A/N: Hello again! I am so happy that I was able to get this out in a decent amount of time this go around XD Thanks for all your patience and I hope that you enjoy this next installment of Island Hopping! appy Reading!
Chapter 29: Coming Home
Zoro was getting really tired of seeing everyone other than who he wanted to see.
It had been a surprise to Shakky and Rayleigh when the swordsman had been the first to show up at the bar on Sabaody, and at the time, Zoro had joked that everyone else had gotten lost. But now it was just getting ridiculous how long it was taking Luffy to get to Sabaody that the swordsman was beginning to think that he might actually be lost.
Zoro had spent the night he arrived mooching off of Shakky's hospitality and booze, drinking the night away with her and Rayleigh. Zoro had spent his ten days on the island training, loafing around, and drinking Shakky's booze and spending a lot of time in her bar. Rayleigh was also stuck in the bar a lot because his Vivre card was the guide for everyone, so other than doing the coating on the Sunny, he hung out at Shakky's bar with Zoro so that all the crew members could check in before going off on their own.
Franky had showed up the day after Zoro and had been so SUPER excited to see the swordsman that he'd woken him up from his nap on Rayleigh's comfy lawn chair to chit chat. The cyborg then spent his ten days on the island looking over the Sunny and getting everything ready for their departure. He even observed Rayleigh applying the coating with great interest once the old man finally got around to doing it.
Nami showed up on day three and everyone was so happy to see one another. However, with only Franky to dilute her presence (and he was a character as well), the navigator was difficult to be around all the time without Zoro getting badgered into doing things that he didn't want to do. He'd managed not to get seriously scolded by her or get konked on the head, but he knew that it was only a matter of time and snuck away (i.e. got lost) as much as possible. When they were apart, the woman spent her time shopping on the various groves and gathering information.
Usopp showed up on day seven and was also spending his time in town stocking up and seeing the sights. He and Nami had already destroyed a bar when they were reunited, even though they were usually the ones that stayed out of trouble, so the whole crew was going to cause mayhem for sure.
After Usopp, Zoro had left Shakky's bar for a change of scenery and had only made it back to the bar once to be informed of Chopper's arrival. The reindeer had arrived on day nine but Zoro had missed him at the bar and hadn't seen his little buddy yet since he'd spent several days out (lost).
Sometime between Usopp and Chopper arriving, Brook had showed up next but with an entire entourage and concert set up that kept him completely separated from what little crew there was on the island while he oversaw preparations for the last concert of his world tour. During his time away, the skeleton had become a superstar of epic proportions. The swordsman had seen the massive crowds lining up for early access merchandise for two days, and the concert venue in Sabaody Park had looked completely packed the times he'd wandered by on days nine and ten. Zoro hadn't managed to see Brook at all, and he wasn't even sure that he was going to leave his life of stardom to join their crew again.
Another interesting thing that was happening on the island that Zoro wasn't aware of involved a group of pirates that were calling themselves the Straw Hats. They were setting up a big recruiting event to gather the criminals of Sabaody and set sail to the New World. Oblivious to the fakers walking around, and how much trouble they would cause later, Zoro went about his business as usual.
The only exciting thing that had happened to Zoro outside of meeting his crewmates again was a little incident with a pirate ship on day eleven. See, he was bored out of his skull and wanted to go fishing to pass the time – Luffy liked fishing, especially when there were calm days on the Sunny. Zoro figured that he'd try his hand at something his boyfriend liked and found and old man who owned a fish shop and asked if he could join on the fishing trip. The man agreed and pointed to a ship just a short way from the shop. Zoro wandered over and climbed up on the ship to wait while the old man got everything they'd need. During that time, the swordsman fell asleep and when he woke up, he found himself several dozen feet below the water on a pirate ship that was headed to Fishman Island. Zoro didn't know how he got into the situation because he was sure he'd got on the old man's boat, but nonetheless, he had to get back to the surface.
Coming upon the simplest solution, Zoro drew the Shusui and jumped up a mast, pulling his sword arm back. He made a sharp slice and the force of it cut the ship in half like a hot knife through butter. With the coating gone, water flooded in the collapsing galleon and sweeping up Zoro along with the panicking crew. He kept his calm and landed on a tipping mast as they all floated up in a debris-filled mess and broke the surface violently. Zoro took a seat and flicked water off his sword as the unfortunate pirate captain asked how he could do this to them, ruining the crew's dreams of going to the New World.
"Call it a twist of fate. That's what brought this plague upon your ship. And there's no one to blame but yourselves," he'd said, sheathing the Shusui with a click. He completely ignored the fact that he'd gotten on the wrong ship and brought the plague himself. "That wasn't my ride." Then he jumped off the sinking ship without a care.
And as if his day couldn't get any worse, then the idiot swirly brow cook found him and he was the last person Zoro wanted to find him. As the idiot ranted at him for being a dumbass, Zoro lamented his luck. I didn't want this idiot, I want to see Luffy! he thought, tuning out the blond while he ranted. When the rant was over and Sanji realized that Zoro wasn't listening, he started another rant about not being listened to and they both started to argue with each other. The only reason they stopped arguing was because the idiot started to drool over a pretty lady and Zoro tried to walk away, but Sanji had taken it upon himself to babysit the swordsman and drag him along for grocery shopping. All Zoro wanted to do was go fishing and see Luffy, and the dumb cook was already pissing him off and it'd had only been five minutes! The swordsman groaned as the errands dragged on, but in time Zoro wandered off and lost the cook in the crowd, content to do his own thing.
