The Gate Master
Chapter 4
One day later…
Trapped on a boat all day with three boys was tiring. Not only was Sanji constantly flirting with her, but with the addition of another crew member Luffy was acting like a three year old on a sugar high. He hadn't been still for more than five seconds, Yosaku appeared to be the only normal male on the small boat, but he couldn't talk to Dawn without going red and mumbling. Dawn was annoyed with it all.
Hedwig seemed to agree with her and had taken to screeching at any of the boys who came too close to her. Luffy didn't mind but Sanji certainly did. Sanji was an excellent cook however, everything he served was wonderful and because her plate was "the most boring" no one else would steal it off her. She had gotten rid of the black cape from her shoulders and dropped it in her expander-bag as the weather was much too nice to be wearing it. Of course, her choice not to wear it made Sanji an even bigger flirt and made Yosaku unable to talk to her at all.
One day after leaving the restaurant Dawn caught her first sight of a Sea King. To her it looked like a giant baby sea-cow, with really sharp teeth. She couldn't help herself and cooed at the animal, reaching out to pet it. It sunk down into the water and allowed her to reach its head.
"It's so cute," she announced, turning to look at the three boys who were staring at her with open mouths. While they were distracted she snatched a plate of meat from the table and tossed it into the sea-cow's mouth. It made a satisfied sound and looked at the table to see if there was anything else to eat.
"You can't keep it," Luffy said with a laugh.
"But he's just a baby!" Dawn said with a smile to show that she understood and was just messing with him. "Look at him!"
Yosaku and Sanji were staring at the two of them horrified. Luffy joined Dawn and used his rubber abilities to pet the sea-cow behind one of his ears. The sea-cow's eyes closed it what appeared to be pure bliss as it slowly sank underneath the waves. Dawn swung her legs over the side of the boat in order to better talk to the animal.
"Hey, could you help us?" she asked. The sea-cow's eyes opened and stared at her curiously. "My friends and I are trying to get to an island in that direction. We're searching for some of our other friends who went on ahead of us. You look pretty fast, could you help us out?"
The sea-cow mooed thoughtfully before sinking completely under the water and moving under the boat. Sanji and Yosaku clung to each other in fear as the boat rose above the surface of the ocean and rested securely between the sea-cow's shoulder blades. Dawn, clinging to Luffy, left the confines of the boat and sat on the sea-cow's head. She praised him and pet him behind his ears now that she could reach. Luffy stood beside her with bent knees and cheered in joy as the speed they were previously traveling at was tripled.
"So what's the plan when we get to Nami?" Dawn asked. "Yosaku told us about Arlong, do you think Nami went to collect a bounty on him?"
"Nope," Luffy answered. The grin slid from his face and he quickly glanced back to where Sanji and Yosaku were still clinging to each other. They weren't paying attention to him or Dawn; instead they were trying to see how high up they were without moving from the centre of the boat. His eyes flickered back to his fiancé and his expression softened.
"You think she's going home then?" Dawn prompted.
"Yeah," this time Luffy sighed. "She hates pirates, loves money and tangerines, but she's distant. It's like she's afraid to care about anyone. You said she was sad when she left the Baratie, so obviously she cared about us. She's afraid of being hurt again."
"What if she doesn't want to be rescued?"
"She does. More than anything she wants to be free of whatever is pulling her back to Arlong Park, but she thinks she has to do it on her own."
"What would you like me to do?"
"Get yourself back up to full strength," Luffy knelt next to Dawn and put his hand on her shoulder with a serious expression on his face. "Did you think I wouldn't notice that you're depressed? You don't eat as much as you used to, and you're not sleeping more than five hours at a time."
"It's not that I was hiding it from you," Dawn whispered. "I'm just trying to figure everything out on my own first. Everything's just a bit hard at the moment and I need to find my purpose again."
"I will always be available for you to talk to if you need me. I promised I would be by your side for forever, no matter what. Don't shut me out, please?"
Dawn glanced briefly at the horizon and saw that there was an island in the distance coming closer quickly. She promised Luffy that as soon as Nami was once again with them she would talk with him about what was bothering her. He stared at her for a long moment before nodding and jumping down to the boat and instructing the other two males to hold on to something as they were about to land. Dawn thanked the sea-cow and slid back to where the others were. Hedwig was still above them and Dawn waved her on.
Suddenly the boat below her feet lurched and it was only Luffy's steady hand that kept her on her feet. The sea-cow dove straight down into the water as they approached the shore. The movement sent the boat catapulting through the air like a rocket and several screams echoed from the passengers.
