The gates opened, thanks to Luffy pressing a certain code on the side of the gate. Luffy walked ahead, but stopped and turned around. He tilted his head to the side when he saw the shocked faces of his crew staring up at the house.
"What's wrong?" asked Luffy.
"W-What's... This is..." Sanji's voice trailed off.
"How could you afford all this?" asked Robin.
"Oh, remember that jumbo prize money I won from the tournament? Well, I didn't spend any of it during my training-"
"None of it?" asked Usopp.
"Nope. I've been planning for us to live together ever since I heard I was qualified for Nationals. So, I saved it this whole time and spent it all on that house."
Nami gasped.
"What's the reward for the winner?" asked Nami.
"Four hundred million belis."
"Have you thought about what you're going to do with it when you win?"
"I thought of something."
"What is it?"
"It's a secret. You'll know when I win."
She turned and faced him. "That's a lot of money, and you already figured out what you're going to do with it? How selfish."
He chuckled. "Its something that can be useful for all of us."
She eyed him, but he only smiled innocently.
She remembered having that conversation with him back when they stayed at Vivi's beach house, and that was when they first started dating. All this time, and for the past two years, he's always been thinking about them.
"Was this mansion always here?" asked Robin.
"There used to be a construction site here," Franky explained. "But they never finished it. I heard some millionaire bought the lot and designed their own house here. At first, I thought it was some celebrity, but now..."
Luffy grinned. He was proud of what he has done. A large, beautiful landscape with various different flowers were planted in some areas of the front yard. Pastel colored Japanese lanterns were hung around the border edges of the place. Pathway lights were planted on sides of the driveway, leading up to the house. There was a small gazebo in the middle of the garden to their left. How romantic of Luffy to come up with such a thing.
"I-Is this really okay? I-I mean..." Usopp's voice trailed off. Zoro shrugged his shoulders and followed his captain's footsteps.
"Its better than my place," said Zoro. He smiled and slapped Luffy in the back. Brook agreed and followed. Since both of them use to live in the same apartment building, moving into a mansion was a huge step up.
"It'll feel nice living in a mansion again," said Brook.
Chopper didn't see the downside to this and followed them. As long as they were together, he didn't care where he would live. Vivi and Robin, both of which are used to living in the luxury life, stepped forward and accepted their captain's decision. Whether they would live in a tiny house or a giant mansion, they'd accept Luffy's decisions no matter what. Marguerite followed the girls, accepting her friend's decision.
Sanji was incredibly ecstatic over the idea of living together. One, he can be away from Zeff and all those "shitty bastards" he grew up with, and two, he can be with Vivi forever - without any okamas around. Usopp took this as sign of moving forward and growing up, so he greatly accepted.
"I still can't believe you actually designed this," Ace complimented. "I'm really impressed. Hey, is there a room for me too?"
"Like hell," said Luffy.
Franky looked down at his hands. These hands that destroyed his garage and killed his father figure. These hands that has made him hate himself for the past years. The odds of something like that happening again...
"Franky," Luffy called out. Franky looked up. Hesitation, regret and doubt was written all over his face. "What happened last time.. won't happen again."
"...How do you know?"
"Because you're stronger now, aren't you?"
There it was. Something he failed to see, yet his captain saw it clearly. He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He smirked and looked up at Luffy.
"You've gotten smarter, haven't you?"
"Huh? Did I? Shishishi!"
Nami looked down the road to where they just walked from. Grand Line Academy was just down the corner. It was the place where they met, grew, laughed, cried, and did everything together. It was the place where she met Luffy and fell in love with him. It was also the place where she got to live for the first time in her life. Was this a good thing? Moving forward while their past was just down the road?
"Nami.."
Nami looked up and saw her friends waiting for her past the gate. Instead of looking at the downside to all of this, she looked at the positive. She got to live in a place where she can be with the people she loves everyday. No more goodbyes and no more lonely nights preparing dinner for Nojiko and herself. She'll miss her old life, but she was looking forward to this new one she was suddenly given.
-x-
Although it had double doors, Luffy only needed to open one due to its large size. He stepped aside and let his crew walk in first. As they stepped into the living room, all of them gazed in amazement. The ceiling was high and the decor was beautifully done inside and out. In some ways, if you looked closely, the place looked a bit similar to the beach house they now currently own, but all in all it was still unique.
One large stairway descended from the wall to their left. A large opening to the kitchen was at the end of it. There was a small flight of stairs just in front of them that led to the couches and the large flatscreen that was stuck on the wall above the fireplace. Nami looked up and noticed how beautiful the chandelier hung from above them. The walls were painted tan and the floor they were standing on was made of granite tiles, except for the living room which had a baby blue carpet.
