Usopp scowled as Anion and the pirate captain talked behind him. They had finished the ship earlier that day, and Anion was going over the repair work. The pirate looked impressed, ordering his crew to board and start readying to set sail. Usopp ignored them as much as he could, staring out to sea and feeling a slight twinge of jealousy. This man's adventures were just starting while his were sixteen years done.
He had thought about the offer to join their crew, to find the scattered members of the Straw-hat pirates, and set sail again. If Zoro wasn't going to step up, why couldn't he? But he had decided against it. His loyalties were strong, to both his friends and his family. He wouldn't leave his wife and kids to go adventuring.
"Ya ain't comin'?" Usopp turned, seeing the pirate grinning behind him.
"Thanks for the offer," Usopp said, "But I'm going to decline. I'm part of a different pirate crew, and I can't leave my family."
The pirate shrugged, "Shame. Yer skills are good. We needs to get ourselves a shipwright. And ya still thinks yer part of the Pirate King's Crew?"
"I wasn't lying," Usopp sighed, "Once a Strawhat, always a Strawhat. It's not something I can throw away that easily." He sighed, looking out over the ocean. "If you get across Reverse Mountain, tell Brook I say 'hi'."
"Brook?"
"A singing skeleton," Usopp explained, the pirate's expression disbelieving. "He's my friend, and lives at the base of the mountain. Tell him Usopp sends his regards."
The pirate tilted his head, "Yer a strange one…"
Usopp shrugged, "I get that a lot. Just pass on the message, will you?"
"Aye, I'll pass it on." He turned to his crew, "OI! Hurry it up! We're leaving!" The crew's pace quickened. Turning back to Usopp, he pulled a small bag off his belt and tossed it over. "Here's the payment."
Usopp caught the bag, feeling its weight and pocketing it. "I thought the payment was you not burning down the village?" He asked, smirking.
"Eh, yous did a good job. I ain't one to back outta that." The pirate laughed. He turned away, climbing up to the deck of his ship.
"Hey!" Usopp called, "What's your name? I'll watch for a wanted poster."
"Warren!" The pirate called down as the ropes were released and the ship began moving.
"Hey Usopp," Anion caught up to the sharpshooter as he made his way to Gert. "How come he paid you?"
"How should I know?" Usopp replied, reaching Gert and picking up the ship log. He marked down the repairs made and the completion date, as well as the payment. He handed the bag of coins over to Gert, who would later split it among the workers who repaired that ship.
"You know what that means, right?" Anion slung an arm over Usopp's shoulder, who immediately shoved it off.
"Yeah," Usopp sighed, "I know. Party's at my house tonight. Come around seven."
"Excellent," Anion said. "You know, I don't think I've ever been to your house."
"There's a reason for that," Usopp muttered, quickening his pace and leaving Anion behind. His scowl returned as he recalled the unwritten rule of the dock workers. The worker who was handed the money from the client had to host the celebration when they finished the ship. Warren's ship had taken a week to repair, a bigger project than usual. Especially with the damage it had sustained.
Passing through the town, people were bustling as usual. It was close to four in the afternoon, and people were packing up their wares and heading home. He arrived home, the house relatively quiet. The kids would have been at Granny's with the other children in the village. Kaya was either on call as a doctor, or picking up Brandon and Merry.
He sat down in the kitchen, peeling off his grease streaked gloves and tossing them in the sink. The sweat-soaked bandana joined it. He left them there as he left to take a shower, hoping Kaya would come home soon so he could warn her about the party.
To his luck, Kaya was in the kitchen when he emerged. She gave him a disapproving look when he entered, holding up his dirty clothing. "The sink?" She asked. "You couldn't have found a better place to put these? What would Sanji have done if you did this to his sink?"
"Kick my ass." He answered, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, I was distracted."
Kaya pressed the gloves and bandana into his arms. "Deal with them."
"I will… Uh, we finished he ship today."
"Oh?" Kaya asked. "Whose house is it at tonight?"
"Ours…" He admitted.
"Well, that's new. What time will they be arriving?" She turned to the cupboards, intending to pull out a pot.
"Seven-ish, I guess," He told her. "Don't worry about dinner, everyone's going to be bringing something. We can eat what they bring."
Kaya nodded, replacing the pot she was in the process of removing and standing. "That's good then, no cooking tonight."
