Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

by RoseDragonWitch

In the middle of some strange ruins, Luffy disappeared. As the rest of the Straw Hats try to find him, they end up travelling through his memories and are trapped in the past, with no idea to how to get out or how to find their captain. But not all things are meant to be seen… how will they take to seeing what had Luffy been hiding from them?

36. And Sunny's Smile

Chapter 35: Merry's Tears and Sunny's Smile

Part 2

"My," Brook said longingly at the memory of seeing the giant plates of food being eaten. "Your food is the best, Sanji-san. Looking at all the food you made for that party makes my stomach roar. Not that I have a stomach anymore! Yohohoho!"

"Glad you think so," Sanji said before he added, "Though, to be honest, I only want to cook for Robin and Nami!"

"You jerk!" Usopp yelled at him.

"Cooking is the only thing he can do," Zoro said with a yawn, "And he's not even good at that. Well, I suppose that the rest of us will just have to make the best of it."

"What'd you say you bastard?!" Sanji demanded furiously. "I swear, one of these days I'm gonna make you eat those words!"

"Yeah, and if you cook them, they could kill me," he retorted and the two of them were practically shooting off sparks of rage from their eyes until Robin stepped in and forced the two apart.

"Must we always go through this?" she asked, a hint of amusement, but also annoyance in her tone, "Doesn't it get tiring?"

"Honestly," Nami sighed, sounding weary. "Can't you just sit back and enjoy the memories without causing a civil war?"

"Well, he started it," they both said snippily before they turned their backs on each other, each with sour expressions. Thankfully, the fighting was cut off by the next memory. They were in town, surrounded by a large crowd of Water 7 citizens with Luffy and Chopper at the center of it. There was a man pulling on both of Luffy's arms, trying to get him to come with them so that they could continue with their celebration.

"What's this?" Brook asked curiously.

"I know this… everyone in town was doing that to us," Nami smiled, remembering the large group of people surrounding them everywhere they went and treating them like they were celebrities. "They were treating us all like heroes and told us what a great party that was. I think everyone practically drank themselves into a coma after that night." She frowned though when she remembered how they somehow managed to blow almost all their one hundred million remaining beri's in one night. She just didn't see how that was possible. She made a mental note to check for the money they still had on board Sunny when they finally get back to it. She wasn't going to let something like that happen again.

"Funny how the truth comes out and suddenly they stop treating us like we're criminals," Zoro sighed. "What a pain."

"You can't blame them, we are pirates after all," Robin pointed out, "Trouble follows us wherever we go. And the day that we come to town, bad things happen to it? We were in Water 7 for just one day after all?"

"I guess," he sighed, "But it's still a pain in the ass for us."

But as they watched, they heard a young voice calling out for Luffy, who when he turned to look, his arms ended up retracting, pulling and smashing the two men's heads together. But they hardly noticed that as a young girl was forced to crawl through the thick crowd's legs to get to him. When she got to her feet, they could see that she was dressed in a red vest with plaid yellow shorts, with her short brown hair tied up with white barrettes.

"Oh! That's Abi!" Chopper said, recognizing her at once.

"You know her?" Nami asked him in surprise.

"Yeah, this happened a few days after the party," Chopper said quickly as Abi ran over to Luffy. "And we helped her try to find her Yagara, watch."

Abi had just held up a photo of what had to be her family—with her, her parents and a very old looking Yagara with a blue fin and matching scarf.

"Please listen," she begged, holding up the picture so that they could see it. "I need your help! My dear sweet Yagara's gone missing! You have to help me find him! You're a hero right? Please!"

"Hero? Please," Zoro said, shivering at the thought.

"What is with you boys and your ideas about heroes?" Nami asked, but she shook her head. Even if she asked, she knew that she would never understand their minds. It's probably the same thing with afro power… and she'll be damned if she'll ever understand how that works. The citizens around them recognized Abi as well, and they were surprised to see that she was still out looking for her Yagara, while they heard someone whisper behind them that it had already been three days since Aqua Laguna and if she hadn't found him by now then he was probably…?

"You think that they'd have enough tact not to say something like that out loud while she was around," Nami said angrily.

But Franky was sniffling again, "You mean she's been looking for her pet Yagara all this time? That's… that's so sweet! The poor girl! I know the feeling! If Sodom or Gomorrah ever went missing, I'd turn this whole city upside down trying to find them!"

"Which is why we wanted to help her," Chopper said quietly as Abi glared back at the men as they whispered that and old Yagara wouldn't be able to survive a storm like Aqua Laguna.

"Just rub it in why don't ya!" Usopp said angrily to them, "I mean, I think it's sweet too! Still believing that someone is still out there no matter what anyone says? That's a true bond!"

"I agree," Brook said softly, thinking of Laboon, and hoped that he was still well and waiting for him at the Twin Capes. He was sorry that he had forced his dear friend to wait two more years, but he promised himself that he was going to make it up to Laboon as soon as he saw him again.

Abi turned to the men and yelled at them that her Yagara would never lose to Aqua Laguna. He had a lot of heart and she believed that he was still out there.

"You tell them, girl!" Franky cheered her on as the man who spoke looked ready to tell her off before his friend calmed him down. He then turned back to Abi and said gently, "You could be right, Abi. He may have been able to survive the flooding from Aqua Laguna. But now, three days have gone by since the storm so…?"

"He's right," someone else said, "You shouldn't involve Straw Hat on a wild goose chase like this. Besides, being a resident of Water 7, surely you've heard the tale of the Tsui Village. That's when all the Yagara go when it's time to…"

But Abi refused to listen to anything they had to say. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" she yelled, "Listen! I don't believe in a place that no one's ever seen before! That's just a fairytale! Besides, he appeared to me in a dream! He said he wanted me to find him, so I know that he's out there waiting for me!"

"A dream?" Brook said in surprise.

"They do say that when you dream, your heart is trying to tell you something," Robin stated, "Maybe her Yagara was trying to tell her something, and their hearts connected somehow?"

"You think that's possible?" Nami asked her in wonder. Robin only shrugged as they thought that over. But Usopp had a different question and asked them what this Tsui Village was.

"It's an old story told in Water 7," Franky said, thinking back to when he first heard it as a little kid. "They say that it's supposed to be a place for Yagara's to go when they die. I guess you could think of it as some kind of heaven for them or something. But it's all just some old story. I don't think anyone really takes it seriously."

But Chopper looked to the ground, thinking back to when he saw that village… had that really been Tsui Village? The more that he thought it over… the more he realized how similar it was to them wandering this ghost's island. And the more the thought about it, the more he wondered if this place was just like that village. But instead of Yagara's, did dead people come here? He remembered what Robin said about this place being a kind of bridge between the lands of the living and the dead. Could this island be like the afterlife for people?

Before he could ask the others, Abi turned back to Luffy and held up a Yagara-shaped piggy bank, telling him that she wanted to make a deal. Everything in that bank was all the money she had, but if he helped her find her Yagara Bluefin, he could have all of it. The other citizens tried to warn Luffy, but in the end, Luffy naturally agreed and the memory ended with them shaking on it.

"I recall that you asked me to help look the streets for him," Robin answered, glancing at Chopper, bending down so that she could see his eyes. "Did you ever find him?"

"Yeah… well… sort of…" Chopper admitted with a frown, still trying to think about Tsui Village.

"What do you mean sort of?" Nami asked, not sure if she liked how Chopper put it.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain," he said as he quickly told them what Abi said about Bluefin. How the day Aqua Laguna hit, Abi and her family went to higher ground with everyone else, but they couldn't bring their family Yagara Bluefin, with them. When she got back the next day, she found that Bluefin had gone missing and she had been looking for him ever since. She explained that the reason she couldn't give up on him was that every night she had a dream of Bluefin calling out to her to find him, and when she saw them, she decided to ask them for help.

"I see," Brook said reasonably, "Yes, I guess she would think that you could help her. If you were able to go through everything at Enies Lobby, surly finding a lost Yagara shouldn't be hard."

"We were looking all over the city for him," Chopper nodded, "We went to the station and asked Kokoro before we went to Scrap Island where they were building the Sunny and…?"

"Building the Lion-chan?" Brook asked curiously.

"Oh, right," Franky said, smacking his forehead. "Luffy was asleep so we missed my big scene. Well, as you know, I used the two hundred million to pay for the Adam's Wood from the Black Market and I offered to build my Dream Ship for them! It was something I had planned on building for years and I always said that if I ever got my hands on that wood, I'd do it. I had the blueprints and everything. And to tell you the truth, I grew to like you guys. So I offered to build the Sunny free of charge. And for the millionth time, her name is SUNNY!"

"But that was certainly kind of you, Franky-san," Brook answered cheerfully. "And I guess any negative feelings that might've remained between all of you…?"

"Pretty much gone by that point," Sanji confirmed. "Which was good. But you two never had a chance to finish your fight."

"Yeah, I suppose," he laughed, "If I try to fight him now, I probably have my ass handed to me. I mean, that bastard can use all three forms of Haki now right? Even one of my beams wouldn't do much good if he's able to see it coming."

"But you know how easily distracted he can get when he sees something use a beam," Robin reminded him, "I think that he might be so star-struck by you that he might forget to move."

"Hey, you're right," Franky laughed. "You know, one of these days, I should have that fight with him. What a blast that would be."

At that moment the memories appeared. They were among piles of junk and broken bits of ship, and they could see that they were on Scrap Island. Luffy, memory Chopper, and Abi were all there, and had just caught past Chopper asking Abi about the Tsui Village that the townspeople were talking about.

"It's an old legend," Abi answered, "When a Yagara is badly injured or suffering from an illness, or it just their time to go. Supposedly they swim off to Tsui Village. It's sorta like the afterlife for them."

"Everyone in Water 7 tells that story," Franky nodded. "But come on, no one's ever seen it before. No one knows where it is, or if it even exists."

But Robin couldn't help but noticed how quiet their Chopper was acting at the mention of Tsui Village. She wasn't sure, but could he have…?

Memory Chopper was looking pretty spooked at Abi's telling the story. Abi must've noticed this as well for she got a dark look on her face and added, "But…"

"But?" past Chopper asked timidly.

"It's said that when a human sees the Tsui Village…?" she trailed off as Chopper began to sweat and asked what would happen. She then had a truly devilish face on as she said darkly, "The Yagara's bring them into that world, never to return."

Past Chopper screamed in fear as both Abi and Franky laughed.

"It's just a fairytale!" she added quickly, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Yeah, that part's not in the story," Franky added, sniggering. "She was just trying to scare you, bro."

"You think?" he asked, looking up at their cyborg and he nodded.

"Sure," he answered, "like Yagara's would do something like that! It really is just a story. Nothing to freak out about."

They followed the memory, but there wasn't much more to say about it. Once past Chopper calmed down and they looked over every part of the scrapyard without a trace of Bluefin, Luffy suggested that they head back to the backstreets. They followed them around, not saying much, but they couldn't help but feel that there was no point in this memory—that they were just in one big goose chase. But they ended up getting their first break at long last. As Luffy and Abi asked random people if they had seen a Yagara with a blue fin, past Chopper called them over to another Yagara who said that he heard him before he went missing.

"On the night of the storm," Chopper translated for him, "You heard a voice saying, 'Don't worry, I'm on my way to help you. So hang in there!'" the Yagara neighed again and Chopper added, "And he says it was old man Bluefin's voice for sure you guys!"

"Have I ever mentioned how useful your skill with understanding animals is?" Nami asked him and Chopper blushed.

"No, and don't you start on it you jerk," he retorted, trying to sound cool, but his little dance gave him away as always. With Abi overjoyed that they were at last getting somewhere, she hugged Chopper for giving them this clue. But as they started to keep searching the backstreets, they noticed Abi looking to another Yagara with a little girl laughing on his back. At the sight of them, Abi started to cry.

"Oh man…" Usopp said, feeling really bad for her, "She sure loves that Yagara doesn't she?"

"Sometimes pets can become as dear to us as family," Brook said, "In fact, they become so close, we don't even think of them as pets, but as friends."

"You mean like you and Laboon?" Sanji asked as brook looked up at the bright sky.

"Yes," he answered gravely, "The thought of Laboon waiting for so long for me to return makes my heart ache, though I have no heart thanks to being dead. But Laboon is proof of what I mean. Laboon may be a whale, but Crocus-san said it best. He has the heart of a human inside him."

"I guess sometimes we forget that animals have feelings too," Usopp said, thinking it all over.

"But that's what makes them special," Brook said. "Because the love that they give is unconditional. As long as you're kind to them, they will always be loyal to you. And I think that's what anyone really wants if you think about it."

"You truly have the heart of a poet, Brook," Robin informed him.

"Though I have none to speak of, Robin-san! Yohohoho!" Brook said, brightening up. "Ah, but when I see Laboon again, what joy that will be! I dream of that moment every night! Though now I will dream of the extraordinary whale I had seen thanks to these memories instead of the baby I remember. Oh, the interesting tales I will be able to tell him! I think that he will love to hear about how I had seen him in a memory!"

"I'm sure he will," Nami said gently as Abi's tears hit the sidewalk. She had whispered softly to Luffy and Chopper about how afraid she was. How she thought that Bluefin was really…

But Luffy crouched down next to her and gave her words of encouragement that they didn't think of before. "I don't know many fish that drown." She looked up at him as he smiled brightly at her. "We've got a deal don't we? I'll help you find him. Come on, you can't give up on him just yet."

"He's right!" Franky said, as emotional as ever. "Not when you've come this far! He's counting on you to come and find him!"

"Luffy does know what to say to make you feel better when it counts," current Chopper smiled as his past self encouraged Abi as well.

"He's sweet when he wants to be," Robin nodded as Abi wiped her eyes and they all looked ready to go. But at that second, Luffy spotted something in the water and pulled out a torn piece of blue cloth that caused Abi to gasp when she saw it. She cried out that it was part of a scarf that she made for Bluefin, and after a little looking around, they found another piece of scarf by a broken iron gate that led to the underwater passages.

"What is this place?" Zoro asked curiously as they followed after them down below in the dark. "Like a sewer or something?"

"No," Franky said, "This is just where water flows down when the sea level gets too high. See, this city has been flooding for years, and the people here had to get very creative to keep their homes from sinking right into the sea. So they came up with several plans to stay ahead of the rising levels. With these underground water systems, it keeps the canals from over-flooding, because it goes down here and drains back in the ocean."

"It's clever," Nami said with a nod, "How you guys used water for everything here."

"All it takes is a few good ideas and you've got a city," Franky laughed before he thought about Tom and the Sea Train, "Even if they seem crazy."

As the three of them continued on their borrowed Yagara, calling out for Bluefin, they ended up going right over a small waterfall and ended up splashing in a shallow pool. As they fell out of the boat, Luffy and memory Chopper panicked, thinking that they were in deep water, not even realizing that they were floundering around, screaming and freaking out until Abi asked what the problem was.

The rest of them laughed as current Chopper blushed, and the two got to their feet, the water just past their ankles. "I was scared that we were going to drown," he tried to defend himself, "What was I supposed to think?!"

"I don't blame you at all, Chopper-san," Brook said sagely. "I, too, would be scared."

"I don't see how you could drown in that unless you fell asleep," Sanji pointed out. Yet they were more focused on looking around the dark and empty hallway they seemed to be in, they saw that there was hardly any water here. They left their Yagara here—promising that they'd be back for him soon—before they went walking onwards, with the place looking like an abandoned city. You'd never guess that bustling metropolis was right over their heads.

"It looks like old ruins really," Robin said in fascination, wishing that she could've gone looking around here with them for real, as Franky explained these were the old streets and walkways of Water 7.

"Yeah," Franky said as Abi quickly told them about how the new Water 7 was built over the old because of the rising sea level. "It's like a town right underneath the town. Funny though, I kinda thought that this place be all underwater too. It's actually kind of creepy if you look at it."

"It looks like this would've been a great place for kids to hide out in," Usopp pointed out. "I mean, if they knew this was here, they'd be running around all over the place you think?"

"Good thing they didn't," Chopper said, remembering what happened here.

"Was Bluefin really down here?" Zoro asked, "I mean, you said that you found him."

"Yeah… but…" Chopper said, but shook his head, unable to really explain what it was they saw until they see it for themselves. He was glad when Luffy spoke up, "Hey, what's that?"

They all looked up from the long corridor that they were in to see an eerie green light, much like a spotlight, right in front of them.

