The song of the island sings out, and Conis can't help but cry. Aisa's by her side-- silent, amazed-- and soaking it all right in. Suu and Kinoko hear it too, and so does the soul of the Going Merry, that brims right into a bright, proud smile.
"The Vearth… is singing."
After four hundred years-- finally, the bell rings to signal the end of the battle.
Angel Island was gone, the Cloud was in ruins-- and the people have lost much, way too much-- but the fight was over.
The fight was over.
"Come, Aisa," Conis says, "let's go find everyone."
Luffy huffs, landing on the floating Cloud where the Belfry once stood, catching his breath. He's knocked it over, but they'll get it later. He's just thankful the gold on his arm is gone.
Wyper joins him, hurriedly vacating the falling ark to collapse beside him, trying to recover from his second Reject.
The rubber raincoat was in pieces. But well, Usopp will just have to deal with it.
"Think he heard it?" Luffy wonders out loud.
"You mean Montblanc Noland's descendant?" Wyper asks, rhetorical. He closes his eyes-- and breathes out his first relieved, easing breath of his life. And then he breaks out in a smile. "Yeah, I'm sure he did."
Luffy grins at that. "Right?"
They lay there for a long while, simply trying to recover their energy and their breath. They could figure out how to get down when they were more coherent.
"Hey," Wyper finally speaks up. "What did you guys even come here for again?"
"Huh? Uh, gold," Luffy says.
"What's so great about that?"
"It's worth a lot of money," Luffy answers, "and more money means we can buy things. Also, adventure is cool, and finding the golden city was a super cool adventure."
Wyper blinks at that.
These people really came to his island, cracked a long-sought mystery and found an ancient city that hasn't been found in centuries, defeated god and his entire militia, and called it a cool adventure?
"Are all pirates this ridiculous?" Wyper asks, exasperated.
"No," Luffy says, and Wyper almost sighs in relief before Luffy snickers and clarifies, "we're usually worse!"
Wyper groans, cursing to himself.
"What could be worse than this?" he asks, and he dreaded the answer.
"Hmm," Luffy curls, rolls over, and lays his chin on the back of his palms. "So there was this time, we went to this island, and all the plants were huge! There were dinosaurs--"
"...what are dinosaurs?"
"What the-- you guys don't know what dinosaurs are?!" Luffy yelps, getting up. "Then what about Giants? Superheroes? Colourimotone Prisma?!"
"...what?"
"This is stupid!!" Luffy gasps, "how could you not know about superheroes?!"
"Dude, they're just," Wyper groans. He couldn't get up, but this was distracting him from his shattered arm bones. "Not a White Sea thing. We only grow up on history and folklore up here. And lessons from our ancestors. In fact, that storybook Usopp gave us was so popular, I think someone from the village still has it."
"This is ridiculous! Next you're gonna tell me you've never done an eat-n'-run in your life!"
"...eat and what?"
Nami rides the Waver down the Giant Jack with Usopp and Sanji.
They're immediately greeted by a now-awake Zoro, Gin, Robin, and Gan Fall. Anne and Chopper soon roused, and they headed back down to the ruins, so they could find some semblance of a shelter to rest.
Braham and Laki wake up as well, but they're quickly found by their fellow Shandians-- and they go off to deal with the immediate aftermath, beginning with plans to exile the priests and Holy Guards to Cloud Drifting.
Nami finds the priests' food storage, and, with Sanji's help, they lug all the food back to their meeting spot. Everyone was eager to dig in, especially when Luffy came rushing over with Wyper on his back, cheering at the presence of food.
"How did you even get down?" Usopp wonders.
"Gomu-Gomu no, Balloon!" Luffy grins, waving a peace sign. "Anyway, can I eat this?"
"Since when were you someone that asked for permission?"
"Nah, was gonna eat it anyway."
Conis and Aisa find them as well, Conis sobbing loudly as Aisa lunges into Wyper's leg in loud wails. Suu breathes heavily, slumped down from the hard run, and Kinoko immediately flies to Usopp's side, snuggling into the crook of his neck in relief.
"I'm so glad you're all safe!" Conis cries, wiping her tears, "I was so worried!"
"I thought you were dead, you idiot! What happened to youuu!" Aisa yells, "your voice disappeared twice! How many times do you have to die to stay dead, Wyper?!"
"Oh, shut up already," Wyper groans.
Gan Fall and Pierre were led underground by Gin, to the mine factory-- where the old Holy Guards-- his Holy Guards-- were still alive, having been confined to the space for the past six years. They quickly reunited with the Skypieans that came inland, and the newfound peace spread through the land in their new liberation.
