A/N: This story contains a ZoLuSan pairing, a FemLuffy and a bit of OOC.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. It belongs to its creator, Eiichiro Oda. The story's plot belongs to Pen-Woman.
Warning: No lemons or character death detected in this chapter. There are some foul language, name-calling and violence detected.
Please enjoy the story.
She sees things of beauty in all that she sees, and what's beautiful to her seems ugly to me. What to her is a flower, to me is a weed. We do seem so different, so different indeed.
The window of her soul is open to light, she always seems happy and bubbly and bright, and her type of person a pleasure to know, for beauty, goes with her wherever she goes:
Of those who are different good things she does out of her way. She helps out the homeless and those in dire poverty. I do not know of anyone as great as she.
And sad to think her type is becoming rare, for the poor and downtrodden she genuinely does care, about the most worthy causes in her work and the free time she devoted, yet she is not seen as one worthy of note.
A beautiful person with a heart of gold, and surely her story deserves to be told, not proud of her beauty and free of conceit. People like her one does not often meet.
A Beautiful Person with a Heart of Gold by Francis Duggan
Chapter 3: Meeting Laboon the Whale! A Jealousy Revolt!
~At Reverse Mountain~
The Straw Hat Pirates have made it through Reverse Mountain, which was so high it almost touched the heavens above. The Going Merry was now sailing down at a fast pace and about to enter the Grand Line.
Everyone was wooing and cheering. Not because they were having the time of their lives. Their goals and dreams were laying stretched over the horizon, as they began their new chapter of this grand adventure.
"This is the BEST! We're about to enter the Grand Line, the greatest sea in the world! This is so AWESOME!" Luffy laughed in excitement while holding on to Merry's figurehead. Her other hand was on her hat.
The others wooed in agreement as they enjoyed the cool wind blowing their hair.
Suddenly Zoro heard a booming sound echoing through the canal.
"Huh? Did you hear that?" Zoro asked as he looked around.
Nami, being the closest to Zoro, heard him.
"WHAT?" She asked loudly.
"I SAID DID YOU HEAR THAT STRANGE NOISE?" He shouted over the wind.
"IT MUST HAVE BEEN THE WIND!" Nami yelled.
Only Nami had no idea how wrong she was at that moment. The Straw Hat Pirates were about to face another ordinary predicament.
~With the crew inside the whale~
After the horrific experience, the Straw Hat Pirates – apart from Luffy – were swallowed by the giant whale. Or they thought they had been swallowed or was it all just a nightmare to them? Because they were sure as hell they would be devoured by now. The whale's stomach was supposed to be filled with flesh and other stuff, not a blue sky with fluffy white clouds and a tiny island with a tiny house on it. There was no way in bloody hell that there was a man with a weird flower on his head sitting on his chair, reading a newspaper. He was kind enough to show them a large steel exit door. It was official, they had finally lost it.
"Wait a minute. What's an exit door doing in a whale's stomach? Why is that door in the sky?" Nami asked.
It was true. The door was joined together in the sky-like wall. How was that possible? Then Usopp spoke up when he noticed something too.
"Wait, look up there. The sky, the clouds, and even the seagulls are frozen." He pointed out. He was only half right. The sky ad the clouds weren't frozen, but they were actual paintings. There was even a tiny signature under the seagull's wing, that said Crocus.
"Oh, that was my doing. I did this to pass the time. Do you like my artwork?" Crocus said.
"NO! I WASN'T ADMIRING YOUR PAINTING, YOU SENILE CREEP!" Usopp shouted like a lunatic.
"Take it easy, Usopp." Zoro said as he managed to grab Usopp's shoulder. "Nami will lead us out."
"Alright." Usopp said calming down.
"Lead us the way, my lovely Nami-swan. Luffy-chan, hold on, my beloved. Sanji will save you." Sanji said with hearts in his eye.
Zoro then punched Sanji on the side of his face. Hard enough to fall and skid on the deck.
"Shitty cook, how many times do I've to tell you that Luffy doesn't need to be saved. Especially not by you. She's the Captain!" Zoro yelled like an angry Sea King.
Sanji got back up. He faced Zoro with an angry face that matched the swordman's face.
