Kitsune here with the new AbD Chapter. You would NOT believe my life recently. Really. I'm not shitting you. Mom got hit by a truck. She's alright, she was in a car, but her car is totaled and it meant a lot of work and frustration on my end trying to get everything worked out. And I've been helping out a friend, which is another roadblock to writing. Just, lots of roadblocks to writing recently. Hopefully we've gotten it all settled to the point I can get to writing now, and I can get back to my life of having fun. But, please don't ask when the next update and such is going to be, because I honestly don't know. I'm going to try and start an original story, and I've got a lot of other things going on right now. Sorry guys, life comes first right now.
Question of the chapter: "Ever wish you could just quit when things get too rough?" Not me, though sometimes I get really pissed off at things.
BLAMENCO
Blamenco scratched his chin, eyeing the railing shattered remains as he tried to decide if any part was salvageable or if he was going to have to replace the whole thing. Beyond the point of impact the wood splintered a little for the next foot or so, but not so bad that he didn't think sanding it would smooth it out. Reaching out he tested the splintered areas and came to the conclusion that it wasn't weakened to the point of needing to be replaced there as well. That was good news; they were starting to run low on longer cuts of Adam wood. Who would have thought that the Strawhat brat was anywhere near as destructive as his brother? he mused, pulling out a saw from his right cheek pocket. Certainly not him. The brat just didn't give off the same feeling. He looked like a civilian with that oftentimes blank stare; harmless, even. Right up until he's not, Blamenco snorted, cutting away the broken pieces. There was a chance he could use them to repair the chair Macey ate yesterday at least. Adam wood would slow her down.
"Shame Oyaji can't convince him to join up, though." he mused to himself. True, the head shipwright hadn't had this much steady work aboard the Moby Dick since Ace had been kidn- recruited, but he kinda liked the little idiot. Not that he didn't like Ace! Ace was his ship-brother, and actually quite handy himself when it came to repairs or building things. He was just a bit more prickly then Blamenco was usually willing to deal with. His kid brother though... they got along just fine. Honestly he didn't understand why some of his brothers and sisters still insisted Strawhat was a nuisance. The brat was hilarious! Shit with a hammer, though.
As for the rumors that the kid was just a prop-Captain, well. Blamenco didn't believe that one for a minute. For one, he was Ace's brother and a D. D's, he'd found, were wildly unpredictable and headstrong jackasses more often than not. Just look at Marshall D Teach, there was a REAL jackass. He never did get along with the man, even before he'd turned traitor. Sat wrong with him for a D to be so... content to take the backseat at anything. It was a shitty thing to be right about, though. Luckily Luffy was much too straight forward to pull underhanded shit like that. He was a brutally honest brat, much to the chagrin of many of the Whitebeard crew members. Not him, though; he appreciated not having to work out what the kid was thinking instead of just asking. Now if he could get his brothers to stop playing "toss the rubber man" and breaking things everything would be great.
"SHIP SPOTTED!" The cry from the crow's nest had Blamenco pausing in his work to glance up at Rickett before looking in the direction his subordinate was pointing. He stood there with his hammer raised as he took in the vessel. It was a ship of some sort, but it was very... unique looking. It barely qualified as a skiff, maybe being big enough to hold six or seven people comfortably on a voyage. It really looked more like some sort miniature sub of some sort to him. Still, whoever was onboard the small ship was heading in their direction and not flying a flag. That could spell trouble - for them - even though Blamenco would be damned to figure out where to fly a flag on the thing.
Taking advantage of the distance, the Sixth Division Commander finished up his work. He'd have one of his men come back later after the glue cured to sand the rough edges off. For now he had a possible intruder to repel, and as it was his Division's day to man the ship's defenses he'd better get ready to greet, or threaten, the visitor. By now the vessel was about a furlong away, much closer than he'd expected it to be. "Impressive." he commented, coming to stand by Joshua.
"If you say so, Commander. Still no sign of who it is."
"We'll just be sure to give whoever it is a warm welcome." He commented, spinning his hammer idilly in his grip. By now the ship was right along side of theirs and turned to match speed and direction. It was definitely some sort of submarine, which had him reevaluating how many people could possibly be on the vessel from six to a max of four. A very cramped four at that, he decided, relaxing a bit. Very few people would dare to challenge the Whitebeard Pirates with anything less than a dozen people, and those that would do so with less than six he could count on one hand. This wasn't a vessel belonging to any of the Shichibukai or Yonko, meaning it was likely a friendly visit. Possibly from one of the islands under their protection.
