Chapter 5

For Our Captain & For My Love

Boa Hancock nearly stumbled into the room where Rayleigh, Shakky and part of the Strawhat Pirates were waiting, her sisters Sandersonia and Marigold at her heels as well. The two sisters in question were currently in their human forms, but they still towered over their sister, something that slightly intimidated the Strawhats in the room saves for Zoro and Robin. Still, they did not have time to deal with such a triviality.

"Oh, you came faster than I expected, Hancock," Rayleigh greeted her once she had managed to steady her breath after the slightly fast pace she had come with to the run down shack. The old man sighed in relief a little, before a smile adorned his face and he visibly expressed his delight at how fast the Pirate Empress had responded to his call. This had certainly reduced on the amount of time they would spend waiting for her to come all the way from Amazon Lily to Sabaody Archipelago.

Sandersonia was the one who chose to respond on behalf of her sister," We weren't too far off the island when we received your emergency call. I reckon we were near halfway between the Calm Belt and Sabaody, so we were able to make it back here on time. Luckily enough now it seems."

Marigold was the second one to speak up this time, crossing her hands over her chest in a stern manner. "It couldn't be helped though, our sweet sister here wanted to watch every last moment of her sweetheart leaving her. She was spying on the Thousand Sunny through a pair of binoculars, and when Luffy and his crew set sail was when she turned to us and make for Amazon Lily."

To this remark by her orange haired sister, the dark haired Warlord became giddy, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment and blushing furiously as a wave of red overcame her cheeks. She shook her head from side to side in embarrassment, as images of the dark haired boy flooded her mind and she found herself enchanted by him once more. Marigold took note of this behavior, inwardly regretting bringing up the topic of Luffy in the first place, but she had gotten used to seeing this side of her sister ever since she had fallen for Monkey D. Luffy.

After a few more seconds of fawning by the dark haired woman, she managed to regain her composure, jerking her head upwards immediately and proceeding to slam it on the table in front of her. This caught Rayleigh and Shakky by surprise, and the smile that had been on the white haired man's face earlier was soon replaced by a scowl. Shakky, who was seated on the opposite side of the counter, had an expressionless look on her visage at her moment, her hand tapping the table before her in a show of growing worry.

"Damn it, if only I had chosen to watch him a little longer," Hancock admitted in a seething tone, directed more at her than anyone else in the room at the moment. After the initial euphoria of remembering her beloved had worn off, she was brought back into the harsh reality where Luffy had been whisked away by the Government. It was too heavy a truth to bear, and she could feel her heart clenching tighter in her chest in a show of agony.

Sandersonia placed a hand on her sister's back, comforting her in a gentle tone," Onee-sama, don't be too hard on yourself. You didn't expect something like this to happen to him as well."

The truth of the matter was nearly fifteen minutes after Hancock had stopped watching Luffy, her ship already a clear distance of the Sabaody coast, was when the assault on the Strawhat ship had been carried out by the Navy lead by Onigumo. By that time, the Kuja Pirates ship was too far away from the Strawhat Pirates ship for her to be of any help to Luffy or his crew mates. This realization hurt more than the earlier one of Luffy in danger.

Her sister's consolation proved a little help, since she jerked her head upwards almost immediately after that, doing her best to push her anguish to the back of her head. She needed to be strong here more than ever.

"You're right. Forgive me, my sisters. That was quite…unsightly of me. There isn't time to mope around. What we need to focus on now more than anything is saving Luffy.

Shakky smiled from where she was seated opposite the counter, and the tapping of her finger on the table came to a halt. She smiled a little before chiming in the conversation herself, glad that the Pirate Empress was now resolved on what she were supposed to do.

"About that, I think I may have a lead on where they may have taken Luffy," she said in a confident manner, her eyes currently surveying all the occupants of the room at said moment. She liked the looks she saw in their eyes.

