I'm so sorry for the wait! And I'm sorry about this, it's probably not worth the wait… More like filler material, but I'm really guilty of liking that sort of thing.
A lot of scene breaks and I wasn't even able to cover all the crew members. At least it's done, that's all I can say…
Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! I was secretly comparing this story's follows to Haki's favorites, and it finally passed! Although Haki was a one-shot, this might be slightly less impressive...
The great, snake-pulled ship had barely come into the Thousand Sunny's range when the most beautiful woman in the world hurled herself across the distance to their ship and whirled around, ignoring the stunned crewmembers, looking for their captain.
"Hey, Hancock."
The crew stared with mixed feelings as her eyes lit on Luffy and widened. They half expected her to run at him, she certainly seemed to be considering it, but she surprised them again by turning away with a scarlet face and muttered a shy greeting. Luffy just laughed.
The Empress' ship finally reached their side and two unusually large women jumped over to the Sunny's deck, they both gave Hancock fondly exasperated looks before smiling warmly at Luffy.
"Hello, Luffy-san."
"It's good to see you again, Luffy-san."
"Yeah, nice to see you all too." He grinned.
Chopper was trying to get Sanji breathing again, after his first glimpse of Hancock.
Suddenly there was a whole chorus of greetings from the Kuja ship and everyone looked up to a crowd of women calling down equally cheery greetings to the Straw-hated captain, who waved energetically back.
The crew, for their part, felt this was all a little surreal, and took it in as calmly as possible.
"Damn, Luffy, so it was true. Lucky bastard." Usopp looked at his captain with new admiration.
Nami frowned and slapped him over the head. "Oh, don't be an idiot! Anyone else would be dead."
Robin hadn't stopped smirking at everyone's reactions since the ship was first sighted. "That's true, any man to set foot on Amazon Lily is said to be killed mercilessly. I would really like to know how he did it." In particular, she was trying to decipher the three women's reactions. Hancock was obviously in love, and she left that for later, but the other two were looking at Luffy in a familiarly warm way. Grateful? Like he had given them solace of some kind. Well, she looked around at her companions, that was familiar. "Luffy, could you introduce us?"
"Oh, yeah! Guys, this is Hancock and her sisters, Sonia, and Mari. And these are the Kuja pirates." He waved at the women looking down at them from the other ship. A few waved but most of them were staring open-mouthed at the male members of the crew and muttering to each other. Some seemed to be taking notes.
"It's good to finally meet you all." 'Mari' said with a smile.
"A pleasure." 'Sonia' confirmed.
Luffy indicated his crew, starting with Usopp. "This is Usopp, our sniper and liar."
"Hey!"
"Franky, our shipwright and ROBOT!"
"Cyborg, actually. It's SUPER to meet you ladies."
"Zoro's our swordsman."
A nod.
"Brook's our musician, he's a skeleton who poops."
"Indeed I do. If it's not too much to ask, may I-" SLAP!
"That's Nami, our navigator." Twitch. "Don't try to steal her tangerines." He whispered.
"Nice to meet you; and he's right."
"The one on the ground is Sanji, our cook. He makes the BEST food in the world!"
Sanji stirred slightly.
"Chopper, our doctor. He's a reindeer that only looks like a raccoon dog."
"I am- HEY!"
"And Robin, our archeologist. She's really, really smart." Twitch.
"Thank you, Luffy. It's nice to meet you all."
"Right, now that the pleasantries are done with, how are you going to help us across the Calm Belt?" Zoro asked bluntly. Which, apparently, were the magic words to waking their cook.
"Dammit, Marimo, watch how you talk to a lady! You're just as bad as Luffy!" He turned to the women gallantly. "I apologize for my crewmate, he's a barbaric idiot, may I get you ladies something to drink? It must have been a long voyage." It would have been a sweet and considerate offer if his nose hadn't started bleeding.
Sonia and Mari were just about to answer when Hancock brushed them all aside impatiently, seemingly over her shyness. "Let's not waste any time. We need to secure this vessel to the back of our ship! Yuda, move ahead! Ladies, quit gawking and prepare the cables, NOW!" There was much scrambling as the women hurried to obey their captain's order and Hancock turned her icy stare on her sisters. "Don't get distracted. We're here for Luffy."
They answered as one, petrified. "Yes, sister."
Hancock flicked her hair away and turned, lovingly, to said captain.
