Night had fallen and by this time the bar was back to its old self, maybe even better than its old self. At the moment, everyone was celebrating about Retek's defeat, which meant celebrating Zetsumei's freedom. Everyone was drinking and laughing, having a grand old time, except Zetsumei who stayed silently behind the bar cleaning glasses and taking orders like she usually did. Strangely the Straw Hats weren't enjoying any of the merriment (except Brook who was playing violin with a few other people and Sanji who decided to stay in the kitchen) and were staying at the bar, trying to get to know their new crew member.
"All right," Zoro said, pointing a finger at Zetsumei, "before you even think about coming with us, we need to know you won't be running back to the marines!"
Zetsumei didn't say anything, but simply looked at Zoro with an eyebrow raised. She could see why he was concerned that she would double cross them, but she couldn't see any reason to when she needed them more than they knew.
"Lighten up, Zoro!" Luffy laughed, grinning widely. "Soumei would never do that!"
"When are you going to get her name right, Luffy?" Nami snapped.
"Its fine," Zetsumei spoke up. "I've gotten used to it by now…" Plus I have absolutely no hope for this idiot… Zetsumei silently thought. She set down a glass on the counter and picked up another. "But if your only concern is me running back to the marines to snitch on you, then I wouldn't be too concerned."
"Why did you leave the marines anyway, Zetsumei?" Chopper asked, swinging his short legs back and forth as he leaned against the counter.
Zetsumei looked up for a brief moment, looking at each Straw Hat before looking back to the glass in her hands. "I have my reasons…"
"See?" Zoro snarled. "How are we supposed to trust her if she won't even tell us anything?" Zoro looked to Luffy. "Why'd you even ask her to join us, Luffy?!"
Luffy smiled at Zoro, light hearted like usual. "She just seemed really cool."
"That's it?!" Usopp, Zoro, and Chopper shouted.
Zetsumei looked up, listening to the group bicker about Luffy's reasons for letting her come along. Of course, she had no objection.
"Hey, Soumei." Zetsumei looked up to meet Luffy's face really close to her's. "Saying as you were a marine, did you know Garp?"
Zetsumei pushed Luffy's face away from her's and answered as she bit down on her cigarette, "Yeah, I knew that crazy old man." Zetsumei looked back to the glass in her hands. "I worked a long side him for a few years, before quitting that is."
"When did you quit?" Nami asked.
"About three years ago…"
"Wait a minute…" Luffy said, his eyebrows meeting in the middle. "How old are you, Soumei?"
Zetsumei looked up, looking completely serious as she said, "I'm twenty-nine."
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted, leaning up against the counter.
Zetsumei glared at all of them. "Problem?"
"No," everyone stuttered, feeling slight shivers down their spines.
"I didn't know you were that old, Zetsumei," Chopper said. "I thought you were Zoro and Sanji's age…"
Zetsumei continued to clean the glass in her hands. "I look younger than I really am…runs in the family I guess."
"When did you first join the marines?" Usopp asked.
"I was sixteen when I first joined the marines," Zetsumei said, setting down another glass. Zetsumei didn't see the harm in the questions, as long as they didn't ask anything too personal that she didn't want to talk about.
"That's kind of young, isn't it?" Nami asked, tilting her head.
"They had their reasons for letting me in," Zetsumei answered calmly.
"And what would those be?" Usopp asked.
"My guess would be because of your Devil Fruit ability and your high intelligence, right?" Robin said, finally speaking up after listening for quite some time.
"I guess you can say those were the reasons…"
"You're a Devil Fruit user?!" the men shouted, all leaning against the bar counter again.
Zetsumei sighed, grumbling some complaints under her breath before grinding her cigarette butt in the ash tray and pulling out a new one. "Yeah, I'm a devil fruit user, but it's not a bit deal."
"What's your power?" Luffy asked enthusiastically.
"How'd you get it?" Chopper asked also, just as enthusiastically as Luffy.
Zetsumei glared at them both, but the two didn't back down. "I have the power of Suto Suto no Mi…."
"Strike Strike fruit?" Zoro scoffed. "That makes absolutely no-" Zoro cut off when he was suddenly punched in the face, knocking him off his chair and onto the ground.
"The Suto Suto no Mi allows me to make accurate and affective hits on any target I want," Zetsumei said, smirking down at Zoro. "It also enhances my strength considerably."
