...
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I really don't like going back on my word; I should have had this chapter up on Saturday night at the latest. Well, at least it was due to circumstances beyond my control…for every day after Saturday, that is; I could have finished it that day if I put more effort into it rather than other things of less importance. But, it's done now, and I hope it proves to be worth the wait.
The ocean breeze brushed against the crew as well as the sand beneath them as they arrived in the next time. The climate was mild, and the sun shone above them. Behind them was a path leading up to a forest, with twin cliffs on either side of it. The crew had no difficulty recognizing the area, least of all the first four, who flashed back to seeing claw marks carved throughout the stone.
"Yes! It's my turn. Chopper, I'm counting on you," Usopp said, glancing at the young doctor. Chopper's eyes hardened, the proof of how seriously he took his craft.
"I'll cure her, Usopp," the reindeer said firmly.
"All right, let's get going. We don't know how long we've got," Zoro said, walking towards the ocean. Clearly, his nonsense of direction was stronger than his will without the image of a crewmate's tears burned into his mind. Sanji opened his mouth to insult him, but someone else beat him to it.
"YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY, MOSSHEAD!" yelled Chopper.
"…"
Silence. Silence as dead as Brook fell as the crew turned in unison to look at the reindeer, and the doctor stared blankly back at them. The silence lasted for about half a minute before enough noise erupted from the beach to reach to the end of the Gecko Islands. A casual passerby would find it rather odd seeing a group of seven figures in varying sizes of black cloaks, some of which didn't even seem human, rolling in the sand, two others on their knees from laughter, and a last one looking at them with a glare that would terrify a sea king.
"OH, THAT'S TOO RICH!" Luffy gasped, pounding his fist in the sand and sending a small dune unintentionally in Zoro's direction with each pound. His glare subsequently became so scary that any sane human would suddenly find themselves capable of running on water to get away from him. Very slowly, the swordsman stepped forward and wrapped his hands around Chopper's neck. The reindeer's face didn't get much bluer, but his smile quickly faded.
"Z-Zoro, stop it!" Usopp snapped, shaking off his laughter and looking at Zoro without a trace of fear. The swordsman blinked, and loosened his grasp. Usopp sighed and shook his head as the others slowly subsided in laughing, and started walking towards the village, the others behind him.
"All right, that was funny enough that I probably could have spent the afternoon laughing, but I'm not sure I'd be able to live with myself if I wasted this chance to save my mother because Chopper was out cold."
A few of the crew looked accusingly at Zoro, who only frowned. Chopper spoke up before he could.
"N-no, it's my fault. I got so exasperated with Zoro going the wrong way with what's on the line that it slipped out. I'm sorry," the doctor said timidly. Zoro sighed.
"Forget it, Chopper. I'll work off my frustration when we get to Ohara…or whichever place is going to have fighting next. Who have we got left again?" he asked.
"You, me, Brook, Jinbe, and whatever Sanji decides," Robin replied. "Besides Ohara, we'll also be fighting the Marines when we go back for Jinbe. Brook, will there be fighting on your turn?"
Brook took a minute to reply.
"It's hard to say. If we're going back to the time we were ambushed, then there certainly will be. But on the other hand, we could be going back to when Captain Yorki was infected with the Kestia."
"Hey, Sanji, you made up your mind yet?" Luffy asked.
"Working on it, Luffy. I'm leaning towards saving Corazon, so that would have plenty of fighting, but I'm not sure about giving up on all of the others," Sanji said, somewhat irritably.
Nobody replied, and the conversation subsided as they drew nearer to the only settlement on the island.
Syrup Village was a quiet place. There were few people out and about on this ordinary day. One notable exception was a young boy with a long nose, who was running through the village towards his house, where his mother lay ill. He hoped that the plan that he had come up with would help her out. It had to; she had to get better. It would have to work! It would work!
"PIRATES ARE HERE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"PIRATES ARE HERE! PIRATES ARE HERE!" he repeated, running the full length of the village until he reached his house, opening the door and running towards where his mother lay ill, ignoring the doctors as they tried to discourage him from shouting.
"Mom, we're saved! Dad finally came back for us!"
The pale, dark-haired, long-nosed woman lying in the bed managed a small smile.
"There you go with your wild imagination again. Silly boy," she said softly.
