Before we start I want to tell that 2nd and 3rd chapters had been rewritten! Yay! They desperately needed a rewrite and I finally had a drive to do so. Go check them out! They're so much better now compared to what they were and truly shows how much I've improved during all these years. Readers are a big driving force in making me write and improve, so thank you all! :)
Betaread by The Patient One.
Chapter 33. Little Garden
It had been two days since they left Whiskey Peak. Igaram's face burned with fever and was lathered with sweat. Even in his unconscious state, he was frowning in pain.
Vivi wrung the water from the cloth and carefully placed it on his forehead. Then she knelt beside his futon with a quiet sigh, her bandaged hands clasped together on her lap and her eyes locked on his face.
Vivi knew little of medicine, but even she knew that the skin around his wounds turning an angry red wasn't a good sign. Sabo had reassured her, being the one with a more thorough understanding of medicine than anyone else aboard. But the way his brow furrowed in obvious concern made a fear of infection creep into her mind.
She couldn't imagine losing Igaram; the idea was just unthinkable. He seemed stable for now, but if his fever didn't break in the next few days…
Vivi bit her lower lip, shutting her eyes as soon as she felt tears welling up. She swallowed hard, sniffed, and opened her eyes again. She didn't cry. Tears wouldn't help anyone in this situation. The room suddenly felt too small and stuffy, so Vivi slowly stood up to get some fresh air.
As she climbed out of the girls' room, which for now was sort of a sick room, not for the first time, Vivi wondered what kind of pirates were so generous in their kindness. Nami allowed her room to be taken over without a single complaint about having to sleep with the boys for the time being. Though the new arrangement caused quite a ruckus on the first night: Sanji was now banned from entering the boys' room when Nami was sleeping inside.
The door leading to the main deck clicked behind her as Vivi stepped outside. A sea breeze blew through her hair, and the sun instantly warmed her face and neck.
The room arrangements weren't the only thing that baffled her. The pirates let her roam around without constraints, stayed respectful, and while they were attentive to her needs, none crossed the boundaries. Not even the cook with his never-ending swooning. No one asked about her circumstances either, respecting her unspoken wish for space.
The princess had to admit—this was quite a weird pirate crew.
She glanced around the ship. Nearby, Zoro napped against the side of the ship. On the deck's other side, Usopp was humming happily under his breath while preparing fishing gear. Sabo was sitting on the railing of the crow's nest, keeping an eye on the horizon and enjoying a refreshing wind sweeping past Going Merry.
"Oh, Vivi!" Nami called her from above. "How's Igaram doing?"
Vivi shook her head. "The same," she replied, making her way up the stairs to join the other girl. She was halfway up when Carue suddenly appeared from the back of the ship, quacking loudly and flailing his wings. Vivi yelped when he bounded down the stairs, almost bringing her with him.
"Come back here, Ducky!"
Vivi flattened herself against the side of the stairs again, just in time not to be knocked over by Luffy, who zipped past her with joyful laughter, hot on Carue's heel. They raced around the mast a few times, up and around and back down the front deck, around the mast again. Then two of them stomped on the sleeping Zoro—
"You idiots! Can you stop that already?!"
—bowled over Usopp—
"I hook this here and—GAH!"
—and overall created an absolute mess around the ship.
"Can you two pipe down?!" Nami yelled.
"Sorry!"
"Quack!"
Neither of them sounded apologetic. However, Nami didn't seem to hold it against them, heaving a heavy sigh but not telling them off again. She simply watched as the duck and the boy continued to run around and just be general nuisances to everyone involved.
"Ah, I'm sorry about Carue, he's just…" Vivi fidgeted, unsure how to finish the sentence in a placating way. She hoped Carue's natural playfulness wouldn't get them kicked out of the ship.
Nami blinked at her. After a moment, she waved her hand dismissively. "Asking Luffy to calm down when he's happy like this is almost impossible."
Vivi watched as a new peal of laughter from the captain brought a fond smile to Nami's face, and she wondered what had caused this girl to join a pirate crew. She looked at the other members and found herself repeating the question for each of them. None of them seemed like normal criminals. Not even the captain, especially in moments like these. Would they tell her if she asked?
Luffy finally caught Carue right after the latter ran over Usopp for the second time. The boy wrapped his arms around the duck and pressed him down. It was a clear order to surrender, but all actions carried an obvious gentleness and caution to not hurt by accident and a smile that spoke volumes of how much he liked the bird.
