Cinnamon-Fudg3 - Nah, it's not that bad, but now that the school started I will probably update every 3 days or so…, it will depend on how much work we will have. It can be sooner or it can be later.
lany-chan – even as interesting as it would be, they won't try to kill Shanks, but that doesn't mean they can't imagine the torture they would gladly put him through xD
Last time:
"What makes you think they don't want to kill you already yoi." I couldn't help but ask. Shanks looked sheepish and started scratching his head. I wasn't the only one the narrow eyes at his nervousness. 'What did he do this time?'
Marco's POV (continuing from where we left of)
"Before that, shouldn't Luffy come? I mean she wanted to say something as well. And she would be the one, to explain the best. Right?" I narrowed my eyes as he looked at the ginger-haired girl pleading. "Are you serious? Luffy explaining would end in even bigger mess. Trust me. You don't want to let Luffy explain things, ever." Instead of the girl, answered green-haired guy and I thought why he looked familiar. He's pirate, so it must have been a bounty.
"Shanks, stop avoiding the question and start spilling. And who are these two? I'm sure they weren't on your crew before." Pops asked and for some reason Shanks complied. "Those two are part of Strawhats, their captain has something to speak to you about, so I brought them with me." Why would he bring rookies with him? That doesn't make sense, maybe Shanks went finally insane.
"And you would bring them with you why exactly? And if their captain wants to speak with me, why he isn't here?" Pops asked getting impatient with the lack of answers. As my captain ask the last one, Shanks turned questioningly on the Strawhats. "Captain is napping." we blinked disbelievingly, it's twelve o'clock, you don't sleep in this time of day! Then I looked at Ace and Sabo and added 'at least normal people'.
"What? Still! I thought…" seems we weren't the only one thinking it weird. "If you want, you can always wake her up." said Nami and Shanks paled. "No, it's not… I mean we can wait, HAHAHA." Shanks wildly gesticulate with hand and was very… scared? at the thought of waking her up.
"Are you scared of female, Shanks? That's first!" Pops said laughing. At least someone is amused with the situation. "Try saying that after you wake her up." mumbled Shanks. "Pops, marines are closing on us!" interrupted voice coming from crow nest. 'Can this get any weirder?'
"Don't worry about them, they won't attack. These are my personal stalkers." Shanks said proudly which resulted in him getting hit from both Benn and ginger-haired chick, the last one adding "Start taking this seriously!" and Shanks hastily nodded. It seems he listens to her, most likely not wanting to get hit again.
"Well you see, about few weeks ago came one blond marine, saying he has mission to follow us, because the government is fearing we might make an alliance to bring them down or some shit. His superior asked of him to speak with us about the situations and to stay with us aboard and I agreed to this request." Shanks announced, finally making at least a little sense.
"Request, my ass. That was order if I ever heard one." Benn mumbled under his nose, but not quietly enough and Shanks gave him dark look shouting 'murder'. The Strawhats snickered, highly amused with this.
"Huh, Shanks you're already here?" asked Ace waking up,… before promptly falling asleep again. "*Yawn*, hi Shanks." said the second troublemaker before falling asleep as well. Seriously, those two brothers. The other commanders didn't have the same qualms as me and started openly laughing at their antics. Pops chose to ignore them altogether.
"And about the marines… Well their captain that was with the marines stalking me. Only she didn't want to be a marine, so while being one she found her crewmembers and they became pirates, but it was all hush, hush. Only little while ago told the marines on that ship" he said and pointed at the marine ship coming closer "that she quits being marine. For some reason the guys still listens to her, so they didn't report HQ about her and they act like she's still one of them. Did I get that right, Nami?"
The girl, Nami, nodded her head. "Yes, you only left out few parts, but basically, that's what happened." she said, but didn't add what she claimed Shanks left out.
"And now, would you tell me why did you want to meet?" Pops asked, when Shanks asked for meeting he was mysterious and annoying until Whitebeard agreed. "I didn't, but the marines said we are meeting, so I thought I would humor them." that just didn't left his mouth, who am I kidding its Shanks. 'This is exactly something he would do.' I thought exasperated.
