Sabo watched with amusement and some horror as Buggy tried to 'execute' his adorable little sister. Only for a miracle to happen because this was his little Luffy. God would never hate someone like her that they would let her die this early.
He had been so amused by the expression on Dragon's face seeing Luffy's usual disguise, even if he felt uncomfortable that his daughter felt so annoyed by the bias against female pirates that she decided it was easier to pretend to be a boy.
Dragon still bribed Sabo for a copy of the picture he took of Luffy properly dressed up as a girl. And took dark amusement in the fact that Sabo blackmailed Shanks and Garp for their own copies of the picture.
He got several information packets from Garp, and a ton of good booze from Shanks...as well as a new copy of the "Bunny Princess" series before it was even sent to the publisher.
Shanks really had too much fun writing those.
Dragon spotted Smoker heading for Luffy first, and managed to intercept before the Marine got any ideas. Luffy was only just starting to spread her wings, and he'd be damned if he let the Marine's false sense of justice clip them this early.
Luffy blinked in surprise, before she gave a quiet nod of thanks to her birth father.
Dragon might have given her up, but he was already proving leagues better than Iemitsu ever was.
The man barely managed to catch the snail Luffy discreetly tossed him. Sabo took one look at it and chuckled.
Dragon looked at him.
"It's Luffy-speak for 'I am willing to open the road of communication with you.' Basically she's giving you a chance to at least try to bond with her properly as father and daughter, or as allies. Considering you did abandoned her with Garp it's better than her rejecting you completely."
Dragon looked at the small snail in his hand and clutched it. The fact Luffy was willing to give him a chance to bond with her at all was more than he could have hoped for.
On the Merry...
Sanji stared at the freezer in shock. He had bought enough food to last them until their first island, but he had absolutely no idea where the boxes in the back came from.
He wasn't the only one having a mild panic attack. Nami had found a few maps and all the basics a navigator would need on the Grand Line like a navigator with several tips and tricks for surviving the chaotic weather that was standard in "Paradise".
Usopp found the makeshift workshop he had started to make in his little alcove upgraded into a proper one, including an actual sniper rifle and a few boxes of ammo, with some instruction manuals on how to maintain and use them.
Zoro grinned pleased at the fact that his 'weight room' had gotten a discreet upgrade, like some extra weights and some reinforced practice swords to play with Takeshi. Takeshi was just grinning when he spotted the familiar sight of a baseball and all the equipment to play the game.
"What the hell happened to our supplies?!" demanded Nojiko freaking out.
"Shishishishi... Sabo must have gone all out when I mentioned meeting up," said Luffy.
As one, most of the crew turned to Luffy.
"Sabo?" said Nami seriously.
"One of my older brothers. I agreed to meet up with him and one other in Loguetown before I went to the platform and we made our way to Reverse Mountain. Considering how quickly things went downhill, he had a bit of time to make sure we made a better start than most rookies on our first trip into the Grand Line. That and the other person he brought with him might have been feeling guilty and wanted to make up for something as a peace offering," said Luffy.
Which was actually true...Dragon had been feeling guilty so he jumped at the idea of giving Luffy an extra edge on her grand debut into the Grand Line as a pirate when Sabo mentioned it. While everyone was so busy at the platform, Sabo and his group took to giving the Merry a little upgrade.
That and it meant Luffy wouldn't have to expose her gender quite yet. Sabo made sure her chocolate supply and the medicines she generally used to deal with cramps was very well stocked. He almost wished he could be there when she found the outfits he slipped in as well.
Nojiko snapped out of the shock that Luffy allowed unknowns on the ship first.
"Luffy, I got the items I mentioned before."
"Could you leave them in my room?"
"Already did, once I got on the ship," said Nojiko.
"Thanks, the ones I have now were starting to get really worn," said Luffy with relief. And she was starting to grow into a slightly bigger cup size, which was highly annoying. It was getting harder to hide her gender now that puberty was starting to gain full momentum.
She was something of a late bloomer, but once she did it was clear she was going to bloom properly, to her disgust and Makino's sympathy. So far she was just under Nami's size, but she had the worst feeling that by the time they properly hit their stride it was going to be impossible to hide the fact she was a girl.
At this point she would be happy if she managed to keep it quiet until the took in Chopper. Out of the crew, he was the one most likely to accidentally bust that particular tidbit wide open.
"What did Nojiko get you?" asked Nami, curious.
"Some of Luffy's outfits were getting worn out. Apparently Luffy has been wearing hand me downs for a while, since they tend to be rather active," said Nojiko quickly. She would respect Luffy's desire to keep her gender quiet after seeing half of the nonsense Nami had to deal with while shopping.
Seeing the comprehension in the other's eyes, only Zoro and Takeshi seemed to get what Nojiko wasn't saying.
If it was just general clothes, odds were Luffy could have gotten them herself. Considering she spent a few extra minutes with the older woman alone before leaving the ship, clearly she had been letting Nojiko get her measurements for certain items that were best left to other females. After all, no one would think twice about a woman shopping for things like bras or panties. And a 'boy' showing so much knowledge about that sort of thing would raise certain flags.
"So what now?" asked Sanji. With the mystery explained, now they had to come up with a plan.
"Since it's tradition for rookies to go up Reverse Mountain, we're heading that way," said Luffy.
Gin winced at the reminder. He had asked around a bar with a few Marines and found out that Luffy hadn't been joking about Krieg being a complete idiot by heading to the Calm Belt instead of the mountain. And that Mihawk had likely saved most of their lives by attacking them like he had, even if he had only done it because they woke him up.
While he hadn't gotten as much as the others had, he still received an upgraded pair of weapons. Luffy and Takeshi had really odd expressions on their faces when they realized he used tonfa as his primary weapons though.