Oh, and Pagaya's alive. (Conis punched him so hard for it. And then she curled into his lap and sobbed out in relief.)
"I wonder if the Maxim's gonna fall into the Blue Sea and someone'll get a hold of all that gold," Nami sighs, slightly disappointed.
"Don't even try, Nami," Gin groans, "it'll be hell to remove from whatever shape it's in without super strength and I'm not in that mood to do it."
"Gold should be easier to cut than steel, so I don't really mind," Zoro says. "I wanna test out using Kogatana."
"Ahh, I didn't get to see the Ark," Anne pouts, laying with her head on Gin's knee. Her head was wrapped up in bandages, and Chopper had strict orders to rest. "I saw the Raigou, though, so I'm gonna paint that next…"
Luffy and Wyper were both asleep-- unconscious, more likely-- sprawled across each other and using rock slabs as either legrests or headrests. Chopper was looking them both over, affixing the bandages on Wyper's arm, removing the Reject Dial.
Nami leaned on Usopp's shoulder, her body also wrapped up in bandages, but with her shredded and blood-stained jacket laid over her shoulders for warmth. Aisa was also in Usopp's lap, sprawled over and asleep. Sanji was watching over from a distance, smoking, and Robin was watching similarly quietly, adjacent to him.
"Don't worry about all that gold," Usopp says. He's fiddling with Kinoko's feathers, "Enel's still alive and he's managed to fix the thing, I think. He's sailing off somewhere out of my range."
There's a pause.
Then a collective, "what?!"
Usopp cringes, "I thought you knew, Nami!"
"What the--" Nami fumbles, "of course no I didn't! Why would I have-- oh," she groans, burying her hand into her face. "Right."
"What the-- Nami-san, you knew?!" Sanji balks. "Usopp, I'll hit you later, so don't think about getting away."
"Why later…?"
"Then do we need to go chase him down?"
"Don't wake Luffy up. I can take care of it."
"No no Zoro. No," Nami hurriedly hustles, "Chopper's glaring at you."
The reindeer was giving the Zoro an exasperated look of death. The kind of expression that just silently went oh. Oh you're going? Go then, you moron, I'm the one that has to deal with your injuries after this. See if I'll stick an unnecessary needle up your arse when you come back you ungrateful bastard--
Zoro, wisely, sits down.
Chopper immediately beams, very sunnily.
"Chopper knows how to channel that inner Doctor Kureha, huh..." Gin mutters, slightly horrified. "...that aside. What about Enel?"
"We can leave him alone," Usopp says, and everyone sighs in relief.
"He's headed for this Fairy Vearth place-- which, if 'endless Vearth' is any indication… it's probably not this planet," Nami says. "We're endless sea, after all."
"Oh, I see. Wait, what the hell?"
"He's going to outer space?"
"He's going to what?!"
"Uhm. How's he gonna breathe?"
"Ah don't worry about that," Nami says, "Sky Islanders are aliens to begin with, so he'll have no problems living up there."
This time there's barely a pause before "who's a WHAT?!"
Conis follows her father to the other Skypieans, who were settling down by the edge of Upper Yard for the night.
"So the former holy guards… the ones that have been outlawed?"
"Yes, them. I'm glad to see that they are alive, despite the many years of isolation. They've come back now."
"So they saved you. I'm glad. I'll have to thank them personally later."
"Yes. I'm sorry," Pagaya says. "I wish I could've made it up quicker, but it was difficult to convince Amazon I wasn't trying to escape. Or being exiled, it was complicated to speak through the camera flashes."
Conis chuckles at that.
"So what's this I hear about you bringing a bazooka to Angel Beach and threatening to fire a White Beret with it?" Pagaya asks.
Conis flusters at that. "I- It's not what you think, I swear!"
(Back then, she had nothing but saving the country in her mind. Fueled by anger and devastation, she wanted to save the only thing she had left.)
(Her home, her neighbours, the people she interacted with, all of them.)
(Because they outcasted her, but she loved them all the same.)
"I was just desperate," she cradles the bandages on her arm. They could come off tomorrow-- but she knew already, that there would be scars. She wondered how they would look, wondered if it would affect her work from now on. "I wanted to do all I can."
(She doesn't ever want to be on the side that stands by while her friends are in danger. She escorted the Strawhats to this trouble, she didn't want a repeat of it, not even if they refused to believe her.)
(She knew she would regret it forever if she refused to be brave.)
"The honesty of those Blue Sea dwellers have taken to you, I see," Pagaya says, and Conis pauses, surprised that her father saw right through her. "Now, then, and back when you told the Blue Sea dwellers of the godland, too… you did well, Conis. I'm very proud of you."