Robin was the one who spoke up this time, being the first one from the Strawhats to speak up ever since Hancock had shown up in the room," A lead? That's a bit weird; wouldn't they just take him to Impel Down normally?" She pressed a finger to her lips in thought.

"That's right. Why wouldn't they take him to Impel Down?" Zoro added on, supporting Robin's question from earlier. Something in his gut told him that there was something not entirely right here.

Shakky was somewhat prepared for these questions from the people in the room at the moment. The smile that had been etched on her face earlier never left her lips and she proceeded to respond," Normally, that's what they would do. But Luffy, or rather, you guys are a bit special in this regard."

"Special? What do you mean special?" Nami asked from where she was seated.

"Remember the time when you guys went to save Robin from Enies Lobby?" Shakky asked them, and seeing the brusque nods from the four Strawhats prompted her to continue, but she was interrupted by the navigator one more time before she could continue," Yeah, we all remember that. There was no way we were just going to leave Robin behind."

"That's exactly it right there," Shakky remarked, pointing at Nami coolly. One of her eyes was closed and she seemed as if she was trying to recall something.

The blue haired shipwright asked," Meaning?"

"You guys are the first ever pirate group to raid a government institution to save one of your own. Rationally, what anyone would do once their comrade was taken to such a place would be give up on them and resolve to sail the rest of their days minus the one person, but you guys surprised the entire world by acting completely contrary to that. Ever since that day, the government hasn't exactly treated you guys like normal pirates," Shakky explained, her hand idly moving through the room and coming to rest on Nami, Franky, Robin and Zoro.

"So? What exactly changed?" Zoro asked, his hands crossed across his chest and his one eye open as he looked at Shakky sternly.

"The Government isn't exactly planning to take Luffy to Impel Down like they would any other pirate. They've taken him somewhere different, or so I believe." At this juncture she turned to the white haired man seated opposite her on the counter. "Rayleigh-san, if you would…."

Wordlessly, Rayleigh got off his seat, headed into the interior of the house and moments later, came back clutching a folded piece of paper in his hands. He placed it on the table and rolled it out, revealing it to be a map of the entire world, including the Grand Line and the four great Blues.

Shakky pointed to an area of the map, prompting the four Strawhats in the room to draw closer to her in order to get a better look at the map. Upon closer inspection, Nami was the first one to vocally point out what the others had all noticed, a hand placed under her chin," Enies Lobby. Or where it used to be, anyway."

"Wasn't that island run down by the Buster Call? It shouldn't even exist anymore," Zoro chimed in, his doubts evident on the scowl on his face currently.

Rayleigh spoke up this time in Shakky's stead," That should be the normal case, but in the last two years the government decided to try and reestablish the premises once more, although it hasn't been made public information yet. The only ones who know I think are a few people in the Government, plus the Seven Warlords." The Strawhats shifted their looks to Hancock for a while, and seeing the look of indifference on her face, shifted their attention back to Rayleigh, who had continued speaking," It was one of their biggest bases after all, it would be a great loss for them to just leave it like that even after the destruction that happened there."

Shakky picked up on what Rayleigh had almost finished explaining," The work on rebuilding the base isn't exactly finished though, but at the moment it should be capable of detaining someone."

Franky," So you think Luffy is there then? What's the point of detaining him in a half-finished building? It's like practically asking us to go save him."

The oldest woman in the room pointed at Franky just then, her face alight with excitement that Franky had caught on to part of what she was saying. "That's what I think the government is planning to do. Since they already expect you people to try and save your captain, after seeing what happened in Enies Lobby with Robin and Impel Down with Ace, they don't want to risk any more stains on their reputation, so this time they want to keep things with your group on the low as much as possible. They want you guys to bust in there and save your captain, then once they all have you in one corner, they'll capture you all at once."

Nami shrieked in fear upon hearing this news, and Franky had a look of stupor on his face. Zoro was the only one of the Strawhats to have a grim smirk on his face; then again, he's always been one for a good challenge.

