Chopper blushed. "Well, uh, I-" he kept his stuttering on in vein until Nami lent his a hand.
"It began when we met Miss Wednesday at the other side of Reverse Mountain."
"Miss Wednesday?" Shanks asked curiously. Nami hushed him.
"Shh! We're getting to that. I'll tell you later. It only matters that we were giving her a ride back to her home when we found Chopper's island- Drum Kingdom!"
"Drum Kingdom?" asked Benn. "I heard that it's government was overthrown four years ago." He paused. "Oh, Luffy. That explains it."
Murmurs worked their way through Shanks' crew.
"I guess everything mysterious can be explained by uttering Luffy's name," whispered Roux.
Yasopp nodded in agreement.
"Wait, Nami!" Usopp said confusedly. "Aren't we forgetting about the island before Drum Kingdom? You know, the one with the skeletons and giants!?"
Nami frowned and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I guess. I suppose my memory is a little foggy because of that bite."
"Bite?" Shanks asked. "What bite, Navigator?"
She sighed. "Well we were on this really weird island-"
"It was not weird!" Usopp proclaimed.
Everyone stared at him, minus most of his crew. They were already used to it.
Usopp puffed out his chest proudly. "It was the island where we met Dorry and Broggy, the powerful giants of Elbaf, Little Garden!"
There was silence in the backround.
Usopp slowly lowered his hands, which had made their way up into the air. "What?"
"Uh, son…" Yasopp started, "Don't you think that Little Garden is a really pathetic name for an island housing giants?"
"Well, it wasn't housing them," Luffy pondered, stroking his chin. "It was more like- skeletoning them!"
Nami's eye twitched and she held up a fist. "That was a horrible pun. Don't interrupt!"
Benn, Yasopp, and Roux watched with their eyes wide. "Skeletoning?" asked Yasopp, with a slight nervous edge to his voice.
Roux shivered. "That doesn't sound pleasant."
Benn shook his head. "It probably doesn't mean what we think it means."
"No, it does!" Luffy piped up happily. All three of them jumped away from the source of the voice. "There were skeletons!"
"Let's continue!" Shanks said quickly. "So, Nami, you said something about a bite?"
"Yeah," she said. "As we were leaving Little Garden I was bitten by something. It made me very sick. We stopped at Chopper's island to find a doctor."
"And find one, we did!" said Sanji, ruffling the fur around Chopper's antlers. Chopper's eyes shone back up at him.
"You mean it?!"
"Of course, I mean it. We do have the best doctor around."
Chopper hummed happily to himself. "Shut up, stupid! You're praise doesn't make me happy!"
"He looks pretty happy," Yasopp whispered to Benn. Benn had to agree.
"What about Dr. Kureha?" Chopper had finished his happy/sad dance, and was tugging on Nami's skirt.
She grinned and patted his head. "Don't worry, Chopper, I'm getting there."
Chopper nodded contentedly and went to sit down next to Robin.
"So," Nami continued. "When we landed on Drum Island, we had problems with the locals, but we convinced them we needed a doctor. The leader, Dalton, told us about Dr. Kureha, a so-called 'witch' that could cure anyone or anything. Luffy brought me to her."
She absently slung her arm over Luffy's shoulders. "He climbed up an icy pillar hundreds of feet tall to get to the castle. He saved my life." She rubbed his hat affectionately. "I was unconscious. When I woke up, I had been taken care of by the Doctor and her assistant inside the castle. As a matter of fact, the first thing I saw was a little reindeer!"
Chopper smiled and clapped his hooves. "Ooh, that's me!"
Nami laughed. "He then proceeded to scream and run out of the room."
Chopper blushed.
"The next time I saw him," she continued. "He was being chased by both Luffy and Sanji."
Everyone looked at those two. Luffy grinned and Sanji shrugged. "What?" he asked airily, waving his cigarette around. "I thought that he was venison to eat."
Luffy just grinned wider. "Me too. Except I just wanted to eat him raw. Sanji wanted to cook him!"
Chopper squeaked, remembering how horrible it had been when they had tried to eat him. He still shuddered at the thought.
Shanks appeared to be getting redder moment by moment. "Luffy," he ground out, "One of the first things I told you when you were a kid was to not eat your crewmates."
