Ch. 2: Not as planned.
They were stunned.
Three ships that were supposed to dock here were no longer there. The Victoria Punk, the Polar Tang and the Thousand Sunny had set sail without them. Admittedly, they were a little late, but not by much - a few hours at most! The street artist's paintings had been stunning, the bookshop was fascinating, the medicinal plants were remarkable, the blacksmith had taken far too long. And now, there they were, standing silently side by side on the pier, staring out to sea and still unable to believe what they were seeing - or rather, what they weren't seeing.
Their trance was only shattered when they heard the ringing of a Den Den Mushi.
"Captain? Hey, Captain, we can't find you! Are you on board of the Thousand Sunny?"
A strange pause ensued during which Trafalgar Law tried to send killing glares through the Den Den Mushi.
"No, Bepo, I'm not. I'm still on the island. Would you care to tell me the reason why you left without your captain?" replied Law a little too calmly.
His answer drew a moment of shocked silence, broken only by the sound of the engines running in the background.
"You're not on the Thousand Sunny?"
"No, I'm not," Law repeated.
"And not on the Victoria Punk either?"
"Not there either. Neither are Ikkaku, Nico Robin or Killer, by the way. They're all with me and wondering what the hell you were thinking, setting off without us!" Law replied with increasing irritation.
This statement was followed by an even longer, horrified silence.
"They're not on board either?"
"No, they're not! We're all standing here. Whose idea was this? Let me guess. Straw Hat?" Law replied and now his annoyance was easily recognisable from the volume of his words
"Oh Captain! There was news that Monkey D. Garp was on his way to the island. We all panicked when we heard that, especially the Straw Hats. And because the time for the meeting had passed, we assumed that you would be on board of one of the ships. So, we set sail as quickly as possible. Oh captain, I'm soooo sorry!" The end of the sentence was hard to understand as Bepo was weeping into the phone.
"Stop crying! It's not helping us right now."
At that moment, a second Den Den Mushi rang. Robin reached into her coat pocket and picked up the phone.
"Robin-chwan, sweetest Robin-chwan! The snack is ready, but we can't find you. I made sandwiches just for you! Zoro said you were on the Polar Tang. Would you please come to our kitchen?"
"Thank you, Sanji, that sounds delicious. But I'm afraid I can't come into the kitchen at the moment.", Robin giggled, eliciting an annoyed glare from Law. "It seems you have forgotten me on the island."
"We what?!" was the horrified response she got.
"Luffy! We have to go back! Robin's still on the island!"
"She's what?! Nami! Franky! Jimbei! We have to go back! Robin's still on the island!"
A huge commotion could be heard in the background, which sounded as if the entire crew was shouting and running in all directions.
"Hey, stop it, everyone!", shouted Law in both Den Den Mushis at the same time - and sure enough, all the running stopped abruptly.
"Yes, we're still on the island and we need to find a fix. Who said Garp was on his way? Where did you get the information? You can't turn back if he's coming!"
"Traffy, is that you? Are you still on the island, too?" Luffy shouted into Den Den Mushi.
"Yes, he is, just like Ikkaku and Killer." replied Robin calmly. "And he's right. You can't turn around if your grandfather is on the way. In that case, the four of us should take cover until he leaves again."
"Nami and Usopp have heard the news of Grandfather's arrival."
"Yes, our waiter seemed to expect him to arrive in the late afternoon or evening," Nami added.
"Did they give a reason for his coming?" asked Robin.
"The waiter said that the marines are carrying out more patrols on the island because so many pirates are visiting," replied Usopp.
"That's not much information. Anything else?" asked Law.
"We didn't ask for more details, we ran to the ships," replied Usopp.
"Understandable," commented Ikkaku.
"Well, in that case, we need to gather more information. We will get in touch with you. In the meantime, don't return to the island! And tell those idiots of Kid Pirates that they also left without their crew member. He won't be coming to eat sandwiches either," said a grumpy Law.
"He wouldn't get any," was Sanji's reply before the conversation ended.
As soon as both phones were stored away, Robin addressed her three fellow stranded pirates.
"Monkey D. Garp does not know that we're on the island. It's likely that his appearance is pure coincidence," stated Robin. "However, we weren't very discreet. He'll soon discover that the three ships were in the harbour."
The atmosphere on the dock was tense. Ikkaku looked worried, Law and Robin were thoughtful while Killer remained silent.
"The question is, what will he do then? Will he turn over every stone to see if we're still on the island?" Law inquired.
"That is not unlikely. He might be upset that his grandson was here. That could cause an uproar that might be dangerous for us," said Robin.
"That means it would be beneficial to put a large distance between him and us," Law concluded.
"Yes," Robin replied before they both lapsed back into a thoughtful silence, from which Ikkaku snapped them out after a while, uncertain.
"Which direction would we want to escape in?" she asked.
"You have an idea.", Law remarked, glancing at his fellow crew member.
"Well, there's a cruise liner leaving the island in two hours. I saw the advertisement when I was strolling through the city.", Ikkaku replied.
"That might be a wise decision.", Robin responded after a brief deliberation.
"What's the destination?" asked Law.
"To be honest, I'm not sure. The advertisement promised a wonderful week-long trip with a ball and fireworks at the end and which got me daydreaming. I don't remember where it's heading..."
" Do we care?" Killer interjected. "Our crews can pick us up on board the ship as soon as we're far enough away from here. For the time being, we only need to leave the island."
"A few days on a cruise ship, that actually sounds quite nice.", Robin said with a smile.
"But it also means we've only got two hours to get tickets and disguises.", Law added, sounding far less amused.
"To be honest, I don't believe I need a disguise. And if Killer removes his mask, no one will recognise him either. So it's just you two that need something.", Ikkaku said. "Why don't you and Robin go to the hairdresser and have your hair coloured, while Killer and I pick up some clothes for all of us? And as for tickets, Captain, we should have no trouble acquiring them, right?"
"Right," muttered an annoyed Law, who couldn't help but think that Ikkaku was having a bit too much fun.
Two hours later, three blondes and a brunette stood on the deck of a cruise ship, holding four stolen luggage filled with stolen clothes and other stuff for a week's holiday, watching the island's coastlines pass by.