Naia flinched as the bottle broke over the captain's head spilling the contents all over the man and the floor. The air tensed but no one moved a muscle to intervene.
"It took me a while but I finally understood why Shanks never fought back," Luffy whispered into her ear. The loud crunch of the fruit he was eating echoing afterward.
"He was a small fry. Shanks was already well on his way to becoming a Yonko at this point," Naia explained, "You sure you didn't want to try a different fruit this time around?"
"No! Rubber suits me!" Luffy glared defensively at her.
"That it does," Naia snickered, "I couldn't imagine you any other way, my dear." Luffy smiled warmly up at her and she couldn't help but return it tenfold. Naia wasn't going to deny that it was so nice to have her little boy back even if he had the mental fortitude of a 21-year-old pirate king.
"We should save his arm," Luffy stated. Naia looked back at the scene that was unfolding. Makino was looking on in horror, Shanks was trying to clean up the broken bottle which seemed to aggravate Higuma even more, and his crew was watching in silence.
"Here or when they went after you?" Luffy propped his head up with his knuckles appearing to be deep in thought.
"Probably when they are going to come again. I can't decide if I want to tell him or not. His stance in the world is still unclear to me and that worries me."
"Alright, we will wait for a better opportunity." Naia nodded in agreement and the two went back to silently watching the one-sided battle occurring in front of them.
"Do you know who I am? I've killed 56 people and have a bounty of 8,000,000 berries!" Higuma thrusted a wanted poster into their faces. Naia had to hold Luffy back from instigating more. Klink. KLINK. She looked down to see Shanks cleaning up the mess from the broken bottle.
"Sorry about the mess, Makino," Shanks said as he scooped more glass into his hand, "Hand me a rag and I'll mop it up."
"Don't worry about it, Captain," Makino insisted, "I'll get that for you." Makino rushed forward with a rag in hand to help clean up the mess. Higuma was slowly starting to turn red as his anger rose with each passing moment.
"So, you like to clean do you?" Higuma slid his sword out of its sheath, brandishing it at the two on the floor. "Let me give you a little more." Klang! Higuma swung his sword across the bar. Makino and Shanks both shut their eyes, glass, booze and other food particles fell around the two as the sword knocked everything off the bar. Naia winced at the slight damage done to the wood.
"Cowards the lot of you," Higuma huffed as he made his way out of the bar, "Let's try another village." Naia shook her head as the man and his band of bandits disappeared from view.
"Captain, are you okay?" Makino asked, checking Shanks over for any injuries. Naia smiled and made her way to the backroom grabbing the broom and pan hiding just out of sight.
"I'm fine, no harm done!" Shanks grinned from underneath his hat, holding back a laugh. Makino pouted at the captain as she went about picking up pieces of glass.
"Harharharhar! He got you good, Captain!" Lucky Roo roared. The rest of the crew following his lead and dissolving into hysterics of laughs.
"Makino no need to pick up the glass," Naia gripped her wrist, stopping the barmaid from handling any more broken glass. "You might cut yourself."
"Are you okay, Makino?" Luffy said, holding a hand out to help the barmaid up.
"Yes, thank you." Makino took his hand kind of in a daze. Naia held the pan out for Shanks to put the glass he and Makino had collected in. She gave him a soft smile as he stared at her.
"That was quite the show, Captain," Naia hummed as she swept up the remaining glass and debris.
"Shishishishi, stupid bandits they were fun," Luffy giggled, prying the rag from Makino's clenched hand. "I'll help!" Luffy dropped to his knees in front of the captain mopping up the spilled liquid.
"When did you get manners, Anchor?" Shanks teased.
"Since always! You just don't deserve them." Luffy stuck his tongue out at the redhead. Naia laughed as she walked over to Makino, dumping the glass in an empty barrel.
"Are you doing okay?" Naia asked the young woman, "That was a scary situation and you put yourself right in the middle."
"I-I know. I didn't know what to do," Makino stuttered, "I did what felt natural. It was muscle memory."
"It's okay," Naia placated, "You did nothing wrong. Besides, I doubt the pirates would've let anything happen to you." Makino gave her a small smile but otherwise left the situation alone.
"I'll be here from now on so if they show up again just get me and I will handle it."
"I will, Captain." Makino gave her a small smile in agreement.
"Now, now. No captain nonsense!" Naia tutted, "Wouldn't want to scare them off."
"Of course," Makino giggled. Luffy was bouncing up and down in front of Shanks, giving a squeal when the man shook off some of the booze making it rain down on the little boy. Shanks caught the boy under his armpits lifting him up in the air and Naia had to hide her smile behind her hand as his lower body stretched until it reached the floor again.
"His body's stretching?!" Shanks panicked. His eyes were wide as he looked at the little boy in front of him.
"It's not here! The devil fruit we took from that enemy ship!" Lucky Roo shouted as he frantically overturned a small treasure chest. "It's gone!"
