Chapter 18: Leaving Conomi Island
"He did it!"
"11097 won!"
"Arlong Park has fallen!" Luffy hadn't expected it, but he wasn't stopping it either as the townspeople all rushed over to him, tossing him in the air as they cheered on his victory. He laughed loudly, smiling his D smile as he did and let them throw him over and over.
It wasn't until they accidentally dropped him that the cheering stopped, but when Luffy laughed it off, they calmed down and smiled along with him.
"This is awesome!" Luffy laughed cheerfully, only to be surprised when something was pushed onto his head. He immediately recognized it as his straw hat, and at the same time as he realized that the smell of tangerines and money drifted to his nose.
"Nami!" He said, smiling widely again as he turned his head to look at her. She was smiling shakily right back at him, and he took the time to stand back up in front of her, the two of them high-fiving and laughing.
"Hold it right there, you!" Looking over, the smile on everyone's faces dropped when they saw a group of Marines, the same ones Luffy had seen Pinwheel Man walking with earlier, standing where the gates to Arlong Park used to be.
"He's...!"
"What a lucky day today is! Well done, 11097. I watched the entire fight. What a Whitebeard Pirate had against Arlong, I don't know, but that doesn't matter. However, thanks to you all the money I was to give Arlong and all the money and valuables stored in Arlong Park is now mine! Everyone drop your weapons! I, Colonel Nezumi of the Navy Branch #16, hereby take credit for what you've done here!" Nezumi announced, only to shriek in surprise when the back of his collar was pulled.
"Zoro!" Usopp yelled, seeing that the swordsman was the one holding the Marine.
"Don't ruin people's fun when they're finally happy!" Zoro said threateningly, glaring at the marine. Within seconds, the group of Marines were down on the ground, twitching in pain.
"J-Just you try laying a finger on me! Whitebeards or not, you'll be sorry!" Nezumi coughed out painfully.
"He's still sayin' it?" Sanji asked incredulously, rubbing his head. As he did, Nami walked over to Nezumi, crouching beside him.
"This is for shooting Nojiko and tearing up Bellemere-sans tangerine orchard." She said softly to him.
"Huh?" Nezumi couldn't even blink before Nami slammed her bo staff into his head sending him flying into the water.
"Thanks, Nami, that felt good!" Nojiko said with a wink.
"Give 'im 1000 more of those!" Pinwheel man shouted. When Nezumi pulled himself out of the water, Nami was quick to grab onto the whiskers on the man's face, pulling them.
"You guys are gonna clean up after those fishmen now! And you're gonna help rebuild the town of Gosa! And you're not gonna touch any money or valuables in Arlong Park! That's the island's money! Got it?!" She demanded, continuing to tug on the whiskers.
"Ow! Ow! I-I'll do what you say!" He said hastily, wanting the pain to stop.
"And one other thing! Give me my money back!" She demanded further, an angry look on her face.
"I'll give it back! I'll give it back! I don't care anymore..." He agreed.
"Anything you'd like to add, Luffy?" She asked the straw-hatted teen.
"Mm... Oh, I'm not apart of the Whitebeards anymore, so stop saying that!" Luffy said, pouting slightly at the fact that he had to keep saying it. He was looking forward to the day when people would recognize him as his own Captain rather than a Whitebeard. Not that there was anything wrong with being a Whitebeard, but he wasn't one anymore.
"O-Ok! Ok, I get it!" Nezumi cried, tears streaming down his face. Satisfied, Nami let him go and the marine began swimming away as fast as he could.
"I'll get you one day pirates! 11097, you're the Captain, right?! Don't forget this! Some major stuffs gonna happen to you now! You've made me mad! It's too late to regret what you've done! I'm gonna get revenge on you! Just you wait and see!" Nezumi shouted from the distance.
"Says some major stuffs gonna happen now," Sanji noted, standing beside Luffy.
"How does he know I'm gonna be King of the Pirates?" Luffy asked in confusion. He didn't think he'd told him about that. Was that something all the Marines knew about?
"That's not what he means! Man, you're stupid!" Zoro chastised from his other side.
"H-Hey, what do we do?! What if we really do wind up in big trouble?! Hey! Hey! Hey, I said!" Usopp shouted from beside Zoro, pointing to the Marine who was a mere speck in the distance.