"Ah guys?" Usopp gulped, "My Usopp Radar is going off! You really shouldn't…?" but before he even finished, Abi gasped and went running as fast as she could to reach it, with Luffy and Chopper right behind her.

"What's going on here?" Franky yelled out as they went running too, but when they reached the edge of the room, Abi ended up stepping right into sudden deep water and vanished beneath the liquid. Luffy and memory Chopper gasped this time, trying to stop, but too late, they fell through too and all of a sudden they were in the strangest place.

They were underwater alright, but this water was lit with that same green light, and it was strangely warm. They were slowly sinking where they could see the old buildings around them, and the sounds of Yagaras all around them. With Abi, Luffy, and memory Chopper all sinking with them, they glanced down and they let out cries of shock at what they saw. There were dozens of Yagara's swimming happily through the buildings right below them like a playground. They let out cries of what sounding like laughing or maybe even singing as they went on like nothing was wrong… but what really got them was the strange kind of glow that they were emanating some kind of energy.

"W-what is this place?" Nami gasped.

"Forget about that, these three are in trouble!" Sanji cried and she looked up at once to see Abi holding onto her throat, the other two sinking like stones right behind her. But at that moment, a single Yagara appeared with that same warm, green light glowing from him. The last thing they saw before it went dark, was a Yagara with a blue fin swimming right up towards them.

As the memory faded, they all looked at each other, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Chopper?" Usopp asked quickly, "What happened back there?! What was all that?!"

"I've seen that light before," Brook whispered in hushed shock.

"You have?" Franky asked quickly, "Where?"

"When I died," he answered quietly. "It was as if I was in a warm tunnel with this bright light beckoning me forward, as if promising that I would be safe if I did so. But before I reached it, I felt as if something pulled me back. I can only assume that was the power of my Devil Fruit."

"Yeah, but then… does that mean that was Tsui Village?" Franky asked them all with his eyes wide. "That we saw where Yagara's go when they die?"

"How would we know? I'm not a Yagara and I've never died before!" Zoro said quickly. However, as quickly as the memory disappeared, it came back. They were back in the same room they had been in before it they fell through. Abi was there, shaking Luffy and Chopper awake, and sighed in relief when they came too. Coughing and spluttering, Luffy slowly got up and stared around them. They were in a room mostly filled with water, and with most of the place in ruins. The green light that had been there before was gone, and it was filled with the same kind of darkness from before.

"Thank goodness that you didn't already have dead crew members before I joined up," Brook sighed in relief.

"What a pathetic way to have died if you two did," Sanji said to Chopper. "Don't do that again."

As Chopper muttered an apology, Luffy asked Abi what was wrong when he heard her give a soft intake of breath. She was staring ahead at a certain part of the room before she said to them that she was sure that Bluefin was here, that this was the place she saw in her dream.

"How is that possible?" Usopp cried out. "How is it that she saw this place in her dream when she never even saw it before?"

But no one could answer him as memory Chopper screamed if fear if this was Tsui Village. Her face full of rage at the suggestion, Abi jumped to her feet and began to yell at him that village didn't exist and that there was no way that Bluefin was dead. Still, as she yelled, the green spotlight appeared right behind her and they all stared in amazement as a Yagara appeared. He was very old, with a small bushy beard with a pair of bushy eyebrows that were white and a large blue dorsal fin on his head. When he turned to look at them, he seemed glad to see Abi, there was a lot of sadness in his eyes.

"Where'd he come from?" Brook asked nervously.

"He wasn't there a minute ago?" Nami whispered fearfully and actually stepped backwards.

But Abi's eyes light up and a smile spread across her face when she saw him. "I knew it!" she cried as she walked forward. "See? He's fine! Come on, Bluefin! Let's go home together!"

Most of them expected him to come closer, but instead he stayed right in the eerie light, making sad neighing sounds.

"What is all this…?" Nami whispered as Luffy asked Chopper what he was saying.

"I'm sorry, Abi…" past Chopper translated slowly, "But…"

"Why are you apologizing?!" Abi cried, her eyes never leaving Bluefin, "Listen, I've been looking for you everywhere!" She slowly began to walk towards him, "Don't worry about losing the scarf, I can always make you another one. Come on, let's go back home!"

Again he neighed and memory Chopper gasped a little at his words. He then translated that Bluefin said that he couldn't do that. But when Abi asked what was wrong, Chopper finished by telling her that Bluefin said that now he was finally at peace and that he thanked her for everything she had done for him.

"I don't understand," Usopp said, a horrible idea coming to his mind, "You guys are making it sound like Bluefin's dying?"

"Not dying," Chopper whispered as Abi went running to her old friend. Yet it wasn't until Luffy stretched out his arm to try and grab the Yagara did they see the truth. Luffy's hand went right through him like he was made of mist.

"YOU MEAN HE'S A GHOST?!" Brook screamed out in fear.

"A real ghost?" Robin asked in amazement as she stared at the Yagara, with everyone gapping at that. But at the same time they didn't feel anything horrendous about this spirit. She then whispered, "I've heard of this. It's been said since ancient times that those who died with unfinished business are able to stick around a little longer. Those who were determined to have their last wishes full-filled, were able to become something like poltergeists… restless spirits who could reach out to the living and have them complete their tasks for them. While he was in this place, it was like an in-between world, so he was able to stick around for a short time."

"An in-between place?" Nami whispered in shock, her face deadly white as she stared at Bluefin, "You mean like this island?"

"I suppose," she shrugged, unable to think of any other answer. How was this possible? Were there certain parts of the world where it's possible to reach spirits? Both on this island and at Water 7? If that was true, where else was it possible for people to be able to reach lost loved ones?

Abi didn't seem to grasp what this all meant. She just stared at Bluefin until he slowly began to disappear. Abi ran towards him, screaming for him not to leave her, to please stay… and how much she loved him. But Luffy seemed to understand that there was nothing else that could be done. He stretched his arm out and grabbed her before she could reach Bluefin… and they all watched as he disappeared—with that big Yagara smile on his face. Looking so sad and alone, Abi fell to her knees and began to cry.

None of them could think of anything they could say to that. What could they say? They had just witness the ghost of a Yagara appear before someone he loved one last time and was able to say the things he needed to be said before he disappeared.

"I guess… it was more than just a fairytale," Franky whispered, realizing that he really did just get a glimpse of the legendary Tsui Village. He just couldn't believe that it had been real…

"They do say that all fairy tales have to start somewhere," Sanji said quietly. "But… what was the point? Did Bluefin just want to say goodbye to her?"

"He did, but there was more to it than that," Chopper whispered, knowing what was about to come. As Abi cried, they heard the sounds of more crying from nearby, a much younger and weaker voice. The three of them went running off in the direction that it was coming from and when they followed after them, what they saw brought everything into the light. For wrapped in the tattered remains of the blue scarf was a baby Yagara.

"A baby?" Brook whispered as understanding washed over him.

"I see… that's why," Nami whispered softly, her heart constricted painfully as memory Chopper looked over the baby and smiled as he told Abi that he's a little weak, but the scarf that Bluefin must've given him kept him warm and it was probably what saved his life.

Abi stared at the crying baby as she whispered, "You're right… that really is the scarf I gave to Bluefin." Her eyes then widen and she gasped, "Bluefin came down here to save this baby! That's why… he was in my dream," she finished before Chopper handed him to. She took one look at it in her arms and began to cry, hugging the baby as if it were Bluefin.

"So that was the unfinished business that Bluefin had," Zoro said quietly as Franky fell to his knees, his fists held up as he sobbed.

"Dammit! I'm gonna rust at this rate!" he sobbed, "What a brave old Yagara! To think that there was such a place in Water 7 all this time!?"

"Thanks to you, Bluefin-san," Brook cried as he and Usopp hugged tearfully, "You saved a precious new life! I hope that you finally found peace!"

"It looks like not all spirits are bad either," Sanji whispered as Luffy supported Abi and they started to leave, heading back to where they came out of. "But how was this even possible? I mean… how was Bluefin able to communicate to her?"

"Abi loved him," Nami whispered, "And I think it's obvious that he cared a lot about her in return. Maybe his spirit was able to tell her to come to see him so that she could take care of that baby since he was no longer able to do it."

But still, there were just no words as to what she saw. How was it that a Yagara was able to do something like that? She just couldn't think of anything else to say as they took the long walk back out to the surface. After a good fifteen minutes they found their way back to the Yagara who patiently waited for them, before they were able to get back up above ground. Luffy and Chopper walked Abi home to her house, and by the time they got there, she had stopped crying and even smiled as she held up the piggy bank to them.

Nami smiled as she watched them say goodbye, but what she saw next made her break out in a watery smile. Luffy glanced at the bank before he told her, "Keep it, I didn't hold up my end of the bargain."

"The way that I see it, he promised to help her find Bluefin, and he did," Franky pointed out.

"Maybe, but something tells me that he wouldn't have kept the money even if Bluefin was still alive," Robin informed him with a smile.

"Really," Abi insisted, holding it up, "It's fine. Thanks for everything, Luffy. Thanks to you two, I got to see Bluefin one last time. I'll always be grateful for that. And besides… we were also able to fulfill Bluefin's last wish," She then cooed to the baby, "By saving this wittle baby."

The baby neighed happily as it licked her face and she laughed.

"It may not be Bluefin, but I don't think that he would've entrusted that baby to anyone else," Brook said quietly and they knew that he'd be smiling if he could.

"I'm glad," Luffy said as he took the bank from her, but then he took the bank and tucked it in the scarf next to the baby.

"Use that to feed the kid," he said. "And make sure he stays healthy and happy."

"Awww…." Nami said softly as the memory faded with the little baby licking the bank like he thought it was another Yagara. It was the little things like this that she liked best about Luffy. Luffy was often a puzzle to figure out… even if you spent as much time with him as them, after all, they didn't understand half the things that he does. But she knew that big idiot just happened to have the biggest heart she had ever seen.

She smiled a little wider, and hoped that they could get their captain back so that she could talk to him about that.

"That's so heart-warming," Brook said softly, once again proud of the man who he chose to follow. He knew that he was probably the only other person other than dear captain Yorki that he would've chosen to sail with. "And you as well, Chopper-san," he added kindly, "You were a big part of that as well!"

Their little doctor blushed red and began to spin happily. "Bastard! Just saying that won't make me happy or anything so don't bother!"

"So you guys went through all that for no charge…?" Usopp said proudly.

'If only a certain navigator did that once in a while,' Zoro thought to himself privately.

"But seriously," Sanji said, going back to the matter at hand. "How is it that a Yagara's spirit was able to contact Abi? I mean… I think anyone would give just about anything to be able to speak to someone we lost even if it is just for a moment. So why doesn't that happen more often?"

"I think that it might have something to do with certain places," Robin answered. "Perhaps there are only some dwellings that allow something like this… perhaps they are somehow closer to the afterlife and beneath Water 7 just happened to be one of them?"

"All of this gives me the creeps!" Brook cried out, shivering at the thought, "But that Yagara seemed truly kind and merely did want to see Abi again. He was the one who pulled you out of the water wasn't he, Chopper-san? How could he do that if he was just a ghost?"

"You're the best person to ask about this," Zoro pointed out as Chopper nodded to the question. "You came back didn't you?"

"True," Brook whispered as he thought it over. "But I got lost wandering the fog for so long that by the time I returned to my body I had already been reduced to bones. I really don't know anything else more about spirits but the fact that they aren't like fighting the living. You can't pull out a weapon and fight them like with a normal foe."

"Just like our slimy friend hiding out on this island somewhere," Sanji nodded. "Kinda hard to fight something where weapons of this world can't hurt them."

"But if we need to get it back to that hole, we'll be able to fight them there?" Chopper asked, thinking it over.

"It's really our only option," Robin answered almost helplessly. "But ghosts and spirits aren't something that I'm well studied in. Anything I do know about them is merely through legends and stories."

"This is all so freaky," Nami whispered, not liking this. "Why… why'd we have to come to this stupid island in the first place?"

"It's not all that bad though is it?" Franky asked, "I mean… I feel so much closer to you all after seeing this. But I think I did learn more about you guys than I ever planned on."

"Same here," Sanji whispered, "but we're really gonna have to find some way to apologize to Luffy when this is all over. I mean… if it were me, I sure wouldn't be happy if I knew that someone had watched all my memories like this. Not that I don't trust you guys, but…"

"But there are some things that we rather not share," Robin answered knowingly. "I agree."

"And when I get back, I'm gonna ask that rubber brain exactly why he never told us about some things," Usopp whispered, "Like at that stupid island with the Baron for starters?"

"Lay off it," Zoro said, looking away irritably, knowing full well what it was like to keep secrets from the crew, "We'll figure something out when we get through with this alright?"

"Don't you want to talk to him about that?!" Usopp demanded, "And everything else that happened…?"

"Whether I do or don't doesn't matter," he said darkly, looking away. "We'll talk about it after we get Luffy back alright?"

Usopp looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but then the memory reappeared. At first glance, they were back in the Galley-La building, with some of their past selves wearing shirts with the Galley-La logo on them. Judging from the setting sun from the newly repaired window, it was quickly approaching night. Sanji and Robin were sitting at the table while the others were in sitting around the room.

"What is this?" Brook asked curiously as some of them recognized the scene at once.

"I know this…" Nami whispered with a sigh. "Not one of the better talks we've had."

Luffy was looking at memory Sanji in great surprise before he exclaimed, "So Usopp's really coming back?"

"Huh?" Brook asked in confusion. "So you apologized already, Usopp-san?"

"Ah… no…" Usopp whispered, looking down as he played with his fingers, unable to look at any of them as memory Sanji informed them all that he saw Usopp at the coast practicing his big return speech. "Wait?! You were watching?!" he cried out, looking at him.

"You weren't exactly being secretive about it," Sanji answered with a shrug. "I just managed to get my hands on some good ingredients and was heading back to the house when I saw you practically shouting your head off. Like you honestly expected us to beg you to come back?"

Usopp turned a deep shade of red as Brook seemed to frown at him for that. He didn't really plan on having the rest of the crew to apologize to him for what happened did he? Sure, he agreed that the Lamb-chan was indeed special and one of the crew, however the fact is, he chose to leave of his own free will. He should be the one to ask for forgiveness over what happened.

But for Luffy, he didn't seem to be thinking about that. "That's great news!" he yelled happily. "Man, I was so worried… Ok! Let's go get him right now!"

"You guys were all coming to get me?" Usopp asked in shock.

"They weren't thinking about what was right," Sanji shrugged, "But Moss Head does have his uses, no matter how useless he is most of the time."

"Did you say something crap cook?" Zoro demanded.

"Not at all," he answered in an innocent voice that fooled no one. Memory Chopper and Nami cheered in agreement but as they headed to the door, memory Zoro finally stepped in.

"All of you, hold on a second!" he yelled behind them and they all stopped in their tracks. With his hand on the door, Luffy looked back as Zoro went on, "I understand you wanna see him again. But I won't allow you to bring him back here."

Luffy was surprised to hear this. "Why not!?"

"I still don't get it," current Chopper said with a frown. Wouldn't it have been better to get him back and not risk getting them all blown up in the process while they were leaving?

"If you still don't understand, I'll explain it to you in a minute," current Zoro said as his past self crossed his arms and glared at Luffy, directly speaking with him. "You can't kiss his ass and tell him that you're happy to see him again. It isn't you who should behave modestly, Luffy."

Luffy looked at him in confusion. "Zoro…?" he asked, not understanding.

Memory Zoro looked at him coldly. "Until he bows his head and apologizes for what he did, he can't come back!" he said firmly.

"Cold, bro…" Franky whispered.

"Like he doesn't deserve it?" Zoro hissed back.

"I didn't say that," Franky retorted, "Only that you're gonna have to find better ways to break the news to someone."

"I got to the point didn't I?" he asked, "What's the point of waiting around and babying them? They can take it even if they don't like it."

"Zoro!" memory Chopper exclaimed angrily. "You big jerk!

"Hey, I don't know what your problem is but…" past Nami began as she marched over to him, looking like she was going to give him a firm talking to.

"Shut up!" past Zoro shouted in such a way that it shocked them all into silence. No one said anything as they looked at the scene, seeing the deadly serious expression on his face. This was not something he was going to take lying down. Some of them were little surprised that memory Sanji didn't step in and start yelling at Zoro for snapping at Nami. Instead, he just sat there and watched the whole thing like he agreed with whatever Zoro was saying. As for Robin, she didn't say a word either as she watched them, however she seemed to come to some kind of silent agreement as she glanced at them all.