He had about ten minutes of uninterrupted peace, until his luck ran out and the cook came barreling around a corner after him, dragging his bubble-bags of groceries behind him. Zoro got another lecture about getting lost and it really irritated Zoro.
"Why you being such an ass about this?" he grumped after he'd been caught. "I just want to go fish."
"Well too bad! You can't!" the cook yelled, his rage making the bubble bags he was carrying shake.
"Give me one good reason! And while you're at it, give me one good reason why I should listen to you!" the swordsman yelled back.
"I don't want to hang out together any more than you do, but I can't let you get lost! Luffy would kill me if I lost you!" he huffed. "Don't get me wrong though, nothing would make me happier than leaving you here for good! Too bad, huh! The point is, everyone is meeting on the ship so you don't get to go fishing on your own!"
"You're not in charge of me!"
"Someone has to be!" They'd both gotten so heated that they'd gotten in each other's faces.
Zoro tsked and turned away, only wanting Luffy's face in his own. He groaned and said, "What a joke! Number Seven thinks that he can talk crap to Number One and get away with it!"
Sanji exploded at him. "You think you're better than me just 'cuz you got here first?! IT'S NOT LIKE EVERYONE SWAM TO SABAODY, ARIGHT?! YOU'VE GOT NOTHING TO BRAG ABOUT!"
"Sure, whatever you say," Zoro responded, not rising to the other's man anger just to piss him off more. "Number Seven."
Sanji's blood boiled and he wanted to take Zoro down a peg. The cook snapped, "And Luffy's probably going to be last so he'll be the worst then!"
A cross vein popped out on the swordsman's forehead at the mention of Luffy. "Don't you dare drag Luffy into this! Since he's the last, he's the best of all and you can't change my mind on that even if it pisses me off that I have to be here with your dumb ass instead of his!"
Sanji finally burst into flames, so mad that he could've caved the dumb idiot's skull in. "Fine! You want to fight me?! I trained these legs on the shores of hell for two years!
Rising to the challenge with his own flames, Zoro drew the Shuisui and the Kitetsu III "Then you'd better use them to run because I'll cut you in half!"
And that's how the peace of a random Sabaody street was disturbed for a full ten minutes while the two of them tried to kill each other. When they finally stopped to trash talk, they both ended up insulting the other so perfectly that it just about caused another round of fighting. However, Sanji's baby Transponder Snail finally stopped the fighting when it started ringing, and he picked it up to talk to Franky on the other end.
"Here's the skinny, brother," the cyborg started, "Luffy's on the island – somewhere – and the Navy's about to close in on those Fake Straw Hats, and the rest of the crew is headed to Grove 42. Meet us there!" Zoro's ears perked up when he heard the bit about Luffy. He started to scan the crowd around him, hoping that maybe Luffy was on the Grove that they were on.
"Roger that, Franky," Sanji replied. The Snail then hung up.
"What's up?" Zoro asked, having tuned out everything else.
"Great, you mean you weren't listening?" the cook sighed.
"Only to the bit about Luffy."
"You're a meathead."
"You're a dumbass."
"Well, let's see…" Sanji thought for a moment and came up with a perfect way to explain the situation to the meathead. "Navy. Come here. Us pirates. Ship. Run away. Is that clear enough?"
"Why are you talking like that?! Did you hit your head or something?!"
Sanji sighed dramatically. "Sorry. Just thought I'd speak on your level for once," he shrugged.
"HUH?!" Zoro exclaimed. Then he folded his arms and glared at the dumb cook. "Alright then: After this. Stupid cook. Die!"
"Real funny," Sanji snipped. The tension drained from their conversation and the pair moved on.
"Anyway," the swordsman hooked a thumb open to Grove 46 and said, "You know what all that racket over there is about?" A distant clamor and shouts came from the grove as the pair looked on.
Sanji replied, "You right. Noisy there," still speaking on Zoro's level.
Zoro gazed at the Grove, a nagging feeling pulling him in that direction as if he needed to go there. He and Sanji started to walk in that direction, knowing that something interesting was about to happen.
…
Luffy had found himself in a very weird situation and he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to stay out of trouble when he found himself already in some.
He'd arrived on Sabaody with the Kuja Pirates and had a happy departure from the ladies who had helped him for two years. Hancock had supplied him with a Kuja cape to hide his face and backpack ten times his size stuffed with food and clothes for him; to be precise: 50 changes of clothes, 1,000 lunches, handkerchiefs, tissues, three year's worth of water, snacks, and bug bite ointment, five year's worth of towels, toothbrushes, and plenty of soaps, handcreams, and lots of silverware. In response, Granny Nyon had yelled at the lovestruck empress for packing way too much, but Hancock just blushed dreamily in response. Luffy took most of the things out of the bag until it was only three times his size, keeping most of the lunches and snacks, some of the bug bite ointment, and four changes of clothes. He almost forgot to put a toothbrush back in until Handcock handed him one and reminded him to brush twice a day for healthy teeth.
She was so nice and made sure that his hood was pulled up and even gave him a goofy mustache and nose had a disguise if he felt like he needed it. Handcock reminded Luffy that if he ever needed help, he could call on the Kuja pirates and they'd come to his aid immediately. He was really going to miss all the Amazons and their yummy cooking!
