Sought
By Dixxy Mouri
October 14
"Tell us everything you know about Dr. Tesla, Ace – every little bit counts," said Zoro. All but three of the Straw Hat Pirates and Portgas D. Ace were gathered in the galley of the Thousand Sunny. Luffy had gone outside and made it clear he wasn't to be followed: not a single member of his crew disobeyed.
As for Sanji and Nami . . . it wasn't good at all.
The Straw Hats had run out of food and money. Nami agreed to rob a pirate ship so they could get supplies, and Sanji insisted on going with her, noting that she was used to robbing East Blue pirates, not Grand Line pirates. The crew agreed that he had a point, and the two took off to find an unwitting pirate ship to rob.
That had been over eight months ago.
Since then, Luffy and the others had torn a path up and down the Grand Line trying to find their missing comrades. Along the way they had permanently recruited the former Mr. 2 Bon Clay (now known as Bentham or "Benny") into their numbers and temporarily gained the assistance of Portgas D. Ace as a navigator with the strict understanding that once they were found he would be returning to Whitebeard's side. The crews of Buggy the Clown and Gin, Don Krieg's former battle commander, were assisting in the search during their own travels on the Grand Line. Additionally, several of the Straw Hats friends and allies in Water 7, Sakura Kingdom, and Arabasta had been asked for help, but there was only so much they could do without raising red flags. A handful of the Baratie chefs and a small number of villages from Cocoyashi were also aware of the Straw Hat's plight.
Only an hour or two earlier, after the Straw Hats learned that the Marines had decided to take Sanji and Nami's wanted posters out of circulation due to the assumption that they were dead, the Den Den Mushi started to ring. Unsure of who might be calling, Luffy had picked up the receiver and the next few minutes left everyone stunned.
It was Nami. Alive, but far from well. She and Sanji had been captured by a pirate known as Thomas Tesla. Their navigator said they were being hurt and experimented on, but before she could get into any details she was found out, and the next several seconds were filled with her screams and the yells of the scientists as they tried to restrain her.
The sound of the Den Den Mushi going silent was the worst moment of all.
Ace took a deep breath to collect his thoughts before he began. He was the only one on the Thousand Sunny who knew anything about Tesla and was in any kind of shape to talk about it (Robin knew who he was but had clammed up and was unable to say anything without bursting into tears), and the task of briefing the others had fallen on his shoulders as a result. "I'm not exactly sure where Tesla came from. Some say he was a former student of Vegapunk's who went too far even for him. Some say he was a doctor from Drum Island who was snowed in and went mad from the isolation. Some folks say he's just a freak who gets some kind of sick pleasure out of running experiments on other people."
"So he thinks he's some kind of doctor, when really he's just a monster," Chopper said slowly.
"I don't get it – if he's such a monster, why haven't most of us heard of him?" Bentham asked.
"Tesla's bounty is only 10 million berries – in the Grand Line, that's not much to write home about so his name gets lost among the bigger fish in the sea. I don't know how strong he actually is, but he doesn't usually cause much trouble for the Marines – he'll pillage a ship or a village once in a while but the damage is usually minimal and his crew very rarely harms civilians or even Marines. As such, he isn't seen as a huge threat to the World Government compared to say, the Kidd Pirates or even you guys, and that is what a bounty is based on – threat, not strength."
"I thought bounties were a measure of strength," Usopp said.
Ace shrugged, then looked at the group with a dark, foreboding look. "They can be, but that isn't all there is to it. Let's say someone is the strongest pirate in the world. If all this pirate does is go digging around unpopulated islands looking for treasure – and that treasure doesn't include the One Piece – the World Government probably isn't going to keep close tabs on them. They're strong, but they aren't a huge threat. Alternatively, let's say you have a very weak pirate – someone who's barely capable of throwing a punch. But this pirate is extremely charismatic and has the idea in his head that he should overthrow the World Government and gets other people to follow him, so as a result they start bombing Marine bases and attacking small towns and villages to gain notoriety. This pirate is going to have a HUGE bounty because unlike our theoretical strongest treasure hunter, he's malicious."
"But Tesla sounds really dangerous – he captured Nami AND Sanji!" Chopper squeaked.