Conis immediately feels the tears well up in her eyes.
She's cried enough today, so she brims it into a smile instead, the tears stinging her eyes so much she knew they would be swollen tomorrow.
But that was fine.
Because when the sun rises again, Skypiea would be peaceful.
"They are good people, aren't they?" Pagaya asks.
It's rhetorical, but Conis nods.
"Yes," she admits. "When I'm beside them… I think of freedom, father. I think of liberation, and I think of a world where I can do all I want with a truly, truly sincere heart."
There isn't a soul in Skypiea that didn't feel completely released, now that god Enel isn't hanging over their heads. They have the Blue Sea dwellers to thank for that, and no amount of gratitude is really enough.
"And…" Conis takes a shaky breath, "...And I'll miss them when they leave."
Pagaya nods.
"You sure would."
The campfire that night was large, full of laughter, dancing, drinking, eating, and singing. People made merry, running each other ragged with celebration, cheering out for joy.
Usopp clumsily joins the dance, strung along by one person to the next, never breaking the chain. Luffy joined them, him and Sanji bringing Aisa in, spinning about the largest circle of sheer chaos, spinning to the crackles of the fire around them.
Even the Master of the Sky hissed and danced and curled up with the people, enjoying the wary attention it was getting, loving the fun and the party as she swayed, and allowed children to climb all over it as a slide.
Zoro and Braham bumped their beer mugs together. Nami was winning the drinking contest.
Robin sat by the side with a single cup of tea, enjoying the atmosphere. Gin sat around that area as well, helping the medical and catering team to make sure everyone was fed. Gan Fall and the Shandian Chieftain watched, simply soaking in the sight of his citizens, safe and sound and happy.
Kinoko was in the circle of animals, with Suu, the Cloud Wolves, and the South Bird they'd brought along. They were laughing, chatting it up noisily with Chopper the only one speaking human language between them. Occasionally Nola would chime in with a drunken hiss, and everyone would laugh like the best joke in the world was made.
Conis sat with Wyper in the medical tent, Wyper nursing his severe injuries while Conis sewed up some braces and makeshift cloaks from the rags that were salvaged from the debris of Angel Beach.
It is in the far right of this madness that Anne stood, a lone figure in the center of the canvas, her easel set up before her as she marvels at the scene before her, preparing her paints to bring the masterpiece to life.
"You're kidding," Gin says. He sieves through a deck of rubble and retrieves a golden necklace from the pool of stomach acid, impressed to see the treasure mostly undamaged. "You and Usopp are what?"
"Time travellers," Nami answers simply, grinning.
In the distance, Chopper squeals at the sight of a golden trinket, and Luffy cheers, lifting a rosary made of gold. This place was insane.
Anne lifted a moss-covered bangle to her hands, "so time travel is real?"
"I guess," Nami says.
"The time travel part I'm over now," Gin says, "how long? From when? And how far? You knew everything that was going to happen?"
"So many questions, you."
"Well you're the one that dropped a bombshell I don't think I'm underreacting!"
Anne hums, "does that mean you already knew all about this battle before we got here?" She inquired so with an empty expression, as usual-- but she was a little bewildered, and that was obvious in the way her hands hadn't moved to properly inspect the bangle in her hands yet.
Nami shakes her head.
"The world I knew… the world we knew, has changed," she says. "Sometimes, things are so foreign I wonder if it's the same place."
She sets her left hand on her chest, trailing over the faint henna patterns on her collar with a sort of reverence.
Nami smiles down at Anne. "You're new, too. And I think it's one of the best things that's ever happened to us so far."
Anne blinks at that. And then it registers. Her face heats up slightly, and she hustles to cover it. "Wha-- don't be dumb, Nami. You're saying weird things!"
Nami chuckle
Then she turns to Gin, "you're new too!" she assures. "And well… It's a huge relief that you're here. I don't think we'd have survived if you weren't around."
And then she speaks of their new disabilities.
How Usopp could shoot through the eye of a needle, and now he can probably still do it, but it just wasn't the same. How he made tools and weapons and fixed the Merry up with his shoddy but diligent efforts, how they got so far because he carried half of the ship's workings on his own.
"You're selling yourself short," Gin says.
"I know," Nami says, "but Usopp really was or Jack of all trades, you know. He still is."
They travelled around the seas, reached their dreams and saw it come true-- but things fell apart. Now Nami couldn't even imagine why they did something that stupid. Sure, at the time, there were conflicted emotions, broken feelings, and broken people. And they knew they couldn't heal together, so they separated.
That was a dark time for them.
This time, though…
"But it doesn't matter," Nami says, "imperfection is where the greatest crews form."
