A/N: Hello again!
Another chapter ready to go for you all. Things are building toward the meeting toward Big Mom and Luffy, and it will not be long now before things kick off.
I do not own One Piece, it is the property of Eiichiro Oda
With the group boarding the Poison Moon, they make preparations to leave for Whole Cake Island as the Straw Hats are guided on board by the accompanying pirates. Buggy ends up sitting on the barrel he had earlier in the journey while Luffy takes a seat on the figurehead, as usual. Mont-d'Or goes up to Buggy and they begin to talk, while Galette stands alone on the deck. Luffy sits contemplatively, staring out at the horizon and stubbornly thinking about how much he does not want to be here right now. He has no problem forging alliances, after all, more allies means more friends, right? But this is different, the way Buggy says it makes it sound like Big Mom is more interested in getting subordinates rather than gaining allies. That's no good! He will not be bossed around by anyone! He'll be the King of the Pirates, the man with the most freedom in the world! And marriage? Luffy does not want to be tied down, even if he finds that "special someone," he would like to at least wait until after he becomes King of the Pirates to start a family. Then again, he is not totally opposed, he supposed. He would like to have a son or daughter some day, like Ace with his father. He never understood Ace's hatred toward his father Roger, how cool was it that his father was King of the Pirates?! Maybe he should ask Ace again sometime. Actually, he better not, after all. Last time he talked about it with him Ace beat him up. Luffy is snapped out of his thoughts when he senses someone approaching the front of the ship, his Observation Haki flaring up since someone is coming toward him from behind, it just being instinct at this point, thanks to his training. He can detect and distinguish the presence of each person on the ship, so he knows before they finish approaching or even start speaking that the one approaching is Galette. She hesitates for only a moment, but seems to exude assuredness as she speaks up,
"So, you are Straw Hat, grandson of Garp the Fist and son of the Revolutionary Dragon. It's good to finally meet you. You and your group created quite a stir two years ago." She says to Luffy, who does not turn to face her or even really react.
"Yeah." Luffy does eventually reply simply. Galette decides to continue to speak with him, just as confident and sure of herself.
"Mama'll be glad to finally meet you, she was already a little impressed when you arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago with a bounty of three hundred and fifty million Beri. Even amongst the Worst Generation you stood out, and after that rescue attempt you launched at Marineford…well, we all were impressed to see a rookie pirate manage to rescue Fire Fist Ace. Even against the Admirals and the rest of the Marines, you pulled it off." Luffy is not even sure how he could even be a part of this conversation. It may be about his exploits, but the way Galette is talking reminds of the lectures Nami has given him in the past. What could he even say about this other than "Yes" and "That's me."? Regardless, he remembered how important Buggy made it sound that he not be rude or screw this up, so he decides to try his best, to a degree.
"He was my brother, I'd be damned if I were to just let him die. I had to do something." He replies. Galette chuckles a bit,
"I know the feeling, I can be quite protective of my siblings, and they of me as well." She adds. Luffy clearly does not want to say anything more on the subject, he is reminded how terrified he was during the whole thing. How close Ace came to dying several times during the war, and he did not want to think about Whitebeard and his fate either. He did not know the Old Man well, but if there was an Emperor he wanted to ally with (besides possibly Shanks, though it may ruin their dynamic), it would have been him. He also felt he owed a bit of a debt to the geezer for how much he helped him save Ace, which was only another good reason to lay out Blackbeard some day for killing him and taking the Quake Quake Fruit's power from himself. Galette picks up on Luffy's desire to not want to talk about it anymore, so she quickly changes the subject.
"Meanwhile, your group is responsible for the reemergence of White Lead in the Black Market, that's quite impressive that you are able to do so without contracting White Lead Disease." Luffy is a bit surprised to hear she, and presumably the rest of the Big Mom Pirates, know that they are responsible for the White Lead sales. His face shows it for a moment, but Galette does not see this since Luffy has not yet torn his eye-line from the horizon. Luffy does not respond, but he cannot help but be impressed with the Big Mom Pirates now, at least a bit. Not even the Government has figured out where all the White Lead is coming from yet.