Ace shook his head. "He's only a severe danger to pirates – he doesn't attack the World Government and rarely harms civilians, even when his crew is out pillaging. As far as the Marines care, he's only slightly more dangerous than our pretend treasure hunter. If anything he's helpful to them – he gets pirates out of the water. So they're probably keeping a bounty on his head because he IS a pirate captain and they have stolen from merchant and passenger ships before, but compared to a lot of other pirates? He's small beans."
"And because his bounty is so low his reputation doesn't spread very far or isn't taken seriously," said Brook. The skeletal man looked out the porthole. "A bounty of that value may be of greater concern in one of the Blues but here in the Grand Line, Ace is right. That bounty is mediocre at best. It's a frighteningly good situation he's in for what he does."
"Exactly," said Ace.
"So . . . what's he doing to them?" asked Zoro.
Ace shook his head. "I don't know. I'm not sure what he's researching, and it wasn't much of a concern for me because Tesla is TERRIFIED of the Four Emperors and he knows that Whitebeard will NOT tolerate anyone in his crew being tortured. His procedure for handling a Whitebeard pirate who ends up in his ship? Feed them like kings and send them home with food and good will offerings for Pops." He looked at the door to the galley, staring out the porthole at his sobbing brother. "Luffy's not a pushover, but unless Tesla doesn't know Sanji and Nami are with you guys, he doesn't take you seriously."
"Now, as far as what we can do to find him, I know the name of his ship is the Newton and his Jolly Roger's skull is wearing goggles. His crew is alternately known as the Tesla Pirates or the Science Pirates, depending on who you ask. So the best thing to do now is try to gather information about where Tesla was last seen. If we're lucky we can find their ship, break in, and rescue them before it's too late."
Franky swallowed. "What do you mean 'too late'?"
Ace closed his eyes. "Tesla's experiments rarely survive."
"He's . . . killing them?" asked Zoro. He cigarette fell from his lip to the floor.
Ace didn't respond – he sat down and lowered his eyes.
October 15
Gin and Buggy were notified. Neither of them knew anything about Tesla's current whereabouts, but Luffy told them both to be careful with their crews. He didn't want to see anything happen to them, either – Gin's crew was on excellent terms with the Straw Hats, and Buggy and Luffy's rivalry had softened some in the past few months.
The former battle commander of the Krieg Pirate fleet seemed skeptical of the threat, but promised Luffy he would tell his men to be careful and see if he could dig up any information. "I have a few contacts who know a lot about the pirate crews currently sailing the Grand Line – if they know anything useful I'll let you know."
Buggy, while he had no idea where Tesla was, did have some other useful information.
"Rumor has it Tesla's most recent research involves Devil Fruits," Buggy said.
Luffy stared at the Den Den Mushi quizzically. He, Zoro, and Robin were gathered in the galley while the others were outside making sure the ship was headed for the next island. The captain of the Straw Hats sat down at the table. "Why would he be studying Devil Fruits? You eat one and cool stuff happens – what else is there to know?"
Zoro and Robin exchanged looks. Neither of them thought this was a good sign.
"Well how the hell am I supposed to know that! Look, several months ago – before your crew was taken – my men and I happened to end up at the same shady vendor that Tesla had just visited a few days earlier. The guy said he'd had the Cat Cat Fruit: Model Tiger and the Dog Dog Fruit: Model Fennec Fox but someone from the Tesla Pirates came in, bought both, and said their boss needed them for his research. Beyond that I don't know anything!"
"What's a fennec fox?" asked Luffy.
"How the hell should I know!"
"Well you're the one who said it!"
"I just told you what I heard!"
"But how does that help us find them?"
"YOU CURR! I SHOULD FLASHILY-"
Zoro decided to take that moment to snatch the Den Den Mushi away from Luffy. "Let's remove our captain from the situation until the two of you calm down." He took a drag on his cigarette and closed his eyes. He had a depressed, pensive look on his face. "Did your guy mention what Tesla wanted to use the Devil Fruits for?"
"No."
Zoro put his cigarette out and stared at the ashtray with a pit in his stomach. He could hear Nami's voice from a few days earlier echoing throughout his head, and his heart told him what had happened. So that's what she meant. "I think I know what happened." He turned his attention back to the snail and sighed. "Thanks for the information, Buggy. Let us know if you find anything." He hung up the receiver and sat in the galley, his eyes lowered to the table.