Nami had eventually decided that talking to Sandersonia or Marigold, as they learned their names later, would be safer than subjecting herself to Hancock's murderous gaze. She had already tried to kick Chopper out of her path, much to Robin's anger, and snapped at anyone who wasn't on her crew or Luffy. Actually, Luffy was the only one guaranteed not to be yelled at. So Nami was able to meet the Kuja's navigator on their ship and work to find the most efficient path back to Luffy's island. Franky was added to the conversation, so they had to be moved back to the Sunny (since men that weren't Luffy were not allowed aboard), and continued to discuss while adding the ship's Coup de Burst to the equation. They tried to avoid it for as long as possible but, eventually, they had to pry Luffy away from Hancock so he could give them directions on the island's location. He had given them an alarmingly blank look.
Nami tried to stay calm. "Ok, Luffy, what's the name of the island?" She sounded like she was talking to a child.
"Dawn island." He said promptly.
The Kuja navigator looked a little surprised, Nami noted, but made a rough estimate of its location then released him to follow Hancock to the kitchen for a 'sustaining snack'.
After making a few calculations and notes, Nami finally turned to her fellow navigator. "Do you know the island?"
She freezes, just a bit, but shakes her head slowly. "No, I've only read about it, but I never would have thought Luffy-sama came from such a place."
Nami frowns. "Is it that bad?"
She looks up at Nami then, face carefully blank. "That would depend on your viewpoint. It houses the Goa Kingdom." She wouldn't say anymore on the subject.
Eventually, Nami would get around to asking Robin about it.
"Sanji, what's the point of making all this if they won't take it?! You're sulking! And being wasteful! What would Nami say?" Usopp tutted and stole an orange slice from the specimen bowl.
The cook seemed to be in physical pain over some inner conflict. "I know! But I only have access to three, maybe four, of those ladies! It wouldn't be right to bring them refreshments but not the rest! And they're always watching!"
"Have you seen the way their captain treats them? I doubt they care. You're just serving their captain and co-captains, that's not so unusual."
"DON'T YOU TALK BAD ABOUT HANCOCK-CHAN!" He shrieked, swiping the bowl of oranges out of the sniper's reach.
"Oi! I was just trying to make you feel better! See if I ever do that again!"
He sniffed. "Not if you're going to be insulting a lady. Know your audience, Liar."
Usopp scowled and muttered as he walked out quickly. "At least I didn't faint." He heard something crash against the galley door on his exit.
It wasn't really noticeable at first. The two crews were usually separated, most of the Kuja pirates were not allowed on the Strawhat's ship and the male members of the Strawhats were not allowed on the Kuja ship. So it took awhile before any information came up at all. Mostly simple statements here and there.
"So, Marigold-san, why is Luffy on such great terms with the Kuja? You all seem to have a reputation for being the death of men who step foot on your island."
She looked a little thoughtful as she answered the archeologist. "Well, we did try to execute him at first, but he fought well against Sonia and I, and then Sister fell in love with him." She shrugged.
There had to be more to it than that. "I thought I heard her say something about marriage over the Den Den Mushi." She quirked a brow, a slight smile forming.
Mari chuckled fondly. "Yes, she's very set on the idea of marrying Luffy-san." She must have seen some form of doubt in Robin's eyes because she added. "And believe me, she always gets her way."
Robin giggled a bit. "I can imagine, but so does our captain."
Luffy had taken to sitting as far ahead as he could, which happened to be the Yuda's head, and staring intently at the horizon when he wasn't eating or playing. Hancock would respect his need for contemplation (if that was what he was doing) and silently watch over him from below, chasing away anyone who got too close. In fact, she followed him around just about everywhere, at varying distances. Most of the Strawhats, especially the women, received murderous looks when caught interacting with him easily. The only ones who seemed unfazed by it were Robin and Zoro, who were respectively amused and indifferent.
The current victims were Usopp and Chopper, as they were fishing off the side of the Sunny with their captain.
"Luffy? Can't you talk to Hancock? It's a little scary, she keeps glaring at us all."
"Yeah, it's scary." Chopper shivered.
"I mean, I can understand the girls, but why does she hate us guys so much?" Usopp asked.
"They just don't like guys in general." Luffy stated simply.
"Well, yeah, I guess. Which reminds me! Why does she like you so much? This is the Pirate Empress we're talking about, the most beautiful woman in the world, how did she fall in love with you?" He asked, a bit rudely.