At five to seven, Marty was the first to arrive. He walked through the door holding a steaming tray. "I brought beef!" He said, making his way first to the kitchen, and then to the living room when Kaya kicked him out. Kaya and Usopp had rearranged the living room furniture to accommodate the ten workers and the food.
Kaya kissed Usopp on the cheek, "Be a good host," she ordered, dragging their two children into the kitchen and out of the way.
"I'll try," he said, turning to greet Marty. "Hey."
Marty placed his dish on one of the tables and looked around. "Man, you've got a big house."
"It isn't mine," Usopp said, "It's Kaya's." He sighed as there was another knock on the door. "Hold on." He opened the door, revealing Anion and Drey. "Hi."
Anion whistled, looking around the foyer. "Nice place."
"Thanks. This way," Usopp pointed them to the living room, them placing their load on the table as well. "Make yourself at home," he said, "Just don't touch anything that looks breakable. Or old. Or… Just don't touch anything."
Anion ignored him, sitting down next to Marty and striking up a conversation. Drey, however, turned to Usopp. "You seem reluctant to have people in your house."
"Eh, I guess. It's weird." Usopp shrugged. "None of you believe me."
"Come on, Usopp. Your stories are insane." Drey fixed him with a stare. "And you've been going on and on about impossible things."
Usopp sat down, "Impossible, but true." He said. "I'm not lying about my travels."
"An island in the sky. A man eating island. The Pirate King. The New World." Drey listed off. "Those are impossible things for someone like you."
"Of course it's impossible for me," Usopp said. "Me alone. But I wasn't alone. I had my friends to help me."
Anion, who was listening in, laughed. "You probably spent those years sulking on another island because you failed. Face it, Usopp. We can see through your lies."
Usopp narrowed his eyes, and then there was another knock at the door. "Excuse me," he said curtly, standing and leaving the living room. Opening the door, he was met with several more people. Over the hour, everyone arrived. Kaya came in once, making up plates for her and the children for their dinner and greeting the workers.
"Hey Usopp," Gerry said, "I wanna hear one of your adventure stories!"
"Stop it," Usopp said. "If you're going to make fun of me, you can leave."
"I'm not making fun of you," Gerry said. "I just wanna hear something interesting. There hasn't been anything in the news to gossip about."
"Come on," Someone urged. "Please?"
"We won't laugh, we're bored."
Usopp sighed, "I'm going to regret this…" He began talking, recounting the issue in Alabasta, introducing Ace, Vivi, and Karue, the giant duck. People did laugh, but not mockingly, when he explained Sanji's deceit when breaking into the Crocodile's casino. They went silent when he talked about the bomb. Usopp finished, turning his back to them and holding up his left arm. "This sign on our left arm will always be a sign of our friendship!" he finished dramatically, having drawn on the X with vegetable dip.
"You know, Usopp." Marty said, "You could become a novelist. Put those stories to good use."
"Or he could publish them and have the remaining Strawhats angry at him for exploiting their names." Anion said, not looking impressed.
Usopp grabbed a napkin and wiped the sauce of his arm. "It's all in Nami's log book, which is back on the ship." He said. "She could have sold that and gotten a ton of money. I wonder why that never occurred to her…" Usopp trailed off, looking sad. "I guess it doesn't matter now. She's dead."
It hadn't been long since the last member of the team had arrived, but there was yet another knock on the door. When Usopp went to answer it, Gert fell through, panting and clutching a newspaper tight in his fingers. "You… aren't going to believe… what was in the news."
"Are you okay, Old Man?" Usopp asked, helping him upright and bringing him into the living room. Gert grabbed a drink and took a deep breath.
"Look at this," he said sternly, holding out the crumpled paper. "I think this is the reason the News-Coo was late this week."
Anion took the paper and unfolded it, his eyes widening as he read the title. "The Strawhats have returned?!" He shouted, drawing the attention from Kaya, who was passing the room.
"WHAT?!" Usopp shouted, tearing the paper from his grasp. The title was there, and below it there was a picture of the Thousand Sunny. Anion was right; it did say the Straw-hats were back. HE stared intently at the picture. The picture was mostly of the ship, a lucky close up. Standing on deck was a black haired man, standing close to the railing and waving at the camera. It looked so much like Luffy that Usopp had to blink back tears. Another man, this one looking like Zoro, was in the background too, and a small orange-haired girl resembling Nami was standing beside the Luffy-lookalike.
