Chapter 3
"Luffy!" she yelled, furious at his refusal to heed her words. Her. His navigator. The one person you were supposed to listen to without question, outside of the captain. "Luf-"
"No. The only people that tell this ship where to go are the people on it."
And the wind howled.
The rain drove down in thick sheets, and lightning forked across the black sky, illuminating the immediate vicinity in its brilliant light. The sea roared in fury, tossing the Sunny to and fro, each wave slamming down on the sea with such intensity it sounded like explosions going off around them, each concussion rattling through the ship.
Nami stumbled again, forcing her way past Jinbe to get a better look at Luffy, partially hidden from sight behind the mane of the Sunny.
"Luffy!" she yelled, urging him to pay attention to her, "we have to do something!"
But her words fell on deaf ears. Luffy didn't even turn around to look at her, instead standing with his back to her on his spot on the figurehead, arms crossed and head tilted up, staring at the sky.
"Luffy, this isn't a game! The sea is too strong right now!"
A hand on her left shoulder stopped her from marching up to Luffy and forcing him to listen to her. She turned to the person on her side, surprised to see Zoro not at his post as she had ordered him.
His eyes might well have been drilling a hole into Luffy's back, such was the intensity of his stare.
"What are you doing? I told you to raise help raise the sails."
He didn't answer her, only dropped his hand from her shoulder and brushed past her. He tilted his head up towards the sky, following Luffy's gaze.
"What is wrong with you guys?" she exclaimed turning towards Jinbe behind her.
Jinbe stood behind the wheel, maintaining a sturdy grip on the wooden spokes. Briefly, she thanked the stars that he was such a fantastic helmsman. He was strong and levelheaded, calm and sharp, everything that a helmsman needed to be in order to navigate the seas, especially here in the New World. The fact that he was such a powerful addition to the crew (he was a former Warlord, after all) was also a welcome benefit.
But Jinbe wasn't looking at her either, giving a quick glance towards Luffy before looking up towards the sky like Zoro before him.
Footsteps pounded against the wooden steps, and Sanji came running up to join them. "Oi, Luffy! What the hell are you doing not listening to Nami?"
At Luffy's silence he scowled before marching forward, intent on offering his knucklehead captain a good kick to correct his attitude. He took no more than two steps before his visible eye widened and he stopped in his tracks. Drops of rain snuffed the flame from his cigarette as he looked towards the sky.
The ship swayed perilously, and Nami started to get angry with the lack of action on the part of her crewmates.
"Don't worry, Nami," Robin called to her. She hadn't even noticed the archeologist's approach up the stairs onto the bow of the ship. The rest of the crew were making their way up as well, Chopper latched onto Usopp's head. Usopp for his part was begging Franky to create some kind of invention to save them.
"Yohoho!" Brook laughed, trailing behind them. "This storm has me chilled to the bone!"
Nami ignored all of them save Robin, spinning to meet the archeologist with a glare. "What do you mean I shouldn't worry?"
"Exactly that," she smiled, convincing Nami that she too had perhaps gone nuts like her captain. "After all, they say he comes with the storm."
"'They say he comes with the storm?'" Nami repeated in confusion. And then she gasped as the realization washed over her, like the rain his arrival had brought.
"Oi, Robin!" Usopp called. Franky, Brook and Chopper (still attached to Usopp's head) also glanced to Robin, curious to know the meaning of her statement. "What do you mean-"
The ship lurched mightily, causing them all to stumble. Nami fell forward and grasped the slick wood of the railing in front of her. She looked up into the air to see Luffy flying skyward seconds after jumping off the figurehead of the ship, his movement having caused the lurch that had almost sent her sprawling over the edge and into the sea.
"Luffy!" she screamed out watching him disappear into the dark thunderclouds above them.
She looked over to Robin in thanks, the raven-haired archeologist having used her ability to grow limbs out of the deck of the ship in order to hold the them (as Usopp, Chopper, and Brook had lost their balance, too) down.
Light suddenly blinded Nami momentarily, and as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, she noticed that the wind and rain had stopped. It was eerily silent.
She tilted her head skywards again and gasped.
Sunlight filtered through a massive hole in the clouds, at least a mile long in diameter with the Sunny at its epicenter. Off in the distance, all around the ship, rain continued to pour over the ocean.