Robin seemed slightly flabbergasted by the news, which was a quite rare expression from the archaeologist. "Are you sure about this?"

Shakky arched herself backwards in her seat before responding this time," As a theory, yes, it does seem plausible enough and something that the government would do. But then again, this is all from conjecture so I can't be 100% assured this, but I say it's worth a shot."

Zoro placed his hands on his scabbard resting at his waist, then said in a confident tone," Heh, so what if it's a trap." He grunted a little to express the glee he was feeling at the moment, the grin on his face remaining etched there. "If our captain is there we just have to follow him, that's all. He could be in hell as well, and we'd still go save him."

He looked at the rest of his crewmates still in the room, and was visibly pleased to see that the earlier looks of fear and doubt on their faces had all ebbed away and been replaced by much more confident expressions. Franky mirrored the same expression Zoro had on his face, looking especially gleeful himself, while Nami at first sighed in exasperation, before focusing a warm smile at the green haired swordsman in play. Robin merely chuckled, but was nonetheless happy that the rest of her crewmates' resolves were set in place.

At that moment, however, the Pirate Empress chose to speak up, unintentionally dampening the moods of the residents of the room at that moment. Her finger was pressed to her lower lip and she seemed to have just finished pondering on something. "We can't know for a fact that they are headed there, right? It might be a wild goose chase," she said in a voice rued with doubt. Shakky certainly had made the Pirate Empress nearly place her full confidence in her thoughts, but still, that one doubt never stopped nagging away at the back of her mind. It wasn't a good idea placing all their eggs in one basket. While she had definitely received information from the government regarding them trying to restart the destroyed Judiciary Island, she had not particularly given it much thought until this particular moment.

The Dark King rubbed on his white beard for a little, before responding," That's right, we already did account for such a possibility. So here's what we had in mind to avoid such a mishap. Shakky and me will remain behind and inform you if news of Luffy pops up."

Nami was the one to speak up this time," Are you sure that news will pop up then? I mean, Shakky-san said that there's a chance the government wants to keep this entire information low key so as to protect their reputation."

"I did say that, of course, "Shakky responded, "but then again, you can never really tell with the government. At the very least, there's a chance that they won't keep quiet about news like this. They've caught one of the Supernovas and the revolutionary Monkey D. Dragon's son."

"You aren't coming with us, Rayleigh-san?" Zoro asked the Dark King, and the slight shake of the man's head was enough to slightly dismay Nami, Franky and Robin. While Zoro did not particularly express any discomfort of any sort at the news, he felt slightly dismayed as the grin that had been on his face fell slightly.

"Why not?! Having you around would make a whole load of difference and increase our chances of success at this mission!" Franky protested, throwing his arms into the air in kind.

"I would if I could," Rayleigh said calmly, a smile with a similar tone on his face as well," but an old man like me will only slow you down. Besides, I'm not as sharp as I used to be."

The Strawhats were all visibly glum at this revelation, something that was taken note of by Shakky and Rayleigh. The old man was slightly unnerved by what he had unintentionally done, so he immediately moved to correct it by stating one of the concerns that pressed at the forefront of his mind. Shifting his gaze to the Pirate Empress, who was currently seated at the centre of the group, he asked her," Hancock, are you sure about this? You might lose your position as Warlord if they find out you were involved in something like this. That might cause a lot of trouble for you, and also for your people."

A short stunt of silence followed, Hancock closing her eyes as she pondered over a response. Her sisters, who were towering over her on both her sides and behind the Strawhat pirates as well, regarded their sister with a worrisome look, and Sandersonia absently muttered," Nee-sama."

"I know all this, Rayleigh-san, and I'm just as resolved as the others in this matter. My beloved is in danger; of course I'll rush to his side and save him. I'm not just going to leave him!" She said in a slightly raised voice, and her eyes were shining with her determination, a similar expression on her face. Silvers was surprised by her decision, and would have even gone as far as to call it a reckless one by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, but after seeing the look in her eyes, all the protests he had at a ready were all shot down. There was no way he could turn down her decision after seeing how serious she was about it.