"So what. Marines are already after me." Luffy said with a shrug. At his words, Usopp slumped in defeat.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"We're free!"
"Free!"
"Everyone! Celebrate! Dance! Arlong Park has fallen!"
"We've lived these past eight years for this! We've lived so we can smile today!"
"We're gonna party 'til we drop, even into tomorrow and the day after!" And party they did. All around him, Luffy felt nothing but happiness, gratitude, excitement, and best of all, freedom. No one had any of their fear or anxieties from before. No one was sad, or scared, or tense, or worried. Everywhere he looked, every person he passed, was finally free, and the smile on Luffys face couldn't possibly get any bigger.
He knew all too well how freeing it felt to no longer be held captive by someone.
Amongst the happy feelings, Luffys nose reminded him of the delicious food also surrounding him and his mouth immediately watered. Following said nose, he found a table full of food and wasted no time in digging in.
As he ate, he felt the muffled feeling of pain, and his eyes drifted to the doctor's house where Zoro was being treated. After the doctor had seen the injury from Mihawk, he'd ordered Zoro to get treatment along with Sanji and Usopp. All three of them had gotten wounds from the battle, but where Sanji and Usopp only needed to clean and bandage their smaller wounds, Zoro needed the large gash on his chest to be stitched.
The doctor had attempted having Luffy checked over as well, but the Captain had vehemently refused, not liking the white coat that the old man wore or the reek of medicine. He'd gotten better about being around doctors, and he knew this doctor was good, they'd helped Namis sister, and Nami liked him, but he couldn't help that his instincts were yelling at him to keep the man away.
Luckily, he'd managed to avoid a check-up seeing as he hadn't been hurt in his battle, and the doctor took Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp without him. He was making sure to monitor them closely, make sure that they were alright, but he couldn't stop the nagging in his head telling him he should be there to make sure with his own eyes.
So, regrettably, he left the table of food- making sure to snag a leg of meat as he did- and headed to the doctor's house. He went around the building, hearing Zoros pained noises coming from an open window, and looked inside. Usopp and Sanji were already out of the building, Luffy could see them waiting down the road, but Johnny, Yosaku, and Zoro were still inside. The two former were sleeping while Zoro was in the bed beneath the window, teeth clenched as the doctor stitched him up.
"Honestly! Are you folks really pirates?! Don't you even have a ship doctor?!" The old man asked Zoro as he worked.
"Nope, but we need one," Luffy replied from the window, leaning against it as he peered inside. It was easier to stand outside rather than going into the building, his nose already burning from the strong smells.
"Luffy?" Zoro asked, not having realized his Captain was there.
"But a musician comes first. right, Zoro?" The teen asked, eating the meat he'd brought with him as he did.
"Whys that?!" The swordsman questioned, not understanding.
"Pirates sing, you know?" Luffy answered as if it were obvious.
"So why does that come first?!" Zoro pushed, growing irritated. Luffy ignored the question though, instead turning to look at the doctor.
"Hey, Doctor. Wheres Nami? She doesn't seem to be here." Luffy said. Even though he could smell her nearby, he didn't see her at the party. He knew he could just follow the scent and find her that way, but he wasn't sure if she was still scared of his abilities or not so he was still trying to avoid using them, or at least mentioning them, around her.
"Nami, huh. If you can't find her around, then she's probably there." Even though Luffy didn't know where 'there' was, he didn't push it when he felt the doctors suddenly somber emotions. Wherever this 'there' was, it was probably serious or important to Nami.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
By the third day, it didn't seem that the party was going to stop anytime soon. Drinks were still being poured, food was still being feasted on, and music was still being played. People danced, laughed, cried, for all three days, their gratitude and happiness flowing right out of them and into Luffy.
The young Captain was having a field day, the good emotions being the cherry on top of it all as he ate to his stomachs content. He laughed along with the townspeople, ate all the food he could ever want, and danced foolishly with some of the children. It almost reminded him of the parties that the Whitebeards would throw and it made him nostalgic for the place he'd come to call home the last few years.
He definitely needed his own musician ASAP.
He'd seen Nami around occasionally, but with all the chaos of the partying, it had only ever been for a few minutes before she was leaving and going off somewhere.