Handcock also asked him for a favor, and Luffy said that he might be able to do it, as long as it wasn't getting married – he couldn't marry her when he was already going to be Zoro's forever. No matter how many times Luffy had told her that, she didn't give up but never took her ridiculous request farther than just asking. Handcock had looked Luffy in the eyes and asked him not to say goodbye when he left the ship, and Luffy's happily agreed to grant her that favor. He'd told her that he never said goodbye to anyone he liked, and that of coursed he'd like to see her again. The man's honest words pierced the empress' heart and she nearly fainted dead away from happiness while he just chuckled at her. True to his word, Luffy only said that was outta there and for everyone to take care while his little dinghy floated towards Sabaody. He waved to all of his friend as they shouted their goodbye and wells wishes.
Despite how careful he was trying to be, Luffy had gotten himself into trouble already. He'd accidently bumped his backpack into a weird guy with a red vest and straw hat, and the guy had become furious and shot at Luffy. The rubber man had to knock him and several of his friends out with his Conqueror's Haki to get away. Knowing that Handcock wanted him to lay low and stay safe, he'd put on her funny mustache to disguise himself and it had worked pretty well. So well in fact, that when he ran into Zoro and Sanji, neither seemed to recognize him.
He had been happy to see his friends, but now as he looked between his companions while they walked towards another grove in the archipelago, he was getting suspicious. Zoro's greeting had been lackluster, a demand to "come quietly" instead of with a hug and kiss. That had made Luffy pouty, and when he was pouty, Zoro always tried to kiss or cuddle the pouty away, but Zoro didn't even try! This Zoro had also put on a lot of weight, and Luffy was missing his abs. His Zoro worked out all the time and would never let himself go like this! Sanji wasn't much better – his dress wasn't as polished as it normally was, his hair was not combed, and he wasn't even fawning over any of the beautiful ladies around him! And to top it all off, Zoro and Sanji weren't even fighting with each other! Luffy was sure that they would've been at each other's throats by now, but they were just quietly walking and talking together, but not talking to him at all. This was weird and all Luffy wanted to do was figure out what was wrong.
As the trio approached Grove 46 he asked Zoro, "Don't you even want to kiss me?" but the man hadn't been listening and ignored him. Luffy's bottom lip poked out and when that happened, his boyfriend would usually tease him by nipping at it and trying to kiss the even bigger pout away. It just wasn't fair! Didn't Zoro love him anymore?
Luffy trudged along until Zoro and Sanji led him up on a demolished building, standing him in front of a huge crowd of mean-looking pirates. The weird guy with the red vest and straw hat had been addressing the crowd, and had even said something about beat Luffy to a pulp, but the rubber man was more worried about Zoro's disinterest in him and kept giving the green-haired man sad looks that made him turned away uncomfortably. Luffy's heart sank each time and he was about to quietly confront the other man about it when the Navy showed up, disrupting everything going on. A weird muddy guy had taken a Marine hostage to stop the Navy, but then had killed him, causing pandemonium to break out between the two groups. Everyone was fighting with each other, shouts of pain and calls of justice rising above the chaos while Luffy succeeded in keeping himself out of the way. And then the situation had gotten even worse when the huge ax guy had shown up with several Pacifistas and they started shooting, explosions joining in the already out of control mayhem.
The arrival of the Pacifistas would've made the old Luffy nervous, and while seeing the monstrous machines brought up memories of defeat, as he was now, the man knew that he could handle himself if he needed to. Luffy wanted to beat up those robot guys, but Handcock had told him not to get into trouble, so he wouldn't. He needed to stay disguised and out of the way so that he could set sail with his crew. The rubber man kept watching the fight, not drawing attention to himself and before he knew it, he was the only one on the abandoned building, the rest of the funny-looking people having disappeared. He looked around and spotted them stopped in front of two Pacifistas and the big ax guy that Luffy had fought the last time he was on Sabaody. Even though he knew he could take the guy now, Luffy's stomach still turned at the memory of his defeat that his hands.
Now the fat guy with the straw hat was going on a rant and Luffy tuned into it, finally hearing what he was yelling at Ax Guy.
"I'd run if I were you! You're face-to-face with the Son of Dragon the Revolutionary! That means I'm the grandson of the Hero Garp! I stared down the three Admirals in the War of the Best! Oh, and my bounty? It clocks in at 400,000,000 Beris!" Luffy thought, Huh, that all sounds familiar, but his thought was interrupted when before the flat of Ax Guy's ax smashed down on the fat guy's head, knocking him out.
"YOU'RE NOT STRAW HAT, YOU HUMAN PILE OF GARBAGE! NOT EVEN CLOSE!" Ax Guy yelled. He was furious that he'd been dealing with this idiot instead of the real Straw Hat who was hiding somewhere in the crowd.
Said crowd went silent as who they thought Straw Hat Luffy got taken out so easily. It was then revealed that the fat guy was Demaro Black, a low-level pirate only worth 26,000,000 Beri and the crowd was horrified that they'd been tricked. Their terror at being surrounded by the Navy but having Straw Hat Luffy to bust them out had now doubled as their means of escape vanished with the Fake Straw Hat's downfall. Luffy watched the scene with mild interest, and out of the corner of his eye, Luffy saw the fat guy's funny-looking friends sprint off, abandoning their captain. That's when it all finally clicked into place.
"Wait?! That fat guy was pretending to be me?!" Luffy said to himself, just as shocked as everyone else. Something else then made total sense: The Zoro and Sanji that he'd been following weren't his Zoro and Sanji! His heart lightened, so happy that his boyfriend hadn't been avoiding him after all! He'd been a fake and his Zoro still loved him!