"It's true! He always said he'd come back for us and take us with him when you got better, didn't he, Mom?!" the boy demanded.
"Usopp, my dear, your father won't be coming back. But…I'm proud I married such a brave man who dared to chase his dream," the woman said, turning her eyes to look out the window. Usopp did his best to mask his panic, and changed tactics, putting his hands on the bed as he leaned closer to his mother.
"I heard about a special medicine! This stuff can cure any sickness!"
Banchina looked back at him, the same small smile on her face.
"So silly. You dream too much."
Usopp's already fragile resolve was shattered at that moment, and tears surged down his face as he spoke.
"I am a dreamer! And I'm silly! It's true! I'm proud of it, after all, I'm the son of a pirate!"
"Promise me one thing," Banchina said softly. "Promise me you'll grow up to be brave, like him."
Usopp had no opportunity to respond to that, however, as the door slammed open behind him. He had only started to turn and look back before he found himself being pushed none-too-gently aside from the bed where his mother lay by a figure that was no bigger than he was, every inch of his body covered in black garments. He was shocked for a minute before he noticed that the other two doctors in the room were currently being held at swordpoint by another black figure. He spoke, and Usopp shivered at the power in his voice.
"Neither of you move. Our doctor is here to cure Banchina, and we don't have time to waste stopping you from interfering."
The only reason Usopp wasn't sweating bullets was that the man had said that they were there to cure his mother. He looked back at the small figure beside him, and saw him mixing a few chemicals together before they solidified into a small yellow pill. Carefully, he picked it up and moved it to the woman's mouth, her smile gone and her expression curious.
"Bite down on this, and swallow all of it," he said in a very childlike voice. Banchina blinked, but the firmness in the voice gave her no will to disobey. She opened her mouth and allowed the doctor to fit in the pill, and with a bit of effort, broke it. The taste of it was bitter, but she worked to swallow all of the pieces in her mouth. Her face contorted, and one of the other black figures—Usopp could see that there were ten of them, a couple of them still standing outside—moved forward to stand beside him and the doctor.
"Chopper, is it working?" he asked. Usopp looked up in shock as he heard the voice. It couldn't be.
The doctor had no chance to respond, however, as Banchina sat up as well, a look on her face of pure shock.
"…Yasopp?" she asked, in no more than a whisper.
"Does that answer your question?" the small figure asked dryly.
"…Since when do you speak sarcasm?" the swordsman asked as he sheathed his blades, much to the relief of the other two doctors.
"Robin's a good teacher," Chopper replied, prompting a chuckle from one of the figures, a female. Usopp shook that off, and looked back at the tall figure beside him.
"Dad, is that you?"
The figure raised his hands and slowly removed his hood. The man underneath was young and fit, black hair growing similarly to an afro beneath a white hat, and he wore a pair of orange ear protectors. But what stood out most to Usopp was the nose, unusually long just like his own and his mother's.
"No, I'm not Yasopp. I'm Usopp."
The man was staring at Banchina with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face, while young Usopp just looked at him strangely.
"What are you talking about? I'M Usopp. You're a liar!"
For some reason, that set all of the figures, including the so-called Usopp, into gales of laughter. Banchina, however, slowly rose to her feet, the illness that was in her body almost completely faded.
"…Are you really Usopp?" she asked softly.
The laughter subsided, and the man looked back at her.
"Yes, Mom, it's me. Eight years from now, I joined up with a pirate crew that would go on to become the crew of Gold Roger's successors. An old man that we met about eleven years from now gave us the power to go back in time and save someone that we lost before. The Pirate King's crew, naturally, has the world's greatest doctor onboard. He discovered the secret of the Panacea, a special medicine capable of curing any sickness. And now…you're all better. You're not going to die," he said, choking up as he finished.
Banchina stared at the man for only a second before she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. The older man broke down crying as he returned the hug, holding his mother tightly as if he'd never let her go. The two doctors were dumbfounded, the other figures in black watched with apparent admiration, and the young Usopp struggled past the oddness of the situation to focus on his own joy: his mother was better. He wrapped his own arms around her legs, unable to reach any higher.
It was a few minutes before they finally stepped apart, and Banchina looked at the older version of her son with a beaming smile.
"So, you kept your promise, then."
