The Thousand Sunny was a day out from Elbaf. The sun was climbing into the sky, but the crew was in no hurry to rise, which was standard practice on the ship. Some members were up, but the captain and several others remained sound asleep, refusing to budge before breakfast was called.
Sanji was in the kitchen working on the required meal of awakening while Nami and Robin went over the translations for the fourth poneglyph they had acquired at the galley's table. Everything they needed to safely arrive at Raftel was in their grasp. Nami wondered at her captain's lackadaisical attitude. She thought for sure he would hound her all night for the coordinates, but instead he had retired early. That alone was cause for concern, Luffy never went to bed early.
Robin glanced at Nami when she voiced her bewilderment. "Perhaps it's beginning to hit him that the end is within sight. That the journey is almost over." the older woman offered. "Maybe he isn't ready to face that reality."
Sanji poked the sizzling bacon as he spoke over his shoulder to the women, "Why do you say that, Robin-chan?" Nami's eyes asked the same.
Robin looked between the two and asked, "What do you plan to do with yourself, once your goal is achieved?"
"Eh?" Sanji, forever the professional chef, removed the bacon from the pan and placed it on a plate to serve, but still managed to throw Robin a confused look. Nami was equally perplexed.
"I said once that my dream was to read the Real Poneglyph," Robin said. "You, Nami, said you wanted to draw a map of the whole world and you, Sanji, said you wanted to discover the All Blue. What do you plan to do with your lives after you have achieved those goals?" She glanced at Nami then Sanji in turn.
"Oh..." Nami tapped her chin as she thought for a moment. "I guess I would go back to Cocoyashi village, but since I wanted to draw the whole world it would probably be only after I have journeyed all over the world and mapped every island. So I would probably be an old woman by then."
Sanji listened to Nami then said as he fried eggs, "Probably return to the Baratie. I still owe the old man and I would love to tell him about my discovery. What about you, Robin-chan?"
Robin smiled and said, "Restore the Tree of Knowledge and fill it once more with all the history and texts of the world with the addition of what I learned from the Real Poneglyph to complete its collection." Her smile faded and her eyes darkened. "I fear Luffy may not have an idea of what to do with himself after he becomes Pirate King."
"He always speaks about the freedom of the Pirate King being what he wants so why would becoming the Pirate King cause him to hesitate?" asked Nami.
"Being free is great," said Sanji after a long moment of silence, "but what do you do with it? You are free to go anywhere, so where do you go? You are free to do anything, so what do you do? I think... I am beginning to understand what you're saying, Robin-chan. Luffy is suddenly realizing that he is about to reach the top of that great mountain he is climbing and there is nowhere to go after that."
Nami was silent for a moment. It was almost depressing realizing that they were nearing the end of their journey together. It made her almost want to tear the coordinates to Raftel up and throw them overboard, to start the journey over again. Then she smile and said, "I think we are giving Luffy way too much credit. We just left Elbaf behind and he is just tired from everything that happened there. I'll bet he will be pushing us with great impatience toward Raftel as soon as breakfast is over."
Robin smile and Sanji laughed. They were definitely overthinking it. Luffy wasn't someone to dwell on the probable consequences of tomorrow today's decisions caused. If he did they wouldn't have dared half as much as they had. He would cross the bridge of Pirate King then realize he had no idea where to go after that. That was just how Luffy was.
*********
Usually meals were a disorderly chaotic mess. A mix of people consuming food with various degrees of manners and grace, many possessing neither, while keeping their gluttonist captain's stretched hands at bay with threats of extreme violence and swift and precise stabbing fork action. Failure to deploy either tactic usually meant the victim needed to eat their meal in haste less they end up eating air. This day, however, Luffy kept to his own plates and didn't attempt to steal from anyone. Robin may have been onto something after all.
Luffy laughed and smiled his broad grin while stuffing his face like he usually did, but he didn't once reach beyond his own stack of plates. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Luffy suddenly learned some table manners after years of snatching whatever he wanted from the plates of others. Nami watched her captain suddenly worried that he had become afraid of achieving his goal. Though, she wasn't convinced he was aware of what he was dragging his feet. If she asked, he'd probably insist that he wanted to go to Raftel now, to achieve Pirate King now.
Nami shook her head and made up her mind to not worry about these subtle hints. They would continue as always and if Luffy was suddenly lost about what to do next, she would do what navigators do best, help her captain find the correct course to take. She would point out to him that they could visit their old friends, they had to return to the base of Reverse Mountain to visit Laboon. They could help Robin with her new goal or sail all over the world to help Nami draw her map. That would be fun. She didn't think too many of the others would protest the journey continuing. Nami smiled at the thought. This leg of the journey may be coming to an end but there were still plenty of adventures left to have. If Luffy didn't hassle her about when they would arrive all the better for her nerves anyway.