"You must be thinking the same thing I'm thinking," Robin said sadly.
Luffy, who had calmed down since the Den Den Mushi had gone quiet, looked at Robin in worry.
Zoro put his head in his hands. "This is bad."
". . . Tesla did what now?" Franky asked in disbelief.
"Between something Buggy said when we told him it was Tesla who's got them and one of the last things Nami said when she contacted us, we're pretty sure they were force fed Devil Fruits," said Robin. "We know Tesla acquired two Devil Fruits several months ago for his research. Nami suggested Tesla forced the two of them to do something before she was interrupted and all evidence points to that."
"But I don't get it – what purpose would giving them Devil Fruit powers serve?" asked Usopp. "If he wants to keep them from escaping wouldn't that be like handing them loaded guns or something? Now they have something to fight back with! They just need to use their Devil Fruit powers, blast out of there, and they're home free!"
"No, Usopp, this makes it worse," said Robin. "Think about it – if forcing them to eat Devil Fruits was really like handing them loaded guns, they would have been back on the ship a long time ago. There are two reasons Tesla may have done it, and one is making it more difficult for them to escape, not easier. As powerful as Devil Fruit users are, they all share two weaknesses that I'm sure Tesla would exploit to keep them in line."
"The most obvious thing preventing them from escaping is that Tesla is on a pirate ship – he's probably out at sea most of the time, so unless they were able to overpower Tesla's entire crew by themselves that means they would need to get off the ship, and that's a huge risk when it's two Devil Fruit users in a lifeboat," said Brook. "Even if Tesla gave them powerful Devil Fruits, they'd need to escape while they were in a port."
"And then there's seastone – if he has seastone restraints that'll keep them in place. Seastone would do it for anyone who hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit, too, but when you throw in the side effects in has on someone who's got an ability, they aren't going anywhere," said Robin. "If he has them shackled in seastone all the time, they wouldn't have the energy to escape.
"There's also a good chance it's a focal point of Tesla's research. He may have 'needed' them to eat Devil Fruits for whatever it is he's doing to them." The archaeologist closed her eyes and crossed her legs. "However, if we are correct about what Tesla has done, we're going to have another problem on hand once we rescue them. IF Tesla made them eat Devil Fruits, that swings the ratio of Devil Fruit users to swimmers in the wrong direction – even if we don't include Ace that would bring it to a seven to three ratio."
Franky's eyes widened. "That's a big problem. Zoro, Usopp and I are all super swimmers but-"
Luffy growled and slammed his hands on the table and started shouting angrily at his crew. "Then we'll deal with it! I'm not going to leave them behind just because that scientist made them eat Devil Fruits! If we have to we'll just find more people to join our crew who DON'T have powers and are really good at swimming! Sanji is our cook and Nami is our navigator!"
Franky stood and glared back. "Who said I was suggesting we leave them anywhere!"
Bentham put his hands between the two. "Both of you, knock it off!" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, it's a safety risk to only have three swimmers on the crew if the Devil Fruit users outnumber them. However, you're talking about a huge 'what if'. What are the chances ALL of the Devil Fruit users get knocked over board? Robin is very good about avoiding the water and from what I know about Sanji and Nami they'd be smart enough to do the same."
"I love how he put himself in the group that isn't smart enough to avoid water," Ace grumbled.
"Oh, shush! Straw Hat-chan is right – there are plenty of ways to solve that problem. We can get those adorable little rings to throw in the water, find some crew members who are able to swim and help with recovery efforts . . . there are plenty of things we can do to make it work." He frowned. "But this is assuming they want to come back after being rescued."
"Why wouldn't they come back!" Usopp demanded.
Bentham shook his head. "You aren't seeing it from their point of view. We don't know what Tesla's putting them through. They might not be able to handle going back to a pirate lifestyle right away – maybe even never. They may just decide to go back home to their families and try to live quietly. We don't KNOW what kind of horror he put them through!"
"Even with all the bad things that have happened to them before and their ability to recover from those things . . . they might not recover from this right away, if ever," said Chopper. "Not to mention they're going to need constant medical surveillance as soon as we get them back. Tesla could have done things to make them sick or seriously injured them. Even if they wanted to stay with us it might not be safe for us to immediately head back out until I know what he did to them. Honestly, we might need to take them to Drum if Doctorine will let us because the damage could be bad enough that I can't handle it by myself."
