Second Wind

56

Wood creaked against wood as Bonney slowly backed her chair away from the table. She rose to her feet and walked over to the newcomer, catching the crew's attention.

"You..." she whispered, bangs covering her eyes as she shook with poorly suppressed rage. "So, you're Blackbeard?"

"Gomu Gomu no...Keep Away!"

"Hey Luffy, no fair!" Usopp shouted in protest, trying in vain to reach the dish that was suspended out of his reach by Luffy's rubber arms. "Let me try it too!"

"No way! I caught this one, so it's mine!" Luffy insisted.

"Hey, you two! Don't wreck the aquarium!" Franky chastised. "If you're gonna fight over fish, do it on deck!"

"OK!" Luffy agreed easily, running up the stairs as Usopp followed behind, still shouting complaints.

Meanwhile, on deck, Nami and Robin were both lying back in lawn chairs next to the garden. "This is the life!" Nami sighed in content. "Not only is the bigger deck great for sunbathing, but there's so much more room for my tangerine groves!"

"Indeed. I quite enjoyed the bigger library as well," Robin replied, before giggling. "And I can't help but feel as if Chopper agrees with me."

Chopper, for his part, didn't even respond at first, as he was buried, fur and all, in a large collection of medical texts.

"Huh?" he said. "Oh, sorry, Robin! You're right! And the shelves were already stocked with books! I haven't even heard of this one before..."

"Well, while you all enjoy your books and crap, I'm going to try out the training room. Cook, you wanna come?"

"In a little bit," Sanji replied. "I have to finish serving snacks to the ladies first!"

Zoro snorted. "Suit yourself, Love Cook." He made his way up to the training room. Truthfully, this was his first time using it since they'd set sail. Chopper had insisted under threat of painful dissection that he had to let his injuries heal.

That dissection bit may have been his own perspective on the matter, but damn if that scalpel didn't gleam menacingly in the light.

He was eager to begin training again. The fight with Aokiji had revealed that he still had a long way to go before he gained his old strength back.

"Still, the bigger training room is really a nice touch," he said aloud to the seemingly empty room.

"Yeah, Franky really outdid himself. He even threw in seastone weights!" said a voice from behind him.

Zoro turned around with a smirk. "You're right. I'm sure Luffy's resistance could benefit from those...uh..."

He stood looking down on a little girl that he'd never seen before. She was grinning up at him innocently, but Zoro was pretty sure he wasn't imagining the hint of mischief in her eyes.

"...Who are you again?" he asked, rubbing his head in confusion. The girl just snickered in response. Frowning, he did what he was used to doing by now when he didn't recognize someone with their appearance, and reached out with his Observation Haki. Upon sensing her aura, his features went blank.

"Everyone! Get up here now!"

The Straw Hat crew stood in a circle around a young girl with crimson red hair and brown eyes, who was looking back and forth between them all with cheerful wonder.

Luffy was staring at her with wide eyes.

"So, who is this?" Nami asked curiously. "A stowaway? She's so young..."