Memory Zoro pulled his white sword from his side and walked over to stand next to Luffy. "It doesn't matter what you two were thinking when you started arguing," he told them all grumpily, "It doesn't matter who was right or wrong anymore either."

"Sure seems to matter to me," Chopper whispered, remembering how miserable he had been without the whole crew together.

"That's all said and done with though," Sanji offered, looking bitterly through his pockets for a cigarette that he might've missed. "The Merry is gone, and nothing we do will change that. Franky had already started working on our new ship and it was going to be ready in a matter of days. The rest of us were going with Luffy but it was Usopp who needed to decide what it was he was going to do. Either stay here nursing his pride, or swallow it and beg for forgiveness."

"You didn't have to say it like that," Usopp hissed under his breath, wishing that he could just go back in time and stop himself from causing that stupid fight in the first place.

Memory Zoro kept talking. "When two men agree to have a duel with each other, no matter what the outcome is, they have to accept it. And after he lost the duel, he left of his own accord." He walked up to Luffy until he was standing right in front of him and the two glared at each other. "You understand don't you?" he pressed him.

Luffy didn't look the least bit happy about this, but Zoro didn't seem to be expecting an answer. Instead, he looked to the others and hit Luffy on the side of his head a few times with his sword hilt as he said, "He may be an idiot, but this guy is still our captain."

"And we have to trust him when times are hard," Brook whispered, thinking about how he, himself, had been such a failure to lead his old crew to even halfway across the Grand Line. He supposed that there are natural born leaders and others… not so much.

Past Zoro suddenly grabbed Luffy's cheek and pulled so that his face stretched out. "We're better off without a crew member who doesn't respect their leader when things get tough. A crew with no respect and a captain who doesn't demand it, are destined to fall apart quickly."

"That is true," current Robin nodded. "The captain is like the very heart and soul of any crew. So when they're not around, it's only a matter of time before the rest of the crew falls apart. Funny how that works."

As for their past selves, they kept their attention focused on Zoro and Luffy—as if worried that a fight would break out between the two of them. Memory Zoro turned Luffy's face so that they could glare at each other in the eye.

"Listen!" he yelled at him, "I don't mind that you're easy-going most of the time! But right now you gotta man up! You can't let people walk all over you! Because if you do that then it'll be me who leaves this crew!"

Brook, Usopp, and Franky all had to fight their gasps, but their eyes were wide in shock. They couldn't believe that Zoro—the most loyal out of all of them to Luffy—had threatened to leave if they let Usopp come back. Usopp looked ready to step in and ask him what this was all about but just then, memory Nami spoke up, telling him that he was making this all so much more complicated than it had to be. At last, past Zoro let Luffy go and he fell backwards as he turned to face her.

"Don't get me wrong," he said firmly, "It's fine if he joins the crew again."

Usopp sighed in relief, glad that that wasn't the case.

"And it's fine if you want him back," Zoro went on, "But… if he doesn't apologize for what he did, and pretends that nothing ever happened between the two of you, then I won't forgive him and I won't stand for it!" As they stared at him he added, "In other words, we'll leave without him!"

Current Usopp had to fight a squeak from his lips, terrified at the very thought. Sure he had grown fond of the people here in Water 7, but he couldn't ever imagine being left behind. He had spent days agonizing over what to do or what to say when he saw his former crewmates, actually planning out dozens, if not hundreds, of different ways to start a conversation.

"Wait Zoro," past Nami said as she walked forward, a faint smile back on her face as if she thought that could talk some sense into him, "I agree that Usopp's the one at fault here, not Luffy. But we can settle that with him after he joins up again."

"That wasn't going to happen," Franky whispered, shaking his head. Now, he loved each one of his bros, but if any of them decided to leave like how Usopp left, then he would be forced to let them go and he would want them to come back… but he couldn't just let them return after everything's been said and done no matter how he felt.

Past Zoro seemed to become ticked off at her words and flicked out his sword so that he could ram the blade into the floor in front of the door. "So the fact that he left our crew means nothing?!" he demanded furiously, "He can come and go as he pleases?!"

Past Nami looked nervous at his words, for the first time, seemingly at a lost as to what to say. "No… but I…"

"From your reaction, Moss Head, you seem to take it more personally than Luffy is," Sanji pointed out. "One would almost say that you care."

"Shut it, Love Cook," Zoro snapped back. Truth was, he was offended greatly when Usopp left. When you join a crew, no matter who they are, it's like you're making a commitment. A vow to stay with them… but when you turn your back on your captain and everyone else, it's like you're breaking every promise you ever made with them. So yes, he did take this whole thing rather personally.

Memory Nami looked like she was struggling to come up with a counter-argument, but surprisingly, past Sanji defended Zoro. He told her that as much as he hated to admit it, he had to agree with what Zoro was saying. They shouldn't just welcome Usopp back without him answering to what he did.

"If he pulls a pointless stunt like this on a whim," past Zoro went on, "Then how are we supposed to trust him when we move forward?"

"You didn't trust me anymore?" Usopp choked, startled at that.

"Who's to say that you wouldn't do the exact same thing later on?" Zoro asked him emotionlessly. "If we're gonna survive, especially if we planned on going to the New World, we have to be able to trust each other completely. Would you welcome someone back after they freely walked out like that?"

Usopp blinked and thought it over. What if one of them walked out on them like he did? Would he want to welcome them back with no problems? Would he be able to trust them?

Memory Nami continued to look upset and a little confused, however she seemed to finally understand what Zoro and the others were saying. She merely lowered her head in grim acceptance as memory Zoro sighed.

"It's simple," he said grimly. "If the first thing to come out of Usopp's mouth is an apology, then we're good. But if he tries to make some excuse…" he then added as he put his sword back. "Then he's no longer welcomed." He glared at them all with that dark look that was usually reserved for the poor fools that he fights. "We're not just pretending to be pirates here. This isn't a game."

"You hadn't said anything back here, Robin?" Chopper said, looking at her past self, who respectfully stood silent.

"I, too, wanted you to come back Usopp," she confessed, "But I agreed with what was said here. You made your bed and you had to lie in it so to speak. But… it did all work out in the end right?"

"So you did come back and apologize?" Brook asked before sighing in relief. "That is good to hear."

"I wouldn't be here would I?" Usopp asked as he looked away. But that was a close call… if he had been any later, he'd have been left behind.

As for the two in the past, Zoro and Luffy glowered long and hard at each other before Luffy shut his eyes and seemed to accept what Zoro was saying as well. As much as he wanted Usopp back with them, he had to do his duty as captain no matter how hard it was.

"You're right," he finally said after a long moment. "We already went our separate ways before. There's still a few days left before they're finished with the ship. We can wait that long." He then folded up his legs as he sat on the floor. "It's all up to him."

The memory slowly faded away after that, leaving them all standing in the dark forest once again, with a lot on their minds as to what they had just saw.

"Man," Franky said quietly, "I gotta say that was all tough to watch."

"So does everyone understand now?" Zoro asked, glancing at Chopper, who was looking to the ground.

"I…" Chopper began, "I guess… but…?"

"Yes," Brook agreed with a nod. "Luffy-san did everything that you wanted, Usopp-san. He let you leave the crew, agreed to give you a one-on-one duel, as well as leaving you with dignity in defeat and Lamb-chan. It was up to you to choose what to do next. No matter what the fight was over, Luffy-san is still captain and I fear to say that you went too far."

"I suppose?" Usopp whispered, guilt racking his insides. "I know. Even in a pirates world there are unspoken rules that need to be obeyed. Most people would never have taken back a crew member who walked out on them."

In the new memory, the sun was just barely starting to come up over Water 7. The stars have already faded and the first golden rays were spreading across the sea, causing it to sparkle with the dancing sunbeams. Luffy was sitting on the roof of the Galley-La building and was watching it with a serious expression that just didn't look right on his face.

"What's this?" Nami asked, watching how Luffy's eyes were watching the light gently touch the other rooftops across the city, but he didn't seem to really be looking at them.

"I thought we'd see this," Zoro nodded, understanding what this memory was. "It's the morning after that little talk about letting Usopp come back. I woke up early and saw that Luffy wasn't in bed. I kinda figured that he'd be down in the dumps about that. I didn't have to walk far to find him though."

"You didn't think that he went to get Usopp though did you?" Chopper asked him curiously.

"I knew him better than that," he admitted, "As much as I knew Luffy wanted Usopp back, I also knew that he wouldn't go after that talk."

"What did you two chat about here though?" Brook asked, though he already had a very good idea as to what it was about.

"I'm sure you'll see," was all Zoro said.

At that moment, his past self jumped up to the roof and walked over so that he stood next to Luffy, neither one saying anything as they watched the sunrise. "You know," he finally said, "I had a feeling that you wouldn't be able to sleep."

Luffy barely glanced up at him as he sighed. "Not really," he admitted. "I was thinking a lot about what you said last night."

"I think we all were," Nami sighed, remembering how long it was before she was able to fall asleep after that argument. She wasn't the least bit happy about how it all went down. But after spending hours lying in bed and thinking about everything that they had talked about, she grudgingly had to agree with what Zoro said. Not that she would say it out loud. The truth was, if what he said was true, and there was a chance that Usopp could do it again if they let him back, scared her more than anything else.

She looked over at Chopper, who sniffled a little, and wondered how long it had taken him to fall asleep that night. She knew that their little reindeer was probably the one who took the fact that they couldn't let Usopp come back unless he apologized the hardest. She remembered how he was the only one who tried to get everyone to stop the Sunny from leaving when Usopp came running down to the shore after them.

Memory Zoro was silent for a moment. "I know it's harsh," he answered, "But we both know that it's the right thing, don't we?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Luffy sighed as he stretched out and rubbed a hand tiredly through his hair. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You're not his captain anymore," past Zoro reminded him softly. "It had been his decision. We're not the ones who should ask him to come back."

Again Luffy nodded. "It's just hard to remember that sometimes," he admitted. "I mean… I know that this is the right thing. And I don't think I can take it if he did something like that again."

Usopp looked away, once again ashamed of how selfish he had acted here. Sure it was hard for him, but he could only imagine how tough it had been for Luffy to actually have to be the one to do all that. But would he have really left the crew a second time? He didn't want to say yes, but thinking about it like this… if they just welcomed him back with open arms without him apologizing… that might have made him feel like he could do pretty much anything without worrying. It almost killed him to leave the crew the first time, but if he thought that they would just let him back in no matter what…?

"I've known all along what Usopp's biggest problem is," Luffy sighed, poking a little at the wood beneath him. "The reason that this all happened."

"I know!" Usopp sighed, "I'm weak! I've always known it!"

"That's not the issue here," current Zoro countered and Usopp stopped to look up at him, startled. Zoro glanced at him and answered, "You're real problem isn't physical."

"But then…?" Chopper began, but memory Zoro was already talking again.

"You noticed too huh?" he asked, "I guess I should've known. Usopp's biggest problem isn't his physical strength. It's his pride. Remember one of the first things he said to us when we first met him? He said so himself that he's a proud man, and that's caused us a lot of problems."

"What's wrong with being proud of who you are?!" Usopp demanded their Zoro at once.

"Nothing," Zoro answered with a shrug.

"But the problem is that there's such a thing as being too prideful," Robin answered him as Luffy sighed again and laid back on the rooftop so that he could look at the sky. "Do you remember when Nami got sick and you stopped at Drum Kingdom? The people there weren't afraid to fight back. It was only when Luffy and Vivi bowed their heads, thus putting their pride aside, did they begin to trust you."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Usopp asked, though he could vaguely see where this was going.

"That humility is a good thing," Brook whispered. "While it is good to have pride, you must also know the best times to cast it aside for the greater good. But here, instead of Luffy-san, you were the one who had to learn that lesson."

Usopp looked down and nodded. He remembered when he met Daddy the Father back at Lougetown. That man wasn't afraid of anything. He had actually put his own pride aside, he put himself beneath him, so that he could teach him to be more like his father. Daddy wasn't afraid of anything… not even shame. Thinking about how he had acted here made him feel even lower than dirt.

"Hey," Luffy suddenly asked memory Zoro and they looked back at him. "Would you… would you have really left if I let Usopp back without him apologizing?"

Memory Zoro glanced down at him and waited a few long seconds before he answered, "That's the last thing I want to do. But you're better than that. Like I said, I don't mind that you're laid back most of the time, but you can't let others walk all over you. There are times that you must take up the roll of leader. If you want to be the King of the Pirates, then you have to have a crew that you know you can trust without any hesitation. It may be hard, but if Usopp doesn't come back on his own, then that just means that he never really respected you as captain."

His words were cold and harsh, but they also held a lot of sense. Luffy, at least, seemed to understand as he nodded dully. They sat up there for a time yet, no one able to say anything as the sun had fully risen and was climbing up into the sky. At long last, they could hear the sounds of the others inside starting to get up, and memory Sanji was already starting to work on breakfast for them all.

Luffy got to his feet as memory Zoro spoke, and though his voice was soft, after going so long without saying anything it almost hurt their ears. "I want that idiot to come back too, you have to believe me when I say that. But… if he doesn't come back and apologize on his own… if he isn't able to show some humility and put his pride aside for his captain, like you're willing to do for him, then that only proves that his pride means more to him than his entire crew."

They were all slightly taken aback by those words, it at the words made them all feel as though they had been punched at the very thought.

"Right," Luffy said, glancing at him, "I understand."

Memory Zoro nodded in satisfaction. As he walked by him, he stopped to clap a hand on Luffy's shoulder for a brief moment before he added, "You're a good captain. But there are still some things you need to always be aware of. Like I said to you before…?"

"We aren't playing pirates here," Luffy nodded, shutting his eyes for a moment. "I promise I won't forget that again."

Usopp rubbed his arm across his nose as he nodded. He knew that he could never take back what happened, but at the least, he was able to be forgiven for it. He could see that clearly now. As strange as it was, he was glad that he got to see these memories.

In the new memory he cheered up slightly as he folded his arms and watched as everyone was back in the Galley-La room, this time it was the early afternoon judging from the light coming in.

The atmosphere was completely different than before. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, and there was a hint of excitement in the air. Granny Kokoro was there as well, and she was sitting at the table with Nami, who was beaming at the Log Pose on her wrist.

"You know… that one must've been seriously well made," Franky couldn't help but point out. "I mean… the Pose you had before you left the Twin Capes broke without you even trying. But that thing survived Enies Lobby and everything else?"

"Yeah," Nami laughed as she looked down at the new Log Pose she got from Fishman Island. "Let's hope this one is just as tough. Because I have a feeling that the adventures we have from here on out aren't going to be any easier than our last ones."

"You're telling me," Usopp whispered, not looking forward to anymore power-hungry maniacs trying to take over the world.

"It's finally set!" memory Nami said happily. She held up her wrist so that they could all see the Log Pose needle pointing downwards slightly. "Look! The Log Pose is pointing to the next island!"

Luffy was celebrating in the background by standing on the couch upside down on one hand. "All that's left is to get our ship!" he cheered, as the others all had similar looks of eagerness. "This is gonna be fun!"

"I can't wait to see the ship myself!" past Nami called. "But Franky said no peeking until the ship is finished!"

"Of course not!" current Franky laughed. "Where's the fun in letting you see her before she's done? But Sunny's the best darn ship that you're ever likely to see on these seas!"

"Well, said," Robin laughed a little.

Granny Kokoro looked at the Log Pose. "By the way guys," she asked, pointing at it, "Do you know where that Log is pointing to? It could come as a big surprise if you're not ready."

"Right…" current Nami said as her memory self looked at it curiously and answered that it looked like it was pointing downwards. "I forgot… we were all so eager to go to Fishman Island… but…"

"It took us two years to get there," Sanji sighed, looking ready to cry at the mention of how he was forced to postpone his dream of seeing the mermaids there and was instead trapped in hell.

"Good things come to those who wait," Brook reminded him happily. "That just made our visit there so much more special didn't it?"

"Oh, shut up," Sanji hissed, trying to erase those painful memories of those ugly creatures chasing him every day for two years. Instead, he filled it with the joy of seeing those beautiful mermaids. Fishman Island was like a dream come true for him… how he wished that he could've stayed for a year… or two…

Granny Kokoro laughed as she told them about Fishman Island and at her words, memory Sanji looked like he was going to go out of his mind with joy as his eyes turned into bright hearts at the very idea of seeing mermaids. Past Nami, on the other hand, looked a little apprehensive about that as she sighed at the very thought it.