She picked up a piece of bacon and was about to take a bite when she heard someone calling from outside. Considering they were in the middle of the ocean without a heading, she wondered who they had stumbled upon this time. Nami was acutely aware that all their previous coincidental run-ins had been the prelude to big adventures. The voice called again and Nami thought it sounded familiar now that she was listening. She was closest to the door and everyone else was talking so she was the only one to hear. She set her bacon down and rose from her seat.
Of course, Sanji noticed her first.
"What is it Nami-san?" he asked causing all conversation around the table to cease, then he grimaced and glanced at the door. Sanji seemed to have finally noticed there was someone outside. Nami glared. It seemed they all had made a rookie and potential fatal mistake, they had dropped their guard. If the person outside was hostile... Nami shook her head and reminded herself that a homicidal enemy would have a different aura from a stranger meaning no harm. The person outside probably wasn't a threat at the moment which is why no one noticed. However, she wondered how long that would last. Not all trouble was obvious in the first impression phase.
Luffy suddenly rose and walked past Nami, opening the door to poke his head outside to see who it was.
"Tra-o?" said Luffy in surprise. He stepped the rest of the way out onto the deck. Nami and the others swiftly followed.
Law and Luffy had been allied until a short while ago. That alliance had ended when they had achieved their goal of toppling Kaido and they went their separate ways. However, Luffy had let Law leave with a piece from his vivre card since Luffy was still convinced they were friends even as Law continued to emphasize they weren't. Nami had just shook her head at her captain's typical naïveté. Law was admittedly a rival to them as far as the One Piece went. They now possessed all the Road Poneglyphs and Law was the only non-yonko captain besides Luffy who knew of their existence. If Law wanted to reach Raftel, he would need to get the coordinates and, not only did the Straw Hats have the only person who could translate the Road Poneglyphs, they now were the only who had the translated coordinates. Nami was wary of Law's timing. Did he suspect they had all four coordinates now?
Law stood on the deck of his submarine, politely waiting for Luffy to give him permission to board his ship. It was generally respectful for one captain not to board another captain's ship without the ship's captain's permission. Exceptions existed, but as there weren't any threats at the moment, it would have been rude for Law to have been standing aboard their ship when Luffy came out. Not that Luffy would have cared, but it signaled to Nami that Law at least wasn't interesting in fighting right now.
With his crew gathered near the railing to see Law, Luffy smiled and called out, "What's up, Tra-o?"
Law pulled a fat envelope from his long brown coat and said, "I was approached by a woman in Gri-tan two weeks ago, who asked me to give you this letter and one other thing. I don't think her information about our alliance was up-to-date but I didn't see a reason to refuse her."
Luffy blinked and waved Law aboard, which was what Law was waiting for. Instead of jumping aboard, Law tossed several pebbles over the railing and activated his devil fruit ability. One of the Op-Op fruit's abilities was to allow Law to move things through teleportation by exchanging places with another object. In this case he switched his position with the pebbles he had tossed onto the deck. He instantly appeared next to Luffy.
"Who was she?" asked Luffy once Law was in front of him.
"I don't know," said Law. For a moment, Nami thought Law looked sad, then the moment was gone and she wondered if she had imagined it. "I thought maybe you could tell me, since she addressed you by name." This didn't really say much, Luffy was known the world over thanks to antics and high bounty, but Law could mean that the woman addressed Luffy by his name and not his title. Law still referred to Luffy as Straw Hat.
Law held the letter out toward Luffy and Robin took the letter in his place since Luffy wasn't the strongest of readers. The letter was unopened, Law hadn't peeked. Nami's respect for Law rose a degree.