Now, it was dark out, the party having raged on all morning and now going into the night. Luffy was grabbing as much meat as he could while following his nose to where Sanji was, a goal in mind and determination driving him forward.
"Hey, Sanji! That melon you just had! Was there something on it?!" Luffy asked as he barreled around a corner to look in-between two houses where both Sanji and Zoro sat. He had a leg of meat in his mouth and one in each hand as he addressed the chef, eyes wild with the need to know about the delicious food he'd seen and smelled.
"What's with the meat in your hands?! Sure was. It's 'raw ham melon,' so there was raw ham on it." Sanji explained after addressing the meat Luffy had.
"Raw ham melon?! That sounds yummy! Where did you get it?!" Luffy demanded, leaning towards the blonde urgently.
"Dunno. The whole village is a buffet party, so I dunno where I got it..." Sanji hadn't even finished his sentence before Luffy had run off in his search for the mysterious meat. With all the food smells and people, Luffy wasn't able to easily pick up the smell he could remember from when he saw Sanji.
He ran around aimlessly, grabbing more meat as he passed it, in search of the food, but no matter how hard he searched, the elusive food was nowhere to be found.
"Raw ham melon!" Luffy roared as he ran up a hill. It was then he realized he'd strayed too far from the party.
"Huh? There's no food around here. That's no good. Time to go back." He muttered to himself, turning to leave.
"Hold it, boy!" A shout clued him into the fact that he wasn't alone, and turning his head he saw Pinwheel Man standing in front of a cross near the cliff's edge. He hadn't realized in his haste for the raw ham melon where he was, but now that he did he realized he smelled that Nami had been here a lot. The scent was dulled, telling him she hadn't been here all that recently, but this was probably where she'd been the last few days instead.
"A grave? Did someone die?" Luffy asked when he saw the cross in front of Pinwheel Man.
"Yeah. A long time ago." The man said, taking a swig from his bottle as he did, tone somber now.
"Oh, my deepest conveniences. Huh? Deepest concussions. No, Deepest compli-"
"Deepest condolences."
"That." Luffy agreed. Even though Sabo had taught him about what to say in situations like this, the correct wording just escaped him.
"Hey, boy. Nami is going to ride your ship. She's going to be a pirate. It'll be a dangerous journey. That's fine. There's no way around that. But, if you guys ever do anything to take away Namis smile... I will come kill you!" Pinwheel man said, his conviction strong. Luffy knew the man meant his words as they were backed by his strong feelings of protectiveness. Regardless, Luffy had no intention of ever doing that, so he shrugged.
"Yeah. I'm not gonna take it away, though." He said casually. Pinwheel man spun around, face contorted in a mask of anger that was really only protectiveness.
"Got it?!" He reiterated sternly, Luffy gulping and nodding.
"I got it!" He repeated. The man calmed down after that, sitting cross-legged in front of the cross, and Luffy took that as his time to leave, yelling loudly about raw ham melon that he'd yet to find.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"This is the last of it?"
"Yeah!"
"Alright!"
After three full days of partying, it was finally time for the crew to leave. The townspeople were nice enough to give them supplies, but they may also just be because Nami was coming with them. Like before, they hadn't seen much of Nami that morning, but Luffy wasn't worried. He knew she would come. He could practically feel her excitement from the Merry.
"Are you finished loading it all?" Sanji asked Zoro as the swordsman climbed up onto the deck.
"Yeah!" Zoro answered, jumping over the railing.
"Now, then. We got lots of provisions now. We're good to go." Sanji said with a smile, taking the cigarette from his mouth.
"We were only here a few days, but this island's full of memories, huh?" Usopp asked as he set the last box of supplies down, smiling happily.
"Yeah!" Luffy laughed happily. While they were waiting for Nami to show up, they said their goodbyes to Johnny and Yosaku who were determined to continue their jobs as bounty hunters, the two of them standing amongst the townspeople.
"Well, we should get going, too!" Usopp cheered in determination.
"Hey! Hold on! What about Nami-san?!" Sanji asked.
"Maybe she's not coming?" Zoro muttered.
"W-why not?!" Sanji asked in devastation which was quick to turn into anger as he stalked over to Zoro.