Luffy shrugged, frowning at him. "I dunno! She just did." He sounded like he was explaining a natural phenomenon to an exceptionally stupid child, Usopp had a renewed impulse to strangle him. Suddenly, as if sensing she had been mentioned (which she probably had), a threatening aura descended upon them.
"Luffy, you are the captain of this crew, you shouldn't be made to catch produce like a peasant." She stated icily, her penetrating eyes fixed on Usopp's back and making him shiver.
Luffy leaned back precariously, looking at Hancock upside down. "Why not? It's fun! I love fishing with my crew!" He smiled brightly.
She seemed torn by several emotions. Delighted that he was focusing his attention on her, but incredibly jealous by his words. "Well, as long as you're happy." She finally said, quietly, when she couldn't maintain eye contact anymore.
Chopper seemed to pluck up some courage at her momentary timidity, plus he was glued to Luffy's side, and decided to ask. "Why do you like Luffy so much? The others say- you… uh…" He trailed off as Hancock stared at him coldly and shrunk further at Luffy's side.
"… For your information, I do not 'like' Luffy, I love him!" She declared haughtily, as if it should be obvious. "In fact, as his crew, you should know that I intend to marry him!" Her face acquired a dreamy quality to it.
There was a crash behind her and the boys were only vaguely aware of Sanji's horror-struck face as they stared at the Empress with their own shocked expressions.
"I told you already, I'm not going to marry you! I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"
Rather than be disappointed by the rejection, like they thought she would be, or angered, she swooned and stated how much she loved it when he was firm in his resolve.
"So how did you fall in love with him? Not that he's not lovable!" Usopp amended quickly at Hancock's indignant expression. "But he's kinda… Luffy." He finished with a wide wave at the captain that was currently picking his nose.
She frowned. "I don't understand what you seem to be implying, but I can assure you that Luffy is the height of quality your gender seems able to produce. There is no one greater and he is the only one deserving of my love. The rest of you are trash." She finished acidly, making them all flinch. Then she fell back heavily onto Salome, who had twisted itself into a chair-shape.
They just stared.
"Did you hear that Hancock intends to marry Luffy?!" Nami asked without preamble when she walked into the library and spotted Robin.
She glanced up with a small smile. "Yes, actually, Marigold confirmed it for me. She doesn't seem to doubt it will happen." She chuckled at Nami's gaping expression of disbelief.
"But- It's Luffy! Luffy! Why would she want him?! She's the most beautiful woman in the world…" She shook herself as her tone had taken a dreamy lilt.
"Careful, you're starting to sound like Sanji." She laughed outright at Nami's offended expression. "As for why she's so taken with him, I can't say for sure. No one will tell me. I suspect something significant happened between the two that stuck Hancock deeply, but no one besides her and her sisters seems to know what it is. And they're not telling."
"Really? Well, that would make sense…" Nami looked thoughtful. "She doesn't even mind that Luffy keeps rejecting her, though. Either she's extremely confident in herself or in denial, but I just can't see it." She shook her head again. "Whatever, as long as the crew stays together they have my blessing."
"It is amusing to watch. She better stay away from Chopper though." Robin finished with a dark murmur.
It only took a day to reach the Calm Belt they were currently sailing in. Nami found it extremely eerie to be in a sea that was glassy calm but had numerous shadows prowling beneath the surface, not to mention the lack of wind. She felt strangely disabled, like she was lacking a sense she hadn't noticed she had. Robin marveled at her when this was mentioned and gave her a sympathetic smile; it almost sounded like the feeling of vulnerability when she was unable to use her Devil Fruit abilities.
Occasionally they would encounter a sea monster hardy enough to challenge the Yuda, but Luffy would always knock it out with his Conqueror Haki before anything could happen. He seemed to become increasingly restless as the days passed, which was saying something.
Not that he was acting any differently, per say; he was as playful and energetic as always but his hyperactivity seemed to take on a whole new level as he jumped from task to task, sometimes while in the middle of one. Sanji called an emergency meeting on it after Luffy jumped up for the third time from his task of peeling potatoes only to return within minutes, clearly having reconsidered whatever he had intended to do.
"There's not much we can do, bro. He's obviously just anxious to get there. It's just pent-up energy." Franky looked over at Usopp and Chopper with a frown. "I thought you two were keeping him busy."