But here, in the middle of this ring, it was as if they were in the eye of a hurricane. Such was the combined might of Luffy and the man he was in combat with.
It was only temporary, however. As Nami stared in awe at the incredible feat of strength above her, she heard a rush of wind that sounded like a freight train and watched as the storm rushed back to occupy the space it had just been forced out of. The clouds met with with a violent clap, more of an explosion than anything, and the wind and rain returned with even more ferocity than before, and lightning rained down from the heavens like the water it had accompanied. Each clap of thunder was deafening, rattling the ship with each concussion. The sea churned like it was boiling.
A metallic grind echoed through the area and black lightning pierced through the clouds, joining the abundance of natural lightning already produced by the clouds.
"We're all going to die!" Usopp cried hysterically.
"Well, death by lightning isn't so bad," Robin said calmly, a hand moving to her chin in thought. "I doubt we'd be alive to feel the burns."
"Oi Robin, stop scaring them," Zoro called out from the bow of the ship, pointing to Usopp, Chopper, and Brook, all of whom were huddled together crying and screaming about not wanting to be roasted alive. Robin merely giggled in response.
Zoro scowled and turned his attention away from their morbid archeologist in time to see a stray bolt of black lighting lance towards the Sunny. He frowned and leapt in in the air, drawing his three blades to intercept the errant bolt of haki.
The impact of the strike jarred Zoro's arms and he grunted under the force. He struggled momentarily before managing to redirect the bolt to the port side of the Thousand Sunny, the ocean exploding in a spray of water with the impact. Steam rose from the surface of the sea with the heat of the lightning strike.
Zoro fell harmlessly back to the deck of the ship, landing with a soft thud.
He's as every bit the monster Luffy is, Zoro thought, sliding his swords back in their sheaths. And they're only testing each other out, too…
Continuing to watch the struggle above and observe with his haki, Zoro idly wondered what his purpose was for coming to them today. He had guessed who their visitor was, having overheard Robin's statement to Nami, and couldn't help but be curious as to his intentions.
Another stray bolt of haki made its way towards the Sunny, only to be sent back into the sky. He turned to his left, where Jinbe had just used his Fishman Karate to ward off the lightning.
He shared a smile with the helmsman, both thinking the same thing.
Things are never dull with Luffy.
Luffy could take care of himself, but Nami couldn't help but be worried. Even though she was absolutely sure that he wasn't here to hurt Luffy, accidents did happen, right?
She immediately discarded the sentiment, Luffy would be just fine. She focused on maintaining her balance as another massive concussion rocked the ship. They're demons, the both of them!
And then it was over.
The natural lightning, the black lightning, the explosions, the howling winds, the driving rain, all of it gone. The dark clouds remained, but of the rain, only a light drizzle remained, accompanied by a gentle breeze.
Nami looked skyward again, for what felt like the millionth time in the last five minutes, to see a red blur hurtling down towards the ship. She felt her heart sink into her stomach as she realized Luffy was in free fall, and she was frightened that he'd miss the ship and sink in the ocean's depths.
As he approached the ship at an alarming speed, she spied him twist before losing track of him behind the crow's nest and the foremast of the Sunny. She rushed forward, sprinting down the stairs to the lawn deck, to see that Luffy had landed without a sound in the center of the lawn. She rushed to his side and was joined in short order by the rest of the crew, each checking to make sure their troublesome leader was okay.
Usopp, Chopper, and Brook assaulted him with questions regarding his health, while the others looked him over to make sure he was unharmed. Nami opened her mouth to question him, but a gentle breeze blew across the deck, almost lifting the straw hat from the top of her head. She quickly grabbed it by the brim with both hands to secure it.
Beneath the brim of Luffy's treasured hat she saw that his attention was not on any of the surrounding crew, instead his focus was above them, back towards where they had just come from.
Nami followed his blank stare behind her and saw the rest of the crew do the same.
On some level, Nami supposed that she was surprised at his appearance, and on a deeper level surprised that she was surprised. On two different accounts, really. In the micro, had she even given it any thought, she would have guessed that this was bound to happen at some point. In the more general sense, one would think that the surprise itself would simply fade over time. After all, for whatever reason Luffy attracted all sorts of trouble on this insane journey of theirs, and with that trouble oftentimes came a whole host of big names. Who could ever forget the first time they met the right hand of Gol D. Roger himself, Silvers Rayleigh. They had run across just about every Warlord, a few of the Admirals, and two of the mightiest pirates to ever reign across the sea. Hell, even Luffy's grandfather, who they had run across way back during their stint in Water Seven, was renowned as the greatest Marine in existence, a hero who rivaled even the Pirate King.