"It's like we're flying!" Luffy declared.
"We are flying!" Sanji snapped at him.
"No! We're falling!" this time it was Yosaku who spoke and then he and Sanji were screaming even more. Dawn stared ahead and had to blink as a familiar person came into view.
"Zoro?" she queried. Luffy stared for what she could see and waved at the swordsman. Dawn closed her eyes and held onto the side of the boat as their speed decreased. Luffy suddenly pulled her against his chest and the sound of shattering wood filled her senses. She glared up at Luffy as he brushed the splinters of wood from his body before doing the same to her. Hedwig descended and perched herself on Dawn's shoulder and started to reprimand Luffy in owl-speak.
"I apologise Hedwig," Luffy said solemnly. "But I won't let anything happen to Dawn."
After that Hedwig calmed down, but she still turned her back on the pirate and focused on fixing Dawn's hair with her beak. Luffy grinned and turned back to Zoro, asking where Nami, Usopp and Jonny were.
"Oh crap! Usopp! Quick, we have to run!"
"Why?" Yosaku asked as he pulled himself from the rubble of what had once been a very nice boat.
"Arlong has him and after what I did Usopp is not safe there," Zoro explained even as he started to move.
"It's too late."
The four of them turned to face the new voice and Dawn frowned at the tears she could see on Jonny's face. He turned to Luffy and walked further forward before speaking again.
"Big Sis Nami murdered him."
Dawn felt the colour drain from her face as another similar situation came forth from her memory. Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had been best friends, and then Peter contributed to the killing of one and framed another for murder. She didn't think that Nami had been capable of killing a friend, but apparently she was wrong.
Luffy spotted her expression before denying the accusation. His hand briefly rested on Dawn's arm before he walked further forward and shook Jonny. He yelled at him to never say anything like that again, and that he knew Nami.
"Quiet! Say another word and you'll regret it!" Luffy snapped as he grabbed Jonny by his collar.
"Easy Luffy," Zoro cautioned. "This has nothing to do with Jonny."
"Believe whatever you want!" Jonny cried. "But I know what I saw! Nami killed Big Bro Usopp!"
"Shut your mouth! Never in a million years would Nami kill Usopp! She wouldn't do that to her friends!" Luffy glanced briefly at Dawn, who hadn't moved and was watching silently, before his attention returned to Jonny.
"What was that about friends?"
Dawn spun around and stared at Nami, surprised by the change. The woman she had gotten to know on the Baratie was buried under a cold mask of indifference. Dawn noticed her left hand was bandaged and there was blood staining the bandage. She narrowed her eyes and tried to piece together what had happened.
"Nami!" Luffy exclaimed as he dropped Jonny and turned to face his navigator.
"What are you doing here?" Nami asked.
"What am I doing?" Luffy asked puzzled. "You're our friend. We came to get you."
"What a pest," Nami sighed, ignoring Luffy's confusion. "Friends huh? Don't make me laugh. You're just pathetic enough to deserve each other."
"Damn you!" Jonny suddenly exclaimed. Dawn watched him nervously, and noticed that the other pirates around her were also watching in case something changed. "You killed him! I watched you do it! And now…Big Bro Usopp is gone!"
"Yep, that's right," Nami confirmed with a smirk. "So why don't you kill me and get your revenge?"
Luffy started to speak up but a shake of the head from Dawn changed his mind. He remained silent as in her own way Nami expressed concern about them and asked them to leave. She was afraid of Arlong, and even after watching Luffy's previous battles with insane marines and former pirates, she had no faith that they would all come out of the approaching fight unscathed. Dawn drifted over to Luffy's side and tucked her hand in his. Behind them Zoro and Sanji got into a fight over Nami, but whereas Sanji was fighting for her, Zoro was more interested in discovering where Usopp was.
"You chose your first mate wisely," Dawn whispered. "He's just as hardheaded and loyal as you."
"Thanks," Luffy whispered. "I watched him for a while and listened to the town's rumors before approaching him. Just like you taught me."
Dawn smiled up at him before turning serious and facing Nami again. She knew that the older girl was getting desperate. Her ploys would probably have worked if she was speaking to someone who couldn't see past first impressions, but she wasn't, she was speaking to Monkey D Luffy who saw passed a person's face and into their soul.
"You're not wanted here! You don't know anything about this place! Just go away!"