The moment Carue yielded by stilling against Luffy's hold, the boy burst out laughing and unwrapped his arms but didn't let the duck go. He plopped on top of him, buried his fingers into the feathers, and started moving them up and down.
Soon Carue melted under his touch, letting out a content trill of quiet quacks.
"Shishishishi," Luffy chuckled as he kept scratching along the duck's neck and back. "You might not be the fluffy one I'm searching to recruit into my crew, but your feathers are so soft!"
Vivi thought she had misheard him. Recruit what into his crew? "Fluffy one?" she muttered in disbelief.
Nami let out a short laugh. "Luffy's adamant on finding one," she said, mischief written in her features. "The fluffy one."
Vivi stared at Nami's grin that screamed 'it's an inside secret' loud and clear. Obviously, being allowed on the ship didn't mean she was privy to the crew's secrets, and she didn't want to endanger her precarious position by asking potentially wrong questions. No matter how curious she became about some things.
Vivi looked back at Luffy and watched him play with Carue with a constant bright smile. He wasn't what she had expected him to be. None of them were, but the captain caused her the most confusion.
On the way to Whiskey Peak, she couldn't observe the crew, spending most of it with Mr. Nine in the galley under Usopp and Sanji's watchful eyes. Not to mention the captain slept through most of that trip.
And then, on Whiskey Peak, the pirates showed that they weren't pushovers. They had more than enough strength to take on whatever the Grand Line threw at them. More importantly, Luffy demonstrated the power and brutality befitting of a pirate captain.
Vivi made a gamble by boarding this ship again. Knowing the captain's obvious hate toward her, she had been prepared to suffer through all kinds of harassment and mistreatment. Nothing like that happened. Luffy actively avoided her. Or if he couldn't, he ignored her completely. She truly expected him to be much more terrifying.
As Vivi watched, Luffy switched from scratching the duck's neck to kneading his wings. Carue was practically melting under his soothing massage treatment.
She got lucky to have Carue accompanying her, didn't she? The young captain seemed to have a soft spot for animals.
Vivi paused in her contemplation.
Luffy never hurt her, even after a less-than-pleasant first impression. Or once he learned that she was a princess. And even now on his ship. On the contrary, he agreed to help her. Maybe she judged him too quickly.
"I hate her kind, but a promise is a promise. If she's the one you want to protect, then I won't let anyone harm her."
Hate her kind. What exactly did he mean by that? Royals? Or simply nobles? Or—
Vivi shook her head, trying to chase the sudden thought away. There was no way someone from the East Blue would have ever encountered them.
The World Nobles.
Vivi could still remember the day when she turned ten. Her father sat her down and told her a story about their ancestors. How Nefertari Family was one of the twenty royal families which founded the World Government. How they decided not to abandon their own country and refused to move to Mary Geoise. How those who did move started calling themselves Celestial Dragons—the gods of this world.
She remembered crying herself to sleep after her father told her about the nasty deeds of those gods.
Her ancestors were wise not to accept the invitation to become the World Nobles. Vivi was grateful for that, and it fostered pride in the ancient blood of Nefertari flowing in her veins.
But, honestly, even disregarding the World Nobles, one wouldn't have to look far to find a noble that acted like the scum of the earth. She met a few like that herself during royal visits to other countries. Noble clans existed all around the world, including the East Blue. It was quite possible for Luffy to somehow cross paths with that kind of person. If it truly happened, who could tell how it ended? For all Vivi knew, his dislike might be warranted.
Vivi's line of thought got disrupted by the door opening behind her. Both Nami and she turned to see Sanji coming out of the galley. A weird fruit sat in his hand: a dark purple apple covered in S-shaped swirls with a long yellow stem.
"Ladies," the cook nodded at them in greeting before he danced away with hearts floating around him. "You look so beautiful today, my dears~!" When he reached the stairs, he turned away from them and called out, "Luffy!"
Luffy glanced up. Upon seeing the fruit, his eyes widened, and he stood up to meet his nakama. Zoro, Usopp, and Carue joined them, with Sabo looking down from his perch in the crow's nest.
"I found this in one of the crates from Whiskey Peak," Sanji explained, offering his find to his captain.
Luffy frowned as he picked up the weird apple. "It's a Devil Fruit," he stated after a moment.
"Whoa," Usopp breathed out, peering at the fruit with wide eyes. "First time I've ever seen one."
"Quack?" Carue asked, tilting his head curiously.
Luffy grimaced. "No," he replied. "It tastes horrible."