"Mosshead, I'm going to kick your ass so hard, you'll be back in the East Blue before you can even scream." Sanji growled threatening.
"Ha! I would like to see you try, curly brow." Zoro said mockingly.
"What'd you say? I'm gonna-" Sanji then suddenly stopped when a thought came up about something, that made him smirk smugly.
Zoro was confused by the cook's sudden stop.
Sanji took a new cigarette and lit it.
"I finally get what you are trying to do." He said cockily.
"Oh really? Please pray do tell me what that is?" Zoro said, crossing his arms.
"The answer is simple, you moss-headed bastard." He puffed out some smoke before he continued. "You just want to rescue Luffy yourself. That way you can have her all to yourself."
Sanji pointed his index finger accusingly at Zoro.
"WHAT! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU IDIOTIC COOK!" Zoro yelled at the false accusation. Only had that damned blush – which had just been printed on his face – betray him.
"AHA! That blush tells everything! Admit that you wanted to rescue Luffy so badly. That way she can fall over for you, you perverted moss head." Sanji said with triumphant cockiness.
"You're right. Maybe she does need to be rescued. TO RESCUE HER FROM THE LIKES OF YOU, YOU DAMN CURLY BROW!" Zoro hissed venomously.
"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD, MOSSHEAD!?" Sanji shouted murderously.
Sanji and Zoro were now both face to face with each other. Their bodies were covered in flames of fury.
Nami had enough of both their rantings. She punched them both hard on the head.
"WILL YOU BOTH JUST SHUT UP! OR I'LL BE THE ONE WHO KILLS YOU BOTH BEFORE YOU TWO EVEN HAD THE CHANCE!" Nami yelled furiously and annoyed.
Usopp stood on the sideline, sweat-dropping at these two idiots.
"Idiots." He mumbled.
~With our beloved Luffy~
Meanwhile, Luffy was now inside the whale. Or that's what she thought. About a few minutes ago, her crew had been devoured by that whale. She was pounding and kicking its back to cuff them back up. When the whale was going to dive into t sea, she panicked knowing she'll drown. She found a hatch on the whale's back and wasted no time in opening it. She quickly dove inside and closed the hatch behind her. She sighed in relief as she was safe and sound. Now she had one big question in her mind. When do whales have a passageway in them?
"I hope everyone is okay." She mumbled to herself, walking straight ahead and looking around.
"I've been walking around forever." She huffed annoyed and pouted cutely.
"ZORO! SANJI! NAMI! USOPP!" She called out for them but got no response.
Luffy's face was marred with worry. Before she could proceed on going further, the whale suddenly moved and wailed so loud it made her ears bleed. She felt the whale dive deeper down, which made her fall and skid down on the passageway like a slide. She screamed just as loud as the whale had. She then spotted something far ahead of her. She saw two people holding weapons and standing beside the door.
"LOOK OUT! I CAN'T STOP!" She shouted at them. They noticed her and screamed in horror as Luffy was closing in on them. Before they could get away, Luffy collided with them. Because of the force of the fall, the door opened with a bang.
~Outside of the whale~
Lady Luck must have been favouring the future Queen of the Pirates. She had found her crew safe and unharmed. She was so happy to see them, that she barely noticed that she fell into acid. The moment she fell into the water, she started to feel weak because of her Devil Fruit. Luckily, Zoro saved her, while Sanji saved those two weirdos. Once they were on board, the two weirdos introduced themselves as Miss Wednesday and Mr.9. it seemed that they were planning on killing the whale to feed their village. Only Crocus wouldn't let them hurt Laboon, as long as he was still breathing.
The two weirdos were immune to the petty threat. They shot each cannonball at the whale's stomach.
Crocus jumped in as the cannon balls hit him instead of the whale, shocking everyone.
The two weirdos laughed at the man's foolishness, which made Luffy super pissed with them. She grabbed their heads and banged them against each other, causing them to end up laying on the deck out cold.
Once Luffy was done with them, her crew tied the two idiots up to prevent them from escaping.
Crocus thanked them and in return, he helped them get out of Laboon's stomach. Once again they were outside in the real open sky.