"Meaning?" Luffy asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Meaning she may very well be stronger than you, Luffy," Robin chuckled with a smile.
"Really?" Luffy said. He soon smiled again. "Awesome! I knew I was right to ask you to come with us!"
"Well," Nami said, "now that the storm's past, we can leave right away in the morning."
"Awesome!" Usopp and Luffy cheered, wrapping an arm around each other's shoulder as they clinked glasses.
"Settle down guys!"
Luffy and Usopp were soon bonked on the head by Sanji who had finally made his appearance in the bar.
"It's hard enough for Zetsumei to take care of everyone else in here!" Sanji scolded. "So, knock off all the questions and settle down a little."
"Their better than a few others in this room," Zetsumei chuckled with a light smile as she looked towards the other drunks in the room.
The Straw Hats blinked blankly at Zetsumei, all surprised to see her smiling. Once Zetsumei saw this, her smile immediately faded and she was glaring once again. "What?"
"That's the first time we've seen you smile," Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy all replied.
"Oh, Zetsumei-chan!" Sanji swooned. "Your smile is so lovely!" Sanji then hugged Zetsumei. Zetsumei flinched, which made Sanji immediately let go and apologize for hurting her.
"Oi, Zets!" Max shouted from across the room, waving an empty mug. "Bring us another round!"
"You get it!" Zetsumei shouted, walking away from Sanji and the others. "You already drank everything I have behind the counter!"
"Oh, come on, Zetsu!" Marcus said, leaning against Max with a wide grin.
Zetsumei grumbled, waving a hand before turning her back to Max and Marcus and heading towards the back door. "Fine…" Zetsumei stopped in front of the door and looked towards Sanji. "Black Leg, make sure they don't burn the place down." Zetsumei opened the door, walking into the back, mumbling, "Damn drunks…"
Zetsumei made her way through the kitchen, all the way to the back door leading to the cellar she kept the alcohol in. Once she was in there, she immediately grabbed a box of liquor and got it off its shelf, but before she walked away she had noticed the small box nearby.
"I thought this was in a better place…" Zetsumei mumbled, setting down the box of liquor and reaching towards the small box. She picked up the box and carried it along with the box of liquor out the door towards the kitchen.
When Zetsumei was in the kitchen, she set down the liquor and small box and stared at the box for a moment. What was she going to do with it? Take it with her or just leave it here? Maybe it was about time she burned the damn thing.
Zetsumei took off the lid of the box and reached inside, pulling out the white jacket with gold and blue ornaments and a black letter for 'Justice' written on the back. The thing was old, older than Zetsumei thought it was, and you could tell just by looking at all the rips and tears in it.
"Zetsumei?"
Zetsumei quickly put the jacket back in the box and looked back over her shoulder to see Chopper smiling at her. "Something you need, Doctor?"
"I figured since you're injured you'll be needing a hand," Chopper said.
Zetsumei gave a small smile and nodded. "Thanks for the offer, Doc, but I can manage." Zetsumei put the lid back on the box she was looking at and quickly grabbed the box of liquor again and began walking back to the bar with Chopper behind her, drawing no questions about the box she was looking at.
Next Morning:
Zetsumei looked around one last time at her home before walking out the door and into the bar where everyone was waiting.
"You ready?" Nami asked, putting her hands on her hips and smiling.
"Ready as I'll ever be…" Zetsumei said, gripping her backpack. Zetsumei looked towards Max and Marcus, not really surprised to see the two crying. "Suck it up you two!"
"We're trying, Zets!" Max sniffed.
"We're going to miss yer yelling," Marcus said, sniffing also.
Zetsumei rolled her eyes and sighed. "Look, I'm going to need you two to look after this place while I'm gone, got it?" Max and Marcus nodded.
"All right!" Luffy cheered. "Time to go!"
"Don't forget about us!" Max and Marcus shouted as Zetsumei walked out with the Straw Hats.
Zetsumei rolled her eyes, not even bothering to turn around and look at the two men she had known for a long time. She actually hoped she would forget about them, but then there was that part of her that knew she was going to miss this part of home she had managed to keep. But she knew she was going to make more, hopefully better, memories with these new people. And at some point, she hoped she could accomplish her dream, even if that meant betraying the people she would be calling nakama soon enough.