Luffy thought about this. "Okay, Chopper, that makes sense. If they're sick, I'll let you decide when it's okay to set sail again. And we'll figure out the rest of it after we get them back. If we have to go back to Nami's village and Sanji's restaurant we can do that, but they would have to stay with us for a while anyways." He crossed his arms. "And besides, if they go back home they'd be giving up their dreams. I don't think they'd like that."
Robin smiled. "I want to see Nami's map."
Franky grinned. "I want to sail Sunny on the All Blue."
Luffy punched his palm. "Let's go get our nakama back!"
October 16
In the months following Sanji and Nami's disappearance, Nojiko had started traveling to the Baratie. Their shared grief had led to a strange friendship between her and some of the cooks. To encourage her to visit more often, Zeff arranged for the restaurant to get regular shipments of tangerines, and maybe Bellemere's grove the primary supplier.
They shared stories about the missing pirates from when they were younger. As a result, Zeff was seeing Nami as less of a cheap, thieving whore (Nojiko had taken great offense to that, saying that last she heard her little sister was still a virgin) and Nojiko had learned Sanji was more than a horny pervert (even though the master chef agreed that was a sizable part of his foster son's personality).
It was on one of these visits that the Den Den Mushi rang at the Baratie and Luffy's voice could be heard on the other side. Zeff heard the rubber man's voice and sat quietly at his desk. "I saw the papers – Marines think they're dead. Do you know different, or are you calling me to tell me you're calling off the search?"
"Never," said Luffy. "I don't care if it takes me forever. But I know what happened."
"You do?" asked Nojiko, her eyes widening and her voice rising. "Are they okay?"
Luffy was quiet, but they could hear him swallow. "No. No they're not."
"What happened, Luffy? Where are they?"
"Thomas Tesla has them," he said. "I'm sorry. I screwed up."
Nojiko had never heard of the man but knew it was bad when she saw the color had drained from Zeff's face. "No, that's got to be a mistake, the baby eggplant wouldn't have messed with THAT man, I TOLD him to avoid that pirate – I TOLD HIM!" The young lady covered her mouth as she stared at Zeff, understanding that whoever this man was, he was bad news.
October 17
"No, no, I've heard of him – I was vaguely aware of his reputation, but mostly I know him as one of my customers. Not sure where he got his ship, but the damn thing is creepy. It's a sizable galleon, and it's filled with all sorts of weird stuff. He or his first mate, a woman named Julia Curie, are always with the men when they go in to look for things that need to be repaired," said Iceburg.
Franky nodded, listening carefully. "When was the last time he was in Water 7?"
"Sometime in the spring – he's been a no-show for a while though, and I'm not sure why," said Iceburg, taking the Den Den Mushi with him to Galley La's records room. "I haven't heard about him getting killed or captured, but he was like clock-work – wanted his ship inspected every three months or so. It's been about six since the last time he showed up."
"That's weird," said Franky. He closed his eyes, trying to think. Why would someone that regular suddenly stop going to Water 7? "We know he's probably alive because we got a call from Nami – she got away from them long enough to get to a Den Den Mushi and cry for help. Poor things. They're all alone in there . . ."
Iceburg got to the records room and went inside. "I'm in the records room – I should be able to pin down the date of their last visit and any notes Paulie and the others took." He opened the file cabinet that held records for the pirate ships Galley La had serviced and started looking for the file on the Newton. "From memory alone I can tell you the ship is called the Newton and flies a Jolly Roger with safety goggles and a pair of test tubes."
"That's good – I've got a pen and paper. Tell me anything and everything you can."
Iceburg found the file and started flipping through pages. "Son of a bitch," he said.
"What's wrong?" asked Franky.
"I think I know why I haven't seen Tesla. Last time he was here was when you and the other Straw Hats last came through looking for Sanji and Nami," said Iceburg. He put the open file down. "I remember while we were discussing what had happened I wasn't paying attention and knocked my coffee over and it got all over a bunch of papers on my desk. And the most recent invoice in Tesla's file has a coffee stain on it."