I wasn't the only one developing twitch. Benn looked both amused and ready to strangle him at the same time, while Nami looked only the second part. Pops looked like he seriously wanted to beat him until he regained some sense. "But that doesn't change the fact Anchor wants to speak with you." he said and for some reason Nami calmed down, but was the only one.
"I'm sorry for my captain's stupidity. And I think it would be for the best if I was the one talking." Benn said covering Shanks mouth. "That would be great idea yoi." thankful for Benn, he was probably the sanest in Shanks crew and definitely most mature.
Benn than proceed to explain the things so everyone could understand. He told us about Sanji, the kid who spent time on their ship and we finally found out why has rookie crew with him. This Luffy is lucky kid, to befriend Yonko at such young age and made impression on him enough to save her even if it meant losing one arm. Pops looked intrigued by this brat as well. If his expression wouldn't give him away then his question definitely would.
"You said, the brat was napping, can't you wake her up?" he asked and once again Shanks paled, only this time Strawhats paled as well. Before someone could question them about their weird behavior we heard painful yell.
As one we turned to the marine ship, only to see young girl walking leisurely to us. She looked like she just woke up. Completely disregarding us she went to Nami asking where others are, but before the girl could answer Namur said angered "Who do you think you are? Barging on our ship without invite or greeting. This is Whitebeard's ship, so stop being rude and pay some respect to him as a captain!" and pointed at Pops, marking him as the captain.
"Oh, this is not Red Force! I thought it looked little different!" she exclaimed "Is she serious?" uttered one of the commanders not believing. The girl then turned to Whitebeard and the Red-haired pirates as well as Strawhats tensed, she looked at him mutely, blinking. "You can't be Whitebeard." she said pointing at him. Pops raised an eyebrow. "Why couldn't I be?" he asked interested.
"Isn't it obvious? How can you be a Whitebeard when you don't have beard. If anything it should be mustache not a beard." she said confused. I paused, did she really said that? I glanced at my brothers, but if their twitching bodies on ground, as they fallen anime-style, were any indication I heard right.
I was about to say something, thought I wasn't sure what when Nami punched her on the head. "Luffy! This is one of the Yonko, stop being rude and apologize to him, before he kills us all!" she yelled at the poor girl. I stared at them, choosing to find this amusing. Then with a start I realized she called her Luffy. Is this their captain?
"But Nami~ it's true! Besides Shanks is a Yonko as well and you don't mind if I'm rude to him." The girl whined and got another punch from Nami. "You just can't Luffy, so stop picking fights!" Nami yelled exasperated. "Fine I get it." Luffy gave up.
"Sorry old man for telling you, you can't be Whitebeard, it was rude." she said standing before all us. Nami face-palmed, not bothering anymore and Shanks laughed. "Oh, by the way I'm Luffy. Nice to meet you." she introduced herself. I wondered if this girl is brave, fearless or stupid for not fearing us even a little. If the impression I have is right, then it's combination of all. No wonder Shanks likes her.
"Cheeky brat, nice to meet you as well. I heard already about you from Benn and Shanks a little." Pops laughed. "Oh, really." was her uninterested reply. "I heard that you were a marine, but find that too boring so you became pirate. Is that true?" Pops inquired her. "Of course it is. Marines are boring! They always had to stick to stupid rules. Being pirate is way better, this way I can go on many adventures and kick ass to anyone I don't like." she said grinning and I smiled shaking my head, this girl is something else.
"Luffy, you beat up everyone you didn't like, even as marine." Zoro pointed out. "True, but do you know how many paperwork I had to do if I kicked someone they considered my superior!" Thatch chuckled next to me, already liking the girl.
"'They considered superior', what exactly do you mean by that little one?" Pops asked interested in her answer. "I'm not little, you're just too big!" she answered hotly and everyone chuckled. "I never call someone who hurts his nakama, or using his rank or title to do whatever he feels like, my superior." she answered seriously and in that moment I taken liking to her as well. Pops was already lost cause since the moment he heard of her from Shanks.