"They looked real, but they were fakes too! I better not tell either of them that or they might kick my butt for thinking that two ugly people had been then. Wow, this is blowing my mind! I gotta get out of here!" Luffy started to tip toe down the stairs and away from the crowd, no longer having a green-haired reason to stay.
Ax Guy was yelling something again while Luffy looked for a way out of the place, and all of a sudden an order of "FIRE ON STRAW HAT PX5!" rang out and Luffy hear the zing and then leaped back, doing a flip and landing back on the stage as the explosion went off. He barely managed to keep his backpack of lunches safe and his hat on his head when he landed, letting the bag rest on the ground as his mustache and cape fell off, his disguise gone.
"That was close! You almost blew up all my lunches!" the rubber man shouted at the Ax Guy. "What did food ever do to you?!"
The mob of Marines and pirates alike were looking at him, shocked once again at this crazy turn of events. Two Straw Hat Luffys in the same place at the same time! And there was no mistaking this Straw Hat – he looked exactly the same as his wanted poster! The Navy started to mobilize again, still determined to capture Straw Hat and his compatriots, even if they'd gone after the wrong one the first time.
"So there you are!" Ax Guy shouted back.
"Aaaaaah!" Luffy huffed annoyed at having been found out. "I had enough of you the last time we fought! I'm just trying to set sail and I'm not supposed to start any trouble!"
"Oh, it's no trouble," Ax Guy answered, "But you won't be setting sail! Unlike two years ago, I'm an official Navy officer now and that means I'm taking you in if it's the last thing I do! PX5 FIRE!"
The same Pacifista opened its mouth and let out three shots at varied angles toward Luffy. The rubber man stood up and sensed the trajectory of the beams his newly acquired Haki kicking in instinctively. His time on Rusukaina was well spent and he easily dodged all three shots by only moving his upper body. They explosions went off far behind him, slamming into the huge banyan tree that made up Grove 46 and sending out a shockwave.
"Is that all?" he drawled, unimpressed by the machine-man.
"What?!" Ax Guy started sweating, nervous that the Pacifista had been thwarted so easily by a man that it had already defeated once before.
Luffy looked him dead in the eyes, serious and calm. He was not afraid anymore and that unnerved the Navy man. He intended to finish the job this time. "Second Gear!" the rubber man swung his right arm out, started his Second Gear with only that arm, his body steaming with the increase in speed. "You're too slow," he told the Pacifista.
The machine-man leaped toward him, readying another beam but he was too late. Two shots went off, missing Luffy completely as he flew into the air. The Pacifista skidded to a halt, aiming again when a fist came flying at it faster than it could track. "GUM-GUM JET PISTOL!" It pummeled its face into the ground and sent out a powerful shockwave that ripped through everyone in its path. Wide, horrified eyes and gaping mouths were on the faces of everyone in attendance as they saw one man take out a formerly unbeatable force with a single punch.
"HE BEAT A PACIFISTA AND ALL IT TOOK WAS ONE PUNCH?!"
Luffy landed lighting back next to his backpack, none the worse for wear, as the machine exploded. He slung the bag over his shoulder, let out a mischievous cackle and said, "So long!" as he started to run away, knowing that no one could stop him. He called to the Ax Guy one more time with, "Though I have a feeling I'm going to see you again somewhere!"
"GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME!" the large man shouted in response, his pride wounded with the loss of one of his force. Luffy kept laughing as the Marines scrambled to follow him and then he heard the best sound in the world.
"Hey! Luffy!" The rubber man's heart immediately soared at the sound Zoro's voice and Luffy's eyes instantly locked onto his boyfriend, sword out, ready to back him up. There was his Zoro! And he even looked like Zoro this time! Luffy's run turned into a little giddy dance and the swordsman laughed how ridiculous his boyfriend looked, but felt the exact same way he did.
Sanji was with Zoro too and yelled, "Luffy! Should've known! All I had to do was follow the explosions and I knew I'd find you!"
The biggest smile spread on the captain's fact "Hey, it's you for real this time! And Zoro's not even fat!"
Zoro was insulted at the implication that he would ever be fat and that Luffy would ever think he was fat! "Why would I be fat you idiot! I work out twenty times as much as you!"
"I'm so happy you still have your abs! I can kinda see them where you shirt doesn't cover you!" The swordsman was about to make his own inappropriate comment about Luffy's shirt being completely unbuttoned and showing off his abs, but then the dumb Ax Guy from two years ago ordered a Pacifista after him and the idiot cook.
As their own machine-man came zooming at them, Zoro readied his blades and Sanji let the flames of his Diable Jambe lick at his pant leg. The two of them moved perfectly in sync without words and attacked. They shouted, "GET LOST!" and a single slash and kick later, the Pacifista exploded behind them. Even when "working together" they both tried to claim all the credit.
"I'm the one who got him!" Zoro insisted.
"Keep dreaming! My kick broke his neck!" Sanji argued.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH! IT'S THE REAL STRAW HATS! THEY'RE MONSTERS! THE FAKE ONES WERE NOTHING LIKE THIS AT ALL!" the crowd wailed, horrified that people this strong existed.
Unaffected by their destruction, Zoro sheathed his swords and said, "By the way Luffy you're Number Nine so that makes you last the best of all the game."
Sanji was about to kick the idiot and tell him that nobody cared about that when the man with the huge ass backpack came barreling towards the swordsman. The cook got out of the way as Straw Hat Luffy jumped into the arms of his boyfriend, backpack and all, and kissed Pirate Hunter Zoro right on the lips in front of everyone.