"You're saying Roger's name is on it?" Gan Fall muses.
Robin nods.
Beside the Shandian Chieftain, Wyper takes it all in. His arm in a cast, his head muddled with lack of rest-- the Poneglyph the village has only heard of, read about, and dreamed of-- there it was. And they will continue to protect it as long as history persists.
But now…
"So we no longer need to fight?" Wyper says, and the Chieftain crumbled into tears.
Shandora's mission is over. The true history has already been restored-- and it is at the end of the Grand Line, at Raftel, where Roger has fulfilled it.
(It was… it was all over? Just like that?)
Wyper doesn't really hear the part where everyone offered the Blue Sea dwellers the broken-off tower of gold. He doesn't really care much about that.
"Ah, regarding that pillar, Miss Burglar Cat actually had quite a demand for it," Robin says, retrieving a piece of paper, "hmm, something about keeping it on hold and safekept for this 'Buggy' fellow."
"Buggy?"
"You know him, Gan Fall?"
"Well, I did interact quite a bit with Roger's crew when he was up here. There were these two children…"
"...I suppose it's better this way. Our little caravel can't possibly carry any amount of this golden pillar, unfortunately. The Blue Sea is quite unforgiving with vehicle weight. I'm sure it would serve a better purpose under Buggy's bigger flagship. We apparently owe them a debt."
(Just… somehow, Wyper was a little disappointed.)
(Now that the war was over-- the sky islands had no need for Berserker Wyper, who lived and burned for war and his personal justice.)
(There was finally peace.)
(He could finally be just Wyper.)
(...it is selfish that he suddenly didn't really want to?)
(He's lived so long as a fighter. A Berserker. A warrior and a bomber and a man who thirsted for blood. It just felt so wrong to settle down now, thinking of a peaceful future. He didn't think he personally wanted one. He didn't think he suited that kind of life.)
"And.." Robin hands the note to the Shandian chieftain with a hum. "Well, this is a curious development, but if it wouldn't be too disrespectful to ask, we do require a technician on our crew, and we're wondering if you would have any thoughts on this."
Wyper's train of thought violently derailed and ran harshly ashore.
"Ah, what a curious request," the Chieftain chuckles, reading the note. And almost too naturally, he turns toward the man still standing by the belfry. "So, Wyper, that's the situation. We can't exactly let our saviours go unthanked, so what do you think?"
There are more than ten people looking at him when he whirls around to meet the Chieftain's cheery gaze with a baffled, "what did you just say?"
Conis sits beside Zoro. The swordsman was working out, but Conis had Usopp's jolly roger keychain in her hand, looking through a frayed knot and humming as she replaced the stitch. Zoro had found it laid aside, and had approached her for a favour.
(It was quite endearing, really, seeing the swordsman try to keep the torn keychain a secret from his own crewmates.)
"There," she says, beaming, "it's all fixed now."
"Oh, thanks," Zoro says, inspecting it. "I heard you helped fix Merry's sails too. Thanks for that."
And Conis nods. "It's among my better skills. I'm glad they've come in handy for something."
Zoro's eyes drifted, just slightly, down to her arm. Her left arm had been covered in bandages all of yesterday, but now that she's removed it, Zoro could see the gnarly array of lichtenberg figures sprawled across the limb, crawling up to her shoulder.
Zoro and Wyper had some too, along with Sanji, but theirs were less prominent. Chopper had said something about how Skypieans had different skin sensitivity or something. Also, Zoro and Sanji and Wyper were monsters, so they didn't count.
(Usopp was also supposed to have some, but he was prominently scarless. It was probably just luck so they weren't gonna question it.)
"It's quite helpful, too!" Conis hurriedly hides her limb, "I'm glad my left arm still works well. It'll recover quickly."
Zoro nods, respectfully looking away.
"Now then," Conis says, suddenly producing Nami's ripped Doskoi Panda jacket out of nowhere, "I need to work on this! She asked me to fix it as well."
"What the-- where have you been hiding that?"
Conis giggles at that. She gets to work quickly. The blood had been washed out already, so it was only the tears that needed mending. After hours of doing things of a similar vein all night and morning, this was easy.
"So… is the Blue Sea fun?" she asks, noticing the conversation had gone quiet.
Zoro pauses in his weightlifting. "Uh. I guess?" he says, "what, you wanna come with us to see or something?"
Conis immediately flusters, "no! I mean-- that wasn't… where I was leading this conversation… huh?" she looks up, blushing slightly. Her next words are soft, her fingers scrunching up the fabric on her lap as she looks around, nervous. "I mean. Uh… can I?"