Luffy's POV
I like these pirates, but they are asking such dumb questions, but they seem to share my opinion about 'superiors'. "Uhmm, Whitebeard-san, can I have permission to come aboard?" asked Arittaka from marine ship. I wasn't the only one taken aback by the politeness. "Permission granted." grumbled giant-ossan.
"Oi, Arittaka finally joining us I see." I said to him playfully only for him to scold me."This is your fault! If you didn't beat Leo and thrown him into ocean I would be already here!" he yelled at me, but like heck I'm just going to take it. It was Leo's fault in the first place.
"It's his mistake. If he didn't try to wake me I would have let him alone!" I defended myself. "How can you blame him? He just tried to wake you, so you could talk with Whitebeard as you wanted." he said a bit calmer this time. We were so engrossed in our discussion we didn't notice everyone chuckling at us.
"I can and am blaming him! He had marker in his hand ready to draw on my face. So forgive me for being harsher then normally." I said to him pouting. "Arittaka, everyone who knows Luffy long enough, knows not to wake her up. The guy had it coming." Nami said apologizing and Ari just sighed, accepting his defeat.
"I'm sorry for being so rude in front of you before even introducing myself. I'm Captain Arittaka and currently the one in charge of supervising this meeting." he said while bowing to giant-ossan and I pouted. "You're young to have such high rank. Your skills must be really good. Nice to meeting you as well." Whitebeard said to him.
"I'm thankful for your kind words, but as hard as it is to admit, it's only because Luffy trained me." he threw me grateful gaze I didn't really deserve. "Don't put everything on me. If you didn't have the skills to begin with I couldn't really do too much with you." I said shrugging, the Whitebeards threw me gazes of pure disbelieve.
"Shouldn't it be the other way? You training her yoi." asked the pineapple-haired dude. Uhh, I'm starting to get hungry, when was the last time I ate? "No, and officially she still has higher rank than me, because no one really knows she's pirate now."Ari said. "Didn't you say you're captain? Then what would that make her? An Admiral?" asked the fishmen guy. I wonder if he knows Jimbei. That would be cool.
"Don't underestimate her just because of her looks. She can and will kick your ass if you make her." Zoro said, not really threatening, but it held a warning note. The guy snorted not amused by what Zoro said. "Namur, you know that in New World underestimating your opponent could get you killed." said guy with pompadour hair and when Namur glared at him he added "I'm not saying that she can kick your ass, just don't underestimate her."
"Namur, Thatch is right and don't be rude to her just because she didn't pay respect to pops earlier yoi." the pineapple said again and calming the two staring men. "Now would you tell us about your rank at marines? You got us interested in the answer Luffy-san." he said to me and I made face.
"It's Luffy. Don't add anything to it. And I was Vice-Admiral." he blinked once, twice, the others stared at me with opened mouths. "Huh, did I say something wrong?" I tilted my head, confused at their reactions. "No, Luffy. They only don't understand how someone so young has rank like that. I would have thought you would get it by now. After all, you're Vice-Admiral for what? Two years?" Nami asked me.
"Well I asked ji-chan, but he always told me it's an adult thing. And it's only years and half." I pouted at Nami. "Trust that old goat, to say things like that and not explain." she grumbled. "She was Vice-Admiral? For real?" asked big guy with two swords strapped to his waste. I finally remembered Robin showed me photos of most of the commanders and tried to recall his name. 'Vosta? Vesta? Nah,… Vista!'
"So Luffy, what did you do to deserve that title?" asked Whitebeard curious and he wasn't the only one I never told my nakama either. "Right Luffy, you never really told us. What happened?" asked Zoro and Nami added. "If she was someone else I would said she used her connections to her 'Uncle' and 'Grandpa', but knowing her and them, that's not an option." Everyone looked even more curious, especially when Nami mentioned Uncle and Ji-chan.