Luffy rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Shanks! I couldn't help it. He just looked so delicious!"
Shanks sighed and kneaded his tense forehead. "Of course, when you regained consciousness the first thing you would want to do is eat." He turned to Chopper. "I apologize on his behalf."
Chopper smiled. "Don't worry, I'm used to it! At least now I know he would probably never eat me!"
"Probably?" Yasopp whispered to Benn.
Benn shrugged. "I don't know… I guess if the poor guy wants to live on an entrée platter, he can go ahead. That's his problem."
Roux winced. "Ouch, Benn. That's harsh, even for you."
Benn shrugged. "What?"
Shanks rolled his eyes. "Carrying on, you guys," he said, "What happened to the old King, Wapol?"
Luffy looked up from his hands, where he was tying his fingers in knots. "I beat him up."
A collective sigh came from around the ship.
"Yes, Luffy." Benn said exasperatedly. "We already guessed that. What he was trying to ask was what happened to him afterwards, and where was he when you got on the island and were getting the navigator to a doctor?"
Shanks smiled. "Wow, that was accurate! I guess we've grown on each other, huh?"
Roux rolled his eyes . "Whatever you say, great and powerful Yonko."
Yasopp jumped up and gave him a high five. Shanks watched in confusion. "What was funny?" He complained.
Nami sighed and wiped her forehead dramatically. "Believe me, it wasn't. I'm just disappointed that they still do that decades in the future. Aren't they supposed to grow up sometime?"
Shanks shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint you, but they never do."
Most of the men watched this exchange in confusion. "What are they talking about?" Brook asked Franky.
Franky shrugged. "Beats me." He finished sanding a little fishing rod and shook it a few times. A hook, line, and sinker popped out of the end of the pole. He handed it to an excited Chopper, you had completely forgotten the conversation in anticipation of his new tool. Chopper happily grabbed the rod and started to run to the side of the ship. A few steps away from his destination he stopped in confusion.
"Franky!" he cried. "There's no bait!" He hung his head. "Should I get some from the kitchen?"
Franky nodded absently, but once the little doctor had disappeared, he leaned over to Usopp.
"He took it," he whispered, "Hook, line, and sinker!"
Usopp frowned, the joke not really kicking in, before bursting out in uncontrollable laughter. After a few moments Roux and Benn got the joke and started laughing along the other two. Nami and Shanks watched sadly.
Shanks cleared his throat and looked pointedly at his crewmembers. "Let's get back to the story our friends are telling us, shall we?"
The mess quickly cleared itself up and the two older pirates went to stand shamefully by their Captain. "Sorry," they mumbled.
Shanks easily accepted their apology with a smile. He turned to Luffy. "Now, Luffy, was Wapol a hard opponent?"
Luffy shrugged. "I guess. I think he tried to eat everything."
Yasopp's eyes popped out of his head. "He tried to eat you? He was a cannibal?!"
"Nope!" Luffy said.
There was a pause. "Luffy," Benn continued carefully, "A cannibal is a human who eats humans."
Luffy straightened his spine and crossed his arms. "I know that!" he said indignantly.
"Then how is he not a cannibal if he tried to eat you?" Roux asked. He gave Luffy a once over. "I mean, you might look young and tender, but you're clearly too chewy-"
"Roux," Shanks said, deadly serious, "I know that I also gave you that warning. Where you thinking about it?"
Roux looked appalled. "No, I just wanted to know why he wanted to eat Luffy. Shanks, I wouldn't eat him!"
"Good," Shanks said. "Just remember the warning."
Roux crossed his arms. "Great. Now Shanks thinks I'm a cannibal."
Luffy was watching this conversation with interest. He finally realized that he should maybe try and tell more of the story.
"I don't think he really wanted to eat me like I was a piece of meat." He said slowly, thinking over what had happened years previous. "I think it had to do with his devil fruit power."
Shanks laughed. "That's better. Frankly, I'm relieved. I'd rather be eaten as a devil fruit power than as a meal."
"You're too old and stringy, anyway," Roux muttered.
"What?!"
"Nothing!"
"Eating things was Wapol's devil fruit power." Robin broke in. "He could even eat himself to make himself smaller."
Benn scratched his head. "How in the world…"
Robin smiled and shrugged.
Yasopp shuddered. "That's disgusting."