"You're shitting me."
Iceburg felt a pit in my stomach. "And according to Paulie's notes, Tesla said there were certain parts of the ship the men couldn't go on because they had a live experiment going that they might contaminate AND after he took a trip into town he came back wanting to leave in a hurry." He closed his eyes. "Tesla was trying to keep the men from finding Sanji and Nami. He must have seen your ship or one of you in town and realized he needed make a hasty exit. And if he thinks this is a hangout for the Straw Hat Pirates . . ."
Franky was strangely quiet on the other end of the line, and the mayor of Water 7 felt beside himself. If only he'd had some kind of inkling, maybe he could have done something before they took off. And it looked like whatever had spooked Tesla had scared him enough to keep him from return to Water 7 anytime soon. So now that he knew this information, there wasn't anything his men could do to help.
Unless . . .
Iceburg started looking for blank paper and a pen. "Franky . . . I have the blueprints for the Newton and a record of its current condition including the paint color in the galley and the type of canvas used for the sails. I'm going to send copies to you via messenger bird with as much information on these guys as I have in the office."
October 17
Vivi sat horrified in her bedroom as Usopp relayed the information to her. "Oh my God," she said. She couldn't believe that something so horrible was happening to two of her dearest friends. The princess was shaking from her seat on her bed, horrifying images playing in her thoughts like a picture book she couldn't close. "How can anyone . . . how can anyone . . ."
"We're trying to do what we can to find them – a friend of Franky's is sending us a description of his ship and a picture of their Jolly Roger so we have something to work with, but it's hard to track this guy. We can't exactly trust the word of most other pirates – and even so, most of them haven't heard of Tesla anyways – and the Marines don't actively pursue him because they have far more 'dangerous' pirates to worry about and even if we were to ask them, well, you know how well that would go over."
"So that's it then?" Vivi asked, starting to get upset.
"No way! We are not giving up on them! We're splitting our efforts between two operations – trying to find Tesla so we can rescue Sanji and Nami and then take him out, but we also need to get the ship ready for them when they return because if Zoro and Robin are right about the Devil Fruits we are not equipped to have that many Devil Fruit users on board with only three people who can swim – as it is we're dealing with a dangerous ratio right now and have been for a few months," said Usopp.
"So what are you going to do?" asked Vivi. She had a feeling she knew the answer.
"Probably recruit more crewmates. Franky's trying to figure out the logistics of more bunk space with Robin and Luffy – Sunny's a lot bigger than the Going Merry but we still need to be mindful of space. There just isn't enough room to bring on ten more people or something ridiculous like that. We're thinking maybe four to five people at most. In addition to that we went ahead and got a ton of life rings and all three of us who can swim have been practicing rescue operation with some weighted dummies Franky made."
Vivi bit her bottom lip. She knew in her heart what she wanted to say. She hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit – she could swim just fine and she was probably strong enough to carry Robin or Nami or Chopper with her back to the ship. And if she went, Carue would come with her and Carue could probably carry someone, too. Please let me join your crew again. I want to help.
But she knew she wasn't strong enough to face the kinds of pirates and Marines the Straw Hats would be facing once they crossed into the New World. She'd be a burden there. There was nothing she could do to help her friends while they were being tortured by some mad man – all she could do was sit pretty in her father's palace with all of the comforts the royal lifestyle had to offer. The best clothing. The best food. A huge, luxurious bed to sleep in every night. Servants to tend to her every back and call.
She could only imagine what kind of pit that man was keeping her friends in.
Vivi was trying to hold back the urge to vomit. This wasn't fair. Her friends had done so much to save her country and, knowing Luffy, maybe others as well. They were pirates but they were good people. What had she done? Her people loved her because of her status - no matter how kind she was, she would have been unknown had she not been born into royalty. In the end her infiltration of Baroque Works had basically failed – she and Igaram were only alive because of the Straw Hats. The princess found the strength to speak. She felt like she was only half alive, and her mouth started speaking before she had much chance to think about it. "I'll . . . I'll have Igaram and Chaka keep an eye on the ports and have them hold the ship if he docks here and have it searched. They can stay here at the palace – our doctors can keep an eye on them and I'll get in contact with you so you can come see them."