Luffy himself was a legend the world over in his own right and would only climb higher and higher.
But even with their penchant for meeting big shots, Nami (and the rest of the crew, for that matter), couldn't help but be in awe at the figure before them.
"He looks nothing like me!"
Nami recalled a statement made by Luffy, not to long ago now, on their way to rescue Sanji from Big Mom's clutches on Whole Cake Island.
And in fairness to Luffy, it was true to an extent. You probably wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at an image of him in a newspaper. But as Nami looked at him, standing on the railing of the upper deck, looking down at them from just in front of the wheel, she knew that to be false. She could tell that instantly.
Luffy was every bit the son of Monkey D. Dragon.
It wasn't exactly in the general structure of the face, Luffy's was a tad bit broader while Dragon's sharper, longer. No, Luffy was Dragon's son in the eyes.
Looking up at Luffy's father, it was the eyes that sent a chill up her spine. The same eyes as her captain. The same shape, the same crinkles at the edges of his eyes, the same piercing gaze. The intensity was so Luffy it was disorienting.
And Luffy was Dragon's son in the grin, as well. It was the same grin she had seen so many times, she could close her eyes and see it perfectly. The wide, shit-eating, take-on-the-world grin that had stolen her heart, Luffy had most certainly inherited it from his father.
And that was to say nothing of his strength. When Luffy had first called Garp his grandfather in Water Seven, and when Garp consequently revealed Luffy's father to them, her first thought was that it was only natural that Luffy be as strong as he was. His grandfather was a legendary marine who was so strong, he stood on equal footing with the strongest pirate to ever sail the seas, even stronger than Whitebeard! And his father, a revolutionary who threatened to shake the World Government to its very core, the Most Wanted Criminal in the World!
This man was strong, she felt it to her very core. They had met Admirals, he was certainly stronger. The Emperors were the strongest to sail the seas, of any faction, and before them was a man that perhaps rivaled and eclipsed some of them. He was even more intimidating than his wanted poster expressed, more than his picture in the newspaper was able to quantify. Perhaps it was the tribal tattoo that spanned across the left side of his face that emphasized the intensity of his gaze, or his long mane of hair that hung untamed and free that complimented his wild grin.
Silence reigned, save for the soft sound of a gentle breeze and the soft lapping of the sea.
He stood there, on the guard rail above them, tall and proud. He was dressed in an all-black suit, an orange dress shirt under his suit jacket. Black dress shoes complemented his attire. A dark, forest green cloak rested over his suit jacket, it fluttered gently with the soft breeze.
He looked down at them from his perch, surveying them. They all watched and waited on bated breath. His eyes moved over them in silence, inspecting them, grin large and unchanging on his face.
He lingered on Zoro for a tad longer than he had anybody else in the crew, before turning to Nami. When his eyes flicked in her direction, she felt like she was under a microscope, exposed under his gaze. He measured her for what felt like an eternity, and then his stare drifted upward to the hat that sat on her head. She flushed slightly as his eyes wandered back down to meet hers again, and there was a softer quality to the look he was giving her.
He knows, Nami thought to herself.
And then he moved on, finally turning his gaze upon his son. There was a brief moment where they stared at each other, Dragon still with a grin on his face, and Luffy with his head cocked slightly and a look of simple curiosity on his.
Suddenly, the air around them changed. Dragon's eyes took on a much more ferocious look, his pupils seemed to shrink, and it looked like he was trying to drill a crater into his son with his gaze. Nami looked to Luffy and saw that the curiosity on his face melted into a soft frown, his eyes mirroring his father's.
The ship shuddered harshly, tossing and bobbing as the sea trembled. The air between Luffy and Dragon felt heavy, charged with electricity. Bolts of black lightning cackled around them. Nami heard a sound like a rushing waterfall and turned towards the side of the ship. The sea had split down to the seafloor, a chasm at least ten feet in width forming a ring around the entire ship.
The crew braced themselves as a massive gust raged in chaotic patters from their collision of haki. They glanced up at the sky to see the sky had split itself in half.
