Jiru bolted upward in the bed and shouted: "ACE!"
Across the rising-sunlit room, Brooke lowered the paper he was reading and screamed, causing her attention to snap on him. The treasure-hunter screamed back, the view of a screaming skeletal face sending her into a scare.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
On her right, the previously sleeping Usoppu woke up, and added his screaming – the poor, lying scaredy-cat sniper was surely startled. Next to the Sniper, Luffy bolted upright, looking around for the source of trouble. Seconds later, Sanji, Chopper and Nami all entered through via kicked-in door; also looking for the perpetrator that started their nakama screaming.
When all was screamed and done, the silence that followed was, to Jiru, most embarrassing and awkward. The rest of the crew looked about the room for the source of fright.
"Just what is going on here?" Nami's pulse raced in her voice.
Clutching her chest to help herself get over the scare Brooke gave her, she missed Luffy, Usoppu and Brooke all pointing accusingly at her.
"Jiru, are you ok!" Chopper down-sized himself and ran over to the bed. "Why'd you start screaming?"
"…" She didn't trust her voice yet, so she picked up Luffy's hat – which had tumbled off her shoulder and onto her lap – and planted it firmly on her head, using it to hide her face from the others. "I…Brooke startled me. I woke up and he started screaming, and I freaked out. Sorry."
"Oh, is that all?" Luffy relaxed from being surprised by the scenario. "You scared us all pretty good. Shishishishi!"
The rest of the crew un-tensed their rigid stances and sighed; coming down off the alert they put themselves in. It was then that Jiru noticed it was early morning, the sunlight – blessed sunlight where nobody had to hide in fear of being turned to ash without their shadows – peeked through the two windows that were on one side of the room. Shifting her weight so her injured foot wouldn't scream at her anymore, she bit her lip and squirmed under the scrutiny of six pairs of eyes.
"Jiru-chwan's so beautiful when she's shy!" Sanji oozed over to her bedside and knelt, grabbing one of her hands in his. "There's no need to fear for life, my fair Jiru, for Sanji is here to…"
"Oh, give it a rest, Sanji-kun." Nami was currently leaning against the doorframe, looking very flustered.
"Of course, my sweet Nami-swan!" Sanji switched from Jiru's side to Nami's; the same lovey-dovey look in his eyes.
"I should add another 60,000 Beri to your debt for scaring us like that, Jiru." Nami spoke with a half-hearted smirk on her lips.
"I said I was sorry! I wasn't expecting Brooke to be in here; or to start screaming…" she turned from Chopper's worried face to the newest Mugiwara member. "I am sorry, Brooke. I'm not used to your…ah…presence yet." An embarrassed pause. "I mean, you started screaming with your…skull, face…mouth; it startled me."
The afro-wearing skeleton picked himself up from the floor where he had fallen. Folding the newspaper elegantly, he bowed to the bed-ridden female and said:
"My heart is not offended by your fear of my face." Brooke straightened up; then gave a dramatic, comedy-worthy, pause. "Although, I have no heart or face! Skull Joke!"
The last comment sent the Luffy, Chopper, Usoppu and the skeleton into a laughing riot. The females gave the laughing quartet an angry and cross glance.
"It's going to be a long day, isn't it, Nami-san?" Jiru rolled her eyes sky ward as she sat on the bed. "Did Luffy REALLY ask this bonehead to be nakama?"
"Ah, very clever, mademoiselle, a Skull Joke!" Brooke's newest comment sent the trio on their knees, howling in more laughter. "By the way, may I see your panties?"
"HELL NO, YOU PERVERT!" Sanji snapped out of his love-induced trance and kicked Brooke's head. "STOP ASKING THAT!"
"A very long day…" Nami smirked as she answered the treasure hunter. The two females grinned at each other conspiratorially.
XXX
An hour later, Jiru was just finishing her last fruit and bread breakfast, so lovingly prepared by Sanji, when the previously absent Robin and Franky entered the kitchen-galley. The sun was still rising in the sky, and the door opened to let in fresh, blowing salty air. The pair of elder pirates stepped into the large kitchen and looked at the trio within.
"Oh, Good morning, Franiki, Robin-san." Jiru smiled her carefree smile at the two older pirates.
Sanji, still in his element, looked up and snorted a greeting to Franky and smiled once for the lovely Robin, before turning his focus back on cleaning the dishes. Luffy was at Jiru's feet, begging for the last three remaining grapes - the pirate captain was all for acting like a goofy dog to make his beloved treasure hunter laugh. He turned and waved to the entering duo. Robin laughed softly as Franky's blue brow rose in question.
"Jiru got scared this morning. I wanted to cheer her up." Luffy grinned as he stood up. "I was acting like a dog." Jiru watched the exchange from the corner of her eyes; rolling them at the boys' antics.
"Sure, Bro, sure." The blue-haired shipwright smiled and shook his head. "Anyway, it's ready."
"Good!" Luffy's grin grew larger as he turned to Jiru. "I wanna show you something; Franky, Usoppu and Chopper built something for you and Brooke."