"Wait," Nami said as she hopped down the stairs. She pushed past Zoro and Sanji to take a closer look at the strange thing. "How did a Devil Fruit suddenly appear on our ship?"
"Once the fruit user dies, a Devil Fruit reincarnates into a similar normal fruit. The time and place it eventually happens varies," Sabo explained as he jumped down, narrowing his eyes at the apple. "It must be the fruit of that exploding man."
"Yeah," Luffy said. "The one who can make your boogers explode." He extended the fruit toward his crew. "Anyone want it?"
All four made a face.
"Nope," Zoro refused immediately.
"Exploding boogers? No thanks," Nami muttered, somehow managing to stuff all her distaste for that kind of power into four simple words.
Sanji shook his head and then mumbled under his breath, "If I ever eat a Devil Fruit, it's only that one…"
Usopp scratched his chin, not eager to become a fruit user either. "Maybe we could sell it?"
"Sell it?" Nami perked up. "What a wonderful idea, Usopp!"
"Uh…"
"Let's sell it!" Nami shouted in glee, clapping her hands. "Aren't Devil Fruits worth millions of beli?!"
Luffy stared at the fruit, brow still furrowed and features tight with seriousness. "No," he uttered quietly before looking up straight at Sabo. "Would it help your fight?"
The rest of his crew stared, confused by what he was talking about.
Sabo took a moment to consider. "I'm not particularly interested in eating a Devil Fruit myself, but one of my comrades definitely would," he replied. "So, yes, it would help."
"Then take it and bring it to your friends." Luffy tossed the Devil Fruit to Sabo, who easily caught it.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, Luffy, are you sure?" Nami chimed in, eyeing the fruit in Sabo's hand with eyes full of regret. "You could get millions for it…"
"I'm sure," Luffy confirmed in a tone that left no space for objections. "Use it to fight them, Sabo."
The crew seemed to come to attention at the mention of 'them', while Sabo's lips curled into a wicked smirk before he replied, "We will."
Luffy nodded. Now that this was decided, everyone relaxed and started drifting away to continue what they were doing before. Luffy's head whipped to the side as something caught his attention and his face lit up. "Look, everyone!" he cheered, pointing at the sea. "It's a dolphin!"
"Whoa, so cu…" Nami trailed off when the dolphin leaped from the water, soaring over their heads. Its massive body was at least ten times the size of Going Merry. Her jaw dropped. "…It's freaking huge!"
"Run for your lives!" Luffy screamed, throwing his arms up. He sounded utterly ecstatic about their sudden predicament.
His enthusiasm turned out to be contagious. His crew grinned, their excitement almost tangible in the air, and shouted, "Aye, aye, Captain!" as they all sprang into action.
It was late morning on the fourth day when Luffy, who was sitting in his usual spot on Merry's figurehead, finally spied a shadow of land in the far distance. "It's an island!" he hollered, his loud voice reaching even Vivi down in the girls' room.
Footsteps resounded across the ship as everyone dropped what they were doing and gathered at the front. As they were still in the open sea, the weather continued to be pleasant, but they could already feel the rise in temperature and humidity permeating the air the closer they drew to the unknown island.
Nami lined the Log Pose with her eyes. "There's no doubt about this. That island is our next destination," she stated with a satisfied nod.
"Our second island on the Grand Line!" Luffy fist-pumped the air before his eyes closed in bliss, a grin stretching beyond the capabilities of a normal human. "I'm so excited!"
"Oh, Vivi." Nami looked at the princess, coming out of the storage room and moving to stand beside her. "Do you know anything about this island?"
All the others turned toward her to listen, except the captain. Luffy couldn't care less about what anyone knew about this place. He could already smell the adventure! He sniffed the air. For some reason, it smelled a little bit like rotten eggs. Well, who cared?
"Not much, I'm afraid," Vivi said, squinting at the approaching island. "If I recall correctly, its name is Little Garden, and it's supposedly dangerous, but I don't know in what way."
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette. "Little Garden, huh?"
"D-dangerous?" Usopp stammered out. "Are there any m-monsters there?"
"It's an island on the Grand Line, Usopp," Zoro said as he coolly observed the never seen landscape. "Anything can happen. Be prepared."
Usopp grabbed at his chest. "Ah, guys, listen…" He swayed on his feet dramatically. "I think my we-can't-dock-at-this-island disease is acting up again." Unfortunately, no one paid his misery any mind.
