Author's Note - Snippets of the crew on their way to Raftel.
Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece or any of the other fandoms from which names, places, abilities, or references are taken! Imaginary points to anyone who catches said references throughout the story and PM's them to me. Dunno if you'll get anything real, but i give sneak peaks and deleted scenes to my repeated reviewers, so it isn't unthinkable.
Chapter 02 - Brothers
"You didn't have to do this, you know. I can wash myself." Chopped sat in the shallow pan of water as Zoro carefully worked the sticky pink goo out of his fur.
"I wasn't doing anything more important, and you'd have been at it all day. Don't worry about it." Zoro reached to his side and one of Robin's arms passed a bottle of shampoo into his hand. "Can't believe you let those idiots experiment on you. You're lucky you still have fur."
"It sounded like a good idea at the time... They were trying to make cotton candy that you could spray out of a can! Doesn't even taste like cotton candy..." Chopper pouted. Robin laughed quietly from a few feet away.
"You would look so silly without fur! Although shaving you would be fun..." The archaeologist laughed harder as she sprouted arms in a circle around the pan, making snipping motions with her fingers. Chopper shrank back from then, looking to Zoro for help.
"No, no, you can't use scissors, I can give him a much closer shave with one of my swords." Zoro swatted one of Robin's hands gently, grinning at the panicked reindeer.
"You two are so mean!" Chopper stuck out his tongue at the pair. Then he smiled. "Thanks for helping me. You're right, I would have had a really hard time myself."
"No problem, Chopper!" Robin ran her fingers through the fur behind his ears where Zoro had already cleaned. The small doctor sighed and relaxed as the swordsman dragged another piece of goo from his coat.
"This stuff is nasty... They thought people would eat this stuff?!" Zoro wiped the comb on a towel that Robin held up for him. It was already thickly coated in the stuff and would likely be thrown overboard or burned after this was completed.
"I bet Luffy would eat some..." Robin pulled at the goo. "It is sort of like rubber, it might be good for him. Or it might make him violently ill. Rubber vomit bouncing around the ship would not be pleasant."
Zoro shook his head. She thought of some of the strangest things. Not that he minded. He smiled when he felt one of her arms massage his back as he worked. Zoro finally put down the comb and scrubbed the last of the shampoo out of the soft fur.
"I think that may be the last of it. How does it feel?" Zoro leaned back into Robin's hand as Chopper climbed out of the pan and inspected his fur.
"Thank you Zoro! Thank you Robin!" The doctor smiled happily and ran off to continue goofing off with the others.
"That was very sweet of you, Zoro." Robin wrapped her arms around him and he could tell from the warm pressure on his back that they were her real arms. He grinned and leaned back into her, leaning his head back on her shoulder.
"He's patched me up more times than I can count, I'd feel like trash if I didn't help him when I could." He put his hands over hers and interlaced their fingers. "I've got watch tonight with Luffy, so I should get some sleep. Come with me?"
"Of course." Robin kissed his shoulder and stood up, lifting him easily with a small army of hands. "I'll be up in a minute, I'm going to get a bottle of hot chocolate. Nami says we may run into another winter island tonight. I'll bring us a blanket too."
Zoro smiled as he remembered the first time they shared a blanket. It seemed like ages although it had been little more than a week. He climbed up to the crow's nest and stretched thoroughly, quickly running through some light exercises so that he would not feel guilty about sleeping all day.
Robin returned, knocking on the door before entering, as she always did. He offered her a hand, although he knew she didn't need it, and she accepted just to touch him. She pressed a bottle into his hands and he laughed. She had brought him a bottle of sake.
Down on the deck, Sanji watched the woman climb the ladder with the bottle she thought he didn't know she stole. That swordsman was being a bad influence on her, but he couldn't say he minded. He had not seen the smile leave her face for over a week. He turned his attention to his captain who was seated, as usual, on the figure head of the Thousand Sunny.
The cook could tell that Luffy was stressed. He spent more time sitting at the head of the ship watching the waves roll by than he did wrestling with Usopp and Chopper. Nami was worried about him, but she tried not to show it.
They were due to reach Raftel within a week, and Shanks had already sent word that he had to deal with a marine force that had attacked the island Luffy had come from as a distraction instead of joining them. Luffy had agreed, and relayed the development directly to Law. They had yet to hear anything back from the Surgeon of Death.
They had received and anonymous tip from within the ranks of the marines that they were coming at them with everything at their disposal this time. They were planning on making it an extermination instead of a fight, and without the red haired emperor or the powerful submarine captain, everyone was a little afraid that the marines might just manage it this time.
But Sanji had faith in his captain and his nakama. Even the moss headed swordsman. They were strong. Their latest bounties showed their strength as their captain now held the worlds highest recorded bounty. 845,000,000 beli. A staggering number that made even Shanks gape in admiration. It was to be expected after defeating two of the emperors in a row.
Big Mom had been crushed beyond recovery. Her crew had scattered and her territories were officially under the protection of the Straw Hat pirates. There were whispers that the revolutionary army was enforcing their protection, and the marines, as well as Blackbeard and Kaido were avoiding these territories for the time being.
Kaido had escaped with minimal losses, but the world knew he had lost, without a doubt. His own territories began rebelling soon afterward. The rumor was he was seeking revenge with a single minded rage and determination.