"Of course! I've become a brave warrior of the sea just like dad, and the greatest sniper in the world," Usopp boasted.
"Awesome! So, who else is on my crew?" younger Usopp asked.
At that, the remaining figures lowered their hoods in unison.
"Roronoa Zoro, the world's greatest swordsman," older Usopp said, gesturing to the swordsman, who was revealed to have short green hair, a scar over his right eye which remained closed, and a smile that was almost feral.
"Nami, the world's greatest navigator, meteorologist, and cartographer," older Usopp said, referring to a young woman with long orange hair and a kind smile.
"Sanji, the world's greatest chef and master of the Black Leg fighting style," he said, pointing to a man with blonde hair that covered his right eye, a small goatee, and a very curly eyebrow.
"Tony Tony Chopper, a reindeer that ate the Human-Human Devil Fruit and the world's greatest doctor," he said, nodding to the figure that had cured Banchina. He looked like a raccoon-dog with a blue nose, but younger Usopp could see antlers poking out from beneath his pink and blue hats.
"Nico Robin, the world's greatest archaeologist," he said, pointing to a woman with long black hair and a small smile.
"Franky, the world's greatest shipwright and the most super guy you'll ever meet."
"You got that right!" said one of the figures outside, pounding the ground with oversized arms before standing in an odd pose. His face had a metal nose and a chin with three points, and his hair was in a blue buzz cut.
"Brook, a skeleton brought back to life by the Revive-Revive Fruit, the world's greatest musician."
"Young Usopp, and Usopp's mother…Banchina, I believe. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance," said the figure in question, fully a skeleton aside from a black afro. Usopp gulped, and Banchina seemed a bit uncomfortable, but his mannerisms reassured them as he bowed theatrically.
"Jinbe, a whale-shark fishman formerly of the Seven Warlords of the Sea," Usopp continued, gesturing to a figure with a blue face and large fangs, looking at them with a smile.
"And saving the best for last, Monkey D. Luffy, King of the Pirates," Usopp said, bowing towards a man about his age with black hair, a scar under one eye, and a D-shaped grin.
"Yasopp joined Red-Haired Shanks' crew. They stayed at my home island around this time, and he never stopped talking about you, Usopp!" Luffy said.
Younger Usopp beamed, blushing at the same time.
"Tell me more! Tell me all about my adventures!"
The black figures around Banchina's house drew attention relatively quickly. And as some of the villagers learned of the situation behind Banchina's miraculous recovery, more and more of them began flocking to the house and seeing the strange crew that claimed to be the future Pirate King's crew. Stories spread, the group spread out, and before anyone knew it, the Straw Hats had thrown another full-blown party.
Brook, Franky, and Luffy found themselves in the center of the festivities, showing off for everyone and leaving many gasping for breath from laughter. Chopper only refrained from joining them due to the two doctors that had witnessed his work. They found themselves unbothered by taking advice from a young human-animal hybrid to perfect their skills when they discovered that his knowledge of medicine was as vast as an ocean compared to their lakes; in a few minutes, they had enough information to make Syrup Village the East Blue's center on medical knowledge by the time that Luffy was due to arrive.
Sanji's spontaneous feast, once again prepared with the absurd speed that Franky often utilized in his work, seemed to drive the questions of the absurdity of the pirates' appearance and works from everyone's mind. He handed off a handful of recipes to the proprietor of the sole restaurant on the island, while everyone else simply allowed themselves to be swept away with the absurdly good food.
Nami joined Robin this time in relating the various tales of their adventures, and although (or perhaps because) she lacked Usopp's over-the-top, melodramatic flair, she managed to gather quite the crowd. Zoro and Jinbe joined them after a short while, adding their own comments and, perhaps due to the seriousness and formidability of their appearances, drew a much larger crowd as the words went on, including Usopp's younger self; in addition to hearing more about his future adventures, he was eager to get to know his future family.
Usopp, meanwhile, joined said present family a short ways away, the rest of the village and crew respectfully offering their space as they had with Nami and her mother. Banchina's pride in her son was as plain on her face as the sun in the sky, and it could only grow stronger as he told her of all that they'd gone through.
"…Then, thanks to that one act of bravery, my bounty shot up to 200,000,000 berries, and Franky was after me for weeks because he hadn't broken 100,000,000 yet. And after sailing for a while, and realizing just how much we took Nami for granted, we came to an island that was a giant elephant!" he said.