As they sailed closer, they could see more and more details about the island. It had two huge light grey mountains, overgrown with greenery, and several smaller ones, brown and with strangely flat peaks.
Sabo leaned forward, tugging his hat slightly down to ward off the worst of the sunlight as he squinted at those brown mountains. "Aren't those volcanoes?" Just as he said that, one of them spat out a huge cloud of ash. "Active volcanoes," he added. "…I don't think this is an inhabited island. Seems a bit too dangerous for people to live around live volcanoes."
"What?!" Vivi cried out, blood draining out of her face. "But, but…" This was her only hope of finding help for Igaram. If the island was uninhabited, there was no guarantee that the pirates would agree to take them to the next one. And even if they did, Igaram might not survive till then.
"It doesn't mean that no people are living there at all!" Sabo hurried to backtrack on what he had blurted out previously. "I just doubt we'll find a big settlement with such a hazard in a neighborhood."
"Don't worry, Vivi-chan! I'll find a doctor for you even if I have to run around an entire island!" Sanji proclaimed.
Vivi nodded, but she also bit her lower lip, her shoulders pulled up, and she nervously rubbed her forearm as if trying to stave off the non-existent chill. While her gaze stayed on the island, she didn't seem to be really focusing on it anymore.
Everyone could see that these attempts at reassurance failed to put her anxiety at ease.
Even Luffy glanced over his shoulder. It might have been the first time he intentionally looked directly at the princess, and even if it was short, it was more than the passing glances she'd gotten until now.
Regardless of the uneasy atmosphere, Going Merry sailed forward, and eventually, Nami directed them into the inlet, which turned out to be a river leading deeper into the land.
Giant trees lined the shore on both sides, with lush plants and overgrown grass tucked between them. Canopies intertwined and created a leafy roof high above the highest point of Merry's main mast, letting sunlight spill through them in myriads of tiny brilliant beams. The air carried a rich scent of plants in different stages of blooming and growth, as well as a visceral smell of decay and rotting plant material. The sounds of various birds, beasts, and insects were a constant cacophony around the little caravel and her passengers.
"Who thought that Little Garden was a fitting name for this place?" Sanji grumbled. "There's nothing little about it."
"It doesn't look nearly as cute as its name…" Nami agreed.
Usopp backpedaled from the railing. "I-i-isn't this just an untamed jungle?!" A bone-chilling screech from a weird, never-before-seen bird flying overhead sent him and Carue skittering to hide behind Zoro.
"Go away, Usopp! Duck!"
"Noooo!"
"Quaaaack!"
Meanwhile, two brothers were silently staring in the same direction.
"Do you sense it, Luffy?"
Luffy hummed an affirmative at Sabo's inquiry. "A strong one," he murmured. After a moment, his eyebrows drew together in concentration. "Two of them."
"Huh? Sense what?" Zoro asked as he continued to push the clingy Usopp away.
Luffy opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a fierce roar nearby. A giant tiger staggered out from the jungle, eyes wild and teeth bared… and then it collapsed, blood splashing in all directions.
"What?! What happened to it?!" Nami shrieked in panic. "T-this is not normal! How can a tiger, King of a Jungle, collapse in its own blood?!"
Usopp nodded, sweat dripping from his face. "L-let's just quietly wait on a ship until the Log Pose sets and—"
He got interrupted by Luffy's loud and exuberant laughter that frightened a flock of colorful birds out of the trees. "This reminds me of home!" he exclaimed as he slid down from Merry's figurehead.
His crew, the princess, and the duck gawked as if he completely lost his marbles, clearly showing what they thought about the comparison between this wild jungle in the Grand Line and his home back in the East Blue.
Luffy ignored them all and instead grinned at his brother.
"You're right," Sabo smiled back, his expression tinged with nostalgia. "We should go out to explore."
"Shishishishi… Sanji! Prepare two pirate lunchboxes!"
The cook blinked at him. "Pirate lunchboxes?"
Sabo turned to Sanji and inquired, "Are we low on provisions?"
"Well, no. We resupplied on Whiskey Peak, so we're good."
"In that case, Luffy and I will scout the island and see if we can find any sign of civilization," Sabo said. Luffy was bouncing up and down next to him, eager to go. "To avoid having any delays by missing each other, I suggest the rest of you stay on the ship until we're back. It shouldn't take longer than a couple of hours."
Usopp's arm shot up. "Sounds like a good plan!"
Nami joined him. "Agreed!"
Carue also lifted his wing to show his support for this decision. "Quack!"