Something about 'carnivores' and 'clouds'. Very strange.
(Too bad he never saw Sabo's expression when he registered the pair of tonfa on the ship. The way his face twitched at the sight of them was rather hilarious. It was debatable whether he was thinking good or bad memories of one Hibari Kyouya.)
Luffy wasn't the only one grinning widely as they practically flew up Reverse Mountain. Hearing about it was one thing, but seeing it was another and it was great fun to break the keg of booze as tradition demanded for those making their way to the Grand Line.
She would laugh and laugh when she found out Sabo had stolen that particular barrel from Shanks' personal store, and had left the best barrel in her private quarters to share later. The swearing Shanks let off was hilarious.
Luffy thought about how to deal with Laboon, before an amusing idea hit her.
She knew for a fact Laboon knew the tune of "Bink's Sake", so he might be confused enough to avoid attacking them by mistake if he heard it.
Nami had given him a weird look when she suggested it, but the others were game. It wasn't like they couldn't multitask and it kept them from freaking out.
So when Luffy started them off (surprising everyone but Takeshi that she had a decent singing voice), it didn't take much for the rest to join in with a grin. Even Nami got into it.
"Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Going to deliver Bink's Sake
Following the sea breeze, riding on the waves
Far across the salty depths, the merry evening sun
Painting circles in the sky as the birds sing along!
Farewell to the harbor, to my old hometown,
Let us all sing with a Don as we all set sail!
Waves of gold and silver dissolve into salty spray,
As we all set sail to the ends of the sea!
Going to deliver Bink's Sake!
We are pirates sailing through the sea!
The waves are our pillows, the ship is our roost.
Flying the proud Skull on our flags and sails!
Now comes a storm through the far-off sky,
Now the waves are dancing, beating on the drums!
If you loose your nerve, this could be your last breath,
But if you just hold on the morning sun will rise!
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Going to deliver Bink's Sake!
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!
But don't look so down; for at night the moon will rise!
Going to deliver Bink's Sake!
Let's all sing with a Don, a song of the waves!
Doesn't matter who you are, someday you'll just be bones
Never-ending, ever-wandering, our funny traveling tale!
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho
Yo ho ho ho!"
("Bink's Sake" from One Piece.)
Laboon was about ready to ram into the mountain again when he heard the crew singing. The memories of Brook and the others hit him hard, enough that he paused in his relentless assault on the mountain long enough to let the Merry pass by unscathed.
"Shishishi! So there really is a whale on the other end of the mountain path!" said Luffy grinning.
Laboon looked at Luffy oddly. Then he ate the ship.
"Goddamit Luffy, this is why we can't have nice things!" shouted Nami right before it happened.
"Shishishi!"
A few hours later...
Luffy listened to the story behind why Laboon attacked the mountain, but she had already known the relationship the whale had with Brook. It broke her heart that thanks to some spectacular bad luck the crew hadn't been able to make it back to the poor whale, and that Brook was trapped at the moment.
Luffy went outside and punched Laboon hard in one of his more recent injuries.
"Got your attention, did I?" said Luffy with a warm smile, but there was a hint of Sky aura behind it. "Being alone sucks, doesn't it? Especially when you believe you were forgotten about by the people you care about most."
Laboon whined, and looked at Luffy. You could tell he understood everything Luffy was saying.
"Brook hasn't forgotten you. He's still waiting for a chance to fulfill his promise, even if the others can't come with him. He's just trapped at the moment, so he can't."
Laboon crooned again.
"I promise on my hat I'll bring your friend back to you, so that you can sing with him again. But I can't do that if you keep trying to attack the mountain," said Luffy gently.
She kept a firm hand on her straw hat, allowing the conviction in her eyes to show. Something passed between her and Laboon, because the whale gently nudged her with it's scarred face.
Clearly her message had gotten through to the poor whale.
Crocus stared at the scene.
"I don't believe it. How the hell did you get through to him?" he asked baffled.
"Conqueror's Haki and the fact I knew the reason Laboon keeps attacking the mountain," said Luffy with a shrug. "He's waited this long to see his friend again, and I don't see any reason he can't wait a little bit longer so I can bring Brook back to see him properly."
Crocus blinked.
"You know about Haki?"
"Shanks taught me before I left. Gramps made sure I was competent in how to use it," said Luffy grinning. She patted Laboon's nose fondly. "Oi Usopp! I got a job for you!"
Usopp blinked, but when he heard what she wanted he grinned.
"I can do that!"
Usopp got the paint cans he would need and proceeded to put the Straw Hat's flag on Laboon's nose where the world would see it.
"So long as you have that mark, you'll know I'll come back with Brook and we'll all sing Bink's Sake together again. So don't attack the mountain so much or it'll get damaged, okay?" said Luffy grinning.
Laboon let out a crooning sound.
"Luffy, don't take this the wrong way, but you are really weird sometimes," said Nojiko flatly.
"Agreed," said Nami without hesitation.
"Shishishi."
"How the hell did you know the whale would let us pass if we sang Bink's Sake?!" said Gin, holding his chest. He nearly had a heart attack when it showed up and they nearly got rammed.
"Shishishi... That is a secret!" said Luffy, mimicking Xellos from Slayers. Takeshi snickered, as he recognized the pose.
Luffy really wanted to start her adventure on the Grand Line... even if she was still debating on how to deal with the whole situation with Crocodile and Alabasta.
She knew one thing was for sure though...she fully intended to throw what she knew of canon events out the window. The whole thing had been ridiculous and half-baked and if they had thought things through a few things would have been avoided.
Like being trapped in a cage with seastone with Smoker. Besides, she was unsure if Teach had attacked and killed Thatch yet. Somehow she had high doubts that Xanxus would miss such an obvious traitor like Ace had.