"We're trying to! But he keeps running off in the middle of things or finishing them too quickly! We can't keep up!" Usopp cried indignantly.
"Where's he now?" Brook asked, looking to Robin.
She briefly closed her eyes. "He's… Sitting on the Yuda."
Brook nodded. "He's been doing that a lot more, lately." Almost as if willing them to go faster…
Sanji looked at Chopper, expression half-joking. "Couldn't you drug him?" He was treated to a heated scolding on the use of unnecessary medication that left his ears ringing.
"Not that I wasn't worried before, but… what if… we don't make it?" Nami asked tentatively. She spoke over several protests. "Of course we're doing everything we can, but there are so many factors beyond our control. The marines could have some way of travelling faster than normal, like our Coup de Burst allows us. We only have vague, infrequent, accounts of their location, thanks to Hancock and her ties to the marines so we can't know exactly where they are unless they're docked. The only good thing here is that the weather will be much easier to deal with."
"Nami-swan, we can't think like that. As you've said, we're doing everything we can, if we start thinking about the things we can't we'd just be torturing ourselves." Sanji gave her a small, sympathetic smile, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.
"We could start planning battle strategies, at this point we're just being lazy bones and sitting around! Yohohoho!" Brook pointed out.
The door suddenly slammed open and Hancock stood there, lowering her leg she had used to kick the door, and glowered around the room. Her eyes stopped on Zoro. "Luffy wants to talk to you." She stated stiffly.
Zoro lifted a brow but started to get up. "Where is he?"
"You know where he is, you've all been keeping watch on him." She snapped impatiently, clearly in a mood.
Zoro stopped then. "You're letting me on your ship?" Sanji was seething with jealousy in the background.
Hancock just glared at him, but managed an icy reply. "Luffy. Wants. To talk."
Zoro shrugged and started to follow her as she turned to leave the room.
"Hold on!"
Everyone turned to Usopp, and he quailed a bit under the attention, but took heart from being in company so he asked the Empress. "Uh… I just- Luffy was on your island those two years after the war, right?" She didn't say anything, not that it really needed confirmation. "W-well, how did he- You know, after…" He trailed off helplessly and turned to Nami with a pleading expression. She caught on quick.
"How did he cope?"
Hancock looked at them with an startled expression and then, to their utter fright, looked down with a tearful glance. "I don't know." She said quietly. "He was still unconscious when we got back to the island and remained so for over two weeks. I didn't get to see him until hours after he woke up but by then he seemed to have calmed down from a destructive rage. Jimbei was the only witness to it."
That caused some surprise. "Jimbei?"
"Yes, by the time I arrived Trafalgar had already departed. I had afforded him and his crew sanctuary only until Luffy was out of danger, so-"
"Wait! Trafalgar, you mean Law?!" Nami exclaimed. "He was there too?" All that time they were together and this never came up! Well… Luffy did seem to know him when they met on Punk Hazard, but she assumed that was because of their brief meeting on Sabaody.
Hancock gave them an odd look. "Of course, who do you think operated on him after the war? Really, did you never discuss this with him at all?" She shot them one last reproving gaze before turning on her heel and leading the swordsman outside.
Zoro gave a few members meaningful looks before following her out. Once they reached the figurehead the empress simply leapt up to the railing of her ship without a word, so he followed her example. It quickly became apparent that, despite his captain's request, he was not welcome on the ship. The whole crew seemed to have assembled outside to form a solid path leading to the bow, like they thought he needed to be supervised. Tsk, not like I have any interest in wandering off and, even if I wanted to, a Warlord is escorting me. Don't they think that's enough? He was almost flattered. Still, while they didn't seem to be actively hostile, there were many women glaring at him and, he was somewhat surprised to sense, every single one of them had a good grasp of some form of Haki. No wonder Luffy got so strong, if he was on an island with such people for two years, not to mention Rayleigh.
They eventually made it to the heads of the Yuda where Luffy was sitting, legs crossed, and staring at the horizon. The Warlord didn't bother alerting Luffy to their presence, just turned on her heel when they got close enough and started screeching at her crew to GET BACK TO WORK and GIVE DEAR LUFFY PRIVACY. This also gave Zoro pause as he reconsidered his opinion over the seemingly-superficial woman, but just grunted and stepped up to sit on the railing closest to Luffy's snake. Still partially facing the way he came, to be sure no one approaches, but twists a bit so he can see his captain.