Nature itself trembled with the presence of Kings.
And then it was over, as suddenly as the chaotic storm that preceded this meeting.
Nami dropped her arms from her head, having used them to shield herself from the elements. She peered around at the crew, even Zoro, Jinbe, and Sanji had braced and shielded themselves in an attempt to preserve themselves from the tempest. A rush of water signified the return to normalcy for the ocean, the thunderclouds above unified once more.
Dragon's grin melted into a relaxed, easy smile as he looked down at his son, happiness clearly etched across his face.
"Well, I've been waiting a very long time to meet you."
There was another silence while Dragon did nothing but smile as they all regarded him with curiosity.
"See? I told you he doesn't look anything like me." Luffy stated, turning to Zoro on his left and pointing to his father. Nami sighed at his flippancy, and the moment was effectively ruined.
"No, he's definitely your father, can't you tell?" Zoro responded, and the crew dissolved into chatter. Usopp, Chopper and Brook exclaimed to the world about how they thought they were going to die (but Brook's already dead of course, yohohoho) while Franky laughed at them and told tales about the Sunny would have never let them fly off because the ship was "Super!".
Meanwhile Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji (somehow involved with the mention of women) were bickering about some nonsense involving parentage while Jinbe shook his head and Robin merely giggled at their antics.
It amazed Nami, absolutely amazed her, that in such an important moment, this is how her crew responded. One of the most important people in the world strolled onto their ship, and here they were acting like children.
And then Nami sighed, because it absolutely, perfectly suited them (and truth be told she wouldn't have it any other way).
She looked to Dragon, who hadn't moved but was watching them curiously, grin still plastered across his face.
At least he seems to be enjoying himself, she thought.
He turned to her again, and she immediately felt herself being measured. There was curiosity in his gaze, obviously wondering as to her relationship with his son. And she was in no way interested in being confronted with that by anyone again today, after her talk with Robin.
She forced herself to look away from Dragon's dark, obsidian eyes. Luffy's dark, obsidian eyes, she thought. She shook her head, mentally scolding herself for her constant flustered state as it pertained to Luffy. Her attention shifted to the object of her thoughts, still in an argument with Zoro and Sanji over whether or not he looked like his father.
She marched over to Luffy and he noticed her presence immediately, turning towards her and subsequently ignoring whatever Sanji was saying. His eyes quickly found hers.
"Luffy's different with you."
"Hey, Nami!" he called to her as she drew near, "tell these guys-". She silenced him with his hat, jamming it down on his head, hard enough to force his head downward with the motion. He peered at her from under the brim of the straw hat curiously, as if confused why she gave it back to him.
Because your father is super smart, that's why. Either that, or I'm incredibly obvious.
"He's definitely your father," she said sternly, not leaving room for any argument.
He blinked, then puffed his cheeks out in a pout. Nami almost laughed at how childish he looked but fought against it as she didn't want to do away with her stern act. Still, the corners of her lips edged upwards in a small smile as it struck her how he looked pretty damn adorable with that ridiculous face. "But Nami," he whined, before extending his neck forward and quickly wrapping himself around her body twice before coming to rest just in front of her face, the brim of his hat pressing up against her forehead, "I know he's my father, but he doesn't look anything like me!"
But Nami ignored him. She yelped the instant he extended his rubbery neck around her body and scowled when he pressed his face close to hers. "Get off me!" She reached forward and grabbed his cheeks with her hands in a vain attempt to push him away (yes, she was distinctly aware of his father's gaze lingering on the both of them), but he would have none of it.
He pushed back against her hands, eventually winning out with his strength. He broke through her hands and wrapped himself around her once more, sealing her arms under his neck and ignoring her protests (and Sanji's for that matter). This time his forehead met hers directly, and he gazed directly into her amber eyes. She felt at that moment like they were in a bubble, just the two of them, nobody else and nothing else even existed in their world. When he spoke, he spoke softly.
"I know he's my father, but he doesn't look like me at all! See?"
He popped their little bubble when he followed his statement by leaning back and stretching his neck backwards toward his father. Luffy didn't wrap completely around his father, to Nami's annoyance that seemed to be an action reserved just for her, rather he extended his neck past Dragon's right shoulder, around his back, and came to rest with his right cheek pressing against Dragon's left. He stared down at her seriously, expectantly.