The port hatch on the top of the vessel opened up and a head of blue hair popped out. The - person - for lack of a better word for the horrific looking face he saw, damn that must have hurt, looked up before waving. They extracted themselves from the small sub, standing expertly on the tiny vessel in nothing but a very brightly colored shirt and speedos. "OOOWWW! Blamenco, it's been a while! Looking SUUU-PER!"
"I can't say the same, Franky!" Blamenco grinned, switching out the hammer in his hands for a ladder he'd stashed in his cheeks. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Are you saying I look like a pervert?"
"No more than usual," he shot back, bracing himself against Franky's weight.
"I was fixing this engine," Franky explained as he hauled himself up the ladder, "it was gummed up with something strange and it exploded in my face is all."
Looking the man up and down, Blamenco concluded it was a hell of an explosion. If Franky hadn't replaced most of his reachable organic parts for machinery, he'd be dead most likely. His whole face was gone, revealing the more than a little gruesome framework of his reconstructed face. More than one of his brothers blanched at the sight, either in horror or sympathetic pity. As a shipwright Blamenco could honestly say it was the most extensive reconstruction he'd ever seen; and more than one of his friends were missing limbs or such from work-related accidents. Franky was a bit different. He didn't know the exact story on what had happened to his blue haired friend to warrant such a remake; no one in Water Seven was willing to talk to outsiders about it, but he knew it was a miracle he survived.
"All superficial damage?" He asked, eyeing the scorch marks critically.
"Mostly. Damaged my left eye, but it'll hold out for a bit longer until I can fix it." The cyborg shrugged, apparently unconcerned.
Talk about a man's man... he could only shake his head at his friend before changing the topic. "What are you doing so far away from Water Seven?"
He assumed Franky was giving him a weird look with the way the man crossed his arms. "I left there a while ago."
That was strange, he'd thought nothing could make Franky leave his Family. "Oh?"
"Yeah. I couldn't let Thousand Sunny sail without a good shipwright." Where did he know that ship name from? "But we can catch up later. Where's Luffy-bro?"
The name of the ship clicked. "OH! The Strawhat ship!" He grinned, "Nice piece of work. Adams wood?"
"Of course." Franky sounded happy as he followed Blamenco towards Whitebeard's chair. "Grass and a tree on deck, fully functional bathhouse style washroom, gourmet kitchen, lounge and an aquarium among other things."
"Wow. That must of cost a lot to build! How does it handle?"
"Smoothly enough that our Captain can steer in a pinch. He is here, isn't he?"
"Who?"
"Strawhat!" A few of his subordinates hissed loudly, reminding him.
Franky nodded. "Saw this article in the paper. Said he was joining your crew." Suddenly his tone matched how frightening his face was at the moment, "I want to hear it for myself from Luffy-bro."
"Shit! He's going to kill the brat!" Someone yelped, running no doubt to fetch the big guns, also known as Over Protective Brother # 1, Blamenco chuckled.
"Nah, he's just traveling with us a bit." He laughed out loud, "For all the damage he's caused to my ship, I'd give him back, but Oyaji likes the brat."
"Yeah? That's Suuper! I thought they'd get along. But your Captain can't have him. Luffy-bro is gonna be King, and we need him on my ship to do that." The growling tone was back by the end, and Franky looked more than willing to break heads to get his Captain back.
"I swear to you, we're not trying to recruit Strawhat." He scratched his chin, "Not actively at least. He's just-"
"WHO IS THREATENING MY LITTLE BROTHER?!" Came the enraged shout as those on deck quickly made room for Ace. More than a few pointed out Franky, not willing to get burned for getting in the Second Division Commander's way. "YOU! What do you want with Luffy?"
"OWW! I don't see how that's any of your business." Franky snapped back. "That's between Luffy-bro and me."
"Like hell it is! He's my little brother, and-" a crash was heard. Ace winced, leading the Sixth Division Commander to suspect he'd locked his brother in a room to prevent him from following. He shot Ace a glare, promising himself to make the younger Pirate fix whatever was broken this time.
He obviously wasn't the only one to realize Luffy was making his way - noisily, What the hell did Ace do? Block off the whole hallway? - onto the deck. More than a few of his subordinates ran to head off the young Captain. Stucco swallowed hard and broke up the confrontation between Ace and Franky, "Let us handle this, Commander. You go stop your brother!"
Ace just stared at him, and Blamenco agreed; there was no stopping the brat once he decided he was going to do something. He was coming one way or the other. Franky cocked his head to the side, "Either Luffy-bro is going to come to me, or I'm going to go to him. I ain't leaving till I hear what's going on from my Captain!"