Banchina laughed, at least for the hundredth time since her son began telling his stories; she was so tempted to call them tall tales, but the living proof sat before her. Even so…
"I think that's enough, Usopp. If you keep telling me about all this danger, I might be tempted to make you stay home," she said, smiling at him.
"What? Mom, you always wanted me to follow in Dad's footsteps, and you're looking at proof that I did it! It took a while, but I made it, and that's why I could come back here and save you!" Usopp protested, though the smile on his face gave the impression that he didn't take the threat seriously.
"I know, Usopp. And I can't tell you how proud I am of you and your crew. But hearing about all of these impossible things as facts, things that you've witnessed on your adventures…"
She sighed, and shook her head again, smiling wistfully.
"But what am I talking about? You're your father's son, even I couldn't stop you from going out to sea."
"But I'll come back this time, Mom. I promise you that this time, I'll come back after I leave, just like I came back to Kaya in my time."
Banchina smiled warmly, and then blinked before chuckling at something she saw over her shoulder.
"Speaking of Kaya…" she said.
Usopp turned, and he was caught between the urge to laugh and blush as he saw the owners of the mansion entering the festivities, and their daughter standing before his younger self. Evidently, the rest of the crew noticed as well, as many of them were smirking at their crewmate. Usopp glanced back at his mother, who gestured for him to go on, before he approached young Kaya and young Usopp.
"How's it going, you two?"
Both looked up at him.
"Hi, older me! This is Kaya! She lives in the mansion up on the hill!"
"I know. I'm you, remember?" Usopp asked. Young Usopp chuckled sheepishly.
"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, Kaya's parents came down to see what the party was about, and they left her to talk to someone her own age."
Usopp smiled, noticing the confused look on the girl's face.
"Well, why don't you tell her about what's going on? I think she could use an explanation, and I know you're a good storyteller."
Young Usopp beamed, and quickly began rattling off the story to Kaya. Usopp did not stick around to watch their interaction, however; the idea of doing more than just saving his mother had come to his mind almost as soon as the old man agreed to let them save Merry as well. And so it was that he approached the master of the mansion, his face as serious as death.
"Sir, I need to talk to you for a minute."
The gentleman looked at him with mild surprise, but consented to be led away from others who could hear. Usopp spoke softly, but the gravity of his tone left no room for questioning if he was serious.
"Five years from now, the infamous pirate Kuro of 100 Plans will fake his own death in an attempt to retire peacefully. He will send a stand-in to be executed while he journeys to this island. He'll introduce himself as Klahadore, and claim that the people on the ship he worked on were brutal, and back it up with how bad he looks. In my time, you hired him as your butler, and he maintained a façade of perfect servitude from then on…but as if he never stopped wearing his cat claws, he always pushed up the glasses he wore like this."
Usopp raised his hand to demonstrate, the heel of his palm against his cheek while his fingers pointed away from him. He lowered his hand before he continued.
"You and your wife died of natural causes two years later, leaving your daughter alone, and a year later, Kuro planned to kill her after forcing her to write her will with him as the sole beneficiary. He only failed thanks to my captain's crew—then consisting of himself, Zoro, and Nami—coming to the island the day before he was due to finish the plan. I'm not sure what to tell you to do, but I know that until that day, he's not going to have his cat claws. But he still has superhuman speed; you wouldn't be a match for him.
"I just want to make sure that you, your family, and this village stay safe; for all I know, my crew coming here could alter the timeline enough that my warning doesn't matter. But if these things do still happen, make sure that Kuro never has a chance to hurt anyone."
The gentleman stared at the young pirate for several seconds; he had heard that the pirates were from the future, but to hear a warning like this…
"…If things happen the way that you have described them, I will take all necessary precautions against him," the man said at last. Usopp nodded gratefully, and then turned away.
"Wait, young man."
Usopp turned back, to see the man smiling a bit dangerously, looking in the direction of young Usopp and Kaya, who were laughing together.
"Are you involved with my daughter?"
Usopp sweated, and chuckled nervously.
"Heh…after you and your wife died, Kaya literally worried herself sick every day. I heard about it, and started visiting her and telling her tall tales to try to cheer her up. It always worked, and we became friends. Just friends; we were never anything more before I left the island to join the Straw Hat Pirates."
