Cappello di Paglia

Chapter 2

After Luffy finally finished his breakfast—well, what was left in front of him since Sanji's too busy fighting to cook him anything else—he occupied himself with watching his Family interact with each other, smile wide, before remembering Usopp's earlier action of running into the Mansion, screaming at the top of his lungs. Pushing the plates away from himself, he suddenly stood and slammed both his fists down onto the table's hard surface with a loud BANG, stopping everybody in their tracks. For him to do something like that was out of character.

"Luffy?" Zoro questioned, a tad wary. It'd been awhile since Luffy did something so...assertive like that, and the last time was not a time he wanted to remember.

Once he was sure he had everyone's attention, Luffy calmly sat back down before his usual smile spread across his face. "So, Usopp, what's up?"

Usopp stared at Luffy a second or two longer than necessary before remembering what had him in such a tizzy before. "Oh! Right, right. Sorry." Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out an envelope as the rest of the Straw Hats each slowly took a seat around the table. Slapping the envelope on the table, he said, "Chopper and I were coming back from Party's when two guys approached us at the front gate and—"

"Who were they?" Nami interrupted.

Usopp rolled his eyes. "I was just about to say. Be patient...please." He hastily added when Sanji raised a threatening foot. "They said they were from another Family." Usopp paused before saying, "The Heart Family."

No one said anything for at least a minute before everyone started talking at once.

"The Heart Family..."

"What the hell do they want..."

"That's not very supah..."

"They came here..."

Luffy said nothing and simply reached forward to grab the envelope. If they wanted to find out what the Heart Family wanted, the easiest way was to read what's inside, right? Sliding his finger under the flap and opening it, he reached in to pull out the paper that resided inside. Unfolding the sheet, Luffy silently read over it as his friends continued to talk around him—all except for Zoro, who'd noticed what Luffy was doing. Sure, he could shut the others up, but Luffy didn't seemed to be bothered by the background noise, so he's content to silently watch his Don until he's needed.

Meanwhile, Luffy's halfway through the letter and already really shocked at its contents. This couldn't be right...Don Trafalgar wanted to what?

"Luffy, what's wrong?" Nami asked, finally noticing the unusual silence and stillness from the ravenette. "What does the letter say?"

Finally finishing, Luffy looked up at his now-silent friends with an astonished look on his face. "Umm..."

"What does it say, Luffy?" Zoro asked before grumbling and simply grabbing the letter from his hands.

While Zoro quickly skimmed through the letter, Luffy finally said, "It seems the Heart Family wants to meet with us."

"Why in the world would the Heart Family want that?" Sanji asked while lighting up another cigarette.

"To discuss an alliance." Zoro answered before Luffy could, having finished the letter.

. . .

"WHAT?!"

"An alliance? With us?!" Nami exclaimed before reaching across the table to snatch the letter from Zoro. "Let me see this." Nami quieted down as she now read it over.