Right. Because that's all you can do. Have someone else do it for you. What's wrong with you, Vivi? What's WRONG with you! Usopp thanked her, sincerely grateful for what she was offering, but Vivi felt like it wasn't anything at all. She bid her friend goodbye and wished them all the best of luck in their search, then hung up the Den Den Mushi.
She locked the door to her room and sobbed.
October 18
"If I had known what had happened to them . . . I would have never been so callous."
"Doctorine. . ." Chopper's tiny voice came out of the Den De Mushi as Kureha stared at the snail sadly. She'd snapped at Luffy when he insisted on searching for his missing crew members, thinking that they had probably been dead for weeks, but knowing that at least the girl had been alive as of a few days ago and knowing WHO had them made her stomach churn.
"I know OF Tesla – he studied on Drum before he turned to a life of piracy. Not sure where he came from, but one of his professors discovered he was slipping experimental drugs in with patient medicine. He fled with another student by the name of Julia Curie who had been helping him, and a few months later we heard that a wanted poster for him had surfaced," said Kureha.
". . . he studied on Drum."
"He's not exactly our favorite son, no," Kureha said. "It is, however, interesting that your navigator is still alive. From what I've heard, and I don't know if this is true or just a rumor, but Tesla's victims usually don't survive the first day – if that long at all. So it's curious that she's survived for several months."
"She said on the Den Den Mushi that he was hurting them, though."
"I don't doubt that at all, but it's very interesting that she HAS survived. Either Nami has a lot more endurance than most of the pirates who fall into his grasp, or Tesla is doing everything in his power to keep them alive. I wish I could say I hope it's the later, but his reasons for keeping them alive would be to prolong his 'research' – and their suffering."
"Doctorine . . . when we find them, would it be okay if we came to Drum and-"
"It's not even an option – you had BETTER bring them here. Dalton knows about their disappearance so he could probably find a way to hide your ship for a while until they recovered. After all, your captain DID defeat Wapol once and for all. Students are finally coming back to the island to study medicine, and some of the banished doctors have heard that Wapol is gone and little by little they've returned home as well. At least, the ones Wapol didn't kill have arrived."
She could almost hear Chopper smile. "Thank you, Doctorine."
December 23
The Straw Hats weren't sure if they should celebrate Christmas or not.
Zoro came back to the ship with several bottles of eggnog and rum while the others were on a supply run. Bentham had been watching the ship alone, and was surprised to see the swordsman return with something that festive to the ship. "I wasn't sure we were celebrating this year," the okama kenpo master said quietly.
"Sanji loves this stuff," said Zoro. He looked at one of the bottles of eggnog. "He was in a festive mood, and maybe had been knocking the stuff back for a little while, but last Christmas he told me I should have some. I kind of scoffed at it until he told me there was plenty of rum, so the two of us just sat in the galley downing eggnog and rum for a few hours." He closed his eyes. "It was the longest conversation we'd had that we weren't at each other's throats."
Bentham looked at the swordsman with interest. "Well, what did you talk about?"
"Little bit of everything. Women, some of the fights we'd been in and some of the stranger styles we'd seen, stuff like that. He asked me why I wanted to be the world's greatest swordsman, and I asked him about All Blue, and for a few hours we were buds. Of course the next day we were trying to kill each other again but . . . it's probably my happiest memory with him."
"Despite how poorly you two got along, you really miss him, don't you?"
Zoro lowered his eyes. "I regret fighting with him like I did. I mean, I don't think we'll ever stop fighting like the way we used to all the time, but I think . . . I think I want to come to an understanding with him. I want to have more memories like that night we drank eggnog and talked about everything. I don't want things to end between us with him thinking I'm just the stupid swordsman that called him Dart Brow all the time."
"So let's go have a drink for him, and by next Christmas he'll be able to have some, too."
January 4
Luffy had been struggling with feelings of helpless and worthlessness for almost a year now, and the headlines on the newspaper that morning had poured salt into the wound. It made his heart nearly stop, and he couldn't believe that this was happening to him again while they were still trying to find a trace of Sanji and Nami.
ARABASTA PRINCESS DISAPPEARS AGAIN – SUSPECTED KIDNAP VICTIM.
