Just then, news of one of the kings of the island's awakening was shouted. Chopper and the other two hurried inside with the minks. Momonosuke was inside somewhere too, and Luffy worried about Kin'emon and Kanjuro, hoping they were alright.

First, though, Luffy went to talk with Nekomamushi, the king of the island. One of the two. He had been badly wounded with the battle against Jack. Chopper, of course, had treated his wounds, so he hurried inside to check on his health. The moment they entered, some were distracted by the news of his awakening from Sanji's departure.

He was a huge yellow cat. The moment he saw the Straw Hats, he was so happy to meet them. He had been unconscious the whole time Chopper had been treating him, so he saw him for the first time, and was more than thankful for his help. The huge cat then saw Ace turned to the side, seeing the Whitebeard mark on his back.

"A Whitebeard! I haven't seen one of you in decades!" Nekomamushi exclaimed. Ace turned and bowed in greeting. "How are they doing? With Marco as captain and all?" Chopper did his check up while he spoke to Ace enthusiastically. Ace explained that he was doing well, getting better every day.

"He let me travel with my brother on his mission, which was great! I'm sure he'd be glad to hear from you if you're old friends. Wanna talk to him?" Ace asked with a grin, pulling the den den out of his watermelon bag that no longer held Whitebeard's former devil fruit. Nekmamushi was more than happy to.

It was a huge distraction from everyone else, but Ace called Marco, and said somebody would like to speak to him, which surprised the captain and former first mate. They left the room and let him have his conversation with an old friend.

They waited outside, talking about Sanji some more, even though they decided to go get him. Even if he did get married and came back to the crew with his new wife, they'd have to be attached to Big Mom, and that just wasn't happening. Sanji wouldn't want that either. "He'd probably rather cut himself off than force us to do that…" Nami sighed.

"Well, we've been through this before, right? And we have two new members to help out. If I never gave up then, I sure as hell won't give up now." All but Brook knew he was speaking of Robin's rescue two years ago. They went against the whole World Government. What was a yonko compared to the whole world? That was his thinking.

"We should drop it, Luffy," Zoro said in a firm voice, with a hint of sadness and disappointment.

"Huh?"

"He left. On his own. And at the worst time, without even a thank you." He pointed out they were already about to be tangled with one yonko, they didn't need one more. They couldn't handle two at the same time, no matter how strong they were. He didn't mention they'd just lost one of their main powerhouses on the crew, which would make dealing with Kaido harder, let alone against Big Mom as well.

Luffy didn't voice his other reason for wanting to see Big Mom. Somebody there was the same as Luffy and Law. Maybe he knew more. He knew it was stupid, and would never have acted on it on his own, and that his main reason for going to Big Mom was to take Sanji back. But he wanted to meet another like him. Katakuri. It was stupid, so he'd not say a thing.

"Well, I don't care what anyone says or points out. I don't care if it's selfish, we're getting Sanji back," he said firmly to his lover, who still didn't agree with it, but knew it was a moot point. At least at the moment. "Do we know anything more of his family? Besides the fact they're assholes and in the North Blue?"

"Well, the Vinsmoke name does sound familiar, but I can't place it," Robin said.

"I've heard of it. Of them," Ace piped up, having been relatively quiet the whole time they were talking, and since they got the word of Sanji's departure and the reason why. They all looked at him. "Pops once met them when sailing in the Blues, way back when. Then there were the clips of stories that Vista had collected since he was a child. 'Germa 66'. A moving kingdom of a sort, dangerous people.

"They even tried to attack Pops when they didn't get their way over thirty years ago. They lost, and held a grudge against the Whitebeards ever since, but had never gone into the New World or Paradise."

"They're dangerous?"

"I don't know how much, but they dabble in science. That's all I really know about what kind of people they are. They'd tried to ally with Pops by giving scientific 'help' and advancements to his crew. He was thoroughly offended, and they were even angrier when he declined and sank one of their ships.

"It seems they're latching onto another yonko. Big Mom isn't someone you want to be affiliated with, even if you know you'll be a benefit to her in the long run. In my experience, Kaido is worse than her, but she's terrible, too." Law was with his crew now, not with them anymore. Chopper asked how he knew Kaido. "Well, I never met him, but I met the people of Wano before. He's a tyrant and destroyed the country."

