A/N: Hello again!
After a bit of lovey-dovey time with Luffy and Galette, things are a whole lot less awkward, but is this the end of hardships for Luffy and crew? What new challenges will Luffy be faced with? Find out!
I do not own One Piece, It belongs to Eiichiro Oda
When Luffy and Galette return to Whole Cake Chateau later that night, they arrive just in time for dinner. When they enter the dining room, it appears that they have missed the food's little "dinner" routine, but plates are sitting and the food is humming quietly at two empty places at the table. Luffy sits down at his place with Zoro to his left and Nami at his right, while Galette sits at the place closer to where Big Mom is sitting.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma! How was your day with Galette, Straw Hat? I hope you two got to know each other better!" Big Mom asks from the other end of the table. Luffy smiles brightly and answers truthfully,
"It was nice! We had a good time!" He says with an innocent smile. Galette looks silently pleased with herself at his answer.
"Oi, you two look kinda tan, Tan for you at least, Luffy. Where were you guys?" Zoro asks as he sees the slightly darker coloring of his Captain's arms and Galette's somewhat darker shade of skin off on the table's other end.
"Oh, we were on the beach together." Luffy answers before returning his attention to the plate in front of him. The meat dish being served is a rare treat in the sweet-themed kingdom, so Luffy is understandably eager to chomp down on some of his all time favorite food. Before he gets the chance, however, Nami notices something different about her Captain's as well, and brings it up immediately.
"Luffy, wait. Your lips…Are you wearing lipstick?" She asks, drawing the entire table's attention to Luffy.
"Huh? No." He answers simply and a bit confused to be asked something like that.
"Then why are your lips so…bright pink?" She asks. All the Straw Hats, Buggy Pirates, and Charlotte Family members present try to lean in to get a better look, even Big Mom from the other end of the room. Some are simply too far across the long table to get a good look, but they can see even from where they are that his lips are brighter than normal.
"What? Really?" Luffy asks, genuinely confused in tone. Galette suddenly realizes exactly why Luffy's lips are that color, and her face starts to match them as she tries to keep her head low. Big Mom's red nosed, witch-like daughter retrieves a mirror from under her coat and hands it to a Chess Peacekeeper.
"Give this to Straw Hat so he can see his pink lips." She says with a mischievous smile that implies she may have a conclusion of her own.
"Yes Ms. Brûlée." The Chess Peacekeeper says before delivering the mirror hastily to Luffy. He looks in it and gets a good look at his face.
"Oh, yeah. I see what you mean…" He says, Galette only getting more embarrassed the longer it all goes on. Luffy puckers his lips to get a better look them. Then, Luffy swiftly ruins any subtlety or mystery left in the situation.
My lips look like Gal-y's.!" He says. Pretty much the entire table figures it out right then and there. The Straw Hats and Buggy Pirates are quite surprised, Brook nearly chokes on his food (not that he can choke, being a skeleton and all), and Sanji has to cover his eyes with his sleeve while crying softly and cursing under his breath,
"Dammit.! Damn it all.!" He mutters, his food complaining as he cries onto it. The rest of the Charlotte Family are more or less indifferent to it (with exception of the sister with the sharp teeth and panda hat sitting next to Galette, who bumps Galette with her elbow and teases her), except for Big Mom, who seems rather satisfied with the conclusion and perhaps even a bit excited about it.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma-hahaha! I am so very glad to see you two getting along! You'll both have plenty of time for that after the ceremony though! Ma-ma-ma-ma-hahaha!" She bellows, her comment going completely over Luffy's head and causing Galette to nearly die of embarrassment.
Once the awkward dinner is over, Luffy starts making his way back to his room with Chopper in tow, but finds a surprise guest waiting for him when he arrives in front of his door.
"Oh, hey Doggy! What're you doing here?" Luffy asks, delighted but confused to see him standing there.
"Hello, Straw Hat. I wish to request something of you." Dogtooth states in a stern and very matter-of-fact way.
"Okay, what's up?" Luffy asks with a smile.
"Will you spar with me tomorrow? I want to see the full extent of that Venom Venom Fruit ability of yours, and determine how you stack up against my own abilities." Dogtooth says, serious as ever. Luffy remembers that Dogtooth had said something about wanting to test his abilities in a fight at the Tea Party, and it was a prospect Luffy was admittedly looking forward to when he originally suggested it. With all the complicated stuff going on since he got there, he had totally forgotten, but now he would be glad to test his strength and Dogtooth's as well. Plus, he had forged a lot of friendships thus far through sharing a battlefield, so he hoped this would be no different.
"Yeah, let's do it!" Luffy says with excitement written all over his face. Dogtooth nods stoically in response before turning and walking away, likely to go back to doing whatever he has been doing all the time he is not with his family and everyone else.
"I wonder what Doggy's 'power' is? Big Mom said he can use Conqueror's Haki like me, but I wonder if he has a Devil Fruit…" Luffy mutters to himself in curiosity as Dogtooth turns a corner down the hall and moves out of sight.
"Heh, I'd heard you were reckless, but you really must be a fool, Straw Hat…" a voice says from behind where Luffy and Chopper are standing. They turn to see the son with the purple rolled hair with a devious, face-splitting grin as he leans against the wall with arms crossed.
"Huh? What you mean, Purple Guy?" Luffy asks. His smile disappears for a moment when he hears Luffy call him "Purple Guy," but responds anyway.
"First, my name is Charlotte Cracker. Second and more importantly, Brother Dogtooth has never once lost a fight, ever! Anyone dumb enough to challenge him to a fight usually doesn't walk away, and those that do certainly don't as winners." Cracker explains, accompanying his words with a smarmy chuckle.
"Just thought I should give fair warning. If you're going to be my brother-in-law, I suppose I at least owe you that. Hahaha!" Cracker says as he walks past Luffy and Chopper's room. Luffy opens the door to his room as Chopper steps in behind him.
"Wow! Doggy's never lost a fight before?! That's pretty impressive, but I guess that's what we should expect from a high ranking member of an Emperor's crew!" Chopper says, torn between terror and amazement.
"Yeah! But that's usually how it is with people who can use Conqueror's Haki! It's called that for a reason, you know?" Luffy says.
"People with Conqueror's Haki are the type to never lose!" Luffy adds as Chopper tilts his head in response.
"But Luffy, you've lost before…" He says. Luffy chuckles, it was true, but he cannot help but find the situation funny.
"Yeah, I guess you're right! Shishishishi!" He laughs. The two share a nice laugh together over it, even though it is probably not something they should be laughing about.
A/N: Luffy has been challenged by a strong opponent, and given a chance to display his power, but has he bitten off more than he can chew? Will he able to stand up to an elite member of an Emperor's crew? You'll have to stick around to find out! As a side note, I have good news for fans of the story, starting next week, the upload schedule will change from Mondays and Wednesdays to Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday! Hooray! But for now, while you wait, don't forget to Follow, Favorite, and Review!