Nami sighed, joined by Zoro, while Robin, Jinbe, and Franky merely laughed. Sanji was still railing against the injustice of the position of Luffy's body, while Brook, Usopp, and Chopper were all screaming hysterically about Dragon smiting them with lightning, wind, and waves.
She looked at Luffy and Dragon, and understood why Robin, Jinbe and Franky were laughing. It was hard for Nami herself to hold back a chuckle when she saw the look of surprise on Dragon's face, with his cheek mushed up against his son's face while the latter glared down at her. It was comical, and something so out of the ordinary that it was perfectly ordinary on this ship.
"You just aren't looking hard enough."
"What are you talking about? I am looking hard enough, not a thing like me!" he exclaimed seriously. He turned to look at his father, "Look! He even has a tattoo! I don't have a tattoo!" He paused for a second, thoughtfully regarding his father. "That's a pretty cool tattoo."
Dragon blinked and smiled.
"That's not how it works, Luffy," Nami said, exasperated.
Luffy's cheeks puffed out comically and he surged forward, invading Nami's personal space yet again. "That is how it works!"
"It isn't."
"It is!" Luffy confirmed, as if he was the World Government's leading expert on genetics.
"It isn't," Nami said again, beginning to lose her patience with the dolt in front of her. "It just means that you look more like your mother. But you still look like your father in areas, you're just not looking hard enough."
"Hm, so it's a mystery," he said, matter-of-factly. "You'll just have to explain it to me then."
"No, I won't."
"What? Why!"
"Because."
"Because why?
"Because, because."
He pulled a face and turned to Robin, "Hey Robin, you'll explain how it works to me later, right?"
Robin smiled as she approached Luffy, steps silent on the wooden deck. "Sure, whenever you wish. Though if I may, I'd suggest perhaps letting go of our navigator. It seems your safety is in jeopardy."
"Nope," he said succinctly. "She'll punish me."
"You're damn right I'll punish you!" she snapped, fuming. "Let me go this instant!"
Luffy recoiled from the volume of her voice, before surging forward and pressing against her forehead again. "No way! I don't want to get hit!"
"Too bad, let me go!" Nami started to struggle against Luffy's rubbery neck, straining against his strength. How the hell is somebody's damn neck this strong?
"Hey Nami," he said suddenly, lowly.
"What?" She snapped back in a growl. He was regarding her again and was once again struck by how his piecing stare resembled the man behind him.
"You didn't want the hat anymore?" he questioned sotto voce. His onyx eyes bored into her, and she had the distinct feeling that for whatever reason, she felt that he considered this a question of supreme importance, enough to end their childish quarrel.
A moment of confusion stymied Nami as she regarded his question, before thinking of how Luffy had put it on her head minutes before to, in his mind, comfort her against whatever he thought was plaguing her. Her eyes left his momentarily to drift towards his father before returning to him. She added just as lowly, "Later."
He studied her for a second, before nodding. Suddenly, his head whipped back towards his father, around Dragon's back, towards her and around her body before coming to rest with the rest of his body at the correct proportions. Still he stared at her, at his normal height and normal neck length.
And then he was staring at the ground after his head met it with a vicious thud.
"Ouch, Nami!" he cried out. "Why'd you do that?"
"I told you I was going to punish you," Nami said, standing over him with her clenched fist raised in front of her.
"Yeah, but why?" he whined.
"Because," she said to Luffy. Because you were too close and your father was watching and he suspects something now. Because I have feelings for you and it's complicated and it scares me. She couldn't say that, no, especially not in present company. "I almost fell of the ship because of you! Why'd you do that?"
"It wasn't me!" Luffy yelled, "It was him! Go punish him!"
"No way!" Nami shot back. She glanced up at his father, before returning to Luffy. "He's scary!"
"I'm scary! I'm an Emperor now!"
"You're not scary, you're just a dork!"
"If anyone here is scary it would be you, witch," Zoro mumbled before Luffy could retort. Usopp and Chopper quickly voiced their agreement, before shrinking back in terror as Nami whirled on them.
"What did you say?" came her vicious growl, which was followed by three brutal sounding thumps, laughter from Jinbe, Robin, Franky, and Brook, and then a stray (and as usual, ignored) comment from Sanji mentioning how beautiful Nami was when she was angered.