When Robin pulled the letter out it had several pages. Robin carefully unfolded them then began reading aloud:
Dear Luffy, You don't know me, but I know of you as well as if we had grown together. It was my one wish to meet you at least once but, if you are reading this letter, then that wish didn't come true. By the time this letter will have reached you I will most likely be dead or as good as dead. I'm so sorry to not be telling you all this in person. I know this will all come as a shock and be hard to believe. I was a member of the Whitebeard Pirates but was separated from Marco and the others just prior to the Payback War. I don't know where they are and I am being hunted. I believe it is because I am a Whitebeard Pirate and not for more dire reasons. If the Marines do not yet know then please, make certain they never find out. If they do, then all I have done is cast an even bigger target onto your ship, but I have no idea who else to turn to. Within this envelope is the one and only proof of what I will tell you. Luffy... I was your late brother's lover. This small child that I present to you is our daughter, Ann. The picture was taken by the crew a month before Blackbeard betrayed and murdered the Fourth Division Commander, Thatch, setting off the chain of events that would lead to Ace's demise. On the day of Paramount War I was forced to watch the events unfold from Sabaody Archipelago and I was forced to sit out Payback War, in order to keep Ann both secret and safe. Now, I am being relentlessly hunted by Marines and keeping Ann hidden is becoming increasingly difficult. As I sense my time is running out, I send this precious little one to you. I know you are a target as well, but you are not alone, I believe you will never be as alone as I am right now. I believe that you will find a way to keep Ace's child safe. The following pages are just me reminiscing about Ace. Read them if you wish. They were things I wanted to speak with you about when I finally got to meet you. Tell Ann about her father or don't. I know Ace hated his. I don't know if Ann will hate hers. Don't try to force her feelings. If she does hate him that's fine. At least she will be alive to hate us both for bringing her into a world that will never accept her. Just please keep her safe and let her live to decide her life despite what the world wants. Thank you,
Veronica
The crew stared agape and even Law looked stunned when Robin finished reading the letter.
Nami couldn't believe it. She was standing next to Robin, reading the letter in silence as Robin read it out loud. The World Government had announced Ace's lineage just to make it clear to everyone how important his death was. How they had hunted for him when he was not yet born. They had been determined to end the line of Gold Roger once and for all. Now with this letter, this woman, Veronica, was claiming to have Ace's child, Roger's grandchild?
Robin looked back at the envelope she had tucked behind the pages. Spotting the corner of a photograph, she pulled it out and Nami stared at the photo with the older woman. It was a simple black and white photograph. Two people, a man and a woman, stood on a deck of a ship before a giant mast. The man, young and shirtless with a distinctive tattoo on his upper arm with the letters ASCE, the S crossed with an X, was grinning from ear to ear while holding a tiny bundle in his arms. A small, smiling face with short black hair peaked out of the wrap. Next to him was a young woman wearing a cape and possessing long hair of a lighter color than either the man or the child gazing at the pair with obvious tender affection.
Without a word, Robin showed Luffy the picture. Luffy took the picture and began to tremble. It was obviously Ace in that picture. Nami had met him just the one time in Alabasta but that tattoo was unmistakable. She couldn't begin to guess what Luffy was feeling. He had taken ridiculous risks to try to obtain the Flame Flame Fruit in Dressrosa because he considered it Ace's memento. What would he do with Ace's child?
Nami looked at Law. "So, where is she?" she asked, her tone sharper than she had intended.
Law glanced at Nami then wordlessly pulled the hem of his coat away revealing a tiny form clinging to his leg. Brilliant green eyes peered through a mop of black hair over the top of a stuffed bear that looked suspiciously like the mink, Bepo, from Law's crew.
Nami crouched down and smiled, trying to ease the child's fears. "Ann, that's your name, right?" she asked as a way to try to get the little girl to respond. Instead, Ann shifted until she was further behind Law's leg. Oh dear.
"I think she learned to hide herself from strangers unless her mother said it was okay," said Law. "She took a while to warm up to me and my crew and that probably was because she had no choice. She still cried and refused to eat anything we offered the first two days."
Nami grew worried. Luffy was not a patient person when it came to certain things and little kids crying would probably invoke a bad reaction from him. She wondered how they were going to be able to handle Ann. They couldn't just leave her with some random family. If it got out who she was they may turn her in for the reward or all die at the hands of those who came looking for her. And Garp probably didn't have the means to hide infamous children anymore. If they could meet with him there was probably nothing he could do now. Ace and Luffy had been his one shot to raise bad-blood kids into something respectable and they both became pirates. No way were the Marines going to turn a blind eye again to his activities.
Luffy crouched down and held the picture up for Ann to see. "Ann, is this your mom?" He pointed to the woman.
Ann hesitated a moment, probably confused by the black and white coloring, then nodded.
"So then, this is you, right?" He pointed the little baby in Ace's arms.
Nami thought Luffy was stupid to ask that since there was no way Ann was going to recognize her baby self in the picture. But Ann nodded anyway after several moment.
Then Luffy pointed to Ace. "Then this must be your dad." Luffy said it as a statement but Ann slowly nodded. "He looks really happy, doesn't he?" Ann nodded making a hiccupping sound. "I think he looks happy, too."
