ACT TEN
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Chopper woke up and coughed, feeling around the place for his hat, before realising that it was already on his head. The security that came from the hat, finally woke him up properly as he sat up and looked at the room around. A wooden room. He was sleeping in a hammock. This was obviously not his boat, Chopper concluded.

Then he heard Zoro's snoring from the floor beside him. The fully grown man was slumped against the wall, his arms folded as he snored with his head nestled against the wall. Chopper giggled, seeing his crewmate sleep in such a funny way, before the question finally dawned on him.

"Eh?! What am I doing here?! Zoro?!" This stirred the sleeping swordsman slightly but did nothing to properly wake him up. Chopper jumped down from his hammock and kicked Zoro in the stomach. "Are you even awake?!"

Zoro coughed and choked on his own saliva. He rubbed his eyes and woke up scowling, "Who is it?!" He finally noticed the confused reindeer standing in front of him, with a slightly angry expression. "Oh, Chopper. That's right."

"What do you mean?"

Zoro got up, stretching, making hammock beside shake a little. He yawned. "We rescued you from a boat last night. It might've been a coincidence but were you looking for us by any chance? Did you manage to save the town then?" They began walking out of the room and to the upper deck.

Chopper nodded, understanding the situation better now. "I found Brook at a random island a while ago. We exchanged vivre cards. I..." he gulped - it felt selfish saying it. "I managed to do what I wanted to do. I'm sorry I couldn't come with you sooner. But I'll join you now. Luffy needs us."

Zoro nodded, "Don't worry about it."

"Also, I heard something."

Franky had woken up early that morning, unable to sleep much because of the memories racing through his head. Robin, Chopper - he remembered them now. The memories made him angry. All of these people, his nakama, had been such important people in his life. It made him angry that he could have forgotten them so easily.

He worked in the engine room, letting the steady clank of his hammer calm him down. Metal against metal. It had always been like this. Franky dropped the hammer and picked up the spanner on the floor, latching on to a thick nail and twisting it tight. He did that a few more times, securing the engine's boiler. Franky lasered it shut and then stood up.

"Franky~!" Brook appeared in the doorway of the engine room with a flashy pose. "Zoro and Chopper want us to meet upstairs! Come quickly! Also, Sanji told me to tell you that there are more barrels of Cola if you need."

Franky nodded and stood up, putting away his tools. "I definitely need some Cola. To drink too."

"Huh? I thought you couldn't drink because you're a robot," Brook asked, confused as he tilted his head.

"I made some changes to myself, so I can consume drinks now. It's pretty super, right?" Franky gave a light chuckle, jerking a thumb towards his chest proudly. "I have realised I cannot live without Cola."

The pair exited the engine room, closing it shut behind them before they ascended the stairs together, both taking two steps at a time with their exceptionally long legs. "How I wish I could drink Cola like that too! So let me ask you a question Franky, could you perhaps look to women's panties with your special skeletal vision? Can you?"

Franky made a choking noise that resembled his masked laughter. "I haven't tried," he said, "Should I?"

But before Brook had time to reply, Nami jumped out of nowhere, scaring them with her scowl. Nami curled her fingers into tight balls and knocked them both out with a punch, "What's this about peeking women's panties?! I won't let you! Have some dignity." Nami had overheard them talking when she had been walking to the upper deck.

"Boys," she scoffed before turning on her heels and leaving them. They stared as she walked away.

"I feel a little bit threatened," Brook admitted.

"Maybe we shouldn't peek at women's panties."

The pirates gathered around the wooden kitchen table. It looked short compared to most of their masculine and matured bodies. Chopper, stood on top of the table in his miniature form. He had always been the shortest out of them all, but now the height gap felt much greater. It was intimidating sometimes.

When everyone had arrived, with Nami fuming for no obvious reason, Chopper cleared his throat and demanded the attention of his nakama around him. They looked at him expectantly. "Good morning everyone," Chopper greeted stiffly. It was unusual to be with his crewmates again, and even more unusual of him to be leading their meeting that morning.

"Morning," Usopp and Zoro echoed.

"What is it, Chopper? Quickly spill it. I'm in the middle of making breakfast, you know," Sanji said, biting down on his cigarette. The breakfast he was in the middle of making was the flat pancake dough sitting on the kitchen table with a pool of flour around them to keep it from sticking to the table.