Two years apart hadn't diminished any of their love and they held onto each other tightly, as if they were never going to be parted ever again. They'd each desperately wanted the other for that necessary, but nearly unbearable, stretch of time and wished to never repeat that experience. Zoro's lips were warm against Luffy's, something that he'd longed for throughout the lonely months void of human company. He was instantly trying to get into his boyfriend's mouth, to feel the connection to him that they'd both been forced set aside. Zoro couldn't complain about his boyfriend's enthusiasm, as he'd had his own months spent with the less than enjoyable company of his ultimate rival, an annoying ghost girl, and the wrong kind of monkey. He wasn't even going to complain about the weight of the massive backpack Luffy had imposed upon him – he'd hold up any burden just to be reunited with his lover and was strong enough to hold up anything for him.
Their kiss wasn't graceful in the least, but it was full of passion as the pair briefly connected, savoring the long-awaited moment, for as long as they could. When they parted, Luffy gave his partner the biggest smile he could and cheerfully exclaimed, "Hi Zoro!"
"Hey there, Luffy," he answered, his heart pounding in his chest. Luffy was really here, finally! "It took you long enough to get here."
"Sorry about that!" he chuckled. "Thank you for waiting for me." Those words held more meaning than Luffy could ever express, and without knowing the fully story, Zoro understood.
"Anything for you," he said, kissing his lover's cheek sweetly. He was about to continue ignoring the commotion of the Navy trying to get re-organized and the increasingly surprised shouts from pirates assembled by the fake Straw Hats and kiss Luffy breathless again, but then their third wheel spoke up.
"Alright, lover boys!" Sanji interrupted, receiving a death glare from the swordsman and ignoring it. "Everyone's waiting at the Sunny, let's get moving!" he said.
"Got it!" Luffy answered, effortlessly swinging himself around his boyfriend's body until he was securely hanging off of him like a backpack once again. "Move Zoro!" he commanded with a grin.
"What am I? Your boyfriend or your pack horse?" the swordsman grumbled, placing his hands securely on the arms wrapped around his neck to keep him from going anywhere.
"My boyfriend who's really strong, is not fat, and can carry me anywhere!"
Zoro blushed at the odd compliment, and muttered, "I guess that's an okay answer." When Sanji sniggered at him, he turned on his heel and hit the other man with Luffy's backpack. The cook was about ready to pummel the idiot moss-head but then they had to start running as the Marines came after them.
Luffy hugged Zoro and laughed happily. "It's been forever! I bet everyone's so cool now, like you two! I can't wait to see them!" The cook and the swordsman smiled, knowing that everyone was going to love seeing everyone Luffy just as much.
Without warning, the rubber man tipped backwards as he sensed a familiar presence, nearly yanking Zoro off of his feet as his balance was disrupted by that idiotic backpack.
"Dammit Luffy! What the hell?!" he swore, as he stumbled. He got his balance again when the idiot jumped off his back and Zoro was about to complain that he didn't have to get off, he just needed to not do that again when he saw was caught the man's attention. All three of them were smiling as they turned to find old man Rayleigh on a distant hill, watching them reunite.
"RAAAAAAYYYYYLEEEEEEIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHH!" Luffy shouted, his voice carrying over the din of Marines and pirates alike. Everything thing skidded to a halt as everyone became aware of the old man's presence.
"It can't be…" one pirate exclaimed, "That's Dark King Rayleigh!" Jaws dropped, eyes bugged out, and hearts froze as the living legend from Gold Roger's time chuckled at his rambunctious pupil.
"I came to check on you," Rayleigh called. "But it seems you have this under control."
"Control?" Sanji scoffed, looking around at the pandemonium on Grove 26. Destroyed buildings, wounded roots, notorious pirates, zealous Marines, destructive robots – this was far from control, and Luffy was at the center of it!
"In fact, you're even stronger than when I left you," the old man noted, happy that his pupil had only continued to grow in his absence. "Finally time to see your friends, you've been waiting for long enough, especially if that kiss was anything to go by!" The old man remembered many an evening spent talking with the youngster, hearing all about his friends and the man he loved. It was good to see that they had been reunited at last, and his old heart was full with hope for the kiddo's future.
Luffy nodded enthusiastically. "Rayleigh, thanks for everything you've done for me these past two years!" Those words also held what seemed like a lifetime of memories, and the old man was grateful for them. He was going to miss sitting at the campfire with Luffy, listening to his chatter, beating the crap out of him, spending time with the ferocious animals, and playing in the snow when they took a break.
"No need to get sappy on me! Just go!" the old man called back, despite feeling a bit sappy himself. A memory surfaced, one from long ago of a young man in a straw hat walking up to Rayleigh's recently stolen boat with a proposition. I think we were destined to meet, Rayleigh! Want to turn up this world upside down with me? Let's set sail! Even though he'd thought the man was crazy for waltzing up to him, but that conversation had changed his life, and the one he was having now brought back those sweet memories.
Instead of going, Luffy set his bag on the ground and took a few steps forward. He planted his feet solidly on the ground and raised his arms in the air. Defiant against all that would come against him and strong in his beliefs and willpower, the young man yelled, "Rayleigh! I'm going to do it!" He sucked in a huge breath and declared to the world, "I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!"
A soft smile was on Rayleigh's lips, his eyes seeing not only Luffy's face, but also the face of an old friend who had the same determination to take on the world. He's following in your footsteps, Roger. He's going to turn the world upside down again. And he looks good in that hat. They both smiled at each other, sharing one last moment before everything started moving again.
