I woke up to the smell of meat. Well, I always wake up to the smell of meat. If Sanji's meat isn't ready, then what other reason is there to wake up? When I got out of bed, I noticed something really weird. I was in a black suit. Which made no sense, cause I hate suits! It wasn't Sanji's. I tried his suit on once to play 'Name that Nakama!' with Usopp, and it was really floppy. This suit was tight, and uncomfortable. I was about to take it off when I heard Zoro groan from underneath me in his bunk
"Don't. You. Dare."
"Zoro!" I said, happy that someone else was up. Because being awake by myself is really lonely. "Why am I in a suit?" I asked him.
"It took forever to get your freaking rubber limbs in that thing, so don't you dare take it off," he snapped. I stretched my neck down to his hammock, and saw that his eyes were still closed, and he looked sweaty and tired and he had dark circles around his eyes.
"Why didn't you sleep last night?" I asked him, poking his cheek.
"Because you can get some really terrible nightmares."
"What does that mean?"
Zoro moaned.
"Let me just start from the beginning. Do you remember yesterday?"
It was around before dinnertime, and it was a lot after lunchtime. Nami says I should just look at the clock, but I like measuring time in meals. It's more fun. I was on the deck, fishing with Usopp, and I caught a really big octopus! Usopp and me went to put it in the tank, and then Nami said something about…
"A fancy outing," Zoro finished.
"Why?" I asked, stretching my neck to loom directly above his face. Zoro cracked open his eye, but he didn't scream.
"You know, that used to freak you out," I pouted. Zoro just sighed.
"Nami wants to take us out for dinner," he said, turning over on his side.
"But why?" I said again, annoyed that he didn't remember my question.
"Calender, rubber idiot," Zoro grumbled. I reached my neck to the scrap of paper hanging on the wall. Usopp made it all pretty, but I couldn't tell where any of the days were.
"May 5th," said Zoro, pulling himself out of bed. Wait a minute.
"That's my birthday!" I said, jumping out of bed.
"Luffy!" Zoro shouted, "The suit!"
I forgot about that. Apparently it got really crinkly when you moved too quick. Which I didn't like. How would I fight if I was stuck in this thing? Zoro started pressing out the kinks.
"How come Sanji gets a non-wrinkly suit?" I whined.
"Because the restaurant Nami wants to go to is already expensive," Zoro said, moving towards the closet, "and we can't afford anything nice. You'll probably destroy anyways. Plus, we knew you'd hate putting it on, so we put it on during the night. I was put on guard to make sure you didn't move too much, which was pretty much impossible. Seriously, if you're having nightmares you should talk with Chopper. He could give you sleeping pills or something. Oh! Here it is."
Zoro pulled out a red tie, and I started getting annoyed.
"Pirates shouldn't have to get dressed up!" I protested.
"Well this one does," said Zoro, finishing off the last knot. "There."
"Are you sure this is right?" I asked, looking at myself in the mirror.
"Yep," said Zoro, "now don't you want some delicious meat?"
"YES!" I shouted, running to the kitchen.
"Sanji! Meat!" I yelled, running into the kitchen.
"Luffy!" said Sanji, looking up from his pan, "Who the hell tied your tie? MARIMO!"
"What do you want, Darts?" said Zoro, scratching his head.
"What the hell is this atrocious fabric doing on our captain's neck?"
"What?"
"CAN'T YOU EVEN TIE A TIE PROPERLY?" screamed Sanji, the steak nearly lighting on fire from his flames of rage. I still don't get how he can do that.
"YOU DO IT YOURSELF THEN!" screamed Zoro, walking out of the kitchen and slamming the door behind him. Sanji groaned and started undoing the knots.
"Here," he said, looping it around my neck, and pulling the fabric taut. Yeah. That felt better.
"Can I have some meat now?" I asked, sniffing the air above the pan.
"Usually I would say no, but today's special, so…"
Sanji flipped the steak onto a plate, where it sizzled and steamed. I couldn't take it anymore. I shoved the whole thing into my mouth, and licked my fingers. It was sooo good.
"And this is why we don't by expensive cuts!" said Sanji, pointing at me.
"Cuts?" I asked, "Like hair cuts? Cuz Nami makes me pay a lot for those."
Sanji groaned in frustration and switched off the stove before storming out the door. I shrugged, and went outside to the deck. Nami was sunbathing, and Robin was reading a book. They weren't wearing any fancy clothes. And neither was Zoro. Hm.
"Nami?" I said, trudging to her lounge chair, "Why do I have to wear this fancy stuff?"
"Didn't Zoro tell you?" she said, looking up from her magazine.
"He just gave some stupid excuse about fancy-ness," I grumbled.
"You take forever to get ready, Luffy," she responded, licking her finger and turning the page of her magazine.
"And, let's face it, you wouldn't have ever put that thing on voluntarily. Sure it cost Zoro a few winks, but I'd say it's time well spent. Sanji?" she called.
"Yes my little fluff-bunny?" said Sanji, rushing over to Nami's side.
"A martini please?" she said, and Sanji went running off into the kitchen, his eyes filled with hearts.
"I wish I could do that," I muttered, "he always complains when I ask him for something."
"Well, tough."
"Here you go, Nami-Swan!" cooed Sanji, setting down a pretty glass on the table beside her.
"Thank you, Sanji-Kun," said Nami, taking a sip.
"You're most welcome, Nami-Swan!" said Sanji, prancing back to the kitchen.
"In any case Luffy," Nami continued, "We're leaving in an hour, so sit tight until then."