Nami asked Crocus why those two weirdos wanted to kill Laboon. He started to explain to them that the two idiots came from a nearby town and wanted to feed their town with Laboon's meat. That would last two to three years.
He then explained that Laboon an Island Whale is, inhabited in the West Blue and the largest whale in the world. He told them the reason why Laboon has so many scars. That was because he kept banging his head against the mountain. The only reason was... to find his friends who were a band of pirates, that he has been waiting for the last fifty years.
That story shocked the Straw Hats to the core. They couldn't imagine that this whale has been waiting for so long for his crew to return. What was more, was that Laboon's crew promised to come back to him after three years.
Zoro, Sanji and Nami hinted that the pirates must've been long dead, since the Grand Line was the most dangerous ocean and also the most unpredictable.
Usopp didn't believe them. He believed that Laboon's crew will come back for him, after he has been waiting for fifty years because the whale was so loyal.
However, Crocus wished to believe that, but the truth was crueller than anyone could imagine. Laboon was abandoned.
As hurtful as it was, Laboon was left behind. His so-called friends had left the Grand Line like yellow-belly cowards. When Crocus had tried to tell Laboon for him to stop waiting, his friends had deserted him. Only Laboon refused to listen.
"That night, Laboon tried to face Reverse Mountain to get to his crew. He cried so loud, that it reached the heavens. He then began smashing himself against the Red Line. He still believes they'll return from the other side of that wall. He just won't listen to the truth." Crocus said.
The Straw Hats remained silent during Crocus' tale. They were awed at the whale's devotion and faithfulness. Surprisingly, even Luffy was silent through all that. She kept on gazing at Laboon the entire time.
"You know, even in his poor state," Sanji said, drawing from his favourite cigarette and exhaling a puff of smoke. "you were betrayed too. So there is no reason for you to stay, right?"
"I can't leave Laboon behind." Crocus said passionately. "Look at his scars on his. If he keeps ramming his head against the mountain, he'll die without proper treatment. That's why I must remain here with him."
Crocus and the Straw Hats then heard a screeching yell coming from their meat-loving Captain. They all turned around just in time to see Luffy holding the main mast of their ship and plunging it at the whale.
"Gum Gum Flower Arrangement." Luffy said as she plunged the mast into one of Laboon's scars on his head.
"Isn't that our mast from our ship?" Zoro asked calmly, sounding almost bored.
"And now it's on top of the whale." Sanji said clearly not bothered by it, except for Usopp.
"DOES SHE HAVE TO BREAK THE SHIP APART?!" Usopp yelled angrily and devastated, as tears were streaming down his face.
And so the Straw Hats added a new rule to their rulebook; never – and I mean never – take your eyes off of Luffy for a second because you'll never know how... unpredictable... their Captain could be.
~Moments later~
After a series of many strange incidents, the Straw Hat Pirates were up and ready to sail further into the Grand Line. With Mr.9 and Miss Wednesday tagging along for the journey. Their reason for that was, that they have no boat and their Log Pose had been broken by Luffy. Fortunately, Crocus had an extra Log Pose. That would lead them to the first island of the Grand Line. It was called Whiskey Peak.
Once Usopp was finished hammering the last nail on the mast, that Luffy broke, they were ready to leave. But someone was missing.
"Hey, where is Luffy? Wasn't she supposed to be here by now?" Usopp asked frowning.
"Honestly, that girl always comes and goes." Nami muttered annoyed, putting her hands on her hip.
Crocus appeared and said: "Don't worry. She's with Laboon."
"Laboon?" Nami asked puzzled. She blinked at the sound of a happy wail, that was followed by bubbly laughter.
Everyone looked to see Luffy happily playing with Laboon with a badly painted Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat Pirates on him. It was handmade by Luffy. Laboon was hopping up and down, causing various waves around him. Luffy kept on bouncing back by Laboon, making it look like she was jumping on a trampoline.
Crocus smiled fondly. It had been so long, he hadn't seen Laboon this playful since long before. It was all thanks to Straw Hat Luffy. Her very presence had taken away all the sorrow and despair from Laboon's heart. She gave him hope and the newly found friendship, that he had been desiring more than anything.
'That girl... is something else.' Crocus thought in awe.
"Hey Luffy, sorry to interrupt your game but we have to go right now." Nami said.