"I see how difficult it must've been for you, Nami," Robin said kindly.

"It's alright," she replied as Luffy asked her past self worriedly if she was going to be ok with going there, especially after what happened at her home island. She looked torn at the question, but memory Zoro reminded them all that those guys were pirates, and he was sure that not every Fishman was going to give them trouble.

"That's true," the current Nami nodded, "That was a relief to know that not all Fishman are bad. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders." She thought about Hachi for a moment before she thought to herself, 'Even the ones I thought were bad for years do have a good side in them after all.'

She felt Robin's hand on her arm as she whispered, "You truly have a big heart, Nami," she said gently and Nami smiled back at her.

"Not really," she whispered back as they both turned their full attention to seeing past Sanji spin around joyfully, telling them about how beautiful the mermaids were supposed to be and how they made dreams come true. "I just know that there are good and bad Fishman… just like with people."

She then started to laugh when past Sanji spotted Kokoro there, and it was as if someone told him that his birthday was cancelled. His face took on a strangely bluish hint before he fell to his knees and pounded the floor with a fists as he cried. "Let me dream, dammit! I'm not hurting anyone!"

"Why must everyone want to kill my fantasies?" the present-day Sanji moaned out, looking about as ready to cry as the others. "What's wrong with me dreaming? Why…?"

"Grow up," Zoro said darkly.

"You shut up if you don't want me to cut you up into little pieces!" Sanji snapped back.

At his memory's self's behavior, Kokoro looked ticked off. "Relax!" she yelled, "There are young mermaids too!"

"Did you boys really have to be so rude to her?" present-day Nami demanded.

"That's the thing about old people, they don't give a damn," Franky said as he jerked his thumb at Brook. "I mean… look at this guy. He jokes about himself all the time!"

"Yohohoho! Though I am nothing but bones, I can still be sensitive about my appearance," Brook said, before he stretched his arms out so that they could see his full attire and he asked, "What do you think anyway?"

"You look very flashy," Robin said smiling, "Really, it's you."

"Yohohoho! You're very kind, Robin-san!" Brook said happily, bowing to her, "Ah! Robin-san… would you be so kind as to let me see your…?"

"Don't push it, Brook," she said firmly. "I can still break you in half you know?"

At her threat, Brook fell silent at once as their past selves turned their attention to Kokoro, who informed them that Fishman Island was an amazing place to visit, yet that didn't mean that it was easy for people to get there.

"Along the way is a problem too," she answered as she pulled out a newspaper from her jacket and laid it on the table. "Take a look at today's paper and you'll see why."

Past Nami took it curiously and opened it, only to read out in great surprise that fourteen ships have disappeared this last month in the same place.

"They call that patch of water… the Florian Triangle," Kokoro informed them, and if Brook still had eyes, they would be wide in amazement. "Anyway, you won't be making it to Fishman Island until after you sail through there."

"Yohohoho! Does this mean that I'll finally have a chance to join you all in these memories?!" he cried out in joy. "Oh! At last! I was feeling all left out because the rest of you are in here!" he then began to twirl around happily. "And so we'll be meeting! I cannot wait to see myself and our first battle together! Truly something I will treasure!"

They all smiled at him. Taking this long walk down Memory Lane certainly brought back a lot of memories for each of them and they all understood completely. Seeing all everything that happened to them before they were scattered and separated seemed to bring it all back everything important. Like why they set sail in the first place, and why they chose to follow such a crazy captain. Each memory… no matter whether they be happy or difficult, was like a gift to them all. It was about time that Brook would be able to experience that as well.

Kokoro took this opportunity to explain what this was. "Every year, over one hundred ships end up disappearing in that area. And nobody has a clue as to why. What's spooky is that later, they show up totally empty without a single crew member in sight. Other people say they've seen ghost ships with crews of dead men wandering the ocean, lost in a haze."

Both past Chopper and Brook screamed at the very thought.

"What do you have to yell about?!" Zoro shouted at him, "You've been there for decades! If there's anything there, wouldn't you know about it?!"

"Just the thought of it," Brook answered calmly as if he hadn't just screamed. "All I ever saw were empty ships set adrift in that terrible place. And I never did figure out what it was that made all those people disappear."

"What are you talking about?" Nami asked him, "Wasn't Moria behind all that?"

"Well, it's true a great deal of those disappearances were indeed because of Moria… but he had only been there in the Triangle for ten years," Brook admitted, "Yet… ships have been disappearing mysteriously in the fog for much, much longer than that."

"WHAT?!" Nami, Chopper, Usopp, and Franky all yelled in shock.

"Shame," Zoro sighed, what a challenge that would've been to fight whatever was responsible for it.

"YOU SHUT UP!" the 'Weakling Trio' yelled at him.

"In any case," Brook said seriously, "I have no intention of ever returning to such a place, even if it's for a short time."

"I'm with you on that!" Usopp yelled, raising his hand.

"US TOO!" Nami and Chopper both cried out with their hands raised. Luffy however had other ideas.

"Hanging out with a bunch of skeletons sounds cool!" he said, a bright shine in his eyes.

"YOU'RE SO KIND, LUFFY-SAN!" Brook cried out happily, already forgetting about what he told them about the Florian Triangle.

"I wonder if that rumor started because someone saw you, Brook?" Robin asked curiously and the skeleton thought that over.

"I rarely ever saw people," he admitted, "Any ship that did see me usually turned away in blind fear for some reason."

"Sorry, bro… that had to suck," Franky said sympathetically.

"But I lived through it all!" Brook cried out happily. "Even though I am nothing but bones!"

Past Nami was already shaking her head in terror at the very thought of seeing moving skeletons. "No way!" she cried fearfully. "No ghost ships for us! Not on my watch! We're passing straight through that place! I mean what really happens in there?"

That last question came out in a whimper as Kokoro laughed darkly. "Who knows?" she asked grinning, "Nobody ever comes out of there alive. And dead men tell no tales." And to add a little more drama, she lit a candle in front of her face, making it look ghoulish, "I'd be careful. The water is dark, the fog is thick… it swallows you up!"

"She's horrible sometimes," current Chopper whispered as his past self and Nami screamed and hugged each other.

"Yeah, but if we had gone straight by, then we never would've found this funny skeleton," Franky pointed out as Brook laughed happily.

"Many a soul has been sacrificed to that traitorous sea!" Kokoro went on in a dark voice, "So you better be darn ready before you even think about setting sail!"

Past Robin calmed them down though by pointing out one single fact. That though some people call them 'ghost ships' they could also be called 'treasure ships'. And she informed them all that they were more likely to find a ship of riches than the undead.

At the words 'treasure' and 'riches' you could see the beri marks in memory Nami's eyes as she cheered on, "YEAH! LET'S HUNT DOWN THOSE GHOST SHIPS!"

"You just said the magic words, Robin," Usopp whispered and she smiled back innocently.

"Not that I would ever want to go through a night like that again," the current Nami added at the sight of herself drooling over the thought of treasure. "It wasn't a complete waste that Thriller Bark. We had a good haul from there."

"Well, this explains why I was the only one who didn't know anything about the Florian Triangle before we got there," Usopp whispered, wondering what would've happened if he did know beforehand. After all, none of his exorcising talismans seemed to have kept him safe the whole time that he was there.

"Alright! Leave it to me!" Luffy cheered with memory Chopper the only one still screaming out in fear at the thought of ghost ships. Everyone else were already making plans for their journey, with Sanji reassuring them all that he'll have the ship all stalked up so that they wouldn't have to worry, while Zoro was thinking out loud about the chances of finding any swords on board one of those ghost ships.

"Well, I did get a good replacement," Zoro nodded, his hand on his Shusui.

But as they continued to talk excitedly about their planes, they heard Chimney's voice calling out from outside, "Hey! Pirate people!"

"STRAW HAT!" the voices of the square sisters also rang out, and just then the doors burst open. Kiwi, Mozu, Chimney, and Gonbe were all there gasping for breath and they fell to their knees. They had obviously run all the way here.

"Franky wants to talk to you guys!" Mozu said excitedly as they looked up. "He's got something big to show you!"

"It's been a long night, but the ship of dreams is complete!" Kiwi added just as eagerly.

"And boy is it super cool!" Chimney called and they could see the stars shining.

"You mean Lion-chan is already complete?" Brook asked in awe.

"You know we were all surprised at how fast you guys got the Sunny done," Sanji said to Franky, "I mean, it only took you to build it in a few days."

"We'll, it probably would've taken me a lot longer if it had just been me doing it," he admitted, "But Ice-for-brains, Paulie, Lulu, and Tilestone all came out and lent a hand. Ice-for-brains was able to keep up just fine, but the other three collapsed from exhaustion! And it's Sunny!" he laughed at the memory of that. He and Iceberg were always rivals, and they kept pushing each other to see who could last the longest while they were working… shame that they ended in a draw once again.

Their past selves were amazed to hear that the ship was already finished and they couldn't wait to go out and see it right now. They were looking ready to go out and look, but at that moment they heard yelling outside.

"Straw HHHHHHHaaaaaaatttttttttt!" and it was Zambai's voice this time. "We've got bad news!"

"Oh no," Brook said worriedly, "What else happened?"

"Nothing bad," Zoro said coolly as they followed their past selves outside by walking right through the wall. "Don't know why everyone was making such a big fuss about it."

"NOTHING BAD?!" Nami screamed at him. "OF COURSE IT WAS BAD!"

But their talk was cut off when they saw what had to have been the entire Franky Family running towards them as fast as they could go, each one of them had a terrified and upset look on their face.

"Oh, hey you guys!" Kiwi called in great surprise.

"What's going on? They look upset," Mozu stated as they all came out to see just what all the fuss was about. As soon as they got close, Zambai was the first one to fall to his knees, also breathing hard.

"To be honest," he gasped, "we've just found out about it ourselves! Have you seen the wanted posters!?"

"Oh! I see now what this is about!" Brook said happily until he noticed Sanji's, Chopper's and Nami's dark expressions and remembered that they hadn't been thrilled at their bounties. Chopper and Sanji he could understand, but why would Nami be upset? She got a good bounty and a really good picture with it as well so why should she take it as a bad thing?

"Wanted posters?" Luffy repeated in surprised.

"You've got a huge bounty on your head, Straw Hat!" Zambai exclaimed, looking at him and everyone else. "They're gonna hunt you done for sure! Actually, you've all got bounties! The whole crew is wanted!"

"Took long enough!" memory Sanji cried out, his eyes wide in exhilaration. "How much?!"

Current Sanji's eye twitched horribly as he watched this. Damn it… the amount he had no problem with, but how is it that those damn Marines could get a picture for everyone else but not him?! Even Moss Head had a good photo for crying out loud! He had always wanted to be known around the world and for beautiful ladies to see his gorgeous face and fall in love with him! But thanks to the stupidity of those Marines, that's ruined! Oh, he could only imagine just how much that Chief Zeff and the other cooks at the Baratie must've laughed when they saw that poster!

"Not me too!?" memory Nami cried out.

"Well, duh! I mean, you were there with us and took out one of CP9 so what did you think?" Franky asked her. "You didn't really think that you'd get off free did ya?"

"It doesn't mean I have to like it!" she yelled, "Bounties are nothing but trouble! Why you would want Marines and Bounty Hunters after you I'll never know!"

"That's because the higher the bounty, the more renown you gain," Robin reminded her, "After all, it just proves how much of a threat that the World Government sees you. In the New World bounties aren't uncommon at all. In fact, most don't even see you as much of a threat unless you have at least a hundred million."

Memory Chopper looked both thrilled and shocked by the very thought of a bounty. "I'm wanted?!" he cried out as the current Chopper lowered his head in sadness. How could they call him a pet?! He was pirate just like the others wasn't he? So how come he only got fifty beri's?! He had every right to complain didn't he?!

"No point in talking," Zambai said as he pulled out the posters from his jacket and threw them on the ground in front of them so that they could all see them. "Just look! Wanted posters for every one of you!"

At the sight of them, Luffy cheered when he saw that his bounty sky-rocketed and even Zoro and Robin both smiled when they saw their own posters.

"I'm glad that they finally got a new picture," current Robin commented. "After all, that picture was over twenty years old."

"You think that we'll get new pictures since we don't look exactly like we did two years ago?" Chopper asked her and Sanji looked up hopefully at that.

"Maybe," she confessed and Sanji couldn't have been more thrilled at the thought. Now if only those stupid Marines would get it right this time…? Hey, wait. Maybe he could send in his own picture. That should wake them up!

"How come you're bounty only went up so little, Robin?" Usopp asked her, "I mean… you think it'd go up higher than just the one million?"

She shrugged. "I was mostly a hostage during that whole thing," she suggested, "I suppose that it's only fair."

"But you did break Spanda in two, you think that he'd be furious about that?" Franky pointed out.

"I'm just happy how it is now," she said evenly as their past selves each had a mixed reaction when they saw the posters. Memory Nami had fallen to her knees in despair as Chopper and Sanji were blue in the face, Chopper's mouth was open wide in shock as Sanji looked like he was melting when he saw his drawn picture.

"I thought it was a picture until you said otherwise," current Zoro said and Sanji roared in rage, his whole body in flames at the indignity of this all.

"I'M GONNA KICK SOME MARINE ASS NEXT TIME WE RUN INTO SOME FOR THIS!" he roared, looking ready to fight that slime creature again single-handedly to vent some of his anger on this.

As Luffy pointed out Sniper King's bounty and Chopper seemed comatose, Zambai spoke up. "Well, I know this is probably big news for you all," he said quickly, "And I'm sure there's a lot of pirate stuff you want to talk about! But ah, hold on a second! I came here cause I have a favor to ask of you guys!"

And he pulled out another wanted poster from his jacket and they looked at it with Luffy crying out in surprise, "It's Franky!"

"Cyborg Franky, with bounty of forty-four million beli's," Zambai read off regretfully.

"My, my," Brook said impressed. "In my day, to get such a bounty on their first venture was a rare thing! But compared with all the adventures and fights you've been in, it really shouldn't surprise me. I mean… I had to work very hard to get my own bounty and that was fifty years ago!"

"It's only gonna be a matter of time before they go up," Zoro added, "And I think we're all in for a much needed one. Especially you Mr. Nosebleed. You're making us look bad."

"WHAT?!" he screamed at him furiously.

"Seriously you need to start pulling your weight around here," Zoro went on.

"OH, THAT'S RICH COMING FROM YOU, YOU JERK!" Sanji yelled at him. "ALL YOU DO IS SLEEP ALL DAY!"

"AT LEAST I'M NOT POISONING EVERYONE BY MAKING THEM EAT THEIR COOKING!"

"I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN! NEXT TIME I WILL POISON YOUR FOOD!"

Nami finally had enough and gave them hard blows to the head and knocked them to the ground so that they could taste blood. "CAN IT BOTH OF YOU BEFORE I KILL YOU BOTH!"

"Scary…" Usopp and Chopper whispered and trembled. While they had been yelling, both of the square sisters were horrified at the poster, crying out what they should do about this.

"Yeah, that's the question," Zambai said, and though he didn't look the least bit happy he seemed to come to some kind of decision. He gritted his teeth and told them that he was happy to have learned that they didn't have bounties… but he told them that he knew that Franky couldn't stay in Water 7 anymore. Everyone in the city knows about Franky and he gets arrested again, they didn't think that they could save him a second time.

"So if you had been stubborn enough to stay and got yourself arrested, they'd probably put themselves in danger again trying to save you," Chopper pointed out to Franky.

"So it was really in your best interest to leave," Nami added, as both men continued to lie there in the dirt. "Otherwise they might not have been as lucky as last time."

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Brook said, wondering what could've happened next. After all, Franky looked like he grew to be such good friends with them all that he would've jumped at the chance to join even if it meant leaving his family behind.

"I'm sure you'll see," Nami said as she thought with distain at what she saw that day.

"Hey! No one made you guys do that!" Franky retorted, though thinking about it now, he could see what they were talking about… the last thing that he wanted was to put his bros and sisters in danger again because of him. At His family escaped without getting killed once and there was no way that he wanted them to risk their lives for him a second time.

Luffy didn't say a word as Zambai went on speaking. "But I'm sure he's worried about us too!" he said, "Knowing him… he probably wouldn't leave the island no matter how much we've begged him. That's why we came to you! We have no other choice. We're begging you here, Straw-Hat! Even if he tries to fight, you guys gotta take our bro out to sea with you! Come on! His parents were pirates! It's in his blood!"