Getting up from his seat, he looked at all the residents in the room, smiling at the determined looks that came back his way, before telling them," Now that we've managed to settle all that, the only thing I can do for you guys is wish you a safe journey. It will take quite a while to head to the Island itself, but I trust this map will be able to help you." At that juncture he took the roll of paper that had been resting on his table, before handing it over to the orange haired navigator of the Strawhat pirates. Once Nami was sure that the map was well in order and okay, she and the other residents of the room proceeded to leave the room and head to where the others were.

Once outside however, Nami and Robin coincidentally found themselves walking on either side of the Pirate Empress. The orange haired woman was slightly surprised with the turn of events, but she realized that Hancock wasn't as intimidating as the rumors made her out to be. With the demeanor she carried herself with; it seemed as if it would be easy enough to strike a conversation with her.

And true enough, it did.

Clasping her hands behind her back, Nami started," Was Ray-san being serious? About him not coming?

"He was just being modest. Don't think too much into it. He's always been like that as long as I can," Hancock replied in a calm tone, setting Nami further at ease. She sighed in relief as all her earlier assumptions of Hancock all ebbed away and were replaced by a more, older sister like feeling. At the moment, the dark haired woman seemed more like Nojiko to her.

Robin took over the conversation at this turn, something which Nami did not hold any aversions too. "You've known him for that long, Boa-san."

Hancock turned her head to look at the fellow dark haired woman," You can call me Hancock. And yeah, I have, but it's kind of a long story."

Shifting her gaze between Nami and Robin, there was a look of slight amazement on her face. "So you guys are Luffy's crewmates then?" Craning her head behind her, she saw her sisters in conversation with Zoro and Franky, the lanky blue haired man seemed to be talking to Marigold about something to do with handiwork owing to the movements of his hands, and Sandersonia was looking at Zoro's swords in curiosity as the green haired sword seemed to be explaining the names of each of the swords. The sight of her sisters being comfortable enough around the two men calmed Hancock's heart, and she smiled a little at them before returning her attention to the two women whose company she was sharing at the moment.

Nami giggled a little before responding," Yeah, that's us, the Strawhat Crew, at your service!"

Hancock was about to prod at another question, but at that moment, a few other noises invaded the serene atmosphere she was enjoying with her two newly acquired acquaintances. Her gaze shifted to the front once more, and she felt slightly dismayed as they had already reached the end of their short journey. The two ships belonging to the Kuja Pirates and the Strawhat Pirates stood in the bay ahead of them, and from what they could make of the noises, they seemed to originate from the Thousand Sunny.

Upon climbing the stairs to the deck of the ship, the sight that the six people met was certainly….flabbergasting.

The deck was populated by more of the Kuja Pirates than the Strawhats on board, and the females were all over Usopp, Brook and Chopper. At one corner of the ship, Sanji had passed out on the ground, and from what Nami could make of him, he had turned into stone. It seemed to be an effect of all the excitement that was going on at the ship.

"This is…" the navigator said in a tone of bewilderment.

Placing a finger on her forehead, the woman placed in the middle of Nami and Robin said in a slightly vexed tone," Forgive me. They don't usually act this way around other men, but since they all liked Luffy, I guess they think that all his crewmates are really nice people." Vividly, Hancock remembered hearing a similar thing happening to Luffy on the night when he was accepted as a guest of Amazon Lily.

Slowly, the blonde cook began regaining his senses, having initially been blown away by the astounding beauty of the Pirate Empress when he saw her getting of her ship earlier in order to set foot into Sabaody Archipelago. As his eyes traversed the ship in order to get a hold of the situation that had befallen his crewmates, his eyes came to land upon the Pirate Empress once more, and for the second time that day, he felt his heart nearly leap out of his body, before his body turned into stone once more.