Looking up at a large-grinning captain, she put down the gnarled, branchy stem of the grape bunch she had been eating. Normally, Luffy couldn't keep secrets from her when his mouth matched his mood; and nobody blamed him; but for the life of her, Jiru just couldn't deduce what Franky and the others could built that would give a strand of commonality between her and Brooke. Sighing and shoving the last bread roll into her mouth, she rotated her chair to fully face Luffy.
"Ok, Luffy-san, if you say so. Let's go see what they built. I really haven't a clue what it is though, we…I only just met Brooke, so I can't imagine what he and I would have in common."
"Good!" Luffy's smile got even bigger – was that even possible? The black-haired treasure hunter allowed Luffy to hoist her onto his back and carry her out of the kitchen. He made sure to keep her left foot immobile.
"Oi, thanks so much for the lovely fruity breakfast, Sanji-kun." Jiru called over her shoulder. "Keep up the awesome work!"
"Chibi-Mellorine-chan!" Sanji - last dry dish in hand - turned and buckled under the feminine praise. Jiru gasped when the cook dropped the plate, but exhaled when Robin's extra hands saved the object from its shattered fate.
"Oi, don't drop that plate, Cook-Bro." Franky's voice said as Luffy and Jiru left the kitchen.
"That silly Sanji, he's a great cook, possibly the best." Jiru spoke into Luffy's ear as he walked down the ramp to Thriller Bark ground. "But with three females on board…I shouldn't tease him so much."
"Shishishishishishi." Luffy laughed in mirth. "You are too clever. You, Robin and Nami have him wrapped around your fingers. You can get him to cook anything for you at any time. He kicks me out of the kitchen even if I step one foot in."
"Of course he does, Luffy, you'd eat the entire ship's food supplies in an hour if Sanji-kun wasn't there to guard it."
"Jiru…" Luffy whined. "That's not fair to blame me, I'm hungry a lot."
"I know, Luffy, I know. You're a dork." Jiru looked behind her as heard Franky come barreling down the gangplank.
"Oi, I almost forgot, I had the thing covered in tarp." The cyborg laughed as he joined them. "I wanted to uncover the thing myself when you and Brooke got there."
"Uh, what 'thing' is it, Franky?" Jiru shifted straighter against Luffy's back.
Her black strap-topped shirt with its black, billowy sleeves that covered her arms caught a breeze and swayed gently in it. Her arms hung comfortably around Luffy's shoulders and neck as a grey gust of air inflated her big sleeves, causing her to shift her grip on Luffy. It was a good thing, since Luffy twirled around and spoke to Franky; Jiru would have lost her balance and toppled them both over.
"NO! You can't ask that, Jiru-chan! I want Franky to show you what he built." The semi-serious pirate turned back around as the trio walked on the rocky ground of Thriller Bark.
The trip was a rerun of their earlier adventure, when half the Mugiwaras landed on the dark, fog-ridden island ship of Thriller Bark to find three missing-lost nakama – Chopper, Nami and Usoppu. The biggest difference was the lack of zombies - thankfully. Luffy had defeated Moria and freed the enslaved shadows. Jiru was relieved at having not to deal with the undead, moving bodies – popping out of the ground was disgusting enough to see. Watching zombies on TV or in books was nothing like seeing a real zombie: total horror on her disgust-o-meter.
"Ugh, what is that smell!" Jiru managed to cover her nose as they walked through the forest that they encountered at the beginning of their twisted adventure.
"The dead bodies." Franky answered. "Moria's shadow-control over the shadows vanished when Luffy defeated him. The bodies lost their animation and the thing that preserved them. They are now decaying."
"Oh that's just nasty shit." Jiru's eyes watered as they left the forest. "Um, oh yea. Where's Zoro?"
"Oh, Robin and Franky went to check on him earlier since Lola said he showed signs of waking up." Luffy answered.
"Who's Lola?"
"Oh yea you didn't meet her yet, she's Nami's new friend. She has pink hair. She helped us fight Oz, Moria and Kuma." Luffy informed her. "Throws one hell of a party, her crew does. It's a shame you had to sleep through it all, Jiru-chan, Brooke is a musician!"
"Ah, I see. You must be very happy to have your very own musician now, right?"
"YES!"
"Well, he certainly is very…unique." Her pausing words sounded forced.
"Don't worry, Jiru, you'll get used to him in no time! He's really awesome."
"I bet I will."
"We're here." Franky announced, breaking into the conversation. The skeleton was already there, waiting politely. Beside the elegantly black dressed skeleton nakama were Chopper and Usoppu. Luffy said that they helped Franky in building whatever it was Luffy wanted to show her, so it was appropriate they were here.
Before them, lay a huge grey tarp. It stood on a sparsely grassed knoll that led into a hill, since the upward slope indicated the area wasn't flat. The grey, moss-covered boulders had been cleared away or/and used – since chipped shards of rock were in a pile off to the side. The surrounding bush also had been cleared away, to make a hastily made clearing. The environment had been remade to host whatever tall creation Franky had covered with the tarp.
"Are you ready to see it!" Franky smiled as he approached the tarp-covered hill. Chopper, Usoppu and Brooke stood off to the side, waiting respectfully.
"Ok, sure." Jiru nodded and smiled back.