Luffy discretely removed his hand from Dawn's. He, like Dawn, knew that Nami was afraid. But unlike Dawn he also knew that Nami would need them in the near future. To make a point he allowed his body to fall backwards onto the ground to rest. Everyone looked at him, but Dawn kept her eyes on Nami and was able to see the stunned look that crossed her features.
"Big Bro Luffy!"
"What are you doing?"
"Sleepy," Luffy muttered as he closed his eyes. His arms went behind his head to use as a crude pillow.
"Sleep?"
"At a time like this?"
"In the middle of the road?"
"Well, I am pretty tired. I'm not going to butt into their affairs. Not interested. But I'm not leaving either. Night."
Dawn wanted to laugh at the incredulous noises coming from the bounty hunters. Zoro and Sanji hadn't made a sound, but they would both follow Luffy's lead. They could hear the order in his explanation, even if no one else could. The order was: We're not leaving without Nami. We're going to be here for a while.
"Fine," Dawn's eyes focused on Nami again at the whispered word. "Just go ahead and die!"
That said she spun around and ran off. Dawn settled on the ground next to Luffy and maneuvered his leg so that it was propped up and she could use his knee as a pillow. Hedwig settled on Luffy's other leg that was still flat on the ground and tucked her head under her wing. For all intents and purposes going to sleep.
"You're all insane!" Jonny suddenly exclaimed. Dawn lifted her eyes to stare at him, but kept her head on Luffy's knee. Jonny turned to Zoro, appealing to him. "Big Bro Zoro, what are you thinking?"
"Did you forget that Arlong was out to kill us?" Yosaku added. "We should be running away!"
"Now that we know what Nami's really like there isn't a single good reason why we should stay on this island."
Dawn stared at Zoro, but was pleased when she noticed he was sitting down, propped up against his one remaining sword. The swordsman caught her looking at him, but just nodded before looking up at his former partners.
"My reason for staying here," he explained. "Is there. I'm staying because he's staying."
"Don't be stupid Big Bro Zoro," Yosaku scoffed. "Are you saying you want to bring her back too?"
"What I want has nothing to do with this. I don't decide who the navigator is. He does."
Dawn smiled at his response. Zoro was loyal without question, even if he disagreed, he would follow Luffy wherever he lead them. Jonny and Yosaku couldn't understand his decision, however, but they left with fond waves and Dawn didn't think that she'd be seeing them again. Silence fell on the group and Dawn relaxed. The wind surrounded her and ruffled her hair, making her smile. She would never have felt so relaxed back in her world.
"So what do you think it is?" Sanji suddenly asked. "Why was she crying?"
"I don't know," Zoro replied. "Was she crying?"
Dawn giggled softly. She knew that the two boys in front of her were just made to fight each other. Eternal rivals even though the only thing they had in common was that they were a part of Luffy's pirate crew. She listened to their banter for a while but couldn't help but wonder what instinct Luffy had that allowed him to find people willing to join his crew and trust in what he was doing. Her eyes suddenly locked on a figure in the distance and a smile danced across her features. She was about to call out to alert the others to the new arrival, but Zoro and Sanji moved before she could to attack each other.
"Ouch," Dawn murmured as Usopp came between them and caught both attacks with his face. She woke Hedwig gently before poking Luffy in the nose to wake him and standing up so that she wouldn't be in the way of Luffy's mad dash.
"He's alive!" Sanji exclaimed as he jumped back.
"Or he was…" Zoro added, also jumping back. "I hope he still is."
Usopp collapsed to the ground without a sound, and as he made contact with the ground Luffy sprung up and rushed forwards. Hedwig settled on Dawn's shoulder again as she made her way to stand next to Zoro.
"USOPP!" Luffy cried in horror. "Did Nami do all this to you?"
"Sorry," Sanji said, not sounding at all apologetic. "Zoro and I did that."
"No, you did!" Zoro hissed back at the cook.
"Luffy, you're here now," Usopp whispered. Luffy grinned and laughed.
"Yep! Sure am!"
"I'm here too," Sanji said. "Hi there!"
"One of these days I'll kill you!" Usopp snapped as he leapt to his feet. Dawn giggled. Sanji clearly wasn't going to have much of a loyal fan base from the men in the crew if he kept up his attitude. Zoro looked at her curiously, but she didn't explain her thoughts.
"Oh! You just made a full recovery!" Sanji continued.
"By the way," Zoro interrupted before Usopp could continue yelling at Sanji. "We kind of heard you were dead. Killed by Nami."