"I'd have to agree," Nami said. "It's worse when you're there."
"So we know that you beat him," Shanks said, once again trying to move things along, "How did you get Reindeer-san on your crew?"
Chopper had come back from the kitchen a few minutes earlier. "I wanted to be a pirate, but I didn't want to leave Dr. Kureha. She finally convinced me to leave by chasing me out of the castle and throwing things at me!"
Yasopp winced. "Ouch. Tough crowd, huh?"
Benn elbowed him in the ribs. "I suppose you've had that one time too many, right?"
A scathing glance was sent his way by an irate sharpshooter.
"No, no!" Chopper said, waving his hooves at them. "She wanted me to leave, but she knew that I wouldn't leave unless I was forced. She helped me, and even packed my bag in the sleigh I left with. I owe her a lot." He stared dreamily out into the bright sky, no doubt thinking about his friends on Drum Island.
Shanks smiled. "That's wonderful, Chopper. I'm glad that Anchor has interesting friends like you. It's great that you're a wonderful doctor, also."
Luffy grinned. "And I didn't even know that he was a doctor until he was on the ship!"
Complete silence rocked violently over the ship, broke only by the choking sounds of Shanks' crew. Shanks himself retained better composure than the others, his grin only faltering slightly, and only for a few moments.
"So," he asked evenly after a few minutes of Luffy's crew looking amusedly at his, who were trying not to suffocate in shock, "Why did you want Chopper on your crew, Luffy? I'm really interested in hearing this now. So, please go on."
Luffy just shrugged. "I really needed a monster!"
The older pirates glanced at one another.
"Hey, Benn," Yasopp whispered over behind his hand.
"What?"
"Do you think that's a politically correct term?"
"We're pirates, Yasopp, not the World Government."
"Oh, yeah."
Shanks snorted. "Luffy, you already had a directionless swordsman, a kleptomaniacal mapmaker, a chronically lying teenager with a slingshot, and a failure of a Casanova chef. Did you really need a talking anthropomorphic blue-nosed reindeer doctor as the monster on your crew?"
Luffy thought for a moment. "Well, when you put it that way…"
"Hey!" Chopper objected in a panic.
The aforementioned four just looked at each other and shrugged.
"What," Benn asked, "No protesting?"
"Well," Nami started, "Those were pretty accurate."
Zoro shrugged. "I dunno, I think that my sense of direction's fine."
"Ignore him," Sanji said. "He clearly has no idea what he's talking about."
Zoro snarled at him and stood up. "You wanna fight, swirly?"
"Try me, marimo!"
Nami broke in. She grabbed both of their sleeves and pulled them apart, her eye twitching. "No fighting now, boys!" she said. "Go sit down."
Sanji complied almost immediately, but Zoro shot her a glare before going to sit don and sleep.
Luffy smiled all around the ship. "It really doesn't matter if these guys are monsters or not."
"Oh, really?" Shanks asked, surprised.
Luffy beamed at him. "Nope, because they're all my nakama now!"
"Aww!" Yasopp whispered to Roux.
Roux smiled back. "You've got that right," he said. "It's very 'Luffy' of him."
Shanks sighed fake dramatically. "Luffy, you really know how to win people over, don't you?"
Luffy shrugged and glanced over all of his crew. They were all bothering each other. He sighed. It was nice to have such wonderful friends.
"Do you wanna here what happened next?" he asked excitedly.
"Let me guess," Benn said sarcastically. "One of your friends needed help so you beat someone up and won."
"Woah! How'd you guess?"
Shanks smacked Benn on his shoulder. "Gee, Benn. Don't be like that."
"We're listening," Yasopp said. "And the next crew member you said you collected was the pretty lady over there, right?" He pointed to Robin. "Are we going to hear about how you got her?"
"Got her?" Nami was amused. "What are we, puppies?"
"Well," Benn began, "Hate to break it to you, but that's how it sounds right about now."
"Now, now," Shanks said pleasantly, "Luffy likes animals."
Nami rolled her eyes. "Go on, Luffy. Tell them about what happened next."
Luffy nodded seriously and crossed his arms. He turned to Shanks. "We overthrew another kingdom for a princess and her duck."
The wind whistled inconspicuously through the rolled-up sails.
"Er, her duck?" Yasopp asked hesitantly.