"I never really did say it to anyone." I said sheepishly, remembering what happened. "It was just bet I won, nothing more."
"What, you had your rank, because of bet?! How come you never told us?! What kind of bet is that?!" Nami yelled enraged while others were simply dumbfounded. "You didn't ask. And the bet was if I could defeat one Uncle. I did, so they gave me that rank. I didn't care about the rank, but I wanted to fight with one of them. After all, they always refused when I asked them to fight saying 'You're too young'. It was real fun. I even get to use Rokuogan." I said grinning widely and I wondered who the hell her Uncle is and exactly what he's part of.
"I take it back. Your whole family's crazy. I'm not sure I want to meet your brothers anymore. I like the bit of sanity I have left, you know." Nami said rubbing her forehead, very well knowing who this 'uncle' is. Unlike Whitebeards, who didn't have a clue about him. "I'm afraid, you won't have say in it, Nami." said Shanks looking little guilty.
I wasn't the only one who noticed his behavior, but we ignored it. "So brat, will you finally tell me, what did you want to say to me?" Shirohige asked and I complied this dragged on way too long.
I started to make my way to him. None of the commanders made move to stop, but they were all ready to take me down if I made a move they didn't like. As I came closer I noticed two sleeping people, propped against the huge chair. "Ah, that's only Ace and Sabo they have narcolepsy, so they sleep at random places, at random times." said the man, now I recognized as Marco.
I blinked taking his words in and then I turned my head towards the two sleeping boys so fast I thought it would break my neck. I couldn't see their faces, because of the familiar hats. One was orange cowboy hat with one sad and one smiley face on it. The second was black top-hat. Before anyone could move or even blink I was on my knees in front of them, momentarily forgetting everyone on the ship. It was them, my brothers.
Before I could say word to them I had pointed sword at my neck, only for giant-ossan to order the person to leave me be. "Ace, Sabo?" I asked, still not believing them real. At the sound of my voice both of them woke up and looked at me. Clearly not recognizing me, but I was too happy to care. Till now, I couldn't be sure they were safe, but now I'm glad knowing they have such grand and caring family.
"Huh, who are you? Do I know you?" Ace asked bluntly, while Sabo had hint of recognition in his eyes, but not really knowing who I am. I started happily laughing backing away from them. Its okay if they aren't aware of whom the hell I am. I shook my head at both of them and grinned widely. Even if I didn't say a thing the grin must have been familiar to them. "Luffy?" they asked, looking as they saw a ghost and well since they thought I'm dead it's not far off.
Before I could blink, both of them were hugging me and I hugged them back. "I don't care if this is just dream, it's good to see you again." said Ace and Sabo nodded his agreement. "Sorry to disappoint, but this is reality. I really missed you." I said to them as all of us cried, yet neither of us mentioned the tears.
They both pulled away to look at me. "Let me get this straight. This is real, you're alive and you didn't let us know." said Sabo with dark aura and Ace started developing one as well. I started sweating, this is not good. "I changed my mind, this is just dream and you're sleeping." I said starting to get as far as I could from them before they killed me for real. The listening pirates sweat-dropped at my silliness.
I didn't get far as both of them caught me by my arms. I gulped. "Not that this is interesting, but would you tell us how you know each other." asked Thatch. "This Thatch, is Luffy, our little sister." said Sabo answering his question, then there was silence. "SISTER?!" the commanders yelled. "My boys, why did you never tell us about your sister, were you ashamed she was a marine?" Shirohige said and I just thought 'He must have said the marine, maybe they won't notice?'
"No, that's not it. We were just told she died." Ace answered "Wait, marine? You must have something wrong. Luffy wouldn't be caught in marine garbs in her life. After all she wants to be Pirate King." Ace said somehow with Sabo in unison. Life must hate me now.
I'm finally stopping. This is by far the longest chapter what-so-ever. And I was dying here. I feel like the situation is way too unreal. But probably the best I could come up with. So please don't hate :'( and I would appreciate your thoughts on it, so reviews?