Chapter 22: A Moment of Calm Before the Storm - Part 4
The thin man sighed, looking out over the water that was both his means of travel and his greatest weakness. It had been five months since he'd last seen her. Well, no, if he was honest with himself it was less than that, but a chance meeting in the backstreets of the biggest city on the Grand Line hardly counted as seeing her. He glanced down at his hand, and traced the palm with his fingers. He'd felt it. That pulse of life. His Haki had told him it was male, and somehow, though he couldn't explain it, he knew the boy was his. His skin tingled and he clenched his fist, a wisp of steam filtering through his knuckles unconsciously. A hundred questions floated through his mind, and the answer to every single one of them was her. He'd never really wanted anything else. The rest... it had all been trivial once he'd found her. Oh, he made a show of it, because she expected it, and he was confident that nothing would ever come between them.
He dangled his foot down towards the deck below, letting it swing absently. The bastard would pay for what he'd done, and then... then he would offer himself in payment for what he had done. Maybe that way... she'd forgive him at least enough to let him know the baby. He didn't want the boy to grow up like he had. For all that he loved his grandfather, the Marine hero wasn't exactly the most loving of men, and Dragon? Well, he hadn't been the best of examples either. Freedom was important, but always having a home to come back to, where the boy could know he'd always be welcome... that was even more important, and the brunet promised himself that he'd be there to watch that boy become a man. He grinned suddenly, a melancholy sort of expression, maybe he'd be like Ace had been and become a famous pirate, since he was the son of the Pirate King after all.
"Yosh." He spoke more quietly than normal, "You wait, Nami. Be like Rouge for our Ace."
Zoro appeared from the shadows and came to lean on the railing next to his Captain. He was quiet for a moment. Then he said, "She won't have to." His eyes were shaded as they slid over to Luffy. "We'll get her back first."
Whatever his personal feelings, his Captain came first. And his Captain wanted Nami back, wanted her child. His feelings on the matter were irrelevant, as worthless as a morning mist that dissolved at the first shaft of sunlight that was Luffy's smile. It had always been that way. That was how he'd joined this crazy-ass crew in the first place.
Then the swordsman returned his gaze to the water. "And Kaya too. We'll get 'em both. We'll return 'em to where they belong. We always do." A grim smile touched his mouth. "Your little Ace does have one advantage though. His pop is still alive, and will tear apart the world to keep him safe."
He just couldn't shake the bad feeling circling these events though. Kidd had been evasive on 'The Rules' Bellamy was apparently subject to, but Law's reaction told him there was something neither of them would share. It got his hackles up. Not that he didn't trust them. But he could feel that things weren't right. Things were very not-right indeed. Even beyond Bellamy. What he just couldn't get over was—Bellamy was a toy. A lackey. A… well, a Hyena. He was a submissive creature despite his posturing, and danced to the tune of a stronger being. Why was he acting on his own now, all these years later? It just didn't make sense, and he couldn't figure out why. It bothered him.
"Yosh." The rubber man nodded, and clenched his hand again, the one that still had the faint trace of his son's aura across the palm, as though to keep that precious feeling to himself. Then he flipped himself around to look at his first mate upside down, "You think Nami'll let me name him Ace?"
The first mate leaned his chin in his hand and gave his Captain a grin. "Dunno. She might. Actually, probably. Because if Ace hadn't saved your ass, there wouldn't be a mini-Ace. Let's just hope he doesn't get into as much trouble as the original. Otherwise he'll give his parents, his aunt, and all of his uncles heart attacks and that'll be what finally kills us. I mean, can you imagine if he turned out just like his namesake?" He laughed. "Riding all over the ocean chasing the most dangerous people he can find and bailing his friends out of trouble. Dear Kami, he'll end us all from the worry!"
"That would awesome!" Luffy grinned, picturing their own escapades over the last several years. "He'll have great adventures!"
"Oi! Don't go planning his adventures for him! That's cheating!" Zoro gave the rubber man a severely worried look. It could get the kid hurt, which would lead to Nami carving a 'reminder' into Luffy somewhere so he wouldn't do it again.
"Mah! I know he'll have great adventures. He's a D." The brunet was up on his feet again, holding the railing of the deck and grinning out into the sunlight. His grandfather was a D, his father was a D, his adopted brother was D, he was a D! There was no way in Luffy's mind that the baby could be anything but awesome. "And he'll have a great first mate too. Torao's already making her."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, fucking what?! You mean to tell me Law's gotten a chick preg—and, wait, you think they'll sail together?!"
Scratch the heart attack in ten years, he was going to die of a heart attack now. Someone with Luffy's sense of adventuring and monster strength—Zoro was under no illusions: his captain WOULD train the child to be as strong as he could make it—and Nami's intelligence, paired with someone with Law's genetics for a first mate?! The man was a sociopath with a genius-devil mind, and surely he'd selected the perfect 'breeding specimen' before undertaking such a venture—Zoro slumped where he stood, whining and clutching his head.
"Oh Kami, Luffy..." He groaned.
"Nah. Traffy's growing her himself. But shhhh!" The captain made an over exaggerated press of his finger to his lips. "Nobody's s'posed ta know until he tells Kidd. Cuz the daddy's always supposed to be the first to know."
"Daddy?!" Zoro choked, and promptly fell over slightly foaming at the mouth, much to the rubber man's amusement.