Usopp nodded. "Yes. For Vivi and Karoo."
Benn pushed himself off of the main mast. "Wait, you mean Princess Vivi of Alabasta?"
Shanks jumped slightly. "Oh, I remember hearing about that. It had the whole Grand Line in a knot for a few months before."
Benn turned on his heel to face his Captain. "Wait, you knew about this?"
"Of course. What do you think I do all day, drink coffee?"
"No, you drink coffee and sit on your-"
"Okay! Is that what everyone thinks? I'll have to work on my PR."
Luffy jumped up and down excitedly. "Can I tell you about this yet? I've wanted to tell you about this for a long time."
Shanks sighed and shook his head. "Go ahead, Luffy."
Luffy jumped up and down elastically, waiting for the others to stop talking and listen to him. His large, dark eyes were wide open and excited.
"Shanks Shanks Shanks! Are you ready?"
The man himself struggled to contain his exasperation. "Yes, Luffy, I told you that about a dozen times by now. Just go on ahead when you feel like it."
"Well, uh-" Luffy looked expectantly at Nami. "I sorta forget what happened right away."
Nami's eyebrow twitched. "Well, you forgot, but we sure couldn't!" She sighed. "Okay, why don't you start with Ace?"
Benn leaned forward. "Wait, Luffy's brother Ace? What did he have to do with the situation on Alabasta?"
"Nothing, really." Sanji said. "He was there on other business."
Shanks' expression darkened. "I think I know what 'other business' he was on," he murmured to himself.
"Where did you meet him? Did he just happen to be hanging around by your ship?" Yasopp joked.
"Somewhere there was food." Roux answered without missing a beat.
Everyone stared at him. He shrugged. "What? Knowing Luffy, there was food, regardless of where they were."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Usopp said thoughtfully. The crew shrugged. It was true.
Luffy nodded. "Yeah, I met him and Smokey at a restaurant I got food at. I might've accidentally slammed them both through the wall," he muttered, whistling under his breath.
Shanks' eyes popped out. He wasn't so old that his hearing was that badly affected. "You did what? Luffy!"
Luffy giggled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I, uh, might've been using Gum-Gum Rocket and not looking where I was going? I saw food and I wanted to get there as quickly as possible."
"Why am I not surprised?" Yasopp moaned. "Did you try and aggravate the marine? You know how tetchy some of those guys are? You definitely knew how querulous Smoker was, of all people."
"Querulous?" Benn said coolly. "That's a big word for you isn't it?"
"Shut up, Benny! I'm not an idiot!"
"Can you tell me the definition?"
"I don't know, but in the dictionary the word had a picture of you right next to it!"
"Wait, you can read?"
"That's it!"
Shanks boredly grabbed a fuming Yasopp by his bandana and pulled him back. Benn glared flatly at the sniper from the other side of the ship. "Now, now, boys. Be nice. We're guests on a ship at the moment, if you've forgotten."
None of them even had the decency to look ashamed. "He started it," Yasopp hissed.
Benn sneered back.
Luffy looked faintly perturbed. "Are they hungry?" he asked Sanji worriedly.
"Luffy, I don't think-" Sanji paused. "Actually, I'll go make some sandwiches or something." He patted Luffy's shoulder. "Good idea."
Shanks watched Sanji disappear into the kitchen. "So, Luffy," he said, "Would you please continue? I'm sorry for Benn and Yasopp. I think it's the old age."
Both of them simultaneously glared at him. Shanks shrugged. "See, now they're working together. Go on, Anchor."
"Yeah, so I accidentally bowled those two down. I didn't notice that it was them, though, I was so hungry!"
"Once again, I'm not surprised." Roux whispered.
"And all of a sudden, there was Smokey! He was right in front of me!"
"What did you do?" Yasopp asked, having finally looked away from his death-glare contest with Benn. "Fight to the death?"
Luffy shook his head vehemently. "Uh uh! I ran away! Really fast!""
Shanks smacked his forehead with his hand and rested there. "No wonder no one takes his seriously."
Luffy pouted, but continued. "I was running away from Smoker and the other marines, and I saw Zoro, so I waved and yelled at him. He was with the others."
Benn winced. "Ouch."
Nami nodded sadly. "You think? Once again, we had to run away from our perfectly safe hiding space because of our Captain."