"You mean that fruit that was in there?" Luffy questioned, "I had it for dessert; although, it didn't taste very good." Naia slumped into a barstool behind her, burying her face in her hands.
"Naia?" Makino's soft voice washed over her, "What's wrong?"
"Garp is going to kill me," she groaned.
"That was the Gum Gum Fruit, you idiot!" Shanks shook his shoulders, "It's a devil fruit! Your entire body becomes rubber and you will never swim again! Ever in your life!"
"What?" Luffy's eyes widened in amazement, "That's so cool!"
"It's not cool! You can't be a pirate if you can't swim!" Shanks tried to reason. Luffy giggled as he pulled at his cheeks. They stretched to an impossible length before snapping back. Shanks stared at him in disbelief.
"I'll be fine! I just won't ever fall overboard." Luffy brushed his concerns off before smiling up at Naia. "I also won't tell Gramps where I got it from. Shishishishi."
"You and finding trouble, I swear," Naia huffed, "I will be paying for this later."
"I'm sorry, Naia." Shanks bowed his head, hiding under his straw hat, "We should've left it on the ship or at least put someone to guard it." Murmurs of agreements resounded from the rest of the crew.
"It's alright, Captain," Naia put a hand on his shoulder, "Some things are simply meant to happen. Besides, I am in just as much fault as you. I should've kept a better eye on him." Their eyes met, neither moving to break the connection.
"I have the strangest feeling that I've met you before," Shanks said, his brow furrowing.
"How strange," Naia said with a soft smile. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting. I would like to think I would remember meeting such a handsome captain." Naia couldn't help herself. The Red Hair captain's cheeks twinged with a pink hue as he stuttered out a comeback. The bar roared with laughter from the crew at the expense of their captain. Naia grinned in triumph. She had never been able to have this level of freedom with the man before and she was not going to pass up on the opportunity.
"Naia! I'm going to go try and find them! I'll be back by dinner!" Luffy hollered over his shoulder.
"Luffy! Wait, don't- and he's gone," Naia sighed, "I need whatever is in his water."
"You can be just as lively when you want to be," Makino hushed her. Naia slumped back into a bar stool as she peered at her friend.
"He makes me feel old," Naia whined, "And now there will be three of them. I will be old and grey by the time Luffy hits 10."
"You would be just as beautiful should that happen." Shanks sauntered next to her, his eyes full of confidence. Naia blushed as the man grasped her hand giving it a light kiss on the back of it.
"Three of them?" Benn asked, "I've only seen Luffy."
"The other two are currently in the mountains with a horde of bandits." Naia pulled her hand away from the captain turning back towards Makino who had an unreadable expression on her face. Naia furrowed her brows slightly as she studied the barkeep and the theories that were popping in her head meant that this was about to get a lot more complicated than she wanted it to be.
"BANDITS?" The crew gasped.
"Not the brightest of choices, but Garp isn't known for intense thinking." Naia rolled her eyes as Makino laughed.
"That man wouldn't know his right from his left if it wasn't for his subordinates," Makino agreed.
"He's a formidable man. That statement seems a little out there," Shanks said, "We've met more than enough times to know if he wasn't bright. Wait Garp!?"
"Aye, he's Luffy's grandfather and I wouldn't say he isn't bright; however, he is extremely lazy and won't pay attention to anything he doesn't find interesting," Naia grimaced, remembering the endless meetings she would have to recount to the man. "He also hits very hard." Naia rubbed her head as a dull ache spread through her head in remembrance of her early years of training.
"That man is Anchor's grandfather?" Shanks gasped.
"You've been on the receiving end of him?!" Lucky Roux gaped at her.
"I've been helping to keep an eye on that boy since he was a baby," Naia said, shrugging, "Who do you think he blamed when Luffy started spouting off about becoming a pirate?"
"He blamed you for that?" Shanks asked her incredulously.
"I may or may not have read him stories and he took them to heart," Naia hummed, "So you could say I indirectly caused it." Makino giggled at her as Naia grinned.
"He got all fascinated with us because you read stories to him?" Benn shook his head.
"Well, more of a combination of I read him Treasure Island and then he wanted to know about Gold Roger." Naia shrugged, "It kind of just grew from there."
"That's our Luffy," Makino laughed, "When something catches his attention he rarely lets it go."
"Gods, you should've seen him when he made friends with a tiger cub," Naia groaned, "I had to physically pry him away before the mom could eat him."
"He is one crazy brat! Dahahahahaha!" Shanks laughed with his crew following suit. As the laughter died out, Naia turned her attention back to the barkeep. Makino and her had never had a really great relationship but Naia had never been allowed to stay longer than a couple of weeks. The woman had always scowled at her most likely disagreeing with Garp's choice of her. Naia slid her eyes shut as the memories of her youth flashed before her. She still couldn't believe she was here. It was all so surreal especially with how easy it was to settle back in. It was like she never left.