"Wait, you're on his-" The Second Division Commander blinked, expression smoothing out.
"No! You're not going to scare the bra-"
"ACE! You big meanie! You had a head start!" A cheerful voice shouted just before Luffy appeared on deck. Blamenco had exactly one moment to realize Stucco might have had a point about Franky meeting up with his Captain right now given how he looked ferociously gruesome to hardened pirates. It was a shame he didn't have a tarp or anything to give the man to sort of hide his current disfigurement before the ball of energy known as Strawhat Luffy was there, pouting up at his brother.
"It was for your own good..." Muttered Ace, looking away guiltily.
"Liar!"
"Luffy-bro! It's SUUUPER good to see you!" The relief was palatable in Franky's tone.
Luffy turned to look at his shipwright, a blank expression overcoming his face. "Franky?"
"Who else would it be?" Franky asked, resting his hands on his hips proudly. More than one Whitebeard Pirate cringed, waiting for a shout of fear or something.
"YOU LOOK AWESOME!" Luffy beamed instead, laughing, "What the hell happened?"
"Blew up a building." Franky replied readily, "Nothing to worry about."
"Shihihi, of course not!" Tension eased out of the teen's shoulders, and he had the feeling the brat would have readily attacked them all if he'd thought it was their fault.
"Might take the opportunity to do some SUUUPER upgrades as long as I have to do repairs. What do you think?"
"Lazer eyes!" Came the enthusiastic response, drawing a laugh out of Blamenco. He shouldn't have been surprised that Luffy'd do anything but recoil from Franky's damaged appearance.
"I'll - see - what - I - can - do." Franky said in a robotic voice, earning a few weird looks. "Everything alright here, Luffy-bro?"
"Hmm? Yeah! Kuma sent me here, for some reason. But that's okay because it's Ace's crew. Franky, this is Ace! He's my brother!" The brat beamed happily.
"That's super! The Whitebeards are a good crew to know." Franky nodded. "You planning on joining?" Wow, that was blunt.
Then again, when dealing with Luffy, blunt tended to be the way to go. The teen put his iconic hat on his head, a grin stretching his face. "Nah. Just gonna stay with them till I get stronger."
The cyborg studied his Captain in silence for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Good. So, we still meeting at Rayleigh's?"
"Yep. In two years."
"I'll be sure to make sure Sunny is ready to go by then."
"I'm counting on you, Franky." The Captain of the Strawhat Pirates said seriously, despite the wide smile on his face. After a beat he grabbed his crew member's arm. "Let's go see Grand-mustache!"
"Luffy, for the last time, stop calling him that!" Ace grumbled, trailing after his brother.
He was ignored, of course. "How long can you stay?"
"A week, maybe. I found this SUPER place with all sorts of things I might be able to modify for Sunny, so I want to get back."
"Cool! While you're here, you've got to try Thatch's cooking. It's almost as good as Sanji's!" Blamenco heard Luffy say as they walked away. He shook his head, heading towards the lower levels of the ship to see what kind of damage Luffy had done. Maybe he could get Franky to help do some repairs. It'd be nice to pick the other shipwright's brain and compare notes on working with Adams wood. And if he was lucky, Franky might share some of his ideas he'd come up with.
Speed Jiru
"You're pretty fast. For a rookie, that is." Jiru taunted as he dodged the fists aimed at his face. In truth, against a lot of experienced Pirates the Strawhat punk's 'Second Gear' would give him quite an edge. But against a Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates it didn't offer much, and against Speed Jiru he might have been moving normally.
The brat wasn't discouraged in the slightest though. Far from it in fact. Jiru could have sworn the little shit got faster, and when he had to block a kick with his shield instead of dodging it the brat grinned. "Are you going to dodge all the time, or are you gonna attack?"
"Oh, you're asking for it, brat!" He smirked back, lashing out with his short lance and scoring a small cut through the Strawhat Captain's shirt. He was a little surprised when instead of jumping back his opponent darted forward, arm swinging to deliver a devastating haymaker. Or it would have been devastating if Jiru hadn't slid out of the way, whacking that unruly hat with his lance as he did so.
"Almost had you!"