"This is beautiful," said Vivi.
"The hallway on the right leads to a few bedrooms and bathrooms," Luffy started to explain. "There's an aquarium room behind the door next to the kitchen. We should all have lunch in there one time. That hallway just ahead of us leads to another set of rooms, a game room, a small theater, and it leads to the backyard-"
Just before he could continue, everyone separated, in hopes of finding the perfect room to their liking. All that were left were Luffy, Marguerite, and Ace.
"Are you sure you don't have an extra room for me?" asked Ace.
"Dude, you're twenty-two now. Go move out on your own," replied Luffy. "Better yet, go move in with Nojiko."
"But who's going to manage the bar when Mom's not around? Anyway, Mom's been paying me triple lately. I get a free stay and earn money along the way, why would I want to lose that?"
Luffy rolled his eyes. He pretty much solved his own problem.
"Um, Luffy, you said I could stay at your place remember? Is this where we'll be staying from now on?" asked Marguerite.
"Yeah, and since you're still finding a real place to stay, you can sleep in my room. Don't tell anyone, but its the largest room in the house," Luffy whispered the last part. "Come on!"
Luffy grabbed her wrist and dragged her up the stairs. The whole time, Ace eyed the two. There were hints that showed they could possibly be dating, then again, they acted as though they were just friends. Luffy made it perfectly clear that Marguerite won't be staying with them for long, and there was no sign that she has joined the crew. There is no telling what is going on in Luffy's head.
-x-
Nami walked through the halls, uncaring of whether she gets the perfect room or not. To be honest, she didn't care at all, though she'd like to have a nice room with a view. Right now, she's too busy exploring this beautiful house Luffy built. As she passed by the bedrooms downstairs, she could see some of her friends already unpacking their stuff.
Each bedroom only had a single bed and a large closet. Obviously, Luffy didn't plan on who would stay in each room. The kitchen was large with a big oven and stove, and a long table near the entrance that sat eight people. She knew Sanji will love this. Nami walked around the living room and entered another hallway. Two bedrooms sat across from each other and she could see Usopp and Chopper unpacking their stuff inside each one. That concludes all the occupied bedrooms downstairs. Looks like the downstairs bedrooms will be taken by Usopp, Chopper, Franky and Brook with a few extra rooms left vacant. Everyone else must be upstairs.
When Nami reached the top step of the stairs, she was surprised to see a large loft taking up most of the second level. Windows were set up everywhere, allowing a lot of light to shine in when the sun comes out. Just like the living room below, the loft was already set up with furniture and a giant TV. There was a small flight of stairs to the side that led to another upper level. It was a small hallway with two bedrooms right next to each other and another door at the end which she assumed was the bathroom. A black, steel railing bordered the hallway and the stairs so no one could fall. In the loft, there were four bedrooms spread out in different sides.
She was even more surprised to see the rest of her crew all standing in the middle of the loft. Everyone had serious expressions, and the atmosphere looked tense. Sanji's eyes brightened a little when he saw her.
"Oh, good, Nami-san's here."
"What's going on?" Nami asked. She dragged her luggage behind her as she regrouped with the others.
"We're still trying to decide who gets which room," said Robin.
"Why can't I share a room with Vivi-chan?" Sanji asked for the second time apparently.
"Like I already said, I don't want any funny noises coming from both of you!" Zoro explained. Vivi blushed.
"It's not like we'd actually do it when you guys are around," Vivi muttered.
"I don't care which rooms you get, but those two rooms upstairs are already reserved," said Luffy. There were no objections. Luffy designed this place himself, it was obvious he should get a pick on to which room or rooms he wanted.
Assuming the second room Luffy wanted must be for Marguerite, Nami remained quiet.
"Where's Marguerite-chan going to sleep?" asked Sanji.
"In my room." Nami blinked in surprise.
"Why the hell does she get to sleep with you? What about-" Vivi nudged him before he could finish.
"Marguerite's not staying for long."
"Then who's the other room for?" asked Vivi. Nami noticed Luffy feeling a bit bashful. He slowly looked up and met her eyes.
"It's... for Nami."
Okay, soo... I'm making my chapters a bit shorter again. These longer chapters are taking waay to long to post and if this keeps up, I might lose interests from some of you. The only reason I chose to write longer chapters is because I didn't want to reach over 100 chapters, but now, I just don't care. I could have over 100+ chapters and I wouldn't care. I'm fine with it, and you guys must be too.
I had to cut a few arcs in GLA in order for it to fit 50 chapters, but now I can add everything I took out. It won't be the same as the high school life in GLA, but this should be interesting (;