Luffy frowned. "It wasn't completely perfect. They found you."
Benn placed a comforting arm on a fuming Nami's shoulder. "It's alright," he said understandingly. "Just let it go."
She took a few deep breaths and nodded.
"We were all running away," Luffy kept explaining, "And all of a sudden there was Ace! He let us run away when he beat up all the other guys! He was so cool! I hadn't seen his devil fruit yet, though. It was a cool addition, but then he couldn't save me from drowning anymore." He pouted. "At least I had my crew."
Zoro frowned. "We aren't lifeguards, Luffy. Sometimes I think you jump in on purpose."
Luffy whistled innocently.
"Wait, you do?! That's it, next time you end up in the water, I'm not rescuing you!"
"Hey, Zoro! No!"
"You deserve it, idiot."
Luffy crossed his arms and lowered his head sadly.
"Gah! Fine!"
Luffy beamed. "You're the best, Zoro!"
Zoro grunted and faced the other way.
"He hasn't had his powers for as long as Luffy?" Benn said to himself. "But it seemed like he'd had them forever when we met him."
"Luffy?' Shanks had been trying to get his attention. "What happened with Ace afterwards?"
Luffy rubbed his forehead in thought. "He came on the ship for a little bit. I introduced him to my crew, and everyone said hello. Why?"
"Because," Shanks said grimly, "Wasn't that around the time he was searching for Blackbeard?"
Shanks watched intently as the grin swiftly faded from Luffy's face. The young Captain scuffed the toe of his worn sandal against the weathered deck boards.
"Yeah," he said, "I think that's what he said."
"You mean he told you, Luffy?" Shanks asked.
Luffy straightened up. "Of course he told me!" he huffed. "Ace always told me when he was going to go attack someone!"
"Sweet family." Roux whispered to Yasopp. The sharpshooter shrugged.
"I think it's sort of nice," he whispered back. "I never got to tell my family when I was going to beat someone up."
"Oh, you poor thing," Benn broke in sarcastically. "Would you at least listen to the boy when he's talking about his late brother?"
"Late?" Luffy asked. "What's he late for?"
Benn paused awkwardly. He glanced at Shanks pleadingly for help. Shanks shrugged and smiled, as if to say, "You can figure this one out on your own."
Benn groaned. "It means that he's dead, Luffy."
Luffy nodded solemnly. "Well, he is dead. I guess he is late." He paused and thought for a second. "He's late to everything." When he got a few blank looks he clarified. "Because he's dead."
The crews collectively winced. Many offered up an apology for Ace's poor disrespected soul. Luffy went back to doing whatever he was doing with his sandal.
All of a sudden, he looked up excitedly. "Did I tell you about Mr. 2 yet?"
Shanks looked around. He's trying to change the subject, he thought. All of his crewmates were shaking their heads, and a few of Luffy's crew members had strange looks on their faces.
"Apparently not," he decided. "Who was he?"
Luffy beamed. "He was a freaky ballerina okama who liked to dance and change into other people!"
"I think the 'ballerina' part explained the 'liked to dance' part, Luffy," Chopper said hesitantly.
Yasopp blinked rapidly. "Wait. Where in the world did you meet a ballerina okama that liked to dance and- Wait. Do what?"
"Change into other people." Luffy finished calmly, without a care in the world.
Shanks leaned back. "Uh… Devil Fruit?"
"Yep."
"So he could change into you?"
"Yep!"
Shanks shuddered. "One of you is enough."
"Hey!"
"Luffy," Benn said. "Could you explain it a little bit better?"
The young Pirate King thought about it for a few moments, then, "No."
"What? Why?!"
Nami sighed. "Sailing. Person. Water. Devil fruit. Drowning. Ship. Guy. Creepy. Cloning. Luffy. Friend. Bye."
Benn nodding understandingly. "Ah."
Luffy watched in confusion. "Huh?"
However, he was quickly distracted by Sanji, who had brought up a large stack of food on a platter.
Shanks shrugged. "Great. You made another friend."
"It wasn't as simple as that," Zoro said, looking up from where he was sharpening his swords.
"It isn't?" Yasopp asked.
Zoro picked up one of his swords and tested the blade against his thumb. It made a small, dark incision in his flesh. Blood immediately welled up in the cut.