The Marines finally shook off their shock of the Straw Hats' and the Dark King's appearance and started to chase after the youngsters again.
"Gotta move, Luffy!" Sanji shouted, taking off in the direction of the Sunny.
"We appreciate the help Rayleigh!" Zoro shouted as he started running, truly grateful that he'd been taken care of for the past eleven days and that the old man had taken care of Luffy for the past two years.
"We're off!" Luffy called, shouldering his backpack again. "Thanks again for everything!" He was sad to leave, but knew that this was what Rayleigh had trained him for. He'd make his mentor proud and set sail!
Luffy ran after Zoro and glommed onto his back, nearly pulling his boyfriend off his feet again. "Would you stop that?!" Zoro snapped.
"Can't help it!" the rubber man laughed.
Rayleigh watched them go with a heart that was both full of hope and heavy with an unsaid goodbye, a few tears welling up in his eyes. They'd spent many, many hours together and it was hard to see him go. The old man didn't let the tears fall, wiping them away before they could. He then drew his sword, ready to keep the Maines busy as Luffy and his crew restarted their journey.
"Let nothing stop you from reaching the top!" he yelled, his parting words to his beloved pupil. Luffy's chest warmed with that final blessing and he ran forward to his future, knowing that his back was protected by his friend.
After picking up Sanji's bubble bags of groceries, the trio kept running for the ship only to find themselves block by Marines. However, the Mraines were suddenly unmotivated and fell to their knees, clouds of depression hanging over their heads and lamenting the fact that they worthless as fleas, ticks, and louses. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji all shivered, knowing exactly the feeling and who caused it. They were met by Perona, the Ghost Princess, who gave the trio the stink eye. Sanji burst into pervert hearts while Perona chided the men for messing around with the Navy and not getting out long ago. Zoro scoffed back at his unwanted companion and told her that she should've bailed long ago.
The ghost girl floated right up in his face and snapped, "You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me, so don't start Mister! Who knows where you would've wound up on your own!" The swordsman started to sweat, knowing that she was right – Perona and her Hollows had kept him from getting lost and helped him be the first to arrive. "The least you could do is be gracious!"
"Wow, Zoro, you're an idiot," Luffy commented from over the man's shoulder. "Also lady, he's mine!"
"I'm sick of him! You can have him!" the woman growled. She then squealed as Sanji got into her personal bubble and started sniffing her. She called him a creep, stomped his face in, and sicced a Hollow on him. Sanji moaned that he was lower than earthworm poop and Zoro laughed at him.
Perona huffed unsympathetically at her victim, and informed the green-haired one she tolerated that there were Navy ships nearby and they needed to get moving. Before any moves could be made, perverted or otherwise, the shadow of a huge, colorful bird descended upon the group. Luffy's eyes went wide at the animal's appearance, but then he heard a familiar voice.
"I finally found you guys!" Chopper shouted, so happy to see his friends and captain. He was riding the huge bird and that was so cool!
"Hi Chopper!" Luffy yelled, bouncing around joyfully until Zoro dumped him on the ground for the rough treatment. The rubber man immediately jumped up on the bird as soon as it landed and gathered the little doctor up in a huge hug. "I missed you!"
"I missed you too, Luffy! I'm so happy you made it!" the reindeer cried, big fat tears running down his cheeks. "I brought a friend along to fly us to the ship!" he said after the rubber man finally let him go. The giant bird squawked and Luffy's eyes lit up.
"That's so cool! Zoro get up here!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," the swordsman replied, picking up a limp Sanji and dragging him up the bird. He tossed him onto the animal's back and then looked down at the ghost girl. "Hey," he started.
"What?" she replied grumpily.
"Thanks," he said, surprising the woman. "For everything. Be safe."
Perona's eyes filled with unexpected tears as her unwanted companion got ready to leave. She hadn't anticipated missing him but now that he came to it, she was going to begrudgingly do just that. She pouted and in her prickly way said, "Yeah, well, you too!" before whirling around so he wouldn't see her cry if she lost to the tears. "Now get lost, you jerk!"
Zoro gave the unreasonable woman a small smile and Luffy grabbed his cheeks and pulled them wider. "Hey! Watch it!" The man's shout drew Perona's attention and she whirled around again, finding Straw Hat smiling at her too.
"Thanks for bringing my Zoro here! I really appreciate, Ghost Girl!" he called as the bird started to take off.
Perona gave him a wry smile and rolled her eyes. "You're welcome, though I don't know why you want him!"
Luffy just shishishied and answered, "Because he's great! Take care!" And then they were off, swooping through the air and off on their adventure.
Perona sighed and went to go distract the Navy with her Hollows while her begrudging companion's crew set sail. Maybe tormenting them out get her mind off of losing the company she'd had for the past two years.
"What a jerk! After all I've done for him, he's given me nothing but trouble!" she grumped. The woman then squeezed the stuffed Kumashi toy she always carried with her, wanting a hug now that Zoro was gone. "I really should go find a new boy toy to play with…" she murmured, knowing perfectly well that she'd never find one as good as that idiot swordsman.
Elsewhere on the archipelago, the Straw Hat crew's many allies were keeping the Navy busy as well. Sanji's Okama "friends" from Kamabaka Kingdome were finding themselves many lovely men to date and knocking out the ones that rejected their charms. Nami's old weather wizards were making it rain in one specific spot to ruin the gunpowder for a whole platoon. Usopp's friend Heracles had unleashed some giant bugs that were terrorizing another platoon, destroying buildings and chasing after the fleeing men.