"So, we might get in a fight with two yonkos at once?!" Brook asked in horror. Zoro repeated that was the problem with going after Sanji.

For once, Luffy ordered Zoro to stop suggesting that. "It's not going to change my decision. If it was Chopper or Robin who got taken by a yonko, would you help them? You hate Sanji, but he's part of the crew whether you get along with him or not." Zoro looked to the side but didn't reply. Luffy knew he'd gotten him. He was biased because of who it was in the crew, but he knew Sanji was one of them.

Luffy was sure he wouldn't bring it up again.

"We have to get to Wano, too," Nami said. "Soon," she added. "Our plan still has to keep moving now that you destroyed the factory and got Doflamingo defeated."

"Actually, I ended up killing him."

"I know, I didn't want to mention that."

"Oh, okay."

Robin spoke, saying, "Half of us could go to Wano, and the rest to rescue Sanji. A smaller retrieval team would be the best. We were already split before, we can handle it for a bit more," she offered. Brook, Nami and Chopper insisted they were going. They were sure Law and his crew wouldn't join them in their side mission. Luffy accepted them, and they knew he was going, too.

"I want you to come, too, Ace," Luffy said. "You know the most about everything having to do with Big Mom. Plus, having you there would be very helpful." Zoro asked what about him. "You'll go to Wano with Tra-guy and the others. In Wano, I'm sure there are strong guys, and having you there would be helpful."

He wasn't happy being separated from Luffy, but didn't go against an order. Ace said he was fine going with Luffy. Not being a yonko crew anymore wouldn't create a huge war between the Big Mom Pirates and Whitebeards. "You should ask your captain first, though. I'm not your captain."

Ace nodded, and said he would. But Marco already knew he was going up against Kaido. What was one more yonko? Nekomamushi talked to the Whitebeard captain for too long before he called them in. Ace took the den den and immediately called Marco again, stepping outside for the moment to speak.

The call lasted maybe five minutes before he came back in. "Marco agreed. I honestly did expect him to say no, but he agreed to let me help you. Probably mostly because I'd be really worried separated from you while you went against a yonko." Chopper commented that he sounded like a good man. "Yeah, he really is." The division commander had a soft smile on.

"I think you're missing something, Luffy-san," Brook said. Nami looked over in curiosity. "How would we get to Big Mom's land? And how would we navigate it? Ace-sam has never gone there." Luffy frowned. "But we may have a way in. Pekoms. He's a Big Mom person, or at least he was."

"Then we'll take him, too! We'd find our way anyways without him," Luffy said dismissively.

Nobody believed the same thing, but they didn't burst his bubble right now. He said they should go talk to Pekoms, then. Chopper went back in to check on Mamushi, who in the span of speaking to Marco and now, had gotten into the bath, regardless of Chopper's orders. While he went in there, the rest headed to Pekoms.

Someone - a leopard mink - stood above them, and dropped down right in front of Luffy. He had one eye and generally looked like a strong guy. Tough. "If you're looking for Pekoms, he's just woken up. We've been keeping him as a secret for now," he said quietly, right next to Luffy's face. "Sanji's a good guy. If there's anything we can do to help, just ask," he said. "My name is Pedro."

"I'm Luffy."

"I know."

They followed Pedro to the place with Pekoms, and the mink asked along the way, "What kind of human are you, Luffy?" Luffy raised his brows. None of the other minks seemed to have noticed a difference. Maybe they assumed there were humans like him. "I've never come across a human that smells like you."

"Eh, I dunno. I'm just not normal." He then asked about Luffy's arm. He'd noticed the more limited movement on it. "It's from an injury, but I can move past it," he replied. Pedro was nice enough to drop it. He didn't ask any more personal questions. When they entered the hidden place Pekoms was in, near the back of the big village in the trees, he looked at Luffy warily, not making eye contact.

Robin, Usopp and Brook went with Chopper to see Nekomamushi. Zoro, Franky, Nami, Ace and Luffy were all there, though. Pekoms continued to not make eye contact with the captain. "You can look at me, I'm not gonna kill you," Luffy said. "We want you to tell us more about the situation with Sanji and the Vinsmokes."

