Once Buggy and his crew were properly dealt with, their ragtag group of pirates were ran right out of town by angry, somewhat confused townspeople who didn't seem to realize that they were the ones who'd just freed them. But they hadn't signed up for this life to be hailed as heroes, so Brynlee simply laughed as they ran away, promptly taking to the sea before they could get caught by the angry mob.

"You sure nabbed a lot of treasure on the way out," mused Brynlee, glancing to the numerous bags filled with gold and jewels and bank notes.

"I sure did!" beamed Nami before thunder briefly took over her expression. "Though there'd be more if someone hadn't left a whole fricking bag behind."

"Shi-shi-shi! It's okay, Nami! The townspeople needed it!" laughed Luffy, uncaring.

"Well, either way, we've managed to get our hands on the most precious thing in there," cut in Brynlee before Nami could strangle their Captain. "The map to the Grand Line, that is. With this, we'll be able to actually get to the starting line of our journey."

"Whoo! Let's go, let's go!" cheered Luffy.

"After we've managed to get a proper ship," snapped Nami. "And maybe. I haven't decided if I'll go with you guys yet."

"We're still missing a few important people before we can set out, too," added Brynlee.

"Like a musician?" amusedly said Zoro.

"A cook, too. And a sniper. And one day we'll also find a doctor, an archeologist, a shipwright, and a helmsman too."

"Four of those, I get. But a sniper and an archeologist?"

Brynlee simply shrugged, and Zoro rolled his eyes. He couldn't make sense of half the stuff she said, but he couldn't be bothered to push for answers. She obviously wouldn't spill anything unless she wanted to, so there was no point.

Plus, he was partly convinced she was only doing it to annoy him, anyway.

Their initial heading, before they were interrupted by Luffy's impromptu kidnapping, had been the Gecko Islands and, more specifically, Syrup Village which, according to Nami, had the best and biggest ship-building business in East Blue. So, it was obviously their best bet if they wanted to find a proper ship. Frankly, Brynlee didn't remember there being any official "business" Before, or even a notable port, but she supposed it made more sense than for Kaya to just have a random ship lying around, ready to give away at a moment's notice.

"So. Should we expect things to go wrong the moment we step foot on the island, or just an hour later?" deadpanned Nami as they laid in bed.

"You have little faith in Luffy, I see," snorted Brynlee.

"Well, he's a proper problem-magnet, so I'd rather be prepared."

"… I can't say much. My knowledge is a bit… blurry. But there is one thing I know for certain."

"What is it?"

"Remember those murder mystery books Nojiko really got into a few years ago?"

Nami shot her a puzzled look. "Yeah, what of them?"

"They taught us a very important lesson."

"They did?"

Brynlee gave a somewhat sharp grin. "It's always the butler."

They made it to Syrup Village without further issues, and promptly split up to visit the shipyard and select a ship – or rather, Luffy ran off in the blink of an eye and the others did their best to find him before he could cause any havoc. Thankfully, by the time they did find him, he had yet to destroy anything. In fact, he was energetically talking with one of the shipwrights while standing before—

Wow. So that's the Going Merry, huh? It's bigger than I imagined, somehow.

It clearly wasn't finished, though it probably was a question of days by that point. Brynlee was a tad breathless as she laid gaze upon what would be their home for the next few months, though she was eventually snapped out of it when Nami roughly poked her arm.

"Bryn! Say something!"

"Say what?" Briefly confused, she turned to Zoro. "Summary in 15 words or less, please?"

Zoro snorted. "No money, no stealing, Luffy's gonna convince the owner to give it to us."

"Oh, okay."

"What do you mean okay?" huffed Nami. "There's no way he'll be able to convince some rich bastard to give it to us for free!"

"Watch what you say! Lady Kaya's kind and well-loved – don't go insulting her! I, the Great Usopp, shan't let this disrespect go unpunished!"

It took a moment for Brynlee to realize there was a new addition to their little group.

So that's Usopp.

His nose seemed to be of a perfectly normal length, which came as a mild disappointment, though she didn't linger on it – shapes and sizes were bound to differ from her memories of Before, what with it being reality rather than a cartoon, now.

"Nami didn't mean any disrespect," she cut in before an argument could break out. She offered their future sniper a smile. "Usopp, was it? We'd really appreciate if you could take us to meet the lady."

He immediately relaxed, grinning. "Of course, of course! I'll take you right to her! Onward!"

I really liked the way they portrayed Usopp's recruitment arc as well as Usopp himself in the live adaptation, so there!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it, and a happy break to everyone!