"You! You made another pass at Nami-san again, didn't you?!" He demanded to know, hands in fists as he yelled at the swordsman.
"Why would I do that?" Zoro asked in confusion.
"No, you definitely did!" Sanji continued. Usopp, who was ignoring Sanjis yelling, thought to himself.
"Oh, yeah. She achieved her goal,-"
"You can't stand that me and Nami-san are all lovey-dovey!"
"And she has no reason to be a pirate,-"
"Are you an idiot?"
"What'd you call me?!"
"So she might be happier here." Usopp finished, still ignoring the yelling.
"What about my happiness?!" Sanji demanded, turning his rage to Usopp, and then Luffy.
"If Nami-san isn't on this boat then 98.72% of my reason for being on the boat is gone!" Sanji barked to Luffy now, the veins in his neck straining as he did. Luffy, unfazed by the yelling, pointed to Sanji accusingly.
"Hey, you! I couldn't find the raw ham melon anywhere!" He accused as if it was Sanjis fault.
Meanwhile, the crowd down at the docks was beginning to wonder where Nami was as well. They all muttered to themselves, speculating on where she could possibly be.
Luffy knew still that Nami was coming, he could feel and smell her getting closer, so it wasn't a surprise to him like it was to everyone else when she finally did show up.
"Nami!"
"Nami-san!"
"Nacchan!" Nami ignored everyone, standing determinedly at the edge of the crowd.
"Get the ship moving!" She shouted before breaking into a sprint.
"Huh? Shes started sprinting!" Usopp said as he watched alongside Sanji.
"She says to get the ship moving," Luffy said with a knowing smile, already walking off to do just that.
"Huh?" Usopp asked in confusion, wondering why they would leave when Nami wasn't on the boat. Zoro didn't question it though and began doing just that. Sanji and Usopp both looked to each other before shrugging and joining as well.
"Set the sails!" Luffy yelled, Usopp and Sanji doing so while Zoro raised the anchor.
"H-Hey!"
"They're setting sail!"
"Wait! We still haven't thanked you!"
"Stop Nacchan!"
"At least let us thank you!"
"Nacchan!"
"Nami, calm down!"
"Hold it! I won't allow you to leave like this!" Pinwheel man declared as he pushed his way towards Nami.
"Hey. Is it ok to let her leave like this?" Sanji asked, thinking back to his own tearful farewell, a sharp contrast to the one Nami was trying to have.
"Why not? It's her decision." Luffy said, continuing to watch Nami as she zig-zagged through the crowd, avoiding all the hands trying to stop her. Finally, she reached the edge of the dock and jumped, landing safely on the railing and then the deck. Once safely on board, she slowly lifted her shirt, letting all the purses and wallets fall out of it.
"She didn't!"
"Huh? My wallets gone!"
"Mine too!"
"Same here!"
"Take care, everyone!" Nami said with a grin as she kissed a beli bill.
"How dare you!"
"You damn brat!" The crowd all yelled angrily to the redhead, but she only laughed. Behind her Zoro and Usopp were both watching with pensive looks, knowing she hadn't changed from the greedy woman they knew her to be. From the lower deck, Sanji was praising her and Luffy was laughing loudly.
"You lousy sneak thief!"
"Get back here!"
"Give back our wallets!"
"You punk!"
"Come back anytime!"
"Take care of yourself!"
"We're grateful to you guys!"
"Boy!" Luffy, who was watching the island get smaller from the railing, looked to where he knew Pinwheel man had been standing.
"Don't forget our promise!" He called to him. Luffy didn't say anything, merely giving the man a thumbs-up as Nami waved to the disappearing island. Slowly, the yelling voices got quieter and quieter until they couldn't hear them anymore.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Ack! I forgot!" Luffy suddenly yelled out loudly, surprising the rest of the crew. It had been about an hour since they'd left the Conomi Islands and all had been peaceful so far, so Luffys yell had scared some of them- namely Usopp and Nami.
"Forgot what?" Zoro asked, watching as Luffy ran across the deck.
"I gotta call Whiskey! She's gonna be so mad at me!" Luffy said, eyes wide in what the crew could see was panic.