The cacophony of noise was interrupted by a harsh, barking laughter from Dragon. The crew stopped arguing and turned to him to find him meekly scratching the back of his head with one hand, while the other was raised just in front of him. A nervous smile graced his features. "Ah, I'm sorry Ms. Nami, I never intended to frighten anyone. The storms are, unfortunately, necessary to remain undetected."
He was met with a wall of curious silence, as the crew regarded him.
"Wow," Chopper said, breaking the silence. "So polite…"
"Sabo was the same in Dressrosa," Franky added.
"Ace was also rather polite and cordial to the people he was friendly with," Jinbe said distantly, scratching his chin, clearly lost in now-distant memories.
Sanji pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket, removed one from the container, and lit it using a sleek silver metal lighter retrieved from his other pocket. He took a long drag and exhaled, saying "Yeah, Ace was the same. It was off-putting at the time, considering this shitty rubber…"
Zoro growled, before reaching forward and tugging on Luffy's rubber cheek. "Why is it that instead of one of the somewhat normal members of this ridiculous family, we get stuck with this idiot?" He released Luffy's cheek, watching as it flew towards Luffy's face with a loud, elastic snap.
Luffy merely laughed at the words of his crew.
Sanji exhaled another puff of smoke, before stepping forward. "Well, it's certainly been a while since we've had any guests aboard. Would you like anything to eat?"
"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to impose."
"Nonsense, you're Luffy's father. It's an honor." Sanji turned and started towards the kitchen, followed by the other members of the crew.
"Sanji!" Luffy yelled suddenly, "I want meat! Lots of meat!"
Sanji scowled and continued walking, not even bothering to look back, "I know, I know. You always want meat." He pushed open the door to the dining room and walked in, Chopper and Usopp bouncing in behind him.
Luffy gasped and grabbed Nami by the wrist, rushing forward and tugging her along against her wishes. "C'mon Nami, let's go! There won't be any left for us!"
"What do you mean? He hasn't started making it yet, stupid!" she sputtered, running to keep up with the pace he set. "Wait!"
"Oh, right." He stopped suddenly, causing her to crash into his back. She scowled at him when he turned around, rubbing the spot on her forehead that had collided with his very muscled back. Luffy didn't look at her though, rather beyond her at his father. He motioned over his shoulder with his thumb, pointing to the dining room. "You coming, or what?"
Dragon smiled bemusedly, before nodding. He took a step off of the rail on which he stood and gently floated down to the deck. Luffy turned back and proceeded his march to the dining room, passing Zoro and Robin while still dragging Nami with him. She risked a glance over her shoulder at Dragon, who quite deliberately flicked his gaze Luffy's grip on her arm before meeting her eyes again.
She colored at his smiling face, now somewhat smug and teasing, before quickly turning away. As Luffy pulled her past Robin and Zoro, she managed to catch a glimpse of a pointed, smug look on Robin's face and a knowing look on Zoro's.
Damn them, she thought grumpily. Damn all three of them to hell.
"Sanji, I'm hungry! When is the food going to be ready?" Luffy yelled, after they had all been seated. Nami was seated next to Luffy, to his left, while Zoro was on his right and Robin next to him. Nami had absolutely no choice in her seat, as Luffy had kept a solid grip on her wrist and led her to the table. It wasn't anything Nami took issue with, nor did she take an issue with how he had wrapped around her and how he constantly found himself in her bubble. She actually found it kind of cute and endearing, but she wouldn't tell him that. The only issue was Luffy's apparent lack of notice of the people surrounding him, like his father, Zoro, and Robin, all of whom were aware (apparently anyway, in the case of Dragon and Zoro) of them.
But that didn't matter anymore, because Luffy had about as much discretion as a thunderstorm on the Grand Line.
"Hold on, damnit," Sanji growled, carrying over a dozen plates stacked high with a wide assortment of meats, vegetables, fruits, and seafood. A buffet for a human trash can, as they called their captain. It was still a sight to see, whenever Sanji cooked. Lecherous, perverted moron he may be, but he was certainly extremely skilled in the kitchen. He placed the plates on the table and gave a warning glance to Luffy. "Don't be greedy and eat everything all at once. I'll make more shortly, so take your time."
The moment he turned his back a plate of meat simply disappeared down Luffy's gullet, predictably. Sanji whirled and landed a kick on the back of Luffy's head causing his head to slam and bounce off the table.