Luffy turned to peek at him with a grin. "Do you wanna sit up here?"
The swordsman eyes the snake dubiously and shakes his head. "I'm fine here."
His captain's question takes on a teasing tone. "Scared?"
He snorts. "I'm not the Perverted Cook, I just don't think we'd both fit." He wasn't scared, but he wasn't going to go afoul of a pair of snakes that sent Calm Belt seakings running.
Luffy simply shrugged, turned back, and fell silent. After a few minutes Zoro looks up at him and, when no explanation seems to be forthcoming, he turns completely in his seat so his feet are dangling over the water and he's facing the same direction.
With his face openly facing the sea he becomes much more aware of the fine spray of seawater rising over them in a cool drizzle. The wind and sunshine dry it away before it can really set into any dampness, however, leaving a pleasant sensation behind. And, for a moment, Zoro understands why Luffy has always been insistent on taking this position while set on a destination. The effect is a bit diminished from where he's seated, with the snake's neck/body in the way, but he can imagine that if that weren't the case it would just be him, the sun, wind, and ocean as far as he could see. The sensation represents the freedom of being a pirate that Luffy so passionately strives for, and imparts a feeling of control on the onlooker.
This thought only serves to confirm his suspicions over Luffy's hyperactivity and, while poetic, doesn't do much to help in his apparent task to set the captain at ease. So he tries a different approach.
"Does Hancock know we're going to save a woman?"
"It wouldn't matter either way, man or woman, she doesn't really get along with anyone."
"Except you."
Luffy makes a pained noise, full of disappointment. "Not you too! I keep hearing that from everybody!"
Zoro snorts but makes a mental note to tell them all to lay off. Yes, it was shocking at first but the novelty's ended.
"Hancock and Nami found out where the warship will be sailing. Apparently they need to let other ships know where they'll be going into the Calm Belt, in case they get attacked."
Zoro nods, he had heard something similar from the navigator. "And cargo goes missing." He finishes.
They sit in silence for a while more. Zoro doesn't rush it. He's always preferred an economy of words with prolonged bouts of silence rather than talking and talking and hoping the meaning is understood.
Luffy lets out a long breath. "I know I'm worrying them. Maybe this whole trip is useless and reckless; I bet Shanks already knows about it, but…"
"He's an Emperor." Zoro's statement makes Luffy turn to him, curious over the obvious. "He's bound to have plenty of enemies besides the Marines; plenty of rival pirates willing to risk a skirmish just to hurt him." Luffy's eyes narrow. "But the Marines will have anticipated that too, guarding her with top ranking officers that will be battle-ready and occupied with those enemies." He turns to his captain and looks him in the eye. "They will be expecting Shanks to make an appearance maybe in person, maybe that's what they actually aim for in all this, but what they won't be expecting is a small pirate crew with no discernible ties to show up and sneak her out from under their noses. And really, that's probably our best bet at this point."
The Strawhat captain took this in with a nod, but then pouted. "So, what, there won't be any fighting?"
The swordsman looked affronted. "Of course there will be fighting! But a clean escape here, less fighting though there may be, will guarantee more future fights."
"What do you mean?" Luffy seemed confused.
"Well… consider this, we just got done dethrone-ing one of the Emperors, right? What will they think when we seem to attack another? What will they do when they fail to get her back?"
Slowly, a grin spread across Luffy's face and he laughed, long and loud.
It only occurred to the swordsman later that he had assumed their success.
I know that Luffy used to get her name wrong and a lot of fics use that for comedic effect, but I think he had switched to her actual name after she got him into Impel Down. I thought it was sweet, like something to repay the debt. It was really hard to write their interactions though… I definitely didn't want to suggest he had romantic feelings for her, however I didn't want him to seem like he hated or disrespected her while also showing his distaste for romance but tolerance as long as she didn't overdo it. Because he is aware of her feelings, just not interested. I feel like this whole chapter ended up being focused on them, though.
I actually did not plan that subtle jab at Zoro's inexistent sense of direction, but it made me giggle when I did.
I'm not exactly sure what the function of this chapter was anymore, but if I make any significant changes I'll add a note at the beginning of the next chapter. I noticed on revision that I've opened a lot of scenarios that I didn't exactly intend to... I may use them for epilogue or one-shot fodder, so let me know if something in particular caught your eye! I estimate probably two more chapters, not including extras. Thanks for reading!