Back on the Sunny on the shores of Grove #42, the rest of the Straw Hat crew were just waiting for the rest of catch up. Brook had just landed, having abandoned the fame and fortune he'd gained to chase after the fame and fortune he really wanted. So delighted to be back with his crew, he was going to play a song but then got distracted and asked Nami if he could see her panties. She roundhouse kicked him across the ship and Brook was left stunned on the deck. Usopp shook his head at the skeleton's silliness and Nami lamented the fact that no one had seemed to have grown up in the last two years. When Brook finally picked himself off the lawn, he noticed that only half the crew was present. Before anyone could explain, a call floated across the air, grabbing the attention of everyone on the ship.
"HHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Everyone looked up to see Chopper's birdie friend flying towards them, carrying four passengers on its back, one of whom no one on the ship had seen in two years. "GGGGGUUUUUYYYSSSS! HHHHHHEEEEEEEYYYYYYY!" Luffy yelled, his infectious enthusiasm making them all smile.
"Told you I would find them!" Chopper added, hanging off of Zoro's shoulder.
Everyone ran over to the rail and started shouting Luffy's name, overjoyed to see him.
"Hey guys!" Nami yelled, waving her arms in the air.
"Together again! I've been waiting for this day!" Brook wailed, opening crying.
"Everyone looks stronger!" Franky added, having not seen Luffy or Sanji yet. "I like it!"
"It feels like it's been forever!" Ussop sniffed, wiping away his own tears.
"Looks like we're the last ones–" Sanji cut himself off when he saw Nami and Robin, their beauty (and breasts) eclipsing everything. He then had a nose bleed that was so powerful that he rocketed off the bird and fell into the sea below.
"Idiot cook!" Zoro snapped, displeased with the vulgar display. They left him there for a minute while everyone else disembarked the bird, and Chopper said goodbye to his friend. Usopp jumped in and hauled the catatonic man up onto the deck where he continued to bleed while whimpering about beautiful women.
The second Luffy jumped down onto the coated ship, he was enamored with Franky's new cyborg body, and kept trying to press his nose to change his hair while Nami kept trying to drag him away.
"Quit fooling around!" she chided. "We need to get out of here while we can before the Navy's on top of us!" Even as she said it, a cannonball came flying at the Sunny, exploding in the water near the ship. The Sunny listed with the impact, and everyone onboard scrambled to keep their feet.
"Oh no! It looks like we're too late!" Usopp shouted, running over to the rail and pulling out his spyglass. "I see three Navy ships!" Three more cannonballs came flying and exploded near the ship. "If we don't do something fast, we're going to be dead in the water!"
Three more shots were fired, these one perfectly in range to sink the Sunny! As Usopp began to panic the strangest thing happened: pink arrows intercepted the cannonballs and turned them into stone! They dropped into the water harmlessly and then a red ship pulled by two giant snakes floated right into the Navy's path. The beautiful captain demanded the right of way no matter what the Navy argued because Boa Handcock was the Pirate Empress and she always got what she wanted. Brook, Usopp, and Sanji were listening when Robin recognized and then explained that she was a Warlord and the world's most beautiful woman. The three of them took turns looking through the spyglass at her, and Sanji literally turned into stone when he saw her without the use of the woman's Devil Fruit.
Luffy was surprised, but happy to see Handcock again and made a comment that he thought she wasn't coming. His whole crew were all surprised that Luffy knew the empress, and he explained that the bear guy had sent him to Amazon Lily. Sanji was so jealous that cried his eyes out and banged his fist on the ground, saying it wasn't fair that Luffy got to go to the Island of Maidens while he was sent to hell.
Zoro picked up the discarded spyglass and observed the women on the pirate ship, noting that many of them were strikingly beautiful. A little jealously pricked his heart when he said "So, you got to hang out with a bunch of bombshell beauties?" His voice was somewhere between teasing and dangerous and Luffy picked up on his feelings.
"Yeah, at least in the beginning," the rubber man answered honestly. "Then I was on an island of wild animals for the rest of the two years and it was so cool! But Hancock kept trying to visit during training and Rayleigh kept turning her away – but let her leave the yummy lunches! Didn't stop her from trying to propose to and marry me though."
"She tried to marry you?!" the crew shouted, completely flabbergasted. How did the most beautiful in the world could fall in love with their idiot captain?! Zoro made sense – he was an idiot too – but Boa Handcock? Unbelievable!
"Yeah, but I told her that I was in love with Zoro, so I couldn't marry her!" Luffy nodded in satisfaction and gave his boyfriend a huge smile. "Didn't stop her from trying though. She even proposed to me this morning!" Zoro was about to make a mean comment about the woman's audacity but Sanji took the wind out of his sails when he started wailing.
"THAT IS SO NOT FAIR!" the cook howled. "Why couldn't that happen to me?!"
"Because then you would've pissed them all off with your pervert behavior!" Nami scolded.
"To be fair, they kill all men that step on the island," Luffy added.
"Then how did you survive?" Zoro asked, genuinely curious.
"I think it's because my dick is stretchy."
That was not the answer that any of them had expected, and all the boys except Sanji and Zoro ended up rolling on the ground laughing. Zoro just blushed, having had experiences with Luffy's stretchy dick. Nami just rolled her eyes and Robin smiled cutely, having missed her captain's bluntness.
"Because your…dick is…stretchy?!" Usopp gasped, unable to stop laughing.