Over the swordsman's unconscious form, a third person entered the deck. Though the grin he gave made the admonishment useless, he said it anyway, "You know, Luffy, using Haki to spy on people isn't nice."
"I didn't spy on her. She tickled me. Just like Ace did." The captain ceased poking his first mate's head to blink up at his mentor.
"Ace? Your brother?" A faint curiosity overtook the redhead's face.
Luffy's grin got bigger, "Nope! My son."
Shanks grabbed the younger man around the neck, which would have been the precursor to a noogie had he his other arm, but he settled for jerking the brunet around some. "Yeah, about that... how come I had ta find out from a couple of recruits that overheard Ivankov and his partner talking about Cobra reading a letter sent to your father by the Fleet Admiral after he was messaged by your cook? How can I be a great uncle if you don't tell me I'm gonna be one!?"
"Sorry." Though the Pirate King didn't sound sorry at all.
Brook had been just coming around the corner at the end of that sentence, and blinked at them both a couple of times. "Erm... Luffy. And..." his sockets directed at the man's full head of hair, "Red-Hair Shanks, I presume? What was that I heard about 'uncle'?"
"Well, yeah. Shanks is my uncle." The younger captain was still grinning. There was a beat as everyone sort of stared at each other, then Luffy said, "Oh, wait... that was supposed to be a secret."
Unable to keep his hold on the brunet, the one-armed Emperor fell back against the wall laughing. "Just like the old man! I always knew Draggy was smart to leave you with him. He'd have never gotten anything done with you just blurting out secrets all the time, Baka!"
Brook dramatically smacked his temple with his hand. "...Luffy... one of the Yonko is your uncle... and you've never told the crew? Oh for the love of... you know Robin and Sanji are going to have a field day with this."
Again the brunet gave the same tone of "Sorry" without ever losing his grin.
"Hey, hey now, don't be too hard on him. It's not his fault the Old Man was even more unwilling to talk about me than he was about Draggy. Couldn't you see it? Famous Admiral Garp, father of Revolutionary Dragon and infamous 'Red-Hair' Shanks, grandfather of Strawhat Luffy!" The older captain laughed. "It's the papers that would have a field day!"
"So will the crew," Brook said before he turned on his heel to deliver the news to the rest of the ship.
With a rueful smile, the redhead flicked the brim of his favorite hat, still sitting on his nephew's head, "Oh boy. Your ship really does have ears."
Shanks did the attempted manhandling again, and Luffy just laughed, tripping over the unconscious Zoro on his way down the deck. At a more sedate pace, the redhead followed, but his grin was anything but relaxed.
It was at that moment that Sanji stepped out to grab a cigarette between meal preparations. Flambé was handling things, and he desperately needed some nicotine and his Marimo, not necessarily in that order. So, looking down at the wooden flooring, he raised his visible eyebrow and smirked.
"My, how convenient. Fresh sea-moss available for the picking." He toed the swordsman's head, "Oi! Lazy ass! That swordswoman's looking for you again. Said something about liberating Wado."
His target came awake with an abrupt jolt, hands going defensively to his sword hilt. "FOR THE LOVE O' THE KAMI, TASHIGI, YER NOT GETTIN'—Huh?" He looked around, frowned, and wiped his mouth—it felt funny. "What the fuck, cook? What was that for?!"
A subtle smile and the exhalation of his smoke, accompanied a sultry voice, "Because if I want to get you up, I have to get your blood pumping."
Zoro flushed. "Well… erm… sorry. Luffy was tellin' me 'bout—" his face went ashen and he leaned against the railing. "Oh right. Nevermind," he said weakly. "I don't want ta think 'bout it too hard."
"I see. Well, then how about I find something better for you to think about? So you don't strain your fuzzy aquatic brain, ne?" With a raised eyebrow, the blond stepped closer, keeping the cigarette well out of burning range, and nipped at the swordsman's bottom lip.
His lover purred and leaned in. "Mmm, yes, why don't ya do that, eh love-cook?"
Sanji leaned to the side to finish his cancer stick, then flung the burned filter over the edge of the railing, and grabbed the green haired man's chin for a fierce kiss. "There's entirely too much talk of fighting and not enough fucking going on these days, Marimo. What are you gonna do about fixing that?"
The swordsman's eye was a deep, deep black as he grinned just as fiercely, exhaling the last of the smoke he'd stolen from the chef's lungs during the kiss, both arms around his lover's waist. "Mmm, I think ya might know how I would plan on fixin' that."
"Do I now? Are you saying I'm finally fluent in mosshead?" The blond smirked, a hand trailing down the open space in his lover's haori, tracing the contours of his chest with deceptively strong fingers.
Zoro pressed into that skilled hand—that hand gave him dreams. "Mmmaybe. Just a little."
The fingers slipped lower, toying with the knot in his lover's sash, and Sanji pressed a little closer, the shape of his dress slacks no longer hiding the way that teasing hint of the swordsman's physique was enough to get him going.
"What say we take this home, and I make you crack the windows again?"
The larger man growled, low, and feral, and beautiful as he grabbed his lover around the waist. "Oh hell yes, do you even remember what you did that night that got me roaring so hard?"
"Not exactly, but the fun is in finding out. Isn't it?" The cook cantered his teeth along the other's jaw line, stopping when he reached those three golden pendants so he could tug on them.
There was a cracking sound, and abruptly the pair disappeared from deck. Elsewhere, a cabin door slammed shut and locked as the roar of a tiger vibrated the planks of the ship.