"Black Leg is Germa 66's leader's son! There's no way you'll get him back from either him or Mama," Pekoms said right off the bat. It was obvious to them, knowing the last name of the Germa's along with the name on Sanji's wanted poster. That poster said "only alive" for a reason. Now they knew what that reason was.

"Gaoh, you aren't surprised?!"

"No. Ace was from a yonko crew, too." Ace waved from behind. Pekoms growled at him. Then he looked at Luffy and then away. "Can you tell me why you keep getting scared of me?" he asked, slightly annoyed. He didn't like when people were scared of him for no reason other than what he seemed to be.

Sure, he had red eyes, but that was a pretty flimsy reason to be scared in the New World, or even in Paradise. Pekoms declined to answer. It would look bad if he said something. "Is it because of Katakuri? Whoever that is?" Luffy asked. Pekoms went stiff. "I heard you talking with the egg guy on Fishman Island. You said something about him after meeting me."

It seemed Pedro and Ace knew who that was, the name Katakuri. Ace answered for him. "Katakuri is Big Mom's kid with the highest bounty. I don't know why you would have anything to do with him, though."

Pekoms settled with, "Let's just say you have some similarities." So, Luffy was right! That guy, that dangerous guy, was like him and Law. Like Roger and Hancock, too. Luffy asked if Katakuri knew anything about himself. "What are ya talking about?"

"Nothing, never mind," Luffy said, not wanting to open a can of worms like that right now. Zoro got them back on track and asked if Sanji had any siblings who could do this instead of him. He was kind of busy as a pirate, after all.

The lion mink said Germa 66 had five children, including Sanji. "I never knew he had siblings," Nami muttered. Luffy said it was probably because he hated them. "What do you mean?"

"He never said anything about them. Plus, I once asked him if he had siblings, and he kind of bit my head off before answering no," Luffy explained. "Sanji doesn't like his family. So, he'd get in trouble for not going? He's strong, though, he would be fine."

"Gaoh, he wouldn't be him who is harmed. In a few days after declining and not showing up, a box will show up on his doorstep! Inside would be the head of a family member, or even one of the Straw Hat's heads!" Everyone was shocked but for Pedro and Ace. Ace knew well what other yonko pirates were like. He had a grim face on.

The women, Nami and Wanda, along with a bunny mink, put their hands in front of their mouths in horror. Luffy demanded to know how he knew about it. "That's how it is! A yonko won't take no for an answer! That's power, Straw Hat!"

"Not all the yonkos are like that. Not Shanks, or Pops."

"Well, your Pops is dead and gone! It's useless to compare him to anybody else!" Pekoms said harshly. Ace reacted and grabbed Pekoms by the shirt, jolting him and making him cry out from the pain of his wounds. "I was just stating the facts!"

"Yet he was the strongest person in the world despite being a good person! Your 'Mama' is a piece of shit! You think she won't kill you for betraying her order, too? You think you won't get one of your mink friend's heads in a box, too?!" he demanded. "She doesn't even care about her own family, why the hell would she care about you?!"

"Shut up! I've worked for her for decades! She wouldn't kill me!" Ace threw him back on the bed and stormed out of the room. Luffy's crew had never seen Ace lose his temper like that, and were in a state of true shock. That was how he had always been, and Luffy wasn't surprised by getting upset over his dead father figure being insulted.

Luffy asked if Big Mom killed her own kids. Pekoms didn't answer, which was affirmation enough. "Why is it Sanji? Why can't it be one of Germa's other kids?" Luffy asked, trying to move on from Ace's outburst, able to hear him outside, taking deep, calming breaths. He wouldn't want to dwell on his losing his temper. Pekoms said he didn't know much about the wedding itself, or the details of the family, but that it was a political marriage. To unite the blood lines to get more power. "He moment Sanji is married off, he won't be one of you anymore!"

Luffy crossed his arms defiantly, and said that didn't matter. "And what if Black Leg wants to get married to Pudding?" Pekoms challenged.

"If it has anything to do with his family, which Brook said he was angry about, why would he marry her? Sanji has a dream that would never come true if he was married off to some other pirate crew!" Luffy said, shouting at the end. Nami nodded in agreement, firmly. Ace entered a few moments later, and said nothing of his outburst. They all said nothing of it, as well.

"Gaoh, even before Mama had him marry Pudding off, he was a Vinsmoke! He woulda' been found sometime sooner or later!" Pekoms said. Luffy scowled.

