SailorStar9: With Chapter 244 uploaded, I present Chapter 245 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.

Pairings: Married!Ace/Sasha, Sibling!Luffy/Sasha, Sibling!Sabo/Sasha, Background Protector!Law/Sasha

Disclaimers: One Piece belongs to Oda Eiichirō-sensei. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except my OC, the pairing and the fic idea.

Chapter 245: Arc 15: Resolve! Retrieving Sanji!


"It's a full moon tonight." Wanda noted, riding on her wany. "But I'm glad it's covered by the clouds."

"Thank you Carrot." Usopp turned to the rabbit Mink. "For giving us a ride."

"That's okay." Carrot replied. "I'm a Kingsbird, too."

"Anyway, Wanda." Luffy started. "So far in your story..."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed. "Both Twirling Eyebrows and Gassy haven't left yet."

"Let me tell you what happened to them." Brook cut in. "The thing is, we didn't tell that many people in this country about this. We didn't want the people who had their country ruined worry more. This is a big event that happened secretly just two days ago. Please be prepared for what you're going to hear. Sanji-san might not come back to us."

"Why, Brook?" Luffy demanded. "It says 'I'll be back.' in his note. He will be back. I believe in Sanji."

"It was a mistake to show them this first." Nami sighed, opening the piece of paper Sanji had given them.

"Though, this kinda of explains the 'Only Alive' remark on Sanji's poster." Sasha mused.

"Without that annoying crappy cook, I feel better, so I don't mind at all." Zoro shrugged.

"No!" Luffy insisted. "Sanji is our friend."

"Please relax, Luffy-san." Brook chided. "I'll tell you what happened from the beginning. This island of Zou that we're on is the Phantom Island. Because the island itself is a living thing, you can't get here, even with a Log Pose or find it in a normal way, but we made a blunder and had a blind spot. First, at that time, we allowed the enemy ship that we'd shaken off know of our destination. Second, someone of the Phantom Island was on their ship. So the ones who showed up in front of us two days ago were Yonkou Big Mom's pirate group."

"So the members of Big Mom Pirates were here in Zou, too." Usopp noted.

"Before that, it was Kaido's Beast Pirates." Franky added. "They're both Yonkou."

"Did Sanji get into a fight with that Peko-something?" Luffy asked. "I'm sure he won, didn't he?"

"Sanji-san is truly kind." Brook replied. "He took the two out of the Rightflank Fortress to a distant forest."

"Then 'gotta go see a woman', means he's getting married?" Luffy looked up from the piece of paper Nami handed to him.

"That's not necessarily the case but it seems like he was determined." Nami replied.

"Maybe he'll return with his wife." Luffy suggested. "In that case, we'll get a new member."

"And where do you get that reasoning from?" Sasha was befuddled.

"Luffy-san, the bride is the Yonkou's daughter." Brook reminded. "That means we'll become Big Mom's subordinates."

"No!" Luffy objected.

"Of course, Sanji-san doesn't want that, either." Brook reasoned. He refused it firmly right there. But that troubles me. Considering who he is dealing with this time, if he couldn't avoid the marriage, what do you think he would do?"

"He would..." Usopp mused, before gasping when he realized what Brook was implying.

"He's the kind of guy who'll try not to cause us any trouble." on top of Franky's head, Chopper agreed. "So, he'll try to separate himself from us."

"You mean Sanji will quit this group?" Luffy demanded. "That's even more unacceptable."

"When he tossed us out, he could've gotten away." Nami added. "When he wrote the note, I think he'd already made up his mind to go by himself."

"Now we know everything." Robin added. "You've been through a lot."

"Big Mom's daughter?" Franky echoed. "He's got a pretty troublesome offer of marriage."

"And did you say Vinsmoke?" Usopp remarked. "I guess that family is the key. It could be Sanji's father, or mother, or brother. They once lived in the North Blue and then moved to the East Blue, and now, they're in the New World. Unbelievable."

"Vinsmoke..." Robin mused.

"Do you know them?" Franky asked.

"I think I've heard of them before." Robin admitted. "I'm sorry, I can't remember."

"Isn't Law from North Blue, too?" Sasha reminded.

"All right!" Luffy decided. "We don't know what's on his mind so let's go ask him."

"And how do we find them?" Sasha gave her brother a look.

"There is a way to go after them, but..." Chopper started.

"He's right." Brook agreed. "Sanji-san has gone because of Big Mom Pirates, but they left something big behind instead. If that person is awake now, there should be something he can tell us. Let's just keep going."


SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.