"Whiskey? She? What did you do to this beautiful woman?!" Sanji asked, already glaring in preparation for being angry at Luffy. He may not even know who this Whiskey person was, but all women were gorgeous and deserved to be treated like angels, so to hear one was angry meant Luffy had done something wrong.
"Nothing! I forgot to tell her I got poisoned. She said that I have to call her about that stuff until I get my own doctor." Luffy explained, grabbing the mini den den that was still sitting on the barrel.
"Poisoned?!" Zoro, Usopp, and Nami shouted in disbelief, their eyes wide as they gawked at Luffy.
"Huh? Oh yeah, that Greed-"
"Krieg"
"Guy shot this weird poison smoke stuff at all the chefs when I was fighting him. I made sure Sanji and Gin had masks, but I didn't have one so I breathed it in." Luffy said, explaining the story quickly to them as he began dialing the number he needed.
"W-wha?! And you-! But you're-!" Usopp could only stutter nonsense as he continued looking over Luffy, not seeing anything wrong with him. With the number dialed and the snail ringing, Luffy finally took notice of the mass shock and worry coming from the three. Blinking, he looked at them and realized they didn't know he was resistant to poison.
"Oh, that's right, I didn't tell you. Poison doesn't affect me unless it's really deadly." Luffy said with a laugh, brushing off the seriousness of it.
"Doesn't affect you?! What do you mean-" Zoro was cut off as the snail stopped ringing, giving the telltale sound that someone had picked up. Immediately, everyone quieted, even Sanjis eyes widening as they realized who Luffy had just called.
The crew of the strongest man in the world.
"Whos this?" Like the last time he called, Luffy beamed the second he heard the familiar voice.
"Fossa! It's me!" Luffy answered cheerfully, smiling his D smile.
"Luffy! Calling again so soon? To be honest, I thought you wouldn't use this thing!" 'Fossa' replied just as cheerfully as Luffy had. The rest of the crew didn't quite know who this 'Fossa' was, but they knew he must be strong if he was on Whitebeards crew.
"Shishishi! I need to talk to Whiskey again." Luffy said, his D smile falling only slightly into a more relaxed smile.
"Whiskey? You're alright, right?" The man asked now, concern laced in his tone like Harutas had when he'd called before.
"Yup. I just breathed in some poison is all." Luffy said with a shrug as if it was a normal occurrence.
"It didn't hurt you?" Fossa continued to question, everyone hearing that he was walking as he did.
"Nope. I feel fine, but Whiskey said I have to call her about stuff like this until I get my own doctor." Luffy answered, saying the last part with a pout. Fossa laughed now, his concern gone.
"That you should! You know, Ace is gonna be pissed that the two times you called he wasn't around to say hi." Fossa noted as what sounded to be a door was opened.
"That's not my fault. Anyway, tell him I said hi. Oh, and that I'm fine. Oh, and stop getting hurt!" Luffy said indignantly. He hadn't watched Ace, Sabo, and Marcos waves as consistently as he had on the Moby, but during the party he'd checked in on them and saw Ace's wave flicker, growing a shade lighter. It was fine by morning, but it had still worried Luffy when he couldn't just walk to the Moby and see if his brother was alright.
"As if that'll make any difference. I'm with Whiskey now, so I'll talk to you later." He said, Luffy beaming again as he nodded.
"Mm. Talk to you later Fossa!" Luffy chirped back, a second of silence passing as Fossa no doubt handed the snail over.
Zoro and Sanji were still watching with wide eyes, unbelieving of what they were hearing, while Usopp and Nami were practically clinging to themselves. Even though they all knew Luffy had been apart of the Whitebeards, it was one thing to hear about it and another thing entirely to be faced with the proof that he actually had been. This time, the proof being that he was so casually speaking to the Emperors crew.
"Luffy?" A new voice, a woman's, asked. Despite his awe and disbelief, Sanji immediately snapped out of it at the sound of a woman's voice, eyes changing into hearts.
"Whiskey! Hi!" Luffy greeted, smiling widely again.
"I hope you're calling to tell me you found yourself a doctor, but for some reason, I don't think that's the case." She said with a knowing sigh, making Luffy laugh sheepishly now.