Even if she wasn't with them on the ship and wasn't traveling with them, Vivi and Carue were just as much a part of his crew and Sanji and Nami were as far as Luffy was concerned, so now he suddenly had three members of his crew missing. He'd brought the newspaper into the galley so no one else would see it – he had to figure out how to break the news to them.
"Damn, now the princess is gone, too?" Luffy barely had time to react before Ace picked up the paper and looked at it, a sad look in his eyes. He sighed, put his hand on his brother's shoulder, and squeezed. He read over the article and sighed. "That doesn't make any sense. She went into town with the duck – with a royal escort, no less – and poof, she vanishes? Again?"
"I don't know why it happened. I don't know if she did this on her own or if someone took her," said Luffy. Ace had to give his brother that – it wasn't as if Vivi disappearing on her own was exactly unprecedented. Everyone knew she had vanished for the two years of the Arabasta Civil War (although very few knew WHY) and that she had been a physical no-show for her coming of age ceremony.
Then again, maybe someone thinks, now that the country is almost back on its feet again, the Nelfeltari family is a good target for ransom, he wondered. Vivi was a princess, after all – there were probably plenty of bad guys who would have plenty of reasons to hold her captive. So Luffy was absolute right – there was no telling why this happened.
"Why does everyone I love go away?" Luffy asked. He felt tears building up, but struggled to hold them in. "First Sabo, then Sanji and Nami, and now Vivi, too?" Ace felt a pain in his heart at the mention of the third brother, and knelt down to hug Luffy. "Sanji and Nami disappearing were my fault. Is Vivi going away punishment for that?"
"I'm sure Vivi's disappearance has nothing to do with cosmic retribution for Sanji and Nami's disappearance, and what happened to them wasn't your fault, either. So you spent all of your money on something silly – it happens. We're PIRATES, not accountants. You think Whitebeard makes nothing but good decisions? Oh HELL no! He has these nurses - very, very hot nurses, Sanji would adore them. And do you have any idea how much he spends on their wardrobe and cosmetic budget? Marco and I have to fight him to keep our shipwright's tools in good working condition but the minute one of them chips a nail? Fuck those bitches. And don't even get me STARTED on his booze budget."
Luffy didn't seem very amused. "I know you're trying to cheer me up but it's not working. Thank you, though." He stayed quiet for a few minutes, then looked at Ace sadly. "I know Whitebeard keeps sending messenger birds asking you to go back. I . . . I want you here, but I know that this isn't your crew and you should probably go home before he gets mad."
"Don't be stupid – you're my brother, of course I'm going to stay here."
Luffy shook his head. "Ace, you've done more than enough for us. This isn't your crew. This isn't your problem. As much as I want you here, you're NEEDED elsewhere." He gave his older brother a hug, resting his head on his shoulder. "We'll figure something out. You've been a great substitute navigator – I'm sure Nami will be glad to know you kept us from crashing into rocks and islands for this long."
Ace wanted to protest, but he knew Luffy was right. His brother's wasn't always the brightest apple in the orchard (really, he rarely was) but something he just got things right, and this was one of those rare instances. "I'll . . . I'll take the next week to finish training Robin and Benny how to navigate. So you're stuck with me for a little while longer. Okay?" Luffy nodded before burying his face in his brother's shoulder again, quietly enjoying the moment and the comfort it was giving him.
"I'm not leaving you alone. Sabo's watching over you from Heaven."
Luffy took comfort in the notion that at least one of his brothers was going to stay.
February 1
The one year anniversary arrived. The Thousand Sunny remained eerily quiet that day.
Luffy sat on the railing, silently watching Sanji and Nami arguing as they walked away from the ship. It was supposed to be a simple operation, but they were walking into something awful that none of the other Straw Hats could comprehend. The rubber man kept mouthing the words "Don't go" and "Come back" as tears streamed down his face.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. Behind him was Zoro, a solemn look on his face. Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, and Bentham were all there as well, just as sad and solemn as the swordsman. Luffy quietly got down from his perch to join his friends. They huddled into a group hug, quietly comforting each other.
Even with two of their members gone, there were still eight Straw Hats on the Thousand Sunny.
March 18
Word on the high seas was that Tesla was searching for Devil Fruits again.
