YOU'RE NO MATCH FOR MY POWERS, CABBAGE FACE!"

Robin snickered.

"I was with those two when we were trying to ascend to the sunflower fields. As overly energetic as they are, they really are quite gallant."

Usopp looked back at the fighting pair in disbelief. The two looked like they actually wanted to kill each other, but their strengths matched out so evenly that no harm actually came to either of them, even as the green-haired man started flinging what looked like barriers everywhere and the blonde swordsman started moving at speeds so fast that he could hardly see him at all. After a few minutes of absentminded watching, a strange feeling that felt strangely like familiarity overcame him, and he tilted his head in bewilderment as he continued watching the skirmish. Turning his head, Franky met his gaze. He looked just as freaked out as Usopp felt.

"Long-nose-bro...are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

Usopp looked back at the battle, which had already sent previously curious observers scattering in fright, in order to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating, before turning back to Franky and nodding.

"I'm seeing it, but I don't believe it."

Green hair and Blonde hair. Check. Horrendously bad tempers. Check. Intense need to strike each other down. Check.

Robin didn't even look fazed by the chaos that was unravelling in the streets, having probably gotten used to it when she had interacted with them during the unfolding of the events of Dressrosa. Instead, she settled with turning to the crew's green-haired swordsman, who was at that moment leaning against a wall and trying to get some sleep, his three swords propped up safely against his shoulder. A disembodied hand sprouted on the wall behind him and tapped him gently on his shoulder, causing him to snort before opening his eyes, catch Robin's mischievous gaze, and grunt.

"What is it?"

Robin gestured to Cavendish and Bartolomeo, who were still at each other's throats whilst somehow looking like they were having the time of their lives.

"See anything familiar, swordsman-san?"

Zoro raised his lazy eye to the two new Strawhat allies that were busy trying to tear each other to pieces on the street. He appeared to ponder for a few moments, before pursing his lips, ignoring the archaeologist's mirthful smile.

"Hn."

He then shut his eyes and went back into sleep mode. Somehow, Robin just knew that that was exactly how Zoro would have responded.

There was just something about being away from their friends, even for a short period of time, that was affecting all of them to the point that they were finding similarities in substitutes, even if said substitutes were allies. Sure, it was nice to be free of Nami's debts for a while, and Brook's chilling laughter, and Chopper incessant doctoring and Sanji's annoying swooning over the females of the crew. But they wouldn't have their nakama any other way, and if they could shorten the time that they had to spend apart in exchange for a little party time, they would do it in a heartbeat. Somehow, they knew that the four currently sailing on the Thousand Sunny were probably thinking the same thing.

A few glances were exchanged, and they were off. Franky went down to the docks to start constructing his impromptu but still immaculately designed ship. Zoro pulled himself out of his nap with considerable effort to proceed to the castle to inform King Riku of their leave. Robin proceeded to inform Law and Kinemon to prepare to set sail in about an hour. Usopp walked up to his captain and, very carefully, told him that even though they had to have a party after every island, it just didn't feel right without Sanji, Nami, Brook and Chopper. Luffy had looked him straight in the eye before grinning widely.

"Let's go look for them, then."

Usopp then watched as Sabo placed a comforting hand on his teary-eyed brother's shoulder before pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.

The Strawhat crew had spent two painful years apart. It had barely been two days since half the crew had left for Zou.

Somehow, that was already more than enough.

Author's Note - Alright, I'll admit it...I actually have no idea how this one came about, so as you see it looks slightly disjointed, like I made it up as I went along. I had originally planned for the Cavendish vs Bartolomeo fight to be the primary focus, but that goal switched halfway apparently...oh well. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. For manga readers, this chapter came out after Chapter 744, so there might be some canon differences as more of the plot is revealed.

Reviews Appreciated.

~SUITELIFEFAN