Zoro shrugs.
"Would be nice to have a sane person around."
"So that's the idea! We're pawning this boy off to you. Take care of him?"
Braham pats Wyper on the shoulder twice, then smirks, raising a thumbs up. Wyper, despite having an arm in a cast, looks three ways furious over to next week.
He whirls out a punch toward the other Shandian warrior, who easily just whoops in a swerve out of the way.
"I said I was thinking about it, I haven't agreed yet!"
"Just accept it, Wyper, it's not like we have anyone better," Kamikiri says.
"Don't you turn against me too!"
"No fair, no fair!" Aisa yells, tugging on Kamakiri's skirt, "if Wyper gets to go, I'm gonna go too! It's not fair!"
"No, Aisa!" Wyper and Kamakiri bark at the same time.
Aisa immediately runs over to Usopp, wailing. "I wanna hear more about Coward Warrior! Usopp said age doesn't matter! Coward Warrior conquered a nation at age five!"
Usopp pats her on the head, "now, now, dear," he soothes.
"Hell yes age fucking matters when we're talking about leaving the country!" Wyper yells, "don't go putting ideas in her head!"
Luffy, a bagfull of gold wrapped to his shoulders, just looks confused. "Huh?" he tilts his head aside, "I thought we already decided you were coming?"
"No we didn't!"
Luffy laughs, "oh really? Then come, c'mon!" He says, "I haven't shown you how to eat n' run yet! And giants! And superheroes! I said I'd show ya."
Wyper balks at that. "That-- that conversation I was delirious--" he tries to ignore the smug smirks from all the other Shandians around him, "--and seriously what the hell is an eat-and-run?"
"Yeah, what's that?" Aisa adds.
"Well, you basically eat somewhere, and then you run out without paying," Luffy grins. "It's fun!"
"Ooh!" Aisa's eyes sparkle.
"That's a crime, don't teach her that!" Nami whirls back around from where she was counting the gold with Gin, suddenly highly aware of the incriminating conversation happening behind her. "Sky Island's economy is not like ours, we don't need to eat the rich here!"
"What are you talking about, Nami? Rich people taste nasty!" Luffy argues.
"That's not what I-- how the hell do you know that?"
"Are restaurants really considered 'the rich'?" Gin wonders dryly.
"Luffy's corrupting the children," Anne says.
"Oh, so that's how you corrupt children," Chopper says.
"What in the actual hell is wrong with all of you," Wyper mutters. "Stop teaching Aisa weird things, she's already a menace as she is."
"I am not a menace!"
"Well, I'd say take him along," Kamakiri says. "He's our village's best technician, but he's been making nothing but weapons for the past ten years."
"What does that have to do with anything!"
"It means that from now on, we're going to have to be making tools and machines, not bazookas and bombs," Kamikiri says. "You think you're down for that?"
Wyper visibly grimaced. "I mean, if I have to…"
"See?" Kamikiri gestures, and Luffy nods sagely.
"I'm all for it!" Nami grins, lifting her arm in some salute, "this arm is amazing! No sense in getting it if I don't know how to alter and maintain it. Plus I have no more spares."
"I told you that was a one-time thing and--" Wyper trails off there. "Okay fair. I'm interested in making a fully metal arm."
"Then stop being a fucking Tsundere and go."
"The fuck did you just call me."
"Just go, we don't really want you here either," Braham says, "you scare the children."
"Excuse me?!" Wyper whirls on him, fully offended.
Laki sighs. When did Laki get here. "Yeah, learn from Genbo, kids love him."
"I do not want to be liked by kids!" Wyper genuinely can't believe he has to say this.
"Yeah, Wyper, just go already, you're such a brat," Aisa says, "you wanna go too, right? Then go already. Dishonest child."
Wyper immediately grabs her away from Usopp by the skull. "Don't push your luck!"
"AHHh!! Child abuse! Child abuse! Save me, Laki!"
"Hey, don't bully Aisa."
"You're all picking on me!" Wyper snaps, loud and defensive.
Luffy and Nami burst into laughter at the scene. Gin sighs, and Anne smiles, Chopper grinning when his eyes meet hers. They know this homey feeling incredibly well. Usopp sighs, taking a crying Aisa back to his side.
"Agh, I get it already! All of you shut up!" Wyper has to be held back from trying to claw Aisa's eyes out, but the child is hidden safely between Usopp's arms, sticking out her tongue. "I'm going! I don't want to see any of your damn pathetic faces ever again!"
"Now that's the spirit!"
"Hey wait, I haven't given up yet, I wanna go too!"
"Hell no, Aisa!"
Luffy grins. "You guys are a bunch of weird people, huh!"