"Well then," Anion said. "This proves that Usopp is lying. If the Pirate King has returned, wouldn't he have contact–"
"They're imposters," Usopp said darkly, interrupting Anion. "They're imposters who stole the Sunny." His hands were shaking.
"Usopp," Kaya said gently.
"Ha!" Anion snorted. "Even your wife isn't going to put up with your lies anymore!"
"Anion," Kaya turned to him. "Shut up." His mouth closed with a snap. She took the paper from Usopp and placed it on the table.
"I watched them die," Usopp said softly, venom still in his voice. "I watched Luffy and Nami get hit and vanish. I watched them disappear before my eyes and couldn't do a thing to save them. There is no way those are the real ones."
Marty picked up the newspaper, reading the article. "Hey, listen to this," He began reading the article. "It began with four unidentified strangers. A group was shipwrecked on an island and were brought to Sabaody Archipelago by kind hearted Marines. The only favor asked of them was to give forward their names, to determine if they would be a threat to the general populace. These four did not reveal their names, and it was later discovered they had threatened the people they were with to conceal their names as well. One of those four mercilessly attacked a Vice Admiral and fled. This man revealed himself to be Monkey D. Luffy. King of the Pirates and captain of the Strawhat pirates. Due to the Vice Admiral's state, the Marine base was not alerted until the Strawhats made their escape."
"They stole the Sunny!" Usopp snapped, Kaya placing a reassuring hand on his arm.
Marty ignored him and continued reading. "Pirate Hunter Zoro, as well as his unnamed daughter were witnessed in the area, as well as two newcomers, believed to be the children of Strawhat Luffy. Their intentions are currently unknown. All citizens are warned to be on the lookout. Should they be spotted, do not engage and report their sighting to the nearest Marine."
Marty looked up from the page, meeting Usopp's glare. "Is that it?" Usopp asked.
Marty nodded. Usopp grabbed the newspaper back and took a worn photo album off the mantle. People parted as he passed them, none of them ever witnessing Usopp's rage before. Usopp sat down, shoved a tray out of the way to make room on the table and placed the album in the empty space.
"What the hell is he doing?" Anion whispered to Drey, who shrugged.
"He's going to compare the pictures he has of Luffy to the one in the newspaper." Kaya replied. "Look for similarities."
"Kaya," Drey said gently, as Usopp opened the album and began flipping through it. "We all know he's lying. You have no reason to defend him."
"He's not lying," Kaya said firmly. "I've met Luffy myself. Pepper, Onion, and Carrot have met them as well, and if they hadn't set off on their own adventure, they would back me and Usopp up."
Anion sighed in defeat, turning back to Usopp. He had stopped turning the pages and was now carefully extracting a photo from the page. Several of the workers, and Gert, had crowded behind him, staring at the photo in Usopp's hand. "Where in the name of god did you get that?" Gert asked.
"Nami got it from one of Lola's crewmembers," Usopp said. "When we split up, I took this." He gestured to the album.
The picture Usopp was holding was of the two of them, Usopp and Luffy, arms over each other's shoulders and grins on their faces. Lola and her crew were in the background, as well as Franky and Chopper doing their chopstick dance on the table behind them. Nami was visible in the corner, smiling and in the motion of clapping. Usopp leaned down, holding the picture next to the fake Luffy first. The two people were almost identical. The scar under the left eye, the stupid grin, the messy hair, the hat. Squinting, he could make out a grainy scar on the back of the fake Luffy's hand. That scar wasn't in the picture he was holding. It was too early for that. Luffy hadn't gotten that cut until they had been attacked. When he disappeared, it was still bleeding. He dropped the picture and pressed his hands to his face.
"It's really him," He whispered. He looked up. "He's alive." Usopp jumped to his feet and cheered. "HE'S BACK!"
Blake frowned, glancing between his father, mother, and brother. Both his parents had been surprised when he had burst through the door, waving the paper above his head. When they had read it, his mother smiled and shook her head, muttering about how durable her captain was. His father had shouted SUPER a few times before calming down.
"Does this mean we're leaving?" He asked, leaning forward on the table. "As in, going to find him?"
Franky nodded, "Of course! They have the Sunny and don't know how to work half the weapons!"
"There is that, and also the fact they're our friends, and owe a lot to them." Robin said, smiling. She picked up the article again, "Pirate Hunter Zoro's unnamed daughter. Believed to be Strawhat Luffy's children. Well, it looks like you'll have lots of friends aboard."
Blake sighed, sitting down. His mother was impossible to argue with. "Besides," Franky said, "It will be a SUPER adventure! You like sailing, right?"