Vivi simply nodded. Zoro didn't say anything either. He lay down and promptly fell asleep.
"Sanji! A lunchbox! A lunchbox!"
"Alright, alright," the cook sighed, smirking in amusement at his captain's overflowing energy. "Just hang on a moment, I'll be quick."
Sabo watched Luffy running around, pointing out various colorful flowers, weird-looking fruits, and even weirder-looking insects with childish glee.
"Whoaaa, look, Sabo!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing at something growing inside a hollow trunk of a fallen tree. "This flower looks like Dadan!"
Sabo raised an eyebrow, stunned for just a moment. A flower looking like Dadan? He definitely had to see this one. Walking to his brother, he poked his head around the corner of the trunk to look at the flower.
And he couldn't hold his laughter in. It was some type of orchid with orange petals at the top and one big lower petal of lighter color with an uncannily similar pattern to a human's face.
"It sure does look like Dadan!"
"Right?!" Luffy beamed. "This place is awesome!" Something new caught his ever-changing focus, and the boy zipped off to investigate it. "What's this?!"
Sabo felt a tiny prick at the back of his neck, and he instinctively slapped a hand over it, then made a face at the remains of a squashed bug stuck on his glove. He brushed his other hand across his neck to make sure there wasn't anything gross left on there.
Sabo glanced at his brother when he heard a splash of water. Luffy was standing in the shallow pond and tried to fish something out.
"Look, Sabo! A shell squid!" the boy exclaimed as he straightened up with something big and round in his hand.
"Oh?" Sabo wiped his hand on a big leaf as he passed it, more interested in inspecting the wriggling tentacle creature in a shell that Luffy had found. "Isn't this an ammonite?"
"It's a shell squid!" Luffy cheered. "You think we can eat—" He never finished his question. His excitement was obviously getting the better of him because his focus switched yet again in a blink of an eye. "Whoaaaaa!" He dropped the ammonite and jumped out of the pond where he found it, finger pointing somewhere up as he cried out, "A Sea King on land!"
"Hm?" Sabo craned his neck up, holding his hat so it wouldn't fall.
There was a gap in the tree roof above the pond, and they could see the sky. But that wasn't what made Sabo gape. A colossal creature grazed on the leaves from the tree tops. From their spot, the two brothers could only see its long, thick neck with a relatively small head at the end.
"That's… a dinosaur."
"A dinosaur?!" Luffy asked. His grin was bright enough to rival the sun. "Like the one from that book you read me when we were little?"
"It's a different type from the one in the book, but yeah." A grin stretched across Sabo's face as a wild idea popped into his head. "It's so tall! I bet a view from the top of its head is amazing!"
"It'd be a perfect place to eat our lunch!" The corner of Luffy's mouth quirked up in a gesture of confidence. "Let's race and see who can reach the top first?"
"Race it is." Sabo pulled his hat down and fixed his gloves. "On three."
"One…" Luffy said, adjusting the straps of his backpack.
"Two…" Sabo shifted into the better starting position.
"Three…!" they chorused and took off.
Vivi returned to the deck after checking on Igaram again.
Sanji was missing, probably back in the kitchen, but the rest of the crew was still there. Zoro continued to sleep. A few feet away, Nami lounged in a sun chair and read a newspaper, most likely deeming a spot so close to the sleeping swordsman safe to let her guard down. Usopp and Carue crouched at the railing, holding onto it for dear life, as they peered at the jungle before them.
While Vivi was hesitating to join them or go back to Igaram, the galley's door above swung open.
"Anybody want some cold drinks?" Sanji asked, already making his way down the stairs. A second later, he spotted the princess and appeared before her in a blink of an eye with a tray balanced on his hand full of clear green drinks, ice cubes clinking inside the glasses. He swiped one glass off of it and extended it to Vivi. "I made this drink especially for you with all my immeasurable love, Vivi-chan~! Will you accept it?"
The drink he offered was one of the only two with a slice of orange, a cherry, and a couple of leaves of mint. The rest had none of these decorations. Vivi couldn't quite find the words to refuse it, so she took it with a grateful "Thank you."
Sanji danced away with a dopey smile before he twirled around with a heartfelt cry, "Nami-swaaaan~!" and swooped in front of the navigator with the second decorated drink extended to her.
The man's exaggerated flourish didn't faze Nami in the slightest. "Thank you, Sanji-kun," she said as she accepted the drink.