They had not crossed paths with Blackbeard since Dressrosa. Luffy was anxious to have the man finished and done with, while most of the crew considered it good fortune they had avoided him. Sanji thought otherwise. He was up to something, and it would likely hit them when they reached Raftel.
"Sanji! Try this!" Usopp climbed up to the kitchen door, a can held out in front of him. Sanji raised an eyebrow.
"Is this what Moss Head and Robin were cleaning off Chopper all morning?" The cook smirked when Usopp looked around guiltily.
"We worked out that issue, it's totally safe. Besides, you're the cook, who better to decide if it is safe to eat than you?" Usopp shook the can slightly. Sanji did not move to take the can.
"Not a chance. You eat it. I'll call Chopper if it starts to kill you. See if he'll feel sympathetic after you tested it on him." Sanji crossed his arms and stared at the sniper, daring him to ask again.
"Fine, fine... Luffy!" Usopp turned toward the figure head. Sanji rolled his eyes and tackled the man, spraying a jet of the pink material into the sniper's mouth. "Ack! I've been murdered! It is the worst thing I have ever tasted! How could you do this to me?!" Usopp collapsed dramatically, laying still for a moment before spitting the stuff out on the deck. "That is definitely not cotton candy..."
"Great, now stay out of the captains hair. He's got enough on his mind right now." Sanji walked back toward the kitchen, flicking his cigarette off into the water. "Can you make some of that stuff look like meat? I can leave it as a decoy. Or put it in a bottle of sake..."
"It would be wrong for us to do something like that to our unsuspecting nakama, remember?" Usopp grinned at me. Of course, he would choose to listen to me now. At least they weren't trying to make a forge anymore. That had almost been a catastrophe.
"Sanji! I have some fresh oranges!" Nami walked up beside him and held out her basket. He bowed deeply, smiling charmingly at her.
"I'll be sure to do your oranges justice!" He carried the fruit into the kitchen and sat them on the counter to prepare. "Nami... Have you spoken to Luffy today? He's been quieter than usual today."
"No I haven't, but you're right. I think I will." Nami looked at our captain's back for a moment, then gave me a smile before walking toward him. I suppose I should be a bit heartbroken that both women on our crew had fallen for someone else, but I would rather see them happy than have them to myself.
Nami placed a hand on Luffy's shoulder and felt him stiffen for a heartbeat, then relax when he recognized her presence behind him.
"Luffy... What's on your mind?" She leaned against his back and concentrated on his heartbeat on her back. It was always comforting to be reminded he was human, just like her.
"Law is not coming to help us. Shanks is busy saving my home. And I received word that the marines have made a temporary alliance with the remaining emperors to defeat us. We will be facing the largest military force in history on our own, and I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you all..." The rubber man went ridged behind her again. "I can't lose any of you... Not one... Not after Ace..."
"Then don't. There is not an army in this world who has a stronger will than you. And you have the ability to turn that will into power through haki. You also have the Mera Mera No Mi, if it comes to that. But I don't think you need it. I have complete faith in you, Luffy." The navigator felt his back soften again.
"Thank you. I won't let you down." She could hear his smile when he spoke and knew she had helped ease his mind. And she meant every word. She knew without a doubt that when the time came, he would not fail them. Impossible had never slowed him down before.
"Good, now come and eat something before Usopp and Franky make more of that terrible pink stuff!" She took his hand and he followed her without question, allowing himself to trust her as she trusted him.
Below deck, Brook played his violin quietly, providing sad background music as Usopp and Franky sat in defeat around their attempted invention.
"Mixing cotton and candy was not a successful substitute... And tar as a bonding agent was probably a bad idea... But we did succeed in making a dispenser. What else can we put in it? Sake? Coffee? Cola?" Franky scratched his head as he studied the pink goo they had tried to compress into the can.
"It should be something everyone would enjoy..." Usopp picked up the can and turned it over in his hands, then picked up a small funnel, holding it to the opening and expelling some of the compressed air.
HONK!
Brook stopped playing immediately, looking around for the sound that had interupted him.
"What was that? It would have made me jump out of my skin, if I had any! Yohohohoho!" The skeleton laughed at his joke and Franky grinned at the device.
"That is perfect! I can make a security system with this so that we'll all be awakened immediately if the person on watch sees something! Excellent work, Bro!" Franky dashed off to begin improving and installing the new system, while Usopp was left with a startled skeleton and a bucket of pink goo.
"Well... It seems a waste not to use that stuff for something... Any ideas, Brook?" Usopp looked toward the musician.
"Hmmm... Well, it is sticky and rubbery, and by all accounts unbearable to eat. Perhaps a new form of ammunition for your slingshot?" Brook suggested.
"Yes! That's brilliant! I'll just thicken it up some and make glue trap shots!" The sniper looked at the goo with renewed hope. "Thanks, Brook!"
The skeleton nodded to his friend and began to play again as the sniper sat down and went to work.
Just out of sight of the crow's nest, a fleet of marine and pirate ships closed in slowly. At its head, three marine admirals, including Akainu himself, and three pirate emperors, including Blackbeard and Kaido. These powerful men sat in a circle around a map roughly drawn on a table top, showing their best guess of the shape and size of Raftel, and their plan of attack. In just a few short days, they would be rid of the Straw Hat pirates for good.
I love Chopper and Zoro behaving like brothers.