Chapter 25

Luffy

"Sanji! Wait up!" Luffy shouted to his friend's retreating back. He could see the smoke from the cook's cigarette rising into the air in big, angry puffs as Sanji kept walking. The rubber man briefly considered stretching his arm, grabbing the cook, and forcing him back, but decided against it. He understood why Sanji was so upset, even if the blond wouldn't admit it. Instead, he reached for a sign post just down the road from the other man and shot past him, landing in front of the angry chef.

"What did you mean when you said you were going to find answers?" Luffy asked. Better wait for a bit before talking about Zoro. The cook was clearly still angry, bitter, and worried about the swordsman's decision to stay.

"I'll ask the one person in this world I know used to be acquainted with Vegapunk himself," Sanji explained. "Judge."

The look on Luffy's face was skeptical. He remembered the imposing king of the Germa Kingdom. And his harsh treatment of the Straw Hat cook. "Are you sure about that, Sanji?"

"No," the cook replied, looking away, "But I don't have any better ideas. And I'm sick of this place."

"Still, I don't know if talking to that guy's such a good idea…"

"And letting the damn mosshead stay here is?" Sanji shot back, and then shook his head. "Sorry. I just still can't believe he'd choose to stay in a dream rather than go back to the crew."

"It's his decision in the end. I won't make anyone stay in the crew who doesn't want to."

"I remember you being pretty persistent with me. Both times."

"It was still your choice to join or not," Luffy replied firmly. "And at Whole Cake Island, I could tell you wanted to come back. You just wouldn't say it. That's why I had to hit you." With that the rubber man flashed the blond a sunny grin. Sanji let out his breath in an exasperated huff.

"I suppose. It's just…disappointing…is all," the chef said quietly, looking away. Luffy patted him on the shoulder.

"It's okay, Sanji. I know you're just worried about him," Luffy assured the other man. When the cook began to sputter angrily, Luffy laughed. "He was worried about you too, you know! Back on Zou. And he wouldn't admit it either!"

"Th-that's not-!" The cook shouted, clearly flustered. "Gah! Stupid rubber!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed before his face turned a bit more serious. The smile never left his eyes though. "Have faith in Zoro, Sanji. Even if he's confused now, he'll come around in the end."

"I hope so. I'll give him so much shit for this later," the blond replied, snuffing out his spent cigarette. He pulled out his pack to get another, and then let out a sigh when he realized it was empty. Putting his hands in his pockets, he eyed his captain. "So what are your plans, Luffy?"

"I guess I'll see if Ace and Sabo were able to find out anything about Franky," Luffy answered, placing a hand on his chin, "And then I guess I'll see if I can find out what happened to Tra-guy in this world."

"Sounds like a plan," Sanji agreed with a nod. "Still got my ship's Transponder Snail number?"

"Yep and you got mine."

"Perfect. If I find out anything, I'll let you and I guess Mosshead know." With that, Sanji turned and began to head for the castle ship in the harbor.

"Sanji!" The cook paused. "Be careful, okay?" Never looking back, the cook raised a hand in the air with a gentle wave, acknowledging his captain's concern.

Luffy watched his chef for a moment more before heading to his own ship. As soon as he neared the Navy vessel, one of the Marines came rushing down the gangplank, calling for him.

"It's the commodore, Captain! He's calling for you!" the man shouted, out of breath.

"Ah, Ace!" Luffy said excitedly, grabbing ahold of a railing and flinging himself onboard the vessel. The Marine watched him go, wide-eyed.

Quickly, Luffy made his way down to the communications room. Although the Straw Hat captain still tended to get lost onboard the Navy vessel, there were a few rooms he was so familiar with that he could find them immediately. Most of them were the expected (galley, kitchen, and his own sleeping quarters) but the rubber man found himself called to the bridge and communications room so often that he soon knew where those were too.

Once in the communications room, Luffy found Loudspeaker on the Transponder Snail.

"I believe one of the men said they saw him making his way back to the ship, sir. He should be arriving any—ah! Here he is now, Commodore," the lieutenant commander said upon seeing Luffy. He handed over the Transponder Snail's receiver, saluted, and then left the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Ace! How's it going?" Luffy answered the call excitedly.

"Good, Luffy. How are you doing?" Ace replied.

"Pretty great!"

"Good to hear. Are you alone?"

"Yep. What's up?"

"So Sabo asked around about that Franky guy for you," Ace explained. Something about the way Ace said it left Luffy with a knot in his stomach. His cheerful demeanor disappeared.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You know, you could have told us his real name was Cutty Flam. It would've made finding information about him a lot easier," Ace complained.

"Sorry. I forgot," Luffy admitted.

"Well, in any case, the file Sabo got about him was redacted as hell by CP9. There wasn't a lot left," Ace explained. "But, what we did get…hey, Luffy? Was this guy a friend of yours?"

Luffy swallowed hard. Ace was bracing to tell him more bad news, he knew it. But he was determined to find out what had happened to every member of his crew in this world and he was going to see this through.

"He is." Luffy hadn't missed Ace's usage of the past tense, but he chose to ignore it. Dead or alive, in this world or the other, Luffy would never deny his friends.

"Well…" Ace started and then sighed deeply, "Look, Luffy, I'll just lay it to you straight. This Franky guy's dead."

It was exactly what Luffy had expected. And yet somehow the knot in his stomach twisted even tighter.

"How?" the Straw Hat captain asked, forcing his voice to remain calm.

"Like I said, the file was redacted as hell, so Sabo couldn't find out the details. But it basically boils down to this: not long after the Iceburg assassination, Cutty Flam was found to be in possession of illegal blueprints for a super-weaponized ship. He was apprehended, the blueprints were recovered despite Cutty Flam's attempt to destroy them, and he was sent to Impel Down," Ace explained. "The Impel Down prisoner file was much easier to obtain and much more detailed but what it basically boils down to is Cutty Flam passed away within a year of being there."