"Please Straw Hat!"

"All we want is what's best for our big bro!"

"Please Straw Hat! Help him!" they all recited and they all got on their knees and bowed their heads low.

Franky felt his eyes tear up and snot rolling down from his knows. "You guys!" he sobbed out, "Begging for help once is bad enough! But you're doing it for me for both… both times…!" and unable to take it, he turned around and cried his eyes out just as hard as he did during Merry's funeral. "You morons! I never asked you to so something like that for me! Why didn't you just mind your own business?!"

"I think that you're so lucky, Franky," Robin smiled. "Not just anyone would be willing to go through all that for just one person."

"I know… but still! I'm not crying by the way you dopes! Who asked you?!" he cried as Brook patted his giant shoulder.

Luffy gave them all a long look before he smiled at them. "Come on, you guys don't have to beg," he said as they all stared up at him and he put his hat back on his head. "I already decided I was gonna make him my shipwright."

Smiles of joy appeared on each of the Franky Family's faces at his words. "You mean it?!" Zambai yelled joyfully as he looked to the others, "And… the rest of you are ok with that too?"

"Even if we weren't, it was the captain's decision after all," Robin said in amusement.

"But he's gotten a bad habit of asking the strangest things to join our crew," Sanji said, finally raising his head from the ground. "I mean, those zombies from Thriller Bark… and didn't he ask that giant beetle or something from the Little East Blue?"

"I remember that," Nami sighed shaking her head. "If he thinks they're cool, then he asks them to join no matter what."

"I don't see what's so bad about that," Robin said in amusement, "That's how we got Chopper and Brook after all."

"Yohohoho! You are truly a kind person, Robin-san," Brook said happily.

Memory Sanji was still staring at his poster—not even bothering to say anything—as memory Nami looked slightly sick and muttered that she didn't care anymore… and all past Chopper could do was nod, shocked by his low amount.

"Of course," past Robin said politely.

"Well, there you have it," memory Zoro finished off in conclusion for them all.

At that, tears of joy appeared in Zambai's and the other's faces. "THANK YOU!" he cried out before he got to his feet and turned to the others. "Now that they've agreed, it's time for us to move! Come on! You know what we have to do!"

"What did they have to do?" Usopp asked, having missed this whole thing as well.

"Get this idiot down to Scrap Island," Zoro said, able to get to his feet at last and spit out the dirt as he jerked his thumb at Franky.

"HEY!" Franky yelled, "You think I wanted to go the way that I did! Believe me! I could think of better ways to leave home!"

The Franky Family began to march away, with the square sisters asking them where they were going now. Zambai stopped for a moment as he said, without turning to look at them, and his hands curling into tight fists, "I can't tell you! I'm sorry. But we've got some dirty busy to take care of. You're better off not knowing. Mozu? Kiwi? Thank you for all you've done."

And the memory faded after that.

"Geez, the way they were acting, it was like they were going off to die or something," Usopp said with sweat-drop hanging around his head.

"Well, their lives were in danger from the stunt they pulled," Sanji said, remembering Franky rampage across the city and how he beat his own men half to death. "I'm surprised you didn't hear it, Franky sure wasn't being subtle about it."

"What did you want me to do?!" Franky demanded, "Let them get away with that?"

"But why your briefs?" Sanji demanded, "Couldn't it have been your sunglasses or something?!"

"It sure got his attention though," Robin laughed a little at the memory.

Franky glared at her, "And don't think I forgot about you! Devil's Child indeed! What you did… I still have nightmares about it! Do you know the pain that I had to go through?!"

"You were the one who insisted on doing things the hard way," she pointed out innocently.

"What are you talking about?!" Usopp asked, completely lost.

"They forced me to join!" Franky called out tragically, "I didn't get any say in the matter!"

"Big baby," Nami said, rolling her eyes. "You wanted to come but you didn't want to admit it until everyone gave you a stern talking to."

"Do my feelings mean nothing?" he demanded.

"Of course they do," Robin smiled evilly at him, "But there's a difference between sense of duty and stubbornness."

Brook and Usopp looked at each other in confusion, glad that they weren't the only ones lost here. But then the next memory appeared and they were back in the company house, each one of them had just finished packing their bags and were looking ready to go. But Sanji, Nami, and Chopper were all on the floor looking like they were about to be sick.

"Still upset about the bounties?" Brook asked knowingly.

"What do you think?!" Sanji demanded furiously.

Memory Zoro had just tucked his swords at his side and had turned to the doorway before he looked back at the others. "Alright," he said, "Just to make sure, we're all on the same page about Usopp?"

Luffy had just swung his own bag onto his back. "Yeah," he said, sounding a little more cheerful than he had before.

Past Zoro nodded in satisfaction before he added firmly, "This is about doing what's right,"

"And I stand by that," the current one added to their Usopp, who nodded in understanding. Yeah, if it had been him in that situation, he'd probably do the same thing. This was for the best… even if it was a tough pill to swallow.

"I know," Luffy nodded in understanding before he looked to the three on the floor. "Come on," he told them, "You've been depressed for long enough."

"WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE DEPRESSED!" the three current ones yelled out.

"SHUT UP!" past Sanji yelled getting up and pointing to his poster furiously, "WHY IS MINE THE ONLY ONE WITH A DRAWING?!"

"Well, some of us had our pictures taken while we were fighting on the Bridge of Hesitation," current Robin pointed out.

"And you weren't anywhere to be seen," Zoro smirked. "Regretting running off to close the gate now?"

"Do you two want me to hurt you both again?" Nami snarled at them, and they turned away from each other, still wanting to fight with each other, but neither was in the mood for tasting dirt again.

"Who cares about the picture? You've got a bounty!" Luffy said happily.

"Easy for him to say!" the current Sanji said, "At least he's got a photo! Why do I get all the bad luck?!" Luffy not only got a high bounty and a decent photo, but he was on the Island of his dreams! One of all women?! How was this fair?!

"WHO IS THIS, HUH?! CAUSE IT'S NOT ME!" past Sanji yelled practically jabbing at the paper. "DOES THIS LOOK LIKE MY HANDSOME FACE TO YOU?!"

"What's the point in having a bounty if no one recognizes you?!" current Sanji yelled out, as his past self was suddenly speaking tongues, so that they couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.

"What language is that?" current Chopper asked curiously.

"I don't know," Robin said impressed as Sanji fell onto his face on the floor and remained there in depression.

"All the women of the world are gonna laugh at me!" he cried out in despair.

Past Nami was staring at her own poster sickly. "That guy lied to me," she complained, "He said he was a reporter for the local paper! Having a bounty kinda stinks, but on the up side, at least the picture turned out pretty cute."

"I guess I could've had it worse," the current one sighed as she shook her head.

"I FOUGHT LIKE A TRUE MAN BACK THERE!" past Chopper yelled out indigently, holding up his own poster to Luffy as if he could somehow fix this, "I'M A PIRATE JUST LIKE ALL THE REST OF YOU! AND WHAT DO THEY MEAN BY 'PET'? I'M A DOCTOR DARN IT! AM I REALLY ONLY WORTH FIFTY BERI'S…?"

"You're priceless to us," current Robin said to him and he blushed at her words.

"Your compliments don't mean anything to me you jerk!" he laughed happily, swaying happily as he danced.

"Well, try harder next time," Luffy answered as if it was obvious and past Chopper looked ready to cry.

"At least you have a picture!" the current Sanji whispered darkly under his breath.

"Enough about the stupid pictures!" present-day Nami snapped at him as they heard the sounds of one of the square sisters from outside. They walked up and glided through the wall to see that both sisters, Kokoro, Chimney, and Gonbe were there to see them off.

"Don't you want to see your ship?" Kiwi asked teasingly. "Can't keep big bro waiting."

"That's my girl!" Franky said proudly. He hoped that his boys were watching out for them… but then again they were his sisters… they could take care of themselves.

"I know! I know!" Luffy called to them before he turned back to the others. "Well, I hope we're not forgetting anything. Once we get Franky and our new ship, we're outta here!"

"Hey," past Chopper called from inside, "Sanji's not moving anymore!"

"Guess we'll just have to find a new cook," memory Zoro offered.

"Damn you, Moss Head!" present-day Sanji snapped at him as the memory faded with his past self yelling at Zoro as well.

"Yohohoho! So we get to see Lion-chan for the first time?" Brook asked happily.

"Say it with me," Franky said tiredly, "Thou-sand Sun-ny! Get her name right for once! And as an answer to your question, yes."

"Too bad that you couldn't show her to us in person, Franky," Chopper said, looking up at him. "That really would've made it special seeing how hard you worked to build her for us!"

"Wait, you weren't there, Franky?" Usopp asked in surprise. He knew that Franky loved that ship more than anyone. The idea that he wasn't there to show her off for the first time was not something that he expected Franky to do.

"Hey! I had my reasons!" Franky snapped back. Of course, he knew the reason he couldn't bear the thought of seeing the Straw Hats again after he finished building his dream ship was because he knew that he couldn't risk them asking him to join them. If they had asked him right away when he showed them the ship, he knew he wouldn't have been able to refuse. Not that it mattered, he ended up going anyway.

The newest memory had reappeared and they were back on Scrap Island. They were with the past Straw Hats as they walked over the rubble to where a giant sheet was covering what could only be their new ship.

"Where'd you get a sheet that large?" Chopper asked as Franky laughed.

"It was all for the effect," he grinned. "It makes more of a statement!" He suddenly had a better understanding to why Garp went bursting through the wall like that. Yeah, it certainly makes an impression alright.

As they neared the ship, the square sisters were calling out for Franky—but rather they saw Iceberg, Paulie, Lulu, Tilestone, and even Yokozuna—all lying on the ground and sleeping.

"They must've been working so hard," Brook said sympathetically.

"Yep, they just couldn't keep up," Franky laughed.

"And you're a cyborg… but Iceberg was on pace with you wasn't he?" Robin asked and the smile faded from his face as he thought that over.

"Hey! Franky!" Luffy yelled as he took off, running at full speed, and waking the others up at his cries. "We're ready for our ship now!"

When he got close enough, Iceberg was already standing up and waiting for them and Luffy greeted him happily.

"Yohohoho! I'm so relieved to see that he's doing so well!" Brook said, glad that he seemed to have mostly recovered from his traumatic experience. Not just anyone can brush off the injuries he had.

"Of course," Franky smirked, "Trust me… that bastard's not gonna die nearly so easily."

"Good to see you," Iceberg said with a smile.

"Yeah, you too," Luffy said looking all around for Franky, "But where's, Franky?"

"Unfortunately, Franky can't be here at the moment," Iceberg admitted as he took a few steps to the sheet and looked up at it. "But the ship, however, is complete. Shall we take a look?"

They were all looking excited as Iceberg kept his eyes on the ship. He then came right out and admitted it, a huge grin on his face the whole time, "I think you're gonna be impressed. I was floored simply looking at the blueprints. This ship can sail any sea. It may take you to the end of the Grand Line after all."

"Franky-san, you're gonna rust if you keep crying so much," Brook pointed out.

"Shut up!" Franky yelled, his arm over his eyes once again. "Damn you Ice-for-brains! Who asked you to say something so nice?!"

Luffy and Chopper were both practically foaming at the mouth for Iceberg to take the sheet off and show them.

"There was a message that Franky wanted me to pass onto you, Straw Hat," he informed them as he reached up and grabbed the sheet. "He said if you're gonna be the King of Pirates someday…" and then he pulled, "Then your ship should be the King of Beasts!"

And that was when they got a good look at the Thousand Sunny for the first time. The beautiful brig sloop sails, the observation tower for the crow's next, her huge masts, and especially the graceful lion's head with the flower petal mane.

Franky beamed proudly at his masterpiece. Sunny was truly a one-of-a-kind ship, and she was going to one day be his ship of dreams… he was going to make sure of that. The past Straw Hats were staring up in awe at her, unable to say anything as they looked. Finally, they all started talking at once.

"It's amazing!" Nami cried, her eyes bright.

"You can say that again!" Sanji added as a big smile spread across his face.

"WOW!" Chopper cried as he jumped up and down.

"How lovely," Robin stated.

"That's what I'm talking about," Zoro added, and even he looked impressed.

"It looks super big and super cool!" Luffy exclaimed as stars came out of his eyes. "It looks ready to break stuff!"

"Break stuff nothin'!" Franky cried in pride as Usopp and Brook both enjoyed the sight of it. "This beauty is ready to take on anything the world can throw at her! She's more than ready to take on the New World!"

They didn't wait any longer, their past selves jumped on board so fast that they were on it in seconds. It was like seen a bunch of kids exploring a new house, wanting to see every room and everything special about it. They were like monkeys, climbing everywhere and admiring every inch of it. Memory Sanji went dashing insides looking for the kitchen and they could almost hear him crying in joy at the sight of the fridge.

"Of course," the current one laughed, "Do you have any idea just how much easier it is for me to protect the food from Luffy? I don't need to use that giant mousetrap anymore now that it's locked with a special code!"

"What is the code anyway?" Chopper asked wonderingly.

"Like hell I'm telling anyone!" Sanji said. Only he and the two lovely ladies with him knew it and he'd be damned before he told anyone else—especially Luffy. But he put that out of his mind as they watched themselves enjoy themselves before Luffy went running over to the side and thanked Iceberg for everything, but he asked him where Franky was because he wanted to thank him to.

"I'm sorry," Iceberg answered, "But it would appear he doesn't want to see you."

"You didn't want to see them?" Brook asked in surprise. Now why would that be? They had become good friends didn't they? So why did Franky not want to even see them? He couldn't possibly be angry at them anymore so…?

He wasn't the only one confused. Luffy was looking surprised at those words before Iceberg went on to ask if they really intended to invite Franky to become their shipwright.

"Yep!" Luffy said happily, "Wouldn't have it any other way! Besides, this is his ship after all! He has to come."

"Oh, shut up!" Franky laughed, blushing at that.

"It's so funny considering how you two met… Yohohoho! Who would've guessed that you'd become the only shipwright that Luffy-san wanted," Brook said.

"Maybe," Robin said, smiling widely, "But then again, that's how I joined up. For I, too, was once an enemy before I joined up with all of you?"

"And you made every single day I spent with you seem as though I was in paradise!" Sanji swooned at her, twirling around happily.

"Fate works in strange ways," Zoro shrugged. Everything from getting their money stolen to this moment just seemed to make it feel as though it all happened just as it was supposed to.

Iceberg nodded in understanding as he said, "Well, that might be your problem!"

"You mean he doesn't want to join?" Luffy asked in disappointment.

"Just the opposite," Iceberg answered knowingly. "Rather if you've invited him, he wouldn't be able to refuse. That's why he's hiding right now."

Franky blinked before he frowned and looked away. Damn that Ice-for-brains… was it really that obvious to him? But if it was, why did that idiot have to come right out and say it? He could've at least kept that part private or something?

Iceberg explained to Luffy, "Well, what I'm saying is that he wants to join you in his heart. Of course, you can probably see that for yourself, looking at all the love and care he put into building this ship. And he's grown quite fond of your crew, so please don't blame yourself for this. But he believes it's his duty to stay on this island, his bond has become the chain that binds him."

"Your duty?" Usopp asked in confusion to Franky who looked away. Though he knew that anyone asked him about it, he'd deny everything, but deep down he knew that Ice-for-brains was right. He had made it his self-appointed duty to watch over the island that had once been Tom's home. As much as he wanted to go with them on this beautiful ship, he just didn't want to leave the island until he felt that he had made up for his stupid mistakes. He remembered what Iceberg said about forgiving himself for his part in Tom's death… but did he really deserve it?

"Yeah?" Luffy asked.

"Yes," Iceberg said as he shut his eyes with a kind smile on his face. "Though if you ask me, I think that he's being needlessly stubborn over nothing."

"Who asked you?!" Franky yelled, wishing that he could shut him up before he said anything else. This was just too damn embarrassing.

Iceberg opened his eyes again and added, "Still that's how he feels. So trying to reason with him would just be a waste of time. If you really want him to go with you, then your only choice is to use force! Since he's not willing to break that chain, you'll have to do it for him!"

"You mean that everyone really forced you to join?!" Usopp asked in surprise.

"We didn't do anything that he didn't really want done," Robin offered sweetly and Sanji seemed close to fainting at that smile, telling anyone who would listen that it was as if an angel had come down from heaven to join them.

"WHAT?! DID YOU ALREADY FORGET WHAT YOU DID?!" Franky roared at her.