"A child doesn't need to do what their parents want," Zoro said firmly. "They're their own person, whether the parents want to acknowledge that or not." Nami nodded, and Ace's eyes flicked to Luffy, all of them knowing Zoro was voicing what Luffy had gone through with Garp. "If curly brow hates his family, there's no way in hell he'd go along with whatever they want."

"You don't know of the Vinsmoke family or Mama! They're terrifying, even a Straw Hat would realize they were doomed in that situation!" Nami firmly said that wasn't how the Straw Hats did things.

Zoro nodded, and said, "If someone says something impossible, we take that as a challenge. There's no convincing Luffy to abandon this mission. If you think he'll leave one of his crewmates behind, you and your 'mama' are sorely mistaken." He said it in a firm, but flat voice, arms crossed.

"What's your plan now?" Ace asked. His voice was short, clearly still disliking Pekoms.

"I'm going back of course! That Gang Bege tried to kill me, I won't let that stand!" Luffy agreed with Zoro muttering it was a death wish.

"Well, you'll come with us, then. We're going to the same place." Then Law came in, having not heard anything having to do with Sanji's disappearance. "Oh, Tra-guy! We're going to go to Big Mom before Kaido, 'kay?"

"What?" Law asked darkly.

"In short, Sanji was forced to go with Big Mom and marry her kid. Luffy wants to take half of us there to save him," Ace explained. "Yeah, so you'll get Robin, Franky, Usopp and Zoro. Me and the others are going to get Sanji back."

"You haven't told me any of this! You can't go deciding stuff like this all on your own!" Law said, angry and irritated beyond belief. Luffy asked why. "Because we're supposed to be allies going for the same cause," Law snapped, no longer yelling but still feeling angry and frustrated with Luffy.

Luffy blinked a few times. "But Sanji will help us take down Kaido!"

"We have Ace-ya, we don't need him to take down Kaido." Luffy and Nami glared at him. So did the three minks in the room. Law bristled slightly at the look. Luffy said they wouldn't take too long. It would be quick and easy! "I've only known you for a few weeks, and I know that isn't how things are going to go at all."

Zoro admitted that was true, and Ace just looked amused. He was never surprised with Luffy's incompetence to have things go as planned. The first time he'd met him at Alabasta, Luffy got lost from his crew. It set the bar pretty low from the beginning. But he believed Luffy capable, just not of going to plan.

Then a giant cat came into the room, and greeted Luffy brightly, crashing into Luffy and Zoro to the floor. "Hey, get the hell off of me!" Zoro shouted angrily. Nekomamushi stood up, and greeted them. "You shoulda done that first!" Zoro said in irritation. Luffy giggled and took his hand. Zoro calmed.

Law sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "The whole point of coming to Zou was to lay low and reunite with my crew. But now that Big Mom got the location to get Black Leg, now this place is in danger! What will you do if it gets attacked again and it's not just the buildings that get destroyed?!"

Luffy pouted. "Well, it's always moving, right?"

The minks around ignored his reply, and complemented and thanked Law for thinking about them. He turned red and didn't say a thing. He hated being complimented or praised about anything he'd done or said. Nekomamushi laughed, and announced they'd have a feast. Then Chopper came running in, furious that the giant cat wasn't taking his demands of staying in bed to rest seriously.

"But it's party time! Booze and fish!" Luffy excused himself from the room and went outside to let off an arm blast. It was concentrated and did no damage, though it was loud. People looked over, but he ignored it and went to eat with the rest. But he was worried about Sanji. Zoro walked to him and sat down, pulling the smaller pirate into his lap.

"I'm sorry I upset you about dart brow. What I said," he said in Luffy's ear. "I want to go with you. Who knows how long this will take?" he complained. "Besides, I'm your blood bank anyways." Luffy felt guilty.

He just thought that Ace knew more about yonko pirates and how to handle them. And it was only fair that the three who lost Sanji came, too. "Tra-guy's group has to have strong people, too."

"Ace is strong. And he said he had things to do at Wano from the start," Zoro insisted. "I don't want to be apart. It's only been two months or so since we got reunited." Luffy bit his lip. But Zoro was right. It had been two long, lonely years. He also wanted to spend more time with Ace. And Zoro was just as strong as Ace, if not stronger in some ways while weaker in others. But both were very strong.