"Stupid Jonny," Luffy exclaimed, cutting in before the explanation. "He was sprouting nonsense that entire time!"
"Well, in a way, it is the truth," Usopp confirmed. "But, I'm alive, because you see she actually saved my life."
What followed was Usopp's version of how Nami saved his life…by stabbing her own hand. Dawn figured that there was a lot to the story he added to make himself seem greater, but the main aspect of his story was that Nami was a suffering hero.
"Looks to me like she's got some sort of hidden motive for hanging out with a bunch of renegade Fishmen," Usopp concluded.
"Obviously," Sanji stated.
"Fine, what do we do next?" Zoro asked. "Destroy Arlong Park?"
"Woah! Hang on just a second!" Usopp protested. "Don't you think we better find out what's going on with Nami first?"
"It's no use either way. No matter what you guys do, Arlong's rule won't come to an end."
The five of them looked towards the new speaker, a tall girl with light blue hair and a tattoo down her right arm. Usopp called her Nojiko.
"Who's she?" Luffy asked, pointing towards Nojiko. Dawn pushed his hand down, whispering that it was rude to point.
"She's Nami's big sister," Usopp explained. Sanji instantly went into womanizing mode but everyone ignored him.
"What do you mean it's no use?" Zoro asked.
"Just trust me," Nojiko replied. "Don't get yourselves involved in what's going on here. And leave poor Nami alone. I'll explain the situation."
"Situation?"
"You mean you can tell us why she joined up with Arlong's crew?"
"Yeah," Nojiko stated. "And if that doesn't get you to leave I don't know what will."
"So tell us all about it," Usopp invited. "I've got to admit, I'm curious."
"I'll pass," Luffy stated. Dawn grabbed his hand and started to walk with him. She didn't need to hear from another person Nami's past. If Nami wanted her to know, she'd tell her herself.
"I don't care about her past," Luffy explained as they passed Nojiko.
"It's not going to change our decision to help her," Dawn added.
"Where you two going?" Sanji asked.
"For a walk."
"A walk! You mean you're not going to listen to this?" Usopp cried incredulously.
"Nope. I'm taking Dawn on a date."
Dawn looked up at him in shock before smiling. Their last "date" had been back on Dawn Island two years previously before Dawn's forth year at Hogwarts. The year after that they hadn't been able to go for a walk of anything as Dawn had only turned up to show that she was still alive and inform her friend that she was being watched and couldn't stay for long. Luffy had said he understood, but Dawn knew that he was disappointed. He knew that something bad had happened, and she was only briefly able to tell him that Voldemort had returned and killed one of her classmates in front of her.
The two of them walked in silence, simply enjoying being with each other without a time constraint on their time together. Their hands were linked, but with her free hand Dawn was admiring the ring Luffy had brought for her. It was still under a glamour charm, but she didn't think she would need to keep it on for much longer. She planned on telling everyone in the crew after Nami returned to them.
"Let's find a village to get something to eat," Luffy suggested. "Maybe they'll let us take some food for a picnic?"
"We haven't had a picnic for a while," Dawn agreed. "And it's a nice day for it too."
"Yeah, oh wow! Those must be Fishmen!"
Dawn looked down the road and spotted three giants. Well, they were giant to her as she was only half their height, but they were also clearly Fishmen with their sea-creature like features. The one in the middle had six arms, like an octopus; the one on the left had a really large mouth that stuck out like Usopp's nose; and the one on the right had fins for elbows that looked really sharp. All of them had tattoos somewhere on their bodies. Luffy didn't seem to care much about their appearance however, and just kept walking passed them.
"I think they wanted us to stop and talk to them," Dawn whispered as they passed by.
"Really?" Luffy asked.
"Hey! You there! Wait!"
Luffy and Dawn turned slightly to look at the Fishmen. It was the one in the middle that had spoken to them. Luffy tilted his head curiously and asked what they wanted.
"Who are you? And what are you doing on this island?" the middle Fishman asked in reply.
"Why? What does it matter to you?"
"Well, it's just that we, don't get many visitors," the Fishman explained hesitantly. Dawn giggled. It was obvious that the Fishman had never met someone who wasn't afraid of him and didn't know how to react.
"Oh, well, my name's Luffy and this is Dawn," Luffy stated. "And we're just passing through."
"Passing through?"
Luffy nodded before turning around and continued walking. Dawn waved back over her shoulder with a smile, and was amused to see that the Fishman had pulled yellow hankies from somewhere to wave them off.