"Yeah. They kept trying to touch it but I told them not to!" Luffy grumped. "I got their hands off my junk but they kept pulling everything else and making it stretch."
"Jealous, Zoro?" the sniper teased, getting up and elbowing the swordsman good-naturedly. Before he could answer Luffy piped up.
"Don't be jealous Zoro!" he urged, wrapping his boyfriend in a huge bear hug. "I only spent a week or two on the island and then was training the rest of the time, I promise!"
"I believe you, Luffy," he answered, kissing his beloved's head. "Just don't make any other women fall in love with you."
"I don't even know how I did it!" the rubber man continued. "How did I do it to you?"
Zoro blinked for a moment, trying to remember but coming up blank. "I honestly don't know," he said, truthfully. "It just kinda happened."
"Well, I just it just kinda happened with her, whatever did it," Luffy shrugged.
"Well, whatever you did and whatever the empress did, it bought us some time," Nami concluded, observing that the Navy ship were held up by the Kuja pirates. "Everyone get in position to set sail!"
Everyone started to scramble around, raising the anchors, tying down anything loose, and shoving belongings into the bedrooms without unpacking if they hadn't already taken care of it. Franky jumped into the water, diving under the Sunny to deflate the coating bag underneath the ship holding the Sunny afloat and take off the hardware Rayleigh installed to make that happen. Up on deck, the jelly-like bubble started to expand, slipping up everyone's bodies and inflating until everything except the tops of the masts were under the bubble-roof. Luffy gasped in amazement and Usopp gasped in terror, not understanding what was happening. Nami quickly explained that a properly coated ship and withstand almost any pressure, but had very little buoyancy. She continued that there had been a bag underneath the Sunny keeping her afloat, and now that Franky had moved the air onto the deck, the ship would start to sink.
"It's pretty simple, really," she concluded, knowing that she'd done a good job explaining.
"Huh, interesting," Luffy and Zoro said at the same time.
"Maybe not simple enough," the navigator amended, shaking her head and her idiot captain and his idiot boyfriend. "Forget about it now, let's ready the sails!"
Brook asked why they were spreading the sails and Robin explained that they would use the sails to catch the current just like they caught the wind above sea level. Usopp complained that he thought they were just going to sink down to Fishman Island and not have to navigate down there and Nami barked at him to get his butt in gear doing something useful.
As the last preparations were being made, Chopper was on the mast getting ready to let the sails out and securing ropes with Zoro and Brook when he spotted reinforcements from the sea, two Navy ships headed their way. He started to call a warning to his crew down below, but then his birdie friend flew over to the ship and shredded their sails with his beak! The ship stopped dead, unable to move efficiently without its sails. The little reindeer called out his thanks and the birdie called back, giving his friend one last squawk before flying toward the horizon. Sanji then ruined the wonderful moment by deflecting another cannonball shot at them from new Navy ships but then getting a huge nosebleed when he caught sight of Nami's boobs. The doctor had to stuff his nose full of tissues to stop the bleeding and Sanji was useless for a few minutes. By the time he was conscious again, everything was ready.
"The bag's deflated!" Franky announced, climbing back onto the Sunny.
"Awesome!" Nami replied. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah!" Zoro called down. "We're all set!"
"That it, Nami?" Luffy asked, walking over to the bench around the foremast.
"Yeah! Just say the word, Captain," she answered respectfully.
The rubber man jumped up on the bench and turned to face his crew, arms crossed and looking very authoritative. "Alright, listen up guys! There's a lot I want to say and we don't have very much time. One thing can't wait though: What you went through these past two years was selfish of me, so thanks for putting up with it." Luffy was truly grateful that his friends had stayed safe and that they had all made it back to him. He wouldn't have expected any less of them since they were all the best, but he knew the separation had been just as hard for them as it had been for him.
"You make this sound likes it's never happened before," Sanji interjected with a smile.
"That's no joke!" Usopp added. "You've always been a selfish piece of work!"
Luffy's smile got so big Zoro was surprised that it managed to say on his face as he laughed. The ship began to sink in earnest at that moment, dropping several feet and continued to slip under the waves. The Sunny's captain took a deep breath and bellowed, "SPREAD THE SAILS!"
"Right!" Chopper, Brook, and Zoro answered, each of them taking their lines and jumping off of the masts to let the sails out. The ocean breeze picked up, filling the Sunny with wind and purpose, her flag flying merrily in the sunshine.
"SET SAAAAAIIIILLLLL!" Luffy ordered, happy to finally be underway.
"YYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!" everyone else shouted, their hearts just as full as the Sunny's sails.
As if catching her crew's excitement, the Sunny dove under the water quickly, sinking beneath the waves and finding her course down to the ocean floor far below.
"WE'RE OFF TO FISHMAN ISLAND!" Luffy yelled, confident that their ship would take them there.
It had been a long two years – there had been struggles and joys, grief and happiness, new friends and now old friends. Luffy would never trade that valuable time he needed to grow and get stronger, but now that he and his crew were underway, her was ready to sprint full-throttle into the New World and all the mysteries and adventures it held. He leaped onto Zoro's back and hugged him tightly, ready for this new adventure. Everyone had a smile on their face, but none was as big as Luffy's.
Finally, we can move forward, together! he thought. Nothing will stop us this time!
They dove down into the sea, ready to face anything thrown their way.
To be Continued…
A/N: Thanks for reading! I'll hopefully have a new chapter up in the next few weeks. See ya!