Gin reported word that a pair of specimen had escaped from Tesla, but never made it to safety. Another ship had picked them up, babbling and crazy, but they hadn't survived the night. "I don't know that it was them . . . they were both bald and skinny, but whoever picked them up said they had numbers on the backs of their necks."
Buggy heard that as well. "I'm sorry, Luffy – I don't see any other reason for Tesla to be looking."
None of the Straw Hats wanted to voice what it meant, but they all knew.
Sanji and Nami were dead.
And all that meant to Tesla was that it was time to get new victims.
November 2
The Straw Hats found themselves an isolated island with a good source of fresh water, animals to hunt for food, and vegetation to cook with. It had been their home for the past several months, and gave them a quiet place to mourn their friends. Eventually they wanted to take revenge on Tesla, but Luffy wanted to wait for everyone to have time to heal before they even thought about making a plan of attack.
They did agree on one thing – Tesla was to be killed on sight.
Bentham and Brook put themselves in charge of taking care of the crew. Although they were still hurt by what had happened, they didn't know Sanji and Nami as well as the others had and were able to keep themselves together better than the rest of the Straw Hats – especially Luffy. They made sure everyone ate properly (because even their captain wasn't hungry some days) and took turns keeping watch for other pirate ships and Marine vessels.
It took a long time, but after most of the crew was starting to feel a little "normal" again, they had finally begun to make plans to try and fulfill their fallen crewmate's dreams: Sanji's was easy enough – find the All Blue – but no one was sure what they were going to do about Nami's map. Did they leave what she had done alone, or did they find a skilled cartographer to finish it for her? None of them knew how to draw maps like she could. And they all agreed it would be awkward to have someone else finish it for her, but what else could they do for (and Sanji, for that matter – they would need to make sure All Blue ended up on that map, wherever it was).
And, speaking of . . .
"We . . . need to start thinking about getting a new cook and a new navigator," said Luffy. It was dinner time, and everyone was having something Robin had come up with using some of the tangerines from Nami's trees. It was tasty, but the mention of bringing on a new cook and a new navigator stunned the crew to silence.
"Are you insane! We can't replace Sanji and Nami!" Chopper cried.
Luffy stood and shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying. We're never going to find another Sanji and we're not going to find another Nami. But we can't just stay here for the rest of our lives – we need to keep going. They'd hate us forever if they knew we were giving up our dreams because we were sad about them. And in order to do that we need someone who can cook and someone who can navigate. We're doing okay by ourselves but not for the long haul. We need to find people to fill those jobs, not those people."
"Luffy's right – they had two very important jobs on this ship and we need to find people who can fill those positions. No one here likes to cook and certain people's cooking has gotten us sick before. We're damn LUCKY the ship hasn't crashed or capsized or ended up in the middle of the Calm Belt but that luck won't last forever. This is about survival," said Zoro. He closed his eyes. "You know I'm right."
Usopp closed his eyes. "It's going to be so weird having those people around."
Robin looked away from the table. "There's no choice in the matter. We have to."
Franky looked at one of the Sunny's support beams with a frown on his face. He sighed. "If something happened to me, I'd be furious if you guys didn't find a good shipwright to take care of Sunny. Swordsman-bro is right – we all have jobs to do on this ship and we all do them because it's what we love and what we're good at and what helps keep our crazy little family together."
The crew looked around the galley. It was sickening to imagine there'd be a different cook standing in Sanji's kitchen, because that would always be his special place on the ship. And no one like the idea of someone else navigating the ship in Nami's place. It just wouldn't be the same without them. And know why they weren't with them anymore . . .
"So then that settles it. Next time we get to port we-"
There was a knock on the galley door. The Straw Hats froze. All eight of them were in the galley. Who could possibly be outside? Zoro was about to get up to investigate, but Luffy held up his hand and went instead. No. If the person on the other side of that door was dangerous, he would rather but himself in danger than risk losing anymore of his crew.
The rubber man opened the door, and his jaw dropped. "What . . . what are you doing here?"
The visitor grinned. "It's been a while, Luffy."
Author's Notes
Although I suppose it's possible you guys could guess who the visitor is, I'm not going to share their identity just yet. However, you will know who it is (or at the very least it should be very easy to GUESS who it is) early on in the next story.
Hope you enjoyed "Sought"!
-Dixxy