"Have a nice time!"
"Hey smartass, where are you going?" this question came from the Fishman with fins for elbows.
"Heck if I know!" Luffy replied. Dawn gripped his hand tighter in laughter. She looked at him happily and had Luffy tell her about his adventures since setting sail. Usopp had told her a little, but he had missed out on the start of the story and Luffy was more than willing to fill in for her.
Once he was done talking they arrived at the village, and the smiles dropped from both their faces. Walking up the street was a platoon of marines, but their leader looked like a rat. Dawn hated rats more than any other animal in the world. Leading the marines was a man from the village, and he looked like he had been cut up and sown back together. She looked up at Luffy and sighed.
"Stop freaking out over the pinwheel," she ordered quietly. The man from the village had had a pinwheel stuck into the top of his hat. Luffy looked at her with a sheepish smile before looking back at the marines. "Something big is about to happen. They were going after Nami."
Luffy nodded and the two of them turned around to follow the marines back the way they had come. They kept out of the way and once they arrived at an orchard they walked into the trees so they could watch out of sight. Luffy helped her up onto one of the branches before pulling himself up after her. They were invisible to the marines, but they could still clearly see and hear what was happening.
"Nami wanted one hundred million berries, didn't she?" Dawn asked as they listened in.
"Yeah, it's her goal."
"Those marines are about to take her money for themselves, what do you want to do?"
"Nami doesn't want our help just yet."
"I can get her money and protect it for her," Dawn crept further out on her branch as Nami started to attack the marines. "They'll never know that it was me."
"Be careful Princess," Luffy whispered, killing her cheek. "It's about to get very dangerous."
Dawn nodded. She reached into her expander-bag and grabbed her black cape and her wand. The cape had a hood so she flipped it over her head, hiding her face in shadow. Nami would know it was her, but the marines and anyone else who had seen her already wouldn't have a clue. Underneath them Nojiko, the man with a pinwheel in his hat, and Nami verbally thought with the rat marine, who in turn alluded to the fact that Arlong had sent him to get the money.
"I found it!"
Dawn leapt from tree to tree silently in the direction of the call. She wouldn't have long to get the money out but she would do her best for her crewmate. Nami didn't deserve this to happen to her. The rat marine beat her to the treasure a heartbeat faster than her, but he didn't see her land behind him. The other marines called out a warning but he didn't hear as he was already unconscious. With a wave of her wand Dawn repelled the marines before turning to the treasure.
"Reducio," she whispered. Before everyone's eyes the large box of bloodied money shrunk until it was the size of a matchbox. She summoned it to her hand and dropped it in her bag so that she wouldn't lose it. Her green eyes swept over everyone present, scaring the marines with her silence. Her eyes locked with Nami's and she nodded before running off. As she turned the corner she pulled her invisibility cloak from her bag and hid under it before anyone could see her. Hidden, she walked back to where Luffy was waiting for her. She removed both cloaks and returned to the village to wait for Nami and the others.
Half an hour later…
In the village Dawn and Luffy sat under one of the tall trees, just relaxing. There was no time for food, they were waiting. Nami hadn't yet come to the village, and it was worrying both of them as they were sure that the village was where she would head to first. Dawn looked back up the road and gasped as she saw two people running, the third being carried by the man with the pinwheel.
"Doctor! Doctor!" the man was yelling. "Nojiko's been shot!"
"By who?" the doctor asked as he ran forward.
"The marines."
"Damn, do you think they blamed Nami for what I did?" Dawn asked quietly.
"Possibly, but everyone looked shocked enough at your appearance, and Nami was pretty angry at you for taking it. I doubt the marines would think the two of you were connected."
Luffy stood from where he was relaxing and walked towards the group. Dawn remained where she was as she doubted that Nami would be happy to see her, not after her sister had been shot in revenge. As it was, Nami took her anger out on Luffy, once again asking him to leave before throwing him to the ground and running off. Luffy returned to the tree, unhurt, and took Dawn's hand.
"That went well," he commented.
"Think she's going to go yell at Arlong?" Dawn asked.
"Yep, she'll be back though. These villagers will attack Arlong Park and despite how Nami acts, she doesn't want them to fight. We'll just wait here."
"When do you think Zoro and the others will get here?"
"Soon, once Zoro wakes up he'll lead them here."