"Use force?" Luffy repeated, staring at him in shock. Now they could tell that he really wanted Franky to join, but to make him…? They could see him thinking it all over and weighing his options. He looked to the Sunny's head before he said quietly, "And after he was so nice to us. Well, I guess I can give it a shot."

"Damn that bastard! So it was his idea?!" Franky yelled as the memory faded. He then held up a fist and shook it up at the skies, "DAMN YOU ICE-FOR-BRAINS! I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS I SWEAR IT!"

*Water 7*

Iceberg had been up all night and was just finishing up a new design for a ship before he suddenly let out a loud sneeze and coughed a little at that. He looked around in surprise, for some reason having a strange feeling that someone was talking about him… someone who had wished him a great deal of pain and misery for something.

*Straw Hats*

"Feel better?" Zoro asked Franky who took several deep breaths after he finished cursing at Iceberg.

"Yeah," he admitted, still breathing hard. "But damn… I should've known that idiot was the one behind that."

"It wasn't that bad was it?" Robin asked and he ignored her, not looking forward to seeing his biggest humiliation. Did everyone have to see her grabbing his junk like that? The newest memory popped up and they were back in the backstreets of Water 7. Luffy was jumping from roof to roof as if looking for something and they could hear the sounds of what sounded like a war going on not far away.

"What's going on?" Nami asked in surprise before she looked around and her eyes widen at what she saw. Memory Franky was there alright, with the townspeople staring at him with expressions of shock like she was. He was running around and blowing up anything that dared to get in his way… and other than his shirt… he was completely naked.

"You didn't…?" Usopp whispered, his and Brook's jaws falling open in shock at seeing it as Robin laughed and Sanji shook his head, running his hand through his hair.

"They stole my briefs! What'd you expect me to do?!" Franky yelled out furiously.

"Forget that," Nami sighed, smacking her forehead. "What I want to know is who other than us actually does something like this?! A hostage negotiation with a pair of underwear?!"

"At least it's not dull," Zoro shrugged as they spotted one of the Franky Family members, who had the speedos in his hands, suddenly fell to his knees in pain. Now the current Franky was a little sorry that he had to beat up his own boys, but they brought it upon themselves. Meanwhile, his past self wasn't far behind. He had almost caught up to him when Luffy jumped to the roof just above his head and yelled for him to toss them up.

"Straw Hat!" he cried in relief.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" memory Franky yelled behind him, but too late, he threw the speedo's up at Luffy, who caught them before he held them up tauntingly at Franky.

Memory Franky stopped running for a moment and glared as Luffy called out in a teasing voice, "Let's see where they go next!"

The current Franky remembered this all too well. Straw Hat was the last person he had wanted to see—but still, he couldn't help but ask him what he thought of his ship. Even as his past self looked furious, there was some hesitation there as well. But he hid that part of him as he shouted out, "You little turd!" and then he was running after him, yelling for him to get back here.

"This has got to be the strangest recruitment I've ever seen," Usopp whispered, shaking his head in awe at everything that was happening. Nami was right… who does this kind of stuff? But the townspeople around them was screaming, covering their eyes and even throwing stuff at memory Franky as he ran by. Not that he was paying any attention to that as he asked how he liked the ship.

"It's awesome!" Luffy yelled, "In fact, I think it's the coolest ship I've ever seen! Thanks a lot!"

"You're damn right it's the coolest ship!" the current Franky laughed.

"For someone who didn't want to come, you sure seem keen on talking," Robin offered in amusement.

"So maybe I did want to come!" he retorted, "Just shut up about it!"

"Don't you dare tell my dear Robin to shut up you robotic pervert!" Sanji yelled.

Franky blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Why thank you!"

"PERVERT ISN'T A COMPLIMENT!" Sanji roared. "AND PUT YOUR PANTS BACK ON DAMN IT!"

"I would've love to if you gave them back!" he yelled back as his past self continued talking to Luffy as if they were discussing something over the dinner table. They didn't seem to even notice all the yelling and stuff that were being thrown.

"Damn straight it's awesome!" memory Franky yelled, "It was made from my secret blueprints after all! I included all of your requests, and hooked it up with my one of a kind Soldier Dock System! You have the chance to try it?!"

"How'd you come up with that idea anyway?" Zoro asked their Franky.

"I used to build all kinds of battleships when I was a kid, didn't I tell you that?" Franky asked, "I guess all that experience really made me think things through. I was always trying to build them to be better and stronger than before. After a while, this was what I came up with! So how can you guys not love me for that?!"

"You're so awesome, Franky!" Chopper cheered as their past selves kept talking.

"I'm SUP~ER alright!" Franky laughed, "And I'm only bigger and badder than ever over the last two years! I've got a whole bunch of ideas that I can't wait to test out on the Sunny later! You guys are gonna love 'em!"

Usopp and Chopper both had stars in their eyes at the very thought of the cool stuff that Franky had planned for them. "My!" Brook gasped out, "Just the thought of what else you can do Franky-san takes my breath away! Not that I have any breath anymore! Yohohoho!"

"What is the deal with boys and dangerous toys like this?" Nami asked Robin, who only smiled back.

"I guess that's just one of the many mysteries that I can't answer even with all the libraries in the world," she answered. Memory Franky and Luffy had just finished talking about the dining room and the aquarium that he had built for them and how they'd always have fresh fish to choose from; while Luffy kept jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Just like I promised!" memory Franky yelled, "It's the best damn ship a man can build! A ship of dreams for both of us! Now… give me back my brief's…" he then held up his arm, about to fire a cannonball, "OR I'LL BLOW YOU TO SMITHEREENS!"

"You do remember that he's a Rubberman and that he could just fire it right back?" Sanji pointed out.

"Wasn't gonna stop me from trying!" Franky retorted, though to be honest he did forget about that. However his past self had just fired anyway. It missed Luffy, but hit the building so that Luffy did lose his balance. However, he tossed the pants high and called out Chopper's name. And out of nowhere Chopper appeared in his Walk Point, and then caught them in his mouth.

"Do you know where those things had been?!" Nami asked, shuddering how Chopper was forced to carry them like that.

"What are you trying to say?!" Franky demanded.

"Well, if those are your only pair, how are you supposed to wash them?" Brook pointed out. Franky opened his mouth, as if to tell them exactly how—or to tell them to shut up—before memory Chopper had managed to get Franky to follow him down the street to where Zoro and Sanji were waiting for him.

As soon as he was in their sights, they grabbed him by his giant arms and threw him into the large cannon that a few other members of the Franky Family had waiting.

"What?!" Usopp gasped as Franky was fired and they could see his bare bottom right off into the distance as he went flying off in the direction of Scrap Island. "How could…? I mean…?"

"Yeah… that cannon can fire anything out of it," Franky said, his eyes twitching at that. What a ride that was… and he remembered the painful landing right among the scrap… he knew that his bros did it for his sake, but it was hard to remember that when he saw all this.

"Hey!" they heard memory Chopper yelled, "Aren't we supposed to send his undies there first?!"

"How did they get back there so fast anyway?" Sanji asked before he saw what Luffy was doing next and rolled his eyes in understanding. He rather fight Marines any day of the week then get flying on Luffy's stupid Gum Gum Rocket. His heart went out to Chopper for that ride.

Memory Chopper seemed to realize that he was asking the wrong person. Luffy had grabbed hold of him and son they were sent flying through the air with Chopper screaming the whole way.

"I hate when he does that!" the current Chopper cried out tearfully. "I don't see how he likes it!"

"You got to admit though," Robin laughed as they were also sent flying off right after them and they were heading straight for Scrap Island and the Sunny in the distance, "It's fast and easy!"

"With no real good way of landing!" Nami yelled furiously and she was right. For she had just seen Luffy crash into the ground with Chopper clinging to his back and moaning in pain.

"You didn't hurt did you, Chopper-san?" Brook asked in worry.

"No," he sighed just as memory Franky came flying in from the sky and crashed right on his head. "Luffy took most of the damage. It was mostly fear I was crying in."

"Oh my…" Robin chuckled in amusement and they watched the dust around Franky clear to see that Franky was still on his head and his lower half completely shone off to the rest of the ever growing crowd up the stairs.

"That has got to be the worst thing ever…" Usopp whispered. If that had been him, he'd have crawled under a rock or something and never come back out.

Kokoro, Chimney, Gonbe, and the Square Sisters were already there waiting for them… all of them staring as Chimney laughed and started to sing out, "Franky's naked! Franky's naked!"

No one seemed sure to laugh or not until Franky finally fell over and pulled his head out of the rubble.

"Ice-for-brains…" current Franky hissed. "I can't believe that you told them to…?"

"I doubt that he meant for us to steal your briefs," Zoro said, "It was your men who came up with that idea."

"I still blame you Iceberg!" he shouted out.

"This all really happened?!" he chortled.

"Yeah!" Franky grumbled, "And I plan to get you all back for this!"

"FRANKY!" Luffy suddenly yelled out and they looked up that Luffy had jumped onto the Sunny with Chopper and the women, all of them looking at him as he stood on the railing with the speedo's held over his head like a flag. "THANKS! THE SHIP IS GREAT! JUST LIKE YOU SAID, IT'S THE BEST! WE'LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF IT!"

Memory Franky glanced at him, before he finally smiled. "Yeah!" he called to them, "I had fun with you guys! Have a safe trip!"

"You didn't think that we were just going to leave like that did you?" Zoro asked, rolling his eye at Franky, "After all the trouble we went through to get you there?"

"What do you want from me?!" he snapped back as Luffy clenched the undies tightly in his hand.

"Oh, I hate to break it to ya! But if you want your undies back, THEN YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO JOIN OUR CREW!" he called threateningly.

"This is so stupid… who joins a pirate crew just to get your underwear back?" Nami asked in deep annoyance.

"We do…" Robin laughed. This was one of the things she had missed most over the last two years. Just to be able to laugh and enjoy herself with these guys. Being apart from them was like someone had been squeezing her heart all that time, and she couldn't help but count down the days before she was to return to Sabaody.

Memory Franky was now looking seriously ticked off for this, as far as he was concerned, this game had gone on too long and it wasn't remotely funny anymore. As for the citizens behind them, they were all yelling at Franky, telling him to just get out of here already.

"Well, I'm sure that no one was going to forget you for a long, long time…" Chopper pointed out.

"I hope not," Franky said stubbornly as his past self repeated for Luffy to give him his underwear back but he sounded more annoyed with him than angry.

"Sure," Luffy answered grinning mockingly at him. "Just join my crew!"

"This takes me back… when he blackmailed you, Zoro," Usopp said, remembering when Luffy offered to get Zoro's swords if he joined him.

"Not really," Nami countered, "I personally think that it was more of a bribe than an actually threat. Here, it's just blackmail."

"It could've ended well if you were just willing to come on board," Robin chuckled a little and Franky turned pale at what was about to happen here.

His past self wasn't aware of the approaching danger and asked, "What are you stupid? I'm not gonna be a pirate! You know, you can keep those briefs brother!" And then he went running up to strike his signature pose, showing that he wasn't the least bit afraid of anything. He showed off that bare bottom loud and proud, as if there was a bright light shining from him, even with the townsfolk screaming at the sight of him.

"Standing before the crashing waves naked and proud—you wouldn't ask a lion to put on underwear! So why a man?!" memory Franky demanded loudly.

"OW! AIN'T THAT RIGHT!" the current Franky cheered on, pride going through him.

"I was a fool!" Luffy exclaimed as he back away in awe. "His determination is too great! He's… a true man! A hero!"

"You got that right, brother!" present-day Franky grinned. "You tell it like it is!"

"Do you have to be so disgusting?!" current Nami yelled at him as her past self smacked Luffy hard, and yelled, "COME ON! HE'S OBVIOUSLY JUST A PERVERT!"

"And I agree with you completely, Nami my dear!" Sanji sighed happily before he glared at Franky and yelled, "Did you have to expose the beautiful women of this town to that?!"

But at that moment, memory Robin turned to Luffy and Nami, a devious smile on her face. "I might get a little rough, but shall I lend a hand?" she asked, and no one could've guessed what she had planned. At the sight of that smile, Franky seemed to wither and turned away to hide his shame of what happened.

"Ah… Robin-san?" Brook asked curiously. "What did you have in mind…?"

But rather than answer, she pointed to her memory self who was just asked that same question. She just smiled even darker as she held up her hands. Franky was unable to look and covered his eyes, readying himself for the most unmanly moment in his life, as he heard past Robin say softly, "Try… Dos Fleur."

And the men all saw what she was planning. Two arms grew out of Franky's legs and were held up which could only mean one thing…

"You didn't…?" Zoro whispered as his one eye widen in shock and Sanji's cigarette fell from his mouth as he realized what had to have happened. Memory Franky's face turned blue at the sight of them…

"No! Robin don't…!" Usopp cried out but it was too late.

"Grab!" Robin exclaimed as she closed her hands, grabbing hold of Franky's nuts and squeezed them hard. The screams coming from him were worse than anything that you could've imagined. It was as if someone was choking a chicken to death… Franky had been beaten black and blue before, but never once did he scream in agony as he did now. He thrashed around pitifully as they all stared in astonishment at the horrific sight of torture.

Usopp screamed out and covered his eyes, knowing that no man should ever have to go through that kind of pain and live to tell about it. In the world of warriors there were some rules that must never be broken! One of which was to always respect the family jewels.

"It's a miracle you're still a man after that!" Brook gasped, his jaw falling open in shock. "At least I have a reason for no longer having jewels myself. But that's a harsh way to get rid of them."

"Shut up!" Franky yelled, tears of pain in his eyes at the memory of this and Luffy and memory Chopper both cried out at the sight of it as well.

"Why'd you do that anyway, Robin?" Nami whispered as the townspeople stopped yelling and looked like they felt sorry for him as well when they heard his screams. "Couldn't you have thought of a better way?"

"No better excuse," she answered pleasantly as Franky cried behind her. "And it certainly gave him a good excuse later on."

She looked at her confused as Luffy yelled at Robin, looking terrified of her for the first time, "Robin! I still want him to be a man when he joins us! Lay off!"

"Just looking at it hurts!" memory Chopper screamed in distress, pulling his hat down to cover his own eyes—and they were all sure that everyone in Water 7 could hear Franky screams of agony.

Memory Robin just kept that smile on her face, looking like she was actually enjoying herself as she said simply, "Everyone knows that pirates won't give up on treasure once they set their sights on it. And now that we have this one in our palms so to speak, I won't let go without a fight."

"You're beautiful even when you're being cruel, Robin!" Sanji sighed.

"You wouldn't think that if it was your junk she grabbed!" Franky yelled at her as Usopp moved to stand farther back from her, as if thinking that she would turn her ability onto him. It was here that they knew… it didn't matter which person was up against her in the future… if it was a man, there would be no doubt who would win.

After that, Franky was on the ground, unable to move without there was some kind of electric shock going throughout his body. He just lay there twitching and crying as he tried to explain the situation.

"Come on I already told you," he whimpered out as you could see the spasms on his body, "I couldn't leave this island if I wanted to… I appreciate the offer, really. But it's just ain't in the cards for me! Sailing the seas would be great and all… but there's still a lot of stuff left that I have to take care of here. That's why… I gave the ship to you."

"What things did you need done here, Franky-san?" Brook asked, not sure he understood. He really couldn't see what else he had to do. He could understand if he wanted to stay with his family, but he didn't have much other choice. After all… with that bounty on his head, it would only be a matter of time before he was caught if he never left Water 7.

Franky looked away, unable to answer him as his past self forced his head up to look at them all, with Luffy and Chopper looking like they were in pain just by looking at him. "I quit being a shipwright a long time ago, and I'm not going back! This is the last ship I'm building for the rest of my life. I've only had one goal as a shipwright and now I've fulfilled it! I made my Ship of Dreams!"

Iceberg seemed to finally have had enough. "That's a lie, Franky!" he called and they looked over to see him walking over. "You can say what you'd like, but I know the truth. This isn't the Ship of Dreams that you've talked about before."

"Damn you, Ice-for-brains," current Franky said, remembering that day when he and Iceberg were still apprentices and Tom was still there. He could remember that day so clearly… how he told them all about his dream of one day going out to sea with a ship he'd built himself and sail it to the end of the world.

His past self clearly knew what he was talking about as he forced himself up, panting hard for some air. "Yeah?" he demanded, "Well, my dream is different now!"