Luffy pouted but obeyed. She didn't want to make her mad. She stretched her arm till she caught the Going Merry's main mast. She then retracted back to her ship and elegantly landed on the deck.
"Luffy-chan, your landing was so flawless with such grace. It made my heart leap in joy." Sanji said, dancing around her with a heart popping out of his eye.
Luffy blinked but eventually smiled at him.
"Now we are all here, let's head for Whiskey Peak." Nami declared, looking at her new Log Pose.
Laboon started to wail but not too loud to hurt his new friend's ears.
Luffy walked toward him and put her hand on Laboon's nose.
"Don't worry. I vow to come back to have another fight. Afterwards, we'll play all day long when I get back, okay?" Luffy said, causing Laboon to wail happily in reply.
"And don't bash any mountain too. We don't want that painting to fade away." She warned, eyeing the Jolly Roger on the whale's forehead with admiration.
Laboon wailed again, promising to keep that painting from vanishing.
Luffy grinned broadly. She then gave Laboon a goodbye hug on his scarred temple and a kiss too. Which caused Laboon to blush and a heart appeared floating on top of his head.
Zoro's eyes popped out and a nasty-looking vein pulse became visible.
Sanji's chin dropped to the deck. His shoulders sulked, looking pathetic.
Zoro could feel every fibre of his being tremble with turmoil and incredible jealousy toward the Island Whale.
Sanji send out a dark and menacing aura – that would make a Marine Admiral cower and beg for mercy – unleashing a fiery depth of hell on that bastard whale for stealing Luffy's kiss from him.
Nami and Usopp were watching both men getting mad as hell at Laboon for getting a kiss from Luffy. They sweat-dropped and mumbled to themselves: "Bunch of idiots."
~On the Going Merry~
After saying goodbye to Crocus and Laboon, the Going Merry was now sailing away to the first island, Whiskey Peak. It was the first island of the Grand Line to start with. As they sailed on the sea, Luffy – our beloved heroine and naive to all things around her – at long last took notice of two of her crewmates.
Sanji was on the deck. His head was resting on his arm, watching the ocean flow. All the while he was brooding.
Zoro had crossed his legs. His back was resting against the mast. His hands were on the back of his head. His face was scowling so badly, that could get stuck like that if he kept it on.
"Hey, what's wrong with them?" Luffy asked confused.
Nami, who had been next to her, turned away from the map and looked at the two men.
"Oh, don't mind them. They're just being idiots."She said lightly, not slightly worried.
"But are they going to be okay?" Luffy asked worriedly.
"Knowing them, they'll be back to their normal selves, once they get over it." Nami assured her.
"Yeah, you're right, Nami. I'm sure Zoro and Sanji will boost up their spirits, once we get to Whiskey Peak." Luffy said convinced, smiling broadly.
'I doubt it.' Nami thought not convinced, looking at the two men being pathetic. She then turned away from them and left to go to the women's quarters to study the map in peace.
Luffy stood there for a moment, watching these two sulks till she had an epiphany. She remembered the time back at Windmill Village when Makino advised her on what she should do when a guy was upset. She grinned at the idea and went over to Zoro and Sanji.
"Hey, guys."She said happily.
"Hey." Zoro and Sanji said gloomily.
"You know, I have a way to cheer you guys up. You wanna see?" Luffy said cheerily.
"Sure, why not." Both men said again, shockingly even Sanji, not caring.
Luffy just kept on smiling.
These two continued to sulk when Luffy did something very unexpected again. She went over to Zoro and kissed him on the cheek. She then went over to Sanji and kissed him on the cheek too. And just like that, she left grinning for the women's quarters.
As for Zoro and Sanji, time seemed to have frozen for them. They pondered in their mind what had happened today. Did Luffy – their oblivious, naïve, happy-go-lucky Captain – just... kiss them? It's got to be a dream.
'It must be a dream.' They both thought simultaneously. Their sulky mood had magically disappeared. It was replaced by warmth. They then smiled a genuine smile. It might have been a simple kiss on the cheek, but it was a start.
I hope you enjoyed it.
Please review.
Next: The Straw Hat Pirates arrive at Little Garden and meet two great and honourable warriors.