Dawn nodded and readjusted her position against the tree so that she was more comfortable. She watched the villagers in front of them run to grab some crude weapons, pitch forks, shovels and other farming instruments, plus a few knives tied onto sticks made up their arsenal. Nojiko was bandaged up so that she could fight as well, and there wasn't a sliver of doubt on anyone's faces for what was about to happen. They were all ready to die for what they believed in.
After a while Nami came back, pleading with the villagers not to fight. She tried to get them to lay down their weapons, but they'd had enough. If the marines could abandon them so easily and attempt to steal Nami's hard won blood money, then there was no point in standing by. The marines would continue to try until Nami had the hundred million. There was no point anymore.
Luffy and Dawn stood to support Nami, and down the road the other members of the Straw-hat Pirates appeared. They all stood to the side as the villagers ran passed, and Dawn went to wait with Zoro as Luffy went to Nami. The captain stood over Nami and grabbed her hand so that she would stop plunging her own dagger into her pirate mark. Nami dropped the knife in shock and started to cry. The girl tried to get Luffy to leave, throwing dirt at him, begging him to go. They all watched, waiting for their cue.
"Luffy?" Nami finally whispered, completely broken and lost. "Help me?"
Dawn watched in pride as Luffy removed his straw hat, his pride and joy, and dropped in on Nami's head.
"Of course," he told her before turning to face the rest of his crew. "That's what friends do."
Zoro stood from where he was waiting on a nearby seat, his white sword gleaming in the sunlight; Sanji lit a new cigarette, his back to the whole scene; Usopp stood from where he was sprawled on the ground, arms crossed; and Dawn twirled her wand in her fingers. They all knew what was going to come next.
"He's going to pay!"
Luffy walked passed them all, not pausing in his stride. He uttered two words that had each of them obeying instantly.
"Let's go."
Dawn inclined her head back to Nami, and Luffy nodded. She would catch up with them later, but for now Nami needed her more than the boys did.
Nami didn't even notice her arrival, crying as she was. She obviously knew what Luffy's hat meant to him and what he was telling her by putting it on her head. While she was distracted Dawn pulled some bandages and a bottle of water from her expander-bag. At the first contact of water on her wound, Nami's attention snapped to her and she asked her what she was doing.
"I'm not much of a doctor," Dawn explained. "But at the very least I can clean this wound and put a bandage on it. You can have your own doctor look at it after the fight. But for now this will have to do."
"No, I mean why are you here with me? Why aren't you with Luffy?"
"Luffy's a big boy and can, mostly, look after himself. I'll catch up later and pull him out of the water. You need me a bit more than he does."
"They're all going to be killed," Nami whispered, tears dripping down her cheeks. "Arlong's going to turn them into fish food. And it's going to be my fault!"
Dawn hit her on her head gently. "Don't be so melodramatic. If Luffy wanted to he could just bring you back to the ship and take you away from here. He doesn't have to fight Arlong, he wants to. He wants you to feel safe when you come with us."
"I've been trying for years to kill Arlong," Nami continued. "But no matter what I do it's never enough. He's too strong."
"He's obviously never met Luffy then," Dawn replied unconcerned as she tied the bandage to Nami's arm. "My fiancé is unbeatable when he puts his mind to it."
"Fiancé?"
"Oops," Dawn muttered, freezing slightly. Nami turned to face her and with a sheepish smile Dawn removed the charm on her hand so that Nami could see her ring. Nami gasped in surprise and held her hand so that she could get a better look.
"When did this happen?"
"On the Baratie," Dawn admitted. "My birthday gift. We were going to tell everyone once you were back with us. There never seemed to be the right moment before. We're pretty sure that Sanji has figured it out, Zoro might be dense but he knows that my relationship with Luffy is different from everyone else's, and Usopp…he definitely doesn't know yet."
"Did Luffy pick this on his own?"
"He said he found it on one of the islands you had travelled to. I don't know if you were with him at the time, but he'd been carrying it around in his pocket since he found it. It symbolizes eleven years of friendship and a future of unity. I'll always stand by his side, and he will always stand by mine. That is our promise to each other."
"And you chose to stay with me rather than go off with him?"
"I trust Luffy with all my heart," Dawn put her remaining belongings away and stood up. "But now that I've looked after you I will go and make sure that he hasn't done something stupid, like falling in the water or something."
Nami nodded and allowed Dawn to pull her to her feet. Together, the two girls walked towards Arlong Park, one with hope and the other with fear. Above them flew Hedwig, her white feathers reflecting the sun light and letting them know where she was. Neither knew what to expect once they arrived.