Yasopp shuddered. "Bleh. He's creepy!" he whispered to Roux. Roux nodded quickly, agreeing with him. They were both shortly quelled by the dirty look given to them by both Benn and Zoro.
Shanks tried to start the subject up again. "How was that not the end of it?"
"Because," Sanji said matter-of-factly, "He was the enemy, and we had to fight him later."
"The enemy?" Shanks questioned. "Why?"
Zoro finally put his precious swords away, satisfied at their appearance. "He was one of the most powerful people in Baroque Works, the organization that tried to overthrow Alabasta."
"Crocodiles' organization?" Benn asked in shock.
Zoro nodded. "You've heard of it?"
Shanks nodded. "Everyone's heard about what happened at Alabasta with Baroque Works, we just didn't know that you all were a part of it."
Benn frowned. "Baroque Works ranks are determined by the number in your name, correct? The lower the more powerful?"
Robin nodded, looking calmly up at the fluffy white clouds. "For male members, yes. Females had holiday aliases."
"So," Benn deadpanned. "One of Crocodiles' most powerful guys was a freaky ballerina okama who liked to dance and change into other people?"
Silence fell as Luffy's crew members looked around at each other.
"Well, yeah," Sanji said. He blew smoke into sky. "I suppose that just about sums up our experience with Baroque Works."
Shanks shook his head at the weirdness of Luffy's adventures. He already felt disturbed and they weren't yet halfway through. Luffy was clearly remembering fond experiences long past, judging by the smile on his face.
"What happened to this Mr. 2?" he asked. Maybe Luffy was still friends with him. He really wouldn't put it past Luffy to form unnaturally close bonds with a previous enemy.
Luffy sighed. "Sanji beat him up."
Everyone's eyes turned to the cook.
"What?! He was an enemy! We were all beating up people!"
Luffy laughed. "I wasn't yelling at you, Sanji! We all beat up people!"
Sanji groaned. "I just said that, Luffy." When he was ignored, he shrugged and put out his cigarette.
Shanks tried to continue the conversation for what felt like the thousandth time in one day. "So? What happened next? Crocodile? Baroque Works? Hello?"
Luffy frowned. "Uh… I forget exactly, but I'm pretty sure it went like this-"
He took a deep breath and began to speak rapidly. "We- went- into- the- desert- and- got- our- stuff- stolen- and- we- met- a- perverted- camel- named- Eyelashes- that- would- only- give- rides- to- Nami- and- Vivi- and- went- to- Yuba- and- found- an- old- man- but- the- rebels- weren't- there- and- we- went- to- Rainbase- anyway- to- find- Crocodile."
He took another deep breath before speaking again. "And- we- might- have- met- Smokey- and- Zoro's- girlfriend- and- ran- away- from- them- but- then- we- got- captured- by- Crocodile- even- Smokey- and- throw- in- a- cage- but- Sanji- and- Chopper- weren't- there- and- we- couldn't- get- out- and- hey- Robin- was- there- but- Sanji- did- something- cool- and- the- place- flooded- and- I- had- Zoro- take- Smokey- outside- because- he'd- drown- and- we- escaped!"
Luffy enthusiastically threw his arms up in the air, pleased that he'd finished the immediate future. When he got no reaction he lowered his arms and started sucking in a big gulp of air for another paragraph of confusion.
"Hey, guys!" he said. "Weren't you listening?" he pouted. "I can tell it again."
"No!" Shanks said quickly. He cleared his throat. "I mean, why don't you let the others ask you some questions?"
Luffy nodded. "Okay! Who has questions?"
Yasopp hesitantly raised his hand. "Uh, there was a perverted camel named Eyelashes?"
Nami smiled and clapped her hands together. "And he was the sweetest thing with two humps."
Roux cleared his throat. Nami glared at him.
"Yeah, we met him in the desert." Luffy said. "He went across the desert with us." He lowered his gaze petulantly. "He only gave rides to the girls though."
Shanks nodded. "Perverted camel. Got it."
Sanji snorted. "You only describe what I did as something awesome? Wow, it was a lot better that just awesome, and you know it."
"Yeah, yeah, glory-hog," Zoro snorted. "All you did was waltz in with a funny name. Mr. Prince, my swords."