"We don't wanna hear that from YOU!"
Wyper struggles out of Braham's grasp, giving up on mauling the child for now. Luffy steps down from his higher spot on the rocks, standing before and looking up toward Wyper with a confident smile.
Scoffing, Wyper extends his left hand, because his right arm was still in a cast.
"Just saying," Wyper warns, "it's only because I get to continue working. If at any point you guys become a lame party and I see someone else more interesting, I'm ditching your ass. Don't for a second think I'm your underling, got it?"
Luffy frowns at that. "You sure have a lot of demands, you're such a pain in the ass." Before Wyper could sputter and conjure a response, Luffy continues. "But fine! This is gonna be the journey of the Pirate King, you know! Of course it's never gonna be lame!"
Luffy takes Wyper's hand in a firm, strong shake.
Behind them, the Shandians and the Strawhats smile.
Zoro eventually shows up with a flustered Conis and a frazzled Suu in tow.
"Oh, just ask already!" he snaps, when the girl sees Luffy and immediately proceeds to hide behind the swordsman instead of braving the confrontation.
Luffy looks over, confused. "Oh, Conis! What's up?"
Gin and Nami had gone back to the remnants of the Shandian village with Wyper, and Usopp and Sanji were off doing something else. So it was just Luffy and Anne at the meeting spot. Suu climbs on Zoro's leg, trying to stop Zoro from walking forward and trudging a reluctant Conis along, but alas, the Cloud fox was too tiny.
"I can't!" Conis says, meek. "I mean… I'm not strong, I'm not a fighter. I can't possibly intrude, I would be nothing but a burden!"
"Hah? You're saying that now?" Zoro groans.
"Hmm, oh! Right, Conis!" Luffy perks up, suddenly remembering something. "I heard you really helped Merry! Thanks a ton for that."
Conis straightens. "Ah, right!" Conis says, and in her hands are the walking stick and Nami's now-mended coat. "It was nothing, really…"
"So I was thinking!" Luffy beams, "you're really good at sewing and stuff, right?"
"Ah… among other things, yes," Conis says, "sewing, cooking… women on Angel Island have a lot of domestic duties, so I'm used to it."
Luffy snickers. "Well, I don't really know the word for that. But that's all stuff that everyone on the crew is bad at! Well, except Sanji maybe. But my point is! You should join us!"
"Eh?" Conis immediately short circuits. Suu mimics the horrified expression, flabbergasted.
"To the sea!" Luffy grins, "the blue sea! It's super cool down there, y'know!"
"EH? Did I-- hear that right…?"
Zoro snorts. "Well, there it is. You now have no chance at escaping."
"Eh?" Conis asks one more time, turning to him in muted horror.
Anne, who had been silent the whole time, beams. "Another girl!"
"Ehh, are these Weather Ball things really that important?" Sanji questions, a little baffled.
"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about harvest for now, but losing them is a crime, we might be in big trouble," the farmer sighs. "I'm sure they'll forgive us if we explain, but it just eats at our guilty conscience, you know?"
"You Skypieans are really nice people."
"Ah, we get that a lot."
Beside them, Usopp wisely does not mention that they still have three of them on the ship. Nami would have his head if any more of them are wasted.
Usopp instead turns his attention to Aisa, riding on his shoulders, and the Skypiean guards, who were inspecting the trees for him. Kinoko was around too, pointing the guards in the right direction.
"Something like this… is this it?" the guard questions.
"Gimme a second," Usopp sets a hand on the trunk, feeling across the bark. Aisa looks between the action and imitates it, trailing a hand over the rinds. Kinoko comes down from the branches with a single leaf, and Usopp rubs a finger across it too. "It feels right, so are the leaves… but the greenery changed with the new atmosphere up here, so I'm not sure. I guess we can try cutting it?"
They were trying to find a rubber tree.
The tropical atmosphere of Upper Yard seemed right for rubber trees to grow, so Usopp had led a team out to identify as much greenery as possible before the Blue Sea dwellers went out.
"Is rubber really that useful?" Aisa asks.
"Of course!" Usopp says, "have I spoken about how Rubberman Supreme took over a land of Giants with just the power of god and rubber on their side?"
"Stop spouting bullshit that weirdly seems possible, you bastard," Sanji snaps.
"Yes, but not in the way you think," Usopp says, "the god I'm talking about is actually Mister Coward Warrior."
"Wait, really?!" Aisa asks, clutching closer to Usopp's head, swingin her legs excitedly. "Mister Coward Warrior isn't just a king of snipers, an expert magician, a jack-of-all-trades weaponsmith, and a superhero with his own theme song and cult, but he's also a god?!"