"Ouch! What the hell did you do that for?" Luffy yelled.
"I told you to not be greedy and to take your time!" Sanji heatedly shot back.
"You said you were going to make more anyway, so why does it matter?"
Sanji's rebuttal was drowned out by a bark of deep laughter from the opposite end of the dining table. Dragon's laugh echoed in the small room, and they all turned to stare at him. Dragon put a hand behind his head, sheepishly stating "Ah, sorry about his eating habits. He was certainly influenced by my father it seems. Garp always said to eat as much as you possible could at every meal, because you never knew when the next battle would come. Garp never did anything in moderation, everything that man does is to the best of his abilities, including eating food. The only exception is paperwork at his job, perhaps."
They all blinked and exchanged a look, and Zoro shook his head. Sanji grabber Luffy's plate and brought it to the kitchen sink, sighing. "Yeah, we've had the pleasant experience of meeting Garp before. He seemed to be, well, Luffy-like, if that makes sense. Tea or coffee? We have alcohol as well, if you'd prefer."
"Oh, would you happen to have any scotch? If it's not any trouble, of course."
"Sure, one scotch, coming up," Sanji replied. He turned and walked back to the table with a tray of glasses and placed drinks in front of everyone seated. Beer for Zoro, Jinbe, Franky, and wine for Robin and Brook. Apple juice for Chopper and Usopp, a new fruity drink that Sanji had just created for Nami, the same for Luffy because he demanded a taste as soon as Sanji said he had something new in the works. And finally, a glass of scotch for the Most Wanted Man in the World.
Dragon lifted the glass to his lips and took a long, slow draught, draining half of the glass in one sip. The ice tinkled in the glass as he gently put in back on the varnished wooden table. Sanji raised an eyebrow and quickly procured the elegant bottle and refilled his glass. He left the glass bottle next to Dragon so he could refill it at his leisure.
"Oh, thank you," he said to Sanji. "It's quite good. I'll reimburse you for whatever I drink, that's not exactly a cheap brand."
"No need," Sanji replied, "You're a guest, we wouldn't hear of it."
Dragon smiled, "Are you sure? I've heard tell that Ms. Nami can be quite…intense when it comes to matters of money. I don't mind at all." He looked teasingly at Nami while he spoke.
"Hey!" Nami exclaimed, "That's not true!" She shot a look that spoke of torture and murder in Zoro's direction when the latter mumbled under his breath about it absolutely being true. "Where'd you even hear something like that to begin with?"
A giggle gave her an answer before she even turned to look at their archeologist. She glared something fierce at Robin, who met her glare with the cheeky, smug smile a cat might have as it walked in front of its owners' legs as they were preparing to step down a flight of stairs.
"What?" Robin asked, slyly. "Dragon was very curious to learn about the infamous Straw Hat crew, at least in private. I told him a little about everybody."
Nami huffed and turned to Dragon. "Well, she wasn't telling the truth. Everything is free of charge!"
The crew gasped comically while Luffy choked on the abundance of meat he had stuffed in his mouth. Zoro leaned over and gave him a good thump on his back to dislodge the food from his throat.
"Yohohoho, I'd never thought I'd see the day!" Brook exclaimed, "Though I have no eyes."
"Chopper, quick! We need to compile a list of all of our apocalypse-preparedness items!" Usopp yelled.
"Right! Franky, we'll need your help with this!" Chopper said.
"Sure thing. I've already got some super cool new inventions in mind! Perhaps it would be a good time to unveil the new anti-apocalypse robot minion equipped with the latest updated Franky Radical beam!" he said. A compartment opened from the palm of his massive right hand, giving way to a much smaller robotic hand carrying a pencil and a scrap of paper. The hand worked furiously as it scribbled on the paper. I'll call it Project Big Anti-Apocalypse Deterrent Artificial Security Systems. In short, Project Baadass."
"That doesn't even make any sense!" Nami snapped.
"Don't worry, Nami-san!" Sanji sang, "I'll be your security system during the apocalypse!"
Luffy slammed both of his palms down on the table and leaned towards Franky, stars in his eyes. "Eh? Robot minions? Updated Franky radical beam? Project Baadass?" he yelled.