Chopper nodded. "I met Zoro and Nami early on their journey and have finally come back. I had some ends to tie up and now I'm done. But on my voyage I heard about something that all of you should hear."

He paused for dramatic effect, and even though it usually wouldn't annoy Nami, it irritated her that day. Maybe it was because she had woken up on the wrong side of the bed and some of her crewmates had been plotting to look at her panties. Nami pinched Chopper's ear, "Oi. If you're going to give us important news, do it quickly."

Chopper slapped her off with a hoof, "Yes, yes! I will. Listen - I heard news about Luffy."

Sanji dropped his dead cigarette. Franky's metal joints tightened. Brook took off his hat. Nami unclenched her fists. Robin parted her lips. Zoro couldn't stand it. The atmosphere changed deathly silent. Whatever mixed emotions were suffocating in this room were gone, leaving everyone speechless. They had all heard nothing about Luffy since he left them seven years ago. Nothing. Not even on the news. All they heard were silent gossips and rumours that floated in and out of towns like ghosts. It suited the situation too. Because to everyone alive, Luffy was nothing but a ghost.

Zoro gulped and steadied himself, putting his hands on the table. He didn't know what to feel. He felt empty. "What else?" he forced himself to say. He couldn't leave without knowing more. "What else did you hear?"

"It's only a small rumour," Chopper continued, "But I think it's important. I was at a village - searching for the Healing Mushroom. Then I heard that Luffy had come to that very village seven years ago. Trafalgar was there at the time too. Then they both vanished. A week later, Katakuri appeared there and then supposedly vanished, but I'm have a feeling he is still there. The place was called Korosu Island."

"It can't be a coincidence," Nami spoke up after a while, and put her hands on the table. "We have to go there." Her fingers were quivering, but the trembling was nearly invisible. If there was anything she believed in right now, in her state of memory loss, it was Luffy. Her captain felt like the only one in her mind that was holding her together.

Beside her, Zoro inched his fingers over her hand to cover her trembles. "We will go," he said firmly, "But not yet. We should get Jimbei and Yamato first."

Brook nodded in agreement, "Yoho! I almost forgot about good old Jimbei! He is indeed an important asset and friend on our ship! Does anyone know where he is? What about Yamato? Perhaps she is at Wano? The sooner we get them, the sooner we can go to Luffy."

Zoro shook his head, "Yamato isn't at Wano. I lived there for six years."

"We should get Jimbei first," Sanji said.

They had a short discussion, planning their next move and guessing where Jimbei could be. The first destination that came up was Fishman Island. After planning their route, the crew separated. Zoro and Nami were left in the kitchen, alone. Zoro let go of her hand quickly and blushed, turning his head away. "Uhm. Sorry," he muttered.

"I really want to see him. I want to see him with everyone. I want the Straw Hats to be together again," Nami whispered under her breath, but it was loud enough that Zoro could hear it. "I may not remember, but... I know. So please, Zoro, I don't know you well but please let me see him."

Zoro looked away. "I will."

Outside the kitchen, by the window, Usopp tried to peek in through the curtains. His nose bent by the window, Usopp fidgeted with his goggled, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two. Usopp muttered in frustration under his breath. The curtains were really restricting his view.

Sanji raised his eyebrows at Usopp when he noticed him, and gave him a punch in the head. "Oi. What are you doing, poking about in other people's business? They're obviously trying to have a moment."

Usopp rubbed his head, "What's wrong with you, Sanji?! I want to see my ship sail! I've been here from the very start and it's very fulfilling to see them together, you know!" But he gave up - it would be no use if Sanji was going to punch him. He sighed and put away his goggles. "Alright, alright. I can't believe you're trying to ask me to abandon the ship."

"What the hell are you talking about?! What ship?!"

Hello dear readers! Thank you so much for all the support this fanfiction has gained! I hope that you are all enjoying as much as I have loved writing this! I can't believe we are this far into the fanfiction, though it does feel like ages since this fanfiction was first written! I really want to thank all of you who have kept up with the fanfiction and continued despite my trashy writing skills. I also can't believe that we've really reached 15k reads! It's not much, but you know, it's an achievement.

I also want to give a special thanks to bloodshot13 who has probably given me the most reviews and I love reading every single of them! Thank you for the encouragement. Of course there are many more who have done the same but you would get bored reading every single one of them so thank you so much! I love reviews and I love all of you! Thank you thank you.

So, let's just say that in this fanfiction, the Straw Hats include Jimbei and Yamato.