You don't know what you've got until it's gone (One Piece ff)

14. Reunited

Ben POV:

Her words surprise me a bit. She didn't say 'you' as in all of us. But 'you'. So she meant me directly. Anna. My Anna missed me. Slowly I wrap my arms around her. "I also missed you a lot Anna. I will not let you go. Ever again." I whisper in her ear. Then she just nods and intensifies her embrace. "Come on, we'll go back to the table. There's food right away." says Yasopp. I nod and want to loosen the hug, but Anna hugs me even tighter. A smile creeps up on my lips and I carefully lift her up by her hips. Then I carry her back to the table. I only see Shanks grinning and so do the others. Oh man. I have to listen to a lot of their shit and teasing later. But I don't care as long as Anna is with me. I sit back on my chair between Shanks and Yasopp and gently put her down on my lap. The others also take a seat again and all the revolutionaries look at us with a smile. Anna sits down a little more comfortably, but still doesn't let go of me. "I'm not going to go away. Don't worry." I say quietly to her. "Promised?" she asks hesitantly.
Damn. How can a woman be so fucking cute? "Yes, I promise." I promise her with a smile. Slowly she loosens the hug, but remains sitting on my lap. That is only right for me. I gently put my arm around her waist and gently stroke her side with my thumb. Anna puts her head on my shoulder and looks at the table. "It's nice to have you back with us Anna." Shanks says to her. A gentle smile forms on her lips. "It's also nice to be with you again and woe betide one of you apologizes for some crap!" she threatens directly. Immediately we all start laughing and I gently push them a little closer to me. Never again will I let her go or let anything happen to her! She should never have to suffer again!

"The food is ready at the buffet! There's enough for everyone!" shouts the chef, Bernd, through the hall. Immediately you can see how everyone jumps up and runs. "I'll bring you both something right away, then you can stay seated, okay?" asks Shanks. "Thank you Captain." Anna replies, nodding slightly. I, too, nod and smile. Shanks is really a damn good guy.

Shanks POV:

I rise from my seat and slowly walk to the buffet. "When can we take them back?" I quietly ask Dragon as we are out of earshot. He looks briefly at me and then forward again. "You can take her with you tomorrow if she wants to. But then your doctor or one of you will have to take care of their injuries. This means that the doctor of yours must be present at the dressing change tomorrow. If she doesn't allow that, then she still has to stay here." he calmly answers my question. Is her back really that bad? We could touch them.. Will she allow us to see her back?..
"You should stop pondering and talk to them about it. Only she can answer the questions." Dragon says calmly, breaking through my thoughts. Damn. Can't he even be disturbed? "Also, your vice and Anastasia look very happy together. The two are meant for each other." he adds. Immediately my gaze shoots up from the buffet to Dragon. His gaze is on Ben and Anna and he even has a gentle smile on his lips. Now I also focus my attention on the two of them. Anna is cuddled to Ben and he has put his head on hers. You can see that his mouth is moving and Anna is listening to him. "Yes. The two are made for each other." I say with an equally gentle smile. When will we hear her hearty laughter again? "We will not allow anything to happen to her ever again. Anyone who wants to hurt her gets to deal with the Redhair pirates." says Yasopp next to me. "No one messes with an emporer gang with impunity!" Lou adds. "Have you already found the Vice Admiral?" asks Hack. "He is still alive. The Penner is always one step ahead of us, but not for much longer. Then we'll get it." I answer his question. Then I turn back to the buffet and look at all the food. With the help of Yasopp and Lou I fill 3 plates. One for Ben, one for Anna and one for me. With only one arm, this is difficult to transport.
Together we go back, put down the plates and sit down. Anna and Ben thank us and look at their plates.
"Have you killed Billy yet?" I hear Anna calmly ask. Everyone at the table immediately pauses in the movement. My gaze slowly wanders towards Anna and she is already staring at me. "No. Not yet. He is always one step ahead of us." I answer your question seriously. "Good. Because I want to kill him," she says just as seriously. "What?! Don't say something like that so lightly!" says Ben in horror. "Billy was in my care. I had the responsibility and he is the one who threatened to turn you against me and hurt you. I can't leave it with impunity." she explains seriously. "But-" I now begin to protest, but is interrupted by her. "I didn't say I'm going straight into melee combat. I'm still a long way from being able to do that. I have always preferred pistols. Except, of course, in the kitchen.. Teach me the best way to handle a gun and leave Billy's head to me. That's all I'm asking for. Please." she explains to us. I look her in the eye for a long time and see determination. Fear can also be seen in their eyes, but determination clearly prevails. My gaze wanders to Ben. Since she is sitting on his lap, he also sees the determination. Sighing, he puts his head in his neck. So he is more or less in agreement. Next, my gaze slides to Yasopp and Lou. Both grin broadly and nod. Mouth, on the other hand, shakes his head. He thinks she's not ready for it yet. Tobias also sees the determined look, but I can't read anything from his point of view. "I think we should do that. So Anna can defend herself even in the worst case, if none of you should be around and... I also want to be trained. I prefer swords more than pistols." Tobias tells us his opinion. I can't say much more about that. Each of us knows that if Anna has put something in her head, then there is no way around it. She is more stubborn than a lame donkey in the morning. So I sigh deeply, look at Anna again and say, "All right. Mouth and I will train Tobias and Yasopp and Ben will train you Anna, but only on one condition!"

Anna looks at me closely. I see her grip on Ben's shirt slowly strengthening. "You can set sail with us again from tomorrow, but only if our doctor is allowed to see your wounds. We need to know how to take care of your wounds." I explain to her. Immediately, her determined expression becomes insecure. You can see exactly how she struggles with herself. Each of us wants them back on board. Without them, a large part of the family is missing.
"All right." I hear her say uncertainly. Now she looks up at me again. There is a lot of uncertainty and fear in their eyes. She seems to think that we will treat her differently then. "Everyone sitting here at the table can see the wounds." she adds. Her voice barely trembles noticeably. Ben presses her a little closer to herself and Anna nestles closer to him. This is definitely going to be tough. "Nope. You can cut that. I'm not looking at that. Sorry if that's malicious now, but I'm afraid I'm going to coddle you too much and you'd be extremely resentful of that, so no. I'm out of there." says Mouth, waving his hands in front of his chest. "I-I don't want to look at it either. For the same reason as Mouth. I-I'm sorry Anna." says Tobias meekly. A few of the revolutionaries also immediately refuse. So all that remains are Lou, Yasopp, Ben, Dragon, Ivankov, Crocodile, me and our ship's doctor Joel.
"The wounds on my back is not for the faint of heart." says Anna with a slight smile on her lips. "Then let's eat something first. And celebrate that we have our Anna back." I command and lift my glass. My team does the same and cheers a little. Now it's time to grab food!