"Do you think Sanji would want to come back more with you there?" Luffy asked reasonably. Zoro sighed. "Unless you could actually show him we all want him back, I think having you be there, too, would be unhelpful." Zoro didn't correct him this time, and said he was capable of swallowing his pride when he needed to. He knew he could be of help to Luffy. They were a great team, like at Dressrosa. They fought very well.

"I know you might want to take Ace so you didn't need to worry over me, but you know you'll be worried over Ace, too. And maybe it would be better for his position and crew to only go up against one yonko, not two. I'm shocked Marco agreed. And he'd be much more competent in Wano by himself than I would."

He made all good points. "I don't wanna be separated again, no matter how short of time it is," he insisted. Luffy was surprised by just how much he didn't want to get separated. Luffy would be worried about him, too. But he'd also be scared for Ace. After what happened two years ago, with Luffy nearly failing to save him. And when he did save him, he was incredibly ill.

Luffy relented, and said he would talk with Ace about it. They both got up, Luffy's hand in one of Zoro's with his other still holding the tankard of booze. They pulled Ace aside, who was surprised, and brought his own drink, too. "What's up?"

"Zoro wants to switch positions with you. You go to Wano and Zoro come with us instead. What do you think?" Luffy asked. They were outside the huge dining hall, full of laughter of all sorts.

"Well, I think Zoro would help more with the teamwork aspect of everyone. I've been to Wano before, and know how to act, the situation there from four years ago. I think either of us would do fine. I don't know about how Sanji would feel about either of us helping out. And I think I'd rather focus on Kaido more," he mused.

"What do you want?"

Luffy looked down, unsure. "I want Zoro to come because he's Zoro, but I also want you to come so we can spend more time together," he admitted honestly. Ace gave him a soft smile.

"Who do you think you'd be more distracted by, worrying about one of us. You have to worry about all of your nakamas safety."

"I… both - for different reasons."

"You won't lose me, Lu. I think I'd be much better with laying low, or planning with Law in Wano. No offense, Zoro. You're very dependable, too," Ace said honestly. Zoro nodded, not offended. Luffy couldn't pick. "Then let's ask what Law thinks? For once, we'll include him in a decision having to do with our mission." The two Straw Hats agreed, and took Law aside, who was sitting awkwardly with his crew as they partied. He stuck out like a sore thumb.

"What?" he asked. Ace asked him what he thought, who he'd think was better to go to Wano. He answered instantly. "Ace-ya. He's responsible and dependable and knows how alliances work, and goes to plan. He'll be much more useful for whatever we do in Wano while you're getting Black Leg back." Zoro did his best to not get offended, but his eye did narrow slightly.

"Ace-ya and I will lay the groundwork for whatever we do in Wano before you come back. Having an adult there would be the most useful." Zoro said Ace was only one year older than he was. "And I'm five years older than you and four years older than Ace. That doesn't matter. He's more responsible."

Luffy sighed, and came to a decision. "I'll take Zoro with me. He won't be useful in Wano because he'll be worrying about me, too. Ace is good at planning and stuff, being a commander and all." Zoro smiled in triumph. "But Zoro has to be nice to Sanji when we get him or you'll stay on the ship."

"Roger that," Zoro said, and wrapped his arms around Luffy's waist happily. Luffy turned to Ace. "Promise you'll stay safe when you get there." Ace grinned, and said he'd be in more danger going against Big Mom than hiding from Kaido.

"Zoro and I are both well known pirates, we'd have trouble hiding equally. Besides, I'll just put a shirt on and take my hat off," Ace promised, ruffling Luffy's hair. The youngest smiled and nodded. He trusted in Ace's competence, and he trusted in Zoro's teamwork with him. Nami would probably be the brains of the mission, to be honest. And Ace and Luffy didn't fight together anymore. They hadn't since they were kids, and in very brief parts of their time in Dressrosa.

They returned to the party, and Ace passed out while eating, barely managing to not land in someone else's food.

That night everyone fell asleep in the same room, drunk or having eaten themselves to sleep. Luffy was sprawled over Ace and Zoro obnoxiously. He had good food, though it all tasted kind of bitter when he knew Sanji would have cooked it better. Well, they'd get back to him soon enough.