The cook put the tray down, allowing Zoro and Usopp to take their drinks. As Usopp was teaching Carue how to drink through the straw, Vivi finally crossed the main deck and climbed up to join the pirates at the front. She leaned against the railing, staring down at her untouched drink as she listened to the joyful commotion. When the laughter at Carue's clumsiness died out, the princess felt she had gathered enough courage to ask what was on her mind. With the captain out, she saw this as an opportunity to understand these people better.
"Why did you all join a pirate crew?"
Four pirates blinked at her, not expecting such a question. After a moment, Zoro scoffed, closed his eyes, and continued to sip his drink. His demeanor projected that he wouldn't be participating in this conversation.
Others didn't seem opposed to some chitchat with the princess.
Usopp scratched his head. "Why do you want to know?"
Vivi fumbled with her glass under the inquisitive gazes. "You're not what I imagined a pirate crew to be, so I'm curious." She paused before quickly placating, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to!"
"To be clear," Nami said, "neither of us joined just any pirate crew. We joined Luffy's pirate crew."
"Is… there any difference?"
"Of course, there is!" Nami exploded. "There's no way I'd become a pirate if Luffy wasn't my captain!"
"Same here," Sanji agreed.
"Yep," Usopp chimed in. "Though eventually I'd have set sail on my own and made a name for myself!"
Zoro didn't say anything, but by the lack of objections, it must have been the same for him.
"I'm sorry, I…" Vivi's hold on her glass tightened to the point where just a bit more strength and it would have shattered.
Pirates were cruel. The strongest among them would always be a captain, making others submit to their will. Sometimes even forcing others to work for them against their will. Pirate crews didn't care much for their own crewmates, throwing their friends to the wolves at the first sign of danger they couldn't overcome.
Vivi had worked as a bounty hunter. She had witnessed the pirates betraying and backstabbing each other all the time.
And yet, here she was. On a pirate ship with a pirate crew that was the exact opposite of what she knew. They cared. Cared so much about each other. Vivi had a hard time believing or even understanding any of it.
"I simply don't understand," was all she said aloud.
Nami sighed, folding the newspaper to put it aside. "It's not surprising when Luffy isn't that friendly with you. He's usually not like that."
"Luffy has his reasons," Sanji noted, flicking the ash from his cigarette over the ship's side. "It's nothing personal against you, Vivi-chan."
I hate her kind.
Vivi wasn't quite sure about that. The captain most likely had some bad run-ins with royals or nobles. "Did he, perhaps, have a bad history with royals?"
"He's—"
"Cook." Zoro's sharp voice cut in like a knife, his silver eyes cold and glinting with a warning.
"I wasn't!" Sanji snapped in defense.
Zoro huffed, apparently content with the blond's response, even if Vivi couldn't quite catch what kind of response it was. "Luffy went through some shit and now doesn't trust people easily," the swordsman said. There was a finality to his words that marked an end to this topic. "That's all you need to know."
Vivi pursed her lips, but her annoyance was short-lived. She stored what she learned in the back of her mind for now and decided to ask them again, "Then, why did you all join Luffy-san's crew?"
"We all have dreams that can be realized only at the end of this journey," Usopp said with a shrug. As if he wasted time stating such an obvious thing. "Luffy has his own dream. And he needed nakama to help him achieve it. So here we are."
Vivi looked appalled. Didn't it mean that—"He forced you to join him?!" Sudden fury spread like fire in her veins. What did she expect? Why did she think that Luffy might actually be different? In the end, he was just like any pir—
Usopp's steely, "That's not what I said," interrupted her quickly spiraling thoughts. "He invited us, and we agreed."
"Luffy would never force anyone to join him," Nami murmured, her hand drifting over her shoulder tattoo. A fond smile warmed its way onto her face. "He'd never deny someone's freedom by forcing them under his mark against their will."
"He can be obnoxiously insistent, but Nami-san is right. He'd never force his will onto someone in such a way," Sanji also assented. "Sometimes it can almost seem like he knows what you want—or need—more than you yourself do."
"Ah, that's true. Especially considering how you've ended up joining us, Sanji," Usopp teased with a good-natured grin.
Zoro didn't miss this golden opportunity to cough "Crybaby," into his fist.
"Shut it, marimo!"
"Dartbrow!"
"Algae for brains!"
"Burnt toast for a face!"
Nami pinched the bridge of her nose as Zoro and Sanji started insulting each other. Ignoring them, she stood up from the sun chair and walked to lean against the railing next to the princess, who seemed to have fallen into deep thought.