"What happened to him, Ace? What are you leaving out?" Luffy demanded. His brother wasn't telling him everything, he was sure of it.

"Luffy…"

"What happened to Franky, Ace?!"

"Jeez! I'm just the messenger! Don't have to yell it in my ear!" Ace complained.

"Ace. What. Happened. To. Franky?" Luffy repeated, carefully enunciating each word. What did they do to my friend?

"Luffy…it's…it's Impel Down," Ace explained, exasperated. "No one who dies there dies pleasantly, you know that."

"I want to know what happened to him."

"No, you don't, Luffy."

"You said the report told you what happened."

"Luffy, please," Ace tried again, "You know how this plays out. Your friend was sent down there, he fought back, he was tortured, and then he died. In pain and alone. Just like his mentor Tom did." Luffy heard his brother take another deep breath. "Please believe me when I say you do not want to read the details."

The Straw Hat captain was silent, his hand clenched tightly on the Transponder Snail receiver. It was exactly what he had figured had happened, given everything he had seen and heard in this world. Robin, Vivi, Smoker, and Tashigi were all dead. Chopper was broken and alone. As soon as he had heard Iceburg had been assassinated it hadn't been hard for even Luffy's mind to piece together what had likely become of Franky. Still, hearing that every one of his precious crew (with the obvious exception of Zoro and Sanji) had experienced such hardship simply because he hadn't been there was still a rough burden to bear.

Maybe Sanji was right. They needed to hurry up and just find a way out of this nightmare world. Maybe if he just did what Sanji said and concentrated on his Observation Haki…

"Hey, Luffy?" Ace's concerned voice broke through his thoughts. "Hey, little bro, are you alright? Look, I'm sorry about your friend. The death of someone close to you is never easy news to hear."

Ace. Sabo. In this world, Luffy had them. Still had both of them. Sabo never disappeared when they were kids, Ace never got a fist full of lava punched through his chest, and they all grew up together and stayed close even as adults. In this world, Luffy still had his brothers.

Was Zoro right, then? Was this a world worth staying in? Luffy could have his brothers back, Sanji had his mom and his brothers and sister were kind to him. And Zoro…Zoro was the happiest Luffy had ever seen him. Whoever that woman was, the swordsman seemed to really like her. And the two little boys. Luffy hadn't been around them much, but from what he had seen, they seemed like a lot of fun. Maybe this way was best? As their captain, did he have the right to take that away from them? They all got what they wanted. And all it cost…

…were their dreams. Their journey. And most importantly, their crew.

Even if the others were safe, alive, and whole in that other world, after everything he had witnessed in this one, Luffy could see even more clearly that if any one of them was missing, the Straw Hat pirates weren't complete. To let even a single one of them not see their dream through to the end…what kind of captain would he be if he allowed that to happen?

"Luffy? Are you there?" Ace asked.

"I'm here, Ace," the captain of the Straw Hat pirates answered.

"Was worried there for a minute. You got really quiet."

"I was just thinking things through," Luffy replied. "I'm sorry, Ace. I'm sure I've been worrying you a lot with everything that's been going on. But I think I understand a little better what I need to do now."

"Good," Ace said. Luffy could see his brother's smirk on the snail's face. "I'm glad you're doing better and getting things back together, little bro."

"Yeah, me too," Luffy replied. "Hey, Ace?"

"Hm?"

Despite what he had just decided, despite the fact that he knew this wasn't the same Ace, not really, Luffy knew this would possibly be the only time he'd be able to say this and hear the reply in Ace's voice.

"I love you." Luffy stated it quietly. On the other end of the line, he heard Ace chuckle.

"I love you too, Luffy," Ace replied. "Now, you stay out of mischief. And don't give that crew of yours too much trouble, you hear me?"

Tears started to form in Luffy's eyes at the familiar words, but he laughed as he wiped them away.

"I won't," Luffy said with a grin. "Goodbye, Ace."

As he hung up the Transponder Snail, Luffy straightened the straw hat on top of his head. Looking out the small port hole in the room, Luffy could see Zoro's dojo on top of the hill towards the back of the small town. He had faith that their swordsman would rejoin them when the time came. Still, once Luffy finished his search for Law, he'd be back to talk to Zoro again. Hopefully, Sanji would join them too, and have the answers he was so desperately searching for.

Author's Notes: We finally find out what happened to Franky in this world. I mean, logically, it was the only fate that made sense if the Straw Hats never showed, but still sad none the less. Now that I think about it, this means Sunny never even existed. Even sadder.

-Somehow this story turned into Sanji rejecting the simulation and wanting to leave it, Zoro accepting it and wanting to stay, and Luffy somehow being the man in the middle. He really, really loves his brothers, and he'd do anything to have Ace back, but he's been after that dream of being King of the Pirates ever since he was a kid. He announces it to practically everyone he meets. It defines Luffy. So him being in the middle made the most sense. At least he got to tell Ace 'I love you' and hear it back one more time.

-You'd think Zoro and Sanji would be the opposite, but given their backgrounds, this route worked better. Even with his mom back, Sanji's family is going to leave a bad taste in his mouth, whereas Zoro gets to have a happy life with Kuina that he never got a chance to have.

-Apologies for the rapid-fire releases of the chapters. As noted previously, I have this entire thing written out (trust me, I'm not that fast of a writer) and I'm mostly just adding author's notes, or reworking/tweaking some chapters. The last time I wrote a fanfic, it was several *years* before I finished the thing. So I decided I wouldn't start posting this one until I completely finished it.