Luffy and Zoro were dragged in the kitchen and were now sitting in a tense silence as the other straw hats looked down on them. Zoro rested his head on his elbow and also refused to look at them, while Luffy had his hands curled on the table, whistling like he always did when lying or hiding something not life changing. Nami glared at them with her hands on her hips.
"What was all that about?" She growled at them. Zoro raised an eyebrow, playing dumb.
"What was what?" He asked innocently. A vein popped on Nami's forehead.
"All that about what Luffy saved us from!" She snapped, while struggling to stay calm, as her mind worked to accept the fact that they knew about Arlong and her. And she was going to get her captain and first mate to answer her questions.
Luffy and Zoro winced. "You heard that? What else did you hear?" Zoro asked.
Sanji blowed smoke and answered. "We only heard the part when Luffy started shouting about someone being his brother and his problem."
"And also Zoro saying how he saved you from Krieg, him from execution, Ussop from Kuro and me from Arlong, along with some others." Added Nami, still quite wary of the information.
Ussop nodded. "Yes, you mentioned names like Vivi, Robin, Franky, Brook and another name. It was...am..well-"
"Chopper." Finished Zoro quietly. He sighed and looked at Luffy.
"What to do now, captain?" Luffy brought his curled hands on his forehead and started thinking. His form was quiet, relaxed, but also really guarded.
"Is there something you're keeping from us?" Sanji asked, feeling a bit betrayed that his, although new, captain felt the need to keep him out of something. Anything it could be.
Luffy was considering the pro's and con's of revealing the future. He could use Haki and get it over with, but he'd have to say goodbye to his plan on saving Ace without them. And also the two year time skip wouldn't happen, and they really needed that time skip. But even if he did, they still didn't have the strength to win the battle on Sabaody, if his theory wasn't correct. If he didn't tell, then there was the danger that the crew would start losing their trust on Luffy. And he didn't want that. What to do...?
"Okay, I've decided." Luffy said finally, talking in his 'captain voice'. Zoro straightened, ready for orders, while the others were taken aback by the seriousness in his voice, which was rare, in their opinion. It wasn't that rare in the future.
"You're right Sanji, we're hiding something." Remarked Luffy and Zoro stared at him in confused, but said nothing.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to tell you all of it, not till we are all together." Luffy finished. Sanji, Ussop and Nami titled their heads.
"Hiding something?" Asked Ussop.
"Not all of it?" Pressed Sanji with furrowed eyebrows.
"ALL together?" Finished Nami.
"Yes, you see. The best way to explain it would be... We're from the future." Luffy elaborated and waited for the news to sink in. The trio of the past stared, slack jawed, with their eyebrows on their hair.
"WHAT?! YOU'RE KIDDING!" All three cried out in disbelief, however, Luffy did not start laughing or say 'that was just a joke'. His expression didn't help either. Sanji's eyes widened further, realizing that Luffy was dead serious.
"H-How? Why?" He managed to say and Luffy sighed, sounding sad.
"Things weren't going very...well, to say the least." He started, carefully picking his words. "We were broken, after one single fight, we felt helpless. I did found the treasure One Piece and Zoro did become the greatest swordsman, but we felt empty. And with the help of Gol D. Roger, we managed to come back, in order to gain what we lost."
Zoro let out a breath of relief. His captain hadn't revealed anything about their deaths, the time skip or the war. Good. Well, that wasn't enough for the navigator, though.
"What?! That's all you're gonna tell us?!" She exclaimed. "What happens to us in the future?! How exactly did you come back, and since when? And what about-"
"Nami-san." Sanji cut her off, but not with the usual loving accent. "They've said enough."
He started walking towards the door, probably heading to the storage room. Ussop looked exasperated.
"What do you mean 'they've said enough'? They haven't even told us why they're back specifically, or what happens to us!" He pointed out.
Sanji took his cigarette and crushed it in his hand, making Ussop and Nami wince.
"Don't you understand? We're dead." He said calmly and exited.
Luffy and Zoro stiffened visibly, eyes wide, while Ussop and Nami felt their hearts skip three beats. A glance towards Luffy and Zoro was enough for them to get that Sanji had hit the nail on the head. They were dead. What a strange thing to hear about your own death. And it was unsettling, it made them unnerved.
"We're... we're d-dead..?" Stuttered Ussop, not quite believing it. The sound of hands slamming on the table brought the duo out of their thoughts. They looked at Luffy's angry face and thought the young captain was going to kill someone.
"That won't happen again!" He swore, and Zoro nodded in agreement. "I'm not letting that happen again even if it kills me."
Zoro scoffed. "We are not going to let that happen again." He corrected. Seriously, his captain really had a thick skull. Zoro looked at the door, where Sanji had exited some minuets ago. He stood up and went on the deck.
Zoro found the cook relying at the ship's side, his face calm as he stared at the waves, another cigarette on his mouth. Zoro joined him, not looking at the cook, nor did said cook look at him. But Zoro guessed right what Sanji was thinking about though.