Blake had to nod. His older brother, Tom, had taught him to sail in the small boats at the docks. "Yeah…"
"This is just like that," Robin said, "But on a bigger ship. And more people."
Blake huffed, sticking out his tongue. "But I like it here."
"Blake," Robin said, "You've known about this since you were little. Besides, it isn't safe for us anymore, with the Captain back. People will be more cautious and suspicious."
"I know, I know," Blake sighed. His parents had warned him of the dangers of them being found out, the two of them being part of a very powerful crew, and both of them having incredibly high bounties. Franky grinned, patting his undersized son on the back.
"That's the spirit!" He boomed, "Now go start packing."
Both boys, tall, blue haired Tom, and lanky, black haired Blake stood from the table, dumping their dinner dishes in the sink and left the kitchen.
Milo was bored, sitting on the boards circling the mast. His phone was dead, after three days on the ocean. And his charger was at home. In the other world. He fiddled with the black device, tossing it back and forth in his hands. And even if he did have it, there were no compatible outlets on the ship. He sighed, standing and making his way to the railing. Passing his father, who was laying in the middle of the grass. Luffy sat up, leaning on his elbows as Milo passed. "Are you alright?"
Milo held up his phone. "This thing is dead, and there's no way to charge it. I was thinking of being dramatic and throwing it overboard."
Luffy tilted his head, "Well, if you want to, go ahead. But Franky might be able to find a way to charge it for you."
He looked down to the phone in his hand, shrugging. "I guess I'll hold onto it then." He shoved it back into his pocket and joining his father on the grass. "I'm bored."
Luffy laughed, "Well, Robin would say read a book. So, try reading a book."
"There are books on the ship?" Milo asked, looking around. "Where?"
Luffy pointed to the entrance to the galley. "They're in Nami's room. Ask her to get them for you."
Milo nodded, standing up. His mother and sister were sitting at the table, Nami braiding Bellemere's hair. Spread out on the counter were piles of maps and charts, most of them looking hand drawn. Nami looked up at the sound of the door, smiling softly as she saw Milo standing there. "Hi."
"Hi Mom," Milo watched as Nami finished the braid and tied it off, letting Bellemere hop off the stool and dart away. "Dad said you knew where the books were…"
Nami stood up, "Of course, follow me." She led Milo through another doorway and down a hall littered with doors. Turning suddenly, Milo had to stop and backtrack when his mother vanished into a door.
The room looked ordinary, a bed, dresser, closet, and a huge bookshelf. Milo's eyes widened, "That's a lot of books."
"Well, there are no televisions, video games, iPods… You get the point." Nami pulled out a book from the shelf, handing it over. "Try this one."
Milo read the title, The Rainbow Mist I. "What's it about?"
"The title explains it all," Nami said. "It's a true story, by the way. We've met the people who wrote the book."
Milo paused, looking down at the book again. It was thick, but he didn't have anything better to do. "Thanks, I'll read it."
Nami nodded, "Just don't ruin it. It isn't my book."
Milo nodded, "I understand. I won't."
Zoro had been dozing peacefully when he was rudely awoken by something being dropped on him. He shot up, a hand on his sword, looking around furiously. The only thing out of place was a newspaper laying a few feet away. Grumbling, he retrieved it, stepping over Luffy on his way to the kitchen. Nami would want to see it, catch up on the news. The previous days had her pestering him and Kuina on big missed events and news. There hadn't been anything big, just the frenzy of new pirates after Luffy's disappearance, and the increase in Marines.
Stepping into the kitchen, he spotted Nami and Milo exiting the hallway, the younger holding a book. "Hey Nami," He said, holding it up. "Here's the paper."
Nami took it, sitting and opening it immediately. "Hey, we're on the front page!" She held it up so Zoro and Milo could see.
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Well, at least the world knows we're back."
"I wonder how Garp is going to react," Nami said, frowning. "He… he lost both his grandchildren."
"He'll probably track us down and beat Luffy up." Zoro shrugged. "He did that whenever Luffy did something stupid enough to be in the news."
"At least he's retired," Nami said. "I wonder how he'll react to Milo and Bellemere." She looked around. "Where is she, anyway?"
Milo shrugged. "Probably getting lost again."
Nami sighed, "That girl… Well, she'll find her way out eventually."
Milo snorted, leaving the room and finding a comfortable place outside where he could read.