Sanji crushed his cigarette with his thumb and forefinger. "Well, I don't see you denying the girlfriend comment."
Zoro turned livid. "She is not my girlfriend! How many times do I have to tell you people?"
Roux nudged him with an elbow. "As many times as it convinces you, am I right?"
Zoro glared at him. "No."
Benn glared at Luffy. "Did you just tell us that you told Zoro to save the marine? How many times do we have to tell you, Luffy, they're the bad guys." He thought for a moment. "Actually, they're the good guys. But you can't just go and have tea with them!"
Luffy cocked his head. "I don't remember any tea."
Crack! Benn's head introduced himself to the grass-covered wooden deck.
Shanks frowned. "Did he say that Robin-san was there?" he murmured to himself. He shook his head. "It's of no immediate importance. I guess I'll find out sometime."
Yasopp leaned his head on his hands. "I'm interested, Luffy. Go on."
Luffy nodded eagerly. "Oh! Okay! I accidentally got kidnapped by Crocodile instead of Vivi, and I fought him!"
"Accidentally kidnapped…" Benn whispered.
"And then what?" Roux asked. "You beat him up, right?"
"Nah, I lost."
Shanks groaned. "Great. How did you not die?"
"Oh, Robin helped me."
Shanks smiled. "Once again, the elusive lady. I'm looking forward to hearing more about you."
Robin gently returned the smile.
Yasopp frowned. "You beat him the next time, right? Right?"
"Nah, lost that one too."
"Luffy!"
The Pirate King shrugged. "What? He was a Shichibukai! There really wasn't much I could do! I tried, I really did." He changed directions quickly. "Hey," he said. "Did you know that Crocodile's weakness is water?"
Benn rolled his eyes. "He's a devil fruit user, Luffy. It not a big surprise."
"No," Luffy shook his head. "Just touching water made him weak."
Yasopp grinned. "I need to write that down." He turned to the rest of his crewmates. "Hey, remember that one time with Ivankov and Crocodile? You know the time-"
Shanks slapped a hand over his sniper's mouth. "Not telling that story again."
Yasopp pulled away. "Aw, Captain, you're only mad because you-"
He was hastily silenced with a shoe to the head.
"Yeah, I know." Shanks grumbled. "Please don't bring it up every time we go places."
Yasopp sheepishly rubbed the sore patch under his hair.
"Care to continue?" Benn asked.
Luffy nodded. "I lost twice, the rebels attacked, my crew fought lots of Baroque works members, and I beat Crocodile and met Robin."
Zoro scowled. "You could've gone into more detail about our fights."
Sanji laughed. "Now who's a glory-hog?"
Zoro glared at him. "Can it, Swirly.
Usopp puffed out his chest. "I, the almighty Usopp finished off two high-ranking members single handedly!"
"Really?" Chopper asked, eyes shining. "Wait, I was there! I helped too!"
Yasopp rubbed his son's head. "I'm so proud of you! Good job!"
Chopper sighed. Robin rubbed his head. He looked up at her. "Aren't you going to tell your story soon, Robin?" he asked.
She nodded. "Don't worry, Doctor. I'll come in when it's my time."
Shanks smiled at Luffy. "You finally beat Crocodile?"
Luffy grinned back at him. "Yep! Got poisoned though. That wasn't fun. But the marines arrested Crocodile and Vivi got her kingdom back!"
"And," Shanks continued. "What about Robin?"
Luffy shrugged. "Oh, she was Miss All-Sunday, Crocodile's partner. She was looking for the poneglyph. She joined our crew after that."
All eyes moved from Luffy to Robin. She smiled and waved her hand at them.
"She was Crocodile's partner?" Benn asked uneasily. "Why did she join your crew?"
"Because I like her." Luffy said defensively. "She came to me first."
Robin smiled. "He saved my life when I found the poneglyph. I figured he might as well take responsibility for his actions."
"For saving your life?" Shanks asked.
Robin nodded.
He shrugged. "I can drink to that. Hey, Sanji. Can I have another bottle of sake?"
Sanji, including the rest of Luffy's crew, grinned. "I'd be more than happy to." With a flourish of his sleeves, he was gone."
Shanks looked at the rest of the crew. "I think some partying is in order."
A resounding cheer echoed through at chilled, misty evening air.