"You shut up!" Nami said, hitting him on the back of his head, sending his face careening into his plate. She looked at the rest of the table with evil in her eyes, "As for the rest of you, any cost of this will be rolled into your debts, with an interest rate of three hundred percent!"
"That's more like it," Jinbe said, as Robin giggled.
"Ouch Nami, what was that for?" Luffy said, lifting his face off the table to look at her.
"Because I felt like it!" she said with a glare.
A barking laugh drew them all back to Dragon. "Quite the characters, you guys are!" he said, still laughing.
"Now that you're here, Dragon-san, I believe it's time to fulfill your promise," Robin said.
"Promise? What promise?" Luffy asked, turning to Robin.
Dragon's laughter died down, "Yes, you're right Robin," he said, before turning to his son. "My people found Robin shortly after the war, following your run in with Kuma." The mood turned a bit serious at the mention of the enormous Warlord, who helped set in motion some of the events that had led them to be separated for two years. He may have saved their lives, but that didn't mean it came without pain. Zoro's eyes narrowed somewhat at the Kuma's name, something Dragon took notice of. Yes, I've heard of what you did. Kuma made sure to tell me that.
"As I'm sure Robin has told you, Kuma was one of my agents. I apologize for his actions, he was under no orders from me. Though I think it was for the best, despite the hardship?"
"He did save our lives." Nami nodded. "It wasn't preferred, but it was what we needed. Though last I heard, he became a human weapon for the World Government. A Pacifista…"
"Yes, that's correct," Dragon replied, narrowing his eyes. "We had long wanted to set up a line of communication between us and Dr. Vegapunk, the renowned scientist. It was his idea to use this particular method, and he volunteered himself for it. I spent many meetings trying to convince him otherwise, but he insisted…" There was a pregnant pause as Dragon thought of his colleague. He came out of his silent reverie a short few seconds later, "We're happy to have him back though, even if he isn't the same as before."
"We read about that in the newspaper," Franky said. "Super ballsy of you to crash the Reverie and declare war on the Celestial Dragons."
"Ha!" Dragon exclaimed, looking around. "This coming from you guys. No sooner had that made the news, did you crush an Emperor and open the borders of a country that had long been closed." Everyone took notice of his sly grin and the pride in his eyes.
They all broke into chatter about how it wasn't really anything special in the wake of Dragon's compliment, while Robin merely chuckled at the reaction of the crew.
"Say," Usopp said, "Should you have really told us that stuff about Kuma and Vegapunk? What if the World Government is listening?"
Dragon raised an eyebrow. "Nothing to worry about, I've already taken care of it. Your ship is clean, and nobody monitoring you from a distance will have success due to the storm."
"Huh," Luffy said, eyeing Dragon curiously. "You already cleaned our ship. When'd you have time to do that?"
There was a collective sigh from around the table.
"You moron," Zoro said.
"Luffy," Robin called, getting the attention of the captain. He peered at her curiously. "He didn't clean the ship. He means that there aren't any listening devices on the ship," she explained.
"Ah. Got it." Luffy said, stuffing another piece of meat into his mouth.
Nami rolled her eyes and sighed before turning back to Dragon. "You mentioned a promise to Robin?"
"Ah, yes," he replied, amusement still coloring his features at the antics of his son. He turned to Nami, "Robin was brought to me after my people found her in government-controlled territory that we were in the process of liberating. She asked me to train her for two years until the time when she was scheduled to meet back up with the rest of you guys, in return for her services. On top of that, she requested that I tell her my story. I promised that I would, but that it would have to wait a while longer. After all, Robin wasn't the only one I had wanted to meet." He glanced around the room, before his eyes came to rest on Luffy. "And here I am."
The silence that followed was not an uncomfortable one, the crew patiently waited for him to speak, while he seemed content to stare at his son in amusement as he put stuffed his mouth with plate after plate of meat.
"From the beginning then, Dragon-san?" Robin asked, before reaching for a small slice of bread in the center of the table.
Long fingers on a large, strong hand lifted the glass to his lips and he took another sip of his scotch, before returning it to the wooden table before him with a gentle clink. He blinked at her and smiled, "From the beginning then."
Thank you all very much for the reviews, they've been very kind. Please leave more! Had to split this chapter in two, as it was getting pretty long. This is the shorter of the two halves. Hope the payoff was worth the cliffhanger. Should be relatively mistake free, but if you catch any, let me know.
Until next time!