Luffy's face grew sad. "He was my big brother and I couldn't save him. I couldn't bring him back to you. I'm sorry, Ann. Do you think you could still be happy on this ship with me, your stupid uncle who couldn't save your dad?"
Ann sniffed and said, "You're Ji-kun?"
Luffy looked surprised then said, "Yeah."
"Mama said we would go to Ji-kun. Mama said Ji-kun would help us 'cause Papa was his big brother. Ji-kun would accept us," Ann said, hiccupping every few words.
For Nami, Ann's words were heartbreaking. Veronica had to have been desperate. If she had gambled on Law then that means that whoever had been after her that day had been close on her heels and she only had time to hand Law the letter and Ann. Why hadn't she gotten onboard the ship herself? Why hadn't she gone with Law? What happened to her?
"Tra-o? Why isn't Veronica here?" asked Nami.
Law sighed and his face seemed to age a few years. "The Marines were in pursuit. She had just enough time to hand the girl and the letter to me and tell me to take her to Luffy. She then ran off to lead the Marines away so they wouldn't chase me and Ann. Dozens of Marines including a vice-admiral entered the port and she ran across their path to draw them away. They considered her a bigger priority for some reason. There were a lot of gun shots after she left our view. I sensed she didn't make it."
Nami felt her lip quiver. Some vice-admirals were pushovers for pirates of Law and Luffy's level. Others were nearly on par with Fugitora and Kizaru. There was no point in questioning Law at this time which type that vice-admiral was. No amount of second-guessing was going to bring Veronica back.
Luffy's eyes were hidden at Law's statements. Ann's hiccupping had turned to soft sobs and she buried her face into Law's calf. Law was strangely patient with all this, not trying to kick her off or even grimacing. He honestly looked sad for her.
Then Luffy shocked everyone. He held out his hands and whispered, "Ann?"
She peeked at her uncle.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't find you sooner."
Ann sniffed then pulled herself away from Law's leg. She took a few tentative steps toward Luffy then ran into his outstretched arms and sobbed into his chest, stuffed bear still in her grip. Luffy wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair. "I promise, I won't fail again. I'll keep you safe no matter what, Ann."
Nami stared in disbelief. She never thought Luffy could be so gentle. Nami swore something in the world shifted. If Luffy had been unsure of becoming Pirate King because he didn't know what to do with himself afterwards that was no longer a problem. He would use that power and that freedom to protect Ann. Nami was certain of it.
(Notes)
I created a timeline that has the current point in the story arc (post 2 year time skip) being year 800 since the World Government was founded. It was just easier. I don't have actually years from the series. So think all the fun going on at Whole Cake Island is happening toward the end of year 800 WG. This should then give you an idea of the passage of time for the Chronicles.
I know most of you will be thinking there is no way Luffy would not be impatiently wanting to go to Raftel. And if I had given him a few more days he probably would have gotten over whatever "graduation jitters" he was suffering from and Nami would have been fighting off a constant stream of "Are we there yet?" from her over eager man-child captain.
I call them "graduation jitters" because it was either that or "wedding jitters". You know the type. You are so excited for the end of school, you've been waiting with great impatience for the last 12 years to graduate from school and be free of the tests and homework and teachers... Then Senior year hits and you are like "OMG! I'm going to be graduating at the end of this year!" Suddenly you don't want the year to end, you wish time would slow down (of course it speeds up), you get all sorts of stress at the thought of trying to launch as an adult, realizing that all your friends are going to be going to different places and you won't see them everyday... You get the picture. Reality hits when the end of the journey is no longer on the distant horizon but in your face and you realize you need to focus on different goals.
Luffy was hit with these jitters after they left Elbaf when he realized that they now could reach Raftel and nothing was standing between him and Pirate Kingship. His lifelong dream was about to be achieved and he briefly thought "Now what?" Of course, Luffy wouldn't have dwelt on it for too long and he would have returned to his usual self shortly thereafter. However, Ann walks into his life just as he is thinking "Now what?" and since he never got over how he failed to save Ace... He now has something to occupy his time after he becomes Pirate King. That is if something doesn't cause him to trip at the finish line and takes it away from him. (Doom!)
On to other matters. The mention of the unspoken rule between captains of not boarding another's ship without permission is something I created. It just seemed like that might be one of those rules between pirates that shows respect. There was nothing to say that was so in One Piece nor was there anything that said it wasn't so either. Just something that was understood and never discussed.