"Your dream?" Iceberg repeated as he walked up so that he was right by his side, but not even looking at him. "That's not what this is about at all. You're not on this island… because of something you have to accomplish… you're here…" his face darkened before he finally looked at him. "Because of guilt."

"Guilt?" Usopp whispered in confusion as they all looked at the Frankys—past and present. Both of them were looking away, as if in terrible pain that didn't have anything to do with Robin's powers. But Iceberg seemed to understand.

"Ever since the day that Tom was taken away by the Government," he said seriously, "You've blamed yourself for what happened. It's obvious. But even before Tom left this island, he had already forgiven you. And shown you a new path. For years, you've taken punks from the inner city streets under your wing, you taught them to be dismantlers and worked as bounty hunters, and you protected this island from attacking pirates. All of this to atone for your sins. To look after the city that Tom loved… that Tom was forced to leave behind. Although…" he added softly. "I don't imagine most people saw it that way."

"No of course not," Franky whispered before he yelled, "BECAUSE THAT WASN'T WHAT I WAS DOING! THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL!" Before he hollered in more pain.

"Franky?" Nami whispered as their shipwright looked away, but the look of sadness on his face was all too clear that he knew that every word that Iceberg said was true. Franky just refused to look at any of them as he tried to come to grips at what he was listening to what he already knew. He remembered when Tom praised him for his designs and encouraged him to keep going at it. When he denounced his battleships when they hurt the townspeople years ago, Tom taught him the most important lesson that he ever could've learned. That you must always be proud of what you build no matter what happens in the future.

Franky wanted to forgive himself, he had wanted that for years… but he just couldn't. Even now, at the thought of what happened that day made his heart feel like it was being torn out. Sanji glanced at him, knowing better than anyone how it felt to feel guilt for forcing someone to give up everything they had for their sakes.

He remembered that storm where Chief Zeff dove after him and gave him all the food that they had when they were on that tiny island. "It wasn't your fault," he said at last, "If there's anyone to blame it's the Government for sinking so low as to do something like that to get at your master. Even if you had never made those battleships, they would've found another way I'm sure."

Franky looked up at him and they both seemed to share a kind of silent understanding—both probably thinking along the same lines.

"Franky-san?" Brook whispered, "Do you… have you forgiven yourself?"

Franky wasn't sure anymore. He had wanted to be forgiven, to be free from the guilt. And though the guilt was there, he was able to finally let go of what happened. He doubted that he would ever be free completely from the sadness and regret of forcing Tom to give up everything for his sake… but he at least could look at himself in the mirror and not feel sick of the person there.

"You love shipbuilding and you gave it up," Iceberg said sadly as he shut his eyes again. "You've suppressed your dream for years. Are you going to do that for the rest of your life? Tom has already forgiven you. I've already forgiven you. Nothing you do will change that."

Usopp reached over and patted Franky's shoulder that was trembling as he fought the tears that were sure to spill over once again. He could only imagine the kind of guilt that he had been carrying around all that time.

Memory Franky was also fighting his tears, but they were already starting to fall. Iceberg opened his eyes and gave Franky a long, hard look. "This has gone on long enough! It is time to forgive yourself, Franky. Live, and follow the dream you've buried for so long."

"I don't think that was the best way to honor your master's sacrifice," Zoro said with a grim expression. "By forgetting everything you learned under him?"

"I didn't forget anything!" Franky snapped back at him, "I remembered every single thing. And I did my best to live up to it. But… after realizing how dangerous my battleships were, just the thought of making another one was too painful. It was all I could do to protect people from them!"

They looked hard at him, as if trying to figure out what it was they were supposed to say, but at that moment something came crashing down on the ground at memory Franky's feet that it sent him backwards several yards… it had been a large yellow bag, looking packed and ready to go.

"IT'S LUGGAGE FOR YOUR TRIP, BRO!"

"MOVE IT! WE'RE COMING THROUGH!"

And they looked up to the top of the stairs were the crowd had parted so that every single member of the Franky Family had come to say farewell. The townsfolk backed away at once, as if afraid that they would go on another rampage, but they had their attention focused on Franky.

"That's sweet of them," Nami smiled, shaking her head. It must've been so hard for these guys to see him going out to sea.

Past Franky got back to his feet and glared up at them. "You guys too?!" he yelled furiously.

"I don't think I had anyone on my side here," the present-day one sighed.

"Oh, everyone was on your side," Robin pointed out, "The only one against you was yourself."

He blinked at that, just as Zambai called out, "Big bro! Forgive us! We didn't want to trick you! Really! We're sorry!"

He lowered his head as all the other boys echoed, "We're sorry!"

"We'll take any punishment you throw at us!" Zambai yelled regretfully, "We aren't smart like you! But we thought long and hard about this, and even we know it's the only way!"

"They mean well, but they just needed a better plan than stealing your undies and firing you out here," Zoro shrugged.

"You're telling me," Franky nodded, but he was smiling a little as he watched the scene. He could still remember their words so clearly and that only seemed to make leaving all the more painful.

Memory Franky's face was contorted with anger. "Only way, huh?" he snarled, "You guys aren't making any sense to me! You think I'm better off without my own pair of briefs? HUH? You think I'm better off with a bunch of pirates?! Well, I don't care what you think! This is my life! And I decide what's best for me! I'm the boss dammit! You think I'd be happy living out the life my underlings planned out for me?! You say you thought long and hard about it! If you really thought about it, you wouldn't have done it in the first place!"

Now, this showed just how angry he was with his boys. He never once thought of them as his underlings… they were like family. But he was just so angry that he wanted to say something to get back at them.

But they all seemed to take it in stride as Zambai spoke up again. "I—I know we're a pain!" he admitted, "But…" He seemed to be having a difficult time in trying to find the right words to explain their reasons. "But is it wrong for us to worry about you even a little?! You turned our lives around! We just want what's best for you!"

And then finally, he seemed to understand just what it was that he needed to say as he shouted out tearfully, "WE JUST WANT OUR BIG BRO TO BE HAPPY! CAN'T YOU SEE IT?!"

It was too much for either one Franky to take. The current one had fallen to his knees and crying out each one of his boys' names in a fond way as his past self was so taken aback by those words that he fell onto a pile of rubble and began to thrash around in pain.

"Hey, stop," Luffy begged Robin, as Iceberg and Kokoro both smiled at something that only they could see. "You're going too far! Come on… he's gonna be a woman!"

"Can't you hear him crying?" memory Chopper demanded.

"I'm surprised to see that you're not listening to captain's orders," Zoro said, glancing at her.

Robin didn't say a word as she leaned back as she shut her eyes with a peaceful expression. She didn't need to follow his orders here because she wasn't doing anything. As the square sisters began panicking at the thought of seeing Franky's balls getting ripped off, Luffy finally barked out Robin's name before he stopped. Looking to see what the problem was now, they realized that memory Robin was casually leaning against the railing. "You're not… doing anything?" he asked as Chopper and Nami both stared at her in confusion.

She just smiled back. "I only did it one time," she informed them. "He's just being a big baby." She looked over at him and added, "How convenient… now he has an excuse to cry all he wants."

"I WASN'T BEING A BABY!" current Franky cried out as his past self continued to writhe on the ground. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I find it all so touching!" Brook cried out as he held up his guitar and added, "I will write a song just for this moment! It shall be… 'I may have lost my balls! But it's gonna be ok!' Ya!"

"OH, BE QUIET SOUL KING!" Usopp yelled at him.

"It hurts so much!" past Franky sobbed, one hand on his family jewels, and the other covering his eyes as he cried. "I can't stop crying!" After several more long minutes of weeping, he finally pushed himself up into a sitting position. They could see that his resolve to stay was quickly crumbling around him and he finally croaked out, "Guys… are you… are you really gonna be ok without me?"

"I'm sure they will be," Nami smiled at their crying Franky. "After all… they're your brothers."

"If they had the guts to attack Enies Lobby, I'm sure they could handle anything," Zoro nodded. "And if not, something tells me that Iceberg would help them out if they really needed it."

There wasn't a single dry eye among any member of the Franky Family around, but they all had looks of determination. "You taught us how to work together!" Zambai cried out reassuringly, "We'll make you proud for as long as we live! Water 7 will never forget your name!"

"Yeah! We'll be fine!"

"Don't cry bro!"

"We love you!"

"No matter how far away you are, you'll always be our boss! And you'll always be our bro!" Zambai declared.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" the others all sobbed out as both Franky's just cried their eyes out.

"Isn't that sweet?" Robin asked as she shared a smile with Nami. Chopper was sobbing now with Brook and Usopp at such a touching scene. This was just too much for them to bear. Zoro and Sanji didn't say a word, but they let them have their moment here, though tired of all the crying at the touching scene, they knew better than to try to say anything. This would be hard for anyone to deal with… and it only seemed to help encourage Franky to finally let go of the past.

But the moment was over.

"LUFFY!" yelled two voices, and suddenly memory Zoro and Sanji appeared. They moved easily through the crowd before they jumped down the destroyed stairs and raced to the ship as fast as they could go.

"What is it?" Brook asked at once as Luffy looked at them startled at their urgent faces and asked what the problem was.

"We've got bad news, Captain!" memory Sanji yelled.

"That stupid grandpa of yours came back for us, Luffy!" Zoro cried out, "He's got a whole bunch of Marines on the other side of the island getting ready to hunt us down and take us out!"

"Oh, that can't be good!" Brook said, knowing full well how brutal that Garp was.

"No, but if he was fighting us for real, then we never would've gotten away," Robin offered.

"What?! He tried to kill us!" Chopper yelled as Luffy cried out why his grandpa was doing this when he said he was leaving.

"Not until the very end," Robin answered, "He clearly went easy on us until Luffy said that we were escaping. He could've easily have killed us if he wanted to."

"So he does care…" Usopp said, "In his own… screwed up way?"

"We don't have time to figure that out, just set sail!" memory Sanji yelled. Before he noticed Franky sitting there and yelled at him to hurry up and put his underwear back on.

"They're speedos!" current Franky yelled.

Luffy seemed to remember he was the one who had Franky's pants and then he threw them out for him to catch. "Well… come on!" he yelled as memory Franky continued to look up at him. "Get on my ship!" He smirked as he folded his arms. "Captain's orders."

Franky continued to look at him for a fraction of a second before he finally cracked a smile and any reservations he might've still had went out the window. He lowered his sunglasses and asked, "Your ship already huh? An amateur like you will probably sink her in less than a week!"

"The sad thing is that's probably true," Nami sighed, laughing a little at just how perfectly Franky seemed to get them.

"You've got the finest vessel on the sea, and no shipwright?!" past Franky continued on, as if this was suddenly his idea, "That's a real pity… for the ship I mean! What can I say? You leave me with no choice! I gotta take care of my masterpiece after all! So set sail! I'm joining the crew!"

"YEA! WE GOT OURSELVES A SHIPWRIGHT!" Luffy cried out ecstatically. At long last, memory Franky slowly picked up his back and slowly began to walk to the ship. He walked as if every step seemed to weigh him down, his face lost in thought the whole time… and the memory faded when he turned to look at the island one last time, tears falling and even the townspeople were calling out words of encouragement and that they were actually going to miss him.

"That must've been really hard for you, Franky," Robin said sympathetically. Leaving home for the first time was never an easy thing to do. But for some of them, it didn't seem like much of a big deal. As for herself, she had never had a home for twenty years… Brook was only too happy to leave the Sea of Fog… and leaving to go out to sea was something that Luffy had been dreaming of for years and was a time of celebration. She glanced at Zoro and had a feeling that he probably felt the same way when he left home… but she didn't bother asking him since she knew he'd deny it.

The new memory had come up and they were on the Sunny and the sails had been spread. They were just starting to push off from the shoreline with everyone waving and wishing them nothing but good fortune in their ventures.

Especially from the Franky Family, telling them that they were going to make Franky proud and that they wished him the best of luck. Zambai's voice called over them all, "THE FRANKY FAMILY WILL NEVER DIE! WHEN YOU COME BACK, WE'LL BE RIGHT HERE WAITING FOR YOU!"

"And after I finish sailing around the world I will," Franky smiled. But in the meantime, he knew that they'd be alright… Zambai may be a little scatterbrained, but he had always been like his right-hand man. He couldn't think of anyone else he rather have leading the Franky Family while he was gone.

But everyone in the memory seemed to be on the tense side, as if they were reluctant to leave. Memory Nami glanced down at Luffy from the upper deck as he took a seat up against the mast.

"So that's it?" she demanded, "We're leaving?"

"Luffy!" past Chopper said tearfully.

"Last call, Straw Hat," Franky said as Luffy bounced his leg around in a nervous way. "Are you sure? Still seems like we're missing someone here."

"Huh?" Brook asked looking around before he remembered Usopp. "Usopp-san? You mean you still weren't here yet?"

"Ah… no…" Usopp said, turning a pink color as he shuffled around a little uncomfortable. "I was coming! I mean… once I felt like I was ready?"

"You were finally going to apologize?" Brook asked eagerly and Usopp turned an even redder shade.

Sanji glanced at him. "It's never an easy thing to do to admit when you're wrong. But sometimes you just have to say that you're sorry."

"That's… easier said than done," Usopp whispered under his breath. He knew he was wrong… but he just didn't know how to come out and say it here. It felt like he rather chew broken glass or get several teeth pulled out. Why was it the things that you want to say the most are the most painful things to say?

As for Luffy, he had broken into a harsh sweat like he had just run a great distance in a short time. "Nah, it's ok," he said, but he sure didn't look it. There was a horrible forced smile on his face and you could clearly tell that he was upset. "We waited long enough already, and he never bothered to show up. We went over this back at Galley-La. Everyone agreed on what to do." He shut his eyes, still looking nervous as he kept that smile plastered. "We waited for him all that time but he never bothered to come. So I guess we have our answer."

"You dope!" current Nami yelled at their Usopp, "You had us all worried! If you were just a few minutes late we would've left without you!"

"I was on my way right now!" he yelled back, "In fact, I should be here really soon!"

Memory Franky moved up his sunglasses. "It's your call," he said, but he didn't sound happy either.

"He'll be fine," Luffy said, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that. "It's not like he quit being a pirate. It's a big world out there, I'm sure we'll run into him again someday… even if he isn't one of us anymore."

But as they looked, past Zoro was holding onto his sword very tightly as if he was trying to hold back a scream of anger. Luffy let out a little forced laugh, one that sounded a little like he was choking a little.

"So you guys did care?" Usopp asked them as memory Chopper whined for Usopp to hurry up.

"Yeah, but there's only so long that you can wait," Zoro sighed, running a hand through his hair. "That maniac Garp came out of nowhere."

"Luffy?" memory Nami called pleadingly, "Can't we wait a little bit longer? We're not in a rush just yet right?"

"You just had to jinx us didn't you?" Chopper sighed miserably as Luffy remained silently at her question, his eyes hidden by his hat.

"Hey? Luffy?!" she said sharply, but at that moment there was the sound of a cannon firing and the ship jerked sharply and they all had to grab onto something to keep them from falling overboard.

"That was a warning shot," Robin said at once as she looked up and spotted them. Memory Franky ran to the sight of the ship where the attack came from and he called out that they were in trouble. Coming around from the side of the island was a Marine battleship with a dog's head with a bone in its mouth out as the figurehead and Luffy had come running over to stand next to Franky.

"Garp is as crazy as his grandson," Nami sighed tiredly. How'd the marines survive with him around?

"Makes me wonder just how nuts Dragon is," Chopper gulped.

"He would have to be since he's been planning on overthrowing the World Government," Robin pointed out politely.

"Like I said, that family's been crazy for three generations," Usopp whispered darkly.

"HEY LUFFY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" Garp's voice sounded from the battleship with what sounded like a megaphone. "THIS IS YOUR GRANDPA SPEAKING! DON'T TRY TO IGNORE ME!"

"How can he when you're yelling like that?!" present-day Chopper yelled out.

"Yeah, I hear you! What's the deal!?" Luffy shouted back as he slammed his palms on the railing. "What are you doing coming back here!? You said you were gonna leave us alone!"

"YEAH WELL I SAY A LOT OF THINGS!" Garp yelled. "TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, I'M SENDING YOU TO A WATERY GRAVE!"

"At least he gets to the point," Robin offered as they all had sweatdrops around their heads. "But you think that he could've said it in a better way."

"WHAT?!" Luffy yelled back in horror.

"I KNOW THIS ISN'T MUCH CONSOLATION," Garp went on casually, "BUT FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, I'LL FIGHT YOU ALL ON MY OWN!"