"Fine," I whined, padding over to the fishing stuff. I got out my favorite rod, threw some bait on the hook, and threw it over the side. All of a sudden, I felt some arms pulling the rod from my hands, and pushing me back to the center on the boat.
"That would not be a wise decision in your current attire, Captain-San," said Robin. I turned around to see her crossing her arms and smiling.
"Not you too!" I said, throwing up my arms.
"Well, our swordsman struggled an awful lot last night, and water is not going to help," she said, dragging me to the aquarium bar entrance.
"Now why don't you stay here for the meanwhile. I'll send Brook over to keep you company," she said, making sure I went down the hatch. I went down, and sat on the bench in misery. Birthdays are supposed to be fun! And everyone was just treating me like a kid.
"Hello Luffy-San!" said Brook, descending the hatch, a violin in hand.
"Brook! Play Bink's Sake please!" I asked him.
"Of course Luffy-San!"
Around right before dinnertime, Nami called us both up. She was dressed really fancy, in an orange dress and lots of jewels. We went to the deck, and saw everyone there. Even Zoro looked fancy, in a dark green suit. But he didn't have a tie on. I guess Sanji couldn't wrestle him into it. Franky was wearing pants for once in a light blue suit. Usopp and Chopper wore yellow, and Robin was in a purple dress with a lot less jewels than Nami.
"So?" asked Nami, "Are we ready to go?"
Everyone kind of just grumbled.
"Can we not?" I asked, "I want Sanji's cooking for my birthday."
Everyone cheered, but Nami gave them her death glare.
"This was a very difficult restauraunt to book, Captain. It costed an advanced payment for a reservation," she said. And as soon as she said it, I knew there was no way we were eating on the ship.
"Let's get going then," I said, "I'm hungry."
When we finally got there, we went straight in. Which I was happy about. Because I was really hungry. They put us at a big table. It was too big in my opinion. I was sitting really far from everyone at the end of the table. I couldn't talk, or 'borrow' anyone's food. It was so boring! But the food was good. I guess. I mean, it wasn't as good as Sanji's.
The cheque finally came, and the waiter gave it to me. I just gave it to Nami. The waiter stared at me like I'd done something really wrong.
"Monsieur," he said, in a really funny accent, "you do not wish to pay for the meal?"
"It's my birthday!" I said, sticking my tongue out at him, "And besides, Nami doesn't give me enough allowance!"
The waiter looked pretty confused, but everyone else was laughing. He walked away quickly, and didn't look back.
"60,000 BERI?*" Nami screamed, holding the cheque in front of her. "Are you kidding me?!"
"May I see that for a second, Navigator-San?" asked Robin, making a hand on Nami's plate. Nami gave Robin the cheque, and she looked it over.
"It may have been an error. Call over the waiter."
Nami got the waiter's attention, but he looked like he didn't want to come over. Finally, she went up to him, and screamed at him a lot. And then said some words, and for some reason, Robin covered Chopper's ears.
"And we aren't paying! You got that?" she finished.
"Madame, I'm afraid you must pay. Otherwise we will call the police. As a pirate, especially that Monkey D. Luffy, you will all be jailed."
"Bring it on!" she raged, storming back to the table, "Unbelievable!" she said, sitting down. "Get ready you three," she said, pointing at me Zoro and Sanji. "This isn't going to be pretty."
The marines came when we were finishing up dessert.
"Citizens!" said a big Den-Den Mushi, "Please evacuate the building! There are dangerous criminals inside, and we do not wish for anyone to be injured!"
Everyone in the restauraunt screamed and ran out the doors.
"Before this starts," said Nami, "pillage the place. Ransack it. Steal anything you want. We're pirates aren't we?"
Everyone cheered and rushed out to meet the marines. Usopp was the first one out the door, and he shot down lots of traps at the marines' feet. Next, Nami electrocuted them, and Franky shot his laser beams. I tried to dive in, but Chopper held me back.
"Not yet, Luffy," he said, morphing into his Kung Foo Point, "it's my turn!"
He jumped into the battle while I was still saying "But it's my birthday!"
Robin was stomping all the marines' to bits, and I felt kinda bad for them. I mean, Robin's powers were really cool, but she could torture people really easily. I asked her about it once, and she said 'I like to see their souls trying to slowly escape their bodies which are still trapped in existence and suffering ever so greatly'. Which made no sense. But it did sound really smart. Zoro and Sanji joined in, fighting over who could beat the most marines', and Brook sliced through rows and rows of soldiers. Meanwhile, I was still waiting at the back for my turn. I wanted my crew to have fun, but I wanted to play too.
"Alright Luffy!" said Nami, "Get 'em!"
"Hold on!" I said, "Can I?" I asked, pulling the tie.
"Fine," she sighed, "I told you he would," she said to Robin, who giggled loudly. I tore off my sleeves and pant legs, and threw off the icky dress shoes. Finally! I was free! I tore down the rest of the marines', but a lot of them got away. But it was really fun while it lasted!
"SUPER job, Luffy!" said Franky, doing his cool robot pose, "Let's get back to the SUPER Sunny-go!"
"And I'll cook you some real food!" added Sanji.
"Yes! Meat!" I shouted, running back to the Sunny as fast as I could, and everyone following close behind.
A.N.: I tried to write from first-person, because I wanted something a little different. I really like how it turned out. This one-shot was a real handful. I tried to make it extra long. I don't know how some people do it! It drains your mind a whole lot! I also tried to keep it fluffy, and very much unlike Ace's chapter. I feel like Luffy would have liked it to be lighthearted. Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated! I love hearing from you guys, so please tell me if you like the format or P.O.V.! See you tomorrow for Eneru!