"No, no doctor yet. I was calling because I sort of... may have... inhaled poison gas." Luffy said, stalling as long as he could before just telling the nurse outright. It was almost too quiet on the other line and Luffy wondered briefly if they'd been disconnected. The muted feelings of irritation and worry told him they hadn't.
Finally, there were the sounds of a slow intake of breath and then the release of the breath.
"Alright. How long ago did this happen?" She asked, and again Luffy laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"Uh, about.." He began counting on his fingers now, a deep look of concentration on his face.
"4 days ago? No, 5?" Luffy said, wondering if he'd counted correctly. With all that had happened, days had melted into each other and he had a tough time remembering exactly the amount of days.
"Days?! Luffy, I told you to call me immediately when stuff like this happens!" She said sternly, the young Captain knowing she was doing it out of worry for him.
"I did! Or, at least, I tried, but my den den was on my ship and my ship was at a different island so after my fight I had to go there, and then I fought this other guy and there was this loong~ party and then we set sail again today so now I'm calling you." Luffy explained in a bit of a rush.
Nami felt a bit guilty now, knowing that Luffy was getting in trouble because she'd stolen the Merry from him. She'd honestly forgotten about the snail though.
"Alright, alright, do you know what you inhaled?" Whiskey asked, much calmer now than she had been before, though slightly irritated.
"It was NZ2- wait, no... PT0? Uh... WK8. No that wasn't it either-"
"MH5," Sanji answered for him instead. His words were a bit shaky, because not only was he speaking to a Whitebeard, but this Whitebeard was also a woman.
"MH5? That gas is supposed to be pretty deadly, but people have survived if they were able to breathe some clean air afterward. Did you have any symptoms?" She asked Luffy.
"It burned for a second and it hurt my nose cause it was strong so I got a headache for a few seconds, but when it was gone I was fine," Luffy said with a shrug.
"And you haven't felt anything since? No headaches? Nausea? Nose bleeds?" She asked, to which Luffy shook his head.
"Nope! Everything's all good as far as I can tell." Luffy said with a cheery grin. It was a bit surreal to hear Luffy talk about being poisoned with a smile and the crew didn't know how to handle it quite yet. All they could do was stare dumbly as their new Captain talked about being poisoned with a smile and a Whitebeard Pirate responded with equal calmness.
"In that case, you should be in the clear, especially seeing as days have passed since the initial poisoning. If you start to feel anything unusual, remember to call. Preferably right away." Whiskey said with a slight hint of chastising to her tone.
"Right!" Luffy affirmed with a nod and a serious look, but from the sigh that came from the nurse, it was clear she wasn't expecting much.
"And for the sake of all of all crews- yours and Pops'- get yourself a doctor Luffy. It's only a matter of time until you need actual medical care and calling us doesn't cut it." The nurse continued.
"Got it! Call you if I feel weird and get a doctor!" Luffy repeated, counting the tasks off on his fingers.
"Thanks, Whiskey! I'll talk to you later!" Luffy said, his smile returning as he began wrapping up the conversation.
"Hopefully with better news. Stay safe Luffy. Gatcha." With that, the snail went back to sleep, leaving them in silence. Without a word, Luffy stood, taking the snail in his hand and moving to place it back on the barrel it had resided on previously. The crew, still in a state of shock, only watched from where they were sitting on the Merry's deck. None moved, none blinked, in fact, they barely breathed.
"Oh, by the way, Sanji, I can see colors, smell really well, feel people's emotions, and see memories," Luffy said, smile never faltering as he now turned to address the chef. He'd realized now that things were calm that he hadn't exactly explained that to the blonde like he had the others.
"Alright, that makes sense I guess..." Sanji said, expression still dumbfounded. Luffy cocked his head at not only the chef's words but his emotions. He could practically feel as the man's emotions shifted away from shock to surprise and then anger.
"Wait a minute-!"
"Shishishi~!"
Arlong Park is now officially over and done with and Loguetown will begin next chapter! I don't have much to say about this chapter, just that it was a transitional chapter from Arlong Park to Loguetown, and we also got to talk to Whiskey again. Other than that, I have a ton of school work that I need to get done, so, sorry for the short authors note, but that's all I've got for this update.
Thank you all so much as always for your love and support! My motivation would have dried up years ago if it weren't for all of you amazing people!