"You did enough." Said Zoro simply and Sanji slammed a fist on the wooden handrail.
"If that was true I would be here with the two of you instead of being dead." Sanji snapped, his cool expression completely vanished and replaced by a furious and hurt one.
Zoro didn't change his posture. He completely understood how the blond felt. He too would have felt that way, hell, he already did. And the feeling of helplessness, of being unable to protect what's dear to you was something that pained Zoro more than every cut, blast, punch or kick he got during his whole life.
"Do you know what happened?" Zoro asked suddenly and Sanji finally turned at him. Zoro didn't wait for the cook to answer and asked again. "Do you know who or what we were fighting? Do you know how you died?"
Thinking about the questions, the only thing Sanji could do was shake his head as a clear 'no'.
"Then it's not up to you to decide wether you did enough or not." Zoro told him, knowing who Sanji died to protect. Remembering the pained smirk on his bloody face saying 'What are you looking at, moss head? Nothing has happened.'. The idiot had had the gall to tell him the same words he himself had said in Thriller Bark.
Zoro gritted his teeth, determined to shake away the flashback. He headed to the kitchen again, having a feeling that his captain will want to change some plans. Sanji followed.
Luffy was in the exact same spot as before, eyes closed and his hands hiding half his face. Ussop stood sweating bullets, eyes locked at his feet while Nami had grabbed a newspaper and was reading in order to let out the stress.
"Yo." Greeted the swordsman. Luffy shot his eyes open.
"Zoro, we need a plan." He said, coming straight to the point. "And I think I have in mind just what we need to do."
He might have spoken directly to Zoro, but the crew knew that Luffy was talking to them, too.
"Yes, and what could that be?" Inquired Zoro, taking a seat in front of Luffy.
Luffy took a deep breath. "I'm going to let you handle Arlong, along with getting the crew to the Grand Line."
Zoro raised an eyebrow, surprised. But, the word 'surprised' didn't match up the face of Nami and Ussop. Maybe 'incredulous' was better, while Sanji just widened his eyes.
"Luffy, are you nuts?!" Nami screamed. How in the world did he make calculations that said Zoro was able to deal with Arlong?!
"Yes, how do you expect us to take on that damn fish alone?" Ussop shrieked and Nami looked at him, confused.
"You know about Arlong?" She asked. Ussop nodded violently.
"That guy had a bigger bounty than Krieg, of course I know about him!"
Zoro raised his hand so he could get the attention of his friends. "Back to the point people!" He said and then looked at Luffy, who was grinning and looking as carefree as always.
"Luffy, if I am to deal with Arlong and go to the Grand Line, do you plan to stay in East Blue?" The grassy haired teen asked, half jokingly, knowing Luffy definitely had a trick up his sleeve. And he just got a feeling he was going to regret asking.
Luffy laughed. "Of course not! I'm going to meet Whitebeard-ossan." He stated. Zoro brought a hand to rub his temples, while Sanji dropped his cigarette.
"Just what kind of captain have I decided to follow?" Asked rhetorically the blond.
"We're thinking alike today." Said Zoro and sighed.
"How are you going to do that while in East Blue?" Asked Ussop, stepping forward, trying to at least have a little faith on Luffy's wild decision.
Luffy picked his nose. "Flying from here." He answered casually. There was a short silence as the group stared at Luffy. Then, realization hit Zoro.
"Aa. You're gonna use that technique." He said in understanding.
"What technique?" Asked Nami.
"Well, I kind of...make my body go red and.. Ahgg! Let's just say I can get super fast, okay?" Luffy said, thinking it was too hard to explain Second Gear to them.
Zoro cut in before they had the time to ask. "In other words! Luffy is capable of entering a state which he calls Second Gear. Infusing that with Haki, he can gain so much speed, he can transport himself in great distances." He explained and Luffy nodded while the others gaped at their captain like he had grown three heads.
"What's Haki?" Ussop asked, remembering Zoro mentioning it when he explained whatever was that Luffy could do.
Luffy and Zoro shared an exasperated look, not knowing how to explain Haki to their crewmembers. They had had good teachers, but now that Haki had become second nature to them, they weren't sure how to explain it.
Thinking Luffy would just have them remember everything, Zoror dismissed the matter saying. "Don't worry about it now, we will show you later." He then turned to Lufffy.
"Luffy, that's too dangerous. How do you know you'll land on Whitebeard's ship? You might end up crashing with the ocean, you know?" Zoro asked again, this time truly worried for Luffy. Well, anyone who had spent five seconds with Luffy knew that the rubber idiot was a magnet of trouble.
Luffy, on the other hand, just laughed cheerfully. "It's fine! I'll manage somehow."
All four sweat dropped. "So you're gonna rely on your luck, huh?" Zoro said in a matter of fact way.
Luffy nodded. "Yep!" He replied. "But I'm gonna meet you guys on Lougtown, too. Need to meet up with someone." Wait for me, Dad.
Zoro groaned. Did Luffy always have to be so childish, irresponsible and reckless? Well, he wouldn't be Luffy if he didn't!