"Good thing too," current Zoro said, spotting Aokiji lying in a lawn chair on the deck. "Better him than freezing to death. At least Garp's going to give us a sporting chance to escape."

"Sporting?!" Nami yelled at him, as one of the marines came over to him and handed him a heavy cannonball. "It looked like he really was trying to kill us from my point of view!"

At that second, Garp threw the cannonball with his hand, and like he was tossing a ball, it just barely missed the Sunny but the explosion was so powerful that it nearly capsized the ship.

"Incredible!" Brook gasped as Chopper and Usopp hugged the other and screamed in fear.

"Should've expected this much from Luffy's family," Sanji sighed as his past self was looking like he had been struck dumb as he gasped, "He… he just threw that with his bare hands!"

"That threw faster than any cannonball I've ever seen!" memory Zoro yelled, and he looked deeply unnerved at the power he had. They all knew that they were in some serious trouble here. "And he pitched it just like a baseball!"

They could hear the sounds of Garp laughing in the background as past Nami lost all the color in her face. She then yelled at everyone that they had to get out of there right now before he wrecked their ship. Not a moment too soon either… even from this distance they could see that he had just threw off his coat before he called for several racks of cannonballs.

"This is bad! Looks like there's plenty more of where that came from!" memory Franky yelled, his eyes wide at the sight of all those black balls lined up.

"Yeah, and he could've been throwing them all day if he wanted to," Zoro nodded as Luffy gave the orders to leave and to protect the ship. Brook was looking around, wondering just what was taking Usopp so long to get there. He had better hurry if he wanted to have the chance to join the crew again. As much as he wanted to see them wait just for a few more minutes, they couldn't stay any longer.

Just when it really did look like they would be forced to leave without him, memory Chopper's eyes lit up and he went running over to the railings as he shouted out, "He's here! Usopp came back after all! You hear that guys?! Usopp's right over there!"

"Are you sure?" Robin asked as the others all ignored his words, and he nodded, actually laughing again.

"About time," present-day Sanji hissed to Usopp, "What took you so long to get there?"

"Hey! I made it didn't I?!" he retorted as his past self arrived and fought his way through the crowd to stand in the front. They watched him shouting over at them, but no one aside from Chopper acted like they could hear him. He yelled out that he was still here and why they were leaving without him. It was hard to watch as he took a running jump and landed at the foot of the broken stairs before he went running to the shoreline, continuing to shout out some kind of excuses.

But no one even looked in his direction as memory Chopper yelled to Luffy, "Usopp's here, Luffy! It's not too late!"

"Yes, you're completely right, Chopper-san," Brook said, "But it is Usopp-san who must say the words. I am certain that you have already forgiven him, but he must understand that this is for the best. Like Zoro-san said before… it's about his pride."

Chopper nodded grimly, though he didn't like this one bit. He just wanted the crew back together again, was that so wrong?

"Everyone protect the ship!" Luffy ordered as if Chopper hadn't spoken. Usopp continued to try yelling out to them, and it was clear that his ego was as big as ever and the current one was feeling a lot of shame in them. When he saw the ship sailing out of his sights… when he really thought that he was going to be left behind, he wanted to at least say those words to them before they left. But he also understood that this was right…

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE!" his past self screamed.

"Luffy, Usopp's calling for us!" memory Chopper yelled over the sounds of the exploding balls.

"I can't hear him," Luffy answered coldly as he sent a couple more cannonballs off course. In desperation, Chopper turned to Zoro and called to him, but his answer was just the same as he took care of a few more cannonballs.

"You liar! He's right there!" he screamed at them all and they could see that it was becoming harder and harder for them to deny anything as Usopp's voice finally stopped.

"Man, you really had us going there, bro," Franky sighed as their ship was now so far from shore that if Usopp didn't man up in the next sixty seconds it'd be too late.

"Would you have really left me behind?" Usopp asked quietly.

"None of us wanted to," Zoro informed him, "And we did wait a little longer than we should have. But we gave you that chance."

And at long last, memory Usopp's voice suddenly rang out, "I'M SORRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYY!"

That got their attention at long last. Luffy pulled his arm back and looked at Usopp's ever shrinking figure. He was on his knees and they could tell that he had started to cry.

"I'M TOO STUBBORN I KNOW!" he went on, "I TAKE BACK EVERY WORD I SSSAAAAIIIIIDDDDDD!"

And smiles soon spread across every face, past and present, as they watched him cry.

"That's more like it," memory Zoro whispered, sounding truly relieved.

Memory Usopp was now sobbing openly, "I know I'm being pathetic! I know I said I already quit! BUT WILL YOU LET ME TAKE IT BAAACCCKKKKK?! PLEEEAAASSSSEEEE!"

Luffy didn't look at anyone but at Usopp as he let the others fight off all the cannonballs.

"I'M BEGGING YOU! YOU GOTTA FORGIVE ME!" Usopp continued to cry out, his head touching the ground. Crying so much now that it was hard to make out what he was saying. "IF I'M NOT WITH YOU, THEN THERE'S NO POINT! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE! I NEED YOU GUYS! I'LL DO ANYTHING! PLEASE LET ME JOIN THE CREW! JUST ONE MORE TTTTIIIIIMMMMMEEEEEEE!"

"I think that you could've blubbered a little more," current Zoro said with a shrug, "But Luffy seemed to think that you suffered enough.

"Now don't you feel better?" Robin asked teasingly.

"Yeah," Usopp admitted, a small smile back on his face, "I did… better than I had been for a long time." This had been a tough thing for him to do… but he saw it as necessary now. Though most would never see it… he felt as though he had gotten a little stronger from this experience. And to his relief, Luffy braced himself as he threw his arm out, stretching it out so that his hand was held just within arm's reach of Usopp. He looked up and saw it, tears forming all over again but he wasn't the only one.

"HURRY UP!" Luffy screamed as he also started to cry loudly. "GRAB ON ALREADY!"

With tears all over again, memory Usopp didn't hesitate for a moment as he took hold of Luffy's hand and let him rocket him back to the ship. Luffy couldn't hold back his weeping as Sanji also seemed to burst out crying. The others all seemed to look as if they had weights off their shoulders as they watched this exchange, there wasn't a single frown anywhere on the ship and finally Luffy pulled Usopp right back until the two of them bumped their heads together. But they didn't even seem to notice as they laughed and cried on the deck… like it had all been just a bad dream.

"Don't you love happy endings?" Robin asked with a kind smile.

"I'm so glad that it all worked out well for you, Usopp-san!" Brook stated happily.

"You and me both," Usopp said, realizing just how stupid he had been to hold off apologizing to them all. Why had it been so hard? It had been so easy for him to talk to the others when he had been Sniper King, but why did words just seem to become his enemy when he tried to talk to them?

"ALRIGHT! THE GANG'S ALL HERE!" Luffy yelled joyously, jumping to his feet. "WE'RE GONNA GET AWAY FROM THESE STUPID CANNONBALLS AND HEAD TO THE NEW WORLD! LET'S GO!"

Not a single one of them objected; all they had to do now was to get away from these damn cannonballs and they'd be home free. But the cannonballs kept raining down around them.

"I guess that you can call it tough love, but it just looks like he's trying to kill us here," Sanji stated as he watched them continue to fight their way through the storm of black balls. The people from Water 7 seemed to want to support them and cheer them on, but with the marines there they didn't want to get into any trouble… not that it stopped the Franky Family, who shouted out their support so loudly that you could hear it back in the East Blue.

Memory Franky gave his bros one last long look before he gave them all the thumbs up and gave the orders to furl the sails. As memory Zoro jumped up to do so, the current Franky walked to the back of the ship so that he could get one last look at them all. It had been two long years since he had seen this place and he couldn't help but hope that they were all safe and doing well. He knew that he would one day return to this place… he wasn't sure when or how… and it would most likely be many years before he did so.

But that was ok by him. He still had the rest of the sea to see for himself before he came back triumphantly to Water 7. He'd already learned more than he ever thought possible over these years and when he was done, he'd come back and show everyone here just what he was capable of. He remembered Iceberg telling him about how devastating that Aqua Laguna had been that year and how Ice-for-brains decided to make Water 7 into a boat.

He hoped that wise guy was going through with his plan. Before, he had said that it sounded crazy to him, but then again, so did the Sea Train. He smirked… ironic… right after that talk, he ended up landing on Thriller Bark… an island that had been turned into a ship.

It was still a crazy plan… but he knew that if anyone could do it, it was Ice-for-brains. He just hoped that he'd be able to see it someday.

"Alright, Franky," memory Zoro said coming to the group once that was done. "I don't get it, but I furled all the sails! Now do whatever it is you're gonna do before the Navy blows us up!"

"There's something you're forgetting!" memory Franky said crossly and Zoro looked surprised as they looked up at the mast. "Don't you know? We can't leave until we give the ship a name."

"A NAME?!" past Sanji roared, still fighting off the cannonballs. "AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!"

"It's traditional," Brook said happily. "Everything must be given a name! After all… the name gives her an identity."

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Franky said proudly as his past self reminded them that this was her maiden voyage and that there was no point if they didn't do it before they completely left.

Memory Sanji didn't seem to think of a good retort to that. "Well, I guess," he said as he jumped up and kicked off another black ball, "Whatever it is, it's gotta have 'lion' in its name, right?"

And at that, Luffy started to run off with a series of names with Usopp hitting him every time. He came up with things like, The Black Bear Polar Bear Lion Tiger! Or The Super Wolf Gorilla Bear! Or even The Squid Octopus Chimpanzee!

"Thank goodness we didn't leave naming the ship to him," current Nami sighed.

Memory Franky nodded his head. "Well, I did have a lion in mind for the design. Though the guys from Galley-La didn't seem to get that. They thought it was a great big sunflower can you believe that? And Ice-for-brains even said that it looked like the sun! How could they not see that? He even came up with a name… he said that this was a ship that could sail over a thousand seas with a sunny smile so he picked the name Thousand Sunny."

"Ah!" Brook said in awe. "So it was Iceberg-san who was the one who gave Lion-chan her name!"

"Don't you know its bad luck to change a ship's name?!" Franky snapped at him as everyone else's eyes lit up. "Just call her Sunny!"

"Oooooh! I like it!" Luffy said eagerly as Chopper cheered next to him with his eyes wide and saying how cool it sounded before Luffy said that it was better than his Dandelion Lion Dandy Unbeatable Bear.

"I'm glad that he stopped," current Usopp whispered with a sigh.

"I kinda wanted Big Boss Lionel," Zoro said after thinking it all over, "But Thousand Sunny is pretty good too."

"I was going suggest, Creature of Darkness," memory Robin added.

"I like, Monsieur Sunflower, personally," past Sanji said with a thoughtful expression even as memory Usopp yelled at them, asking if they all lost their minds.

"No one here is good at naming things… we'll say that much," current Nami sighed, feeling close to laughing. She gave Iceberg a silent thank you for coming up with such a fitting name and sparing them the headache of using something else.

"A ship to sail a thousand seas with a sunny smile," Robin from the past smile, "It's perfect, don't you think?"

And even when memory Franky began talking about what he really wanted to name the ship, no one else was even listening to him since they all decided on Thousand Sunny. Memory Zoro shrugged and said that he had thought that they'd have a harder time agreeing on this, but it worked out perfectly and they all agreed.

"Now it's time for us to really escape!" current Chopper cheered on, ready to see their first escape on Sunny. The memory was a bit fast moving after that. Memory Sanji told Franky to stop pouting on the floor about the name and to get moving so that they could get the hell out of here before Zoro added that the Navy was going to catch up to them at any moment. He sighed as he got up and told them that they better take one last long at Water 7 because it was going to be out of their sights in a moment.

At his words, Luffy jumped up and began to call to his Grandpa and Coby, forgetting Helmeppo's name, and began to taunt him that they were serious about escaping now which resulted in making Garp furious.

"Did he really need to add more fuel to the fire?" present-day Usopp whispered fearfully. He was scared out of his mind of Garp, and Luffy daring him to come after them wasn't helping. Luffy then called to the shore to Iceberg, Kokoro, and the others, letting them know how much they appreciated all their help, though they weren't entirely sure if they heard them since they were so far away by now.

But to their horror, Gramps pulled out a large black cannonball, one so big that it was amazing that it didn't sink their ship. At the sight of it, their memory selves started to scream and panic at the sight of it as Garp readied himself to throw it, declaring that he was going to pound some manners into Luffy.

"LUFFY RUN AWAY!" they heard Coby's voice yell. "HE'S SERIOUS THIS TIME!"

And Luffy didn't need telling twice as he yelled at Franky, who had disappeared below deck, "FRANKY! GO!"

Franky didn't call back, but Garp threw the ball and it was right over their ship with Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper screaming that they were all going to die. But from somewhere in the ship, Franky's voice called, "COUP DE BURST!" and the cannon in the back suddenly seemed to blow up as a great burst exploded there and next thing they knew what was coming next.

They narrowly missed the ball as they were sent flying.

"This never gets old!" present-day Sanji laughed out as their memory versions seemed amazed at what they were seeing.

"I can't believe it!" past Usopp cried out in shock. "I never thought I'd feel this again, but here I am! Merry…?"

"Like I said, she may not be Merry herself, but she carries her spirit!" Franky told him proudly. "Just think of her as Merry reincarnated!"

"It eats up three barrels of cola," past Franky said as he stepped back onto the deck. "But it can fly for a full Kilometer! I'm not one to brag here, but simply put, anything the Going Merry can do, this ship can do better. But it's got tricks of its own. But even if it's all new, I hope the brave spirit of the Merry can live on in the Sunny!"

"That's for sure!" current Usopp beamed at that.

"If anything breaks, I'll fix it up good as new!" memory Franky declared, "From weapons to furniture, I know this ship up and down! It may be my masterpiece, but it's all yours now!"

They all cheered as they slammed down into the sea once more and took off, with Water 7 just a speck in the distance. Current Franky looked up and smiled… nodding once and turned away from his home as the memory disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with everyone on the deck with several mugs out and a table filled with food that Sanji had just prepared.

"Alright guys!" Luffy yelled as he stretched his arm up so high that his mug was level with the flag. He pulled his arm back as his drink fell down and he caught it before he asked, "Are you ready?!"

"Yeah!" everyone exclaimed and it reminded them all of when they first left Syrup Village and they cheered their little crew of four and the Going Merry.

"Then, everybody raise a glass!" Luffy shouted as he held his mug up, "For the return of our old friends, Robin and Usopp, as well as our new crew member Franky… as well as the best ship ever… Thousand Sunny! Let's hear it for our crew!" and then they all clashed their jugs against each other as they toasted. "Let's go! Next stop is Fishman Island!"

The current Straw Hats couldn't stop themselves from smiling even as that memory faded right away, leaving them back out in the real world. Seeing that moment, after everything that had happened… from learning of Merry's fate, to Usopp leaving the crew, to everything that happened at Enies Lobby… it all seemed to bring it full circle. And after seeing how happy everyone was just being together once again seemed to make it all seem worth it.

But as they looked around to see what part of the forest they were in this time, Chopper let out a cry of shock and pointed. They looked and it just seemed to be a touch of irony to see where they were.

"SUNNY!" Franky called out joyfully when he could just make out Sunny's smile through the trees, and they all ran forward to see their beloved ship again—glad to see a friendly face after all this.

(And part 2 is done. What did you think? I know that a lot of people might be asking why I put in that whole Yagara adventure in it, and I admit that I wasn't going to do it at first. But after seeing the episode I realized just how similar it was to their current situation of being trapped in a place where it's possible to reached lost loved ones and I just had to put it in. And after the intensity of seeing that fight with Lucci and Merry's funeral, I thought that this chapter needed something more light-hearted. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, but also, I have a request here. See, I've been looking for a while about reading a story where the Straw Hats return to Sabaody right away after they read the paper and hear about Ace's death. A story about Luffy meeting up with them after or maybe even before he wakes up so that they're there to support him. I looked and only ever found one story even remotely close to that. I know that this is a long shot, but I was kinda wondering if there would be anyone out there who would be willing to write a story like that or just recommend? I was planning on doing one myself, but with this story and everything else going on, I just don't have time. I know that it has nothing to do with this story, but I would really appreciate if anyone could help me out here? And also, I would greatly appreciate it if you could stop telling me about Sabo. I read the Manga and I know that he's alive. But I didn't know that when I first started this story. It's really becoming a thorn in my side for people to keep telling me that... *sigh*)