"Land ho!" One of the hazmat-suited Straw Hats call out as Whole Cake Island appears on the horizon. Of course Luffy already saw it, since he has been starring out in that direction the entire boat ride. Galette turns and walks away with a slight chuckle, and goes to join Mont-d'Or and Buggy in the middle of the deck, where they both moved over to almost on cue. Luffy adjusts his tie, preparing to muster up as much patience as he possibly can and utilize an adult's number one skill, pretending to enjoy being somewhere they do not want to be. The Poison Moon docks on Whole Cake Island, while the pirates and Chess Peacekeepers lead Mont-d'Or and Galette off the ship, who in turn lead Luffy and Buggy. Once they get off, the siblings have Straw Hats stay on the boat and have their own crew stay behind as well. They take the Chess Peacekeeper this time as they approach the large cake shaped castle in the distance. As they are walking, Buggy leans into Luffy's ear
"Don't forget." He whispers plainly.
"Yeah, I know, Buggy." Luffy whispers back, not even looking at Buggy. Buggy detaches his gloved hand and grips it around Luffy's cheek, pinching his face together.
"I'm serious, I expect you to be on your very best behavior.! Even if we walk away empty-handed, it's most important that we walk away at all.! So don't. Anger. Big. Mom.!" Buggy whisper-shouts.
"(I know.!)" Luffy whisper-screams back, unable to speak clearly because of his pinched face.
"You promise.?!" Buggy asks, trying to keep his voice down.
"(I promise.!)" Luffy replies. Buggy lets go of his face as Luffy turns back to face the group leading them. Buggy knows even a promise from Luffy is not worth much in a situation like this, but getting him to at least say it is half the battle.
"Oh, one more thing…" Buggy says as Luffy turns to face him.
"Do not mention Red Hair.!" Buggy whispers with a rather scary expression on his face.
"What.? Why not.?!" Luffy asks, confused and bit pissed off at this point.
"Because! Big Mom and Red Hair are Emperors.! Everyone knows the Emperors hate each other.! Red Hair is at least civil with them, but Big Mom certainly isn't.! If you mention that Red Hair is your friend, she might kill us both, so don't mention it, okaaaayyyyy.?!" Buggy explains, whisper-screaming once again.
"Fine, Fine.! Jeez…" Luffy whispers as they both turn to look straight ahead again.
After twenty minutes of walking, Luffy realizes how much he misses his sandals. These fancy black shoes have been hurting his feet since he got off the ship, in fact, they have been hurting since he got on the boat at Karaibari. What he would not give to just kick them off and walk the rest of the distance in his socks, or barefoot most preferably. Buggy would shout at him and it would make a bad impression, so he keeps the thought to himself, but the urge only grows.
After about fifteen more minutes of walking, they enter what they assume to be the main town of island. The streets are lined with people of all ages and races gawking at the group, Luffy notices humans, minks, even fishmen and merfolk, but the race he does not see around are giants. He wonders why there are not any giants present, and thinks about how many giants he has run into since he left home. Dory, Brogy, Oimo, Kashi, Oars Jr., Hajrudin and the other giants working for Buggy, quite a bit for someone like him, but not a single one here that he can see. Luffy puts the thought out of his head and continues walking while listening in on the gasping citizens. At first, he is hearing adoration and praise for "The Scribe" Mont-d'Or and "The Great Bounder" Galette, though the praise is not unexpected, as their mother is the Queen of this land, after all. However, he starts hearing different chatter soon after.
"And that's Straw Hat, the Super Rookie! He's the front-runner of the Worst Generation!" A man says.
"Plus the Star Clown is with him! They run the Straw Hat Delivery! They must be Big Mom's last couple guests for the Tea Party!" A mink woman also says.
"How prestigious today's Tea Party must be! Only big names are attending!" A Longarm man says with his long arms in the air. The comments serve to only puff up Buggy's ego, as evident by his confident stride and self-satisfied expression. Luffy, however, decides not to react, even though he is a bit proud of himself for becoming so notorious. Finally, the group arrives at the castle, staring down a rather imposing door guarded only by a single Chess Peacekeeper. The Peacekeepers escorting the four step aside and let Mont-d'Or and Galette through to the front. The two are given a quick but thorough pat down by the Peacekeepers before they are allowed to join Mont-d'Or and Galette.
"Open the gate!" Galette commands, and Chess Peacekeeper guarding the entryway salutes and calls for the gate to be opened. It opens rather slowly, displaying the sheer weight of the door to take so long to open, and the group files in once the entrance is wide enough to use.
A/N: As the Tea Party approaches, how will it all go? Will Luffy be able to keep up his serious persona, or will he just be Luffy as usual? Find out next time! Not much else to say about this one, so for now, just look forward to the next one! And thank you all for the follows and favorites, don't think I don't appreciate all of your support!