"Eight years ago, my village was taken over by a pirate crew," Nami started. "They killed my mother in front of my eyes and, after learning of my map drawing skills, forced me to work for them." She squeezed her shoulder. "They even tattooed their Jolly Roger on me…"
Nami wasn't quite sure why she wanted to tell Vivi her story. Maybe because of Miss All Sunday's words about the princess's attempt to save her country by herself… It sounded so intimately familiar; her heart ached.
Vivi now stared at her with wide eyes, horror etched across her features.
"But then, I met Luffy, and he saved me and eventually my village. I could finally get rid of that tattoo I hated so much and got the one I wanted instead." Nami's expression was soft and heartwarming as she said that. She kept playing with a straw, pushing melting ice cubes around, and they clinked against the glass now and then. "We all have our own dreams, but it's not the only reason we're here. Luffy's…" She trailed off briefly, and her smile grew as she found the right words.
"He's like a sun," she breathed out, her tone tilting as if in awe. "The moment you get to know what it means to be under his protection and how it feels to be called nakama by him, it's like leaving the darkness where you had lived until then and learning how warm and bright the sun is for the first time. That's why I'm here. That's why we're all here." She flashed a grin at the princess, a grin reflecting a vast array of happy emotions. "We just can't get enough of that feeling!"
Vivi continued to stare at her before casting her gaze on the other pirates in the middle of heated bickering. She didn't understand. Couldn't. Wouldn't be able to, no matter what. She wasn't a pirate, after all. Even if she was, the Straw Hats didn't fit the usual image of pirates. Besides, the captain would never accept her into his circle of nakama. "You're not like any pirates I'd ever seen or heard," she uttered.
"Of course not! We're the crew of the future Pirate King," Nami declared with pride. "The only one in the entire world!"
-Fishman Island-
"…and that's how I was able to come back," Hachi finished his story. He wrung all three pairs of his hands, stealing unsure glances at the person before him—Jinbe, his former captain and the current Warlord of the Sea.
They were sitting at the table on the upper floor terrace of the teahouse, Jinbe having led them there to catch up when Hachi unexpectedly showed up on his doorstep. With no customers present at this early morning hour, they could talk freely without fear of eavesdropping. And so Hachi told his old captain everything: from what they did after leaving to how they were defeated and how he returned.
The Warlord listened in utter silence, never interrupting. And as Hachi finished, Jinbe put his arm on the table and leaned his head against it with a deep, tired sigh.
Hachi fidgeted, playing with his thumbs. He knew that they screwed up, and badly. While he got lucky, the others paid the price for their deeds. Hachi himself was guilt-ridden all the way back home, but there was nothing he could do to change what he had done. He knew that, yet his stomach knotted itself at hearing that disappointed sigh from a man he greatly respected.
"I never got a hint of what Arlong's gang was up to. I thought he calmed down after some time and didn't do anything drastic. But you just bribed the Marines," Jinbe said, his voice a quiet and weary rumble. "Why would you do that? Why would Arlong—" Abruptly, he straightened up with a shake of his head. "No, I should have realized Arlong would have never let his hatred go. Should have known that him being this quiet was unnatural."
"Nyuu… Don't blame yourself, Jinbe-san."
Jinbe didn't respond. For some time, he gazed at the city scenery outside the terrace, people walking along the streets and children squealing as they raced each other.
"So, Arlong's dead now?" he finally asked.
"Yeah…" Hachi replied. "But the things we did to those humans… We could never atone for that, even with our deaths."
"You said it was a human pirate?"
"Yeah, but, Jinbe-san!" Hachi exclaimed, sounding panicked. "That human was only protecting his nakama! Arlong would have never let her leave! If they hadn't stopped him, he would have hurt her even more than we already did!"
"You misunderstood, Hachi," Jinbe placated. "I'm not resentful toward the human who stopped Arlong's reign of terror, I feel grateful. Fishman or not, one should pay the price for such heinous actions, and, in Arlong's case, the price ended up being his life."
Hachi relaxed, slumping in his seat. That had scared him. "It was a young human pirate by the name of Luffy." He paused, furrowing his brow. "He said that he met Tooki and that Tooki sacrificed his life for him about seven years ago."
"Tooki? Sacrificed his life for that human?" Jinbe asked in a sudden urgency. "Are you sure?"
"I don't think he lied," Hachi said, tilting his head to the side. Now that he thought about it, he truly believed that Luffy told him the truth. How weird. "He knew so much about the Sun Pirates and even Boss Ti."