"Almost? I've had Marines get closer!" He laughed back. Maybe a bit too soon as the next punch turned out to be a grab for his shield that threw him off balance enough that the next kick knocked his own hat askew. A quick twist and a jab had the brat backing off quick enough and the two turned to circling each other warily. Jiru had to admit that Ace was right; his little brother did get better the longer a fight went on and he found he had to keep all his attention on the brat to avoid getting hit. He could easily see how the brat was giving the Marines issues with how rapidly he improved because of it. To think he'd thought it was insulting at first that Fire Fist had only wanted the brat to spar against Commanders at first. No; it was exhilarating to be part of this young rookie's growth, not to mention he might accidentally send one of the non- Commanders to medical.
When Strawhat paused and looked up, Jiru naturally thought it was a distraction tactic. He'd done the same during fights, and Thatch was fond of the move. So he was caught off guard when something fell screaming from the sky right on top of him. Later he would tell his brothers and sisters that he had thought at the time it had been some elaborate attack thought up by Strawhat, which is why he attacked the moment he realized a giant bug was about to land on him. In truth, Speed Jiru really didn't like bugs; especially since Thatch had filled his bed with creepy crawlies as a prank. Seeing a ridiculously large beetle of some sort fall from the sky crossed a line he didn't know he had, really. Even if he had heard the lookout call out an alert about the bug he most likely would have reacted the same, but since he'd been so wrapped up in his spar with Strawhat the point was moot. Before he knew it his lance was aimed at the underside of the bug and he was ready to spear the bug. It didn't register to him until after something hard and small collided with his shield that the bug was not alone, but it should have since bugs do not scream and this one sort of was.
Jumping back to avoid any further attacks - and to avoid touching the freakishly large beetle as it crashed on the deck - he made sure to put himself between it and the Strawhat brat. Freakishly large bugs weren't normal even for the Grand Line, and Ace would kill him if something happened to the kid on his watch. "SO COOOLLLL!" Apparently the brat had different ideas about giant bugs though.
"No, not cool!" Jiru snapped, "Stay behind me, brat."
"But, it's a stag beetle!"
"I don't care!" The beetle's legs flailed as it tried to get back on to them, creating a clicking noise as it rocked. Jiru hefted his spear higher.
""W-we've got you surrounded! Lay down your weapon and no one get's hurt!" Said the beetle.
"Huh?" Jiru naturally looked up at the sky and saw nothing.
"It talks!"
"Don't be stupid, bugs can't talk!" He poked the thing gently with the tip of his weapon. Just in case.
"But it just did!" Luffy protested.
The beetle's legs hooked onto his lance and it slowly started to roll onto it's side. He repressed a shudder, "No it didn't!"
"Yes it did!"
"Actually…" A voice said as a figure squeezed itself out from underneath the beetle, "That was me, Luffy."
"Usopp!" Strawhat cheered, dodging around Jiru to help the trapped person by flipping the bug over. "You're here! Where did you find such a cool bug?!"
"On the island I've been staying on. More importantly, Luffy, did you really join the Whitebeard Pirates?" The dark haired youth asked as he ran his hands over the large beetle. Jiru took the opportunity to study the stranger, assuming he was one of the Strawhat Pirates. He didn't recognize him from the bounty posters, which meant it was likely the sniper, 'Sogeking'. To be honest, he didn't look all that impressive, but he had been able to leave a small dent on the center of Jiru's shield while he'd been falling. For a rookie that was definitely impressive. Besides, after spending time with Luffy he'd come to the conclusion that the whole crew was made of weirdos. Impressive weirdos, but weirdos none the less.
"Nope! Guess they kidnapped me, Shihihihi." The young Captain poked the beetle enthusiastically, "Can I keep it?"
"No, you can't keep it! Ahhh, I need to give it water before it dies…"
Speed Jiru tossed over the water skin he'd brought for after the spar. "Use this then."
"Thanks!" He couldn't watch though as the teen poured water into his hands and let the bug's mandibles touch him as it drank the liquid. After a moment Sogeking looked up at his Captain. "What do you mean they kidnapped you?"
"I ended up here, and then they wouldn't let me leave."
The look the rookie gave Jiru was hard and calculating, and or a moment he almost expected the sniper to attack before the other grinned. "I see. How long are you planning on sticking around here for, Luffy?"
"Two years. Wanna stay, too?"
"Uhhh, I think I just came down with I'll-die-if-I-stay-here-disease."
"Awe, you're no fun!" Strawhat protested, sticking his tongue out at his friend. " Can't you stay for a little bit at least?"
"Maybe. I just came to see what kind of trouble you'd gotten into this time, Luffy." The other said with a shake of his head, "Sorry it took so long, the place Kuma sent me is really weird! The whole island is just one giant carnivorous plant! It took a while to find a way off it."
