*I love volcanoes! So of course my character loves them too!*
Chapter 25: Change of Pace
Now that was settled, Luffy and Sanji went to search for food. There wasn't much to be found. Sanji surmised that this island was a volcano. Whether or not this was their destination, according to log pose, was something that only Nami could tell them. He hoped that the crew made it through the storm and that they were headed here to pick them up. Until then, he and the captain made the best out of the situation.
Luffy hated the island. He hated the stupid burnt trees. He hated the stupid rocks. He was hungry, cranky. The island was one giant volcano, something called at Cinder Cone volcano that probably formed from a shield volcano, too many years ago (he stopped listening after a while). He didn't care what it was called. This island was dumb. After exploring for over an hour and no food being found, he was so over the whole thing.
They climbed a summit and were able to see the seemingly barren landscape. The few trees and sparse grass that had grown on the island grew in a particular pattern down one side of the volcano, Sanji explained that they were like that because of the lava flow patterns (again Luffy wasn't listening) and the trees were barren because of the toxicity of the air. There was smoke coming out the top of the magnificent pinnacle, but Sanji didn't think an eruption would happen soon. Luffy did find some strange plants hidden underneath some rocks he kicked over, but Sanji stopped him from eating them.
"But why?" he whined.
"Do you want to die?" Sanji said bluntly.
"No," Luffy whined some more.
"Look I can see the Sunny!" Sanji exclaimed, pointed at the horizon. The Sunny was just a tiny blimp in the distance, but the sight of it brought an enormous amount of joy to them. They didn't know how long it would take for their ship to reach them, but at least they weren't alone.
They had each other, and that thought sobered them. Just thinking about Sienna being alone on an island for ten years, with no food and little water made them upset. They were determined to focus on her and making her happy and forgetting their animosity towards each other.
Ship was battered, but it was nothing the Franky couldn't fix. The crew had bruises from being tossed around, but they were alive. They made it out of the storm and they saw an island ahead. The log pose was pointing in a different direction, but they needed to find Sanji and Luffy.
Usopp had the wheel while Franky and Robin worked on some basic repairs. Nami and Sienna were asleep and Chopper was watching them, making sure they were okay. They woke up after a while, and praised Chopper for taking care of them, much to his delight. It was part truth and part manipulation. They both disliked how they reacted to the storm and needed to do something to prove how strong they were (if only to themselves), so a blushing Chopper meant they could be free of his worrying. They immediately set out to help clean up; the pantry was a mess.
It took them until nightfall to reach the island. Nami confirmed that this was their next destination, but didn't know how long they needed to stay until the log pose showed them the next one. Luffy and Sanji were waving to them from the shore. So Zoro took the Mini Merry out to get them. Since he was the one person to encourage their stupid fight, everyone voted him to be the chauffer and bring them back.
Zoro was fine with picking them up. He knew by looking at them that they had resolved their issues.
"So, are you guys okay now?" he asked as him pulled up to the shore.
"Yeah, we're the best of buds!" answered Luffy as he slung an arm around Sanji.
Sanji nodded in agreement.
"We decided to pursue her together, but let her choose who she wants to be with" he said.
"Are you sure? You two aren't going to go at it when Sienna can't make up her mind?" Zoro asked. He thought this was an even worse idea than when they were jealous of each other.
They both got into the Merry.
"No, why would we?" asked Luffy. He picked this moment to pick his nose.
Ignoring the nose picker, he said, "You two are something else," and turn the Mini Merry towards the Sunny.
With Luffy and Sanji back on the ship, everyone cheered. Sienna was happy and hugged both of them, telling them to never, ever do that again. They promised her. The smile she gave made it worth it.
Then the crew questioned them about the island. By this time, Sanji and Luffy were fed by Sienna who wanted to show off her new skills. It wasn't a Sanji quality meal, but Sanji and Luffy enjoyed it nonetheless.
They told about the island being a volcano and how almost-barren it was. They weren't expecting Sienna to be squeal over it.
"I love volcanoes!" she exclaimed. Then she asked a series of questions in quick succession, "How big is it? What's the lava viscosity level? Are there pumice or obsidian rocks? What about granite? Did it look like it would erupt soon?" and with that last question she ran out the dining room to go look.
Sienna always had a fascination with volcanoes. She never saw one up close, so she was extremely excited to go see it. She started hoping from one foot to the next and begged to go. Luffy thought it was endearing, so of course he agreed. Usopp suggested that Luffy or Sanji escort her since they knew the island better. The look Zoro gave him chilled him a little bit and he almost took back his suggestion.
But, Luffy and Sanji didn't fight. They simply played a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Luffy won and he got to take Sienna on their first date. The volcano didn't seem as stupid now.