One Piece Emperors New Clothes

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)

The trip through the mirror world to find Sanji was quiet and rather quick. Brulee wasn't fighting or struggling against them anymore so Luffy had let her down to walk by herself as Nami guided them as though she was the mistress of this place.

Neither Nami nor Luffy kept an eye on Brulee, they could tell that she was far too confused and curious about Luffy right now to run or fight them.

For her part Brulee quietly stared at Luffy as she walked alongside the two Straw Hats towards a mirror, as if Nami already knew which one to go to without having once asked or even looking.

"You're different now." Brulee finally broke the silence as she looked at Luffy, the trio stopping and both of the Straw Hats turning to look at her while she stared at Luffy.

"In the woods and against Cracker-onii-san you were loud and boisterous and seemed to be full of loud confidence and as if the thought of losing wasn't even possible. Now…" Brulee observed Luffy again with a calculating intelligent gaze that was befitting of Big Mom's best spy and ambush fighter.

"Now everything about you is quiet. Angry yes but not loudly like you were before this is…different. You're quiet and yet you seem so much more dangerous than before." Brulee said and Luffy merely stared at her.

"Big Mom stole Sanji's freedom. He loves women but he hates his birth family, they aren't his real family. She had him stolen from his real family, us, and then had his and his wife's freedom stolen by forcing them to marry. Did his bride even want to marry him?" Luffy asked and Brulee tilted her head slightly.

"Freedom? Boya, from the moment we're born we're all bound to our mothers will. Freedom is but an illusion to us. It doesn't matter what we want. From Perospero-onii-san down to my youngest sibling, we all have to follow Mama's orders. If she wants us to be married off then we are. If she wants us to die then we are killed. We have no freedom and no choice." Brulee said and Nami clenched her fists, knowing exactly how that felt but at least she had the illusion of freedom when she had sailed around stealing money from other pirates all that time ago.

"So she's done this countless other times, stolen the freedom of others." Luffy said and his hat shaded his eyes now while Brulee gave a small sardonic smile.

"From the moment we're born we have no freedom." Brulee said and Luffy nodded once.

"So you never knew freedom at all…none of you have. I see." Luffy said and there was something in his voice that had Brulee eyeing him curiously.

"You've never known freedom so I suppose it doesn't make sense to you…but Big Mom had stolen Sanji's freedom. I want to be the King of Pirates, I will be the King of Pirates. Not because I want to rule the seas or anything like that….but because I want to be the freest man in the world. That means that my crew would be the freest crew in the world. We are all free, Sanji was free. She stole that from him because of people who he hadn't heard from or even cared about for thirteen years. She wanted Vinsmoke Sanji…but Vinsmoke Sanji died years ago. So she took Blackleg Sanji and stole him and his freedom." Luffy said and Brulee was string at him again and she could feel an aura of his haki around him and she felt her breath hitch. The boy was a Conqueror like Big Mom and Katakuri?

"To us freedom is the most important thing in the world. She took his. She took all of yours." Luffy said and his voice was darker now. Not just had she stolen Sanji's freedom but also the freedom of Sanji's bride and the freedom of her own children?

The more and more that Luffy had heard about her. The more that he was sure that Big Mom was one of the very few people who were completely unforgiveable in this world.

"Make no mistake. I will free all of you." Luffy said and she could feel the conviction behind those words. The way he said them with such determination and fact, as if he knew it was going to happen and just giving her a heads up.

He said it with all the same assurance of someone saying that the sky was blue or water was wet or devil fruits tasted horrible.

And despite knowing her mothers strength, knowing how many had tried but none had succeeded…despite knowing all she knew…she believed him.

Brulee's eyes were wide as she stared at Luffy who just stayed there silently and patiently as he stared back up at her. Nami was just on the side and she gave a small smile as she noted the change in Brulee.

"I look forward to it Captain." Brulee murmured as she stared down at him and then bowed her head to him.

Luffy just nodded to her and turned away and back towards Nami.

"Nami. Free her. No Straw Hat should be bound." Luffy said and Nami pulled a small knife she kept on her out and easily cut through the ropes on Brulee's wrists, the taller woman not even tensing at the weapon being close to her.

"First, we visit Sanji. Then…I pay a visit to Big Mom." Luffy said and both of the women nodded their heads.

"We're almost to Sanji now captain. Just a little further this way." Nami said and she knew where the cook was. She was the navigator and thief after all.

She would always find her way towards her crew, her nakama, and she would always be able to guide everyone to where they wanted to go.

"If I may make a request…please…don't hurt my little sister. Pudding is…she's a sweet girl usually but she's…" Brulee wasn't sure how to describe the fact that her sister seemed to be a completely different person sometimes because of her fractured mind. After all, the Big Mom pirates as a whole weren't entirely sane or all there mentally just to different degrees. Puddings was just the most well known since it was so visible to those who lived with her.

"She's never had freedom before either. As long as she doesn't hurt Sanji then I have no issues with her." Luffy said and he glanced over his shoulder at Brulee who looked relieved.

But the look he was giving her now in his suit and with his straw hat on his head and his brown eyes more serious than anything she had ever seen.

Add those to his words.

"My fight is with Big Mom, not her victims."

And Brulee knew that she wouldn't regret siding with this boy…with this King without a crown.

She was looking at the Future Pirate King and there was no way he would lose to a mere Yonko like her mother.