"That sounds so cool!"
"Well, it is. I'm sure a lesser man would have been defeated, but not me!" The other boasted. "I found all sorts of useful things there, too. If you're going to be here for a while I might head back and see if I can figure out a way to modify some of those plants I found. They might make good ammunition with a little work."
"You'll bring Mr. Beetle back, too right, Ussop?"
"No, Luffy. He's not joining our crew."
"Stingy."
Usopp ignored his Captain and instead stood, offering his hand to Jiru. "Thanks for the water."
"You're welcome." He replied, hesitating to take the hand that had been touching the giant bug. He did eventually with a shudder. "I'm Speed Jiru, Fourteenth Division Commander."
"Usopp, Brave Man of the Sea, and sniper of the Strawhats." he pointed at the bug, "That's Hector. I'm borrowing him from a friend."
"I see." Jiru just didn't care. "Will it be alright here on deck? I should bring you to Oyaji if you're going to be staying for a bit."
"Yeah, he'll be fine. Really though, I don't have to meet your Captain. Honest, I just came to check in on Luffy. I'll stay out of the way-"
Jiru smirked, seeing the opportunity to make the brat as uncomfortable as he currently was, "Oh no, I insist. Every guest has to meet Oyaji. He especially wants to meet all the Strawhats. Said so himself."
"Oh…"
"You'll like him, Usopp! He's got the coolest mustache ever!" Came Luffy's ringing endorsement. "And he's really really big, too!"
"That's nice…" The Strawhat paled noticeably.
"Don't tell me a 'Brave Man of the Sea' is afraid to meet the World's Strongest Man?" Jiru teased as he lead the way, causing Usopp to sweat. This kid would be fun to tease, he decided. Still, he admired the way the brat didn't back down.
"N-no! Not at all!" Came the protest, "I'm afraid of n-nothing!" the stutter said he was, though. Good, at least one Strawhat knew what fear was, but knew better than to let it cripple him.
Jiru slapped him on the back, "I like you, brat."
"Thanks, I think?"
Yep, the Strawhat Pirates might still be a bunch of rookies, but from what he'd seen and heard, they sure did show a lot of potential. He was more than willing to agree with Oyaji in adopting the whole lot of them… provided they left all the giant bugs back where they found them, of course. Maybe in two years they'd be able to convince the Captain to at least ally with the Whitebeards? If not, the Strawhats might find themselves crossing paths with the odd Commander wondering around on their own as they checked up in the younger crew. And Jiru'd be happy to sign up for that duty. These guys were way too amusing to just let go in his book.
THATCH
"So, looks like most of your crew's stopped by." Thatch commented as he came up behind the young Pirate lounging on deck.
"Yep." Luffy cheerfully replied as he rolled onto his back so he could grin happily up at the Fourth Division Commander from underneath his beloved strawhat. "Everyone but Nami."
"Who's Nami again?"
"She's my navigator. She loves tangerines and money, and she's super scary sometimes."
Oh yeah, that one, Thatch vaguely remembered his young friend rambling on about her at some point. He remembered seeing a bounty poster, too. If he had to be honest, it had looked more like a pinup than a bounty, but he wasn't complaining. It just cemented the idea that anyone who followed Ace's little brother was more than a little nuts themselves in his book. He flopped down next to the brat, "You think we should send people looking?"
The teen just shook his head, "Nah. She'd just get mad. And then rob them."
"So you're not worried at all?"
"Nope." They lapsed into silence. Thatch wondering at the faith his young friend showed in his crew, and who the hell knew what Luffy was thinking. He'd given up trying to figure out the younger pirate after that whole debacle with the Marines. Sometimes he wondered if dealing with the brat is what had driven Ace off the deep end... but more than likely his best bud had already been nuts before Luffy had come along. They both were Ds after all. "Hey, doesn't that cloud look like steak?"
Thatch let out a laugh, "With you, everything looks like meat, Luffy."
"It does, though!" Came the protest as the teen pointed to the cloud in question. To be fair it did look a bit like a steak. But he wasn't about to admit that, of course.
Actually, it looked like the cloud was getting closer, and strangely darker.
"I think maybe we should go in..." before we get electrocuted.
"Why?" Luffy asked, jumping to his feet to get a better look at the now ominous looking cloud. Standing as well it occurred to Thatch that the rubber idiot was immune to lightning. Lucky bastard.