Sanji had to stop smoking. "What in the actual hell are you putting in that girl's head?"
"Only the necessary scriptures," Usopp replies, completely serious.
"I'm going to stop asking."
Sanji came along into the forest too, to forage and replenish their food stock. He was teaching the citizens about the edible plants around, from mushrooms to yams and garlic.
"We really appreciate all that you guys are doing," a Shandian says, and Sanji grins. "We'd really be lost without this."
"It's nothing," Sanji says. "You guys have to be fed too. Your crops are all gone, right?"
Behind them, someone cheers, having found the magical white liquid known as rubber.
"Thank goodness! We actually found some," Usopp sighs, "now I'm gonna teach all of you about how to tap rubber and how to synthesize it to make other things… wait, are you listening? Wait, don't touch that with your bare hands Aisa--!!"
"AHhh! I can't get it off!"
"It's solidifying! Poison!" a Skypiean warrior yells, "Water dials! Water diallllss!!"
"Well yes because you're oxidizing it so much-- no, not the poison part sorry I phrased it bad! Could you all calm down?!"
Sanji chuckles at the sight. People were chasing frantically and Usopp was so frustrated by the horde of too-curious adults. There really wasn't much of a reason they needed rubber, but he supposed, they wanted to glorify the thing that defeated Enel.
"Ah, right," Sanji says, remembering the main purpose of this whole trade of information. "If you guys wanna repay us, think we can have some Dials?"
"What the-- wait a--"
Sanji thinks it's a good day in any sea when Usopp is so baffled by a piece of information that he's completely speechless. It's very satisfying.
They finally return to the meeting spot. (Aisa was finally taken away by the Shandians because she needed to help the rest of the villagers. Kids were in a line to help mould bowls and cups out of clay and Aisa needed to do her part.)
"Yes!" Conis has her fists gripped tight before her. "I have. B-b-b-been, permitted to," she struggles, and finally crumbles, cradling Suu in her hands weakly, "I can't do it! Can I rethink this again?"
"Stop whining, do you want to come or not?" Zoro groans. "We'll even let you bring your stupid fox thing, so what's the problem?"
"Zoro, the fox is not the crux of the problem here," Usopp retorts.
"I do! I do, but--!!" Conis wails. "I'm sorry!"
"Hey, Marimo! Be nicer to the lady, can't you see she's scared?!" Sanji yells, whirling right over with a kick that's easily parried with the back of a katana. "Which is very justified, mind you, we're pirates! She is making the extremely tough decision to leave behind her normal life into the seas of being an outlaw! Give her time!"
"Oh come on, it'll be fine," Luffy says, "you're a coward huh, Conis?"
"I am, aren't I? I'm sorry," Conis mutters.
"Didn't you threaten to blast a bazooka in a White Beret's face?" Anne asks. She has a hill of clay beside her, and she was already moulding up a stack of plates and bowls. She was going to make Zoro bring them over to the clay kiln later.
"Yes, I'm sorry. I was shaking really badly when I did it," Conis explains. "My legs were trembling and I almost wet myself. It was scary. I thought I would die when I disowned god there. I really did. I'm sorry."
"Hey, is it just me, or is she adopting her father's apologetic tick?" Usopp immediately scoops back into the conversation, "ease up on her, guys!"
"It's okay, Conis! I'm weak too!" Chopper runs up to her, patting her on the arm, "if you're scared I can protect you! Because I can be a strong man too if I want!"
Conis sniffles. "Thank you, Mister Tanuki."
"I am a REINDEER!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend!"
Luffy snickers at that. "You're a crybaby too?" he says, "well, it's not like I found my crew because all of them were strong or anything. I just liked them!" he grins. "I like you too, even if you're weak! Cause you helped us a whole ton!"
Conis lifts her head, and somehow-- somehow, that was just such a warm thing to hear. She may be a crybaby and a coward-- she may be just one just at the edge of Angel Island, playing a lyre-- but for this battle, she saved people.
There has been no ceasure of people, Skypiean or Shandian or otherwise, coming up to her, thanking her, for warning them and helping them when it was time to run.
(What she did was little, but it was huge, and it was not in vain. And that really made her realize-- that this, this is what she wants to be.)
(She wants to be headstrong, significant -- and do all she can to make a difference.)
She's curled up into herself, hugging her knees to her chest. She manages a small smile, and immediately wipes her tears away. Beside her, Suu bumps her head against her thigh, prompting aggressively for Conis to do what she knew she had to do.
Standing up with Suu in her arms, she smiles wide and honest and full of heart.