"And after that? You came back to the island at some point, I'm guessing."
Usopp smiled nervously.
"I'm slowly working up the courage to ask her out."
The man seemed to relax, and gave him a warmer smile.
"I'll keep an eye on your younger self to make sure he doesn't do anything out of line…but you can consider yourself to have my blessing."
Usopp beamed and bowed.
"Usopp! We've only got about two minutes left!" Nami called. Usopp straightened hastily.
"Thank you, sir," he said, and then ran back to his mother, who was watching him with a somewhat amused look.
"I didn't think I'd have to see my son fretting over a father's approval for his daughter's hand in marriage for another decade," she chuckled.
"Hey, I was warning him about Kuro!"
Banchina's smile didn't falter, and Usopp sighed.
"…And after that, the conversation turned to Kaya."
"No matter how good of a liar you become, Usopp, I'll always be able to tell the difference," Banchina said, and the fondness in her tone was such that Usopp embraced her again, tears coming to his eyes.
"I…I wish I could have spent more time with you, Mom. I'm sorry that I can't stay longer."
"…Usopp, look at me."
Reluctantly, Usopp pulled back, and looked at his mother's smiling face.
"You've saved my life. You've saved your younger self from growing up an orphan. You've saved a girl from having her heart broken. You've probably saved her from losing her parents, too. And you've shown me that my son will grow up to become a brave warrior of the sea just like his father. I couldn't be more proud of you, my son."
Usopp's tears flowed down his face, and he smiled with all the strength he could manage.
"Th-thanks, Mom. That means everything to me."
She beamed back, but her smile contorted in shock for a moment before a more mischievous look came on her face.
"Oh, and by the way, is Yasopp still around in your time?"
"Y-yeah, of course," Usopp said. Banchina leaned forward and whispered something to him. Usopp seemed confused, but Banchina smirked at him.
"Tell your father that I said that. I think you'll enjoy seeing the look on his face."
Usopp nodded, and at that moment, he began to shine, and the rest of the crew gathered around him. Usopp hugged his mother one last time.
"I'll keep making you proud, Mom, every day," Usopp promised.
"I know you will," Banchina replied. Young Usopp and Kaya came to stand beside them, and Usopp looked down at himself.
"You've got eight years, Usopp. Make the most of it: train your body and your marksmanship, and be ready to join the crew of the next Pirate King when they come to this island. Make sure that someday, you'll be able to see me when you look in the mirror."
"I promise! I'll make you proud, older me!" young Usopp said.
Ten smiles answered this reply. Then the light winked out, taking the pirates with it.
First of all, kudos and thanks to my beta readers, lunanime and Monkey D. Funky.
Second of all…any ideas as to what Banchina said? MAYBE you'll find out in the epilogue…or maybe not.
Anyway, moving on to a matter of more importance. I'm sure that many of my readers have read the recent chapters, and I know that there are several rumors, theories, and speculations circling about at the present time as a result of the end of Chapter 801. As a result of that, a couple of people have asked that I hold off on Sanji's intervention for a while until we find out what that's about. This is not my choice, however. I'm adding another option to the poll now, for which you whom have already voted may offer your opinions as well: putting off Sanji's intervention until the time comes that the truth behind Chapter 801's announcement becomes known. Personally, however, I don't expect that such a thing is going to happen until the end, or at the earliest the middle, of the coming arc, which may well be another year. So, my plan at present is this: if by the time I publish the chapter after the next one Corazon still has the majority of the votes, I will proceed with the plan of writing out the intervention for saving him. If another option overtakes it, however, I'll go back to my previous plan of having Sanji's turn come last, and publish whatever comes up. In any case, however, if the canon eventually reveals someone in Sanji's past that he would want to save, and I have published Corazon or someone else as a chapter by that time, that chapter will be moved to become a bonus chapter, and the story will be edited to fit with canon.
All right, now that that's out of the way, Zoro's turn will be next, and his story should be published significantly faster than this chapter; I wrote out a (VERY) rough draft of his intervention back when I was still trying to help Blueh continue his story, so I've got much more to go off of from here. But as life has its difficulties, I cannot promise much in the degree of time, and so I leave you as always with these words: Patience is a virtue.