It didn't stop Thatch from reflexively snatching at him when lightning slammed into the deck a meter away, causing his pompadour to frizz badly. Luffy just laughed it off, seemingly completely unaffected even by the light that blinded them both. Thatch just held onto the idiot hoping that somehow neither of them would be struck by a second blast, and that the fool wouldn't go running off to investigate the 'mystery'. When things finally settled down the Fourth Division Commander blinked his watering eyes, trying to clear the after images seared into his brain away. He could have sworn there were people standing in front of him that hadn't been there before.
He blinked again and risked removing one arm from Luffy to rub his eyes.
Yep, there was definitely people standing there. A young woman and two really old men, to be precise. "Well hello there, gorgeous."
The woman ignored him, which if he was being completely honest wasn't too unusual with a pickup like like that. It was a little insulting to be ignored in favor for the brat he was still holding on to, however. Thatch was after all the Fourth Division Commander and as such not used to pretty young women yanking people out of his arms in order to shake them silly. Though his ears were still ringing he could tell by the way her lips were moving she was yelling at Luffy while attempting to give him whiplash. Figuring she'd have to work harder than that to succeed he took the opportunity to wiggle a finger in his ear to stop the ringing and almost wished he hadn't. The woman was loud!
"- THINK YOU WERE DOING?! I WAS WORRIED SICK! STOP LAUGHING AT ME YOU IDIOT! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH MONEY YOU COST ME?!" When shaking him didn't seem to get the desired results - Luffy was just laughing enthusiastically - she punched him upside the head.
That had him clutching the spot with a whine. "Nami, that hurt!"
"GOOD!" She shouted, fist colliding with his head again.
Before she could continue the, admittedly humorous, abuse, Thatch grabbed her arm. "Hey now, that's Captain abuse."
"Says who?" She asked, ripping her arm free with a glare.
"Says me." He replied easily, "Thatch, Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Perhaps you've heard of me?"
If he'd been expecting her to be wow'd he was very much wrong. Instead she glared at him, "You're the asshole who got Luffy in trouble with the Marines!" She swung at him, the fearless vixen that she was.
"Hey now! He doesn't need help getting into trouble!" Thatch yelped, avoiding the blow, "Nami, right? Luffy, call her off!"
"Shihihihi, nope!"
"Luuuuuffffyyyy!" He whined, protecting his head as she slapped at him. Why was he being blamed for this? Luffy had gotten involved himself! his protests fell on deaf ears, however as Nami continued to rail on him. It didn't particularly hurt, but it was embarrassing that he couldn't avoid her blows. Eventually she seemed to run out of steam and instead stood with her arms braced on her hips as she glared at Thatch's huddled form.
Luffy crouched down next to him with a grin, "I told you Nami was scary."
"You weren't kidding, brat."
"What was that?!"
"Nothing!" Both said, snapping to attention.
"That's what I thought!" She humphed. "Because of you fools I've missed out on valuable training time! Do you have any idea how hard it is to track a ship in the Grand Line? DO YOU?!" Luffy shook his head while Thatch nodded. Seeing her glare he decided to change it to a head shake. "That's what I thought!" She leaned in and pointed at Thatch, "You are going to take me to your Captain so I can thank him for looking after this knucklehead."
"Yes ma'am."
She turned to Luffy with a sigh, expression softening. "You're alright?"
"Yep. You?"
"Of course. The others?"
"Yep. Sanji was wearing a dress though." Her lips twitched slightly. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be, Luffy. You might be a monster, but we can't rely on you for everything." Despite the fact she was scary, Thatch had to admit this Nami chick was practical.
"We're just as responsible for what happened."
"That's what everyone else said, too." Luffy pouted. "But I'm still gonna get stronger. Just you wait and see."
Her smile was soft and indulgent, like dealing with a beloved younger brother. "Alright, how long should I wait?"
"Two years." He nodded firmly. "Then I'll be strong enough to protect you guys from anything."
"If you say so." Nami replied, placing his strawhat on top of his head, "But Captain, I'll be stronger, too, by then. Maybe even strong enough to protect you for a change." Luffy just looked confused at her words, causing her to laugh. Thatch joined in, feeling some sympathy for her and her other crewmates for having such a simple headstrong Captain.
"Come on, then. Let me take you to meet Oyaji." He was sure she'd get along great with their Captain, and with Marco. He glanced at the two old men who had been standing by silently. "Are they coming?"
"I guess they'd better. They're my ride..." She sighed reluctantly.
"Ride to where?" Luffy asked.
"A sky island."
Well, that explained the lightning he guessed... "Wait, a sky island?!"