"I want to support all of you," she declares. "My efforts may be small, but I will do all I can so I can continue to help everyone in this journey. If the end of the seas is your goal, then I want to be by your side, mending the tears along the way."
She bows, lowly and sincerely.
"Suu and I will be in your care from now on. We're amateurs to the workings of a battlefield, but I promise we will do well. Please take care of us."
Luffy grins. Zoro, Sanji, Anne, Chopper, and Usopp mirror the proud smile.
"Yeah, leave it to us!" Luffy assures.
Usopp proceeds to have a crisis in the corner.
"It's different?" Sanji asks.
"Yeah," Usopp says, "we just-- we just got two new crew members, Sanji. At the same time. Why aren't you more surprised?"
"I mean, didn't we kinda recruit me and Gin at around the same time too?"
"Oh. Wait, that's different!"
"It's not. And well, we did need a Technician, but we kinda also needed a Seamstress," Sanji says, "we had an unnecessary bulk of expenses for clothes because Zoro and Gin kept burning or shredding through them. Adding that to Merry's shoddy sails and the fact that Adelle had to fix Luffy's hat for us last time? Yeah we needed a needle-worker. Chopper isn't perfect with those hooves."
Usopp almost did a double take when Nami wasn't even mentioned there.
Right. Right, Nami isn't even an option. Even though she was the unofficial official appointed last time around.
"You have a lot of good points, but we all know Chopper is just stubborn because he doesn't want to use Heavy Point to do surgeries," Usopp insists. "He says his fingers are bulky but we all know it's because he traumatised a kid once so he's also traumatised."
"...I did not in fact know that."
"Oh sorry, I think that was in the other timeline. But the fact remains!"
Sanji sighs at that.
"Well, it's not a bad thing that Conis and Wyper are both joining, right? Conis-san is a really nice girl and all," Sanji says. "And Gin might deny it, but he's getting along pretty damn well with Wyper."
Usopp pauses at that. "Dude if you know that then-- are you self-aware about your friendship with Zoro?!"
He immediately earns himself a kick in the face for that one.
"I didn't say shit about the Marimo, don't bring him up!" Sanji yells.
"You're self-aware!"
"Shut up!"
Wyper makes his way through the ruins of the Shandian village.
While Nami and Gin looked around for interesting things, Wyper took an immediate stop at Kalgara's statue, sitting down before it reverently.
And for a long, long moment-- Wyper just sat there, looking up at Kalgara's statue, saying nothing. Surely, he was communicating. Just, silently, privately.
Gin and Nami watch from afar, knowing they shouldn't interrupt there.
"I never thought I would leave this country," Wyper finally says out loud. He runs a hand through the base of the statue-- and breathes out.
He slides his hand under the platform-- and in a hidden compartment, a single book is hidden. Frayed and browned with age, but intact. Nami comes closer, and her eyes shine as she realizes it's a journal.
"Kalgara was loyal to guarding the legacy of Shandora," Wyper says, and Nami jumps slightly, abruptly noticing that Wyper was talking to them. "But his daughter was different."
Nami took that as a sign that she could come closer. Gin was also listening, just from further away.
(The owner of the journal was a girl named Mousse.)
(And she, despite being loyal to her father, to their beliefs, and to their traditions-- she listened intently to Montblanc Noland's stories, and in those tales she began to dream of the outside world.)
(She wrote, of all the knowledge Noland spoke of. About plants, about weapons, even about tales of how royalty worked, and the wonders of the Grand Line. There were folk tales, mythical creatures, and various forms of divinity across the world.)
(She dreamed of adventure. She wanted to see what the Blue Sea had to offer, and experience these wonders in a way no Shandian has ever done before.)
(She wanted to be the first Shandian to break the tradition of seclusion from the outside.)
And it is in this one book, in this one dream-filled woman's ramblings that persisted and remained as a relic of history, that the Shandians have learned all they knew and survived.
"Kalgara's wish is fulfilled now," Wyper sighs, looking back up at the statue, "I guess it's about time I fulfilled the wish of this other ancestor of mine, too."
Nami can't help but giggle at that. "A bunch of annoying ancestors you've got, huh? Unfulfilled dreams everywhere!"
Wyper looks back at her, and for a moment, Nami wonders if he took offense. Instead, he snorts, chuckling in resignation. "They really are, aren't they? I wish they'd think of their dumb descendants that have to spend their lives fulfilling these lost dreams."
He picks up the book, and he stands up.
"Well, fortunately for them, I guess I'm the exact kind of dumb they need. I learned their story once when I was a kid and now it's all I ever want to do."
Nami smiles at that. Gin laughs, too.
(They really are a whole crew of differently-bred idiots, aren't they?)