Jinbe stared at him, his mouth slightly open from disbelief.
Hachi didn't notice, thinking back on the friendly human pirates. "I promised them as much takoyaki as they could eat once they come to Fishman Island." He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. A pleased smile spread across his face at the fact that even Nami didn't outright refuse his offer. "Nyuu~ Luffy and his crew should have already made it into the Grand Line by now."
Jinbe leaned against his seat. "I see," he muttered, his tone thoughtful. "A young human who Tooki sacrificed his life for."
Before Hachi could say anything else, a couple of voices came from the street below.
"Hatchin!"
"Hachi!"
Both men looked down to see a mermaid and a starfish waving at them.
"Camie! Pappag!" Hachi called back happily. "Ah, Jinbe-san," he turned to the Warlord, "I need to go! Need to make my takoyaki stand the best before Luffy, Nami, and the rest come here!"
Jinbe couldn't help a short laugh at his enthusiasm. "Go ahead, Hachi." He waved him off. "I'm glad you came back safe."
Hachi waved him back and was about to leave, then he suddenly stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot, nyuu," he said. "Luffy said that he has a message for you from Tooki and will want to meet you." With the last goodbye, he darted out through the door and soon appeared on the street, greeted by his two new friends.
Jinbe watched them go, not in a hurry to leave the teahouse. He called the waiter and ordered some more green tea for himself.
Tooki always was a free spirit. If not for the tragic incident during his childhood that cost him his entire family and sowed a seed of hatred toward humans, he would have most likely followed in Fisher Tiger's steps and left Fishman Island as soon as he came into age. But staying on Fishman Island didn't stop him from nurturing his wild imagination to tell stories to anyone who listened. Soon people started calling him Tooki the Storyteller.
No one knew at that time what possessed Tooki to leave with Fisher Tiger when the latter left for his usual travels to the upper world. All they knew was that he appeared again only after Fisher Tiger's attack on Mary Geoise among the other rescued slaves.
Tooki returned different, yet the same. He was still a carefree and happy person, laughing more often than not. At the same time, his hatred toward humans only grew deeper, and his brutality against them made even the Sun Pirates shudder. Despite that, he firmly refused to hurt a human child and even went as far as to protect them from a few of his crewmates who had no qualms about doing it.
But that wasn't the only weirdness about Tooki. The man had an extraordinary, almost unnaturally good sixth sense. So good that it saved the crew more times than they could count. No one knew much about it. Jinbe and Fisher Tiger both agreed that Tooki's intuition was similar to Madam Shyarly's future predictions, but even they never got a direct explanation from the man himself. Tooki simply brushed it off with a laugh about weird vibes and feelings he got sometimes that somehow turned out to be true.
A waiter with his tea order awoken Jinbe from reminiscence about his old friend. Sipping on it, he fell back into his thoughts.
When the news about Tooki's recapture by the Celestial Dragons finally came, it crushed Jinbe. Because it came too late. His friend was already dead. The only information he could piece together from hearsay was that a young human slave killed him during a death match—a new entertainment the World Nobles created after Mary Geoise's attack.
Jinbe couldn't do anything about the emptiness his death left behind inside his heart. Tooki was dead, and he mourned his friend. But now Hachi came back with unheard news about the man.
A young human for whom Tooki sacrificed his life and to whom he entrusted his final message.
And a young human slave who had no other choice but to kill him to survive.
Could it be the same person? All signs pointed that it was.
Jinbe put down an empty cup, dropped money on the table, and left the teahouse.
He had to find that human pirate. So many reasons to meet with him too. Apology for what Arlong and his gang did. Gratitude for the people who stopped them. Tooki's message for him. And finally…
If this pirate Luffy was the same slave boy, Jinbe wanted to see just what kind of person he was with his own eyes. To see what kind of human his dear friend sacrificed his life for.
A wooden box back at his house with the iron brand of the sun came to his mind. The mark of the Sun Pirates and the symbol of freedom.
Maybe, if Luffy turned out to be a man worthy of respect, Jinbe could offer the brand to him—to lift the curse of the Nobles and, at the same time, to cement a friendship between the two of them.
With that decision made, Jinbe went to check the recent bounty posters. The pirate that defeated Arlong was bound to get one at this point, and it would help to pinpoint his approximate location on the Grand Line.
It seemed that he was going on a trip to Paradise.
Next Chapter: Giant Hearts
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